I open the burnard township committee meeting for May 14 2024 please stand for the flag salute flag stat indivisible andice for all opening statement adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the buit board and municipal building one call your lane Basking Ridge on the township website and email to the Burnsville news whiy The Courier News Bridgewater tap into. net patch.com and filed with the Township Clerk on December 18 2023 any motion to go into Clos session will include those matters discussed at such closed session will be disclosed to the public when such matters are finally determined and there is no further reason to prohibit the public from disclosure of information relating to such matters the meeting rules adopted by 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 journ no later than 11:30 p.m. roll call please Mr Balman here miss DTE McCarthy here miss Fields here Mr MCN here mayor AC here next Christie do we have an executive session none this evening mayor thank you then that brings us to presentations resolution 2024-25 Commendation to Dennis Butler as recipiant of the construction official of the Year [Applause] [Music] [Applause] award so what I'd like to do is I'd like to read a little bit about this uh resolution which is a commendation um and then I'm going to ask my colleagues on the Das to make comments and then I will ask you to come up and we'll take photos so um I think it's very important that we celebrate excellence and therefore we've created a resolution to acknowledge the amazing award that you received recently so whereas um Dennis Butler a former resident of burnard's Township began his career with burnard's Township as the construction official November of 1996 and whereas on May 9th 2024 Dennis Butler was recognized in honor for his contributions in the areas of code enforcement and administration of the uniform construction code by his Association and by the Department of Community Affairs at an awards luncheon during the building safety conference of New Jersey this award is given annually and is the highest honor that can bestowed upon a code official therefore be it resolved that the township Committee of the township of Bernards we do here congratulate Dennis Butler for receiving the construction official of the Year award and we thank him for his service and dedication to Bernard's Township so I will ask my colleagues to make remarks I can start U Dennis I want to congratulate you as the mayor shared 37 years in a career is an extraordinary service to our community um some of you may or may not know that Dennis is also The Graduate of Ridge High School an exceptional class of 1977 and he was joined by my husband Michael McCarthy in that class and two other gentlemen here at the front and what is such a wonderful part of that narrative is that you stayed here in town you've seen its growth you knew when there was a movie theater here in town close you know ride your bike to the airport and all of that has changed but you've been a steward of that and you've helped us ensure that our town has grown and grown so in a way that's preserved its Heritage so to also be recognized by your peers is just fabulous um it's one thing to be recognized by your colleagues but your peers in an industry is exceptional so congratulations and congratulations and wishing you all the best as you continue your career with us I'll go next um thank you for your extraordinary service to our town Dennis is greatly appreciated your work is by no means easy as I'm sure you can testify to but it is incredibly important so uh I just wanted to extend my thanks for your many years of service and his welld deserved honor Dennis uh congratulations uh what an honor and uh you've just been a tremendous asset to burnard's Township and we're so fortunate and we thank you for your service to the community and I also have to me mention your patience which is important thank you so much sometimes the projects that we work out on Town and that you oversee are not easy and you never get frustrated and you never get hurt with anyone and you just strive for excellence and just want to thank you so much and really appreciate all that you do for Bernard's Township and thank you for staying for so long we hope that you'll be here for a very long time thank you congratulations again uh Dennis congratulations thank you for your years of service um this moment of Pride belongs to you it's your accomplishment it's your recognition by your industry and your peers but it's our pride it's our moment as well as residents of Bernard's Township uh it's not everybody that gets to say they have the best uh so so so it's a bit of a a a a a blessing for all of us as well to have someone recognized as as as a public official of the year in their area of expertise uh as a real estate developer former Builder um I can tell you firsthand that you know the construction code official in any municipality is a critical part of the process of of absolute critical function in development construction of the built environment ironment um and good ones aren't often come by and excellent ones are just extraordinary thank you so much for what you do and thanks for being here with us and lastly rolling out um thank you for humoring Us by coming tonight um when I saw the award come through you know I was excuse me I was disappointed that I couldn't be there and be with you down in Atlantic City I'm not going to lie I wasn't looking forward to the drive down there um but um I was volunteering with my kids school at Oak Street um so thank you for coming tonight and allowing us to do this for you it's important um your the role that you serve it perhaps maybe residents don't necessarily want to hear some of the things that you're going to say um but it's you help to protect us and our structures um that helps to ensure that you help keep Bernard safe so thank you for all that you have done congratulations on this tremendous recognition so with that may I ask from my colleagues for Mo second can I say couple words I'm not very very much of a public speaker but I appreciate all the the kind words that were said today and uh I just want to say that this is an award for the township yes my name's on it but Tom is my supervisor Pats our administrator Emily's here from HR and all of you it's a team effort from the top down um my staff all the staff in the township period um Christy did me a solid by getting me on first tonight so uh see it's things like that uh that you know we are all very appreciative of as employees and staff members but that just makes what I do just that much more easy and to get an award like this yes again my name is on it but we all share in that so thank you thank [Applause] you no call please Mr Balman yes Mr DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you so may we do photos thanks Janice congratulations congratulations [Music] so for those that haven't been to Township committee meetings before you'll see that after the presentations you're welcome to go so there is uh you're always welcome to stay as well but you're welcome to go there's no hard feelings so that takes us to the next presentation please resolution 2024-25 recognition of Bernard's Township municipal allines so we're very excited to um share this resolution recognizing our Bernard's Township municipal Alliance I'll just share a few bits about it um our Bernard's Township municipal alliance against substance abuse was founded in 1981 and was officially enacted in 1991 as a mayoral appointed volunteer-based Coalition of parents youth health professionals Social Service workers law enforcement School Personnel clergy and other concern leaders and whereas the burners Township municipal Alliance also encompassing the Somerset County Youth Services Commission is one of 300 across New Jersey municipalities under the offices of the state's Alliance to prevent alcoholism and drug abuse program the largest network of community-based anti-drug coalitions the mission of the Berard of the municipal Alliance is to provide consultation programs training and resources to members of the Bernard Tanta Community with the goal of preventing and reducing the use of Alcohol Tobacco and other drugs and identifying the needs of and providing services for atrisk youth and the municipal Alliance annually secures grants fundraises through the Twilight challenge 5K which is coming up and provide Innovative programs to promote education awareness leadership and positive change among youth including among others its 21 for a reason youth Summit day grab and go teen Outreach cope which is creating opportunities for positive emotions and youth and adult Mental Health First training whereas an integral component of the municipal Alliance is the ridge education action and Community Health or reach program is made up of 20 students from grades 9 through 12 which develop and Lead programs for students and parents in the burners Township School District so with that um we are it happens to be National Prevention Week a public education platform showcasing the work of communities and organizations across the country that are preventing substance AB use and promoting positive mental health which occurs May 12th to the 18th whereas and this is this is the last uh Bernard's Township is extremely proud of the more than 40 Years of programs fostering education awareness the municipal Alliance has provided to Youth and parents since its Inception and wishes to recognize and honor the work of the volunteers and reach students for their contributions to this community so I'd like to ask my colleagues on deas to make comments sure so I'll start I'm Anna Dart mcarthy for those that don't know me and I'm the liaison to the municipal Alliance and as mayor share um you know to the extent that nearly 40 years of this program has existed in Bernard's Township is is pretty exceptional personally I think many of us have either a friend or family member who've been touched with the consequence of alcohol and drug use and addiction and have also experienced the positive impact of education and compassionate care that can make a huge difference in self-care and recovery and in the past few months I've been so impressed with the work that this group has done through its programs its activities the dedication of Caitlyn cartosio and the chair detective Phil Jina and all the members of The Alliance um to really bring exceptional programming to our community the 20 students involved in the reach program that our mayor shared um these are folks who are volunteering with their peers to bring peer education around educ an education around alcohol and substance abuse which I would imagine is not easy um to be that voice and that caring hand um to your Stu your fellow students so I find that very commendable and I'm really pleased to be part of the township committee tonight honoring all of the volunteers the adults who are involved the student Representatives the reach students for the impact you've had over 40 years and what you will do to continue to support our community so congratulations I'll go next um I too would like to congratulate all the members of the municipal Alliance p present uh youth teachers uh parents Etc um the work that you do is tremendously impactful perhaps in ways sometimes that you see but in many ways that you don't see the impact that you can have on you know certain decisions that people making their lives and getting involved in certain wrong things you know the the work that you do helps to put people on the right path and and steer them in the right direction and you know especially to the uh students who are part of the reach program program you know the work you're doing is tremendously impactful um I don't feel old in my mind but I am and you know a lot of times young people don't want to hear a lecture from older people but hearing it from their peers and the positive messages that you're carrying warning about dangers of substance abuse um is tremendously important coming from you and it has a much greater impact I think on fellow young people so I wanted to extend my sincerest thanks to all the work work that you done I would like to also uh thank the municipal Alliance for all that they do one of the things is uh when we're out and about in the community there's only so much that we can do and so much that we're involved in and for us when we're meeting residents and they're asking us what we're doing to educate our young residents about uh drug and alcohol and mental health the one thing we always say to them is Municipal Alliance Municipal Alliance thank God for municipal Alliance because Municipal Alliance is what handles that part of our government government and we really appreciate all that they do it's makes such a difference and I want to really thank the heart and soul of Municipal Alliance which is Caitlyn you wear it on wear it on your sleeve how much you love Municipal Alliance how much you do in your Outreach and really reaching the children and really wanting to touch every single one of them and also Mentor them which is important Mentor them to speak to one another about what they're going through in problems and to talk about addiction and I think that that's really important and I want to thank you for that and I want to thank uh now Phil Jina Phil thank you so much you stepped up when we' really needed you to take over and chair the committee uh that was really important to all of us up here and I want to thank you for doing that and working so well with Caitlyn so thank you so much and to all the board members all the board members are from different parts of the town like we had mentioned their teachers their parents they're the police department and all come together and what's most important is the children and educating so I really want to thank the the board members for putting so much time and energy and dedication into making a difference and to make our community health healthier and educated and stronger and together we all work together to combat drug abuse and mental health and so thank you so much and thank you again to the board thank you everyone on the municipal Alliance you know Bernard's Township is a very special place to live and there's no one thing that makes it special but one thing we can look at that makes us special is the municipal Alliance as a parent of a 2023 ridg grad and a current Ridge student um I I I want to sincerely thank Municipal Alliance for being the a center of the creation of a culture where the dialogue that happens every day can include forthright communication about Alcohol Tobacco drug addiction and and and everything from in the halls of school to fostering the conversation at the dinner table accept my thanks as the thanks of a parent you've made it easier to be a parent and to raise teenage children thank you and rounding out um I've had the privilege of seeing the municipal Alliance um I was on it for a short while um and I also have been the beneficiary of having two older children so 2015 and 2018 grads um so I know the work I appreciate the work um and Caitlyn there couldn't be anyone more enthusiastic um to help our young adults to help make great choices informed decisions and things um during a a very important time of their life so um helping to set important patterns that they will take forth is tremendous and we're just very grateful um to you and detective Justina um and all of the volunteers I mean as as deputy mayor was saying we have PTO representation we have um just members uh clergy it's a one of the larger boards I think that we actually have so we're just very grateful for all of that work so thank you for what you've done and thank you for what you're going to continue to do for our youth so with that I'm going to ask my colleagues on the D Who U may have a motion so moved second Christy roll call please Mr malman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried so now what I'd like to do is I'd like to ask Caitlyn um and one of the reach students Charlie Gary to come up uh with one of the co-presidents and I will share the resolution and then we'll um I think there will be some remarks that will be made and then we'll invite the rest of the group up um for photos [Applause] am I talking now am I talking now or L yes if you would like to talk and if you oh go do you want me to read off all the Nam yes oh my gosh yes of course first of all thank you Township committee for recognizing us tonight um this is actually today is my 12th anniversary with Bernard's Township so it's very fitting um and I really appreciate the honor and just shout out to forensic who's also here um it's really amazing to be in such great company tonight but um I just want to read off the names of my students who are on this list they are like oh yes do you want them I'm sorry I'm bad at kids come on up [Applause] so not everyone everyone biger picture so not everyone's here tonight but our members who really made an impact this year um from senior class Hayden Nelson leam Murphy Stella Q uh from the junior class Charlie Gary Mattie Morley CLA m ER Cooper Reaver Emerson Reaver Payton Reaver Colton Rooney Caroline White from sophomore class adter carik anishka papali Logan Murphy Jack Theobald and Kevin Ward and from The Freshman Class winter call gruswitz asman trong Adam vigano and Ashlin VES so my kids are amazing my Municipal alliance members are amazing they do such great work in the community and uh they they make me look good it's not just me it's really them um so thank you [Applause] everyone and then I'm going to ask for our alliance chair detective Justina to come up as well as any of the municipal alliance members and we'll take a group photo or you can go thank you thank you [Applause] and you all are welcome to stay or you like to thank moving along to the next presentation resolution 2024-25 recognizing Ridge High for forensics speech and debate team 2024 New Jersey state champions so we're very excited to have you all here um sounds like you've done some amazing things numerous times uh so we thought it was appropriate so we're grateful that you're here so let me just mention just a couple things uh so that you are aware for those that are not familiar our Ridge High forensic speech and jate te competed in the 2023 2024 season and we will have the coach name all of the names and so I think it's important for everyone for their names to be read um because of the contributions that you make and I think you deserve that recognition so I'll be thankful to David as well as um if uh the additional coach Lauren if Lauren is here um so rich High forensic speech and debate has won the New Jersey state championship and if that wasn't enough they won the New Jersey state championship for 22 consecutive [Applause] years so to get there obviously the team exhibited tremendous teamwork flexibility and engineer under the director's leadership and the team's director David yky was inducted into the University of ky's Tournament of Champions Hall of Fame and into the national speech and debate tournament Hall of Fame Mr yky achieved his fifth Diamond award for coaching Excellence with the national speech and debate Association and received a 2024 National Federation of high school school's Citation for his outstanding contributions to high school activity programs Bernard's Township is extremely proud to be the ridge is uh to be the Ridge High School forensic speech and debate team's Hometown and wishes to recognize and honor them for their achievements so therefore we recognize and congratulate The Ridge High forensic speech and debate team and their director and coach for their impressive accomplishments for their extraordinary commitment to teamwork and perseverance thank [Applause] you I'm going to invite my colleagues on the Das for remarks so I I'll make it short I'll go first as a reminder to my colleagues because uh there's a lot of names to read so uh we want to give you the spotlight of course because it's all about you just wow wow just amazing congratulations on becoming a state ch s what you do is is brilliant and I really mean that and it's a large commitment so I remember when my kids were looking uh you know they going to the freshman year and they thought about debate uh team and they said all that it entails in the travel and just the commitment and um then I said to them it's not for you so I really know that uh what You Know What It Takes and what it entails and I just want to say you're all just brilliant brilliant it's amazing your intelligence your teamwork really shine through and I want to say realize that this is preparing you for success in the F future because life is all about a debate so good luck and thank you um congratulations this is this is your moment to shine um you know there's winning there's a winning streak and we can debate pun intended when a winning streak turns into a dynasty but but I'm convinced I mean to to have a program that uh displays Excellence so many years in a row um it it I think we're going to call I'm going to call it you know the the forensic debate dynasty of Ridge High School I mean you guys are just out of this world and you look spectacular I mean the well done thanks so when committee man Balman mentions Dynasty you know they they give that out for like three pets and baseball and stuff like that but 22 years in a row I've never heard of a streak like this in my life this is extraordinary and that is a lot of pressure on this current team to keep up that measure of Excellence year in and year out and hats off to your director your coach your parents and each and every one of you and and and like my colleagues had said you know the skills that you learn doing this uh will carry you through the rest of your life and there's barely any profession or something that you would do in your lives that you're not going to call upon these skills that you've honed on your team so congratulations to each and every one of you yeah and I'll briefly add extraordinary accomplishment of you your coach Your Leader um like my colleagues this is such an important skill to be able to understand the world its social issues the politics I know that all of those are content for your debates and speeches and to do it with civility which is something that we need more of so take that forward and congratulations on just making us so incredibly proud your parents so proud of what you've accomplished and rounding out so um I mentioned earlier I have two older children and um they were not members of the for6 team much to my dismay they opted to go the athletic team route which is fine we support our children now I do have two younger kids um so I don't know I got two more shots but I wanted to share that um I was able to appreciate some of the sacrifices because I also with my older kids I was a coach for Destination Imagination and many of my di kids were on forensics and so the travel that you all do the time related to that the cost related to that which I think you're also trying to do a fundraiser so shout out that hey if anybody has any extra money this is a great investment into this 22-year dynasty or we need to come up with something else um it's tremendous and I also precept Pharmacy students um so excellent Pharmacy schools so these are young people who have completed high school and they have gotten into competitive Pharmacy schools and are in their fifth year they've completed five academic years on campus so I just you know so their age is like 22 or so um and I get them in a rotational setting many of the students their issues aren't that they're not smart they just don't know how to communicate and if you do forensics and speech you do communication on steroids right so you can not only communicate but you can debate and and all of that so I just I want you to know that um the lifelong skill that you are doing will be so helpful to you in the future um and I would be remiss if I didn't you know recognize and call out the leadership the the commitment that your coaches is put into this I mean he knows what he's doing and obviously to get you to this place parents I don't think most of you are driving age right so all the sacrifices that the parents have made financially and time and getting them to these competitions helping them look so snazzy and they're very nice professional wear um it all counts so parents you've raised some amazing young people um our children are our future and these are Future Leaders so I tremendous I'm so proud of each and every one of you congratulations and we look forward to seeing what you're going to do in the future so congratulations thank [Applause] you so I'm going to ask for my colleagues to make a motion so moved second Christy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried so now what I'd like to ask is Mr yumy to come up and to say each of the names on this resolution and then after we have everyone up would' love to have a large group photo [Applause] [Music] and I will preface we have about a hundred members on the team this year so we're we're going to do this in a tradition in speech and debate during our award ceremonies where when we announce a name we do one gigantic One Clap for those individuals so it it gives everybody their due appreciation as well as keeps the event moving as quickly as possible and you'll find you'll get into a nice Rhythm that will uh get everybody up here quickly for the photo and the recognition so uh when I call your name come on up and we as a crowd will give them one big rousing single clap can we practice that all right we're going to start with and I'm going to ask our first person G agrawal to come on up very good okay so Gia agal Sha antil C bwat Shri abati Eden chako Eva Chen MJ Chu F Fletcher Bry goo Millie Gupta apara a shiang Jaa Samir condra aday carik Max Kar anic amula kapar Chan Lee oh you're getting head of yourself here arnad Mitra Hy Nur Ash parar Raina prad soe Quinn goam rajakumar pu pujit saki avik Satia Mir sha sh Sharma Aman sidiki Mika Tadros Neil trapathy mandard Desi Samir Baga aayush Baki L Lucy brodkin Andrei Yash dande Ador KARK apara Mariam fizan shaanu Seline hang skyrose Yaman Shara kava Saka Kelli James Mai man Pandy aditay nav Raju Arya raval kuber Sall suj seti Matthew Sherman Amy Singh Samir wadwa Alice yel Amy how Anjali dadani Rebecca davidof Mariam Khan Alyssa Kim Jenny Kim Abigail Lee pav mahash Natalie Ramirez Vivian zuu Ana animes tulasi B Ishani Bala Aram anaa Rihanna glaus Jeremiah Jason Anushka J ril ja arou jug napali Robie kdar Adalia cardamaro saik aasara praa kakar himn K arjan Kumar Krish Kumar Matthew Lee Vivian Lou cam Masha Aman Mana madavi Mahan Krishnan NK narang Risha petu shaon palour Rose Quinn Ani Sharma Jana salanki ADI turle Rea van vasava and then Caroline Jiao thank you everybody [Music] thank you again everybody [Applause] well that was fun and we look forward to seeing you guys here next year no pressure we'll come up with something else for that thank you all for coming so as everyone's filing out we're going to go ahead and start the meeting back uh to the next topic number seven chrisy any public work session needed none this evening mayor then any reports none this evening any correspondents none great so that takes us to public comment comments are welcomed during the public comment period during this meeting on any agenda item or other matter over which the bur 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 hearing the public comment portion of the agenda is not structured as a question answer session but offers an opportunity to share their thoughts with the township committee the 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 and state his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to 5 minutes the clerk will keep time please please promptly yield the floor when time is called and return to your seat your cooperation in adherence with these Rules of Order will ensure an orderly and respectful meeting I open public comment John Crane 39 Decker Street um quite the night everybody should be proud of our Township it seems to that we're doing Awards more awards every Township committee should be Awards dinner or whatever they call it um I'm uh the reason I came today is uh for Dennis um pedler the construction code official um I'm not a 1977 graduate I'm a 74 GR graduate but uh thank thanks for promoting Rich High uh actually it's my 50th Anniversary so feel old this year on the rich ey um I uh I'm a retired construction management Personnel um I retired a couple years ago and uh decid to keep busy by building a uh easier living house addition to my grandfather's house my grandfather had built that in 1912 roughly about the time this this building was built he was a Master Carpenter and uh over my years I've gotten to known the construction department and uh they're Second To None here um I've I've had as Gary has mentioned he'll be a little more polite seeing I'm retired there's been you can have some real disaster building departments and you can have extremely good ones and this one's extremely good very efficient but the whole process of my addition went extremely smooth the the people there that Dennis has is completely topnotch Steven manone he's been there for 20 years I'm sorry to see that uh the electrical inspector finally re retiring I guess retiring leaving after 12 years he was an excellent too but the whole process of building permits uh fast turnaround the the zoning officers also and the engineering a very very positive uh uh process and we should be very uh very uh uh glad that we have such a a fine team and and years of experience um Dennis I think came from the same parents that I have is that you never take credit for anything you share the you share the uh credit when he did tonight that's so that's so uh uh the the greatest Generation but you think of the greatest Generation there is no I or me um on that so I would just like to thank Dennis again actually he he he came to my frame inspection I was surprised that I would get the big week for such a small addition but uh uh the the other Advantage is uh I say easier living my wife doesn't like to say senior housing but the other Advantage is I'm 200 feet closer to Andrew now I don't know if he appreciates but I'm I'm 200 feet closer so thank you tonight for your what all you too thank you John T tile Stein Riverside Drive is on business nothing personal here it's a shame that Oprah has been changed and not in a good way through a bipartisan um people down the assembly and the Senate even though most of the info is available you won't know until you need certain info when it's denied I will have to accept this for now but I will not accept that the fact that assembly woman nness didn't even bother to show up the vote and this isn't the first first time she hasn't has chose not to go and vote on an important um subject last time I was um several years ago with um the Christy Sweeny increase of the gas tax over 20 cents per gallon and then remove the taxing from the legislature to the executiv branch where it'll automatically increase each year if um assembly woman IM munist doesn't want to go and do her job then it's time for her to move on the last meeting was a perfect reason why we need to have a second comment since this committee is afraid of criticism that will never be one if there is a public hearing and the CFO doesn't want to address the comments then why bother having the hearing the CFO doesn't want to give feedback the committee has already decided to vote for the budget it's irritating that the hearing that tax rate excuse me strike that it's irritating hearing that the tax rate has gone down from uh 2283 cents to. 269 a 4.95% reduction when in fact the county has already increased the valuation of everybody's property on March 1st and here's my cord $65,000 increase last year was $85,000 so I should be happy even though I haven't done any improvements on the house in over 20 years it's like um raising the price of shoes by $100 and then have a sale on that pair of shoes for um $10 less and saying you have a 10% um decrease it's baloney and last thing I want to mention You' approved for two more police officers that's great I'd like to know if what the plan's going to be I know we're going to get cameras where there cameras up but the cameras can't do the job themselves we need to have the police officers Patrol the neighborhoods because um when was the last time somebody was on Springhouse Lane Maryland Street Benedict Crescent River form Lanes Squire Court Arwood way Addison Drive Hill Crest Way Magnolia path last time the police cars are there to take reports from either break-ins wherever I know the cars are on the main roads they need to be in the [Music] neighborhoods and my suggest one of my suggestion would be is we have a substation up in the hills should put the patrol cor some Patrol cores on that of the Manpower up there where the patrolman could go up there get their cars and start their day from up in the hills you could split the the Manpower you have them start from here you have them start from up there this way they're already in the neighborhoods and patrolling this way the people see they're up there and they'll have to be up there they get their cars to go home thank you very much thank you anyone else going once okay I'm going a Clos public session public comment that takes us to staff comments Township committee comments and board Lees on reports Pat would you like to start please uh thank you mayor uh just wanted to rec recogniz Roger vanderhof on his retirement uh 12 years electrical inspector uh congratulations uh and we wish you well and just a few words for Dennis having worked with him for 28 years um I guess the secrets out we knew he was the best and now the rest of the state does as well um you know he heads the construction enforcement right and so um they enforce rules and it's hard to be such a a working with him through the years cons and just professional and can deliver that news that sometimes doesn't come across that well and and in all those years I've never heard anybody have a bad thing to say about him so Dennis if you're listening congratulations uh kudos to you you you do a great job keep it up that's all I have mayor thank you Christin none this evening thank you mayor Mr Bardo Dennis Butler I've worked with Dennis for 27 years we've never been to Summer when I say we've never been to Somerville it means we've never been down to the County Construction board of appeals because nobody's ever appealed anything that Dennis has issued against them and I've never had to go down there and defend Dennis's decision and that is very unusual I've represented many municipalities and construction disputes are uh constantly percolating up to my level and what that tells me is that Dennis and his dealings with the public and with Developers in a pragmatic fashion and reaches Solutions and works out things um and that's that's a great sign of a construction official so I hope Dennis is going to be here for many many more years the other thing I wanted to talk about uh briefly and the New Jersey League of municipalities has asked its attorneys to talk about that and I have been associate councel for the New Jersey League of municipalities for many years Sen number 2930 which is the Oprah Reform Bill the New Jersey League of municipalities is very in favor of this bill uh it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support it is not depriving the public of any rights it is implementing long needed reforms that will prevent uh our Municipal clerks from being overburdened with harassing requests it is also implementing needed reform that will prevent commercial requesters not citizens but as Christine will tell you commercial requesters who submit voluminous requests to obtain for example your personal information on dog licenses which is presently allowed so they can then spam you through mail and email and otherwise um it limits the abilities of what I call a cottage industry of ambulance chasing Oprah attorneys that file frivolous requests and then attempt to sue the municipality either through Superior Court or the government record Council by not automatically awarding them fees should they Prevail on a bit of trivia or a a loophole I have defeated at least six of these ambulance chasing Oprah attorneys over the years and Christine will tell you we've dealt with a number of them on frivolous appeals that run up legal fees against municipalities and I am not entitled to recover my legal fees on behalf of the township for those frivolous appeals but if they trick other clerks or other Municipal attorneys and when on a frivolous point the town pays legal fees so this bill and I've read every single line of it in my opinion does not take away from public rights to access but provides much needed reforms I normally don't speak on pending legislation but the New Jersey League of municipalities has asked associate counsel um and other attorneys to speak out and urge government Governor Murphy to sign this bill into law and that's it for tonight mayor thank you Mr Timco would you like to make any comment yeah I had the pleasure of being Dennis's boss for 13 years and I can tell you he's not somebody that's hard to supervise because he does a great job we never get complaints we only get compliments he knows how to resolve difficult issues in a very friendly easygoing manner um I congratulate him on his award I think it's long overdue uh Roger vanderton our electrical sub code is also retiring after 12 years and I wish him well thank you Anna thank you mayor and uh while we only have one public comment at this time I do invite residents and encourage your input and insights it's important for us it helps inform us and it's always welcome um so a couple of things starting with the municipal lines as you know we have an upcoming fundraiser it's the most important fundraiser for this group that will be on Sunday June uh 2nd it's the Twilight Challenge and it's the 34th year that this event has been run so if you'd like to be a sponsor or participate in the healthy mile walk or the more rigorous 5K please join us I know our mayor you'll be there and hope others in the community will join us uh the golf committee um has not met recently but I do encourage folks to consider membership in our 9-hole kle Russo Township Golf course there are memberships available and it's a really wonderful place to um participate in local Recreation and it's also open to non-members if you want to consider having friends or other family join uh on the environmental commission our chair Alice smick and I joined two members of the Bernardsville environmental commission and distributed native plants as part of the Great swamp Watershed Association plant sale and this was a distribution of plants um that will encourage pollination and and Foster bird communities and likewise the library pollinator Garden is almost complete and last weekend volunteers installed an additional 150 plants paid for by the friends of the library and the environmental commission aims to have the lawn area finished for Saturday's Charter day and next up will be signage and community Outreach to encourage more residents to consider and understand native plants and pollinator Gardens and then lastly I joined mayor AC at Oak Street's Community helper day which I believe my colleagues have done in the past um to talk about Township government with kindergarteners and try to keep the attention of the kindergarteners while there was equipment from DPW fire engines EMT ambulances and police cars so I think we did our best to um encourage them to pay attention and then last ly I was um happy to join our Bernard's Police Department along with mayor AC and committee man MCN at coffee with a cop this is a really great program um you know it's probably something Andrew or or Janice may talk more about but it's great for our residents to come out to interact with our officers and to uh just get to know the individuals who are protecting our community in a more personal way so thank you thank you Andrew yes let me Begin by taking my head off to our our extraordinary Police Department led by Chief Berger and deputy chief galletta who are with us tonight um uh they operate in an extraordinary challenging environment um crime is up all over our region all over our country um and uh our burnard Police Department is really the best in the business uh we are supplying them with additional resources based on their needs including additional officers additional technical equipment Etc um while I won't get into how they Patrol uh I have the utmost confidence in in in their abilities to deploy those resources effectively and I believe that they are doing that um picking up on something U Anna just mentioned the coffee with a cop event at the stretch lab on Mountain View Boulevard was a great success um again I'd like to take my head off to our our police leadership and also uh Sergeant Tracy Bal sorry who heads up our community policing efforts um this was something that was restored postco and I really have to say uh Chief and deputy chief he really leaned into that in a big way and I think it's something that everyone enjoys and gets to understand you know our Police Department what they do for us on a more human level and I I can't thank you enough for for embracing that um and uh more recently uh Congressman Tom kanaine pursuing to initiative that he has recognizing uh law enforcement within his district uh named Sergeant Tracy baldasari is one of his Hometown Heroes uh in law enforcement so that that's a great honor for her uh finally I I I did want to mention something and I I debated whether to mention it or not but comments were made about um one of our uh uh members of the assembly missing a vote last week it is certainly not my place to speak to uh why she missed that vote but I happen to know it and I know it was an extraordinarily good reason leave it at that thank you mayor thank you Gary uh Parks and Recreation and the big announcement and you'll probably hear more about it is Charter day Charter day is this Saturday May 18th 12 to 6 um for folks seeking information come to our website bernard.edu you'll find information on entertainers the schedule art and history history exhibits all important road closures shuttle information how you can attend how you can get there um I mentioned in the past we have an annual mayor's Arts award um previously we announced the deadline for the award was closing at the end of last month that um deadline has been extended uh the parks and record is seeking additional nominations in uh for for the mayor's award that new deadline is now May 31st uh opening day for Pleasant Valley pool is May 25th there's still time to um rejoin and renew before opening day uh the pool was renovated this year so Renovations are complete pool is now getting ready for uh to be opened and operational um um and it's going to be a a spectacular um season um lastly mayor you know I'd like to I'd like to just say a few words um there's been some some conversation in the public forum about aed's automatic defibrillators um being provided for and installed in our in our parks in our in our passive and and and some of our active Recreation facilities um so I want to First acknowledge the good work being done at parks Pathways and Recreation which has formed a subcommittee specifically for the purpose of investigating aeds at our parks and and it's a careful investigation um it's not something we can just rush into right the the the best of progress happens with diligence and patience um there may be new regulation coming from the state that could have an impact on each municipality's obligation to deploy these types of safety devices um and at the same time we need to understand their impact in our public on on our on our public park system their their use and availability um and so I just want to reassure the public that the inclusion of of aeds in our Parks is something that's seriously being considered by Parks Pathways and Recreation that work is ongoing will continue and when conclusions reached um uh PPR will share thank you depy mayor thank you as Gary had mentioned we're U we're having Charter day this Saturday everyone really looking forward to it and I want to let you know this year uh we've decided we're going to have a uh a spot at Charter day which each of us will take turns um to get to know each and every one of you so you can stop by and ask some questions and we're going to have some giveaways for the kids and I want to thank the police department for um sharing their spot with us on last notice uh short notice thank you so much for sharing your spot with us so we will be at the uh police booth um all day one of us will be there um to answer your questions and give your kids some great uh giveaways I also want to say that um we did um acknowledge but I will acknowledge it again that um we have our our chief here Burger we have our deputy chief galleta here and don't know if I have the right title to say this but de detective dinina uh with us and um I would like to um acknowledge that um it's National Police uh National Police Week so you may be asking yourself what is National Police Week each year during National Police Week our national our nation celebrates the contributions of law enforcement from around the country recognizing their hard work dedication loyalty and commitment to keeping our community safe and we can't thank you enough for all that you do we have a top-n police department and so I just wanted to write something to say something um and just so you all know AI did not write this so that's you'll be able to tell that when I read it but I just wanted to say something to all of you uh to our Police Department um you've shown us time and time again that you're there for us in ways that go above and beyond your courage strength and wisdom keeps our community stay safe morning noon and night we thank you for wearing the badge so proudly it reminds all of us how thankful we should be for your loyalty to serve your loyalty to Serve and Protect and we pray that when your day is over you will return home to the ones you love so thank you so much for your service we appreciate all that you do from Community placing to safety to technology and to always being there for us thank you so much thank you to our Bernard's Township PD thank you so rounding out um and we're almost we're we're going to get there I just have a lot of stuff to share so um can I say one more thing I'm sorry I did forget something go for it it's personal so I just I just want to say I hope all you're we all go through this in our community um we're so proud of our our family members who serve in the armed forces and I just want to say um hoping for your thoughts and prayers my son will be deploying on Sunday for nine months to Europe so just want to say we're thinking him and we're supporting him and asking for your thoughts and prayers thank you mayor of course thank you so um I'm going to speak about some things that have happened in the past and I'm going to give a a preview of of some important things that are coming up so one um I think I think you all saw right at the April 26 meeting we adopted our budget and perhaps you've seen that others are beginning to roll out their budgets and I just wanted just to reiterate how proud I was of the budget that our um employees and ultimately the township committee uh endorsed and if you look at the other towns even though and even within departments that the tax collector collects money for you'll see for instance little facts like the fact that we happen to send more money to the county than we keep to run our own town so again the diligence and the thoughtfulness that went into that budget I'm very proud of and um even though the budget was passed um thanks to Pat you and your leadership uh we some of us have been working on a potential Federal Grant application so you know I think were raised about grants do we do grants well even though the budget's in the books uh if there are opportunities for Grants we're pursuing them and one of them in particular I knew about the night that I was sworn in and continued to to bird dog it and when we were notified of the opportunity I want to commend Pat you and your leadership Ryan Wallace in particular um and the others that contributed to a submission so the town submitted for a Federal Grant Grant we don't know the status um but I can tell you a lot of work went into it um for the burn justice so I just want to acknowledge uh that and to reassure residents that as grants come through and if any residents know of Grants please bring them to our attention uh because if there is money out there we'd like it for our community I also wanted to make an acknowledgement uh to the Ridge Baseball Club so my son happens to be in the spring program and you know we've had some topics over the last year or so on this um and I just wanted to share that I was impressed a few weeks ago there was a modified recreational schedule due to the night at the Ballpark and as such that organization sent multiple messages via email they've got a te they've got an app and the coaches individually reminding parents where to park to respect the neighbors and to not park on neighboring streets so they are really I think upholding the request the township committee has had around being good neighbors and respecting so that's what I'm seeing I'm at that ballpark literally three times a week so um I think they're doing great work so in the past um Fabrica Bernards we during small business week we did a program for small business owners I cannot speak highly enough about Kathy Guzman from the New Jersey Eda Economic Development Authority we collaborated with the brba on the 29th because of that presentation um I want to say challenge accepted when she said the biggest issue with this program is that people don't know these grants exist and I'm like challenge accepted I literally have been contacting every person I know that has a small business ideally in Bernard's Township as some of the folks are even outside of the township so like for instance my vet my dentist my kidst orthodontist when I go out to dinner my husband's like Jen you got us drop it but I'm literally like at Washington house like I was even at um the uh Japanese restaurant in Bernardsville so I'm just telling you that there is money for small business owners and I want to ensure that every single person knows this money exists so there is a video of this it is on the township website her slides are on the township website and her handouts are on the website so um please help me I've done a video on this I'm really trying to get the word out there anybody who has a a small business there is money out there please go to our website I'll continue to beat that drum the other thing I I wanted to compliment and commend um Jen Gander she did an understanding Bernard's presentation that was recorded on Parks and Recreation despite the fact that Charter Day is coming up so she still fit that in and again this is such an important department that impacts our entire community and she Services all so again a tremendous thank you to her I also got positive feedback you all may know that the MVC uh gave us thanks to assembly woman matak cudas the mobile unit was here on site both may the 3D and May the 10th and I think I saw committee woman dorte McCarthy she was able to partake and she said positive things and I stayed and I talked to many residents and they were very very positive so that led me then to reach out to assembly woman masuda's office and said can we have more please so I just want you to know that um thank you for those that participated we received rave reviews that real ID thing um it's next year um and you know they're trying to get appointments out there so again that'll be a resource that we're going to try and get and as soon as we get any information we'll share um I think those spots went almost as fast as Taylor Swift tickets so who knows um going on to the Fabrica burners so um this is something these are things that are coming up we have a focus on seniors June the 1st 9 to 12 so there is a flyer that is out there this is a collaboration with the county so this was one of the most popular and well-received events that we did last year and we are repeating it but better so we took the feedback that many of our seniors and can I just tell you as I approached that age seniors per New Jersey definition is 60 okay so call it what you will so 60 plus um that's the definition of seniors so we will have like we did before we will have four levels of government we will have representation from the federal state county and local and uh organizations that support seniors so we will do a similar type of program um but it is during the day so we are taking that feedback and if any of you have noticed outside there's a bit of a hole um and because of we're going to be adaa compliant with that awesome elevator whenever that comes in but being mindful of perhaps folks with Mobility concerns thanks to the county we're going to actually do it at the Somerset County um Senior Center that happens to be in Basking Ridge so just down the street from the YMCA so I'm super excited about that please help get the word out um an understanding Bernard's presentation so affordable housing this is something I will continue to beat this drum and I have a comment at towards the end but the affordable housing presentation was adjusted that presentation is now June the 10th 700 p.m. it is going to be recorded and um I ask each and every one of you to pay attention to that so this is something new um I don't think that we've made a big debut of this so you've heard it first here has anybody ever heard of the New Jersey motion picture and television commission this is a state effort where um our governor would like to get film and TV production in our state well well I attended a conference um April 23rd and I've been in close communication with the county long story short there are five steps to complete certification and we are in the process of completing four so um we've got we're collaborating this includes collaborating with the bass Bridge business Alliance to maintain a list of local resources that would support Productions and also um on May the 3D I was given the opportunity to drive around a photographer from the state so we drove around and we shot 22 sites so um we were moving we were you know not speeding at all um but we made a lot of great coverage now um so a big shout out to duana who is the state photographer and Ben Nana you have been an amazing partner so we're going to ask them to come back because we didn't get it all we have some more things that we want to do but I just I want you to know that we are engaging with the state's film commission and we'll be pursuing ordinances that supports Bernards to host movie and television production so that's very exciting um we'll be issuing some announcements that residents can themselves upload photos of their own homes or businesses to the database and they potentially then can have production taken at their homes keep in mind it is not guaranteed if you're in the database that you're going to get selected and if you are selected um the Productions would be reaching out to you so um more to come on that two other topics safety safety is so important I want to reiterate we've shared before that all of the um aplr cameras have been installed and as I understand they are working and they're working well so um a lot of folks don't realize that that is the case but they are there so thank you to our U police for making that happen the Somerset Hills Public Safety Committee we are still working and we are still meeting um earlier today I came from the Hills Board of Trustees meeting um where I provided a safety update and happen to be doing one again tomorrow evening so I'm just letting you know the education on this topic does not end um and again with all of the wonderful efforts of our Police Department We are continuing to educate residents as to how to ensure that we essentially live up to the award that we got right that we're the saf the second safest in the state so we are doing everything that we can and lastly the um affordable affordable housing uh related to overdevelopment we really need to ensure that every resident understands that there is a new law that new law took effect in March and it will require towns to allow High denitive housing high density housing that will also include affordable housing I remain committed to ensure that we keep our residents informed so therefore not only do you have the presentation on June the 10th but our planner will be helping us to update the affordable housing page so on our website we have an affordable housing page she's going to help to ensure that by the end of the month that we will have updated information that reflects the new law so I encourage everybody to you know read as much as they can on the topic we will be as transparent with you about this process balancing the communication releases that potentially could be used against the town so with that let's move on to Fire and Rescue appointment none this evening mayor thank you um moving on to unfinished business ordinance 2549 accepting a sidewalk easement on property located at 179 cver road block 2601 lot 9 from Far Hills Development LLC to the township of Bernards and this is a public hearing I open the public hearing and welcome comments seeing nothing I will close the public hearing may have a motion I move ordinance 2549 be adopted and advertised as required by law second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you next ordinance 2 550 an ordinance amending the revised General ordinances of the township of Bernards chapter 7 traffic schedule 1 no parking to prohibit parking on the north side of watchong dried in specified locations and this is a public hearing I open the public hearing and welcome comments seeing none I will close the public hearing may have a motion I move that ordinance 2550 be adopted and advertised as required by law second cler roll call pleas Please Mr Balman yes Mr DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor Acy yes motion carried thank you next ordinance 2554 accepting an amendment to conservation easement a repairing Zone conservation easement and a declaration of easement termination on property located at 8,000 Fellowship Road Block 9301 lot 33 from fellowship Village Incorporated the township of Bernards and this is a public hearing I open public hearing and welcome comments seeing none I will close the public hearing may I have a motion mayor I move that ordinance 2555 be adopted and advertis as required by law second sorry 2554 forg second clerk ROV Please Mr Balman yes Miss dwarte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you next ordinance 2555 accepting a Wetlands conservation easement on property located at 99 Minebrook road block 7201 plot 30.01 from arrol M casesi and Kathleen casesi to the township of Bernards and this is a public hearing I open public hearing and welcome comments seeing none I'm going to close the public hearing may I have a motion may I move that ordinance 25555 be adopted and advertised as required by law second clerk roll call please Mr bman yes mrte McCarthy yes M Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you and next ordinance 2556 accepting an ordinance of the township of Bernards appropriating 5,715 455 for various capital improvements and this is a public hearing I open public hearing and welcome comments seeing none I'm going to close the public hearing may have a motion Madam mayor I move ordinance 2556 to be adopted and advertised as required by law second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you moving moving 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 are posted on the agenda on the website and 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 plac on the regular agenda under new business would anyone like an item removed from the consent agenda okay may have a motion move to the consent to CH mayor second Christy roll call please Mr Balman yes mrte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you moving on to letter B resolution 20242 37 resolution declaring May 24th as Charter day and approval of special event permit for Bernard's Township Charter Day celebration to be held on May 18th 2024 including street closures May I have a motion I move the resolution 2024 0237 be adop adopted second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr orte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you we hope that everyone comes next resolution 2024-25 approval of special event permit for Bernard's Township Memorial Day parade and Memorial Day service May 27th 2024 may have a motion I move resolution 2024 245 be adopted second Christy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you and we hope to see Folks at that um poignant and important event moving to the next topic please ordinance 2557 an ordinance to amend the revised General ordinances of the township of Bernards chapter 4 General licensing section 4-7 Municipal Police rotation towing service non-consensual Towing regulations and this is introduction I move that ordinance 2557 be introduced on first reading advertis as required by law and scheduled for a public hearing on May 28th 2024 second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr orte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you next please ordinance 2558 an ordinance to amend their Vice General ordinances of the township of Bernards chapter 2 Administration section 7 Police Department subsection 1A establishment and organization and this is an introduction mayor I move that ordinance 2558 be introduced on first reading adverti was required by law and scheduled for a public hearing on May 28th 2024 second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you that takes us to the approval of minutes April 23rd 2024 Open Session minutes may have a motion so moved second all in favor I I moving to the next Christie any executive session none this evening mayor that takes us to adjournment may have a motion to adjourn so moved all in favor I I good night night e e e e e e e e e e for