Township Committee — November 13, 2025

What happened

The Township Committee’s first regular meeting after the November 4, 2025 election. All five members answered roll call — Mayor Singh, Deputy Mayor Barragan, and Committee Members Taylor Todd, Ahn and Martin — and every recorded vote was 5-0.

Ordinance #25-1766 was introduced on first reading: a bond ordinance appropriating $1,100,000 to extend affordability controls on existing affordable housing units, including $650,000 available from the township’s COAH trust fund and authorizing the issuance of $450,000 in bonds or notes. The public hearing and final vote were set for December 4, 2025. The township attorney said it puts the money in place so payments to owners can be made as extensions are signed.

Two resolutions then took the first step. #25-11-374 extended expiring controls at Montgomery Hills (McKinley Court) and #25-11-375 at Montgomery Glen (River Birch Circle) — 35 owner-occupied units and 19, 54 in all. The attorney explained the mechanics: these are “95 percent” units, where on resale the township recaptures 95% of the gain above the affordable price and the seller keeps the balance — unchanged by the extension. Controls are extended under the township’s existing right in the original deed restriction whether or not an owner opts in; opting in is what earns the owner an additional $10,000, which is what the bond funds. Letters had gone to every affected owner, and a virtual session with the township’s administrative agent, Community Grants, Planning and Housing, was set for the following Monday.

#25-11-376, “Ratifying Settlement Agreement,” was adopted with a short explanation: it memorialized in open session terms discussed in closed session at an earlier meeting, because no action on litigation can be taken in closed session. No case was named from the dais, though the resolution as printed in the approved minutes ratifies a settlement in Docket #SOM-L-00215-24.

Under new business, the township attorney gave an affordable housing update. The township’s first settlement conference with the state’s dispute resolution program was set for the next day by Zoom, and the proposal it would carry was “only extension of controls.” Beyond the 54 units she described an agreement in principle with the owner of Pike Run being turned into a memorandum of understanding, plus additional senior rental units at McKinley Court — together, she said, enough to meet the township’s entire obligation. From the dais: if all the extensions came through, “we do not need to have any construction.” It was also noted that this had been harder to reach earlier because the Pike Run builder had not been willing to work with the township. Staff had told the Planning Board on June 23, 2025 that the same owner “were not able to agree to extend the controls.” The public record does not explain why that position changed, and we do not speculate about it.

Why it matters

This is where the alternative to building on the Kenvue site stopped being an idea and became a budget line. Instead of zoning new inclusionary development, Montgomery proposed to meet its Fourth Round obligation by paying to keep already-affordable homes affordable for another 30 years. The 2026 amended plan that removed the Kenvue site was built on this approach — 210 preserved units plus 65 bonus credits, 275 credits against a 260-unit obligation.

Two cautions belong with that. First, what was described here was a proposal heading into a settlement conference, not a court-approved outcome. Nearly a year later, in September 2026, the township attorney told the committee that a settlement had been reached with Fair Share Housing Center but that no compliance hearing had yet been held and the township’s immunity from builder’s-remedy lawsuits remained contingent on getting one. Second, if you own one of these deed-restricted homes: your controls were extended regardless; the opt-in is only about the $10,000.

Worth watching

• Public comment opens — 20:44
• McKinley Court resident — 31:15
• Ordinance #25-1766, the $1.1M bond — 33:18
• How extension of controls works — 49:11
• Ratifying a settlement agreement — 53:32
• Affordable housing update — 1:14:10

Public comment

Public comment was dominated not by housing but by cell service. Rich Smith, president of the Cherry Valley homeowners association, and Greg Rogers, speaking for the 89 homeowners of the Clubside age-restricted community, described chronically poor coverage as a safety problem for older residents — Rogers recounted a neighbor whose emergency call dropped twice — and urged the township to build the Cherry Valley tower. John Kelsey of Otter Creek Road asked the committee to expedite it.

A resident of McKinley Court said she and her mother support the resolution extending controls on their development, and asked what plans the township has for a human services department. The mayor said someone would follow up.

One resident questioned spending tied to the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign and argued the money would be better spent on Montgomery EMS; staff clarified the item was a grant already received, and the committee noted EMS funding had risen to $195,000 that year. At the hearing on the Village Walk financial agreement she urged that the township’s share of the payment in lieu of taxes go to fully funding the fire districts, open space and EMS, which receive little from a PILOT, and cautioned against arrangements in which a site’s existing developer is also its designated redeveloper.