January 21, 2025 Council Meeting

Jan 25

Below you will find a summary of the main points from the January 2025 Council Meeting. The full meeting is available to watch by clicking here.

PROCLAMATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

Proclamation Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The Mayor read a proclamation honoring the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, as the preeminent civil rights leader of our time.

Green Team 2024 Year-End Report

Jennifer Hsu, reported on the Green Team’s 2025 accomplishments, which included: receiving a Bronze Certification from Sustainable Jersey, the pollinator garden located in the parking lot adjacent to the library, the seed bank, recycling 1,000 lbs of plastic, many activities for kids in the community, hosting expert speakers, and much more. Thank you to Jennifer and the rest of the Green Team for all you do!

MANAGER’S REPORT

Thanked the DPW for their outstanding work during the snowstorm.
PSA to residents: keep your heat up, check your pipes, check your outside faucets, make sure they're off.
Applied for a 2025 local recreation grant ($225k) for the rehabilitation of the roller hockey rink at Hewitt school and an application for an open space park development grant for additional funding for the Stonetown turf project. The Stonetown field is located on wetlands and the project has not yet received environmental approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Superfund Site Update: The capping phase of the O'Connor landfill on Peters Mine’s Road has been completed. Ford will begin the construction of the new recycling center in the spring, and hopefully that'll be completed by year end. The facility will be upgraded, with compactors, and a canopy over top of the recycling materials. The update did not cover what will happen with the old recycling center. Both the old and proposed centers are located in a residential neighborhood.
It's going to be a difficult budget year, and the Manager will bring budget documents to the Council soon to review the recommendations for April.
Water Department: The water rates are going up by 4% this year.

MOUNT LAUREL/ AFFORDABLE HOUSING RELATED RESOLUTIONS

Resolution 2025- 40: Creates a Mount Laurel subcommittee to assist the borough in addressing affordable housing issues.

Resolution 2025- 41: Is required to appoint a municipal housing liaison for the oversight administration and the municipal clerk is who has been designated in this resolution.

Resolution 2025- 47: Mr. Semaro, the new Borough Attorney, explains that this resolution is needed for the borough to participate in the declaratory judgment (DJ) process, which helps protect it from builder remedy lawsuits. The resolution does not commit the borough to the assigned number of affordable housing units, but rather accepts the data input into the DCA’s formula, leaving room for reductions through vacant land or durational adjustments. If the resolution isn’t adopted by the end of the month, the borough will lose the chance to seek immunity from builder remedy lawsuits and face risks from developers seeking higher-density housing.

The Mayor explained: “the highlands council made the determination that zero parcels are eligible in Ringwood for development under the highlands.” This is true now and has been true since the fair share housing law was written to exclude our area because we are 100% in the conservation zone.

JAMES DRIVE SEWER PLANT

Resolution 2025, 45 Approved an agreement with Wanaque Valley Regional Sewage Authority for the maintenance and operation of the James Drive Treatment Plant for a three year term beginning December 1, 2024, through November 30, 2027. It is a shared service and they run the treatment plant. Rates have increased 3 percent.

SKYLINE DRIVE REDEVELOPMENT

No Progress: Even though the plan was expected to be completed before year end in 2024, in the most unsurprising point of the night, the Council is still waiting to hear from Azarian.