we're going to call this meeting to order this is the bunavista township uh amended regular meeting April 22nd 2024 we'll start with a roll call Mr krenzer here Mr Renard here Mrs Testa here Mr Williams here mayor reri here on January 9th 2024 notice of this meeting was mailed to the Daily Journal the press and duly posted in the main lobby of the municipal complex all requirements of the open public meetings act have been met in compliance with the Sunshine Law like to ask everyone to stand and salute the flag our dignitaries lead us to the flag United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all always going to defer that honor to a man in uniform uh number four approval of minutes uh mayor I'd like to request for them to be moved to the next meeting um we don't need a motion they're just not ready yet okay uh announcements presentations and discussions uh we have a presentation by the mayor on behalf of Township committee uh certificate of achievement presented to retired Deputy fire chief Herbert Herbert L Sykes senior this is just a talk um I'm going to go over some notes real quick because I don't want to miss anything and then we're going to stand up and give you the floor briefly get some pictures uh make sure uh we give you your just do for three decades of service to this community all righty on behalf of myself Township committee and our community as a whole I'd like to thank you for over three years of sacrifice and commitment and and service to this community um for the one or two people in this town that might not know this is a deputy chief Herby SES with the Newtonville Fire Company who served what was the the exact number I'm going to say three decades but it was a little a little bit more 33 33 33 years of service to this Township um nights weekends holidays you remain ready to go at a moment's notice when anyone in this community was in need I want to stand up give you the floor uh I thank you thank you immensely for your service uh we've got a very nice keep sake that I want to give you I want to get some pictures because I'm proud to stand next to you whenever I have the opportunity so come on down get on my good side get like I said on behalf of myself in Township 33 years 33 years feel like yesterday it all started blinking blink of an eye oh yeah you're jumping up so uh I I want to say I I think that the unique thing about what you guys do uh and I think every time you hear that that noise in the background and you guys are are thrust into action um it's it's never it it's never bright sunny days it's always the middle of the night freezing cold burning hot holidays uh it seems like the calls never are you know at 1:00 on a Tuesday afternoon it's always you know three three :30 a.m. on a Sunday y through there what uh what was the secret to to sticking with it all that time I enjoying I have been been enjoying being assistant chief for 33 years and I like to help my community take care my community and I U just I follow my brother he started out first as Chief and then I came as assistant came behind but he was in the ball before hour work well I'm going to say I'm going to say this that that men like you were cut from different cloth and and and tomorrow night I'm going to watch the rebroadcast of this with my boys and I hope that they take a little snippet from from you and your career what you did as a whole and hopefully that's something that sticks with them oh yeah oh yeah and I w't forget about my what's call my mut C slake and all other fire companies you know we we've been together for years and years and years and I open and pray that keep continue on who take my place you know serve them that we serve you know be me if I would done okay well you got a big Bank of knowledge up there so hopefully you stay involved because there's a lot to pull from from these guys that are going to come behind you oh yeah I I'm I'm stepping down I'm reti okay but long B if they need me I'm amen I appreciate it thank you thank you as always all right this is you thank you sir thank you sir than thank you you know our our fire departments are so so crucial to our community and so important to our community and you know everybody's so busy with kids with work with just all kinds of different things going on and it's just incredible that that you know you can be in in giving your yourself every day for 33 years so I I thank you very much so yep congratulations on a on a long long road there and uh and a good retirement now you can go to the beach [Laughter] now there you go there you go thank you for all your dedication and years of service Community I would like to make a make a statement uh I didn't never worked with Herby but I worked with his brother brother and uh matter of fact he was my boss for quite a few years and I would just like to say that the Sykes family is a is a asset to this community yeah absolutely this town is better because of you guys thank you y thank absolutely thank you uh right on to Mayer's report all righty uh a few things before we get to that I just also want want to personally thank uh her he's for uh 33 years of dedication and service to our community and um I want him to know that we all appreciate him thank you absolutely all right uh a few quick events that we want to plug um before our next TV night uh two more Saturdays of Earth month please take advantage of our uh opportunity to drop off this Saturday and next at our Public Works Yard on Union Road from 8800 to 12: uh please dispose of items uh around your house in your backyard around your property in an environment environmentally friendly manner um please take advantage of this and this is really kind of the the lead into our yard sale event that we're going to touch on in a few uh in a few bullets uh quick plug for our mentoring mother's breakfast at the MLK Center May 4th at 10:00 a.m. please RSVP by May 1st to reserve a seat uh this will be a an event to appreciate our amazing mothers throughout BBT as a whole featuring guest speaker Pastor Leon White of House of Faith Bible Church the event will feature a full breakfast and fresh flower so please put that date in your calendar um as we had mentioned our community yard sale May 11th um the event starts at 9:00 a.m. uh we will be there obviously earlier setting up um $10 to reserve your space is there a cut off Lisa to have a reservation in uh we'll take it up to the Wednesday of that same week okay so please RSVP by Wednesday May 8th and again this event kind of goes hand inand with our Earth month so you've got uh five Saturdays in a row to go through the the the junk throughout your house and anything that's left uh that's got a little bit of value to it please bring it to this event and and mayor the the team is cooking breakfast that day correct yes our menu will be breakfast sandwiches yes it's breakfast sandwiches not lunch this year breakfast sandwiches for the record and then lastly uh quick plug for our Memorial Day event this will be May 27th uh out front of the municipal complex featuring guest speaker uh John armado retired Air Force the event uh kicks off at 11:00 a.m. uh as always you guys will have that uh enormous flag out in front uh I think that the new I see your eyes are rolling out I'm hoping that we we we planned that in advance thank you but that is that's always a good event so please join us for the Memorial Day event May 27th out front and that's all I have we're uh getting into our busy season so we're going to have something just about every week in the next few weeks so uh please we have a full calendar uh please come join us these are all free events we love to engage with you guys so please come out and see us and that's all I have for my report tonight thank you mayor ordinances for introduction first reading there are none ordinances for public hearing second reading there are none public comment on current agenda items only in order for the committee to conduct the business of the Township in the most productive manner possible attendees will be given 2 minutes all inclusive to comment on any agenda items without comment or question from the committee but only on items specified on the agenda listed for the current meeting please step up to the microphone at the appropriate time and state your name and address for the record 79-20 is authorizing the payment of bills in the amount of $679,500 consent agenda includes items of business which are not controversial and do not require individual discussion a motion approving the consent agenda is moov seconded and voted upon as one item by the township committee if any discussion is requested on the consent agenda item it is removed from the consent agenda to the regular agenda 8-24 is authorizing the issuance of Street opening partments to South Jersey Gas 81- 24 is award public land sale on Dodge Street to David and Laura Schilling 82- 24 is approving a budget amendment chapter 159 Statewide risk control Grant 8324 is authorizing change order number one for the Reconstruction of Jackson Road Phase 2 84-49 85- 24 is appointing jir Richardson as full-time Public Works labor 86-24 is appointing Veronica farcus as part-time seasonal Public Works labor and 8724 is authorizing the township administrator to f file a warranty claim with certainty for Town Hall Roofing replacement system from 2013 we need a motion in a second to open to the public for agenda items only motion second all in favor I motion to close motion to close second all in favor I I I a motion and a second to adopt resolution 7924 to pay the bills motion to adopt motion to pay second pay the bills roll call krenzer yes Renard yes Tesa yes Williams yes reri yes uh motion and a second to adopt consent agenda resolutions 80 through 87 motion to adopt 80 through 8724 second roll call krenzer yes Renard yes Testa yes Williams yes reri yes item 12 our administrator's report um just wanted to say thank you to the whole staff um administrative staff and workers um departments uh that continue to do the you know mean proficiency um Integrity of work that is performed here in buis the township so um with that being said it's it's another great year into the record books and we're just right on for another one so um I appreciate again all the staff and uh I commend them for all the work that they've done thank you thank you that's my report we're going to jump over to item 13 the committee reports we're going to start with Deputy Mayor Ellen Testa well I really don't have much to report it's been uh pretty quiet around here except for the upcoming uh events that we're going to be having and again I want to congratulate our retiring Chief here than you uh we're going to jump over to committee man Aaron krenzer what do you have tonight all right got a couple things here um kind of let everybody know what's going on uh Public Works is growing we're excited there's a lot of uh some some new people coming in and uh we're excited to have them we're welcoming them with with open arms and you know the the entire team over there is welcoming with open arms also so you'll see a couple new faces around please say hello and and introduce yourself to them and that but they're excited to to come aboard with us um Public Works uh this week leaf collection Park maintenance filling potholes it seems like the pothole thing is just ongoing battle that we we battle each week there and I know the team is out every day doing that so any questions or anything please call Public Works uh report a pothole you can do it online or you can call into the office and and do it as well uh waste drop off I've been there just about every Saturday it's going very very well the team is taking turns rotating in and out and uh they're we got we got some stuff the dumpsters are full right now so but we got plenty of room so um you know thank you very much to the the team for that uh and again I always remind everybody about this each year but the farmers are out tractors are going back and forth they have all kinds of implements and equipment on the road just be careful when you're going in and out and especially with the sun rising and setting you know we can all uh we can all you know see and not see things in the road so just be a little more mindset there uh we had our zoning meeting last week a few uh new people on the board which we appreciate and we're very busy with applications uh the audit I mean you guys continue to set the bar each year so it's uh pretty incredible what our team does behind doors and and that so thank you very much for that and uh mayor just uh an update on Union Road four-way stop did we hear anything from bertino or anything new going on there nope so okay so we'll uh we'll keep monitoring that situation um that and just for everybody here that doesn't know the four-way stop at uh Landis and Union so um right by seavo and and that so we continue to have some uh some accidents there that we're investigating and looking at because it's a state road we're we're dealing with or County Road we're dealing with the county sorry but uh that's all I have so thank you mayor thanks committee man rard okay uh I would just uh like to say once again congratulations and you will be missed thank you okay and uh the only good thing I have to say is that they've actually started to partially fix the roads in Cranberry run yay oh congratul so it's not like you're driving through bayroot anymore what are what are they doing in there right now they're they're picking and choosing the worst spots and and I guess repaving sections I guess the park was too much to repave the whole park but there're they're they assess the the worst spots and they're digging I guess the surface up to the to the Bedrock or something and then they're just Paving but uh the with the part they've done so far is nice oh that's good you know got okay and that and I'm looking forward to the Mother's Day breakfast at Martin Luther King uh I'll be serving but I'll also be eating uh anybody that was thinking about going should go if you're a mother because it's Quenton Cooks you you you'll be full when you get that breakfast no one leaves hungry yes no one leaves hungry right that's about it thanks Kurt committeeman Williams yes I just want to mention again that we uh approved the budget on uh April 8th it was a penny and a half increase and um we were uh everybody was involved in that and uh it was a good budget um also the uh I attended the uh League of municipalities meeting on uh 419 and I prior to that during the month we uh attended the Atlanta County Association of Township officials Kurt and I attended that one uh and also I wanted to mention the uh Mother's Day mentoring breakfast also on May 4th and we're the uh environmental commission I believe is doing the uh plant swap okay I think yeah so I just wanted to mention that and then uh as you mentioned before the community arill on May 11th and I was pleased to re there was no recommend ation or comments on the audit for 2023 like last year thank you that's all I have squeaky clean thank you squeaky clean and congratulations again to her thanks John item 14 public comment the committee welcomes participation of interested organizations and individuals during regular caucus workshop and special meetings however in order to conduct a business of the Township in the most productive manner possible attendees will be given four it's all inclusive including all dialogue questions and responses from both the speaker and the committee for the designated public portion of the meeting there may be no transference of a speaker time to other attendees so please step up to the microphone at the appropriate time and state your name and address for the record we need a motion and a second to open to the public motion to open to the public second all in favor I I if you don't mind just turn that microphone right around please perfect good evening everyone my name is Darth Manera and I'm here on behalf of my mom Rita schaer who lives at 7:37 Main Avenue um and as you are all familiar because I've been here several times over the past few months um the individual that purchased a piece of property next to my mom Deana D is still living on the property he is fortifying it I believe that um Julie erses just shared an article hearded on the news of an individual in egg Harvard Township by the name of Prince block who was had to be forcefully removed from a location in Egg Harbor that situation is very similar to this situation that's going on on Main Avenue um just to kind of update you um I had sent an email to Lisa and others including D Department of Health um Pinelands I think the health department was on there and Animal Control just for a general upate about what I see um on the property but that was on April 10th since that time he has stockpiled additional tires on the property um He is building inside of the buses he has two very large commercial buses parked on the property basically make like a wall in front of his um camper he's built additional livestock pens he now has about 20 ducks there are dead ticken chickens stre about behind his um camper he now has a washing machine behind his camper that is electric but it's an old style round like upright one where he is washing clothes and discharge is going on the ground and I contacted the health department about that um I'm also concerned about the children um there are pigs theft chickens a dog um guinea hens four four or five sheep they are all within an enclosure just a little bit bigger than this area here and they're defecating in the area the kids are in the area they're walking in and out of the camper there are also about seven cats in the area um it's it's there's trash piled up by the door I'm not even sure that they put trash at the street uh he just received a huge pile of wood chips that they have begun spreading around the property where he had Vehicles stuck and so he's filling in holes with the wood CH chips and continues to access the property by way of the power lines he doesn't have a driveway back to his um his location he um has also had individuals there at night which I think I mentioned the last time and the very odd thing is that he only operates at night I I rarely see him my mom rarely sees him outside and then again you know I'm planning on going to Hamilton and filing some complaints this week because the vehicles on the property are abandoned I don't know if that's of any concern to the township but I do believe that there are various Township ordinances here that continue to be violated and I'm really pleading for your help in trying to address the situation and I know that you had all asked me to speak to the sheriff and the state police I have a meeting tomorrow with State Police um again he's a sovereign citizen he does not have a driver's license he's got um child um welfare charges against him he is a convicted felon um his wife also had child endangerment charges against her I found this out recently um from Pennsylvania I also spoke to Millan school and they the children are registered under the lot and block they are not even utilizing an address because they don't have one now I understand you know the children are definitely of a concern for me too and you know they're not involved in this equation as far as I'm concerned other than their there but the fact that this individual is residing in our Township with no address and he just continues to make a compound in my opinion um I really believe that this needs to be addressed and more than just me trying to go to each individual agency and I'm pleading for you all to come up with some type of collaborative effort in a meeting so that everyone can get on the same page about this so we don't have an incident that occurred like occurred har Township Matt well we can continue to coordinate with all those groups and there's been the the township has taken the enforcement action that falls within our jurisdiction um and as you're aware probably aware uh this person as you described doesn't doesn't subject themselves to the jurisdiction which which is is um problematic um there are ultimately enforcement mechanisms through the court system that that'll have to take place that that we don't directly control but um th those things are are underway and I understand uh your frustration with the with the pace at which some of these things happen with with regard to the wall you talked that that was being built is that's a structural wall what no I'm I'm saying that he uses the buses the buses in a corner of the property and that's an obstruction yes okay um I know for a fact that inside of one of the buses even though it's a little bit older there is a reloading station within that okay bus all right I I know the the concerns the safety concerns of officers are known to the state police uh and the just the Tactical uh disadvantage that that creates and uh you know we were they are aware of that um what the next step is is like you said we're involved some are all of the the the agencies you've laid out what response if any did you have you gotten a response regarding the discharge of of the gray water oned to the property the health department went out um this is going back while they're going to go out again and they've been very responsive and I advise them of the washing machine so they're going to go out again and they're like I said they're also dead chickens there I just you know if this was next door to any one of your houses this is my mom okay she's 80 something years old and this individual she watches this out her kitchen window and I really have been holding off and trying to go and file complaints or pushing it further with him because I'm concerned about her safety I did not want him taking any retaliatory measures towards my mom or my brother who live on the property you know this this is at the Forefront of our communication between us all and all the jurisdictions that you have discussed and and you know just recently I think Lisa you can kind of fill in on exactly what had happened um recently with your involvement um I sat again in court for over two hours today in which he did not appear and that was for his um failure to appear um at this point I'm waiting for direction from the court to their next step um it's up to the judge whether the judge issues a warrant um but again that's only going to go so far because even if there's a warrant issued and they go in and and he bonds he's going to be back out um that doesn't cure the violation uh the violation will still continue those summonses will still continue in court um we have no mechanism to physically go on the property ourselves and do anything and that's been the issue is that we're just literally paperwork and Court appearanc in this guy to death which means nothing and IID asked that question to Matt earlier I mean this is really ultimately you know probably a dozen or two or three non- appearances to to becoming anything actionable and at that point I still don't know as far as actually physically curing any of this whether it's us the health department uh D pin lands I don't and that's been the openend question yeah we're coordinating with all them I know Lisa has spoken to several of the agencies as have I um and you know we as you aware sometimes we get up to the the brink of um potential enforcement and there's an issue or whatnot but but uh we'll continue to to bring these concerns as they change or grow so to speak to to everybody's attention uh again particularly the number one being everybody's safety you know people in in the neighborhood but also the responding officers who who do end up on the property right absolutely you know we we welcome anybody to move to univisa Township within reason with the right policy procedures and that and this individual does not have that so we we've taken the stance of of doing everything in our power between committee and And discussing with the appropriate agencies in that uh accordingly I mean you know you're absolutely right it's disgusting and it's terrible we've lived here since remember I grew up here and on Main Avenue at that house where my mom lives now and my mom is a hard working L my parents they were bluecollar workers they poured everything into that property and now this trash literally trash is living next door not even in a house not even legally paying a minimal amount of taxes yet getting education for his children and it's ridiculous I mean that really just burns me up when someone like my mom has worked her whole life to have a a property and so I'm just really like I said I'm pleading with you guys because her property value is also going down and you know I just I don't know what you know what the remedies are here other than legally but the fact that he doesn't have a driver's license and he is a convicted felon and has child welfare charges that were um recently they're even as recent as March of 2023 because there's so much trash on the property and it's blowing around so I can find out as business by simply going out the door picking up trash off the ground Lisa are you in contact with her as far as any updates that we get yes um I'm in uh contact with Dorothy and you're a brother as well he comes in and my brother has a lot of pictures and and my other purpose in just coming to the meetings is to just get it on the record every month just for updates so I appreciate your time I mean this definitely sets a record in terms of just infractions and agencies that this spans uh this is kind of definitely a unicorn scenario this is in one way shape or form um I I mean broken about just every law code uh that you can possibly do a as a land owner from the you know the the the animal portion of this to the the D the EPA the pine lands Child Services Animal Control the municipality and it's just like I can't even imagine how I've been on the phone with the station Commander about this for for you know two hours collectively over the last month and a half and we're just not to a point where there's enough in their eye severity you know to do anything more than than literally talk to him or if and when it does get to a point you know probably detain and he's back home in an hour I mean and to your point I look at this the longer that this continues to go on if and when you know he finally does go somewhere else you know it's going to be you know a year-long process and and probably 50 dumpsters for for us or whoever comes behind him to clean this property up and try to restore it back to what it was after the fact I can tell you he I know he has no intention of leing that property he's if he leaves that property one he's going to be in custody or he's going to be dead and that's what's going to happen I'm sorry to say it but that is exactly what I see going on there so Dorothy you have a meeting with the state police tomorrow you said so will you update Lisa on how that meeting went yes for us please okay please thank you all y Dorthy we're this is our this is very important to us so we're we're on it okay thank Imagine This all right anybody else I'll ask for a motion to close I a want to see come on up come on up come on up come on my name is Je I think we're literally ready to bang the gabble we're good to go thank you sir always a pleasure thank you thank you [Laughter] uh I need a motion in a second to close to the public motion to close to the public second all in favor I item 15 there's no executive session so we can adjourn a motion and a second to adjourn motion to adjourn second all in favor I I thank you guys