Transcript for Piscataway Council meeting on July 22 2025
Note: Transcripts are generated by rev.ai and may not be fully accurate. Please listen to the recording (below) if you feel any text is inaccurate.
Speaker 0 00:00:04 Recording Speaker 1 00:00:04 In Speaker 0 00:00:05 Progress, the Township of Piscataway Council meeting of July 22nd, 2025. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as as required under chapter 2 31 PL 1975, specifying the time, date, location, login, or dial-in information, and to the extent known the agenda by posting a copy of the notice on the municipal Building Municipal court, and the two municipal library bulletin boards municipal website, providing a copy of the official newspapers of the township by filing a copy in the office of the township clerk in accordance with the, with a certification by the clerk, which will be entered in the minutes. There will be a public comment periods for both remote and in-person attendees separately. Each member of the public shall only, shall only have one opportunity. Opportunity to speak during each public portion. As the technology does not allow us to know if there are multiple callers on an individual phone line or logged in user account. We ask that if you wish to speak that you log in or dial in separately, so that way we can recognize you as a separate individual should you have any further comments or questions. The Township Council is always available by email and phone, and you can always call the mayor's office during normal operating hours. Speaker 0 00:01:21 Ms. Seat Rool, please. Speaker 1 00:01:23 Council member Cahill. Council Member Carmichael Here. Council member Liebowitz. Hello, council Member Lombardi. Here. Council Member Rashid. Here. Council Member Irin. Here. Council President Espinosa Here. Speaker 0 00:01:41 Please join a saluting flag Speaker 2 00:01:48 America. Speaker 0 00:02:01 Thank you. Item number five. Are there, are there any comments from the administration and council regarding the adjourn adjournment of any matters on this agenda today? Speaker 1 00:02:13 None. Speaker 0 00:02:14 Okay. Thank you. Open to the public comments regarding for comments regarding item number nine, consent agenda items Speaker 0 00:02:26 For each public. I'm sorry for the remote attendees. If you wish to speak at this time, please raise your hand either on the Zoom app or by phone by pressing star nine. When it's your turn to speak, you will receive or hear a request to unmute yourself, please click the prompt or press star six on your phone to unmute yourself at that time. Please state your name and address and know that you have three minutes in which to make your comment. The council or administration will respond if necessary after you have completed any comments or questions. Ms. Seater, do we have anybody in queue for remote attendees? Speaker 1 00:02:58 Council president, there are no remote attendees with their hand raised regarding this agenda item. Speaker 0 00:03:03 Thank you, Ms. Cedar. Closing to the remote attendees, opening to the in-person attendees, if you wish to speak at this time, please come to the podium, state your name and address and know that you have three minutes in which to make your comments. You may take a seat after completion of your comments or questions and the council or administration will respond if necessary. I see no one at the podium closing to the in-person attendees, item number seven, ordinance first reading, amending various chapters of the revised general ordinance of the Township of Piscataway resolution adopting ordinance, ordinance Ms. Cedar, Speaker 1 00:03:44 Be it resolved by the Township Council of Piscataway Township, New Jersey that an ordinance entitled Ordinance to amend and supplement the revised general ordinances of the township of Piscataway, county of Middlesex, state of New Jersey. Amending Chapter 32, storm mortar Management and control articles two, three, and four. Storm water Management Private storm drain inlet retrofitting and privately owned salt storage B and is hereby adopted on the first reading that it be published in the official newspaper. And that a second reading in public hearing be held at 7:00 PM prevailing time at the Piscataway Municipal Building 4 55 Hose Lane, Piscataway, New Jersey on the 12th day of August, 2025. Be it further resolved that a copy of this ordinance shall be posted in at least two public places within the township prior to the day of the second reading and final passage. And a copy of this ordinance shall be made available at the office of the Township Clerk for any interested member of the public. Speaker 0 00:04:35 Thank you Ms. Cedar. May I have a motion please? Speaker 3 00:04:41 Motion Carmichael. Speaker 0 00:04:44 May I have second? Speaker 4 00:04:46 Second. Speaker 0 00:04:48 Thank you. Roll call Speaker 1 00:04:50 Council member Carmichael. Speaker 3 00:04:52 Yes. Speaker 1 00:04:53 Council member Lebowitz. Yes. Council member Lombardi. Speaker 3 00:04:58 Yes. Speaker 1 00:04:59 Council member Rashid. Speaker 4 00:05:01 Yes. Speaker 1 00:05:02 Council member Rin. Yes. Council President Espinosa? Speaker 0 00:05:05 Yes. Item number eight, ordinance First reading, amended chapter seven, traffic sections 14 and 15, resolution adopting Ordinance Cedar Speaker 1 00:05:17 Be it resolved by the Township Council of Piscataway Township, New Jersey that an ordinance entitled Ordinance to amend and supplement the revised general ordinances of the township of Piscataway, county of Middlesex, state of New Jersey, amending Chapter seven traffic Section 14, parking prohibited at all times on certain streets. And Section 15 parking prohibited during certain hours on certain streets being is hereby adopted on the first reading that it be published in the official newspaper. And that a second reading in public hearing be held at 7:00 PM prevailing time at the Piscataway Municipal Building 4 55 Hose Lane Piscataway, New Jersey on the 12th day of August, 2025. Be it further resolved that a copy of this ordinance shall be posted in at least two public places within the township prior to the day of the second reading and final passage. And a copy of this ordinance shall be made available at the office of the Township clerk for any interested member of the public. Speaker 0 00:06:06 Thank you Ms. Cedar. May I have motion please? Speaker 5 00:06:10 Motion Councilwoman Lombardi. Speaker 6 00:06:13 Second Liebowitz. Speaker 0 00:06:16 Thank you. Roll call Speaker 1 00:06:19 Council member Carmichael. Speaker 3 00:06:21 Yes. Speaker 1 00:06:22 Council member Lebowitz. Speaker 6 00:06:23 Yes. Speaker 1 00:06:25 Council member Lombardi. Speaker 5 00:06:27 Yes. Speaker 1 00:06:27 Council member Rashid? Speaker 5 00:06:29 Yes. Speaker 1 00:06:30 Council member Rin. Yes. Council President Esposa? Yes. Speaker 0 00:06:37 Thank you. Item number nine, consent agenda Resolution for efficiency. Items have been consolidated into a consent agenda to be voted on together and the materials for these items have been dis distributed to the council in advance of the meeting, do I have a motion please? Speaker 5 00:06:55 Motion to accept the consent agenda. Councilwoman Lombardi, Speaker 3 00:07:00 Second Carmichael. Speaker 0 00:07:02 Thank you. Roll call please. Speaker 1 00:07:04 Council Member Carmichael. Yes. Council member Liebowitz. Speaker 6 00:07:08 Yes. Speaker 1 00:07:10 Council member Lombardi? Yes. Council member Rashid? Yes. Council member Rin. Yes. Council President Espinosa? Speaker 0 00:07:19 Yes. Thank you. Item number 10, announcements and comments from officials. Councilman Sharon Carmichael. Speaker 3 00:07:37 Good evening. Thank you, president. Just a reminder that on Thursday, July 31st, we will have another concert at the Columbus Park inviting all to come out and enjoy. It's the colorblind band. Thank you. Speaker 0 00:08:04 Yes. We do have a, a concert on the 31st, which is the Color Blind Band in Columbus Park. This week is going to be Viva Selena, but that's going to be in Riverside Park. So, but yeah, both locations are great for the these concerts. Speaker 3 00:08:21 Great. Thank you. Speaker 0 00:08:24 Thank you. Councilman Carmichael. Councilwoman Leitz. Speaker 6 00:08:28 Good evening everybody. I just wanna just take a moment to recognize and thank all of our public works people and all of our volunteers who have really been doing their very best to take care of our township during the impact of all of this crazy weather. As well as those in our community who have just gone out of their way to help their neighbors both in town next door in Plainfield. I really think it speaks to who we are and what we represent in the town of Piscataway. Speaker 0 00:09:05 Thank you very much. Councilwoman Laura Liebowitz Councilwoman Michelle Lombardi. Speaker 5 00:09:09 Yes. On behalf of all of the council members, I would like to publicly thank all of our emergency services personnel for their outstanding efforts during our storm last Monday evening. Multiple, multiple water rescues of people that continue to drive into the water and put our emergency services people at risk while rescuing them. So thank you to them. Thank you to the Conrail workers who put did CPR on the one person that was in the water, and I believe he's alive today due to them finding him. So thank you to the Conrail people and the concerts are moving forward. We do have Selena tomorrow evening, but I believe we're going to move forward with them at Riverside Park ongoing, not at Columbus Park. So it's Thursday evening at Riverside Park, not Columbus Park. Speaker 0 00:10:11 Thank you. Councilwoman. Michelle Lombardi councilwoman. Sarah Rasheed. Speaker 4 00:10:17 No point repeating the same thing. Yeah, I'm blessed, but everybody stay safe. The weather's not done yet, so let's enjoy what we have right now. Speaker 0 00:10:27 Thank you Councilwoman. Sarah Rashid. Councilman Franker? Speaker 8 00:10:31 Yes. I just want to echo Michelle's words. I also want to thank Jim and Department of Public Works for the fabulous cleanup they did in Ward one. They did an excellent job. Job. Speaker 0 00:10:43 Thank you, Frank. Thank you Councilman Frank Hearn Mayor, Speaker 9 00:10:48 Please. Council president one Witz Avenue. I, I spoke to Councilman Lombardi earlier this afternoon. PSE G'S finished running the, the high pre the main gas main out there. They're expected to be out there for another month doing the gas services for all the homes. And once that's finished and engineering department will be able to finish up the construction of the roadway on cedarwood Frank, they're expected to be out there tomorrow or the next couple days to do the gas services. Once that's finished, the contract will be able to come in and finish the road, thank goodness, within a month. So it's only been three years. So, but with that being said, we do have a lot of robust other streets underway, which Ms. Kelli's gonna mention out there. And as far as the storm damage from July 3rd, that's all picked up with the exception of some of these curbside appointments that have to happen. And the flood damage, same thing. Curbside appointments are out there for the flood damage. Public works is getting, a lot of the houses have already been taken care of. There's still some odds and ends out there, but as Councilwoman Lombardi said, it, it, it just amazes me over the last couple of years that people, when we're putting the VMS boards out there, the barricades, the cone, the caution tape and cars are still going around maliciously and Speaker 5 00:12:15 Someone's being rescued and then someone continues to go around. Speaker 9 00:12:20 It's just unbelievable. Terrible. So Speaker 5 00:12:23 Maybe we have to do a public service announcement or a show on Speaker 9 00:12:26 That. We try our, try our best on that, but we still have a lot of storm damage to take care of. We do have some emergency contracts that we're gonna have to, that we're gonna be authorizing to take care of that damage with all the lift uplifted sidewalks from the street trees, the park damage, and several of the parks where trees came down. We, we are, have been creating buffer zones in our parks where it butts up to houses. So if trees fall that they won't not hit the houses. But you know, when you have 27 municipal parks in town, that's a lot of buffer zones that you have to create. So with that being said, we're gonna continue to keep doing that. And as far as Columbus Park, where we have the concerts, always we have, we still haven't been able to get out there yet. And we're hoping this week that we're gonna get out there and start power washing everything off. There's been some damage to the furniture out there, the very, this Victor Stanley furniture that we're gonna have to reorder out there. So we're assuming that next week we'll be at Columbus Park, but that judgment call will be made early next week. May ha have to do it back in Riverside. So we're hoping to be back in Columbus Park though. Speaker 0 00:13:40 Thank you Mayor, this administrator Paula Castelli. Speaker 10 00:13:46 Thank you. Thank you Council president. I just wanted to also say, you know, when residents are home and we're watching the storm to see municipal personnel in action and our first responders is really remarkable. I am notified and you know, I, I am at home and I hear everything going on and it's just amazing. Just a quick statistic, I believe the dispatchers took over 124 calls in an hour and a half during that storm. And they were definitely commended by the command staff for what they did in keeping calm and dispatching emergency services where needed. So it's just, it's just amazing what this municipality has done during that. And everyone is engaged and ready and willing to come and perform their essential functions. So there is a truth to being an essential employee. That means you have to come at any time, day, night, whatever the emergency is. Speaker 10 00:14:47 So thank you again for all of those efforts made. So in keeping with our road, so the township has a 2025 road improvement program, including curb sidewalks and whatnot. And the township has completed Desmond Street. It's important to note that Desmond Street was funded through community development block grant funding. So the township makes every effort to use that funding to improve our roads, our storm drainage, any kind of handicap accessibility is covered under that. So that's good. We have Mont Place Southview Court paved. Yep. Those are due to be paved. DPW does the paving. So shout out again because that's not very common. You don't find DPW crews. We have like literally our own construction staff on site, they don't typically pave. So that's great savings for the township. Orchard Street in Progress. Hawthorne Road, smoke tree clothes and Thornton Lane all due for construction and there's just utility poles need to be relo relocated on Glenwood Drive and Miller Street and then paving will commence. I just wanted to, on a municipal operation side, we're gonna be going out for our RFP for insurance. Just a quick note, the state of New Jersey is increasing its premiums by 37% because this township has been diligent for many, many years and is fully insured. We are far under that. I think last year's increase with something like 7.5%. So hopefully our RFP comes in pretty well this year. So that's what I have to say for tonight. And thank you Council president. Speaker 0 00:16:34 Thank you. Business Administrator Paula Castelli, township attorney Rajiv Kumar. Speaker 11 00:16:39 Yeah, just wanted to notify the council about one update. Apparently an unidentified individual falsely used or, or faked a, the chief of staff's email address in regard to a GoFundMe fundraiser. The chief of staff was actually on vacation and had limited access to internet. So it was, you know, she was able to contact the individual. I think it's being sorted out, but the police department will be doing an investigation, determine who actually attempted to falsify the identity of the chief of staff. Looks like the, the network and internet was secure so it wasn't done from internally or hacked into the system, it was falsified from outside. So, but we're working on that to, to make sure that, you know, people don't attempt to falsify our, our township employees email addresses in the future. Speaker 0 00:17:39 Thank you. And of course I would like to echo thanking all the DPW crews and the emergency responders during the storm. But, you know, I would also like to thank Ms. Paula Castelli for being at the, at the, the community center welcoming everyone who was actually going to the Y and seeking some refuge and, and cool. As a cooling center. So thank you for being there. It's always, you know, nice to have a smiling face there, you know, walking in them. So thank you so much for that. And also, just a reminder that again, this Thursday, July 24th is Aviva Elena in Riverside, in River Riverside Park at 7:00 PM I know I'll be there. So with the family and I think some are individuals here as well, so Sure. And, and put in some comfortable dancing shoes. Speaker 5 00:18:31 So we also have National Night Out coming up before our next council meeting. Not this week, next week. Speaker 0 00:18:40 What date is that? That is first Speaker 12 00:18:43 August 5th. Speaker 0 00:18:46 Got it. That's from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Stockton Street. Okay, great. Thank you. Agenda session for August 12th, 2025. Ordinance second reading, amending various chapters of the, of the revised general ordinances of the township of Piscataway, open to the public resolution adopting ordinance. Any, does the council have any questions on this particular item for next week? For next meeting? Okay, great. Next one, ordinance, second reading, amending chapter seven, traffic sections 14 and 15. Open to public resolution adopting ordinance. Do the, does the council have any questions regarding this item? Speaker 0 00:19:33 Thank you. We're opening to the public for remote attendees. If you wish to speak at this time, please raise your hand either on the Zoom app or if by phone, by pressing star nine. When it's your turn to speak, you'll receive or hear or request to unmute yourself. Please click the prompt or press star six on your phone to unmute yourself at that time. Please state your name and address and know that you have three minutes in which to make your comments. The council or administration will respond if necessary. Af after you have completed any comments or questions. Ms. Cedar, do we have anybody in queue? Speaker 5 00:20:11 Council president, there are no remote attendees with their hand raised regarding this agenda item. Speaker 0 00:20:16 Thank you. Closing to the remote attendees, opening to the in-person attendees, if you wish to speak at this time, please come to the podium, state your name and address and know that you had three minutes in which to make your comments. You may take a seat after completion of your comments or questions and the council or administration would dare respond if necessary. I, I gave an extra minute for that one. Oh boy. Good evening. Speaker 13 00:20:53 Good evening. Curtis Grove. 1750 West third Street. Sorry I missed the last meeting, but I wanted to thank you guys for addressing the issue that I put before you in reference to my neighbors sanitary. I think it was the next day you guys were there taking care of it. And my neighbors, some of 'em wants to come, some don't come, but they always give the message to me. So I'm giving it to you guys. Thank you. Appreciate what you did when you did it as fast as you did. They love you guys. I said eh, well Speaker 9 00:21:28 Curtis, I'm gonna give you the credit 'cause you're the deputy mayor out on the street. Speaker 13 00:21:33 I need, I need one of 'em shirt like you got there. Okay. Just want to echo what Frank and you guys were saying, reference to the storm and the city. My buddy, my pal, Mr. Jim down in public works above and beyond over in anything. I can call him or I can call Frank if I see a problem. I think there's a problem between the two of them guys. They take care of this thing without a doubt. With this popup party that we had for the fourth that Frank and everybody knew about, the police department was there before it even started and well taken care of. Heard you had problems somewhere else, but this was well taken care of. The police presence was there. They didn't get rowdy. A little noisy, but you know, we said we get 'em till 11 o'clock. It wasn't that bad, eh. But appreciate them guys. And like I tell Frank, and I'll tell the mayor you whatever they need that my police officer, I call 'em whatever they need to help them. Help me and my neighbors. Please tell us so we can help them. Help us please. Thank you very much. Oh, mayor, I got bit down at the park. Who do I turn my bill into? Speaker 13 00:22:53 I got a mosquito bit when I was at the park. Speaker 5 00:22:58 Thank you. Thank you Curtis. It's nice to have something nice said for a change. Speaker 0 00:23:05 Yes. Thank you. I see no one else closing to the in-person attendees. Motion to adjourn. Speaker 5 00:23:17 Motion Councilwoman Lombardi. Speaker 0 00:23:19 I have a second. Second, sir. Rashid, all in favor? Speaker 14 00:23:24 Aye. Aye. Speaker 0 00:23:25 You opposed? Thank you. Meeting adjourn. Thank you so much. Speaker 5 00:23:29 Good night everybody. Have a great day. Speaker 14 00:23:32 Good night.