and the as Park Press on December 13 2023 a notice of this meeting was posted on the bulon board Municipal Building take roll call councilwoman Donovan here councilwoman Kenny here mayorca pusc here Council Rondo here Council here okay please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance United States of America [Music] stand indis andice stand for our troops their family our First Responders and especially for uh Frank Lee the brother of burrow office Court Nancy Murray and the father of Belmore Patrol Eric Lee and also the four officers that were killed in Charlotte North Carolina yesterday thank going to begin with uh two proclamations and the first one is going to be read by councilwoman Rondo good evening uh resolution First Responders appreciation month whereas the mayor and Council of the burough of Belmar hereby designate may as First Responders month for the burough of belmare and whereas First Responders include both professional and volunteer 911 operators and dispatchers Law Enforcement Officers firefighters lifeguards water rescue teams Emergency Medical Services Personnel search and rescue teams pilots and drivers Emergency Management professionals nurses paramedics Doctors medical evacuation Pilots road maintenance and Public Work person and military personnel and other roles in the public safety sector and whereas First Responders are a vital part of our community whose skills often make the difference between life and death while dedicating their life to Public Service education and extensive training courage selfless concern for the welfare and protection of others their property and the environment and whereas these courageous men and women are our primary and best defense against all emergencies that threaten our communities they are quick to respond at a moment's notice to dangerous and distressing situations that threaten our communities and come to the aid of citizens while often risking their own safety and lives to selflessly run into danger to protect others and they volunteer in our schools and Community organizations and whereas First Responders respond to emergencies without hesitation when the Call of Duty arises and TI tiously give up their time and energy in humanitarian efforts making themselves available every hour of the day every day of the year and whereas the services dedication and commitment of First Responders deserve to be recognized and honored therefore the mayor and Council of the bur of belmare hereby proclaimed May 2024 as First Responders month in The Bu of belmare and encourage all residents to celebrate the service and sacrifice of our First Responders who make our community the best which which with which to live work and raise a [Applause] family thank you and um please come and join us tomorrow we're having our first flag raising ceremony for our First Responders um we chose May because it had several um celebrations the first one on May 4th is international firefighters day then we have National EMS week from the 16th to the 22nd and National Police Week from the 15th to the 21st um so during this celebration tomorrow at 4:00 right here by the flag pole uh we will have our First Responders there our Belmar police chief Tina Scott will say a few words uh the raising of the custom flag will represent those departments honored in May and the burrow logo which represents all Belmar responders and volunteers will be there as well on the flag there will be Touch a Truck and some giveaways for the kiddos and snacks so please tell everyone um um also I wanted to say that July 22nd to the 28th uh will be water rescue lifeguard week and I hope that we can plan something special um for that week for a tribute for them at that time um as many lifeguards have yet to start in may um but I must say that as we are doing this and we're working at The Kinks um bmar water rescue works all year round and even just yesterday they were making rescues so um if they're with us while we while we're rolling this out for the first time I think that we have some room for improvements um but I'm really proud of our First Responders and I can't wait to celebrate them uh so you'll see some posts this month on um things that our First Responders do ways to celebrate them and I encourage you to thank your First Responders thanks and next we're going to have a resolution read by councilwoman Kenny to the uh bmar cares organization and I believe we're all going to step down set down to the mic thees group come on and join us [Music] okay you guys all ready all right okay so may is a busy month so here we go we're designating the month of May 2024 as Belmar goes pink whereas Belmar goes pink aims to raise awareness about breast cancer breast cancer and the significance of early detection among women and men over the years initiatives like these have led to an increased mamography utilization and a decline in bre breast cancer mortality however there is still a need to undergo regular mammograms and whereas mamography and screenings are critical methods for detecting breast abnormalities potentially indicating cancer well before any visible symptoms manifest it is recommended that all women are screened for breast cancer every other year starting at age 40 through 74 and whereas May 2024 marks the celebration of Belmar go pink dedicating uh dedicated to enhancing well awareness of breast cancer issues particularly emphasizing early detection and whereas in December of 2008 a group of resilient member Belmar residents including breast cancer survivors under the leadership of Mrs Miss CLA tyi came together to establish aort gr came together to establish a support group for individuals undergoing Cancer Treatments providing Solace and camaraderie during challenging times breast uh Belmar cares collects donations throughout the year to support breast cancer research and awareness campaigns and whereas Belmar cares a nonprofit organization dedicated to breast cancer research and awareness initiated the Belmar goes pin Campaign which includes a pink line on Main Street a benefit concert twice a year and pink RI ribbons displayed throughout piano Plaza now therefore be it resolved the mayor and Council of the Bel bu of Belmar County of Mammoth state of New Jersey do hereby Proclaim may as belmare goes pink month it is urged that all women and their families in the burough of belmare County of Mammoth and state of New Jersey acquaint themselves with the importance of mamography and breast cancer detection I appreciate thatone [Music] [Applause] [Music] I I I just wanted to say that I was acutely aware of breast cancer because it was in my family but you don't have to have the disease in your family to experienc in it so the only weapon that we have is the mamography science so women and some men who might have histories of cancer should also check for breast cancer so please be aware of this please take charge of your own own health because this is the best way you can do it thank you very much Monday evening at the Taylor Pavilion at 7 o' the doors open at 6 we have um the Atlantic Wind Ensemble we'll be doing a free concert for the Belmar haes group we encourage everyone to come um we're going to have some uh little goodies that everybody can take home with themselves and twice a year the Atlantic wi ensemble volunt there's 40 musicians they volunteer in May and in October because October's National Breast Cancer month we decided to do something different this year and we thought well let's have maybe Belmar goes Pink Just to let people be aware of how the importance is of examinations and mammograms uh and doctor appointments to be on top of things when it comes to breast cancer myself I've had breast cancer twice and if I do not carry the gene however if it wasn't for those two particular mammograms I wouldn't be standing here today the only thing we have [Music] [Music] okay the next item on the agenda is the uh receipt of bids or auction for the tailor Pavilion concession lease uh the auction will be conducted by April clo our municipal clerk uh with uh Council councelor um Mill providing the uh legal support and we're going to give the day to to April and we're going to just kind of step off and be part of the audience for this okay everyone that um is bidding on the concession lease please step forward up to the [Music] microphone and did everybody sign in anybody not sign in you guys can just come up to the microphone and form a line next to each other okay before we begin I just want to put on the record that the burough Council previously adopted a resolution to place the Fifth Avenue concession out for bid uh the manner of bidding is open public auction that uh method has been published as required by law the highest bidder will be expected to sign the lease that we have um that has been provided with the uh with the notice and um that award will be made at the next public meeting so um we expect that you're all familiar with the lease because you're not going to be able to say later that you didn't know there was a lease or you're not familiar with its terms so if you're not familiar with its terms when you bid you bid at your own risk okay thank you and so I see that we have six biders if you could each just go down the line and identify yourself just so I know who each person is that is bidding uh sure Matt I'm biding on behalf of Circle of Friends uh we're a 501c3 nonprofit you can see a lot of [Music] here Mr Dy would you please State your position with the circle of friends thank you and Brian thank you okay so the starting bid is $115,000 for the year um anyone that would like to bid 15,000 please raise your hand okay would anyone like to bid more than 15,000 okay um somebody what would someone like to make 16,000 16,000 okay you go would anyone like to be more than 16,000 1 17 18,000 [Applause] okay 19,000 all right so we have 25,000 26,000 [Applause] [Music] 26,000 okay okay we have bits coming in we can't hear them so if we can just control ourselves a little bit um we have another bid we have 30,000 we have 30,000 bids okay uh so we have 40,000 does anyone want to bid more than 40,000 41 I'm sorry that was 45 45 000 are Bid so we're at 50,000 does anyone want to bid more than 50,000 5566 we're at 58,000 we're at 62,000 does anyone want to bid more than 62,000 4,000 okay does anyone want to B more than 64,000 60 66,000 doeses anyone want to bid more than 66,000 I once I mean twice no right 66,000 to and ke if you could just come up and BR me your bment [Applause] I need to sit down [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] where for [Music] [Music] know [Music] than [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we do went day [Music] would think [Music] [Music] that's [Music] that's not was asking [Music] [Music] okay we to proceed with the rest of that of tonight's meeting uh the next item on the agenda are petitions have we received any petitions I have not received any petitions we move on to the approval of minutes and I have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting and executive session of April 9th 2024 four I'll make motion second Council M Donovan councilman Kenny yes mayor bco yes Council rero yes counc Le any reports of council uh let's begin with councilwoman Donan hi everyone now do I think you uh the environmental commission has been very very hard at work we had very big news actually just yesterday which at this point seems a lifetime ago um which is that we were invited by uh Congressman Chris Smith's office to submit for potential funding in the 2025 Appropriations bill for Silver Lake and so right now I would like to say a very special thank you to everyone who worked really hard in the last 24 hours to get our letters of support and our budget and funding out out um and then I will list here um the sons of chele the Belmar uh Women's Club St Rose thank you to Father Ed uh the Belmar Elementary School um to commissioner Tom arnone um and to the uh um and to the shade tree committee and to of course enironmental committee uh commission um and in particular I want to thank Diane belard over there who has been working around the clock to get this done and to put it through for us thank you now yeah of course don't know if we will get this it's always an uphill climb but the fact that um the work that we are being done has come this far in so short amount of time that we are being even recognized and invited to apply is notable and considerable and everyone involved in remotely should be really really proud and of course this grant fundings would be used um to improve the water quality to create a living Shoreline to do all sorts of things that the lake desperately needs um so that is great news um with that in mind we are meeting tomorrow um actually with uh the Army Corps of Engineers National fish and wildlife and representatives for Smith's office um to further discuss this project so huge things are happening um smaller things are happening too uh last weekend there was a big cleanup at Silver Lake we had a really great showing and in fact about 150 pounds of garbage were picked up at the stores of the lake so thank you to everyone who showed up it was really impressive I got to tell you um I was there with my kids the older ones um it was incredible I don't think I moved from the same spot for two hours and you just kept digging and pulling up more plastic and I was kidding not kidding because I'm going to say it that we'd like to not recommend any of our businesses or people but invite them to become Community Partners and encourage people not to just throw straws and bottle caps right on the shores of the lake um because it really does Nestle into that soil and gets wrapped up in all of the um all the plants right there um I have been out to the lake twice myself actually with former mayor Brian McGovern and members of DPW to oil the eggs um ask me about that another time you can get the big story uh the last time I was out we oiled and what you do is you put corn oil on these eggs um you do that instead of smashing them because if you smash the eggs the geese will just lay more so you o with corn oil on them which stops them from actually uh hatching and it is a approved animal friendly process um my job was to hold this big black umbrella to guard against the eggs um there were 42 of them out there the last time we were there the Gees were much more aggressive and I would love to tell you that I was very brave the entire time my secret truth is at one point I gave the umbrella to one member of DPW and hid behind him um uh they got a little aggressive but um the good news is we are out there doing this work things are happening right now directly to improve the health and look of Silver Lake as well as long-term planning um so it's very very exciting and that's one thing um other big news um the other big news is that um the Department of Transportation is providing us with a free shuttle bus service will begin tomorrow that will bridge between no pun uh bmar and Avon and this will go seven days a week between 6:00 a.m. and 2: a.m. you can yeah you can look for the signs that will say shuttle um there will be five stops in belmare right now it only goes about to 10 AV um we're we're hoping we can talk to them into extending that out and then we'll go all the way um to Garfield Avenue in Avon so um I encourage you all to use this to alleviate our parking problem here in town and to also make sure all these businesses are getting our love and um we're frequent them despite the bridge being uh up um incidentally in the announcement there is also the news that this will continue until the bridge is repaired but they are hoping the bridge will be repaired by Memorial Day weekend we will see or by Memorial Day I should say uh so we shall see but if that doesn't happen we still have this so that is great and if I can put in another plug here um as long as I'm talking about Transportation there was other news that came through from the county this time which is that there will be a free transportation shuttle uh for people 18 and over for use to up to two times per week for medical and wellness visits this is incredibly useful and in light of the announcement we earlier this meeting about demographies and breast cancer screenings I want to couple that with the reminder that mammograms are prevented of care they are free for you there should be no co-pay um it doesn't matter if you're Medicare Medicaid private insurance they shouldn't pay a dime out of your own pocket for that um and I know for a lot of people transportation is the biggest barrier they have it's access that is a critical component of making sure people get their mamogram so please don't let cost be a a barrier please don't let um knowledge be a barrier and please don't let Transportation be a barrier there are programs there that can help you [Music] um subject to the five minute roll um and last just a general reminder that the Sea Food Fest is coming up um uh May 17th 18th and 19th please go out and support it is programs that that contribute to our tourism fund and all the wonderful ways we bring more business into Belmar thank you okay thank you Kenny thank you so much mayor um okay so couple things happening in Recreation summer camp is full there are 83 kids um Junior guards is at 145 kids they will see they will take up to 170 kids so if you haven't signed your kids up for junior guards please do so they are looking for counselors Junior guards is looking for help with instructors and counselors so 17 16 and above 16 years old and above they would like um help with that um June 15th is the Oldtimer baseball game Mammoth Fus is playing Flemington it's 11:00 a.m. and if you haven't already seen they have um completed the field project the new baseball field has been renovated new Mound new catchers um box batter box wider baselines and the infield was leveled so come out for the old game June 15th Friday Night concerts are set to start Friday of Memorial Day Weekend the first band is May 24th just CU but there is a list of bands and that should be online if you want to see who's playing and and when they're playing every Friday this summer and um summer tennis is then lessons are still sign ups are still available and the luck and Bill band will be coming back on Mondays to Taylor Pavilion um starting in the summer as well um that's Recreation and yeah we're going to talk about that too yeah next Eda meeting is going to be May 14th at 6:30 and shade tree I missed a lot of events this weekend I was away taking my daughter to see colleges and I missed all these fun things but one of the things that I was available for was um on Monday May 22nd which was Earth Day two Mondays ago um I want to thank Down to Earth Landscaping they came out and donated their their crew and their amazing Landscaping plantings and everything to help the cleanup with the help and the Direction with the shade tree commission to help um beautify piano plazas if if you have not walked through piano Plaza please do they did a wonderful job trees Shrubbery right I know Maria was there um their crew Rusty was great he helped with the with the help of the shade tree commission to really beautify piano Plaza so really really exciting things happen over there so thank you to Down to Earth Landscaping for your wonderful donation on Earth Day um and then this past Friday the shade tree Commission in um in combination with Belmont Elementary and St Rose Elementary fourth graders planted trees for Arbor Day so the St Rose kids planted a tree at the library at belmare library they planted trees seedlings at the library and Belmar Elementary kids planted the trees at the school and so that was really great it's always a a great event and I was bummed that I was missing that but thank you Maria for showing up and and participating in in that um couple quick things around the schools belmare elementary last week's uh celebrated neuro diversity day for Autism Awareness Month students and staff wore different colors and watched educational films and they also had their resident service dog Lions on an outdoor assembly so the kids got to hang out with him and Belmont Elementary School had their first um their fishing club had their first fishing trip last week so they're getting going with their their Fishing Club and then St Rose High School and the grammar school want to remind everybody that this May 2nd this week is um Discovery day for eighth graders and any transfer kids that would like to explore St Rose High School you can experience a day in the life of a high school student at St Rose high school and then um Kate and I also just want to just review we haven't seen everybody it's been a while since we had a council meeting but we did have a big Verizon meeting on uh Thursday that was Thursday the 18th April 18th we we had like over 200 people at Taylor Pavilion we had representatives from other towns up uh uh other uh Council women and men Mayors from other towns we had um commissioner Tom Arnon speak and we also had um the the Verizon interveners attorney speak and give us an update on where we are with that um process and we also had Chris Smith's Aid come that very night to sign a bill um saying that he was going to put a bill I'm sorry to say that he put introducing a bill to make it easier for a uh towns to not have to abide by the shop clock rule that they we should towns as as a whole should have more input on what's going up in our town have more time to determine if this is safe if this is what we want if this is aese aesthetically right if this is so this bill hopefully will get passed and uh there's it's continuing there are continuing things happening with this whole Verizon case so stay tuned but it was an overall really great event we had a lot of great exposure it's trickling out to other towns now which is good because we just need a unified countywide Shore town support to hopefully put put this put this thing at least delayed as long as we possibly can if not get rid of it all together so there are upcoming developments that we will share with you as time goes on because this is a forever changing thing but it was overall a really good event that night so thank you to everybody who came out that night and that's it thank you uh Council thank you Mr Mayor thank you Mr Mayor um I also wanted to say I had the pleasure of spending time with the shade tree commission uh and witnessing all of the work um and hard dedication um that they bring to our community uh thank you to Down to Earth Landscaping and the shade tree commission and I heard uh Josephine put in a good word for us so thank her as well piano Plaza looks amazing the shade tree commission is coming back to put in more trees um so if you do see some holes or some spots uh that's because they're getting ready um for their their new trees to be planted um also I really enjoyed Arbor Day got to enjoy that with the mayor as well um seeing the St Rose and the um Belmar Elementary School fourth graders plant those trees was really meaningful you know because we're seeing them plant these baby uh dogwood trees and we're watching them grow as we proudly watch our children grow and um and mature so it it was just very touching uh and the mayor and I are now official Junior arborus so we've got that going for us uh community cleanup was such a success thank you Katie um thank you so much to the environmental commission everyone who put in their hard work um there's so much plastic right by the edge of that Lake I really had no clue um thank you to Charlie vanderland our official um safety cleanup officer uh for making sure that we had a safe and impactful and happy event um and uh I think that I really really hope we can do more community events like that because that just brought us together and we had a lot of conversations with people that maybe we haven't spoken to before um and I would like to thank Felicia genti at toti Bell uh New Boutique in Main Street for organizing the spring stroll last Saturday it was wonderful to see so many residents and visitors on Main Street shopping and dining uh there were some wonderful deals and opportunities for people who haven't stopped in in certain stores uh please check them out and I also wanted to thank uh Rema and Travis Whitaker um we had a wonderful the mayor and I uh took part in the uh annual ramy's heart Co Memorial walk and that was always a touching uh tribute and we're proud that that started here in Belmar uh the belmare Housing Authority sorry it's long we all have long reports today um uh the bmer Housing Authority uh has their meeting May 6 so this is next Monday at 5:15 uh the main elevator passed inspection um and has been in use since the last meeting uh yesterday they started modernization of the doors so it's going to be another 4 days that they don't have uh that main elevator um and they'll have to use the second elevator uh they're also awaiting paneling a fan and a mural that will be coming soon um since our bids came in too high for the renovation of the facade of the building the bhaa is working on modifications of the bid and hope to have it ready in the next 10 days to go out for bid um they're also having their soil checked by Ruckers environmental program um as a first step in creating a plan to improve their grounds with native plants and healthy soil the belmare public library in partnership with Zach Levy and his organization project on house the Belmar Library is asking if anyone has used watches to distribute to homeless individuals to help them with everyday tasks so what we're looking for and I got this at Belmar Jewelers during the Spring stroll for $10 we're looking for the analog watches um SO watches with intact wristbands no digital uh wind up in courts battery watches bring them to the public library now through May 15th um the next author time is this Saturday featuring author Herman lent and his humorous book jorus a funny collection of short stories about his life as a Long Island Jew married to a first generation Greek Orthodox woman and all the culture class clashes that ensue feel like I'm doing show and tell um anyway this guy was hysterical at the book fair so please come out um library assistant lisis Palo will be presenting uh the belmare library past present and future a special presentation to belmare Women's Club tomorrow uh Wednesday May 1st at 1 p.m. at the Taylor Pavilion this event is free and open to the public you sure that's it I'm sorry that's it the council president thank you mayor your fingers get hurt from holding that but last Saturday was the friendly s of shele host of The Plunge for autism uh was great attendance they raised uh almost $100,000 uh to support individuals and families with I also like to thank Chief Scott for getting all the police there and it's always great when we see uh the boardwalk line with all the police cars with all the Autism Awareness logos on the back and it means a lot to people so so thank you for organizing that thank you for water rescue team for being on hand fortunately nobody had to be pulled out sometimes with some of the older members it looks like they might not uh they might not make it back out the water was not too cold my kids jumped in I made it um but it was a great event so um so thank you for that that's all I have there hey thank you uh I have just a few short things uh first let me Echo over thank yous that the council people made for for all of the different uh people and organizations that helped uh through the last uh week and month uh about four things I just want to comment on if you get a chance uh you should take a ride up to Lake KO on from Ocean Avenue the path has been completed I drove by there this morning actually very very ear the uh the contractor did an excellent job I know we still have to put out the um the benches and I think some lights and and the fountain but it looks outstanding so if you get a chance just write up there and take a look at it uh the second thing is we we just got noticed I guess it was today that our um request for funding uh for the Jake law project which was the um the uh playground for children or adults inclusive inclusive playground over at mcle Park so we're getting funding for that but we did not unforunately we did not get funding for the additional pickle courts or the repairs and Improvement to the boardwalk in that area um the third thing is just to follow up with councilwoman um Donovan's uh mention of the wellness transportation we do have Flyers uh around I think there will be some posted but just to just to follow up a little bit on the guidelines you must have a working cell phone to call them each person will be allowed to make two roundtrip rides a week pending approval of need rides are limited to the resident and one additional person if children require a car seat or booster seat it is the parent Guardians responsibility and finally you must be able to get in and out of the vehicle with gentle assistance no wheelchairs uh again to Echo what councilwoman Donovan said this is a great program and you know if anybody has the need for that you definitely should take advantage of it and finally I I had attend an event by the um the Belmont Historical Society on Sunday uh it was a an author who wrote a book about all the things that were invented and created in New Jersey it was very interesting um and you know it's amazing how many things came from New Jersey we we you know we we muray Hill the Bell labs in Murray Hill did the transistor you know M&M's from Eminem Mars in hackstown uh lots of things having to do with technology of course Thomas Edison takes you know takes credit for a lot of things but um if you if you're interested in that kind of stuff um you know it was it was a nice event and I'm sure the library has has the book to uh to go over that but it it was a good program and I think everyone that was there enjoyed it so that's all I have and um I guess we're going to move on to the consent agenda for Resolutions uh first is public session on the resolutions if anyone would like to comment on a resolution listed on the consent agenda please step forward state your name and address can I have a motion to close the public session motion second all in favor I okay can I have a motion to approve the resolutions as listed on the consent agenda motion second councilman Donovan yes councilman Kenny yes mayor B fusil yes councilman rero yes councilman L yes uh next is second reading in public public hearing on ordinance 20244 this is an ordinance amending chapter 26 housing and Property Maintenance um enacting deicing material storage requirements for the purposes of compliance with ms4 tier a municipal storm water permit requirements this is open for public comment if anyone would like to speak on this ordinance please step forward state your name and address so can I have a motion to close the public hearing motion second all in favor and can I have a motion to adopt ordinance 20244 make the motion second councilman Donovan yes councilman Kenny yes Mayo yes Council rero yes councilman Lis yes next is second reading and public hearing on ordinance 20245 this is an or amending and supplementing chapter 31 shet tree commission enacting tree removal Provisions for purposes of compliance with the ms4 ti Municipal storm water permit requirements if anyone would like to speak on this ordinance please step forward state your name and address okay um can I have a motion to close the public hearing motion second all in favor I and a motion to adopt ordinance 20245 motion second councilman Donovan yes councilman Kenny yes mayor B fusc yes councilman Rondo yes councilman Le yes next we have ordinance 20246 this is an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 19 of the revised General ordinances creating a handicap parking space do we have a motion to offer this ordinance for first reading and introduction motion second councilman Donovan yes councilman Kenny yes mayor BCA fesco yes councilman Rano yes councilman L yes next is ordinance 20247 this is a bond ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements and Acquisitions for the burrow appropriating 1, 354,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $1,286 300 in bonds and notes to finance a portion of the cause do we have a motion to offer this ordinance for first reading and introduction motion second councilman Donovan yes councilman Kenny yes mayor Buck Fusco yes councilman rero yes counc L yes and last one is ordinance 20248 a bond ordinance providing for various water sewer utility improvements appropriating 1,600,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $1,520 th000 in bonds and notes to finance a portion of the cost we have a motion to offer this ordinance for first reading and introduction I'll make that motion second councilman Donan yes councilman Kenny yes mayor black Fusco yes councilman Ron Nero yes councilman leis yes the next we're uh going to Workshop section yes um we moved the workshop to the end just to make it a little more uh easier to do the bid at the beginning of the meeting uh for the council I have asked uh counselor um Migel to give us an update on discussions that he has had over the past week or so with the Union fire company so that we're all pretty much on the same page as to his uh his knowledge and his discussions thank thank you mayor um yeah I had a uh uh well just as a little bit of a history the the union um Fire Company um was suspended in January uh January 30th as of January 30th they were suspended um because there were certain certification issues with the company and uh perhaps more importantly their their numbers had dwindled to below 10 um Regular fire that qualified full full fully certified firefighters so U um fire administrator uh suspended them um but at the same time we asked the fire company the union fire company to uh come up with a plan as to how they're going to get back on track um as to their certifications and their Manpower issue and the um buau administrator and the fire administrator uh had a conversation had a meeting with members of the Union Fire Company on March 7th at which time the union Fire Company members uh indicated that they could not um meet the Manpower requirements could not or didn't have a plan to um meet the certification requirements and uh at that time it was discussed that um possibly the union Fire Company could become attain historic status they would be the his they would become a historic Fire Company um the members who wanted to fight the fires could um go to Goodwill and to um the the hook and ladder fire companies um and that was pretty much the plan at that time and from what I understand because I was not in the room um that was pretty much agreed upon so um ship Cavin oil fire administrator and I um prepared a letter um to the chief uh as the Director of Public Safety indicating that that's the course that we were going to take with the Union fire company and at that point in time um the situation was resolved um whoever wanted to fight fires uh could still do so the union fire company does not go away it becomes historic still stays at the 9th Avenue house and um it seemed to be a good solution um the uh members of the Union Fire Company thereafter had a change of heart I suppose and they advised the uh fire administrator that they had 10 uh qualified firefighters and um fully certified um and that they had taken what was known as a a burn test live burn uh certification I I've only become aware of these certifications over the last six weeks or so so they they they did that um nine members um they seem to have nine members who who did that um one person on the list Didn't Do It um we had a meeting they had uh they had become um um they didn't agree with uh chip c have no how things were proceeding and they sent um a missive over to the governing body by email on April 17th and I got it on the 18th and I responded on the 19th so it was a Wednesday Thursday Friday um and they wanted to have a meeting because they wanted to be reinstated um which is fine uh we had a meeting the following Monday on the 22nd and at that meeting it was myself and it was uh um for administrator Cain and um um there was uh James and Nichol Russo there they're members of the Union fire company so oh yeah and sorry about that Mark Mark was there as well uh Mark was also at the meeting um in in March that I wasn't at uh in any event we had a discussion about what um the status of the fire company was um as far as I was concerned they they said that they had 10 members fully certified and um if that was the case then that would be the case and that' be fine so um I told them I had to speak with chip I did on the following Wednesday was is just last one six days ago um and there was an issue with one of the firefighter certification as to the live burn which is a very significant certification um and there was questions as to some of of the other certifications for the for the other um members so um that's where it was I got in touch with the Union fire company and uh asked them for their certifications U my understanding is that the individual firefighters have their certifications company keeps copies um they may or may not be sent to the state um the state has copies of some with the certifications but obviously they don't have them if you don't send them in so that's that's where we were on um Thursday had some Communications with the Union Fire Company via email um I asked to have a conversation with them because you know emails you don't tend to resolve anything um and um at that point in time um they told me that the burrow has certifications and that was fine with me I told them I would check with April following day on Friday last Friday I talked to April um we don't the buau doesn't have the certifications and it hasn't been the practice to to hold the certifications um chip Kavanaugh has requested certifications of all the fire companies uh he did that on April 12th and uh we're waiting for responses for everybody to make sure uh the people are certified and if they're not to get them the courses that they need or whatever has to be done so um on Thursday I told them I would do that I did that on Friday and um they ask me on Friday can they be reinstated and obviously I'm not the person that makes those decisions um they were suspended and quite frankly they requirement is to get your certifications in um they had only looked for them for a couple of days so the answer was no and um so Union Fire Company didn't like that um made some posts on social media um and um we continued to talk talked to uh one of the members yesterday um seems that um they decided um I don't know what they decided but they indicated that they were going to take a look for their certifications and then um and then take it from there so that's that's really where we're at um they're looking for the certifications that's good um and that that is where we're where we are at they were going to come here tonight they didn't we had conversations yesterday um I'm not fully certain as to why they decided not to be here but that that's fine I think we did come to a um an understanding yesterday so um maybe that's it but this was already on the agenda um it had already um taken on uh a life of its own so um I thought it would be good just to bring everybody up to date as to what's going on there so that's it yeah is there anybody else Kevin you know to Chief Mark you know yeah I've left out the most significant people can I butter everybody up and say so I do have a quick question so is it possible for Union to get reinstated if they do provide all the documentation that they need to provide I wouldn't I I I wouldn't see why they wouldn't if they're certified and they have they meet the requirements and by the way I I told them that from the beginning and I say I told them that I I don't necessarily have the authority to be telling them anything uh I'm the burough attorney but um that that was my understanding from the beginning uh good get your cert certifications for your 10 guys and you know that's see I don't want to say that's it we'll reinstate you it's I don't have the authority to say that but yeah that's the way that would be my recommendation that's that's what I've been telling them that that would be my recommendation they understand that yeah we're not we're not interested in having them be done but they need to have the the correct number of members the correct number of certified members and we have to look at the recommendations coming from our fire administrator as well so you know in that first meeting back in uh in March when I met with them I mean they basically indicated that they weren't going to be able to meet this so when they did come and say that hey now we're meeting it was a little bit of a surprise um so we do need to do our diligence to make sure that they are there so and I I mentioned this to them I don't want to be in the same place if we recertify them a year from now we don't want to be looking at the same problems and it's difficult it's not their fault they can't get membership it's just hard you know these firefighters they have to basically act as you know professional full-time paid firefighters but they volunteers so it's really difficult for them to balance their their work life their families with the job that's getting harder and harder in terms of these certifications but we can't we don't make those rules the state does and we have to have certified fire department you know from a liability standpoint and for our citizens so I I hope they can get their numbers up and they can get all the certifications and you know then we'll look at our fire administrator recommendations on what to do any other questions the council thank you uh I just have one update I want to make for the council I I actually when I was up at the taale of Pavilion Sunday I took a look in at the progress being made at on the the bathrooms and it looks like they're they're on schedule the the uh many of the walls are up you know in rough shape you know need to be painted and spackled and all that stuff but it appears to be that they're they're moving right along I've seen the dumpster up there a few times so um as far as we know at this point you know everything is a green light and and hopefully we'll see bathroom's body Memorial Day any other issues of the workshop going once twice okay I guess we'll move on to the public session if anyone would like to speak please remember to state your name and address first Tom vuler 527 8th Avenue no I want to thank you first for all your hard work for US citizens um besides that uh I received a community Comm unication uh that indicated because I'm on a part of the team that does badge checking that sort of thing extremely extremely tiring job but I Do Don't Clap so um my question is I what the notice said was we weren't going to have a Third Avenue uh restroom and um I I I found that very surprising so I I I don't know how we arrived at that you know what were the conditions anybody enlighten me the uh the plan was always that the Fifth Avenue bathroom would take the place of the Third Avenue bathroom and the Sixth Avenue bathroom so that's the reason why there's we were short last year if you recall one bathroom uh and uh with putting the per bathroom at fifth um we're not going to put one at third we don't have one to put at third or sixth correct me if I'm wrong the uh whole reason that we did all this was the EPA came in and told us that our bathrooms were not satisfactory for different reasons that they go by is that that part correct the primary reason was not so much that the bathrooms were unsatisfactory is that that they were they're temporary structures and that they're being placed on something that uh we considered a permanent structure but they consider a temporary structure and that per structure was concrete was the slab of concrete and according to their uh regulations and rules that did not meet their definition of a permanent structure so we would and plus we didn't have uh we would have to put in for a cfer permit and go through all the different stages to get approval especially for that Third Avenue one because there was never a bathroom there in the past whereas with some of the other bathrooms down further towards uh the end of of of Belmore there had been structures there that we are likely would be likely able to grandfather in because of the fact that they were destroyed either in a hurricane or Hurricane Sandy or one of those things so um the Third Avenue one was really the the uh the one that had the we had the weakest case for for saying that we we wanted to keep that one if you had no money would you be putting in a third uh it's not really it's not really a matter of money it's a matter of uh the DP permitting us down you know ultimately to say yes you can put a bathroom there and it's basically their position that no we can't put a bathroom there and they are you know and we had represented which I I think is for the Ben benefit of the the residents and the the beach go is that you know we have a permanent bathroom and the Fifth Avenue bathroom is only two blocks from from the Third Avenue bathroom so it didn't seem like much of a um you know a a reason to keep third a bathroom I could see you thinking that way if you weren't a senior um here here we have raised the price uh to get a beach badge and the those people that frequent those beaches are um kind of like well just pick up your blanket and go around Fifth Avenue and you know tough luck but it seems to me if that DP comes in and tells us we have to do it and it was a little shaky as far as having to do it uh we had a good system it seems to me that they should find a way to give us a bathroom on third avue to benefit those beach goers Mr fer I completely agree with you absolutely I would like to um I would like to have bathrooms on every Beach on every corner if we could but um you know I think we need to look at the other side of the coin we probably have more bathrooms along our beach front than any of our towns north and south of us okay so I mean uh and I do understand that people need to you know will feel the difference but on the other hand you know it we have to talk about what's reasonable and what's reasonable in my mind is if you're if you're going to the beach on third it's just as easy to go to the beach on Fourth which only makes it a block away so you know and on on the other side of third there's really not much of a beach where people really um go for swimming so you know I think it's a I think was an acceptable compromise to to uh forego the Third Avenue bathroom um again it's a it's a type of thing where it would be nice to have bathrooms on every block but you know for the most part many people still have to walk two blocks to to get to the bathroom you know and on the different beaches up town so yes it would be nice but it was you know it was the beach which is probably less frequented of all the beaches along the ocean front here in Baltimore and again you know the DP has their regulations and we in good faith have to do what we need to comply with those regulations and one of the things we represented to them was that we would start putting permanent bathrooms along the beach so that's how we got that's how we got to where we are today thanks for explaining sorry that's okay I was just saying Mr vulker I agree with you and um we'll continue to advocate for for our bathrooms on Third Avenue thank you anyone else thank you I want to thank council members for our your support for Belmar cares but also I wondered do we have any time frame as to when the bridge would be accessible we do not you mean the the well the time frame is Target is Memorial Day okay okay I was encouraged to see that the that the crane was here today to adjust the angle of the bridge which means that they're moving forward in putting in the the hydraulic system that they're going to use to open and close the bridge in the future so that was a good sign and the weather cooperated I'm hopeful that you know in a week or so or at some point they'll come back to us and say hey guys we're you know we're getting closer and closer so keep our fingers cross I think I think we're in a good spot for Memorial Day but don't bet on it okay thank you CLA haer 18th and Snider I would just like to say it's a three administrations but now it's finally done you got sickle listening to me the curbs are now ada8 compliant I'm 18th in Snider and it is truly appreciate it I just want to thank everyone thank you thank you other Dan Lang 14th Avenue uh I've noticed a lot of trash and brush in the in the gutters is B going to be doing anything about a clean up on those because you got have rain coming along it gets into the sewers and plugs up the sewer line uh cuz there's a lot of stuff over in Rhode Island point where I live there's you know you look and there's brushes in the curve and everything aren they supposed to throw them out in somehow but aren't getting rid of them there's talking about brush I think what's happening I've seen it in my neighborhood too you know the first of every month is when DPW picks up branches and brush and whatever and I think uh many people are anticipating that so what they're doing is they're putting out the brush ahead of time of course my brush is still in the yard which I'm not going to get out tomorrow so I mean I'm going to have to either cut it up and get rid of it some other way but I think that that's what's happening I believe tomorrow or the next day DPW will be going around picking up all that brush that's one the things also being fact that you're building construction on piano Classic Piano over to the right what's going on with that restaurant there there are they going to have their outdoor seating so far far out into piano Plaza that nobody can really sit and enjoy the music I believe the uh you're talking about brandles brand yeah I believe the outdoor seating is going to be limited to what they have now seem like they kept moving further and further I think um I think we've uh We've um managed to correct that okay and one more thing I'd like to see them put a stop sign on the corner of K and and 14th because we have a stop sign up here we have a strip across the street says stop and and they just keep coming right on through because there's two arrows to the left we can't put another stop sign well you got to do something because we have six kids within the first 500 ft of that block that are young kids stop follow by stop well you did that by the apartments over by the B uh by the lumber yard they got stop signs here within next block in other step because there's a through Street coming okay well then can you maybe move I'll look into it but we're not going to put a stop sign if you can't put it here then may be move it over here where it's right in front of people because they run that stop sign all the time I didn't say that I'm just saying maybe move it instead of here on the corner straight in front of you where you can see cuz you walk in you come up in the street you have two arrows to the left or to the right because it's a W Street they see the arrows and they just fly through the intersection there right there they don't see it I'll okay thank you appreciate it all right thank you thank you other comments didn't tell you about the rule it only get up once George we have to amend the ordinance only one shot the brush and everything ppw um while I was outside today L com was coming around putting things on the door I said that person gave the ticket cuz they didn't get the garbage in in time they said no it's because they put the brush out too soon they switched to instead of every Tuesday it's every other Tuesday now so they're going around giving a warning like get it out of the street now or you're getting a ticket so food for thought thank you any other comments one CL Rella 14th Avenue belore thank you for the proclamation tonight that was very much appreciated um we also have not just do we have not do we only I should have mentioned it before not only do we have women in our group that are breast cancer survivors but we also have a couple of volunteers that are in our grw which is very helpful we have one that happens to be an oncology nurse so which is phenomenal so she'll bring some good information to our group so but thank you for that tomorrow is the first am I correct okay as of tomorrow I already have pink we got the approval I talked to John and he said it's okay to do fake flowers because I don't want somebody to have to worry about watering them and tending to them so I have a whole bunch of pink flowers and if you're on Main Street looking at the piano Plaza sign in front of it we're that's where we're going to put pink flowers I already gave the pink breast cancer flag to George he's going to put that up tomorrow for me and we have some other pink things that are coming on those the posts those big poles that are there so we're going to put not going to block them but we're going to put different things up there I've talked to a couple business owners if they would uh like to sponsor us and and put out some pink and uh I'd say by the first or second I'd say the second to latest if you go by Robins Nest that whole place is going to be very bright pink and so she's you know backing us up with our with our cause though um what just one quick question on 13th Avenue and 71 if you're on 13th Avenue facing west traffic is going north and south there's a house on the left that has bushes that come right to the corner I've almost gotten hit a couple times cuz you have to move almost to the shoulder of 71 to see if traffic is coming from the south going north is there any way that that Resident can be in you have to check the sight triangle and see if there's a don't they trim even if they trim the bushes back just a little so you can see and then because you're in the walkway you're also in the walkway so now you have people that want to cross over walking but yet you have to move up because you can't see the traffic coming down that road that was just a the safety thing I was just safety thing i' very cautious makeing sure I don't hit anybody all right we can take a look at that absolutely thank you thank hi Greg Mela 14th in Ocean just a quick question um the winning bid for that uh space what does that lady's what does that woman do what's the shop do what's the uh she said it would just be um like grilled cheese hot dogs french fries that kind of thing thank you very much anything else anyone else okay can I have a motion to close the public session and adjourn the meeting motion second all in favor