[0:05] Yes. >> The notice requirements of the open

[0:10] public saf meetings act has been satisfied with respect to this meeting.

[0:16] Specifically, the time, date, and location were included in the annual

[0:20] notice of meetings adopted by the municipal council of the Burough Wick

[0:24] posted in the administration building 63 Franklin Turnpike Waldick, New Jersey by

[0:28] the municipal clerk's office sent to the Bergen record. Additionally, to the

[0:32] extent known in accordance with the open public meetings act, the agenda for this

[0:36] meeting and whether formal actions will be taken were posted in the

[0:39] administration building and per 2025C72

[0:45] was also posted on our official Bergen Burrow of Waldick's website. Clerk,

[0:49] please take the role.

[0:53] » Mayor Giodano here. >> Mr. Bick,

[0:55] » here. >> Makola Drake here.

[0:57] » Mr. Marello, >> here.

[0:58] » Mr. Richie, >> here.

[1:00] Everyone kindly rise for pledge of

[1:03] » allegiance. Pledge

[1:06] » algiance flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it

[1:12] stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice

[1:17] for all. >> Let us have a moment of silence for our

[1:20] waring veterans, all veterans across our country who have given the ultimate

[1:23] sacrifice to serve our country. Some never returning home. uh we can live in

[1:27] a land that is free and assembled the way we are tonight.

[1:34] Would the clerk kindly do the prayer? >> Dear Lord, we start this meeting asking

[1:38] for your guidance and wisdom. May we find unity and fairness the outcome to

[1:42] reflect our wishes to assist the burrow in all their endeavors. Thank you in his

[1:46] name. Amen. Amen.

[2:12] Tonight, I am honored to recognize Emily Tambbero, who placed third, receiving

[2:16] the bronze medal at the United States of America Special Olympics National Games

[2:20] in Minneapolis. capitalist, Minnesota. Emily is a lifelong resident of the

[2:25] burial of Waldwick. She graduated from Waltwick High School. She then attended

[2:29] Bergen Community College, receiving a bach bachelor's degree. Emily has been

[2:34] participating in the Special Olympics National Games, playing a variety of

[2:38] sports since she was 8 years old. Emily played tennis last year for our local

[2:43] team, the Burden County Aces, participating at the state summer games.

[2:47] and they received a gold medal in singles and doubles. Those gold medals

[2:52] earned them an invitation to try out uh for

[2:57] canoe for team US for team New Jersey. Team New Jersey selects a limited number

[3:02] of athletes who represent the state of New Jersey and the United States Special

[3:06] Olympics National Games in Minnesota. Emily was very proud and honored to

[3:10] represent New Jersey and most of her hometown Republic. Emily began

[3:14] practicing with her team, traveled a lot, and did a lot of fundraising.

[3:18] Through it all, Emily's main goal was to be the best she can be to win and make

[3:23] everyone know how great New Jersey and Wick is. Emily continued to play tennis

[3:29] with her local team Ace Project Love Match Program, her local instructor, and

[3:34] team New Jersey, traveling to Lebanon, New Jersey on weekends for team

[3:38] practices and to prepare for the national games. Emily and team New

[3:43] Jersey were filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and so eager to tackle the

[3:47] challenges that await them. This was truly an experience of a lifetime for

[3:52] Emily and for everyone else that was part of this the team.

[3:56] Team New Jersey arrived along with the rest of America in Minneapolis,

[4:00] Minnesota, and the games began on June 20th. Dirt Week began with three to four

[4:06] matches plus daily and daily practices while qualifying during the

[4:10] preliminaries then moving on to the competitions with the rest of America.

[4:15] As Emily competed, she played extremely well. Also, I was told that she had a

[4:21] knee injury and she has a brace on her knee right now. But through all that,

[4:24] she did not give up. She was determined with courage and ambition to be the best

[4:29] she could be. She pres she persevered through it all with the knee injury and

[4:35] at the end Emily never became a quitter. She was always representing her country

[4:41] and representing Waldick with pride and honor. Emily went on to to become in the

[4:47] third of the women's tennis winning a bronze medal. We are very proud of Emily

[4:51] for winning this bronze medal. Emily made New Jersey proud, especially our

[4:56] hometown world. And Emily, you should be very proud of yourself. You are truly a

[5:00] champion. We want to thank you for your dedication and hard work to the Special

[5:05] Olympics of New Jersey and for representing our great state of New

[5:09] Jersey so well as you did with grace and with sportsmanship. Emily, you trained

[5:14] hard and every bit of this and you deserve every bit of this moment. The

[5:19] bronze you received proves your amazing power and focus. You showed all of us

[5:23] what it means to be a true champion. Your big heart and strong spirit brought

[5:28] you to the podium as a hero and we want to thank you very much and on behalf of

[5:33] the mayor and council of Bar Waldwick we would like to present you with a

[5:36] certificate of recognition that congratulation congratulating you on

[5:40] your win and making us so proud of you and you are truly a Waldwick hero. Thank

[5:46] you.

[6:17] Thank you. Let us know how you think about.

[6:43] And now what we'll do is we'll have our uh finance uh chair of the finance

[6:48] committee, Mr. Martinalo, give us a little update about our finances of the

[6:52] burough. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This will just be

[6:55] uh brief this evening, just a couple of updates and then we'll take any

[6:58] questions from the council on on budget process. So, um uh tonight we we did get

[7:04] a letter from our adviserss on the cell phone towers. Uh looks like there are

[7:10] some expiring leases and some upside that we might be able to take uh

[7:14] advantage of. We put it out for for bid on those RFPs. Uh potentially bring in a

[7:20] couple more thousands a year in terms of revenue um for the tower by the DPW and

[7:26] the one by the uh the mulch pit. Tatiana, anything you want to add to

[7:30] that on that one? >> Uh so for for residents who might not be

[7:33] aware, we do have two telecommunication sites in town. one's at the mulch uh

[7:37] site and the other is at the DPW. And as the councilman noted, uh some of those

[7:43] agreements are expiring. And when we uh when the burough brought Peter Lupo on

[7:48] from Hop Lake Telecommunications uh to do an assessment of the rent that

[7:54] we were collecting, um there was at the time there were things going on in the

[7:59] market that um made him advise the burrow to um pursue the avenue of uh of

[8:05] actually taking ownership of the polls. Um, since then there have been some

[8:10] rapid changes in the uh telecom telecommunication space, including the

[8:15] recent spectrum sale and chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Dish Wireless. And

[8:20] so this model um is not uh in the best interest of Waldick at this time. Um

[8:25] Peter believes that the bureau can better achieve immediate objectives by

[8:28] rebidding the two expired prime leaseold interests and um this should bring in

[8:32] some competition and some additional revenue um than than we've been seeing.

[8:38] Uh in addition, his office has been looking through all the agreements and

[8:41] uh there's opportunities to um you know, make sure that all of the uh rents are

[8:46] are being paid uh in a timely fashion by these uh companies and that uh any of

[8:52] them who are potentially um receiving undisclosed rent amounts to Crown Castle

[8:57] that uh the burrow is able to capture um those amounts back uh to the burrow. So

[9:03] um Peter and his office have been working diligently on this. We've been

[9:07] um checking in with them and uh you know we are maximizing to the best of the

[9:11] burough's ability the uh telecommunication uh services that we

[9:14] have in town. >> Thank you. Um next up was you'll start

[9:18] to see that there's uh quite an inventory of of vehicles that are are

[9:21] building up in our our lot here. That's from all of the replacements that we've

[9:25] done for DPW and and the police. So those vehicles and trucks with plows and

[9:31] everything will be going up for for auction. Um um our Lindsay will be

[9:37] working on getting that auction together. We look forward hopefully

[9:40] early this fall uh being able to sell off some of those units and recoup some

[9:45] cost and uh bring that into the burrow. Um additionally, we're continuing to

[9:50] monitor the the budget lines. We're continuing to stay on budget so far this

[9:55] year. The only line that we um had any kind of over John so far was on the snow

[10:00] removal. Clearly, it was a very difficult summer. Um, so we'll continue

[10:04] to watch that. Uh, we'll also continue to watch other other lines with uh with

[10:08] department costs. Um, especially as we head into the summer months with

[10:12] vacations and overtime and things like that. So, we'll we'll continue to

[10:16] monitor those things. Um, Tatiana, I think you want to add on that topic.

[10:20] » Uh, no. We can give a report at the next meeting in August. Uh, we'll look at

[10:25] those lines again and uh, as you mentioned, we are we are on course for

[10:29] about uh, midyear uh, for right now. >> Right. So, at this point, we have no

[10:33] other contracts that are uh up for negotiation other than that cell phone

[10:38] tower that we're out on. Um, our PBA contract will be in our uh open meeting

[10:44] discussion today to finalize that. Um, DPW contract was finalized uh late last

[10:50] year, so we're in good shape on our labor contracts. Um, the next thing

[10:54] that's out on the horizon is obviously our waste management bill, which is a

[10:57] large portion of our budget. Um, that's something that we'll we'll start to look

[11:01] at. uh open it up to any members of the council if you have any questions on

[11:04] » Just want to make one other note on the contract the council has on their agenda

[11:08] this evening an extension of a contract with uh ERRI down at the mulch pit. Uh

[11:13] we have concluded the first part of the agreement with them and um on on

[11:18] tonight's meeting uh the council is being asked to authorize an additional

[11:22] 2-year agreement with them um at an increase of revenue for 2026 uh to 27 27

[11:29] to 28. >> Thank you. Forgot about that. Um any

[11:33] members of council have any questions related to budget that you want to bring

[11:35] up or any ideas?

[11:40] » Great. Thank you everyone. look forward to uh next uh presentation in a few

[11:45] minutes. Mr. Mayor, that's it for now. >> Okay. Thank you very much. On my report,

[11:49] just a couple of items. Uh first of all, I attended the the junior police academy

[11:53] graduation. I want to thank uh Chief Seafford and the police department that

[11:57] did a great job this year. I think they broke the record of how many students

[12:00] were there. It was a great turnout and I think they learned a lot about safety

[12:04] and learned about our community. Also, I attended the uh bike ride in honor of

[12:09] police officer Christopher Cadell. Uh on Friday, it's his 12th anniversary of his

[12:13] death. So, keep him and his family in your prayers, please. I also went to the

[12:17] Walter pool on on Monday to uh say hello to our new pool manager and to see if

[12:22] everything was all right. I met our pool manager. Everybody there seems that

[12:26] they're very happy with is going on. Uh he told me that there was a save last

[12:30] week, which I didn't know about. So, what I did was I did tell him that I

[12:34] will uh reach out to the young woman that did the save and I will uh see if

[12:39] she could come to a meeting and honor her like we honor everybody else. Also,

[12:43] I'd just like to make a quick statement and then I'll turn it over for for the

[12:46] next committee person. It seems that a couple of days ago a resident posted

[12:51] something on social media about me recusing myself from the Harrison Avenue

[12:56] project. Not only did they say that, they said some things that uh they

[13:00] thought that other they thought that things were being done shady or whatever

[13:04] and that uh he would like an answer from me. Uh the person the moderator of the

[13:10] site said why don't you call the mayor and speak to the mayor of direct instead

[13:13] of going on the site. Somebody else went on the site too and agreed with him. So

[13:18] what happened is he re he called he sent me an email telling me he wanted to

[13:21] speak to me and I sent back an email saying there'd be no problem. How about

[13:25] we meet on Monday at 4:30 to talk about this in my office face to face instead

[13:29] of on a on uh Facebook or anything like that. Uh please let me know the time and

[13:35] time is good for you and I still didn't hear back from him. So I will make a

[13:39] statement to him and to everyone else and I hope this addresses everyone's

[13:43] concerns about my recusal. I want to address questions that have been raised

[13:48] regarding my recusal from the Harrison annual redevelopment application. From

[13:53] the very beginning of this process, when the application first came before the

[13:56] planning board, I recused myself from the decision and decisions relating to

[14:01] this matter. This decision was made before the application was ultimately

[14:05] forwarded to the burough council. Prior to doing so, I sought guidance from the

[14:09] planning board attorney, the applicant legal council, and the burough attorney.

[14:13] each advised that under the circumstances recusal was the

[14:16] appropriate course of action. Throughout my years of public service, first as a

[14:20] councilman and now as a mayor, I have always relied upon the advice of our

[14:25] legal professionals to ensure that every matter is handled ethically, fairly, and

[14:30] in accordance with the law. At that at the time the application was before the

[14:35] planning board and later before the burough council, I in intentionally

[14:39] chose not to publicly discuss the reasons for my recusal. My decision was

[14:43] made out of respect for the integrity of the process and to avoid influencing or

[14:49] appearing to influence the independent judgment of either board and the

[14:53] members. My goal has always been to ensure that every applicant, every

[14:56] resident, and every public body receives a fair and impartial process.

[15:01] Unfortunately, there have been rumors and speculations suggesting that my my

[15:06] recusal was motivated by personal gain, financial interest, or favors. Those

[15:11] allegations are completely false. My decision was based solely on following

[15:16] the legal guidance I received and maintaining the high ethical standards

[15:20] expected of public office. Anyone who knows me understands that I have always

[15:24] acted in what I believe to be the best interest of the burrow and its

[15:28] residents. While I respect everyone's right to ask questions and seek

[15:32] transparency, I also ask that we engage in these discussions responsibly and

[15:37] avoid spreading unfounded accusations that unfairly question the integrity of

[15:42] those serving our community. I'd like to thank you for understanding this and

[15:46] allowing me to voice my opinions to you. Some of you might say, well, he's just

[15:51] saying what he wants to say or to hear what he want what you want me to hear.

[15:55] This is not true. And if anybody wants to speak to me about it, you know my

[16:00] email address. You know my my phone number down in town hall. I'd be more

[16:03] than happy to talk to you face to face

[16:09] [clears throat]

[16:12] » financial administrative committee. Mr. Monell.

[16:16] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Unfortunately, I won't be as brief this time. Um, just

[16:20] one other note before I get into the u meat of the topic here. On the agenda

[16:23] tonight, council, you'll see um a consent agenda item for the body cam

[16:28] equipment. This is part of our budget that we did earlier this year for the

[16:31] police equipment uh for body cam, the upgrades that were needed for that. So,

[16:35] that's the large purchase that you'll see on the agenda for tonight. Um that

[16:39] was part of our our capital expenditures for the year.

[16:43] Okay. So, um, I wanted to give the community kind of an update along the

[16:47] lines of what's been going on with, uh, the Harrison Avenue redevelopment

[16:52] project. Um, so to be clear, there's nothing on the agenda for this evening.

[16:58] Uh, there's no introduction, there's no public hearing on that. Um, but of

[17:03] course I wanted to present some information since there's a lot of uh

[17:08] incomplete and some misinformation that's floating around and uh even the

[17:14] fact that some folks were posting that it was going to be on the agenda tonight

[17:18] before an agenda was even released. So surprised by how that spreads out on

[17:22] Facebook. Um so the history of of where we are right so

[17:28] first the area uh that includes the right aid block down to Harrison Avenue

[17:34] um the Rocket property and properties down on Houston was declared an area in

[17:38] need of redevelopment by the council about five or 6 years ago in a unanimous

[17:43] vote. Um that was done because at that time the the council was looking at the

[17:48] future of the budget and surplus funds and we're looking for ways to increase

[17:54] income to the burrow to offset some of those things. So a redevelopment plan

[17:59] was created for that area. Over time, we got multiple proposals submitted from

[18:05] different um developers or different owners of the properties and many were

[18:10] rejected for too high of density, no retail, uh too tall of a building and so

[18:16] forth. So, multiple councils rejected um plans for different plans that were

[18:22] submitted. Eventually, a plan was selected u only for the Harrison Avenue

[18:28] project uh which was purchased those properties were purchased by Harrison

[18:32] Avenue redevelopment LLC which is an affiliate of DMR which is a a a company

[18:38] here located in Waldwick. This was done unanimously by vote of the

[18:44] council. Um everyone approved that plan. There was a meeting uh an introduction

[18:49] of ordinance and a public hearing where many folks came out like tonight um to

[18:54] voice opinions and the council at that time voted 6 nothing to approve that um

[19:00] plan. The redevelopment plan was then sent

[19:04] over to the planning board. It was reviewed and accepted u by the planning

[19:08] board. the professionals in town, police, fire, um, and building

[19:14] maintenance, had plenty of opportunities to ask questions, made changes to the

[19:17] plans, increased fire suppression, etc., etc., and it was unanimously, uh, was

[19:23] eventually approved by the planning board and sent back to the council for

[19:26] final approval, which was done unanimously.

[19:29] Additionally, the planning board approved the redeveloper site plan.

[19:33] Right? So, the site plan is what they're actually going to build there. So

[19:36] redeveloper approved or the uh a planning board approved that site plan.

[19:43] The council hired independent financial adviserss and specific redevelopment

[19:48] attorney Anna who's sitting up on the deis with us today um to represent the

[19:52] burrow in those negotiations. So no one um is sitting up here on the back of a

[19:57] napkin at uh Nelly's or W's and figuring it out. We actually hired professionals

[20:03] um to do this work for us. A redevelopment agreement was then signed

[20:08] by both parties for the area which set parameters for construction timeline etc

[20:14] with protections for both the developer and the burrow. That was unanimously

[20:19] approved by the this council earlier this year.

[20:23] So why redevelopment? There's a lot of questions about why we need to

[20:27] redevelop. One, it addresses budget concerns and

[20:32] identifies additional areas of revenue sources.

[20:36] We don't have many different revenue sources. We don't have a lot of um

[20:39] industry in our town like many others do or retail that many others do. So, uh we

[20:45] looked at ways where redevelopment could bring in additional revenues to the

[20:49] town. Our surplus, as we discussed earlier in

[20:53] the budget meetings where some of you were at, is depleting faster than we

[20:57] could tax you out of it. Um what that means is every year we have to balance

[21:02] our budget. We have a bank account, if you will, a surplus that we've built

[21:07] over years, and we use that surplus to fund the additional part of the budget.

[21:13] We aren't the federal government, so I can't print money, and we cannot deficit

[21:17] spend. So, we use that surplus to plug the budget in hopes that you will recoup

[21:24] some of that budget. How do you recoup it? if you don't spend some of your

[21:27] budget lines or you bring in other non- tax revenue which is higher than

[21:32] anticipated just like any other uh company or your own personal budget. So

[21:37] [clears throat] for the past few years that pendulum has shifted to where we

[21:42] use more of our surplus than we were able to generate to the tune of a

[21:47] million dollars last year. This year we had to raise taxes to stem

[21:53] the tide there because there's nothing further to cut any deeper in terms of

[21:58] our budget um without um putting into risk services,

[22:04] police, fire, DPW. Those are things that we want to make sure our town has every

[22:10] service possible. So we keep those in the budget. So, we had to raise taxes,

[22:15] unfortunately, this year over 9% to plug that budget gap. We have agreement from

[22:20] the council that we would seriously look at uh additional forms of redevelopment

[22:25] to bring in more money. So, why is our budget going up every

[22:30] year? There's increasing cost from the state around benefits are killing small

[22:34] towns, boards of education everywhere. The percent increase is astronomical.

[22:40] those things are not uh trending in the other direction at this point from our

[22:45] our our state government unless those things change. Um the cost will continue

[22:50] to go up. If we want to continue to provide uh multiple days of trash

[22:55] pickup, that cost will continue to go up. We have to look at ways could we um

[23:00] look at shared services to continue to bring down other cost, but our budget

[23:04] continues to go up. And our biggest lines on our budget are salaries, right?

[23:08] and pensions and things like that. Those are non-negotiable for me. I want to

[23:12] keep everybody employed. I want to keep everyone in the town protected and safe.

[23:20] What else does redevelopment do? It encourages business growth growth and

[23:23] local econ economic activity. So, we look around town, right? Probably our

[23:29] biggest retail spot in in the area is vacant for multiple months now. It's

[23:34] owned by someone and they can't fill the property right now.

[23:38] You know, when you go by Food Emporium, it's a brand new uh store in town and

[23:44] they're not quite as busy as they were when they first opened, so maybe they

[23:47] need some additional uh foot traffic to those stores. We have the Odyssey Gym,

[23:52] which is probably a second one of our biggest properties in town. It's vacant.

[23:58] Um, so some claim that we don't need a pilot to revitalize or to invigorate

[24:05] investment into the area. I' I'd say the opposite because we can't fill some uh

[24:10] pretty vacant spots in town. The right a you get thousands of cars that drive

[24:15] that past there on a daily basis. It's a huge parking lot. It's a great

[24:19] opportunity for someone to come into that spot for some reason. Um it's

[24:24] sitting vacant still and I think they changed a sign up there over the last

[24:27] couple days saying uh you know space for rent.

[24:31] You want to put underutilized land to more productive use. So, if you look at

[24:34] the area on Harrison Avenue on the corner past that hair cottage there,

[24:39] there was a vacant lot for multiple years when after the the old hair

[24:42] cottage was was taken down, that spot has been empty. And then there's been

[24:47] those few houses that were next to it. You know, there were fine houses, but on

[24:52] the older side maybe could bring in some more revenue. You also have Rocket

[24:56] Property, which that um business has closed or reduced operations. So that

[25:03] property is underdeveloped and it's in prime location. It's in

[25:07] student transit location um which is highly soughta for people who are are

[25:12] looking to commute into the city. We also have from the state of New

[25:17] Jersey requirements on low-income housing, fair share of housing. We had

[25:21] people come here at at a council meeting and speak passionately about increasing

[25:25] the burrow's um um use of low-income housing in the town. We have submitted a

[25:32] plan to the state of what 144 units that we have to hit. Part of this plan uh

[25:38] includes six affordable um housing units which we get credit for and some that

[25:44] one and a half times credit which help us meet the 144 units that we have to

[25:50] provide. If we don't provide it there, we have to provide it someplace else.

[25:54] We're mandated and audited by the state to provide low-income housing.

[26:00] The re redevelopment plan gives the burough control over what is to be

[26:04] developed and where. No one in town wanted a five-story building. No one in

[26:08] town wanted a six-story building. No one in town wants a full low income um unit

[26:15] down there of 100 um rental units. I'm sure we don't want that. Um we want

[26:21] something that is lower density. We want something that brings potential retail

[26:26] and brings um you know interest in other areas around that spot.

[26:32] So then what happened with a pilot? Pilot was proposed several months ago

[26:39] not when the original application was submitted as the right of any

[26:44] redeveloper would be. The pro has independent financial adviserss in

[26:49] Phoenix and our legal council Anna have been working with the redeveloper to

[26:54] evaluate that proposal. The agreement would establish a percentage of project

[26:59] revenue paid to the burough in lie of conventional tax payments.

[27:05] Under New Jerseys long-term exemption framework, pilot payments are structured

[27:10] as annual service charges rather than a traditional tax bill.

[27:14] The county still gets their 5% share which is stat statutoily obligated under

[27:20] the current exemption law. Further profit for the redeveloper is

[27:26] capped at 12% by law. So if they make any profit after expenses from that

[27:32] gross revenue, it goes back statutoily to the municipality. So, if they're

[27:38] killing it over there and are able to rent all of their properties and

[27:41] eventually raise rents or whatnot, that additional income comes back to the

[27:46] burrow over the length of the of the agreement.

[27:51] Also, over time, there are percentages within that agreement where conventional

[27:56] tax is compared to the percentage of revenue that the borrow would collect.

[28:01] So 60 to 80% later in the agreement. Whichever is higher the borrow would

[28:07] receive. So if the conventional tax at 60 or 80% ends up being higher than the

[28:13] percentage of revenue we're taking in, we get the higher number which comes

[28:17] into the burrow which brings in more money. So the the developer, the

[28:22] redeveloper, the owner of the property is capped at what they can profit by

[28:27] law. It's not because the burrow's playing nice. It's because it's by law.

[28:32] Right. Additionally, there's also what thing

[28:37] called land tax credit. The developer or redeveloper has to pay

[28:42] the tax on the land, not the um um improvements, but the land itself.

[28:50] That credit is then given back in some accounting treatment, right? But the

[28:54] land tax would still be included in the schools appropriation for collecting

[29:01] that part of the money. So if you we'll go into an example in a few minutes, but

[29:05] you think about it, the four or five properties that were there were paying a

[29:09] tax that was roughly around 65,000 of that and a portion of that was going to

[29:14] um the school. So now the land tax would be potentially um in that number. So it

[29:20] would be a little less than 60, not much because there wasn't a lot of

[29:23] improvements there, but that portion would still be attributable to the board

[29:27] of education budget. Okay.

[29:33] The pilot is expected to increase revenue to the burrow no matter if it

[29:38] was conventional. the portion that the burl con uh talks about when we talked

[29:42] about budget several months ago. We talked about how the burrow maybe keeps

[29:47] about 20% of your tax revenue comes to the to the municipality. Uh 60s

[29:52] something% go to this to the board of education and some percentage goes to

[29:57] the county. So, if you look at a comparison of the revenue generated by

[30:02] the pilot, which I can't get into specifics tonight because that agreement

[30:06] is not ready for um presentation to all of you, we would still bring in more

[30:12] than what the conventional tax would bring to the barrel.

[30:15] So, win for us, right? The project is limited in density

[30:21] and number of units and includes retail and low-income housing. So those things

[30:27] take down the financial benefit to the owner of the property. If we're telling

[30:33] them you can only build x number of units, that's how much rent he can take

[30:37] in. If we're telling him you have to include affordable housing, that's less

[30:44] rent to him. So, if we know how the low uh low-income housing works, the rest of

[30:49] the community in that development have to compensate for the lower income of

[30:54] rent that's coming in from the folks that are paying low-income housing

[30:57] pricing. We also asked for retail on the first

[31:01] floor. The retail space, which might be subdivided into three or four locations,

[31:06] will bring in less revenue than a rental would bring in. So that li further

[31:11] limits the developer's ability to uh have revenue stream on it.

[31:17] The smaller scale and lower income potential uh reduces developers

[31:22] projected return, right? And we compare that to what

[31:26] happened at the station, right? The station property was 120 units or so so

[31:32] far about more than double the number of units that we're putting in here. So the

[31:36] station didn't need a pilot program because they had higher number of units

[31:41] to tell their bank here's the revenue I'm bringing in. I don't know if any of

[31:45] you are developers or builders or what whatnot but or investors but the way it

[31:51] works today as I understand it from reading is people want to make money on

[31:55] the bank's money. I'm not going to put out all the money that I have in my bank

[31:59] account and then try to make money from it. I'm going to borrow that money and

[32:03] try to earn income at a higher rate than I'm paying in interest. That's called

[32:08] cash flow. That's what any developer will try to do. So, they'll present a

[32:11] plan um to the financial adviserss and look at it and say, "We need a pilot to

[32:17] make these numbers work because if we're paying at the conventional tax rate, um

[32:21] the rate of return won't work." And no matter how good a redeveloper is or a

[32:26] business owner is, none of us own a business um from the goodness of our

[32:30] heart to make money. The project must be financable by a

[32:36] bank. So the bank needs to have asurances by looking at the structure of

[32:40] a deal and sign off on that to give funding to whoever a developer is. Just

[32:46] like you were in a small business, if you would say, I'm going to open a

[32:49] business and I need a small business loan. I need to provide projected

[32:53] financials. I need to provide P&Ls. I need to say this is how much money I

[32:56] bring in. How can I get that loan? The redevelopment agreement that we

[33:02] signed and that the developer signed also includes safeguards for the burrow,

[33:06] including timelines on construction, payment obligations, and other

[33:10] compliance requirements, including audited financial statements,

[33:15] which are required by law um from a CPA. uh can't be uh you know me fiddling it

[33:22] out here. I'm not a CPA. Has to be done by a CPA firm and submitted annually.

[33:28] So we move on now to school impact which is another uh you know big point of

[33:33] this. So um as our financial adviserss have said here the school district is

[33:39] funded at 100% of its approved budget. I'll repeat that line. It's 100% of its

[33:45] approved budget. So how does it work Joe? Right. So, the school budget tax

[33:52] levy for the last 3 years, okay, 2024 school year was 33.5 million. For the

[33:59] 2025 school year was 34.6 million and for the 2026 school year is anticipated

[34:06] to be $36.3 million. That's your tax revenue.

[34:12] Add in the state and federal aid and other income from capital or whatnot

[34:16] that they have. If you start looking at their financial statement that's that's

[34:19] produced on online just like ours are is in 2024 was 44.5 million in 2025 42.7

[34:27] million and in 2026 44.2 million. So in our example we're going to take 36

[34:34] million is what you all pay. Okay for simple math I'm going to make the

[34:40] assumption that there are 4,000 taxpaying residents in Waldwick. That's

[34:44] a little bit high, but I'm trying to make the assumption and make the math

[34:47] work because it's late and I don't want to make uh decimal points. So, if I take

[34:52] 36 million and divide that by 4,000 taxpaying homes, I get $9,000.

[34:58] $9,000 each of you is what is attributed to uh the school to the world board of

[35:03] education. Let's estimate

[35:07] that all of the houses are worth the same in that scenario. My house is worth

[35:13] less. I pay a smaller portion. If uh the mayor's house is worth more, he pays a

[35:18] higher portion. Right? So, it's all proportional. It's filled out by um the

[35:24] the county and they fill out those those calculations for us. Let's estimate that

[35:29] that 9,000 is roughly 65% of your total tax bill. Let's estimate that your total

[35:36] tax bill is around 14,000. I know many of you will say, "My tax bill is much

[35:40] higher than that." Sorry. Um the balance of that difference between 14,000 and

[35:47] 9,000 is the portion that goes to your county tax and the portion that goes to

[35:52] the municipal tax. Right? So large portion goes to school. Small portion

[35:57] goes to the county. The rest of it comes to municipality. Now let's build 10 new

[36:02] homes. Let's knock down Burough Park and build 10 new homes. Nobody owns that

[36:06] property. I'm going to build 10 new homes there um for development.

[36:12] The school doesn't get the additional 10 * 9,000 of 90,000.

[36:19] So they don't get 36 million and 90,000. Their budget remains the same. The

[36:25] increase of 9,000

[36:28] is then spread out over all of the 4,0 homes now. So now your uh bill is $8,977

[36:40] that's due to the board of education. So maybe it's 64% of your tax bill. Your

[36:47] municipal taxes are not impacted in that calculation. Your county taxes are not

[36:53] impacted in that calculation. Those are calculated separately. It's all put

[36:57] together. That's how they come up with these fancy number of 65% of your your

[37:02] bill is school. That's not the way it works. It doesn't say your house is

[37:05] worth 500,000. I'm multiplying it by 65,000. That 65% I'm taking that tax

[37:10] revenue and giving it to the school. That's not the way it works. It's a

[37:14] budget-based number. It's divided up across the the community.

[37:19] Okay.

[37:23] The dollars for the new home are just added into the pool available for the

[37:28] board of education calculation. It's like if we were to take um homes

[37:32] off of the role, that's taken out of that pool. So then your portion of the

[37:39] school budget would go up because there's less homes. If we knock down

[37:43] three homes, consolidate them, and the the the council approves a tax abatement

[37:48] on three homes because they're combining it to one, whatever, it could come out

[37:53] to a little bit different. So adding a new home does not

[37:57] automatically increase the total amount of funds going to the board of

[38:01] education. So dispelling that myth instead a new taxable property can

[38:06] affect how this existing school tax level is spread across the tax base.

[38:11] School budget is not directly proportional to the number of students.

[38:18] Enrollment over the past 3 years from the school budget has decreased. In

[38:23] 2024, we're at 1563. In 2025, 1,529

[38:30] and 2026, 1,517. Out of those, there's 252 students who

[38:37] are special ed, that number was the same for all three years. Maybe in 2024 was

[38:42] 253. So, you could see even though the number

[38:47] of students reduced, your tax bill continued to rise. So it's not

[38:52] proportional. Even if I added 20 students, I'm still

[38:57] below the number of students that was there 3 years ago.

[39:02] So keep that in the back of your mind for a few minutes.

[39:05] So the Rucker study, we had professionals, the financial adviserss

[39:08] look at it and study uh bringing in 44 new units or 42 units, whatever the

[39:13] number is. What's the potential impact to the school? So the Rucker's

[39:19] calculation comes up with about 20 potential students for the development.

[39:24] We look at anecdotal evidence and look at the station apartments which is we

[39:29] already said earlier about 120 units. Uh current students on the role from

[39:34] station apartments is nine. Right? So that's a lot lower than 20 at

[39:39] a a complex that's more than double the size. So we can still use 20 as our our

[39:45] estimate for what we're looking at. Another thing I saw on Facebook was the

[39:51] cost of pupil, right? So, someone took the math and said, "Uh, look at the

[39:55] board of education budget. The number is about 23,000 for a total cost of pupil.

[40:00] You multiply that by 20, you get $400,000 a year. How does the math work,

[40:04] councilman?" Well, that's not quite right. That total cost is everything in

[40:10] the board of education. That's the principles. That's the superintendent.

[40:14] That's the school nurses. That's the building facility staff. That's the

[40:18] coaches. That's the basketballs. That's the footballs. That's the gym uniforms.

[40:23] That's everything else that gets there. And divide it by 1500 and it comes out

[40:27] to somewhere around 23,000. There are certain lines that come out. Couldn't

[40:31] quite figure out the the number of where that comes from, but it gets pretty

[40:34] close. Then there's a line that says classroom

[40:38] instruction. the classroom instruction per pupil is about $15,000 per pupil.

[40:44] And then the next line says the classroom salaries and benefits, so

[40:47] teacher salary is $14,000. So when I start looking at those

[40:52] numbers, uh the cost to me is the marginal cost. What's the marginal cost

[40:57] of adding a student? It's probably somewhere between 1 and 5,000. Not

[41:01] 23,000, not 15,000. It would only be that if I needed to add teachers. So,

[41:08] how do we add teachers? So, if we said we're going to take 20 kids at the high

[41:13] end of the estimate compared to the nine at station, we're going to take 20. If

[41:17] all the kids were in the same grade, all in fifth grade going to Crescent School,

[41:22] all 20 kids, maybe I need to hire a new fifth grade teacher to come into that

[41:27] classroom. But in actuality those 20 students are spread over three schools.

[41:32] Crescent school, Waldo Middle School, Waldo High School across 13 grades. So

[41:38] what's the likelihood of all 20 kids being in the same grade? Probably pretty

[41:42] low. Some won't be school age. Some will be over school age. Some will be in

[41:47] first grade. Some will be in 8th grade. So it's probably an average if you took

[41:52] 20 divided by 13 somewhere a little over one um per grade. I don't think we would

[41:58] have to be adding too many teachers at one per grade. I don't think we're

[42:01] building new buildings. I don't think we're adding a new principal. I don't

[42:05] think we're adding a new superintendent. So really, in my opinion, from looking

[42:09] at the numbers, it's the marginal cost that you have to look at, not just the

[42:13] total cost per pupil. Okay?

[42:18] And I'll further add, right? So we're talking about 20, we're talking about 42

[42:21] units. Seven of those units are single-bedroom homes or apartments. So

[42:27] that the likelihood of those producing additional children for the for the uh

[42:32] system is low. So we're really talking somewhere around 35 units that could

[42:37] produce additional kids because they're two and three bedrooms.

[42:42] We're also talking about a commuter location which is close to transit. So

[42:47] you're looking at people who are maybe single, maybe working in New York City

[42:53] and commuting into work and looking for a place that's close to train station to

[42:56] improve their their commute. I commute to New York City sometimes. I know it's

[43:00] not fun even from Walden. All right. So in summary, a lot of due

[43:06] diligence, as you can tell, has gone into this so far. A lot of learning, a

[43:09] lot of reading. I didn't know anything about a pilot program about 6 months

[43:12] ago. I've listened to uh our development experts and Anna and Brian. I've done a

[43:19] lot of reading. I've looked at the bad pilots that people post about Hackinack

[43:25] and Jersey City and Mount Laurel um and Patterson. Um those towns are are

[43:32] different than than Wald for sure. They're talking about mega projects,

[43:38] hundreds of units, much different scale than we're talking here about 40 units.

[43:43] Also, I look at the DCA website, which I learned from actually one of the folks

[43:48] that sitting out here tonight, where they list all the pilots, and I look at

[43:51] Allenale has five pilots. People are saying that Waldwick doesn't need to

[43:56] incentivize development um because we're, you know, in Bergen County, we're

[44:01] a good town. We should we shouldn't need to do that. But Allenell's probably more

[44:06] affluent than us and they have five five pilots and I don't hear anybody

[44:11] reporting that Allenell's pilots are going poorly. You I'm hearing about

[44:14] Hackin Sachs for sure. Um it's a different different community.

[44:19] So our professionals and council have worked on negotiating a financial deal

[44:24] that would benefit the burrow and we are doing this on the back of a napkin at

[44:28] the bar. Without a pilot, the redeveloper will

[44:32] have to determine if the project is achievable in the current plan.

[44:37] They would have to either leave it vacant, try to do it without a pilot,

[44:42] or potentially come back to us and say, "Council, I can't do this project the

[44:48] way you want it at 42 units and still get it financable. Can I build 20 more

[44:53] units? Can I add a floor? Can I do these things?" And I know we hear from all of

[44:58] you that we don't want to do that. We don't want to make it taller. We don't

[45:01] want to make it higher density. We want to have some green space there. So,

[45:05] those are things that I don't think we really want to do,

[45:09] right? So, the redevelopment helps us meet our fair share of housing, which we

[45:15] worked hard to be in compliance with. A lot of communities are not as well as

[45:19] us. Thanks to Craig and councils before us who have worked hard to stay in

[45:23] compliance with that number, and we are compliant. We are 144, 147 units,

[45:28] whatever it is. we are in good shape there for the next 10 years

[45:32] meeting our requirement without having to build a um a housing low-income

[45:39] housing project which could be bigger and we wouldn't be able to control it

[45:43] because the state could sue us and tell us to do it.

[45:47] A pilot program could bring in more non- tax revenue to the burough than what we

[45:51] were currently collecting on those properties. Much more than what we were

[45:55] currently collecting on those properties.

[45:57] When a full presentation is made for a public hearing, all residents will be

[46:01] welcome to have questions, make their opinions known. I do ask that everyone

[46:07] come with an open mind and listen to all the facts, not just the one-sided

[46:12] opinions that are on social media right now.

[46:15] In the end, the full council will need to vote on the presented pilot

[46:19] application. We'll need to listen to the concerns of all of you

[46:24] and those who support the pilot and make a decision that we think is best for the

[46:28] bureau.

[46:31] That's all I have to report tonight. Obviously, an open comment. Many of you

[46:35] are welcome to answer questions, but there will be no public debate on this

[46:39] tonight as it's not on the agenda. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Sorry for length.

[46:43] » Thank you. Fire protection committee. Mr. Bren,

[46:47] » Mr. Mayor and uh in lie of the time I think I'm going to

[46:52] uh keep my comments till uh next month. >> Oh, okay. Thank you.

[46:58] » Public safety committee and recreation and health committee, Mrs. Miss Windgate

[47:02] is out of state with the family on vacation. Before she left, she told me

[47:05] that she'll do a double uh review of everything when she gets back. And also

[47:10] um Mrs. Smith, she's in another country on vacation. She'll do the same thing.

[47:15] Public voice committee, Mr. Richie. Oh, [clears throat] thank you. And it's so

[47:19] good to see everyone here. Packed room. Every every seat is full. It's a It's

[47:23] not something that we're used to seeing. So, it's uh I welcome the community

[47:26] involvement. I uh first want to say uh you know, big up to the uh public works

[47:31] committee. We've had some big storms over the last uh couple weeks to to

[47:35] month. Um and as a an avid runner uh going through town and through other

[47:41] towns, you can see the uh it's not pretty. Katie's laughing. It's not a

[47:45] pretty sight when I run, but as an avid runner, you you come across all the

[47:49] debris that falls. And what I will say is uh my traditional route to run goes

[47:54] through Waldwick down Sheridan Avenue. And what I can say is Waldwick's uh

[47:59] sidewalks were very clean. And as I run through other towns, there was debris up

[48:04] into and including this week from the the past storms. So, I think our DPW

[48:08] does a really good job of kind of cleaning up after uh these storms. It's

[48:12] it's a lot of work in in addition to everything else that they've done. I

[48:15] have some other comments that I'd like to make on on redevelopment because of

[48:19] uh I I I surmise you're all here for uh comment or to hear on that. So uh I can

[48:25] say that now or wait till old business mayor. It's

[48:29] » Yeah. So thank you. So I I'll do it now. I won't be as as long as uh the council

[48:33] president. That was really eloquent. I just want to say that I agree with,

[48:37] double down with and uh uh empathize with everything that you've said. Uh I

[48:42] too have though um you know thought to myself uh this is a process that's been

[48:47] going on for the last 5 years. Uh we uh we really initiated the idea of

[48:52] redevelopment uh when when when really I think Katie and I won back in in 2021

[48:57] 2022. I honestly can't even remember anymore. But um but uh I think that

[49:03] obviously the community is now very interested in what we're doing. Uh which

[49:07] is great and I welcome the feedback. I welcome the support or uh the uh the the

[49:12] opposition. I think community involvement is what makes these

[49:15] decisions fun and I think it's what makes them uh ultimately the right

[49:19] decision. Um I will say that I understand your frustration and I

[49:22] sympathize with it. We're taking uh uh we're taking our time here as we uh

[49:27] evaluate the pilot. We are uh we're not going to rush to a decision, right?

[49:31] We're going to try to make the right decision. What's in the best interest of

[49:34] the borrower? What's in the best interest of you? We also live here,

[49:37] right? It's sometimes I think people forget that we also live here. We're

[49:41] also taxpayers. We're subject to everything that gets passed up here. Uh

[49:46] but we're not going to rush. We're going to take our time. We want to make sure

[49:48] that this is the right decision. This isn't uh an undoable uh decision, right?

[49:52] Once we make this, it's not like we can uh you know, call time out and do over

[49:57] 16 months from now. So, I do appreciate the the patience. Um, and when the time

[50:02] is right, as as the council president said, we will have a uh give everyone an

[50:06] opportunity to speak uh in support or or against it. That notwithstanding, I I am

[50:12] intrigued by some of the things that I've seen on social media of late. Uh

[50:16] particularly associated with the comparison of Waldwick to uh the

[50:22] Hackinack redevelopment and and pilot projects. Um, I have an office in

[50:26] Hackinack, so I spend a lot of time down there. And I can tell you that, uh,

[50:31] subjectively, Hackinack is not is not Waldwick. Um, it's a big city. You'd

[50:37] have to combine Waldwick with Allenale, Hocus, Saddle River, Ramsay, and Midland

[50:44] Park to get a applesto apples comparison on a per capita uh analysis of of

[50:50] Hackinack to to Waldwick. So, um I found it intriguing that there were uh there

[50:56] was a group in town uh led by formal council uh uh folks who uh voted

[51:02] unanimously uh in support of this project uh comparing this to to

[51:07] Hackinac. Um I just don't think that that's the case. Uh so I dug I dug deep

[51:12] and I will agree that I think Hackinac may have they they may have overdone it,

[51:17] right? They may be overutilizing this tool. Uh I believe that in the near term

[51:23] they have implemented 28 uh pilot programs, right? Uh with no no less than

[51:28] 3,000 new uh residential units placed within that city. Um I did the math and

[51:35] I had people check it. That's 28 times more pilots than we're discussing now

[51:39] and 50 times more residential units that we're even considering for this project.

[51:43] Right? So uh it's it's it's really not a fair comparison and uh and I think it's

[51:48] misinformation. And I would urge uh those of you who are interested in

[51:52] looking at success or lack of success of pilots to look at our neighbors in

[51:57] Midland Park and uh and Allenale as the council president said who have both

[52:01] implemented pilots. Uh and I'll and I'll leave it to you to decide whether it's

[52:04] been successful or not. Um uh and and uh and so I think that um you ought to look

[52:12] at uh the folks that are putting this information out there, right? Uh we've

[52:16] also seen kind of claims on social media that uh this will absolutely raise our

[52:21] taxes, right? Um and and what I would say is I welcome the detailed financial

[52:26] analysis on how this will raise our taxes, right? I'm just a lowly uh a

[52:32] lowly civil servant. So um you know, I would like to incorporate that

[52:37] information into the information that we have uh at hand as we uh as we decide on

[52:42] this pilot. So, if a detailed financial analysis was performed by a business

[52:46] owner in town, um, uh, I'd welcome the opportunity to see that. I'd like to

[52:50] look at the variables. I'd like to look at the, uh, the, uh, the the basis. I'd

[52:55] like to look at all of the, uh, the details that went into that to to

[52:59] basically say, hey, uh, this is really bad for for the town. Uh, I think that's

[53:03] information we should all we should all have, uh, as as we move forward. So,

[53:07] I'll work on that information. Um, and you know, as the council president said,

[53:11] as as we went back to 2022, we we were looking at a number of issues. Uh, the

[53:16] first issue is the financial uh financial crisis. I will I'll call it a

[53:20] crisis of the town, a 2.5 million budget deficit. Um, we don't we basically lack

[53:25] $2.5 million every year to fund our budget, which means we have to take it

[53:29] from our savings account. That savings account is dramatically reducing every

[53:34] year, and we are simply running out of money as a town. uh some of the folks

[53:39] who are are putting information out there about uh how pilots are destroying

[53:43] towns uh denied this financial uh uh uh financial problem uh within the bow. So

[53:49] again, I I I urge you all to kind of question the sources of the information

[53:53] uh who's putting it out there. Um but as we looked at the financial problems

[53:57] within town, we also looked at the you know, you know, simply unoccupied

[54:02] properties, unoccupied businesses in town. Um when I when I joined council,

[54:07] uh I think the biggest in my in my view eyesore of the downtown was the property

[54:12] that we're talking about right now on Harrison and uh Prospect which I believe

[54:16] was vacant for for uh about 10 years. Um we have the Rocket property as the

[54:21] council president said behind it that uh has been inoperable or vacant whatever

[54:26] you want to call it. We have the right aid which is now vacant. We have Odyssey

[54:29] which is now vacant. And what we don't have is a line of developers wrapped

[54:33] around the uh corner who want to put businesses and buildings within this

[54:38] town. So uh we sharpened our pencils. We implemented this uh procedure to uh you

[54:46] know designate these areas need in need of redevelopment. Uh as the council

[54:51] president said uh we don't want massive uh buildings. We don't want 10-story

[54:56] buildings. We don't want hundreds. We don't want thousands. We don't want to

[54:59] be hackin sack. We want nice small lowdensity uh buildings. We want retail

[55:06] uh you know we want town homes, not just apartments. We need to meet our our

[55:10] affordable housing mandate. Um and so we were very picky with projects that you

[55:16] know that we uh agreed to. As the council president said, it went through

[55:20] process after process after process through the council and through the

[55:23] planning board, unanimously approved by multiple councils over a period of 6

[55:28] years. Uh the planning board approved it. Um and you know, quite frankly, as

[55:33] we look at the tools available to to recruit these types of properties into

[55:37] town, uh a pilot was one of them. Uh we haven't uh made our decision yet. I

[55:42] think we will uh you know, in the in the coming months. Uh but but rest assured

[55:47] we are doing so with all of this information as Joe said with all of the

[55:52] diligence with professionals uh on the financial side with professionals on the

[55:56] legal side. Um you know we we want I think the same thing everybody else does

[56:01] which is a a vibrant community. Uh we don't want high taxes. None of us I

[56:07] don't think any of us want uh high taxes. Um we none of us gain anything

[56:12] from that. uh and and and I think that when you are asking yourself whether

[56:18] this is the right project or not uh ask yourself about the alternatives right uh

[56:23] take a stroll down prospect and ask yourself whether that's what you want uh

[56:28] or go to hackinac and look at the massive developments that are being put

[56:32] up there and ask yourself whether that's what you want right uh because those are

[56:36] the two alternatives to I think what is before us right now um and so I welcome

[56:41] your feedback and your comments uh tonight and uh to the to the meetings

[56:45] that come in the future. Um and I think it'll be a good conversation. So uh

[56:50] mayor, that's my report this evening. Thank you.

[56:52] » Thank you very much. Buildings and Grounds Committee. Makola Drake.

[56:56] » Thank you, Mayor. I spoke with Tatiana. No update on the buildings and grounds

[57:00] from the last meeting, but if I could make a couple of quick remarks on the

[57:04] redevelopment. I know that everyone has their own um opinions that they want to

[57:07] speak on, so I'll keep it brief. It's that's okay, Mr. Mayor.

[57:10] » Sure. >> Thank you. So, I proudly support the

[57:14] revitalization of Waldwick. I think that's been pretty clear uh a number of

[57:18] reasons, but I think as some of you were here in that meeting in December of 2024

[57:22] when the room was just as full as it was tonight. And there was so much support

[57:27] for this project and a brighter um downtown revitalized, more people, more

[57:32] businesses. Um, and as someone who grew up here and I chose to stay here and

[57:37] plant my roots here, I think we need to think about the future and um, with the

[57:41] dwindling surplus, that's a huge issue. I voted no on this budget because I just

[57:45] don't think that a 10% tax increase is responsible or acceptable for the

[57:49] residents of Waldwick. So, that's one of the solutions that we can have moving

[57:53] forward is hopefully plugging this um, issue we have in our budget with

[57:58] redevelopment funds and the revenue is very important. Um, I know there's a lot

[58:02] of misinformation surrounding the project, so it's encouraging to see

[58:06] everybody out here today. I'd also like to thank Joe, Councilman Joe, for um,

[58:10] his wonderful, thorough remarks. I hope that you learned something coming here

[58:14] tonight, and I hope to see more of you at the future meetings. Thank you,

[58:17] Mayor. >> Thank you,

[58:21] Administrator. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, just wanted to

[58:25] echo the mayor's sentiments on um, the pool. We've been having a fantastic

[58:30] season. Uh happy to have all of our guards back. Uh our management team is

[58:36] really enjoying their time getting to know the residents. Uh every day they

[58:40] they call and and say that, you know, they're they're so happy that they're

[58:43] there together as a team with the guards and uh it's been a great experience and

[58:47] a nice feeling down at the pool. Um our swim team is underway. They're doing

[58:52] fantastic this season again and um it's a really good opportunity for you know

[58:56] community to come together and enjoy the facilities. Um registration is still

[59:01] open. It's on our website. So um if you haven't uh signed up yet, it's still

[59:05] available. Um and you know any questions you can always hop into Burrow Hall and

[59:10] and give us uh you know ask us any questions that you have. Thank you Mr.

[59:14] Mayor. >> Thank you.

[59:16] » How about clerk? >> No report.

[59:18] » Okay attorney.

[59:20] » Thank you Mr. Mayor. No report this evening.

[59:22] » A redevelopment journ. >> Um,

[59:27] thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have no report, but I'm happy to answer any questions if

[59:32] anyone has questions. >> Okay, we'll do that in the public.

[59:37] » Consent resolutions and resolutions of the governing body.

[59:40] » It is all that the following resolutions herewith listed by consent, having been

[59:44] considered by the governing body of the Burough of Wick, are hereby passed and

[59:47] approved. 2026 204 approval of consent 2026 205 approval of minutes regular

[59:53] meeting and close session meeting June 23rd 2026 policy votes A Tracy Britain

[59:59] requests to use pavilion B on Sunday August 2nd from 1 to 6 for a birthday

[1:00:03] party with alcoholic beverages being served B. You and Associates request uh

[1:00:08] to use Pavilion A on Saturday August 8th from 2 to 8:00 p.m. for a picnic with

[1:00:12] alcoholic beverages being served. C. Lisa Puchini, request to use pavilion A

[1:00:17] on Sunday, August 30th from 9:00 am to 7 pm for a birthday party with alcoholic

[1:00:21] beverages being served. D. Alyssa Frisco, request to use pavilion B,

[1:00:26] Saturday, September 5th from 12 to dusk for a birthday party with alcoholic

[1:00:30] beverages being served. E. Midland Park Community School request to use the

[1:00:34] Waldo Municipal Pool on Tuesday starting July 7th for campers. 2026206

[1:00:39] change order number one final and current estimate number four final to

[1:00:42] Sovereign Consulting Inc. for the rehabilitation of the Malcolm Street

[1:00:46] pumping station in the amount of $51,2771

[1:00:50] 2026 207 award and open contract to Axon Enterprises for police integrated

[1:00:56] equipment suite in the amount of $413,186.926208

[1:01:03] award a fair and open contract to DS Meyer Enterprises LLC for the 2026 curb

[1:01:08] ramp improvements in the amount of $88,17

[1:01:11] 2026 209 authorize Amended lease agreement with Environmental Renewal LLC

[1:01:16] for the lease and operation at least and operate the vegetative waste transfer

[1:01:21] station 2026210 authorized autoc cab license for all county car and limo 2026

[1:01:27] 211 authorized premium of 65,000 to uh eset from ATFC ljlc

[1:01:35] to the borrow for this tax sales certificate 20-0625

[1:01:39] 2026 212 or tax overp payments various and 2026 213 uh payment of vouchers.

[1:01:46] » Do I have a motion and a second to accept? Motion by Joe, second by Andy.

[1:01:50] Anyone from the council? >> Uh Mr. Mayor, regarding 20 2026 208, the

[1:01:56] award of the fair and open contract to DS Meer for the current ramp

[1:01:59] improvements. We had that bid opening last week. I oversaw the bid opening. Uh

[1:02:04] Boswell Engineering reviewed the bids that we were that were received and uh

[1:02:08] it is being awarded as such to DS Meyer Enterprises. Just to give you an idea of

[1:02:13] uh the area of of focus, we start to look at the areas um that we anticipate

[1:02:18] in the future will be paved. Um and so these curb ramps are all along Long View

[1:02:23] Drive at the intersections of Pine View, Lindberg, Mary Lane, Chestnut, Long View

[1:02:28] Court. Um as well as the intersection of Van Dyke Road and Birch Lane and Wilder

[1:02:31] Lane and Cecilia Drive. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else?

[1:02:35] » Clerk, please take the role. >> Mr. Brown,

[1:02:37] » yes. >> Miss Kola, yes.

[1:02:39] » Mr. Martinelloo, yes. Mr. Richie. >> Yes.

[1:02:42] » Okay. We have two public hearings. Number one, with the cl court clerk

[1:02:45] kindly read ordinance number 2026- 10.

[1:02:49] » Ordinance number 202610. An ordinance amending ordinance number 20201 fixing

[1:02:55] the compensation, salaries, and wages of officials and employees of the Burough

[1:02:58] of Waldick for the police. >> Anyone from the council like to comment

[1:03:02] on this ordinance? >> Yes.

[1:03:04] » Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is in agreement with our PBA contract that we

[1:03:08] negotiated with the uh the local. Um this is everything that we've discussed

[1:03:14] through there. Happy to report that we'll have a labor agreement in place

[1:03:17] that will take us through the next several years and uh uh keep our men

[1:03:21] compensated fairly. >> Good. Anyone else? If not, I close the

[1:03:25] public comments and I'm sorry, I close the council's comments and open up to

[1:03:28] the public. Anybody from the public would like to comment on this audience

[1:03:31] that was just read? If not, I close the public's uh comments

[1:03:35] and uh ask the clerk to authorize to advertise on local legal newspapers

[1:03:40] required by law. Clerk, take the role. >> I need a motion.

[1:03:44] » Do I have a motion? >> Joe, second by Mike.

[1:03:47] » Thank you, Mr. Bernick. >> Yes.

[1:03:50] » Mr. Sakre, >> yes.

[1:03:51] » Mr. Martinell, >> yes.

[1:03:52] » Mr. Rley, >> yes.

[1:03:53] » And then we have the resolution. Right. >> Okay. So this is resolution 2026 214

[1:03:59] approval of public safety, excuse me, public safety salaries for the years

[1:04:03] 2026 through 2030. [clears throat]

[1:04:08] » Anybody from the council want comment? >> No.

[1:04:13] Close the council comments. Anybody from the public?

[1:04:15] » No, this is just a resolution. >> Just need a motion. I

[1:04:18] » do have a motion and a second to accept it as a resolution.

[1:04:22] » Motion. >> Motion by Mike, second by uh Joe. Clerk,

[1:04:25] please take the role. >> Mr. Bernie,

[1:04:27] » yes. >> Miss Sarah Cadre,

[1:04:29] » yes. >> Mr. Martinello,

[1:04:30] » yes. >> Mr. Richard,

[1:04:31] » yes. >> We have two introduction of ordinances

[1:04:34] with the clerk with Ordinance number 2026-11.

[1:04:37] » Ordinance number 2026-11, an ordinance amending chapter 63 park

[1:04:41] and ride lot section 63-2 parking fees. Uh 63-3 restrictions B and C and 63-7

[1:04:49] violations and penalties. Clarify hours, overnight parking regulations, and

[1:04:53] penalties. Motion and second is in order to accept this first reading and that

[1:04:57] the clerk be authorized to advertise in a local legal newspapers required by law

[1:05:00] setting a hearing two weeks from tonight's meeting or soon thereafter as

[1:05:04] the matter may be breached. Do I have a motion in a second? Motion by Mike,

[1:05:08] second by Joe on the question.

[1:05:13] I'll come this is an update uh based on the new uh lease agreement that we have

[1:05:18] in New Jersey Transit for the lot. We need to do some tweaks to the existing

[1:05:21] ordinance. So that's what the 202611 is and 202612.

[1:05:26] » Okay. Anyone else? Take the role. >> Mr. Brennick.

[1:05:31] » Yes. >> Miss Sarako.

[1:05:33] » Yes. >> Mr. Marelloo.

[1:05:34] » Yes. >> Mr. Richie.

[1:05:35] » Yes. >> Cler Connly read. Ordinance number

[1:05:37] 2026-12. >> Ordinance number 2026-12. An ordinance

[1:05:42] amending chapter 48 fee section 91-12.2A vehicles and traffic paid parking fees

[1:05:48] to clarify days and times for fees. motion. The second is in order to uh to

[1:05:53] accept this on first reading and that the clerk be authorized to advertise in

[1:05:56] the local legal news papers required by law setting up public hearing tonight

[1:06:00] two weeks from tonight's meeting at 7:30 p.m. or soon due thereafter as the

[1:06:04] matter may be reached. Motion in a second by Andy, second by Joe.

[1:06:09] It's what the attorney said. >> Same idea.

[1:06:13] » Same idea as the attorney says. Anyone else?

[1:06:15] » Okay. Clerk, please take the role. >> Mr. Bernick.

[1:06:18] » Yes. Miss Sarah Cre. Yes. Mr. Marello. Yes.

[1:06:20] » Mr. Richie. >> Yes.

[1:06:21] » Okay. Anybody on the council have any unfinished business?

[1:06:26] » Anybody from the council have any new business?

[1:06:28] » No new business. Okay. Public comments. Anybody Anybody in the audience would

[1:06:33] like to comment on anything, you could kindly come up to the microphone. Just

[1:06:36] please give us your name. If you're going to do anything about the pilot

[1:06:39] program, please address the council president with that uh issue. I have to

[1:06:44] recuse myself from this, but I'll still sit here and look at your faces and

[1:06:47] listen. I thought you liked my face.

[1:06:54] » Hello everyone. Ray Cruz, 15 Cypress Court.

[1:06:57] » No address required, sir. >> All right. I'm old school, man.

[1:07:02] Sorry. I remember how you guys used to run me through the ringer here.

[1:07:07] I had several one statement and several questions. The statement and I've never

[1:07:11] done this, Michael. >> Yeah.

[1:07:14] » That came across as condescending and and

[1:07:20] dimminitive [clears throat] >> when when you mentioned that I like to

[1:07:23] see the details of their financial analysis. I'm sure there's plenty of

[1:07:27] people here. >> Could you speak a little louder?

[1:07:29] » I'm sure that there's plenty of people here that can do a financial analysis

[1:07:35] and then state factual concerns on Facebook or wherever they're doing that.

[1:07:40] But as a public official, it just came across that way.

[1:07:43] » I mean, listen, I I just want to integrate information that's correct

[1:07:46] into our assessment. I get it. I get there's a lot of people that throw a lot

[1:07:50] of a lot of crazy stuff out there without facts and they're it's

[1:07:53] uninformed. But >> here it's just asking for facts. I'm

[1:07:58] sorry that came across as uh >> next time next time I'll ask for

[1:08:02] opinions. >> Yeah, it's just it's just a matter of

[1:08:05] you have a lot of anxiety around this project. You have we have a budget

[1:08:09] deficit that we're trying to plug right as you mentioned. We have uh issues

[1:08:13] around um you know ensuring that our schools are well funded. I assume I got

[1:08:19] several questions I actually wrote down here. Would you would you would you

[1:08:22] prefer that we we don't use facts when we make our decisions? Is that what

[1:08:26] you're suggesting? >> I'm not the one.

[1:08:29] » I mean Michael I'm not the one of the two

[1:08:34] accus you of anything. I said condescending.

[1:08:38] » Yes, you came across condescending. That's my opinion. I'm sorry.

[1:08:42] » That's my opinion. I did not say that. I I I'm going one way or the other on

[1:08:46] anything. >> Well, that is

[1:08:47] » I am not the person to go after. >> You're calling me condescending for

[1:08:51] asking for facts. >> I'm sure others will agree.

[1:08:53] » All right. The uh state >> in regards to

[1:09:01] the pilot program, uh was the June 29th meeting with the board of ed actually

[1:09:04] held? >> Yes.

[1:09:06] » Okay. So, you found time to actually do that uh with the

[1:09:09] » Yes. all the parties found time to to meet at that time. there is uh any sort

[1:09:14] of uh agreement made to push for inter you know I guess I don't know what they

[1:09:19] call it inter agreement in which the board of ed and the council for the next

[1:09:23] four or five years 30 years whatever there's a natural agreement to ensure

[1:09:28] that the council can pay them when they do need a a relief from um you know any

[1:09:35] of the pilot money that may be going towards

[1:09:37] » from from what though so I explained earlier so that the the the board budget

[1:09:41] and a Stop me if I say something wrong. Where veg budget would be funded 100% as

[1:09:47] always. Right? So we we talked about how um any new revenue from the pilot is not

[1:09:53] included in the pool. Right? We also talked about how if there's a land tax

[1:09:58] that's still attached to that property, that land tax would still be part of the

[1:10:01] pool that would be given to the board of education. Mhm.

[1:10:04] » So we talked about how that would be almost still full of what they were

[1:10:10] getting today, right? So we talked about how um the increase in students might

[1:10:16] not be directly proportional to uh the number of the budget, right? Because

[1:10:20] increases to the cap every year of 2 and 12% or 2% whatever it is. It will

[1:10:25] continue to increase that will continue to increase um the school tax as normal,

[1:10:30] right? And you know that's what we have at the time when we had the meeting you

[1:10:35] know in full transparency right we we still do not have an agreed upon

[1:10:39] agreement so we cannot share terms of that financial agreement with anyone

[1:10:43] including the board of education. >> No I'm really just focused on an

[1:10:47] agreement between the board and the count and the council. Well, but to so

[1:10:51] there's a bill actually there's the bill that's S that's S1807 I think

[1:10:55] » that's coming out >> prior to that bill going or even maybe

[1:10:58] deciding to wait for that bill to pass >> you [clears throat] know to try to get

[1:11:03] ahead of that can you make an agreement with the board of ed to commit to them

[1:11:06] that you will fund them as you say you are right you would to ensure that that

[1:11:11] actually happens that may allay some of those questions and some of those

[1:11:14] assertions that people >> right we always have funded the board of

[1:11:18] ed and we're always obligated to fun the board of ed [clears throat] not fund

[1:11:21] them >> and then no am no from pilot money I

[1:11:23] don't think that that's >> that's different right so maybe you can

[1:11:26] explain this better than I am I'm >> as I understand you can't you you don't

[1:11:30] necessarily have to pay use the pilot money that you're receiving

[1:11:33] » the pilot money does not go into the pool of funds that's allocated to board

[1:11:37] of education payment >> correct correct so that's that's what

[1:11:41] I'm talking about figuring out a way to carve out some money for them

[1:11:45] » well so we would still keep their budget whole at 100%

[1:11:48] » okay Um that's so as long as you guys have been discussing and there's an

[1:11:53] obligation either the bill will obligate the councils to do that or you guys have

[1:11:57] an >> it will not it will not sorry

[1:12:00] » yeah can I just address that for one second right now it is a bill right it's

[1:12:04] not law so we're going by the long-term tax exemption law

[1:12:08] » which does not provide for any portion of the pilot payment to go to the school

[1:12:13] board it's just the municipality and the county however Um I just want to clarify

[1:12:20] if they is a if they are still paying land taxes then there is a land tax

[1:12:27] credit and that portion of the pilot payment will be reduced that portion

[1:12:32] comes out of the burrows um pilot and what happens is the portion that

[1:12:40] continues to go through conventional taxes that percentage that goes which I

[1:12:45] think is 60% here to the board of ed They still get that. They still recoup

[1:12:49] that, >> right? Whether it's that 2% or whatever

[1:12:51] that is they're getting. >> It's it's based on their conventional

[1:12:54] taxes. So I believe it's 60%. >> 60%.

[1:12:57] » Well, that's based upon math, right? That's depending on the

[1:13:02] » We don't do public math here. You do. >> Yeah,

[1:13:04] » we tried, right? >> Uh Phoenix advisors, have they completed

[1:13:09] the evaluation regarding the potential sale of our water utility? I know that

[1:13:13] was on the agenda at some point. We have not taken any further action on

[1:13:18] sale of water. >> Okay. I'm just looking at ways we could

[1:13:21] raise that that that budget deficit because even if we do Harrison, right?

[1:13:26] Even if we do some of the other uh projects which I as I understand are

[1:13:31] » not using pilot uh and these include

[1:13:40] » Houston came and presented a couple couple councils ago. They came out

[1:13:45] properties. >> What's that?

[1:13:47] » Durant properties. >> What? Durant properties. Who knows what

[1:13:49] that would do? Uh we rejected any other plans at this point for density.

[1:13:53] » Right. So 30 high-end town homes. That's what they were offering.

[1:13:56] » That's what the Houston project was, right? In the Houston project, what they

[1:14:01] presented to the council that night was that would not be pilot based. Okay.

[1:14:05] » Because those would be owner occupied, sellable, pre-sale type things where

[1:14:10] then they wouldn't need to do pilot financing on those. So, so the challenge

[1:14:14] is this. >> And also, Ray, let me say we sell the

[1:14:17] water. We we can't just use that money to plug our our budget. We have to

[1:14:20] actually pay down our debt, >> you know, which we we spend about

[1:14:24] 500,000 a year on debt. So, we would we would sell effectively sell our water to

[1:14:28] a third party. They'll double your rates, everybody, and then we would make

[1:14:32] almost no adjustments to our operating. >> Got it.

[1:14:35] » And it's a one-time thing, right? So, if we if the if this council eventually

[1:14:40] goes through that um financial analysis to say we're going to sell the water,

[1:14:45] it's a one-time fix that we could do now. In 20 years, a council that's

[1:14:50] sitting up here might say those idiots 20 years ago should have held on to the

[1:14:54] water and made that investment. Now, you brought it up, right? We have to

[1:14:58] continue to make capital investments in our water no matter if we decide to sell

[1:15:02] or not to continue to improve the quality and whatever H2M was the analyst

[1:15:08] that came back uh they're due back this fall to give us some further data after

[1:15:13] the settling period that will determine what future capital investments. So we

[1:15:18] can't make capital investments without additional income too. Right.

[1:15:21] » Have uh and who does the actual financials here? Is it uh you or

[1:15:27] » the financials? >> Yeah, all the financial productions. Is

[1:15:29] it you? You, Joe? >> No. So, we have our CFO. Our CFO who

[1:15:34] does the our financial work here. I I'm not a paid financial adviser.

[1:15:38] » You sound like one in my private life. I was an accountant

[1:15:41] at one. >> I'm not a financial adviser by choice.

[1:15:45] » No. No. I just listen. >> No. Thank you for all the work you did

[1:15:49] on on, you know, and and the statements you've made to try to clarify some

[1:15:53] assumptions. >> Sure. the what I what I do want uh to

[1:15:57] state is um that this is a a mode of confusion. You guys are in the weeds

[1:16:03] every day on this. You're trying to plug I believe uh what the auditor said a

[1:16:08] multi-year multi-deade hole in our taxes.

[1:16:12] » Correct. >> The auditor said we have a surplus

[1:16:14] problem coming. They rang the alarm this year.

[1:16:16] » Well, it's what $6 million or surplus right now? 5 million just about

[1:16:19] » roughly. >> Right. And that will be depleted within

[1:16:21] two years. >> Not two. They said probably within five.

[1:16:24] » Within five, >> right?

[1:16:25] » This project goes forward with pilot. We're not even going to see revenue

[1:16:29] until it's completed. Right. >> That's correct.

[1:16:32] » So, what's that? 2 years construction, 3 years. So, we now have to pl I'm saying

[1:16:37] I'm doing this public math here. We we have to figure out how to p that budget

[1:16:41] deficit and not eat away at that surplus for the next 2 three years.

[1:16:45] » That's correct. And even if that pilot program is approved, right, for

[1:16:51] disharison property, it's a small dent in the new deficit. Correct.

[1:16:55] » That's correct. >> Okay. That's I think having some sort of

[1:17:00] easy to understand. >> Yeah. So, right

[1:17:03] » presentation to the to to the community on that it would probably help allay

[1:17:07] some of these assumptions that are coming up

[1:17:10] » from some of the social media experts. >> Right. So the financial advisors will

[1:17:14] come back and do another presentation. >> But the idea of a pilot and the idea of

[1:17:18] redevelopment is that this is a first domino, right? So you do that project,

[1:17:23] maybe the Houston project happens, maybe the Durant project is spurred on to do

[1:17:27] something else, maybe somebody comes in to write aid and puts a new store in and

[1:17:31] starts to bring additional revenues into into the town. That's the idea to

[1:17:36] generate new construction to generate new um taxable renewables for for the uh

[1:17:42] for the community. >> The uh I want to I'm sure there's plenty

[1:17:45] of people here who want to uh come up here, but um the I'll I'll say one more

[1:17:50] thing. Um, I think if if there's a committee that can put together

[1:17:54] something for the public to see of how we aim to do this for the next 10, 20,

[1:17:59] and 30 years, depending on how, you know, the I I I would hope that this uh

[1:18:04] pilot program is only for like 10 years or 15 years, not a 30-year pilot

[1:18:08] program. But I'm sure we have the leverage, right? This is the hottest

[1:18:11] town in in in Bergen County. For all the realtors behind me, they'll attest to

[1:18:15] it. >> But but Ray, I think we agree,

[1:18:18] » right? There's no there are no developers lining up to do anything in

[1:18:22] this town. Maybe residential properties go very very quickly which is fantastic

[1:18:26] but that that property is sat vacant for for how long? Rocket has sat vacant for

[1:18:31] how long? There's not there aren't a lot of people looking to come into Waldwick

[1:18:34] to do anything. And maybe that's what I what I was trying to head to is really

[1:18:38] put together a committee that looks at the next 20 30 years and what we can do

[1:18:42] to do this not just from a you know pilot cutting budgets you know doing

[1:18:48] these sorts of things but looking at things like how do we attract more

[1:18:52] business attract more people to to Waldwick right that are going to invest

[1:18:57] reinvest into Waldwick but at the same time figure out ways without raising our

[1:19:03] taxes so high because they are already extreme extremely high to really give up

[1:19:08] give our residents some tax relief and at the same time give us more amenities.

[1:19:13] That has happened. You've seen it all around us. All the other towns have been

[1:19:16] able to figure that out whether they're doing shared services.

[1:19:19] » Who's figured it out? We have Glen Rock had a

[1:19:22] » 15 little town, right? >> Had a tax increase and they have more

[1:19:27] industry than all the towns around here combined.

[1:19:29] » I was throwing out >> had a large tax increase.

[1:19:31] » I'm just throwing ideas out there. You're throwing ideas out, but you're

[1:19:34] also saying that all the other towns have figured it out except for us.

[1:19:37] Allenale has five miles and a larger problem.

[1:19:40] » I said some people have figured it out, >> right?

[1:19:42] » When and I was about to say before you you you you started speaking uh shared

[1:19:47] services is a way to do this. >> Absolutely.

[1:19:50] » As you mentioned, >> we already have some and we're looking

[1:19:52] at others, >> right? But I also like to uh propose and

[1:19:55] I'm about to get stabbed here, maybe even discussing that with the board of

[1:19:58] ed. Thank you. >> Thank you, Rick.

[1:20:07] This is a big pair of shoes to fill. [laughter]

[1:20:11] Um, Tammy Moses, I'm not a Democrat and I'm not a Republican. I just vote for

[1:20:17] the right person. Um, this I think really is blowing my mind that like two

[1:20:23] months ago you started talking about this pilot. Okay, the, you know, the

[1:20:27] redevelopment, it's a done deal. Okay, we're getting this big condo. we're

[1:20:31] getting, you know, businesses on the bottom, whatever. That's a done deal.

[1:20:35] But nothing was talked about in a pilot, which means why should this developer

[1:20:42] pay part of the money? And you I know you've explained it, but to me, I'm not

[1:20:46] a rocket scientist, >> but it just doesn't seem right. Why do

[1:20:50] we all have to pay full taxes every year, and this guy pays a portion of it?

[1:20:56] It It's just does it just doesn't seem possible,

[1:20:58] » right? It doesn't It doesn't. Right. So, people who who are wealthy building uh

[1:21:04] » me [laughter] >> people who are wealthy who are building

[1:21:06] projects and trying to make income off of it, right? And and me and you are

[1:21:11] paying our full taxes. I get it. But the the problem is, right, a business,

[1:21:17] you're a business owner. You don't you're not in business to lose money.

[1:21:20] » No. >> Right. So, they have to build a

[1:21:23] property. I had to acquire properties that were already owned by somebody

[1:21:26] else. They weren't free properties. the burrow didn't own them, right? So, they

[1:21:30] had to go spend money in this economy, in this market that Ray was talking

[1:21:36] about, probably overpay for that land. So, they have to pay for that. Now, they

[1:21:41] have to develop what we tell them they're allowed to develop. That would

[1:21:44] be like me telling you what you're allowed to sell on your store.

[1:21:48] » But what I'll finish, right? So, that we tell them what they're allowed to build.

[1:21:52] You have to build us a low density. You have to include low-income housing. So

[1:21:57] now they put all those rents on a piece of paper and they take them to their

[1:22:01] bank and their bank says, "I can't approve this project because you don't

[1:22:06] have the cash flow to make the payments that I I require."

[1:22:10] So they have two options. They can come back to us and say, "Burl, I can't do

[1:22:15] this at this um density. I need more. I need 60 units. I need 100 units." And

[1:22:22] we're going to say, "We're Waldwick. We don't want a six-story building, right?

[1:22:27] We don't want that. So, no, I can't let you do that.

[1:22:30] » Say, okay. >> What's that?

[1:22:32] » Then what would the developer do? >> The developer can either sit on the

[1:22:35] property and do nothing. >> Mhm.

[1:22:37] » Or try to sell it to somebody else who will probably come and ask for a pilot.

[1:22:42] » But why should the town be voting on the pilot? Don't you think the residents

[1:22:47] voting on the pilot? >> It's not legal.

[1:22:50] » It's not something that can go to a >> See, like I don't know this kind of

[1:22:53] stuff. And yeah, I was the one on fist with Thornton and and on the soap box.

[1:22:57] That was me. But I'm not into this kind of stuff. And when I when I know when I

[1:23:01] read about this, I was really picked, >> right?

[1:23:04] » Why should everybody, especially our seniors, have to pay full taxes?

[1:23:10] » I know, but you know what I'm saying. They have to pay every year. So do we.

[1:23:13] » So, but the idea, >> it's just it just really bothers me,

[1:23:16] » right? So, it bothers me. >> And they got more money than we do,

[1:23:19] » of course. But the idea is right at some point, race correct, we're not going to

[1:23:23] see pilot money tomorrow. They have to finish it. They have to start

[1:23:27] » and they'll probably back, you know, they'll probably drag their feet. Oh,

[1:23:29] but they're not going on yet. We can't, you know, open it.

[1:23:33] » Would you not want to open your business as fast as possible?

[1:23:35] » Yeah, but they they're going to drag their feet.

[1:23:37] » Of course, there's always construction delays. We're not going to see that

[1:23:40] revenue until they start getting rentals and they till they start seeing that.

[1:23:43] » But tenant, we can control the timing. It's in the It's in the redevelopment in

[1:23:47] the redevelopment agreement. So there >> there are safe there are safeguards that

[1:23:51] dictate that they need to start and complete construction within a specific

[1:23:55] time frame and um and if not they break the redevelopment agreement.

[1:23:59] » But here's my thing, you know, like nobody knew this. Half this town

[1:24:03] probably didn't even know what a pilot program was. Would anybody here know

[1:24:07] what a pilot was? >> Correct. So Tammy

[1:24:09] » pilot >> two months ago,

[1:24:11] » Tammy, that's not true. Right. So the fact is about 6 months ago the developer

[1:24:17] and go back further in time we had residents over a year ago come to the

[1:24:22] council and start talking about a pilot before the developer even asked for one.

[1:24:28] So we could have spoken it into existence number one. Number number two.

[1:24:33] So several months ago, six months ago or so, they presented for a pilot.

[1:24:38] » We had at this council meeting, Phoenix Adviserss came in and did a

[1:24:43] presentation. >> Watching it. I never come to a council

[1:24:45] meeting. I always watch them on Zoom because I open my mouth.

[1:24:48] » So they they gave me my mouth. >> You're allowed to open your mouth. They

[1:24:52] gave a presentation on what a pilot program is. I didn't know what a pilot

[1:24:56] program is either until about 6 months ago until I started doing stuff. But I

[1:24:59] feel we're going to be stuck with the extra taxes that you know the taxes are

[1:25:04] going to go up. We're going to be stuck with it. And if we do a pilot down on

[1:25:07] Houston Avenue, that's more >> Well, we said there would be no pilot on

[1:25:10] Houston Avenue. >> Okay. I just

[1:25:12] » I think that's why I'm pushing back. We don't know that taxes are going to go

[1:25:15] up. And in fact, we're doing it and in fact, we're doing this to avoid further

[1:25:20] taxes going up. Well, >> I think we're still going to be tax but

[1:25:23] I have a question. >> So, we're doing the financial analysis

[1:25:26] and that's the decision. That's what we're going to base our decision on.

[1:25:29] We've hired financial experts to do an analysis to show us and and hopefully at

[1:25:35] the next meeting, and I know everyone's frustrated you haven't seen it, but

[1:25:39] hopefully at the next meeting, we'll be able to present the financials end to

[1:25:43] end to show you what we're looking at. But I promise you, the the premise of

[1:25:47] all of this is so that we don't have to continue raising your taxes 10% every

[1:25:52] year. >> Okay. The thing is,

[1:25:54] » I'd like a show of hands. Who voted for this p for this?

[1:26:00] » No, the three red develops.

[1:26:06] » Multiple multiple councils. >> Okay. But um I just I just kind of

[1:26:12] thought it was wrong having a meeting the night the week before this meeting

[1:26:16] to have a little conversation. >> That was a club. That was completely

[1:26:19] wrong. >> Yeah. But so it was just kind of ironic.

[1:26:21] » It was a political club. It was a political club. The other side could

[1:26:24] have also had a meeting. Hey, the EMS could have like the public safety could

[1:26:29] have had a meeting. >> My last my last comment is there's

[1:26:32] plenty of businesses in town here. >> Yep.

[1:26:35] » That are vacant. >> Yes.

[1:26:39] » Okay. Do you think these are going to get filled quicker than the ones that

[1:26:43] are vacant? >> Well, the idea is to bring in more

[1:26:47] business, right? But we wanted more people

[1:26:50] than more people. >> So they're not they're not being filled

[1:26:53] right now, right? Aid is is been v vacant for

[1:26:55] » talking about the little ones, you know, >> little ones, right? So the the place the

[1:26:59] uh flavor on fire has gone out three different times. People aren't

[1:27:03] supporting it. >> There are there are places that are

[1:27:05] killing it in town like trying to go to W's, Nelly's,

[1:27:09] LS Tekka to go get dinner at some point and and they're crazy busy on a Friday

[1:27:14] night. Charlie's place, you know, bagel on a line on a Saturday morning is

[1:27:18] around the corner. There's there's there's uh plenty of business in Wick

[1:27:22] that kill it and do great. But what we need to do,

[1:27:26] » we all talked about wanting to have a food market in towns. We didn't have one

[1:27:29] for for a while when uh the farmers market went out. Now we have the food

[1:27:34] emporium. Everybody was excited to have that in there. And you know, they're

[1:27:38] going on Facebook saying, "Well, help me. How do I do better for you?" Because

[1:27:43] I drive past there and the parking lot's empty.

[1:27:45] » Yeah. >> Uh you know, maybe if there's 40 new

[1:27:48] homes there, 40 new people, maybe they need a place to go shop and they're

[1:27:52] going to walk to food important. Maybe they're going to come and get ice cream

[1:27:54] at your place right across the street. >> Maybe. So at that railroad across the

[1:27:59] street, >> right? That's on THE OTHER SIDE AT ice

[1:28:03] cream, but they still want the farmers market or the emporium. They're going to

[1:28:06] have to walk over that rickety old trestle that's all rusted.

[1:28:09] » Yeah. Don't start me on that. So, well, that's another subject. But anyway, I

[1:28:14] just want to know who's who's running for council next this year.

[1:28:19] » You are. Terence is running for council. >> Andy,

[1:28:22] » you'll never see me do it again. >> Huh?

[1:28:25] » You'll never see me do it ever again. >> Well, [laughter]

[1:28:29] this is my last year. >> I just I just had to speak my peace

[1:28:33] because most of the people who talked to them, they didn't know about this pilot.

[1:28:37] And then two week two months ago, you know, all of a sudden

[1:28:40] » well that's when that's when the developer

[1:28:42] » WHAT'S THIS? OH YEAH, I SAID all that. >> That's when the redevelop that's when

[1:28:46] the redeveloper submitted for a pilot, right? We can't assume that the

[1:28:50] redeveloper is going to submit for one. When they submitted for it, that's when

[1:28:54] the process started. >> Well, that should have been brought up a

[1:28:57] long time ago. >> It was right. We we sat at this meeting

[1:29:01] about it. It was really quiet. >> It was at every council meeting. There

[1:29:04] was a there was a gentleman that came here every meeting [laughter] and I give

[1:29:06] him credit because I learned from him. He gave me some things to go research. I

[1:29:11] give him credit because he was very persistent about it and coming every

[1:29:13] meeting. He was here every almost every council meeting asking about what we

[1:29:18] were going to do for a pilot program. >> Wow.

[1:29:20] » So that was not >> I think it stinks that he has he has to

[1:29:24] pay or she has to pay a portion we have to pay for and that's what I'm saying.

[1:29:27] » But they're but they're they're paying a portion of their revenue.

[1:29:31] » It's not of their taxes. And then what if they don't fill them all?

[1:29:34] » There's safeguards in the redevelopment agreement. And also at that point,

[1:29:38] right, there's a couple things. >> You can't get less than we can get,

[1:29:41] right? Correct. Correct. >> The bank has to the bank has to keep

[1:29:45] them going, right? They have to make enough money to keep the bank or the

[1:29:48] bank will repossess the property. >> We also have condemnation rights on the

[1:29:51] property. There's a lot of safeguards in there that help. And if he's killing it

[1:29:57] and making a lot of money and going over 12%,

[1:30:00] » then he's got to pay profit. He's got to pay more.

[1:30:02] » Okay, well then good. Let him pay more because he should be paying more.

[1:30:05] » And it has to be audited financial statements. It can't just be I made $5.

[1:30:09] It has to be an audited financial statement. It has to be

[1:30:12] » just kind of seemed a little bit, you know, like little shitty.

[1:30:15] » Right. Thank you, Tammy. >> Thank you.

[1:30:17] » Next. >> Hi there.

[1:30:19] » Hello. >> I'm Sharon Corbett. Lotus Lane in town

[1:30:24] here. I'm a former project manager. Okay. I'm just going to lay that out on

[1:30:30] the line. And I'm from the south, so I'm just going to use my southern accent.

[1:30:35] But anyway, I don't have a problem with the pilot

[1:30:39] itself. What I'm more concerned about is I'm not hearing contingency plans if

[1:30:44] something breaks, if something fails. >> Meaning

[1:30:49] » meaning, okay, you're using status quo uh numbers and everything for the

[1:30:53] students. That's great. uh we're we're not taking into account,

[1:30:57] oh, major floods could happen. Oh, snowstorms, unbelievable snowstorms

[1:31:02] going to happen and everything like that. Where is the money that we're

[1:31:06] getting on a monthly basis or yearly basis, where is it going to be fed into

[1:31:11] in the uh budget? >> Our operating budget.

[1:31:13] » Your operating budget. Okay. So, if for some reason something happens and a

[1:31:19] couple of trees fell down by the school and now the school's going to cost some,

[1:31:24] you know, additional things and everything, you're going to pull that

[1:31:26] money out. >> So, the school would have if trees fell

[1:31:30] down, the school would have insurance which would pay for that.

[1:31:32] » Okay. Well, I mean, I'm hoping that now we do,

[1:31:34] » right? >> And everything, but you know, I we we

[1:31:37] need to know we need to know >> where the money's going. Yep.

[1:31:41] » How it's going to be fed in if there's problems.

[1:31:44] » Mhm. >> And you know, we don't want taxes

[1:31:47] raised. And I know you said, "Oh, no. We're not going to have that." Tax will

[1:31:50] always be >> always go up. But what what bothered us

[1:31:55] was we're hearing, well, you know, they're not going to pay taxes until 10

[1:32:00] years down the line. But yet, we're going to be okay. And I'm just worried

[1:32:06] that we don't have a plan. And also the second thing, well, first of all, I'm

[1:32:11] glad that Allenale has five pilots and everything, but if they jump over the

[1:32:15] Washington Bridge, we don't need to go. I'm just saying that.

[1:32:22] Um, the the other thing too is for God's

[1:32:27] sake, uh, yeah, we have a CPA that's going to check the books and and that's

[1:32:32] good. However, I looked up I learned about the uh you know the pilot today

[1:32:39] and it says that really the best way to go for any town is to work with the PFAF

[1:32:46] which is the local government services that deal with pilots to make sure

[1:32:52] strict audits are in place. Now the big concern and maybe that's what happened

[1:32:57] at Hackinack and what happened in these other places was that I'm not saying

[1:33:03] this developer is going to do that but they understated the revenue

[1:33:08] at one point and they also put in uh inflated costs so that their pilot

[1:33:15] payment was less. And if they jiggle the books and they

[1:33:20] hand it to the CPA and the CPA looks at it and says, "Well, let's see. This adds

[1:33:24] up. That adds up. Oh, you're fine. We're screwed."

[1:33:28] » So, you don't think a CPA who's a public servant?

[1:33:31] » I think a CPA can do a lot of things, but I also trust I I like to trust our

[1:33:35] government agencies. >> So, let's ask Anna for a second. Anna,

[1:33:39] what what are the requirements for the financial audits? Where do they have to

[1:33:43] go? They they have to be um prepared by CPA

[1:33:46] and they are um authorized. >> Okay. But what about the state getting

[1:33:51] involved too? >> The state doesn't get involved.

[1:33:53] » Well, they should be because they have a whole department for it.

[1:33:57] But have y'all knocked on the door at least if they said, "Look, that's not

[1:34:01] our job. That's not what we do. Good luck. You got it all in in par."

[1:34:08] their audited statement. So that the state has prepared this legislation,

[1:34:13] right? The long-term >> Yeah. In fact, they also made a new

[1:34:16] legislation that I don't know if you heard about, but if it gets passed, your

[1:34:20] developer will have to send them the report of their employees paychecks to

[1:34:26] make sure that what they're saying, oh, I got, you know, 150,000 in cash here

[1:34:31] and everything. I got to pay my employees.

[1:34:33] » Great. >> That's actually what they get. and that

[1:34:35] gets passed. You should also make sure that's in part of the contract, too,

[1:34:39] that they have to they will abide by what the state says.

[1:34:43] » Just say, >> "Well, they will. They will abide by all

[1:34:46] legal rules." >> Well, I hope they do. And there's a

[1:34:49] process in place. I had a uncle promised me he'd never drink. And then I found

[1:34:52] him on the side of the wall drinking at his bottle here. But he promised me and

[1:34:58] he said he wasn't going to do it. But by God, he drank it. means that wonder what

[1:35:03] happened to him. >> Anyway, it's

[1:35:05] » hard to argue with a southern accent like that.

[1:35:07] » Yeah, >> I'm from San Antonio.

[1:35:11] » And uh you know, the thing is, you know, I just want to make sure that when you

[1:35:16] go through the effort and you're going to present it, you get all these people

[1:35:21] involved and we walk through and we figure out that not only are we ready

[1:35:25] for this, but this is what we do if we have problems. Because that's a biggie.

[1:35:30] I I I hope I hope that we can uh present that at the next meeting and take the

[1:35:37] feedback and okay, >> don't make me ruin my readers here and

[1:35:40] everything. I I >> I don't want to have to be stepping in a

[1:35:44] lot of stuff I don't need to set into. You know what I mean?

[1:35:47] » I think that interesting meeting. I appreciate it.

[1:35:50] » Okay. So, that said, I'm going to go do my twostep and sit down.

[1:35:54] » Thank you.

[1:36:02] That That's a hard one to follow, folks.

[1:36:10] » Hi, my name is Jackie. I just have a genuine question. [clears throat] Just

[1:36:14] genuinely want to understand better. So, please be compassionate. If there were

[1:36:18] kids who entered Crescent and somehow were all in the same grade level, say

[1:36:22] they were in my daughter's grade level. >> Yep. I I genuinely want to know where

[1:36:27] and the teachers went to the principal to the superintendent said, "Hey,

[1:36:30] listen. We we need another teacher for this grade level." Where would that what

[1:36:34] what would be the thought of where that money would come from? The school board

[1:36:38] just combined my daughter's grade level, cut a teacher, can't afford to hire

[1:36:43] another teacher. >> They're down. They're combined. My

[1:36:46] daughter's class just went from 14 kids to 22 23. There's only two second grade

[1:36:52] teachers now at her school. they shifted things around to

[1:36:56] accommodate other grade levels, whatever was going on that I'm not privy to. But

[1:37:00] I I if for some reason, you know, and then people come, people go and they all

[1:37:05] end up being in a grade level, you know, what are the odds? But and the board

[1:37:09] came to you and said, "Hey, we need some money to hire a new teacher or I what

[1:37:13] would that process look like? What would happen there?"

[1:37:16] » So, I I can't speak for what the board of education would do, but I I imagine

[1:37:21] this is what the process would look like a little bit, right? Right? So, they

[1:37:24] have a cap of what they're allowed to raise taxes every year, 2%. If it came

[1:37:29] to their um knowledge that they needed another teacher in a certain grade,

[1:37:33] either they're going to reallocate resources or if they need to go over and

[1:37:38] above that 2% cap, they need to apply for a waiver. I forget what the name is.

[1:37:42] Um President Maro and I think C um um Trusty Frey talked about what that

[1:37:48] process was to go over that cap. If they go over that cap, they could get

[1:37:52] approved. So if that were to go over that, then the increase in tax would

[1:37:56] fall to the to the burrow to accommodate an additional expense.

[1:38:00] » Okay. So then, right, that would have >> right. So an additional teacher we

[1:38:03] talked about earlier, right? About $15,000,

[1:38:06] » right? So they would so they the the programs wouldn't work together. They

[1:38:11] would kind of be on their board of ed would kind of be on their own to do what

[1:38:14] they would >> board would have to make up their

[1:38:15] budget. They would they would create their budget. if they passed their

[1:38:19] budget, it would get submitted to the to the um to the town and we would have to

[1:38:23] pay it. >> Is there a provision like the pilot

[1:38:25] program that says, "Hey, this Waldo specifically would be out there, but we

[1:38:29] we can siphon off a small for emergencies for the school system." Is

[1:38:34] there, you know, I know somebody had said that it's not part of it or it's

[1:38:38] it's, you know, not something that they do, but is there something in there

[1:38:41] where it's like, you know, this this could happen? Well, listen, there

[1:38:44] there's always things that this Burrow and the Board of Education have done

[1:38:48] together. We share services with them. We pay for

[1:38:54] SLEOs in part for for the for the board of education. So, there's always ways to

[1:38:59] help the board of education or to do other things that are not part of the

[1:39:03] budget. So, why sit here and say that we can put that in a piece of paper on the

[1:39:07] pilot? No, because it doesn't belong there legally. But can we do something

[1:39:11] to help the board of education in a couple years? Absolutely. We always

[1:39:14] have. >> You know, when there's when when the

[1:39:18] construction happened to do all that, we waved every single permit fee.

[1:39:21] » Sure. >> Right. That takes money out of the

[1:39:23] taxpayers's pockets to pay for that. Yep. [clears throat]

[1:39:25] » Right. That's not free. Um so that happened, right? If if we cut the grass

[1:39:29] at Trap Hagen, if our DPW guys do that, that's not free. That that costs that

[1:39:34] cost money to do that. They we utilize the same gas service that's paid for by

[1:39:38] by the council. That's not free. That happens. The sle aren't free. That

[1:39:42] happens. So, these are things that that we do in conjunction with the board of

[1:39:46] ed. And we would always help the board of ed. Now, our kids, too. My kid goes

[1:39:49] to Waldwick High School. Uh Mike has kids here, but not here. Katie might

[1:39:55] have kids someday. Councilman uh Councilwoman Smith had a kid that went

[1:39:59] through the the program. Councilman Breck has grandkids that probably go

[1:40:02] through the program. Councilman Windgate has people in the program. So, we all

[1:40:08] want the schools to be funded for sure, >> right?

[1:40:11] » Um, and we'll always work with the school,

[1:40:13] » right? There, you know, that was a draw of us moving to Waldo. Has, is there a

[1:40:16] way for us to know if the board of ed reached out for for the upcoming school

[1:40:20] year of, you know, they said that they couldn't

[1:40:22] » listen the the upcoming school year has nothing to do with a redevelopment or a

[1:40:26] pilot at this point, right? And uh um uh coun um board of ed president Maro at

[1:40:34] the last meeting that we had said they already had a 1.9 million budget problem

[1:40:37] for next year. He said that publicly. Right. So that's already a shortfall and

[1:40:42] we haven't even talked about pilots or anything else yet.

[1:40:45] » Right. Right. >> So it's more work to be done.

[1:40:48] » Okay. All right. Thank you. >> I'm going to come because I'm on the

[1:40:53] education portion of this too. So hi, I'm Lisa Brown. I am a teacher. Um,

[1:40:59] » and I am in a district and a town where a pilot program right now has caused a

[1:41:05] bit of a struggle. So, I have some experience on what's happening. So, I'm

[1:41:08] going to give you some scenarios to to think about. Um, so actually the best

[1:41:13] case scenario would be if we had 20 kids, they all went to one class and you

[1:41:16] had to hire one teacher. The worst case scenario is you get 25 30 kids that you

[1:41:23] then have to place three kids in this class, four kids in this class, two kids

[1:41:27] in this class, five kids in this class into classes that have already been like

[1:41:32] that person before me was saying combined. So now not you don't have to

[1:41:36] hire one teacher, you have to hire five teachers because you've now filled these

[1:41:40] classes so full that they can't sustain them and you have to split them. So,

[1:41:46] that's some food for thought. Um, when I was doing some pilot research, not only

[1:41:50] for my district, but for um tonight, I did read that there are some places um

[1:41:56] that have advanced ordinances to permanently dedicate portions of pilot

[1:42:02] revenue to public school infrastructures, capital funds. Now, I

[1:42:06] know capital funds, they have to use them for certain things, but they can

[1:42:09] move it in ways that they can do that um you know, that gets approved, etc., etc.

[1:42:15] So, um, and then I also learned that there is a Senate bill, which I heard

[1:42:20] someone address over here, um, that I did not have a chance to read, but I'm

[1:42:24] encouraging all of you to read it to maybe we can get ideas from that to get

[1:42:28] ahead of this kind of problem, which is a very real problem. And if we are

[1:42:34] already seeing not just Waldick but every school

[1:42:38] district in all of New Jersey is suffering um from budget problems

[1:42:43] because of the rising cost of health benefits costs that we cannot control.

[1:42:48] Um we really need to get ahead of we need to get ahead of this. So um by

[1:42:54] reading into what things have been proposed um I really think we need an

[1:42:59] agreement in place to protect the schools. I think it's great that we say

[1:43:02] we've done it in the past. We've helped them. And I'm not saying that to be

[1:43:05] sarcastic, Joe. Right. >> I it is it's wonderful. But

[1:43:09] » the problem that we're having um under this pilot is not only is the school

[1:43:15] going to the town, the police department is going to the town. Everyone is now

[1:43:19] going and saying, "Well, we need some of this pilot money." So, if you don't look

[1:43:22] at it ahead of time and say exactly how many kids are in each classroom, exactly

[1:43:28] how many officers do we have to patrol these areas, exactly how much, if you're

[1:43:33] not really digging into those numbers and looking at what extraund and

[1:43:37] something people, 20 kids in each class, if you're not looking at those real

[1:43:41] numbers, it's it is going to come back and it's going to be a problem, right?

[1:43:45] » Um, so from my understanding is that there is no agreement reached with the

[1:43:50] board of ed right now. That's correct. >> Correct. Okay. So, I highly encourage

[1:43:54] you, please, please, please, please look into that.

[1:43:57] » Make, you know, really dig into real actual numbers, not um hypotheticals.

[1:44:04] Find out how many kids are in each classroom. Find out how many, you know,

[1:44:08] what what the limitations are. I don't know how many kids can be in a class in

[1:44:13] this district. I haven't read their contract. I don't know what their

[1:44:16] guidelines are. Um, but those are very real scenarios that are going to come up

[1:44:20] really fast. >> So, you did say that you fund 100% of

[1:44:26] the budget. Correct. So, that's the approved budget. Correct.

[1:44:29] » Correct. >> So, these people who like people who

[1:44:31] come in after and like she was saying, catastrophes and things that happen,

[1:44:35] those are not budgeted things. So, that would leave the school in a bigger

[1:44:40] shortfall than they all are already in. So if we get 40 kids who come in that

[1:44:45] were not budgeted for, even if you are saying to us you're going to pay 100% of

[1:44:51] what was budgeted for, that still leaves those 25 kids or 40 kids, whoever showed

[1:44:56] up at the door that were not budgeted for that you're not taking into account

[1:45:01] for. >> Well, I I I'd say a couple things there.

[1:45:04] So one, those kids are not coming in tomorrow, right? So for approved budget

[1:45:09] for 202627 school year if I would imagine that they the board of ed would

[1:45:15] look at their budget when that pilot was or that building was close to being

[1:45:19] developed and take into account the potential for increased students and

[1:45:23] take that into their budget. I I'd also point to the fact that our enrollment is

[1:45:29] is still below what it was 3 years ago and even if we took 30 kids and added in

[1:45:33] we'd still be below the enrollment of where we were 3 years ago. And during

[1:45:38] those 3 years, the budget still continued to go up. So I'd argue that

[1:45:41] it's not proportional, right? So enrollment came down a little bit. So

[1:45:45] maybe um you know, there's something there that uh that doesn't add up to

[1:45:51] what the budget is coming back to. I think that the board of ed has been

[1:45:55] responsible and always increasing to their cap every year so they can keep

[1:45:59] bringing in as much dollars as possible, which is what they should do. Um so I

[1:46:03] applaud them for that 100%. But it's not directly proportional to

[1:46:08] the number of students. If I look at that, the number of students that coming

[1:46:11] down, even if I go back 10 years, it's probably even less as more kids. I think

[1:46:15] when our kids graduated, the the class was was bigger than what they are now.

[1:46:19] Um, so if it's not proportional, how do I do that? And you hit that nail on the

[1:46:24] head when you said it's coming from the state and the state health insurance.

[1:46:29] And you I'm telling everybody here, all of our voters, if the state doesn't do

[1:46:33] something to change that health program, all small towns, all of the same trouble

[1:46:40] that we are, and they're going to all be scrambling to do stuff, whether more

[1:46:45] shared services or whatnot that come of it, but the state needs to do something

[1:46:49] to give all of us some relief. It's it's a fact.

[1:46:53] » Yeah. >> Governor Cheryl needs to do something

[1:46:55] today. >> I I do have a question. Is our board

[1:46:58] actively uh or council, I'm sorry, I'm I'm usually a little bit our council,

[1:47:02] are you actively petitioning the state in any way about on that topic about um

[1:47:07] health benefits for town? >> A resolution after the last meeting?

[1:47:11] » Yes. Okay, good. Thank you. Um uh okay so on a different note um

[1:47:19] I also learned that well so you mentioned several businesses

[1:47:24] that are not surviving or are are are empty uh I don't have I'll I'll just say

[1:47:29] right aid odyssey etc etc over and over again so when I was doing my research as

[1:47:34] to what the benefits for a developer was like what why would they want to pilot

[1:47:39] it said that they get protection ction from market

[1:47:43] downturns because pilot payments are frequently calculated as a percentage of

[1:47:48] actual rental revenue. The developer's tax liability drops if the building

[1:47:53] suffers from vacancy. Is that is that true what I what I

[1:47:58] learned? And what are we doing to protect ourselves if that is the case?

[1:48:03] Since we can't already fill the businesses that we have, what if that

[1:48:07] they're open, they have six businesses that they can't fill. What are we doing

[1:48:11] to safeguard >> our town

[1:48:19] about the redevelopment? I mean the retail is a small portion of that

[1:48:23] development. First of all, it's like how many square feet? I can't 4,000 ft of

[1:48:28] retail space. >> So the majority of the building is um

[1:48:32] lease rent apartments and condo and town houses. So the taking the experience

[1:48:38] from what has happened at the station across the way, it's fully occupied. We

[1:48:43] anticipate that those rentals will be fully occupied as well. And and that's

[1:48:48] what's in in the agreement. As far as the retail, great point. We don't know

[1:48:53] how quickly that retail will be filled. And I don't know what's in the uh

[1:48:57] protections in the redevelopment plan for around those percentages. I don't

[1:49:00] know if Anna, if you could look into that or come back to us on that.

[1:49:03] » I can look into that. But one of the um there's 5,000 total square ft of retail,

[1:49:09] but one is already an existing barber shop. So, it is a very small portion,

[1:49:15] but I can look into that would be helpful because I I do think that's a

[1:49:19] very um viable I mean, that's we we've we've seen in town that we have a hard

[1:49:25] time and it's not just our town. You drive through Richwood, there's space

[1:49:29] after space after space that's open any town, every town around us. So for us to

[1:49:34] imagine and and pretend that they're just going to fill up and give us all

[1:49:39] this money, I think that as an assumption is a dangerous one to um to

[1:49:43] use towards the um >> so we Yeah. So we you know I I think

[1:49:47] it's it's I'd love to hear your feedback. We were really trying to

[1:49:51] envision a scenario where, you know, from end to end on Prospect, we had

[1:49:56] retail that kind of matched across the street. Um, you know, to to to do two

[1:50:02] things. One, diversify kind of what's down there, but but two, uh, avoid kind

[1:50:07] of the overcrowding of of the apartments. So, um I hear your concerns

[1:50:12] about the retail, but uh the alternative is to just put apartments there and

[1:50:17] that's going to only increase the number of people, students potential, and then

[1:50:22] it's just going to it's going to chop up, you know, kind of what I think we're

[1:50:25] trying to achieve with this kind of quaint downtown uh view. So, uh I'm for

[1:50:31] the record, I'm I'm all for it. In a perfect world with my I am all with you.

[1:50:35] I would love to. And some of you probably even saw my comments on

[1:50:38] Facebook when I was talking to whatever the giant market that's whatever the

[1:50:42] market is now saying, you know, they need to get what we want in that store.

[1:50:48] They need to listen to us as, you know, town folk cuz I really um I had high

[1:50:53] hopes for them and I do. So I I'm I'm with you. I hope it takes off. But

[1:50:57] having experienced it firsthand in this

[1:51:01] district that I am in and seeing when they did not do due diligence and ask

[1:51:06] the questions that I'm asking, nobody asks in our town. And all of a sudden

[1:51:10] everybody's like, "Well, everyone has their hand out asking for that pilot

[1:51:13] money." And the town council is now saying, "Well, how do we figure out who

[1:51:16] we're giving it to?" So, you need to figure out the plan of who you're going

[1:51:20] to give it to and how you're going to give it to them before you just

[1:51:22] blanketly say yes to this builder. One of the things that the develop the

[1:51:26] um financial advisor did was do a performer, right? So take the potential

[1:51:31] income to the bureau and do an analysis of what would be the percentage of

[1:51:36] additional operating cost that we might have and take that away as our potential

[1:51:41] benefit. So if uh the chief came to us and said I need to add another officer

[1:51:45] because of all this or DPW needed additional um services for whatnot and

[1:51:51] we factored that into what the uh and they came and presented that on

[1:51:56] » and I I I just didn't understand it so I want to clarify at some point you were

[1:52:00] talking about later in the agreement the town gets a higher amount of money

[1:52:07] » right >> um when does that happen like is it

[1:52:10] » I can't share that now. that's still out there. But at some point in the

[1:52:14] agreement, there's a comparison done to what number is higher, the percentage of

[1:52:19] revenue that we would get according to the pilot program versus the percentage

[1:52:24] of conventional tax. So you would get the higher of those two.

[1:52:28] » But does that only kick in after 20 years, 25 years

[1:52:32] » in the in the in the uh agreement? I can't share that yet.

[1:52:35] » Okay. because I think that's a very important number because if we let it go

[1:52:37] on for 20 years or 25 years then we're going to be losing.

[1:52:41] » Yeah. >> Um I think that's it. Can I come back if

[1:52:44] I go through my papers? >> Sure.

[1:52:59] » Hi Scott Wiselle Sheran Avenue. Um first I want to thank all the public servants.

[1:53:04] I know that times like this it's it's not always easy. Um just a lot of

[1:53:08] concern about what's happening in our community right now. So I do have a

[1:53:12] statement um and I do want to maybe correct some of the record that was

[1:53:17] spoke about here a little bit earlier. Two things. First, I'm for this

[1:53:20] development, right? I believe we need it. I think our town needs to be

[1:53:24] revitalized in a lot of different ways. Um it's aging and we have some needs in

[1:53:29] infrastructure. Second, I'm an engineer. I sit on the

[1:53:34] owner's side. I do redevelopment. I do I sit in front of planning boards. I talk

[1:53:38] to to planning boards all the time. [clears throat] And uh I know what

[1:53:44] developers are asking for, right? Because I sit in front of engineers,

[1:53:48] contractors, and understand the asks.

[1:53:54] I'm here about the tax break though, right? the tax break. That may sound

[1:54:00] simple in some regards and complex in others.

[1:54:05] I just want to make sure it's necessary. I think that's all the public really

[1:54:10] wants to understand. Why is it necessary?

[1:54:14] And here's the ask in plain terms. The developer wants to make the most

[1:54:20] amount of money that they can. I want to do that when I'm sitting on developer

[1:54:25] side. My job is to maximize profits. I put $100 million request into my CFO

[1:54:32] and I'm putting 10% on top of that number. So numbers up front aren't

[1:54:36] always correct. Sometimes that balloons to 120. Sometimes it's 20% less. Those

[1:54:43] numbers are fudgeable up front. We won't know until those numbers

[1:54:48] actually become reality. And we're become we're entering into a pilot

[1:54:52] without knowing all the true numbers. There's some interesting things in the

[1:54:58] developers agreement that I I think the the town for answering my

[1:55:02] [clears throat] my Oprah request. They're paying

[1:55:09] in in in in the benefit of the developer. They're

[1:55:14] putting about 35% upfront, right? That's roughly about $10 million they're

[1:55:19] putting into development cash up front. The remainder they're looking to

[1:55:23] finance. One of the three finance firms that or

[1:55:28] banks that put said they would finance it said that they would not do without

[1:55:32] the pilot. The others were absent in speaking about that. Now those are

[1:55:37] non-binding letters. I understand all that. But it doesn't mean that the pilot

[1:55:41] can't the pilot is necessary, right? So there are options out there still and

[1:55:46] we're just asking for that to be proven. There are some numbers inside that just

[1:55:52] don't make any sense. Right? So numbers are expressed in three different

[1:55:58] ways and three different documents in the application.

[1:56:04] One at 16.9 million for the bank source. [cough]

[1:56:08] 18.1 for employment in the employment exhibit and 18.5 million in the

[1:56:14] architect certification for costs. can't have it all three different ways,

[1:56:20] right? So, there's just numbers there that just don't make any sense.

[1:56:26] There's also the developer fee at 1.57% which is really low. So, comparatively

[1:56:33] industry somewhere between 3 and 5% for redevelopers fees.

[1:56:43] The burrow assumingly hired an expert to look at this because the documents show

[1:56:49] that the bureau had made some comments to it. I haven't seen that document yet

[1:56:55] what was sent. I'd love to see that and what was asked for, but where's our

[1:57:00] certification or our financial statements or our financial study?

[1:57:06] I'd like to see that released before there's any vote or another meeting on

[1:57:11] this. I'd like to build a model and demonstrate what is inside those numbers

[1:57:17] and to some degree I have but I can't do it without seeing the numbers.

[1:57:23] I asked for several things. Um there is January 17th, 2024 the law passed that

[1:57:31] we can share with the schools, right? So I just want to put that on the record.

[1:57:34] there is an opportunity to share with the schools.

[1:57:38] 69% of the school pro 69% of our tax basis goes to the schools,

[1:57:45] right? Just pure logical math. The remaining 31% 5% goes to the town or the

[1:57:51] county and the 95% goes to the school after the pilot.

[1:57:55] How is our tax not going to go up according to this? Just be based on back

[1:58:00] of number back of the napkin numbers. It's somewhere between $500 and $1,000

[1:58:05] per house when you do the numbers with the numbers that are out there right

[1:58:08] now. I'm not saying that that is the case. Those are just hypothetical until

[1:58:14] everything's agreed to and we see the real numbers. But there are other

[1:58:17] developments that are being reconsidered here. Two months ago, the plant the

[1:58:21] board had approved redevelopment of two other parcels over here.

[1:58:27] what we're doing here today. Significant tax burden relief off of the community.

[1:58:33] And last piece, I ask that you guys show us your numbers.

[1:58:37] I would love to to see that. I'd like to produce the results, share it with the

[1:58:41] community. And again, remember what we do here

[1:58:44] today is just setting precedent for the rest of the redevelopment.

[1:58:48] Thank you. CAN I

[1:58:56] could I just ask could I just ask that uh you share those numbers? I uh I think

[1:59:01] that that's exactly the financial analysis I was talking about earlier.

[1:59:05] Not not being condescending, but if you could email that to us, I think that

[1:59:09] would be really helpful. I think yours >> first.

[1:59:14] That's not how it works. That's not how it works.

[1:59:17] That's not how it works. So we we can't share those numbers with you yet, right?

[1:59:22] Once we before a vote would happen, those numbers would be made public to

[1:59:26] everyone. We can't share those yet with with you according to legal counsel.

[1:59:32] » Yeah, I understand it can't be shared yet, right? But um I share my numbers.

[1:59:37] If the developer looks at that, >> they have an opportunity to rebuttle it

[1:59:42] before there's any conversation or any proof. So we need financial statement to

[1:59:46] actually look at >> the way it'll work is the financial

[1:59:49] advisor will come they'll give a presentation that's introduction you'll

[1:59:54] have a month to then review those numbers throw them into your model is it

[1:59:59] a month it's about a month right this before you actually

[2:00:04] » we only need once we only meet once a month now till the end of the year so

[2:00:07] practically speaking you'll have a month to review those numbers provide feedback

[2:00:12] put them into your model Um, you know, but this is not a gotcha moment. If you

[2:00:17] have information that can help us make a decision, I'd advocate that you give

[2:00:21] that to us. Now, I wasn't being condescending. I was asking if if if

[2:00:25] there are people out there that believe with an analysis that this is going to

[2:00:29] change things, share it. We will consider it. I I I promise you that.

[2:00:34] But, um, but yeah, the at at I don't know if it's the next meeting or the

[2:00:37] meeting after, there'll be a presentation from the adviserss full on.

[2:00:41] you'll have a month to throw it in and then you'll have an opportunity to come

[2:00:45] back um uh with that information to uh to then speak again.

[2:00:50] » Yeah. So, hasn't there's been like me or Councilman Bren sitting there doing

[2:00:55] these numbers? We're paying financial adviserss to do this work and they have

[2:00:59] done some of the things that you're suggesting already, you know, uh and

[2:01:02] going through the model and figuring out what is feasible, what's not and doing

[2:01:07] those calculations. Maybe you're better at it than they are. I don't know. But

[2:01:11] these are the the the adviserss that we have hired professionals that are doing

[2:01:14] the service for this. >> Yeah. I'm not I'm not attacking your

[2:01:16] adviserss. Um there's just questions around it, right? And we would just ask

[2:01:21] that I mean those those comments from your adviserss I don't think are subject

[2:01:26] to the negotiations at this point. The performance already been produced.

[2:01:30] There's already records out there that says that they've taken some of your

[2:01:34] comments into consideration. I would just ask what those comments were. There

[2:01:38] had been a sidebar study in order to make those comments. Right? So there's

[2:01:42] some record out there of a study on the performer and they had to they had to

[2:01:48] produce a parallel perform in order to make those comments.

[2:01:52] » Yeah, I'm I'm sure. Yeah, they have. Right. Then we're told we can't give

[2:01:58] that out yet. >> Yeah, they have. But the financial

[2:02:01] agreement is not um >> I'm not I'm not asking for the financial

[2:02:04] agreement, >> but that goes into it. So it cannot be

[2:02:07] re released at this point yet. >> But the performers are released.

[2:02:11] » That was the pilot application and that was included in there, but it's not a

[2:02:15] final document. That's just their application what they're showing.

[2:02:20] » So they're they're intending to amend the port for

[2:02:24] » I don't know once the financial agreement if there are going to be

[2:02:29] amendments to the pilot application, they can amend it.

[2:02:32] » Okay. Thank you. And I think to your point

[2:02:37] about the the legality of whether we can or can't pay the school, I'm not a

[2:02:42] lawyer, so I I I rely on these I rely on these.

[2:02:45] » That law did not pass. >> Yeah.

[2:02:47] » Yeah. >> 1807 is not passed yet.

[2:02:52] » Not even a corresponding assembly bill. It's not even out of committee.

[2:02:56] » So, uh, the law I'm specifically referring to passed on January 16th,

[2:03:01] 2024. It is

[2:03:09] C18 A 7G 151A

[2:03:15] C18 A col 7G

[2:03:21] 151A an amended PL 2023.

[2:03:27] I'm more than happy to share that with the council.

[2:03:29] » I'd appreciate that. >> Thank you.

[2:03:38] How you doing? Uh Dan Mel Vet President, I just want a clear fact that because

[2:03:42] they were at our meeting yesterday, our waiver cannot be for staff. Our waiver

[2:03:47] is for insurance. >> Yeah, that's why I said I can't speak

[2:03:49] for you on that. >> Yeah. Well, I I I just want to make it

[2:03:52] out there because I'm trying to stay off the internet. You both I'm having a good

[2:03:56] 6 months. >> Um that we can only apply for a waiver

[2:03:59] for insurance. No, hocus just did it, but they went for maintenance, staff,

[2:04:04] electric. They they built everything in. That's why they had to go out for a

[2:04:08] vote. >> Got it.

[2:04:09] » Insurance is a waiver, not staff. >> Thank you, sir.

[2:04:21] » Is that all? >> Anyone else?

[2:04:28] something different than >> fantastic. Come on up.

[2:04:37] You know >> there's no order

[2:04:39] » just to keep the subject going. So uh my name is Manuelina Maggie for short for

[2:04:44] you know to keep it short. I just wanted to ask again about the parking situation

[2:04:50] by the train station. I know we're going through this. I'm not, you know, telling

[2:04:55] you that the price is too high or not. It is just something different that

[2:04:59] haven't been done in the town for a very long time. Since July 1st, the effective

[2:05:06] rate went in for Dallas a day. Uh the signs are, by the way, still off, just

[2:05:11] so you know. And the app is really annoying to have it when you're parking

[2:05:16] there 5, you know, 9 to 7 to have a notification at 10:00 a.m. 10 p.m. that

[2:05:21] the parking expires because you guys are putting the parking on the lot from I

[2:05:28] think 9 to 10 or whatever that might be. Uh the side parking is still enforced 5

[2:05:33] to 5 Monday through Friday, which again the app is now reflecting that. Still

[2:05:39] not sure where you guys were at the process. Not sure how many of you

[2:05:43] commute to the city or take the train on a daily basis. The parking lot has not

[2:05:48] seen much of an increase. It is the summer month. So I would just ask again

[2:05:54] for the residents for our benefit of commuting to the city to have option of

[2:06:00] an annual pass. Increase it. I understand 250 a year is too low. I

[2:06:06] understand there's maintenance. You guys are leasing the lot from New Jersey.

[2:06:11] You're making the roof and as you know commuters to the city, there's enough

[2:06:17] room as we saw before. It's 70% utilized regardless if it's mess or annual

[2:06:24] parking uh permits. Let's combine them. Think about it. Drop it down. The people

[2:06:30] that are on the list have them the first come first- serve basis. You had said

[2:06:34] council that not everybody commit 5 days a week. So there is room for moving and

[2:06:39] getting extra revenue for a daily parking for those that don't commute

[2:06:44] every day and those that do not have a parking permit. Towns around us have a

[2:06:49] combination of both. And if they want to be getting revenue, I think we should be

[2:06:54] competitive with them in terms of having the opportunity for the residents not to

[2:06:59] pay $1,000 to park for a parking lot that we already pay about $370

[2:07:05] a month for commute to the city if you're working every month. You know,

[2:07:09] every month you have to pay for the parking. So just my request, think about

[2:07:13] it. Think about the community what it will do. And also people take the train

[2:07:17] over at the weekend with their kids, whatever. Not. I understand. But put it,

[2:07:22] you know, 5 to 5 or something. Put it on a Saturday. Have a Sunday free. Let the

[2:07:27] people go and enjoy it. Have everybody enjoy an opportunity to explore for the

[2:07:32] kids especially. Cuz now if you have to walk with the kid or park, you know,

[2:07:36] $12. Yes. You say $4 a day is not a lot. But if you add it up over 52 weeks, 5

[2:07:42] days a week, that's $1,000 going from 250. And I have not given notification

[2:07:48] from you. the council or from the city that there are going to be changes. You

[2:07:53] guys have been postponing the permits from last year. We had six months for

[2:07:59] free. Why? We had, you know, a very short notice of a month that is going to

[2:08:04] be turned into a parking by a day. And I also wanted to express I've emailed the

[2:08:09] council first time on June 2nd just the mayor and Miss Kelly on June 12th. more

[2:08:16] of you people I have not even received a response of thank you we'll look into it

[2:08:21] I do not need answers I just want to express to have let's think about the

[2:08:25] community about the commuters that already are paying the New Jersey

[2:08:29] transit >> fee sorry did you say you emailed all

[2:08:31] all of us >> yes I emailed you I didn't email Miss

[2:08:34] Tatiana I emailed the mayor and I emailed Mr. Kelly and Mr. Joe, Miss

[2:08:39] Kathy, I believe, too. >> I'm so sorry. I missed that. Yeah.

[2:08:42] » Well, Dana was so I would assume you might have ignored it for reasons. One,

[2:08:48] it's been twice. >> I respond to every email that comes. I I

[2:08:51] » No, please check June 12th. >> I will. I will.

[2:08:54] » Thank you, >> Becky. I just want to mention that

[2:08:56] today's um ordinances that were introduced are tweaking the hours um

[2:09:01] that you're referring to. So, there will be free parking and I'm I'm um uh is it

[2:09:06] the lot or street side on Sundays? I don't have those notes in front of me.

[2:09:09] So, the street side parking will be free on Mondays. Okay. Uh I'm sorry, Sunday.

[2:09:13] Sundays. >> So, you know, and we took that into

[2:09:16] account for community events down at the train station. Um just like you said,

[2:09:20] families going into the, you know, into um into the city. And uh and we and we

[2:09:25] understand, we've been monitoring very closely, I think, um to give it a fair

[2:09:29] shot. Um, we need to look at the summer months, but we need to look at the fall

[2:09:32] months as well. We are getting a lot of people um, showing up, but whatever

[2:09:36] problems you have with the app, let us know. We're not aware of anything.

[2:09:38] » That's not the problem. It's just that you have set up the time up to 10:00

[2:09:42] p.m. So, if I pay a daily fee cuz I commute, I take the 8:37 train and I

[2:09:49] come back 7:02. The app still goes, right? So, it's the app. So, because the

[2:09:53] parking is till 10:00 and again, why is it till 10:00? people do not leave the

[2:09:58] town at 700 p.m. and even if they do they're coming later. So, you've uh one

[2:10:04] of the emails and I'm not it's it was the street parking. Sorry. But yes, uh

[2:10:08] the street parking has increments of 2 hours, I believe. Uh the main parking

[2:10:12] lot is not it's just $4 a daily parking rate. But why are we making it till 10

[2:10:17] p.m.? Why? Why? Like who's going out and you know on the train? People commute in

[2:10:25] the morning, not at night. >> Right. The thought on that is that there

[2:10:28] are um people in the community um that may be using the lot for uh parking or

[2:10:32] overflow parking. So, um that's something that we had to consider and

[2:10:37] and keep in mind as well. So, um we did we we really did try to take a holistic

[2:10:41] look at at everything that's going on and and I understand that a change like

[2:10:44] that, you know, affects um families and that's not the intent, but what we're

[2:10:48] really trying to man manage is that that there's a need there. Um and we continue

[2:10:53] to hear that need every day up until um July 1. So we know um and and the

[2:10:58] difficult part for us would be we have so many uh yearly committed residents um

[2:11:02] and non-residents you know you you know it was open to both um and to be able to

[2:11:06] decide who um has precedence over the others was uh was going to be an near

[2:11:11] impossible task. So >> I know I've been there last year so you

[2:11:16] know it's not utilized and I should think I think we should find a medium

[2:11:21] for both. >> We'll continue to look. Thank you.

[2:11:26] Uh Jeffrey Rodoff. So I actually um thought I wasn't going to say anything

[2:11:31] tonight because I was trying to keep the comment about come listen with an open

[2:11:36] mind take in and I was really trying to do that and I still am. So I'm not going

[2:11:40] to comment anything on the pilot because I'm still taking in all of this

[2:11:44] information. But thank you for having this discussion. I would welcome more

[2:11:46] opportunities for this um you know things where I could ask questions. I

[2:11:51] felt a little weird asking questions now because there's so many people here, but

[2:11:53] I welcome that. But since we started talking about parking, um I figured I

[2:11:57] would jump on that bandwagon as well. I have been uh had a parking permit since

[2:12:04] 2005 at this point. Um and uh it's it's definitely a change to not have a

[2:12:11] parking permit. And um so far I've adjusted by um getting a ride to the

[2:12:17] train every day. And I don't know if that's one of the um goals of this is to

[2:12:22] drive down some of the people who were using permits um to change their

[2:12:26] behaviors. If so, success, you know, I have now drive driven that down. Um I

[2:12:32] will say I am not opposed in theory to it being higher than it was. like if to

[2:12:38] the extent the concern was that it was charged too far below market rates and

[2:12:42] and you know we needed an opportunity to address that, I'm open to to hearing and

[2:12:47] having that conversation. Um, as you might imagine, this is a topic of

[2:12:51] conversation for a lot of the people who commute into the city. Um, and I've

[2:12:54] heard a number of different concerns about this and and what it would do. Um,

[2:12:59] certainly the hours that was just talked about by the person before uh was a

[2:13:04] common concern. It ranged from I don't need that many hours to I want to go to

[2:13:08] a Nick game and I'm not going to be home by 10:00 and so what do I do in that

[2:13:12] situation? So they're definitely, you know, like the fact of the set hours um

[2:13:18] that you're doing it is not flexible enough for some some people. Um I would

[2:13:24] if there is an option for a blended approach of permits and and the park

[2:13:30] mobile, I would highly encourage that. Um I certainly um understand that there

[2:13:36] is you know the situation we were before where people felt like they could never

[2:13:40] get a chance to park. You know it was was less than optimal. At the same time

[2:13:44] you know having a permit is really beneficial for a number of reasons. Not

[2:13:49] the least of which I am 100% convinced at some point during this year if I do

[2:13:52] this I'm going to forget to pay park mobile and then I'm going to get a

[2:13:56] ticket and then I'm going to feel like an idiot and it will be my fault. But

[2:13:59] nevertheless, I'm trying to avoid situations like this. I also suspect

[2:14:04] there are a certain number of people because I've talked to them who are

[2:14:07] saying I'm just going to get a ride to down to the train. And so you're losing

[2:14:11] revenue on those people. You're losing revenue on me. I would pay more. I would

[2:14:15] be glad to pay more for the privilege of having the permit that I've had since

[2:14:19] 2005 or at least putting my name into a an opportunity to get that. So, I know

[2:14:24] that it's not completely uncommon to have a parking lot where there are some

[2:14:28] permits and some park mobile. To the extent that could be um thought I would

[2:14:34] considered, I would encourage it. And again, just to be also very flex

[2:14:38] flexible thinking about the hours. I know you said there were some tweaks. I

[2:14:41] didn't fully appreciate what the tweaks are. Um but yes, there are people who

[2:14:45] use it after 10. There were people who will use it before. And so, uh thinking

[2:14:49] of ways to in include that. Jeeoff, I just want to give you one piece of

[2:14:53] information. I think one of the goals was that we had oversold the number of

[2:14:58] permits for the lots that were there, for units that were there. It was like

[2:15:01] 120 spots and we had sold 150 permits and it still was underutilized and we

[2:15:07] still had a waiting list of anotherund and something people or 80 something

[2:15:10] people that were not allowed to park in the lot because we had already oversold

[2:15:16] the spots that were there. So correct, >> the objective was how can we free up

[2:15:22] spots so that the people on the waiting list can also use those spots. I don't

[2:15:27] know >> because of our lease agreement,

[2:15:29] whatever. I'll I'll we can go back and look at it if we're allowed to aortion

[2:15:34] that and say half the lot's going to be permitted and half is not. I don't know

[2:15:38] if we're allowed to do that. I'd have to ask and see if that's even a viable

[2:15:41] option. But at that point, how do you come up with out of the 150 people who

[2:15:45] have already had those permits like yourself, how do you come up with the 60

[2:15:50] who are going to get it going forward? >> One one thing I would think of off to

[2:15:54] the top of my head, I mean, first of all, I will say again, as someone who

[2:15:57] has commuted in that lot since 2005, um I have literally never seen every spot

[2:16:04] taken up. >> Correct. That was the point, right?

[2:16:08] That's the whole point and that's what we were trying to address. So when phone

[2:16:11] calls were coming in every day from people who didn't have yearly parking

[2:16:14] passes and they were showing up for streetside parking and they were looking

[2:16:17] at a half empty lot, they were and the calls were becoming I mean we we were

[2:16:22] inundated with phone calls day after day after day in the clerk's office because

[2:16:25] they're frustrated. I showed up at 7:00 in the morning and there's a lot with 50

[2:16:30] spots in it and my streets and the street side um you know options are all

[2:16:34] taken. Why can't I park in the lot? And that's because if tomorrow every person

[2:16:39] that we sold the yearly pass to showed up and the lot was full plus it we had

[2:16:44] 30 people who couldn't park because we were parked over then we had a problem.

[2:16:48] And so what was what what we discovered and what has really happened postco I

[2:16:52] guess is that people are buying a yearly pass and that used to be used 5 days a

[2:16:57] week but people aren't using it 5 days a week and so some are

[2:17:00] » some some are some are sure but not a lot and so the frustration from

[2:17:05] residents and and anybody trying to commute from our lot is I'm showing up

[2:17:08] and it's a half empty lot and so um we we needed to address that. We can't have

[2:17:13] that happening. And if if we have 150 people on the wait list and we have

[2:17:17] people calling every day, there is a need there. And I think that by the fall

[2:17:22] and once people kind of um you know, pay attention to what's been happening down

[2:17:26] there, I think you're going to start to find that the lot's going to be full

[2:17:29] every day because the need is there. And that's we're trying to get as many

[2:17:32] people parked in those spots as possible. That's really the intention.

[2:17:35] Anecdotally, someone I know would buy a pass every year the same way you did and

[2:17:43] go to the city three times a month.

[2:17:48] » So, and so that's what the comment I was going to say is like, look, obviously

[2:17:53] you have a purchase a pass, you want to be able to park in the lot, right?

[2:17:56] » I I get that. That would be frustrating if I showed it. But if what you're

[2:18:00] observing is that, hey, we've sold this x number of permits and yet we're seeing

[2:18:07] 60% of the spots or 40% of the spots or 25% of the spots underutilized every

[2:18:12] day. I mean, I'm not saying do 80 more permits, but but you know,

[2:18:18] it's a little bit like an airline in this regard, right? Like you could

[2:18:22] probably sell five more, you know, and under the understanding that not

[2:18:26] everyone is doing this every day. Frankly, you know, if I purchased a

[2:18:30] permit, like that gives me the right to park in that permit. It's, you know, I'm

[2:18:34] not I you know, if you told me beforehand, you know, if you choose to

[2:18:38] purchase this permit, keep in mind we, you know, I can't guarantee you 100% you

[2:18:43] will have that spot. I can make that choice then, you know, and maybe I'll

[2:18:47] have to do park mobile that day. But what we have now is a situation and yes

[2:18:51] it is summer but it is like not full and it's just hard and I have been

[2:18:58] doing yes co change was a game changer but even before co like if you looked at

[2:19:03] those single spots at the end you know like not where if it's broken into

[2:19:07] thirds. There's a sign closest to the to the train station that's stuck in the

[2:19:11] middle. And then there's the one where you can't park on both sides. Like those

[2:19:14] are never full. like this is like there has to be I have to think there's a plan

[2:19:20] that would allow some type of permitting basis for people who that is the most

[2:19:25] whether you have permits for Tuesday Thursday or permits for like you know

[2:19:30] where there's another opportunity because you are you losing money for

[2:19:34] people who like I've talked to a number of people who just like I can't if I

[2:19:38] can't have a permit I'm just going to I'm going to maybe there will be filled

[2:19:41] up with so many of these other people who are looking to do it. It's just an

[2:19:45] inconvenience and like I said, you know, like I know I'm going to forget the

[2:19:48] super park mobile thing at some point. I'm gonna get it. It'll be my fault and

[2:19:51] you know, but if there is [laughter] another option like other towns have

[2:19:54] done with with a hybrid model, I think that would be beneficial and I encourage

[2:19:58] looking at it. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[2:20:05] » Good evening. My name is Patricia Hardik and I live on Harrison AB and I've seen

[2:20:10] you all before. Um I just want to clarify something. I've lived on

[2:20:14] Harrison A for 25 years and I think could be a little bit less or a little

[2:20:20] bit more. I kind of lost track of time. Didn't plan on living here that long.

[2:20:25] But um never once have I ever seen a sign land for sale to redevelopment on

[2:20:32] any of those properties. In fact, all four houses were lived in, rented out.

[2:20:38] And as far as cottage place, there was never a sign for sale ever. So, how

[2:20:45] could people even know that anybody was considering or builders know that

[2:20:50] anybody was considering to sell out and let it be redeveloped?

[2:20:55] » Because when we declared the area in need of redevelopment, that opened up

[2:20:58] the floodgates to people trying >> to signs for sale.

[2:21:01] » You don't do that, right? So, I get mail every day, somebody trying to buy my

[2:21:04] house, >> right? That that that comes through.

[2:21:07] Well, aren't you lucky? >> Yeah.

[2:21:09] » But as our taxes go up and maybe the schools go down a little bit, my t my my

[2:21:14] property is not going to be worth as much. Um I want to ask I want to ask

[2:21:19] about um the new state law that looks like it's going to go into effect. 1807.

[2:21:25] Does everybody is everybody familiar with this?

[2:21:27] » Yeah, we just talked about 1807 that it's not even in legislative process at

[2:21:31] this point. hasn't got past um the the next level of approval yet.

[2:21:35] » There's no assembly. >> There's no even assembly bill for it

[2:21:37] yet. >> Still in committee.

[2:21:39] » I I bet it's not going to even >> come close to the current status of it.

[2:21:44] There's no corresponding assembly bill that's still in the appropriations and

[2:21:47] budget committee with no hearing scheduled.

[2:21:49] » No hearing scheduled. >> And and even if it did pass, this

[2:21:52] development project wouldn't qualify under that law for for having to abide

[2:21:56] by it. It's for residential only, not mixed use. when are we going to give a

[2:22:00] financial thing so I would know as a homeowner how I'm going to be affected

[2:22:06] because a lot of us are seniors. We live on fixed incomes. We plan our money

[2:22:10] around taxes. We just had a around a 4% increase. Is that right? 10% whatever it

[2:22:17] was. It was a lot. And now you're talking about this piloting this. I I

[2:22:23] you know that's going to be another increase on

[2:22:25] » Well, the pilot in in the the theory of the pilot is to offset future increases

[2:22:31] to your taxes. >> When when are we going to see the

[2:22:34] financial papers? >> So, we talked about that, right? So,

[2:22:36] once the >> How long? Cuz I hope we were hoping

[2:22:40] today, right? We're not there yet. >> Holding them up.

[2:22:43] » We're not there yet, but there's there's still details that have to go through.

[2:22:46] There's still negotiations that have to go through as soon as we can. If it's

[2:22:50] the next council meeting, we'll have the financial adviserss here to give a full

[2:22:54] presentation and release it like we told the other gentlemen. Um, and then

[2:22:59] there's weeks of time in between that and when the public hearing is so people

[2:23:04] can go back, study the numbers, ask questions, and uh at that point when

[2:23:08] there's a public hearing is when the council would have to vote yes or no.

[2:23:13] » So, uh, let me let me just clarify the procedure so that everybody understands.

[2:23:18] There's an intro, it has to be approved, the financial agreement gets approved by

[2:23:21] an ordinance. Okay? So, just like you have the ordinances tonight, there will

[2:23:24] be an introduction at a meeting, right? >> Where the financial uh advisor will

[2:23:29] present everything >> at the introduction. Then you'll have

[2:23:33] the public will have a month or whatever to absorb everything. It'll all be

[2:23:38] posted and a public hearing on the ordinance at the next meeting,

[2:23:41] » right? >> Where all your questions can be

[2:23:43] answered. I hope we all can because you know there are quite a few of us who are

[2:23:48] very I felt like this was a you were just shoving this down my throat

[2:23:52] tonight. Um that you all are in for this and I'm personally not in for this.

[2:23:58] » I have I'm not going to live another 30 years to see this pilot paid off. Will I

[2:24:03] ever benefit from it? No. Will the town really benefit in the end? I want to see

[2:24:09] the financial school getting and

[2:24:12] » right that's the decision that we all have to make nobody has made a decision

[2:24:16] yes or no >> make it because it seems like some

[2:24:18] people have already made >> so tonight all all we did all I did

[2:24:23] » was give you facts of what the pilot agreement could do I haven't given you

[2:24:28] any number >> any good like what's the good from it

[2:24:31] » the good that's what I talked about >> we benefit as Waldwick residents

[2:24:35] » so we get a redevelopment project that hopefully spurs on future economic

[2:24:39] growth and other development in the area, bringing additional tax revenue to

[2:24:43] the town. Hopefully increasing your tax base, your tax um value in your home,

[2:24:50] putting money in your pocket when you finally do sell and and and move or or

[2:24:54] whatnot or when I sell and move. Hopefully that brings that hopefully

[2:24:57] that spurs economic development where other retail businesses can be filled

[2:25:01] and uh and bring a revitalized look to down in that area. That's the goal.

[2:25:08] That's the good for the town. A pilot program incentivizes developer

[2:25:13] to do something where uh in otherwise he may not be able to do. The gentleman

[2:25:17] that came up here sounds very informed >> very

[2:25:20] » very informed on the process >> in this whole process here.

[2:25:23] » So but we're not the financial adviserss, right? We're hearing from

[2:25:26] financial adviserss who do what he does, right? And we're getting information

[2:25:31] from them that we can't give to you right now. I'm not a financial adviser.

[2:25:36] He's not a financial adviser. I don't think I think he works for

[2:25:40] » He does. He's a smart guy, right? Maybe he should run for council one day and

[2:25:44] and be up here doing that. I >> I'll I'll stand there just like he did

[2:25:48] for a year. Yeah, exactly. Yes. I look forward to that one.

[2:25:52] » Um we're testing kindergarten this year. >> I run on sharers.

[2:25:56] » I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you. >> You know, they pre-est kids for

[2:25:59] kindergarten to see. Well, you should know it because that's going to affect

[2:26:02] how many kids are coming into our school by how many kindergarteners.

[2:26:06] » Well, I I've just given you a trend of what's happening over the last 10 years

[2:26:09] of declining enrollment. >> But we have a lot of new families move

[2:26:13] into town. >> Sure. We have a lot of families. We had

[2:26:16] such a big turn, >> right? I get it. And we have families

[2:26:18] that graduate out. My older son's grade was one of the biggest that came through

[2:26:23] Waldwick. They graduated out um four years ago. My son's grade now who's a

[2:26:28] who's a junior in Waldwick High School, his grade is smaller than than that

[2:26:31] grade was. So, um you know, it could go up. There could be more kids. I could

[2:26:37] sell my house tomorrow and six kids could move in. You could sell your house

[2:26:40] and six more. >> What we have in concrete um evidence how

[2:26:44] many kids are going into kindergarten this year?

[2:26:46] » Let's take a look. >> Let's prepare ourselves. We have to keep

[2:26:50] our school strong and I don't think this is the way to go to keep it strong.

[2:26:55] » Thank you. I want to hear what percentage is going to our schools to

[2:26:59] the burough. Are we going to lose workers? Who

[2:27:02] » the idea is not to lose workers? That's why we're doing this.

[2:27:05] » Uh I don't know. Did by the way I'd like to ask did did they have um they started

[2:27:10] development on it and they >> they did not

[2:27:13] excuse me. They remove they took down all the houses and they removed all the

[2:27:19] soil and they're doing something underground.

[2:27:22] » The capping punch. Yeah. that is not they've they have received a permit for

[2:27:27] demoing which is what they've done but construction

[2:27:30] » soil right >> but construction permits have not been

[2:27:32] issued um you may be see a movement of of uh soil uh that has to a lot of

[2:27:37] movement >> that has to do with um a road opening

[2:27:40] permit that they took out with the burough um but but construction permits

[2:27:43] and foundation digging that has not been >> whatever they're doing

[2:27:47] » that has not been approved foundation um permits have not been issued

[2:27:51] » they are digging in the ground I'm putting something I don't know that kind

[2:27:54] of stuff, whatever it is, but I want to make sure permits are in order and

[2:27:58] somebody's inspecting the work. >> Of course, we have all hands on deck.

[2:28:02] » We have a pilot like committee to watch over this whole process if it happens to

[2:28:08] go through. Are we going to hire more people to look out that everything's

[2:28:13] being up? >> Well, the pilot's only a financial

[2:28:16] agreement. So, the the project that they've proposed is already approved.

[2:28:21] » Um, right. But I just want to be watching that closely.

[2:28:26] » We've been watching everything in our school at Ramsey High School. Um they

[2:28:30] did a parking lot, right? I was here at a meeting and um it turns out they never

[2:28:36] got permit for all that soil remover and removal and stuff right at our high

[2:28:40] school where the kids go to school. I was at the meeting when this occurred

[2:28:45] and I just don't want this happening in my neighborhood or in Waldwick

[2:28:50] » and I want to make sure all permits are valid and dated.

[2:28:54] » Yes, of course. That that's our number one priority in in all projects and all

[2:28:58] construction in town. >> Happened in the school system when you

[2:29:00] were they were making a larger parking lot at the high school

[2:29:04] » that Ramsey. >> Yes.

[2:29:06] » They actually >> the Ramsay council just is not on top.

[2:29:09] Oh, in >> Wald. Yeah. Don't look so shocked. It

[2:29:12] happened. >> It happened in the Wald school.

[2:29:13] » Yeah. >> Yep. It did.

[2:29:16] » Right in the high school. Look in the look back through the, you know, town

[2:29:20] meetings. I was here when it was discussed. Mr. Maro,

[2:29:22] » it was like, oops. >> I don't want any oops in this. You know

[2:29:26] what I mean? >> I agree. And I think you need to

[2:29:29] research how many kindergarters have come in. You guys are get more research

[2:29:33] than and make sure this is the right thing for our town.

[2:29:37] » I don't believe it. >> Thank you.

[2:29:39] » Thank you.

[2:29:46] Hi Bob going uh West Prospect. We can see we've had some spirited debates. I

[2:29:52] just want to take this time because it's been a long meeting. I I'd like to thank

[2:29:55] everyone on the council for putting this together. You can see there's a

[2:30:00] » speaking to the mic. >> I just want to thank the council also

[2:30:04] for putting this together. Uh you can see there's a spirit of debate. Everyone

[2:30:07] has pros and cons. So, I'm sure you're going to listen to it. I think the only

[2:30:12] thing we can should all agree on is that we need to revitalize the downtown area,

[2:30:18] whether that's the pilot, which I think as Joe, you you did a great job

[2:30:23] explaining it. It sounds like it's a step in the right direction. Uh I'm sure

[2:30:28] you you're still going to pursue it. You got more questions on it, which is

[2:30:32] great. the people have some questions and it's going to be directed for them.

[2:30:36] But we don't want empty lots. Uh I think you bring more people in. Whichever way

[2:30:42] you do, they share in the tax burden. So again, I'm just thanking you for having

[2:30:47] this meeting. It's been a long meeting. Like I said, we all stuck it out. But

[2:30:52] again, thank you. And just listen to the people. Uh you are going to make the

[2:30:56] decision. I'm sure you make the right decision and it's just going to be best

[2:31:00] for the town. So again, just thank you for your time. That's all I wanted to

[2:31:03] say. Thanks, guys. >> Good night.

[2:31:05] » I'll just I'll just add uh that a pilot is not a slam dunk decision, right?

[2:31:10] There's a lot of people for and against the pilot, and [clears throat] I bet you

[2:31:15] if I took a survey at at different places and people talking to me or

[2:31:19] whatnot, I'll get different opinions. Some people will be for it, some people

[2:31:22] will be against it. We have to make a decision at some point.

[2:31:26] » Yes, sir. >> Yes. My name is Pat Stevens and uh one

[2:31:32] of the things I came up here for was to find out can you turn the volume up cuz

[2:31:37] we can't hear anything back there. We have a problem in the past and Al has

[2:31:42] corrected us at almost every meeting that we don't speak into the microphone

[2:31:45] enough. So he he hasn't come up to correct us in in in a year. So thank

[2:31:51] you. >> I hope we do better. Yeah, we will do

[2:31:53] better. >> You we can hear.

[2:31:54] » Thank you.

[2:31:58] went out. >> What's that? The feed went out.

[2:32:02] » Yep. >> Aware teams is on.

[2:32:05] » Someone cut the cord.

[2:32:10] » Uh the reason I came up here for is uh this uh pilot program is how many years?

[2:32:18] » Can't share those details. They're still in negotiations the burough with the

[2:32:21] redeveloper >> in terms of the pilot camp.

[2:32:24] » How long do they normally run? 20 years, 30 years, 40 years,

[2:32:29] » 50 years. >> They can run up to 30 years.

[2:32:34] » Okay. My question is is in that 30-year uh period. Okay. Their payments in lie

[2:32:44] of taxes are fixed >> at at year one or they escalate.

[2:32:50] » They there's a percentage of revenue. So, it's not fixed. All right. And it it

[2:32:54] depending on the negotiation that percentage can change over the life of

[2:32:58] the agreement. >> Okay. The uh other comment I have is

[2:33:04] that um the board of ed makes up 65% of the burough budget.

[2:33:10] » Not borrow budget. >> I'm sorry. The

[2:33:13] » your tax the taxes, >> right?

[2:33:16] » Okay. And they have no control. The board of ed in this town is absolutely

[2:33:21] ridiculous. And there's nothing anybody can do about it because they ra they

[2:33:27] raise the uh taxes. You guys vote it down and they go to Trenton and Trenton

[2:33:33] says, "Oh, no, that's okay. This is what you're going to be paying."

[2:33:38] » How is that going to be? >> I don't think uh that our board has ever

[2:33:43] gone over the cap percentage of what they're allowed to to increase. And our

[2:33:47] board, our council has never told the board of education no on that. Uh to in

[2:33:54] fact our school has always been 100% funded to my knowledge on every budget

[2:33:58] that has come to us and the board of education has never gone over the cap.

[2:34:03] And if they did, there's a process that they have to go to go over their cap

[2:34:07] taxation, >> right?

[2:34:10] » And the council the council doesn't vote on the school budget anymore.

[2:34:16] that we did that the state got rid of that years ago.

[2:34:21] » The state government or the federal government used to be where you're from.

[2:34:25] It used to be the board of ed would present their budget to the mayor and

[2:34:28] council and the mayor council have to vote on. That's no longer the case. That

[2:34:31] hasn't been the case for many years. >> They just go to the state.

[2:34:37] » That's a really good program. >> Who wrote that one? Triton,

[2:34:43] » Titan. >> Who would have thought?

[2:34:46] » Yeah. [laughter] >> And as far as the projections of the

[2:34:51] town saying, you know, you're going to put in we're going to put in 40 units

[2:34:56] and there's going to be five new students.

[2:34:59] The board of ed has absolutely no idea what the projection rates of the student

[2:35:04] population is in Waldwick. And I've been living here for 50 years. And I've

[2:35:10] watched them where they closed down the middle school,

[2:35:16] remember? Because we had too many. We didn't have enough kids to support the

[2:35:21] middle school. I don't And then they ended up then they

[2:35:27] ended up uh going down the trap wagon and putting in four trailers for

[2:35:32] additional classrooms because Whoops. Oh, that means it means over. [laughter]

[2:35:39] » That might have been before our time, but we

[2:35:42] » it was a long time. >> No, they just got they just got rid of

[2:35:45] the trailers. Uh the sparkly ball. They knew you were going to come and talk

[2:35:49] about them. It's because I remember >> That's right. That's right.

[2:35:53] Unfortunately, but my own question is that just uh how

[2:36:00] the this pilot program protects the taxpayers that are giving up

[2:36:08] a percentage of their taxes for this program that how are you protecting us?

[2:36:15] I think that it um we could we could continue to give you abstract uh

[2:36:22] information on that. My my uh I hate to do this um but but I I'd urge you to

[2:36:28] come back uh at the meeting when we provide the actual financial details.

[2:36:32] Um, and then I think we actually have concrete numbers to discuss

[2:36:37] » only because I remember back in the 70s when the uh

[2:36:40] » that was before my time >> when the uh [laughter]

[2:36:45] » wasn't before mine. >> I know

[2:36:48] when when the uh mortgage rates were going through the roof, 8 n 10%

[2:36:53] mortgages. And the trick the banks came up with to

[2:36:57] get people to come in to take mortgages was yeah they would offer a 5%

[2:37:04] uh mortgage rate for 5 years and then the payment would balloon.

[2:37:11] » Yeah. >> And I was just wondering if you're if

[2:37:15] you're looking at who's ever doing the negotiation from the town side if you're

[2:37:20] looking at protective policies like that.

[2:37:24] I think we're looking at all angles. >> Yeah, we're looking at everything,

[2:37:27] » you know. And as far as financial advisors,

[2:37:30] Lehman Brothers was a big financial advisor.

[2:37:36] » We're not using the bank. Yeah, we're not using banks.

[2:37:38] » Although we had enough banks in Waldick, we really could use the bank. Yeah.

[2:37:44] » And another pizza parlor. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[2:37:51] » Hi, Stacy Karacio. Um, and I know it's very late and I apologize, but I have a

[2:37:55] burning question that I'm really concerned about. So, yes, the pilot was

[2:37:59] the motivating factor, but now I'm more concerned about the financial stability

[2:38:02] of the developer. So, the fact that he we didn't attract them by saying, "Hey,

[2:38:09] we'll offer a pilot, right, to redevelop as part of this initiative." And now all

[2:38:12] of a sudden, we're sitting with empty lots that potentially can't be

[2:38:17] developed. Are we actually in a situation where this project might not

[2:38:21] go through cuz now he's coming and asking that there's

[2:38:23] » financial it's not about the financial stability of the company why they ask

[2:38:27] for a pilot. What you ask for a pilot for is the financing of the project.

[2:38:32] » Right? So he's unable to get financing. So when we took

[2:38:34] » because of the revenue that's coming in of the project, right? So you have

[2:38:38] revenue that comes in. You have to generate a cash flow. how many unit how

[2:38:42] many cash flow could we generate from 44 units versus how much the cost of their

[2:38:47] financing is. So if that forget how much money he has if if that developer has

[2:38:52] more money that doesn't take into account of what the cash flow for that

[2:38:56] propert he's not willing to put more up front right I'm in I'm in finance very

[2:39:02] common practice right in >> I understand he wants to he wants to

[2:39:04] arbitrage I get it he's trying to do but but that's not how redevelopment works

[2:39:09] um with it being an area need of redevelopment the pilot then becomes a

[2:39:13] tool to allow um properties to be redeveloped when there isn't enough

[2:39:19] funding. So, because the project has affordable housing units that are costly

[2:39:25] to build, but you wouldn't recoup that money in revenue, that's why there are

[2:39:29] these incentives. So, the pilot is an incentive for

[2:39:33] someone to come in and build a project that he proposed and purchased it prior

[2:39:38] to us talking about the pilot, right? I mean, the pilot was an afterthought,

[2:39:43] right? They proposed a um they proposed a project that was uh originally uh uh

[2:39:49] higher density with uh no town homes, no retail and uh prior councils pushed back

[2:39:56] um on that and really and requested lower density uh requested uh uh retail

[2:40:03] and requested town homes in lie of all of the apartments. Um, so really it was

[2:40:09] kind of us pushing back on the developer and saying we don't want something big

[2:40:14] and dense and that doesn't kind of fit within the idea that we're we're placing

[2:40:19] here. Um, you know, and you know, so whether he expected to submit a a pilot,

[2:40:27] I I don't know. Uh whether anyone anticipated one, I also don't know. But

[2:40:31] I but I think that >> but he's having trouble getting funding

[2:40:34] now based off of the projected revenues on an economy that's strong

[2:40:38] it's a very small project in an expensive area. Uh it's tough to finance

[2:40:43] that. Right. So um I think that that is not I as far as I know that's not a um

[2:40:52] that that is not a uh that's not something about them. That's just banks

[2:40:56] are not unless banks are absolutely secure that they're going to get their

[2:41:00] money back from their investment, they're just not going to finance

[2:41:02] something, >> right? So, doesn't that create concern

[2:41:05] for us that we're basing a revenue stream off of a revenue modeled project

[2:41:11] that's our tax stream. So if that if the if if we have a economy that goes weak

[2:41:16] and rentals go down or we end up overdeveloping in that and we end up not

[2:41:20] having full occupancy we now are based off of the revenue model as opposed to a

[2:41:25] tax model all of us are >> that is the risk that is the risk and

[2:41:29] the risk we're looking to put safeguards in place. Oh, but on the tax model, if

[2:41:34] it's apartments and the and the market does go down and those apartments go

[2:41:38] vacant, the revenue comes down. Properties that are commercial like that

[2:41:42] that are revenue income or income producing, they get taxed as income

[2:41:47] producing property. They're not taxed as like your normal house.

[2:41:50] » Understand? So if the if the market would tank and the rental market would

[2:41:54] go down, you would also lose a lot more in conventional taxes in that

[2:41:58] » because we're not taxing the property as a correct

[2:42:01] » as a because it's >> how is it taxed then?

[2:42:04] » Because it's it's an incomeroucing property. So the way it's taxed, it's

[2:42:08] not on comparable sales like what it would sell for. It's how much revenue is

[2:42:12] being generated and what are the expenses. So we always on our on our

[2:42:18] rental properties, our multi- developed properties tax on a revenue model. Um

[2:42:25] for that >> it's an income expense. Yes.

[2:42:27] » So then what's the difference then with the income of this to that? Like what?

[2:42:32] Don't give me the real stuff, but like why why why is this then a difference if

[2:42:37] it's always revenue based? >> Because the probably the percentages are

[2:42:40] different, >> right?

[2:42:45] The percentage of revenue based um >> and they'll go through that. I don't

[2:42:50] want to push because I know you can't disclose. I'm not looking for, you know,

[2:42:52] but okay. So they'll go through that. And then my other last um well two

[2:42:57] points is when they run the numbers they're going to like run a Monte Carlo

[2:43:01] like to show like if the markets were to go down the revenues were to go down

[2:43:04] what the impact would be to us right in all of that as part of their

[2:43:08] projections. will see those >> they're I think

[2:43:11] » the financial advisors >> you'll see our financial advisors

[2:43:14] projections. Yeah. Which uh they they put together well

[2:43:18] » they'll also run it against different markets types right to show us what

[2:43:21] would happen if the market if we were to have I right now we're in a strong

[2:43:25] market like they should be running it in a hypothetical if it were 2008 2009

[2:43:31] right they run multiple scenarios to show that are they going to prod produce

[2:43:36] that to us? No, they typically don't do it that way. They just look at the

[2:43:40] project as it is proposed and they look at um

[2:43:46] if there is a real need for a pilot, but they don't project it. I mean, they

[2:43:51] project

[2:43:54] » for the term of the of the pilot and they have different um line items for

[2:44:00] vacancies, but not for market conditions, right?

[2:44:06] There's there's a general there's a general vacancy control and everything

[2:44:10] that that's all based in the calculations because look

[2:44:14] » you you can't you could run a hundred different simulations based on market

[2:44:19] conditions. That's just impossible to run, you know. So they they base it off

[2:44:23] general market conditions as to what the the average rentals would be, what the

[2:44:28] costs are and give you a very good projection as to what you can expect.

[2:44:32] Nobody can plan for what >> I mean that's usually why they run like

[2:44:36] would shut down >> like I mean if again like this is

[2:44:40] individual like but we would run a 500 scenario calculation to see if you're

[2:44:43] successful to retire right based on what you have and like that's what you do

[2:44:46] with financial planning so I would imagine that they would have the

[2:44:50] capability to run with the projection especially if it's a long-term plan that

[2:44:54] we're going into but all right I'll wait for the financials on that and then my

[2:44:58] last point um before I fall asleep over here what everybody else leave with me

[2:45:02] is that um paying out 100% of the the school budget, but they're maxed at

[2:45:09] giving us a 2% increase. Right? So, if that pro if any of these properties in

[2:45:14] the redevelopment end up putting us stress, that puts a 4% increase on that

[2:45:19] budget, trying to get that extra difference. And that's probably where

[2:45:23] we're feeling the pressure right now and why everybody's so concerned because 2%

[2:45:27] a year is not enough. it's not keeping up with the cost of all the things that

[2:45:31] are happening, right? Everything that's going on. So I do think that um to try

[2:45:37] to put some ease putting something in place and I I don't know if that's state

[2:45:41] regulated or how that becomes the 2% is there but there should be some way for

[2:45:46] us to make sure that if there is something that is causing stress we have

[2:45:50] an ability to pull more money into the school system based on the fact that

[2:45:55] this is not getting taxed regular if the pilot program goes through.

[2:45:58] » So if there's any way to do that I don't know how that's regulated. And and a lot

[2:46:02] of it has to do with the amount of money that we're talking about. We're not

[2:46:06] talking about a 100 unit complex where there's a lot of revenue coming in.

[2:46:10] We're talking about 40 units. So you can do math. You could think about how much

[2:46:15] is coming in and how much would potentially come to us.

[2:46:20] I wish I could share more with you right now, but I I I can't. So, um, when the

[2:46:25] financial advisors are come, as Council Mitchie said, I think you'll be able to

[2:46:29] see a fuller picture of what we're talking about,

[2:46:31] » you know, and I appreciate all the work that you guys are doing. I know it's not

[2:46:34] easy. So, thank you for taking the time tonight.

[2:46:43] » Sure. >> Schultz, I just have a couple comments

[2:46:47] and one question. Oh, sorry. uh since they started knocking those

[2:46:52] houses down, they did a nice job of fencing it. The only problem now is they

[2:46:55] put up black plastic. So if you're going west on Frederick Street and you need to

[2:47:00] stop, I'm going to guess by the end of next week somebody's going to get

[2:47:03] waffled cuz you can't see. You got to stick your nose halfway out into

[2:47:07] Harrison. So if they can maybe move the fence back, they'll do something because

[2:47:11] someone's going to get hit. Hopefully not me when I'm walking and running, but

[2:47:14] maybe some people hope that. >> I I'll make sure I don't walk over

[2:47:17] there. No one knows that. I would I wouldn't have that J. That might be a

[2:47:21] good point. Uh, one question I have is that ordinance that we passed for the

[2:47:25] police tonight, is that for body cam? >> It is for tasers. It's body cam. It's a

[2:47:30] uh combination package of uh of the system that the police department will

[2:47:34] be using. >> And the is the body cam stored on site

[2:47:37] or does the vendor keep those videos? >> Uh, those are on a server I believe on

[2:47:41] site. Chief, >> it's cloud

[2:47:43] » cloud storage cloud storage. Do we pay when someone open requests that do we

[2:47:47] have to pay from to get it from the cloud back to the people or is it is it

[2:47:51] part of the contract we don't have to pay?

[2:47:53] » Yes, we have to pay somebody submits an oper request.

[2:47:57] » They have to pay for that body camera. >> They have to pay. Okay.

[2:48:00] » And so a letter goes out to them to tell them it's going to cost X. It's going to

[2:48:04] take um a person this much time to do it. It's going to cost them X. Are they

[2:48:09] willing to go forward with that and make the payment ahead of time? And if they

[2:48:13] are, then they run the then they run it. And if they're not, they'll say, "Nope,

[2:48:18] I I don't I don't need that." Or they'll narrow their scope down so it cost them

[2:48:21] less money. >> Perfect answer. It is

[2:48:23] » perfect answer. >> Okay.

[2:48:25] » Uh this financial analysis, that's the costbenefit analysis that the state

[2:48:30] specifies in their booklet. So when we're done with this financial analysis,

[2:48:34] it's going to be the cost benefit analysis, right? Are we talking about

[2:48:38] the same thing? So part of part of the analysis they do will show how much

[2:48:42] revenue how much cost we're expecting to see at a you know a budget based number

[2:48:48] of what we think and what the net profit would be to to the bureau

[2:48:52] » and it includes all the cost for like sewage water and all that.

[2:48:56] » Yeah. He he took in a percentage all those

[2:48:59] » even though we don't it's anecdotal right it's best guess.

[2:49:02] » Okay. And the last comment is I know I've been in a deal with this for the

[2:49:06] last 14 months. Um, last comment I'll make is I think if we would have gotten

[2:49:12] people involved, so the three people that spoke tonight, Stacy, the school

[2:49:16] teacher I never met, and the other individual, if we would have got them

[2:49:20] involved 12 months ago with this, I feel a lot better tonight than I did the last

[2:49:24] 12 months. So maybe something we learned from this, and again, I don't want to be

[2:49:29] a pain in the ass. The last 12 months, I said, get people in the community

[2:49:34] involved. And we did not. We did not involve people. And again, we had three

[2:49:39] people get up tonight that seemed very knowledgeable. If we would have had

[2:49:43] these people involved, and maybe we get them involved now when the financial

[2:49:46] statements come back, we need to get people like this involved because they

[2:49:50] know what they're talking about. Thank you.

[2:49:52] » Thank you, J. >> Thank you.

[2:50:01] » It's getting late. Laura Lel, I have a question. Um, you stated that they

[2:50:06] didn't pull the permits to pour the foundation yet

[2:50:09] » to dig out the foundation. Correct. No construction permits have been issued

[2:50:12] yet. >> So, is that a them problem or they

[2:50:15] haven't been issued or have they applied for them?

[2:50:17] » They have not applied for permits. >> So, if they haven't applied because they

[2:50:20] haven't gotten the funding if anything falls through if the company goes

[2:50:24] bankrupt, what happens to that property? They just pay their taxes on the land.

[2:50:28] » They will continue to pay their taxes and they're the rightful owners of that

[2:50:31] property. So, are they waiting for the pilot to be approved before they pull

[2:50:34] the permits? Does anybody know? Or is that a Cresken moment?

[2:50:37] » Most most likely, but we can't, you know, can't say for certain. They are

[2:50:40] the rifle owners of the property. >> Okay.

[2:50:43] » With site plan approval, which means they could go to the building department

[2:50:46] to take out. >> And how long would it take for that uh

[2:50:49] permit to be approved? I I'm just wondering if us or if the if the council

[2:50:54] not approving the pilot is delaying the project, which is in essence going to

[2:50:58] delay the money or delay the development and then delay the rentals and the 100%

[2:51:04] for the pilot to take effect and it's just a domino effect. And if we're in

[2:51:09] negotiations right now and it's going to take months, are they going to wait

[2:51:13] months to start developing? >> They do not start construction

[2:51:18] in place. No, they they cannot ask for a pilot after they start construction,

[2:51:22] right? >> That would put the pilot in.

[2:51:26] » They could start construction tomorrow, but then

[2:51:28] » but then the table. So, you can you can assume that's why they're they're not

[2:51:33] starting. I think >> so. We can anticipate as a town that

[2:51:36] they won't be developing for probably another month or so

[2:51:40] » at least. >> At least.

[2:51:43] » Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone

[2:51:48] else? >> All right.

[2:51:51] » If not, do I have >> I was waiting till

[2:51:55] one more. >> Um, so the last the last point that I

[2:51:58] wanted to make before was I I had asked about that um or I had mentioned that

[2:52:05] bill that was being proposed and I heard several other people bring it up and I

[2:52:09] heard your responses saying you doubt that it's going to go through. You don't

[2:52:12] think it's going to happen. Um, but I want to put another worst case scenario.

[2:52:16] I know I'm like a doom and gloom kind of person, but these are the kind of things

[2:52:19] that you think about when you're in education. Um, you have all been very

[2:52:23] supportive of the school district since I have lived here. I All of my kids went

[2:52:28] through the public schools here. I've been very happy with public schools. Um,

[2:52:32] is Dan still here? I've had meetings with Dan about all sorts of crazy

[2:52:36] things. I'm actually the I was the last person to keep grad ball alive in Waldo

[2:52:41] High School for those of you who didn't know. So I am a super involved person.

[2:52:45] Um but the one of the worst case scenarios that I

[2:52:49] also think of is when we are not all here. those people who are so pro-

[2:52:54] education, so pro public education, when and if, god forbid, 20 years from now,

[2:53:00] we don't know what our town is going to look like when we have a different

[2:53:05] council that is up there and it is not in place that a certain portion of this

[2:53:09] money goes to public education. We could be in a very different having a very

[2:53:15] different problem, a very different discussion because if we don't set that

[2:53:19] precedent saying that it is important for us to make sure that a certain

[2:53:25] amount of this money goes to the public schools and

[2:53:30] we don't put it in writing, put it in an agreement and we just go on the faith

[2:53:36] that we've done it all for so long and we've just always supported them. if

[2:53:39] it's not in writing that could destroy public education because if those funds

[2:53:45] let's say that this public this is the first this is this is our first pilot

[2:53:49] program right >> okay so this is our first one who's to

[2:53:53] say in 10 years 15 years when some of us have moved away gone Florida done

[2:53:58] whatever it is we have set a precedent we've set a precedent that it's not

[2:54:03] going to happen and we continue to add these type of projects and those funds

[2:54:07] are not specifically dedicated and put into into place what is going to

[2:54:13] protect public education. >> Yeah, Lisa, I I think there there's some

[2:54:17] points there that could be addressed when you see the financial numbers. The

[2:54:22] financial numbers have to make sense for the bureau, too. So if the number is not

[2:54:27] big enough where we can set aside a percentage that would make any

[2:54:30] substantial impact to the board of education and benefit the bureau then

[2:54:35] the benefits of doing a pilot don't really make sense. Right? So if the

[2:54:40] finances make sense where the percentage of revenue that we can take in makes

[2:54:44] sense for the bureau and increase the municipality ability to support services

[2:54:50] like police, fire, DPW, whatnot, we need to handle that first while still funding

[2:54:57] the board of education at 100%. I wish I could share more numbers with

[2:55:02] you. Hopefully at the next council meeting we can share more numbers and it

[2:55:05] will become more apparent of what we can and can't do. Okay, thank you.

[2:55:10] » Y thanks.

[2:55:21] » Uh Pat Morty, uh Pennington Avenue. Hi. >> Hi Pat.

[2:55:25] » Um I wanted to just say that I think 30 years is too long and I'd just like to

[2:55:32] put that out there if we could probably maybe do 10 or 20. I'm not totally in

[2:55:39] favor of this because I haven't seen the financials and everything. Um, but I

[2:55:43] think 30 years is is too long a period. Um, if the pilot doesn't go forward,

[2:55:50] does the council still have to approve anything that's built going forward?

[2:55:54] » The builder has a site plan right now so they can build what they have approved

[2:56:00] without us saying anything else. if they want to change that footprint, right,

[2:56:06] then they would have to go back before uh planning board or or council if it's

[2:56:10] over a certain whatever because if it exceeds our uh approved site plan, then

[2:56:16] they'd have to go back for a change, but they could build what they have approved

[2:56:20] right now. >> Okay. So,

[2:56:24] what you're saying is that the pilot uh gives you more control over what's being

[2:56:29] built in those places? >> Not necessarily. Right. So, we could if

[2:56:33] they came back with a a larger development, we could say, "No, you

[2:56:38] know, we're not going to allow you to because we have a redevelopment area

[2:56:42] that gives us control over what we want to see there." A pilot is a financial

[2:56:46] tool that incentivizes the development. >> Okay. So, basically, the council will

[2:56:50] still have control over with and without the pilot, the council will still have

[2:56:54] control over approving what is being built there.

[2:56:58] » It's already approved. >> The planning board approved. They have

[2:57:02] site plan approval. So they have plans that they can start building tomorrow if

[2:57:06] they took out the proper permits with the with the town.

[2:57:09] » Okay. So the pilot is separate from what's being built?

[2:57:12] » Yes. >> Okay. Thank you.

[2:57:21] » Hi, I'm Sean Henry. Just want to say thank you uh Council J. That was awesome

[2:57:25] the presentation that you gave or the talk you had.

[2:57:28] » Thank Um just my personal view on this. I live in Hackinack. I live in a pilot

[2:57:32] building. Took a long time for it to be fully occupied. Um rental units are

[2:57:38] that's already done, but it's transient residents. They you know they come and

[2:57:41] go. Um my real concern with this is you do this one time and then what it what

[2:57:47] like incentivizes the next developer to not want this. Like we said has five.

[2:57:53] That's good, bad, I don't know. It's Highlands. It's regional. Um, so just

[2:57:57] that's one thing I want you to consider as you go through this is what does this

[2:58:00] do to developer in the future? Is it all a pilot after this?

[2:58:03] » Yeah, I think and even when a developer came a couple council meetings ago and

[2:58:07] we're talking about Houston, I think council member was the one who said no

[2:58:11] pilot, you know, I think we we we >> we don't want a lot of pilots

[2:58:18] » in in theory. In a perfect world, conventional taxes is much easier. We're

[2:58:22] not having this last 6-month discussion. We're already building. if it wasn't

[2:58:26] necessary and we wouldn't do it or we wouldn't even consider it be done. Pilot

[2:58:31] uh provincial attack start building would be closer to being done already.

[2:58:35] » Yeah. I just want to say I appreciate I know you have residents and you guys are

[2:58:38] all in this with us as well. So thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you.

[2:58:43] » Anyone else?

[2:58:50] » Good evening. Rich Andrew Heavich. I live in Harrison A.

[2:58:55] Um I guess I'm just going to say you all remember Sandy, the storm Sandy. Uh we

[2:59:02] couldn't go anywhere in this town because there was no place to we

[2:59:08] couldn't connect on either side of Prospect Street because of railroad

[2:59:12] tracks. I know it's a sore subject, but you know what? You're creating another

[2:59:17] problem with all these people moving in. You're going to have a minimum of a 100

[2:59:20] cars and at 5:00 in the evening, should there be a fire, might as well let the

[2:59:26] house burn down because you know what? That truck's not going to get there. It

[2:59:30] can't get there now. And these guys do their best and he won't be able to get

[2:59:36] there at all. So, I'm just wondering who did a traffic

[2:59:40] exam on this whole thing. >> I think we did a traffic study. I think

[2:59:45] it's a part of the whole project. Police was involved. The fire department had

[2:59:50] fire department fire department was heavily involved. Yeah.

[2:59:52] » Well, I mean, I don't see how they can do it. I tried to get through here at

[2:59:56] 5:00 one night and I couldn't even get out.

[3:00:00] Yet, our fire trucks have to come all the way over here.

[3:00:04] Every other town, every other town has has access railroad tracks. This is

[3:00:09] ridiculous, you know, and you you just and it's just making it harder for

[3:00:13] everybody. Even people that live down there, it's making it even harder. You

[3:00:18] know, you have not enough room to park. I don't know where they're going to park

[3:00:21] 44 units or another 100 cars down there cuz they don't have enough parking for

[3:00:25] 100 cars there now. >> So, the the project meets the statutory

[3:00:30] parking requirements, right? >> Excuse me. I'm sorry.

[3:00:34] The this this was all done 18 months ago at the planning board when the planning

[3:00:38] board held their numerous hearings on the application. It meets the

[3:00:41] requirements for the under the RSIS, which is the residential site

[3:00:45] improvement standards for parking. The town houses have garages. There's It was

[3:00:51] all be >> okay. I like to see that when it

[3:00:53] happens. I'll be honest with you. You know, if it doesn't happen, I'm going to

[3:00:57] be happy. I'll be back >> and you're not going to like me when I

[3:01:00] come back. >> There's a Thank [clears throat] you.

[3:01:02] » Thank you. >> Anyone else?

[3:01:14] Sorry. >> Hi, Rick Rubenstein. Uh, I don't really

[3:01:17] have pilot questions. Uh, you guys have said the same answers the whole time, so

[3:01:21] I guess I'll just wait till next month. Uh, my question is about the pool. Uh,

[3:01:25] I'm there probably 5 days a week. I got three little kids. So,

[3:01:29] » uh, better to do that there than at my own home. Uh, my only question, uh,

[3:01:33] actually two questions. There's a big giant pile of mulch in the parking lot

[3:01:37] there. >> Yes.

[3:01:38] » Taking up a bunch of spots. Is that being moved anytime soon?

[3:01:41] » So, uh we use that as a a location for drop off for all of our burrow parks and

[3:01:46] facilities for our mulch. So, uh they're working through that pile and getting it

[3:01:50] down. >> Okay. Great.

[3:01:51] » That's the public works. >> All right. Cuz that wasn't there in

[3:01:54] years past. So, it's been a new development there.

[3:01:56] » We we've we've used that area before. Um the last the last question is uh the the

[3:02:03] pool's great. Uh it's one of the most affordable things in Bergen County. Uh

[3:02:08] but there is a snack stand that is empty and has been empty for years and curious

[3:02:14] as to why it's still empty. Uh I have emailed a couple years ago about putting

[3:02:20] a vending machine in just any kind of uh snacks for the kids.

[3:02:25] » We hear you. Uh so that went out to bid a few years ago and um the the person

[3:02:31] who won the bid came in turned out to be um not always reliable, not always being

[3:02:37] able to be present there. >> Um but the feedback that we've continued

[3:02:41] to receive from people who have tried to do it is just that the numbers aren't

[3:02:44] high enough and there isn't um enough in terms of revenue that they're bringing

[3:02:47] in to be able to, you know, provide services to be there all day. You know,

[3:02:52] the pool's open 10 to 7. Not that we would require them to be there during

[3:02:56] that time. We've had conversations with people who have been um interested in

[3:02:59] it. Um but it is a lot on the person who would be running the concession stands

[3:03:04] and we just haven't found the person who, you know, feels that um and again

[3:03:07] we've got to go to bid. So we did that process last time. They came in and and

[3:03:10] they weren't able to make it through the full season. Um became quite annoying to

[3:03:14] the patrons who were showing up and you know if he was deciding on a Tuesday the

[3:03:17] weather didn't look great, he wasn't going to, you know, waste his time

[3:03:19] coming in that he wasn't going to be there. So those are the challenges we've

[3:03:22] had. Um, but it it's it's it's it is uh we hear you guys loud and clear. Um, the

[3:03:28] ice cream truck seems to make everybody happy when it shows up.

[3:03:32] » Not everybody. >> No, people don't like the ice cream. I'm

[3:03:36] not loving it. But that's okay. >> Why is that?

[3:03:39] » Well, when you have two floors concession stand be going.

[3:03:45] [laughter] Um, any thought to like allowing it as a

[3:03:50] fundraising opportunity for the school system and letting senior class run it

[3:03:55] and allow the kids to run it? And >> I haven't talked about it before. I

[3:04:00] guess we could look into uh that as an option.

[3:04:02] » All right. Great. Thank you. >> Thanks.

[3:04:04] » Thank you. >> Anyone else?

[3:04:08] » Yeah. Do I have

[3:04:15] one? I guess you all guys know who I am. >> Nobody knows you.

[3:04:20] » As long as you know I'm a taxpayer as well and I have a lot of concerns and I

[3:04:24] know you guys are trying to do the best that you could do. Only thing I can say

[3:04:27] to you from all the people here, they're asking a lot of you do the right thing.

[3:04:33] Do the right thing for the people. Don't do it for the promises. The promises

[3:04:37] never work. They're broken every single time. The people are here trying to

[3:04:41] explain to you how they feel. And I pay a lot of taxes, too. I'm not going to

[3:04:45] whine about all that stuff. We all have to pay them. But you guys got to make

[3:04:49] the right decision. Do the right thing for the people. Not the promises. They

[3:04:53] won't work. The promises don't. And I know where this is all going to go, but

[3:04:57] I had to say what I had to say. All right. Thank you.

[3:05:04] » Anyone else? >> If not, do I have a motion to adjourn?

[3:05:09] » Katie, second by Mike. All those in favor? All those opposed?

07-14-2026 Council Regular Meeting

Transcript