good evening everyone today we have a regular meeting of the city council the city of cap may we are here in the Cap May City Hall Auditorium pardon me today is Tuesday February 20th 2024 the time is now 5:03 please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance I IED aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for thank you under the open public meetings law notice of this meeting was sent to the Kate May County Herald in the Press of Atlantic City and a copy of the agenda was delivered to each member of city council posted on the Kate May City website and the Kate May City Hall bulletin board notice is hereby provided that Kate May City Council meetings are audio recorded and video streamed live live video streams are posted to the Kate May City website the city of Kate May is not responsible if audio recording or live video streaming of a meeting is unavailable roll call Deputy Mayor Baldwin here council member McDade here present via telephone council member Meyer here mayor mik here council member Jagger here city solicitor Gillan Schwarz here city manager Dietrich here and in the audience we have Deputy city manager Justin rigs any additions to leud council any additions dels Council no city manager updates thank you um well if anybody's been tried to go down Texas Avenue this morning uh yes we are in the process of repairing a sinkhole that was uh found several weeks ago uh there is a hole both in the county drainage pipe and uh the city's sewer pipe so we're making those repair hopefully they will be done uh this week um and we had to kind of complete this work in advance of doing the sewer repair work on Lafayette because the DeTour for the Lafayette traffic was going to be through this area so we're getting this all buttoned up uh this week and then we'll be getting rolling right into the uh change of traffic detour on um for Lafayette Street sewer repair and hopefully we'll get through this with as least least pain as possible um and then I I did can I ask you one on that so what's the expected date now for the traffic to have to go toward Washington uh that that'll be a we're anticipating a six to eight week okay time period I mean when would that start that would start it'll probably start that if if if we get done this week okay we anticipate Monday next Monday depending on how those repairs go uh they're going to roll right into that and set that that detour and change of traffic patterns up that detour will be obvious to everyone but it's a significant one as soon as you go over the little Bridge you're actually going to make a left before the Tuna Club there you know toward the Riggins and go around and then there'll be two-way traffic on that section of Washington Street sorry to interrupt that's fine um and then the other thing I I did make a present or at least a report to at the um bike and pedestrian uh committee last week that the uh the county is moving ever closer to installing a roundabout yes we're getting a roundabout down this way at the intersection of uh West Perry Myrtle and park um out there so that that will probably be coming next year I would anticipate I think they got the last issues um worked out with one of the private property owners and some parking issues um but that project has been long in the planning and uh it looks like it's going to be moving forward uh maybe next year okay anything uh city solicitor just wanted to briefly report to council we received a favorable BPU uh determination uh last week on our petition for eligibility for the ADI program which essentially is going to provide some funding for the solar project that the city undertook so that was a good order it was along with other similarly situated applicants so I just wanted to report that good news to council that's great okay on to ordinances for introduction yes Council we have and uh just as really a cost savings and u a Manpower uh savings um to uh look at having direct deposit required for all uh city employees um it it is a lot of additional work and cost to have the checks you know curried down here stuff them in envelopes and then obviously distribute them uh during the the pay period as well as potentially then mailing all of the pay stuff Subs to an employee that's currently you know not not around um there's also an additional because of our fraud protection with sturdy any check that's over $1,000 has to have a a positive pay uh correction where sturdy calls City Hall to verify uh the check and check amount to make sure that it's not a fraudulent check so uh it could cause uh an interruption for an employee if if he's trying to cash a check during off hours or on the weekend where that can't be verified with the city it could cause a delay in them cashing their check um so just for overall efficiency and cost savings we're looking to move this forward great any questions go ahead yes I do mayor thank you um under the local Finance notice that where this came from uh where it says we're allowed to do this on the back side it says that um I think it's said the back side I'm sorry I think it says somewhere in here that uh seasonal employees emplo es could be exempt is that something that we look to possibly allow we'll take that on a Case by casee basis I mean obviously we want to encourage um you know to be honest that's where we get a lot of our potential problems uh whether it's uh distribution of those checks or those seasonal employees tend to be more frequency of losing their checks and then us having to reissue those checks and go through that process so uh you know we're going to do everything we can to you know I mean there is an allowance in the ordinance for season person especially a part-time seasonal person um but we're going to encourage especially in today's Days an age of you know electronic submitting of checks that to have it uh get as many people as we can sign up for a direct deposit councilman Meer it's framed as sort of an opt out so seasonal employees may be exempt they can just submit a request to the city manager's office saying hey could I get a check instead of direct deposit okay thank you and you know we we have a fairly large number of UN cash checks which trust me are a very big problem yes okay I know that too any other any other questions or comments roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member mcdan yes Deputy Mayor Balwin yes mayor mullik yes thank you we have an ordinance for second reading and consideration for adoption this is 525-2244 and ordinance amending sections 482 and 525 of the Kate May city code to update policies and procedures for the protection of trees in the city of Cap May and there is a public hearing tonight mayor is anyone here wishing to speak on uh ordinance 525 that's this is the ordinance on trees yes please come to anyone else and would like to come up to the microphone state your name and address for the record yeah this brings our ordinance closer to the West Cape May ordinance closes a couple of loopholes in uh our present ordinances we have uh and provides for a tree Bank uh trees that were into footprint of the house driveway and garage before were just lost trees now the homeowner or the developer would be required to plant a tree for each tree lost into footprint or within six foot of the uh of the development or house uh and if it can't put them on the property it' be required to give us money to buy replacement trees for use elsewhere in Cape May so this uh provides us with a little bit of extra money and I want to thank our Council representative Shane Meyer and our City attorney for all the work that they put in on changing developing this ordinance great thank thank you pardon thank you Jay and thank you thank you for all the hard work that you and your U my yeah all my committee the whole shade tree commission put in a lot of work on this back and forth and I thank the the uh forbearance of the City attorney uh as the suggestions flowed back and forth at three or four meetings that we had so thank you very much thank you any other uh comments from the public please Martin van walam at 329 Congress Street a few months ago we lost a very Majestic maple tree to a project next door um and in reading the ordinance um there's nothing in the ordinance that would preent prevent that from happening um from the cha Tre commission meetings which I do listen to in my lengthy drive from Massachusetts um I've learned a lot uh I've learned that the tree roots can be compacted when Machinery is driven over it um that's happened to us this spring uh the tree had a bad summer but it was also bad summer for trees um we were concerned about the tree we spoke with the homeowner the homeowner spoke with the Mason that had been hired and the Mason assured them that they would take precautions to not injure this maple tree until the bco came in and completely severed the roots of the tree within a couple of minutes and the tree was irreparably damaged we had to take it down um there are two sections in the uh proposed ordinance that could be uh there could be a delineation for trees immediately adjacent to the the the project property where the tree protection zone or TPC tpz could be extended so that a fence around for example this maple tree which was at least 40 feet high a semicircle of that same fence that's contemplated by the ordinance could be put on their property to protect that tree even though the trunk is on our property I did mention this to the shade tree commission last month um the the response was very favorable um there's one very minor mention of adjacent properties but I don't think it's enough to get notice of people that are reading the ordinance to know that um they need to take precautions to protect the root structure of a tree that's immediately adjacent to a to a project can I ask a solicitor do first off do you agree with that if you don't mind me asking well this is this is establishing uh something that didn't exist before uh the tree Pro protection zone is is included in the um landscaping and zoning and planning element of it it's actually Incorporated in both sections now so when you're doing a project there should be some tree protection incorporated in your Landscaping plan um I I I I have some Reser a about the going on to the non-applicant property to do those types of things not saying it's can't be done um it's certainly not contemplated in here what this contemplates is if a property a is doing a project property a is going to comply with this ordinance and that includes the tpz um it's it's something if you if you want to expand that concept from what's in here I think what's in here is pretty robust though there's a lot of language from what about penalties when it's clear that you've killed your neighbor's tree um that if you if you take down a tree without a permit you can be subject to enforcement under this order well it doesn't sound like they did it without a permit in this well so the the landscape plan would not include my tree right okay because the tree is not on on the on the property itself um we've done our research by state tree law they are allowed to cut the roots just like you're allowed to cut a branch um it's unfortunate that that's the way the state law is is is written but that's the case we're allowed to recover damages for the tree that we lost from our neighbor which we don't intend to do we have a good relationship with them and it wasn't they doing it was the Masons doing um I understand not wanting to go on subject property that's why I mentioned putting a semicircle on the subject property to around the tree which would not disturb my property but would still put that post and rail fence that's templated by the tpz um in place letting that Mason know this tree has been designated as one by the shade tree commission that needs to be protected um and therefore if for example there is going to be construction of a retaining wall as was the case here we would at least be notified there would be a conversation so that we could understand and not just show up one day and find out we have a tree that's going to die well I I would just that's an unfortunate example but I think that this is gear geed towards addressing that very issue there's a the default here is a 12T I think uh calculated by multiplying the I know you know this more you read this but um multiplying the diameter of the tree by 12 generally that's the area and dimensions of the tpz however when the zoning planning board or the shade tree commission which is usually going to be the case as reviewing that they can say you know looks like you have some other adjoining elements or existing elements ments that should be further protected so there's some flexibility in the language to tailor it to the specific piece of property which is I think um is Martin's concern I I completely agree with that um but zoning and planning are not going to visit the property and look for trees on my property whose root structure is on theirs if we were to include something to the effect of um including trees immediately adjacent to the project site uh whose root structures are significantly under under the the uh the subject property calling it out in the ordinance um I think it there would I think the our tree would have had a higher likelihood of of not being affected well I think I I think that that's Incorporated in here actually because I'll I'll read you the first sentence tree protection Zone shall be delineated around all trees to be protected during a project to limit root pruning and restrict traffic and material storage so I don't I don't read that as excluding I I don't either but the person that's reading it I'm telling you that I wrote it so that's that's not limiting to it so and the intent here was that the the goal of this ordinance and this is for the world to hear okay the goal of this ordinance is to protect trees in the city of Catman some towns don't bother to do this so when there's language in here about let's protect root damage uh root un unrestricted root pruning restrict traffic material storage I don't read that to being only that one so the the city has the authority to say you know what there's a there's three old growth Maples in the vicinity of this and all those need to be protected I think that that flexibility the flexibility you're looking for is there it is there I'm I'm suggesting that by calling it out as being including trees immediately adjacent to the property it draws attention to it that was my my recommendation um thanks for your consideration thank you um uh just so I finish this thought because I forget apologize is that is there a minor sentence that could be added to that to reflect that this is all trees that may be affected by the project uh my concern with tweaking this right now is that you're going to set yourselves back on adoption the the purpose we've discussed many other additions to this uh ordinance over the last few months it took many months to get to the where it is at this point and it's still going to take another month before it becomes enacted into law um some one of the things that we discussed as a commission was that this is going to be the new starting point to add to so we are concerned we are aware of these other concerns and we are aware that there's probably going to be future tweak into this but we wanted to get this started before the spring I I think it's a good idea to personally to pass this this evening regardless but knowing that we could make an amendment to this and while we're discussing it tonight obvious L talk about what that might sound like I'm I interrupted you no that's okay I'm sorry um I I like the idea and we'll go back to the Shater commission for some of the other um uh you know kind of tightening it up a little bit more I agree with approving it tonight um but my bigger bigger question is is if you have adjacent I mean I know Mr van wsom said uh you know what is the law state as far as you know cutting those roots I mean if with this supersede that or are we allowed to supersede that yeah are we allowed to I mean where are we legally with that sure I mean there's like I said some towns do not have these additional I'm sorry I keep leaning back when I talk um some towns do not have these additional layers of protection we have the authority to say hey we don't want to do unnecessary um removal of trees and we want to have Protections in place so don't see those things as there are state regulations there's also state regulations regarding the types of activities that require license shirt to do but what we're doing is filling in an area where it's left to the discretion of the town I think so um I I think a lot of this too A lot of the concerns that come up in this context are not in the absence of a regulation to enforce but it may it may be you know you know an Enforcement issue on that end because we really are this is really a restatement of a lot of the things we already have on the books and adding some helpful Provisions such as the tpz and things like that to give more protection throughout the process adding things like at the beginning of the permit phase um and this goes and I and I hope nobody misunderstood this I I was not poo pooing Mr van wome's comment I was trying to find a way to look for it in the ordinance because that's really the goal here is to prevent unnecessary damage um but one of the things that the city manager mentioned is it we already have here um an indication at the application Phase are you is this project this new deck this new garage this new house is it calling for removal of trees on site and if so there's those need to be accounted for in here one of the things we could do in the application process is ask for you know that that type of information that will allow the city to process it you know I mean we could also ask for you know within 10t of the property line location of any trees that are greater than 6 in in diameter to show that as part of their just like we asked for on all site plans topography within a certain you know dist just to look at grading and and those kinds of things so you know we could look at it so that way if it's a zoning or planning board Zone board application when shade tree gets that that application they'll be able to look at the plan really quickly and say oh there's a tree within so many feet of that and then make that recommendation to the plane board that a tpz needs to be accounted for on that now it still may be something where for for what we just described if they're having to put a retaining wall on the property line for grading and draining purposes you know that may be a necessity item that may have had to have gone there for grading and or flood protection so this tree might have had the roots damage irregardless but if it's somewhere where maybe there's nothing else but in the it's just in the lawn area and you want to protect that so that construction vehicles aren't driving over the root Zone you know that's I think as much of a protection that we want to look at doing as well as looking at is there a direct impact as well as the indirect impacts there there are multiple parts of of this ordinance you know the ordinance is our side of you know creating the letter of the law there is uh enforcement side there is application side might be other things I'm not mentioning but the application process is really you know dovetails with this ordinance you know we need to add more requirements to the uh application process uh and make it again make it lot like westc may but one of the things we're thinking about looking for is asking for some kind of diag sorry diagram of the property and where all the located trees are so that way we have something in our records when someone's walking their dog down the street after being gone all winter long and saying hey I think there was a tree there we have that kind of record to look back and say where did that tree go when when did it go and why did it go um so there there's more that we need to add to the application process as well and that's what we're going to be working on next as a commission that's great any other public comment Jules ra 1010 New York Avenue more of a question the adjoining property 1000 New York Avenue which has been under rehab for the lat almost three years they put a line of Le and Cypress and I'm assuming a Le and Cypress is determined to be a tree and not a Shrubbery um when they planted it they planted I believe 15 of them one and 1/2 foot on Center one and 1/2 ft uh inside in their property and I want made a comment to the planning board that that really is a fence it is not just a landscape aping of trees uh the the planning board had no interest in even thinking about recognizing Landscaping as a fence we're faced now with a c situation where the trees are now between 8 and 10 feet high they are a solid Mass the tree uh trunk they they've grown to about 4 Ines in diameter um the growth of Al and Cyprus is significant particularly when there's enough moisture uh those trees are being trimmed at least twice a year now uh they don't uh infringe on our property line I've talked with the owner he said I'll maintain the trimming of the the foliage so that it doesn't extend beyond the property line but now we're faced with a line of trees that are solid and U having dug on my property the the roots from those trees are are probably four to five six feet into our property and um they're they they if they aren't against the foundation they're very close to it I don't know how you would address this kind of an issue but uh I know I have the right to do a a uh a root trimming or root pruning uh as well as the the the area above the property above the land H how how does this come into play or doesn't it come into play with the proposed ordinance well this deals with removal of trees so um I can't I can't render legal advice from the desk up here for your tree issue but I you know you property owners have private property rights in terms of trees that may be encroaching on their property I'm not that's a more com you know complex discussion than what we're talking about right here this is about removing trees as part of a development application as part of a routine removal um removing trees from the right of way as it relates to you or anybody else and their neighbor um I wouldn't automatically leap to the conclusion under this that you can just remove or substantially intentionally damage a tree these are uh Provisions that are designed to protect and preserve trees though there may be some elements of pruning required ired that's a conversation really I think this ordinance doesn't go into great detail and I think assumes that neighbors are going to have a conversation about their property lines before resorting to this or or some removal application well I think it's it's an issue frankly that should be looked at because there are more and more properties that are using trees as a as a form of fence to gain not just the 6 foot high fence which is which is permitted but these things are are going out of sight on the odd thing is the property on the uh the next to next to me the the trunk is over 20 the trunks are over 24 in they're Le in Cyprus they're 70 feet in high or to 100 feet high they Encompass all the the electric lines we we experience almost a fire every year um so it's it's something that if we continue to allow someone to put a line of particularly Leal in Cyprus it's it's an issue I think it should be looked at thank you very much if there's any issues with uh trees going into to lines please let the city know so we can let Atlantic City Electric know to Tren them okay any other public comment okay uh motion uh do I have a motion on uh ordinance 525 you have it now do I have a second I'll second any uh questions or comments Council I I would just comment that um hearing a couple uh of recommendations Martin being one of them um I think it would make sense and I think you would probably agree to protect the trees by passing this this evening um obviously it's going to take some time to actually be um the law um but uh I think looking at this uh further um and any kind of um updates to the ordinance would make make sense to me and Martin specific speically what you brought up I think that's what we're trying to take care of within this ordinance so be happy to hear your thoughts as we we proceed in anyone else's uh any other comments Council roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor bwin yes mayor mik yes and I just again want to thank Jay the whole um tree commission and uh Shane for working really hard on this and our solicitor thank thank you very much all right next we have the public portion on the resolutions only mayor anyone here wishing to speak on the resolutions this evening please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record good evening Chris bazer 228 Windor Avenue um I would like to address resolution 90-02 d224 the resolution authorizing the advertisement for bids to the Reconstruction of Beach Avenue Broadway to the cove and actually this is kind of a broader conversation not specific to this area but I think includes this area and I was fortunate enough to actually catch a conver conversation with councilman jger as we walked in with Mr Roush so I'm not the only one questioning this but my question I guess Mr jger if you could explain the bump outs on Beach Drive and if those bump outs that have been put in by the county of the city is going to plan on doing that down towards the cove and I think I think it was a pedestrian issue that you were addressing as far as why those why the curb cut is now all of a sudden out into the street so um the plan as far as from Broadway down to The Cove I you know I was looking at pretty small plans I don't think there are any bump outs in in that area so it's not a a city uh design aspect I should say for that part of town the county is the one that decides on the bump outs um they they put on Pittsburgh Avenue um they'll be put on Lafayette I would assume in some locations but to to your point the the reason for a bump out is um if you if you stand on one of the bump outs right now um when you look down the street what you'll see is it's you're looking right down the line of a parked car so all the cars parked on Beach Avenue in this case coming up to that bump out are pretty much sticking out the same distance as the bump out the purpose is it's really protection for pedestrian it's like a safe area where a pedestrian can walk out they're still up at Curb height they can look uh both directions and see cars coming um they can see bicycles coming and to be honest with you as a driver of a car um and as and a rider of a bicycle I like the idea myself too because can see the people who are just about ready to step out into the street and it's not as much of a surprise as it has been in the past it it shouldn't be as much of a surprise to the to the rider or the driver so that's really their purpose they're there for pedestrians the reason I asked you more specifically also because I know you're the liaison to the bike and pedestrian committee and I know how passionate they are about these roads being done and making sure not I I know they focus more on the bike aspect sometimes times than not instead of pedestrian and and this is a pedestrian safety issue um but I want to make sure I mean I want to make sure we don't have a repeat of an issue we had when Columbia Avenue was done and that was in between administrations and the ball got dropped somewhere where the uh the striping on Columbia wasn't done as per a plan that The Pedestrian committee thought was going to be done and we lost bike bike Lanes right so furthermore I I guess my question also is Will does the city or are they in contact with the county before anything gets done on Beach Drive will that be taken to into account yeah absolutely um I mean we already have the striping plans for Beach Avenue um we know exactly what they are and I don't think that there are any issues um where we're going to we understand exactly what it's going to be but you you know Beach Avenue it's pretty much um all the most of the length of it you don't have any space for a bike lane the sharrows once you get from Howard Street it's wider on beach the on beach the proposed will be for the County Section will be have a bike lane in both directions okay and that's that was my understanding on that committee it was wide enough for it on our section we may not have sufficient room because in our section the parking is perpendicular right so it extends out into right so if if we decided to really put bike Lanes in our section then we'd have to be contemplating losing parking so that's going to be a discussion that we're going to have to have of the the balance of having more parking or having bike Lanes okay and it bring it brings up I'm sorry you're in in front of say Carney's from Broadway to The Cove okay that that's what I'm saying because the parking is perpendicular in order to if we want to accommodate bike Lanes to continue them down to The Cove we we we would be losing parking because we'd have to switch to parking either from either to have a greater angle or less of an angle I'm going to say or to have to be fully parallel but that's going to that would involve losing significant parking in that stretch so we'll have to we'll be evaluating that as we get the surveys in but sharrows will be used the entire length of Beach Avenue the purpose being if you're riding into the lane where the sharrows are you're outside of the zone of par car is opening doors into and and just as a follow one my last question or point I guess to what you said you said you would assume Lafayette Street and others you know would have those bump outs I would assume that Council would be looking at these plans prior to them actually being done not that it gets built and we say okay where did this come from so as a resident when I hear Street's going to be repaved infrastructure is going to be fixed I would expect the street to be repaved what was there so when a project like this is done where there are substantial Chang changes to the to the streetcape I would hope Council would give a a way for the public to at least view those plans or at least address the changes in those plans prior to them being done and then people coming back and saying how did this happen you know what what recourse it is a County Road they are County roads but they're still in our city so th you know you guys sitting at the table still have the ability to discuss these plans with the county and make recommendations and changes and and call Mr Lair and discuss things before it gets done so I would just hope that going forward they do get reviewed and it's not as it's going to look that way that you guys would know what it's going to look like before it gets done that's all thank you it's been done extensively thank you any any other uh comments on resolutions this evening I like could just follow up uh Jules Rous t0 New York on on the same thing that Chris just spoke up in the plans it shows a teardrop at at the Cove is that a painted tear teardrop or is that a hard Escape currently that it it's currently a painted teardrop out there we anticipate it being a Hardscape teardrop at grade just to just to further delineate it it's not going to be raised but it's going to be you know similar to the the islands up at Lafayette and Washington as you go around the that Circle when you first come in where there's pavers in the street that we looking to have that kind of treatment as well as an end treatment at the end of the street to uh to delineate that transition between uh where you should where pedestrians and vehicles should and shouldn't be I think that needs to be looked at very carefully uh putting a Hardscape at that location with the number of bicycles and people who use that area to drop off their families and all the paraphernalia that goes to the beach the traffic backs up or Stacks up at that location and if if you put a a tear drop in I think that's going to create a the tear drop is the tear drop is already out there you can go out there today and see the tear drop it exists today I I think it's painted on the ground I yeah there's no going to be I'm there's no proposed raised it will be flush it'll be flush with the FL is all but but but it's going to be instead of it being painted today it's going to be a brick brick pav okay at at grade but it'll be a different material surface that it's when a driver it's going to be more readily seen and it'll be tactile to when you drive over it you're going to one of the problems right now as you probably know Jules was some of the tourists if you look at it right now you can almost not see the paintings of the teardrop so some of the folks who hadn't come down there kind of come to the dead end and they just go straight like a dead end and then they look to back out and do a k turn and turn around the idea of uh brick first off brick the we look you look at that area and actually um councilman Meyer brought up you know right now it's one of our signature areas as you know um you it dead ends at a big cross rail what are they call this a guard rail guard rail you know it's just a big ugly guard rail that you see at the end on the sides of the parkway um so what we'd like to do is get rid of the guard rail put in some nice looking ballards you know similar to what you might see on the mall um do a little bit more brick pavers to and and what that would do is signify to the driver you this is the turning lane so basically keep that flow of traffic then look at some permanent bike racks that don't have to be removed every as you know that's probably one of our highest trafficed areas for bicycle storage is the Premier spot right to go to the beach yeah so and also look at uh some of the area with s of some of the sand has taken over some of the property that the city owns at the end of that street look at for more bike racks in that area um so but the main thing in this project right now is Paving it just remember the county stops their project at Broadway okay so we don't want this project to Simply end at Broadway and then it looks like as junky as it does today for the rest of the project so from Broadway to the end of the Street what we plan on doing is utilizing the County's um contract current contract if if possible and uh because obviously they have um um yeah they're mobilized they're there the the expense is already kind of written into the contract on a per square foot basis um probably much less than what it may cost us to do if we were just to do this small space so largely this this project is really just repaving what is exists perhaps the pavers as part of that teardrop but other than that it remains exactly the same I do think we want to look at this a little bit further to dress it up a little bit nicer than what it is and I know Mr Meyer's working on that with the city engineer as we speak have we run the TV cameras through the storm and and sanitary lines we're replacing the uh sanitary lines in that section because they need to be replaced that would be part of this storm swine yes thank you thank you any other comments on resolutions this evening seeing that we'll close public comment mayor if I could just y I would just we do have the tax collectors end report and we should just note that the um the year ended with a 99.36% collection rate and they had to cancel the tax sale because all tax and utility delin delinquencies were collected so I just want to you know that was a great job where our tax collector's office especially she she went through some transitions with staff and everything but she still was able to maintain uh her excellent tax collection rate for the city uh to make sure that we received all the taxes due to pay our bills de debb and our staff do a great job and it's reflected in the 99% it is fantastic for anybody to see where how we keep your taxes low this is really where it comes from collecting them thanks thank you okay we can close public comment and move on to uh resolutions yes we have the consent agenda tonight U matters listed under the consent agenda are routine in nature and may be enacted by one motion and one vote items will not be read individually unless removed from the consent agenda by any member of council does council wish to remove any item from the consent agenda or make any comments anything Council may I may I just say I abstain from uh the minutes yes noted thank you nothing to remove Council that's all right would you like to have a motion to adopt the consent agenda I'll make that motion I'll second ready for roll call uh roll call please sorry okay council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member MCD yes Deputy Mayor Baldwin yes mayor mullik yes great any old Business Council the old Business Council any new business city solicitor nothing tonight mayor city manager um just I wanted to update Council uh we're looking at instituting a policy of utilizing pecards uh to help our assist our purchasing with the city purchases um P card is used by uh City staff under really tight controls uh with daily and monthly limits on potential expenditures still has to follow all of the procurement rules uh within the city but there's certain uh smaller purchases whether it's uh registrations at a conference manuals or certain other purchases that really are most of them are online purchases that have to be made with a credit card um as well as to have one for emergency purposes whether we have you know a household that that that go we have a house fire we need to put give find housing for somebody you can use that card uh you know for emergency uses where we do need to make an expenditure uh that you know maybe that vendor does not want to work with us in that short-term period to take a purchase order um it it allows the city to kind of handle some of those emergencies but um we're looking to establish that uh procurement process moving forward how how many of these do you expect to be hand uh given to them o over the first six months probably one to be to be handled by you know through the CFO I don't see a large um really need for these but I think it's just a valuable resource to have in the uh the toolbox so to speak um if you know if we get rolling with it you know it might be expanded to a small two or three department heads that that that have that that need if if we so so choose to otherwise it may just stay with the CFO or myself okay it's good good great thank you all right city clerk yes just want to spread the word again that we have a Red Cross blood drive coming up up at convention hall on Monday March 11th from 9:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. so all donations are helpful you can make appointments online at redcross.org or if you have some problems or want some help you can give me a call and we we'll help you uh get your appointment that's it mayor okay deputy mayor uh just one thing with the library opening we think maybe in April May June okay um I know and I spoke to uh mayor mik and um council member Meyer about this um I would like to see if we can do some sort of ceremonial thing that was done when the library was taken out of the basement here and doing some sort of a book Brigade maybe a two-hour time period maybe on a Saturday let's see what kind of response we get um but that's something I'd like to to take on with council member Meyer if if everybody's okay with that I think that would be a fun way to open the library uh something that's been historic you know in the past absolutely so okay people a lot of people know that they had a line of people you know from City Hall here to the library passing books that's how they move the books out of it so we'll need a lot of volunteers it's a little longer but we one of the things I'm hoping for because we we're anticipating a date we don't know that yet but talk to your friends at your local organizations you know kuan's Club you know uh your churches you know whoever you want to get out there to represent themselves you know maybe wear your shirts as as a community event um I think it's a great way to bring the community together and uh and to represent the various aspects of our community yeah absolutely I think that's a great idea okay that's all mayor thank you councilman Meyer uh yes mayor uh I just want again thank the shade tree commission and all the Commissioners um a lot of people I don't think understand how hard their job is to deny their neighbors about taking down their tree um it it's a tough job and they and they are tough uh volunteers um we're not done with our with our you know what we're moving forward to accomplish um so I look forward to continuing with them uh the K May uh veterans auxiliary is hoping to do a retiring of Old Glory ceremony in a month from now um they're going to include the Boy Scouts I'll have more information if anybody wants to know about that but we're trying to but button some things up right now and uh I'm looking forward to that and Council M Meer is that going to be for everyone participate in bringing their flags at this current time they're going to they're going to focus on the flags they currently have okay uh they're going to have Flags dedicated to every Branch so they're all going to be B in different bundles but please you know we encourage you to bring your flags if you have them for a future ceremony uh they hoping maybe to do this twice a year uh should only be an hour long there should be more information coming up and then uh finally I'm excited about this uh Cove project you you know it is a it's a if that that Dune was not there The View would just be amazing what I remember when I was a kid and if that was the case it's a real great opportunity to Spruce this area up and promote you know our our a beautiful beaches and that's all that's great thank you for taking that on Mr Meer um I don't want to leave out our uhen and Moren Moren any comments can you hear me yeah I certainly can no nothing at this time time thank you great and Mr joerger nothing tonight thank you okay um I just want to uh quickly say thank you to all the folks you may have seen all the firefighters are starting to move into the fire department and uh it's as everybody knows it's been a long process especially this kind of last couple months punch list items getting done and I want to specifically thank Paul Dietrich for working hard on that punch list getting those Minor Details getting people from across the straight state to come back down to do small detail things that is not easy to do but you made all the phone calls got people all here I especially want to thank the uh um Construction office uh all of our inspectors worked overtime on trying to get our firefighters back here in Kate May which I know has been the goal and uh and and to our firefighters we thank you so much for your dedication to the city we are happy to see you coming home and and and a big thank you to West Cape May for their Hospitality to our firefighters uh I don't know what we would have been able to do without them so um we we owe West Kate May a major debt of gratitude and and we we thank mayor Sabo um their volunteer fire department and all the folks that were involved in that and um I think oh and I do want to say thank you to the task force that helped make sure that that project got completed uh all um volunteer group that dedicated tons and tons of hours Deputy Mayor you were involved in I over a hundred meetings I think we had on the um Firehouse but um to get that completed to get the firefighters here and to do it on a on a on a budget that we had from the beginning was was quite an accomplishment it took a lot of work from a lot of people so I want to um thank everybody who was involved with that open it up for public and I see our police chief um you may have heard we just received a unanimous approval from the HPC for the uh police station um uh design I I think the design is lovely um and uh we have a lot of work to go through and and and and obviously we'll show a lot of those designs as we move forward we KN we need D approval so um that's a step in the right direction with the HPC on board next it'll go to shipo the state historic preservation office shipo reviews all city um projects um with hpc's unanimous approval I would assume that that would um do very well at at the uh State historic preservation office but uh Chief thank you for your patience and and hard work on that task force as well and uh hopefully we get good news from the D soon and we keep everything rolling with that we'll open it up to the public anyone wishing to speak please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record Martin Van wlson 329 Congress Street um wanted to let the council know and the public know that uh MTR as one of its 2024 objectives is going to do a little deeper dive into the beach tag and Beach utility function um my my intention in terms of of of the work that I'm hoping to be able to do is to create a bit of a strategic plan so that it's not a year-by-year process but that we can look in the future a little bit and see um what kind of funding does make sense for the Beach utility to cover the costs of the beach function um I I I'm bringing this up now because there was an article in the herald over the weekend um C has put is putting in um beach tags on your cell phones and um we think it's a great idea um as an as an addition to plastic beach tags I can't imagine that uh we would ever want to do away with the plastic beach tags um we've also received a comment or a suggestion from a member of the public that we should be looking at almost commemorative beach tags with special Christmas decorations um Valentine's Day things that promote interest in the beach tags that since they are a bit collectible so all of those things will be taken into account in the kind of work that m is going to be doing um to hopefully have an ongoing robust um Beach tag program I look forward to working with the city clerk and our new Deputy City Manager on that uh and of course we'll be open to comments and suggestions all the that's great thank you Martin um also I didn't want to parade up here all night long but I I do want to comment Mr rash rais a point about people loading and unloading their families at the Circle um they're not supposed to do that it says no stopping and standing um and as a runner um trying to access the prominade at that point trying to dodge traffic um is is very difficult um people do just stop to admire the Sun at Sunset and and it has very clear no stopping or standing signs so I would encourage us to be thinking about what we can do to keep that traffic flowing through there thank you all right thank you Martin I totally agree I love to I love to go see the cove and uh there's always somebody there blocking my view so I'm forced to just back up and turn around and uh I agree anyone else from the public this evening Jules Rous 1010 New York um only a bit of concern from the taxpayer standpoint uh the the number of road projects that we have going on in the city now we're going to have another one from Broadway to The Cove um and has there been a forecast of what our debt increase will be as a result of all the projects that are under construction and now we got Pittsburgh Avenue as well I have no concept at all as to where we stand in the monies that we have committed going down going down the road so to speak well I didn't know what you meant by pit did you mean Pittsburgh well I the one at Wawa I call that Pittsburgh County Road most of these projects are County it's count yeah that's we've got to pay for the for the sewer line right no we're not doing the sewer line on on on uh Beach the the line that is in front of Wawa that has collapsed that you're starting to work on or Texas yeah okay you call that Texas at that point okay Mr diet you're M that's a city yeah it's emergency repair we're splitting the cost I believe yeah that'll be split with the county but that's an emergency repair but it's still going it's is a something that we need to fund that's my that's my interest Absol absolutely where are we where do we stand with the additional fundings that we've had to put up for the Emergency ra the emergency repairs on Lafayette and now with Texas Avenue well all of those numbers have been approved at Council and we haven't gone over anything that have been approved we we've we as you know we've had to um dedicate a significant amount of money to that project I think almost $2 million yeah I mean it's a it's a ton of money but um obviously we had to get the the utilities in under the ground on Lafayette Street and frankly it's an addition which was discussed at this table but it was in addition to do the top off yet past the turning lane but I thought it was absurd to not pave all of Lafayette Street frankly from the T the little Bridge it's skinger Landing to Colliers don't Mis don't misunderstand my my my request the debt ratio I'm only interested in knowing what the total number of dollars are that the city has committed for these repairs and the emergency repairs so that we know what it is that we're looking at we let's let's we'll have a road report at the next meeting oh great that'd be that'd be fine thank you all right I mean put that on the agenda for for some of like the repairs on Texas work that's being done as an emergency so that's not pre-planned money so I won't have that money for next meeting but but for we'll be able to accommodate for Lafayette and the other work that we've and everything that we have so far yeah any other questions motion to adjourn thank you everyone have a wonderful evening thank you thank you bye Moren bye did I saw that listen I saw the I saw listen iy to keep L profile my first day I said oh man the chief beat me too yeah it was just you no no no know I'm just bu listen I