>> in compliance with the open public meeting act of the state of new jersey on january 12,
2025, adequate notice of this meeting was provided as required by law.
additionally, this meeting is being digitally recorded and live streamed on the somerset county website.
for public access, please email your questions to county board meeting at somerset county and j.gov. Director?
>> please rise for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for reflections.
>>
>> may we continue to be the leaders of somerset county,
committed to excellence and innovation in public service, promoting the well being of all residents and communities by providing effective,
efficient, and responsive leadership. Thank you. Welcome everyone
to the october 28 work session of somerset county board of commissioners. This agenda and the items on and for discussion will be considered at our next meeting,
which is scheduled for november 12. No action will be taken at this meeting,
and unless the measure and its adoption are needed in a manner necessary to continue county business. Roll call, please?
>> commissioner graner. >> here. >> commissioner drake. >> here. >> commissioner soe. >> here.
>> deputy director mrano. >> here. >> director robinson. >> here. >> I have brief remarks to see we have several guests with us on this evening,
so we will move right along. Thank you to paul kreseller and staff who planned
setup and got the vendors together for our second annual veterans resource job at wellness fair.
I was there with my granddaughter. We had a great time meeting the different vendors, speaking with veterans.
thank you to vfw post 2290 in manville,
for being our host location this year. They were very appreciative to have that opportunity,
and will welcome us back again. I had the pleasure of putting my granddaughter to work and handing out
challenge coins as a special token of appreciation from one veteran to another.
we also attended our dinner in somerset that used to be catalin.
they are a global provider for drug development and research and discovery services.
it is one of the latest companies that are invested in somerset county.
they purchased, again, from catalin back in last year or early part of this year.
through those efforts, they were able to retain all 200 employees at that location.
they are going to expand the facility with new labs and packaging capabilities,
and they are a company that is based in belgium, and they chose to make somerset county their home.
we also with the business partnership with somerset county tourism,
they have been involved in fun engagement as we prepare for the fifa world cup of 2026,
partnering with companies and other community partners.
also, in preparation for the 250th, they have been filming throughout the county to showcase our historical sites.
that has been completed. They have also sent increased usage and traffic on our kiosk.
so as that kiosk and availability of tourism and information for
somerset county goes as far as virginia up the east coast through the tri state area.
so we appreciate all that they're doing and making sure that
somerset county is getting the visibility it needs as we prepare for our nation's 250th,
but also showcasing that somer state county is a great place to live,
work, play, and visit. I don't think we have, see,
our next meeting is november 12. So happy veterans day to all the veterans,
and we'll see you. Deputy director. >> that's great. Thank you, director.
good evening and welcome. Very busy past couple of weeks.
administrator more and I participated in a team's call with
senator andy kim and other elected officials to discuss the gateway rail project.
specifically the rvl line, which boasts about 15,000 commuters daily.
we were on the call with congresswoman pow, congressman menendez, administrator mar, four mayors,
one from each of the counties, including rariton boroughs, mayor nick kara, to discuss what's going on, it's very confusing.
throughout this conversation, the senator just kept saying, we need clarity.
the president talked about terminating the gateway project,
which would eliminate thousands of jobs, delay commuting times.
for us on the rvl, me as a former commuter, that change of train in newark bogs down your whole life.
it is a real damper on your family life. It takes you from your children.
when the president of the united states said he was terminating the project,
the senator is just trying to get us all to understand that he's trying
to reach out to washington to figure out what some more clarity as to what's going on.
in the meantime, the mayor's alliance is working hard on this. The county is involved with the mayor's alliance to keep fighting
for the gateway project for all of us for that commutation ease.
it is definitely a pet project of mine as a former commuter.
so thank you to senator kim for keeping that on the docket.
I also attended another pharmaceutical expansion here in somerset county.
lupin expanded their footprint here in somerset county.
they have a facility in somerset, franklin township right now,
and they have expanded their office space in bridgewater, which is really awesome.
they make generic drugs for predominantly respiratory illnesses.
so we love having them there. The governor was there with us. So phil murphy was there for the ribbon cutting of the new office building.
it was very lovely, and we're excited to have them grow and build their company here in somerset county.
I also was invited to the bernards township, 250th planning committee meeting,
and I got to tell you bernards is doing a phenomenal job of collaborating and coordinating with their businesses,
their library, their community, their town, the county. So they are really getting prepped for the 250th anniversary.
they've got december 10 through 15th of 2026,
all getting ready now in the books for all kinds of activities. So pre christmas 2026,
spend time in bernards township. I'm going to steal some of commissioner graner's thunder.
we were at the art show reception together for the open air open space art show.
so this is the second and a three part series. Last year was farm to frame,
where we showcased our local artist to show our preserve farmland.
this time, it was local artists showcasing preserved open space.
I hope for those that are visiting the building tonight, you do take a little time on your way out and really admire some of this artwork.
it's very, very lovely. Next year is use on history. It'll showcase our historic preservation locations.
so that was really, really great. 30 artists, 12 parks. Also with commissioner graner,
we had the fun time of the launch of the montgomery township inclusive playground.
part of the funds for that playground came from recreation grants through
the open space program. It was phenomenal.
I have never been at a ribbon cutting. Where I saw such eager faces to get in there.
the mayor would not let any children play until we had the official ribbon cutting.
am I wrong, liz? They were like, cheering. I thought I was on a disney movie like.
so it gave my heart some joy to know that our funding is going into the right places,
and our children in the county are really loving what we're doing.
also with commissioner graner. We went to the sommer strong 5k and 10k race at duke island park this past saturday.
that was to support the philippine nurses association and their philanthropic works that they do with that fund raising.
and also with commissioner graner. We went to the duali celebration at the blagi temple in bridgewater.
they had a lot of wonderful dancers, all ages and speeches.
it was a lovely time. I thank the temple and their chair people for the gracious invitation to welcome us.
as the director said, veterans day is coming up. We do have a ceremony in our plaza right outside on veterans day at 11:00 am.
so it's easy, 11:11 at 11. Everyone is welcome to come.
last but not least, our public works had their shred event, 01,111 cars, and our household hazardous waste had 767 cars.
that concludes my report. >> thank you, deputy director morono,
and I appreciate your advocacy, too, as I serve on the njtpa board or
the north jersey transportation and planning authority to make sure that we continue to advocate for gateway and the hunter bridge flyover,
which will alleviate a lot of that bottlenecking that occurs within our transportation system.
we had a freight initiatives committee meeting on the njtpa.
what's nice, we have presentations. This meeting, we had a presentation on technology in free.
our speaker was matt soul, the founder and ceo of parallel systems,
a company developing autonomous battery electric rail vehicles.
parallel technology enables railroads to expand market share
by improving service quality, flexibility, and reach.
the system works alongside of traditional transits, complements existing operations, and integrates with rail,
physical, and digital infrastructure. Matt has more than 20 years of experience developing
advanced technologies within established industries and aerospace.
he had lead roles in development teams and certifications of
the world's first autonomous autonomous flight termination system,
hazard analysis, and risk mitigation for an spacecraft and air force certification of reasonable rockets.
we had a wealth of information, which we were able to use to make further decisions on that board,
and that's $3 billion of federal funding that we appropriate for infrastructure and planning throughout the northern part of new jersey.
later on this evening, I am proud to say that I will be attending right after this, of course,
a dinner for the adult day center, and they will be honoring laura de prato,
and anyone who has met laura knows that she is a breath of fresh air and can light up a room.
this year's recipient of the steve caliper community leadership award.
anyone who also met steve understands that his energy was he had that personality that was bigger than life.
I couldn't think of a better person to be receiving this. She's a trailblazer and ceo journalist and horticultural therapy practitioner
whose work has transformed lives across all ages and abilities from cancer patients and
caregivers to senior citizens and memory care and individuals in recovery.
laura's nature based programs brings healing, hope, and connection to our community.
her impact reaches far beyond programming. Laura has championed horticultural therapy through advocacy,
education, and public service, including launching adc's own horticultural therapy initiatives in
2012 and authorizing legislation that established the new jersey horticultural therapy week in 2015.
so I just want to express deep gratitude and appreciation
for all the work that she's done throughout our community. For veterans day around the corner,
while we're in person here, I thank all our veterans for their service to give us a life that we have today. Thank you.
>> thank you, commissioner. Last week,
I attended a workshop hosted by department of human services,
the department of health, and the richard hall halth and wellness center. It certainly was an incredible meeting discussion
as the program embarks on a new program with a goal of harm reduction.
this program includes a fully equipped mobile van and substance use counselors
who are looking to bring support directly to those who need it. We use data from the county to identify hot spots or activity centers,
and nine municipalities were identified as places really to focus our energies.
we want to thank all those who came out to this workshop, including representatives from many of the municipalities, police,
business administrators, and several mayors came out really to discuss this important topic.
we look at harm reduction. It's important to understand what it is.
harm reduction is rooted in respect, compassion, and the belief that every person deserves dignity, safety,
and the opportunity to make positive changes at their own pace and in their own time.
it's about meeting people where they are, not where we wish they were,
and working together to reduce the negative consequences of drug use, stigma, and isolation.
in our county, we've seen 399 overdoses from january 1 through september 30 of this year.
a number that touches every part of our community, from families to schools to emergency responders,
27 of that 399 overdoses resulted in a fatality.
>> seventy percent of those fatalities were attributed to the use of fentanyl.
we can look at 27 people who basically died from the use of drugs.
but behind each number is a person, someone's child, a friend, a neighbor.
harm reduction invites us to respond not just with the policy, but with humanity.
a few months ago, our research for recovery outreach workers connected with someone who had overdosed multiple times.
through harm reduction, access to narcan, safe use education, and a trusted connection.
that person is now in treatment and rebuilding their lives. Stories like this show that harm reduction isn't about enabling drug use.
it's about keeping people alive long enough to have a chance to heal and to recover.
really, that's my message for today, but it's end of my report. Thank you. >> thank you, commissioner drake.
it looks like the supplemental nutrition assistance program, otherwise known as snap benefits for november 2025 will not be available on november 1st.
this delay directly impacts 11,480 active snap
recipients in the county and places an enormous strain on our existing food access infrastructure,
which includes two primary food banks, eight food pantries across locations throughout the county,
and 30 total food access sites plus six senior wellness centers.
the somerset county food coalition convened an emergency meeting yesterday to address this.
as in past crises, the county through coordinated efforts with our oem and
somerset county community organizations active in disaster or sc-coad,
is mobilizing community support and urges residents, businesses, and community groups to support this effort by volunteering or donating.
a list of local food banks can be found on the county website.
furthermore, we call on our schools to take the crucial step of ensuring that all eligible students are enrolled in
free or reduced price meal programs to ease the financial burden on families.
by coming together, we can ensure that no one in somerset county goes hungry during this period of uncertainty.
the county sent a letter to the mayors and business administrators in all 21 municipalities,
making sure they understand the implications and resources, and another letter to the somerset county business partnership
asking for private sector assistance with donations or food drives. Medicare open enrollment runs until december 7th.
if you have a prescription plan part d or a medicare advantage plan, now is the time to review your coverage.
the state health insurance assistance program or ship offers free confidential and unbiased guidance
from experts to help with these critical decisions. You could call them at 908-704-6319 or email at
ship@somersetcountynj.gov to schedule an appointment before slots fill up.
the somerset county department of human services, along with the prosecutor's office and educational.
partners hosted author and speaker matthew boci for over 500 students on october 8th and 9th.
boci known for his memoir sway, shared his powerful decade long journey of overcoming
the trauma of losing his father on 9/11 addiction, depression, and ptsd.
his mission is to reduce the stigma of addiction and mental health and inspire others to seek support.
workforce development, this healthcare sector is facing a critical need for workers.
tomorrow, the greater riden workforce development board is teaming up with the state department of labor to host
a discussion about certified home healthcare careers from 1:00-2:25.
residents who are eligible for temporary assistance for needy families, general assistance or snap are invited to free computer skills classes provided by
the digital equity training program in partnership with the workforce development board of northwest new jersey.
collaboration with zufall health, there will be a fast track to interview workshop on november 19th in morristown.
you could see a list of high demand positions with competitive salaries and opportunities for advancement.
for more information, visit online at thegerwdb.org.
over at rvcc, the county college is one of
four new jersey colleges invited to nashville for a two-day event concerning short-term workforce credentials.
the rvcc foundation had a record fund raising year so far,
raising over $2 million. Most of the funds are for student scholarships as critical need as
both federal and state agencies begin to cut student financial aid programs.
because of changes at the us department of education, many of our fafsa applications have been rejected.
there are now no officers to help resolve the situation. As a result, rvcc faces a federal shortfall of well over $1 million,
but as dr. Mcdonough, the president of the college reports, the college will continue to serve students,
including those who are most vulnerable. Healthier somerset discussed the funding challenges that
many community-based organizations are experiencing for instance,
snap ed lost funding and is no longer able to support the farmers protos program.
rwjh somerset is coordinating the remaining distribution for the fall.
the coalition also acknowledged the pending changes to snap and wic coming this saturday.
the food insecurity and healthy eating committee, along with the county are working on plans to address
potentially increased gables usage of food banks. Now, finally, on public health and safety.
since our last meeting, the oem has responded to 29 calls for response coordination and
support within the county and provided support through mutual aid to surrounding counties three times.
in addition, they provided support and coordination to one large planned event within the county.
the training academy held 67 classes for fire ems, oem,
and/or law enforcement since october 14 to include the emr or
emergency medical responder class run for votex on site for the location for student credit.
thank you, madam director. >> thank you. We will now move on to citations for our state senior art show winners.
>> oh, thanks. >> can I have our senior artists come on up, please?
I'm so happy to see you guys again. We've got four.
I've got vamalia, and
waltron and milt, and leo cardia.
milt. Are our other two artists here, bolin?
there you go. Come on up. Aaron column.
I thought they were coming. She didn't make it. I'll just hang on to that on the side.
well, these three artists were participated in our somerset county art shows.
if you ever have time, and you want to see some great art,
this county building in that gallery, as you enter through the parking garage always has phenomenal artworks.
you don't have to go into new york city to see great art. You can come right here to somerset county when the buildings open and admire.
our current display, as I was just talking about, was about our open space preservation,
but prior to that was our senior art show.
are you vamalia. Oh,
did we get that one? We didn't know you were coming. So hang on.
we'll get it. Do you can come on up, though. No, sir. Come on up. We're going to get your paperwork.
we weren't aware you were coming, so come on up. But these senior artists do great work.
come on. I swear I'm okay.
these four are being recognized tonight because they went to
the state competition and each won an award at the state level.
I'd love you to give them a wonderful somerset county round of applause.
[applause] I'm so proud. Do any of you want to say a couple of quick words?
would you like to say a couple of quick words?
>> it was a pleasure. >> are we unanimous it was a pleasure?
I know this isn't you, but let's just fake that it's yours.
we're going to shift down for a photo. Oh, we got yours. It's coming. We don't even have to fake it.
thank you so much. Come on down, so we're centered with that seal.
[applause]
>> we have a few communications, one from new jersey american water company.
notice of filing for approval of reconciliation and proposed surcharge for special program charge recovery period.
county clerk notice of fees collected for somerset county for
september 2025 in the amount of $4,947,058.14.
at this time, we will ask that our senior engineer,
matt looper come up to do a presentation.
>> thank you, director. Good evening. As you can see, from the powerpoint,
I'm going to be giving a presentation about the washington valley park trail access and hawk watch entrance driveway.
this is an ongoing project that's being undertaken by somerset county in the washington valley park,
which is in our somerset county park commission owned properties.
I'll give you an overview of the park, the purpose and needs of this project, and then a comprehensive overview of the design process.
behind me is adam slutsky assistant county engineer, and peter bond from tnm associates,
who was the design engineer for this project.
washington valley park, bridgewater township, 719 acres.
it's lies on the first watchung ridge in bridgewater township. The park contains the former brown brook elizabethtown reservoir.
that has become the focal point of the park along with a network of trails. The second largest park in somerset county,
after the sourland mountain preserve, which is 6,000 acres. The next one being colonial park in franklin township at 685 acres.
park is located in the first and second watchung mountains at the geographic center of somerset county.
it consists of forest, open freshwater, wetlands, marshes,
impressive rock outcroppings, numerous historic features, and a 21-acre reservoir.
with more than seven miles of trails, they're great for hiking and some of the best mountain biking in the state of new jersey.
in addition, the parks hawk watch area is one of the east coast premier locations to watch
thousands of rafters migrate south every autumn. The body of water for the reservoir has a multitude of fishing opportunities.
the park. You see two circles on this map.
as I said before, it's over 700 acres. It has just two access points.
to the west is that newman's lane, a well utilized entrance to the park at the western end,
and to the east and the red circle on the right side of the diagram is an access point off voster avenue.
this access point to the east is limited. It has limitations and has been targeted by somerset county since
the 1997 master plan for this park for improvements and reiterated in
2005 with our capital facilities plan as a target for improvement due to its limitations.
this is our 1997 master plan for the washington valley park.
you can see a few things called out here. This 28-year-old master plan shows the existing access on miller lane,
pointed out on the top right. It also identifies potential future access drive
through what is referred to as a future acquisition opportunity.
it's that gray box on the right side of the diagram. This is 13 acres that the county acquired in 2014.
the use of that property would be a future entrance to the park.
in addition to that, you see what is known as the patullo property. It's two properties shown on here.
most people are familiar with the one that we acquired in 2023,
the 1.4 acre property known as patullo property. Previous to that is the 9.85 acre property,
which was acquired in 2014.
this is the 2005, somerset county park commission capital facility study.
I've highlighted a few things on this document. It's a long document,
but this particular page talks about the observations of washington valley park,
and it talks about recommendations. Clearly states that we are looking to improve
the parking and access drives to this property. Other observations on the top of the page,
improve parking and walkway to the hawk watch. The hawk watch area has high visitation during peak times,
and that mountain biking is a popular at the site. This is a lay of the land on the east side of the property.
this diagram shows a few things. It shows going from left to right,
the hawk watch area. It's the circle on the left side of the diagram.
the associated parking lot, which is just to the east of it. You have the 1.4 acre property known as the patullo parcel,
which was acquired in 2023. That parking lot is access to the hawk watch,
the yellow and orange trails, the buttermilk falls, and the east branch reservoir.
patullo property acquired in 2023. Although it's less than two acres,
this property holds an incredible historic significance to the county and completed a major portion of washington valley park.
lastly, to the right, you see miller lane. This red line is the access to this parking lot.
vosseller road is to the east, the municipal roadway, and miller lane,
which is a semi-private public driveway with seven residences to the north and
the washington valley park to the south, shown in green. This is the access point to the entire east side of washington valley park.
it's a narrow road, and I'll show you the next slide what it looks like.
this is miller lane. It has private residences on the right side and north of the property, and for years,
it's been a complaint of these private residences and officials from the county,
about speeding vehicle accidents and the amount of traffic used in the park, utilizing this roadway, this narrow roadway, which is unsuitable.
it has got improper site distance at its entrance at vosseller.
it has all the complaints we just mentioned. We've known this for many years. We started to look at mitigation for this property.
we added speed bumps in 2013 to miller lane to slow traffic down.
we installed a new gate in 2018 to restrict traffic after hours due to the nuisances that occurred.
all these were attempted mitigation measures to try to deal with the issues of miller lane.
two cars maybe, but anything larger than a car, it's quite difficult.
they have to pull over to the side.
it's definitely very now as you can see in this picture.
in 2023, because of these issues that we just mentioned, the county initiated a project to construct a new driveway entrance
to the east side of washington valley park to replace this miller lane entrance driveway,
and to deliver the commitments that were made by the 1997 washington valley park master plan and the 2005 capital facilities plan.
the mission of it was to improve the access for the existing hawk watch, and the trails and all the amenities of this park.
what we've shown here, it's a very similar diagram as the one, two slides ago.
but what we're showing here is a schematic of the new driveway, not to scale or anything,
but this is showing where the proposed driveway would be, going through that 13 acre acquisition that was done in 2000,
which was proposed in 1998 for houses,
11 homes were proposed there in 1998, and the county bought it in 2000. This new access driveway is going into the property and will connect with
the existing miller lane access point well to the south of these private residences.
what we've shown here is the existing red miller lane on the top of it that will remain in existence,
obviously, for those property owners. Our plan is the dead end or code sac,
the end of that property. The end of that road, and what was shown in blue is the existing driveway that we plan to remove.
remove all the asphalt back to its natural state, plant some trees,
maybe, but that's all tbd and not part of this project, but we're willing to do that, and we're going to do that.
obviously, the purpose of this is to improve the access.
this new driveway would alleviate all the congestion that happens on miller lane,
alleviate all those nuisance complaints that we get from miller lane residences,
and obviously the rest of the surrounding area.
just to give you perspective, this is going back to the map of washington valley park.
it's 719 acres, and that little green line to the east is this project.
it encompasses a total of 2.14 acres. That's the limit of disturbance for this project,
which is less than one third of 1% of the park size.
what I'll go through now is a little overview of the design process.
I'll go in chronological order just to make it easier. I'm going to go through a lot of documentation that we went through to get to this point.
we started this design back in 2023. It was bid in 2025,
and it is currently under construction due to be done in about eight weeks.
the first item that we did was executed a contract with
tina associates to design contract to start this process that happened in late 2023.
it included field survey, environmental due diligence, culture resource survey,
storm water management design, geotechnical, permit preparation, civil design,
construction plan preparation, and bidding.
our next item, which was done three months later, was a due diligence report done by tina associates. We did this.
we conducted a wetlands delineation in late 2023, a site visit in march of 2024,
in order to determine the presence or absence of wetlands and state open waters within the project area.
based upon our site visit, the wetlands were not found in the project area. Finding of their assessment and mapping research found the project area to contain
uplands and to be outside of a regulated floodplain.
additionally, just last week on october 23, the njdep bureau of coastal land use
compliance and enforcement conducted a site visit of our property, and the dep provided a verbal commitment that the project is not in regulated area,
and therefore would not have triggered the requirement for a wetlands permit. The project is not located in a floodplain,
and no freshwater lettins are impacted, and therefore, no land use permits from the dep or any federal agency were required.
in addition, in this due diligence report, through site inspection, design research,
the county's consultant determined that the site does not contain any known occurrences of endangered species.
our next item, which was done in january of this year was a state historic preservation office chipo approval.
as many of you know, this is a historically significant site. The project footprint extends into the bridgewater encampment historic property,
which is listed not only in the new jersey register, but the national register of historic places.
we knew this going into the project. It also falls within
the archaeological site which contains a national register listed archaeological site.
we did a phase 1a, a phase 2a, 2b, phase 1a, 1b,
and a phase two archaeological survey was conducted for this project.
this necessitated a submission of the application for project authorization under the new jersey register of historic places act,
and this letter is the authorization for construction under the new jersey historic places act that was obtained by
the ngatep historic preservation office on january second of this year.
our next item, which was done just two weeks later was a coordination letter to the from the county to bridgewater.
knowing that we've gotten through our due diligence, our shipo approvals,
we're still working on storm water management, the county coordinated with the township of bridgewater.
we sent a letter from our county administrator to the mayor of bridgewater. The letter stated this.
the somerset county's plan to construct a new 1,500 foot long 20 foot wide pervious pavement entrance road to washington valley park this summer.
access to the park from miller lane will be restricted once the new road is constructed.
this new entrance road will separate traffic from the miller lane traffic, thereby alleviating speeding and traffic concerns along miller lane.
the new entrance road will begin off foster lane, approximately 200 feet to the south of miller lane.
the new entrance road will be increased site distance compared to miller lane, and therefore be safer.
proposed access road alignment will follow an existing easement containing a water line to
minimize tree clearing and allow maintenance access for the water company to the water line.
an electric operator gate will provide an entrance to foster road, and no lighting or curbing is proposed.
next, about a month later, I came before this board and received authorization to bid this project.
it's a standard resolution that we do for all construction projects. The resolution states that it's authorizing plans and received a bid for this project.
I just pause here on the whole on all of the documents. I just want to go through the actual design of the project a little bit here.
this is showing our efforts to incorporate green infrastructure and post pavement design.
what you see in this diagram is our cross section of our road. It's a 20 foot wide roadway.
it's the narrowest roadway we can do with two way traffic. It shows the 10 foot wide lanes and the two foot grass shoulders.
it shows the porous asphalt surface course, which is 2 inches thick,
and two foot grass shoulders. It's our typical roadway section for this project.
next. It's our five plan sheets. I'll go through these pretty quickly from west to east.
this area in gray is the new road, it connects up at the western end of the project where miller lane is,
you see that hashed area that is where miller lane comes from the top of the diagram to the south.
this is where the new driveway meets the existing miller lane. This is a contract plan for the project.
it represents the work that is necessary to accomplish the construction of this new driveway.
everything you've seen in the next five slides shown in gray is the new driveway,
01,500 feet long, 20 feet wide. It also shows a smooth design vertical profile with proper design grading.
it is the area necessary to construct this driveway. It is limited to the greatest extent possible,
in the most cost efficient and cost effective way. But everything within this limited disturbance
defines the clearing site for this project. Everything necessary, but limited where
possible is to be removed in order to construct this driveway.
sheet two, simply shows the high point of the road.
you can see the 20 foot wide roadway. As you can see, this gray area is the new driveway.
as you can see, all trees and vegetation will need to be removed to construct this road.
the driveway, along its 1,500 foot length and 20 foot width, could not be designed or constructed without
all material being removed by the contractor, including all trees, brushes, sticks, rocks,
and earth to ensure the proper grading of the driveway is achieved.
it's our middle slide. It's three. This shows the straight section,
and you can clearly see it starts coming down to the east towards vosseller avenue.
next slide, please. Our next slide, our shoot four.
this is showing a trail crossing with a proper crosswalk from north to south so people can safely cross over this new driveway.
then our last slide shows where this new driveways up with vos avenue.
it shows improved sight distance, improved sight distance versus miller lane.
it also doesn't show on this diagram, but it will have an automatic gate at the entrance to restrict traffic after dark.
the next thing we did in our chronology here on february 18, 2025.
we had a virtual meeting with bridgewater township. The township reached out to us about two weeks earlier than this on february 7,
asked us for a meeting to talk about the project, to look at the plans for the project.
adam and I. Had a virtual meeting with municipal officials, their engineer, the director of municipal services.
we showed them the plans. We showed the previous slides that we just talked about.
we presented the scope of work of the project. We answered their questions,
and there were no concerns raised at the meeting that we looked at after the meeting.
next thing up is our storm water report on march 20, 2025.
as I stated earlier, during our due diligence, no dep land use permits were required for this project,
but the somerset county consultant tea of associates prepared a storm water report,
which is dated march 20, 2025. The project site has been designed to meet
the flow reduction requirements in the current and future rainfall scenarios. No storm water runoff increases occur at
any design points for the current and future 210 and 100 year storm events,
the proposed current flows have been reduced for the 210 and 100 year storm frequencies.
this is done through the design of our project. Talked about the poorest pavement. It's going to have proper drainage under the road.
this has allowed us to be able to reduce the amount of runoff from this project. Next up.
a few months ago, in august 12, 2025, we achieved our somerset union soil conservation district permit approval.
if anybody doesn't know, it's an official authorization for land disturbing activities that allows a project to
proceed with a detailed erosion and sediment control plan that has been reviewed, certified and approved by the relative soil conservation district.
the permit ensures the proposed measures are in place to minimize soil erosion and
prevent sediment from polluting waterways during and after construction.
this is addressed to, it's addressed to me, I see. But it's addressed to the county.
it's signed by the chairperson of the district, and copied on the bottom is the bridgewater township construction official.
[overlapping]. Thank you. Planning board and tina associates. Thank you.
sorry. Commissioner. It's even smaller on my page.
next up, in september 9, 2025, dep issued us a storm water construction general permit,
which is called the 5g3. The dep currently regulates storm water runoff for
certain construction activities under its construction activities, storm water general permit.
this general permit controls storm water discharges to surface water for construction activities that disturb one acre or more of land.
as I stated earlier, it was over two acres, so we were required to achieve this permit, and we got the permit on september 9.
next up. This point, the project's been awarded.
we have our pre construction meeting on september 24, attended by our county office,
our inspection team, attended by the park commission,
our contractor, of course, and bridgewater township officials.
we're about to go to construction. We think we're going to start a in early october.
we sent a letter to the miller lane residences. We want to make sure that they're aware of
this project since it's so close to home to them. This letter was also forwarded to bridgewater township.
just give you a brief I gave a brief description of the project, much of what was written in the letter to the town earlier.
we also state that the work is expected to take around four months.
during this time, the construction vehicles will be utilizing miller lane to access the project,
wanted to make sure they're aware of this. So we appreciated their patience as we complete
the new access road to washington valley park.
next up, we have what we're referring to as a green acres determination letter.
the proposed access drive directly from vossler to washington valley road was reviewed with the nj dep green acres program rules.
under definition, this is defined as a development as any improvement to the land or water area of a park land that is
designed to expand or enhance its utilization for outdoor recreation in conservation purposes and shall include construction,
renovation, or repair of any such improvement. This term may include any of the following,
which lists several things, including parking and roadways. Construction of the new access driveway meets
this definition and can be considered a permitted development.
additionally, public access to and use of a funded park land.
under the dep rules, any local government unit or non profit shall ensure that funded park land is open,
that reasonable public access as determined by the department is afforded to all new jersey residents.
as we discussed, the new proposed driveway will allow direct access from vosseller to the park from a residential collector road in boss,
which is along with a park sign and a park entrance. Currently, the park is accessed via miller lane,
which is a narrow dead ended residential roadway. Our next point here is about disposal or diversion of funded park land,
and unfunded park land. The dp acres program rules indicate that a local government shall not divert to use other than
recreational or conservation purposes unless the local government unit obtains prior approval.
the construction of this new access driveway to improve public access to the park does not constitute a disposal or just diversion of parkland,
as stated above, it is our opinion and the opinion of tm associates, and we agree with it.
it is our opinion that the construction of the new access driveway for the park meets the development requirements as set forth by the dep program rules.
in addition, we've reached out to dep and the green acres unit.
we're going to coordinate with them on this project and ensure that they agree with that statement.
in conclusion, to construct this project,
took many steps, planning all the way back in 1997 to 2005.
we looked at mitigation for miller lane. We looked at concepts, we communicated, we coordinated.
we started design. We did construction. We did all the things in that,
did our due diligence, our permitting. We looked at wetlands, storm water, hydrology,
utilities, and here we are tonight. We have about eight weeks to go with this project, weather dependent,
and somerset county took all reasonable and necessary steps to deliver this project in the most cost effective,
cost efficient way to deliver a great enhancement to one of our most valuable assets,
washington valley park. Thank you. Thank you. Very thorough and comprehensive update
of what's the timeline from 28 years ago to date.
thank you for that. I'm going to take a point of privilege. I suspect that most of our guests tonight are here on this topic.
at this time, I'm going to open the floor for a motion for public on this topic only.
motion open to public. Second. All in favor? [background]
the rules of engagement. 5 minutes, no yielding of time, no coming up a second time,
and our clerk will inform you when you into a close mayor.
>> please state your name and address when you come to the mic for the record.
>> I will do that. I'm not used to being on this side of that day. Matthew mench, 1303 roger avenue,
and the mayor of bridgewater. In order to be respectful of everyone's time and use my five minutes wisely,
I'll get right into addressing some of our concerns. First of all, I appreciate the presentation that was made tonight.
one of the things that's unique about this project and causing some of the concern amongst our residents is that if this project were being done by a private developer,
as a baseline issue, they'd have to come in front of and use board, zoning, or planning.
all the issues that have been talked about by mr. Loper would have been presented in front of
our planning board or zoning board, as appropriate. There would have been an opportunity for questions in public,
from residents, from board members, from interested parties, to fully understand the project,
as well as to ask questions or impose conditions, things like that. The county is not required to come in front of a township land use board.
school boards come for courtesy reviews. There's nothing that prohibits it.
it's a courtesy review, not required, but could be done. But the issue that was missing in a lot of that is speaking for myself,
anybody here who wants to speak can speak for their own personal opinions, is that when you look at the diagram that was shown,
the nice map with the little line drawn and consistent with the letter we received in
january was I personally don't have an objection to a access road.
in concept, not a problem. But what's missing is any discussion anywhere
of the scope of the tree removal that's there, the plants say 34 trees.
I've heard resins talk about, will they only meant big trees? No, it's broken down by size of tree.
when you look at that nice little map and say, this makes sense, I guess.
it doesn't reflect the conditions on the property.
when you go out there, and I'm sure at this point, probably most of you have gone by it,
if you weren't there before, you've seen it, it's jarring. For residents who have no idea about meetings that take place.
I imagine your meetings aren't typically like this.
that's true, even for our township meetings, you don't have widespread public engagement.
land use sports typically get more. When you look out and our township raised concerns in august,
we asked three questions of our engineer reached out to one of your engineers to say,
we were concerned about the tree removal. Then when we thought it was 34 trees, we were concerned about the site distance.
the response back was, we're not replanting trees, and we're not concerned about the site distance.
that was when it was 34 trees. When we go out there and we see clear-cutting of two acres of property
that if that was shown in anything that our officials have seen,
it was not apparent that what is occurring on that site is what is represented in those diagrams.
the concern that we have, and I'm here on behalf of, is not to debate whether the road is or
isn't a good idea from the purpose of access to the park. It's the concern first and foremost of,
with the removal of these trees, that site, as you all know it's at the top of the mountain.
we spent a million dollars repairing vossler avenue about 800 yards or less from that entrance there.
I understand for the first time here that there may be a stormwater report is first of that what has occurred there.
now putting macadam on there, asphalt, whatever the material that's being used is not creating
a river conditions that are going to take place. As we all know with ida, chimney rock road destroyed,
vossler destroyed, right in the middle there. As of right now, our residents want to make sure that we understand
what mitigation is or is it needed to be able to ensure that,
with the new conditions on that site, our residents are not at risk because of increased flooding.
[noise] if any other entity other than the county, any developer was to come forward,
a resident wants to remove three or four trees from their yard, they got to get permits,
they got to get studies. If it got to help a developer that comes in front of
our land use boards and wants to remove that level of trees, assuming it got approved,
there'd be requirements for replacement of trees or payment into the tree fund.
I understand that the courts will debate whether or not you have to do that.
but whether you legally have to or not. Thank you. Whether you have to do that or not, you should,
because removal of 300 trees for over two acres, like every other developer in bridgewater,
has to replace trees either on site or into our tree fund so that we as a community,
don't lose the benefit of that natural resource. The county should commit to replacing those trees,
coming up with a plan on site or off-site to replace what has been destroyed,
and ensure that our residents can be confident that the runoff from that site is not going to impact our community in that area.
last but not least, we want to understand what the future scope of the project is. Nothing has been mentioned about apparently a new building going on.
there's a contract on there today. Nothing in the plans that were talked about just now.
nothing that I've seen discusses what, I understand to be a center.
we want to know what is next. Is this it? Or is there another round of tree cutting,
and we're going to be back here saying what's going on? I appreciate your time and your attention to this matter. Thank you very much.
>> commissioner, if I may. Just to address some of those.
mayor. Traditionally, when we did improvements to somerset county patriots ball park,
when we did improvements to richard hall, which are going now. We did a courtesy review.
I did appear in front of your planning board. When we do structures or buildings,
that's traditionally when we go to it. A road system or driveway, not really.
it's just a simple thing. But with regards to any time there was a structure that was going to be built in your town, or hillsboro,
or any other town, we do engage the planning board and your planning board officials.
your zoning board officer has been working with us on the issues with richard hall,
as we continue to do some improvements there. We do do that, just want to make sure that we don't just guard you all the time.
>> understand. >> fair enough. The plans and for the trees.
there is another line item in that bid spec. It's called site clearing.
in that when you read it, it says, all trees and everything will be removed.
there are separate items for the 34 trees. There are two separate distinctions in there.
I'm just calling that out in case you never saw the bid specs. They're in there. They're posted online.
you can go look at the bid tabulation. Four different contractors bid on that.
they each had a different price for it. One was as high as $120,000 for site clearing.
one was 13, one was 40, one was 60. The reduction in flooding.
the current stormwater regs of the state in new jersey say, anytime you do any improvement, it used to be,
it just had to not make it any worse, it had to stay the same. Now, as you know, we have to reduce it, and we did.
it is contrary to common belief that that road will actually handle water better than the forest.
but science, and the stormwater report says it will. Reason for that, dirt water sheets down.
this is more porous. When it rains, it goes through the pavement,
that's porous, means it goes through it. There's stone underneath it, there's drainage,
it slows the runoff, it slows it down, we've improved.
I know it sounds crazy. Trees should absorb water better than roads,
and nor do I advocate paving everything for this purpose. But it does do that job,
we will provide you with that stormwater report. The only thing I got to fight with you on, because I got to do one of them,
because otherwise I won't feel good at night about myself, is your own tree ordinance exempts you.
>> but we would've cut down 300 trees. >> I know, but you made it sound like
we're the only people exempt from your tree ordinance. It says the town is also exempt when they want to cut trees in
their own public parks. Just being fair. >> I hear you. I appreciate the comments and on your time tonight.
I think that's the issue, and I won't modify the time. I understand the rules is just that some of them may not be issues,
but had the county come in front of the plan for a curis review or had there been some other forum besides,
this is the first time, some of the issues may have been addressed. Some of them we're still concerned about.
we'll have issues moving forward, but thank you very much for your time.
>> government works. I think we've done our due diligence,
and thank you in making sure the steps along the way that we were
engaging those stakeholders that needed to be engaged.
we do not govern through facebook.
a lot of social media. Anyone else wishing to speak?
please come forward.
when government works, government works, any issues in the past,
I have reached out to elected officials in
specific towns or municipalities to work through those issues.
I'm not on facebook. I don't think any of us on facebook working through good governance and policies.
again, when government works, government works, please state your name and address for the record five minutes.
>> good evening. >> I don't know if you can care. My name is elizabeth aluci.
I live at 1776, washington valley road in martinsville.
I came tonight because you alluded to the fact that there was a lot of information out there,
primarily on social media about the destruction of the park and all,
and I wanted to know what was going on. First of all, thank you because I really didn't have an idea this was happening.
thank you for the presentation, because I think that really clarified a lot of the information for me.
it seems like they performed their due diligence,
that the township was notified. It certainly seems like it was done,
you know, the dep was involved. There were environmental concerns that were addressed.
I feel much more comfortable about it, and I guess I'm hoping that this conversation is over because it's ugly out there.
there's been so much, as I said, misinformation and back and forth, and it's hard to know where the truth lies.
I think I've heard the truth this evening. I hope that's really the end of this conversation.
I thank you very much for your time.
>> good evening. My name is glenn grossman, 13 sylvan drive and bridgewater.
basically, I have two questions. That's why I'm here. I use the park maybe 12 times a year,
both the washington valley side and the chimney rock side. On the chimney rock park side,
which I guess you're calling the east side of the park, there's currently three parking lots.
there's not just the one that we're talking about here. There's also the one on gilbride, and then there's the very big one that
most people end up using by the ball fields off of chimney rock. I almost always just park at the chimney rock ball fields,
because that's real parks that I know of who uses it regularly. My question is, why was this necessary?
I'm seeing that it's already been done already, practically. I want to better understand that.
why didn't people just expand the existing parking lots if they weren't sufficient,
other than the one that was up there, and maybe make that handicapped parking lot or something?
I get that it's very close to the lookout. Some people like to go just for that,
but most people who use it don't go just for that. Second question I have, just real briefly.
my tax dollars as a bridgewater resident, are paying both for the county and for the township,
and they're combating each other with my tax dollars. I don't like this lack of communication.
I want to better understand how that's going to be addressed. Thank you.
>> hi, everyone. It's unique to be here tonight. I've been here before.
my name is stacy friedlander. I live in bridgewater. So when I first heard and saw. Did you get that?
>> I need your address. >> oh, 10 overlook drive. >> 10 overlook? >> yes. When I first saw and heard what was going on,
I was super concerned. The hawk lookout is a favorite spot for me.
we hike, we fish, we do a lot of things in the park. But a lot of the outrage didn't sit well with me.
as a former environmental policy analyst, I decided to dig in.
I did get an opa request. With my opa request,
I also had a principal engineer, a civil engineer, two ecologists,
a wetlands delineation expert, all review the plans that were given to me,
and we all noted they are in accordance with the njdep.
I noticed that we're talking about a new access road,
which will be connecting vossler avenue to miller lane. It sounds like the goal is pretty simple.
make it safer, easier for people to reach the trails and park lookout. The old road was narrow, private,
and not safe for public use, especially many of us who have driven on that, you know that.
the new design uses the poorest pavement so rainwater can soak in naturally.
it includes subsurface drainage features designed by professional engineers.
it includes erosion controls and meets all of the applicable njdep environmental standards.
trees were removed, but only within the defined construction zone.
it's unfortunate, but it sounds like it needed to happen. Through my request, I confirmed that the engineers,
the environmental specialists, and the njdep reviewed and approved the project.
a professional land surveyor confirmed prior to the project, stating that there are no wetlands on the site.
the soils are well-drained and non-hydric. The supposed wetlands showing up on the map came from an aerial infrared scan,
not actual field data. Yet the town was pushing
a false narrative that the county was illegally destroying wetlands.
why are we all confused? Even though locally, we have had access to these documents since january,
there still seems to be a discrepancy in an argument about devastating environmental damage.
but it sounds like that's not true. Stopping construction now, as the town might want us to do,
would actually hurt the site, leaving it exposed to erosion and safety issues.
for me, this isn't just about a road. It's about trust, facts, and responsible leadership.
when misinformation spreads, we lose faith in our local government.
I hope that both the county and our township can move forward with transparency,
cooperation, and respect, not just for the environment, but for truth. Thank you.
>> my name's pam mccarthy. I live at 830 vossler avenue.
I can see the construction from my window of my house.
whatever I've lived in my house for 35 years.
whatever you guys need to know about the park, you can ask me. I know every tree.
I know every rock. Well, I'm exaggerating a little bit. I'm getting a little.
all I really need to know is whose idea was this?
like, why are we building this road?
it's when I saw the road, I was like, what the heck is going on?
what is this? If they really, I've been on miller road probably 1,000 times.
she's saying it's dangerous. It's not dangerous. They put speed humps.
if you needed to make the road better,
make miller road better for six houses.
there's six houses on miller road. It's making zero sense to me. This whole thing.
it's like, you know, you see something happening,
you're just like, what is going on? What is this?
it's like I couldn't believe my eyes. I know the patullo house.
I know that house. I've been in the blah blah blah. Now, what are they going to do back there?
are they going to build a museum back there? What's happening? Let's say,
we build a museum. Who's gonna go to the museum? Who's gonna police the museum?
are they gonna put a gate? The kids go through the gate that's there already.
you park your car, you get out of your car. You take your hand, you open the gate, you go in the gate.
whoop ti do? My 87-year-old uncle told me how to open the freaking gate.
they're going to put a new gate. They're gonna do the same stupid thing with this gate.
like, it's like stupid I'm sorry. It's not making sense to me.
the kids are going to now use new miller lane or whatever they're going to call it.
is this going to be a fricking speedway? They're going to be zooming down there.
have fun, guys. That's all I have to say. Whose idea is it?
what are they doing with it? That's all. Fine.
>> cytroen, 34-year-old resident at 654 stengel road.
[background] c-y-t-r-o-e-n.
I want to thank you for hosting the presentation,
which added a lot of information that previously wasn't publicly easily available.
I want to thank you for bumping up our comments too, to the top of the meeting that's always appreciated.
I had a couple of questions, but overall, after listening to the presentation and understanding the issue a little bit better,
I have hiked that park the whole time that we've lived there and know it very well.
my neighborhood is adjacent to that area.
it seems to me that though it's written in a master plan from 28 years ago,
that things change and maybe in retrospect,
should have looked at a little bit more in terms of the optics.
what you've done in the beautiful description of the park is ruin a chunk of it.
for the very purpose of people being able to go to the hawks nest, it now really raises the issue of are they still
going to really come and be that same attraction that they were before the woods were disturbed there.
the optics of something that you're doing, even though you followed and crossed all the t's and dotted
all the I's, may in retrospect, it should have probably occurred to somebody when the scope of work was really looked at,
not just from an engineering technical standpoint, from an optic standpoint,
that there wasn't an alternative thought of. For example, not shutting down and demolishing miller lane,
but maybe pivoting a portion of the front entrance away from the private residences and then expanded as necessary.
that was never considered. The new location now is very close to a 90-degree turn on vossler avenue,
which again, cuts down the visibility.
people are accessing it, driving north from 22. There's a sharp left turn.
shortly after that, there's the new turn into the driveway, as it's called.
that limits the visibility of people coming the other way to see that happening.
if there are two or three or four cars backed up to get into the park,
that may cause a road issue that's now not an issue.
but my questions are this. I didn't hear any information on the traffic volume.
pedestrian bike and vehicular in terms of whether this expansion really warrants that.
generally, roads are expanded to accommodate excess traffic. I've never experienced that in all the time that I've hiking,
they're seeing that anybody had a problem parking or getting in or getting out.
it's not clear also whether the parking light size is being increased.
also, again, this goes back to what's the need? Is the need really there to double the width?
if you're not going to increase the parking lot, then what's that going to accomplish? Was the need there?
I think there are lessons to be learned here in insight by the township,
by the county in doing and activating a plan from 28 years ago.
thank you. [applause]
>> nick kuzo, 83 village drive in basking ridge? Good evening, commissioners, and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.
I live in bernards township, where I serve on both the planning board and the environmental commission.
I'm here this evening as a concerned resident to talk about what has happened at washington valley park,
and what it says about how we manage our county's open space. In recent weeks, and as discussed this evening,
we learned hundreds of trees, 300, possibly as many as 500, were cut down at washington valley park,
and this land is designated by the county itself as preserved open space.
according to public records, the contractor that was hired by the county was only authorized to remove 34 trees.
yet the scale of the destruction far exceeded that limit. The result is a scarred landscape, piles of debris,
and a degraded area that once helped to prevent flooding downstream. What's most troubling isn't the damage to the environment,
it's the silence that followed. To this day, there has been no clear public explanation of how this happened,
who was responsible for overseeing the work or what steps are being taken to fix it.
as you've seen here tonight, residents are asking, why? What was the need? That lack of transparency is unacceptable.
when we're talking about public land, taxpayer dollars and the natural resources
that make somerset county such a special place to live. At its core, this is about stewardship.
it's about whether our county government is managing responsibilities carefully or whether vital oversight is being lost somewhere along the way.
residents deserve answers, and they deserve to have confidence that something like this will never happen again.
I'm asking the board tonight to take these three specific actions. First, to launch a full and independent investigation into how
this project was managed and why the tree removal went so far beyond what was approved.
second to hold a public hearing so residents can see the contracts, the change orders, and the communications related to this project.
third, to develop and share a comprehensive replanting plan to restore the damaged area and protect against future erosion and flooding.
these are common-sense steps to rebuild public trust and demonstrate that environmental preservation in somerset county is more than just a slogan.
we all want to believe that our open spaces are being protected, not destroyed.
accountability and transparency are the first steps towards making that true again. Thank you. [applause]
>> hi, good evening. I don't know can I move up a little bit? My voice is kind of like, here guys.
there you go. Hi, good evening, commissioners. Michelle morga. I live on 43 dior street in north plainfield, new jersey.
my name is michelle morga and I live in north plainfield.
I serve on the local board of education, and the statements that I'm going to make today do not represent the board.
like so many families across somerset county, I care deeply about the kind of environment we leave for our children.
what happened at washington valley park has left many of us very confused and just frustrated,
and hundreds of trees were cut down on preserved county land.
reports say that the contractor was only supposed to authorize to remove 34,
but somehow the numbers became as many as 500.
I think residents deserve to understand how this exactly happened.
those trees just weren't you know, scenery, but they protected our air,
our soil, and our homes from being flooded. When we destroy the natural protection that we have,
the impact doesn't stay just in that one park, but it flows downstream into communities like mine.
in north plainfield this year, we did see the devastating floods this summer that happened in july 25,
and families lost cars, basements, safety.
they were in really bad shape this summer. Yet when something like this happens,
when hundreds of trees are cut down that were meant to be absorbed through water and prevent runoff,
we're told that it's just climate change. I think enough is enough.
you can't blame climate change when you're actively destroying the very things that help us fight through climate change.
we need accountability and no more excuses. We need a leadership that takes environmental management very seriously,
not just when there's a ribbon cutting or a ceremony,
but in everyday when decisions are being made. I have to say, it's even more frustrating for the people in north plainfield,
because we no longer have any representation on the county board right now,
and that makes transparency and accountability all more important.
tonight, I just joined for a call of action. Residents deserve a full independent investigation into how this project went so wrong,
and a replanning plan, like nick said, to restore what was lost and prevent future flooding.
our kids are watching, and they are learning what it means to care for the place that we call home.
if we don't model that responsibility, then who will?
I just want to thank everybody for their time, and I hope this board takes these concerns to
heart and acts quickly to make things right, not just for washington valley,
but for every community like mine, that depends on you.
thank you. [applause]
>> hello. I'll move back a little bit. Jeff lamborn, 32 lisa terrace in somerville.
the great comment by the former commenter had just jumped up by. I think there's a lot of opportunities for the public that's
here engaged currently to participate in these processes, not just on the county level,
but on their local township level. I echo a lot of what their concerns are,
as far as understanding and accountability into the large amount of trees that are cut.
I support the concerns stated by mayor mench. I apologize.
I haven't mentioned said the name out loud before, so trying to get it right and residents here.
but I do know that the county is taking steps to take this road and what it's meaning,
what it's doing seriously. I do have faith that going forward,
you will listen, you will understand what people are trying to accomplish here. Continue on that.
but I do encourage the mayor here as well that made his comments and the bridgewater council to do the same.
will you also halt what you have put in your petition, your ongoing destruction of the local environment,
your transparency, or lack thereof, when analyzing stormwater effects in your development?
will you provide assurances that these won't occur as much as they are?
because what I've seen over the years is hypocritical to what you're calling here.
you dissolved your environmental commission in 2019 when you came on as mayor.
the township body that is tasked with watching over items that you calling for in particular.
you're in violation of a township ordinance, I believe, as such. You have no shade tree commission.
you haven't registered or submitted an entry for sustainable jersey, which is a municipal best practices and an active area.
you actively increase your flooding downstream in communities like mine, as a result of what's occurring.
why are you sealing your manholes? Where are your green infrastructure requirements on new development?
are all these new developments that you're doing adhering to the states inland flood protection act?
that's the ngdp rule. As county council, demarco has stated,
your own tree removal and replacement ordinance calls for you to be able to do these same things removing trees without review, why?
I believe that may be in violation of the state as well. Flooding is a serious problem to much of us in the area.
council members, alan cardua and philipe pedroso for bridgewater township,
serve on currently inactive flood county control commission,
not county excuse me, flood control commission. In an active county regional partnership that hasn't been active since 2022.
those people are in prime positions to advance a regional lower raton stormwater management plan,
and similar to how our nearby stonybrook watershed has created one through advice through the watershed institute.
the county hosted a conference about a regional stormwater watershed plan in february of 2023.
what changes or recommendations have been published since? As a member and former chair of the somerville environmental commission, I invite you,
mayor mench and anybody from the bridgewater township and residents has a public meeting to come join us as
a collaborative discussion because these things take place best in person on what we've learned on these topics tonight.
I call on you as elective officials and your neighbor to serve
your community and neighbors in good faith and engage in a regional stormwater partnership with your neighbors,
bolster your upcoming master plan review, and better your environmental considerations within.
join us here in somerville in two weeks, two tuesdays from now, tuesday, november 11 at 7:00 p.m.
in the somerville civic center for our monthly meeting. We're happy to put you on our agenda.
I recommend you watch last week's planning board in somerville, october 22, you can see an example
of what it is for municipal leaders to take better care of their environment. Take the pr campaign that you're on right now
and turn it into one that stands for personal responsibility, not public relations. Thank you. [applause]
>> manish patel 41 shaffer road bridgewater. I don't have anything as eloquent or
technical as some of the previous speakers, and honestly, I'd have to agree with just about all of them in terms of what I'm witnessing here.
I appreciate the commission, the commissioner is providing the detail they have today and recently about the project.
I think we could use a more detail because I'm not familiar with the area,
even though I'm a resident of bridgewater. I'm learning a lot about it now. It would be good to assure the residents, once again,
maybe with something more concise than the whole 40 page document and
the trail from january that I think is available to everybody,
including our own township publicly, but just something for the residents.
I do like the simple question the one resident nearby asked about,
why the project, what's the end goal, and some assurances about their concerns,
which I know you have done already. Otherwise, you wouldn't be this far along in the project.
again, I appreciate the information that you've provided publicly,
maybe something more concise might help some of the residents locally especially.
certainly, as you said, we don't necessarily want to battle this thing out on social media.
the other thing, as a resident and a taxpayer, too, like obviously,
the local township and the state, the other place I'd really appreciate not having this thing fought in is
court because we have a lot of attorneys everywhere within government.
the world series is going on right now. That's our favorite pastime. Guess what, our second favorite pastime seems to be?
suing each other and costing taxpayers a lot of money.
I have a feeling just based on what your counsel presented earlier,
just a little bit of information there. That type of discussion, some of what the gentleman before me spoke about,
that's called a discussion. It seems like, rather than have the discussion we'd rather have this.
again, I appreciate your guys' time and letting us speak, but it would be really great to avoid the courts,
using the courts in this process because you've done the work. This thing's been out there since, I think,
january in various stages. If we're talking about concerns,
about the environment, first of all, welcome to folks that I never thought I'd say, were tree huggers and environmentalist.
join the club. Thank you. [applause] proud to wear that badge for my entire life,
I think, but I think there's some merit.
I've been explained to some of the great things that could come out of this project.
also, I understand some of the concerns because of what we
experienced during that really awful hurricane a few years ago, where we lost lives.
certainly don't want to see that again, certainly don't want to see vandalism and trespassing and things like that,
especially if this is going to be a nice historic point in our town.
I'd be proud to claim something like that. Maybe the beginning of a guided tour through the entire county,
about something very important in our history. Again, thank you again for sharing the information.
appreciate it, and hopefully, this can be mediated outside of a prolonged legal battle that will only cost more than
the original project as it seems to work out normally, but thanks [applause].
>>good evening. My name is carly joya. I live in bridgewater at 14-02 paley court.
I have a combination of some prepared comments, but I will preface it by saying some of it
reflects comments I would have made in my own council meeting and bridgewater, but it was canceled last week because there was no business to
discuss before the election so just bear with me. I'd also like to make one clarification.
bridgewater does have a shade tree board. We are required to have seven members on it.
we currently have three, including one college student from the board of ed also serving on the board of ed.
I have seen no record of any meetings of any sort or any minutes. I don't know what they're meeting or what they're doing.
I would love to join that board someday. Now, I'll get to my comments here.
I just wanted to commend our commissioners for putting transparency and truth on the record tonight.
I can also add that as a working court reporter, that records and preserves the record almost every single day.
the record is something that I take very seriously.
to be here tonight and to actually see and hear the truth come out with
supportive evidence from our engineers about what our commission has done behind the scenes,
four months, actually 28 years, not more than months,
to prepare for the washington valley road expansion project and your vision for that area.
as we all are learning tonight, I'm extremely grateful to see that the record is finally being set straight.
now, if we can get social media and the press to clear things up too,
we'd be in great shape, but seriously know, the press is our friend especially in this day and age.
I just wanted to commend them too for an article that I saw last week in tap into,
which featured our own commissioner marano, and governor murphy,
who had the opportunity to support and welcome the expansion of somerset based loop and pharmaceuticals corporate offices,
bringing 30 new jobs into bridgewater and hopefully many more down the road.
why does that matter? Because it's developments like this that tell the world that bridgewater,
new jersey is still the place to be in the pharmaceutical industry.
it's also extremely important for bridgewater taxpayers after the significant loss of
santa fe's relocation to morristown and the more recent purchase of the old ethicon site by ade pyle,
a three quarter billion dollar northeastern trucking and logistics company.
you tell me they don't want to make that into their tenth warehouse on route 22 in bridgewater.
now while our town also litigates the future use of the acorn site,
I'll be as a defendant and not a plaintiff in this case.
it's reassuring to at least know that our democratic county commissioners are
actively pursuing business expansion in bridgewater,
especially in the pharma space. Please keep fighting the good fight for us,
and thank you for your time [applause].
>> hi. My name is kathy giordano. I live at 1063 east brook road in martinsville.
I'm living off of vossler avenue, 20 year resident, a taxpayer.
thank you for seeing us tonight. As you can tell, I'd like to just ask by show of hands how many people
are here and in respect to this subject that we're doing tonight.
all taxpayers, raise your hand. Very good. Thank you.
anybody live in martinsville, folks up here? Anyone? No. Anyone drive up and down vossler every day? I do.
>> I do. >> you do. Anyone drive up and down vossler every day like me? Thank you.
yes. I do not come in front of county boards.
I don't do these type of thing, but my heart broke when I saw vossler avenue
being ripped apart and I couldn't stop and not speak today.
the problem is there's many problems. First of all, like any of these wonderful people explained,
lack of communication, water concern.
we have definitely water concern. Raptor trust just put an article in there that this is where
all their eagles go and all the safe the raptors go when they release them.
we have mechanisms right now to protect our environment.
we're not doing that, and that's very disconcerting to me. The one thing that really affects me most,
I go up and down that road every day. I wish you all would if you really want to make a difference and understand what's going on.
there's a curve sign where that wonderful presentation was that you put out there.
if you go by miller lane, right beyond that, it says, slow curve.
on that slow curve is where your road is being built.
I drive up every day, up and down, landscapers,
large trucks, dump trucks, everything. Yes. Can you hear me?
I drive up and down every day. That is a dangerous road.
there's also, while I'm sitting in line here thinking when chimney rock gets closed for whatever reason,
they patch all that coming down, and I know this for a fact, down to vossler.
that little patch that shows so beautifully on the screen there, that little area where we're building this road,
and here's miller, there's a slow curve sign. Someone is going to die.
there's no way that you can get out of that road safely. You cannot see to the left or right.
miller, even to merriam, you cannot see. I know for a fact,
and that just breaks my heart, if we have to come back here and address losing
someone because of our inability to have the foresight, that this is a dangerous road,
and that should not be built there. I hope you take that into consideration
because I don't want to come back here again and say, please stop. Thank you very much.
>> I'm short, so I'm just going to hold it. My name is kathy franco and I live at 766 wee mack road. I'm sorry.
wee mack, and that's in martinsville. It's right off hillcrest,
which is right off ostler. I'm a stone's throw from the park.
I have traveled up and down miller lane too many times to count.
at least half the time, I'm playing chicken with somebody who's trying to
travel in the opposite direction. I have had to pull off. My daughter has run that road.
she's run the trails. My husband mountain bikes through the park.
when I first heard about the access road,
it was a neighbor who said, kathy, what's going on? Because she knows I pay attention to everything that's going on.
I reached out to somebody who I knew at the county,
and they said, oh, there's an access road going in. I said, okay. I answered her back, but then I though, let me find out some more.
now, I go to just about all of my town council meetings,
most of my planning board and zoning board. I actually do listen to all of
your county commissioner meetings on my way home from work in the car. Then at six when I get home,
I listen to the second half, where it's more of the open public.
I thought, I think I heard something about an access road during a meeting.
I went back through all the agendas. I didn't find just one,
but I found four times since january that this project,
something was on the agenda, whether it was the bid for something or a contract being handed out or something.
I thought, it's not a secret, and then it was hitting social media,
and it was a crisis. I thought, that seems odd that the township wouldn't know.
then somebody sent me the january letter because I am active on facebook.
I was seeing a lot of concern being expressed,
but I wanted to find out what was really going on before just jumping on the bandwagon and saying,
oh, my god, what did they do? Through somebody else's opra,
I got a set of the drawings. I saw the bid description that went out,
and I saw where indeed, there were 34 trees that were over 8 inches in diameter.
my husband and my daughter recognized that there were other trees,
but it wasn't a heavily forested area, it was an access area.
it was a right away for something else that there were tire treads that had gone through that section in the past.
maybe it's twice as wide as otherwise was as a path,
but I really appreciate the presentation here tonight,
because it presented to everybody and hopefully clarified some of the misinformation that had been presented.
I was disappointed however, that even after that presentation,
my mayor got up and still we respoke some misinformation,
even though you had clarified it. I am most upset with my township government because if they had an issue,
they had since january to ask questions.
they had a virtual meeting with your engineers.
if there were questions or concerns, that's what we pay our township officials for to bring them up in a timely manner.
I thank you for this. I personally I'm not really upset about it.
I think it is a wonderful area, the park.
I think talks point is an amazing place.
I want not, only bridgewater township, not only county residents,
but the public at large to be able to go there and enjoy it.
that's what green acres is all about. We have two parks in bridgewater right now that are not accessible to the public.
one is the boucher, whatever it is off,
I can't even remember the name of the road, foothill road, because there is no place to access it and park,
and the other is camp cromwell. Thank you very much [applause]. Did I break it?
>> just leave it. It's okay.
>> got it. My name is frank newbauer.
I live at 46 shady lane in bridgewater.
it basically at the foot of osler [overlapping].
by the way, I'm frank newbauer, live at 46 shady lane. It's basically at the bottom of osler,
where osler and 22 come together.
I've been a very frequent user of the park.
me and my wife love it. It's like our therapy. We're on every trail, orange, white, red.
it's just been a wonderful place.
still? You know what?
I'll take it off. It'll be better. Me and my wife are frequent users of the park,
and being such a frequent user, we were actually quite surprised to see this big construction going on.
I had walked back on that green trail back there, and I was wow, now I can't go there anymore.
but I don't know all the details of everything.
it was very informative learning what's been going on. But I was actually a bit disappointed hearing what has transpired for this 28 years,
mr. Luber, the engineer, was talking about how this project is,
this land is our most valuable asset. It's the park. But I think mr. Luber
missed something that was even more important than the park,
and that is the well being and the safety of residents.
although he's done this amazing plan of, we're going to put this road in,
which maybe you need it. I've never gone on anybody's lawns.
there's only six houses. It's once in a while. But okay, we got this road,
but a little bit further away by the chimney rock between white and red,
us residents, park users have to face a daunting challenge of walking on this most dreadful,
curvy, dangerous, narrow road. I said, what? You've been at this for 28 years.
you've never addressed this danger choke point on chimney rock road?
why the dam is there? You're already 85% there.
a stinking 20 foot little bridge would connect and save the people the risk of being hit.
we talked about somebody who's mentioned about somebody dying. Well, somebody's going to die on chimney rock road,
trying to go between white and red, or jump across the road and connect to the orange and go up the hill.
now, I would like to say, this is something they should be looking at.
the project might be an awesome, great personal achievement,
but is it serving all the residents or the users of the park?
if we can't even navigate some of the park without taking our life into our own hands.
my wife and me walk on that path. Sometimes she says, "I don't want to go that way."
we're not looping the reservoir because I just don't want to go on that road.
I'm disappointed to hear after 28 years,
they've not addressed that. That's a shame. That's 500 feet. You could have done a better job.
I hope what comes out of this is not only fixing and doing whatever you're doing here,
but finally fix that spot. Then we'll have a safer park.
that's really all I've got. I just wanted to bring that point up. No one's talking about that one.
that's the real danger spot of the whole complex.
otherwise, I mean, we've got a super place. No matter how many times I hike this place,
I bump into people, they say, "we've been all over." washington valley tops them all.
it's really good. That's all I've got. Thank you again.
>> good evening. I'm michael kirsch. I live at 25 danbury lane in bridgewater.
I'm also a councilman in bridgewater. I also have eight years experience on our zoning board,
six years experience on our planning board. Before asking a couple of quick questions,
there's definitely a few comments that have been made that need to be clarified,
not from the dais, but from the audience. Anybody who implies that bridgewater's government,
its elected officials, its employees, its planning board, it zoning board,
or anybody else are not good stewards of our land and our assets,
is creating a false narrative. It's just as simple as that.
I have a perception that we're not alone. Other towns do the same thing.
we all take our commitment to the land very, very seriously.
>> your comments about this issue. >> I will get to this issue, yes.
I will say that there was a comment made previously about the world series.
in my mind, there are a couple of examples where maybe some things we were batting out of order.
during this meeting, we've heard there's more plans.
they're going to build something over here. Maybe that part of the road is going to be expanded further.
maybe there'll be more parking. Where is that presentation? Where is the vision for what this full park is going to look like?
it feels like we're batting out of order. Let's build the road,
build it, and then they will come. The question that I have, I think the question many of us have is,
what is this thing ultimately going to look like? Why was that not provided at step 1?
instead of building a road to, we're just not quite sure what's going to be there at the end.
that's certainly one question. I know this is not the time for answers, but I'm hoping that through further dialogue,
we can understand that. The second thing, toward the end of the presentation,
there was a memo written, I believe, as t&m. Is that the engineering firm on october 24th,
stating, you're good on green acres. If that designation from an engineer,
not from the state came on october 24th, why were the saws out on october 13th?
it feels like, again, a little bit of batting out of order. The letter is in hand october 24th, and that's great.
the trees were gone on october 13th. Final area I want to ask about is the site distance and the safety issue.
it's my understanding that bridgewater township raised the concern about the exact spot and whether it was at a safe part of the curve.
what I've heard is the county said, "no, we got it. We're good." that was the end of the story.
I believe there needs to be a a deeper consideration
of what can be done to make access to this site as safe as possible.
thank you [applause].
>> great. >> before you continue, I see the end of the line, the lady in the burgundy jacket.
are there any others wishing to speak beyond her?
please come forward and stand in line or sit near, so we can get because we do want to hear from you.
we just want to want to gauge where we are. We did have a couple of guests that left that we're here for another reason,
but we want to be respectful of your time as well. So thank you.
>> great. Tim checko, 120 top of the world way, green brook.
first, I wanted to really thank everybody up here, including your wonderful presentation.
it was very informative. I have some appreciation for all the paperwork that you needed to actually complete.
I thought that was very thorough, and it was great to hear how you had planned out the strategy.
a couple of things that I actually did notice here.
shanel, you indicated we don't manage by facebook, but while there were seven different reports,
none of those reports were really something that I think most of the people in this room would have probably read in their average daily course.
I liked the letter that you sent to the people on miller lane. I think if there was some kind of communication that was
available to the wider amount of people in this room to bring greater awareness,
that might have helped alleviate some of what we're going through right now.
the second piece is, it seems like there were two line items.
one was for 34 trees, and then there was a second just general notice that we were clearing 1,500 feet of road,
20 square feet, or 20 feet wide. By my count, that's 30,000 square feet of pavement.
there would be an expectation. I appreciate, in fact, that there'd be no way you could realistically do this
without a few hundred trees being disrupted.
that said, I don't know that the fact that there was an access road really pointed out that,
which is, of course, what you've heard everyone here gravitate to, that it was just so many trees.
sometimes we get lost in all the I's, and t's and maybe a cliff note version that you could give to the public that
would highlight what they've all visually observed and have concern about might have again,
alleviated a couple concern here. The last point that I will actually say,
because you could probably tell by my dress. I'm the latest person in here in this room to use
the park because I physically used it about two hours ago. I love the facilities there.
but I will say you can get two cars by barely.
I definitely would continue to echo what you've heard that that road was not designed for a lot of traffic, never was.
I think, for me, I understand what you're trying to accomplish here. Thank you very much.
>> hello. I'm nancy foss, 1008 helene place, raritan.
as someone who's bicycled on these roads for decades,
I can personally attest to the fact that there are far too many drivers who just
don't give a darn about anybody that's not sitting in the car with them. I completely sympathize with the people on miller lane
wanting to re-establish the safety on the road in front of their homes. I have a little bit different angle that I'd like to take.
I'm more concerned with the roadway itself that's going in the driveway.
I don't know anything about road engineering beyond how to maybe spell it.
permeable pavement. I'm assuming that means the water somehow trickles through and seeps into the ground.
that's great when it's water. But we have a lot of freeze thaw here,
all winter long, freeze thaw, freeze thaw. How stable is that roadway? I don't know.
I don't know anything about it. Is it something that freeze thaw is going to break up in two or three years,
and we're going to be repaving? Does it have a 20 year life expectancy, and then we take it up and repave it?
or are we going to wind up having to take it out and put an impermeable surface in?
and then we have the problem with runoff. Just if we could take a further look out at what
this permeable pavement will actually mean. Thank you [applause].
>> hello, good evening. My name is philip pedroso. I have the honor of serving on the bridgewater township council.
been a councilman for almost 14 years. Yeah, 5 yohn drive, bridgewater, new jersey.
I have a very brief point to make. Good evening, commissioners.
commissioner director, you stated tonight over and over again on government works, government works.
I listened to that statement, and you said it over and over again, and that is such a factual statement.
the problem is, is that in this particular case, government didn't work.
if it did work, it worked poorly. I'm going to talk about two separate points.
number 1, the fact that we all are here tonight, two weeks after 300-500 trees in bridgewater,
which is devastated, just cut down. The fact that we're here two weeks later,
talking about this in a packed room, being presented a presentation for the first time goes to show us how in this particular case,
government did not work or it worked poorly. The problem here is that there's been
no transparency in this whatsoever. I'm on a town council. I just found out about this two weeks ago on tuesday,
a friend of mine text me and says, "look, what's going on?" I didn't know. The public didn't know.
no one in the public knew about this. There's been no transparency.
there's been zero effort by you guys to try to get the public involved in this case.
now, you can say, a lot of finger pointing and letters and this and that. At the end of the day,
this is your project. This is your land. You ran this project.
you bid off for this project. You're doing this. This is your project.
it is your obligation. It's your obligation, as government officials to be transparent and make sure that
the community is well aware of what you're about to do.
in this case, you failed the people, and government did not work right.
the second point I want to make is that two weeks ago, the chairman of our zoning board, jeff foose,
came before you on tuesday and spoke about what was happening in bridgewater township.
I was frankly shocked that the next day it was business as usual. You heard about this.
you were informed about what was going on, whether someone had a misconception of it or not.
maybe, but you did nothing about it. You didn't stop the project.
you could have stopped it temporarily and reassessed, re-thought about it, taken some action, but you ignored it.
you didn't care about it. Again, government did not work. It worked poorly. You failed the people.
that's all I have to say. Thank you [applause].
>> my name is joan geiger, 154 hillside avenue, bridgewater, new jersey.
I want to thank the commissioners for holding this meeting.
residents of bridgewater were invited by bridgewater mayor mench to be here tonight to
stand with him for transparency, accountability and answers.
based on the media attention, our mayor garnered on cbs,
local stations, and social media, it is no secret.
the intent here was to garner more support for his claims which I will leave to
each listener to determine the truth or lack thereof for themselves.
yet, despite knowing what you were facing here tonight,
you held this meeting. Mr. Mench in his media blitz on october 14th,
two days before the regularly scheduled bridgewater town council meeting
and two weeks before the election canceled that meeting.
numerous questions were immediately posted on social media by myself and many others.
when or even if did the commissioners advise bridgewater of this plan?
what action did the commissioners and our town officials take?
how many trees were cut down? What size were they?
were there 300 that later became
500 trees cut down without anybody noticing? I don't know.
I've had trees cut down in my yard and I'll tell you, it takes a half a day to cut down one tree,
and the noise is overwhelming. Everybody in the neighborhood knows it's happening and there were many, many more questions.
these were legitimate questions. As a mediator and an attorney,
I am trained to ask questions and look at both sides of an issue.
as a candidate for bridgewater town council, whose signature issue has always been flooding,
I was deeply concerned.
now that we have heard this presentation,
the question is, if those comments by the mayor were true,
then this commission had a lot of explaining to do.
but how did our local bridgewater officials respond?
they canceled the bridgewater town council meeting that was to be held
two days after the mayor's media blitz for lack of business.
so commissioners, I thank you for holding this meeting and being here to provide transparency,
accountability, and answers that mr. Mench is allegedly seeking?
I leave our concerned citizens with this thought.
to sort out the truth, consider which governing body here,
or county commissioners or their political opponents who came here tonight and
didn't mention that they are your political opponents. Allowed the public to appear,
allowed the public to ask questions and allow the public to be heard.
therein, I submit, lies your transparency, accountability,
and answers. Thank you [applause].
>> hi. My name is radwana isla, 32 timberline drive. I've lived in somerset county for over 10 years and
currently I'm a resident in bridgewater near washington valley road.
I'm not going to repeat a lot of the concerns I do share with a lot of the speakers already.
my biggest elevator speech today is on risk management.
risk is not an issue yet. What I've seen, thanks to the somerset county commissioner is,
they've done their due diligence. They've had a communication plan.
we saw it in january. We saw a virtual meeting at the request of bridgewater.
they were never denied any of this information that is available to all of us.
living in bridgewater, I expect the same from our municipal government
that we're also paying taxes to to have that same level of risk management.
how do we mitigate this before the work starts? Where's our due diligence?
if someone gives me an id or due diligence, I don't just put it on my desk and wait
nine months until cbs is knocking on my door or inviting them.
what I do is I look at it, and I demand answers immediately,
not on facebook, not on social media, but in a face to face conversation.
if you don't have a communication in place, that's the time. How do you not just communicate with each other?
you're in a collaboration, not just with the somerset county.
we have collaborations with utility companies. I've seen the same thing happen speaking to residents where a utility company came in,
did not coordinate with the municipal government. Now, guess what,
residents who've been living in bridgewater for decades have runoff because the trees are all gone.
they're dealing with it for the last three years. What is happening to these residents?
this we can avoid. This is a risk. It's not an issue. These are actual issues.
they had flooding in october 2nd, and nothing is happening to these residents.
there's no sbs coming in and covering their stories.
I was at at their doors recently. I speak to at least 100 different residents a day,
either on the floor or in person. Only a few know about the phase but post, because guess what?
that's not where you go for governance. You go to that canceled township meeting that we were supposed to have
on thursday and it was canceled due to not any business.
this is business and not just this, like I said, there's runoff water happening. Joan has talked about the floodwater management.
we need to apply it across the board and I really appreciate everyone coming out
because this is the communication plan we needed from day one from bridgewater township.
I do this on a day basis as a risk management, not just a risk management,
but it's called regulatory strategist. I do it before things go into a human body.
I feel like before things affect our residents, we should take that same approach that a lot of companies take.
again, I thank for the right things that have happened, the communication plan, the due diligence,
but it needs to happen in all collaborations and in
every single government from the somerset county level down to the local level.
otherwise, we will suffer going forward. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about those residents that are suffering right now,
but I hope that it's avoided for future work with other utility companies.
I won't name the street even, but I'm sure the municipal township is aware of it,
and it's really sad what's happening within our township already, which is, again,
an issue and not a risk, but I'm glad we talked about all the risk and hopefully they'll be managed.
thank you [applause].
>> my name is mary gallagher. I live on 12 highland avenue in bridgewater.
I am a native born and raised here. I have seen a lot of changes.
but my concern right now is actually clarification of storm drainage versus wetland.
because what I'm seeing is the exchange of that connotation or label for everything.
I get confused. What are they talking about? Stormwater, to me that drainage is manmade.
it's technical, it's manipulative. Wetlands are natural.
they're formed by nature. They absorb the groundwater. Stormwater drainage doesn't.
my concern is now with this whole area, they did what they call due diligence for their wetland assessment.
I don't think that was run by dep. It was done by what their environmentalist said or did.
how experienced were they? How what weather did they have?
we are in a drought. Everything is low now. If you get the drought reports,
that means if the dep is putting it out, they're telling us that the groundwater is already low.
what I'm concerned about now is if there is wetlands there that they didn't get right because nobody oversaw them,
then we could be in trouble with the well water for the people on vossler avenue.
this is an older neighborhood so is green ole where I live. And I've gone through the same thing.
there was a case there with wetlands, and I found that the developer had changed
the dep label for the wetland to stormwater drainage.
that I got corrected. I did take it to the people involved.
what needs to be done is a better due diligence to assess the ground.
again, weather may have been when they did the assessment,
if it was a drought time, very dry, everything's low, everything's dry.
I do a lot of hiking, and I've been out in the woods up in harriman and everything. It's as dry as can be.
it's all fire hazard. We have to be very careful about our water supply.
again, we're on well water. I know people on vossler avenue who are well and I don't know who's on well water here,
but I think it's something that should have been considered. I don't see anything about groundwater or water except erosion and flooding.
but nobody's talking about the drinking water or water that we need.
anyway, that's all I have to say. Keep it short [applause].
>> good evening, claudia levin bateman, 94 katherine lane bridgewater.
I've been a proud resident of somerset county since
1959 and a resident of bridgewater since 1962,
and part of my sense of humor. But when I look at this project,
despite my love for the great outdoors, I see the bound brook reservoir.
I just look at the second watchung mountain and the east facing side.
homes, hiking, roads, trees,
groundwater, storms, I'll leave that to the experts. My concern is the flooding downstream.
I was present for hurricane floyd in 1999.
I saw it firsthand. I was on high ground in bound brook,
but I heard the stories from my friends that left their homes in the middle of the night,
getting their elderly mother, their young kids running for the door, grabbing their shoes,
going out the door, water going up to their feet, and before they got to that church,
a couple blocks up, up to their waist. I went out on bicycle the day after and about second street,
just looking straight over to the second story of the buildings on the main street of bound brook.
clearly, it stayed with me. The only thing out there was a big black rubber raft boat with the nypd on it.
as a juxtaposition, my girlfriend was getting married that day,
so we had all the wedding activities at her house on the north side of bound brook.
but we had a steady stream of young girls coming up to the door.
my mom asked for shoes. Do you have any extra shoes?
do you have any extra clothing? God bless my girlfriend.
she only wore black heels, but she tossed him out the front door. I remember going to the bound brook high school and seeing the many, many families there.
I remember seeing all the supplies brought there. God bless our town,
there were plenty of supplies. But we know about the project since.
we know about the levees, they've helped. They haven't always been closed in time,
so that's a process. We've seen bound brook go underwater. We've seen manville go underwater time and time again,
we've seen the flooding. We see how route 22, especially on the westbound side becomes a lake.
it's easy to anticipate the highway dips there. We had a woman drown there.
I'm going to leave it up to the army corps of engineers,
the dep, the epa, maybe the universities. Maybe we can get best practices.
I don't know where the water goes, but I know it goes to bound brook,
I know it goes to manville. Thank you [applause].
>> my name is jim lewelln, 477 garriton road, bridgewater, new jersey, I'm going to thank the engineers for a good presentation.
you had all the proper documentation as far as dep approvals and whatnot.
I know this because I'm an environmental consultant as well.
in listening to your presentation, a couple of things.
first thing, miller lane, was that ever an option?
expanding widening? Sorry. Was it ever an option?
the comment is, was miller lane widening ever an option,
which would reduce the number of trees?
another thing. Is it a raptor migration pathway?
that means something to dep?
they presented a report, and it was a good presentation.
the question I have is, how accurate was the report? If in the report, it says 34 trees are going to be taken.
I know what you said, mr. Dimarco about, well, there's a broad brush over here that says, we're going to clear cut.
but if they had put in that they were removing 350-500 trees,
would that have raised their flag with dep?
would there have been some type of mitigation?
I know from experience that if you go to the ngdp mitigation group,
the rule of thumb when you disturb land especially a forest,
is 426 trees, they call them stems per acre.
if you've taken out two acres, that's 850 stems,
that dep would force you to replace somewhere,
maybe not in the same spot, but somewhere.
the last thing I'll say is that, do you have a mitigation plan?
you're saying right now, the stormwater report on paper looks great.
passes, we got it. What if it starts flooding,
do you have a mitigation plan if it doesn't work the way the report says it's supposed to work?
that's all I have. Thank you [applause].
>> jack aluci 17 76 washington valley road, martinsville.
I listened to councilman pedroza, say that the government's not working for us.
in a way, I agree with them. His government.
what I listen to tonight, there was letters sent.
there was drawings sent out. There was virtual meetings with people in the township of bridgewater,
engineers, or whatever heck it is. Not one councilman, not one mayor knew anything that was going on.
answer me that question.
>> hi, good evening. My name is suzanne mader. I live at 120 fucillo street in manville.
a few women ago, spoke a lot about the flooding after floyd and ida.
when ida hit manville, I took eight people into my home to live for about a week,
including three dogs and two children, into my 1400 square foot manville home.
I went for a run a couple of days after the floodwaters receded,
and I couldn't keep going because I was sobbing, because I watched my neighbors and my friends empty their homes onto the streets,
and it was awful. It was one of the worst things I think I have ever seen in my entire life.
I can look from my house up north and see where we're talking about.
I can see that ridge. I don't know if you know this, but a mature tree can suck up
between 1,000 and 1,500 gallons of water every single year.
I look at those plans as they were up on the screen, and I see 34 trees being cut down,
and I drove by, I went and I took a look for myself. That is a work of fiction.
if you go up and you say there were 34 trees that were supposed to come down and 34 trees came down,
you are believing a work of fiction. For me, when I get outside and I cast my eyes up to that ridge,
all of that water comes to me. All of that water comes to my friends and my neighbors.
all I want to ask you is, where are you going to put somerset county's new 500 trees?
because according to what we just heard, there's no plan to replant any of those trees.
where are you going to put them? How many generations is it going to take for all of that runoff to finally be mitigated?
because the people on shady lane, the people down on vossler,
and the people in manville were the ones that get that water.
give us our trees back. [applause]
>> good evening. My name is mike pappas. I live at 35 mohawk trail in branchburg.
I'm also the bridgewater township administrator, as you know, but I'm also a former member of this board.
served on this board for almost 13 years. I'm very familiar with the county's open space program.
I've been a very strong supporter of it. Certainly this park that you made a very fine presentation about is a dual.
but I guess I want to make comments about a couple of things.
I can't emphasize how upset many people are about just the number of trees.
there's been a lot of comments about january letter, comments about a virtual meeting,
comments about a september meeting. But at no time did any member of our staff that had
participated in any of these meetings were told that there would be more than 34, 37 trees.
that never occurred. I think that's a legitimate criticism of the lack of communication.
the other thing that is important as the mayor spoke about the trees
and the requirements that the township has for enforcement of our tree ordinance.
the county seems to be selective as to which ordinances you follow. You submitted an application for a road opening permit,
but you didn't submit an application for the tree permit,
regulations governing the tree ordinance. There's some inconsistency there.
when this occurred, I was actually out of state with my wife on a trip.
when we literally the plane landed and I turned my cell phone on,
it started going ding, the number of texts and calls that I got.
as soon as I heard what occurred, I asked our township engineer to go to the site
and to speak to someone in the county engineer's office.
the second conversation that day between our township engineer and someone from the county engineer's office was,
would you be consider replacing some of these trees?
uncertainty in the response.
concern about answers, concern about communication,
I think is very legitimate, and we certainly hope that what's been conveyed here tonight
will give you some pause to think about moving forward with this project,
as has been stated earlier, and that you would provide meaningful answers to some of
these concerns that the township and many residents have raised. Thank you very much. [applause]
>> another short one is here. Good evening, everyone. My name is pat walsh,
77 rock road east in green brook, new jersey, and I also served on this board.
when I sat here, we cherished open space.
we did everything we could to preserve it, and to get more of it.
in every bit of promo for somerset county, the open space and the ability to recreate,
that was a new word back then, is touted.
I'm going to ask you, guys, I'm not going to go on, but I ask a question and I know you're not going to be able to answer me.
but it seems to me that this whole project,
just a 27-year plan. I'm going to hope that somebody on this board or in this building,
looked at the 27-year plan and just didn't take it out and say, let's just go do this because things change, and situations change.
after listening tonight to everyone, it just got taken out of a draw and went on,
looked at thrown it on the side, and then your department went ahead and just did it.
the question is, did any of you, or all of you, know about clear cutting two acres of trees in this project?
nobody is going to answer.
but I'm going to say if you didn't, shame on you, as a project of this size.
if you really valued open space and open preservation, you would have.
I'm going to ask you, please, don't ever let this happen to somerset county again.
but how can we be assured if not one person can say they knew that they were going to clear cut 300 trees,
and you approved this project. That's the governance that we have now.
[applause]
>> are there any e mails or phone calls? At this time, we're going to close the public portion on
this topic and this topic only is the motion took close.
>> hi, good evening. Andrew baco, 543 barry wood lane, bridgewater, new jersey.
we've heard a lot of res. [noise] I'll just hold it.
we've heard a lot of comments from residents that have expressed concerns and
have been understandably worried that their local government isn't working for them.
now, we know that bridgewater knew that this was happening.
we know that they understood it was happening.
what I am confused with is that we've
heard a lot of the members of bridgewater's government say, I didn't know.
ford council members say, I didn't know. For the mayor say, I didn't know.
we've heard the township administrator say, I didn't know. Somebody knew, mean someone was contacted in bridgewater's municipal building.
I would just think that a responsible local government,
when notified that there was work of this sort would be undertaken,
would go out and at least take a look at the area.
everyone, everywhere, older than 12,
has a high definition camera in their pocket. I find it highly suspect that nobody thought to go take any pictures of that,
that we've determined supposedly, how many trees were cut down based on the height of a woods chip pile.
that seems pretty silly.
but to just close up here.
I thank the county commissioners for hearing the feedback from residents.
it's very important that you have that feedback, and you hear from the residents of the county of their concerns.
I only wish that my local government would do the same, that they didn't cancel the regularly scheduled council meeting.
one that specifically business was moved to because of no business,
but that's another discussion. Thank you very much for listening.
have a good evening. [applause]
>> is there a motion to close this public session? >> seconded.
>> all in favor? Aye. Ayes have it. County council? >> yeah, just to clear up some things because I think the big question was why.
the why really was there's a hawk watch up there. In 2023-
>> [overlapping] if you would please stay, you stay for the questions, given a response.
>> in 2023, the county acquired the hapatullo property,
which is of historic significance. That's got lost here.
why is it of historic significance really is there's raging debate in the historic community on where washington slept.
but there's no debate on where he stood. That's a spot where he actually stood going on 250 years ago,
as he overlooked the middlebrook encampment, which was a very important aspect or time in the war.
it's a site to be celebrated and cherished. It's a combination of finding that balance.
you want to encourage people to go to sites such as this, to see nature,
experience the hawks, understand history, but you have to get them there and allow them to do it.
not everyone walks out their front door. Some people need to drive to sites.
that's the why. Miller lane is a private road.
it is not a public municipal street. Why didn't that requires seven people who,
if that was your house, you would say, no, I'm not letting you put that big road in front of my house.
that option was not a viable option. Wetlands. Wetlands do not exist there.
why do we know it? When did we do it? We did walk the site two different times with experts.
that's required to do it at two different times, because there's a seasonal nature to wetlands.
you do it two different times. The dep also came out. They don't just walk the site.
they also do borings. They test the type of soil because based upon the soil content and the impaction and what's in the soil,
you can determine whether or not that is a potential wetland. Storm water. Anyone who lives in somerset county knows the dangers of it.
we know it, we experience it, we deal it. We feel it in every which way.
we take that seriously. There's not a person that works in this building or works in engineering or planning,
that we don't understand it. We show up after it, we respond during it.
we provide a lot of money and time to it. We have done studies,
and paul drake has hosted meetings on resiliency plans.
we care about it. The bound brook flood control system is something we're proud of.
it's something that we understand its need. When we do projects,
whether we have to do a storm water report or not, we do them anyway.
in this one, it's safe to say, and science says that on the big storms,
the ones that cause flooding. The small storms trees absorb the water.
it's the 50, 100 year storm when way too much water comes out,
that the tree doesn't have time, and it sheets down hills and it sheets down mountains,
and it goes to our lower level towns. We know that happens. This road is designed to slow that down and to reduce it by 25 and 50%.
storm water was a factor. That's all I really have to say on this. The plan was not pulled out of a drawer.
it's not 28-years-old.the concept was 28-years-old. The discussion was 28-years-old.
the plan is about two-years-old.
>> this is it. I think we take a bio break.
the only question I have, county council, is because somebody asked the question why we didn't say anything.
there was litigation. >> go ahead.
>> no, you explain. >> there are forms for government to act,
and there are forms for people to comment. This is a form for government to act.
everyone has gotten a term. Everyone has been respectful. Everyone knows who they are.
we make say your name, we make you share your address. The weekend warrior behind the keyboard we don't engage with.
we'll answer questions that are legitimate. We answer opa request.
we'll provide documentation. Anyone who filed an opa request, those opa requests were put to the top of the pile, if the clerk and I.
we get, I think we're up to 10,000 opa requests so far this year. If you imagine that is three a day,
including saturdays and sundays and holidays. This one, we responded as quickly as possible because we knew about it.
to engage in the back and forth on the internet or in social media
is a disservice to the level that this topic really required.
at our next meeting, which was this meeting, we presented a presentation.
if anyone would have came, showed up and said, can I get a copy of that stuff, it would have been readily given to them.
>> for the record, we will take a five-minute break time now at 7:26.
we will resume the meeting at 7:31. [noise] at this time,
we will continue with our meeting. We have another presentation of state senior art show winner.
please come forward. [applause]
>> you know art requires patience. I think you really have shown your patience levels,
waiting through all the public comment and the beautiful artwork you
did for the senior art show here in somerset county,
and for making it to the state level. May I ask everyone in the audience to give a great round of applause to vamala,
aaron, and sharon for the state award. You want to come forward, and we'll get a picture?
>> this is-
>> we will move right on for our regular program, resolution 25-2100.
>> it's authorizing somerset county to apply for and accept 37,500 for the leap county coordinated fellowship grant for county year 2026,
for a part time shared somerset county coordinator from july 1st, 2025 to june 30th, 2026.
>> resolution 25-2101, authorizing execution of a traffic control signal agreement
between the county of somerset and the township of branchburg. Resolution 25-2102, approving plans and
authorizing receipt of bids for excavation and disposal of buried waste,
battery debris area, former belmed army depot, mountain view road, hillsboro.
resolution 2521 oh three, approving the property parcel map and designating
road areas to be acquired for highway and bridge purposes and authorizing the early appraisal of lands and title searches for
the 2025 road reservicing and ada compliance program, various roughs, various locations, contract 24014.
>> resolution 25-2104,
authorizing submission and acceptance of funds for the soreset county tanf transportation contract
with the new jersey department of human services division of family development for the period of january 1st through june 30th,
2025, total not to exceed $21,136, no match required.
25-2105, authorizing the modification of resolution 25-1170 to increase acceptance of funds from
the new jersey department of human services division of family development for the social services for the homeless contract
to add an additional $15,000 of code blue funds for the period january 1st through december 31st,
2025, new total not to exceed $447,712.
25-2101 oh, authorizing richard hall,
community health and wellness center to apply to the state of new jersey, department of health division of mental health and addiction services for
a consolidated funding application to provide services to the county's homeless population via the path program and services to
somerset county residents engaged in the involuntary outpatient commitment program for the period of january 1st,
2026 through december 31st, 2026, and to accept funding if awarded,
total not to exceed $482,307.
>> 25-2107, award of contract to granicus for website grades,
continued maintenance and support, a second year of a three year contract with two one year options to extend,
total not to exceed $29,737.
>> resolution 25-2108, authorizing change order one for
chiller replacement at 40 north bridge street, somerville. It's an increase of $83,039 from the as-bid contract amount of $1,211,619 for
a new total contract amount of $1,294,658 total not to exceed $83,009.
resolution 25-2109, awarded professional service contract to french and
paro associates for environmental investigation at 5:40 east main street,
block 2 lots 5 and 5.01 borough of bounbrook, and block 357 lots 1 and 2 borough of middlesex,
total not to exceed $165,925. Yes.
>> resolution 25-2110, award of contract cy-com-005-25 to the arc of somerset,
bound brook borough, casa of shaw, community hope home sharing,
jewish community center, manville borough, midland adult services,
north plainfield borough, safe and sound, somerville borough, visions and pathways,
and youth consultation services for program year 2025 community development block grant activities
total not to exceed $822,190.
resolution 25-2111, award of contract cc-0154-25r3 to horizon pediatric consultants,
llc doing business as rocking horse rehab basking ridge, new jersey,
for equine therapy services, one year contract with optional one year extension,
total not to exceed $3,750.
>> good evening. Resolution 25-2112,
authorizing a purchase from mes I acquisition out of sandy hook, connecticut,
utilizing new jersey state contract for swat team ballistic vs, total not to exceed $49,371.84. Thank you.
>> resolution 252113, award of contract cc-0112-24 to continental hardware inc for lumber and supplies,
cooperative pricing, second year of a two year contract, not to exceed 6,500.
resolution 25-2114, award of contract cc-9099-25 to
premise ford from parames new jersey for the purchase of two four wheel drive
refrigerated heated food truck vehicles from somerset county division of transportation,
first year of a two year contract, not to exceed $173,182.
>> resolution 25-2115. This is an approval to pay a confirming order to shi international for
our live streaming and captioning services for the monthly somerset county commissioners meeting
for the coverage term of september 30th, 2025 to september 29th,
2026, a total not to exceed $22,102.
>> resolution 25-2116, approval to pay confirming order to wex health for
august 2025 fsa and community benefit administration fees,
total not to exceed $362.45.
>> 25-2117, amending and cancellation certification of funds for
previously awarded contract from 2024 for galls llc,
total decrease not to exceed $14,359.59.
25-2118, approval to pay confirming order to fowler equipment company for $964.93.
>> hello. Resolution 25-2119 is the insertion of
a special item of revenue for the new jersey division of mental health and addiction services,
gambling disorder clinician services program grant in the amount of $123,961.
25-2120 is amending and canceling certification of funds for previously awarded contracts to jm sorgi,
somerville, new jersey, total reduction not to exceed $23,844.75.
205-2121, authorizing certification of funds for previously awarded contracts to pkf o'connor davies,
cranford, new jersey, total not to exceed $2,215.70.
2122 is transfer of appropriations in
the 2025 county operating budget and 2123 is a payment of claims and ratification of the same.
>> resolution 205-2124, approval to pay conforming order for karen hock of hillsboro,
new jersey, for the hillsboro senior center july 2025, starry summer night program,
total not to exceed $75. 25-2125, amending and canceling
certification of funds for previously awarded contract with middlesex county treasurer,
north brunswick, new jersey for juvenile detention housing for q1 of 2025.
total not to exceed a reduction of $4,558.66.
25-2126, approval to pay confirming order to visions and pathways, bridgewater, new jersey,
for non profit services for the period of april through september 2025,
total not to exceed $32,500 25-2127,
authorizing certification of funds for previously awarded contract for qualifax systems inc,
contract cc-0121-20 for richard hall community health and wellness center,
qualifax electronic health record system fifth year of a seven year contract,
total not to exceed $1,500. 25-2128, approval to pay a confirming order to
the national council for mental well being of atlanta georgia for renewal of membership,
total not to exceed $5,341, 25-2129,
approval to pay confirming order for katherine jane's mandatory basic benefits registration training course
to the national association of county veteran service officers, total not to exceed $400.
she did pass the course. Then the last 25-2130,
authorizing certification of funds for previously awarded contract to continental hardware inc,
contract cc-0112-24 for lumber and supplies for the wheelchair ramp program,
total not to exceed $1,560.
in the wheelchair ramp program,
it depends on the number of volunteers who are needed. This is a program that is provided through our handyman volunteer program.
we just recently increased the number of handyman volunteers by over 50%.
this one, in particular was a pretty significant one that was very, very long.
I think there were probably about at least 10 people on site, and they built it in one day.
>> resolution 205-20-1301 approval, pay confirming order of york telecom,
new jersey for forensic software told not to exceed $14,074.36. Thank you.
>> 2132, authorize the certification of funds for previously awarded contract to agni enterprises,
llc for head to heel, safety supplies, not to exceed 5,600.
2133, approval to pay confirming order to bay shod recycling corporation from atlantic islands,
not to exceed $66,639.13.
2134 approval to pay confirming order to david m. Bittrich inc,
for auto supplies and middlesex, for emergency. It's the emergency purchase for diesel exhaust fluid,
not to exceed $7,673.60.
2135 approval to pay confirming order to maza recycling services from tint and falls,
for rigid plastic, not to exceed $133.50.
2136 approval to pay confirming order to recycling equipment corp for emergency repair of main conveyor belt,
not to exceed $1,274.58.
2137 authorizing certification of
funds to previously awarded contract to atlantic tactical. This is for uniform and equipment,
not to exceed $1,706. 2138, authorizing certification of funds for
previously awarded contract to trius from farming deals for snowplow parts,
not to exceed 2,500. 2139, approval to pay confirming order to various vendors and parts and repairs,
total not to exceed $13,055.60. >> thank you. Is there a motion to approve the above resolution
25-2100 through 25-2139 to the consent agenda for november 12th.
>> so moved. >> second. >> roll call, please. >> commissioner graner?
>> yes. >> commissioner drake. >> yes. Commissioner sue. >> yes. >> deputy director morono?
>> yes. >> director robinson? >> yes.
>> these are items that will be added for adoption later on tonight.
this is 2099f authorizing an agreement between
the soereset county department of human services and the food bank network of somerset county for
implementation of the community navigator program, 2099g is authorizing an agreement between
somerset county department of human services and the franklin food bank for the community navigator program.
2099h is authorizing a shared service agreement between somerset county and the somerset county park
commission for information technology services, 2099i is authorizing a shared service agreement
between somerset county and somerset county park commission for public relations services,
2099j is authorizing a professional service agreement
between somerset county and the somerset county park commission for fingerprint, photography, and background check services.
>> resolution 25-2099k from the greater raton workforce development board.
this is amending r25-1962, which was adopted on october 14th,
2025 to increase the program year 2025 award to
career training services of the somerset county department of human services for that period of july 1st,
2025 to june 30th, 2026, by the amount of 112,500 for
targeted training initiative at raritan valley community college, total not to exceed $955,390.
>> resolution 25-2099l, authorizing the purchase of real property known as block 132,
lots 10 and 11 in the township of bridgewater owned by somerset land equities,
llc, total not to exceed $12,500.
>> 25-2099m is rejecting bids for
jcc-0023-25 as the low bid substantially exceeds the appropriated budget amount.
>> resolution 25-2099n award of a contract to feral technologies out of lake mary,
florida for ferro software and licensing. Total not to exceed $12,695.
resolution 25-2099o, authorizing payment to
the county prosecutors association of new jersey out of elizabeth, new jersey,
for the cpanj annual college for assistant prosecutors and prosecutors office management association members
total not to exceed $20,125. Thank you.
>> thank you.
is there a typographer? >> [inaudible] >> thank you. Is there a motion
to add resolutions 25-2099f-25-2099o to our regular meeting?
>> so move. >> second. >> roll call, please? >> commissioner greener?
>> yes. >> commissioner drake. >> yes. Commissioner sue? >> yes. >> deputy director marano?
>> yes. >> director robinson. >> yes. This is the public portion of the regular public portion of this meeting.
anyone from the public wishing to speak, five minutes, no yielding, a time, no coming up a second time.
is there a motion? >> so moved. >> second. >> all in favor?
>> aye. >> ayes have it. Please come up, state your name and address for the record.
>> ed carway, 533 new brunswick road, somerset, new jersey.
you probably remember me from last time because I did not have a very high opinion of you.
I am sad to say that that has decreased in my mind since I've had dealings with your engineering department.
I have a few emails. The only bright spot I have found in somerset county is teresa bonner.
she is responsive and she tries.
I sent her an email. I said, ms. Robinson suggested I contact you for
information regarding the new brunswick road bridge replacement project.
I now see that we have gone beyond the original time estimate and there has been no revised completion date.
this leads me to wonder about the competency of your engineering department.
a 16 inch water main is difficult to misplace. How did this happen and when will the job be completed?
she sent information to mr. Loper, and mr. Loper replied to me on september 27th.
your email was forwarded to me for a response. Please see our project website for the most up to date information.
the information in your public website is basically known as useless.
it provides no details, no real information.
I wrote back to mr. Loper. I'm aware of that.
why wasn't this project started in june? If it had been, even with the delay,
it would have been completed before schools opened. Timing was very bad as this job affects a lot of local school bus routes.
explain the need to replace the water line. What effect will this have on the township water supply?
same question for the gas line. Why was the depth important?
if depth was a consideration, why wasn't gpr ground penetrating radar used to determine
the depth before the work began instead of getting a surprise after?
what specifically needs to be replaced? What work will not be completed until after the water gas line work is completed?
the more details the better. Although not a civil engineer,
I am a degreed chemical engineer with over 40 years of experience in the cpi, chemical process industry?
there was a response from ms. Bonner,
saying that she had sent my email to mr. Loper and I got a response from mr. Loper.
mr. Carway, construction projects
often face unanticipated events and we work hard to minimize their impact.
we thoroughly gather all available information to make informed decisions from the outset.
despite our best planning new information, like the recent issues with utilities,
often necessitates shifts in construction schedules and activities.
while we prefer to accomplish major road work during the summer when traffic is lightest,
this isn't always possible. For example, this bridge work could not begin until
august 1st due to nj dep permit requirements.
this is a complex federally funded bridge project with many moving parts.
the county is committed to completing the work as efficiently as possible.
in addition, we'll continue to coordinate with all necessary agencies including franklin township.
in the interim, I wrote to miss bonner, below is the response I sent to mr. Loper
and my original email to him along with his initial response.
in it I requested details about the timing and delay of the project.
he provided some information on the delay, but no details on the problems.
this is not what I expected or wanted. He did not address any of the technical questions that I asked.
I didn't want platitudes. I wanted facts. I didn't get them. I find this unacceptable.
my degree is in chemical engineering, not civil, but I have taken civil engineering classes and I would
have understood a much more technical answer than what he provided. Basically, he failed to answer any of my questions.
I feel he did not want to be bothered and this was a public be damned attitude and answer.
ms. Bonner replied, I'm sorry to hear that. I have forwarded the entire e mail chain to director robinson so that she is aware.
I will continue to request a response on your behalf.
on october 22nd, I sent back to ms. Bonner.
thank you for your continuing assistance. I am sorry to report that I have yet to receive
any further information from mr. Loper or anyone else at the county.
am I correct that the next public meeting will be on 10/28? If so, I will have a few things to say,
which I believe I have just said. I only have one question for you.
when are you going to to fix the damn bridge? None of you can tell me because none of you know, correct?
>> the latest update is now mid november.
I question the same thing. I feel your pain.
>> one little kicker in, do any of you remember magnolia road?
>> I do. >> three months, took over six, another county project.
I've been in engineering for a long time. We have a problem with a project.
we do a root cause analysis. I don't know if you're familiar with those things. Generally speaking, when a project goes flui in the middle,
there's one recurring cause, poor planning at the beginning.
what I can tell you that if mr. Loper was working for me,
he would not be working. If I took responses like his to my board,
they'd laugh at him and then they'd fire him. Thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. Carway.
>> kendra dipaola, d-I-p-a-o-l-a,
nine york drive, princeton, new jersey. Good evening.
my name is kendra dipaola. I am a resident of montgomery township.
I respectfully ask that you pass a resolution supporting the immigrant trust act.
my comments focus only on some of the likely economic impacts if the ita does not become law.
due to ice raids our county and state lose workers,
their work contributions, tax receipts, and their participation in our economy.
there are other less obvious employment losses happening too.
ice is a threat to anyone who is brown or black,
has a foreign accent or works in some low income jobs.
I teach immigrants and help them find jobs and have neighbors and friends who are immigrants.
here's some of the ways people I know or know of have responded or
are responding to the threat of being detained, arrested, or disappeared.
these immigrants range from low income workers to professionals.
some immigrants have moved back to their home countries. Some have applied for foreign passports and are poised to flee.
some have returned to the country they came through in coming to the us.
employers have become more compliant in collecting i9 documentation,
eliminating some job applicants from consideration.
some workers who lost their temporary protected status
automatically lost their employment authorization documents and are suddenly out of work.
some in fear and facing higher prices have moved in with family or friends,
making it harder to get to work, jeopardizing their employment.
if the ita is not passed into law and our police forces join ice,
creating what could potentially become the largest militarized force on the planet.
fear could cause these employment losses to quickly escalate.
further reducing employment, work contributions,
tax receipts, and our quality of life. Since these immigrants bring us the stuff we seem to need,
mow lawns, provide us top quality healthcare and education and more.
our police joining ice would also entail additional spending for training and
the risk and cost of lawsuits for getting mixed up in ice's racial profiling,
illegal tactics, and chaos. It would also cost the trust police have built with the community.
this is not the way I want my tax dollars spent nor the community impact that I want.
please pass a resolution supporting the ita to avoid
these considerable consequences and costs and to protect all residents of new jersey.
thank you [applause].
>> hi. My name is debbie farber. I live at 87 highland avenue and bridgewater.
I'm here tonight to ask you to support the immigrant trust act.
the immigrant trust act directs law enforcement resources to be used for
actual safety threats rather than after undocumented people who are not a threat.
immigrants make many contributions to our communities. They are our friends, neighbors,
business owners, and members of our community. They make economic contributions and should be
valued and cherished instead of being villainized. Just like any other citizen in the us,
immigrants and undocumented people are entitled to amendment five of the constitution,
which states no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
instead, they are being treated worse than criminals. Families are being torn apart.
we need to protect our immigrant and undocumented citizens by limiting law enforcement cooperation with ice.
please consider supporting the immigrant trust act. Thank you.
>> good evening, commissioners. I'm sherry russ, 19 reimer street, somerville,
and I'm here to ask somerset county to join union county,
hudson county, and essex county in standing with our immigrant communities and families.
please issue and pass a resolution in support of the immigrant trust act.
the immigrant trust act is awaiting state assembly approval, and next,
it will go to the state senate and hopefully be enshrined into new jersey state law.
the ita directs our local resources to fund
local initiatives rather than federal immigration law enforcement.
this is important to us because we already have effective state police, the sheriff's office,
and local police departments that fight crime in somerset county, and that crime fighting includes crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.
there's zero benefit to somerset county residents if we divert our law enforcement efforts in support of ice.
in fact, ice is not even close to meeting its stated goal of deporting violent criminals,
gang members, murderers, child sex traffickers and rapists.
seventy percent of those detained by ice to date have no criminal record whatsoever,
and 84% in custody have been determined to pose no risk.
supporting ice with our law enforcement resources will only
make somerset county less safe, less trusted.
ice agents often have unmarked vehicles wear masks and don't carry id,
which opens our residents up to the risk of imposters posing as ice,
committing crimes against them as has happened over two dozen times in the us,
and other scams abound, including one that recently caused the ratington township police to issue a warning to all residents.
ice policies sell fear and mistrust between law enforcement and
the community in contrast to the way our local law enforcement currently operates.
many spanish speaking folks live in somerset county, and they can be racially profiled by ice and detained without due process.
how would you feel if this situation impacted you, if it was your family, your kids?
what would you do to protect yourself? Do you feel good about other members of our community living with this fear every day?
show these at risk people that they're safe here in somerset county and let
our law enforcement agencies operate independently of ice without diverting our tax dollars to harm our community.
please support the ita [applause].
>> dawn cohen, 85 millers grove road in bel mead.
I too am here this evening to ask this board of commissioners to join
about 20 other towns and counties around the state to
urge the state legislature to pass the immigrant trust act.
my husband is an immigrant. My children are children of an immigrant.
many of my friends and neighbors are immigrants and children of immigrants.
this issue is very personal to me. Reading the news these days,
I'm very fearful for their safety. It's very clear from news reports that
legal immigration status is no guarantee of immunity from ice's dragnets.
furthermore, all community members benefit from the whole community's access to services that they
pay taxes for regardless of immigration status. We are all safer when our sick neighbors can access health care without fear of ice.
we are all safer when our neighbors can report crimes without fears of ice.
we are all safer when our law enforcement resources are free to focus on their core public safety duties,
rather than being allocated to support ice detentions of individuals who pose no threat to our communities.
let's be clear, the immigrant trust act can't stop the raids,
but it can put a very significant speed bump against their damage.
I want that speed bump to protect our communities from ice's horrifying activities.
I urge you to add our county's voice to the calls for action on the immigrant trust act.
new jersey cannot afford to wait [applause].
>> I know it's been a long night, so I'll try to keep this relatively brief.
I'm viriyah hodges from highbridge, out in hunterdon county, eight wharton way.
do I need to ride down anywhere? Correct. Greetings commissioners.
I may be from hunterdon county, not somerset county, but as an alumni of rzc,
somerset holds a very special place to me. Both as a twin neighbor of hunterdon,
and from my many friends and connections I made from people who are in somerset.
now, there is the threat looming over both of our counties. The threat I'm referring to is ice,
the modern gestapo that is terrorizing communities around the country,
including right here in new jersey. Hunterdon in somerset have not been spared.
there have been raids in flemington, raids in bridge water, and this rogue agency.
when the citizens of hunterdon county decided to speak up to our county government about it,
they politely told us to go take a hike. I'm asking you to be different.
when there were problems in these, we could come to the somerset board,
and you guys had more reasonable reactions and were more willing to listen to us.
as your neighbor, I'm like to implore you to do what hunterdon did not.
please side with the oppressed rather than the oppressor.
support the immigrant trust act. Do not give an inch to ice and this administration's matched goons.
it may seem like a small thing. To be honest, in the grand scheme of things, it is.
but in times like these, when our democracy is being trampled, when fascism is rearing its head,
we have to choose what we're going to do. Are we going to sit back and watch?
are we going to help tyranny along? Or will we resist? Will we be those who stood up against it? Thank you.
please support the immigrant trust act. You all have a good evening. [applause]
>> matthew mench, 1303 roger avenue. Despite my temptations, I'm going to stay on the topic
I was originally here to talk about, as opposed to responding to some of the other comments that we just heard.
I'm here to talk about two items on your agenda. The first one is there was a resolution
that was passed tonight to award prescal services contract, mills shawning for the architecture of the washington valley park interpretive center.
I understand that there's been a recent early concept plan of what that will look like.
I'd asked all of you, as well as staff you direct, to please make sure that we stay in contact on this project,
so that way as it moves forward. Even in the design phase on it,
you solicited input from bridgewater or either way, we'll give it to you one way or the other anyway.
but I think that in order to avoid, at least make sure that everyone's on the same page with what is being proposed,
the earlier the input we can get, not just on, hey, here's our final plan, but hey, bridgewater.
this is what we're thinking. Is there a problems, questions, comments?
maybe that way, we're not back here next year, when the site that center starts getting built,
and we have questions on it. The other thing, I couldn't help but note,
but I did appreciate the resolution that was added tonight to add services for the park commission for public relations.
I think that's a great idea, a well-deserved timing on that.
I thank you all for your time this evening and have a nice night. >> thank you.
>> hi. David reyes, 797 belmill blenburg road.
I just want to know why the trump administration has taken
away food stamp benefits for people that deserve food stamps.
I deal with a lot of those people in my work.
people should not go without food stamps, especially the homeless people starving out there.
he's taken away food stamps, and all of our benefits are getting taken away.
what's next? Medicaid medicare? I'm just tired.
he is the worst president around.
I just want everybody to vote with their conscience on november 4th and state your conscience.
thank you. [applause]
>> john flores, 389 william street, here in somerville.
I'm usually singing karaoke in front of a mike, but it's been a long night, so I won't trouble you.
>> go a head. [laughter]. >> don't tempt me. Decent,
hardworking people are being pulled off the streets by unmasked,
unidentified federal agents, here in new jersey, here in somerset county.
there is very little transparency about who they are targeting,
and many of the people apprehended by ice appear to be falling into a legal black hole.
nearly all of the people apprehended are like me, people of color.
there are reports that some are like me, even us citizens. I'm afraid.
I'm afraid for my nieces and nephews and my great nieces and great nephews.
I'm afraid for my family. I'm afraid for my friends. I'm afraid that someone that I know,
someone that I love, is going to be taken and that they won't receive due process.
I've been eating new jersey pizza and bagels for 50 plus years.
my friends on the west coast make fun of my new jersey accent.
coffee. I'm afraid. Nobody here can guarantee me that I won't be taken and cast into that legal black hole.
that's the truth. I never thought that I'd have to ask
local government to protect me from the actions of the federal government. But here we are.
I'm asking you to protect me and my family and friends from
the massed anonymous agents of the federal government who are acting without accountability.
support the immigrant trust act. Join the other municipalities and counties that have already done so,
and let the communities of color of somerset county know that you have their back.
support the immigrant trust act. Thank you. [applause]
>> hello. Good evening. It's a long evening. My name is cynthia snacropi pilbozian,
548 millstone river road, belmeade.
I'm here to talk about the causeway.
otherwise, known to me as the floodway.
tonight, we talked a lot about flooding, trees.
oh, I think, overdevelopment.
in light of expediency, I'd like to read to you the op ed that montgomery news was so gracious to publish.
with a little help from the editor, here goes. The following are my conclusions and suggestions
for somerset county officials to consider as they move forward following the submar public hearing
of the griggstown causeway concept development. Their least expensive option to install three traffic lights does
not address the traffic congestion due to increased housing developments in our area.
it does not address flooding, which is happening more often,
and it does little to assure the safety of dnr state park enthusiasts who canoe,
kayak, run, walk, bike, and fish along the causeway intersection.
solution. A new two-lane bridge,
similar to blackwell's mills, should be built north of the existing bridge from
millstone river road in montgomery to mosha road in franklin township.
by doing so, the problem of bridge closure due to flooding would be resolved,
as traffic congestion on route 206 and other roads due to commuter diversion.
what happens is when the bridge is closed, there are choke points that develop in other roads in the region. Not good.
by looking at a concept that would provide a two-lane bridge,
in an area of land that is already being used for municipal land use,
the franklin township sewer authority, perhaps the dep may be more amenable to considering issuing permits for the land use.
the bridge would then intersect with millstone river road
and would be less intrusive for the residents in that area. By putting a stoplight down at the bridge,
you think that you're creating a safety mechanism,
but you're really increasing commuter frustration,
which is the safety risk.
let me continue. I hear about cost.
an easy pass toll could be installed midway section of the new mosha road bridge to help pay for its construction.
developers in the region must be held responsible for the added traffic congestion caused by the new residential buildings and new businesses,
malls that are being built on route 206 corridor in hillsborough and montgomery,
on harrison street and princeton, somerville, along route 1,
and the list goes on. It's almost dead central new jersey,
and it is a main artery for commuters and travelers.
a lot of people travel. Commuters from these new developments pass through montgomery,
franklin township, and regularly get to work, shop, and more.
also, donations to the dnr, preservation fund specific to the project to
preserve the historic relevance of the existing bridge, make the current causeway one-way from west to east.
it provides an alternate route for commuters. They can use the two-way bridge.
they can also use the one-way from west to east. It also allows for tourists and hiking enthusiasts.
I used to run on the tow path. I used to run from the bottom of my driveway across the street.
I don't do that anymore.it is not safe. People will use me for target practice.
within the past week, I've had to near misses from frustrated drivers.
I crossed the bridge. I was well more than halfway over the bridge,
and I was confronted with an angry driver that nearly hit on me.
I was forced to back out onto river road. That man was not going anywhere,
and so I conceded. Thank you for taking my call today.
the traffic signals are addressing the two times of the day that congestion is really bad.
congestion is becoming worse on weekends. I weed in my backyard.
I hear the horn honking, I hear people yelling and screaming. It's less intrusive to the neighborhood if you would consider this two-lane bridge.
it would also give emts better response times in being able to transfer people to their hospitals of choice.
if someone wanted to go to robert wood in new brunswick, they'd have to go all the way down to route 206,
all the way around, or come up in teran, and go all the way around. There are many reasons why the two-lane bridge would
be a better fit for the needs that you're addressing.
yes.
I mentioned easy pass. Easy pass is being used on many small roads and byways.
when I travel, I frequently have to pay a little $25 toll, $0.85 toll.
that may be a consideration. The canal and ida had bridge tenders and toll booths to assure the safe flow of barges.
to cover the costs of those employees that collected the tolls, it seems that we're facing the same considerations as we
move forward in our modern-day traffic safety needs. I implore the county officials to reconsider the possible options to enhance
traffic flow and to alleviate congestion at choke points caused by flooding,
and complete the project in a meaningful and lasting manner that will last more generations to come.
if you can get this project done, this would be an awesome legacy to leave.
thank you so much for listening. I agree, government works when government works,
as long as you work within the constraints of rule. I appreciate that. Thank you for listening.
>> hi. My name is katarina rose, k-a-t-a-r-I-n-a.
I live at three gateway boulevard in hillsborough. I'm also here to request that you guys support the immigrant trust act,
and also to do whatever we can to help our neighbors.
it is so big, and the immigrant trust act should just be the beginning. Thank you.
also, this is not necessarily to the commission, but to everybody who's listening at home and here to please vote,
to have everyone you know vote, and please vote with your conscience.
thank you. [applause]
>> any phone calls, emails? >> I do have one phone call, believe it or not.
sir. Hello. Yes. You need to state your name and address for the record, sir.
>> sure. My name is carlos mendoza. I live at 23 mercury street, somerset, new jersey.
I'm calling tonight because I'm concerned that you, the commissioners,
are unaware about critical internal issues since the administrator has personally instructed employees not to talk with you directly.
dafing and morale have plummeted since 2020 due to ineffective.
>> sir, I just stopped for a second.
personnel matters are not subject really appropriate for public discussion.
if you want to talk in general, that's fine. But talking about a specific employee, I'm not going to allow.
>> did you hang up? >> yeah.
just for the record, employees have rights, regardless of who they are,
whatever level they're at. Personnel matters are not for open discussion without proper notice.
there's a case that governs that. General conversation about a department or a function of government,
perfectly permitted. No other comments.
>> seeing none, hearing none, is there a motion to close the public?
>> second. >> all in favor? >> aye. >> ayes have it.