January 10, 2026 Special Budget Meeting

STILLWATER TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE

SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING MINUTES

JANUARY 10, 2026

A SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING of the Stillwater Township Committee was called to order by Mayor V. Rumsey at 9:07 a.m. Mayor V. Rumsey stated that this meeting is being held in compliance with the provisions of P.L. 1975, Ch. 231, Secs. 4 & 13 the Sunshine Law and that adequate notice of the meeting has been published in the New Jersey Herald as to the time, place, and date of meetings, and is posted in the usual location of posted notices in the municipal building as well as electronically on the township website.

ROLL CALL: Committeeman D. Manser, Deputy Mayor D. Delaney, Committeewoman L. Chammings, Committeeman G. Scott, and Mayor V. Rumsey

Also Present: Township CFO Tammy Leonard

FLAG SALUTE: Mayor V. Rumsey led the Flag Salute.

BUDGET DISCUSSION

Stillwater Township Fire Department Budget

STFD Budget

Fire Department Members Present for the meeting: Chief D. Banghart, Deputy Chief S. Sugar and Treasurer B. Scrudato

S. Sugar stated that they requested a $2,000 increase in their aid line item due to the increased cost of everything.

Vehicle maintenance had no increase; amounts were just shuffled around.

Fire Department Capital Budget

Committeewoman L. Chammings asked how many ambulance calls they responded to. Chief Dwane Banghart responded that he didn’t have the figures with them, but approximately 45-50 in Stillwater Township. The total number with aid in the surrounding municipalities is closer to approximately 90. Their ambulance is 13 years old and will need to be replaced soon as well. They are working on getting their EMT numbers up again.

Mayor V. Rumsey asked if they could check the AED units at the Community Center and Town Hall when they are inspecting their own. They agreed that they could do that.

Deputy Chief S. Sugar stated that he’s thinking of getting rid of two of the trucks and replacing them with a new tanker like Fredon has. He stated that they take approximately 5 years to build, so maybe it can be included in next year’s budget to start. The one truck is 40 years old, and the other is 35 years old.

The Fire Department is looking to purchase 5 new sets of turnout gear to outfit new members and replace sets that are over ten years old or no longer serviceable. This estimated cost is $31,175.00

They are also looking to outfit each apparatus with a Kenwood NX-5900 mobile radio that works on 700/800 mhz state system. The County has placed a 7/800 channel in service for all the fire departments, and the coverage of this system is almost 100% throughout the county and beyond. Also, will allow them to communicate with other agencies that have already switched over. This estimated cost is $40,064.57. The Statewide Channel Network Grant gave one to each municipality. The one given to Stillwater is in the Chief’s car. The Township Committee asked how much the dual-band portables cost. Deputy Chief S. Sugar stated that they need a DBA, which costs about $50,000, and the Kenwood radios are $6,600 apiece. The Motorolas are $9,000 each. They would need 8 altogether. They do not need all the radios at once. Mayor V. Rumsey asked the CFO to add a couple of radios at a time to the capital plan in the future.

Mayor V. Rumsey stated that she gave everyone a memo from the CFO regarding Fire Department funding for “Rent”. The line item for rent is $20,000 paid to the fire department annually to house the Township-owned fire trucks and emergency response vehicles in the Stillwater Fire House. She asked how long they have been paying “rent” to the fire department for and why.

Committeeman G. Scott stated that the Township paid the Fire Department “rent” because the town could only donate so much money each year to the fire department, so they included an additional line item for “rent”. This was an idea established approximately 11 years ago by the CFO at the time, the Auditor, and the Township Committee. The Committee asked for the money in the line item for “rent” to be moved to another category as not to cause further confusion. The CFO will check the funding threshold.

There was a discussion on where all of the Emergency vehicles are housed and a potential temporary structure for when the bridge is being replaced on Swartswood Road.

Recreation Commission Budget

Recreation Budget

Recreation Commission Chairwoman T. Tosti was present for the meeting.

T. Tosti suggested putting funds into the fireworks line item again, as the residents really want to see fireworks on Stillwater Day. She suggested $5,000. The Township Committee stated that they’re not sure that they can do that this year. Maybe every 2-3 years, they can do fireworks at Stillwater Day. They will need to discuss it further.

Recreation Capital Budget

T. Tosti stated that she was waiting to hear back from the rest of the Recreation Commission members for their votes on pieces of playground equipment, but that she hadn’t heard back from anyone. Statewide Insurance passed the playground for 2025, but noted that a couple of pieces of equipment would be out of date in 2026 and need to be removed. She had a couple of pieces to suggest as replacements that she gave to the CFO.

Deputy Chief S. Sugar came back into the meeting and notified everyone that they had to exit the building as there was a propane tank leak.

A MOTION was made by Committeewoman L. Chammings and seconded by Committeeman D. Manser, with all members in favor, to suspend the meeting at 10:17 a.m. due to a propane tank leak.

The Committee left the building until they were cleared by Fairclough Fuel that it was safe to re-enter.

A MOTION was made by Committeewoman L. Chammings and seconded by Deputy Mayor D. Delaney, with all members in favor, to re-enter the meeting at 11:31 a.m.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: held in the Stillwater Township Municipal Building.

A MOTION was made by Deputy Mayor D. Delaney, seconded by Committeeman G. Scott, with all members in favor, to adopt the Resolution permitting the Committee to go into Executive Session at 11:33 a.m.

STILLWATER TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE

RESOLUTION FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION

WHEREAS, Section 8 of the Open Public Meetings Act, Chapter 231, P.L. 1975 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting under certain circumstances; and

WHEREAS, this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Township Committee of the Township of Stillwater, in the County of Sussex and State of New Jersey as follows:

1. The public shall be excluded from that portion of this meeting.

2. The general nature of the subject matter to be discussed is as follows: Attorney-Client, Personnel

3. As nearly as can now be ascertained, the matter or matters to be discussed at this time will be disclosed to the public when such matters are resolved.

A MOTION was made by Committeeman G. Scott and seconded by Committeewoman L. Chammings to go back into Regular Session at 12:18 P.M.

ROLL CALL: Committeeman D. Manser; yes, Deputy Mayor D. Delaney; yes, Committeewoman L. Chammings; yes, Committeeman G. Scott; yes, Mayor V. Rumsey; yes. Motion carried with all in favor.

Township Attorney E. Bernstein stated that the record should reflect that all members of the governing body present, commencing from the Executive Session, are present to recommend the open session, along with the Township Attorney via Zoom and the Township Clerk. Committeeman G. Scott was present for the executive session via Zoom. Also present during a portion of the Executive Session was Nick Sugar. The provisions of this Executive Session were to interview and discuss with Mr. Sugar his request for a change in employment status. The Committee has given direction to the Township Clerk & Township Attorney to respond to such request in a non-affirmative fashion.

ADJOURNMENT

A MOTION was made by Committeeman G. Scott and seconded by Committeewoman D. Delaney, with all members in favor, to adjourn the meeting at 12:19 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Valerie Ingles, RMC

Municipal Clerk