e e e e e e e e we keep like track I open the Bernard's Township commit meeting for March 26 2024 please stand for the flag salute flag the United States of America the stands indivisible the mayor's opening meeting statement adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building one Coler Lane Basking Ridge on the township website and email to the Bernardsville news whiy 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 Clos session will include that the matters discussed at such closed session will be disclosed to the public when such matters are finally determined and when there is no further reason to prohibit the public from disclosure of the information relating to such matters the meeting rules adopted by the township committee no new business will be introduced after 10:30 p.m. public comment will be accepted at all meetings speakers will be limited to 5 minutes each all meetings will adjourn no later than 11:30 p.m. Christie roll call please Mr Balman here miss Duarte McCarthy here miss Fields here Mary here and Mr MCM will be joining us later by phone thank you executive session resolution 20241 186 authorizing an executive session meeting of the burnard Township committee may I have a motion to temporarily adjourn the to Executive session so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes mrte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried and I might note that e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e mayor I would like to amend the agenda at as item I the resolution 2024-25 authorizing the settlement agreement entered into effective date March 26 2024 by and among the plain if revx Contracting Corp Reva and the defendant the township of Bernard's Township second uh those in favor I I I is that a roll call okay now we're moving on to presentations resolution 2024-25 recognition of national agricultural month so do we have a representative from there was supposed to be some folks from agriculture they were invited yes well no count no one sees okay so we'll just speak very briefly about agriculture month um so we have a resolution uh that we are very happy to present uh that you know the month of March is National agricultural month and there have been um there's a lot of really great work that's done uh by our committee uh as well as our Farmers here within our community so what I'd like to do is I'd like to ask those of us on the day to speak about any comments that they'd like to make about agricultural month please so I am newly appointed as the liaison to the agricultural advisory committee and we often talk about Bernard's Township as a farming Community however there are many of us that can't begin to describe the number of farms we have the opportunities that are in our community so this uh group and I'll talk later during comments has been really active to try to promote more of our farming industry um it's a really important component of how we describe our community and just one notable aspect English farm was started before the Revolutionary War um and is still an active Farm under Carol English it's a vibrant part of our community and this is an important opportunity for us to partner with the county and I'll share more about that later but I'm really happy to see us pass this resolution and to continue to uh to continue that work and lastly it's too bad the committee isn't here because they've done great work uh Tyler Seville is the outgoing chair we have an incoming chair Farmer Joe cro and other members of the committee are really uh just continuing to look for opportunities to amplify that part of our town so thank you mayor thank you anyone else I just want want to uh thank the agricultural advisory committee it's amazing the work that they do and we all know and I've always said it every year how they have done the farming um uh map that makes a difference in our community so everyone knows where the farms are in town and uh I appreciate them because I go to them in purchase because where I live unfortunately I can't really have a garden or I can't have um it's so nice so many people in our town are fortunate enough to grow their own um but I have rocks where I live because I live on a mountain they blasted it so um I was raised with um with you know farming and produce and I I really missed that but anyway I just want to say I I so appreciate all that The Advisory Board does and they really make a difference and working with our Farmers um I know that the farmers really enjoy working with us and US letting the community know what they do and making a difference so thank you car yeah you know while it may seem out of place to to certain residents of Bernard's Township that you know there are farms among us having been on the planning board and having had the opportunity to go through the 10-year revision of our master plan uh when you consider our approach to land use in its whole in Bernard's Township it becomes very clear how important integral and precious our farming resources are they really are uh a component of what makes Bernard such a special place to live um and they were here first so uh it just you know we continue to do what we can to encourage people to engage with our farming Community to take to our Farms as as some in some cases active Recreation passive Recreation but also you know these are places that can provide us with food and Staples um but also um understanding and history so uh I commend the work of the Agricultural advisory committee uh I Echo the sentiments of committee woman um dardi McCarthy and um go farmers and if I can just add um as a girl from Indiana uh I grew up across the street from a cornfield and behind me was a horse field so um going to Purdue a lot of my friends were in the school of Agriculture so one can say that I feel very at home um related to uh agricultural month just a couple facts that I want to make sure that people are aware of um about this resolution in case you did not know there's over 50 Farm assessed assessed Lots with over 1,90 acres in Bernard's Township that um you know I think we need to stop and think why do we have these amazing Farms some of them are producted and it's because of those leadership that came before us that thought about this decades ago to help make sure that these were preserved and not overdeveloped and are things that we know and cherish today so I really you know I recognize previous leadership of of those years before us and thank them for for doing that um the other thing and I'm not going to take uh committee woman dorte McCarthy's thunder cuz she will speak about this in comments but I will also always remember um Friday uh because ingred the cow stepped on my toe so I had a visceral reaction luckily it's not broken um but I will let her speak to about that experience and again thanks to her that we got to experience that but I have a personal connection now to agriculture day that I will never forget so with that may I ask for a motion please so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes missar McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you we will get this to them next please resolution 20241 8 Commendation on the occasion of your retirement Lucy foron Health Department would anyone like to make any comments sure want who wants to go first well I didn't write anything so Lucy um congratulations on your retirement so whatever I speak comes from the heart so you have been a very unique and special part of Bernard's Township and what I mean by that is most people who have a job and work at it just like their job but you loved it and cared about it and it showed every day and the team that you worked with had so much respect for you because you can see it and the way they spoke and uh the emotions on both sides of care and love for you and I'll never forget calling you during covid and you were burnt out but you just kept going and it was amazing the strength that you provided for our town to keep us healthy and to keep us safe just want to say thank you so much for all your years of service thanks for loving to be loving being here and working here and you are just a special special person and you are really going to be missed and not only by us but by your team who thinks the world of you and always tout you and they'll tout you from years and years and no one will be able to replace you so thank you but thank you especially for keeping us all the love and care that you gave us during Co and I know it was difficult and it was so taxing on you but you just kept plugging along and I just again want to thank you thank you on behalf of myself the residents the township for just really doing an amazing job during covid thank you Lucy uh you know I I didn't get to work with you as long as some of my colleagues here and I have to say when we first met I felt like I was walking through a gallery because everyone that you pointed to or spoke about as Janice said there was so much pride in the work um what you've created is such a wonderful Legacy you redefined what the health department was going to be for our community and other communities you're a leader across the state U you are clearly someone that is U someone who is exceptional and I was running out of words to describe what it's like to work somewhere more than 40 years I and that is really an extraordinary um achievement and I am uh somewhat jealous that you'll be moving over to Paris for a month or so for completing uh this work but I am so so pleased to have met you U so proud of what you've left for this community the impact that you've had it's really extraordinary so much love to you um and I just wish you all the best in this next step in your journey anyone else Lucy thank you for your stewardship at the health department for the essential work that you that that you you do I also haven't didn't really have a chance to work with you relatively speaking over the duration of your career as a newcomer to Township committee um but I like uh uh Anna when I was uh introduced to the health department was just a struck by the commitment of the team your team um the bread of issues that they address you know things that I wasn't necessarily aware were health issues in Bernards um and am now very much aware and and and keyed in on um I think it's a testament that we provide services beyond our borders um because it's an excellent organization that provides outstanding service so thank you for your your time and your attention and your care and if I can just share um some of you may know um that I serve on the board of health and it was actually my first foray into serving our community um and I'll never forget I was wearing my daughter who was eight months at the time in a front pack the Baby Bjorn and I met Lucy at National Night Out and she found out I was a pharmacist and we just instantly connected and um it's just been amazing to learn from you um your passion for patients for residents for your staff that you've developed over the years um it's amazing you not only take care of Bernard's Township but the many contracted towns uh that also demand you and your staff's time um you don't just do Health stuff besides being important things like you know where's safe to eat from a restaurant perspective or where is safe to swim in the swimming pools but you even made septic tanks interesting I mean the the stuff that you were able to do is just you know you run the gamut with also Animal Control it just it's amazing so for someone to just meet you recently they would never know that you have worked in this area for 41 years you have the passion and drive of someone maybe five 10 years in so your drive is amazing and we have the very difficult task of trying to find your replacement and I just want you to know that no one will ever replace you your position will be replaced but no one will ever replace you Lucy so you're very don't make me cry very true um you will be sorely missed and please keep in touch so so with that may I have a motion so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes mrte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor Acy yes motion carried thank [Music] you [Applause] down thank you I just feel compelled after 41 years to say thank you thank you for the opportunity to serve burner's Township and the neighboring communities and thank you for allowing me to become the best at what I do it was because of the different township committees here different sets of Mayors different Boards of Health different township administrators that allowed me to become the professional that I became but I also had the opportunity to raise my children here and live in town for 40 years um thank you from the bottom of my heart everything I did was it was all about love love of community family and the work and the passion that I have for my work and I really appreciate this and you made me cry first time thank you and good night thank [Music] [Applause] [Music] you the next presentation please resolution 2024-25 years of service as Schoolboard liaison to the board of the Bernards Township library now I understand that there is someone here to receive this on behal yes so with that being the case perhaps we can speak a little bit about what is in the resolution and then we can ask those of on the days to make any additional comments so whereas Mary J MCN was appointed as the school board liaison to the Board of Trustees of the Bernards Township Library from January 1 1987 through March 31st 2024 for a total of 37 years whereas Dr MCN served as Secretary of the board from January 1 1995 to December 31st 2023 whereas Mary J MCN has demonstrated at steadfast dedication exemplary service consument leadership as a valued member of the Board of Trustees of the Bernards Township Library whereas Mary J MCN has shown an exceptional commitment to the coordination and collab collaboration between the Bernards Township library and the Bernards Township School District so with this resolution is acknowledging is her 37 years of service as the school board leaon to the board of the Bernards Township Library would anyone like to make any comments just really quickly I we talk about how important volunteerism is and to go forward and to continue to serve in the community after a long day of work and to do it for so many years passionately um is is really exceptional so I was really pleased with this resolution and uh recognizing that the vibrant library that we have is is really part of the commitment from the board and from others like Mary Jane so this is wonderful and congratulations thank you anyone else I would also um I'm fortunate enough to have worked with uh with her for a couple of years so I just want to say uh it's amazing working with her but then knowing the history of how much she has done for the library because everything she has done has been in the best interest of the library making sure that we did everything the right way or was supportive of us looking for a new director and then when a new director came she was always there to help us and guide us and also with our new chairs of the of the board so it's just she just was has been such an asset to us and it's really going to miss because that historical knowledge is really going to be missed I don't think there's anyone who's probably ever served on a board that many years and volunteered their time and gave it's just amazing to me but she's she really is a well-respected amazing woman who really gave her time and energy to life library and for her really was who she is because she is a librarian at the school so she not only lives it she volunteers it so we just want to say thank you so much for your service I really appreciate it thank you anyone else yeah and the the the library is so many different things to so many different residents over time as someone who's lived in town over 20 years and with a recent high school graduate and a current high school student um you know all the away from when they were young and it was Story Time To The Quiet study space to the resources that are available and to myself as a professional recently learning that there are notaries at the library if you need a document notorized stop by um and it's the commitment of professionals um like Mary Jane that has created a resource for Bernard's Township that like I said can be so many things to so many people and is just a an outstanding foundational element of our Our Town um so thank you for those years of service and if I were just were to add I'll just say I'm sorry Andrew would you like to speak yes uh Mary Jane and I are not related but I just wanted to take my like with Lucy for her many years of extraordinary service I had the opportunity to serve with her on the library board and uh she is just fantastic thank you again thank you I don't know that I can add anything beyond what's already been said except for the significant 37 years of service not only Board of Trustees but also the liaison to the school board so it's just you know double duty um tremendous we are such a blessed Community to have individuals like her uh serving us so selfishly for so many years so again tremendous thank you so with that may I have a motion so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you so no can I interrupt so Emily uh are our uh board chair was supposed to uh president was supposed to come tonight to speak on behalf of Mary Jane um I don't know if was somebody else maybe here um with all due respect kiy would you mind saying a couple words you worked with her for many years and I think she deserves that someone who really worked with her and knows knew her well to say a couple of words you she was okay good thank you Pichi uh Sycamore Court I was on the library bar for 12 years and served six years as chair Mary Jane was a rock to their board she just knew everything knew the history I think she has been on the screening committees for four directors if you can believe that I served for one and with her on one search and the questions that she asked only librarian with years of experience CU ask those questions and glean the information from the from the candidate we couldn't do that we would ask the standard questions but she could ask questions in a different way to get information that would help us so she was a roack to me during the 12 years and the six years that I served on the board and I was you know saddened to hear that she was you know leaving the board after uh 37 years so Mary Jane I wish you well and you certainly will be missed by the library board thank you thank you thank you mayor and not to be left out our last presentation for the evening resolution 2024-25 recognizing Devon clot as a state semi-finalist in the Lewis Bay second future Municipal leaders scholarship 2024 competition so some folks may have heard me over the last few Township committee meetings announcing about the Lewis Bay second future Municipal leader scholarship competition this was something that was brought to my attention and I said Bernard should do this we should have a representative to compete in a state competition and luckily with tremendous support um we were able to amass a wonderful committee which that committee um that ultimately reviewed the submissions was comprised of our municipal clerk Christie we also had representing the Board of Education Keith mulliner and uh Gary Bowman who is also on the township committee he is the liaison to the board of education so you can see the those relationships um we had never done this before and so working with Mr mol Ander while we were able to work with Mr marcarian to try to make awareness especially of Ridge students about this opportunity yet all all Juniors and seniors of high school um in Bernard's Township if they went to private or public were eligible to participate so um we were very excited uh that we received submissions um many submissions actually um and such we wanted to maintain complete anonymity so none of the committee knew who any of the um submissions were from um in fact I perhaps only know the one that was awarded um because he was unblinded to us um so with that um again we kept everything blinded and um the group had a very difficult decision um based on those uh you know submissions uh what we were excited to do is uh we selected our choice which uh Devin clot was the awarde um so he is officially the state semi finalist representing Bernard's Township his submission which he needed to write an essay about what your local government does best that is submitted to the state competition uh it is due April the 1st so we are not publishing his work before that we don't want anyone to see any of his fine work um and we are going to wait for the state competition so the New Jersey League of municipalities this is their contest and we are going to wait that deadline is like May 3rd so it's on my list to follow up to find out what's going on so um we are hopeful that he will be one of three $1,000 scholarships but um I'm convinced we have amazing students here in Bernard's Township and just beyond excited that you know with all of the challenges and stresses that especially our high school student students have he made the time and did a wonderful job in writing a really wonderful essay so I want to ask uh if anyone on the DAR would like to make any comments sure um you know first I'd like to thank all of the candidates that submitted uh essays in response to the invitation um it was a pleasure to read them all uh but uh Devon you made the choice easy um our decision was unanimous um I I it's we have to contain our comments because we can't be spoilers with regard to what you wrote since we're not revealing the content of your essay uh but but it it was thoughtful meaningful and I want to say it moved uh members of the committee so um it's a welld deserved um award that you get from Bernard's Township uh you should be proud of the work that you did the effort that you put into it um and all the best at the states um and thank you for your contribution to Bernards because your words will be words that people read when this is done um and uh thanks for participating good job and Devon just really quickly I think all of us on the days have had students go through high school and you know through Ridge and to that extent we know how difficult it is to manage all of the things in your curriculum and then to take on something like this and do it well uh so congratulations on that differently love that you're interested in local government um which as this essay provided is an opportunity to explore Lo local government and to build awareness around it so perhaps we're looking at a future Township committee uh candidate down the road uh but that being said well done and look forward to reading your essay when we finally can so congratulations I would also like to say congratulations and I'm looking forward to reading what you wrote and hopefully uh while you were doing it you learned a lot about what local government does uh it's a lot and we enjoy every minute it but congratulations and proud of you and proud of you being part of our community thank you if I may mayor just like to congratulate dein and all the people who participated in this and also you mayor and the me of the Review Committee for your leadership on bringing this opportunity forward thank you thank you my final comments are just gratitude for Keith mulliner for your partnership um from the Board of Education perspective and helping us and putting us in touch with Mr marcarian and being able to present to students at Ridge High School um as well as communicating that and then also to the committee um for your time and uh taking the time to review and and then to make this ultimate selection um it wouldn't be possible without everyone and again thanks to our great admin Administration for supporting these ideas of like hey this is something great we should do this so thank you for that opportunity it's our first time doing it and um you know we'll F keep fingers crossed for Devon and we'll be rooting for you um and then you know hopefully then you know you're a junior it happens for juniors and seniors we'll try and make sure we do it again next year anyway with that may I have a motion so move second Christy roll call Mr Mr Bowman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes Mary yes motion carried thank you and so now we'd like to ask Devon to come up and we have this resolution to present to you if you'd like to come up for photos and then perhaps maybe your family as well excellent job can stand in yeah [Applause] Christie do we have any public work session needed none this evening mayor any reports none correspondence none this evening okay if not that then this brings us to public comment public comment at a Township committee meeting comments are welcome during the public comment period during the meeting on any agenda item or other matter over which the township committee has jurisdiction however if an ordinance is listed for its own public hearing on the agenda please hold your comments for that particular public public hearing the public comment portion of the agenda is not structured as a question and answer session but offers an opportunity to share your thoughts with the township committee the committee may or may not address these comments during the meeting however all comments are considered to address this 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 five minutes the clerk will keep time please promptly yield the floor when 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 and while I'm waiting for people to come up anyone that was a presentor received an award is welcome to leave most do I don't want to feel like you have to stay evening tiin Riverside Drive um I thought I saw something in the paper or somewhere it you know with the new police officers that we're at a full compliment so I'd like to know if our to was still at 38 men and women um including the chief of police or have we increased it with the last hire um only other um thing I'd like to mention is when we go to this um budget presentation I need you to correct your slide number 20 out of uh page 154 number 20 where you have your example ass value and with the tax rate for $785 300 $785,000 and it's wrong thank you very much thank you good evening mayor assay and members of the township committee my name is Lily Wong I live on Liberty Corner Road in Far Hills New Jersey which is in Bernard's Township um I am here to uh um in light of the discussion the preliminary discussion about the budget I'm here to discuss and um ask for your consideration of funding for fixing of cracks for the pickle ball Courts at Pleasant Valley Park as well as consideration of additional funding for uh nighttime lighting and possibly in the long-term additional pickle ball courts um a few weeks ago about 10 m members of the community that's a small portion of the much larger pickle ball Community uh in Bernard's Township went to the uh Parks reck and Pathways committee uh to request uh make this make similar requests that committee man Bowman was present and his recommendation was for us to come to Township committee who has the authority and the funding uh to make such a large um expenditure and uh we recognize that the number is large um subsequently I've done some research on what uh other uh communities have done to fund uh pickleball courts and so on the federal level there's a land and water conservation fund American Rescue act funding that's available on the state level there's open space land and uh land acquisition development funds there are private funds from the ARP and even uh NBC has a local impact Grant that's available and also at the county level um there's funding as well as uh even as recent as 2022 uh Somerset County has given uh Bernardsville you know our neighbor next door $255,000 for pickle ball courts specifically so uh I would I'm sure you know that pickle ball uh provides a great opportunity for members and residents to uh be active be healthy live longer lives and connect with each other and as a relatively new resident of Bernard's Township that is where I have found community and Better Health through pickle ball and I hope that Township committee would consider um more investment in the community as well as the infrastructure for the pickle ball lovers and I recognize the constraints uh budgetary dis constraints that our local government has and I would encourage you to look for the funding that is available out there to minimize the impact um tax a the taxation on our residents so um thank you for your consideration and congratulations to Lucy who's not here I've had the chance to work with her Municipal Alliance and her history and the breath and her passion is evident have a thank you thank you anyone else if not I will close public comment any other comments okay then I'm going to close public comment thank you we are now at staff reports Township committee comments and board leaz on reports Pat would you like to start please sure mayor uh with respect to Todd's question we are um staffed at the temporary 39th and we will be uh after the budget is adopted we will be doing an ordinance with the police department as is mandated to change the structure if approved to go to 40 so other than that I have nothing else may Christy none this evening thank you mayor great Mr Bardo none this evening mayor great committee woman D McCarthy thank you mayor couple of updates the golf advisory committee which I serve on we are currently trending very positively at 783 members which is only 80 short of last year's total by year end so we see an increase potentially of about 70 new members by year end uh which is the year-over-year increase since 2021 more importantly is that we're set for opening day on April 1st uh there's a staff lunch in tomorrow and encouraging everyone to consider joining this is a great resource in our community available to Residents and just if you haven't gone U take a walk over there and the staff is great and we really encourage people to consider it thank you thank you um on the municipal Alliance um also having served on that just this year again our thanks to Lucy for all her leadership the Twilight challenge which is an important fundraiser is uh happening June 2nd you can already sign up for that or consider being a sponsor and also this April 3rd at our library there is in-person training on suicide prevention uh focusing on questioning persuading and referring individuals who may have have uh be thinking about taking their lives and then as the mayor alluded we had a really great event uh this past Friday our agricultural advisory committee um has a partner from the county um Kate katzer and we had talked about doing something which is on on March 22nd agricultural day here in the county and Bernards was selected to be the host of the only in-person event that the county offered which was to have three Farmers present so we had our own farmer Carol English we had the Dairy Farmer Matt puskus and also a Jimmy Amba of Amba Farms who's a vegetable and Beetle beef cattle farmer and they went to two of our local schools to Liberty Corner and to Oak Street the kids had an opportunity for Hands-On learning about the science of farming and the importance of learning where food comes from and most importantly they got to meet a dairy cow named ingred and it's great to see that kids can get as excited about a trailer pulling up with a cow as they do about a TW Taylor Swift concert these kids were screaming when the cow pulled up and uh most importantly uh you know the mayor was there we had commissioner Paul Drake so it was a wonderful way to have a partnership with the county to amplify the importance of our farming Community uh the schools were delighted they're hopeful to again have the program next year and it was just a real win for our local farmers so so um really happy that we were able to do that for the community so thank you mayor thank you um also thanks thank you Keith and educational materials were made available for agricultural month and um I was able as the Lea on to the school board uh to uh get those materials Keith mullinar helped me to get those materials pointed in the right direction um through um Educators in the district and I believe that was a fifth grade program um and I think those materials wound up in the classroom and so um it was a great coming together of our our our various committees um to help enrich the lives of students with uh some agriculture month materials uh the weather is starting to warm up we we got to taste a couple of warm days last week uh so I've got some updates for uh Recreations parks and Pathways so buckle in uh first with regard to the pickle ball courts um we have repairs um provided for budgeted and they are going to be underway um RPP reports that we need temperatures that are consistent with lows above 50° we're not there yet we will likely have it at the end of April early May that's what we're forecasting um and at that time the current budget provides for us to do repairs this spring to the pickle ball courts uh and to tennis facilities um and that'll be crack in surface remediation um so for the pool um it's important to remember if you're a member of the pool that early membership discount deadlines are approaching they end on March 31st just a few days away if you're an existing member you kind of have until that period of time if you're a new member or some you know someone who's considering becoming a member of Pleasant Valley pool and it is encouraged it is an absolutely fabulous resource here in town um you should probably consider an application by March 27th in order to get it processed by the early deadline for a discount um 4:30 p.m. on March 28th would be the last time for a walk-in registration the Pleasant Valley pool is being resurfaced it is anticipated it will be completed and open open for opening day um and so we are looking at having not just the outstanding resource of Pleasant Valley pool but Pleasant Valley pool resurface which will make it just absolutely over the top uh recreation parks Pathways hiring summer employees there are still summer educational employment opportunities available if you know anybody encourage somebody ask to reach out to um the department and and apply um new plate ground equipment ages 2 to 5 is now open and in service at Souther Park um the RPP is gearing up for Spring sport season grth athletic fields will be open April 1st weather permitting um registration is open for youth summer camps including theater chess science and themed workshops and registration is also open for various adult programs including Fitness Yoga basketball bedminton tennis pickle ball and men's softball so uh it's it is a very active time for recreation parks and Pathways encourage everyone to check out their website follow along on social media take advantage of discounts early deadline sign up and let's look forward to a great summer that's it thank you Andrew do you have any comments uh none this evening mayor thank you thank you thank you um sometimes they forget and I and and so I just want to start out before I give my reports is I I do want to thank you Keith mullinar from the board of education so many times you've come to support a student or a team and you've been here I can't even count how many times you've been in the aordance and been supportive of the students and the team so I really want to recognize you and thank you you are one of the only Board of Ed members who come to so many and been so supportive and I think it's so important that we recognize you and I I I just want to thank you so many times times you've come in and left and I haven't been able to say thank you for coming and supporting um the children and uh our sports teams uh the school sports team so thank you so much for that so first I want to say Farmstead always has programs they have art shows uh plays so please just check out the farmsteads website um and give you an update list of what's going on uh they will be having another quarterly meeting which I do plan on attending um to get updated on what's going on at Farmstead budget wise uh program so I will be attending that uh the board meeting uh the quarterly board meeting coming up in April also the library is always busy uh with so many programs which you can check out on their website but um here is the update as far as the library is concerned uh their construction Grant pro project is nearly complete they're currently currently waiting for delivery and installation of the new doors for both entrances which should arrive in the next couple of weeks the library is working on a new meet your neighbor Pro program where they will invite different township staff members to give short question and answer presentations and then give attendees times to socialize meet new people and learn more about the library this is an effort to engage new community members who may not currently be Library board Library users they will also be have more they will be they have done a lot more Outreach with the VA the veterans hospital and the library staff member is now visiting the VA uh food pantry and people are signing up for library cards there at the uh VA so they want to let you know they've done Outreach to the more Outreach to the VA they also will be having a fundraiser te which will be run by the friends of the library on April 6 so please uh also check that out online the Liberty Corner uh fire department uh by popular demand will be having their comedy night on April 6th at doors open at 6:00 pm. show starts after 7 till 10:30 p.m. um this is a fundraiser it helps the liberity Corner Fire Company uh the donation is $60 uh for a ticket and you can purchase that online uh like I said they'll have some live music and wonder they always have wonderful comedy shows um there so if you can go and support them we'd really appreciate it and also um yes uh Todd we are at 39 now we will be at 40 if the budget passed so I just wanted to mention that also Lily I wanted to recognize you and say that we hear you about the pickle ball at the present time it's not a priority but that doesn't mean that we're not going to look into it and see if there's grants and opportunities for us so thank you so much for for highlighting that uh appreciate that so just know that we hear you and we'll be looking into it but right now it's we have other priorities we need to deal with financially but we we will uh look into it so I just I personally wanted to say that and also I wanted to say um I hope everyone had a wonderful porum I know that I did and um also be celebrating Easter so happy Easter to everyone enjoy the holiday thank you mayor thank you so um I have a lot to announce um there were some amazing things that actually came through today so I get the privilege of announcing them um the staff has been tremendously busy and um very grateful for all of these wonderful things that I get the privilege to get to announce so today the new Jersey healthc Care Quality Institute announced the mayor's Wellness campaign healthy Town winners for 2023 these cities and towns go above and beyond to improve health and wellness in their communities through Innovative programs in areas such as exercise healthy eating and mental health education and awareness the mayor's Wellness campaign is a program of the quality Institute in partnership with the New Jersey state League of municipalities in addition to 17 healthy Town winners another 19 towns were designated as 2023 healthy towns to watch and 12 were designated as 2023 healthy towns up and coming so perhaps if you may remember most don't my comments at uh when I was swearing in um I talked a little bit about this um based on all the tremendous work that is done by multiple departments within this Town particularly the health department the library parks and wreck those are the ones just off the top of my head due to all of their tremendous efforts Bernard's Township was noted as the 20203 healthy town upand cominging we were a firsttime applicant and so it's based on our variety programs so our Recreation Department library system and Health Department that drives uh that results in Diverse Health and Wellness offerings for our residents so this recognition is thanks to all the wonderful work that was done last year and the committee met last week and we're going to be doing more of the same looking at the rubric to say what can we do better to get to the next rung so this is something that hopefully this reaffirms to everyone that everyone's health and wellness is a concern for us in Bernard's Township and so we receive state recognition from for that and so we're very grateful so you'll be continuing to look for more uh programs that will help us then to achieve the next level so very excited about that so then um I'm going to switch to two updates for Fabrica Bernards so you may know that tomorrow we in honor of women's history month we have the women's fulfillment event here at 7 p.m. now we did ask for RSVPs but it's never too late you can come on in we have seven amazing panelists that represent different stages of Life employment statuses um motherhood roles but the one thing they all have in common is they selfishly serve our community so please come and get inspired and motivated because they're going to share their personal Journeys with us and talk about personal growth and challenges that they've had in pursuing their fulfillment so please come to that it will be recorded and posted for those that cannot make it in person the other new announcement that hasn't been made just yet until now is we are very excited um as a part of Fabrica Bernards we think about our small business owners so thanks to working with our County we have a program during Small Business Week April 29th at 700 p.m. we are going to have a speaker from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and so we're going to be also um working with the brba and so there will be announcements and and promotions related to that so please encourage anyone that you know who lives in our town who has a small business this speaker has really useful information like grants that are available and I was told that they're not too hard to apply for so please please encourage anyone to come to that event on April the 29th there will be Flyers will be coming out with that we don't want people to forget April 6th is coming that's our Green Yard Sale that information about that program is on our website we need you to register if you're going to participate please register online by April the 3 3 p.m. ni so um we're really excited this is the first time we're doing it in the spring so and then after you're done with this you can also go on the website and you can see that guess what St Marks is doing a rumage sale their collection starts the very next day so anything that you don't sell that you don't want to drag back into your house you can just generously drop it off to St Marks or the Atlantic visiting nurses because their rumage sale will be also taking Collections and those dates and times are on the website so again Christie thank you to you and your staff for helping to promote this and making people aware we're looking to see that we have more people than we did in the in the fall but we will do it in the fall something else new that hasn't been announced yet is we are very honored to be able to have a dedication ceremony for Captain Ford Shaw way so that is the road that was recently paved between the municipal complex and Ridge High School so many of you may know that Captain Ford Shaw is an amazing hero who we unfortunately lost but thanks to working with his lovely family we have a dedication ceremony that is planned for uh April 12th at 300 p.m. and I really have to thank Mr Monaco the Department of Public Works Parks and Recreation um these groups have come together and it will be something you do not want to miss so we would really love to have as many news media out to come and help cover this um because we want to ensure that no one ever forgets Captain for Shaw and we won't by having a road officially in our community in his honor so and obviously it was through the partnership with the Board of Education that this was possible so we're very excited about that one other thing that you may not know about but you will see more information about thanks to assemblywoman masassa cudas we have been offered an MVC mile mobile unit motor vehicle if any of you have not gotten your um what is it real ID yes May 10th 10 to 2 so that is we don't control that when that's announced so just keep looking when we see it we will try to use our social channels but please keep in mind that there will be limited spaces and they will go fast so um as soon as we know when this comes up you can check the MVC website yourself and look to see about a month out is when they do that but if you were thinking I asked christe for us to share this because I know when my um ID was about to expire I was like okay I need to book this ahead of time so note to self try to get in the May the 10th it's going to be right here so easy so very excited about that okay so a couple other important updates not that anything else wasn't important but um I need to talk to you about safety so um actually before I get to that I'm going to save any comments related to the budget for that section of the meeting but I want to talk to you about um certain safety topics this morning I am very pleased to announce that we kicked off the New Jersey Conference of Mayor auto theft task force this morning so Chief Burger joined me and we were joined by Mayors throughout the state and our purpose just very simply is to address the rampant theft of Autos that can include home invasions for key fobs we want to protect the lives of those accused theft participants and the vehicle slh homeowner so we are working with everyone in the state to try to address the core issue and we want to help to protect all of our residents so this is something that we just kicked it off this morning there will be more information to come on that but I'm very excited uh for us to work um this is as we had said this is not political Public Safety should not be political so that is one thing that we are doing the Somerset Hills Public Safety Committee we are convening again on Thursday so um the other towns are proceeding with similar ordinances that we have so just note right that Bernard's Township we currently have a resident protection ordinance that is in effect the other five towns of Sumer at Hills are in the process of bringing those online as well and we will be communicating that as a group to try to raise significant awareness of that so excited and any other updates I have from that meeting I'll share at the next TC meeting um separately you may have seen we've done some other safety topics with Chief burger and Sergeant Bal deseri so those have been deployed um so in general from a safety perspective you understand I hope that you can see safety remains our highest concern and we are Safe Community but we will continue to do everything we can to mobilize to protect all of our Bernards residents the last topic that I have is overdevelopment driven by affordable housing so it's important we've promised um as much trans transparency transparency thank you transparency on this topic so you may or may not know but the governor signed the affordable housing bill on March the 20th what does that mean these were the bills A4 which is the assembly bill and s50 the Senate bill which overhauls the Fair Housing Act including the elimination of COA or the Council on affordable housing there still were many issues with this bill like the methodology of determining the housing needs the issues of vacant land environmental issues among others now with the signing of these bills the Department of Community Affairs will now begin the process of calculating the state and Regional affordable housing need as well as Municipal obligations the law states that the DCA must complete these calculations within 7 months of the Bill's signing which that deadline is October 20th 2024 so you understand that we as the town need to understand what those calculations need to look like this year municipalities May accept the dca's calculation of the fair share obligation or adopt their own using the methodology through a binding resolution before January 31st 2025 to help residents to understand this we are creating and we have scheduled an understanding burnard's topic May the 29th at 7 p.m. our presenters will be the planners that we've hired that have the expertise on this topic this is a factual presentation meant to help residents understand what what this law is and what it means so we won't be talking numbers or anything at that point but we will it is an educational program to understand what uh what all of this means so I'm very excited um for that to happen additionally we do have an affordable housing page on bernard.edu to the event in late May so we encourage all residents to review the information um and again we want to maintain and and have you feel that we are maintaining our transparency on this process balancing all the communication releases that potentially could be used against us so with that that is Mayor may I ask just to add just a brief rejoinder to that please um we have recently by resolution hired the firm of Kyle mcmanis as our planners to guide us with respect to our affordable housing obligations uh including Kendra Ley Kendra leely is one of the foremost experts in affordable housing in New Jersey along with her partner Beth mcmanis uh Kendra leely had been appointed by uh The Honorable Thomas Miller who oversaw all Mount Laurel obligations for ventage 13 during the last round as the special Master to advise judge Miller regarding Bernard's housing obligations uh Miss leely has agreed to now join us and uh provide us guidance and the good news is that since she was the special Master for the uh Township during the third round of affordable housing there was absolutely no learning curve uh she knows Bernard's Township and both myself and John drill the planning board attorney who have worked with Miss leily and that firm in the past are very excited and very enthused that the township committee has brought them on board so I just wanted to addend that mayor thank you so please I hope you understand that we are not waiting we are being proactive and we wanted to hire the best and so we are very confident in that and we look forward to learning more from her and we want to ensure that our residents have that opportunity to better understand so thank you and we have uh mayor MCN as well on the line for any TC comments no comment for me thank you Christen thank you so then that takes us to Fire and Rescue appointments resolution ship in Township of Bernard's volunteer Liberty Corner Fire Company Mark Fabian full member I have a motion so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you on to unfinished business please ordinance 2547 in ordinance of the township of Bernards appropriating $1 m3500 for various Capital Improvements and this is a public hearing I open the public hearing and welcome comments seeing none I will close the public hearing I have a motion I move that ordinance 2547 be adopted and advertis as required by law second roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr Dart McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you then that brings us to new business Municipal budget and golf utility budget presentation and the user user friendly budget form evening everybody I think we're having little technical issue with our monitors but I'm going to try something hopefully it works so while while we're working on that um just want to thank Mr edstein for your careful review of our presentation um you have a good eye uh I do have to defend our math though for the sake of the presentation there are a lot of decimal points that are not included in that tax rate so if you use the number 26920 13064 I promise you you'll get to that 2144 number but but thank you it's like no no luck on the monitor so um I will try my best to walk us through um the presentation if you're able to you can access the presentation through the township website it's attached to the agenda so if you go to the homepage and on the right side find the link for agendas and minutes um under under the date for tonight's um agend you'll find that presentation I bring it down oh wait I think we have is that the gift of prayer very nice I was GNA say I've got an we got it either way okay there we go all right so um tonight we have our 2024 budget prepare for introduction um as we normally do at introduction I'll uh kind of walk through this year's operating Appropriations the 2024 capital budget the estimated tax rate and levies um as well as a review of the 2024 golf utility budget um just quickly before getting started just want to thank all of my staff um all of our Township department heads uh Township administrator Township committee certainly for for all their hard work and input on uh this year's budget um despite some significant budget pressures this year um we have a budget that will fund increased Township Services um those budget Appropriations as well as the tax levy supporting the budget are in compliance with the appropriation and Levy caps the Township's use of fund balance policy and we'll um again be able to continue with our our pay as you go Capital plan uh so taking a look at budget highlights for this year uh total 2024 proposed budget comes to 46 m 25288 $84 uh the total amount to be raised by taxation in support of that budget comes to 22 m723 48 um and that gives us an anticipated Municipal Services tax rate of. 269 per $100 of assess value uh that rate is down 4.71% from last year's rate of. 283 and is attributed again to increased overall assess value um which we'll discuss in a little more detail shortly um I'll also note that based on the three-year rotating cycle we are up for State examination of the budget this year uh so following introduction tonight I'll submit all of our budget documents to the state uh for review and approval prior to our public hearing next month on the budget um I'll also note that all of the detail on the budget the full state budget form um are all attached to tonight's agenda there also AL posted to the Township's website under um the finance department page uh so anybody who is interested in reviewing that information certainly welcome to you there um so this year's budget includes some uh pretty significant investments in public safety with roughly 625,000 in new funding for our Police Department uh we'll be funding um as was discussed previously uh two additional full-time police officers uh salary and wage increases to accommodate year one of the uh recently settled PBA contract with the focus there to attract and retain our talented police force uh we'll be funding three additional police car Replacements this year accelerating our normal uh patrol car replacement program included in this budget we have Capital funding for uh 11 License Plate Reader cameras and the associated software um and we'll be continuing funding the body warn camera program again in 202 um additionally outside of Public Safety uh this budget funds a total capital budget of 6,750 and that represents an increase of $895,000 over last year's budget funded Capital program uh we have continued investment in it modernization and cyber security efforts um and that's to ensure that we remain comply with the ever increasing requirements of our uh cyber Insurance um as well as funding for additional Staffing in our DPW Fleet division to meet increased demand for ongoing maintenance of overall Township Fleet um so here on this slide we have a breakdown of the 2024 budget into the major budget categories and we compare those to the same for uh 2023 um overall you can see here that the budget appears to be down by 1.84% um however you have to keep in mind that number includes total grants through the end of uh calendar year 2023 um at this point when we're introducing the budget we only have a small portion of the grants that we'll see that we'll receive throughout the course of the year um so as we receive those budget will be amended and they'll be added to the 2024 budget um so for that reason um we do this comparison and pull out our um grants capital and reserve for uncollected taxes to arrive at a more Equitable year-over-year comparison of our actual operating costs and for for 2024 you can see that that increase uh is here at 3.67% um so that increase includes salary and wage for all of our departments all Department operating budgets our statutory budget amounts for PS and pfrs pension plans employer f f taxes our liability insurance premiums employee benefits as as well as budgets for Legal Services planning board and board of adjustment um showing this breakdown here really just to highlight the increased funding we just mentioned for Public Safety and capital um While most of the other um remaining budget categories are are remaining substantially similar to uh last year in regard to the percentage of the total budget uh Capital Improvements as you see here on the top line are increasing to to 14.59% from 12.78% of the total budget last year uh and Public Safety will be increasing to 14% from 12.87% last year um this is a breakdown of the cap laws just wanted to spend a minute discussing these so um there are two different cap laws that apply to our budget every year uh the first of those being the 1977 budget cap um or what's commonly referred to as the ration cap uh for 2024 um you can see that the allowable percentage increase for Budget items which are considered to be inside cap or 3.5% for 2024 um and that that allowable increase can change from year to year um it's dictated by an annual Cola rate um that rate is issued by the division of local government services uh and it's based on the implicit price price deflator uh for state and local governments calculated annual by the US Department of Commerce um in addition to that Cola rate the township may pass a cola ordinance increasing that cap limit by another 1% um passing the cola ordinance is considered a best practice um it's something that burnard's Township does annually uh reason being that under the budget cap law any unused cap dollars can be banked for up up to three years um and used as needed in future year budgets um so really to to illustrate what the budget cap actually means in dollars um you can see here on the left the um maximum Appropriations with in within cap based on that 3.5% rate uh is 30, 806885 um our total actual Appropriations within cap included in this budget total 30 milon 5113 252 um and that results in the budget we're introducing tonight coming in at $293,000 under that cap limit now in addition to um the 3.5% cap limit um the unused cap dollars that I mentioned that are banked from prior years um come in at $865,000 so in total um we are just under $1.2 million under the appropriation cap with this introduced budget uh so the second cap law that applies is the tax levy cap or the 2% cap um this cap dictates the uh maximum increase to the municipal Services tax levy over the prior year so on the right hand side here um you can see that the maximum allowable Levy under the 2% cap would be 23,5 44,5 46 uh and here's our actual proposed Municipal Services tax levy based on this budget at 22 725,000 under the levy cap um again similar to the appropriation cap we have Bank dollars that could be used uh to increase that that tax levy further uh and that that comes to um a total of 100 sorry 1.8 million under the maximum allowable tax levy for uh this budget um did want to spend a minute taking a look at total assess values um so um are again seeing significant increases in assessments this year uh with a total assess value now reaching 8 b441 m 84,00 um this represents an overall increase of 8.56% over last year um just as a reminder as we all know um burnner Township is a reassessment district um and that means that all properties in town are assessed annually based on the prior years real estate market of course that means that years when the real estate market is performing well we see our assessments increase accordingly um and based on last year's Market activity this increase is expected um in fact there was an article in nj.com published just last week uh that ranked basky Ridge as the fifth hottest real estate market in the country um so certainly that's exactly what's driving this this increase that we see here in assess values um now in years where assessments increase rapidly like this um it does CA concern for homeowners um based on the perception that uh assess assess values correlate directly to um property taxes um but it's important to remember and and we always want to point out that um assessments alone don't cause the tax bill to increase or decrease um assessment is entirely Revenue neutral um and really what that means is that assessed value of a property only determines that property's share of the total tax burden um that tax burden is dictated by the annual budgets of the township County and the school system and the tax levy for each so really the takeaway there is that uh property assessment is really just one piece of all of the three factors that are needed to determine the actual impact to the tax bill and we'll take a look at at what that looks like so um in this example we're we're using just the municipal portion um of the tax levy as the example um so in order to come up with that Levy you need the the township budget um that budget determines the tax levy or the amount to be raised by taxation um and that's the total budget Appropriations that we have in that budget less any anticipated revenues uh leaving us with the amount that has to be raised by property taxes to balance the budget um so that amount which is based on the proposed Township budget for 2024 is uh as you can see there 22 m725 3 48 uh we divide that by total assessed value multiply it by 100 and that gives us our tax rate of 269 um that tax rate is then the amount that gets charged uh for property taxes per $100 of assess value um knowing what the tax rate is then the last step is to apply it to the assess value for uh an individual property so um in this example we're using the aage assessed residential home value for 2024 in burners Township which is [Music] $785,000 tax rate number that I gave you you come up with that 2114 um and here we're looking at that same calculation of the tax rate and the municipal tax bill um for the average residential assessment we're comparing that to uh 2023 um and you can see that that gives us a um actual tax bill increase for municipal Services of 2749 for 2024 or $318 per quarter um looking back then to 2005 um and we have an increase of $498 52 over 19 years or an average increase of 1.6% to the municipal tax bill for the average assessed home during that time period um now with that said um it's important to point out that you know these numbers are all based on on the average assessment and of course not all residential assessments will see the same change in value um because assessments for each property are determined by actual real estate activity um we'll see the change in assessed value fluctuate um so you know we'll see a higher or or lower value um for depending on the neighborhood depending on uh the type of home size of home um improvements to the property um and again that's all based on actual sales that occur during the prior year moving on to our capital budget um here is a breakdown of total capital budget slated for each department in 2024 um total of capital projects funded by the budget is increasing um as we mentioned roughly $895,000 over 2023 um this will keep us on track with our long-term capital plan uh to fund critical infrastructure maintenance and improvements um as is typically the case um as you see on that part pie chart on the right um the capital budget focuses on maintenance and existing equipment replacement um which is 5% being for what we would consider new items or new equipment um and again all the detail on the capital budget specific projects can all be viewed um on the agenda and posted to the Township's website uh lastly we are also introducing the golf utility budget for 2024 tonight um as I always mentioned the golf utility is operated as a self liquidating utility and that means that its operating costs are fully covered by user revenue and not by taxation um and as you can see here a total golf utility budget will total 53142 for 2024 uh so we have our our public hearing on the budget scheduled for Tuesday April 23rd at 8:00 P.M um again all budget data is available online for anyone who's interested and I'll leave my my email and phone number up on the screen here um anyone who has any specific questions on the budget you know please feel free to reach out to me happy to go over any of those with you and that's all I have on introduction tonight thank you since this is an introduction the township committee will not be making comments you can see the date um that we anticipate the public hearing on April the 23rd and that's when we will providing those comments I did want to recognize and thank though all of the department heads under your leadership Pat um in putting together a very thoughtful and responsible budget Sean thank you to you and your team for doing this putting all this together and sharing with us um this information is very difficult and we have tried over the last couple years to um make it more or understandable and so there actually happens to be two presentations that Shan did over the past two years on understanding Bernards on how taxes are created and and and developed so those are resources also on the tax assessor website there are also additional tools um I know that um there were a lot of questions when those assessments came out and and almost a panic by some folks and so the point is is that um if you have specific questions on your your tax assessment it can't be answered in a larger audience it is an individual topic and you need to have that conversation with the tax assessor's office so please note that um I am very grateful to all of our staff employees for making this available if you have any questions or concerns on this please note that we take this very seriously we know that your tax the tax dollars are very important you need to understand how they're being spent and and why and we want to make that available and Sean you are not required to do this presentation and we are very grateful that you do so thank you for making that available for all of us um so with that I'm going to ask for someone mayor I move resolution 2024 192 be approved and scheduled for a public hearing on April 23rd 2024 second I'm just going to read the title as well mayor resolution 2024-25 budget and Municipal budget notice of the township of Bernards County of Somerset for fiscal year 2024 thank you and then with that may we do roll call Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you so please note that date April 23rd the next resolution please resolution 2024 d189 emergency temporary Appropriations for operations so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes maryy yes motion carries thank you next resolution 2024-the yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes Mary AC yes motion carried thank you next resolution please resolution 2024-25 utility budget and utility budget notice of the self-liquidating golf utility of the township of Bernards County of Somerset for fiscal year 2024 mayor I moved that resolution 20241 91 be approved and scheduled for a public hearing on April 23rd 24 second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes mrj McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes Mar c yes motion carried thank you and that takes us then to um item F the consent agenda thank you the items listed within the consent agenda portion of the meeting have been referred to the township committee for reading and study are posted on the agenda on the website are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion of the township committee with no separate discussion if separate discussion is required the item may be removed from the agenda by Township Committee Action and placed on the regular agenda under new business would anyone like an item removed from the consent agenda then may I have a motion mayor I moove the consent agenda second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss Dart McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor Acy yes motion carried thank you then next ordinance 2548 accepting a repairing Zone conservation easement on property located at 286 South Maple Avenue block 1701 lot 22 from Robert J Gall Jr and Teresa Gall to the Township of Bernards and this is Introduction mayor I move that ordinance 2548 be introduced on first reading advertis as required by law and scheduled for a public hearing on April 9th 2024 second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried that brings say then to approval of minutes March 12th 2024 Open Session minutes may I have a motion so moved second all in favor I I all did we have anything else yes we have um the amendment to the agenda which would be resolution 2024-25 resolution authorizing the settlement agreement entered into effective March 26 24 by and among the plaintiff Reax corporating group and the defendant the township of Bernards again so moved we need to read it again just so we have a motion okay motion so okay second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes mrte McCarthy yes yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you then that brings us to Executive session no further session mayor thank you then that brings us to May or I move for adjournment second all in favor yes I I I good night for