e e e e e e e e e e e e good afternoon everybody we are here for a special meeting of the city council of the city of Cap May New Jersey we are we are here in the Cap May City Hall Auditorium today is Tuesday June 18th 2024 the the time is now 2:03 please join me for the pledge of allegiance to the FL of the United States of America and to the repu for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you under the open public meetings law notice of this meeting was sent to the KY County Herald and the Pressed Atlantic City and a copy of the agenda was delivered to each member of city council posted on the city website and the city bulletin board notices hereby provided that Cy 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 Balin here council member McDade here council member Meyer here mayor mullik here council member Jagger here city solicitor Gillan Schwarz here city manager Dietrich here and Deputy city clerk Turner here all right there's one resolution on the special meeting agenda Council it's 17806 2024 a resolution providing for a meeting not open to the public in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings Act njsa 10 col 4-12 this is to discuss the fire chief contract negotiations the deputy fire chief contract negotiations police chief contract negotiations and a shared services agreement with the Kate May City Elementary School for playground improvements do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second second questions or comments roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor Balin yes mayor mullik yes and public portion mayor anyone wishing to speak on this seeing no one we'll close public comment and go into close session the now the time is now 2:05 I got sand in my silent button turn it off for s so person that's for e e e guys hello I don't for e e e e e e e e for for might there for for e e e e inside no idea no no please that's [Music] can't than a good thing we sto that e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for e for e e for I want this bre for e e e all right so this is thanks for e e e e for for e e for e e e e e e e e were waiting for when she got there EXP EX first ion [Music] already that's the op you roll up and basically got when t B so far [Music] oh okay be come I know they' been those two con have little l any e true e that screw loose yeah just [Music] [Music] everything that was a great solution that came up with just I just saw the chief cter here just a second far what's that they both far oh were they M well good at least say I get it is e spe I woke up this morning V girl J spe e e all e spe thank you like Theo stat it's [Music] I think we have a resolution so that's the last piece of the puzzle that we're going to app there I could make Nicole she's she's a lot more I can explain it when we get to it and and they've verbally it'll be updated to reflect that so yeah and I'll I'll explain now it's going to work on yeah good afternoon everybody I I apologize we were coming out of a uh closed session and had a couple housekeeping things to do before we get started here right uh good afternoon everybody we are coming out of a closed session which we need to close at this point uh city solicitor do you want to give us an update on the additions that we will have to our uh agenda sure I I believe Council anticipates taking formal action on the Fire or the uh police chief's contract fire chief's contract Deputy fire chief contract um and no official action on shared services agreement with city of City El for playground improvements okay do I have a motion to close the Clos session I'll make a motion do I have a second second okay with that we can open up our regular public meeting to today we have a city council meeting of the city of Kate May here in New Jersey we are in the Cap May City Hall audit torium today is Tuesday June June 18th rather 2024 and The Time Is Now 310 please join me for the pledge of allegiance of Al to the flag of the United States of America and the for it stands one nation God indivisible and under the open public meetings law notice of this meeting was sent to the C County Herald in the Press Atlantic City and a copy of the agenda was delivered to each member of city council posted on the city website and the City Hall bulletin board notices hereby provided that K City Council meetings are already recorded and video stream lives live video streams are posted to the K May City website city of K May is not responsible if audio recording or live video streaming of a meeting is unavailable roll call Deputy Mayor bin here council member McDade here council member Meyer here here mayor mullik here council member Jagger here city solicitor Gillan Schwarz here city manager dri here Deputy manager rigs here and Deputy clerk Brian here Council I believe we have a few additions to the agenda this evening if You' like me to go over them yes if you would please sure we have resolution 19406 2024 a resolution approving an employment agreement between the city of Kate May and Alex cter fire chief 1956 2024 resolution approving employment agreement between the city of K May and Michael E Deputy Fire Chief and 19606 2024 resolution approving employment agreement between the city of K May and Deacon fasal the chief of police do I have a motion to add those to the agenda I'll make do I have a second I'll second okay oh do we need a roll call on that sure okay roll call please council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor Balin yes mayor mullik yes and not in addition of a resolution but a person in uh our city engineer Vince Orlando uh was not on the agenda this evening but he has some good news to update us from the DP from a meeting that we had yesterday so Vince if you could join us goodon mayor and Council hit that green light for me H the green button or the button until it turns green you're going to have to bring that bad boy much closer thank you well good afternoon so as the mayor has indicated we had a meeting yesterday with um the D discussed um Lafayette Street Park and as the uh Council knows Lafayette Street park has been in the making for a number of years um and I I believe that we are getting ready to cross the finish line with the Green Acres um application for the land swap the good news is that yesterday we found out that uh the city has a $500,000 loan with um D that's getting ready to expire if we don't act quickly um which which is not good news in it and of itself but the DP definitely wants to work yeah it's it's good news and you know just means that we have to move quickly so while we're not ready to go to bid on the entire Lafayette Street park because of some of the idiosyncrasies um I thought maybe that we could phase it and I presented to the council this evening or this afternoon a phasing approach like that I would like you guys to consider um obviously phase one which was old phase four was the nature trail the nature trail has been approved by the D um we are seeking funding for that I'll speak to phase one because in addition to the Lafayette Street Park Grant loan uh we do have $500,000 for um a loan with the D for the trails now the trails are going to be ready to go out the bid as as soon as we decide both this application and and the trails we're hoping to get to the county for open space money um but in looking at La at Street Park we think that a good phase would be phase two which would be the easterly portion of the site consisting of the softball field the dog park and the bot courts um we kind of guesstimated that this number would be somewhere around the $500,000 we hate to lose that money with the D um that portion of the field is not affected either by the settlement agreement with jpnl or jcpnl whatever the acronym is or the county land Swap this is on properties that are um part of the um lot 54 in totality so we feel it's a good break point it's a good opportunity to secure the money to secure the financing and I think it it moves a project that has been hampered with delays at least does something and while um there won't be any parking associated with this there is parking at the school it is a walkable site and I think uh at this point in time it may be a good first phase to get out to bid and we could get that this out to bid pretty quickly um because all the work has been done um we would just have to do contract documents things of that nature but I think that we could get this out to bid uh sometime in August award a contract and be under construction by the end of the year securing our $500,000 with the D so that's it in a nutshell like I said it's good news and right um you know I was surprised that the money was there but um it was uh kind of serendipity that they presented it to us and uh here we are quickly trying to formulate a game plan I have just a quick question sure okay um in that in the outline of phase two has the the three different Pavilions that are there yes is that included with that you didn't state that but I yeah I'm so everything within that everything in that phase too and I haven't you know this was just a concept that was developed yesterday I haven't done a cost system yet on it okay but I think we should be in the ballpark Park okay so um it's a softball field softball it's a tiny soft it's a softball yeah it's a softball infield it's not really a no you said in the ballpark and we said it was a softball field in the ballark I knew we didn't get um right over my head I know that's why I could tell you were TR yeah um so Vince you talking about the phase two that you think that can be um under construction by the end of the year does the same would the nature trails fall into would it be one and two together good quickly so that's our game plan to bid out one and two um I spoke with the county today and we we currently have a pending application for the Harbor View Park with open space um that is going to be heard in July uh my game plan would be to get both these applications in uh to the county for um the nature trail and the phase two of the the Lafayette uh for funding from the from the county and that you know we would get those applications and I kind of like breaking it apart too a little bit because you know I really think it shows that we're trying to move ahead and there's been a lot of anticipated um anticipation from the public on this so and one of the things I do like is that during phase during the construction of Lafayette Park we would would lose the dog park MH so this is a good opportunity to put the dog park in and not miss a beat right for those that portion of res it's highly used L yeah so I I think that's just another bonus and it allows us to use the $500,000 in park development on this phase the $500,000 in uh D funding for the maor trails in this phase um and then hopefully some County open space funds to cover the rest yeah exactly so greats I think it's great I mean to have be able to start something at Lafayette Street Park Plus the nature trails which I think is really going to be a home run when they're completed that's the fact that we have the D approval for both of those items is is a big portion of the park and the good news is that this portion of the park doesn't need a cafer permit because it's greater than 150 ft from the mean high water it doesn't entail the parking for the so it doesn't exceed the 50 parking spaces so it could be done quite quickly and at the end of the day it's it's really soft construction it's really very little hard construction right when it comes to impervious coverage we got a couple of pavilions a little concrete walkway around the bach court and other than that it's a softscape so and and I what we'd really be asking then is authorization for Vince to go out the bid to prepare the plans and specs and to go out the bid uh for the project so you could do a motion vote tonight and then we would follow it up with a resol a formal written resolution at our next meeting but at least we'd have the vote tonight so that Vince can move forward with getting that together that's and I know one of the reasons too is getting this before the open space board as soon as possible which would be great do I have a um so we need a I guess a motion for Vince to prepare the plans ins specs to go out to bid for the project and also make the application to the county open space board uh for the park I think we I think that's already been sit in there but I think we need a separate resolution for a new application to the county open space just so that we have it formalized at this point so it's so it's two two separate resolutions and one one would be for the trails the nature trail and one would be for pH the phase two which is the Lafayette Street Park okay I'd like to make that motion mayor please and and uh Shane in in making that motion I I want to say thank you how many years have you been working on Lafia Street Park uh more than nine years or you know I've been here for nine years so it's been longer than that yeah so so that's an honor to hear you make that motion Shane do I have a second I'll second just to clarify this is for authorization for phase one we're going to do phase two separately separate motion okay thank you okay we have a motion in a second any questions or comments Council roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes stany mayor Balwin yes mayor M yes and may I make the motion for phase two please do I have a second I'll second any questions or comments Council roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes dep and mayor Balin yes mayor mullik yes great great news Vince thank you good luck with County open space and thank you all right take care thank [Laughter] you and N the nature trails really I think is going to be such a beautiful thing obviously for the citizens of K may but um for those who don't know there's there'll be an entrance from the park itself which is coming from the parking lot the the second entrance will be at the back of the school of course that'll have a gate that'll be locked in in multiple places from the school but I mean for our school children to be able to be outside learn about the environment and learn about the marshes right in in their backyard of the school I just think is really such a cool cool thing and so that was a major approval from the D we're obviously excited um with that I'm going to actually give our Proclamation if if you don't mind uh this this month we are recognizing the um Al um Alzheimer's and brain awareness month and I have a proclamation to read whereas Alzheimer's is a brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory thinking and reasoning skills and whereas worldwide 55 million people are living with Alzheimer's and other dementias and whereas the Alzheimer's Association reports that more than 6 million Americans are are either living with Alzheimer's disease or providing care for someone with Alzheimer's and whereas the City of Cape May urges residents and visitors to become familiar with the 10 primary warning signs of Alzheimer's or dementias which include memory loss that disrupts daily life challenges and planning or solving problems difficulty completing familiar tasks confusion with time or place trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships new problems with words and speaking or writing misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps decrease po decreased or poor judgment withdrawal from work or social activities and whereas the city of K May further encourages residents and visitors to incorporate healthy habits in their daily lives to promote brain health such as challenging your mind exercising wearing a helmet managing weight and diseases eating healthier meals and getting more sleep now therefore iser mullik mayor of the city of K May recognize June as Alzheimer's and brain health awareness month and encourage all residents and visitors to wear purple throughout the month of June to raise awareness to lend support to those affected by Alzheimer's and other dementias thank you very much with that can we please have a update city manager thank you mayor uh first I wanted to update uh Camp Cape May started yesterday so if you've been by Kanas Park you've seen a large group of Youth running around playing and and having a lot of fun we have 134 youth uh attending this year and uh the program runs through uh middle of August and uh they're looking to have a a great time on the new uh Park area that we've gotten for them so uh just wanted to you know remind everybody if you're in and around that area please Drive slowly because there are some extra children darting hopefully they're all going to stay in the park but you never know uh where they may uh end up at um next I wanted to bring up uh so we had awarded the digital beach tags um it's been probably about maybe a month month and a half since uh you've you've awarded that we've gone through the technical aspects of it uh we've been going through some training over the last two weeks with staff and we think that we're ready to roll this out so we're anticipating rolling it out for this coming weekend to Rolling Out digital beach tags uh how the program will look uh there's kind of two options that uh residents and visitors will be able to do uh for purely a pure digital tag you'll be able to buy a daily tag so you'll be able to make a reservation uh kind of like what you you know when you think about it it's like making a dinner reservation you're going on to a website you're making reservation for the day how many um passes you're needing and it'll be available on your phone you show the beach tag attendance and uh they'll have a moving flashing uh email and screen and you'll be able to show that pass to get on for the daily pass uh you'll also be able to buy a physical pass through the uh this procedure kind of like how the old viply would be so so if you want a physical tag whether it's a daily weekly 3-day or a seasonal tag and then you could go pick those up at any of the four kiosks um so that way if you if you don't have cash with you you come up there you can you know essentially pay you scan a QR code and uh pay with a credit C and then get your physical tags and then go and enjoy the beach as you normally would uh so we're looking to roll that out we're going to put information on social media or website uh all the beach taggers will have uh little postcards with information uh we'll have big scannable QR codes at the uh kiosks to be able to scan it right there and make the purchases but we're looking to roll that out this this weekend um regarding beach tags uh looks like for last week um money was up sales were generally down except for dailies the daily daily sales you know compared to last year were up but all the other tag sales were were kind of flatter down but we did see I think an increase of about $23,000 over last year in Revenue um and oh the other thing with the kind of the transition of the closing of the old library and the opening of the new library we're having a lot of transition of parking um both the the that parking lot at the old library you know it's not a lot of spots but they are spots um there's going to be you know a lot of people in in possibly the library using wanting to use the city lot a lot of people try to use the lot after hours um and I I think it might be time to possibly you know do some Park Mobile signage and and and and start adding both of those lots into a pay situation for certain time period periods obviously City Hall people are going to come in and do City business so I don't think maybe during the day necessarily but I think you know periods of off hours weekends uh to kind of make the this city parking lot available for parking uh when there is a need for parking in the city um you know people drive by they see an empty parking lot it it doesn't make sense not to utilize that for the public um so I just didn't know how Council feel if if you felt that we should you know I can work with staff can prepare an ordinance uh to to kind of add that into our paid parking uh Lots uh to move forward Paul would it would it only be um a the front end parking not where the the fire the not in that small lot when you come in it's on the right hand side yeah we would always have and and and obviously if you have a city tag for City business you a city hang tag you know we're not you know but are you proposing just in the larger section the larger domain main lot yes obviously there's probably some people who drove here this evening that might not want to pay to go to a very quick council meeting but uh how about exceptions like that I mean we have exceptions for this we have Planning and Zoning we meetings so you know I we would probably work in language to exempt out you know you know days and evenings where there are public meetings and that would just be really coordination with parking enforcement to know that you know hey this is you know and and and signage to figure out and that's one reason I've been trying to figure out that but I just wanted to if really I want to find out from the is the concept open to you because I know there's some nuances that we have to figure out but is is that concept open from Council that if if we prepare an ordinance that that's something that you you feel acceptable does Park Mobile have uh a map showing Park mobile locations yes I mean the one thing that I like about that is making sure people know that yeah you can park here you know it um I think a lot of people don't understand that especially at night time that this is available people can park here there's even a couple I'll say private businesses that in their off hours have put up Park Mobile in their parking lots so that instead of paying an attendant to kind of be in the lot to either pay for parking or to shoe people away I I seen some private Lots pull up in in their off hours have timed parking and and kind of the same thing you know that's kind of the advantage of Park Mobile that person would get a notice hey parking ends at 3: you can't extend it so come move your car right so so perhap maybe maybe consider um initially uh weekends because we we know that there are you know no city meetings but at least starting it on Friday at 3: running through to Monday morning or something like that that way we could take a look at it and figure out whether or not it's you know what the value proposition is so I I would ask if we could just do that to start and let's see yeah I think that's a good idea especially because it would limit the confusion and if you know some of our volunteers who happen to be senior citizens can't park in our parking lot and have to walk and they're late to our zoning board meeting I think that's just unfair to our volunteers think if we start with the weekends I think it gives us a good sense of utilization um and whether or not we want to expand it and then how complex it would be around City functions on those certain nights it could get a little confusing um so i' I'd like to see us just start with that for now and and because I mean I know at last council meeting there were certain people me I think even some of the council members were having trouble finding parking uh you know internally we've been working with our staff to make sure that they all have hang tags and the appropriate signage and then we're going to be working with uh Chief ashall and parking enforcement to start doing a little more enforcement so that there is available parking because there are people I'll say in the neighborhood that are using our parking lot and they're not coming in for official business um but using it as a as a convenient parking spot so it is something that we're working on and uh looking to start enforcement just I mean is there any way we can designate a couple of parking spots for people to pull in for official business and it's like a 10-minute it can actually help the problem I mean it the a a balance yes we can but with the library opening and you know you know it's it's it's finding and and re recognizing who is that person we really don't even have enough we barely have enough parking for City staff uh in the parking lot so it does you know it makes makes it hard you know that we barely have enough for City staff that if we start you know once we it kind of when we added the four EV spaces it kind of took away from that ability to put I'll say say two spaces dedicated for official business but it's still hard to I was going to say it's very challenging you'd have to be out there an attendant looking and sort of saying wait I saw this car 20 minutes ago and they're still here and then where are they are they you know so do you city manager Dietrich do you go through the the um repaving of the parking lot as part of this presentation or I don't have a plan for it but I am it is going in part of my discussion that we are going to be picking I don't want I don't want to yeah I'll I'll steal your Thunder actually your it's your thunder but we'll I was going to cover that yes okay good that's all I had thank you okay uh city solicitor nothing tonight mayor thank you okay uh Capital uh capital projects presentation back to you thank you uh so um we've started the the bond process so uh here's our capital budget timeline and I will be putting this full presentation on our uh construction projects page as well as updating uh all of the different projects with some of the the uh um plans that we've got rolling in over here the last couple weeks so you know we introduced well first we really just want to detail this that the public involvement and the public Outreach that we're doing for all these different projects that it's not in a vacuum and there's a lot of public discussion regarding these so I discussed a lot of these projects back on May 21st when we before we presented the council uh at the last meeting uh you introduced a set of bond ordinances we're here this evening to kind of go over a lot of the projects kind of a little more in detail uh showing plans and some of our estimates that we have available for them uh we're looking for on July 2nd to have the public hearing and possible adoption of the ordinance and then if approved on July 22nd uh they'll be ready for uh to move forward after that 20-day stopple period after the date of publication of the um approved ordinances um here's some of our final numbers as far as uh you know what's going into the different bonds we have a little over 9.8 million in the capital Bond uh we did fund 1.1 in our capital budget we already have that approved so we're kind of already getting quotes and and starting some of those uh projects uh we have 1.8 million in water and sewer Capital Bond and then another 1.4 in Beach Capital uh we have some future projects that uh under just going to touch on probably here this evening just to kind of keep the public aware of them but they're not included in any of the bonding that we're uh proposing right now but we may come back in early 2025 to uh get funding for those projects um here's just kind of the similar summary uh that I kind of distributed last last meeting um this kind of summarizes uh the projects that are in each of the uh different uh programs um for the capital Bond uh see these are some of the road projects that we're including some of them we're doing getting from USDA grants some of them were doing internally with some of our own uh this Capital money but uh Ohio Stockton uh Washington and Idaho those are all part of a USDA project where we're looking to to receive monies for the sewer replacement I mean the water line replacement in this part of our lead most of those Pro streets all have lead sewer line after we complete those projects we will only have 17 lead service connections left in the city to do so we'll be well ahead of what the uh uh requirements are um we're kind of in a unique thing we've done so much lead replacement this year or I'll say in the 2024 year since we're not really doing a project uh we have to report that we have a zero this year uh which is you know Rob's trying to figure out how he's going to discuss that that you know there you know the state is looking for a phase in approach and looking for numbers each year and he's hoping that this year that we report zero that we're not going to get flagged um uh we're we're looking at uh Franklin Street streetscape uh doing a whole you know refurbishing of Franklin Street uh it's going to tie into the city hall parking lot and revising that uh walking the the with the Draft plans out with the mayor we looked at you know doing a kind of a revamping of of an area and we're going to add I think we're getting about eight new additional parking spaces kind of up along the face of the rear acne parking lot along that side so looking to add eight parking spots that we vitally need in this uh complex area with the new library and city hall and then obviously uh we're doing some repair of clag hor and capart Lane to fix some drainage problems that is within uh this project that will get done in the fall um most of these projects were com you know you it's in the Capital Bond but I just make a note it they are there's monies going towards these projects in the capital Bond the missile Bond but also out of the water sewer Bond because we're obviously trying to replace water and sewer infrastructure when we do these projects we will be doing a separate uh this year a sidewalk restoration project uh separate from our road project but looking at um some of our sidewalk areas trying to concentrate in downtown more areas of you know whether it's side walks that are kind of uneven because we have some Street tree areas or just some of our old um slate sidewalks or brick sidewalks and resetting those areas so we'll be doing and identifying uh sidewalk areas uh that are specific uh sidewalk driven and just be looking at them uh you know we've received two NJ grants on Ohio Avenue uh so we are trying to couple a lot besides USDA grants getting some of the do grants to extend our uh where we can and obviously we're we're prior prioritizing streets with lead lead service and uh poor sewer Mains um here's a kind of a brief snapshot of Franklin Street I know that there was a lot of concerns especially at shade tree when they saw some of the initial concepts of Franklin Street but essentially that that's going to be looking at replacing the concrete sidewalks with brick sidewalk adding gas lanterns uh we're planting uh five shade trees along there uh only going to have to probably remove one tree that kind of got accidentally hit uh in construction uh over the past year but we're adding additional Street trees on there and uh adding some crosswalks and I think it'll be a great fitting beautification along Franklin Street can I just say again thank you to councilman Meyer on the shade tree commission the trees that I've seen around town the plantings this year really were very nice so look forward to seeing that on Franklin yes so that's where I just wanted to kind of present that because I know there are some questions when some of the concept sketch came out there you know they were concerned about some of the the shade tree and and how the the shade tree um not shown on there but it we will be uh depending on when we receive approval for the demolition of the the building next to the Amy church that we're looking to put in a parking lot in there which will also add about 9 or 11 spaces depending on on how the addition looks uh the potential addition to the rear of the AME Church um Lafayette Street uh you know we kind of got an update from Vince on that but this is you know you know we have funding in our Capital bond to for both the the main part of the park and the nature trails uh because obviously you know Vince mentioned it we're receiving $500,000 loan but you know the the nature trails project is a 2. $6 million project by itself um so we're looking to uh kind of apply for County open space money use the uh the Green Acres money as the match money and try to get that project all completed uh starting this fall so um you we're excited to move that forward again here's uh This was um for the public didn't get to see that this was part of the plan uh this is the main plan for the nature trails it's going to extend out into the wetlands we have all of our permits for for this we have the d d uh necessary permits for the wetlands uh so really just once we finalize uh funding for that we'll be able to move this project forward uh does connect essentially it shows connecting from St John Street through the nature trail and then it will have interconnection into when Lafayette Street Park gets constructed as well as over to the elementary school there will be a separate gate at the elementary school to kind of control access in and out you know so you know they can kind of open it up so that the children can kind of use that as the the back way into the school instead of using and walking along lafette Street Park uh but they that'll probably be closed once school gets opened up uh again here's the doesn't show the phasing that the plan that the event showed us this this evening but it does show the layout of Lafayette Street Park and then on the corner of St John and uh Lafayette it does show the future uh police station location next Set uh we did receive a small cities Grant of $27,000 uh for Ada improvements at the tennis club that is a uh city property and therefore we're funding you know not improvements to the tennis courts or the tennis facilities themselves but the Ada improvements in and around uh that facility so that we are in compliance with the ada8 regulations uh so we have have a a total project budget of$ 370,000 uh dollarars for that project uh the other project we're looking at starting up is a uh retaining wall resiliency wall uh kind of running from uh the bridge over on Elmyra Street back along the back side of uh the substation and then along the back side of uh Bank Street parking lot to kind of you know that's probably one of our major locations where we get a lot of nuisance flooding routinely um besides that in yacht Avenue that's where a lot of our flooding occurs um and uh you know so we're looking at starting what's in the bond this year is just really the funding for the uh to get the engineering and permitting and then we'll be able to develop a final budget cost for that project and most likely what we would be doing is applying for FEMA mitigation money uh for that project to help offset any of our Capital costs um so here's kind of the layout that we use for the Ada improvements at the park just kind of shows some of the paths and locations um you know getting some of the ramps up to their gazebo in the back adding a ada8 bathroom uh location getting a ramp up onto their back porch and different locations so that that facility is ADA Compliant uh and this kind of shows that location that I described as far as that resiliency action to uh over off of Elmyra and uh Bank Street well it's not I mean I don't I I hated using wall it's not really a wall it's it's most likely going to be revetment and and and a combination of stone structure and and Earth and BM uh more n probably more natural in in in most places uh if there's you know it's ironic that the D in US fish and wildlife you know where sometimes you want to build natural solutions but then natural solutions take up width to build it and stuff like that and then that covers more Wetland area and so sometimes they rather almost you build a bulkheaded physical wall as opposed to building something natural because it you know sometimes you have to lose some Habitat to create a different habitat and they're not flexible sometimes so it may end up being a wall but I I don't want to call it a wall because that I think has a connotation that's not as aesthetic or enhancing to the Natural Area but we'll look at it um we have some equipment purchases we're looking at um we received electric uh RG I grants uh for um uh to to buy some electric vehicles so we're looking at um right now we have the the the Jitney going on town but we're looking at possibly uh using electronic trolleys and and kind of looking at that so we're we're looking at doing that and then we also have uh the replacement of our uh the fire truck uh our ladder truck is has some age and hours on it and um over the last three years the annual maintenance costs have jumped from 10,000 to 16 or almost 177,000 in 2023 and we're projected to hit 30,000 in repairs this year so the cost our maintenance costs are just it's just it needs a lot of work and you know in order to keep it Road you know serviceable so it's it is time to replace that fire truck and so we're really hoping to get that uh moved forward so that's just kind of I know it's a bad picture of the pirate truck but that's kind of the the what they're looking at and those are the you we're we're trying to get an actual trolley looking vehicle um it's going to be a lower capacity kind of what you know a non-cdl type of a vehicle so that we're not required to have CDL Drivers and be a little more flexible uh for that PR OD Rehabilitation obviously we've got a $6.7 million Grant from the state we're looking at you know we have a $700,000 match that we have to have you we've I think at the last meeting we awarded the uh Consulting to start the design uh and permitting for phase one and two so we'll continue with that and then obviously we have to pay for some an existing Beach fill and some prior future beachville so we're going to be funding those projects um the police building the this kind of the future uh we've got a 5 million bonded already uh we have HPC and we've submitted the shipo uh you know that building we're kind of also waiting for the Green Acres diversion and the jcpnl which I think we had really we've had some good meetings over the last you know between yesterday in the last two weeks had some good information on both of those that are they're both moving with some movement as opposed to just sitting stagnant for the for years and then also we're looking at you know having some Consultants re-evaluate the water tower repainting uh so here are some of the schematics that's approved from the HPC of the elevations of the police building um that's been approved it's gone through several subcommittee reviews as well as probably a half a dozen review committees at um HPC and we have and we had final HPC approval several months ago and uh The Architects here for that this project and that's kind of layout you know it's kind of it's a lot of footprint but what I think everybody forgets is we have a footprint here in City Hall but what the footprint that nobody really sees is the footprint that we have over in another municipality in West Cape May for our substation so um you know you know you kind of have the command structure in one location all of our Patrol staff is located in another location and this will bring everybody into Under One Roof in one house and you know I think it's it's time for this so I think we'll be moving that forward as you know throughout the rest of this year and and hopefully put this out the bid this fall or maybe early spring and that's that's what we have for projects so I just wanted to I I know we have I asked the uh Vince kind of gave his update on Lafayette Street park because he he had a prior meeting but um we do have uh Rob Conley architect area so just in case we had any questions uh regarding the police station so I just if you have any questions on those projects or not we can go through them but I I just wanted to kind of go through all those projects that we're looking so that a council was aware of all the different projects that were in the bonds more in a little more detail as well as more importantly for the public to see a little more detail for all the projects that we're looking to and these are all projects that we're hoping to get kicked off the ground and moving this year so you know we've been busy the last couple years we're we're not looking to slow down we're we're going to keep keep moving forward that's great thank thank you very much Paul any questions Council I just I just have a comment uh for the manager ex when it comes to the painting of the water tower um I think it's important to consider moving the letters up another foot or so or a half a foot because the cell towers over years that started to cover our you know National Historic Landmark National Historic Landmark and I think it's important to sure that's visible from the from the ground no problem oh definitely thank you very much on the ordinances for second reading yes mayor we have 532-2020 an ordinance providing for the implementation of state requirements for lead based pain inspections for certain residential rental dwelling units and there is a public hearing tonight mayor is anyone here wishing to speak on ordinance 532 2024 this is on the uh lead base paint inspections 532 seeing none we can close public comment I want to First say thank you to waren McDade uh councilwoman for put helping chair the um subcommittee with the bill bazer and and deputy and oh and deputy mayor pardon me and deputy mayor uh and uh our planning chairperson Bill bazer and um former mayor Ed mahaney and I Steve who else was there Steve Bodner B Steve Bodner yeah from MRA and Zoning y Aaron Aaron city clerk we had lot of City staffs yeah thank you for everyone getting together on this and uh do you want to give us a well yeah I mean um I think it was a very productive meeting um we went in there um understanding that we have a requirement by the state um to pass this uh for long-term rental um dwellings uh starting U almost immediately um we we also had the uh fire inspector was there present who was extremely helpful and talked about the process um and really what the assessment would entail the um other piece of the conversation that we really wanted to have was around shortterm um and how we could incorporate that that uh feeling that the city of Kate May wanted to take one step further um on having short-term rentals we are not including that in this ordinance this evening um we came to some discussions about looking at an implementation perhaps for 2025 um it was very well received and supported um by um uh former mayor mahini as well as Mr bazer um you know we just talked about the fact that we want to be able to offer accommodations uh in the city for uh visitors that are safe uh reg regardless of the duration um and that um we felt it was important to set that standard um in this community um and that was well received I don't know if the city solicitor manager have anything to add just to add to that the the practicality of the city being a visual inspection municipality means that from a practical standpoint it's usually going to be you know the someone with the certification in this case the fire inspector going in if there's chip paint going to get notice to do some sanding and painting but that's usually nine times out of 10 is going to be the extent of it uh was the the information that the fire inspector shared with us so it's not an incredibly honorous requirement it is another requirement to deal with but um as uh councilwoman McDade said there's all this ordinance is doing is the state minimums um whether Council considers taking another step in the direction of safety that that will be another thing that that comes to the council table at some point and I think it's also helped to to know that Mark's office you know under's current fire prevention they they want to work with residents and business owners for compliance they're they're they're not out there to penalize they're not out there to shut people down it's all about compliance and working together to come to you know the the outcome so when you look at the ordinance and it has to prescriptive time you know hey you know shall be done by this number of days and all you know you you when you really read the language it's it's having that communication and and working with um is not to that you know in this case you're not going to to have to finally painted within that time frame it's hey working with Mark's office and coming up with a plan to get it done within a reasonable time period um so they're not going to be looking you know as long as you're working with them just like you work with them on the fire prevention side he's he's going to look for compliance and a working relationship not not to find people not to shut people down over those periods of time so I just wanted to I think that was another discussion point that we really hit on during that meeting is is as we roll this program out is is is talking with uh our rental properties owners and and so that they understand that that's it's going to be a process not I don't think it's going to be a hindrance for them it's going to be a process that that we can work together on and a component of this really was to provide for the most vulnerable of populations young children who might be in these environments under the age of six are extremely vulnerable to this um and regardless of the duration you know it could exacerbate an already existing health condition so I think that was really clearly a large part of our discussion in wanting to sort of have this across the board but I think we have time to work on the short term over the course of the next you know six months or so before it would be rolled out so it sounds like that ad hoc committee might be still together for a little bit we might have a disc might have to but I also want to let the public know as well so these are the long-term rentals it will be in conjunction so you're not getting another uh inspection it will be in conjunction with your fire inspection so you won't have to make two uh calls into the fire fire Bureau and I think we made it literally the state mandated minimum in cost $20 that doesn't even go to the city it goes to the state right yeah yeah it does say that again it goes to the state unfortunately not we're statutorily required to charge that for unit $20 per unit just and give it to the state all right well again thank you Deputy Mayor thank thank you councilwoman uh appreciate everyone getting together on that any other questions on uh do we have an introduction I'm sorry we don't yet but do I have a do I have a a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second I'll second any any other questions or comments Council roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor bobwin yes mayor mullik yes and next we have 533-2240 regarding loading zones do I have a motion is this a public I'm Sor there's a public hearing as well is anyone here wishing to speak on 533 2024 regarding loading loading zones seeing none we can close public comments council do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second I'll second any other questions or comments roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor bwin yes mayor mullik yes and next Council we have the public portion on the resolutions only is anyone here wishing to speak on the resolutions this evening if you are please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record Stacy Shan 928 Columbia Avenue um my first question these are just some short ones 179 um it says unclaimed bicycles and per personal property that's what's just claimed by the police cor correct there's no City Furniture involved in that it's it's like lost bikes and stuff that people haven't claimed over a certain period of time they always donate every year okay and then um my other question has to do with 190 uh the Grant application for Winona is that just Street repaving I wasn't sure from the resolution that included I mean the grant is for Street Rehabilitation but we'll do drainage improvements and other necessity work for okay I guess why I was asking that because it was kind of with safe schools and I wasn't sure if there was something else going on with that road no it's just aad re Rehabilitation Grant and then um you added to some you added the contracts for the fire police chief the police police chief and the deputy fire chief for the you added their contracts since we weren't able to read them is it possible to know what their percentage increase was and what their new salaries will be yeah should we do that public knowledge let's yeah I think let let's bring it up and and then answer that question well I I mean we can that can be answered when we go to the vote I thought that you were going to do these one by one so they will be voted on separately in the regular agenda not on the consent agenda well I mean because sometimes they ask these questions and you say you're going to talk about later but I don't usually get the answer we we have to talk about it because we have to vote on it so so then in the at that time you'll say what their percentage increase was and what their new salaries are we say what's in the memorandum of agreement that they're going to be voting on okay so I'll we'll get with their new salaries I don't want to eat into your public comment we're going to talk about this I'm just making sure because this is my qu my turn to ask questions and I'm not getting my question answered that's why I'm asking I'm telling you your your questions going to get answer when we get to them okay um and then my uh next question has to do with res ution 181 and it has to do with the change order for quanas Park restrooms um I guess my question is they have the prominade restroom change order on here also and I was confused because I thought the prominade restrooms were being funded by The Beach utility and I don't understand why that would be included in the same change order as the quanas park bathroom cont but should it be two different ch orders and two different resolutions that they're being funded by two different uh funds hang on a second let me I'm trying to see where it says promin because this is this is for just work at it says the promov Avenue restroom supply and install water bottle refilling station and supply cost of 44,000 and and install two project signs but that's Mr incorporates 41814 uh into the total sum of the 29806 um so could we make an amendment rather than holding this up indicating that those that particular that one I'm yeah that should have been pulled out and that should be just attributed to the be utility that 36 36 should or the 41 8140 should be attributed to Beach utility yes can we make that as a an amendment to so this resolution can be passed into a we I mean we can do it at the same change order but we can just note that and when we we'll change the certification of funds to note that it's going to come out of the two different line items right because that'll be another I guess change order number one for the we'll just do another for the we'll restrooms we'll just do it under this change order but we'll just denote it on the two different line items when it gets paid is there other change orders I guess than for the prominade avenue restant not at this so this would be the first one for them also yes okay thank you okay any other um questions on resolutions this evening Jules Rouse 1010 New York Avenue if I may Mr Mayor I'd like to kind of jump a little bit out of out of order um um we had an event June 5th at our home and I needed to call the EMS service from our city and it was an ex an outstanding response short time great great professionalism the uh the attention that my wife received was spectacular frankly but the thing it aside from the personal issue what I'd like to to make everybody known about is there's a relationship between our EMS and the advanced life support unit that operates out of the the uh the airport that's the Atlantic care uh Advanced life support when there's an incident in Cape May if they believe that the uh the transport of a particular individual needs to be evaluated in a in a professional medical event beyond the capacity of the EMS they make a contact with the advanced life support unit and in our Cas case they they met uh on the Garden State Parkway and the the the advanced life support team determined that well first of all the EMS group determined that my wife needed to have a further evaluation before going to a particular hospital or for for care so they met uh on the G State Parkway and the the advanced life support group recommended that she be taken to the Atlantic care trauma unit in Atlantic City and that was done that's this where she went but the relationship and this is the thing I I'd like the P the public to understand I did not know uh about this availability to our citizens or frankly to the citizens throughout a number of communities in South Jersey the EMS does a great job they coordinate and communicate with the next level that is available immediately and that's this this Atlantic care Advanced life support they they notified the trauma center that Beverly was on her way and when she got there it it was an amazing process uh the the shortness of time in handling the potential for a stroke or a heart victim is uh essential and uh I don't know how you would communicate this availability to our citizens but it is very important thank you thank you Jules and uh I think we all would say that your wife is in our prayers and we we thank you very much she's doing very well she's she's on rehab now there was no there was no hard isue there was no stroke and that was the the initial concern y um but the the way the EMS and I've told Alexis the way they communicated was outstanding that's the key that's great good job gentlemen thank you Jules anyone else this evening on resolutions seeing none will close public comment on resolutions before moving on to the consent agenda can I ask a question about the change order resolution will we be amending that to include prominade project I'm going to just have Kevin revise the certification of funds to show that the two line item accounts making sure that one comes from the BG one comes from one yeah I'm just thinking Auditors like should we add the wording we can I mean it's in I mean it's described in the the body the change order I don't I mean if if if you feel that we want to change change it additionally we can as long as you're telling me that it it's going to come out of the Beach utility for the appropriate amount then I'm fine with that person how how it's written it's described in the body yeah is everyone okay with that okay and if we need to make a change We'll add a resolution at the next meeting if we'll talk to Kevin and the Auditors and if we need to make a formal change we can make a formal change with additional resolution at the next meeting okay we're comfortable leading that on the consent yeah okay all right anything else to remove from the consent agenda or anything to remove from the consent agenda anything Council can I get clarification on one uh 182 go it's if I may excuse me the how many the four four- whe beach chairs we're not buying four chairs it's just describing the the Ada chairs have four wheels it's it's a poorly worded thing we're buying 12 beach chairs there's 12 of them there's 12 of them that we're purchasing 12 four-wheel beach chairs 12 four-wheel beach chairs the four-wheel beach chairs just copied over from the quote that's how the quote was that's how the that's how the the vendor describes that object and we just copied and paste it and and really didn't think about the Optics of four-wheel yeah that we were buying four-wheeled Ada chairs realizing that most Ada chairs have four whe but there are but the reason is some of the ada8 chairs have three wheels some of them have two in the back one in the front so so that's that's from the vendor standpoint it's differentiating between the three-wheeled Ada chair and the four-wheeled Ada chair little yeah it was confusing and I just want a clarification thank but they're all two they're all two foot powered because you push them with two feet so they're you know it's not four-wheel drive it's just two feet drive two two wheel [Laughter] drive swinging and missing tonight with the dad jokes can I can I ask a question on about the beach chair since we have it up uh we're talking about it and for my sake how can people access these chairs what do they have to do so they call uh Beach Patrol and they reserve them from there there's no charge to use these Beach shars they will deliver them to you and pick them back up so if you're at your house they'll get them to you you you can use them for your time period and then you bring them back and and they're it's free of charge it's but it's a way to get you know somebody has mobility issues and they want to get you know for the people that want to get down to the wat's edge these are the chairs that get you down to the water's edge is this information that the beach taggers have as well I'm I'm pretty I can double check I'm pretty sure that and it's I mean it's publicized on our website and and throughout lot of our information but I'll make sure that the taggers have that information but it is a great program and and I say I've gotten multiple letters thanking the city for helping with that and that's and the lifeguards do just such a nice job with it I mean it's great uh any other uh resolutions to remove Council not that we and we didn't remove any but from the consent agenda from the consent agenda I want to remove 191 if that's okay okay okay okay anything else roll call U do I have a motion I I'll make a motion I have second I'll second roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor bobwin yes mayor mik yes and going back to 19106 2024 that's a resolution of appreciation of the county of Kate may do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second second any comments I just want to continue to you know thank the county for everything they've done for our city yeah yeah this is a resolution thanking the county U of course we had just had the library opening and the Pittsburgh Avenue Beach Avenue Lafayette Street uh CAW wall extension funding uh and safe roots to school funding so uh and and we're tentatively scheduled to make it that presentation to the County Commissioners at their next meeting next Tuesday so we're looking to go up and present that to them at their County Commissioner meeting that's great thank you okay U do I have a motion on oh we did make we have a motion in second roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member mcdave yes Deputy Mayor Ballin yes mayor mik yes all right moving on to the added resolutions 19406 2024 a resolution approving employment agreement between the city of Kate May and Alexander Coulter fire chief Motion in second and then some discussion this is 194 I'm sorry yes for fire chief do I have a motion on 194 I'll make the motion do I have a second I'll second um city solicitor could you give us the um so I'll I could just um yeah give us an outline if you would the the question before was about salary we'd have to address that anyway but the um this is for new contract for um Alex couter our fire chief and the next one is uh deputy chief e and uh Chief fashaw our police chief um the two comments or two adjustments to the mo MOA that's before Council there's an update to salary here the salary um on the first one which is Chief cter will be 152 345 effective January 1 2024 um starting at at the new term of the contract the comment back um uh following council's discussion which I was able to speak with both gentlemen who were here and present it's a point of clarification that the vacation leave provision will be preserved the language in their current contracts um essentially that the uh vacation time from period starting in June to Labor Day basically the high season um will be coordinated and approved in advance by the city manager's office it's going to be rare anyway um but that's pretty standard language in our contracts and I don't think there was any intent to remove that it was just a point of clarification which both gentleman uh confirmed so that's the um any action on that would incorporate that language remaining in the ultimate Mo MOA which would be revised it's not in there but it it will be in there and uh if Council takes action on that and and again there's no confusion on that the both gentlemen uh understand and agree to that and uh Chief uh deputy chief chief e um same contract period 1422 200 and uh for chief fasha's contract the starting salary effective July 1st will be 175 and I I think the um every contract is unique every circumstance is unique and each position has uh unique duties and responsibilities but I think the city manager was looking at um you know looking at the the range within the county both of these are all of these are well within the the range in the county um and and in some cases probably on the lower side of that so um I think City manag I don't want to speak for City management but I think that the they're looking at this is a reasonable resolution of these um for these gentlemen great okay and I'm just I'll repeat them again to make sure you hear it the uh Al CH Chief Colter is retro to January 1st 2024 at 1 152 345 deputy chief e retro to January 1 14200 and and chief fashaw is effective July one I believe is that right yes July one at 175 I would just like to make a comment um I I think the approach to this was that um market analysis was done um it was comparable to uh the peer group in the county um the salaries are commiserate with with um their peer group experience qualification years of service um any adjustments anytime you do something from a salary and a wage standpoint I think um people want to go to percentages um and you know sometimes that becomes a number that they hold on to I don't think that's really what we should focus on what we should focus on um as you know on from a personal perspective and from The public's perspective is the value that these gentleman bring to the city in their leadership their years of service and the these salaries are committ miserate with what their peers are being paid you know in locally this is not a you know a national this is what they they are being paid for what the work they do in the city of Kate May and I think that the other thing that we all need to remember is that this city is different it's changed it's evolved you know and you want qualified experts here if we had to go out and recruit one of these individuals into this position it would probably cost us a lot more and they'd have a learning curve and a startup that would take time for them to get to the level of the uh quality of the individual so I I personally was extremely comfortable with the with the proposals before us and I'm very pleased that we as a council acted upon this this evening thank you mayor thank you any other comments questions Council we have uh we actually only have a motion on 194 is that correct correct okay so we have a motion in a second on 194 roll call please council member Jagger yes yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor bwin yes mayor mullik yes next we have 19506 2024 a resolution approving an employment agreement between the city of Kate May and Michael E Deputy fire chief do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second I'll second any questions or comments Council mayor if I could just add something I just to follow what council McDade said about percentages I think the the the initial percentage is not the one that you you really talk about because I think we needed to bring them into where we need I think moving forward they're all at a 3% per year increase so I think that's if you're going to look at a percentage that would be the percentage you want to look at I think the the the feeling was to treat them that peer group as a peer group and and bring them up into that market rate where they where they should be um and that's and that's kind of how we approach the negotiations I think that's kind of of how they came into into it and I um I think we reached a happy Fair settlement perfect yeah good point Thank You city manager um any other questions or comments Council roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor Balin yes mayor mullik yes M1 19606 2024 resolution approving an employment agreement between the city of K May and Deacon fashion chief of police do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second I'll second any questions or comments Council read roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor Balwin yes mayor Mark yes I think I speak for everyone when I say congratulations gentlemen uh to to each of you IND individually uh deputy chief eek you do an absolutely fantastic job um not only in in the fire department but frankly uh working with you and I know um Deputy Mayor on the um the fire station getting everything together on the task force you were uh excellent uh involvement in in that obviously same to you Chief um and and also on the OEM operations you guys are second to none really so we're we're proud of the work that you do and um we can't thank you enough I mean we just had a public comment and and and really acknowledging that Chief fasha you and your department have done such an absolutely wonderful job um for the city of Kate May and of course not just the city lower Township Kate May Point West Kate May and um I just want to say personally particularly in the in regards to community outreach um you know your work with children and um getting the positive ticket program and all those um things that you guys do um make a really big impact and obviously all of you help Kate may keep Kate May safe so I I know I speak for all of us when I say you have done a wonderful job and we thank you for your leadership and your departments individually uh on to new business city solicitor any new business uh excuse me do we have any old business uh nothing tonight May any old Business Council any new business city solicitor nothing still no city manager uh I just had one thing um just to remind I as part of the mitigation that we did on the St John property we had to develop uh a story map for the African-American experience um and I forget I know I did some Outreach on social media but I forget if I made an announcement here um and and it it I just encourage everybody to go visit the city website and under the section for the city history and um it is I think it really turned out great we had a subcommittee of um residents and former residents that came together and really discussed a lot of the uh locations and and what was going on and really brought out you know to and they told their story uh of their experience of here in Kate May City and um you so it's it's it's entitled the legacy of African-American Heritage in Cape May and it just goes through a lot of different things and uh it really gives a a bridge in it's probably one of a kind in the state of New Jersey for a story map of a historic perspective of any kind but definitely of describing you know the African-American Heritage and I I just encourage everybody if if you have a little bit of time you know you're sitting around and you know just take a look at it because it is a it's it's neat to look at and I think I think you know it was a very good thing for us to put forward uh for that so um take a look at it that's great great thank you city manager city clerk yes mayor I'd like to encourage everyone to participate in the city's Independence Day Parade coming up on Saturday July 6th at 1 p.m. the rain date is July 7th um there will be a red white and blue contest you can decorate your golf cart bike baby carriage and dog for a chance to win for second or third place prizes you do have to registered by June 30th and we'll announce again as that gets closer but come on out that's great uh council members Deputy Mayor okay um since we're kind of on a celebration a lot of great things are happening in the city um I want to continue the book Brigade was such a wonderful um event that was put off Shane Meyer did it council member Meyer you did a fabulous job um and then the library opening another great event um I want to invite everybody to come to the beach Safety Committee celebration it's going to be our third annual um it's going to highlight a lot of our First Responders um it's going to be held at headquarters June 30th uh from 8:30 to 10:30 there's going to be demonstrations rescues uh things like that you know in conjunction with the uh lifeguards firefighters police um food will be there entices a lot of people to come so um the only uh rededication of Cove Pavilion the work that uh DPW did again a celebration because there's a lot of great things going on in the city um that was held and that was a you know unfortunately a rain but it was a you know a wonderful celebration of of great craftsmanship and work from DPW and then the last thing I want to bring up is Canal Festival which is our Nature Center of Kate May that's held on June 23rd um it's a fundraiser uh they do so much for the kids in in the city um so if you can mark it on your calendar that's a great event as well where's that that's um out at the Rutherford's house over on the canal right over the West Kate May bridge to your right they'll have signs out so that's great thank that's that's all thank you Council council member McDade uh nothing at this time mayor council M Meyer I just want to continue about the uh book Brigade it was the biggest uh Community Spirit event I've ever been to yeah and keep may I I was actually very emotional afterwards um the fact that all the nonprofits that I sent letters out to showed up you know they had their shirts they represented their organizations very cool and the fact that the uh the employees were there thanks to Paul and the firefighters were involved and the police it was just an amazing event and I remember right 10 minutes before it was you know someone said it was like the Field of Dreams you know we were we were building it and we were hoping everybody was going to come and uh they sure did come them stretch down I know turned doubt that everybody was the perfect number of people to participate and and when we did the count we we we estimate close to a thousand people created that chain it's amazing we looked at it yeah so we uh we had one person with one foot in one building and another person with a foot in the other building and and the fact that the kids were there and everybody was full of smiles even though it was warm out there I think it was just something that I I hope happens again sometime in the future and I just would I didn't expect it but I realized when I was there that every single neighbor of mine everybody around me was there that's really cool it was it was great standing in line I'm sorry Paul because people were like you just talking to them you know and they were like oh yeah this is great you know complete strangers just popping into a line getting next to somebody it was awesome and I talked to one of the firemen that were in the line and he said that he participated in the original one and his mom said you got it cuz he wasn't on duty at the T so he came in and he brought his children uh participate so um you know I thought it was pretty unique that you know that there were even people there that were at the original uh very cool so they they could say they particip participated in both of the book R Gates and I'd like to just Al also add uh you know if you haven't been to the new library yet be sure to get there take your time walk around there's a lot to see and I just want to uh compliment the mayor on his speech it was excellent how you tied that all with uh Benjamin Franklin it's really well done thank you very much thank you councilman Jer here uh yeah I'll just want to do a a quick update if I could um recalling that U you know we received a $200,000 Grant um earlier this year uh to in order to do a safe uh streets and Roads program plan and we you know we hired GPI I may have talked about that in a previous meeting but um I just wanted to update you uh GPI has uh came back to us to our bicycle and pedestrian safety uh advisory committee meeting um they were here last week and uh they've done they've put together a super extensive plan it was it's pretty amazing um but they were here to actually get our input and find out the things that we think are most important and it is it's a cape Island thing we had people from West Cape May uh Cape May point and we had the city man manager the mayor and I'm sure I'm missing some other um people that also attended the meeting and thank everybody they all had input and um again it was it was our time to tell them what it is that we want done and we look forward to having a pretty amazing plan put in not put in place but a plan that we can uh hopefully get a grant to implement by the end of this year so that's great it's the latest thank you councilman jger uh I have nothing for this evening other than just thank you for all the hard work uh of the council members involved especially in the library and the the passing of the books it was just a lot of fun so great great work everybody with that I'll open it up for public comment anyone wishing to speak please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record Joe Kars 123 Oregon Avenue in N villis um I want to report a situation occurred on Saturday June 15th uh on the beach at marker 23 Grand Avenue we were sitting there with our family of about 15 people there are other people still there um and a vehicle from stagers was going about 30 m an hour and came between two different people setups and he was flying um it feels a lot uh faster when you're right next to the but I would say it was about 30 m an hour um we jumped up we had two two-year-olds and a 5-year-old with us 10 minutes previous uh they were playing exactly where he was uh it was within 10 yards of our location and 10 yards of another location a little further up closer to the ocean most times we see them they're on the other side Clos to the prominade he was not there was a vehicle that was also broke was stuck uh probably further down near uh Shake U be Shack be Shack yeah and so he went around him and I'm assuming he figured well I'm not going to go up there I'm going to just keep going because it's a lot easier when where it's a little harder so my son and I jumped up we started following them we said well let's go to the um Beach Patrol uh but they weren't there here he then stopped um probably another 100 yard down and got out of his vehicle went back got his surfboard and went down surfing so I don't think it was even working at the time it scared us um kids started screaming maybe because our reaction of yelling the other family was also yelling I don't know why and right now the sand up top there I don't know if you're familiar with it is very soft and very deep and they're having trouble so we called the police since uh Beach Patrol wasn't there the police came very quickly very nice job but they told us there was nothing they could do they wrote up a report you'll see the report I have the number if you need to have that they wrote up the report next day I went to beach Patrol and I said told him what the situation was they said shouldn't have happened but there's nothing we can do about it one of them recommended that I come talk to you so um I was volunteered volun told that I'm coming here today um to talk to you and to let everyone know what the situation is so two things one 40 plus years I was coming to the Kate May beach never saw that beach Patrol absolutely they need to be there there's no question about that when the beach P has to go out we stay right by there we grab the kids everybody knows what's going on we don't know when these trucks are coming M the next day I sat and looked at them as they were coming and of course we now we always had our eye out because we knew they could potentially be there they were like they were in a foot of snow they were swerving and I don't know if they just don't know how to drive it don't know how to drive in the snow or whatever their situation is they were going faster the next day than I had seen them previously again because I'm afraid think they're afraid to stop and if they go too slow they're going to get stuck I don't know who's responsible for that I don't even know why they're there they collect towels and they go to each stagger station for 40 plus years they did that from the street mhm can someone tell me why they do that now out from the beach well I don't think anyone's getting answer to that because we don't know that that I don't I don't but I can tell you I didn't even know you were coming this evening and and I wasn't told about that situation but I can tell you as mayor the city manager already informed me that there was an issue and informed me that he would be making phone calls to the individuals involved so I I didn't even know your coming didn't wasn't told anything more than the situation had had Arisen and that the manager was already on top of it so I I just want you to know that he definitely has been making phone calls and I don't I I'll let you speak for yourself Paul but I haven't had a chance to talk to him we've played a little phone tag today but I I anticipate definitely talking to him before the Weeks end to reaffirm what his responsibilities are and his time frames and when he can be on the beach and for what purposes okay I also have pictures I I have I I talk with police I have the report information I have enough I need to do to talk with Mr Staker all right thank you and believe me we Shar in your concern as as a as a father I had the just by chance on that Saturday uh I had you can probably tell from my tan I actually got to the beach and I saw the truck that you were talking about that was stuck and um so we're we sharing the concern my kids were right there as well and I saw when they were trying to get out they were kind of going back and forth um so they have to be really careful and there is no need especially for the non Beach Patrol vehicles to be going anything over five to eight miles an hour you know so uh we're going to have those conversations for sure be honest I don't know if they can go five miles an hour in that sand today the way I think what if you have a proper you got to have the proper equipment proper vehic proper tires proper training on how to drive and I'll say it publicly I looked at the tires of the vehicle that was stuck and they were almost not roadworthy I mean they were very bald so there's no way that they were going to work on the beach so okay thank you very much sir we appr and my concern is for the future we understand don't want to see anything happen thanks all right thank you thank you sir anyone else public comments this evening police yes sir first off I want to apologize to you I did get your letter and I think we've responded back to you um and I quickly informed the the manager who actually was getting calls as well so um I control the street not the beach however it isn't concerned because it's a motor vehicle on the beach so um as soon as we make contact with Mr Stager we will do so um I believe you do have the option to sign a complaint as well a motor vehicle complaint I believe if you let us resolve it on our end first I'll offer that to you now if you'd like to do so you have my contact information you can follow back through with it but we will follow back with you once we're done with them um and there's got to be an explanation the second vehicle that was stuck on the beach was not a stagger vehicle I did receive a phone call from Billy Scott from Congress Hall who runs the beach act now um he said quickly my vehicle is stuck on the beach we're sending people out to dig it out we'll get it out as soon as possible um that vehicle was removed 25 30 minutes later so Staker going down the beach at that speed is definitely not warranted um it's something possibly we look at maybe going backwards and pulling that vehicle off the beach and going back to a lowspeed gator or something like that because there's there's no need for that um for the vehicle to be on there anymore and this is to jump out and go surfing well especially not for the per is the purpose I mean they they're permitted under their concession agreement to be out there to service their concession not to drive and park not to go swim for personal I think we look at that again as far as that you know the next year as far as Li what type of vehicle be used on the beach uh what speed it you know we have lsvs that go 20 M hour on our streets so we should have some type of Gator that does the same so I'm sure they have plenty of uh resources and fundings to do so so we'll follow back through with that I do un sincerely apologize for that because a beachgoer live here as long as you know I have I would not want you to be fronted like that with your family and scare people because we are a very Community Beach so um I want to Circle back real quick um again and I could speak for myself and the Chiefs on our contracts and the the process therein how it went forward um you know I didn't work with Alex and Mike but they worked along themselves um but we were in conversation during the the conversation with the manager's office who was speaking directly with uh mayor and councel and Mr Watson at the same time the process was um I won't say seamless but it was it was easier than it had been in the past uh we were we were welcomed to sit with the manager at least communicate with him and talk about what we wanted um we were asked to present certain things and documentation that you guys would need as far as like Miss McDade said you analization of other agencies other police Chiefs other Fire Chiefs and that was listened to we I sincerely appreciate that I can probably speak for them as well that they appreciate it as well so um we you know we appreciate moving forward on that and uh and making things better for us it's not about money for us I can tell you these the three three of us have been together since West Kate May Fire Department we do this for the love of the city and the cities and Burrows that we work in uh we've been doing this for a long time um we come from very humble beginnings um it's not about money for us so please understand that and I think you all know that from us because we're here um it was more just so about equaling our with our peers and kind of equaling out and that's what was demonstrated here and we really appreciate that um moving forward there was a couple questions I don't want to hold everybody here because try to get out of here um Park Mobile we've been working with that I've been speaking with several um parking lot owners and and people that have the parking lots miss Sheen had mentioned uh three or four meetings ago about the cricket Cricket Club you came down Columbia Avenue you saw the Cricket Club had a park robow sign I called Kyle co kwis and I said Hey listen um what what do you have going on there he said hey we we contact the park mobile ourselves and we turn our parking lot on from the morning till 300 p.m. and allow people to park here at 3 p.m. it's hour for uh the Cricket Club um took that with interest and I spoke to a couple other parking lots I've spoken to um the ocean view Nick then the ocean view he's got 45 parking spots right on beach front I'm like Nick you know trying to entertain them so I did contact Park mobile as well there was a Buy in there was a a fee to to to allow a private parking lot to do so it's about $1,000 to do so but look at the numbers I think they would gain and it's about 55 cents per spot when the person parks there but they can schedule the the amount of they can't it doesn't have to be restricted on our end and I talked to Kyle also or through one of his Representatives but he mainly wanted to do it because he was showing up to open up the cric club at 4:00 and there was like eight or nine cars in his spots and he's like how do I get rid of these cars so instead of you know you'll see all different you know like I know sturdy bank and Colliers they pay somebody to kind of sit at their lot and and kind of shoe people away he didn't have that so this was kind of his solution to kind of but I think it's also an advantage to provide you know what we vitally need is this is kind of an alternative way for places that can provide parking in their off hours that they're that they're not it's kind of like what we're talking about you know providing parking in a in a in an area that when we're not using it yeah I I had spoken to Greg coffee there's an association issue with Bank Street but I said hey you got 60 something spots here you know so you know as money as I'm out there talking to people and and business owners I do mention it and try to get ahead of it uh to create more parking as far as that in relations to this parking lot here um once the fire department moved back they have a designated area which I don't even know that that's enough for them to park however what I've been finding on my nights coming back through town is people from Victorian Towers guests and visitors have been sliding over here uh the Mason blue is it the Mason blue they're staying here so the deputy city manager had asked me the same thing to make contact with them so what I've been doing is coming in every couple nights monitoring who's in the parking lot now I can properly address you know the which used to be the Hue house but Mason blue and tell them basically after we get the proper signage up on both ends of the parking lot because the one sign out here is kind of faded so I went proper sign it up and we're going to send people out nightly to do it you know the problem is we're going to probably bump into some locals and take get some locals initially you know we do try to check the tags first through a system called clear and make phone calls and do that but it's time consuming so the more time I spend here I'm not or the staff is not elsewhere so we're going to work on that parking's always been a problem in this parking lot but uh we'll work on that as well um we also want to make make mention of a grant we've received from the Wawa Foundation the hero Foundation I was asked at the book The Library opening where the money came from for the hero car we had it wrapped I me talked to uh the manager on that I sent some information to Mayor and Council on the lead car and that um that project was funded by the Kennedy family and also Wawa um it was a small project to enhance education for the designated driver program and also our lead program um we are going to be doing I met with I contacted Casey at the convention hall today and Mr Elliot would like to do a unveiling of the hero car but he wants mayor and councel to be there possible or members of um to do so I mentioned or Casey had mentioned maybe at harborfest have the vehicle displayed and do an unveiling there or have it be the lead vehicle for your fourth of July parade um the Elliot family is very very uh uh appreciative of of what we did for them and it's this vehicle is Al among other vehicles in the in in the country or at least New Jersey that that run this program so I'm proud to have been a part of that and I appreciate you guys allowing me to do that you know we don't usually wrap vehicles and make make bullet boards but this is a very important bullet board um so I'll let you know when that date's going to be if it's going to be at Harbor Fest or at the beginning of the parade um the National Night Out August 6 coming up we have that on the on the beach front with the help of the manager's office and mayor and Council and some local businesses that uh offer some money to to make the program work it's a great a great event everyone sees it everybody knows it August 6 from 5:30 to 8:30 uh along with I mentioned harborfest Harbor Fest is the 29th coming up uh we've had that years ago it's coming back now it's a city-run project so I encourage everyone to come and visit we're going to have about 70 vendors there that day hopefully the weather presents itself well but the bubble we asked to hold um talked about they unveiling uh we are still working on the bid project for the cameras working with the manager Office we had to renegotiate we're going to renegotiate two of the bids for the camera project for convention hall Public Works and this building uh the staff in this building specifically had asked to beef up security here for um for the staff we've had a couple walk-ins some people on the second floor just walking in offices unbeknownst and unannounced uh we can't have that so um working along with Aaron and and the other staff and the other department heads in this building along with Casey at convention hall and Eric over at Public Works um we are going to be meeting with both vendors and negotiate a better price for that for the project and kind of slim it down and get this building locked down hopefully by I don't want to put a date but September October we get it all locked down and more cameras into this building also want to acknowledge Tim Hughes he's retired uh from us now he was in our code enforcement he's decided to move on Tim uh had a a long career in the Coast Guard and came to us after that retirement I think it was you know he should have taken some time off in between that to breathe and live and and enjoy time cuz he's been just working you know his entire life Coast card into here so um Tim did a lot of work for us uh just like Jeff mcart did prior to um and I want to acknowledge his efforts in the code enforcement section of of our city um it's a you know Sun sometimes they uh an area that doesn't get acknowledged a lot because they kind of do the Dirty Work you know they're always giving out notices they're telling people hey you're doing wrong and you know they don't get a lot of PS on the back like the firehouse and police department but they're doing a job that we necessarily need so I want to acknowledge Tim for his his his accomplishments and his time here with us uh two more things three more things uh bikes dogs and and on the mall I've been working with uh the manager I I got a complaint from uh from some people and um and and Miss McDade as far as um where are we at with our enforcement where are we at with making it a better um site and visitation to the boardwalk and the in the mall we're working on that I got to get some more uh messages I talked to the manager now today about how I would deliver that on social media I don't want to necessarily tell people hey you can't have your dog in the mall but if it's a if it's a service animal you can because they're going to use that excuse because that's the excuse we use we get everyone and I'm saying not saying that there's not service animals but there's criteria for that service animal and I you know I want to put that out there and hopefully try to get the message out that because apparently they're not reading the signs on the mall they're clearly written signs on the mall on the boardwalk that say you can't do it but um also we have five more officers coming out uh before 4th of July so um not that we're short we we have um man we have the five one class ones that are working now and we'll have a total of nine class 2os so we'll get the other five out um and with that said the county is running short with class twos and seasonal officers usually there's 85 to 110 in the academy there's 34 right now that's not just for Kate May that's for Wildwood North Wildwood everybody Ocean City so uh the draw for me and a police officer has kind of dried up a little bit but we're working on that so we're going to be staff as best we can with your help and with your uh financial support through through our budget so um also I want to acknowledge too I had two officers that had losses in their families in the last day or so Dereck Murphy lost his brother yesterday through a horrible motorcycle accident he's our S one of our sards and Mike U McMahon lost his mother over the weekend so uh we're just kind of wrapping our arms around the guys to make sure they're okay and and working with them so again thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you do for us and we'll continue doing the work we do for you and for the city thank you thank you Chief Jules Rous 1010 New York just a couple little little things I'd like to uh inquire about the status oh Paul's back um the uh the Dela Avenue and Wilmington Avenue Army Corps projects they're they're like 10 years old or older um where where do we stand the last I update because this is a county project last update I gotten was they were at and it's really County project as a sponsor from the Army Core project so it's really an Army Core project uh there were about 80% plans done in this back in the fall I haven't I haven't gotten an update I can I can find out and do some more research but it not being our primary project it's kind of doesn't hit my Tickler all the time so I'll look into every time I get down Delaware Avenue I look at how it's eroding underneath the it's now up to underneath the paved cartway um that's a good um photograph to send to them as an inquiry you know I think we should I can just add to what the city manager said when I got the last update to be blunt I wasn't encouraged yeah I think the the last one that they committed to was this September and then I heard that that day slipping that September may not be happening didn't no reason why but I'll find out and I'll have a update for council at the next meeting I think a photo like that for an inquiry is a good and when you look at the curve at at at beach in Wilmington it's obvious there's that would certainly be an asset I mean anybody that's been here for a few years knows that uh when there's a hurricane or a big North Easter that's where it comes into the city yep and if you followed What Noah is predicting for this year yep um um that would be a nice asset to have completed absolutely i' i' like to make a comment about Harbor View if I may I was around here when they when they did that project and U there was a lot of discussion because it involved not just that particular piece of ground but um the Estates next door it was the there was a lot of discussion my understanding and I and I don't have any idea the details but I understand there were there were agreements made that the Harbor View Park would uh would not have any active uh Recreation I think they I think you're correct about that and the proposed project has none and there will not there is no intention to so well there's B bow we're going to we're taking that out I just had a conversation with Mr Orlando earlier by my count there's roughly 160 seats in that project as it's now laid out I don't understand the need for 160 seats um I I make regular visits there because I like to sit and have a lunch and and look out over the water so I've I've been there many times actually um I also wonder since we're going to be changing or the program is to change it how does that affect our rosi allocation because we're going to have more more impervious surface the rosi is doesn't look at the impervious curve it just whether or not it's used for recreation or not okay I just yeah it doesn't that doesn't have an impact won't this project require D approval we're looking at that we're trying to make sure that it doesn't we were tely proposing to have a a covered somebody ask for a covered Pavilion out I'll say on the the boardwalk deck that's kind of right on the water's edge if we added that that probably would require a d permit but just the rest of the work on there would not require permit all right and the last one is we've had a lot of discussion about capital projects not one word about a Dale plant that's an essential ladies and gentlemen we need we need to move forward because that's going to be you know if they started today it's three four five years down the road so I raise that question but thank you very much thank you I'd like to just add when it comes to Delaware Avenue over there by the Coast Guard base I think there's also a sewer line that goes underneath that road which I think is important to also mention um you know I for for those who don't know when I was a kid you know there used to be patches of of woods between the harbor and and Delaware Avenue I used to play in and uh and it's eroded I don't know what 30 feet since then so I think it's a major concern any other public comment this evening real quick Raj Johnson 826 Lafayette Street thank you so much for uh Lafayette Park thank you so much for the book Brigade it was amazing um I'm here repres presenting some uh residents who had an idea about um parking in relation to the library they were wondering if it would ever be possible that when you get your ticket to go into the Acme parking lot that uh gives you 30 minutes of parking at the Acme parking lot um if you went to the library and got like a stamp and then um so you could stay an hour it proved like you were at the library would that be possible well obviously that maybe not obviously but the the Acme is a private lot we we don't we don't own it right um but let me let me give you a quick update on on parking um the current Library I believe has five to six six parking spots right the ex the the not the current Library the previous Library yeah we're looking at adding seven parking spaces here here in city hall eight eight new okay so we're we're looking at eight new parking spaces most of which is actually close to the library along here if it the way we're looking at that is um if you come in the street between the firehouse and the library and you look straight down where you see that row of police cars right um that that actually goes all the way down to library and and we kind of have just some unmaintained grassy areas we're looking at putting in U A what would you call a retaining wall uh and a nice one not anything CR but a nice retaining wall and then continuing that parking for eight more spaces including handicap spaces okay oh wow so that's so number one right away we two or three parking spaces more than the existing Library I know that we're going to get have more people coming to this one the next spot that we're looking is is also the am church next to the old CCA building which now CCA has their new home in the library we'd like to make that and and Paul just showed that but nine new spaces there close to nine spaces there and further we're looking at now this is a little further down the line but looking at working with the housing authority on Osborne court is that court or there's two osborns yeah the osbor those it runs between the Amy church and sturdy Savings Bank the road back side of public housing having some parking along that street Poland parking so that one's further down the road but I will say this fall we're hoping to have nine new parking spaces next to the am Church eight new parking spaces here so yeah it does St John Street St John Street and yeah well that's a good point St John's we're hoping to have some spaces as part of lafette Street Park Park which looks like it's finally moving a little bit that that that we are looking at some major parking so um we all know the the you go outside right now you might not have a parking spot but we know that and we know that the library is going to be an issue especially for this summer but I'm hoping that we have a good Solution by by the end of this summer unfortunately the end of the summer but you know so is that something that could be um brought up to the owners of Acme or no not really we could we had we've I don't want to say publicly but we're gonna we're goingon to try we will try that absolutely great okay thank you I'm not too hopeful but I will try that's okay that's a question thank you thank Youk you Stacy Shan 928 Columbia Avenue um I just want to follow up on Deacon with that Park Mobile and these private areas I thought it was mentioned too at the one of the meetings a couple meetings ago about them requiring permits that I guess that's the city clerk's qu no a should be obtaining a Mercantile license if they have for-profit parking um so I can get together with the chief and we can see who you've identified and make sure that they're all in compliance with that okay my other question is we were talking about the new Franklin Street Library and I read in the paper it's the cost is at $11 million and I know that the city had made we had went out for Grants and the grants were supposed to be paid towards that 11 million and that we had made the council had made a statement or had that they were not going to go above 2 million on your being paid on your part of it is that still an effect that you're not going to go above 2 million for what you're going to contribute to that project from talking with the construction manager of the project we're still within our $2 million yes okay just making sure um also with that Franklin Street School um before the construction began that the lead count was extremely high and there we've been talking about lead and how dangerous it is to children and that Library their children are going to be attending there and that the lead was very high before the construction and then they went through lead testing afterwards which were little borderline some of them were and my question is are we going to continue because I think it was made a statement was made before that yearly we are going to test for lead in that building it's a county building and you'd have to ask them but all the Tes City's building and we're still responsible yes all the lead testing was done and and the the building is certified as as lead free there's no detected lead at this point there isn't but I mean if you read the report I'm not going to get into that but my my question moving forward is are we as a city it's still our building and we want to keep our resident safe and if you're saying that it's for the county I'll go talk to the county that it doesn't matter to me I just wanted to see where the city stood on this yeah I I don't know the answer so I just I don't want to you know make anything up I I think my understanding of it was that it did pass and everything was good so I to test after that hey we're asking the uh residents to test their rental proper that's my that's my point you're asking residents to test and you I would fully support that that would continue and I I would hope that it would I and I and I think that it will but if I just don't know the answer for for that context if there's a for the ordinance that we just did tonight if there's a presentation of a lead free certificate then you don't have to do those inspections anymore it's lead free it's not lead free it's not lad free stated that that's what certified no it said that the counts were lower than the norm is all that it said it's not lad free we're not going to spip all this yeah no I'm just saying but just it's that's fine and and I'll I'll talk to Kevin lir maybe I just want to make sure that we're not exposing children to the lead that that's in the building that's all if there is any lead good thank you any other public comment this evening seeing none motion to adjourn I'll make that motion thank you everybody it's exactly 5 o' have a wonderful evening