[0:00] Okay, good evening. I want to welcome you to our Ladies and Township Committee of
[0:05] September 8th. We just came out of our executive session, and what I'd like to do
[0:11] is report on that. But first, I'd like a salute to the flag.
[0:14] So if you could stand,
[0:18] please.
[0:18] I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic
[0:24] for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:30] justice for all.
[0:36] Thank you. All right. Thank you. I'm Yuri Wozwisz.
[0:39] I'm your township mayor, your open space advisory chair.
[0:45] My fellow committee members are here. I'm going to ask Vinny, Mr.
[0:49] Panico, just a report on our exec, of course.
[0:52] Sure. So we covered a number of items. I want to say it was nine.
[0:57] We'll go through one at a time. There'll be some motions on some of them, but not
[1:00] all. The first matter was personnel police.
[1:05] These are more matters of just for normal things.
[1:10] So Greg Wester has completed his probationary period as police sergeant, which
[1:15] means that he becomes a permanent police sergeant.
[1:17] So I'm going to make a motion to approve the resolution appointing Greg Wester as a
[1:22] permanent police sergeant.
[1:23] Second.
[1:24] Okay. Roll call, please.
[1:25] Mr. Abney? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Muller?
[1:28] Aye.
[1:28] Mr. Panico?
[1:29] Yes.
[1:29] Mayor Wozwisz.
[1:30] Aye.
[1:31] The second item we discussed under this heading was the fact that one of our Class
[1:36] III officers, these are the officers that are in the schools, had taken a position
[1:41] with a different township. So we are backfilling that officer.
[1:45] So I will make a motion to approve the resolution appointing Lawrence Goldstein as
[1:50] Special Law Enforcement Officer Class III.
[1:52] Second.
[1:53] Roll call, please.
[1:54] Mr. Abney? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Muller?
[1:58] Aye.
[1:58] Mr. Panico?
[1:58] Yes.
[1:59] Mayor Wozwisz.
[1:59] Aye.
[2:01] In the second section, which was personnel administration, we discussed the
[2:06] candidates that were coming in for one of our vacancies here, and we looked at how
[2:10] that fits into the operations of the township, but there's no action
[2:16] items for that heading. The third option or the third heading is contract
[2:22] negotiations, dental insurance. This actually shows up later in the agenda.
[2:26] I believe it's I-two. That is the introduction of an ordinance establishing some
[2:31] dental insurance regulations now that we're self-insured.
[2:36] So that was a simple discussion.
[2:39] Number four is contract negotiations, building demo.
[2:42] We have some public space here in town that has some dilapidated buildings on it.
[2:47] It's off Old Highway 28 on the north side up there.
[2:51] So we discussed the quotes that we received for that and the funding.
[2:54] There's no action to take on that yet. It'll be at a future meeting.
[2:58] Number five is contract negotiations, professional services.
[3:01] Believe it or not, this took up a lion's share of our discussions.
[3:06] We review at a high level the professionals that we have here in the township.
[3:10] So everybody from the attorney and the engineer down to the dog catcher and
[3:16] different consultants that we have throughout as we prepare for what we're going to
[3:20] do in 2027. Are we going to go to RFP for them? Are we not?
[3:24] And how is that all going to come together?
[3:26] So it was a really high-level discussion, and we're going to have another follow-up
[3:30] at the next meeting as well. Number six is litigation police.
[3:34] Obviously, this is a matter of litigation.
[3:36] I was hoping it was going to be wrapped up by now, but it hasn't. So that stays in.
[3:40] Number seven is attorney-client privilege.
[3:42] The executive session minutes August 3rd, 2026, and August 17th, 2026.
[3:47] This is just the approval of the minutes for previous executive sessions.
[3:50] So I will make a motion to approve for content only.
[3:52] Second.
[3:53] Roll call, please.
[3:54] Mr. Abney? Yes. Mr. Haller? I need to abstain on August 3rd. Yes for August 17th.
[4:01] Mr. Muller?
[4:02] Aye.
[4:03] Mr. Panico?
[4:03] Yes.
[4:04] Mayor Wozwisz.
[4:04] Aye.
[4:06] The number eight was potential litigation, affordable housing.
[4:09] There was no discussion that happened on that topic. That is all, sir.
[4:14] Okay. Thank you very much. That's the report on the executive session.
[4:18] Next is E on the agenda, which is comments from the public for items listed on the
[4:23] agenda only.
[4:25] We'll also have separate comments for ordinances that follow later in the session.
[4:31] So
[4:32] and what we'll do, because we have a lot of people, there may be comments at
[4:36] various points. We'll probably just ask you to speak for three minutes or less as
[4:41] we go through various topics.
[4:44] Okay?
[4:45] If you'd like to speak, you just need to come up.
[4:48] If this is regarding I-one. No, never mind. Sorry. You can go ahead.
[4:53] H-one is where we have a special talk.
[4:55] Come on
[4:59] up.
[5:05] Hi, my name is Anne Rettino. I'm with the local chapter of the Daughters of the
[5:09] American Revolution,
[5:11] and we own the Revolutionary War-era cemetery that's right over at the corner of
[5:16] 523 and Route 22.
[5:20] I'm speaking on behalf of my chapter, and we just wanted to say that
[5:27] we are looking for the best interest for our cemetery on a historic level.
[5:34] We are not a political organization.
[5:36] We are a genealogical, historical organization, and that's where our interests lie
[5:42] is with preserving history. And so whatever helps that cemetery
[5:48] stay nice and have a good long
[5:52] future that looks good and is serving the community,
[5:56] however that is best served based on the affordable housing that's considered going
[6:01] in next to it. We would just like to say that we hope everybody thinks about that
[6:06] when that comes to a vote, because that's what we do.
[6:11] So thank you.
[6:14] Thank you, Anne.
[6:15] Okay.
[6:30] Hello, my name is Liz Retell.
[6:32] Wilmington faces unprecedented development pressure due to the state-mandated
[6:37] affordable housing requirements.
[6:40] Special interests and developers are positioning themselves to capitalize on our
[6:45] community, threatening the rural character that generations have worked so hard to
[6:50] protect.
[6:52] In order to preserve our quality of life, we need to manage responsible growth
[6:57] while respecting local zoning, planning, and maintaining our ethical standard.
[7:03] The wrong approach is pursuing huge mega-developments like a Propheta
[7:09] development, which are inclusionary and only have a small percentage of units
[7:15] as affordable housing, while the majority of the units are market rate.
[7:21] Paul Propheta is a wealthy developer, and he is funding the politicians and
[7:26] political candidates who support the proposed project.
[7:31] The wrong approach is if the township committee votes to allow only massive
[7:37] inclusionary developments into affordable housing plan to reach our state mandate.
[7:43] It is obviously the wrong approach for the township as it would have long-term
[7:49] negative impact on emergency services, taxes, schools,
[7:55] roads, and infrastructure.
[7:58] For the proposed Propheta project alone, the township would allow at least
[8:03] 1,400 units on rich farmland spanning 370 acres.
[8:09] This rich farmland is located in planning area four with no sewer and is not zoned
[8:15] by the state or locally for such a massive development.
[8:20] The right approach is pursuing small-scale, 100% affordable developments.
[8:25] 100% affordable means all the units within the development are affordable units,
[8:31] meaning the total number of units is kept relatively low.
[8:35] Using this approach, the total number of units would be less than half
[8:40] compared to the inclusionary approach while satisfying our affordable housing
[8:45] mandate from the state. A real-time example of this responsible development is a
[8:50] proposed small-scale, 100% affordable development at 101 Main Street.
[8:56] This development is intended to include special needs residents, which means the
[9:01] township receives double the number of credits.
[9:04] We would receive 40 credits By building only 20 units, whereas a
[9:10] large inclusionary development would require 200 units to be built to reach 40
[9:16] credits. The township is using a responsible approach to maximize our credits,
[9:22] build housing for special needs, veterans, and seniors, all while building the
[9:26] lowest number of units possible to reach our state mandate.
[9:30] I support small-scale, fiscally responsible development, not large inclusionary
[9:35] developments built by developers like Propeta and from the politicians that support
[9:40] their projects. Redington can reach the affordable housing requirements with a
[9:45] fraction of the total number of units, all while being fiscally responsible.
[9:51] Thank you.
[10:06] I'm Julia Allen.
[10:10] Our common goal is to minimize the impact of the township's affordable housing
[10:15] mandate. The state gives us options we could use that would help us achieve
[10:21] that goal.
[10:23] Our obligation is 504 credits.
[10:28] 25% of this number can be met by a plan that qualifies for allowable
[10:35] bonus credits.
[10:38] By hoping to create 100% affordable projects, we get one bonus credit for each
[10:44] affordable unit built.
[10:47] In Three Bridges, the 80-unit townhouse under construction gave Redington 80
[10:53] bonus credits, for a total of 160 credits for the project.
[11:01] A 60-unit senior building on an existing senior site on Greenwood Road would
[11:06] qualify for 60 bonus for a total of 120
[11:12] credits.
[11:14] With group homes, special needs housing is advisable because each bedroom in a
[11:19] home is a unit adding a bonus credit.
[11:23] A single veterans group home could add as much as 20 credits with the allowable
[11:29] bonuses.
[11:32] In addition, there's a strategy referred to as extension of controls.
[11:38] This possibility exists because affordable housing units in both Lake Pushtunt
[11:43] Woods and at Hunter's Crossing in Three Bridges have affordable deed
[11:48] restrictions dating back 30 years, which are now expiring.
[11:53] The township has an option to use housing trust fund money to extend these controls
[11:58] for an additional 30 years. No new
[12:01] housing would be required.
[12:09] What we should not be doing is inclusionary development,
[12:15] and putting that in our plan, unless we are specifically ordered for a specific
[12:21] project by the court.
[12:23] With the inclusionary development, developers are allowed to build huge
[12:27] high-density developments with a ratio of five to one.
[12:31] With over 100 new homes built, the yield is three affordability units created.
[12:38] Meeting our affordable housing this way for a 500 unit, 440 unit
[12:43] obligation leads to huge developments that change the very character of our
[12:47] township and drive up our taxes with increased need for services. Thank you.
[13:03] Good evening, everybody. My name is Michael DeSocio.
[13:05] I am the owner of 24 Washington Drive.
[13:08] I'm here to talk on behalf of the 101 Main Street proposed project.
[13:12] A couple of things I do want to put out for public record and I'd like addressed at
[13:16] this evening's meeting for the record.
[13:20] Number one is the impact to neighboring homes.
[13:23] By putting in a 20-plus unit facility on Main Street, what is that going to do to
[13:28] neighboring homes? All those homes run on well water.
[13:32] That property borders a flood zone on my property, so how will that, the less
[13:37] permeable land, impact my property at the end of the day?
[13:41] All things the town hasn't considered.
[13:43] That property is a flood zone A, and that borders 101 Main Street.
[13:47] I'm not sure if the township has known that.
[13:50] A couple of other portions I'd like clarified for the record at some point this
[13:54] evening is clarifications on mappings have been posted to public forums by public
[13:58] officials here.
[14:01] I have-
[14:02] I missed. I was trying to understand what you said.
[14:04] Yeah. Clarifications on mappings posted by public officials.
[14:07] Oh, mappings. All right. Sorry. I was-
[14:09] So,
[14:11] with this proposed project, number one, it's going to put a greater impact and toll
[14:16] on Washington Drive as a whole. So, any plans to either, one, update that road or
[14:22] bring any other kinds of services to that.
[14:24] Number two is that based on these mappings, it looks like the proposed project does
[14:30] want to cut across
[14:32] my property on 24 Washington Drive, between mine and the DAR.
[14:37] These mappings have been put out by officials in a public forum,
[14:42] and I'd like clarification at tonight's meeting about plans for lower Main Street
[14:47] and official mappings of where this will be done, how it will be done, how it's
[14:51] going to comply with not just township ordinance.
[14:54] I know there's going to have to be rezoning done.
[14:57] There's been a lot of discussion around that property over the last year or two
[15:00] that has been shot down.
[15:04] And other impacts throughout the township.
[15:07] If those mappings are incorrect,
[15:11] I'd like to put on the record that there are issues from a DNO perspective from the
[15:16] board here by posting incorrect items from a miles perspective and willful
[15:21] misconduct.
[15:24] I'll leave it at that, and I hope to hear more by the end of the meeting.
[15:27] Your property is not included in the acquisition of 101 Main Street.
[15:31] You are property block 24, lot two, correct?
[15:35] Correct.
[15:36] That is not on the agenda for tonight, or do I believe it's even being ever
[15:41] considered.
[15:42] I'm addressing the mappings that have been posted actually by you, Mr. Mayor.
[15:46] That's correct.
[15:48] And it's based off of the available NJMap.com, which are not entirely accurate.
[15:55] I can show you that after everything's left.
[15:57] Yeah.
[15:57] I can show you exactly where that came from.
[15:58] So, your property was included on that map?
[16:01] Yes.
[16:03] Okay.
[16:03] And I actually have real attorney fees to show for this.
[16:06] Wow.
[16:07] Yeah. So, yes it will be.
[16:10] Yeah.
[16:10] So, I'm going to leave it at that. Hope to hear more. Thank you.
[16:20] Okay, no more comments for now. We'll move on. Next is F, payment of bills.
[16:24] We have the September 8th payment of bills. Do I have a motion?
[16:28] So, I'll make a motion to pay the bills.
[16:31] Second.
[16:32] Okay. Roll call, please.
[16:34] Mr. Abney?
[16:35] Yes.
[16:36] Mr. Heller?
[16:37] Yes.
[16:37] Mr. Muller?
[16:38] Aye.
[16:38] Mr. Panico?
[16:39] Yes.
[16:39] Mayor Hucklebush.
[16:40] Aye. Okay, next on the agenda is H, consent agenda, and all
[16:46] items listed with an asterisk are considered to be routine by the township
[16:50] committee and will be enacted by one motion.
[16:54] No separate discussion of these items unless a committee member or a citizen
[16:58] requests,
[17:00] in which event the item will be removed from the general order of business and
[17:04] considered in its normal sequence on the agenda.
[17:07] So, there are a total of 12, I believe, routine matters, but let me ask the
[17:12] township committee, does anyone want to hold an item?
[17:18] Okay, does anyone in the public want to hold an item on the consent agenda?
[17:24] Okay, do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?
[17:26] I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda.
[17:28] Second.
[17:29] Roll call, please.
[17:30] Mr. Abney?
[17:31] Yes.
[17:32] Mr. Heller?
[17:33] Yes, but I abstain from item one.
[17:36] Okay, thank you. Mr. Muller?
[17:37] Aye.
[17:38] Mr. Panico?
[17:39] Yes.
[17:39] Mayor Hucklebush.
[17:40] Aye. And the majority of these were things like veteran tax refunds, requests for
[17:45] refunds of unused soil witness fees, so relatively routine items.
[17:51] Next, we go into H. We have one item. We have a public hearing.
[17:56] So, let me
[17:58] begin that.
[18:03] So first, do I have a motion to close the regular meeting and open the public
[18:06] hearing?
[18:07] So moved.
[18:07] Second?
[18:08] Second.
[18:09] All in favor?
[18:09] Aye.
[18:10] Aye.
[18:10] Aye.
[18:10] Okay. Let me read it. This is an ordinance amending a portion of Chapter 96,
[18:16] Section 6, Construction Records Clearance Required, CRC, of the Code of the
[18:21] Township of Redington, County of Hartman, State of New Jersey.
[18:27] This is relatively
[18:31] Routine.
[18:32] Yeah.
[18:33] Jim, do you want to just-
[18:34] The amendments to the existing ordinance,
[18:38] the intent is to cure unabated violations when houses are being sold, and there's
[18:43] also two fee increases. One fee increases from $70 to $75, and another increases
[18:49] from $40 to $100.
[18:53] And those fees are based on how far out the requests are made from the time of the
[18:58] sale.
[19:00] Okay. And what was the first part you were saying, Doug?
[19:03] The unabated violations.
[19:05] Correct.
[19:05] And so open fines that haven't been satisfied.
[19:10] Thank you.
[19:12] Okay. Any questions?
[19:14] You ask.
[19:15] Yeah, but it got it the second time.
[19:16] I was going to ask what the remedy within, right?
[19:19] Because it's new, and we talked about this at the last meeting, a lot of different
[19:23] audience here. What is the remedy, especially because we weren't a full board in
[19:28] that last one. What's the remedy for the unabated penalties?
[19:34] The remedy would be to cure the violation, pay the violation.
[19:37] Okay, so we're now requiring them to be paid.
[19:39] Correct.
[19:40] Thank you. Say that one more time.
[19:42] I used the word cure, and I should've used the word pay.
[19:44] Okay. Just wanted to make sure we had that-
[19:45] Settle the tab.
[19:46] Yeah, exactly. Okay. Any comments from the public on this item?
[19:52] Okay, do I have a motion to close public hearing and open the regular meeting?
[19:55] Do I have a second?
[19:56] Second.
[19:57] All in favor?
[19:58] Aye.
[19:59] All right, do I have a motion to adopt this ordinance?
[20:01] I'll make a motion to adopt the ordinance.
[20:02] Do I have a second? Thank you. Roll call, please.
[20:05] Mr. Almy?
[20:06] Yes.
[20:06] Mr. Heller?
[20:07] Yes.
[20:07] Mr. Muller?
[20:08] Aye.
[20:09] Mr. Panico?
[20:09] Yes.
[20:10] Mayor Hesselbud?
[20:11] Aye.
[20:13] Okay, on the agenda we're now at I, Introduction of Ordinances, and there are two.
[20:17] I'll read the first one. "An ordinance of the Reddington Township Committee
[20:21] authorizing the acquisition of land identified as Block 24, Blocks 10 and 13, known
[20:28] as 101 Main Street, Reddington Township, Hunterdon County, State of New Jersey, for
[20:33] the purchase price of $305,000 to be paid, in part, from the Township's Affordable
[20:38] Housing Trust Fund." And this is ordinance number 21-2026.
[20:48] I have some comments on this one.
[20:52] I prepared something for this. "Turning 101 Main Street into an affordable housing
[20:57] development would be an indefensible misuse of one of Reddington's most
[21:00] historically significant and publicly visible properties.
[21:04] This is not an ordinary development site.
[21:07] It sits at the gateway to White House Station, immediately beside a cemetery that
[21:11] preserves a direct connection to our nation's founding and to the history of the
[21:14] White House itself. The cemetery is located in the White House section of our
[21:19] township, a community named for the White House Tavern, owned by Abraham Van
[21:25] Horn. Van Horn served in the Revolutionary War, and he is one of at
[21:30] least nine Revolutionary War veterans buried in the cemetery, and the Daughters of
[21:36] the American Revolution plaque at his gravesite records that he was, quote, 'host
[21:40] to General Washington at the old White House.'" George Washington visited that
[21:45] building or that current property out there.
[21:48] "This is not simply a neighboring burial ground.
[21:52] It's a historical landscape tied to Revolutionary War veterans, General Washington,
[21:57] and the origins of White House Station.
[21:59] The township should protect that setting, not expose it to a 100% affordable
[22:03] housing development. Once this gateway property is redeveloped in a manner
[22:08] incompatible with its surroundings, the damage to its historic setting cannot be
[22:12] undone. Reddington will be sacrificing a defining piece of community identity and
[22:18] diminishing the dignity of a cemetery containing the graves of men who served in
[22:23] the Revolution. 101 Main Street deserves preservation and a use that respects its
[22:28] unique historic context. It should not be treated as just another parcel available
[22:33] for affordable housing." I will be rejecting this resolution.
[22:38] Did your research indicate how long that building's
[22:44] been abandoned? I'm sorry, Jonathan, you had a-
[22:46] I just asked if his research included how long that building had been abandoned.
[22:50] The history on that property is those are hallowed grounds.
[22:55] Okay. So last year, we rezoned a lot of the township, including this
[23:01] property. This property, that everybody up here was celebrating
[23:07] the rezoning, was changed from seven uses.
[23:12] Now it has 26 potential uses, including, you can now have two different
[23:17] uses on the property. These uses include residential apartments
[23:24] with retail underneath. That's what the zoning change that was celebrated
[23:31] did. It includes fast food restaurant, pharmacy.
[23:37] So if you're going to make that statement,
[23:41] but you had previously changed the zoning just last year,
[23:48] it doesn't jive. I will tell you,
[23:51] there's a item agenda coming up that
[23:56] will select the potential developer of the property.
[24:00] We interviewed different developers. This was one that came in.
[24:04] Without any prompting, they come in, "Here's our thinking.
[24:08] What are your ideas?" They were already aware of the cemetery.
[24:11] They had a plan to care for it and to respect it.
[24:18] I sat down with the Daughters of the American Revolution folks that are here
[24:21] tonight and expressed the same. As the process moves along, there were
[24:27] some comments before about water runoff, et cetera.
[24:31] That all happens during the site plan application at the planning board level when
[24:35] there's an actual development, an actual proposal with drawings and studies and
[24:41] engineering done.
[24:43] So all those things,
[24:46] everybody's aware that the cemetery exists and it needs to be respected. As Mr.
[24:52] Heller said, it's been an empty lot with a building that is now
[24:58] basically dilapidated and condemned with trees growing through it.
[25:03] It is an eyesore for the entrance of the township.
[25:07] The proposal does not prevent the township from asking
[25:13] the developer to put a "Welcome to White House Station" sign, to put a flagpole up,
[25:18] to acknowledge the presence of the cemetery as it
[25:24] exists. Okay? That's about all I have to say on that.
[25:30] I just find it interesting that just a couple of years ago, there was a craft
[25:33] distillery that wanted to come into that property. We had no sewer available.
[25:38] No sewer, can't do it. Small business wanted to come into the town, we told them
[25:42] no. But now we suddenly have enough sewer to put in 20 affordable housing units?
[25:49] I'm not buying it. I'm not buying it.
[25:52] I know there were talks previously about the township acquiring that property to
[25:55] put in a nice little park, a little sitting area, flagpole, monuments, et cetera.
[26:00] Totally support that.
[26:02] 20 affordable, 100% affordable housing units right there? Welcome to Reddington.
[26:07] Here's our beautiful affordable housing. Absolutely cannot get behind that.
[26:11] And while we're on the topic, one of the previous speakers talked about how great
[26:17] 100% affordable housing projects are.
[26:22] I would like to quote something. I'm going to read a little something here.
[26:26] This is interesting.
[26:29] I'm going to skip around here a little, but I'm quoting this directly.
[26:33] "Courts will be very skeptical of a plan that includes three unfunded 100% projects
[26:38] right off the bat, particularly when they are the tool to exclude other developers.
[26:44] Unlike inclusionary developments, 100% affordable developments, by definition, lack
[26:49] the internal subsidy generated through the inclusion of market-rate units.
[26:53] For those reasons, getting them approved by a court carries a higher burden of
[26:57] proof. This includes a pro forma, a construction schedule demonstrating how these
[27:02] projects will be under construction within two years of court approval.
[27:09] In terms of financing, the potential shortfall for these three sites would be tens
[27:14] of millions of dollars."
[27:17] We would have to bond, go into debt to pay for these projects.
[27:21] I would like Committee Member Muller to cease.
[27:25] This is privileged information. Disclosing privileged information-
[27:30] Why? This would be bonding for millions of dollars.
[27:36] Time out.
[27:36] This is what they don't want you to hear.
[27:38] Why can't he talk? Because it's privileged information.
[27:42] We're the-
[27:43] Let him say it!
[27:44] No.
[27:45] We're residents.
[27:46] You can't interrupt him
[27:48] So what about the residents?
[27:50] Tom, we're not taking comments right now.
[27:52] We're discussing this-
[27:54] But what you said, it's privileged information.
[27:59] It's privileged to the township president.
[28:06] Thank you, Dan. Tone it down. Thank you.
[28:10] Our attorney just let me know when we're disclosing information that is not public
[28:15] because we're sometimes in negotiation or discussion.
[28:19] A township committee person is not allowed to disclose privileged information
[28:25] that's under contract. It has nothing to do with transparency or talking to
[28:28] residents. Now-
[28:28] This is not privileged. This is readily available if the residents would look at
[28:33] it. I'm putting this out there so you guys can, on your own, look up these codes
[28:37] and ordinances. Additionally, these projects require PILT agreements, payment in
[28:41] lieu of taxes, right? Meaning not one dime goes to the schools.
[28:45] We're inviting all these people in, and not one dime goes to the schools.
[28:48] Again, could you please listen to the attorney's advice?
[28:53] The document that you just read from says privileged and confidential.
[28:57] That is at issue.
[28:58] That's what he's talking about.
[29:00] The residents deserve to know what this governing body is voting on.
[29:04] It's that simple. They elected us into this position.
[29:08] Not-
[29:08] They deserve to know.
[29:09] Guys, I'm just going to ask, guys. This might be a bit out of here with the gavel
[29:15] whacking and yelling back and forth, but we can't have you guys yelling.
[29:19] There's 55 or 60 of you in this room, and if everybody's yelling, we're going to be
[29:24] in a bad situation. So I'm just asking you guys to maintain a bit of the
[29:30] function of this meeting because it has to happen in a certain way.
[29:33] Right. Thank you.
[29:33] So I'm in an interesting position here because I don't necessarily agree with
[29:39] everybody that's on this board.
[29:42] I made myself abundantly clear in our last meeting, which was the second meeting
[29:47] with the audit, the special meeting that we put on, and I said under no
[29:50] circumstances would I be voting for this 1183 project.
[29:54] This isn't an indicator of what I support, which direction I agree on affordable
[29:58] housing, or opinions on it. I simply look at this project and because of what
[30:04] Mr. Muller said before, we had an applicant come to open a small business on this
[30:08] property with three sewer credits, and they couldn't.
[30:12] They ended up going to, I think, Hackensack.
[30:15] Their business was named because they were planning on opening on this property.
[30:20] We were in discussions not two years ago on doing a joint purchase of this property
[30:26] so we could sort of make half of it a park, and that fell apart.
[30:30] Yet here we are somehow able to muster up $305,000.
[30:35] I don't love that this is the gate to our town. Adam said it. I believe it.
[30:40] This is the gate to our town. I don't want a high-density housing complex
[30:46] to be the first thing you see when you pull in.
[30:50] The other concern that I have, too, is the source of the funding.
[30:52] We're talking about $305,000, which from what I heard in the previous meeting, was
[30:57] coming out of our Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
[31:01] That is money that was allocated during the most recent round of budget
[31:05] conversations, specifically for the extension of controls in many of the
[31:09] properties. You can go back and listen to the record on those meetings.
[31:13] We discussed funding the Affordable Housing Trust Fund specifically for the
[31:18] extensions of controls. Now, less than six months later, we're turning around and
[31:22] spending it on something else. We're not going to have the funding for the
[31:24] extension of controls, and we're just kicking the can on that financial crisis down
[31:28] the road.
[31:30] I do not support 101 Nature. I made that abundantly clear in the last meeting.
[31:34] I will continue to make that abundantly clear.
[31:36] The other projects I'm happy to talk about and work through.
[31:39] This one is a no for me, and I'm disappointed that since our last meeting, nothing
[31:45] more has changed, and I haven't heard from anyone except our affordable housing
[31:50] attorney on this.
[31:51] Okay. All right. Do I have a motion to approve?
[31:56] I make a motion to introduce.
[31:57] Do I have a second?
[31:58] Second.
[31:59] Roll call, please.
[32:01] Mr. Albany?
[32:02] Yes.
[32:02] Mr. Heller?
[32:03] Yes.
[32:04] Mr. Muller?
[32:05] No.
[32:06] Mr. Panica?
[32:07] No.
[32:08] Mayor Hessel blush?
[32:09] Aye.
[32:10] I'll just make one or two comments because I don't think it's one or the other.
[32:14] The zoning that was changed along Route 22 permitted more uses, including
[32:19] apartments and retail in this spot. We do not want to do that.
[32:23] We want to maintain the lowest traffic impact and the lowest footprint we can.
[32:29] I am fully in support, and I've met previously with some of the folks from the
[32:34] organization that we should remove those structures.
[32:38] We should enhance the cemetery. I would like to see, and I can't speak to this
[32:44] because we have to go through a process, but I would like to see a park on that
[32:47] corner. I think we can do that. I think we can affect the look
[32:53] and protection of that cemetery. So that's my goal.
[32:57] So I do support this, and it will eliminate another 80 units that we have to do
[33:03] elsewhere.
[33:05] At minimum.
[33:06] At minimum. So let's-
[33:07] The doorknob comment, I don't love the doorknob comments.
[33:09] We're just voting to approve it. Let's move on.
[33:11] Okay. Numbers-
[33:13] The zoning was-- You can sit here and talk about the increased number of uses in
[33:18] the zoning. That's true, but that was when we were talking about three sewer units,
[33:21] where now we'll apply special zoning and additional sewer.
[33:24] So the zoning conversation is moot.
[33:26] It's like-
[33:27] Okay. All right
[33:27] ... out of the sky being blue.
[33:28] All right. I will accept your comment. Thank you.
[33:31] I just wanted to announce that the public hearing for this ordinance will be on
[33:35] September 21st.
[33:37] Okay. September 21. The second ordinance. I'll read it.
[33:41] An ordinance creating a new Chapter 50 in the Municipal Code of the Township of
[33:45] Readington, entitled Self-Insurance Fund to Comply with the New Jersey Department
[33:51] of Community Affairs Requirements, and this is ordinance number
[33:55] 2226.
[34:02] Jen, who would you have to speak on this?
[34:04] Our CFO is here if you want her to make a comment on it.
[34:06] Yeah. Kim?
[34:07] Or I'd rather pretty high represent-
[34:09] I thought the mayor mentioned this was a topic when we carried over from executive
[34:13] session.
[34:15] Do you want me to comment on what this is and why we're doing this?
[34:18] I think it'll be a little less controversial.
[34:21] No. This just pertains to our dental insurance, where we did a resolution a couple
[34:27] of meetings ago saying we were going to be self-insurance, managing it ourselves.
[34:31] This is just the ordinance required from the DCA to move forward with that.
[34:35] Because they want an ordinance, not a resolution, correct?
[34:38] Correct.
[34:38] Okay. So this is basically what we did a couple of weeks ago.
[34:41] It's just an ordinance, not a resolution.
[34:43] Yes.
[34:44] Thank you, Miss. Appreciate it.
[34:45] You're welcome.
[34:45] Thank you.
[34:47] I'll make-
[34:48] No
[34:48] ... I'll make a motion to introduce the ordinance.
[34:51] All right. Do I have a second?
[34:52] Second.
[34:53] Okay. Roll call, please.
[34:54] Mr. Albany?
[34:55] Yes.
[34:56] Mr. Heller?
[34:56] Yes.
[34:57] Mr. Muller?
[34:58] Aye.
[34:58] Mr. Panica?
[34:59] Yes.
[34:59] Mayor Hessel blush?
[35:01] Aye.
[35:01] The public hearing for this ordinance will be September 21.
[35:05] Okay, September 21. The next on the agenda is resolutions, and we have a number
[35:10] similar in similar categories. I'll go through this as quickly as I can.
[35:15] First resolution is a resolution acknowledging the annual audit for the year
[35:20] 2025.
[35:25] We've all received that, looked at it. Any comment?
[35:30] I would again defer to the CFO if she would like to review the two findings that
[35:33] were made.
[35:34] That's on the next item, actually.
[35:36] Yeah. Why don't we-
[35:37] We can do it right now while we're doing the audits. We can do it all at once.
[35:41] Well, let's do this one first, if we can.
[35:43] Do we have a motion
[35:45] to approve the first resolution?
[35:48] So moved.
[35:49] Second.
[35:50] Roll call, please.
[35:51] Mr. Albany?
[35:52] Yes.
[35:52] Mr. Heller?
[35:53] Yes.
[35:53] Mr. Muller?
[35:54] Aye.
[35:55] Mr. Panica?
[35:55] Yes.
[35:56] Mayor Hessel blush?
[35:56] Aye. And number two is a resolution accepting and approving the corrective action
[36:01] plan for the 2025 township audit.
[36:07] Thank you.
[36:09] So our 2025 audit had two recommendations, two findings, conditions.
[36:15] First one was the general ledger not being maintained in a timely fashion.
[36:19] Multiple funds reflected interfund balances at the year-end that should be
[36:23] liquidated.
[36:25] The recommendation was internal control policy procedure should be developed to
[36:28] properly maintain a timely and accurate general ledger system.
[36:34] We developed that process last year.
[36:35] Part of this was not receiving our final audit for the prior year until November.
[36:41] So we've already started liquidating all of our interfunds for this year.
[36:46] The second finding was the grant fund reflected an over-expenditure.
[36:51] There was a small grant that we received that did not get Chapter 159'd, had to be
[36:55] raised in the budget this year. It's already been taken care of.
[36:59] Okay.
[37:01] Thank you very much. Any questions?
[37:03] I will just say, I think one of the hardest jobs that happens in this town is the
[37:10] management of this money. It is incredibly challenging to do, and then the auditors
[37:14] come in and do a pretty invasive inspection. It's always challenging.
[37:17] I'll just read a couple of things here.
[37:19] The first one is, "We encountered no significant difficulties dealing with
[37:23] management and performing to complete our audit." They also say in here, "We are
[37:27] pleased to report that no disagreements arose during the course of our audit." And
[37:32] there was one other one. Generally, they're happy.
[37:35] I think the corrective actions that they've recommended weren't egregious, in my
[37:40] opinion. I've seen some egregious ones. These weren't egregious.
[37:44] So I'm pleased with the position of
[37:47] the health of our financial workflows, and I can say our budget.
[37:51] I'm pleased with the health of our financial workflows and especially with how far
[37:55] they've come over the past couple years. Thank you.
[37:57] Thank you.
[37:57] The only question I have, is this the right timing for this review of this 2025
[38:03] audit? Is it normally in September
[38:07] that we would see this, or is this just a unique timeframe?
[38:11] We had a lot to kind of catch up on last year. We were very late.
[38:15] This year, we're a little earlier.
[38:16] Next year, the hope is to be even earlier, but we are within the appropriate
[38:19] timeframe.
[38:20] Okay. So it might be earlier next year, or-
[38:23] Yes.
[38:23] Okay. You'll let us know.
[38:25] Mm-hmm.
[38:25] All right. Thank you very much.
[38:26] You're welcome.
[38:28] Motion?
[38:29] I'll make a motion to approve the corrective action plan.
[38:31] Do I have a second?
[38:33] Second.
[38:34] Roll call, please.
[38:35] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[38:39] Yes.
[38:39] Mayor Hostetler?
[38:40] Aye. Number three, resolution requesting permission for the dedication by writer
[38:45] for police donations required by New Jersey Statute 485-29.
[38:52] Jim?
[38:54] From time to time, the police department receives donations from generous residents
[38:59] or business owners, and this just permits the acceptance of those donations.
[39:03] Okay.
[39:04] Formalizes the acceptance. It's not for each donation, but it allows for a
[39:09] process.
[39:10] Okay. Any comment? Okay. Do I have a motion?
[39:13] So moved.
[39:14] Second.
[39:15] Roll call, please.
[39:16] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[39:20] Yes.
[39:20] Mayor Hostetler?
[39:21] Aye. Number four, resolution authorizing acceptance of open space
[39:26] acquisition grant.
[39:30] I believe this is a grant from the county, April of this year. Is that correct?
[39:34] Yes.
[39:35] Okay.
[39:37] And this is for a grant that we requested for a property in the Chambers Brook
[39:42] watershed, which follows as the next resolution.
[39:46] So I think this just enables the county to provide that grant. Any questions?
[39:52] So the grant is for $136,000,
[39:58] correct?
[40:01] Correct.
[40:02] I'm asking Eric.
[40:03] County contribution request of $136,000.
[40:06] Yep.
[40:07] Okay.
[40:09] Thank you.
[40:15] I'll make a motion to accept the grant.
[40:17] Second.
[40:18] Roll call, please.
[40:20] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[40:24] Yes.
[40:24] Mayor Hostetler?
[40:25] Aye. Next resolution is a resolution authorizing insertion of a special item of
[40:30] revenue and appropriation into the budget for the Hunterdon County Open Space
[40:35] Acquisition Federal Grant of $136,000.
[40:40] I'm assuming this is the same grant, given it's the same amount, correct?
[40:44] Correct.
[40:44] Okay. So before it was the acceptance of the grant.
[40:46] This is us actually putting it into the budget, correct?
[40:49] Yes.
[40:50] Okay.
[40:50] That's my understanding.
[40:51] I'll make a motion to authorize the special insertions.
[40:55] Second.
[40:56] Roll call, please.
[40:57] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[41:01] Yes.
[41:02] Mayor Hostetler?
[41:03] Aye. I'll just make a note on this one.
[41:05] This is for a parcel in the Chambers Brook watershed. This is a 31.5 acre piece.
[41:12] This is the third acquisition we've done in the Chambers Brook in the last eight
[41:16] years, a total of about 90 acres. First one was a donation, 35.5 acres on
[41:21] Ridge Road, which now has a trail on it.
[41:24] The second one was a 28.5 acre piece on Connington, which now
[41:30] has a trailhead on it. And this piece is a natural piece of land between Connington
[41:35] and Railroad Lane, and we will continue to preserve land in this watershed.
[41:41] Good thing about all three of these is they were all paid by county and Green
[41:46] Acres, with the exception of the one we're talking about, because for the first
[41:50] time, we're going into federal funds.
[41:52] Readington is now part of the Federal Highlands, which allows us to ask for federal
[41:58] money. So in some cases in future, we will ask for Green Acres money from the
[42:02] state. In some cases, we'll ask for federal money in the Highlands.
[42:06] The intent is always to have all of that paid by external sources, county, state,
[42:11] federal. So we don't use our taxes to purchase open space.
[42:16] We go in with a plan to preserve it with funds from those sources.
[42:20] So it's been very successful. And what I'd like to see in future is we connect some
[42:25] of these parcels with easements or connections, and then we do what we do with
[42:30] Readington Middle School. We have open space and trails near the school.
[42:34] Maybe someday we'll have something for White House School, and we can get kids into
[42:38] a natural area, something like that.
[42:41] So anyway, that's a little background on what we're talking about.
[42:44] Next, six, resolution authorizing acceptance of national opioid-
[42:51] Opioid
[42:51] ... opioids. Thank you. English is my second language. German is my first language.
[42:56] Sorry. Settlement funds. Any-
[42:59] So back when there was all the lawsuits around opioid
[43:04] addictions and abuse, there were some settlements that were made by large
[43:09] pharmaceutical companies, which required them basically to make payments to towns.
[43:14] So this is an annual thing that we see, where we accept some money from each one of
[43:20] the major pharmaceutical companies on the national opioid settlement.
[43:24] So what you're going to see here is item six is the acceptance of the settlement
[43:29] funds. Then items seven, eight, nine, ten are the insertion of those into the
[43:35] budget. So similar to what you just saw on the open space grant.
[43:38] Once we accept the funds, we have to make the modifications to the budget to be
[43:42] able to bring it into our books and then pay back out.
[43:45] So that's what these next several are going to be.
[43:47] It's going to seem kind of like a machine as we roll through them, but they're all
[43:50] related.
[43:51] Okay. Do I have a motion for number six?
[43:52] I'll make the motion to accept the funds.
[43:54] Do I have a second?
[43:56] Second.
[43:56] Roll call, please.
[43:56] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[44:00] Yes.
[44:00] Mayor Hostetler?
[44:01] Aye. Number seven, resolution authorizing insertion of a special item of revenue
[44:05] and appropriation to the budget for the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, and
[44:10] this is for settlement TEVA payment four in the amount of
[44:15] $3,250.23. Do I have a motion for this one?
[44:19] I'll make a motion.
[44:20] Second.
[44:21] Roll call, please.
[44:22] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[44:26] Yes.
[44:26] Mayor Hostetler?
[44:27] Aye. Number eight, resolution authorizing the insertion of a special item of
[44:31] revenue and appropriation into the budget for the New Jersey Attorney General's
[44:35] Office, CVS payment four in the amount of
[44:40] $5,924.70. Do I have a motion?
[44:44] So moved.
[44:45] Second.
[44:46] Roll call, please.
[44:47] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[44:51] Yes.
[44:51] Mayor Hostetler?
[44:52] Aye. Number nine, resolution authorizing insertion of special item of revenue
[44:57] appropriation to the budget for New Jersey Attorney General's office, and this is
[45:02] the Allergan payment number four in the amount of $3,351.57.
[45:08] So moved.
[45:09] Second.
[45:09] Roll call, please.
[45:10] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[45:14] Yes.
[45:15] Mayor Hostetler?
[45:16] Aye. Thank you. Number 10, resolution authorizing the insertion of a special item
[45:21] of revenue and appropriation into the budget for the New Jersey Attorney General's
[45:24] Office. This is Janssen payment number six in the amount of
[45:28] $1,643.57.
[45:33] So moved.
[45:34] Second.
[45:35] Roll call, please.
[45:35] Mr. Albany? Yes. Mr. Haller? Yes. Mr. Moller? Aye. Mr. Panico?
[45:39] Yes.
[45:40] Mayor Hostetler?
[45:41] Aye. Thank you.
[45:42] The total amount for those four, for those keeping track, were $14,170.07.
[45:48] Okay. Now we have a series of resolutions also similar into extending
[45:54] some
[45:56] revenue items, or not revenue items, but budget items. So I'll read it.
[46:01] Number 11, resolution amending Resolution
[46:04] R2026-127 to increase the not to exceed amount
[46:10] for SSP Architects
[46:14] Any discussion?
[46:15] Jim, just in general, for all of these, do we have the budget to increase these
[46:20] fees, these passes?
[46:22] I'll ask our CFO that same question, but specifically SSP, the increase was due to
[46:26] the federal grant, the US Department of the Grant.
[46:27] Right. How was the grant, but specifically the other ones?
[46:32] Yes. So as Administrator Curry said, SSP is funded by grants.
[46:37] The next one, do you want me to go through all of them, or wait?
[46:41] Sure, go through all of them.
[46:41] So the, oh, God, I have to say the whole thing.
[46:45] Savo, Shalck, Corsini, Warner, Gillespie, and Rudnick and Fisher.
[46:51] That comes from our legal line that we do have funds in that.
[46:55] Same thing for
[46:57] item 13. 14 is funded through several funding sources.
[47:02] So it's a combination of escrow and operating and things
[47:08] like that. And Clark, Keating, Hince is funded by operating budget and our
[47:12] affordable housing.
[47:15] So you're saying we have money.
[47:17] You're saying we have the money.
[47:18] Yes.
[47:18] You're recommending these motions.
[47:22] We don't have a choice.
[47:24] Okay. It is required.
[47:27] Okay. All right. Yeah, I'll just add this color.
[47:31] Basically, when we approve all these vendors, and I think this is the first year we
[47:34] did it, we hit a cap on our spending, because we're just trying to have a good,
[47:37] broad overview of how much we're spending.
[47:39] We don't hit the cap with these five, so we're just moving the cap up.
[47:42] It's just some internal controls just to make sure that we're aware of our
[47:46] spending.
[47:46] Yes.
[47:46] But that's all it is. So I'll make a motion to increase the NTE for SSP.
[47:52] Okay. Roll call, please.
[47:54] Mr. Abney?
[47:55] Yes.
[47:55] Mr. Heller?
[47:56] Yes.
[47:56] Mr. Moller?
[47:57] Aye.
[47:57] Mr. Panico?
[47:58] Yes.
[47:58] Mayor Hostetler?
[47:59] Aye. And number 12 resolution.
[48:01] I'll make a motion to exceed the NTE for Savo.
[48:04] Second.
[48:05] Okay. Roll call, please.
[48:06] Mr. Abney?
[48:07] Yes.
[48:07] Mr. Heller?
[48:08] Yes.
[48:08] Mr. Moller?
[48:09] Aye.
[48:09] Mr. Panico?
[48:10] Yes.
[48:10] Mayor Hostetler?
[48:11] Okay. 14?
[48:12] I'll make a motion to increase the NTE for Syria.
[48:16] Second.
[48:17] Roll call, please.
[48:18] Mr. Abney?
[48:19] Yes.
[48:19] Mr. Heller?
[48:20] Yes.
[48:20] Mr. Moller?
[48:21] Aye.
[48:21] Mr. Panico?
[48:22] Yes.
[48:22] Mayor Hostetler?
[48:23] Aye. Thank you. 14?
[48:25] I'll make the motion to increase the NTE for Van Cleef.
[48:28] Second.
[48:29] Roll call, please.
[48:30] Mr. Abney?
[48:31] Yes.
[48:31] Mr. Heller?
[48:32] Yes.
[48:32] Mr. Moller?
[48:33] Aye.
[48:33] Mr. Panico?
[48:34] Yes.
[48:34] Mayor Hostetler?
[48:35] Aye. 15 is, I'll make the motion to increase the NTE for
[48:41] CCH.
[48:42] Second.
[48:43] Roll call.
[48:43] Mr. Abney?
[48:44] Yes.
[48:45] Mr. Heller?
[48:45] Yes.
[48:46] Mr. Moller?
[48:46] Aye.
[48:47] Mr. Panico?
[48:47] Yes.
[48:48] Mayor Hostetler?
[48:48] Aye.
[48:50] Okay, number 16, unless you're going to speak to this, I'll read it first.
[48:54] A resolution authorizing and directing the Planning Board of the Township of
[48:58] Readington to undertake a preliminary investigation of Block 21.05,
[49:03] Lot 2. The study area, 200 Van Horn Road, pursuant to New Jersey Redevelopment and
[49:09] Housing Law. A classification as an area in need of redevelopment and directing the
[49:15] Planning Board to prepare a study investigating whether the study area qualifies as
[49:20] a condemnation area in need of redevelopment.
[49:24] I believe this is a technical, legal update on something we have previously
[49:30] discussed and approved. So let me-
[49:32] Yeah, that's it. Well, we have to come back to the Planning Board with their
[49:36] recommendation.
[49:38] What is the Planning Board going to be studying?
[49:41] So this is the
[49:43] Morilla Senior Center and expanding Morilla Senior Center from 60 units to 100
[49:49] units.
[49:50] And this is part of our affordable housing plan, correct?
[49:54] Correct.
[49:54] I don't think this hit the Planning Board yet, did it?
[49:56] No.
[49:56] Because this is directing the Planning Board to review it. Yeah.
[49:59] Then we'll come back up.
[50:01] And so to restate it, it is taking the existing Morilla senior residents
[50:07] and looking at doubling it to adding another 60 units onto it, correct?
[50:12] Correct. Down below Van Horn Road.
[50:16] We'll get more on that.
[50:17] Okay.
[50:18] Make a motion to approve the resolution.
[50:20] Second. Roll call, please.
[50:22] Mr. Abney?
[50:23] Yes.
[50:24] Mr. Heller?
[50:24] Yes.
[50:25] Mr. Moller?
[50:26] No.
[50:26] Mr. Panico?
[50:27] Yes.
[50:28] Mayor Hostetler?
[50:29] Aye. Thank you.
[50:33] And this will go to the Planning Board on the 14th or what's the timing?
[50:39] Do they-
[50:39] So what this is doing is directing the planner, locate Hince to conduct a study to
[50:45] bring to the Planning Board for feedback and eventual
[50:51] funding.
[50:52] Okay. So it'll be a future meeting at some point.
[50:54] I don't know if they-
[50:56] Okay. Thank you.
[50:59] Yes.
[50:59] Number 17, resolution designating the property identified as Block 4, Lot 18 on the
[51:05] tax map of the township of Readington as an area in need of redevelopment, not
[51:10] condemnation, pursuant to the New Jersey Local Redevelopment and Housing Law.
[51:17] Okay. Mr. Mayor,
[51:21] this property was purchased using open space trust fund money.
[51:24] How is this being included in our affordable housing plan?
[51:33] This is-
[51:35] The property was purchased with open space trust fund.
[51:38] By state law, it has to be held in trust.
[51:41] This is the property on Route 22 West.
[51:45] This property was purchased with open space trust funds.
[51:48] Counselor, I believe you had an opportunity to review that ordinance.
[51:52] Would you concur?
[51:53] You, yes.
[51:54] Well, the thing I'll tell you is that's not true.
[51:58] It was purchased by the direction of the administrator, and it was not-
[52:04] This was purchased, the ordinance 29 out of 2021.
[52:08] Adam, can I speak?
[52:09] Go ahead.
[52:10] It was originally pulled from open space trust, and I believe within six months, I
[52:16] don't know the period of time. We need to check, but it was repaid so that
[52:22] it was not an open space parcel. It was not using open space money other than
[52:28] maybe for the original purchase. I'm pretty sure of that. That was Richard.
[52:32] This was carried in our 2021 financial statements as such.
[52:39] So I do not believe we should be proceeding ahead with this-
[52:44] Okay
[52:44] ... resolution with these open items.
[52:47] This was clearly purchased with open space money.
[52:51] Alicia, can you, I don't know if you can do it right now, can you verify the source
[52:56] of the funding?
[52:58] I have everything here. Alicia, if you'd like to take a look.
[53:03] Yeah. No, the money was paid back to the open space trust.
[53:09] That's what we need to verify. Not the original- That's what they were doing right
[53:12] by, too. Not the original,
[53:15] maybe, resolution.
[53:19] Because this isn't carried on the roster, it's not part of the open space.
[53:23] It never has been.
[53:24] If it was purchased with open space funds, it cannot be included in affordable
[53:28] housing. It can't. It legally cannot.
[53:31] Even if you're telling me that a year later we switched funds, there's a process
[53:35] for doing that. There's a diversion protocol that we have to follow to do that.
[53:42] So either we did it wrong or we didn't do it.
[53:45] But either way, the property was purchased with open space money.
[53:49] We can't do what we're doing.
[53:50] Tell you what, Adam, we will ask the CFO to research and advise on that.
[53:56] I make a motion to table this ordinance or this resolution.
[54:00] Second.
[54:03] She's not going to get the answer in the next two weeks.
[54:06] We don't want her to get both the answers that way.
[54:10] No.
[54:11] Let's take proper time, do it appropriately.
[54:14] So I'll second the-
[54:16] Yeah, I second it. So when there's a motion and a second, there's usually a
[54:20] discussion. I will say, I gave feedback on this specific piece of property.
[54:27] I had said that my want with this was to look at using
[54:33] some of the resources that we had talked in the past around making this veterans
[54:36] housing. When our previous administrator was here, we went pretty far down this
[54:40] road. We had vendors and funding sources lined up.
[54:44] We had a lot of conversation around it.
[54:47] In our second meeting in August, I made it very clear that I would use the land to
[54:52] see the exploration into that, have a look at it.
[54:58] Not that I'm aware of.
[54:59] Okay.
[55:00] But your message was passed along to see if it was a viable
[55:05] opportunity.
[55:07] Yeah, I mean, my message was passed along because I called Laura Schroeder-
[55:10] I sent her
[55:10] ... and put her in touch with the person.
[55:12] We sat in Jim's office. We sent me the information, and I immediately passed it
[55:16] along to this affordable housing subcommittee before the session.
[55:19] Okay.
[55:20] Yeah.
[55:20] We'll discuss this after.
[55:23] Okay.
[55:23] Can I do a roll call on that?
[55:26] There's a motion and a second.
[55:28] Mr. Abney?
[55:29] Yes.
[55:30] Mr. Heller?
[55:31] Yes.
[55:31] Mr. Moller?
[55:32] Aye.
[55:32] Mr. Panico?
[55:33] Yes.
[55:33] Mayor Hostetler?
[55:34] Aye.
[55:36] Okay, let me move on. Number 18, resolution authorizing the execution of a
[55:42] memorandum of understanding with FBC Trading.
[55:47] This is referred to as the Kitchen property, number 22. Is that correct?
[55:53] Correct.
[55:54] Okay.
[55:54] So, it's another part of our affordable housing plans to allow for 48
[56:01] units, all senior designation,
[56:06] 55 plus.
[56:08] That's not what the MOU says. The MOU says 48 apartments, 12
[56:13] units would be affordable, 36 would be market rate.
[56:17] The intention,
[56:21] and it's stated. I mean, I'd say it was-
[56:23] Can you talk about sort of the framework of these MOUs?
[56:26] What does it mean when at this point we're signing an MOU with a developer?
[56:30] If you could educate folks on that, John, that'd probably be pretty helpful.
[56:33] Well, on that front, so I defer to Chris on explaining the meaning exactly.
[56:38] Begins the process, moving down the path towards eventually having a partnering
[56:43] with these individuals, groups, and one of them is having a new development.
[56:46] So we're working with another town through the process.
[56:49] So what are the terms for what comes next?
[56:52] How did we pick these developers, right?
[56:54] This is the first time I'm seeing FBC Trading LLC, and I'm really interested in
[57:01] how this came about, what the process was to us getting to the selection of these
[57:06] developers.
[57:07] So the property owner came forward and identified themselves as interested in
[57:11] participating in the process.
[57:14] We met with them. At one time, Pat and I met with them, and then they come
[57:20] in front of the Affordable, from the folks from the Kitchen.
[57:23] We were on the video, and I was in town with them.
[57:28] And we had a conversation. What do you think?
[57:32] For these folks, it was a lot of understanding the process.
[57:37] What does it all mean? How does it work? Et cetera.
[57:40] And then they come into the Affordable Housing Subcommittee, and there's another
[57:45] conversation that goes on, and it winds up putting all of those conversations
[57:50] together in an MOU.
[57:53] So this is a developer that the property owner has chosen, and we've bought the
[57:58] property.
[57:59] Yeah, I don't know if they created an LLC for this purpose.
[58:02] I don't know what FBC stands for.
[58:03] Okay. Anyway, this is brought forward by the property owner.
[58:06] This isn't one that the township went out and selected, is what I'm saying.
[58:09] No.
[58:10] Okay.
[58:10] No, if you're asking is this a designated developer-
[58:14] Mm-hmm.
[58:15] No.
[58:16] Okay.
[58:16] Will our township professionals have any expenses associated with this?
[58:23] Of course.
[58:25] Will they be refunded, though? Wouldn't they be refunded for escrow?
[58:29] You can ask for money.
[58:30] Yeah.
[58:30] You can. It's very common.
[58:32] Yeah. So if there's expenses, they can be escrowed, or paid for escrow with the-
[58:37] We can set up escrow for it
[58:38] ... with the offset.
[58:40] Yeah. Actually a conditional approval.
[58:42] Okay. Do I have a motion?
[58:45] I'll make the motion to approve, with the escrow
[58:50] language added.
[58:53] And I defer to the attorney on what that is with the-
[58:56] You'd have to talk to Mike Edwards.
[58:57] Yeah.
[58:58] The key we have.
[58:59] Yeah. I defer to Mike Edwards on the recommended amount of language.
[59:02] But I'll make the motion with the escrow language added.
[59:06] Okay. Do I have a second?
[59:08] Second.
[59:10] Okay. Roll call.
[59:12] Mr. Abney?
[59:13] Yes.
[59:14] Mr. Haller?
[59:14] Yes.
[59:15] Mr. Muller?
[59:16] No.
[59:16] Mr. Panico?
[59:17] Yes.
[59:18] Mayor Hostetler.
[59:19] Aye. Thank you. Number 19, resolution authorizing the execution of a memorandum of
[59:24] understanding between the township of Readington and Weeds Work Properties Urban
[59:29] Renewal LLC.
[59:35] In this case, we're talking about the Main Street property, is that correct?
[59:38] This is the Main Street property, and it's a property that the township owns that's
[59:45] out on the border of Ranch Burr, can't see it from the road.
[59:48] It's where the new Kingdom Hall is built. There's an existing structure there.
[59:54] It's a house that used to be occupied in the most part, used
[1:00:00] for affordable housing. It's been vacant for a while, so developer is interested.
[1:00:05] This is a small-scale developer, doing 20 units.
[1:00:08] And then they're also interested in building two houses, three
[1:00:13] homes on that property that's out on the border of Ranch Burr, and that gets
[1:00:19] us eight credits towards our obligation.
[1:00:23] Okay, so this is near County Line Road on the north side of 22. Is that correct?
[1:00:27] Correct. It's on the west-bound side.
[1:00:30] So this MOU is saying the township would be responsible for,
[1:00:37] what is this, $2 million? $2
[1:00:41] million, or that, I might be reading this wrong because it's mentioning two
[1:00:45] properties. No, it's a million, $1,020,000 out of our affordable housing
[1:00:50] trust fund. Do we have $1,020,000 in our trust fund, CBO? We do not.
[1:00:57] So where's that money going to come from?
[1:01:01] Our pockets, people. Our pockets.
[1:01:03] We're going to bond, and you're going to get taxed on it. That's how this works.
[1:01:08] Mm-hmm.
[1:01:10] That this is what we're talking about here that no one up here wants to talk about.
[1:01:13] I don't want to live that long anymore.
[1:01:15] And this agreement also specifically talks about a pilot agreement,
[1:01:21] a payment in lieu of taxes. So the township gets a one-time infusion of cash, and
[1:01:25] then-
[1:01:27] One time per year
[1:01:28] ... one time per year, well below market rate.
[1:01:31] So-
[1:01:31] Mr. Abney, can you please speak into the microphone?
[1:01:35] And none of that money goes to the schools, which is about 70% of your tax bill.
[1:01:39] So keep that in mind, too. So your school taxes are going up, too.
[1:01:45] Highly unlikely that group homes generate students.
[1:01:49] We can't hear.
[1:01:49] Just speak up, John.
[1:01:51] Sorry. It's highly unlikely that group homes are going to generate students.
[1:01:57] Also, in pilot agreements, the municipality can
[1:02:03] dedicate some of the pilot money to schools if they choose to do so.
[1:02:06] Have we ever done that?
[1:02:08] Doesn't mean that we can't.
[1:02:09] We've never done it. Ever.
[1:02:15] Okay.
[1:02:16] It's important you folks attend these meetings. Hear what's going on.
[1:02:21] Okay. Do I have a-
[1:02:22] Oh, I got one more question on this, actually.
[1:02:25] We had an executive session about a month ago where we specifically talked about
[1:02:31] bonding.
[1:02:34] You need four votes to bond, just to be clear.
[1:02:39] There was not the appetite for four votes for bonding.
[1:02:41] So again, how are we proceeding with any of these projects if you don't have the
[1:02:47] votes to bond?
[1:02:49] So we're basically wasting our professionals' time, your money, having them spin
[1:02:55] their wheels, our lawyers, planners, all these people spinning their wheels
[1:03:00] for projects that you don't have the votes to bond for this.
[1:03:05] That's why we also just increased all of our consultants' fees, guys.
[1:03:15] Okay. Do I have a motion?
[1:03:17] So moved.
[1:03:17] Do I have a second?
[1:03:19] Second.
[1:03:20] Roll call, please.
[1:03:21] Mr. Abney?
[1:03:22] Yes.
[1:03:23] Mr. Haller?
[1:03:24] Yes.
[1:03:25] Mr. Muller?
[1:03:25] No.
[1:03:26] Mr. Panico?
[1:03:27] No.
[1:03:28] Mayor Hostetler.
[1:03:29] Aye.
[1:03:31] Okay. Next is 20, resolution appointing Larry Thode to the Board of Health.
[1:03:36] Fine.
[1:03:39] No resume.
[1:03:42] Jonathan?
[1:03:43] It's a gentleman who showed up at one of the Board of Health meetings, and he's
[1:03:48] recently retired, and he offered his services. He's an engineer.
[1:03:52] He offered his services to come on the Board of Health. There was a vacancy.
[1:03:55] The committee chair interviewed him, as did the rest of the board, and they made a
[1:04:00] recommendation that he be added to the Board of Health.
[1:04:02] Is that a full-time member? Is that a-
[1:04:04] Full-time
[1:04:05] ... full-time? Okay.
[1:04:06] Any questions?
[1:04:09] Is this following the process for appointments and vacancies, Council?
[1:04:14] He submitted an application saying he was interested in joining that board, yes.
[1:04:18] Yeah. Okay.
[1:04:20] I don't know if I... Was that in the packet?
[1:04:26] No.
[1:04:28] It wasn't anything. It was just an application that just had his name and
[1:04:33] information on it. So like-
[1:04:34] A citizen volunteer form? It was or was not the citizen volunteer form?
[1:04:39] It was.
[1:04:40] It was.
[1:04:40] It was?
[1:04:41] Yeah.
[1:04:42] All right. Good. I'll make a motion to appoint Mr. Dowd to the board.
[1:04:47] There you go. Second.
[1:04:48] Second.
[1:04:49] Roll call, please.
[1:04:50] Mr. Alby?
[1:04:51] Yes.
[1:04:51] Mr. Heller?
[1:04:52] Yes.
[1:04:53] Mr. Muller?
[1:04:54] Aye.
[1:04:54] Mr. Panico?
[1:04:55] Yes.
[1:04:55] Mayor Hoffa?
[1:04:56] Aye. Last is number 21, resolution adopting an amended Remington Township
[1:05:02] social media policy. Jim, we've done something similar, but this is an update.
[1:05:07] Could you just highlight what you have?
[1:05:10] Yeah. Since the last update, the police department wanted to migrate because they
[1:05:16] have the ability to administer their own Facebook page and accept comments.
[1:05:21] We removed the Office of Emergency Management site, which hasn't been used for some
[1:05:25] time, limited those who can post to
[1:05:30] employees and committee-appointed volunteers.
[1:05:35] Those are the largest changes to the policy.
[1:05:39] Okay.
[1:05:39] There might've been some other typos, but other than that, there's nothing
[1:05:44] substantial.
[1:05:45] So Jim, in the resolution, it talks about the new webmaster.
[1:05:50] Have you determined who the new webmaster will be?
[1:05:53] We know who that person is. They assist with our site, the website.
[1:05:58] And it also talks about the township administrator's designated appointee.
[1:06:02] Who is that person to be?
[1:06:05] Are you talking for the local township site?
[1:06:07] Right.
[1:06:08] That's one of our employees, Amanda Jessamine.
[1:06:12] Okay.
[1:06:12] She's the administrator.
[1:06:14] And is there also a backup or a second person, or...?
[1:06:19] Each site has...
[1:06:22] I'm trying to think off the top of my head. Right now there is no backup.
[1:06:27] Okay. One of the other concerns is there doesn't seem to be a process as to
[1:06:32] how approval gets made for content.
[1:06:36] Who's actually going to be approving it and placing it on
[1:06:40] the sites?
[1:06:42] So Amanda does that. That's part of her job.
[1:06:46] Her sole discretion?
[1:06:48] She does most of the posting, so everything passes across her desk.
[1:06:52] If she has any questions, she can ask me. I'm the final authority.
[1:06:57] But you're not reviewing everything that goes on the site.
[1:06:58] I don't review every single post, no.
[1:07:05] There's a workflow that's working well today.
[1:07:10] Mm-hmm.
[1:07:10] I don't want to sit here and beat something up if we've got a process that works
[1:07:16] well. I think what this is doing is this is undoing some of the issues that we
[1:07:20] created when we established this policy.
[1:07:23] One of those issues being the police had a lot of information and outreach via
[1:07:28] comments and messages, and those were then disabled.
[1:07:31] So I don't want to over-engineer something when it's a...
[1:07:36] I don't want to create a problem just to find a solution for it.
[1:07:41] Jack?
[1:07:42] My questions and concerns are regarding the previous policy where there was a lot
[1:07:45] of data that was not processed and not placed on those sites when it's
[1:07:51] requested by either a volunteer board or a fellow
[1:07:57] municipal employee, and it was vetted by others and not put on the site.
[1:08:01] That's where my concern is.
[1:08:03] Okay.
[1:08:03] Who's actually making these decisions, and what information is being removed and
[1:08:07] prevented from being placed on there?
[1:08:09] I'm not familiar with anything that was requested to be posted and was not posted.
[1:08:15] I heard from several people it did happen, so.
[1:08:19] Okay.
[1:08:19] Those are my concerns.
[1:08:22] Well, I would think anything, Amanda, if she's the prime on this, finds
[1:08:26] controversial or something, she should, I think she does, go to you or would go to
[1:08:30] you for oversight, right?
[1:08:32] That's correct.
[1:08:32] Yeah, which is appropriate. All right, do I have a motion?
[1:08:37] Well, I got one thing, Mayor.
[1:08:38] Sure.
[1:08:38] I'm going to also just vote against this because of the comment policy alone.
[1:08:43] We do not allow comments on our township page. I fundamentally disagree with that.
[1:08:48] It's a place for our residents to reach out to us, ask questions, and get answers.
[1:08:53] By disabling it, you're not being transparent.
[1:08:57] I do not agree with that one bit. And Jim, in Amanda's
[1:09:02] absence, there should be backup. There should be.
[1:09:09] Okay.
[1:09:09] There'll be backup.
[1:09:10] So those backups are the OEM coordinator.
[1:09:14] Yeah.
[1:09:14] But typically, those messages he's going to post are going to be on road closings-
[1:09:19] Yeah
[1:09:20] ... storm issues, things of those, that nature.
[1:09:22] No, if Amanda's on vacation-
[1:09:23] And the webmaster can also do the posting, but that's going to be strictly Monday
[1:09:28] through Friday business hours.
[1:09:29] Yeah. If Amanda's on vacation for a week, there should be somebody to fill in
[1:09:34] because, for example, last week, there were a lot of things that were not posted
[1:09:37] that probably should've been posted.
[1:09:39] Lane closures, striping, the bridge on Barley Sheep that's going to be down for two
[1:09:43] weeks. There's a couple of big things that were not posted that should've been
[1:09:47] posted. I'm not blaming Amanda. She was on vacation.
[1:09:50] But there should be a backup to ensure timely flow of communication.
[1:09:55] Agreed.
[1:09:56] Thank you.
[1:09:56] All right. I think we'll work on that. All right. Do we have a motion to proceed?
[1:10:02] So moved.
[1:10:03] Do I have a second?
[1:10:04] Second.
[1:10:05] Okay. Roll call, please.
[1:10:07] Mr. Alby?
[1:10:08] Yes.
[1:10:08] Mr. Heller?
[1:10:09] No.
[1:10:11] Mr. Muller?
[1:10:12] No.
[1:10:13] Mr. Panico?
[1:10:17] No.
[1:10:19] Mayor Hoffa?
[1:10:20] Aye.
[1:10:21] Okay, that doesn't pass.
[1:10:23] Okay. All right. We're going on. Next item is
[1:10:29] new business, and we've got two items. We have two special events.
[1:10:34] Special event application for approval, Anytime Fitness grand opening, which is
[1:10:38] Saturday, September 26th, 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
[1:10:43] Rain day to Saturday, October 3rd.
[1:10:48] Did that get moved?
[1:10:51] That was supposed to be the 19th, I thought. But the 26th is better for me now.
[1:10:57] I'll make a motion to approve the special event application.
[1:11:00] Second.
[1:11:02] Okay, roll call, please.
[1:11:03] Mr. Alby?
[1:11:04] Yes.
[1:11:04] Mr. Heller?
[1:11:05] Yes.
[1:11:05] Mr. Muller?
[1:11:06] Aye.
[1:11:06] Mr. Panico?
[1:11:07] Yes.
[1:11:07] Mayor Hoffa?
[1:11:08] Aye. Okay, number two, special event application for approval, Ready, Set, Go
[1:11:14] Adventures Jersey Gravel Grinder Bike Race, Sunday, September 27th,
[1:11:20] 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, and no rain date.
[1:11:23] Okay. I'll make a motion to approve the special event application.
[1:11:26] Second.
[1:11:27] Okay, roll call, please.
[1:11:28] Mr. Alby?
[1:11:29] Yes.
[1:11:30] Mr. Heller?
[1:11:30] Yes.
[1:11:31] Mr. Muller?
[1:11:32] Aye.
[1:11:32] Mr. Panico?
[1:11:32] Yes.
[1:11:33] Mayor Hoffa?
[1:11:34] Aye.
[1:11:36] Okay. That takes us through our general agenda. Now we go into reports.
[1:11:40] First is administrator's report. Jim?
[1:11:45] As Committee Man Muller mentioned, the county bridge that's located on Barley Sheep
[1:11:50] Road, intersection on Pleasant Run, is going to be closed for the next two
[1:11:55] weeks, from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM. It's closed to all traffic, and that's to
[1:12:01] repair steel corrugated decking, guardrail, and the wing wall due to damage from
[1:12:06] motor vehicle crashes. That's all I have, Mayor.
[1:12:10] And that bridge is supposed to be replaced and widened at some time in the near
[1:12:14] future, and then it's going to be down for a lot longer than two weeks.
[1:12:17] It is.
[1:12:17] They were talking about a year of being down.
[1:12:20] That's going to be a major inconvenience.
[1:12:23] Obviously, as the county's doing that, obviously, as we get more information, that
[1:12:26] will be publicized, but just know that that's happening.
[1:12:31] Yeah. All I know is 2027. We'll try to find out more as we can with county.
[1:12:39] Okay. Chris, attorney's report?
[1:12:41] No report from me, Mayor.
[1:12:43] Okay. We do committee reports. First is John Alby's Library Services, Municipal
[1:12:48] Court, Social Services, and Support Housing.
[1:12:50] Nothing from me.
[1:12:52] Okay.
[1:12:54] John Heller, Board of Health, Reading and Lebanon Sewer Authority, Environmental
[1:12:58] Commission, Historic Preservation, Museums.
[1:13:01] Just an update on the Reading and Lebanon Sewer.
[1:13:03] They've had a couple of failures over at the plant.
[1:13:06] The rotor has been inactive since June.
[1:13:10] We've had some issues with our ammonia content.
[1:13:13] That's under control, working with the DEP on that, and it's going to be repaired
[1:13:16] within the next few weeks. And then we recently had a pump failure that we are also
[1:13:21] working around getting that repaired as well.
[1:13:23] But it was indicative of the fact that some of this equipment is very old and needs
[1:13:26] to be updated and upgraded, and that's why some of the increased fees associated
[1:13:30] with our sewer were put in place so that we could be better prepared to handle
[1:13:33] these situations moving forward.
[1:13:37] Okay. For me, Jordan Hulsbosch, Ag Committee.
[1:13:41] I think we have our next meeting on the 16th of this month.
[1:13:45] Open Space Board, we've been doing a number of walks, and we continue to do that
[1:13:49] through the rest of the year.
[1:13:52] I think September 18th, we are at the Dale Haber Greenway by Old 28.
[1:13:58] October, we're going to be at Lochmeir, which is near Redington Middle School.
[1:14:02] November is going to be Rocky Road by Indian Purchase, and December's going to be
[1:14:07] Round Mountain in Stanton. So every month, we have volunteers from our Open Space
[1:14:10] Board. They go out and lead public walks.
[1:14:13] We also had a Girl Scout Troop 8440.
[1:14:18] They did a special walk on Sonds, which is Rockville Mills, and that was to
[1:14:22] culminate from a bridge-building project they did as a group.
[1:14:27] So they did a great job. I heard a lot of feedback on how good the bridges were,
[1:14:32] and I think that was a few weeks ago they ran their walk.
[1:14:38] Parks, we're probably going to look at additional work in October when the weather
[1:14:42] turns, if we can do some additional planting on our parks, our trailheads.
[1:14:47] So I'll be talking to Ron Christie probably in two weeks to find out what's in
[1:14:52] store for the fourth quarter.
[1:14:55] I think I mentioned earlier, we're going to be looking at federal funding.
[1:15:00] I'm working on a tranche of money for Federal Highlands in the next week.
[1:15:04] We need to put an application in by next Wednesday, so that way we can allocate
[1:15:09] money for future projects. So that's in the works.
[1:15:14] I've been working with Fish and Wildlife.
[1:15:16] They are putting up cameras
[1:15:19] at various wildlife locations in town.
[1:15:22] So we have current and future wildlife corridors, and we want to track what's
[1:15:27] there. We've had, I think, indications of bobcats on Lazy Brook.
[1:15:33] We've had bobcats up north, and it's not just things like bobcats or bears, but
[1:15:38] it's looking at everything from wood turtles and endangered species.
[1:15:42] So we're going to try to track more of that throughout Redington.
[1:15:45] So that's it for me. Next, Adam Muller, engineering, roads, building and grounds,
[1:15:51] recycling, construction, code enforcement, emergency services, fire official,
[1:15:55] engineer's report.
[1:15:58] DBW, well, we haven't met in about a month because the way our meeting schedule
[1:16:02] worked, and we've had some pretty wild weather over the last month.
[1:16:05] DBW has been doing a great job keeping the roads clear, all the branches down,
[1:16:10] putting up flood gates when needed. So they've done a great job.
[1:16:14] If you see them out and about, please give them wide berth.
[1:16:17] They're also still cutting the grass on the side of the road, so please slow down
[1:16:20] and just be careful.
[1:16:25] White House Fire has a new Facebook page.
[1:16:28] Their old one was hijacked, if any of you followed it.
[1:16:33] But they got a new Facebook page, and they're back, and they post some pretty good
[1:16:37] content on calls and stuff that they go on. So pay attention to that.
[1:16:41] They also took delivery of their new truck.
[1:16:45] I think it's getting
[1:16:47] final-- They brought it back, but now they're getting some final bells and whistles
[1:16:52] put on it, and they're going to be having some kind of little ceremony when they
[1:16:56] get that new engine in.
[1:16:58] So that is great. And last thing on my agenda is hunting starts this
[1:17:04] Saturday, September 12th,
[1:17:08] for fall bow. So pay attention. A lot of our properties are hunted.
[1:17:13] I imagine our social media page and website will be updated with all that
[1:17:18] information. So pay attention. All of our open space properties are still 100%
[1:17:24] available, open. Just wear bright colors and walk around.
[1:17:28] You should not even see a hunter.
[1:17:31] If you see them, they're doing their job.
[1:17:33] So just know that hunting starts this Saturday, and it runs until
[1:17:39] mid-February.
[1:17:40] And the timing during the week for Sundays, there is-
[1:17:43] There's no hunting on Sundays on municipally owned property.
[1:17:47] Okay.
[1:17:49] So, yeah.
[1:17:50] Thank you. Vincent Panico, planning board, zoning, police, traffic safety, finance.
[1:17:57] I think you guys heard a lot about finance tonight, so that we're moving forward,
[1:18:01] kind of unpacking funding sources for the rest of the year.
[1:18:06] We're beginning to look at next year's budget and how that's going to start coming
[1:18:10] together with some of the appropriations that we've basically committed to and what
[1:18:14] appropriation capture will look like. So hopefully, that process gets started soon.
[1:18:20] Planning and zoning have looked at the Block 418 property, but that's all
[1:18:25] been in your packets. On the police side, a couple of things.
[1:18:30] One, the new cars are in. Three of the new cars are in.
[1:18:34] So we have three Tahoes that are sent out for upfit.
[1:18:38] So if you've seen the one Tahoe out on the road, we have three more that are going
[1:18:42] to be similar to that. Likely we'll have a light bar on top.
[1:18:45] That's just a money-saving method right there.
[1:18:49] But they're coming in, and we're waiting on delivery of the Durangos as well
[1:18:54] because we should have some of those on the way.
[1:18:57] As a reminder, school is back in session, so make sure you are abiding by
[1:19:03] the school bus laws. You wouldn't believe how often we get people who run school
[1:19:09] buses. Last year was over 100. There's 180 days in a school year.
[1:19:13] We had over 100 people run
[1:19:16] the school buses. Our school buses are equipped with cameras.
[1:19:19] So just because you don't get stopped in the moment doesn't mean a ticket doesn't
[1:19:23] come in the mail. I will tell you, they take it very seriously.
[1:19:28] Not only do our police department take it seriously, our judge takes it seriously,
[1:19:33] and this entire government body takes it very seriously because it is the safety of
[1:19:36] our students. So if you see a school bus that is orange, don't try to beat it to
[1:19:42] red. It is not like a traffic light. So be mindful of those.
[1:19:47] If you're interested, the police department did post their annual, sorry, their
[1:19:51] monthly statistics that we saw a summer softness.
[1:19:55] So when we look at the kind of calls for duty, when we look at the traffic stops,
[1:20:01] those have been trending in a great direction, especially now that we have a
[1:20:06] traffic enforcement team that's dedicated to the hours when traffic is happening
[1:20:10] most frequently. But like I said, it was August. There was some softness.
[1:20:14] People are on vacation. People are sort of slowing down, taking it easy.
[1:20:18] So we'll see as the trends return here in September.
[1:20:21] Okay, thank you. Next item on the agenda is comments from the public.
[1:20:27] Yes, sir.
[1:20:30] Daniel Dorff,
[1:20:33] 1206 Mountain Road,
[1:20:36] Lebanon, which is right down the road, White House-
[1:20:40] We don't need the address.
[1:20:42] Okay, whatever. Either way, I just-
[1:20:46] It's all good. It may be complicated for us because what we have to do is if
[1:20:48] there's certain people that we can't have their address out there.
[1:20:51] Hey, I'm going to make it real simple.
[1:20:53] I just want to say I'm the commander of White House American Legion.
[1:20:58] Our American Legion baseball team won the states, won the regionals.
[1:21:04] We went to the World Series, and I want to thank-
[1:21:13] I want to thank the support that Adam Muller and
[1:21:19] our candidates,
[1:21:23] Eric and Trevor, showed in the state tournament,
[1:21:29] and it's pretty sad that there was no other
[1:21:36] people recognition from the township committee.
[1:21:42] Thank you so much. Have a great night.
[1:21:44] I'll speak to that real quick. There'll be a resolution on the
[1:21:50] agenda.
[1:21:52] Resolution? Confirmation.
[1:21:53] Confirmation, okay. On the agenda to be worked out at the next
[1:21:59] meeting.
[1:22:02] I was away in August when this all happened. I watched all the games.
[1:22:06] My son has a very good friend on the team.
[1:22:09] I know other kids on the team as well, and my son plays for the Flemington American
[1:22:14] Legion team. So certainly rooting for them.
[1:22:18] Paid for the ESPN+ package to watch the games, all that business.
[1:22:22] When I came back, I talked to
[1:22:25] Jim, and he asked me to put together some language that we can include in the
[1:22:30] resolution. Sent that over. There's going to be a presentational, I guess,
[1:22:35] PowerPoint type thing out on the TV there.
[1:22:38] I sent some photos over today for that as well.
[1:22:41] So unfortunately, you didn't hear that, but
[1:22:45] that'll be the next-
[1:22:48] The other thing of that, too, which is pretty interesting, is the starting pitcher
[1:22:52] in the final game was actually from Redington.
[1:22:53] So just because it was the White House American Legion, there were folks from kind
[1:22:57] of the greater White House area. It wasn't like literally limited or confined to
[1:23:00] this town. But the starting pitcher in the final game was from Redington.
[1:23:04] So great work for those kids.
[1:23:06] Thank you.
[1:23:08] Bob Schoenfeld.
[1:23:10] I have a couple of things. This 101 Main Street
[1:23:16] proposal,
[1:23:18] as far as I'm concerned, is not in keeping with rural
[1:23:24] White House Station or White House, as it may be, and that goes
[1:23:30] back as far as my involvement
[1:23:36] in, it was probably 2005,
[1:23:42] when the local rescue squad had acquired the
[1:23:48] funding for a new building since they had outgrown what
[1:23:53] existed, and had still outgrown. But they had
[1:23:59] acquired funding,
[1:24:02] so that it would not cost the township or the residents anything
[1:24:08] to put up a new building. They were refused by the township
[1:24:14] for the reason that the new building was not in
[1:24:19] keeping with the appearance of White House
[1:24:25] Station.
[1:24:27] What is affordable housing going to look like?
[1:24:32] Beautiful.
[1:24:34] Have things changed that much in 20 years?
[1:24:40] And if you look at the fire department, that building
[1:24:46] was new,
[1:24:49] and that was not unsimilar to what the rescue squad
[1:24:55] was proposing. Is that in keeping with White House
[1:25:00] Station historically? No, not in my opinion.
[1:25:06] Or the post office.
[1:25:09] That's what the township committee at that time said
[1:25:15] fit or did not. So what is
[1:25:22] however many unit on the corner, which is where we were also
[1:25:28] at that time looking to relocate the rescue squad.
[1:25:35] But regardless of all that, the bottom line is,
[1:25:41] what is White House Station going to look like with affordable housing
[1:25:48] on Route 22 and Main Street?
[1:25:53] Never mind what it does to the neighbors, the cemetery, the traffic
[1:25:59] flow.
[1:26:01] That's what I meant. I do request in
[1:26:07] the agendas as has been
[1:26:13] done at some point, that addresses be associated with the
[1:26:19] block and lot numbers.
[1:26:22] Half of them on tonight exist there, half don't.
[1:26:32] It's just very difficult to look up the block and lot numbers.
[1:26:37] Okay.
[1:26:39] And
[1:26:44] as far as the
[1:26:49] development
[1:26:52] goes on the corner,
[1:26:56] then if the township has no design to see
[1:27:01] affordable housing in that particular location,
[1:27:07] why don't they then change the zoning back to what it was?
[1:27:21] Can I get a response to that?
[1:27:25] No.
[1:27:25] Just comment.
[1:27:27] Okay.
[1:27:28] Is it possible to do the address? Is that something we can incorporate into future?
[1:27:33] Okay, that's a very good point. We will look to do that, so we have addresses for
[1:27:38] what block, so you can find things easier.
[1:27:41] Appreciated. I've been trying to do that for several years.
[1:27:45] Okay.
[1:27:46] And last
[1:27:48] that I have is regarding the sewers and the increase in the
[1:27:54] bill. Please bear with me because I was not able to
[1:28:00] attend the other meetings. At this point, I ran some figures,
[1:28:06] and my understanding was that last year's sewer deficit was
[1:28:11] $62,000. Well, as near as I can
[1:28:17] tell, we have roughly 6,500 homes
[1:28:23] in Reddington Township. So that $62,000
[1:28:30] comes out to $9.54 per home.
[1:28:36] So the adjustment was roughly, and I know it
[1:28:41] varied, but roughly $220 per household,
[1:28:47] which then said
[1:28:52] it would've been...
[1:28:56] I'm sorry.
[1:28:59] That brings it to
[1:29:02] $1,000,368
[1:29:08] additional being collected,
[1:29:12] minus the $62,000 deficit leaves $1.3
[1:29:17] million.
[1:29:20] Where is that going? Okay, if it's not going to build sewer
[1:29:26] or
[1:29:28] whatever utilities necessary for this affordable housing,
[1:29:34] where is that $1.3 million going?
[1:29:38] Okay.
[1:29:40] I can't answer that, though Vincent did a good job.
[1:29:43] But we have other folks that are more involved in the sewer, so maybe we get a
[1:29:48] comment. But thank you.
[1:29:53] Adam or Jonathan, any comment on
[1:29:57] the increase or something?
[1:29:59] The deficit was much larger than $62,000, and the additional cost is partly
[1:30:05] in anticipation of the additional cost due to our 50-year-old system that is now
[1:30:09] showing wear, and two of the failures we've already had are planned or direct
[1:30:14] result of that, and that's why we're trying to do that.
[1:30:16] But the $62,000 is not the accurate number for the shortage last year.
[1:30:20] And I don't want to get into this whole, we'll respond to some things but not
[1:30:24] others.
[1:30:26] The
[1:30:29] multiplier is incorrect as well because it's not all 6,500 properties
[1:30:35] across Reddington. It's only the ones in the sewer service area that are paying
[1:30:40] based on the sewer credits. So the revenues are significantly less than the numbers
[1:30:44] we have in there.
[1:30:45] Good, thank you.
[1:30:47] I would just like to comment-
[1:30:48] Can I get your name, please?
[1:30:49] Oh, I'm sorry. You going to get all p****d with me if I guess my name?
[1:30:53] No, we can try it. I don't know.
[1:30:55] Betty Anne Fort.
[1:30:57] Thanks, Betty Anne.
[1:30:58] I'm
[1:31:00] troubled by the irony of the gateway to Reddington
[1:31:06] concept because some of the people who are screaming loudest
[1:31:12] about gateway to Reddington were the same people who rezoned the gateway to
[1:31:17] Reddington for fast food restaurants, among other things, after a group of us had
[1:31:23] done a very careful zoning of what would and wouldn't work there.
[1:31:28] And a fast food restaurant was never mentioned on that corner.
[1:31:31] But
[1:31:33] nobody's talking about the other gateway to Reddington, which is on 202.
[1:31:39] And you come up 202 through farmland and widely spread businesses,
[1:31:45] and you come to beautiful farmland and a very cute little red overpriced food
[1:31:51] store,
[1:31:53] and all of that land, and that's a gateway too.
[1:31:57] And that's probably our more beautiful gateway because it has been preserved and
[1:32:03] has been carefully tended to. So along
[1:32:08] 22, I think- I think it is a gateway.
[1:32:12] I think it's one that we have to be careful of.
[1:32:14] I, having sat for what seems like about 30 years, but it was probably only about
[1:32:19] eight, on the Affordable Housing Subcommittee, know that it is possible to
[1:32:25] make affordable housing attractive.
[1:32:29] Take, for example, Nelson Street.
[1:32:33] Of course, the committee considers-- We would go through
[1:32:39] presentations from architects and say, "Well, that could work if they just..."
[1:32:45] We became sub-architects in all of this.
[1:32:49] It is possible to make something of that size look attractive, minimize
[1:32:55] some of the traffic craziness, and certainly some that it was zoned for,
[1:33:00] and use the further lot in, make a sort of pocket park with a
[1:33:06] flag, directions to the cemetery and all of that, and make it a very nice
[1:33:13] gateway to Reddington, one that we could all be proud of.
[1:33:17] I don't think we have to yell at people to have discussions.
[1:33:22] And I also think people need to think about
[1:33:26] how
[1:33:28] there are a lot of gateways into Reddington, and we all have an obligation to take
[1:33:33] care of them and make them attractive.
[1:33:36] But I don't think putting 1,400 housing units on
[1:33:41] 202 and Pleasant Run Road, where we serve, is not the best way to have a
[1:33:47] gateway into Reddington. Now, those of you who ever drive through
[1:33:53] the golf course
[1:33:56] and drive out,
[1:33:58] I don't know, the road that goes out to Drayhook, past their package treatment
[1:34:02] plant, know that when the wind is blowing wrong, you know it's there, and that's
[1:34:07] nowhere near 1,400 houses. So I'm not wishing on all those people
[1:34:13] who live in my favorite Reddington four-bedroom central hall colonials along all
[1:34:18] those subdivisions along Pleasant Run Road to have to live with that across the
[1:34:24] street from them, and the smell, and the congestion, and all of that. So thank you.
[1:34:29] But the irony is-
[1:34:39] Hi, Renee Bell. I'm speaking as a private citizen. I'm not representing a board.
[1:34:44] I think when it comes to affordable housing, we can all agree on three different
[1:34:48] things. Our assigned 540 units is just too high.
[1:34:53] We all want what's best for Reddington, and the builder's remedy would be the
[1:34:57] worst-case scenario.
[1:35:00] We're months overdue for our affordable housing plan.
[1:35:04] Do our committee members think fighting over these locations make it less or more
[1:35:08] likely that we're going to have lawsuits filed against us?
[1:35:13] And do you think going back and forth between the plans makes it more or less
[1:35:16] likely we end up with builder's remedy? Do we want builder's remedy?
[1:35:23] Maybe some of us do. But let's not play political games with the town.
[1:35:29] I'm also concerned about the Darragh Cemetery near 101 Main Street.
[1:35:34] And I'm wondering if we can require the developer to fence off the cemetery to
[1:35:40] protect it.
[1:35:42] If we could request that.
[1:35:46] And the last thing I want to say is, "Drive My History" on
[1:35:52] PBS actually had an episode, 30 minutes, about Taylor's Mill, and it
[1:35:58] was called "Following the Flower." And if you haven't seen it, I hope you watch it.
[1:36:02] It was fantastic. They did a great job. Thank you.
[1:36:06] There's a presentation on Taylor's Mill at Bones Stickney on the 26th.
[1:36:10] Yes.
[1:36:11] 2:00 PM.
[1:36:12] 26th, 3:00 PM, correct?
[1:36:14] It's a Saturday.
[1:36:15] I have to check.
[1:36:16] I made a mistake.
[1:36:20] 3:00.
[1:36:21] 3:00 PM.
[1:36:21] 3:00 PM. But the 26th, I think.
[1:36:23] The 26th. Yes, 3:00 PM.
[1:36:27] Right.
[1:36:27] And we'll have more information about that out later. Okay, thank you.
[1:36:37] Yeah.
[1:36:39] Hi, my name is Barbara Nastro. I'm here tonight concerning the situation
[1:36:45] for the families who received letters, 45 letters at random, who live along
[1:36:51] the Pulaski and Solberg Airport area, letting us know that
[1:36:59] our wells could be contaminated by PFAS.
[1:37:05] Mayor, I believe you received a copy of that letter letting you know back on
[1:37:10] Memorial Day weekend?
[1:37:13] I think we all received the same information.
[1:37:16] Mayor, yes.
[1:37:17] Okay, so we are at the point where we need help.
[1:37:22] My husband and I stepped out of the group and we tested our well, and we found out
[1:37:28] that we have PFAS.
[1:37:30] My neighbors, some of them chose to go along with their
[1:37:36] regulation of having the well tested in July, and they still have not
[1:37:42] heard anything from the Department of Environmental Protection.
[1:37:48] I've already applied for the spill fund, and my husband and I still have
[1:37:54] not heard anything from them. So they found out in March
[1:38:00] because a home was sold on Forty Oaks and Solberg Road.
[1:38:07] Many people may not know that in order to sell your house these days, you have to
[1:38:12] have your well tested. They had the well tested, and they found out that they had
[1:38:17] PFAS.
[1:38:19] So what that did was trigger the Department of Environmental Protection to
[1:38:25] find out from other neighbors if they have PFAS.
[1:38:29] For justice.
[1:38:30] Okay.
[1:38:31] Thank you.
[1:38:31] So
[1:38:33] my husband and I paid the $500. We stepped out of the group, and we found out that
[1:38:39] we do have it.
[1:38:42] They're not moving on this, the Department of Environmental Protection, okay?
[1:38:48] So what that means is, I am fortunate enough to have one tap in my
[1:38:53] house that has reverse osmosis, okay?
[1:38:57] You're allowed to take a shower. You can wash your clothes, but they
[1:39:03] highly recommend that you do not drink the water.
[1:39:08] So I have one faucet in my house that has reverse osmosis on it. So what do I do?
[1:39:13] I take it up to the bathrooms of my houses.
[1:39:17] If I have guests, I have to buy bottled water, and I'm very
[1:39:23] vigilant. We have neighbors all around us that have very
[1:39:29] young children in their homes who should be made aware that this could be a
[1:39:33] possibility for them as well.
[1:39:37] And I want to know what the township is doing to-- I know you guys were notified,
[1:39:42] but
[1:39:46] what about that tap?
[1:39:47] Do you know off the top of your head the roads again?
[1:39:50] I'm sorry?
[1:39:51] Do you know off the top of your head the roads?
[1:39:52] Forty Oaks and Solberg Road.
[1:39:56] Thank you.
[1:39:56] The Environmental Committee has been in contact with DEP.
[1:39:59] We are getting exactly the same information you're getting. Nothing.
[1:40:03] We've asked for information. We've asked for follow-up.
[1:40:05] We've asked for them to expand the testing area, and it's crickets.
[1:40:10] So, we've worked with the DEP on other projects. We still have E.
[1:40:15] coli issues on the Rockaway Creek and on
[1:40:19] Lake Hopatcong. The county and the DEP are not interested in working with us on
[1:40:24] that. So I don't have an answer for you.
[1:40:27] I know I had Barbara Bacon Doyle do an article in "The Chronicle" and the tap-in,
[1:40:31] and we were hoping that maybe some publicity would help.
[1:40:34] That may be an avenue that you can pursue.
[1:40:37] The DEP is not required to give us information.
[1:40:40] It's private information based on each individual's home.
[1:40:43] But we would like to get general information that shows what it is.
[1:40:46] The Raritan Headwaters Association has done testing as well, and they found quite a
[1:40:52] bit of PFAS in the Raritan tributary area.
[1:40:55] So it's a problem that I think most people should be proactive like yourself and do
[1:41:01] something. The DEP is not moving on this, and there really isn't any official
[1:41:06] policy from the state as to how they're going to handle this.
[1:41:10] That's not the answer you want to hear, but-
[1:41:11] I don't want to hear that because everybody sitting here, this is a drop in the
[1:41:15] bucket of people that live in this area, and-
[1:41:20] We could all be drinking contaminated water.
[1:41:25] I think that the town should be doing a lot more.
[1:41:28] I'm only getting to the point where I applied for a spill fund.
[1:41:32] Only 45 people at random were selected for this test.
[1:41:37] So,
[1:41:39] the word has to be put out that there's a problem in our town.
[1:41:46] It's not just in our town. It's throughout the state, and quite frankly, throughout
[1:41:49] the country as well. There's a lot of problems-
[1:41:51] Well, I know
[1:41:52] ... with PFAS in different locations.
[1:41:53] Can you say that word again? What is it called?
[1:41:55] PFAS.
[1:41:56] PFAS.
[1:41:56] P-F-A-S.
[1:41:57] Oh, yeah.
[1:41:57] It's an acronym for a very long technical name that I could give to you.
[1:42:02] But you should not be drinking the water. You should have your wells tested.
[1:42:06] Sure.
[1:42:06] Everybody should have their well tested to see if you're drinking...
[1:42:10] The standard is, I think it's 0.13, and you should see
[1:42:16] what your levels are for this PFAS in your water.
[1:42:20] We live near Solberg Airport. I live off of Pulaski Road,
[1:42:25] and the contaminated home was on 40 Oaks and also Berg Road.
[1:42:31] And this is another reason why-
[1:42:36] ... I'm not for any expansion or whatever.
[1:42:39] The people at the airport need to be monitored for whatever they're using to
[1:42:47] de-ice their planes or whatever they're putting into the system into the soil.
[1:42:52] It's not restricted to this area where I live, but
[1:42:58] I'm very concerned. This is another reason for concern about the airport.
[1:43:02] Reading Township is working with the Raritan Headwaters Association.
[1:43:05] We're having a well testing in October this year.
[1:43:09] You can get the test through Raritan Headwaters or through Reading Township.
[1:43:13] Okay, I just want to say again-
[1:43:14] And free bridges
[1:43:15] ... they found the problem in March.
[1:43:18] We received, along with this other test sample of 45 people, in
[1:43:24] Memorial Day weekend. My husband and I immediately did the test.
[1:43:29] We notified them July 2nd. We confirmed that they received
[1:43:34] our application for the spill fund on August 13th.
[1:43:40] It's now September 8th, and
[1:43:46] nothing. I still haven't heard anything.
[1:43:49] We're in our third year of trying to get the DEP to respond to the E.
[1:43:53] coli in the Rockaway Creek, and it's a frustrating process.
[1:43:58] What they keep saying is they don't have the funds to do additional testing.
[1:44:01] They wanted us to test it. We tested it, but it goes outside of our township
[1:44:05] boundaries, and at that point, we're not able to do anything.
[1:44:07] So it is a frustrating process working with the DEP.
[1:44:12] Thank you.
[1:44:14] Okay, thank you.
[1:44:15] 350 affordable housing units on Solberg Road aren't going to help the problem
[1:44:19] either.
[1:44:20] That's correct.
[1:44:27] Good evening, Trevor Esell. In regards to your
[1:44:34] ordinance 19 for the 101 Main Street, it says, "To be paid in part from
[1:44:40] township's affordable housing."
[1:44:42] Where does the other part come from?
[1:44:44] Capital.
[1:44:53] I'm disappointed that three members up here tonight
[1:44:58] were trying to pass Block 4, Lot 18, when the three of
[1:45:04] you sat on the board
[1:45:07] when that
[1:45:09] ordinance was passed in 2021. You being the board, the open spaces are,
[1:45:16] you were one of them. You sat there as mayor
[1:45:21] in 2021, and you sat there that whole night until the whole thing, board, that it
[1:45:24] was purchased through
[1:45:30] some other funding.
[1:45:32] But it turns out it was purchased with open space.
[1:45:35] I think what I said was it's not in the open space inventory.
[1:45:39] No.
[1:45:39] It never was.
[1:45:40] That's not what you said.
[1:45:41] What's that?
[1:45:41] That's not what you said.
[1:45:44] Oh, okay.
[1:45:44] Video at 20 minutes.
[1:45:46] I stand corrected.
[1:45:47] No, I'm good.
[1:45:49] We obviously-
[1:45:50] It's very disappointing because we
[1:45:52] believe in developer-funded projects, not taxpayer-funded projects.
[1:45:58] You already raised our taxes pretty substantially,
[1:46:02] and now you're talking about bonding and doing all this and using open space
[1:46:07] funding for these purchases. You knew what you were doing back then.
[1:46:12] So, I know you're not going to be honest, so thank you. Have a good night.
[1:46:23] My name is Lisa Rutell. I want to address some of the points that were discussed,
[1:46:28] mainly concerns regarding bonding using the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for
[1:46:32] affordable housing. And as we are working towards implementing the development of
[1:46:38] 100% affordable housing, as well as small-scale developments for special needs
[1:46:44] veterans, senior residents, this is ultimately still the most financially
[1:46:50] responsible approach. Usually, tax credits from the state are used,
[1:46:55] especially in comparison to alternative large inclusionary developments.
[1:47:01] If the inclusionary strategy is used, it would add over 1,000 additional units,
[1:47:07] which would add tremendous long-term recurring expenses.
[1:47:11] There would be tremendous negative impacts in the long run for our taxes,
[1:47:16] roads, schools, and infrastructure. Thank you.
[1:47:27] I'm sorry, but with everything she just mentioned, it's still going to come with
[1:47:31] all these little pocket developments.
[1:47:36] And you're adding kids to the school.
[1:47:45] That was me.
[1:47:46] My name is Tom Orianna. Addressing the Solberg property issue,
[1:47:53] as far as I'm concerned, the property does not appear to meet the criteria for
[1:47:57] affordable housing.
[1:48:00] I did a little bit of research on that, and the given setback requirements of the
[1:48:05] adjoining properties,
[1:48:09] there are building height limitations.
[1:48:13] The number of individual structures needed for 350
[1:48:18] apartments, parking lot location for 350 apartments,
[1:48:23] location of the recreation area, and garbage containers.
[1:48:28] For this to happen, the project would have to encroach into the air safety zone.
[1:48:36] Building in the air safety zone would require approval from the Commissioner of
[1:48:41] Transportation. I doubt any commissioner would ever jeopardize the safety
[1:48:48] of 350 families. I think it's pretty much impossible
[1:48:55] for this approval
[1:48:57] at this site
[1:48:59] to occur. It's not going to happen.
[1:49:15] Hello, again. My name is Anne Rotundo.
[1:49:18] I'm with the Daughters of the American Revolution at the Old White House, General
[1:49:22] Frelinghuysen and Colonel Lowry chapter.
[1:49:25] I just wanted to add that
[1:49:27] obviously we want to do what's best for the cemetery, and whether it's
[1:49:34] a park or whether it's affordable housing there or not affordable housing there,
[1:49:40] if it is chosen to be affordable housing, my question is, it's only
[1:49:46] an acre and a little. I don't even know if it's an acre and a half.
[1:49:49] And if it's that small of a piece of property that can afford 20 units
[1:49:56] of affordable housing, surely in Readington, there's another acre that's
[1:50:01] not next to our historic cemetery, that's not the entrance to or a gateway
[1:50:07] to White House Station, that could be purchased so that it doesn't
[1:50:14] affect our cemetery. Thank you.
[1:50:22] Hi. Al Grotz.
[1:50:25] I have a random question for you, Mr. Mayor.
[1:50:27] So the
[1:50:29] NJ Wildlife, I guess it's the WMA that is on Route 22 westbound,
[1:50:35] which is adjacent to the, I don't know what the block lot is, 3488 maybe
[1:50:41] is probably the number. The sign's no longer there.
[1:50:46] Is there a reason why that wildlife management reserve, that sign always comes up
[1:50:50] and down? Any idea? I'm sure it was under your purview in some capacity.
[1:50:54] No, you would have to check with the state DB.
[1:50:57] Got you. Okay.
[1:50:58] I've done the same where they hadn't signs on the one on the south ranch and
[1:51:02] requested it, and they put a sign up.
[1:51:04] So,
[1:51:06] things like that, let us know and we can follow up.
[1:51:09] Yeah. It's adjacent to the affordable housing complex that you had on the docket,
[1:51:13] so I thought maybe we replaced it.
[1:51:15] You said the sign goes up and down?
[1:51:17] Well, it's there and disappears. I don't know if it's up and down.
[1:51:20] Oh.
[1:51:20] It's literally-
[1:51:21] On and off.
[1:51:22] Yeah. It's happened multiple times in the past several months, so I didn't know if
[1:51:27] something was happening.
[1:51:28] Been a while.
[1:51:28] Very bizarre, yeah.
[1:51:29] We need a quick check, but I-
[1:51:32] It's not there right now. It may be back tomorrow.
[1:51:36] Yeah. So, the only other thing that I would like to make one comment is, it's a
[1:51:41] great sadness that we're here trying to spend an hour and a half,
[1:51:46] debating whether or not
[1:51:50] business uses or small business uses on many of our parcels on Route 22, and zoning
[1:51:56] is a bad thing or a good thing versus affordable housing being a bad thing or a
[1:52:00] good thing on the same parcels, which is kind of a wild sentiment.
[1:52:05] I'm of the perspective that when we have high-value pieces of property on
[1:52:11] Route 22, i.e., literally the epicenter at the junction of our
[1:52:16] business corridor and our small business corridor, that
[1:52:22] debating what could have maybe been there or not via zoning is even a valid
[1:52:27] argument in any capacity. But that affordable housing is somehow a good idea.
[1:52:31] It
[1:52:34] boggles my mind that we're in this place.
[1:52:36] So,
[1:52:38] I would hope that on a go-forward basis, we understand the value in growing
[1:52:44] and aiding the business community up and down that stretch, because it's the only
[1:52:47] stretch we really have. And every time in those meetings, it's like, it's just
[1:52:53] no business bad, even if it's the rejuvenation of an existing structure, and it's
[1:52:58] always bad right up until the moment that we want to put affordable housing.
[1:53:03] At which point, we can always make an argument why, and it won't be that bad, and
[1:53:07] it will just be, and it's a sorry state of affairs when we can't find the middle
[1:53:13] ground and do the right thing early on, because then those properties could have
[1:53:16] been rehabbed and rejuvenated and be nice now, and we wouldn't be having an
[1:53:20] affordable housing conversation because there'd be some net valuable goods and/or
[1:53:25] services being rendered to the community by the community in the same spots versus
[1:53:30] importing rental units, which is effectively what we're going to do.
[1:53:34] So, I would hope that the next few properties we can discuss on the corridor are
[1:53:39] for net positive small business growth, not affordable housing complexes that we've
[1:53:43] got to pay for. So, thank you.
[1:53:55] All right. I'm just going to say this because-
[1:53:57] Sorry.
[1:53:57] Sorry, go along. Reddington. I'm just going to say this because it's driving me up
[1:54:02] the wall.
[1:54:04] No matter what, we have the affordable housing requirement.
[1:54:09] No matter what, we have to deal with this requirement.
[1:54:12] At minimum, 378 units or 504 credits.
[1:54:18] We have to put it somewhere. Okay? I'm really, really worried that all of this
[1:54:24] back and forth is just going to get us to builder's remedy, and then the first
[1:54:29] developer that goes to the state and says they're not putting a plan in action is
[1:54:34] going to get to do whatever they want.
[1:54:39] Whether it's 1,400-plus units on 202 or who knows
[1:54:45] what on the north part of Reddington.
[1:54:49] It's over a year overdue. Can we please come together and make a
[1:54:55] plan that is actually viable? Not lots that you know won't work,
[1:55:01] that a state will never approve, and not some massive property
[1:55:06] that will raise the total number of units in
[1:55:13] the town over 20%. 20%. It's actually more than
[1:55:18] 21%. So, can we all please agree that builder's remedy ain't the thing?
[1:55:25] Thank you.
[1:55:35] Yeah, I'm Jim Horvik. I live at Pleasant Road. Can you see that Horvik?
[1:55:39] I live on Pleasant Road. And Pleasant Road is a very country road.
[1:55:44] Nice homes, trees, a babbling brook.
[1:55:49] And I can't envision the township is going to, at the beginning of Hogan Road or
[1:55:55] Headington, Craig Road, are going to permit massive buildings,
[1:56:00] four stories high, through the fields of this 370 acres.
[1:56:06] It's going to be such an eyesore, not counting the drain on our resources, that
[1:56:12] the water table may drop. Well, my well will go dry because they're tapping
[1:56:18] 300,000 gallons a day for 1,400 units, and there's no sewer.
[1:56:24] So, where is the sewer going to go? You're going to put it in the ground, so people
[1:56:29] will just flush the toilet and put Clorox in there.
[1:56:32] They don't care if there's bacteria in the
[1:56:36] system. Then they use Drano. People who have serious septic systems,
[1:56:43] we don't do those things because you need bacteria to keep the system healthy.
[1:56:48] These people, 1,400, they're going to say, "It's not my problem.
[1:56:52] I'm going to clean my drain." And they're going to put Drano and Clorox, and it's
[1:56:56] going to foul up the septic systems, and then it's going to leach into the soil,
[1:57:01] and it's going to go into our wells that we all live around there.
[1:57:05] We are the same. I've been there for 45 years.
[1:57:10] I've been a police officer of Reddington for 31 years. I retired here.
[1:57:15] I love this place, and I can't envision this massive wall of
[1:57:20] buildings on Pleasant Road. It just doesn't belong there.
[1:57:26] That's what I think.
[1:57:46] Okay.
[1:57:46] If you all come from this area, you know the road-
[1:57:49] What was your name, please?
[1:57:50] Marian Horvik.
[1:57:51] Okay.
[1:57:51] Yeah.
[1:57:55] Do you know Craig Road, everyone? Can you see 3,000 people going down that little
[1:58:01] bridge? We can't even do it now. We have to stop and
[1:58:07] take turns. How is this even envisioned in everyone's mind?
[1:58:13] The traffic pattern. The motorcycles come from the top of the hill,
[1:58:19] zoom down, and come from that side, from Craig Road, and go the other way.
[1:58:25] The traffic there, we can't even get on the highway now as it is.
[1:58:32] If each 1,400, you're going to figure a spouse,
[1:58:37] so we double that, children driving.
[1:58:41] The whole area would just be destroyed.
[1:58:45] Totally destroyed. And I don't think Reddington
[1:58:50] is really what you started it as.
[1:58:55] A beautiful country area that we came to live here for.
[1:59:07] All right. I never was going to stand up in here, but I grew up on Craig Road,
[1:59:10] which anybody really wants to know history.
[1:59:12] If you recognize me-
[1:59:14] Could you give your name for the record?
[1:59:15] Mark Hanna.
[1:59:16] Thanks, Mark.
[1:59:17] And it used to be Moon Road. And when they did change that, when she's talking
[1:59:21] about traffic, anybody who lives on there knows how kind of shaky that bridge is.
[1:59:25] And I still try to farm on there, but Reddington Township, over the years, has
[1:59:30] kicked all the farmers out of this town. Let's face it.
[1:59:34] It used to be a farm country. It's not anymore. And it's just going to be more.
[1:59:38] When I was young, it always used to be farm there.
[1:59:40] It was a pond, a big horse farm, and cows.
[1:59:43] We got to do something, maybe, but it doesn't need to be there.
[1:59:46] And I still try to drive a tractor on Craig Road once in a while,
[1:59:52] and the traffic's terrible. People are stupid. I'm not going to lie.
[1:59:56] I agree with you 100% the way people are, but I didn't like the way you were kind
[2:00:01] of making faces to want somebody up here or that. I don't go for that.
[2:00:05] But getting back
[2:00:07] Maybe we need this somewhere. It doesn't need to be there.
[2:00:10] What about out in your parkland on maybe a two-way up to over at Colin Sons?
[2:00:16] He owns all that land everywhere, and if anybody knows the history of this guy,
[2:00:20] look him up, what a kind of landlord he was.
[2:00:23] I have a little bit of background with that, and I won't even go there.
[2:00:28] So, all right? God bless you, country.
[2:00:37] Hi. Lisa Mossy. I live on Craig Road, too.
[2:00:41] I've only been there for eight years, and for the past 15 months, we have a little
[2:00:47] farm, about 12 acres. I was arguing back and forth with the zoning person,
[2:00:53] my favorite person, for a 10 by 12 farm stand that they were having trouble
[2:00:58] at the end of my driveway with. I have hundreds of people going to my little
[2:01:04] farm stand, little kids, big kids, old people, teenagers,
[2:01:10] buying little things at that farm stand.
[2:01:13] The speed limit's 30 miles an hour, but a lot of people go faster than that.
[2:01:19] But I'm here for the first time looking at the politics up here, and I don't like
[2:01:24] it. I moved here to Reddington. I was a nurse for 30 years.
[2:01:29] I love this little farm. We planted 4,000 berries, peach trees, grapes, everything,
[2:01:35] and I love the farm. I love seeing Mark on his tractor.
[2:01:40] People try to run over my husband on his tractor.
[2:01:43] You can't have 1,400 units at the end of Craig Road. You can't do it.
[2:01:48] Every month, someone gets into an accident on that little bridge head-on
[2:01:55] because they play chicken on that road.
[2:01:57] You can't have an additional 1,400 units with God knows how many people
[2:02:03] on that road. I don't care how you do it. You can't do it.
[2:02:07] So I don't know what the politics are.
[2:02:10] I don't know how this decision gets made, but we have to have more people
[2:02:16] in on the whole thing, just like the block and lot and the address.
[2:02:20] That's all important for people to understand the process of this whole thing.
[2:02:26] So I'm going to be sitting back and watching this, but I hope everybody else has
[2:02:31] something to say about that. You can't do that. You just can't.
[2:02:45] Okay. Any comments from the-- Oh.
[2:02:52] My name's Connie Merchant. I promised my husband I wasn't going to say anything
[2:02:56] tonight-
[2:02:58] ... but I'm fired up.
[2:03:01] And
[2:03:03] we've lived here 38 years, so we're not rookies to Reddington, and we've lived
[2:03:09] here. We love living here. We live not far from off of Pleasant Run Road.
[2:03:15] The idea of putting in that number of units on that
[2:03:21] location is ridiculous on multiple levels.
[2:03:26] Environmentally,
[2:03:29] economically,
[2:03:31] socially, it's wrong for Reddington.
[2:03:36] And I will say this, if people are so riled up about
[2:03:41] affordable housing, get figured out how you can address it at the
[2:03:47] state level.
[2:03:49] The town has to do what it's been mandated at the state level.
[2:03:55] If you hate it, get busy telling your state legislators, if you can
[2:04:01] find them all, that you don't want this.
[2:04:07] There's also an undercurrent that makes me a little embarrassed,
[2:04:12] an undercurrent of, "We don't want them," whoever them is.
[2:04:17] Anybody who has aging parents or 30-year-old kids who still have to live at home
[2:04:22] because they can't afford to live in Reddington know we have an affordable housing
[2:04:27] crisis in Hunterdon County and all over New Jersey.
[2:04:32] So let's figure out how to deal with that at the upper levels.
[2:04:35] Here in Reddington, people come here and stay here because of the quality of life.
[2:04:42] We are bound to do something that the state has required, but the
[2:04:47] solution on Pleasant Run Road is ridiculous.
[2:05:01] Okay, I'll close there and just ask if there's comments from the governing body.
[2:05:06] Yes, Mr. Mayor, there's a couple of items I forgot to mention before.
[2:05:09] On Sunday the 13th, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, the 1776 Hooked Rug Exhibit and a visit
[2:05:15] with Soldier Deborah Sampson will be sponsored at the Bowman's Pickney Farm by the
[2:05:20] Museums Committee. And once again, the 3:00 PM at the Bowman's Pickney, the
[2:05:25] Taylor's Mill, the mill that fed Washington's troops will be displayed on the 26th.
[2:05:30] And also on October 24th at 11:00 AM will be the Liberty Pole
[2:05:35] celebration in Reddington Township.
[2:05:38] I hope we get a strong turnout for that, celebrating our 250th anniversary.
[2:05:47] Good.
[2:05:47] We might not all agree, but I appreciate everyone showing up and listening.
[2:05:52] That is the best way to get involved and stay informed.
[2:05:56] That said, with affordable housing, we have two options.
[2:06:00] Either the taxpayer is going to pay for it or a developer's going to pay for it.
[2:06:04] Pay to play. That is what this entire conversation is about.
[2:06:10] That is not true.
[2:06:12] Okay.
[2:06:12] The taxpayer's going to pay no matter what.
[2:06:13] We can't do a back and forth shout-
[2:06:15] You know what? You're smart.
[2:06:16] Because we can't do a back and forth shout-
[2:06:18] Because nobody-
[2:06:18] We can't do a shout.
[2:06:19] You're smart.
[2:06:20] We can't shout.
[2:06:22] Let's finish with John.
[2:06:23] It's still my time. So I would also like to say, we've got a lot from Craig Road,
[2:06:28] so that's great.
[2:06:30] You should listen to the residents on the north side of town, where all affordable
[2:06:34] housing has been shoved, with the exception of Three Bridges. Okay?
[2:06:40] It's all being shoved on Route 22. Okay? It is.
[2:06:45] And it's all being shoved-- and there's a second development proposed in Three
[2:06:49] Bridges. You probably don't know that yet, right?
[2:06:52] There's a second development proposed in Three Bridges right next to the other one.
[2:06:56] So I understand, not in my backyard. I understand. Trust me, I get it.
[2:07:02] But
[2:07:06] I appreciate you all showing up and speaking your mind. It's that simple.
[2:07:09] Ultimately, the courts are going to decide, and we are quickly down a path to
[2:07:14] having the judge decide this for us. So.
[2:07:17] Vinnie?
[2:07:18] I have nothing more to say, sir. Just pretty much done.
[2:07:21] Okay.
[2:07:21] All right, I've got one comment.
[2:07:24] I would agree with most of you, and I-
[2:07:27] Guys, can we please stop with the back-and-forth conversation? Thank you.
[2:07:32] Thank you. I would agree, I think most of us are opposed to affordable housing the
[2:07:36] way the state of New Jersey is imposed on townships.
[2:07:40] This is my third stint as mayor.
[2:07:43] Did I want to be mayor during a year where we have to deal with affordable housing?
[2:07:47] No. My day job is preserving land, farms, and open space.
[2:07:52] By the next two weeks, I think I've got about 600 acres of land
[2:07:57] preserved over eight years. That's what I spend my time doing.
[2:08:01] So like all of us, we're really opposed to this.
[2:08:05] I'm opposed to the fact that the State of New Jersey exempts urban areas from
[2:08:09] affordable housing, and they move it into suburban areas or wherever they think
[2:08:15] appropriate. It's just not fair. We're still fighting the 504 number that was given
[2:08:20] to us a year and a half ago. I think we're on appeal. We don't like that number.
[2:08:25] We don't like that many units. So this is like we're all in it together, and we're
[2:08:31] trying to work out the best we can, and hopefully, we can continue and have a
[2:08:37] small-scale footprint and not have all the consequences of traffic,
[2:08:44] services, all the things that are negative, I think we're all in agreement on.
[2:08:49] This is not what we want, but it's very hard to fight the state of New Jersey.
[2:08:53] So I think Connie's comment about
[2:08:56] that's where the ultimate responsibility lies, it's with the state, and we're
[2:09:02] trying to implement something as best we can from our different perspectives.
[2:09:06] So I agree with that, and I appreciate everybody's engagement.
[2:09:10] This is not an easy thing. So
[2:09:14] thank you very much. And one more last thing.
[2:09:16] There was a township town hall that occurred on March 30th.
[2:09:21] So for people that are new to this topic, we had our professionals, planner, and
[2:09:27] affordable housing attorney do about a one-hour briefing on the mechanics of what
[2:09:33] this is, how it works, the whole process, and they laid it out in about 45 minutes.
[2:09:39] It's on tape, it's on video. I think you could take a look at it, and that might be
[2:09:44] a way to educate you and neighbors about what we're facing.
[2:09:48] So that was March 30th of this year. So anyway, with that, I'll close.
[2:09:53] I want to thank you all for participating.
[2:09:55] Motion to adjourn.
[2:09:56] Second.
[2:09:56] All in favor?
[2:09:57] Aye.
[2:09:58] Thank you.