Township Committee — March 5, 2026

What happened

March 5 was the night the Township Committee put every piece of machinery behind the amended Fourth Round housing plan into effect — everything except endorsement of the plan itself, which it could not yet do because the Planning Board had not yet adopted it.

All five members were present: Mayor Neena Singh, Deputy Mayor Vince Barragan, and Committee Members Patricia Taylor Todd, Dennis Ahn and Mike Martin.

The Committee adopted, each on a 5-0 roll call:

• Ordinance #26-1771, repealing and replacing Chapter 15, “Affordable Housing,” of the Township Code. Introduced February 19, it was advertised February 25 and heard that night. No member of the public spoke at the hearing. The township attorney described it as close to housekeeping — a statewide update so that every municipality’s code cites the current statutes and regulations.
• Resolution #26-3-100, adopting the Amended Fourth Round Spending Plan dated February 11, 2026, prepared by Clarke Caton Hintz. It governs how development fees in the affordable housing trust fund may be spent over the ten-year round, within state caps.
• Resolution #26-3-101, designating CGP&H as administrative agent for the township’s affordable housing rehabilitation program for 2026, at a cost not to exceed $20,000.
• Resolution #26-3-102, adopting an Affirmative Marketing Plan for Housing Region 3.

On the case itself, Township Attorney Wendy Rubinstein Quiroga reported that the Program Judge, Judge Miller, had sent his recommendation to the county-level Mount Laurel judge, Judge Mennen. Her account: no consensus was reached with the objectors, the recommendation was to give deference to the municipality on the plan it chooses, and the next step is a fairness hearing on the new plan before an order issues. She also said the adjudicator had indicated the plan appears compliant, while noting the amended plan had only been filed in February. A settlement conference notice had arrived that day, but eCourts was down and she could not open it.

She also confirmed that the Planning Board hearing on the amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan — cancelled by the February blizzard — had been re-noticed for Monday, March 9, with a full ten days’ notice. Because of that, the Committee could not pass a resolution endorsing the plan before the March 15 filing deadline, and expected to ask the court for the extra days. Montgomery, she said, was far from the only town in that position.

The meeting closed into executive session under Resolution #26-3-103, noticed for litigation in Docket No. SOM-L-153-25 (affordable housing) and Docket No. SOM-L-1215-24, and for real property regarding Stonebridge.

Why it matters

The ordinance and the three resolutions are what make the amended plan operational. They do not themselves decide anything about the former Kenvue campus, and the site was not discussed at this meeting. What matters here is the status report: as of March 5, the amended plan had not been approved by a court. It had a recommendation, unresolved objections, and a fairness hearing still ahead of it. That remains the right way to read the housing fight — the plan moved, the case did not close.

Worth watching

• Where the housing case stands, 2:31:59
• Ordinance #26-1771 adopted, 2:38:14
• The amended spending plan, 2:55:07
• 395 acres of state land, 1:04:08
• Questions on the elected officials’ raises, 2:39:13

Public comment

No one spoke about housing. In the general public comment period, resident Devra Keenan asked when the Fourth of July parade would be held and when its budget would be made public; the administrator said the parade was moving toward the fireworks date and the Deputy Mayor said cost figures should come to the next meeting.

The substantive exchange came during the hearing on the salary ordinance. Keenan noted that elected officials’ salaries were rising sharply — the mayor’s from $6,500 to $10,000, the Deputy Mayor’s from $4,900 to $9,000, a committee member’s from $4,900 to $8,000 — in a meeting that had opened with a presentation on budget constraints, and called it tone deaf. She also asked whether a member with a full property tax exemption should take a salary. Mayor Singh answered that the township had compared salaries in similar municipalities, that the figures are $10,000, $9,000 and $8,000 a year for what is close to volunteer service, and encouraged residents to run for office. Deputy Mayor Barragan said his exemption comes from a 100 percent disability determination; the attorney clarified it is a veterans’ determination. The ordinance passed 5-0.

Earlier, three residents spoke on the Department of Corrections land. Clem Fiori of the Open Space Committee said conceptual commitments to non-open-space uses were running ahead of his committee, and pressed the importance of the Rock Brook corridor. Reed Chapman supported the acquisition but questioned the proposed uses. Keenan argued the township should take its time and ask the state to donate the land.