I open the Bernards Township committee meeting for February 27th 2024 please stand for the flag salute flag United States na God indivisible andice for all I'm going to read the opening statement adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board and municipal building one call Lane Basking Ridge on the township website an email to the Bernardsville 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 closed session will include that the matters discussed as such closed session will be disclose to the public when such matters are finally determined that 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 adjourn no later than 11:30 p.m. chrisy roll call please Mr Balman here miss darty McCarthy here Miss Fields here Mr MCN here mayor AC here Christie do we have an executive session none this evening mayor great then that brings us to presentation resolution 2024-the February 4th to February 10th 2024 so what we're going to ask is um those of us on the deis would like to make some comments before we do our voting don't Meister please very good so this is to our Scouts I would like to speak to all of you who are over here um first of all congratulations I'm Anna dwarte McCarthy one of the committee women and I was not a Boy Scout but I was a Girl Scout and those were some of the best years of my life I learned how to pitch a tent dig trenches cook over an open fire but more importantly I had lifelong friendships learned about leadership and cooperation and also about personal Wellness and the idea that you have this long Legacy since 1910 of celebrating this U shows not only your involvement and the involvement of those in the past but also your leaders and the parents who've supported you and your families in this endeavor so I hope that you continue in this um proud and and wonderful engagement with scouting it's really teaches lifelong lessons and we are really really pleased to recognize all the troops here tonight and the pack so thank you thank you to you and to your families and to the leaders Comm MCN welcome Scouts Scout Masters family members it's so wonderful to see you all I get to see you often at different courts of honor and and and and different scouting events and it's a a great honor to recognize um uh uh this uh anniversary week uh in February um I was a scout myself myself and some of the best times of my youth were spent scouting uh made lifelong friends learned lifelong skills um and you are part of an extraordinary Legacy and an extraordinary organization so I want to thank each and every one of you for your dedication to scouting and that includes the Scout Masters and the parents um keep going keep doing what you're doing you'll continue to enjoy it and you'll learn so much so thank you committeeman Balman welcome uh this anniversary week for for for Boy Scouts is a time to bring boy scouts out to the front of our minds and in our public celebration um a lot of what goes on happens during the week at your meetings at your your jamborees and your adventures um but this is an opportunity for us to recognize the commitment that you Young Folks make that your parents and families make the volunteers that support scouting organizations um I I can say as an employer people who come through the scouting programs come with a special dedication commitment and a unique set of skills it is literally a lifeb building experience for you and uh I congratulate you on making the commitment so a as other committee members have said tonight stick with it we are extremely proud of you guys and we celebrate you this [Applause] week Deputy Mayor I just want to say I I thank you uh you are an incredible and vital Organization for the country the world for each state you represent for each community and speaking of community that service that you provide is the fabric of burners we always talk about the fabric of burners you are definitely wo in the fabric of burnard the service that you provide to us we appreciate it from you stepping up and helping us with our flag ceremonies at our events to stepping up what we need you to volunteer we really appreciate you it's unbelievable the service that you provide there's also a service that you Pro provide for yourself it's working on yourself and improving yourself and learning skills and that all comes from the guidance that you get from the parents and the volunteers who are part of the organization and we thank them for building character that will carry on forever so when you meet somebody as an adult and they say I Was A Boy Scout that really holds a lot of weight because you know what they went through and what they experience and the dedication that they dedicated to the organization so I want to thank you thank your families and say that it's so important that in our society that people know how important service to their Community is and you certainly know what that is so thank you so much so I'm going to share my personal remarks and then I'm going to for those that haven't been able to read the resolution just a couple Snippets so for those that may be familiar um we have both Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts represented here tonight um Cub Scouts are for boys and girls from kindergarten to fifth grade and our boy scouts are typically someone that's completed fifth grade up until 17 years old one of the reasons why we're honoring our Scouts is because quite honestly scouting raises I think wonderful human beings and we want to celebrate that and I thought that maybe for those that aren't as close to scouting um for instance just to share some of the things that they can quote the boy scout oath goes something like this on my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God in my country and to obey the Scout Law to help other people at all times to keep myself physically strong mentally awake and Marly straight I think we can all agree those are wonderful traits and characteristics that we would want in ourselves and in our children and in our community and so that's one of the reasons why we think so highly of Scouts and we are grateful for each and every one of us Scouts your master your Cub your Cub Scout and your boy scout master PS um as well as the parents that support them I thought it might be also a fun fact to share some of the famous boy scouts that you all may know it was kind of hard to find ones that maybe they might know so maybe this might be more relevant to us parents um but astronauts Neil Armstrong Buzz Aldren if you've heard those names I'm a little bias they went to Purdue so go boilers myma Mo um civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr past presidents ones that you may have heard of President Clinton or George W bush Amazing um Business Leaders like Bill Gates Sam Walton who started Walmart and I don't know if you guys remember but I think he's pretty amazing Michael Jordan of the basketball right um since we're still in basketball season so at the end of the day we we think scouting is tremendously important and valuable and this is the first time that we have recognized all of our Scouts our boy scouts and our Cub Scouts we love and um cherish the opportunity to recognize our Eagle Scouts um but we wanted to have an opportunity for our young people to see um how important they are to us so just a couple things from the resolution that we're going to present to them whereas Bernard's town local troops and packs include troop 54 and pack 54 chartered by Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church troop 555 and Pac 55 chartered by Somerset Hills Lutheran Church troop 351 chartered by Basking Ridge Presbyterian church and pack 451 chartered by thermal dynamics Inc and whom all belong to the Patriots path Council and whom as units and individuals perform countless hours of community service throughout the township so with that I would like to ask for my fellow folks on the de to Please may we have a resol or a motion please so moved second roll call Mr Balman yes Mr McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried wonderful so what we're going to do now is we would like to we're going to present this to Dennis and we would love to have all of the scouts with their awesome Flags come and arrange themselves in front and so we can take a lovely picture of everyone okay my yeah well and's there we go yeah so if you can come in here we'll stand in front of here is that okay sure so ch perfect great thank you very much thank [Applause] you so um you know this is the first time like they said that all of us have gotten together but as everybody can see here scouting is is Alive and Well in Baskin Ridge in Bernardsville um so this is just a small portion of each pack and Troop it was a group of kids but there are tons of kids in scouting and it would be great if we saw more and more join it's a great organization um it teaches a lot of life lessons and it's something that we're really proud of so thank you for [Applause] this and you all can feel welcome to stay or as most people do they leave your choice thank you for being thank thanks for all you do especially members and leaders they're in Good Company thanks for being here thanks for leaving them bye guys on theid there we go that's right so tired a busy day finally get rest that's there thank you great to see you thanks Jen good to see you thank you guys okay that was exciting you love that right is there any public work session none this evening mayor any correspondence none this evening great then want to move on to public comment comments are welcomed during the public comment period during this 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 hearing the public 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 township committee may or may not address these comments during the meeting however all comments are considered to address the body the speaker must come forward to the microphone and state his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to 5 minutes the clerk will keep time please promptly yield the floor when 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 are you Bob Gall 286 South Maple Avenue asking for a little guidance on a neighbor problem I have a neighbor that has outward facing lights in the middle of a construction period I've gone to and I got two pictures that I can just show you uh pass them down I'll be honest I will probably defer to our Township administrator okay I've gone before the Construction office who has deferred and already sent me to the zoning office who's sent a letter and nothing has happened these lights have been on since October he is the lights are so bright it's like a prison um because of his outward facing lights which my understanding is lights are supposed to be downward facing and not to extend beyond his property and you know everybody seems to have defert it at this point I'm just asking what's next let me look into it um if you can give me thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you tile Stein Riverside Drive it sounds like a house that's on on Lord strolling Road uh yes it is how do they know um I know yeah the ordinance at the end um we put up for introduction about um people coming on other people's property jiggling door handles but I think H since the weather's gotten warmer it's getting warmer and I should think we should start anticipating people coming to your houses to solicit just just let people know they have to have a permit to solicit in town and a lot of times for example somebody wants to reseal your um driveway but there's a lot of other different people but they'll come up know and try to solicit you first words you out your mouth is let me see your permit they say well the permits at the office they said well go get it or not a problem I'll call police and they verify quiet when they get here and that usually um helps them um walk away um also um the last meeting you identified me being something I just wanted to say that I'm a citizen of this town and I don't deserve any extra congratulations other than it's a team effort nothing gets done by one person and I'd rather be known that way rather than you know being an example of anything nobody wants to be my example I look like a grape um also on Thursday um all those people were having the birthdays I just want to say I understand and I feel sorry for you because I know it's a bad day for a birthday have a good night thank you thank you any other comments if not then I'm going to close public comment now we're on to staff comments Township committee comments and board and liaison reports Pat would you like to start please uh sure mayor I just like to acknowledge a Personnel appointment and welcome Teresa Bond uh with the library of as a library assistant so welcome to Teresa so that's all I have there thank you Christie none this evening thank you mayor thank you Mr Bardo not at this time mayor thank you but later great thank you Anna sure thank you mayor uh first of all the municipal Alliance has announced the date of the Twilight challenge for June 2nd which is a little bit earlier than last year and this is a great opportunity not only for those running competitively but also to learn more about our alliance and to support the good work of this group and there's also upcoming training QPR which is question persuade and refer that's coming up in partnership with Empower Somerset and you can sign up for that I already have for March 6 that's an online training on suicide understanding suicide behaviors and hopefully prevention um it's online training is on March 6 and there will be training at the Bernard's library on April 3D so that information is being shared to the community and a great opportunity to just take on and learn those skills and learn more about something that's so important uh differently the golf committee wants to remind everyone that if you are a member and or interested in K Russo golf course you have up until this Thursday the 29th to save on membership or renewal it's a pretty good savings at $70 um I finally renewed today so please go ahead and do that and for those of you who haven't enjoyed it it really is a great resource in our community um it's Wonder Wonder F it's right there on the VA property a great way to spend two hours with friends and family and differently the agricultural advisory committee also met we had a reorg meeting and we hope to leverage some of the programming offered through the county to build agricultural awareness which is coming up in March and then lastly I joined mayor AC at the Lunar New Year celebration at raran Valley Community College and it was just great to see our town in a leadership role through the involvement of the the Bernards Chinese American Association uh what a terrific event uh I have been telling everyone make sure that you go next year because it was just great and great to see Bernard's Township in such a prominent position so that's all I have wonderful thank you committee bman a couple of announcements tonight um mayor for the pool uh it's a reminder that early payment deadline for membership um Pleasant Valley pool expires on March 31st so anyone who's considering membership and wants to uh take advantage of any program uh do so by March 31st Charter day uh while it's never too soon to plan and prepare uh and uh we're currently accepting vendor applications for anyone interested um I know I've made this announcement before we continue to seek and be interested in finding vendors um you can go to the township website under the page for residents and you will find vendor information and application information for parks and wreck the deadline to enter the community art show is um the 29th I want to say that's tomorrow um Artists 16 through adult are welcome registration is open for basketball clinics tennis and pickle ball lessons uh go to parks and wck you'll find that and um we are hosting a ruter safety coaches clinic for those who need to be certified for spring sports that clinic will be on March 11th contact the recre office to register for that clinic um and we're also accepting employment applications for our summer Recreation uh programs and pool positions so if anybody knows anyone I know um you know college breaks are coming up kids are going to be around uh any anyone you know who might be seeking summer employment um it's a great experience to get involved with parks and wreck so so uh reach out to us that's it that's all tonight wonderful thank you committee Ben MCN thank you mayor um some time ago uh Mr Edelstein at public comment uh made a suggestion that um there should be a way to upload door camera video and things of that nature uh to the police to assist in any investigations that might have and I'm proud to say that our police department has recently launched that functionality through something called City protect uh if you go to Bernards Department police that's the police department's website on the right hand side you'll see a tab that says City protect and um this is a platform that we've recently invested in and adopted and it has a multitude of functionalities including the ability to provide uh tips to the police including anonymous tips share other types of information including but not limited to uploading uh live V video that may be um or or recorded video that may be gerine to a police investigation so um our commitment to Public Safety runs the gamut of many different things within the toolkit uh this being one of them um and I'm quite proud of the Innovative steps that our Police Department is willing to take embracing technology to assist uh in ensuring Public Safety so thank you thank you deputy mayor um I have nothing mayor I'm going to wait till I'm going to speak on safety but I'll wait till we have the um the adoption of the ordinance great thank you thank you so I have some comments to share um picking up on uh communion committee woman uh DTE McCarthy um I just want to Echo the congratulations to for the Lunar New Year celebration what the three organizations that represented all those towns pull together together was really amazing and it's it was not only a Showcase of Chinese New Year but it also represented um Korean and Japanese and and that's why it's it's Lunar New Year uh representing many um Asian areas so it was wonderful and I just I have to acknowledge um from the Bernard's perspective I think that the folks that served on the leadership of that subcommittee Jane Zang as well as Nick zoo I think they represented us very well and it was a wonderful event and I highly recommend it every single year um it just gets better and better so wonderful um also in the same vein the fabric or Bernards I am excited to announce today came out the flyer for an event that's going to take place in March um so this is something I've worked on for a couple years to figure out how we can do an event representing uh women in women's history month and the the topic is fulfillment so that flyer just announced today there are seven amazing panelists representing women of many different life stages um a diverse group of women but the one thing they all have in common is they contribute to our community and so I hope that everyone puts this on their calendar that they're going to come on March the 27th to hear these amazing women's stories and get that inspiration so more to come on that um some quick reminders the lwis bay the second future Municipal leader scholarship competition is still in play it is a Statewide competition run by the New Jersey state League of municipalities it is open to all Juniors and senior students here in town including both public and private students the deadline is March the 11th the topic what all the students need to do for this competition is to write a 500-word essay which is titled what my municipal government does best I know we have amazing talent within our community and I feel very strongly that one of our students can not only represent our town but in that state competition so at the state level every submission to the state is considered a semifinalist and it's one of there are three awards that are given for the state level I'm very confident that one of our students can do it so I'm fingers crossed that we will have um a plethora to choose from and um you know happy to answer that question that people don't know what local government does happy to share that with them and then they can write what they think that we do best the other thing I want to make notice um is it's been posting in the background but I I want to bring it to people's attention the Green Yard Sale is taking place for the first time in this spring so we call it a green yard sale because it is really focused on Recycling and um being thoughtful about like we don't put signs up around town this is done pretty much electronically uh so then you know we're very environmentally conscious and the hope is is that as residents you know with days like today when you're like oh my gosh spring is coming hopefully this is a trigger of like hey maybe hold on to your stuff and be ready to you know um go on the ite you can see how to sign up um you do your sale with everyone else on April the 6th and then after you've drug everything out and you're like what do I do with this then you're going to donate it to one of two amazing groups that information is on the site that has their collection dates so for instance St Marks I think starts taking collection the very next day and or you can donate to the Atlantic visiting nurse that amazing remage sale so really great groups that are happy to take our our stuff and again it's in the spirit of recycling so excited for that to happen the last thing um I want to speak about safety updates so this is in lie of issuing a press release um we've been very busy and as uh committee mcnali said safety is our highest priority and so let me just bring you up to speed as to what has been going on so day in and day out our Police Department is protecting us 24 hours a day 7 days a week that has never changed so they are continuing to step up and protect us now last Thursday we had the understanding Bernard's program here in this room um Chief Burger Sergeant Tracy Bal deseri and detective Phil Jina did a wonderful program if any would like to see the link it is available it is about 2 and a half hours so again our police go above and beyond and they answered every single question that presentation that took place on Thursday while many residents were here because of their concern for the home burglaries and Associated car thefts our police officers really tried to reinforce all the gamuts of threat to our residents including fraud they spent a lot of time on fraud and one takeaway I remember they said that one fraud case that impacted one of our residents actually all of the cars that were stolen in 2023 did not equate to the one fraud case so again fraud is something that we really need to pay attention to all forms um so please you know don't take my word for it watch the video yourself last one I looked it was about 88 views um I don't know if everybody's watching it all the way to the end um but again it was wonderful also at that event um assembly woman matak cudas came and she spoke about some legislation she recently introduced as well as John Carpenter spoke about the life-saving device um the the choking device that um he wanted to raise awareness on and Aaron witty announced the formation of the Bernards Township law enforcement fund so please take a listen to that and again tremendous thanks and gratitude to our wonderful men and women of the Bernards Township Police Department also on that day so that was the 7:00 at 300 p.m. Congressman Kane host 2024 crime Round Table I was one of five speakers I was one of three mayors that the congressman hosted the audience included elected officials as well as law enforcement leaders there were about 70 people on that that call then at 4:00 my next call was with the Somerset Hills Public Safety Committee unfortunately all these things stacked on the same day um this again as a reminder the somerset um this is the mayors of the six Somerset Hills towns one of the result of that committee is the sharing of information that is resulting in the ordinance that we're going to be R uh introducing later this evening so um just know we are still working and I look forward to our next scheduled meeting next week um the fourth is that I continue to engage with other leaders in higher levels of government on the topic as I mentioned um assembly woman matak cudas she came on Thursday but she and assembly woman Munos submitted a um assembly Bill and Senator bramnick has a similar bill that has been submitted for the Senate so our our elected legislators are trying to introduce legislation that can address part of the core problem as to why we're having not only our community but other communities within the state safety videos so the second safety video uh was released this week so thanks to one of our police Liaisons committee men MCN um we shot some videos and this week's topic is the home security checklist that was developed by our Police Department I've heard nothing but positive things and many of the residents that were here Thursday talked about how valuable that was so please if you have not downloaded it and reviewed it please do so it is a wonderful tool so there'll be more videos will be coming in the next couple weeks and lastly I am very happy to say I am current ly working with the conference of Mayors to build a bipartisan Coalition of New Jersey Mayors so we can address the critical safety topics like the real need for bail reform at the state level so just please know that it's not over and I want as many voices that I can get around the table so that people will pay attention I don't think that Public Safety or private safety should be something that's political and so we will continue to work together to make sure that's not the case so I believe that through all of these efforts there's not one Magic Bullet but we will impact and lessen this concern for our residents here in Bernard's Township so with that may we move on to Fire and Rescue appointments none this evening mayor great moving on then to unfinished business clerk can you please read the ordinance by title ordinance 2545 an ordinance amending the revised General ordinances of the township of Bernards chapter 7 traffic schedule 9 stop intersections at the intersection of Concord Lane and Fairview Drive East and this is a public hearing I open the public hearing and welcome comments seeing none I will close the public hearing may I have a motion so moved seconded to read it oh forgive me I move that ordinance 2545 be adopted and advertised as required by law second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss darty McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayy AC yes motion carried thank you now moving on then to the consent agenda the items listed within the Kinston 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 to have an item removed from the consent agenda okay may have a motion so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss Dart McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you next resolution please resolution 2024-25 25 and the amount not to exceeded 17 ,000 including unanticipated reimbursable disbursements as required before we make comments I'm going to ask for Mr Bardo to please provide some additional background yes mayor um as you know we have an affordable housing obligation that's going to arise starting in early 2025 for the fourth round um up to 2035 um in order to facilitate accomplishing um the goals and meeting our uh efforts in the upcoming legislation that appears likely to pass sometime in in March we're going to need a professional planner and I am uh pleased uh to indicate that Kyle mcmanis um has agreed to work with the township committee um Jim Kyle Beth mcmanis and Kendra Le are topnotch uh professional planners in the state of New Jersey including on affordable housing obligations um moreover during the third round that we had um from 2015 to 2025 assignment Judge Thomas Miller who was the Mount Laurel judge appointed Kendra leily to be our special master um in other words Kendra was in charge of uh assuring judge Miller that our third round obligation met all of its statutory requirements uh before the judge was going to move forward and approve the settlement agreement so Kendra Ley has an intimate knowledge of Bernard's Township's housing obligation uh there is no learning curve here um she is right up to speed and ready to jump in so um I've also talked with our planning board Attorney John drill about uh the Kyle mcmanis firm in Kendra Le and and John drill is just as thrilled as I am that they're willing to uh join us and uh help us reach our goals thank you um committee woman Dy McCarthy would you like to make any comments sure I I think that this is a a helpful resolution for us to move forward on at our last meeting we approved the resolution 202 4148 that spoke about our concern about assembly bills number um four and Senate bill number 50 in their current form as uh attorney Bardo shared there is is going to be a decision made probably in March and so we want to be proactive looking at what our obligations are to remain AB breast and understand what those are and it's a good strategy to be proactive and rather than reactive so I'm in favor thank you anyone else just want to say thank you mayor for being proactive on uh on um us being well prepared um we normally don't have to do this but um I really want to say thank you mayor for uh allowing us to get ahead of it and I think that's really important that we do that so uh thank you for doing that um next year we'll be well prepared and I would like to also say uh Kendra is very well known I had reached out to some of our colleagues in other towns and they are very familiar with her and her work and the The Firm also so uh great job thank you so much I really appreciate it thank you thank you anyone else uh mayor you know as as members of the committee we en Envy those who can take a a singular stance on an issue like affordable housing but as Leaders a sign of great leadership is is being able to take the stance but also recognize the obligation and to plan and prepare for both scenarios um I want to thank you for your leadership in this regard uh I believe that you and um Town Council have done a spectacular job of getting us um some of the best Professionals in the state when it comes to planning I mean talk about coming straight from the the bench as a special Master the residents of Bernard's Township are very fortunate to have these professionals doing this research and it I I just want to recognize the effort you're putting in with one hand you're working the political process to craft a solution to what is an over Brad and potentially burdensome State mandate and with the other hand delicately crafting a solution that can be implemented in Bernard's Township um this puts us in a great spot for our affordable housing discussion debate and ultimately resolution of what Our obligation will be so thank you for your leadership thank you uh mayor um as a member of the planning board you know I've gotten to have a up close and personal seat um and seeing what uh planners can do and having you know a strong planner uh that we're retaining I think will help us as we enter into this uh fourth round of affordable housing I won't repeat some of the comments I made during the last meeting um but the affordable housing system that we have in this state uh cries out for reform unfortunately the bills on offer in my opinion are not the sort of Reform that we need uh but we still do need reform the the system is highly imperfect creates lots of problems uh but it is none nth less the law and it's something that we have to Grapple with and uh approving this resolution for the retention of this planner will put us in the best position possible thank you and if I can just also add you know as as been stated the State Assembly passed A4 on February the 12th um s50 which is the the Senate uh bill that accompanies that it potentially it's not been scheduled um it right now it is been second reference to the Senate budget and Appropriations Committee um it's not been scheduled but a meeting may be scheduled ahead of the Senate's next voting session on March 18th so what I want people to take away from this is it's coming and we know it's coming and we're going to do everything possible for Bernards to be ready um and we want to have the best folks to help us to figure out how best to navigate that um I want residents to understand that we're watching we're learning we're trying to protect our community um and you have my commitment that we will try to be as transparent as possible with you as we go through this balancing our communication releasing as with those that potentially could be used against us um for things that are divulged in the public forum so um thank you for your support of this and I think it is the right thing to do so more to come on this topic with that may I have a motion I'll make the motion second anyone second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes Mary C yes motion carried thank you next ordinance please ordinance 2546 an ordinance amending chapter 3 police regulations of the revised General ordinances of the township of Bernards to add a new section 3-20 entitled resident protection and this is Introduction before we make any comments I'm also going to ask Mr Bardo to make some brief remarks yes mayor members of the the committee uh this is a step in the right direction on a local basis IT addresses in particular some of the the uh problems that we have been having in Bernard's Township both with car theft and with resident break-ins um this has been a carefully crafted ordinance I've also worked hand inand with our municipal prosecutor Stephen Davis to ensure that it would withstand any legal challenges that may arise Mr Davis and I had a long telephone conference on this ordinance he gave me some brief input into the ordinance but uh both of us as Township attorney and municipal prosecutor um along with our police chief you this is a step in the right direction as an added tool um in our toolbox to protect against some of the criminal activity that unfortunately has visited uh the township lately um and it um addresses both uh motor vehicle protection and Resident protection uh including incidents that unfortunately we've seen in involving uh jiggling of uh the car door handles to see if the car is unlocked uh use of electronic devices to determine whether a uh fob is in the car um also in the same regard jiggling of of door handles of houses to see if house houses are unlocked uh attempted Breakin so all of this allows us to address this at a municipal court level through our judge house thank you would anyone any else like to make any comments I'd like to say something mayor so I'd like to say that this this ordinance is another proactive move that we are making as a Township committee as the mayor had mentioned there's a lot there are many things that we have done with the uh safety issue so we have heard you we are listening and we're making a difference and that difference is that we're being proactive uh there's many things that we're doing and some that we can't mention so I just want to say something that's important that I think everyone needs to hear everyone knows of a town in New Jersey let's say that once was thriving a wonderful town and now it no longer is because safety is an issue the town is riddled with crime and it went down and sitting here I can say that all of us know that that does not have to happen the township committee can take a proactive approach by doing things so that safety and crime does not become an issue and overtake a community and so we have done many things so that does not happen to our community and we will continue to do that I'd like to thank my colleagues for recognizing that not sitting back like other towns have and done nothing when crime has spiked or safety was an issue we have done something and we are being proactive and this initiative is just another thing that we're doing so unfortunately crime is not going to be zero and the crime is always going to exist but it's going to be minimal because everyone sitting here our Police Department our chief our staff have gone out and looked for ideas and solutions to the problem and that's what we're doing and I just want to say as a resident of this town I am thankful that this Township committee cares about this town to step up before it gets worse and do something about it so we're not another statistic of a town that once was thriving and beautiful and no longer is because of the people running that town so thank you thank you anyone else sure I I'll comment too so this ordinance and I hope people take time to read it um is model to some extent after one that was first passed in the city of summit I grew up in Summit and so for me to read that Summit had to put forward and pass an ordinance around safety it just points it's that inflection point that's happening in so many communities and if you read the New York Times this weekend the big story was Canada and how hundreds of cars are being stolen in Canada so this is as Governor Murphy said unfortunately a bit of an epidemic and while you know we talked about what residents can do and Jen AC our mayor talked about the meeting we had with understanding Bernards and what residents can do and all the work that our Police Department is doing there is an opportunity for us to try to do more and so this ordinance will hopefully be able to provide some value back to our community um to some extent it's my understanding that there are times when a county the county won't authorize charges um so perhaps as a municipality we can and we can have penalties in place we can potentially have judgments made that support our community the pause for me would be more around what deterrence will this have and that's a question none of us know yet right so we'll have to work to communicate to ensure that this is not made known U that our sentiment of our community is we want our residents to be safe we want people to feel that they are able to be at home and not feel concern around a window being broken or a car being taken so it's a step in the right direction we're in new terrain um unfortunately we've pivoted toward that and taking action is important for us so so thank you thank you mayor um as as uh some of my colleagues have alluded to um while we have experienced this recent uptick uh in criminal acts here within the the township we still remain among the safest towns not just in the state but in the entire country but uh we're not content just to be better than most other places um unfortunately we're not immune from this uptick crime that's happening you know in elsewhere within the state elsewhere within the country uh I think some of the root causes of that uh lie with um some wrong-headed policies at uh levels of government above the local one but rather than merely passing the buck and just saying well what can we do unless somebody passes a new law to do something else to combat this sort of thing um we are uh using every arrow that we have in our quiver uh to deal with these things um and and this is just another tool within the toolkit to try and combat uh some of these issues that we've been facing as of late and as the mayor alluded to uh before as did my colleague on the police subcommittee uh Miss Fields uh there are a number of things that we're going to be continuing to roll out uh this is not something that we take lightly it's not something that we compromise on and we will continue to move forward sensible policies uh that will help protect our residents thank you mayor thank you anything else um thank you mayor um I support the resolution um I I I support the ordinance look it's it's important as members of the community in Bernard's Township that we recognize and appreciate that those holding the highest office also recognize that there is an epidemic in our state of crime um it's also important as residents of Bernard's Township that we ask them to take responsibility for the epidemic of crime in our state and and to recognize that the progressive policies intended to fairly and equitably reform the criminal justice system have unfortunately created a system that has emboldened criminals and it has threatened the security and sense of Wellness for residents of Bernard's Township but as a community one of the things that makes Bernards one of the best places in the country to live is we will pull together we will take back control of our sense of well-being and we will take back the joy of Safety and Security living in burners this ordinance is a step in the right direction it is a statement of the willingness of those sitting on this de to take action to return Safety and Security and a sense of of Wellness to to to the residents of Bernards and it is also a statement to those who hold the highest office that it is time to reconsider these policies to refine the system and to help return consequence to action and order to law I I really appreciate the the leadership of this committee on this ordinance and and taking a step to take back burners thank you mayor if I could also comment one of the things that I liked about uh assembly in matsuka bill that's been put forward is the approach around community and to work with Partners to help support what is unfortunately also a societal issue around people who have not been able to achieve Andor have been uh not given opportunities and unfortunately that potentially has led to a pathway where the outcome has resulted in taking opportunities to commit crimes because there's no different pathway or option available in their perspective so I think that that's an important part too and that's uh one of the reasons that I'm supportive of this is that opportunity to work with Community Partners around that thank you if I can just also add um I've listened to Chief Berger um present numerous times he's presented far too many for me to count um and in that I'm going to steal something that he said there is no Silver Bullet to this problem so this one ordinance is not going to be the complete Revolution and solution to this it is one of other things that we are trying to create you know law enforcement their sole job is to enforce the laws so we have to have laws on the books that are going to do what we need them to do so um I made the statement earlier about you know part of the reason why this came to be is because I'm working with these other five Mayors and we're sharing and learning from other communities you know chadam has been affected Westfield's been affected summit's been affected we are all all learning from that and trying to share best practices and do what we can for our community and I expect that other sumerset Hill towns will be following suit so and we will be looking to create communication around that to make people know that you know the Somerset Hills we're going to protect our residents as best we can this is one solution but as um Miss Dy McCarthy mentioned we have to take action not only for the terror that our residents are being put through but ultimately this is going to end up in a loss of life and if unfortunately many of these folks are youth from the inner city this is not an affluent Community problem this is a Statewide problem and our youth is at risk for them potentially to lose their life to access a home to steal a car at high speed or it might be one of our residents if those individuals are armed at the end of the day we have to avoid this and so that's where I'm committed to working with everyone to make a change at the state level to affect some of these these policies so we can ultimately have our residents continue to live in peace live in harmony and live in the the sanctity and security of their own home so with that may I have a motion mayor I move ordinance 2546 be introduced on first reading advertises required by law and scheduled for a public hearing on March 12th 2024 second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr dartt McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes Mr MCN yes Mar AC yes motion carried great that brings us to approval of minut February 13th 2024 Open Session minutes may have a motion please so moved second all in favor I chrisy is there an executive session none mayor then that takes us to a adjournment may have a motion motion to adjourn second all in favor I good night good night