[Music] [Music] [Music] the meeting of the Atlanta County Board of Commissioners is all order in compliance with the open public meetings Act of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of this meeting of the Atlanta County Board of Commissioners was provided in the following manner published at the Press Atlantic City and mailed to The hamton Gazette and has been posted on the Bolton boards in the county office building in Atlantic City Still Water building in Northfield and the county clerk's office in maand Bow your heads dear God as we come before you today for this commissioner meeting we thank you for the opportunity to serve and make decisions that impact our community grant us wisdom and discernment as we discuss important matters help us listen to one another with Open Hearts and Minds seeking the best outcomes for all we represent amen amen please stand for the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible withy and justice for all call please palace prestino here Burns here Cory pres B here G here Parker pres Grizzly here turn here uh Commissioners have had an opportunity to review the minutes from February 20th 2024 I'll entertain a motion to adopt February 20 with uh 24 minutes as presented motion May second comments okay roll call Alice yes Martino yes Burns Cory da yes G yes Parker yes grizley yes turn yes motion carries okay anyone attending in person who would like to speak regarding an agenda item or a public comment please come to the podium speak into the microphone state your name and the town where you resign you'll be be provided up to 3 minutes to speak if you're attending virtually and would like to speak please raise your hand during the agenda item or a public comment at the end I will call upon your name and a request to unmute will be sent please state your name and the town you reside you'll be provided up to 3 minutes to speak okay that brings us to resolution 112 appointment of Frank D to the Atlanta County Utilities Authority to fill an unexpired term to expire on May 1st 2025 move by commissioner G seconded by uh commissioner fortino any comments from our commissioners I think Mr would you like to come up questions yes thank you well I provided I think everybody with a little bit of my resume I would like to say that uh I would really uh like to be part of the acua part of this great County government again so uh I was asked by the municipal chair Nick Londo toh take this position and I am happy to be here answer any questions question commiss mam so Mr for with all due respect uh you're are no strangers to the County government um so I want to to record reflect the only one to say I know there's been some hogwash some conversations about you being appointed to the acua I think it's an abing choice I think you certain resid of County very well um your experience as commissioner Freeholder and chairman of this board uh speaks volumes and just in the community as a whole and so I know I've gotten a phone call and want to know why we were appointing you to the board um I think it's the right person at the right time for the right position and that uh I think you would do the residence of Atlanta County very well I don't need to blow no smoke up your behind because again you've been in this community you know what's going on you hear the concerns um absolutely whether they're good orad and you talk about communities with the smells and Etc we we need a a voice on it that will continue to speak up um and listen to what residents have to say uh you know the last couple of times there's been some issues and concerns regarding he car Township abin Galloway um we've had the ACA uh acua executive director here at the last meeting talked about a few things um and so you know um I make no qus about it I I I guess some people wondered who was going to support you who was going to sponsor I'm supporting it um it's the right thing to do and so for the record um for some of those who did call whether they were Democrats or Republicans um we have to understand we can either vote resolutions up or down is the county Executives as his discretion uh who you like to point to boards and so I again I know there there a lot of talk out there uh in the community all weekend I'm sure some of y'all phones have blown up I don't believe you in the western part of the county how bet you hear everything um but again congratulations thank you I'm humbled by that and just uh anxious to serve thank you commissioner any other commiss if I could yes so um I've been on the commissioner Bo pre-order for quite some time now um not as long as As You Are but um and nobody as long nobody as long as John he holds the record across the state he was here before the building was he predates Benny so so anyway I'll get to my point um with his many um appointments that that we have agreed to on this board um never have I got a phone call from the applicant um seeking support and um the other day my phone rings and it's Mr fiko on the phone and and uh told me that you know he was um in line in running to get this position and uh I was shocked and the only question I asked him is um is he going to be a yes man for the executive director um not that I have a problem with the executive director but a lot of times um you know the people on that board just whatever you know Administration want there they just go along with it and um his answer was absolutely not and that's all I needed to hear I yes man for the people way ahead of party exactly way ahead of anything that's exactly what I I needed to hear and uh he has my 100% support thank you commissioner Comm I don't care I certainly would like to Echo everything that's been stated Frank you make a great member you're very thorough and that's what we need as board members we need people who are going to listen take it take it all in do the research ask the tough questions and then ask a followup to the follow-up question which is so important so I I have no doubt that you're going to do a great job thank you thank you yes thank you um Frank I think you've U with the background experience you've had and listening to issues from the acua Through The Years um there's changes that are occurring now uh we're coming into the Twilight of the landfill uh there's going to be opportunities and it's going to take some vision from people to maybe look at things in a little different way uh one of the things I do know about you is that you aren't afraid to take the a different approach than everybody else is at least doing the research to find out if it's feasible and I and I feel comfortable about you going there um because I think you're going to be that kind of a of a leader there and a commissioner there um we got a lot happen and the way we handle trash has been changing da um there's going to be opportunities some states if you research and acoa has done some of the research cuz I've seen some of the stuff theyve looked at where there's Partnerships with public private out in the west where businesses are involved with doing some of the uh some of the material that they could utilize that of the landfill taking it that of the stream um it may it isn't just that we want to be quitting on the truck trucking of that here and going to atan that's not the way trash and recycling should be done as this you know in this time and age and it's changing dramatically by technology so I know you'll be a guy that aren't afraid to fck the stream if that's what's needed and ask the questions necessary and challenge the staff if it's something that needs to be done I feel pretty comfortable with you knowing you that well I know you'll do that so I'll be supporting you um but you need a guy there that's not afraid to ask a question I hope I I hope to live up I will live up to all that but if not our and on this board there's no more knowledgeable about trash than Jamie patina so you're going to be expecting a lot of calls thank you Comm um Frank as Comm B said I appreciate the phone call about the pointment I know there were others that were interested in this position um but but you're here today and uh so it's not just you know have seeking and you conversation it's it's Gallow Township and when it's in Township and when there's hundreds of new homes come online at a Township there going to be 100 more phone calls that we're all going to be receiving receiving um and you included so I hope as uh commissioner bertino said that you are a bulldog and uh you think outside of the box CU there are several issues that the H is facing currently um and like I said we're all going to continue to receive phone calls which means you're going to receive phone calls give everybody my number and as far as my phone calls to everybody I felt it was a matter of respect not one time that somebody called me when I was up I got appointed and you people have been here Commissioners have been here know we appoint people we want to ask a question to they never even show up at the meeting that that that shouldn't be it shouldn't be but I'm not here to argue policy just wanted to say I wanted to give everybody a call out of respect I appreciate that I give you credit for that I hope the others that have applied to this positions continue to stay involved as well because again you know sometimes too many cooks in the kitchen is a bad thing but I think some of the issues the HCA is facing I think the more um heads we have that come together on this the better so thank you that's a very good point commissioner like the ones that were requesting it as well we would like them to stay involved and we do need we do need uh people out there advocating for the residents as you said there's a lot of things going on with acua not just SM it's SM very big right now with the residents and you now being a resident of back Sean so we very much appreciate your interest and willingness to serve the residents of Atlanta County else have any comments at a at a I don't know how we could not support our former colleague and friend um I I mean qualified is not even the word and I just see it as an extension of us frankly because you know this perspective and that's exactly what we need there um kind of on a on a very regular basis so I'm I'm excited I I don't think there's really a better choice that could have been made that's very humbling thank you very much but I can't be the only one that doesn't say anything you I have not spoken for the record how did I not know thank you very much for the respect and calling me and as the new commissioner of course I made some phone calls to the Commissioners and I have heard 100% support of you so thank you very much not an easy job right now never an easy job but right now you're jumping right into it so thank you very much thank you thank you it would seem from all the comments that I'm the commissioner that commissioner Cory was speaking about that received all the clandestin phone calls clandestin I'm done now let's go so so Madam chair before we do that um I was sitting here calculating um he was the chairman of the Freeholder board he was a Freeholder uh he was Shar Services director and and he's going to AC what else you coming back what's that just nameing all the things you just a bread Baker that's all I am there no there's no initials after my name just a breader well and then you also notice in um some of the information you gave us your first experience with waste management was as a United States Air Force Cadet where you trained in water and waste management treatment that is true that me he had to take I I'll just I'll just say this real quick I mean this is serious stuff but I I go into the air force because I was drafted into Vietnam with a very little number you had 10 days to join another service I get to a recruiter who shows me the career Fields I see something that's brand new and bright in that time in the early 70s engineer environmental support specialist I'm so excited to go to Tech school I get to tech school Shephard Air Force Base and my uh instructor who was a civilian I said what is engineer environmental support specialist he said what are you talking about let me see your MOS said son you're a turd hder oh boy in what waste treatment I got I got to the BX to get to the phone to call my recruiter and tell him I was going to kill him you have anything from the public nothing from the public Mr F do you have any other words you want to say thank thank you for letting me be here okay we will have a roll call palas yes fortino yes Burns yes Cory da yes G yes Parker yes rizley yes turn yes motion carries thank and that is better than scus congratulations okay that that brings us into our bond ordinances with Bond ordinance uh one for the first reading Bond ordinance providing for various 2024 Capital Improvements and the acquisition of various Capital Equipment buying in the county of Atlantic state of New Jersey appropriating 30, 644,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 29 m111 th000 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof first reading move by commissioner G second by commissioner Vino any commission comments um if I may just there's a number of budget uh related uh ordinances and resolutions that are that are coming uh forward here and I just I just want to First say thanks to our finance staff and and administrative staff uh always do a fantastic job um not only putting everything together but taking us all through it and helping answer our questions and helping us to understand so I just want to uh say that on behalf of the the budget and finance committee um I know the rest of the Commissioners uh met with the team also and went through everything in depth um with regard to these couple of items up front I just wonder if it would be of value to have maybe Bonnie just highlight just a couple of things it's first reading that way the public is aware um for the public hearing at the following meeting okay have a mic or Jerry whoever you want to do Jerry I didn't mean to step over okay I left my cheat sheet summary in the office but um the first do you want me to just do the bond ERS a couple highight a bond ordinance yeah yeah the bond ordinance for is an appropriation of $3,644 th000 um of which I I did try to make some notes while just in case um of which uh 16,409 $410,000 is going to be used for facilities improvements and and 14,23 4,000 is for Bridge Road intersection and drainage improvements and we have the details available if people want to know what the specific projects right the individual projects that we plan on including in these uh are listed in the in the ordinance thank you the commissioner comments see none anything 12 okay roll call Bas fortino Burns Cory B yes G Parker yes grizley yes K yes motion carries okay that brings us into the capital ordinances with capital Ordinance one Capital ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements equipment and Furnishings in and for the county of Atlantic state of New Jersey and appropriating $ 4,556 1918 from the capital Improvement fund and or the capital Surplus fund to pay for the cost thereof first reading second move by commissioner Cory seconded by commissioner G any commissioner thas being hearing none anything from the public first sorry uh okay aoll call bastino yes Burns yes Cory B yes G yes Parker yes grizzley yes turn yes motion carries Capital ordinance to Capital ordinance providing for various technology infrastructure improvements at Atlanta C Community College colge anded for the county of Atlantic state of New Jersey and appropriating $472 from the capital Improvement fund and or the capital Surplus fund to pay for the cost thereof first reading like commissioner Parker second by commissioner Cino any commissioner comments see hearing none we'll have a bastino Burns da G yes Parker yes rley yes turn yes motion carries that brings us into our resolutions for Budget budget resolution 844 introduction of the 2024 Atlanta County budget first reading Mo by commissioner Cory second by commissioner G any commissioner comments hearing none we'll have a roll call Bas fortino Burns Cory da yes G yes Parker yes grizley yes K yes motion carries resolution please ATA County Public Health Agency annual budget notice 2024 first reading second by Comm see hearing none we'll have aoll bastino Burns Cory St yes D clker yes grizley yes turn yes motion car resolution 86 please Hela County Library annual budget notice 2024 first reading thank Mo by commissioner Parker seconded by commissioner G and commissioner here roll Bas yeso Burns Cory da yes G yes Parker yes grizley yes turn yes motion Carri resolution 87 calendar year 2024 resolution authorizing County entity to exceed the county entity budget request cap public wall 2015 chapter 249 move by commissioner G second by commissioner fortino any commissioner comments mam chair just again to highlight these are all standard operating procedure as part of our kind of budget process thank you any other commissioner comments than none I'll bastino burs Cory St G Parker grizzley K yes motion carries resolution 88 resolution to exceed the county budget appropriation limits to and to establish a 2024 cap Bank njsa 40a 44514 First reading second by commissioner B second by commissioner G any commissioner com here none L Bas foro FS Cory G Parker grizzley yes motion carries resolution 89 resolution adopting the tax levy cap to be applied to the 2024 County budget second move by commissioner G seconded by commissioner balance any commissioner comments none anything from public Bas yeso yes Burns Cory St yes G yes Parker yes rizley yes turn yes motion carries resolution 90 please temporary fiscal year 2024 capital budget second Mo like commissioner Cory second by commissioner G any commissioner comments see hearing none anything from the public roll call Bas yes fortino Burns Cory St yes G yes Parker yes grizzley yes sh yes motion carries resolution 91 annual open space trust fund tax 2024 first reading move commissioner G second by commissioner vertino and commissioner comments mam chair yeah just uh I mean I'm going to vote Yes for this but um I spoke many times um last year with the administrator Terry reference to the County Purchasing the the historic bowling Cemetery in Galloway Township it's a it's a cemetery where um black um soldiers were it was owned by a church the county does take care of it although there is a lot of District PA that's out there to the railings and stuff like that um I I couldn't see a better use of space funding to make sure that that um continues to need be maintained and improvements on it um especially um I know the county executive had the county put a sign out there which we're all aware of and to the history of that which is hisory and I think it it'll be it'll be a national landmark eventually but um I think that you know this is that would be money well spent if the county is able to get start thank any other commissioner comments okay call Bas fortino Burns Cory St yes G Parker yes grizzley yes turn yes motion carries bring us into our grant with resolution 92 Grant application and acceptance from the New Jersey Department of State Division of Elections for the 2023 general election early voting Grant amount not to exceed $1 147,148 47 second Mo by commissioner Cory second and by commissioner G any commissioner comments see hearing none anything from the public than thank you madam chair good to be seen um Creed po estl Manor um I'm a member of the County Board of Elections but I am not uh speaking directly on their behalf uh today we didn't have a chance to discuss that uh ahead of time but just wanted to U be appreciative for both 92 and 93 so I won't do this twice um but also as you introduced the budget as administ ation works on the budget um in addition to the truisms that obviously uh democracy is not free um and so there's an expense with elections but also the state winds up reimbursing the county for much of that expense uh and so when you see the numbers in the budget in part because Jerry right that not all of those things are known of what exactly is going to be reimbursed so that's not all included as an offset in the budget even though it comes later which is why it's in here later uh and so uh just to look that up for your information and again to thank you for your support and I know um this isn't great news I know we'll be having other requests because again we are in an election season um through the year um it's not just okay here's two election days and we're all done hasn't been like that truly for a long time so again thank you madam chair and the board I'm going ation for their support and help other comments Alice yes Cino FS Cory J yes G Parker yes grizzley yes K yes motion carries that resolution 93 please Grant application and acceptance from the New Jersey Department of State Division of Elections for the 2023 primary and general election day Grant Mount not to exceed $27,995 by commissioner second by commissioner G any commission comments he none anything from aoll bastino Burns Cory B yes G yes Parker yes grizzley yes turn yes motion carries we have a resolution number 94 please for an application and acceptance from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development for the Summer Youth Employment Program amount not re $975,000 commission second by commission and commission th n anything call alaso birs Cory J G yes Parker yes grizzley yes km yes motion carried that brings us to our professional service agreements with resolution Professional Services agreement very vendors to provide temporary nursing staffing for metaview nursing and rehabilitation center and the division of Public Health amount not to exceed $1 million move by commission Cory seconded by commissioner G any commissioner comments M CH J do you want to highlight what we the analysis we're going to do with met talk well that's it's on the resolution I mean he he's going to do you want to do it now you to um yeah we can okay okay all right fine okay sorry any other comments anything from the public Bas yes patino Burns corsey St yes G yes Parker yes rley yes yes motion carries to our competitive contract with resolution 96 resolution authorizing competitive Contracting for the solicitation of proposals for security of attic I'm sorry at the central Municipal Court pursuant to njsa 40a 11-4 Second move by commissioner G second by commissioner Martino any commission comments question thank you um Jer in this competitive contract that will go out will the sheriff off be able to bid on that also or no I believe they can bid on it if they want to I mean I don't think any there was anything to get prob then I mean we we've done that in uh you know our Office on Aging we we go out and other units within that you know Department can bid and have bid on on projects I yes okay unless the County Council tells me yeah they can in my opinion okay thank any other comments from the commission anything from the public okay call alas yeso Burns Cory da G Parker grizzley yes yes motion carries resolution 97 please resolution authorizing competitive Contracting for the solicitation of proposals for catering services in Atlanta County facilities on an as needed basis pursuant to njsa 40a 11-4 by commissioner second by commissioner G any commissioner comments see hearing none anything okay we have call bastino Burns Cory da G Parker yes grizzley yes yes motion Carri amending resolution number 252 adopted on May 16 20123 a renewal agreement with Jewish Family Services for the provision of heads case management to utilize unspent funding and to extend the term date no additional cost appr by commissioner Cory second by commissioner Bas any commissioner comments see hearing none anything the public okay we'll have a roll call altino Burns Cory J yes G yes Parker yes grizzley yes K yes motion carries bring big contract with resolution 99 big contract with electric Tech Incorporated for phase three light fixure replacement at the Atlanta County Justice Facility amount not to exceed $191,700 basino Burns Cory G Parker brle yes yes resolution 100 F contract with near construction and rentals Incorporated to provide Canali Pump Station and Force main improvements amount not to exceed $215,400 public okay we have a roll bastino Burns Cory J G Parker Grizzly yes turn yes motion carries resolution 101 the contract with Alesa Mechanical Incorporated for bebac upgrades and natural gas generator for the ma landing library amount not to exceed $2,683 600 move by commission Parker second by commissioner G any commissioner comments seeing hearing none anything from the have aoll bastino burs Cory St G Parker yes grizzley yes turn yes motion carries resolution 102 they contract with M foods to furnish and deliver non perishable foods amount not to exceed $199,200 altino Burns Cory da G Parker grizzley yes motion carries resolution 103 they contract the various vendors for the provision of inmate uniforms and supplies for the Atlanta County Justice Facility in Mount M SE $229,100 likey second none Bas yes patino Burns yes Cory yes G Parker yes grizzley yes yes motion car re change orders with resolution 104 change order number one a contract with arak Haven Company Incorporated for on call maintenance resurfacing of various roads to extend the term date net increase $525 second move by commissioner Cory seconded by commissioner dve any commiss see here none Alice patino yes Burns yes fory J yes G yes Parker yes Grizzly yes term yes carries resolution 105 change order number one a contract with J Fletcher creamer and Sun Incorporated for all call maintenance being guide rail repair at various locations to extend the term date only no additional cost second by commission second any coms you have a roll call Bas yes Burns corsey da yes G Parker yes grizzley yes turn yes motion carries resolution 106 police agreement with Jamal's Atlantic City limited liability company and management company Joy parking limited liability company to lease 375 parking spaces at the New York Avenue parking garage in Atlantic City M nce $ 24,52420 any commiss comments thank you Jerry is there any plans in the future of acquiring any property in Atlantic City and building our own parking lot or that's still off the table we're looking to move out of Atlantic City I mean the we we did price out where our parking lot is uh and you know we it's very expensive fact when we did this it has to be like 10 years ago we had a uh you know uh engineer designed for actually to co assessment and design several different uh structures for us they averaging anywhere between 18,000 and 20,000 the parking space I mean really really we we've been looking to move out of out of Atlantic City quite truly we we looked at doing several things with our building if you remember there was um several years back um if you put money into the building I I forget that they they they tax uh exposure that you had if you put money into a building um you would get that break in taxes so you put $3 million into our building you get $13 million tax we actually looked at locations then to move out of the building and we had several different individuals look at our building they didn't think they didn't think it was worth putting the money into the building they didn't for what they were looking to do with the building you know I think we're going to put in uh apartments and things like that so again we we have up there you know we um called B&B parking we purchased that you know because the sheriff is actually does the security at the uh civil Courthouse we we purchased the uh the parking spaces from the individual and uh they're asking us to look to expand that a little bit uh in the courts because of the number of jurors they're going to reintroduce uh jurors in person they they have it now but but they're going to expand that that they would do that every week now so uh the direct answer was no we haven't looked at any more property since you know we we we did the original study so it's so I I guess it's cheaper for a private industry to acquire the property build the parking lot then leas to the county that it is for a county to build it and Own It Well we did we we went to the city to buy the piece of property that was is presently are on we we were told at the time the mayor was looking to put housing this is fire in existing so they wouldn't sell us the property we looked their property on North Carolina Avenue they they wouldn't sell us the property so I'm just I'm just telling you were a number of places we look to buy in New York Avenue lot we were ased to buy that that structurally we're not sure we we wanted to go out on buy that and and by the way there there is a I was in active for for a period of time you know back when I was a in the the division director raising and disabled I I was asked to go down there for four months and and uh and run active while they it's the South Jersey Transportation Authority while they were doing you know uh interviews for new director and at that time they were trying to sell the property couldn't sell it and you know the Loc a is not the best in the world and and look I I I my office overlooks that that particular structure I don't think I've ever seen cars on the top on the top floor it's just not a good location so I'm I'm I'm not sure that's the best thing for us and and people are afraid to go down that area I'm going to be quite honest with you so I mean we we've looked we we've done a number of different things there's nothing to caught a ey nothing that we want to spend our money on and U we are we are presently renting the spaces for the for the Civil Court out and we rent these these spaces for County Employees but we have luck to move and and I agree with you you know people don't want to go to that area and you know some say it's not safe but that's where we're putting our employees and perspective doors in general public which right I agree with you I don't know if that's the the best opportunity for us and we're paying to do that yes right okay thank you thank you m chair if I made to my colleague what's your I don't know if there is you made a statement and I'm not disagreeing with you what's the alter well I was I was hoping there was um I know there's a lot of vacant Lots around in attic City where identif from more than have to where the where the where the courts parking lot is now was bacon lot private private company bought that and County Lees from them we missed that opportunity we did but I'm I'm actually tell you I'm referring to the New York a site at this point and you're right there's a whole lot of issues on that street but what is the public we don't talk about it we don't know it's been oh I disagree with you they've been much talk about agree you happen to been in M land and at the Sha's office so you couldn't have the opportunity to talk about what happen in Atlantic City but we make sure the Sha Department the parking spaces right at the end of the day I agree that we're sending jurors and employees over to the New York Avenue garage um I I will tell you that it has cleaned up somewhat um lot needs to be done um and on that note within the next two to 3 months once they finish the academy you'll see a big difference of police presence between Pacific and Atlantic Avenue uh because we're putting 20 new cops on and that's their as part of their new location um we do realize anywhere in New York from Pacific to Artic is not a pleasant site right and the Renaissance Pleasant doesn't help either um so there's some issues we've got some challenges uh but there's no other place at this point at least we go in an eminent domain I don't support any domain no matter who's doing it but the fact is is that what would be the alternative I know that the city of Atlantic City itself directly across from City Hall um next to the Carolina Avenue pars uh with City employee we're running out of space so what do we do all right we build a garage might not be a bad idea they may not be like we we have lots there but uh we now re now share parking spaces with Gateway in the city of Atlantic City between um Tennessee and and high Coast Plaza that parking lot there um right in front of Second Baptist Church so we don't really have a lot of parking space space down there um if the county wants to come in and talk about the shed Service uh agreement and do some of the county binding maybe the city may want to build a garage uh on the city parking lot um as a partnership that's always an option but right now sending them down to the New York AV the garage um unfortunately we the county didn't buy it it was up for sale um I don't think you got sold for that much um it's just a bad area I just want to make sure that commissioner that you said we lost the opportunity we we they would not sell it to us we we were we were there before the person who bought the property we were told they would not sell it to it because they they were going to do housing there and then they sold it to that person so I'm not just say it was not the small Administration either he said it I agree with you uh Comm Cory but as you know um right next to the courthouse between the Courthouse and the county office building um there's that parking lot that's owned by the um box Ro child I believe it is and um and again if there's if there could be who knows in my fantasy land you know maybe the city and the county can go together purchase that along with ro straw child build a parking garage there and then it serves them serves us serves the city and everybody's happy but um if you never say anything maybe not think it's done so just just a just a suggestion it it's you know it's it's our best worst option but um you know I'm just voicing the concerns of you know employ and of jurors that I've I've heard from before so that's all thank you commissioner any other commissioner comments anything from the public call Dallas yeso Burns cor yes G yes clker yes grizley yes yes motion Carri resolution 107 Shar Services agreement with the city of Atlantic City for pothole repairs on various County Roads and participating municipalities m not receed $37,500 second by commissioner Cory second by commissioner G any commissioner comments I have a question when it says participating municipalities are we projecting to have more municipalities participate or we already have that oh you have Mr chrys is here he's he's the one who negotiated the he'll explain yeah the that are involved in the shared service agreement that L city was the lead agency and they received I think $400,000 dollars and Lead funding included the Atlanta County uh let me back up include penville Egg Harbor City and the City of Margate excuse me so this was part of the $400,000 that Lan City received uh part of the Lea Grant to buy this piece of equipment the entities involved are the city of Margie Egg Harbor City and penville and then the county roads within those jurisdictions okay and just for record if you can just give your name I'm sorry Tim crer Lan County shared services coordinator and I do I'm here take the time to thank the city of atan City because there's a lot of negotiation went back and forth on what county roads were going to be included in this and elany city was very Cooperative in in extending the roads that they would do for the county to Harbor City and um pleas so thanks to the was I just want to thank Tim for for that I wanted that to go the other question great said you director meeting day when will the actually truck get in I know they keep saying it's in rout did it ever get in yet uh I was told today that probably going to be about 8 months so I don't know if that's supply chain issues or what the issu know L actually adverti for bids and received them but I I did inquire to that today and it was told it's going to be about 8 months I anticipated that question coming up today yeah if I may Tim um how is this going to work so the vehicle being purchased by Atlantic City if aner for Township needs it or ventner or the other participating municipalities do they come pick it up or does a driver from Atlantic City Take It Outside of Atlantic City to fill a poth in our town okay Egg Harbor Township is not a part of this city further away a city in order to make this attractive and uh save money for everybody involved and for them to qualify for the $400,000 Grant the equipment last time I looked in the state contract was $560,000 so it's basically costing them $60,000 they would call the participating entities would call Ling City they would send their driver uh to the area so that they didn't have everybody using this piece expensive equipment and that atan city did then Bill the municipality um I think it's $45 an hour for the time that they performed the top repair they did not charge for the use of the equipment uh again to make sure that we had enough towns participating in order to make the uh Grant application look attractive to the state so municipalities will PID for the Labor uh which is the hourly rate Plus benefits to the city of L City for the time that that operator is um comparing potholes in those entities and there's a building I think an increase of 3% a year plus I assume the material right and the cost of the material again this is a very sophisticated piece of equipment it's operated by one person the person never gets out of the truck it's all done hydraulically uh so you don't have to listen why do it take three people and put the pole it's one person and repairs the PO hole in about 5 minutes so you can do a lot of potholes in an 8 hour day and L City built build the municipality that's $360 you can parti fix a lot of potholes in the municipality how many municipalities have joined the T Harper city Margate cville and the county of M uh this was offered to everybody but not I I take that back not everybody because l City wouldn't be feasible for l City to be sending this truck out to the far end of the of the county so we try to limit it to the areas nearby thank you the the best part of that is is a Hot Patch too yes not it's not it's not a cold patch CU they pop out all the time there's a hopper on it we from another it's it's amazing it's amazing uh any other comments from our commissioners anything from the public have call Bas yes fortino FS yes Cory St yes G yes Parker yes grizzley yes turn yes M hares bring us to resolution 108 agreement with zimit Healthcare Services Group limited liability company to conduct the fiscal and pro programmatic review of metaview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in an effort to increase Revenue Mount not to exceed $10,000 move by commissioner Cory second and by commissioner bertino any commissioner comments absolutely Jerry so Mr zit was asked to give me a call uh I think you remember that we we had the conversation about metav and then um the board had asked us to see if we can do an analysis to determine whether or not there are other other ways we could increase the revenue so this Mr Z called me and said I I'll give you the $330,000 or the 30,000 ft View and so he did that so he went through things like our Medicare or Medicaid funding or private funding and then if you this piece of software that that he has access to for example he has he said he probably has half of the state's nursing homes that he's a consultant for so he showed us this software and it goes through all your programs your medical Pro rehab you you name it Pharmacy all the all the things that can vote on your medical every one of them and then he can open them and then show the comparison with other nursing homes uh there are not too many publics left I think there's only like three or four of us left in the state there used to be the 18 public nursing homes own three or four left and then privates so he's able to show you where you fit in on any of those particular items so what one of the areas food see he showed us that our food costs are extremely high when I mentioned that to miss coner and and Diane at the time who who was at one time you know our processing agent she they all said how would we get such good prices but but there are some things that they're doing in the food service that one person was allowing to have it which was raising the cost not a bad thing just not a good thing in terms of cost you know so that was one of the one of the things so he was able to mention a few of these things we went back we looked at him so we went back and said look if we actually ask you to he did that for nothing he called and said I really I really like to do these things for public entities he he really believes the public entities do a very good job and he's he and he did say he's very I guess he's kind of very unhappy that the public sector has gotten out of out of this business and it's very expensive as as you all know so what he did was he started with Medicare showed us where we are with Medicare and what everybody else is getting I mean he he says you can get anywhere between Z and $100 more doing certain things so that's what he's going to do he's going to come in look at how we're billing look at how we're we're funding or or LLY for Medicare the type of cases that we have and then he'll give us some recommendations he'll look at all those items food medical RADS all of those items how we build for them and how we're charging for them and the types of cases that we have so he's going to go through that full full gamut with us and then make the recommendations so that's it definitely seems like something was well worth it that he's coming in here already seeing some things that he's highlighting no no I think we were very excited about it in the in the budget sub committee um uh I think you know we all want to work toward a goal of trying to get more of the beds filled uh and and there's a combination of you know fulfilling Staffing these and uh just getting that unit cost to operate down and that this will help with one side of that equation Serv any yeah Jerry as as long as the the out- of- pocket cost to the client or resident as you would call them um is not going up I me these are these are people that are their their worst time of the of their life having to go into a nursing home and um I think it's our responsibility just like taking care of our children we got to take care of our elery any other commissioner comments and from the public any roll call Alice yes Latino Burns yes fory yes yes G yes Parker yes grizzley yes yes motion Carri 109 alternate method contract with Atlantic Coast moving and storage for the transportation of voting equipment for the primary and general elections early voting and election day amount not to exceed $882,000 move by commissioner fory second by commissioner bino any comments from our commissioners anything from the public call Al yeso burs Cory Parker Bry yes K yes car resolution alternate method contract with us corrections to provide prisoner transport and extradition services for Atlanta County amount not to exceed $150,000 second move by commissioner Cory second by commissioner G any commissioner comments see here none anything from the public roll call Bas yes fortino Burns yes fory CH G Parker grizzley yes ter yes motion carries resolution 111 emergency contract with command Company Incorporated Incorporated to repair a second sinkhole at the galile library amount not to exceed $ 19437 Parker if I can just I just want to commend Chris I mean he's doing such a good job him and his staff to address these and and really try to get to the root of the issue so that we don't have them [Music] happen quickly any other commission comments see none anything from public okay call Al yeso Burns Cory G Parker yes Grizzly yes yes Carri uh now we are into resolution 113 reappointment of Howard bur Jr Daniel Adams Russell Fenton Eugene sharp Chris Tilly Joseph Ward C Robert Winkler and Gilbert zong to the Elena County fire training Advisory board for a term to expire on March 1st 2025 second move by commissioner Cory second by commission uh um okay second by commissioner uh any commissioner comments yes okay I I would just like to uh thank these these members that we reappointing you know not only are they on this um Advisory board but they're also all volunteer firefighters they're all volunteer trainers at the fire academy um they give a a large part of their life to the community and uh I just you know think that we should thank them for that I whole heartly agree with you um they're very dedicated many of them been doing it for many years jobs of their obligations in their lives and they truly are dedicated to the resident any other comments okay we have roll call alas fortino Burns Cory b g Parker yes sir yes motion carries okay I'll entertain a motion to combine and adopt resolution number 114 to6 solicitation any commission comments yes Parker yes grizzley yes yes motion carries resolution 117 resolution urging the Atlantic City housing authority to provide living conditions with basic necessities for tenants of the Stanley homes Village sponsor earnesty Cory move by commission Cory second by gy if I make to our I think I need ask we make a correction in the beginning he needs to go to um needs to be addressed to HUD which is federal office it's not it's not cam in it's not it's it's the fellow office and so what I'm attempting to do here mylees is that though I have read the story about sing home bu it's not Jeff Stanley only this Jeff to Tower most of the house Authority project uh properties are having some issues and so what's happening is over the years is continued to deteriorate right and so uh I've said this many times up here Atlantic City itself through the small Administration have done everything the city could do in terms of trying to assist residents in public hous in Atlantic City as well as the hous but it's not our jurisdiction uh when you hear lity hous Authority lity water company L they think everything's connected to l City and it's not and it's because it's controlled by the feds um they have to say so so we went in when I say we the city of Atlantic City read in the paper um we went in with our inspectors for code enforcement uh license and inspection we went in with Public Works uh we picked up trash from them the whole N9 because they didn't have the capacity to spend money uh to hire contractors let alone hire employees so over the last two years so probably beyond that you notice the issue with no high water no heat busted pipes and the issue just go on the city under the small Administration they offered the housing uh a piece of property in Atlantic City they and they was talking about tearing down um Family Home pills and we offered them a piece of property uh New York uh New Jersey Avenue between New York New Jersey and Connecticut Avenue uh to build what they would call Stanley 2 which way would be temporary housing so you can either tear down Stanley build new housing and then those folks move back that didn't happen um hous authority never moved um to do it since then things have contined to deteriorate and nobody I don't give a rat say who you are should have to live like that and y'all always got to call your main comments on various places because we all here we we might not live in public houses but they our constituent whether they Atlantic City whether you a commissioner at large they're our constituent right but more importantly human beings and Hut has to step it up you can't just point to the Atlantic City author he has the city of Atlantic City uh he has Point members so as the governor uh of the state of New Jersey but if the federal government is not doing their part it's easy to point the finger but at the end of the day the folks are still living in the same damn conditions no matter who who's responsible for it right and so what I'm attempting to do and asking my colleagues to join me is to continue to put pressure on the federal government on HUD itself um there was a meeting in Atlantic City up until last week conference call with HUD what's the outcome you're moving people out of public hous you putting them into a hotel some of them come back and then last winter there was some that conditions were so bad they didn't want to leave their property they did not want to leave their apartments right uh so they stayed we've offered transportation we have offered security they didn't want to leave um and if you looked at some of those apartments you couldn't believe a dog shouldn't have left in some of those that was there um and some probably still exist and so what happens now is that because HUD have allowed the house Authority now to U bring in contractors and to hire employees to begin to fix some of the issues it's a lot of fixing um I'm not sure they all get to got a call a couple days ago um gentleman said he has nothing but m in the SE over top the shower who who should like that right um and and and again none of us no matter who we are um should ever think that anybody should live like that like I said a dog or cat nobody should have to live in those conditions CU you can almost rest assure folks who work for H don't live in C conditions they probably don't even live in public houses and and there nothing wrong with living in public houses uh but you have to treat those people uh with dignity and respect uh um I I of to quote this this scripture in the Bible of Matthew it says what you done to the least of me you've done to me when I was hungry you fed me I was thirsty you gave me drink and when I was naked you clothed me and so when these people living in these conditions we as elected officials we've got to step up too we've got to put the pressure on whoever it is that we have to put the pressure on and it's not that we're sitting on the sideline not saying nothing uh but for some parent reason uh I would challenge the commissioner of Hud to come to city and see firsthand these conditions and yes they've been invited have not gotten here yet um and so what we're do today again ask my colleagues showing support to the residents of public housing in Atlantic City and basically saying to the Board of Commissioners of Atlantic City Housing Authority we're with you we're standing with you AR arguing and asking C official to come and see what's happening at first hand not just only come from lip service but to send the dollars to clean this foolishness and just mess up and if that location is not going to work let's find new locations to begin the process of building affordable housing where folks can live and have dignity folks work every day and have not have to live in those kind of conditions uh you pay your rent your s is off your stoves don't work the refrigerator works when it wants to not acceptable um so everybody that have the luxury of living either in a single family home or living somewhere but they don't have to uh have to deal with those conditions so I asked my colleagues if you unanimously support this resolution now I I want to thank you as well for bringing us to the the to the board and having us part of the site because it it is I mean they are human beings and this should not be happening how many units are actually in it's three U it's over 300 Unit E and I'm probably under underscore that it's a it's three section but that's Stanley we didn't even talk about Jeff about housing authority remember back in the day they got rid of six bedro and vac and they begin to build single family home and some of them had the opportunity to have home ownership and maybe that may come back to the table again um build some houses where folks had the opportunity to uh build excuse me to have home ownership cuz if I'm paying $800 $900 a month for rent somewh I may be had to get a mortgage maybe for a, I don't know I mean interest rates is high right now but there's programs out there that will be able to help folks uh to do that so again I'm asking for you uh commissioner just a quick um question to my colleague anywhere where it says urges The Authority you want that to be the authority and Hood yes okay is that where you're going right Sor oh no I was going to say uh you don't necessarily need to amend this to get a copy to the appropriate people but if you want to amend the text you need a motion to amend however you want to do it and then a vote on it after you've agreed you want to amend so the simple way to do it is if you just want to get a copy of this is I'm sure the clerk and I can work on making sure a list of people get this in FA but if you want to amend the text we got to go to that process I just see if any other comment question who appoints the M for the the mayor sen city council and the governor the mayor and the Govern so they get equal number of appointments or how's that work do they get paid no they will not get paid not get um and of course you know that commission appoint the executive director and if you know house authorities had some problem with some executive director that's been a problem as well and I know that there's been some call out there that some of those Comm Commissioners F need to be removed but if it's not the commissioner's uh fault why are we are targeting the Commissioners who volunteering to go on the board to serve when it's really Hood federal government they just got to step it up um so the answer is no they don't get paid and I can't tell you offand six members eight members uh but the majority of them appointed by the government which is the mayor and again I don't know how many from the government yeah and I don't this is to commissioner hor I'm not sure whether you know um did Huds cut their funding to Atlantic City or reduce it or um did something happen I mean there's been public housy in Atlantic City for many many many years um are they not sending the money to Landing City that needs to be sent I know Hood probably has thousands of municipalities that have that has public housing and you know the federal government is going to sit hopefully they do and oversee Atlantic City's you know issue and get the funding down there but I think if the funding is coming is it not the funding and the board of directors and executive directors aren't doing the right thing with the funding or is that they cut the funding and the board of directors and executive director can't get the funding they need need to do the repairs and get the contractors that they need I'm I'm not sure what's going on I'm not sure if they cut the funding again I will repeat it I know that there has been some problems with the executives County uh the uh how auor executive directors and so they have been removed for whatever reasons whether it's been again depends on who you ask it's been mismanagement of money um so really uh commissioner um there's a probably a a lot of issues but uh I think you would agree it's not time for the pointing fingers problem is how we get the problem solv right and so um HUD has to do their job they have to step it up and and again I'm not sure if F been cut I know they they were HUD would not allow the housing authority to spend money for a long time it's just like HUD would not allowed they had not had meetings 6 8 months at a time um whatever the issues have been now that they had an executive director and for some reason he was terminated four or five months into his his term um I don't know where they at in terms of a new executive director uh but her don't really want to take over the how do they talk a good game but they really don't want to come and take it over because that's somebody else's problem um but it's not fair that folks who live in public hous others our senior citizen build I mean Jeffrey TOS is not that old you ask about Jeffrey to they tell you about poor conditions it is inl Tower is one of the older ones apartment Terrace another old building um 225 Virginia Avenue another old building uh and you have mixed use in terms of there used to be some of the building used to be senior buildings now it's uh disables they don't necessarily have to be seniors but again you go into some of these Pro you cannot believe the conditions um and and the tenant has a responsibility too how you keep your unit of course um but after how I keep it clean if there's a problem that something broke the howand thought they need to step it up and fix it um so the answer to you I don't believe that funding has been cut uh at least I have not heard anybody say funding has been cut um but we did a a press conference a couple times it made national news and it wasn't pretty it wasn't pretty you went in apartments um like I said the sink were falling off the wall the tubs was was cracked so the so burnt up um handles light shers hanging it unacceptable um but again something that's on the attendant as well when I served as councilman of the third W which Stanley H was in I never had those many problems in public housing and I had probably the most public housing in one district and then counc person had in Atlantic City uh that talked about Atlantic City couse New York AV apartment El house had a number of um public housing and that just and over the years it just seems like either folks care or they just threw in the tow um but uh anytime any my colleagues want to do a tour you probably punch me in my mouth when I get finished walking me through how like this right um again the point I'm making is nobody should have to live like that and it's time for the the appointment over what's the solution in terally getting this problem fixed so we agreed so would it be beneficial for us to urge the federal government HUD to appoint an executive director that way the responsibility will fall directly on them so they don't say well Atlantic City appoints the executive director and they're mismanaging the money and then we're saying we're you know what I mean I don't know if we put it all in their if we put it all in their uh wheelhouse so I don't know how that works I don't know if they have that they can supersede The Authority board like that yeah because like you said we we don't know who to put the blame on but the last executive director we're really blaming the federal government right we're not blaming the board or the executive director but as you just said we don't know who we don't know who's not doing the right thing some so I mean I I think it's a great resolution but I said maybe we should maybe we should have urged them to an appointed executive director you know or at least an interim executive director until until the issues can be resolved and rebuilt the way they should be to bring this up to normal living conditions because like you said nobody should live in that condition no I no so that would just be my suggestion to as long as the city would go along with that not fight that fight condition Comm Cory thank you very much for bringing this to all of us if you were serious about taking the tour I think it would be great for any of us that can do it because we all fight for them until we really see it we can put our heart into it I have a question about the appointed commission board are they all Atlantic City residents that is correct okay so I can't blame them great no they have to be vested we don't we don't want to we don't want to a fight going on about but no they are appointed by land City great and they are perfect thank you and I believe one of them has to be a resident of publicy matter of fact I'm sorry you don't have to take my word Michelle's in the back she's done minatures and it's not pretty it's the saddest thing I've ever covered in my entire life very sad just m I'm sorry I'm just going to make a motion to amend resolution the uh third and fourth paragraphs where it says urges the authority to include urges the authority and HUD uh from the federal government however you want to say that right and then add a uh now also Bea therefore resolved that the County Board of Commissioners urges the the urges HUD to appoint an interim executive director what was the rest of the thing you said an interim executive director to address to address the depending issues and bring the living standards up to normal living standards period that's like Federal Hood not a landing City Hood right the L City hous the L City Housing Authority the federal government I'll before you do that let me make sure I have it right you're saying yes the same thing I think you're saying yes there uh be for the resolve that the board urges HUD Federal HUD to appoint an interim executive director and what was the second part to address the outstanding issues and living conditions do until the living until the living conditions are to this are up to the standard acceptable standard acceptable standard just sorry we just pretty much leave it the way it is and just add so just she I did I Le leave the rest of it the internal issues address primary D of housing tenants temporary lots of living for that's all saying I'm just adding an additional paragraph for the executive director now further be I just thought we could just add it right in that last paragraph as it is I mean we just have we have to have somebody to I don't want to say blame but somebody has to be responsible and it can't it can't keep going like this you know you pointed me I pointed you you pointed me I pointed you it has to somebody has to to you know take the responsibility and and get it done yeah you know that can do it that can you know get to the right people at the right time get some right I mean these living conditions didn't just happen in the last year the last two years they're just the light is shining on that y I mean there was the same situation was happening in fville with in Paris you know living conditions wended what did they do they bulldozed it down and they put up single family homes and guess who got to get them the people who were in that public housing and you know what it's beautiful now there's no problems there they keep they maintain their property because they have their little piece of the real you know they're not in a in a cube you know with people on either side of them you know where you know you you know you bag on the wall and your neighbor hears what's going on in your house you have your own house and that's the dream it was very nicely so we have a motion a second to amend as discussed yeah just repeat the be for the result that the board urges to appoint an interim executive director until and then I lost you all and till the living conditions are addressed something to that I'm not trying to speak for you I'm trying to make sure I have until living conditions are restored to an acceptable standard okay okay can I just say one thing there there is an executive director who's been in place just four months so I don't know if everybody realizes that what is it Michelle there is an executive director who's been there for about four months he's a new guy Tom sale and he came in with Matt Doty as the second in command and he's now the is he a full yes yes I just wanted to make sure everybody knew that yeah it it kind of you know very quiet was very quiet yeah he he's very much you know he's passed a report to the board and they're very much in control in my opinion some authority to get some stuff done we have a motion and second on the floor so the other the other amendment was minor nature correct Amy just and HUD in in the and and the Federal in the third and third and four paragraphs where it says urges urges the authority and information I'm going to change the title and also just to add how to the title only mentions the elcy of housing yeah I think you should have amended the original comment to add good if you guys are you good so the yeah the motion is uh and HUD in those areas we described and the be further resolved language we discuss so if you have a motion vote to consider it as amended and then vote on your motion to approve the Amendments right then the motion right so we have a motion and a second uh we'll have a roll call on that with the Amendments with the Amendments alas yes fortino yes Burns yes Cory yes b g Parker yes Grizzle yes turn yes motion carries motion as motion to approve as so second okay we have a motion of commissioner Cory second by commissioner Ballas any further comments thank you madam chair I I think there's a whole lot of missing information from for this board to make that kind of decision I do have some reservations with passing this as we' heard from um Michelle we don't really even know who's making decisions in the situation is it city council are they calling the shots is it the executive director what Authority does the executive director have we don't we have no idea what the landscape is so to urge the federal government to come in and appoint an executive director an interim executive director but he just have as it sounds they just receiv a brand new executive director four months into the job we don't know what he's done or she's done we don't know what's being worked on we don't know what that executive director is urging HUD to do at the moment we we're really in the dark a little bit about what's going on in in that regard I I I think the resolution and correct me if I wrong with your resolution we're bringing it out to try to get a little bit more of those details but to push a little further but we do have a motion in a second on the cour yeah I know I'm speaking to the motion I'm I'm telling you how I feel about this motion and so that's how I feel that's my comment about this motion I'm not saying whether I'm voting for or against it I'm just saying I wouldn't let the record here this is how I feel I feel like I feel like we're making a decision without all the information I I of course I've been following the story very closely I have no choice but to I don't work work so far from it you know and New York Avenue where I work at Pennsylvania Avenue we share a lot of students a lot of families so very involved with what's going on down here in corner ground atlan City something does have to change I agree with all of that sediment it needs to change someone needs to be held accountable we need to do something I'm for this commissioner board being in favor of doing something but it just seems like we're missing some pieces of information on what's being done who has the authority who doesn't have the authority you know I just feel like we're missing something we're we're missing pieces M so I I I hear you commissioner CL I disagree with you um city council is not making any decision because they are a board that makes their own decision they happen to be appointed uh by the mayor and counsil votes on them but I don't know how you would sit here and say that you don't have over p you just you just said in your own mind you been power you be a rocket scientist to figure it out that there's a problem so there's a if there's a problem the question Still Remains whether they have an executive director there or not there has to still be a problem from the top down and so the issue still has to be addressed and we are the point I'm making it uh commissioner is that these people should not have to live in those conditions whether we have all the facts or not it all leads to it looks like hey hell and nobody needs to live like that and then at the end of the day something needs to be done and there's no need sitting here today whether we wor about city council making the decision or the executive director it's still a responsibility of the federal government and whether whether the high Authority locally makes the decision people should not live in those damn conditions agre you wouldn't live in them I wouldn't live in them none of us would live in them and as as elected officials we still need to stand up for those who think they have no voice and that nobody's listening because this is not new this issue has been going on and on and on and as a governing body we're basically saying the fed you need to get off your ass and do more I don't disagree with any so to say you're sitting here and we don't have all the pieces I totally disagree with you how much more parts of the puzzle do you need the conditions are horrible it doesn't get any clearer than that people shouldn't have to live like that and you're right whether you at Pennsylvania having a school New York having a school you see the conditions from the outside forget the inside look at the outside it's all about leadership and the FEDS need to get off their behinds and do the right thing Commissioner of course I don't take issue with any of the comments that you just made and you say you disagree with me but I didn't hear any disagree me the but I'm what I'm you said we don't have enough parts of the puzzle I still that's more than enough I still believe that so my my my my my comment that I was making is not whether we should do something or whether the those living conditions are fair for people not I'm not speaking about any of that part of the commissioner proce I'm not none of that am I speaking what I am talking about is what I am speaking of is sometimes when we make decisions you know and we are urging what we just changed in this resolution is urging the federal government to appoint an interim executive director that's something different it takes this resolution to somewhere different because now I have no idea what job how I have no the young man or young woman who just received the job four months ago have no idea what they're working on none none of us do we have no IDE maybe that person is doing everything that we're saying maybe that person is proactive and is on it and is and it's taking care of things it just hasn't come to fruition yet none of us have a clue none of us so we're urging this person to pretty much be replaced that's our urge to replace the executive director that's in place right now that's had the job for four months and put an interim executive director in that job when we have no knowledge of what that person is doing can we take the L paragraph out then so that we can I I don't I don't have listen we can vote on it I don't have a problem listen let's just vote on it I just I said what I had to say for the record the record is clear I said what I said I believe what I believe and what I just stated it has nothing to do with helping the people it has nothing to do with the you know think I think we all agree the living conditions are terrible and something has to be done all right that's what we agree I'm just saying by by urging the federal government to put in interims executive director in I don't but commissioner with all due respect let the FED make that decision we're making a recommendation let them make that decision we're making a recommendation to them to do something I'm ready right let them make the decision whether they put somebody down here or not but putting the ownership on them I'm ready Comm I'm ready M chair M chair yeah and I think we should I think we should leave that in there just just for the mere fact if we're blaming them they have to take responsibility and they could say you know what we've looked into this new person they're doing a phenomenal job that's our guy M and he'll do or she'll do you know as you know follow our our standard our marching orders but you can't blame them if you don't give them if they don't have the authority you can't blame them and then we have to get a point person but that person that's in now can call somebody direct know who he's calling and know that he's going to get answers and the right answers so that's that's pretty much what we're asking for come back and and the other thing I mean we're all assuming that they're actually going to listen to us listen any resolution we've ever done to the state to the federal government or anybody else yet the first response I ever get back will be the first one I ever got back interesting point Madam ch what you call to if you go back to the Press article a week or two ago they just had to move people out of the house and started and put them in apartments they went Kicking and Screaming some of them are back now but the point is there's still a lot work needs to be done put the ownership on the feds exactly either crap or get off the pot one or the other 100% okay anything from the public no we talked him out of it okay have a roll call Alice yeso yes Burns yes Cory da yes G yes Parker yes grizley yes K yes motion carries commission par M I should come over there and smack you two ways of China you said 15 minutes if you still V again I be that outside I told you it wasn't going to impact my vote I wanted to to refle okay um we have we have received copy communication and petition have any comments anything like to see he none any reports to special Committees of the board done I do want to make Madam chair a little bit off second it up here so [Music] computer that's Parker he could in class everybody so we have to the point that commissioner ballis made earlier about the cemetery which is called the bowling the bowling Cemetery uh the state of New Jersey has what is called the in the I'm sorry second the New Jersey black Heritage Trail and the New Jersey black Heritage Trail we're coming up and we're running out of time so I I think that this um cemetery is may be a good choice as I told commissioner Ballas for um putting this application in for the black Heritage Trail in sorta state of New Jersey it's something that's new there's a women's Heritage Trail already that seems to be pretty successful and but the deadline is fast approaching so I wanted to put this out here for everyone to know that the deadline for submission is this Friday March 8th now in subcommittee I did speak to the culture and Heritage with the director Kim about looking into some areas some locations here in our area where we can you know possibly get ready to submit through committee I haven't received a whole lot back yet of this I will talk to Kim to see if we can put this Cemetery in there's also a property uh khim shabaz councilman khim shabaz sent me one of the churches over in atlan City I'm trying to think which one it was Commission of course he you think off hand which gave me he sent me a a text message of one of the trails he wanted us to put in one of the churches in Atlantic City for the black Heritage Trail I can't think of I think it was stes it was St James so St James Church he he did send that you know back so we're looking to possibly put those two properties in the black Heritage Trail maybe the mck city uh veteran since we just you know um pred did a park and some things and we did a building in car Township and you see betterment so maybe those are three areas but if anyone out there in the public knows of any places in Atlantic County that we need to consider for the black Heritage Trail please go online um let's see it says the contact person is a project manager by the name of Greg OD and his email address is gregory. o ss. nj.gov or you can call 609 943 3304 for any additional assistance submitting an application and maybe our Administration may have some input to or assistance some absolutely so if anybody has any information do we have any other committee reports I just wanted to make one statement J Bron I live on Dolphin Avenue this graveyard behind us where there's we're not we're not ready for com I'm sorry I thought he was asking if anybody had it I just wanted to make a comment that his what he was talking about yeah okay it's specifically about the graveyard there graveyard there's about 4,000 people buried back here on Dolphin Avenue and at least I'm assuming about a third of them are black folks they came up from down south I have some records of those people but the graveyard is right here behind us on do the first Atlanta County baral ground so we'd love to get that included as well if we can do that so I will speak to you afterwards thank you so much sorry sorry for interrupting uh any other special committee reports um just this is kind of I guess written written for I just want to share my continued frustration with the New Jersey do my favorite aside from the aside from the from the uh the new traffic lights three out of four of them being installed and sitting not in operation at colog and 322 my favorite spot um September 21st I made a request uh at the request of the the pastor at St Vincent dep PA to reduce the speed limit on Route 40 um in front of St V St Vincent de B parish and Holy Cross Cemetery and um I received a response shortly after that said oh yeah we actually like started doing a study already um we'll have a we'll have a response for you in approximately 3 months so the end of December I followed up which was the end of 3 months and I said hey how's that study and they said oh we'll get back to you soon typical NJ do response um that was January 23rd was that response February 20th I followed up up hey it's been 4 weeks since you said it would be soon results would be soon no response to that February 27th it's been 5 weeks finally got a response today saying that they are still under review and they'll give me a call when they have results so wait for that every week they will continue to get get an email from me because this is beyond frustrating and ridiculous and I just want the public to know this is my favorite entity in the state of New Jersey for us to deal with when we try to get things accomplished for our constituents I I just I I'm so frustrated thank you years three years for a parking sign in Hamilton Township that was that was when my fund started with them anyway okay I had to get that off my chest yeah yeah Madam chair I'd like to give the committee a report it March is National Women's history mod I'd like to think all the women on the commission Administration our residents and our favorite reporter back in the corner um thank you for all that you do for our County um you being here and giving support residents means just as much to us to help us do our job and to our administrative females here we couldn't do it without you either so tomorrow as Tara reminded me is um lieutenant governor Sheila Oliver is being honored there's a groundbreaking at City Hall in Atlanta City at 11:00 a.m. so if anybody can make that um we can support her it is National History M thank you that's all thank you any other reports of commission any uh unfinished business okay not any new business M Madam chair um through you to Jerry possibly to dou he's on the intersection of Ocean Heights and egg har Town Ocean Heights and Z Road in a car Township just a question are we purposely changing the pattern of the lights and how the lights are changing on that intersection based on traffic patterns the reason I'm asking for the last few weeks coming home from work going west at that intersection on what I've noticed is there's the traffic coming West the traffic coming West gets to come three light changes before for the traffic B East it's an opportunity to go and the last few times that I've been there there's been some pretty irate drivers and Confused drivers at that intersection really not knowing what to do at one point I saw you know someone actually just ran it because they thought the the signal was broken and so I thought it was something was wrong with the signal as well and you know I made a few phone calls and then it didn't happen again and then it just happened again this you know this past week it it happened again so I'm think I don't know whether we looked at the traffic pattern and said this is the way that we need to do it or if something's malfunctioned so you're saying Ocean Heights and Zion julos so so Doug is on I mean Doug I I let me say this no and sto me we've changed the that light and there and that that particular intersection is extremely heavy traffic in all directions right so Doug are you there yeah trouble hearing you Jerry M oh so so Doug yeah um I'm not aware of any issues with the signal but we will look into it if um it doesn't sound like from what you're describing that it's working properly thank I appreciate it yep thank you commission any other new business thank you just like to mention that uh I've been honored to uh being appointed to the uh national AA space research and Technology Park as the government designated that board by uh our County Executive so looking forward to the working with all the folks there that have done so much for the county thank conat thank you coming out notch in your transportation belt the any other new business none uh we're going into public comments anyone attending in person that would like to speak now a public comment please put to the podium speak into the mic state your name and the town you reside if you're attending virtually and would like to make a public comment please raise your hand I will callif on your name and a request to will be sent please state your name and the town you reside you'll be provided up to 3 minutes to speak anybody from hi hello good evening my name is uh Vernon Cruz I reside in a Harbor Township um I have a few concerns regarding a um replacement of a few bridges in the area that I live I believe the company responsible that was awarded the contract is s South State uh Industries um I'm looking for some direction and some help in regards to some of the concerns I've had with Mr Deo in regards to the traffic plan that was instituted uh is not currently working um this this project has been awarded to this contract I'm sure they were awarded a fair amount of money to complete it um it's a bit to be desired the general product looks great as you drive by it but there's construction debris left there in off to the side of the road sheets of plywood um the old bridges in some of the areas were not removed completely um tractor trailers have caused damage to Residents Properties by cutting the corner and running across their front yard and causing damage to their sprinkler system and uh and their grass and all so what I'm looking for tonight is just a direction that I can go to meet either Mr Deo or uh Mr booking or even a uh I forget her last name but her first name is Diane I want to I want somebody to go out there and actually meet with me in some of the area residents to to share our concerns I know they hear our concerns it doesn't mean anything okay um the frustration in the area is is growing it's only going to be Amplified by the summer season as that tra as that road is US is pretty considerable uh Mr Parker that may be some of the issue you're experiencing arum Ocean Heights and Z Road as the Atlanta Christian School comes and empties into that same intersection around that same time I'm assuming you're getting done work out of the city and uh all of that traffic the traffic PL it's just not working a lot of people are cutting down the the residential street there that just wasn't designed to handle that amount or volume of traffic so some of the sign the sign the signage that's there is just not it's not working it's not working J do you have any comments or do you wanted to go to Doug I just know that I know mayor out there has spoken with somebody some additional signment so I'm not sure I'll give him my court you going to meet me out there I'll meet you bring your boots so again I we we met we met with the municipality we I think I asked Renee and Doug they met with the chief of police and we've had long conversations about the de the biggest the biggest problem with detours quite truthfully is the fact that we we don't we don't have sign is that drives people to Municipal roads the people who know the area are going to go and use Municipal roads because it bypasses you know the road the roads we put them on which probably signals and whatever else we we were asked to put in um Jersey barriers on streets we're not allowed to do that I mean and I have Doug address that but we're not allowed to do we can't block streets just for the u local traffic um I don't know what to say I'll have to go out there with with the gentleman and I'll do that to go look at some of the materials left I mean we've had we've had those issues before and and and the contractors sometimes aren't really paying attention if we if we if we highlighted for them I think they'll they'll take care of that the traffic pattern again I'll go I'll go look I I'll bring I'll bring Doug I'll bring you know our our uh we have investigators and or inspectors I'll bring the inspectors with we'll look at all that but again I I I'll look at that I'm not sure how much we can do but that thank you who who is responsible for the quality control the uh completion of the work here Jerry you know I mean there's many projects we see right that are completed the contractors awarded generously what enforcing agency does the county have to ensure that that works done to equality of which the taxpayers should deserve obviously the best there's an inspector on that job off the top of my head I don't know I know South state is the the contractor Doug who's the inspector on on Lake Street uh the inspector Frenchman and pero Associates this is a self contract and and they they by the way they they they do these inspections but they also design Bridges as well I mean so they're they're a fairly large agency we have them out there when we meet you there yeah I I'll I'll ask Doug to to ask somebody to come out with sure all right uh one last concern Jared or Doug this may be to you guys as well I know um Mr fiko was part of a Wetlands mitigation project in that same area right uh believe the title was Wetlands mitigation of Lake I think it was was correct and uh the storage area for the equipment for South state is right on that buffer and it it's getting torn up if you're interested after the meeting I have plenty of pictures to support what I just said it's it's discouraging as you see the area buil up and other things happen good things happen and then it's taken away by somebody who uh is awarded a contract and does a gift okay thank you thank you thank for bring to attention thank you just from a process perspective for the gentleman as well um you asked about quality control right so we have the inspections and then typically we have some kind of a guarantee a performance guarantee included in those cont S as well that we will not pay depending on the inspection or we will pay depending on the inspection so just just a point of information in terms of process that um it's not like they get all the money up front and that's it right like we have some of those kind of Milestones there from the bid I understand too and I know my three minutes is out me shiers hope do my fault from my and correct me if I'm wrong Jerry the uh contractor that was awarded was supposed to complete the work on that smell the two c uh dams or Bridges or however they refer to it before they were to start the Lakes CR project on 559 which was a larger project I believe it was scheduled to be a year for the uh larger project great um it would be my personal opinion that the Bev SM project was not fully completed before South State moved to the next larger project on meany Road I'm not sure if it was an event uh any event that they were trying to save money cuz from what I understand they were running behind on their timeline and did they cut corners or decide not to pick the construction debris up out of the street or regrade the property the way it was supposed to be graded before they move to the next one and hey we'll get you in the spring and then it'll turn into hey we'll get you in the fall and then we know how that goes well let me let me say this Mr so so from my perspective and I'll turn it to Doug but from my perspective I was called to say you know why is this project taking so long and there were there were delays on on be mil and and and so the delays on meis mil delayed the starting of lak Creek so that's my understanding they actually finished be Mill delay the the start of L cre down so so that's my understanding so but I'll turn it to Doug dou why don't you go go through the delays on be Mill and and how they were handled yeah um they they did have some minor delays on beis Mill um due to uh high water in the soils so the ground was what they call pumping which uh was not suitable for Paving so they actually had to remove uh I believe a foot or so of the um soil and replace it with um better soil so that they could pave it um I think there was some weather issues uh one of the big things that we needed to do was get the contractor on Maz Landing Summers Point Road and get a cord Dam in place at that bridge before um March 1st which was the start of the Inwood work restrictions um so yes they probably easly U moov to the you know Ma Landing Summers Point Road um but they you know they did realize they needed to come back in the spring finish the um Landscaping items and we have been out there with NJ do to do a punch list for The beis Mill Road project for a portion of the project and we are providing that to the contractor and we will you know be making sure that they come back and take care of everything that's on our punch list and um you know if there's things that we didn't see and you know resident lets us know we will uh certainly take a look at it and make sure it gets on the punch list as well that sounds great Doug I'd love to actually sit down or at least meet you and Jerry out there um I encourage you to bring some kneehigh boots we'll go out on low tide I'll point out my concerns there as well um the discussion that you and I had had on the phone uh some time ago in reference to the protection of the a harbor Estuary area on the uh 559 project that same Pro protection did not apply to the Bev Mill CS is that area protected under the same uh protection as the 550 is my question um I'm not sure I totally understand your question on that one uh what do you mean by I know like Wetlands were you know we can only do so much in the wetlands we had uh we had a limited of disturbance which was defined by the plan so the contractor couldn't go beyond those areas um I know you actually mentioned the uh some of the uh damage along the wetlands mitigation Bank actually a lot of that was from the contractor from Verizon because they had to do directional drill to um move the uh the uh out of our way so we will have to look into you know going after that contractor and uh obviously our contractor will have to restore anything that they damage okay uh before the end of the project okay I I appreciate Doug I look forward to hearing from you and Jerry here to schedule a meeting and uh if you're interested I'd love to at least have one or two other residents there and maybe have some concerns that weren't able to be here tonight to be uh there present when we have our meeting any of the EHT Commissioners will join but if you could keep us posted for any of us that would be able to join who whatever it gets scheduled yeah why why we're still on this I know myself I've received quite a few phone calls and emails which I think everyone or at least EHT Representatives have received reference to the guard rail placements um around them Bridges um I went out there actually look at it a couple times you know you have guard rails on the approach but on The Descent of the bridge um there's no guard rail and that road is far from straight and somebody loses control um that just because they're not driving on that side of the road their car can go off that side of the road and it's wide open rated in the middle of that Creek commissioner I couldn't agree anymore you're going I think that should be addressed I don't know I think that was passed on to Dogan and Jerry I don't know if if that's being addressed or I haven't heard that so I haven't heard that but we'll be out there I'm not looking me I mean if Doug is hurted I mean I'm I'm assuming Doug will will take care of I assume the email is what you guys also but it's it's doesn't it does not look safe at all M Mr commissioner from my my discussion with uh Diane and uh U Mr Deo apparently there was a traffic study done and the traffic study that was done did not require the guard rail to go in on those sides as you're passing by the bridge um I express my concerns to Mr Deo about it I believe I believe Diane was on the phone when we talked about it the one specifically pointed out to me or the one that I was most concerned as as you descend down the hill the bridge is actually on a turn so you could descend down a hill and the bridge you make a gradual right hand turn on the left- hand side before you get to the bridge itself it is a um not a large area of water but it's enough that if you go off into it in the middle of the night like it snowed the other day and you're not paying attention the tail lights you just be swallowed up by the swamp that's there and people drive by you for days and not even now so definely concern I'm sure the traffic study said because it's supposed to be a low speed roadway doesn't mean that people are going to drive slow on that roadway um you know my career I investigated many fatals and and many many crashes where vehicles have slid off a roadway whether it's wet or snow or or even dry you know uh and it it it just seems like an accident waiting to happen you know somebody goes into that order I I haven't walked in that water but it looks deep to me it is the actual depth of the water to be perfectly honest with you commissioner is not that deep however the uh sediment that is there will swallow us all up yeah we will we will just disappear and turn into fossils exactly I've been back in Sleepy Hollow and you got the same same type of situation you walk in a walk out there and you sink into the mud 3 ft you're gone forever yeah you're part you're the swamp now a little L but I that I mean the guard rail I saw that there was a resolution P or um approved to have the guard rails repaired throughout the county um steelmanville and Ocean Heights Avenue is always a notorious one for a motor vehicle accident uh there was two more recently taken out the guard rail the second one the car the car accident had happened before the company come out to repair the guard rail went over the guard rail and did some significant damage to the property that was there so go buy it every day anything else question questions B all thank you uh does anybody else have anything from the public good afternoon Joan Brenan I live in Northfield actually at nothing Avenue I've been here a few times to talk about graveyard and the buildings the chomping to build on this graveyard in the property behind us um it's mainly um you know knocking down off all the trees and putting this 10,000 square foot Warehouse turning our our somewhat quiet street into an industrial park um behind us um a lot of people are complaining I'm surprised there AR people here I know I sent emails to complain um and it is I I understand that they need storage you need storage for this old furniture originally it was supposed to be for voting machines and now it's for old furniture that they're moving out of storage bins to put into this building and a training center but why does it have to be on the street that's my concern we already have enough traffic here the traffic is some days it's so out of control it's just unreal it's a single Lane Street back here and it's people are driving 45 and 50 m an hour on a 25 and my grandkids came to be out front because the traffic is so bad and it's gotten considerably worse since they put the parking lot behind us and I I'm just asking why can't they move it to a place they have you have plenty we have plenty of property empty properties you've cleared so much space around the county why does it have to be on the street my plan is to come back to the next meeting with a petition to stop the building from being built on this property I've already got some people signed I'm going to continue to get people sign it because we just don't need it back here my thought processes I've talked to Mr Dela before that you know you're housing all this old furniture that nobody wants in storage facilities and why why aren't we auctioning it off and saving the taxpayers money they're going to spend what $20 million to build a 10,000 ft put Warehouse in a residential neighborhood that nobody wants on the street and I'm not going to stop I'm going to continue to speak up it does not need to be here there is absolutely no reason for it and my concern is is that you're going to continue to try to build on this graveyard behind me as well and we all know that there is almost close to 4,000 bodies he said it on record this is not fair to the citizens and the people that were bured here okay this building itself was housed housed thousands of people and as they died they were buried behind us so I'm asking you to please stop attempting to build on this property this property they would they scanned it I spoke to the scanners they said there are bodies buried behind metav view so obviously if there's bodies behind met of view he said that they're more than likely were buried along where metav view is so we probably knocked down or or dug bodies up and built metav view on top of it because it was before the scanning was even being done they built the parking lot that was never scanned before they built the parking lot we know there's close to 4,000 people back here and why you have to build on this property I spoke to a few people who said they're still considering the arch dasis is still considering trying to get something built back here for Senior Living this needs to stop we have got to stop trying to build on this property there are like I said black people that came up from the south being basically slaves that came up from the south that lived here that worked here in this in these buildings that died they're buried back here how are we going to continue to to do this to people families that have grandparents thir third and fourth gr grandparents parents that are buried back here we don't know where they're at half of them didn't have caskets they were wrapped in sheets and buried in the back here I mean honestly it's like they were burying people in the backyards of these homes all around Atlanta County until they designated this property behind us as Atlanta County's first cemetery and we keep pushing to build on it it is outrageous how do you not how do you sleep at night thinking about doing this this is just unfair you know I have people calling me and emailing me saying what is happening why are they going to keep doing this keep talking about this shame on all of you if it was your grandmother that was buried there you would be having a fit it is not fair to the community to keep building on this property back here where we don't know no I asked them to scan the property where they just dug up down there and they refused when they went to the city council meeting so guess what now I'm really hot because you went knocked down all those trees some were close to 200 years old cleared the property but it was never scanned we don't know where people are buried back there but we know and he said it on record close to 4,000 people because some of the records were destroyed guess what I'm going to stop it I'm just warning you now I'm not saying that to be scary we need to stop trying to build on this property it is not fair to the citizens who live on this street and throughout the city of Northfield we do not want a 10,000 ft Warehouse on our street we don't want it and I'm going to go out and get over a th000 signatures every signature I can and I'm going to come back and I'm going to hand them over to you so we can stop this it is not fair thank you all I appreciate it I know you're proud you have I I am very upset because I I keep hearing this from people that their the arch dasis is still attempting to build on this property where do we get off where are we going with this the arch dices who's in who's back pocket here no we know what it is it's not fair it's got to stop there anybody else from the public that is there anybody else from the public see none anybody uh online okay uh that takes us into the Border um I have a couple just a couple comments uh we had a busy weekend atantic City the annual boat show the c table uh commission B and I were both there it's uh it's a very big fundraiser for the community po bank and very well attended um oh yes she I did did Commissioner of course he was there as well uh with his L wife uh my and my congratulations the young athletes who competed in the State Wrestling Championships on the boardwalk we had a very busy town and um and especially oura Regional Shay AR he was the School's First State wrestling championship in school history is it she well no sh but I think it the first was the first female St and um yeah and then I'm going to congratulate my Mustang for going both girls and boy teams are often State fines and for anybody uh out there that is going to be celebrating uh Ramadan may your first your fast be blessed any other in the beginning of the meeting I forgot to ask we have a moment of silence for chief Scot lost brother last week thank you anything else n entertain so jumping in all those a favor thank [Music] [Music] you [Music]