good evening everybody good evening good evening good evening I hereby open the uh burner Township committee meeting for for December 28th 2023 please stand for the flag pledge Ali to the flag the United States of America to the for stands Nation God indivisible and justice for all adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building one Coler Lane basing Ridge on the township website an email to the Bernardsville news whiy The Courier News Bridgewater tap into. net patch.com and file with the Township Clerk on December 18th 2023 any motion to go into closed session will include that the matters discussed at such closed session will be disclosed to the public when such matters are finally determined and there's no further reason to prohibit the public from disclosure of information regarding such matters the meeting rules adopted by the township committee are as follows 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 miss Acy here Mr Balman here miss Fields here mayor MCN here and Mr bal's excuse this evening thank you uh no executive session tonight right none this evening okay which brings us to a resolution of Celebration honoring the sharp Family Singers uh they have joined us tonight and we couldn't be more delighted to have them the sharp Family Singers for those of you who don't know are longtime residents of burnard Township and an extraordinarily talented family that was recently featured on America's Got Talent uh they blew the judges away with their rendition of how far I'll go from the movie Moana uh I personally think that their version is better than the soundtrack version uh and uh you know indeed over the summer uh Deputy Mayor AC had organized a watch party here at Town Hall to cheer on Ron Barb Samantha Connor and Aiden uh the sharp Family Singers released a Christmas album in 2020 and just last week were're on ABC's live with Mark and Kelly uh morning program they delivered a fabulous performance at Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade and recently had a concert in Atlantic City and if you were at Charter Day this year you would have heard the sharp Family Singers lead us in the national anthem to open the festivities we're honored that the sharp Family Singers have joined us tonight and couldn't be more proud of their accomplishments will be roting on a resolution recognizing their achievements but rather than me trying to further describe how good they are let me invite Barb Ron Samantha Connor and niden up to demonstrate by singing the Star Spangled Banner and we'll add Logan to that too Logan yes forgive me we save the best for last exactly a product of basky Ridge High School all right which way do you want us to which way do you want us to face uh the TV Camera I guess face the TV Camera that a microphone [Music] here by [Music] the what so proud we at the Twilight last ging who brought stripes and bright stars through the the SP the we watch were so G streaming and The Rock rare the B bursting in gave Pro through the night that our flag still there oh s that star [Music] spangled for the land of the [Applause] fre and the home of the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you for our second song we' like to sing Encore thank you I normally like to sing along to that but I wasn't going to do it and throw off the pitch tonight um and thank you for that wonderful rendition of our national anthem um stay right here for a moment uh I just want to invite my colleagues to say a few words but before we do that uh let me take a motion in a second on the resolution which we'll be presenting to the short family so moved second any discussion oh I just want to say congratulations and I'm so envious of you because it's something I've always wanted to do sing which I can I take after my mother but anyway thanks for making our community so proud and we're so proud of you and and I know that you've volunteered your Serv say to sing at Charter day and I recognize we've had you at one of our events to sing thank you so much so not only you know you're such a a a important part of our community and just want to thank you for that and just so proud of you and may you go just keep going higher and higher so thank you much thank you Gary sharp family thank you so much for for the many gifts you share with us the music of course at the Forefront thank you for sharing the gift of music and also the gift of family and not just with us in burnard Township but thank you for sharing those things with the world when there's so much today to distract us with sadness or negativity it's a joy to see a group so focused so together so in love with one another and their craft I can't thank you enough for what you do thank you so much Deputy Mayor so mayor just shared when some of us first interacted with you I just want want to share with everyone so they know I got to spend some time with you Ron and Barbara and Logan and Samantha and Connor and Aiden um when we were stuck waiting for Charter day to start right we were in Westminster Hall um for about 45 minutes because my daughter's Girl Scout Troop was doing the flag ceremony and you were very gracious and during that time you were so kind to those young girls and others that were in the church where the art was displayed and um just gracious and really good people so I just it you struck me then as authentic and just tremendous role models for what you do artistically but what you do to to share with others um around the world um so then fast forward when you made it to the semifinals we just said we have to do a listening like we have to do a watch party and Gary you were with me it was a lot of folks go away during that time but thanks to Jen gander and Shan O Grady and I think Jake you were there as well covering that um and we just there aren't a lot of things that we can do today as families that are wholesome and and inclusive and America's Got Talent was one of those and the song music is just such a love language and you just were fabulous so again regardless of what those judges said um we think you're amazing and thank you so much for taking time out of your very busy schedules to be with us tonight because obviously as Andrew just shared you've been doing things from a national perspective and I mean it's not too shabby to be in Philadelphia and Thanksgiving Day Parade either so again thank you for sharing your gift you're a role model for um those that are trying to achieve their goals and your persistence with that but also since you are many products of um Ridge High School you know that we have a very rich um and talented uh artistic program specifically with vocal and just last week or so um the William Anon the coral groups and things like the the we little kids were at the rich pack and you serve as role models for the young children that are seeking to share their their voice um so again thank you for being an inspiration for people of all ages and just sharing your gift with us with the world and you just are so representing our town in a very positive way so thank you so much for being here and we look forward to whatever else you pursue and and please keep us in touch you know we'll be right here congratulations thank you well said so Christy we have a motion in a second roll call please miss Acy yes Mr Balman resounding yes Miss Fields yes mayor mcnell absolutely yes motion carried all right right that's more exciting than got right here we got four yeses guys we got four yeses so if you could come up and join me take a picture you guys are you guys know how Tock got it all right you the here we great congratulations thank yes and thank yeah Bo are out for the night you know always celebrate I don't know found yeah I got to go back to Ridge we should do something for the drama CL americor Chinese don't know yeah whatever you need to do I went I was at the drama club of course they just won best musical last last year I was Guys and Dolls and ra oh thank you [Music] [Applause] everybody okay places everyone all right and SC okay uh next item on the agenda is number seven Public Work session none this evening M no any reports none this evening any correspondents none which brings us to public comment uh comments are welcomed during the public comment period during this meeting on any agenda item or o 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 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 Township 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 will be limited to 5 minutes the clerk will keep Tim please Pro promptly yield the floor when time is called and return to your seat your cooperation adherence to these Rules of Order will ensure an orderly and respectful meeting are hereby open public comment let's see if we can run out that clock that Todd hin Riverside Drive welcome Todd how you doing uh I just want to congratulate um Lieutenant Hurst on doing his 24 years in um the Emergency Management side of the police and I just wanted to wish everybody a Happy New Year and see you guys next year thank you Tod thank you Todd Happy New Year time to SP wait wait yeah shortest ever seeing no further commenters I here by closed public which brings us to staff comments Township committee comments and board leaon reports Pat we'll begin with you uh thank you mayor I just want to Echo what Todd's comments were for lieutenant Chris Hurst and uh thank him for his 24 years of service on the uh Council on Emergency Management and I wish him well so thank you Chris for your service thank you Christie none this evening thank you mayor Mr Bardo on the phone anything I am watching you uh live over the internet and I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year thank you uh Janice begin with you not much I just want to wish everybody a Happy New Year I want to say a great year and um we'll have further to say about the mayor and your last meeting and uh it's been a great year and it's been great working with you and um I just want to say which is really important that we're ending the year so positive that um we finished the negotiations with the PBA and the contract and it went so well and uh it's such a positive experience they're happy we're happy and uh working with you Andrew on that it's just been wonderful um and but I want to especially thank Pat just remarkable job and just it was Flawless and uh I know they're happy and we're happy and that's all that matters so I just want to thank you for for a great year with um the negotiations and uh that's all happy New Year thank you thank you Janice Mr Bal uh I I Echo committee woman fields's comments I wish everyone a healthy and happy New Year uh looking forward to uh a wonderful 2024 especially want to thank staff and committees for their outstanding work this year uh mayor you as well for your leadership this being your last meeting and and I hope we have have other opportunities to to to to formally address our thanks um but this has not been an easy economic environment for anyone and for a town like Bernards to face not only a difficult budget year but also a negotiation with the the police Union um wage Equalization in comparison with surrounding towns um I want to say that the the staff and committees have done more than a Yen's job they have done this as Journey people and they have lifted us to to to what I would consider to be new heights of of excellent management so and thank you for your leadership mayor through this year thank you Mr P Dey m one comment I'd like to share is um congratulating everyone on a wonderful 100th sing um that was held last week right time flies when you're having fun um like clockwork DPW and the police or the police and fire everyone just came together and um I don't know I think around a thousand people were there um it's just it's such an uplifting um time and I think someone coined it and said this is like a hooville that you know it's just everyone comes together and sings In Harmony and it's very positive and it happened to be a lot warmer this year than it was last um so that made it even more enjoyable and then after it was done it's like everything dissipated it was it's amazing so again thank you to our towns um our town employees uh and our volunteers for making that happen um it's a wonderful thing and I mean it's 100 years going um and a lot of people find Value in it so thank you for doing that and I don't want to be redundant with comments that have shared but I'm very grateful um to have had the opportunity to work with my peers on the de and obviously um mayor with your leadership great grateful to our staff our amazing staff um for all the work that they've done this year and the hurdles that they've overcome and um I look forward to a wonderful 2024 and I wish everyone a Happy New Year and we'll see you in the new year thank you Deputy Mayor and uh I too would like to thank the staff and my colleagues for an extraordinary year uh certainly I'll have more to say about the year in review at rorg on January 2nd at 7 o'clock right right here um but I just wanted to say thank you to everybody uh on a fabulous year thank you for coming in and having this meeting here tonight uh this is normally a meeting that if we can cancel it we will uh but we have some important business to wrap up for the year so thank you all especially the staff um for another great year um I too attended the sing on Christmas Eve it was an extraordinary uh uh event um and if you missed it this year you know you want to come out and hear some great Christmas car with a brass band leading us and an overflow crowd right in downtown Basking Ridge it's a really really nice event um and it was a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve um uh as I mentioned before the annual reorganization meeting is January 2nd at 7 pm among other business we'll be swearing in uh committeeman Gary Balman for a full term and W welcoming Anna dwarte McCarthy as the newest member of this committee uh consistent with that tradition we'll also be swearing in a new mayor mayor and Deputy Mayor a reception will follow at the Liberty Corner firehouse immediately after the meeting and all are welcome to join us um and uh that concludes my remarks uh Merry Christmas and happy New Year everybody uh I believe that brings us to item 12 oh one last thing uh I too wanted to congratulate Lieutenant Hurst on his extraordinary Service uh to the OEM uh he's a rather humble person we wanted to do a little pomp in circumstance he's like oh that's not NE but uh I think it's uh all together fitting for us to call that out and congratulate him nonetheless whether he likes it or not so uh that brings us to item 12 fire and rescue appointment none this evening okay uh item 13 unfinished business ordinance 2540 accepting a reparan Zone conservation easement on property located at 27 Quincy road block 5402 Lot 29 from Richard W champen and Anita Dawson to the township of Bernards and this is a public hearing thank you Christie uh this being a public hearing I hereby open the public hearing welcome comments seeing none I close the public may have a motion please mayor I move that ordinance 2540 be adopted and advertised as required by law second any discussion seeing none Christie roll call please miss Acy yes Mr Balman yes Miss Fields yes mayor MCN yes yes motion carried um that brings us to Item B under unfinished business ordinance 2541 in ordinance to amend the township of Bernards County of Somerset state of New Jersey amending revising and supplementing the code of the township of Bernards chapter 21 revised land use ordinances to create the Westgate Village mixed use senior overlay Zone within the E3 Zone and this is a public hearing this being a public hearing I hereby open the public hearing he in a welcome comment tyin Riverside Drive um comments um on where is it I lost my place um well permitted use is number four 4 a my question basically is um it says multif family age restricted dwelling units where the headed household is a minimum age of either 628 years old or 55 years of age so my question is which is it is it 62 or 55 um I'm sure somebody will have an answer but I think it's going a little confusing there since it doesn't say it thank you very much thank you thank you Mr Edelstein um um let me take a uh Motion in a second we'll have a little discussion and I'm going to ask Mr blardo to clarify that question that Tom had that Todd had because I had that same question as a matter of fact um so may I have a motion please mayor I moved at ordinance 2541 having been reviewed by the planning board on December 19th 2023 and found not to be inconsistent with the township master plan be adopted and advertised as required by law may I have a second second we have a motion in a second uh let me begin um by uh asking Mr Bardo on the phone uh that language which I think is pretty much uh you know sort of boilerplate if you will could you clarify that on the age restriction the 62 and a half and 55 yes mayor it uh tracks the uh federal statute 42 USC uh 3601 at at sa and also if you look under 21- 85.2 definitions it it references that provision thank you Mr Bardo I I I suspected that it derived from something to that effect um with that in mind uh let me just uh say something brief on this ordinance uh tonight we'll be voting on the adoption of an ordinance that we introduced at our December 12 2023 meeting the ordinance will create an overlay Zone at the property located at 477 Martinsville Road near Interstate 78 the property has been used for offices but has been vacant for some time we introduced this ordinance at our last meeting and it was sent to the planning board on December 19th the planning board determined that the ordinance was not inconsistent with the Township's master plan I as I think everyone knows the co9 pandemic has changed the way people work and it has impacted commercial the commercial real estate market both here and elsewhere we as local government recognized that we must keep up with the times and our zoning should reflect that as well we're also in interested in ensuring that properties do not lay vacant or become susceptible to blight therefore we'll be considering an ordinance that will allow for the former offices to be converted into retail space along with the development of a 55 plus residential community at the property along with a hotel property's forly the the property's former development combined with its access to roads and highways I believe make it suitable for this sort of development this is not the end of the journey however following tonight's vot the project will require site plan approval from the planning board and if applicable other boards and commissions in town with that in mind we have a motion a second any further discussion mayor um I took some notes and I was going to say a couple things but uh you said it all so thank you thank you committee woman anything further mayor um I had the opportunity to review this with the planning board as well as the ordinance when it was first introduced um also you know I've spent quite a bit of time with when I was on the campaign trail out and among folks in Bernard's Township um and one of the concerns that I heard over again from our senior community was uh concerns about their security and their ability to age in place um I I I just want to remind everyone that we're not approving a project tonight we're creating a Zone we're putting an overlay in place in a zone that gives us the opportunity to invite development that provides for inclusionary housing provides choice of Housing and provides a greater sense of security for our seniors to have the opportunity to age in place in burnard's Township by maybe moving from a four bedroom two and a half bath Center Hall Colonial to a 55 and up community that uh is run under an homeowners association or similar type of um governance so I think this is smart development certainly in light of what you pointed out regarding the commercial real estate market um I think this is the right use in the right place thank you Mr bound anything further no you said it all seeing none Christie roll call please miss AC yes Mr Balman yes Miss Fields yes mayor MCN yes motion carried next item is ordinance 2542 an ordinance to amend the revised General ordinances of the township of Bernards section 2-7 entitled Police Department of the Bernard's Township General ordinances to add section subsection 2- 7.16 entitled outside employment of off-duty police officers and this is a public hearing this being a public hearing I hereby open the public hearing and welcome comments seeing none I close the publicar may' have motion please so moved I need the magic words oh I'm sorry I was thinking it's late in the year sorry it's I'm still on station I move that ordinance 2542 be adopted and advertises required by law thank you mayor mam second thank you and this is part and parcel of the um um agreement that we reached with the PBA for their contract this is connected to that um so we have a motion in a second any further discussion I just would like to thank the PBA for this agreement it is it's it's it's a big one for us and I really want to thank them for the the compromise that they made here here roll call Christen Miss AC yes Mr Balman yes Miss Fields yes mayor MCN yes motion carried which brings us to item 14 on the agenda new business 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 placed on the regular agenda under new business would anyone like anything removed from the consent agenda mayor i' like 2023 0468 removed okay and have it as a separate vote Yes so with that in mind Christie will'll vote on the balance of the consent agenda first correct correct okay so uh may I have a motion on the balance of the consent agenda absent the resolution that uh committee woman Fields mentioned mayor Mo I move the consent agenda second we have a motion in a second Christie V call Miss AC yes Mr Balman yes Miss Fields yes mayor mcnell yes motion carried so next we'll vote on resolution Pac and Gladstone bur of Bernardsville and Bernard's Township shared Municipal Court honorable Kathleen e Esquire thank you uh I'll take a motion please so moved second any discussion Sean Christie rokel Miss AC yes Mr Balman yes Miss Fields I'm gonna abstain May mayor MCN yes motion carried thank you uh that brings us to to the approval of minutes uh Open Session minutes and close session minutes from December 12th 2023 may I have motion please so moved second all in favor I no further executive session tonight right chrisy correct mayor which brings us to adjournment may I have a motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor I I happy New Year everybody