e e e e e e okay your might thir at all times UPS there there and then years later or so yeah newspaper and umer yeah is be think he's right behind you a proclamation oh okay hey B got sand y you got that x-ray F yeah everybody else PR all good go Beach everybody inad everybody oh God I die for every time two yes I have mat it's just it's a thing with me [Music] [Music] administrator um right now libr I spoke to the library and they told me that I go through library.org Pur um probably might have to go you so that guy he's a character that's Z you want to do and it really is put it in this way she can like look at it married I can't really and new would yeah back there okay oh Greg is here oh yeah okay oh TJ do you have some water for me well I don't know what you good tell me your last name is itage KOB C but it's spell yeah never I never stage when I so I know not everybody's here but here tonight just INE Larry if they are here should we call them yeah I think that's nice right yeah here John's not here so I can't um just keep an eye on me make sure we keep everything legal tonight absolutely oh the already sign it should do it so I don't know oh no that no that's [Music] one great you want the proclamation to read we have that yeah that have that one look at us sounds funny um I got your email do we know if can I'm not sure I think we're start and then good evening welcome everybody I'd like to call this to order we're going to stand for the col of Allegiance please remain standing afterward as I'd like to do a moment of silence I pledge allegiance to the of the United States of America and to the rep stand indivisible i' like to take a moment of silence for the fox family as they had a family loss this week thank you everybody I wish to announce that the 48 hour notice is required under the open public meetings Act was emailed to the Asbury par press the coastar and the new coaster on December the 7th of 2023 that a copy has been placed on the bullet and board in the burrow office and that a copy has been filed with the municipal clerk as a courtesy to the public this meeting may be attended via Zoom if for any reason the zoom portion of this meeting fails or is disconnected the in-person meeting will continue and action can and will be taken providing there is an inperson quum MR Noble here Mr kubos here miss Mahoney here Mr Weber absent mayor Fox absent yeah they're actually excused I believe but okay okay that's good so I'd like to welcome everyone this is the time that the mayor usually does his commercial announcement so I will do it but with my own version of it first of all I want to thank everybody for being here I want to thank you for your time I want to thank you for tuning in you are our most valuable asset and we need to hear from you I welcome your comments I welcome your questions I think we all learn when we come here I think we all grow when we come here and we all have the same mission to make Bradley the best it can be I want this to be a warm welcome place and feel free to come up and say anything you'd like and again thank you for being here next we um oh I'd like to also introduce I see a couple new faces just like to introduce everybody this is our municipal clerk Erica casus just in case if you wonder how to say her last name we also have our Deputy clerk do our Zoom her name is Michelle Willie we have our acting burough administrator Meredith DeMarco we have our detective Lieutenant Terry Brownie and also we have someone attending here that has their first official meeting with a brand new title chief of police James Arnold so we're gonna do a very brief executive session um we have 45 minutes I hope to make it a lot less than that we want to get everybody home it's a beautiful day so I'd like to make a motion that we retire into an executive session we have to wait on Greg Canon but um do I have a second second okay uh Mr Noble yes Mr goosi yes Miss Mahoney yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused okay we can start make sure nobody I have [Music] mon for I l think how you sir very good wow pry pretty did you really miss it for think that's when we're wearing a hat for right you B you you already better so your know and you do find that's around many sure inv per how you do by years now for you like back okay okay and that's [Music] [Music] [Music] back down around was so job SP gate so and say [Music] un oh [Music] love Happ and should so that no it's done I know right what is going on yeah let's wait on GRE Canon right I'd like to make a motion that we to our regular public meeting I have second Mr Noble yes Mr CI yes M Mahoney yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused next we have our presentation and bids we have a certificate of appreciation for Susan roach of the Fletcher Lake commission is Susan here this evening nonetheless we're going to appreciate her and we're going toate uh I have the honor of reading this H certificate of appreciation for Susan uh and I also had the honor of working with the Fletcher Le commission for a couple of years as their liaison uh but I've since handed that Duty over to Mr Weber who was not here tonight uh but this certificate read certificate of appreciation the burough of Bradley Beach New Jersey Susan Roach the mayor and Council recognizes the dedication and long hours of hard work that Susan roach devoted to the Fletcher Lake Commission of Bradley Beach this conscientious volunteer Spirit provided tremendous support to our town and to our residents and will always be appreciated awarded May 22 2024 signed by council president Jane Den Noble and mayor Larry Fox so thank you Susan next we have a certificate of appreciation for Dan Le of the environmental commission and I don't see Dan here either but again we're GNA appreciate him with a certificate we're gonna appreciate him and this is going to sound a little familiar certificate of appreciation the bough of Bradley Beach New Jersey Daniel Le the mayor and Council recognizes the dedication and long hours of hard work that Daniel Lee is devoted to the environmental Commission of Bradley Beach this conscientious volunteer Spirit provided tremendous support to our town and to our residents and will always be appreciated awarded May 22nd 2024 signed by council president jangee Noble and Mary May and Mary and mayor Larry Fox thank you councilwoman next Proclamation for Keith Winters Wenning and Harris it is the 80th anniversary and I think we have someone from the office right do if you don't mind stepping up do you guys want to join me yeah come on up guys app please stand here so this is the proclamation for the burough Bradley Beach recognizing the 80th annivers of Keith wers winning and Harris LLC whereas Keith wnter winning and Harris LLC was founded and established in Bradley Beach in 1944 and has been serving clients throughout New Jersey for 80 years and whereas Keith W weding and Harris LLC is built on providing personal service to clients and a Comm commitment to the highest quality of professional conduct and whereas over the years he Winters weddding in Harris LLC has earned a reputation by staying at breast of changes in the law and new solutions to provide the best representation to all of their clients and whereas ke Winters wedding and Harris LLC has remained focused on personalized attention outstanding service and a commitment to being a good neighbor and whereas keth wi Winters weding and Harris LLC will continue to provide quality customer service and deliver trust to the clients and the community for Generations to come and now therefore we have resolved the governing body of the burough of Bradley Beach does hereby recognize the 80th anniversary of Kei Winters winning and Harris LLC in the bur of Bradley [Music] Beach I want to thank the council for the recognition and just say that uh we love Bradley Beach uh personally I went to Bradley Beach grammar school graduated Bradley Beach school which is now Bry Beach Elementary School we feel that this is our place this is our home this is our town and we'll continue to be our town and we love it so thank you so very much you want to see my thank you so much this is my son Brian witer who's been here for years Brian's wife Sora who's a attorney my partner is Amy Harris who been most years and years so we're all a team that have been together for so many years one more one more thing and briefly talking Mr W he mentioned he was the burrow attorney here for 30 years wow 30 years I've seen his name I know okay next we have um we have a proclamation for pride month and that will be read by Council woman Mahoney whereas the governing body and the buau of Bradley Beach recognizes and proclaims the month of June 2024 as lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer questioning n plus lb lgbtq plus primma and whereas all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights lgbtq plus individuals have had immeasurable impact on the cultural Civic and economic success of our country and whereas the burrow of Bradley Beach is committed to supporting visibility dignity and equality for lgbtq plus people in our diverse community and where as while Society at large increasingly supports lgbtq plus equality it is essential to acknowledge that the need for education and awareness remains vital to end discrimination and Prejudice and whereas this nation was founded on the principle that every individual has infinite dignity dignity and worth and the governing body calls upon the people of this municipality to embrace this principle and to work to eliminate Prejudice everywhere it exists and whereas celebrating pride month influences awareness and provides support and advocacy for the lgbtq plus community and is an opportunity to take action and engage in dialogue to strengthen alliances build acceptance and Advance equal rights now therefore be it resolved that the governing body hereby proclaims the month of June June 2024 as pride month in support of the lgbtq plus Community this day May 22nd 2024 thank you very much one more Proclamation for EMS week that's something yeah and do we have any of our first aid Volunteers in the audience I don't see anyone they're always working I guess we don't but um as most of you know you know we have a 100% volunteer first aid or EMS um Squad as well as you know 100% volunteer fire department and you know none of us can say enough good things about these two groups but we do have a proclamation for the Emergency Medical Services week Proclamation whereas Emergency Medical Services is a vital public service and whereas the members of the Emergency Medical Services teams are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day 7even days a week and whereas access to Quality Emergency Care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury and whereas Emergency Medical Services has grown to fill a gap by providing important outof hospital care including preventive medicine follow-up care and access to Tele medicine and whereas the Emergency Medical Services System consists of First Responders emergency medical technicians paramedics emergency medical dispatchers firefighters police officers Educators administrators prehospital nurses emergency nurses emergency physicians trained members of the public and other outof Hospital medical care providers and whereas the members of Emergency Medical Services teams whether career or volunteer engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills and whereas it is appropriate to recognize the value and accomplishments of Emergency Medical Services providers by designating Emergency Medical Services week now therefore be it resolved the mayor and councel of the bur Bradley Beach do hereby proclaim the week of May 19th to May 25th 2024 as Emergency Medical Services week dated this 22nd day of May 2024 and we will all sign this shortly thank you thank you to our EMS team absolutely next we have the approval of the minutes I'd like to make a motion that we approve May 8th 2024 Council business meetings uh minutes I have one minor oh oh do I have any sorry I saw right before I came right before I came we like to give Amica advanced notice so we don't have to do this but there's a particular vote where I know the mayor voted no but He's listed as an i AI a okay so uh I think it was the change of form of government okay so if you want not a problem I will take care of it okay okay so with that change I make a motion that we approve the May 8th Council business meeting minutes do I have a second y third uh Mr Noble yes Mr gbos yes Miss Mahoney yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused okay any comments or notes on the executive session minutes no okay I'd like to make a motion that we approve May 8th 20124 executive session minutes do I have a second second Mr Noble yes Mr gubitosi yes Miss Mahoney yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused next we have public comments uh these comments will be pertaining to the five today 52324 agenda items only uh additional comments can be at the end for other things uh yes just yes please remember to state your name and address yes I is one well worth having you I have questions regarding the bill list uh on the resolution page 2024 batch 116 there was an entry for depository Trust Company uh for $356,500 very long time you were a lovely lady you are a lovely lady excuse me I'm sorry mean to correct that during your campaign when you were debating you said that you wanted to be an example for women and to be involved and to empower women but answers like that do not Empower wom and I'm insulted by that and I don't need to be picking on you but this is our money my money that I'm spent and answer like that is totally unacceptable and I'm going to continue asking my questions Mr what is that on a certain page it's the first page okay Mommy okay a depository trust I'm not going to get any explanations but I think for the record it's important for this be on the record and if this is the way employees want to treat residents that's their that's their issue uh Mammoth County Treasurer okay I want to know about the dep depository Trust Company Mammoth County Treasurer why are there we paying two separate checks to mmed County Treasurer mmed County Treasurer one bill was for $1,288 125 and then the other Treasurer County of MTH for $64,500 that's a total of $79,700 I would like to know the reason why and what are these checks for I would like to also to discuss the Memorial Day Parade to date the Memorial Day Parade has cost the burrow $ 12,51 and to um the account type description is Memorial Day grade where is this money coming from I don't you know does anybody know com on the events yeah I mean it's typically charged as far as we know it's charged of the events bucket but it doesn't say that it says Memorial Day Parade you have an answer their own accounts similar to the touris of dress okay so when they have money from the vendors they put it into that account correct and the vendors pay for the parade and do we know how much money that we have collected so far from the vendors do you have a total I go off top my head okay and will they will the residents have uh a report on the revenues collected by the re from the vendors and the overtime for the police and public works and the dump charges is that accessible by the public through open request correct you'll have to open that as well okay thank you uh page 16 of the um Bill prop in roof repair for B Bazi and Municipal the accounts payable was $68,000 $ 68,800 and then ordinance 2020 20 21-25 various Capital Improvement $ 77,6 so it's a total of $146,000 and 14 6,400 and for the Bazi Center and the municipal building and is my question and my my concern is this a final bill for the repairs and the remediation of the Bazi Center and when will the taxpayers learn the total costs of the repairs and Remediation to the Bazi Center and then finally page 22 Victoria fin xqu uh special litigation expenses $745 service through February 26 2024 is this the mayor's attorney yes it was okay if so should taxpayers pay for the his attorney FES and for the record I willest this on to everyone with the I just want to follow the roof repair Meredith was this the repair that was done recently or was that the whole they're just paying it now okay M did you hear that this is the roof repair that was done about a year ago and it's just being paid now you asked about that so it's not a new issue it was the one that was right but they're still expense they're still paying bills for the remediation and the repair of the building I think this was from the previous work done it wasn't recently it was not rec okay but was that included in the all of the work that they did there okay so the work was done on July 20th 2023 and I believe we approved this work back then correct so so this was yeah this is it's not something new like it was approved and it's being paid now right but my question is what is the total cost of all of that all of the re all the re um I think that's the total cost wasn't it 146 if I recall I would think so that the total cost subcontractor okay that because I remember being at the meeting and they had the contractor here and he was making the proposal so is this over and Beyond no this was the original one that we approved last year okay thank you um Miss meta and thank you for your questions and comments thank you you're welcome Nancy me Ocean Park condum I knew wasn't gonna bring this up but when there's hostility on the other side um I find it necessary because what I have noticed is that I'll speak just for myself I don't get answers whether I over or not and to be snapped at from that side forv my telephone is really unacceptable and I know you say you just can only legislate but then legislate for people to do their jobs in a professional man or get out of here so without being being said regarding the Flyn bill which may I say says it's through 226 and we know that there was a hearing as well as um decision after that so I connect the dots that that is not the final Flyn bill now the first Flyn bill which was not approved for payment in the meeting um I did Oprah that's what I was told to do and this is the statement which I've read before this letter is to serve as a reference there are no record for your request is for the finance department again I repeat that we have I did not know we had a finance department because the calendar and the website we you look at departments doesn't pop up um and as someone who's been in accounting departments or even just have my own little basket of bills I paid or not paid when I don't pay something for a reason I have marked on it the date the circumstance what has occurred so again I wonder because the First Swim bill was for 7710 this one is from 7458 so I'm not going to over again what happened to the first bill do we still owe it who paid it that was all in my over request but we have no records for the finance department so with that being said and since we know this is not the final Flynn bill I would suggest they don't pay this Flyn Bill along with so many others um you are the stewards I say I used to say it all the time you stewards of the money wasting where's we were told we were in a start austerity program $122,000 on Memorial Day grade we don't charge that much for those tables for you for anyone to think that we break even there no and we are never given a p&l and we're never even given a review to discuss what parts of the parades or events were successful what wasn't so I just really say to you and I'm not going to go through the whole list you go through the whole list and you pull off one by one things that should not be paid but again as I've said previously it needs to start with the purchase order that purchase order and the signature on it is our contract and our commitment to our vendors so someone I know who's not supposed to sign contracts admits that he sign them um you've got problems and again as I say I don't know how to write the ship so any suggestions that you can do um any legislation that you can do needs to be done um we can't go through this every month now that we don't do it as students it is my money and I feel like it's being stolen and if and if it's being given away I have a listed my own personal nonprofits that I'd be more than happy to give it to thank you good thank you Miss mam that c for I'm brenley I have a procedural requestment first uh given the absences are we going ahead with all the indiv individual resolutions regardless yes we do have a quorum okay uh so I'm here then to speak on item 24120 a resolution which supports piece of State legislation that have made law will cut the state's open public records act the supposed form law that's how it's being pitched it's such a threat to open government that it's been picked up not just across the state but in National media I want to read just a few headlines I've gotten off of the Google machine as my friends like to call it just the last couple days Oprah Bill an absolute sham and a front to democracy that's from the USA Today editorial board Oprah reform in quotes would badly damage access to public records in New Jersey left from the Bergen Record Governor Murphy don't pull New Jersey backward veto Oprah reform and push us forward that story made news my vote for the most clever of the headlines New Jersey Mayors want the power to sue you for asking too many questions that and reason magazine a think tank publication in DC for these and other reasons I urge the council and really anyone in Bradley Beach who cares about open government to forcefully reject this resolution and to stay vigilant and on guard against further attempts by various forces to pil our access to government relatedly Mr Marco I I'm puzzled by your continued insistence to refer just the simplest kinds of questions to overest they caus the down time and money it's a bad look for you frankly I suppose you have the right to torpedo your own career that's your business but it's just a bad experience we rather reach thank you thank you for your comments appreciate it Miss McGuire hi vir McGuire 610 Bley a um I wanted to Echo similar um comments up here I ask the council please to not vote Vicky Flynn's Bill through um we're not here to pay mayor Fox's personal attorney pursuing our elected officials um also please to Echo um what Mr Kaplan mentioned please vote down the open public records act um resolution um I Mr Canon I have a question for you when it comes to taxpayers money and we ask questions about how it's being spent do are we supposed to V for that or is that information that should be readily available to us I mean the O statute speaks directly to that kind of information the burrow actually has turn over faster than seven days it's readily available in the system um you know I mean look it's a matter of preference about how your government runs not really the right answer Oprah Oprah specifically has a mechanism to obtain a information so certainly not an incorrect real okay um being someone in town who gets a lot of black in Oprah requested documents um it's a waste of my time to try to Oprah simple bills that I want answers for so the way missus was answered tonight was just very insulting to more than just missus I I take very personal insult to that as well um because it'll it's a waste of my time if I want to email an open request for a bill that I feel I'm just going to get totally redacted or said there's no responsive records it's so please just vote this resolution down uh to start off this way is just so disappointing but thank you thank you for your comments Titus julus it's five after I have been asking repeatedly at the council meetings I know the introduction for the bud uh 2024 is to be read in by title only um has the council been given access to the CFO to date yet no we have not okay then I request that the council vote no into the introduction of the budget thank you thank you any other yes Mr Coan uh Thomas J Coan six thirdd Avenue I Echo the comments about Miss Flynn's bill or mayor Fox's personal attorney he should pay his own personal attorneys I paid mine he can pay his okay and on this uh the the budget if you have not gotten access to financial real numbers not this mumbo jumbo you you should definitely vote no on that that would be my recommendation uh this whole thing about Oprah I I've filed suits against the town for the 50 60% redacted documents I've gotten I had to give my attorney the retainer okay I won the case my attorney was then reimbursed by the town so but the town lawyer gets paid to review it he gets paid to defend it in court and then he gets paid loses so it's it's and it's also embarrassing that the business administrator everybody complains there's too many opers that's why we're doing this things and then we're told to do overs it's it's really absurd but I'm not optimistic that Governor Murphy is is not going to sign it uh I would appreciate you to advise him not to because you know working for Goldman Sachs he had to work under the guidelines of finra the financial industry regulatory Authority which protects investors and Market Integrity he also had to work under the Securities and Exchange Commission which protects investors and maintains a fair orderly Market okay well now that he's at the top he can gut this thing and he has no there's no controls there's nobody representing us okay this is not public government they're creating a private government it's not for the people it's for the politicians it's really embarrassing the only good thing is that they they're taking away the anonymous part because that was comical on its face but it's going to scare people because you'll have to you'll have to pay your attorney if you don't get the documents that you're supposed to get you're going to have to fight to get them by paying your attorney people don't want to write checks they assume that government is going to protect them unfortunately they're delusional so no one's going to write the $2,000 check for the container and then they're going to be worried I could get Su I could get sued by the town for doing the Oprah well I got to tell you um it's quite embarrassing but I do want to read from uh the legislative findings njsa 47 colon [Music] 1a3 which state government records must be readily accessible for inspection copying or uh explanation by its citizens with certain exceptions for the protection of public interest any limitations to the right of access to government records must be interpreted in favor of the Public's right to access okay that's from legislative findings this is horrible and is is is really a black eye for for New Jersey so I would appreciate it on those three items the Vicky Fint thing if you could remove that um vote against this budget and let's let the state come in here we this has totally been done done improperly as a former councilman I am blown away by the horrible nature in which this Council has been disregarded and so have the residents and uh please vote uh no on the resolution to support the Oprah the gutting of the Oprah laws thank you thank you for your comments anybody else anybody on Zoom okay ordinances we have none deductions none adoptions none Communications of we have a hiring Memo from the mayor seasonal Beach staff memo cashiers and G guards as well as seasonal employee memo for DPW resolutions let's see um do I let's see does anybody want to do both these out separately the consent Nemo wasn't online what's thato I didn't find Nemo online oh okay it was I have it here was it online the shair of Republic yeah the memos were were posted with the rest of the documents on Friday our clerk says the memos were posted but it's a list of hourly rates I I can I can save it for you okay okay so consent agenda resolutions I'd like to discuss the bill list okay separately all right so let's go on we'll do that last okay so 20 24-17 approval for the Bradley food pantry Inc to conduct their Bachi tournament for Satur Sunday July 14th 2024 from 3: to 7 PM do I have a motion from the council actually oh I do oh I'm sorry I'm gonna do all three right a motion to remove um 116 first and then okay okay we move it to individual yeah sure okay um I'd like to make a motion that we remove the 2024 1116 Bill list May 22nd 2024 and do I have a second move individual individual thank you second Mr Noble yes Mr goosi yes Miss Mahoney yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused okay I'm going to continue on with 202 24-18 118 approval for the Bradley food pantry should conduct and on premises 5050 505050 I had a little dental work today so please bear with me I get I'm getting a new Crown it was a disaster okay approval for Bradley food pantry to conduct an on premises 5050 cash raffle for Thursday June 20th 2024 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and then also 20241 119 approval of a 5050 cash raffle license application for a paddle for Hunger a vendor of the Jersey Fresh Market event in rileigh park on Saturday July 6 2024 do I have a motion to approve make the motion oh okay I'll make the motion I'll make a motion to approve these um resolutions M Mr Noble yes Mr Miss Mahone yeah Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused you can't you can't do Giggles with me stop now focus focus okay Bist yeah uh comments for the Bist and um there is one specific three I'm going to dig into a little more but um but I wanted to just make a couple quick comments um one I I continue to notice and and Mr Canon and Meredith m DeMarco um I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page uh regarding Professional Services because um the council a year or so ago a year ago I guess um voted to reduce our Professional Services bid threshold to the $4,000 and none of us are tracking cumulative expenses and none of us as as amounts um show up on our bill list none of us necessarily know descriptions might help but we don't necessarily know if these are expenditures that tie to a prior authorization for example you know sewer sewer work or outflow pipe work or so forth um so you know there's large expenditures for for example CME and uh as a council we don't really have you know we have our memories and we can certainly ask M DeMarco a lot and probably weigh her down but we don't really have a good mechanism to help us identify once something's a new uh procurement a new purchase um I mean I'm not asking for an answer but a simple example is a Casia we have a $1,910 charge and I was wondering to myself you know would that put us over the bid threshold that there's already been $2,100 you know might in fact put us over the bid threshold so I'm realizing we set that bid threshold for the public to make sure um we did whatever we could to curb spending in that space in Professional Services space there's another I'm going to follow up on a couple of these uh you know after the meeting but there's another $619 charge to El Network consultant and I know that that's our it consultant but um my recollection is there was relatively I thought a reasonable annual fee that they that they bid you know entering the year and perhaps this is just one payment towards satisfying that fee but again I don't know and I it's a very odd number I wondered if perhaps we hire them to do additional work in I would just um humbly remind the councilman that if somebody has been awarded um for example CME is our engineer right um Mr um the it provider is currently on hold over status from his 2022 contract correct so they are all have been approved and met the I just yeah but for example if his contract is I'm making this up at $20,000 for the year and I'm making that could be 10 well his specifically is on a 2020 he's on a holdover status so that that vendor in particular this does not apply to because the council um approved them to be our it provider and then for an annual fee right correct but they're on their old contract because they're on holdover status just like Mr Canon is on his old contract because he is on hold of status is Mr Canon allowed to build the burrow separately for work he does legal defense he's yeah I have been yeah and I mean there's a number of professionals that essentially work on that basis here and although you're a hold over when you do that extra work does the council not have to approve you I usually keep my fingers crossed um so that is my question I mean they do but I mean at the end of the day you know like look I know there's a lot about this about this plan understand that but the you know in many ways by the time the bill is on that list it's a claim against the municipality so you know if you don't want to pay Miss Flynn the answer is don't hire Miss Flynn really at the beginning understand and you know and I know that I know that decision what have you we can debate that all night but you know the bill list is really a roster of the items that have already really been incurred my so Mr gon my understanding and this is why I'm raising this for I'm sorry can I go one step further for you that doesn't mean no one's tracking it so like all of these people you can see the vendor codes of the list and in edins you can get a report on on each vendor and then it tells you whether they you overspent the budget whatever's budgeted for them so at this point in theory if everyone here was getting along and everything was running smoothly yes you'd be able to have you know many different things but we have the the Professional Services were chopped up to the point where not really almost no one's over the bid threshold so you're really working on just a budget basis and so you know I know that's not the answer that you probably want to hear because I think you're driving at how do we keep track of this and how do we get a handle on it um but the answer is really all agree as a governing body as to who to use for what and when and not Sue each other and and things like that okay um you know overall that you correctly if I'm wrong that's really what we're doing we're operating on a budget basis but in a well operating Town yes the resolutions tied to the incumbrances tied to the bills and you could probably track it all back like a jigsaw puzzle and fit it all back together but no that's not the way this burrow is currently more importantly to I think Mr rosi's Question no if somebody's coming on in a professional service that needs to be approved by Council and only if it's over the bid threshold though no well 4,000 is our limit here iny Beach thank you and and even though even though we're not a well oil machine Mr Kon thank you for pointing that out um we as a council you know we've had residents in the room tonight say uh Council we know you can only legislate well that's true we can only legislate and when we legislate a bid Threshold at $4,000 we do that because even though we're not well oiled we want to know when expenditures are exceeding that amount the only person authorizing that would be the mayor or you know or or or the qpa perhaps but we don't not one item on this bill list has anyone ever come to me to authorize I don't I don't disagree with any of that I'm not telling you that that's amazing way to be operating here and I'm sure you know I'm sure the Amit loves operating as the of the my my point to is that you know think as a practical matter think of you have Mr Collins who's now representing the council against the mayor if one or the other could cut off the other's bills then that lawsuit really wouldn't have come to fruition so I mean what I'm really driving at is I understand what you're saying technically and in theory and Academia and in places that are operating more smoothly yes that exactly how it works but here this is a very unique circumstance and so um I don't know does the council have authority to disprove the the mayor's bills what would judge English say about that the answer is sitting here I don't know I've never been faced that situation before so I do agree that you're describing ideal best practice Municipal operations but I don't think that's what's happening my very simple understanding is a CFO should understand what the bid threshold is and should not be approving purchase orders over the bid threshold because he should know that he needs councel approval that's my simple understanding correct and that is the follow okay because if some of these invoices all the boxes have to be checked in idence the check to be printed so yes that it is happening in some regard okay so maybe we're better oyal than than we might have thought yeah I didn't mean to give the impression that it's all really nearly but I mean you know right you're in a difficult spot people opposite sides of an ey ultimately we have a job to do and all we're trying to do is our job and we're trying to curb or control spending to the extent possible um I mentioned Elicott Network for on page seven for $6,000 uh you know there continue to be fees for Mr Bernstein I I know he's a hold over I presume he's also uh and he did uh absolutely submit a proposal but at some point when he exceeds 4,000 I know he has I would think that should be coming to the council for 44,000 so when somebody's on hold over status it's no it's not the 4,000 anymore they're on their old contract it's not a new contract okay so the local public contracts law meets nothing even though they're a hold over I mean because they're hold so that's the that's the conundrum of Judge English decision from August of last year right he essentially said that that you have to comply with the local public contracts law which he just recited but these other parameters really don't apply okay now my and so then so then the question becomes who do you apply that to yeah okay well let's do Mr B just as an example not trying to pick on him but my understanding of local public contracts law we hit 44,000 bid threshold it's it's based on an aggregate of their fees is that correct correct so once so and and with Mr with Burnstein and Associates too there's you know we like to do things complicated here so they are oer attorney and they are our labor attorney so once they get to the 44,000 like in our labor attorney I can no longer use them as our labor attorney for the year we have to go to conflict we have to go to Mr Canon we have to go somewhere else so that's the threshold limit as a hold over something on hold over status unless we were to approve it of course right yeah if you approved it and then it would be a new then you'd be approving their new contract what about for Oprah there's a dollar amount in the contract is it also 4 the same the 44,000 and he's probably well exceeded that certainly last year I would think for oah yeah he's probably coming up on that now I don't believe he exceeded for Mr Burnstein always seems to come in right at uh okay okay I want to as most of our attorneys so for the benefit of the public I I personally would just want to do a better job keeping an eye on this uh I do actually a few residents commented on uh attorney Flynn's uh payment of $745 I've stated this before and I'm going to State it again that I do not think that attorney Flynn Spees related to the law suit that the mayor brought against his Council should be funded by taxpayer dollarss I have personally paid for private attorneys when I wanted to challenge our attorneys opinions not once but twice uh I've never sued the burrow but I have asked for outside legal opinion to challenge Mr Cannon or or Mr Bernstein in the case of the mayor's lawsuit this suit did not benefit taxpayers it benefited the mayor the mayor won a portion of the suit and he lost portion of the suit the buroughs taxpayers should not fund these efforts to sue the burrow in fact this Council strongly believed beles that we could successfully appeal the portion of the recent decision that favored Mr Fox our attorneys tell us we would have a very good likelihood for Success however while we believe our actions to modify our own ordinance language or legal we do not plan to spend taxpayer dollars to pursue this outcome it would benefit the council but it would not necessarily benefit the taxpayers and by the way the portion of the uh recent opinion that we won that under the mayor's lawsuit was uh our defense of Mr Canon that he should not be fired and we're not sure that even benefited the taxpayers at this point right Greg thanks so the I'll let you know so so and of course I Jess we many of us love Mr Canon however the point is anyone who wants to SU including me we can there's nothing stopping us from suing but nobody unless this entire Council approves it should be using taxpayer funding to do that uh I'd like to make a motion that we vote separately on the bill list specific to Miss Victoria Flynn esquire's $ 7,458 amount have a second second Mr Noble yes Mr gubitosi yes Miss Mahoney yes yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused yeah uh I make a motion that the buau council does not approve the payment to Miss Flynn for the reasons I stated moments ago it should not be funded with taxpayer dollars second Mr Noble yes Mr gubitosi yes Miss Mahoney yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused to put the rest of theill now y okay so Erica we're going to go ahead and 2024 d116 I make a motion that we approve the remaining of the bill list dated May 22nd 20124 second I let you do Mr Noble yes Mr goosi yes Miss Mahoney yes Mr Weber excuse mayor Fox excuse next we have the individual resolutions 2024-25 budget to be read by title only do I have any discussion or comments or questions from the council I'd like to briefly discuss excellent um me turn to my notes because I would like this to be read into the record um my 2024 budget comment is brief tonight simply put the mayor appears to be stalling to what end I don't no we have made no progress in six weeks of waiting six weeks ago I told the mayor that I could not vote for the budget unless I could access the CFO our financial expert I made this decision after spending many hours reviewing the budget and preparing questions only to receive use useless unprofessional responses not once but twice from a quote unquote team that the mayor had assembled I am not saying this budget is right or wrong good or bad I am simply saying that I do not understand it and I need my questions answered by our financial expert before I can vote for it again tonight the mayor placed the budget introduction resolution on our agenda unfortunately he could not be here to explain his thinking but ladies and gentlemen nothing has changed in six weeks no access to the CFO has been granted I went a step farther and I shared my quote unquote top 15 questions because I've been accused of asking too many questions with councilwoman Mahoney and I asked her to share them with the mayor on the condition that mayor Fox would simply Comm commit verbally commit in in email commit to allowing us to meet with the CFO the mayor has still not informed councilwoman Mahoney that this access has been granted it is inexplicable that's the end of my comment I would just like to I mean I'll pretty much summed it up I've been trying to broker something with the mayor to get time with the CFO um you know we'll give you par down questions if you give us some time with the CFO uh I got my part was getting paired down questions from from uh councilman gubitosi but I haven't gotten a commitment from the mayor to get time with the CFO that's where we stand we need time with the CFO uh there are questions that say this you know question will be looked at again in 2025 we're doing the budget in 2024 that's just an example of a question that just can't be sitting out there like that so I did my part he needs to do this and Al did his part by doing the questions I'm just the mid i' like to add one more comment too when I first was elected I took a course for the newly elected officials and one of the first things they said to me was the most time you're going to spend is on the budget it's going to start in the fall you're going to meet with the department heads you're going to meet with the CFO and you you'll make your decision by the spring but it takes a lot of work a lot of effort I've not met with anybody still last year we had a tax increase in our M Municipal Taxes of 13.2% this year we're looking at an additional 3.74% increase when does this stop we need the answers we need to talk with the CFO we just need to communicate what's going on I've talked to other Council people I've talked to other mayor in neighboring towns and they said if you have no access to the CFO you say no so I'd like to read 2024-25 budget to be read by title only do I have a motion to approve this um I'd like to make a motion see you can make a mo I can make a motion prove it okay you can say second I'll say second okay go ahead Sor second Mr Noble no Mr gubitosi no Miss Mahoney no Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused okay next we have another individual resolution 2024 -120 calling for the modernization of the open public records act Oprah and the Swift passage of s 2930 A- 4045 do I have any comments from the council yes go ahead councilwoman Mahoney well I have a comment from councilman Weber that I'd like to read um sorry I could not be there folks I'm in DC for work and can't duck out for a 4H hour council meeting I want everyone to know that I oppose resolution 120 on the agenda in support of the Reform Bill that just passed the legislation in Trenton this Council should pass a resolution earning urging the governor to veto this bill while I may agree that our Oprah law needs some reforms I do not think these are the right reforms that Oprah needs please don't forget that it is only through Oprah that we learned of the Bridgegate Scandal of the former Governor Chris Christie and a little closer to home it is only through Oprah that we learned of the horrific horrific Behavior of our own former police chief and we got to see it with our own eyes I do think there are abuses of Oprah we have experienced that in Bradley Beach with an anonymous Oprah requestor Making requests that cost the B thousands of dollars if not tens of thousands of dollars the worst part was that in the end we found out that the anonymous op requestor was sitting right up here with us on the de so I'm glad that we're going to reexamine this I have a small statement I believe in more transparency in government not less this bill serves to erode transparency in government access to information is critical to a society in ensuring their government is working with the voters best interests at heart this legislation seeks to go the people to indifference and indifference is all that is needed for corruption to take hold addition we've seen tonight that we have a dichotomous process that can happen from this Administration with regards to Oprah those are my comments and those of Mr Weber councilman Weber um com go ahead yes well my first comment is that I want to just praise our clerk uh because Erica uh in a matter of an hour or so uh created a new resolution for the council uh well we created it but you produced it and got it ready for us so thank you for that um you know the agenda was set last week we did we the council did not um have a full appreciation for what this particular resolution said once we saw it we immediately one by one one conversation after another agreed that um we did not support it so we knew we were going to vote no on the resolution that was shared with the public um I did not talk to councilman uh Weber who for the first time I heard he said we should propose a new resolution asking the governor to veto this bill we don't obviously that would possibly at least be a long shot to accomplish but on independently because councilman Weber was uh at his meeting in DC I believe uh independently this council did construct a revised version of the resolution that I believe we plan to approve tonight uh we did not have the opportunity to share this version of the resolution with the public and I my question for Mr Canon Greg as you know it's you know it's page on a third do do we need to read this into the record yes if it wasn't put online yet uh Erica can we ask you to read it or should one of us read it one of you can read it oh looks like obac you're holding it already right what's that you're holding it already right not only that I pretty much memorized the music stop you got it all right so we have a new resolution uh yeah okay um maybe that's a question for Mr Canon yeah vot will we vote great we need to move to amend the resolution whatever you wanted to say and then vote on it okay second motion to vote to I'd like to make a motion to amend 2024-25 45 second Mr Noble yes Mr gubitosi yes Miss Mahoney yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox you do this okay so this is the discussion phase of voting on the amended resolution and I'm going to read the amended resolution to the public I'll try to read relatively quickly I think you'll get a a gist of where it's heading but uh again calling for the modernization of the open public records act and this and actually we've got to change the title and the veto of uh but beyond the title everything else should be good whereas in 2022 in 2002 Lane Duck Session the open public records act Oprah was approved to make government records readily accessible for inspection copying or examination by citizens of this state with certain exceptions for the protection of the public interest while protecting a citizen's right to a reasonable uh expectation of privacy and whereas in 2022 lame duck section the open public records act Oprah was approved to make government records readily accessible for inspection copying or examination by the citizens of this state with certain exceptions for the protection of the public interest while protecting a citizen's right to a reasonable expectation of privacy and whereas in the 20 years since the enactment of Oprah with the Advent of new technologies we have witnessed unintended consequences and in some cases abuses of Oprah that place an unfair burden on local governments and taxpayers and I'm going to pause here to say what I just read to you is what was issued last night uh on Friday rather it's the same wording that's the introduction to this current state you'll begin now to hear significant edits and whereas we believe certain reforms are needed to address some of these unintended consequences and to create a more efficient and effective process that can ease the increasing burden on Municipal staffs and budgets created by volume requesters eliminate Anonymous requesters minimize exorbitant attorney's fees and curtail the use of Oprah by outside businesses and interest who oppose Oprah for who abuse I'm sorry Oprah for commercial profit and whereas despite its flaws current oper regulations provide invaluable transparency rights and protections to our residents which are the foundation of strong and efficient democracy and assures that their government is fair efficient and working for the greater good and whereas the approved Bill s 2930 A- 4045 would create unreasonable barriers for residents and journalists to access information that can uncover impropriety improper activity and wrongdoing in government and whereas Bill s 2930 ayen 4545 allows government entities to sue Oprah requesters who they believe are abusing Oprah and its intimidating effect will likely serve to deny people access to public records through fear of litigation and whereas Bill s 2930 ayen 4045 is is expected to cost New Jersey taxpayers $10 million to implement and will add significant annual increases in salaries for the government records Council now therefore be it resolved the governing body of the burough of Bradley Beach in the county of Mammoth respectfully requests New Jersey governor Phil Murphy to exercise his authority to veto Bill s 2930 a hyphen 45 45 sorry 445 and be a further resolved as local leaders we we reaffirm our support and commitment to open and transparent government and public access to records and we believe that bill s 2930 a445 will serve to erode The public's trust in government and be a further resolve that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Senate President scutari assembly speaker Coughlin Senator Vin goal assemblywoman Mar Margie donlin assemblywoman Luan Paul Governor Murphy and the New Jersey League of municipalities um and that is the writing uh that has been created to replace the original version so let's make a motion to approve the um and I made note of the change on the title thank you y of 2024 d120 amended version do I have a second second Mr Noble yes Mr goosi yes M Mahoney yes Mr Weber excused mayor Fox excused next we have 2024 121 authorizing amendments to the temporary budget any questions any comments from the council I'd like to make a motion to approve 2024 d121 do I have a second second mrov yes Mr ubosi yes m m yes Mr Weber um excused mayor Fox excused next we have mayor and Council reports we'll start with councilwoman Mahoney if you're ready I am oh good I am okay anytime you're ready anytime I'm ready yes okay okay um the land board met on day 16 uh here they me Memorial here they memorialize the approval of two resolutions involving uh bulk variances a minor subdivision involving 110 Second Avenue and 204 Beach Avenue and uh a bulk variance for installation of an Ingram pool with restriction of two family designation at 214 lorine Avenue also heard and approved approved unanimously that night were use and bulk variances for the proposed conversion of exist in bed and breakfast into a single family dwelling at 900 Ocean Avenue bulk variances for 415 Main Street a bulk variants for 110 Main Street the committee will hold their next meeting on June 20th and the environmental commission will meet on June 3 that's all I have that's great well thank you very much councilman buosi okay so once again uh as the liaz on to our Police Department I want to thank detective Lieutenant brownie for the summary that I'm about to read to the audience but the the police department is looking forward to a big weekend coming up um we don't have we the police department do not have too much activity to report since the last official meeting but it is as follows a local man was arrested for driving well intoxicated and also received several other motor vehicle summonses related to the stop police located a wanted person from Wall Township who had previously shoplifted from a store in their jurisdiction she was turned over to that Agency for processing in the spirit of shared services we the police department deployed one of our K9 officers to the Belmore SE Festival this past weekend to provide Safety and Security sweeps we also arrested two subjects on active contemp of Court warrants as as an aside um I believe uh we talk briefly with Chief Arnold U I'm still hopeing that we might be able to pull together a k9 presentation in our June 12 meeting a workshop it's a fascinating uh I haven't seen this presentation but I've heard the story about our Kanan unit it's a fascinating story and uh I encourage everyone to either be here in person or dial in Via Zoom uh to to learn more about our K9 unit um that concludes the police portion of of the report um so actually I take that back uh the police also wanted me to leave a message for everyone regarding the Memorial Day Parade U all Bradley Beach residents and visitors Please be aware that this Saturday May 25th so Saturday is the parade not Monday Saturday May 25th the annual Bradley Beach Memorial Day Parade will take place on Ocean Avenue at 10: a.m. Saturday 10: a.m. during this time period there will be no parking permitted on Ocean Avenue from 7 a.m. until 11: a.m. there will also be no parking permitted on Bradley Boulevard and the 100 block of Evergreen Avenue from 7 am until 11:00 am thank you from the police thank you for your anticipated cooperation and understanding and we hope to see you there um few more comments um we do have I I hope uh acting mayor Deno will make broader reference this but just while I'm talking about the Memorial Day weekend I just want to remind everyone we also do have a ceremony at Riley Park on Memorial Day Monday that should run 11:00 am to 12:30 pm at Riley Park uh a comment I want to make is regarding our fallen heroes uh efforts to enhance U our Memorial Day celebrations in in the future as many people know we are underway with our fundraising to enhance our celebrations of Bradley Beach's fallen heroes not only this Memorial day but every Memorial day going forward William Duffy from Brig is a wonderful resource who has been advising me and the burrow in our planning he has spent Untold hours re researching fallen heroes for many municipalities and is a wealth of information related to approaches and best practices mayor fox has agreed to allow Mr Duffy to work with a few of our local veterans uh veteran volunteers all of whom are well known in our community uh Bill shuck sitting front row Norm gar and George Bacher so they those three gentlemen will be working with Mr Duffy to determine to evaluate eligibility for this type of recognition in the burrow going forward um The Hope is expressed by the mayor the hope is that this Committee of four will be able to come up with recommendations probably no later than mid June maybe a little earlier if possible just so the burrow would have time to take appropriate actions uh moving forward um I want to make a comment about um selling the church at 319 Lorraine I'm told that a few signs have popped up on lawns in town saying something to the effect of keep your promise sell the church for the record there was never a promise to sell the church but there was clear guidance given to the mayor uh in October of 2023 as to how to move forward with this the sale of the church property unfortunately for seven months now mayor fox has delayed implementing Council recommendations to sell the church property our recommendations included one subdividing and deed restricting the land so Bradley Beach could retain control of the design and the use of this large line in a residential neighborhood two selling the land via public auction not via an RFB process three establishing requirements related to the preservation of artifacts and for the demolition of the property all of the council including mayor Fox agreed that the burough should not assume liability for the demolition of the structure we should avoid environmental risk and the risk of cost override by selling the lot with a preliminary subdivision and deed restrictions completed after 7 months the mayor has not yet made efforts to secure the subdivision with deed restrictions further delays have occurred because mayor fox has lobbied heavily to give away a $1 million lot from this subdivision in order to help the buau satisfy a three unit obligation for fair share housing the council has voiced opposition to to this idea because of the cost to the burrow and because of possible density challenges this solution might create for nearby residents if there are signs challenging the council to move forward please make sure the signs in your yard are directed towards mayor fox now you can handle that after got it still doing my comments oh greator acting mayor I'm sorry I I have a question okay no I think that's fine okay um I'd like to make a comment about local 152 I try to make a comment every council meeting about local 152 my heart goes out to this Union who have been working for almost a year and a half without a contract these are conscientious hardworking employees appreciated by residents all over the burrow and yet negotiations drag on as I said at the last council meeting with no end in sight again and I will try to say this at every meeting until it is resolved the council has very little understanding as to what the challenges are in these negotiations we are told there are impasses but when we ask for financial estimates regarding the impact of these impass issues we receive nothing we are not allowed to approach union members or Union reps in order to maintain mainin the Integrity of the bargaining process all that said the council ultimately must approve any contract agreed upon we ask publicly and I'm asking again tonight to be allowed to participate in the bargaining sessions and we are ignored in Prior years mayor englad enlisted another council member to participate in the process and results were achieved that satisfied both sides never did a bargain uh process go on for a year and a half I don't understand why the entire council is being kept at such a great distance from this process again it is inexplicable and that concludes my comments thank you oh no I'm sorry oh Lake I have one little blur on silv Lake sorry silv Lake uh liaison the Civil Lake commission has invited the Avon uh Avon by the sea environmental commission and the Bradley Beach environmental commission to join their meeting on June 19th at 7M at the Bazi Center here in Bradley the San Lake commission is continuing to explore opportunities to restore the health of San Lake which will likely include dredging of the lake some funding has recently been made available and secured and other efforts are underway to secure more Federal Government funding the public is invited as always is invited to attend the commission meeting so if anyone is interested in attending this particular meeting please remember the date Wednesday June 17th at 7M here at the Bon center now I conclude my comment okay wonderful thank you councilman gusi did M fox send any comments into you yes I there should have been something at the days for you okay um would you like me to read or yeah if you wouldn't mind that would be wonderful thank Fox had some comments for um the public this evening was unable to be here he said um his apologies for his absence tonight um a family matter has occurred he'd like to wish everyone a great Memorial Day weekend and kick off to the summer of 2024 um he asked everyone to enjoy the parade on Saturday morning at 10: a.m. on Ocean Avenue and enjoy the vendors on the romise and most importantly he asked uh to join everyone on Monday at 11:00 a.m. in Riley park for the Memorial Day ceremony thank you I have my own comments now uh the shade tree commission did not meet so I have no comments about that uh the tourism did have a meeting this Monday the mam County tourism Department sponsored the tourism rack cards that will be available next week at local businesses the library and the burough Hall Lobby tourism's first event of the summer is June 24th with Opera by the Sea at 6 p.m. at the Fifth Avenue beachfront gazebo the Board of Ed had a meeting last night May 21st President Elizabeth Franks thanked the Bradley Beach Education Foundation for their generous donation to the 8th grade Washington DC trip student representative Calvin Barnett gave an impassionate overview of all the activities and achievements happening at the school congratulations to Marjorie zacharo for 27 years at Bradley Beach Elementary we wish her well in her retirement and the board also thanked board member Dominic Carrera Carrera I added anothera okay as he steps down from the Board of Ed and resumés are now being accepted for the Board of Ed uh I do want to follow up with 319 Lorraine um it has been very frustrating I I presented this the council and I presented this idea of doing the for lot subdivision getting it presented to the land use board and moving forward with this and it's been a long process and nothing has happened since October and I recently had an email where it wasn't four Lots anymore it was three lots and I said oh please don't contact CME and make a sketch plot of this because it should stay four Lots these are all conforming Lots about one's over 7500 sare ft but then there was a new sketch plat made with three lots um it it's been frustrating and I I know I feel everybody in the in the public that there has been a promise from the mayor to move forward and we haven't seen it and I feel like maybe we should make a motion that we get this in front of the land use board and get the preliminary major subdivision plant approved by the land use board so would you like to make a motion sure um um I'll make a motion that the mayor and our business administrator and anyone else involved in the administration who's appropriate um bring this bring these issues to our land use board to to create a uh subdivision and uh deed restrictions as as we've discussed since October 2023 um to prepare the property for sale is there a second second Mr Noble yes Mr gubitosi yes M Mahoney yes Mr excused Fox excused I'd like to that be noted for four L not just the origal plan can you at least make sure because you're plan say four lot yeah that that's what yes lot yes that was did you say I did have that in my notes but thank you for reminding us and I do would like to Al also say we opening for public comments so um please um raise your hand come on up Cindy you're on a roll Cindy would can 284 that um thank you for bringing up that topic it was one of the concerns I had um because I know unfortunately it being an election year you know this is going to obviously be played as some type of a an issue um and the issue really lies that mayor fox has done nothing for four years um he railroaded the referendum we all knew he did um and at this point it's almost at the point you know yes it's great to put in a request to make sure if we are going to move forward it is for four Lots otherwise I would be saying you know push to just delayed at this point and almost start over which I would ha to say um it is uncons that the mayor feels it's his right just to take $8 million from the taxpayers and give away that land um yes I understand there may be a need to satisfy the fair housing requirement of three units when first of all there's other towns that have hundreds and thousands that aren't fulfilled why we're having this crushing rush to just do three is suspect at best um additionally that's lost revenue for us that's you lost continued revenue from taxes um like you pointed out that also becomes comes a density issue for the um surrounding neighbors um that's certainly not something that they bought their properties intending or thinking that would happen um so I would hope you definitely fight for that to be four lots and we all know with the prices of real estate um that each lot is worth a minimum of a million dollars so that is some certainly something money that we can use in our c for Bradley Beach since money seems to go missing very quickly here um additionally singling out but not singling Out Mr Margo it's unfortunate that she has gotten up and left during the meeting I would hope that that is um noted formally in the minutes um I almost at this point question why did she even attend our meetings there's there's a zero ad um and there's really no reason for it if we're not going to get answers and it's just going to be comments then let's move this meeting along and you know streamline where we can and there's there's really no reason to have her here um so certainly don't want her to feel uncomfortable certainly don't want her to feel that she's ever under attack um but like I said it's a zero value ad so maybe we just you know dispersive that and and not have to deal with any number we deserve better than that um again knowing it is going to become an election year I hope a lot of people are willing to step up and really fight for this town um you know we have to believe that the good the good guys win in the end and I hope everybody will remind themselves of everything that our mayor has failed to provide us uh while trying to of course blame the council when the council is a leg legislative body not the administrative so let's you know hold those accountable where we need to and I think you guys are doing a great job thank you appreciate it so thank you for your comments uh actually we'll go with Mr yes yeah Jim is 12 with uh in event that you have not checked your emails recently um I'm please to report that Ricky and I as requested submitted to Mayor and counil and acting business administrator Mar the requested are that was authorized and directed by resolution of adopted April 10th regarding doing a financial assessment of our silver system uh this is a pretty substantial job to do this but it was our commitment to follow through with that and now it's in your hands uh what's I think exciting to me is that through this financial assessment it will present an opportunity for the governing body to explore the potential to Pro provide Sewer Service more cost effectively it may turn out that what it says is we should not sell the SE system and that's fine but doing uh this RFP having a financial assessment uh shortcuts the process we will know up front whether it makes sense or not if it does then it can proceed to the next step and in that regard um Rick barel and I are as volunteer residents with a lot of knowledge and experience very willing and able to participate however it's determined we can add value as volunteers we would be pleased to do that uh the other is with respect to matters that relate to the budget and how this would play into that I know it's sense if just attending these meetings money to pay for this uh Financial assessment that would be for the financial advisor that would be hired should not come out of the general of the uh Municipal budget but rather should be from the uh sewer uh the sewer fund which as far as I know probably has about $1.8 million dollar in Surplus so considering this is for the purpose of evaluating the sewer system the money should come from that sewer fund not from the municipal budget thank you can we add this to the next meeting okay thank you very much for everything Jim we appreciate your expertise and your time um Miss green green BL sh green Chan off 414 Monmouth Avenue I'm going to Echo what council goosi and Council Den Noble as well as um Cindy had um mentioned but I'm going to speak as a resident so I have a prepared statement um about 319 line for the record I noticed two lawn signs pop pop up out of the ground yesterday about the ongoing issue of 319 Lorrain owned by the borrow since 2020 one of the signs read keep the promise sell the church and the other simply sell 319 line I have recently asked the mayor at multiple Council meetings on um on updates for dispensation of the church it is in the community's interest to sell off this property recoup the return made on the purchase take advantage of the increased value of the current real estate market and get the tax rateable uh the ball sits squarely in the court of the mayor and administration toward resolution uh the mayor skewed the initial uh interest in using the complex for a community center in 2022 with a referendum to spend 10 million doar to refurbish the building which we all know was voted down overwhelmingly in early 2023 the mayor got cost estimates for Demolition and sale by mid 2023 he conducted an engineering RFP with council's input to help handle Demolition and sale um but with no respect to the artifacts given this oversite and in the best interest of the residential neighborhood Council pushed back advocated for a public auction with requirements for biders deed subdivision of four loots and the stipulation that the buyer managed the demolition a public auction would likely Garner competitive bids and enable the borrow to get full market value on his property however the mayor and administration did not go forward with the luse board to implement the subdivision nor did they move on a plan for for public auction instead the community was told that an RFP was being crafted but so far that is not apparent concurrent to this was an idea floated by the mayor to sell one of the lots to a nonprofit specifically Habitat for Humanity at a below market rate and with the suggestion um that uh that one of the Lots um serve to satisfy the Burrow's affordable housing requirement two assumptions can be made with this suggestion first it would presume a variance and second that the property would sell at below market rate at the time this was discussed many concerns were raised as as to its impact on the single family nature of the neighborhood with Main Street regarded as a more appropriate location for fair share housing further the argument can be made that the burrow has not enforced the de developers of multi-unit construction to take on the responsibility of providing fair share housing the mayor's idea in having the burrow utilize one of these lots for fair share H housing is tantam to putting on it on the residents shoulders is this what the community wants so like those who post lawn signs I ask the mayor if we are going to sell then let's sell let's get on with this let's make the best decision for the taxpaying residents of Bradley Beach work with Council hammer it out listen to the community and get on with this Mr Mayor thank you thank you thank you very much for your comments Dr Maguire Dr Tom BR Avenue I had a few questions I hope we're answering questions tonight have a lovely um so I looked up the description of multiple municipalities in Jersey about the RO of the ba and every single one of 10 West Long Branch all of them they all say on it must attend all public meetings and all Council meetings so it's just funny if that is in our description somewhere do we know that do we have a description somewhere because I looked it up I couldn't find it Greg do we know if we have a description I don't know yeah I that didn't see it is there any way that since you legislators can we legislate something that will show the rules of ba what their responsibilities are um uh and I I am I hate legislating stuff like this this just seems like it's should be normal but I I feel like you need to because the last three one three four three I they barely ever left so and they also all answered question so that was my next question is there any way to legislate which I again just spy doing but since we are getting nowhere is there any way to legislate a section on the agenda for questions not comments can we change the agenda to not just say comments but questions also and is there a way to put in the role of the E that that they have to answer our questions you know because I I know she serves you guys in a lot since B Council and I I did come up with a loophole if we can't do that so we love loopholes here so if if she doesn't answer us doesn't she have to answer you so miss sh has had some questions if you then answer the exact asked the same exact question would she not have to answer to you and you are not responsible for oing I think I can't answer all your questions Tom some of it we'll have to discuss with Mr Canon but but um it was definitely we all try to manage the questions we all welcome questions yeah but we all acknowledge we don't always know the answers I I love and I don't know right I'm I'm I'm good with and I don't know I'm not good with go do something else and bother Erica give her some more work and give Mr bery more money that's that's what that feels like it's just and there's another challenge that you all of you might not think about in the you know you're all very appropriately asking questions that hopefully we can either answer immediately or or follow up with you but the council might not have one answer yeah why are you doing this councilwoman Den noo president and no might have a different answer than gboi and still a different answer so there's a lot of ch ments are easy to administer questions are infinitely more challenging yeah I don't think our anyone here wants to avoid questions but it's but it's a 50-50 bet at best that won't even be able to answer what I have advocated for and what I will continue toate for and I imagine the council will agree is to have a better process because when we don't have answers and that's legit um there you know somebody says we'll get back to you we'll follow and I don't believe we consistently do that we the the administr understand that so we need to have a better process okay um so I'd really like you to look into the loophole about you answering all those questions that I think we ask amazing questions I want to know those too um and yeah that's about Oprah and I just wanted to let everyone know too about the the Oprah bill that you guys are talking about that that bill was one of the key sponsors to that bill was the attorney that like Fox hired which is Vicky Flynn so she wants to take away our transparency and that is who he actually hired so he sh the show every hear who he's actually involved with um and the last thing is I remember last year that there was a big announcement and I and which I was happy about is learning who the Grand Marshall the Memorial Day parade this and I haven't heard anything about the Grand Marshal Memorial Day parade is this year and I know that was a it was a big thing you know it's a big deal to named who who it is and I remember uh Larry made an announcement of it and I what's going on I think the gentleman to your media write no ST oh okay I was all right I just thought it would have been more appropriate for the mayor to put that in his announcement not sure it was just you know the that's that's that's great but he's our mayor you're not so I didn't elect you um so yeah that was all and thank thank you for your comments and hopefully we can get you some answers as well vus as you all know I study the bill list and I am fully aware if I remember the numbers correctly that since May Mr Bernstein including this bill list has Ed $86,000 from our burrow now it's my understanding that he is also he's the opah attorney he represents us with the opras and the public and the negotiations for Public Works my question is how successful has has he been to serving our community and a positive just want to put that on oh miss met Ocean Park ons thank you so much for announcing people representing our burrow at this meeting I also know that Mr sh is here and he's he's affiliated with the Department as is Mr nanin so I kind of add them to my list of people that are here take it thank you no thank you my pleasure me too so people we I'm gonna say this but I so agree with Mr Cannon um because I think he understands what and stated more eloquently what I've been stating which is it all starts with the purchase order billis is an aftera we receive Services it's kind of useless um so again and I'm you know I always say to you you have to legislate and like you know Dr to I don't like to ask you it seems ridiculous but maybe that's our model we are ridiculous um and yes um thank you for bringing up BPW I would say like Mr Canon they're in a hold over contract and I wonder if they go to bed at night with their fingers crossed because they do have a year more than he does and um I think many people would agree it's despicable um I just want to say that there was an incident with the road on Ocean Park Avenue might have been nice I don't know what we use the website for and I can't spend my five minutes on it tonight but it would have been nice had that been posted on the Bradley Beach website I don't know why we don't do things like that um but then let's get into Oprah and the burough so I've said before you got rid of a portal I can't check I cannot independently find out about the status of the neighbor home and whether or not it's a registered renting so I did oah I was told I had Oprah by The Code Department I opened in December I so there was no registration three months later the code official did not reply to me so I over it again to see the current status perhaps it had changeed because I couldn't look at the portal I was told there had been no changes I wrote the mayor a letter he did not reply that was in April so then I was told there is no higher step to take so I thought well there always is a higher set though there's legal things so I needed to get my facts straight so I did another Oprah request in may see how things changed I got no reply so I sent an email saying did you receive this do you need another I got no reply then I made two phone calls I got no reply so I stopped in of course they were closed from lunch from 2 to 3 even though I left my bad went back Monday morning and I was told that the request had been received but it was sent to borrow Hall with who sent it to to the attorney now that's a problem on two levels which attorney I found out the oper attorney so now we're spending on money for something somebody can look up and say yes or no but I was told it was sent there because I made repeated requests yes I made three requests in five months to get current information that I could not obtain elsewhere when I said why did you not answer my email I didn't know what to say was the answer why did you return the phone calls I didn't know what to say so when you say you don't know like how can we cut that threo whatever increase I say it's with salaries and Personnel because from where I sit very few few of them do their work to high standards and with care why are we paying an opportunity to have a yes or no I'm not harassing I how would I find out if something's changed I mean there is a possibility that because I don't see why it's so difficult to call a property owner and say we understand you're renting it these are our procedures least comply you give them 30 days and if not you know there's going to be fines or other steps I'm sure it's all in a code somewhere so you know from where I sit there are numerous people involved in this that did not do their job properly and all I'm trying to do is have like my safety um piece of mind which I'm not even going to get get into the dogs on the beach the bicycle players on the boardwalk why bar sign says it's a boardwalk but the signs on the beach say it's a prade um you know that's all okay that's not as directly related to my neighbor and I'm sorry to use this time about my own personal thing however why can't we have a portal why is my neighbor's privacy trumping my privacy no no pun thank you miss m you bring up a very good point remember we had the sdl portal yes it was wonderful yes it had all the information you didn't have to over anything we need to bring that back yes I I've said it I've asked it I will bring it up with the mayor and we need employees to do their job if there's somebody how do you not call somebody back how do you not reply this is a good very good question say I don't didn't know what to say why don't you say well I sent it over toal say the truth the truth always wins well said my friend thank you very much do we oh one more okay oh Mr Shu yes Oney Beach just let why know I've always announced the grand Marshall even with the previous administration uh mayor engstead when he was mayor I would ounc as well and this year's Grand Marshall is BR Baker from Atlantic block everybody I think knows him and uh he is the Grand Marshal as well as the guest speaker on Memorial Day on Monday at 11 o' great Bill thank you Mr sh thank you for your service and thank you for Mr Baker service as well miss Maguire R McGuire 610 friendly a um regarding Mr Bernstein I'm sure the fiscal year isn't measured from May to may I don't know when it is but um hearing he's at about 86,000 I'm thinking uh maybe 43 for Oprah 43 for labor right under the threshold as we were told tonight so maybe it's important for the council to try to get the details like um Council toy was asking um about it adding up because it sounds like we're getting pretty close for Mr Bernstein um and regarding why we're paying him so much money for negotiating uh DPW dispatch Court personnel and clerical I believe I have that list right I try not to forget anybody because it's important um you know they there was a cry for help here from Nicole brownie representing everybody from DPW dispatch Court personel and clerical to for the residents to really stand up for them and DPW gets usually some really positive shoutouts on our community Facebook pages but it's been radio silence since they've asked for help so I'm just urging residents to please contact the mayor and strongly request that a contract gets done for them for last year because how do we even do a budget for this year when we don't even have a contract for them for last year salaries are one of our largest expenses in our budget so without that's just one of the minor but large pieces of why we can't even move forward in this year's budget um regarding the church information we heard here tonight um it's so frustrating that we paid CME to sketch something up with only three lots um we back in October I've I said this to Mayor thoughts before it was so refreshing at that meeting to actually come to a common ground about the deed restricted Lots he even said at the end of the meeting you know it was a positive perspective and to have the four deed Lots I don't even know if I'm saying this right but you know what I mean the four lots to sell this property um and then we were hit about rfps um Meredith DeMarco told us about rfps we were getting for this property I want to say in maybe February and residents have had asked time and time again what are these rfps what are they what are they and the mayor said we promise we'll share them and we kept asking and we got nothing about these rfps so um I'm all for people displaying their signs because I've got a few on my lawn however I pray that we do not go into this election season with this church dividing this town again it was the largest poison we had in this community and we just deserve so much better um if people want to put signs up mayor Fox stops stalling the church that would be a great sign because we have been asking you know the people who come to these meetings have been asking for him to move forward so I just wanted to put that on record that you know selling the the church keep the promise I don't know what that means I don't know who that is who it's talking to but I needed to put on record here where that stall is like other people have done the same um but I would hate to see that this goes right into election season and it becomes another poison to the community because we deserve much better than that um and I just wanted to reiterate as I promised I would keep doing um not only has mayor Fox been stalling this church property um mayor Fox was also the same person who um admitted last June I think it was that he moved money in and out of the tourism trust then come this year he took council president dooville off of Tourism liaison and appointed himself like this is who we're dealing with here time and time again um under mayor Fox's term we had $434,000 of covid funds that were given to us and there's nowhere to be found as well as million dollars from the 2022 audit so I just wanted to get that back on record thank you thank you very much uh Mr Coan Thomas J Coan six Third Avenue I want to thank you for your revisions on the resolution for Oprah and I do want to point out that Oprah has worked here in the burre of Bradley Beach because the op requests uh exposed the Sham of the Lobster Fest in terms of the the taxes that weren't tax documents weren't being submitted liquid licenses were being acquired uh with improper information and not truthful information that was from over it also exposed mayor Fox attempting to sell the sewer system and also taking meetings with developers to sell the DPW that would have never been exposed without opr and that's why they want to get rid of them and and it's really quite embarrassing but thank you for standing up um the other thing that I want to say I just could we have the record reflect that Mr Marco left at I already thank you very much um then um so those were a couple items but um the uh the budget is another thing we have a house fire here a financial house fire and we have a CFO for 10 hours this is the biggest problem we have we can't track money nobody can answer anything hire a CFO for $150,000 have them at these meetings have them in this building every day because that the house is going to be gone I mean it really is the and and the oversight is really quite embarrassing uh I do want to tell a story about why I love love the open public bidding process for uh the church property uh in in the middle 90s uh Belmar had a lot that they acquired through ta through tax foreclosure it had an old roomy house on it they tore it down they put it out for bid minimum bid 80,000 nobody bid I happen to read about it CL start I had a client looking for a lot I called mayor Pringle and I said mayor Pringle you didn't sell that lot uh would you mind putting it up for auction he said TJ love to so they put it up for auction my clients come in they put their $10,000 check down turn around six other people put $10,000 checks down my client bids it up to 92,000 it sells for over Ken comes over to me at the end of the meeting thanks so much DJ appreciate you helping out so that can happen here in the bar uh historically that's the fair and open hon way to do it let people come in write their check come in and bid I bid this that let's make some money for the B res that 13.2% increase last year thank you very much thank you very much any other comments uh Zoom no just a quick reminder that the parade is this Saturday at 10: a.m. and the Memorial Day ceremony will be at Riley Park at 11 a.m. and we will be honoring the men and women who died while serving in the US military we are the home of the free because of the Brave thank you everyone for being here tonight have a wonderful evening and good night I'd like to make a motion that we close this meeting second all in favor hi have a great Memorial Day Weekend everybody well done thank you thanks guys thank nobody got into it yes you guys are awesome what's that it's wh it wh