Transcript for Piscataway Council meeting on March 12 2026
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 00:00:00 The agenda by posting a copy of the notice on the municipal building, the municipal court, and the two municipal library bulletin boards, the office of the township clerk in accordance with a certification by the clerk, which will be entered in the minutes. There will be public comment periods for both remote and in person attendees separately. Each member of the public shall have only one 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 we can recognize you as a separate individual should you have any further comments or questions. The Town Council is always available by email and phone, and you can always call the mayor's office during normal operating hours. Ms. Cedar, can you please call the role Speaker 1 00:01:05 Council Member Cahill here. Council Member Carmichael Here. Council Member Espinosa. Council Member Liebowitz Here. Council Member Rashid Speaker 2 00:01:17 Here. Speaker 1 00:01:19 Council member Rin Here. Council President Lombardi Speaker 0 00:01:23 Here and everyone please join me in the flag salute Speaker 2 00:01:29 To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for riches stands Engagement under God, indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all. Speaker 0 00:01:59 We're now gonna move to number six, which are comments from the administration and counsel regarding adjournment of any matters on this agenda. Yeah, we do have a proclamation, a number five. Soon as everyone's here for the proclamation, we'll return to that item. Any comments from administration and council Speaker 1 00:02:24 On the Speaker 0 00:02:27 For any matters on this agenda? Yeah, Speaker 3 00:02:35 I'd like to speak to Speaker 1 00:02:43 Double Speaker 3 00:02:43 C resolution, supporting USCM resolution regarding ICE and immigration reform. Speaker 3 00:02:58 Several weeks ago, fellow council member at large, Sarah Rashid and I shared publicly that we would be presenting a resolution supporting ICE and DHS reforms at this meeting. It's something that we have been talking about since we came into office over a year ago. I'm very happy to see this on the consent agenda. It was shared very late. I would love to hear it read out loud so we can all people at home and people in attendance can hear it and I ask and I will be submitting a supporting resolution, clarifying appropriate use of township ordinances in relation to this in the future. Thank you so much. Speaker 0 00:03:40 And we thank you for that. We listened and we are gonna be presenting this evening and we will read it out loud. So thank you very much. Speaker 3 00:03:48 Thank you so much. Speaker 0 00:03:51 Any other comments? Speaker 4 00:03:53 I would like if we could get a little context of number nine just for the general public. Speaker 5 00:04:07 It's very simple. We do this every year. So we have a cap bank. Every town does this. As a matter of fact, our bank's gonna be over $6 million, $6.5 million bank where we could go up to that. But we're not spending that. Speaker 6 00:04:22 And mayor, correct me if I'm wrong, this is what we always have to do. Business Administrator time, we have to do this time we're as we're introducing the budget timeframe. Is that correct? It always falls around when we're introducing budget Speaker 0 00:04:36 Just prior to introduction of the budget, right? Speaker 4 00:04:38 That's right. Yep. Everything. Thank you. Speaker 0 00:04:44 Any others? Okay. Okay. So we will move back to number five, which is a proclamation for Reverend Dr. Kenneth l Saunders, and Mrs. Shirley Saunders and the mayor will read that for us this evening. Speaker 5 00:05:08 Thank you. Council president. Whereas Reverend, Dr. Kenneth El Saunders and Mrs. Shirley Saunders have faithfully served as chair and leaders of the Civil Rights Advisory Commission guiding its mission of promoting and supporting the rights of all residents with integrity, compassion, and a purpose. And whereas th during their tenure the commission strengthened its presence in the community expanded a meaningful programming that reflects the rich diversity of Piscataway, reinforcing the principle that every resident deserves dignity, honor, and respect. And whereas under the leadership, the commission enhanced important initiatives including the annual Martin Luther King celebration each January, the JFK library, African American Readin participation in the Muslim Center, Middlesex County Interfaith if tar dinner, Piscataway Township Street Fair, national Night Out, various flag raisings contributions to Juneteenth celebration hosting Jackie Robinson Day at Green Acres and launch of the first annual on multicultural festival at Riverside Park. Speaker 5 00:06:11 Whereas the Saunders have long demonstrated extra Nori dedication to Piscataway community through their 29 years of service as pastor and first Lady of North Stone, a ME church where surely provided steadfast spiritual leadership, mentorship, compassionate outreach to countless families strengthening both to congregation to broad community, Reverend Saunders and his services chaplain of Pisca Police Department, his tenure as at large Councilman and his appointment as a former governor, Jim McGreevy to the New Jersey Parole Board. And whereas Ivy now stepped back from the leadership roles from the Civil Rights and Commission, Reverend Dr. Kenneth l Saunders senior and Ms. Shirley Saunders have will leave behind a legacy of strengthening community partnerships, expanded outreach and renewed commitment to inclusion unity throughout Piscataway Township. Now therefore, Brian Wahler, mayor of township Piscataway County Middle six, and in this state in New Jersey, Dubai Express my deepest gratitude in heartfelt appreciation to the Reverend Dr. Kenneth l Saunders senior and Mrs. Shirley Saunders for their years of distinguished leadership and devoted service to the Civil Rights Commission and to the residence of Piscataway. So Pastor Saunders, would you like to come on up? And I think Sharon Carmichael come on up. We'll present that. Speaker 5 00:08:52 And one thing that we didn't put into the proclamation is that Ken is one heck of a dresser. Speaker 0 00:09:18 Thank you for everything Reverend Kenneth Saunders, you've been a pillar of our community. Thank you so much. Speaker 0 00:09:32 We'll now move to number seven, which is open to the public for comments regarding any items on the consent agenda. Number 12, open to the public for any items on the consent agenda only for each public comment portion. For the remote attendees, I'll be opening to remote. 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 is your turn to speak, you'll receive or hear a request to unmute yourself, please click the prompt or press six on your phone to unmute yourself at that time. Please state your name and address and know that the administration will respond if necessary after you have completed any comments or questions. We're now open to the remote attendees only for the consent agenda items only. Speaker 1 00:10:25 Council president, I'm asking the first individual to unmute themselves. Speaker 9 00:10:32 Hi Brian Wrack 1247 Brookside Road four item I. Can you explain what that is? Because the latest guidance from that commission says that you shouldn't care about harassment anymore. That was a news article from February. Speaker 0 00:10:55 That's the reading of the budget. I, Speaker 9 00:10:58 Oh, sorry, I'm looking at the draft one 'cause it's everything moved around. Was the Equal Opportunity Commission certifying compliance with, I'm not sure where it moved to on the actual agenda. Is it H? Yeah, it's H Speaker 0 00:11:22 Can you state your question again please? Speaker 9 00:11:24 Yeah. What is H? Speaker 10 00:11:31 It's a resolution that the township's required to adopt to ensure that we are compliant with the equal Opportunity Commission. Speaker 9 00:11:42 So you weren't before like I'm, I'm confused as to why this is suddenly on. It's Speaker 10 00:11:47 A re it's an annual requirement that everybody in the council must confirm their commitment to that legislation. Speaker 9 00:11:57 Okay, so it's everybody in the council confirming that it's not the town passing a new ordinance or something? Speaker 10 00:12:06 No, it's the compliance document. Yeah, Speaker 11 00:12:09 It's, yes, it's a group affidavit form to the EEOC basically saying that we're gonna continue to comply and with the EEOC requirements. Speaker 9 00:12:18 Okay, thanks. Speaker 0 00:12:20 Thank you very much. Do we have any others? Speaker 1 00:12:24 Yes. I'm asking the next individual with their hand raised to unmute themselves. Speaker 12 00:12:36 Hi, this is Jessica Kratovil, 1247 Brookside Road. Can you hear me? Speaker 0 00:12:41 Yes, we can. Speaker 12 00:12:44 Excellent. I just wanted to say I appreciate that the township is working on the issue of ICE in our community, but I do wanna say I'm not sure that I, I went online and read that document and what it calls for in advance of the meeting here, just in the last 10 or 15 minutes since that became available to the public to know that that was on there. And I, I'm just not sure that it goes far enough with ICE snatching people out of their cars, assaulting them, beating them, murdering people in other parts of the country and then putting them in inhumane holding facilities that are not usually suitable for human occupation. I think that it would be important to take a stronger stance and I look forward to Councilpersons, Rashid and Leitz working on that. I did wanna inquire, I'm sorry. No, that's public comment. I did just wanna say one thing when you all step away from the microphones to speak to the gentleman who you were honoring. None of us remote attendees are able to hear that and I'm not sure you're aware but I wanted to let you know. Speaker 0 00:14:08 Thank you. Speaker 1 00:14:16 Council president. There are no other remote individuals with their hand raised regarding this agenda item. Speaker 0 00:14:21 The remote portion is now closed. We'll now open to the in-person attendees if you wish to speak at this time. Please come to the podium, state your name, address, and know that you have three minutes in which to make your comments. You may take your seat after the completion of the comments or questions and the council or administration will respond if necessary. So, and if anyone would like to comment on the consent agenda items, please come up at this time. Seeing none the public portions closed. Eight is an ordinance. Second reading, vacating all of the right title interest the Township of Piscataway in its entirety of Roth Place. It will be open to the public. It's a resolution adopting ordinance. Ms. Cedar, can you please co read the ordinance Speaker 1 00:15:22 Be resolved by the Township Council of Piscataway Township, New Jersey that an ordinance entitled Ordinance Vacating All the right title and interest of the Township of Piscataway in the entirety of Roth Police was introduced on the 20th day of January, 2026 and had passed the first reading. It was published on the 25th day of January, 2026. Now therefore be it resolved that the offer said ordinance having had a second reading on March 12th, 2026 be adopted, passed, and after passage be published together with a notice of the date of pastoral approval in the official newspaper, be it further resolved that this ordinance shall be assigned number 2026 dash seven. Speaker 0 00:16:03 Thank you Ms. Cedar. We'll now open this to the public because it is a second reading. So anyone remotely wishing to speak on ordinance number eight. Please come at this time. Speaker 1 00:16:28 Council president, there are no remote attendees with their hand raised regarding this agenda item. Speaker 0 00:16:33 The remote portion is now closed. Anyone wishing from the public to speak on ordinance number eight? Please come up at this time. Seeing none the public portion is now closed. Can I please have an offer to accept this offer? Councilwoman Cahill, can I have a second? Speaker 1 00:16:55 Liebowitz, Speaker 0 00:16:57 Could you please call the role Speaker 1 00:16:59 Council member Cahill? Yes. Council member Carmichael. Yes. Council member Liebowitz. Yes. Council member Rashid? Yes. Council member Ern? Yes. Council President Lombardi? Speaker 0 00:17:11 Yes. And the ordinance passes. Number nine is an ordinance first reading to exceed the municipal budget appropriations and establish a cap bank. It's a resolution adopting ordinance. Ms. Cedar, can you please read this ordinance Speaker 1 00:17:30 Be resolved by the Township Council of Piscataway Township, New Jersey that an ordinance entitled calendar year 2026 Ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank NJ SA 40 A four dash 45.14 B is hereby adopted on the first reading that it be published in the official newspaper. And that a second reading of public hearing be held at 7:00 PM prevailing time at the Piscataway Municipal Building 4 55 Hose Lane Piscataway, New Jersey on the 14th day of April, 2026. 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 meeting 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 00:18:17 Thank you Ms. Cedar, do we have any questions or concerns? Seeing none, can I have an offer Speaker 13 00:18:25 All for Councilman Uhrin? Speaker 0 00:18:27 Can I have a second Leitz? Ms. Cedar, can you please call the role Speaker 1 00:18:32 Council member Cahill? Yes. Council member Carmichael? Yes. Council member Lebowitz? Yes. Council member Rashid? Speaker 4 00:18:41 Yes. Speaker 1 00:18:42 Council member Rin? Yes. Council President Lombardi? Speaker 0 00:18:46 Yes. And the ordinance passes? Number 10 is an ordinance first re replacing Chapter 21 zoning Section 21, affordable housing and repealing Section 23, collection Maintenance and Expenditure of Development Fees Resolution Adopting Ordinance. Ms. Cedar, can you please read this ordinance Speaker 1 00:19:06 Be resolved by the Township Council of Piscataway Township, New Jersey that an ordinance entitled Ordinance to amend the revised general ordinances of the township of Piscataway, county of Middlesex, state of New Jersey. Repealing and replacing chapter 21 zoning Section 21 Affordable housing and repealing chapter 21 zoning Section 23, collection Maintenance and expenditure of development fees B and is hereby adopted on the first reading that I 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 14th day of April, 2026. 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 00:19:56 Thank you Mrs. Cedar. Can I have an offer? Speaker 6 00:20:00 Offer Councilwoman Cahill? Speaker 0 00:20:02 Can I have a second? Speaker 13 00:20:03 Second. Councilman Rin Speaker 0 00:20:06 Ms. The can you please call the Speaker 1 00:20:08 Role council member Cahill? Yes. Council member Carmichael? Yes. Council member Liebowitz? Yes. Council member Rashid Speaker 4 00:20:16 Epstein. Speaker 1 00:20:20 Council member Rin? Speaker 13 00:20:22 Yes. Speaker 1 00:20:24 Council President Lombardi? Speaker 0 00:20:27 Yes. And the ordinance passes. Speaker 6 00:20:29 Council president, if I may, I just want clarification this the, this ordinance to revise and amend is part of our new plan that has been accepted by the judge so that we meet and exceed our COA obligation. Is that correct? Speaker 0 00:20:46 Correct. Okay. Speaker 6 00:20:47 So this is affordable housing. For folks who don't know, we are mandated by the state to meet an obligation and tonight by voting yes on this. I wanna thank the council for doing that. Speaker 0 00:20:59 Thank you for that clarification. Number 11 is an ordinance first reading, amending and supplementing chapter 21, zoning resolution adopting ordinance Ms. Cedar, can you please read this ordinance Speaker 1 00:21:15 Be resolved by the Township Council of Piscataway Township, New Jersey? Then an ordinance entitled an Ordinance to amend and supplement the revised general ordinances of the township of Piscataway, county of Middlesex, state of New Jersey. Amending and supplementing chapter 21, zoning 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 14th day of April, 2026. 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 00:21:58 Thank you Mrs. Cedar. Do I have an offer? Speaker 5 00:22:01 Just so you know this, this is piggybacking off these three ordinances all for the coa. Speaker 1 00:22:07 Yes. Car Carmichael Author Second. Speaker 0 00:22:15 Can you please call the roll? Sure. Speaker 1 00:22:16 Was that Carmichael that motion that Yes. Thank you first Speaker 0 00:22:19 And Speaker 1 00:22:19 And Lee Wood. So I got that. Thanks Laura. Council member Cahill. Yes. Council member Carmichael? Yes. Council member Liebowitz. Yes. Council member Rashid Speaker 4 00:22:33 Epstein. Speaker 1 00:22:36 Council member Rin. Yes. Council President Lombardi? Speaker 0 00:22:41 Yes. And it passes Number 12 are the consent agenda. Resolutions for efficiency items have been consolidated into a consent agenda to be voted on together and the materials for these items have been distributed to the council in advance of the meeting To have a motion to accept the consent agenda items. Speaker 6 00:23:09 Motion Cahill. Speaker 1 00:23:11 Do Speaker 0 00:23:11 I have a second? Second. Speaker 5 00:23:12 Councilman Uhrin, Speaker 0 00:23:13 Can you please call the role Speaker 1 00:23:15 Council member Caho? Yes. Council member Carmichael. Yes. Council member Lebowitz. Yes. Council member Rashid? Speaker 4 00:23:24 Yes. Speaker 1 00:23:25 Council member Rin. Yes. Council President Lombardi? Speaker 0 00:23:30 Yes. And with that I would like to read the comprehensive ice resolution that its Piscataway Township has created. So I will read that. Thank you to everyone Speaker 0 00:23:45 Coming together for this Be it resolved by the Township Council of Piscataway, New Jersey that whereas the Township of Piscataway is a diverse and inclusive community whose residents reflect the immigrant experience that has long defined the strengthen the American story. And whereas the United States Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization represent representing over 1,400 mayors from both major political parties serving as leading voice through which America's mayors collectively advance policies that strengthen communities nationwide. And whereas on January 22nd, 2026, the USCM and the major City Chiefs Association issued a joint statement urging all federal law enforcement agencies to model A, the professionalism and care expected of local law enforcement to insist upon calm and deescalation at all times. And whereas on March 3rd, 2026, the USCM adopted an emergency resolution entitled calling on the Department of Homeland Security to reform immigration enforcement action procedures, calling on DHS to immediately require ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies to cease the use of masks and standardized uniforms and equipment to bring them in line with civil enforcement standards. Speaker 0 00:25:31 Always visibly display their agency ID number and last name on their uniforms. Use body worn and vehicle cameras when interacting with the public with mandatory storage of all recorded footage. See stops, questionings and searched based merely on an an individual's presence at a location, occupation, spoken language, accent, race or ethnicity, reinstate the sensitive locations policy prohibiting enforcement actions at schools, hospitals, houses of worships, courts and polling locations. Always obtain and present a judicial warrant for entering public owned facilities or private property. Adopt a reasonable use of force policy proportional to any resistance and expand agent training to be in line with local police academy standards. Preserve state and local jurisdiction to investigate excessive force incidents and require evidence be preserved and shared. Ensure all detainees have access to legal assistance as required by law and require all detention facilities to meet local health and safety standards and obtain proper zoning and building permits and hang on. Speaker 0 00:26:56 Whereas on the same day the USCM also adopted an emergency resolution entitled Calling for Immigration Modernization. Now recognizing that 40 years have passed since the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and that the current system is badly out of date, calling on Congress and the administration to undertake a bipartisan effort to fix the broken immigration system, including by enacting legislation that sustains genuine border security while keeping state and local law enforcement focused on community policing. Reforming the visa system with modern digital efficient framework with adequate labor protections for workers of all skill levels with equitable treatment regardless of nationality, ethnicity, race or religion. Providing an employment verification system that is enforceable, uniform, accurate, and timely enabling individuals in the country for 10 years or more who are leading lawful productive lives to come out of the shadows without fear of deportation. Providing dreamers a pathway to lawful permanent residents and citizenship, creating a dedicated visa category for enterprising individuals who invest in our cities in small business districts and rebuilding the US refugee admissions program, restarting the asylum system and extending temporary protection status for those who face credible fear of persecution if returned to their home countries. Speaker 0 00:28:33 And whereas the Township Council affirms that the safety dignity due to the process rights of all Piscataway residents, regardless of immigration status and our values fundamentals to this community and that comprehensive bipartisan and humane modernization of federal immigration system is the best interest of Piscataway New Jersey and the United States of America. And now therefore be it resolved by the Town Council of the township of Piscataway County of Middlesex, state of New Jersey, that the Township Council hereby endorses and supports the USCM emergency resolution entitled, calling on the Department of Home and SEC Security to reform immigration Enforcement action procedures and urges DHS to implement the bipartisan reforms called therein without delay and be it further resolve that the Town Council hereby endorses and supports the USCM emergency resolution entitled Calling for Modernization Now and calls upon Congress and the administration to undertake the bipartisan reforms called for therein. And by be it further resolve that the Town Council calls upon New Jersey's congressional delegation and that administration to take immediate steps to protect the safety, dignity and due process rights of all residents and to pursue a just and humane immigration system consistent with the principles set forth in the foregoing USCM resolutions. Speaker 0 00:30:12 Thank you for reading that Council president. Thank you. We'll now move to number 13, which is a resolution and it's the introduction of the calendar year 2026 municipal budget. All yours Speaker 1 00:30:46 Municipal budget of the township of Piscataway, county of Middlesex for the year 2026 be it resolved that the following statements of revenues and appropriations shall constitute the municipal budget for the year 2026. Be it further resolved that said budget be published in the Courier News in the issue of March 27th, 2026. The governing body of the township of Piscataway does hereby approve the following as the budget for the year 2026. General appropriations appropriations within CAPS for municipal purposes, $60,662,888 and 16 cents appropriations excluded from CAPS for municipal purposes, $35,520,419 and 44 cents. General total general appropriations excluded from caps $35,520,419 and 44 cents reserved for uncollected taxes. $2,482,726 Total general appropriations $98,666,033 and 60 cents less anticipated revenues other than current property tax. $41,622,702 and 70 cents. Let's see, difference amount to be raised by taxes for supportive municipal budget. Local tax for municipal purposes, including reserve for uncollected taxes, $52,725,270 and 30 cents minimum library tax. $4,318,060 and 60 cents. Speaker 0 00:32:41 Thank you Ms. The I'd like to take thank our finance department for all of their hard work and meetings with all of us to hone this budget to be as tight as possible. Speaker 1 00:33:04 Mm, Speaker 6 00:33:04 Agreed. I did a lot of work. Council president. Speaker 0 00:33:07 Thank you Ms. Can I have an offer to accept the introduction of the budget? Speaker 6 00:33:16 So moved. Speaker 0 00:33:18 Can I have a second Speaker 1 00:33:19 Carmichael, Speaker 0 00:33:21 Ms. Cedar, can you please call the roll? Speaker 1 00:33:23 Sure. Council member Cahill? Yes. Council member Carmichael. Yes. Council member Liebowitz. Yes. Council member Rashid? Yes. Council member Rin? Yes. Council President Lombardi? Speaker 0 00:33:40 Yes. And the introduction passes. Number 14 are announcements and comments from officials. Councilwoman Gabriel Cahill. Speaker 6 00:33:54 Thank you Council President. I just wanna say a couple of things. What a great experience. Last weekend I had at several township events, including the Iftar dinner at the Muslim Center here in it was a great event helping people from all different backgrounds to come together to understand each other. The Muslim Center does this in the hopes that we all recognize each other as just human beings, each with our own paths. But all here, just for the same things. It was a great event. I still have a little bit of the henna on my, on my wrist, my arm. And I also was excited to be able to support the Boy Scout Spaghetti dinner that's Troop 67. I believe they have an awful lot of fun with that number now. And then also to attend at the Guci Chetna Center. The holy events, I gotta tell you, getting pummeled with colorful powder is fantastic. And that is also another event that is open to the entire community and it is a celebratory event and I feel very grateful. And I think last weekend helped me to really understand just how precious this town is with all of the different backgrounds. And we're not in the news because I think people here understand and respect one another. And I'm appreciative for that. And I'll say in honor of my father-in-law and my husband, a very happy St. Patrick's Day on March 17th. So that's all I have. Thank you. Council President Speaker 0 00:35:44 Councilwoman Sharon Carmichael, Speaker 14 00:35:48 Dito Councilwoman Cahill. I would also like to say, I'm happy to be able to say Happy International Women's Day to all the women for the global, social, economic, cultural and political achievements. You can't hear me? No, Speaker 6 00:36:09 I got the mic. Go ahead and talk. Speaker 14 00:36:11 Okay. Congratulations to all of our women. We are celebrating our social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. And that is a honor and I'm happy that Piscataway is acknowledging that. And there will also be a celebration at the Senior Citizens Center this weekend. Speaker 0 00:36:36 Councilwoman Laura Libor. Speaker 3 00:36:39 Good evening everybody. First of all, I would like to just remind everyone that March 22nd will be the first township municipal autism resource fair. It will be held at the Y from one to 3:00 PM All community members are welcome. It is a free event for those who are impacted by autism. There's a many, many resources. The entire multipurpose room is filled with people who are bringing all kinds of services, the state level, local level, private business. We have over 12 sponsors of the event and there will also be a second room which will be interactive with a photo booth and music. And it really should be a, some crafts. It should be a great, great event. Of course, between now and our next meeting, many, many holidays will occur across to Gabrielle's Point, many multi-ethnic events, Easter, Passover, Ramadan, many events will be happening between now and then. And so I certainly wish that they will all be observed with peace, with kindness, with, with faith. I totally support the mayor's council ordinance, not ordinance, sorry, resolution. I did have a resolution that I sent to the council. I did not see that it got printed. So I will be bringing this forward once again in our April meeting, supporting reforms of DHS and ICE and also looking at use of township resources. Thank you so much everyone. Speaker 6 00:38:24 Council president, if I could councilwoman Lebowitz, what was the date again for the autism? Speaker 3 00:38:30 March 22nd Sunday, March 22nd from one to 3:00 PM at the Speaker 0 00:38:35 Y. Thank you Councilwoman. Sarah Rashid. Speaker 4 00:38:44 I I, well you know, you guys already covered all the holidays for the last three weeks. Muslim neighbors have been observing Ramadan. It's a time of reflection, charity and community. And I want to wish all my Muslim neighbors and friends Ed Mubarak, which will be probably next Friday and all my friends that celebrated who last week. So it was a great event. And yeah, we'll look forward to spring. We had spring for two days and then we're back to winter. So hopefully spring's coming soon. Speaker 0 00:39:17 Thank you. Councilman Frank. Rn. Speaker 13 00:39:22 Thank you. Thank you Michelle. So we have three nice events coming up for our youth of Piscataway. The first one is the PBA Easter acon March 28th at 1245 at the little league field right down the street. And then we have Sunday, March 29th, the Arbor Firehouse is doing the Easter ACON at 10:00 AM sharp. And then the big event is little league opening day April 11th. Between the little league teams, the T-ball teams, and our challenger division, we have over 30 teams. That's a record we've had in a long time. Speaker 0 00:39:53 Thank you. It's always a great day. Mayor. Speaker 5 00:40:02 Gonna reserve my comments about the budget when everything's finished. Speaker 0 00:40:08 Business Administrator. Speaker 10 00:40:12 Thank you Council president. I just would like to say part of and, and the mayor's going to be more specific about the budget, but there's one item in here that's kind of exciting. The township ordered a drone, we're gonna start our drone program. And I just really couple shout outs to our IT team because this was presented to the township by some other companies and they were charging a lot of money. And I sat down and I said, I, I have all the faith that you can create this program right here for a lot less money. And they did. So we're going to start training on the drone soon. The other thing is, I just wanna bring up, I know that Councilman Ern just mentioned the fact that the Easter egg hunt is on March 28th. I also, I, I'm not familiar, I haven't been here for the egg hunt yet. Speaker 10 00:40:58 And the thing is, I, with regard to parking, because we are on the 28th, gonna be doing our municipal cleanup on the property. So all of dead trees blowing leaves all the gravel and salt from all these storms. Our DPW crews will be occupying the lot here in front of a town hall along Sydney Road so that parking will not be available. I know it's a bit of a walk, I don't know if there's an overflow from little league, but there just might be. I just wanna make that announcement that parking will be limited in the municipal lot on the 28th 'cause we will be cleaning that up. And I also would like to, again, thank the finance department. They worked very diligently on putting this budget together. It's the first year we worked together and the departments and the administration and finance worked very well together. And thank you so much for your insightful questions counsel. It's very important. I think the residents need to know that you drill down on questions, you wanna know where money is being spent and why. So I appreciate that very much. It keeps me good, sharp, so I appreciate it. And that's what I have for tonight. Thank you. Speaker 0 00:42:12 Thank you so much. Speaker 6 00:42:14 Paula. I'll just say about the, the egg hunt. The minute those eggs drop, it's done. The, the time spent is the time that feeds up. Just saying. Speaker 0 00:42:28 And that's the truth. Can I ask what are, Speaker 5 00:42:41 When you have, when we have situations where folks that have Alzheimer's get out out of their locked house, instead of having hundreds of volunteer fire personnel, we can dispatch drones would would, he's seeking signatures to look for folks monitoring CRA crash scenes, you name it, lost and found monitoring our culvert bridges, DPW like parks, things that need to be done doing analysis of like all the dead trees in the park and things along that line. So it's gonna be not just a police department, it's a public works engineering code enforcement. Speaker 3 00:43:22 That's great because I know we all saw the horrible loss of the young man with autism in playing field. So I would love to make sure that we can incorporate services for our folks like you know as well, autistic people. Thank you. Speaker 0 00:43:40 Our township attorney. Speaker 11 00:43:42 No comments. Thank you. Speaker 0 00:43:44 Okay. That leads me to I just, most importantly, I'd like to thank again all of the people that were involved in the blizzard of 2026, the DPW, our emergency services, our police department. Thank you, thank you, thank you for getting us through that very chaotic day. I was not here for that day, but I did hear about it. I would also like to acknowledge that today is National Girl Scout Day. It honors the history and legacy of all girl scouting. I was a girl scout so I'm sure many of us were. Okay, so it's it's National Girl Scout Day, the PBA Easter egg hunt was on my list. And also I was requested to talk about the police department's Safe streets forum, which is over at our community center center this Monday evening, March 16th, starting at six 30. So that is all I have to say. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone and look forward to seeing everyone at the Easter egg hunt. We'll now move to the agenda session for April 14th, 2026. On the agenda, we'll have an ordinance second reading to exceed the municipal budget appropriations and establish the cap bank that will be open to the public and it will be a resolution adopting ordinance. We pretty much had some clarification on that earlier. Does anybody have any questions? Seeing none, the the next thing on will be the ordinance Second reading, replacing chapter 21 zoning, section 21, affordable housing and repealing Section 23, collection maintenance and expenditure of development fees. It will be open to the public. Anyone have any questions? Speaker 0 00:46:01 Ordinance second reading, amending and supplementing Chapter 21 zoning. It will be open to the public. It'll be a resolution adopting ordinance. Any questions or concerns? We'll have a motion to accept the financial report of January, 2026. Also on the next meeting will be a public hearing for the calendar year 2026 municipal budget. At this time, we'll now open the pub open to the public for any matters on the agenda to the remote attendees, anyone wishing to speak remotely? Remotely, please attend. Now. Speaker 1 00:46:44 Council president, I'm asking the first individual with their hand raised to unmute themself. Speaker 9 00:46:50 Hello, Brian Wrack, 1247 Brookside Road. Again. So does this mean we're paying DBW workers overtime to come in on the weekend and clean up the municipal lot? Speaker 5 00:47:03 Too many cars Speaker 9 00:47:09 Hear I didn't hear if there was an answer. Speaker 0 00:47:11 The an the answer to that is yes. Speaker 9 00:47:14 Why are we doing that? Speaker 5 00:47:18 Because maybe the fact between all the employees and the fact that a general public going Monday through Friday that all, all the spaces are taken up Speaker 9 00:47:27 That's just convenient. That, that whenever there's a protest planned outside the municipal building, DPW is always doing something around the lot. The timing is very, very interesting. Speaker 5 00:47:38 Well, all I can tell you is, is that the plain fact. The matter is we don't, our government operations don't revolve around different protests. Speaker 9 00:47:47 It certainly seems like they do. Speaker 0 00:47:57 Any other questions? Do we have anyone else? Speaker 1 00:48:03 Council president? I'm asking in the next individual with their hand raised to unmute themself. Speaker 12 00:48:13 Good evening, this is Jessica CRE, 1247 Brookside Road. Again. Are you able to hear me? Yes, Speaker 0 00:48:19 We are. Speaker 12 00:48:21 Great. I just wanted to bring up, so I know that you all mentioned last time when you passed the ordinance about the hotel licensure and that all those people came in and said that that wasn't the right thing to do. And you all responded that it was a step in the right direction. I wanted to follow up on how the work you've said that you would do to continue to make this getaway better for all the people, including those most vulnerable. I wanted to see how that was going and if you have any planned future steps that maybe the community could be more involved in. Speaker 11 00:49:08 I can give the council a little update on where, how the license is going. So we've been contacted by Motel six Corporate as well as Extended Stay America just today. And I, I received a call from their council. So we're starting to work with them on licensing and also making sure that our hotels are, are safer and, and a good place for, for individuals to stay. Speaker 0 00:49:33 Thank you. Speaker 12 00:49:35 And what about help? Thank you. Sorry, Speaker 0 00:49:47 I Speaker 12 00:49:47 Mute my follow up question was, was about the vulnerable people. Is there anything that the township is planning to do to assist people in need, people who may be underserved at this time? Speaker 0 00:50:05 Is that your last comment? Speaker 12 00:50:07 Yes. Speaker 0 00:50:08 Thank you. Are Speaker 3 00:50:10 You talking about establishing some type of committee or commission to investigate resources available in the town? Connected maybe to the county? Is that what you're asking? Speaker 12 00:50:22 It was pretty general in my question in that the, the council said that the hotel ordinance was a first step and I was interested what the next steps were. I think getting stakeholders involved and, and the county involved would be a great way to help most vulnerable people in our township. But I'll leave it to you. Okay. I'm gonna pass Speaker 6 00:50:45 It over to, Speaker 12 00:50:45 I'd just love to be updated. Speaker 11 00:50:47 Thanks. Yeah, I mean there's, there's a couple of items that we're working on that you, you may see probably on the next meeting. You know, we're making sure that we're thorough about doing our legal research and what's what's compatible. But we want to continue in this licensing and, and, and policies with these hotels and motels to make sure that they're a safe place. We already have an excessive call ordinance that's already in place working with the police department to make sure that's more effective and also working to see how we can make sure that those hotels, and again, we're not targeting the, the residents of the hotels, we're targeting the hotels, we're holding them responsible. And so we're looking to see how we can make sure those hotels are providing a safe, safe place for the residents. Speaker 6 00:51:35 Mr. Gomer, if I may, we had talked to that because we do a lot of shared services with the, the county that as we do work through next steps and what they might be, that we would get our, our partners at the county to be in discussions with the administration who work in social services to be specific. Thank you Speaker 1 00:52:00 Council president. I'm asking the next individual with their hand raised to unmute themself. Speaker 15 00:52:13 Hi, can you passer drive? I think that this Council of Mayor's resolution sounds nice. It sounds kind of like a strongly worded letter to the federal government, but I didn't hear anything in it about what the town council will actually do to stop ice from using our resources or what the town council will allow ice to do or not do in Piscataway. I was very much hoping to hear the ordinance that was going to be proposed by council members Liebowitz and Rashid today on actually using your power to stop ice from terrorizing our communities to the extent that you can, I've recently spoken to a lot of my neighbors and almost everyone's faces light up at the prospect of town council candidates who would actually use their power to keep ice out of Piscataway. So I hope that you will consider their ordinance and I hope that you will use your power to show your constituents that you're willing to stand up to ice tangibly prevent them from terrorizing our neighbors or using our many warehouses or, or other resources for their gain. Thank you. Speaker 0 00:53:29 Thank you. We did not receive their resolution ahead of time. I just wanna clarify, we did not receive that. I did email Speaker 3 00:53:36 It this afternoon to the council email. Speaker 0 00:53:40 Okay. Speaker 11 00:53:42 So I can answer in terms of, of probably since President Trump's first term, since the, the Immigrant Trust directive was issued by the Ag Guber Garal back probably eight years ago. The township immediately implemented into his policy and procedures and have has continued to enforce them. So the Township Police Department does not facilitate ICE in any way. They do not provide them any information. We are completely compliant. As we got our new public safety director, we had conversations about retraining and educating all the police department in those policies. And we have done so there. You know, we haven't had a, a, an, an ice raid in the township. Thank, thank God so far. They're, you know, and the, the police department continues to not to abide by the directive and, and work to make sure that they're not facilitating ICE in any way. Now, I'll tell you the council, that ICE is a federal agency. There is very little municipality can do to, to prevent them from coming into town and doing what they, what they want to do. However, the township is, is doing what it can and has to the full extent it has, has continued to, to not at least facilitate that. Speaker 6 00:55:04 Right. So there's no ordinance that any council member could ask to have written, to stop ice from coming into town? Speaker 11 00:55:13 No. And and to the extent that you know, you know, I think we actually do have an executive order by the mayor probably from, I think it was mid-February, kind of piggybacking on the county and the gov and the state in terms of making sure that Ali ICE is not using municipal facilities. So we have that in place also. But you know, this is, to be honest, I think between the resolution tonight and what the township already does, this is the extent of the municipality's powers Speaker 6 00:55:45 And, and our colleagues to be clear, who did talk about this early in the year, Councilwoman Liebowitz and Rashid who talked about this, it is a resolution. It is not an ordinance. And I know like the average resident may not know the difference, but it is important for the township residents to know that as a township, the stance that we took back in the first term of this president and what we're doing is probably to the maximum of what we are allowed to do by law. Would that be an accurate statement? Speaker 11 00:56:19 It's accurate, yep. Speaker 0 00:56:21 Thank you. Speaker 3 00:56:24 Clarify date of that Mayor's executive order or just, yeah, Speaker 16 00:56:28 I don't quote me on it, but I I think it was Speaker 3 00:56:30 February 18th of this year? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Speaker 0 00:56:35 Council president. There are no other remote individuals with their hand raised regarding, we're now closed for the remote attendees. So now we are open to the public. For anybody who is an in-person attendee, please come up to the podium, state your name and address and know that you have three minutes in which to speak. Speaker 16 00:56:56 58. Curtis on the subject of immigration, my grandfather was here in 1938. My mother came here in the mid fifties. It took the rest of the family until 1962 to come here. This is one of them. A veteran with honors. Took us 10 years to come through. We submitted all documents to the American Embassy. Each and every one of us in our case twice. We finally got our visa 10 years after the initial application. Without that visa, you're illegal. You should be deported no matter how long you've been here, no matter how civil you are, you're eligible for deportation. Without the American Embassy approval, you cannot come to this country. 1962, I came into this country February, 1968. I was on Monkey Mountain killing people. Very first day there I killed three people. Here is the eagle. Without that processing from the American Embassy, you are subject to deportation. No matter how long you've been here. Property maintenance. Hello, hello, hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello, hello. What a shame. There is no pride. Police officers, they're handcuffed. They can't make any kind of report concerning public safety. No bottles, no blind intersection, no dead trees. No nothing. Why? Why are they handcuffed? Why are they blindfold? Why are they muzzled? They're not protecting us. They're listening to you. You who makes up all these stupid ordinance. Stupid ordinance makes people, Dito is not here. I wish he was here today. I gave him, I said Dito coming to the council. He didn't come today. You charged in $2,000 in digital taxes for putting up a shed on his backyard. And now he has to fight in court on account of the vinyl fence. Speaker 0 01:00:10 Thank you sir. Thank you. Anyone else? Speaker 18 01:00:32 Good evening Curtis. Grew up 1750 West third Street. Speaker 0 01:00:36 Good evening. Speaker 18 01:00:38 I guess it's good so far. I need to ask the mayor and my Councilman Frank in reference to South Second Street with the barriers. We need to figure out when we gonna lower 'em so we can get the street sweepers over there to clean this area. So this has to be done soon because it's starting to look like a soar. So I don't know when we could do it, but it needs to be done. And when is the other barricades coming for the one that you we talked about that we're gonna take down. Speaker 5 01:01:11 It's not out to bid yet. Speaker 18 01:01:15 Okay. Speaker 5 01:01:15 And Curtis DBW will take a look at lowering the barriers when they go into street sweep the entire neighborhood. Speaker 18 01:01:21 Okay. Yeah, I was a little late getting here. I just wanna remind since the last meeting, I think we all know I lost, we, I did. I lost a friend. I met him over 20 years ago. Reverend Jesse Jackson. So I just wanted to let people know if they didn't know he was, I met him 20 years ago in Newark. So I feel he was more than just somebody. He was a friend and I hope everything still works out the way he plans it. Appreciate the time. Thank you. Speaker 0 01:01:56 Thank you Mr. Grubbs. Anyone else? We'll now close the public abortion Speaker 5 01:02:13 Council president. If, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go over a couple quick items during the budget. Go ahead, ahead, mayor. Couple, couple quick items. Just wanna say that we affirmed our AA plus stable rating. It's for those folks out there. It's actually a very good credit score for the township. It's the second highest. We also, the, the rateable base, the industrial commercial rateable base was an increase of over 7% this year, which equated to about $840 million in value this year. Which, which is a good thing. The other point is, is that the tax rate went down another two points from the ninth year in a row. We also had a increase, if I may, of, of the funding. We also, in relation to the cap levy bank, there was a total cap levy bank as balances 6,000,303 $33,000. We can go up to, but we're not, so we're $6.1 million under that creation cap. Speaker 5 01:03:27 We're over $6.2 million under the appropriations cap, which, which is a very good thing for the taxpayers. Our state aid stayed flat for the past 20 years. We, we haven't had an increase since Governor McGreevy. So, but with that being said, like every other in our community and throughout the state, we did have some increases and expenditures through the health insurance and obviously in various items we, we did added additional funds in for gas and heating services. Obviously with everything that's going on nationally, with everything bumping up, we took that into consideration too. And obviously we're still receiving this receipts from the blizzard right now. I think the cost is well over $400,000 from that storm. And I, I suspect it'll be ended up about a half a million dollars in change. One of the, the downsides for, for revenue this year is that there was a decrease. Speaker 5 01:04:29 We now don't have the Verizon tax. Now the Verizon tax out there is where Verizon has their, your utility poles in our permissible rights of way, that equates to an assessed value of almost $25 million. So now that they've received, they're down below the 51% threshold where landlines are in basc, that tax goes away. So that's just not in our town. It's in other towns in the state too. So this is the first year we've lost all the revenue for that. No one's using landline anymore. Yeah, using a mobile phone. Well that's one of the drawbacks there. We do have an awful lot of capital projects underway this year. Speaker 5 01:05:15 We're out to bid on the, the next phase of Patent Avenue Har Harold Place. We're gonna be, we just awarded that tonight between West seventh and West Fi Hamilton Boulevard, Frank, between Brent and Montgomery Murray Avenue. Between Caso and the cul-de-Sac Richards between Adams and Hart. Hedgerow. Between Buttonwood and Buttonwood. All Sturbridge Drive from Mettler's Lane to Mettler's Lane and Palisades Avenue from Brookside to Gramercy as well. We're gonna be out to bid very shortly on, on Boxwood Drive. And Owen, we did add the ward tonight, the comfort station up on Green Acres. The first time we did award the contractors start installing the utilities. We're waiting for the utility companies to come in and do the installations up there that that'll be actually much wanted. 'cause actually what was happening up there, a lot of the porta potties were being tipped over and it created a hazmat situations and a couple times some of 'em were lit on fire, believe it or not. Speaker 5 01:06:21 So hopefully that'll end that. And we do have some money through the pilots to pay the TE service on the community center. And we set aside $2 million towards the start of the construction of infrastructure work of the ecological park and then of course the comfort station. So those folks that are out there are quick to blame pilots for their problems. If it wasn't for that, our taxes would be going up substantially and these projects would not be getting over the finish line. There's other, other items in the budget that I'll just wait for till we have our public hearing. So I just wanted to highlight some of those. And also, we're gonna be installing a lot of the balance of the sidewalks on Ethel Road West. And we also have sidewalks going in on Sydney Road out over here, down down South, south Randolphville Road. Speaker 5 01:07:15 We have it going over on Stelton Road up by both railroad tracks on New Brunswick Avenue and Stelton Road and the sidewalks, as I said before, on both Stelton Roads and New Brunswick Avenue. And we're gonna be out to bid on phase two of Old New Brunswick Road between the 2 87 bridge and the, the Conrail tracks right there. So that, that should be out the bid. And that that also doesn't include the current contracts that we have underway for Love Guard Street, Frank, that's over in your ward. And then the real big one in Dennis's Ward is, is the Centennial Avenue project, which is the largest reconstruction project in the history of the town. So there is a lot, lot of projects underway. Also the retrofitting of the LED lights at Riverside Park. A lot of fence repairs to a lot of the parks over Quibble Town Park. Speaker 5 01:08:13 Frank and Michelle were, were we're retro retrofitting the volleyball court and the tennis courts area and then also the summer shades over there. And then over at the fire training center we took in a retrofit, the smoke tower and the building over there. We also applied to Senator Booker and Senator Kim's office for some additional grant funds towards that. Those, those up upgrades. That doesn't include the new phone system that we're, that's about 25 years old here in the town that we're replace. And the reason why we're replacing that, because we can't get parts anymore, phone system, they don't make it. So now we have to have some news. So those are just some of the items that are, that are out there that we're planning to, to fix this year through this capital budget. So thank you council president. Thank Speaker 3 01:09:01 You very much. Mayor, can I ask, what is our increase? Do you have a percentage on our health insurance coverage increases? Speaker 5 01:09:09 It was, Speaker 3 01:09:11 It was about 22.3%. Thank you. I just wanna re, first of all, I'm very excited about having that up on Green Acres. Having worked up at that high school for a long time, I think it's great. I am hearing from people about concerns about when bathrooms just in general and parks are open, it seems like no matter when somebody goes, I am hearing, of course, when they go and they want the bathrooms, they're not being open unless there's like specific, like I know when we have concerts, but in general, is there like a schedule or a cycle or how do we decide when bathrooms are open or not open at parks? Especially now that it's hopefully gonna get nice out into the season. We, we Speaker 5 01:09:51 Do have the bathrooms open Monday through Friday out there during the workday out there. And the reason why we used to have 'em open at night, but we've been having a hard time getting attendance. And what's happening is, and some of the kids over there did a lot of vandalism and damage and broke and one of, one of the bathrooms, they broke every urinal and every sink and all the parks. So that's why we don't have, unless there's an attendant there, that's why they stay closed because of the vandalism. Speaker 3 01:10:22 So when you say work day, do we extend it with daylight savings? Like when until eight, it's nine to four. Speaker 5 01:10:29 10 o'clock in the morning till about five o'clock. Speaker 3 01:10:32 Okay. Thank you. Speaker 6 01:10:34 And those attendance are so hard to find. Yes. No one wants that job. We have to be creative. Speaker 4 01:10:42 Is that something that if we had the video cameras outside, we could get the vandals? Speaker 5 01:10:51 Well, we have video cameras in a lot of our parks and we're gonna be installing more councilwoman. But however, the problem is just that if you leave it open, you know there's still vandalism that goes on the, the, the parks take a lot of abuse, believe it or not. Speaker 3 01:11:09 Okay. Well, before I close Speaker 0 01:11:12 The meeting in honor of women's history month, here's to strong women. May we know them, may we be them, and may we raise them? I'll take a motion to adjourn this meeting. A second. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. This meeting has been adjourned. Have a great evening.