hi there good to see you I open the Bernards Township committee meeting for January 23rd 2024 please stand for the flag salute adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building one col your lane Basking Ridge on the township website an email to the Bernardsville news whipy The Courier News Bridgewater tap into to.net patch.com and filed with the Township Clerk on December 18 2023 any motion to go into closed session will include that matters discussed at such closed session will be disclosed to the public when such M matters are finally determined when there is no further reason to prohibit the public from disclosure of information relating to such matters meeting rules adopted by Township committee no new business will be introduced after 10:30 p.m. comment will be accepted at all meetings speakers will be limited to 5 minutes each all meetings will journ no later than 11:30 p.m. chrisy roll call please Mr Balman here miss dardy McCarthy here miss Fields here mayor AC here Mr MCN is excuse this evening thank you executive session Christie do we have an executive session this evening none this evening mayor great thank you then let's move on to presentations please resolution 202 24 -127 Muslim Heritage Month celebration January 2024 wonderful we are very excited um to share this resolution what I would like to do is I would like to read um a little bit about the resolution whereas Bernards takes great pride in the varied religions and cultural traditions of residents and seeks to afford all people the opportunity to better understand recognize and appreciate the rich histories cultures and shared principles of Muslim Americans and whereas like so many other cultures represented in Bernards in this Township Muslims bring values and traditions that enrich the fabric of our Township and whereas there are nearly 300,000 Muslim Americans in New Jersey representing one of the largest Muslim American communities in the United States and whereas Muslims continue to contribute to every area of society and whereas January has been designated Muslim heritage month in New Jersey to celebrate the cultural heritage achievements and contributions Muslims have made and continue to make what I would like to do is ask my Township committee members if they have any comments that they would like to share sure um I'll start so thank you mayor I think this is an important resolution uh the late Maya Angelo once said I've learned that people will never will forget get what you've said and they'll forget what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel and this is an important opportunity for the town to underscore its commitment to all the contributions and achievements of the community and to also recognize that while there is bias against Islam and the Muslim Community this is an opportunity for us to embrace all that the community has done the leadership shown through the is the uh Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and to also hope for of unity going forward and for your continued partnership so New Jersey is one of few states that has recognized January as Muslim heritage month and we are very proud that we are doing so tonight here in our Township and thank you mayor for your leadership on this thank you anyone else so I want to say it it's it's always such a wonderful experience for us to be able to uh celebrate the many many cultural cultures Heritage and diversity Within our community and you being one so I just like to say it's a it's a it's great that we're doing this I think it's the first time that we're doing it so I just like to say that um for us along with you and partnering and um celebrating the different cultures and Heritage that the community has means a lot to us congratulations and thank you to our Muslim Community for being a bright thread this month woven into the fabric of Bernards uh it is it is through these types of recognition events when we can focus on a particular culture and have a month to reflect and to learn and to understand that we tie ourselves closer together our bonds become stronger so this month this January is our month to to recognize our Muslim uh residents and our friends and neighbors and thank you for being a part of the fabric of Bernards and my comments I have some dear friends who are Muslim and I have very much enjoyed learning about this religion um especially um Ramadan and um it's just very impressive of the many um sacrifices uh where uh folks that are in that particular time are fasting um and so it's something that I very much enjoyed so when we received this request um it was a very simple um to recognize this again the state has recognized January as Muslim heritage month and uh we were also pleased to see I believe that the library just last week did a program as well so um this is a welcoming community and it is a privilege to be able to celebrate and recognize all that live within it so I thank you for coming tonight um what I'm going to do before I invite you up I'm going to need to have a motion for us to take a vote so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr Dart McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried so what I would like to do is I um it it appears that Ali shandre has arrived and would um we'd like to present you the resolution and take a photo um we'd also like to invite you to to make a few remarks would you like to would you like to speak first well The Honorable mayor and members of the county committee it really is a wonderful opportunity for us to recognize the contributions and the work that the Muslim Community has been doing for years in this town and in this state and as you noted New Jersey is only the fourth state that has recognized uh Muslim Heritage mon at this point and burner's Township is among the few municipalities that have taken the opportunity uh to show leadership uh in recognizing the importance of this event and recognizing the importance of the contribution that all citizens make including Muslims and even among the Muslim Community uh I'm sure you have noticed a tremendous diversity uh the discussion we had at the library on Thursday evening uh actually demonstrated in real time right here in W Township there were at least nine countries represented in the food samples that were brought in uh as a result of the the event that we were having so I mayor I see I really want to thank you very much uh for taking the leadership uh in proposing this resolution and I thank the members of the township committee uh to support it I would also say that the Islamic Society of asking rich is an organization that will work with all parts of our community we have always made an effort to uh make our community uh an asset make anything that we have done with respect to the construction of our mask which is almost complete uh we are now in the process of just installing the elevator and taking care of a couple of small things but we've been able to use it since last Ramadan and so we will continue to do it here in this Ramadan so I want to thank you uh and I want to thank the staff actually of the township that has been very Cooperative with respect to all the work that we needed to do uh to get all the inspections done and and everything I also want to thank members of the Muslim Community who have uh joined us this evening including my two daughters and my grandson uh Charlie and members of our community uh and I think it's a uh with a great sense of uh you know honor and pride uh that we accept uh your leadership and the resolution that you have passed thank you very much thank you thank [Music] you he's just acting thank you very presentations and we put them at the beginning you're always welcome to come to any meeting and stay the entire duration or you're welcome we'll we have a picture the mayor oh yeah whatever you we love to have the entire committee if you would like to join us yeah be great [Music] there we okay here we go all right okay here yeah come on to very friendly anyone like to join yeah please join us would join if you have the camera somebody else okay are we looking at yes look at Lily great thank you thank thank you very much thank you congratulations thanks we look forward to working with thank you for coming oh someone's phone is no thank you so moving along item seven Christie any public work session needed none this evening mayor thank you any correspondence none this evening great that brings us to public comment comments are welcomed during the public comment period during this meeting on any agenda item or other matter on which the township committee has jurisdiction however if an ordinance is listed for its own public hearing the agenda please hold your comments for that particular public hearing the public comment portion of the agenda is not structured as a question answer session but regard offers an opportunity to share your thoughts on the town with the township committee the township committee may or may not address these comments during the meeting however all comments are considered to address the body the speaker must come forward to the microphone and state his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to 5 minutes the clerk will keep time please promptly yield the floor when the time is called and return to your seat your cooperation and adherence to these Rules of Order will ensure an orderly and respectful meeting I open public comment Nancy Dandrea three Vander drive so I just want to say two I came up actually to ask about the elevator what what's the latest going on with the elevator here in the in the in the uh Town Hall I really don't know that update but I actually um I just want to say how wonderful and how far our town has come since 2016 and 2017 and The Preserve Liberty Corner signs that were on my neighbor's property for two years if you don't know what those signs were it was about not building a mosque and it was not welcoming Muslims so I'm really proud of our town right now I'm proud of this board and I'm really thankful that we have progressed and grown and shown that everyone is welcome because six seven years ago it was like pitchforks and if you if you don't remember that I can show you videos I can show you pictures so and thank you so much but also what's the latest on the elevator thank you thank you anyone else if not then I close public comment we're going to move to um staff comments and committee uh comments but before we do I want to read a statement that I prepared I'm mindful of the concerns from residents regarding the burglaries break-ins and thefts that have occurred in our town these incidents are disturbing but are not unique to our town this is a Statewide and region-wide issue and based on my research has been attributed as a consequence of Criminal Justice reform measures implemented in recent years however well-meaning they may have been Bernards is unfortunately not immune to crime and I am concerned when any criminal acts occur in town that said said it is important to remember that independent analysts have deemed us excuse me among the safest towns in the entire country resident safety is our highest concern and expectation of our community this will not and has not wavered while this is an issue affecting many towns and flows from policy changes made at higher levels of government over which Bernards has no control let me assure you that our town has taken immediate action to protect our residents our police department has increased patrols to deter and combat these sorts of crimes in locations at at times when they tend to occur there are other actions that are being taken some of which can and will be communicated in the near future others will not be in order to avoid compromising security at this meeting Deputy Mayor Fields one of our police liazon will provide an update on a new tool developed by our Police Department that we are widely Distributing so that residents can utilize that to protect themselves from crime second consistent with a relatively recent suggestion from Mr Edelstein during public comment we are launching a platform where residents can upload doorbell camera and related video to the police for their use in investigations third and at my request Senator John bramnick graciously agreed to participate in a zoom call with Bernard's residents to discuss these matters from a state perspective at 7:30 on Thursday January 25th information about this call is available on the town's website please register for it via the links provided fourth our police department will be here at Town Hall on February 22nd at 7:30 p.m. as a part of our understanding Bernard Series where we will again be addressing these issues and lastly committeeman MCN the other please leaz on will provide an update that will be shared in the next couple of weeks I've had many conversations with residents my colleagues on this committee members of the police department and officials outside of the town about these issues I take them seriously and you can be confident that our town has and will continue to take concrete steps to meet these challenges headon I will continue to engage with other mayors and our elected officials to make meaningful change as such I will be asking for our residents to help us as we ask for this change at the state and federal level I'd like to thank our outstanding Police Department led by Chief John berer for their tireless work in keeping our residents safe as well as my colleagues on this committee for their support we look forward to providing additional updates as they are available we remain available to listen to any residents concerns and so with that I'd like to now pivot to the regular schedule program so Pat would you like to please start us off uh thank you mayor um just wanted to acknowledge a Personnel appointment I welcome Allan Hiller um field inspector for our tax assessor so welcome uh to Allan and that's all I have May thank thank you Christine none this evening thank you mayor great Anna sure thank you mayor and I want to underscore the opportunity to both participate in the call this Thursday as well as the meeting on the 22nd uh with the the police department U so a couple of things the shade tree commission held its first meeting on January 15th and the mission of that commission is to maintain and promote a healthy safe and sustainable shade tree resource that physically and aesthetically benefits the community and its residents in most costeffective manner possible and during the meeting we focused on completing and presenting the three items items on the consent agenda including the commission's annual report the New Jersey Urban and Community forestry annual accomplishment report and the application to renew Tree City USA status for 2023 which would Mark the 19th year that Bernard's Township has the status and we also held some discussion about Arbor Day which last year over 200 native tree seedlings were distributed to Residents and there'll be more information forthcoming on that um in the next meeting we had had the golf advisory committing me committee meeting last evening and for those of you unfamiliar with the kley Rouser Golf Course uh that is one of the jewels of this community it was taken over for operation in 1996 in partnership with the VA managed under parks and wreck and we have now the opportunity for residents to either renew or join the course through February 29th and receive a significant discount of $70 from regular fees and you also receive two guest uh complimentary rounds and the course opens weather permitting April 1st and then lastly on the consent agenda is also the annual report from the environmental commission and the first meeting of the commission will be next Monday the 29th so thank you mayor thank you Mr Bardo I'm just looking forward to working for and with all of you in 2024 and hopeful for an end a good year here so thank you thank you thank you Mr Balman uh yeah a couple of announcements from Parks and wreck um Parks and Recreation sponsoring a digital photography contest fabric of Bernard's digital photography uh submissions are judged on photographic quality appropriateness theme creativity and composition it is open to Residents grades K through adult um deadline for submissions is February 2nd so if you're interested in the digital photography contest that deadline is going to come up in a couple of weeks um additionally registration begins on Monday February 12th at 8:30 in the morning for the six week summer Recreation program those are for children entering grades K through five in the fall of 2024 and uh this is this will be the first of many times we're going to talk about it but Charter day is May 18th and today's announcement really focuses on uh anyone interested interested or group interested in being a vendor a performer or an exhibitor um applications uh are required through parks and wreck and you can go to www. bernard.edu Deputy Mayor thank you mayor so as the mayor mentioned um the uh burners uh Town Township Police Department is working on safe uh working on safety so what they've done specifically the community policing Department Sergeant Tracy biseri has created a home security checklist which is an extra step that residents to do can do to ensure that their home is safe and secure some of our residents are already doing these safety tips but is more of our res if more of our residents Implement these tips this can secure our community and themselves and um less make it less desirable for criminals this home security checklist will be located and I'll give you that so what happened is like I said Sergeant Bolder from the police department Community policeing put together a a checklist of things that you should be doing which is such as uh safety when it comes to SEC uh your exterior doors your garage your slider doors projecting Windows outdoor security lighting and so forth so this is a a checklist that we ask every resident to take a look at and these are things that you can do to protect yourself in your home so this is a start um the checklist so what we've done is with that checklist the Bernard Township Police Department has put it on their Facebook their Instagram their website page which is off our home web uh website page we as a Township are putting it on our our website our homepage you have to scroll down to see it also our Facebook page and our Instagram page so this actual checklist like I mentioned will be on each of those platforms for you to review and we'd ask you to uh take a look at them and um you know take those steps and um take that responsibility on checking and seeing how ways that it could be a safer Community for you I'm almost there sorry you have anything you want to add with the checklist okay where it go so many papers sorry so DPW I want to first thank our DPW road crew for their outstanding job job during the rain and snowstorms as a resident as residents it's very important for us not to park on the street during a storm and we actually have an ordinance that we're not allowed to park there's no over overnight parking on the street so I don't know if many people know that I believe it's between 2: and 5:00 a.m. so you shouldn't be parking on the street due to the ordinance but it's more important that you're not parking on the street because when the plows come through they really need to plow the street so if you're out there and you're a hindrance for us being able to plow we will tow your car so please do not park on the street during snowstorms um also um do not shovel plow or snow blow the snow onto the street this makes it very dangerous for travelers but more importantly it makes it dangerous for for your neighborhood and for your neighbors traveling on that street so please do not put the snow in the street that's very important Farmstead Farmstead will be having a New Jersey Highlands Coalition Art Exhibit on Sunday January 28th Sunday February 4th 11th and 18th that's all on a Sunday from 1: to 4:00 p.m. so just check out their website but it's a really uh great Art Exhibit at the uh Farmstead also if you know anybody interested um they're still looking for a part time marketing person this is a great opportunity for somebody who's looking for some part-time hours um they really need somebody Farmstead it's a nonprofit as you know here in town and um they're looking for a uh marketing person administrative and so forth so if anybody's interesting pleas interested please go to their website and check it out they're always asking us to see if we know anybody to help them out so uh Liberty Corner Fire Company uh they hosted on Saturday night howling at the moon fundraiser it was a spe acular night and they'd like me to thank everyone who attended and continue to attend their events and contribute to the um Liberty Corner Fire Company you know I have tell you interesting story so when I I call my contact at the Liberty Corner Fire Company uh to get the update or is there anything they want to say and they said well we had something that never happened before somebody came up to me who said they've lived in this town 37 years and they thought that our fire company was paid I can't believe that somebody has lived in this town 37 years and ask us were paid our fire company is 100% 100% volunteers so the money that they raise at all their fundraising vs helps defer the cost for the town because we do help them out so anything you can do by attending their fundraisers or going to their website we really appreciate it and they especially appreciate it so remember they're volunteers the library um they' like to know that they're making progress on their construction Grant they've received uh several Construction Grants um there will be new doors installed on both entrances in the uh next couple of weeks the library is also uh working on their visibility so if you know any organizations in town that you think that the library should connect with or work with in any way just reach out to the library give them a call and say you know I have a nonprofit or there's this other community um organization in town I think it would be great if the library uh worked with them they're looking for those opportunities so if you know any any anyone or any organizations they like you to contact them and I just um would also like to say thank you to everyone and uh thank you mayor thank you um so I started with the comments about the safety wait can I say one more thing I'm sorry of course I'm sorry um so so being on engineering um Nancy dandre uh had made a comment about the elevator it is actually on the consent agenda we are awarding the bid for the elevator okay so um it's resolution 2024 d0108 oh great so it's being awarded tonight the elevator because I know we've talked about for a while thank you thanks thanks mayor so no worries um so going back to safety is super important and um this is not just words there are real actions and more will be coming forth um I have a couple other updates so um the last meeting was canceled and so my comment ments were kind of a carryover from some of that so with that being said um the first three weeks in this role have been very busy especially due to Mother Nature um and I am just in awe of our DPW crew and what they do for us along with our police Etc so one of the things that I want to do is uh really encourage residents to subscribe to the Rave alerts if they have not already um and where to find updated information uh which will be on our homepage so I'll be doing a communication out this week actually to try to drive folks to do that so I don't want anyone in Bernard's Township to say what's going on in the town I want them to know where it is um at their fingertips the second um topic that I wanted to bring up is some things that happened actually in the last week or so so a huge thank you to our brick Community our Indian Community had a wonderful Mid Winter festival um at Cedar Hill on uh Saturday the 13th we have such a uh Rich culture um very talented and beautiful people um the the costumes and their dances and music were absolutely fabulous and of course I mean what can you say about the food so um it was wonderful and I look forward to going to Future brick events going on piggybacking on Deputy mayor's U point about the Dueling Pianos I went to that and guys we really really we need to get our friends and go out it was so much fun uh so I plan on going in the future as well as I heard that our comedy nights great so I'm sure you'll keep us surprised when that's going to H come um so a great amazing group of volunteers and uh they also do great programs so please continue to consider that um looking forward are Fabrica Bernards so um in that spirit I have a shout out the um uh the Central Jersey Regional Lunar New Year Festival will take place on uh February 17th from 2 to 4 at rbcc so our Basking Ridge Chinese American Association have partnered with two other groups one out of Bridgewater and one in Warren so it's going to be an amazing event I can't wait to see I will be there um and encourage everyone to please register there's a link on our website U with links that where you can purchase tickets so please come and support um our Chinese Americans and last but not least um to point to you um especially for our senior services so I want to raise the awareness that on our website under Senior Services there is a link to the 2024 County survey this is for anyone who is 60 plus uh those with disabilities and their caregivers so this is the um Somerset County uh Department of Aging and dis ability they're looking to understand what services are needed to provide our community so please click on that link that survey closes March the 31st so please share with any neighbors um that that is there um the more information they can have the make sure that we can customize what our residents need so with that and thanks to Christie and and obviously Jen Gander for keeping those things going and and updating our websites as well so with that I'll move on to Fire and Rescue appointments resolution 2024-the roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss dardy McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried welcome Evan next resolution 2024-25 appointment to membership in Township of Bernards volunteer Liberty Corner Fire Company Lite Chopra full member may have a motion so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss dardi McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried and thank you for your service moving on to number 12 any unfinished business none this evening mayor great then we will move on to the consent agenda the items listed within the consent agenda portion of the meeting have been referred to the township committee for reading and study and are posted on the agenda on the website they are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion by the township committee with no separate discussion if separate discussion is required the item may be removed from the agenda by Township Committee Action in placed on the regular agenda under new business would anyone on the township committee like an item removed from the consent agenda great before we move forward I wanted to ask Pat could you please provide some additional background on that elevator please sure so uh mayor we uh we began work in 2020 um it's a nice to know that we have grants from 2021 and 2022 which fully fund this project uh we've been out to bid Twice first time there were no biders this was during pandemic with you know supply chain issues um happy to say that the second time we had two uh competitive bids we're awarding this evening uh we should be starting in the spring uh duration about 9ine months to get it done and they will provide access from the basement to the second floor at all of the various levels uh in between and you would think there's only three but there's actually five different levels from the basement to get to the second floor and you can see see we are in a transition level here so it will make the entire building up to the second floor uh Ada accessible so long over to wonderful thank you may I have a motion please so moved second Christie roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr R McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you to letter B ordinance 2543 accepting a repair in zone conservation easement on property located at 139 Riverside Drive block 3201 lot 17 from Gavin Shalo and Bridget Shalo to the township of Bernards and this is Introduction I move I make a moot I move that ordinance 2543 be introduced on first reading advertised as required by law and scheduled for a public hearing on February 13 2024 second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes missart McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried great clerk please read the ordinance by title ordinance 2544 an ordinance of the township of Bernards to set calendar year 202 4 appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank per njsa 40a 44514 and this is an induction mayor I move ordinance 2544 to be introduced on first reading advertised as required by law scheduled for public hearing on February 13 2024 second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr RT McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried great that takes us to letter D Township committee appointment Andrew MCN sewage Authority 5-year term expiring January 31st 2029 may have a motion so moved second all in favor I I moving to letter e approval of minutes December 28th 2023 Open Session minutes and January 2nd 2024 Open Session minutes may I have a motion uh so moved second second all in favor I I I great Christie any executive session no mayor none this evening taking us to adjournment may I have a motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor I good night everyone