e e e e e e adequate notice of this meeting was provided in accordance with chapter 231 Public Law 1975 okay have the indication Sil medication please [Music] deputy director R the United States of America the stands nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all Al commissions present commissioner Soro here commissioner Maran here commissioner Taylor present deputy director Romero here director Soo here we have presentations the first one is downtown sh update okay presentations from downtown please there state your name Michael rman I'm the mayor of downtown um first of all I'd like to thank you for uh changing your schedule a little bit to accommodate us I understand it's not Orthodox thing that you do but I'm involved with a couple other things so thank you for right off the bat while I have your attention we're here for the downtown CH sewer uh project but while I have your attention there's one thing I do want to address um the County board thank you each and every one of you for what you've done for downtown uh over the past couple months as well as your continuing support to us for the storm damage uh we would not have been able to accomplish what we needed to get done if it was not for your help the residents some of them here from Gandy Beach that had to go through this they appreciate everything you guys have done your Public Works has been phenomenal and um helping us accomplish what we needed through so thank you all from downtown ch now on to why we're here first of all like I said I'm Mike Rothman mayor of downtown with me today is Mayor Campbell he's here a St mayor Campbell uh who started this Jim Deputy Mayor Jordan you're taller than me here you go Deputy Mayor Jordan Jim rala and um from USDA is janaa this is the core of what our team is to present to you tonight what our um what our project is all about we've been here a few times I believe we've been here at least two times to explain the project give you guys updates of how we've been coming along uh through the prior Administration as well as this one um when this all started it was a d uh recommendation to do something it started back with Sandy and we were given um basically an ultimatum either fix it or disappear through d uh they gave us the option to come up with something mayor Campbell put together a patch sewer treatment uh plant that is going to be built in for iscue to serve the residents of foris and Gandy Beach it will serve two communities this is one project what we did was split it into two phases to capitalize on two different years of financing that's why you hear phase one and phase two as a brief EXP explanation of that when this started this was a $15 million project preco when Co hit and the world changed and the supply change of material we jumped up to a $33 million project not because we changed the plans or changed the plant or did anything with that the world changed us it changed all of us it's in our own way we were told by the committee then that if we raised uh 50% of the funding for this project at 15 million that the county will back Us in any Endeavors that we have financially when it changed to 33% we not only exceeded the 50% that was asked to us uh to supply in grant funding we are now at 77% of grant funding for this project this is a testament to what our committee has done to what Mr rala has done to what you guys have helped us achieve as well as multiple Federal state agencies the USDA is our biggest Financial partner in this project I believe Jim to the tune of 13 million plus 15 how much 15 I'm sorry MRSA correct me $15 million is what uh 13 and half is Grand and that is our biggest partner in this um we are what we like to consider the Jersey Shore of Cumberland County there is no other place like fora in the entire County uh we are proud of what we have um mayor Campbell at one time had a slogan that said No Retreat well we're not retreating we are staying on this and the 12 12 years that we have started with this and when mayor Campell was told from the onset of this this will never happen here we are we're we're at the line and um that's that's why we're here basically what we're going to be uh presenting to you tonight from Mr rala is a very simple way of me trying to explain this to you hey Dad we need you to co-sign a loan for us I want a new truck anytime you put your name on the bottom line you are exposed that's it's no secret all of us have been in business all of us signed a loan we know what you're responsible for when you sign the bottom line what we want to do is not only show you that we have a job we want to tell you what our income is we want to tell you when we're going to pay you we want to tell you how we're going to pay you we are right now 100% funded and this all happened in the past few days the last pieces fell into place as most of you know there was an email put out from Senator Booker and from Congressman van drew that we received the ear Mark of $4 million last week that is this project that was a question mark on this project for a long time it's here so now we are 100% funded for this project so at this time I'd like to turn it over to Mr rala to explain the flow of this and I'm sure that I don't know if Mrs Sela would like to say anything with this of the usda's involvement with this but she's more than welcome after Mr to good evening um this has been a quite a journey uh been involved in this project for six years and uh it mayor mentioned partners and that's that's really a key here uh throughout this effort you we really started with the County Commissioners because the township could not move forward with this project without the commissioner's involvement and uh you know you were supportive in in 2018 when we started this endeavor and um uh we're here to really give you an update on where things stand um we made a partner d d you know they are they are propagating regulations on sea level rise on uh Coastal evacuation on Coastal protection but through the process and through a lot of hard work with the engineers who are involved in this project and the mayor and mayor Campbell and others we convinced them that this is the right thing to do that there's a culture that exists and for to skew and gaining speech that needs to be protected and that um this is something they want to support and all the way to the commissioner level we got their support and we received all the necessary permits that was a huge accomplishment they also provided 2 and half a promise of $25 million in low forgiveness to help leverage the project um another great partner that the mayor mentioned is uh USDA United States Department of Agriculture uh almost $1 13.6 million in Grant funds and an additional um I'm sorry an additional $ 1.5 million in loan funds uh that is that is already in place for this project been plot for the grants were applied for in three different uh trenches and they've all been rewarded so that was a major accomplishment another big uh partner in this was the uh D in Grant funds through the ibank the D as the mayor mentioned they've asked us to split the project so you have to do part of the financing by July 1st and part of financing way after July 1st by doing that the uh Township qualifies for $5.5 million in loan forgiveness $25 million in in FY 24 and $3 million in FY 25 um so that's that was a that major accomplishment and they really worked with us uh they made sure their regulations actually changed in FY 24 to allow downtown chip to meet their affordability criteria which meant instead of $2.5 million it was $3 million in Lo forgiveness and it also reduced the interest r for their uh for their financing so that was that was a major accomplishment uh the mayor mentioned uh the involvement of Senator Booker and Congressman van Dre they've been involved in this project from the beginning uh Congressman van Drew when he was a state senator and uh they have not faltered um I am involved in a lot of different projects no one got $4 million in uh in an near Mark uh he got a little bit but not $4 million both vandrew and Booker worked hard to make sure that that happened uh so that was that's very significant again as the mayir mentioned that happened this weekend this past weekend that that this federal budget was signed by the president on sun Saturday and that locked in $4 million we also received $2 million from do in six different grants uh those basically you're going to be ripping up the roads in the communities they need to be repaved instead of having it be part of the original of the major contracts that's going to be done separately through do grants through the city through the township engineer so that's another significant Improvement um in addition we got $150,000 from DCA from the Department of Community Affairs for shared services uh to reduce the cost of operating facility uh we have a draft agreement with the land of Serv authority to operate the facility it's one thing to build a facility you also want to make sure it's going to be operated properly land sewage Authority has a long history of operating facilities and they'll be operating this one but the $150,000 pays for all the capital needs for them to get started so there's a lot of Leverage that went into this project uh the last is a $8.9 million loan through the ibank uh it's a low interest loan and it'll be paid for through the life of the of the project um the user fees will be around $1,400 which is the same fee that we've talked about publicly to the residents and we've had several public meetings the last one was uh this past December to provide the residents of uh forq and Gandy Beach and update on the on the cost and the uh the progress of the project so putting that all together um we have a project that's now $35 million 77% as the mayor mentioned 77% of that is Grant funed the other is low interest loans from the I bank and from USDA so we're in a great position um all the bids have been received the project will be ready to be awarded in late May uh given us pretty plenty of time to work with the ibank and we've been meeting with the ibank regularly gives us plenty of time to meet with them to make sure that a portion of the financing is done in June the rest is done in July um and uh you know so we're all working together make this happen um but the reality you know when you talk about partners and I just went through a list of them the most important ones are you this project can't move forward without the county Support and uh so you know certainly your involvement from the beginning has been important uh we've tried to keep you aware as we have we move as we moved along we're still looking for other funding I mean there's still other opportunities we've had meetings with the governor's office and others about the potential for funding um that's that's not off the table we continue to to work on on those options and if there's other opportunities this Project's going to be under construction for the next two years uh wouldn't be won't be completed until mid uh 26 so there's plenty of opportunities and time to to bring additional dollars to this project but um and and I guess the other the last thing I'd like to say is um the support for this project from the governor's office from the US senator from the congressman from the county uh USDA has been unbelievable um and that's really a testimony to the leadership and downtown uh they never gave up and that's that's really unusual because you know things changed people changed uh and uh but that that that support has not changed so it's pretty significant um if you'd like I can answer any questions you and if not can turn it over to Jane Jane you'd like to say a few things please uh good evening Commissioners and uh thanks again for the opportunity to uh to be in front of you today uh to again um you know reiterate the support of the USDA World development um for this project um and USDA World development um you know has has a couple of goals here one is um we we we we have funds that support a community a Ral community's ability to grow and Thrive um and so for us part of that is to be able to support the shellfish industry that's in um in the area um this is an industry generational jobs around uh surrounding the shellfish industry whether it's you know you starting with the boats that go out to those who provide fuel for the boats to those who maintain the boats to you know to the farming and the packaging and everything that goes in involved with that so um again World development is is there to to help a community grow and Thrive and and part of the um doing that is the economics of it um and and the second part is to be able to have um communities have Investments that they otherwise could not be able to afford um so the federal government steps in to provide this low uh cost loan um I think it was a 2.25% loan um over 40 years who does that a bank doesn't do that the federal government does that um again um to ensure that um there's opportunity for growth and investment in these areas um and then through the grant funds that uh that Jim just outlined um we were able to show the need of the community um back that up with um with again the um the narrative that that describes an industry that we're not for um a project like this these communities would disappear that industry would would um would soon there thereafter um as well um and then you know we also talked a little bit about a project like this um it provides the residents the opportunity to um to use what is their generational wealth this one asset that a family owns um and be able to um have a future for that uh so that way you can sell a home right now if you if you don't have a a a a septic system that passes um certain inspections you can't sell that home so we're trapping people into to a property that would become um would eventually uh disappear so it it gives the those families who have um uh years and generations invested in in their property uh the ability to continue to live there but also be able to pass that um that home onto uh onto the Next Generation or um sell to somebody else who wants to live in that beautiful Community along the bay um in addition to the grant funds and the loan funds we also have support for the those residents um it is incing upon each resident to um to hook up to the system that we're helping to uh to grow to build um and with our program residents who are 62 and above who are below uh a certain income threshold and I believe that's 55,800 um I could be wrong uh you could if you're 62 and above you could apply to us Ral development for a $10,000 grant that would go towards the cost of not just the hookup but also the deom commissioning costs for that septic system um and then if you are below 62 but again below that uh the income threshold you can qualify for a loan a 1% loan um up to $40,000 again a 1% loan not only will help a a resident be able to afford um and uh afford the the septic system decommissioning and the and the hookup but also you know we never uh we never repaired the roof now did we um and and you know we could um we could make that handicap accessible that we always wanted um we need a rolling shower we need you know it allows again the opportunity to for the homeowner to make the investment in in their property um so those are just a couple of uh additional Services we provide and I think Jim touched on it um with landur authority we also have um a service provider that could assist the community um with the startup of that utility um everything from you know billing and recordkeeping to servicing and maintenance and all those kinds of administrative um systems that need to be put into place um we've directed our um our consultant to make this a number one priority to be able to afford provide that kind of um expert assistance to to the community um and be able to create this new sewer system um utility uh so for those reasons you know I wanted to you know thank the mayor for the invitation to to be in front of you again tonight to again reiterate our support for this project I think Jim had touched on it's a little more than five 15 million with the additional $4 million from uh Senator Booker and Congressman Andrew that'll put uh Rd World New Jersey World development uh close to 20 million of a 33 and change project so um we're fully invested and fully committed to this project um we are routinely on phone calls so that all of uh all of the funders all the partners involved in this um all on the same page all at the same time um so that we were assured that this Pro it continues to move forward particularly in this critical time where we're ready to sign documentation and and accept bids and and put a shovel in the ground um so for that I I thank you for the opportunity to uh to again address this uh commission um and also welcome your questions any thank you Jan I just want to thank you um for continuing to come before the commissioner board you've been here several times and we really appreciate you coming and just the transparency on the project and explaining it in a really clear and concise way for us we really appreciate that the county level um Jim and especially mayor Roan I have to commend you for the outstanding job that you have done seeking funding for this project it it is not easy we we are all looking for Grant funds for different projects at the county level and at many other levels and other things that we do and um I I can't commend you enough for how tirelessly you've worked to pull this project together um and find the funding to come in so that it's not on the taxpayers back of people that you represent I do have one question um regarding the the the loan for hookup and for grant for hookup is there assistance for um the 62 year and older population who might be applying for that Grant as far as going through the paperwork is there somewhere that um it is it is a little bit of a process um what we had talked to the mayor about is being able to come in um at a town hall um with me and my staff um those who would be able to uh work with the community members who are interested in doing that application it does get a little wieldy so so yeah we you know we'd be interested in um being able to have the opportunity to bring three or four people sit at desks and and allow the community members to come and and and ask questions and get the paperwork and what do you mean when you say this what do you want here and you know we have a checklist that's involved and you know be fantastic I know I've been involved since the Inception of this idea when mayor Campbell came up with the idea and I remember that first town hall meeting when everybody came out and and you know had all these questions and a lot of concerns and that was a really big one because a lot of the residents do live paycheck to paycheck in their in their households and they're very concerned about those hookup fees and so I'm so happy to see that there are grants and very low interest loans available for those families um I just want to make sure that they have that support because it can get um a little hairy so I want to make sure they have that support to get through the process you know particularly when you're 62 and above and you know your limited skills in the technology and so yeah you can you know fill that application in online but so there's a barrier um and you know my staff is used to working on the phone language they're not used to just exactly we have Spanish speakers and um so you know we we we're used to to you know those kind of barriers and and and trying to work with uh with residents I will say though um I have not received my allocation yet from Congress on how much funding we would have for this program it's called our 504 home uh repair and Loan program um waiting for Congress to tell us how much New Jersey gets uh towards that but uh obviously um we would make a commitment to to be in the community to be able to um to assist and anyone who's interested to be able to apply thank you for that I'll just say that's where we could still be partners because the health department would be probably ecstatic that what this goes through to help uh if you could trade them to show that would be our extra leg to say hey we can help too to push people to this program from being acceptive systems they could actually uh sewer system they would love to probably they could learn to help them fill the paperwork too so could continue that partnership with the youth there is another uh program commissioner that uh to make you aware of it's called our um our housing preservation grant program um and that's for nonprofits or uh public entities to come and um receive Grant funds from USDA to run their own home repair program um in the case of marsh Township ship uh they just received a believe it's $140,000 Grant um and what they're going to do is they're going to serve as my role they're going to accept applications from from their residents um and then use those Grant funds to fund those kind of home repairs and I think the idea is they they're looking to to fund 8 to 10 um homeowners to be able to um replace their their failed setic system so if the county is interested uh the county can be an applicant for the housing preservation grant program and you too can serve as a home repair program and provide those funds as well and your staff might be able to help with the application process um yes commissioner one I I I think you just did a stellar job you really have and I commend you greatly on what you've been doing um I have a number of questions but due to the fact that I know we're going to be putting on a budget uh PowerPoint right tonight I was going to ask the director is there any way that we can possibly put a meeting together like a zoom meeting like we did one other time sure so this way we can and they're not difficult questions there just a couple questions I would like to just verify and I was just wondering if we can do that absolutely um and no reason why we can't right no no it's also going to come back before you I don't know what the cont of your questions is but it's also going to come back before you for Action right when we introduce a b presuming you wish to support this project as a board so there will be a public hearing public comment and all of that would that answer or would you like a special meeting in advance no if we can have another meeting in advance like we did the other time uh was a week ago was it a week yeah just just a a routine I I think a 30 minute 20 minute meeting would would be able to answer the question that's so a small working group is so the interested time let's do that okay is that all right mayor that's fine um just one thing that I'd like to to make sure it's understood we are not asking you for money we're not coming before you to ask you to give us money we've done that already we're asking you for your support we're asking you for to sign on a line we're asking you to be part of this as a partner with us this is something that doesn't do anything for any one of us it does everything for the residents of downtown these are the people that need it these are this what this project will be and these are the people that it's going to serve the residents of down Township you have the opportunity to help us out here um in that and you guys have been incredibly supportive in that whole in this whole process for that thank you um I don't know mayor Campbell did you have anything you want to say this was his project from day one and that's the guy that put it together I would just like to thank you both for your perseverance on this project this it's a wonderful infrastructure uh project that needs to be done um I think the homeowners in pis SKU and Danny Beach will be very benefited uh in the future I don't sometimes it's hard for people to realize you know what the actual um appreciation of what's going to happen to their compies and it's it's just important uh it benefits not only you but also benefits the county and it also benefits tourism and that's something you have to be prepared for because now you're going to see an influx of people going to come down to Forest you kind of like almost maybe even ruing your little atmosphere your little Solitude that you have down here and it's beautiful but I think with uh guidance and very careful um economic growth you guys can do both so with that I just want to thank you again for everything you're looking I would like to say something mayor Rothman could you explain to the viewers at home and some of the people in the audience why this project is so important the the residents they have to have holding tanks the cost of the holding tanks are 15,000 and up they have to have them pumped on a regular basis the cost is is is pretty much the same as if you were to drop a septic but you cannot do that so when it comes to pumping out the system some places some homes are pumping them out two two times a year sometimes a little bit more on the Bas or this started back when Sandy hit and if anybody's been down there since then you know that there are some older tanks properties that are no longer there you see those tanks the one thing with downtown and the proximity to the Delaware Bay that was not mentioned here which will support what you're saying or asking we are home to a shelfish um community that is a $40 million industry and that's right on our beaches that's right on our Shores with these failing systems with storms that hit and the pollution goes into to that water it closes our shellfish uh industry our our oysters are known throughout the world when you say Delaware Bay oysters it is ours it comes out of our backyard when these septic systems are exposed to the water and it pollutes it and they close it that industry suffers so this is something that would help that um the residents of downtown should get all of this I mean here here's a perfect case and point look at sebr look at Bay Point look what's going on in money AUM we have no control of the state has come down and said we're going to take over end of story again through mayor Campbell slogan no retreat we're not going to stop we're going to protect our community and the reason we're so passionate about it is because it's ours these are our people and the one thing that is is part of all this when people are paying their taxes and say their tax rate is either astronomical or unaffordable there's not one of us that live in downtown that don't pay the same taxes all of us pay the same tax all of us are involved in this project whether you want it or not not meaning the rest of downtown it is a user based system that's what's going to support it but we all live there this is our home and we want to make it the best for the future so what's behind me I can promise you I'm not staying in this position much longer when this is done I'm out but when I'm done I want to look in the mirror now I'm out believe me I want to look in the mirror and know the same thing from the day that I got involved in this the person I saw looking back at me is the person I have to answer to and when this project is done knowing that I can look at that person in the mirror know that we did the right thing through this project knowing that you were part of making the right thing happen for the residents of D that's where the passion comes from and that's where it's going to serve our residents in the need for it it's not a me thing thank you may it's a them thing thank you thank okay very good all right let's move on okay Mr Bri he wants to watch a 35y old man try and get technology to work for him director wishes to be excused day more than I understand we talking we're we're talking we are have a public Hearing in the future on this money that's you made your presentation you're off the hook try but you can stay thank you again a great all right the PA Channel okay you have no idea how relieved I am that this worked on the first try okay oh man it's not as much in turn out as last year they must have sens that I was going to be using the same exact slides as last year because I said last time we had a meeting that I was going to present a shorter condensed version of the budget presentation and then I got a couple slides in hated it and then just reverted back to the old format which was last year so I'm sure every everyone's thrilled uh is there an over under on what time I'm going to hit cuz I thought I did an hour and a half last year and then I hear it was 40 minutes so I think we're going to be doing pretty well tonight if I can do this in under 20 it's a miracle I'm sorry Commissioners uh so for those that don't know me and the it looks like mostly department heads so yeah everybody knows me I'm Jeff I'm your CFO I've been in the position for roughly a year and a half now uh feels longer than that uh so this is our introduction of the 2024 budget tonight and we're going to do a public hearing and adoption on April 9th traditionally the presentation has been done at the uh public hearing so that uh you introduce it to the public in the form of just issuing the budget but then there's no explanation that comes with so going to switch it up this year and do the presentation at introduction so that when the commissioner board and the administration is presenting the budget to you with this 124 page document that the state uh has not modified in years then there's some explanation as to what is in there that way the public at least has an idea what's in instead of waiting a whole another month so we're going to try it out uh if everyone hates it we can talk about it later and change it up next year uh but worth a shot at least so I'm going to try and roll through these because a lot of these are familiar it's the same ones as last year so I had a lot of Trends I had a lot of graphs so the budget process typically these Department requests go out in August we ask all the department PS what they want uh what they need and then these come back to me usually mid-september and then the administration uh gets together with all the Departments and discusses what the asss are not only that we also look to see like hey is there anything operationally that you guys need so and I I'm saying you guys because I'm talking to department heads in the audience for the most part uh so we try and address anything from an operational standpoint so it's not necessarily anything Financial but then just anything like human resources legal anything that we can provide after going through that we come up with a preliminary budget we present it to finance committee usually it's in dece realistically it's in January because December you have year end you're preparing for reorganization we have the one meeting it's it's really difficult to get something in at that time so usually in January we review a finance committee once everything is known so like final tax numbers uh we uh have the final budget presented if the finance committee is good with it then it recommends to the Commissioners which is where we're at tonight so we're introducing it to the public and then a month from from now we'll have the public hearing where people can make comments uh and then during that process I submit it up to the state division local government services they review it and tell me look you you're missing a decimal point in these spots or your interpretation of this is slightly off um and then I have to explain what I'm doing so it's a fun process for me but it's a checks and balance portion so our auditor looks at the same uh State examiner looked at the same so just to make sure that everything is as it should be after the public hearing uh gets adopted and then we start next year's budget already wow here's a quick summary uh and and just so everyone is aware the uh anybody that's online watching the stream the quen broadcasting does have a copy of this presentation so uh anybody online is able to see this uh and I don't maybe they can see me speaking to I'm not sure how they have the split screen but and all this is going to be circulated on the website too so I'm going to have the introduced Budget on the finance department website as well as the presentation because there's a lot of information here for me to go over everything especially when I touched on all the trends last year I'm going to try and get through it quickly but it's available for everybody if they want to read it in their own time so here it's just a general summary explaining what our Appropriations are which is what we are spending and what the anticipated revenues are which is the money that then funds the spending so the difference between 23 and 24 is is significant because of Grants so as we get grants in throughout the year you see that 49 million spot under amendments when we get grants in throughout the year we amend the budget for new grants to come in so July 1st Workforce Development grants come through last year we had the middle mile of 24 million so it really skews that number so if you look at the 227 million versus the 181 and 24 yeah it really jumps out of you but that's why as for everything else as to what's different between 23 and 24 I'm going to go through it quickly okay so it's kind of hard to see depending on where you're at but again these slides are going to be available for everybody this just looks at a 10-year Trend uh so as you can see there's been a lot of ups and downs for salaries so uh the beginning starts out with the jdc closing reduction in general overtime uh then also then just kind of goes up because contracts are settled and and things don't get cheaper uh cost of living goes up so contracts get settled more more money gets spent on salaries wages then that big drop in 2021 when a bunch of jail uh uh positions were removed to fund the inmate housing agreement which I think we were all familiar with and then in 2023 we started adding in more positions for the jail and then also settled the had the first full year of the collective baring G with the sheriff so then as far as 24 what we do so and this just sounds bad but we have some V vacant positions uh that we are PR rating for the first four years of or sorry first four months of the year so we have vacant positions and we're in March already that I know that we're vacant for these months so the salary budgets are then going to be reduced for that proportionate share until the budget's adopted because we know that these positions are going to be held vacant so why budget for a full year of positions that you know aren't there for four months uh as far as attrition if uh somebody retires in 2023 at a high and then you are advertising for that position same spot but then they start at a lower step say they one person was at step 15 making 60,000 you hire somebody in at 40,000 at step one in the following year that savings goes to the taxpayers so Department budgets are reduced as a result of that otherwise budgets would just keep growing and then they never go down uh analyze Grant funded positions so there are some positions in the county budget that are offset by Grant uh monies so um not the the prosecutor out there sorry I saw you on your phone so you have victim witness Advocates that are charged to the county budget but then we have Voca grants that come through and then refund the county budget so what we do we look at things like that and try and net those out in advance make sure we still have enough cash on hand to cover but then um anticipate those gr dollars because otherwise we just end up with an unspent appropriation at the end of the year what else did we do we eliminated some positions that weren't able to be filled so GED teacher for the jail we just entered a shared service agreement through Salem County votech and uh Rome College of South Jersey we don't need it uh last year we added some mechanic positions to the Department of Public Works in hopes that we were going to be able to service all our fleet vehicles in house we have an advertised couldn't get anybody County order that was a u wishless item for me that was going to be someone to help in the finance office advertised wasn't successful so recognizing the economic climate um I know everyone's struggling to hire people uh these are temporarily removed we can revisit this in the next year and then hopefully there could be more candidates um and then as far as uh collective bargaining agreements so I have on the right just the rough increases constitutional officers it's based on a superior court judge salary um so that is stricted by Statute and then is adjusted for whatever the state treasure authorizes as an increase up to 2% uh everything else is just list of uh Union agreement so the increases for that unaffiliated got 2% which was by resolution these numbers also include any anticipated contract settlements so right now we have settled PBA 299s that's the sheriff superiors we have settled uh upsu which is the prosecutor's clerical uh we anticipate PBA 231 fop 194 to come before the board very soon and then uh PBA 396 we are prosecutor investigators we are actively negotiating so the budget takes into account all these settled anticipated to be settled and those that are in active negotiations but we would still anticipate settlement it other expenses this is what we pay our vendors so this trend looked a lot more ridiculous uh last year when we had 2013's numbers in here because I have a notation that jdc shared services were phased in in 15 and 16 so while it wasn't increased it's really hard to tell that anything was increased at all because of 2013 not being there uh Social Services was then taken over their the budget contribution slightly in decreased uh after that there was some steady increases throughout the years for technology inmate medical election expenses these are all things that I mentioned last year in more detail uh and then at that point we transitioned in 21 to the inmate housing agreements going up and then continuing to this day um and then as far as 2023 the there were some significant change but I think the most notable were uh like the next gen phone maintenance all of a sudden coming into P after a 5year prepaid period insurance premiums Rising which is still an issue today State mandates and then contributions to the other uh County units the tech the college and the library so for 2024 so there's a 2% increase in contribut to the vot tech college is staying flat this year uh jail Medical Care uh we're increasing the budget for that based on some uh lawsuits that are ongoing but then we this effectively is uh has already been addressed in the form of the change order that was given to CFG uh to adjust for the um psychiatric and uh uh those that related care liability insurance premium up 4 and half% property 15.58% uh this is through the insurance commission of which we're in the county mean County excess St Insurance Fund uh so this we we really need to start looking into that uh there's a reduction in our uh Social Services contribution so Social Services is funded by grants there is a matching component the matching component usually comes from a variety of sources one of which is a county contribution there's also some from uh Social Services uh the equivalent of surplus it's like a restricted fund balance only be used for social services other than that there's also some miscellaneous revenues So based off of that and the availability of funds to our matching requirement for social services went down in 24 uh there's an increase in juvenile housing agreements so I think I looked at the detention list today and we're sitting at 14 15 uh most of which are in Essex County so that's higher than the numbers that we've had in recent years last year we needed a budget transfer in order to accommodate that back when it was at 20 uh there's increaseed State mandated payment for psychiatric hospital HS uh this one is diff ultimately the state just looks at our numbers and assigns uh what our contribution is based off the volume so there's I think we're doing all that we can for that as far as making sure that our process on our end is what it should be we I've talked to some cost accountants uh about it that do this with for all bunch of counties in the state and it seems like everything that we're doing is exactly what we should be it's just the unfortunate um scenario that we have uh We've removed vehicle and it purchases sorry Stan um so this is actually in capital this year so we uh in every operating budget had included our annual PC purchases instead it's going to go into Capital this year which has spread out over five years which the actual bond is 10 uh similarly prosecutor and Sheriff they get a vehicle allotment in the operating budget that's only for if they were acquiring sedans uh they haven't been to get it in so it's really just looking at SUVs of which case that can go into capital and spread out over 5 years um so those were removed out of OE put in the capital just to get through the operating button um other than that there's some reductions uh and some lineups are duplicative so we have a central line for all our copy releases because for me to then split an invoice for like $70,000 over the entire year across every single Department budget makes no sense to me uh so it all we're eliminating those from some of the department budgets because it's not needed uh we looked at some utility consumption Trends and reduce Things based off of what we've been observing The Fringe Benefits so it may be difficult to see especially the tiny fun at the top uh but this breaks out for workers compensation health insurance pension Social Security employee education fund which is uh like tuition reimbursements uh New Jersey unemployment ACR vacation sick which is where we make deposits into our trust fund so that when people retire and they have a retirement uh sick or vacation P of ACR time that's where it comes from because it's otherwise not funded in the county operating budget itself and then there's a salary adjustments line which traditionally is held uh just in case there's any like contract settlements with unions we don't really use that line so I whacked it this year to put uh so trans uh increased from uh taking over Social Services in 2016 decreased in 17 from the Omnia kind of leveled out uh dropped down when the vacancies from the jail were move but it's been on the rise again that's just for health insurance everything else pensions been rising it's been a little steady the last couple years just because the state's been uh funding more than it has historically so that's been beneficial to us and then everything else has been moved to the level so I kind of alluded this medical benefits so I increased 7 half% uh and again I like I did with the salaries I uh prated for the first four months for vacant positions so why budget for health insurance costs for positions that you're not hiring in the first four months orov it retiring Medicare Advantage that's the part C plant is increased by approximately 4% we have the other coverag is dental vision um prescription I didn't enlist any of their increases only because the dollar amount seems now including the slide but of course those went up as well and then all the benefits that we looked at is uh don't on the actual census so I have can run every single employee in the county and I know exactly what their enrollments are so at that point I can say okay this is what our cost of coverages for the Year this is what we anticipate to have in withholdings and for vacant positions I just assume worst case scenario that they get the highest level of coverage uh so they elect family uh FS the state's been funding everything uh well not everything well it's been funding more than it usually does so the our contribution is based on a census from June 30th 22 so that went up half a percent and then pfrs has only C up 0.3% which is crazy it's going to come up uh the next couple years I'm sure workers compensation up 7.36% again something that we're going to have to be eonis of in the future and then also just reductions to some lines based on usage like the salary adjustments lines that I mentioned we weren't using it so I whacked it insurance so as I kind of alluded to in both the other expense side and then in the fringe benefits side the total increase as they all play out is about 7.4% uh so what we do is we have a trust fund set up so we move uh charge off the um operating budget moves into the trust fund the trust fund plays the premiums for all of it also set up a self inssurance reserve so covers U any of the cost of the attorneys that constantly come through here for ceiling increases it covers assurity bonds and then any sort of settlements that would be subject to our 250,000 um deductible so I just did not read any of that off my slide and went off the cup and we're through that one okay federal state local grants this is more or less the same ex act SL from last year because we're appropriating the same amount of matching funds we usually have the same amount of Grants every year they been kind of creeping up uh the only one worth noting that's slightly different is uh we have 150,000 set aside uh last year there was a letter of support for the US Army Corp engineer for a feasibility stud with Mars River uh Township if that comes through the money is there to assist with the matching component of that if that's the board's desire uh but if not then it sits there for any other Grant programs that come up that we would match um last year I think it we just had it sitting there as an unallocated mount in case Any Grant programs came up so it really follows with the same principle uh all Grant revenues much match Grant Appropriations so it when it goes to the budget this is not something anyone really cares to know it comes through res a budget amendment so you read those resolutions and you say okay well it comes in as a revenue and this is what the appropriation goes in and out of the budget and get set up in its own separate account where everything's held in reserve so that the feds when they come through they can say okay everything matches what our records say that it should be we've already talked about the Department of Social Service or division of Social Services as far as their matching component for must it's 5.4 million for 24 and so that's about $300,000 reduction from 2023 Capital Improvements so and maybe I'm get a little ahead uh trying to stay timely we have an ordinance in front of us tonight uh for introduction which is the capital Improvement ordinance so as a requirement of that the county has to put 5% down so that 5% comes What's called the capital Improvement fund as of the end of 2023 we had 250,000 in it 2024 budget puts in 260 so if we the bond ordinance for the annual uh General improvements is adopted in April 320 of that that comes out to fund the 5% on that that leaves 190,000 per feature projects and there was a resolution in front of the board to authorize the application with the tech uh for a trade school so if that comes inition uh there would be a 25% match which 5% is available to fund from this a lot of fun the numbers so what are the capital projects in the ordinance uh well this and then the next page includes that uh so again this will be uh publicly available I will also attach this detail to the ordinance when it comes time for April 9th uh but to just quickly run down a lot of this is same stuff every bonding cost so that covers the professionals when we uh eventually issue the bonds uh computer networking technology that stands computers I I can't tell he smiling that oh no that's not a smile okay uh Sheriff uh car computers so the new stman CAD system this is to update any technology that they need inside their vehicles Library prosecutor again PC servers anything that you guys need surveillance equipment door access and alarms uh this routinely comes up every single year where we have to address any security concerns in any of our departments and buildings because believe it or not not everyone is on the same system so if it's not on a vinal on uh we have to figure out what um will make sense for what we have in all of our building inventories Veteran Cemetery the this is just beautification process so anything as far as the um like improving the grounds so like any headstones right like that communication Towers so updating any if there's any radios need be is any equipment that uh G Dawn's office needs emergency call works that's your uh 911 phone system and of course we'll have to factor in nextg 911 uh fire gear that's pretty routine and then we get into the buildings and grounds so I don't know if anybody really wants to go into the details on these I think they're pretty self-explanatory the only one that I will make mention of is the uh solar photovolatic systems in miscellaneous building Renovations the countyy is doing a solar feasibility study so in the event that the county proceeds with doing any sort of solar improvements this amount can help uh get us that get us there rather uh if anything is successful the uh the developers would then reimburse the county for these costs so this wouldn't be anything that the county would necessarily be issuing on roads Bridges and culverts this is for planning and design for any of the various uh dot improvements that we do uh grants typically cover the construction but not the planning and design that's what comes out of the capital and then small equipment like trucks um Neil wants a stump grinder cuz Neil just hates trees uh we won't go uh there's an excavator for mosquito and then a sweeper truck for some D storm Roder uh remediation requirements that are either hitting this year or next year I can't remember now for Debt Service all right 22 minutes I'm a little over already I'm sorry so Debt Service spending uh Trends so this goes as you can see our spending in debt has gone up until 2022 and in recent years has been trending downwards for County obligations that's good so in the 22 we had half a million reduction 23 the same 24 the same things you like to see things you also like to see is the net debt uh so by uh statute the county is able to go up 2% of its three-year average equalized values in total net debt that it can issue we're authorized rather so this kind of gives a history on how high that number has reached so it had gone up temporarily but then adjusted itself the next year for the vote uh then there was the votech addition and it start debt started being paid off and then came a year where we authorized more than we were paying down so the r University uh R medicine building the voting machine Acquisitions that kind of triggered that to go up and then as you can see this has been trending down significantly which is good the idea being that we uh don't authorize any uh debt more than what we pay off in a given year so if in that that mindset you're gradually whittling down and can eventually get to pay as you go if that is the desire so net debt uh our capacity at the end of December 31st 23 was 207 million that's the maximum amount that we could have in debt if we wanted to what that number does not include is the jail lease because it's structured as a lease it's not included in your net debt I I think for planning purposes you always assume that it is so while it doesn't show in our net debt calculation just as far as actual planning for Capital purposes you assume that it is included um talk about fiscal policy what projects completed okay so once pal uh projects are completed if they come in under budget what we do is we cancel the ordinance and then the money that was set aside and issued in bonds get held and set aside to pay off the same debt so for example and I'm getting ahead again uh the 700 MHz project is going to come in under budget because because we used arpa money uh to uh fund the large portion of the M contract was like $14 million so that's going to leave money left over in the capital ordinance of which there were bonds issued so when that project's done that money gets cancelled it's held in reserve and then it comes in to help fund those same debt payments for the years after or you could do like a re-appropriating ordinance and apply to something else but I think it's more appropriate to to keep it Project Specific okay so that's the spending side now how do we fund it the anticipated Revenue summary so the breakdown is you have Surplus which is quite literally it's just the cash that we have on hand against the liabilities that we had at the end of the year so we had about 22 million sitting in Surplus as of 1231 uh fiscal policy is that we limit what we use in Surplus based off of what we put back we put back a little bit over 10 million and we're using 10 million even uh property taxes the tax levy is staying flat for 2024 property taxes and this is more information than anybody wants to know is subject to two separate cap laws one is from 1977 one is from 2010 uh if you're a municipality the 77 one is a spending cap so you have spending cap and then you have a levy cap in the 2010 for counties they're both Levy caps why I don't live I don't write these things so we have to look at whatever one is worse for us so because we have two Levy caps whatever one is not favorable to the county is the one we have to use uh 1977 is the one that we're going to be in this year 1977 doesn't automatically Bank something if you don't use it so there's a c bank ordinance in front of the Commissioners for introduction tonight that basically allows us to bank it 2010 you can 977 you can't unless you do an ordinance doesn't make much sense to me but that's the compliance requirements that I have to follow miscellaneous fringe benefits and then debt subsidies so miscellaneous is detailed on the right uh these are traditionally limited to whatever we uh put back the prior year so if you got 2 million in revenue for County Clerk's Office fees you can't anticipate 2.5 you're limited to what you have brought in uh there are some exceptions so um for example the Health Board administrative reimbursement that's based on a shared service Health Board gives us that amount of money for just basic what are essentially indirect costs so like if my my assistant in the finance office payroll purchasing running uh running the general everage doing the financial statements that's kind of baked into that number um the CCI we get 5% of their operating budget every year that's statute that's what we request uh Grant this is for indirect costs that we're able to charge Any Grant programs based off of what services uh that we like say same example purchasing may do an RFP for Workforce Development so in that instance our office is participating in a grant activity so this is an indirect cost that we're able to charge and get money back from the feds or the state government Court overhead that's where the state then pay us for the par share of what they occupy for family and probation so and for the for the most part I think that kind of addresses no no no no no okay added emitted taxes that's what could certifi to the tax assessor's new construction are year and then the county gets a chare interest on investments we had a major increase in 2023 uh so we had 982 in uh 23 anticipated we put back almost $3 million based because of the interest rates in our investment uh activities for our idle cash so we're anticipating 2.2 for 24 of which I'm pretty optimistic IC that we will get more than that constitutional officer uh they get salary subsidies from the state the office on agent director gets the same and then the Human Services director also gets subsidies from the state for a portion of their salaries ARA Revenue loss there's a resolution in front of the Commissioners tonight to cancel a portion of what is remaining balance you're able to use this for General government service of which we are using in the county budget this year the balances that are being cancelled are projects that are either completed um or let's see let me think of it so South Avenue Culvert was for the planning and design the actual construction is going to be done through uh Grant funds either through do or some other um transportation Grant the uh disinfecting of congregate facilities that was done a lot of it we were able to secure through FEMA so we didn't use as much as we needed um we align them for administrative costs of which we didn't charge anything really there so everything is just general staff time like mine when I'm doing these reports uh so for the most part everything was um completed the only difference would be you're taking money from uh the line up set aside for recreation however I this board is very invested in providing improvements to the recreation uh so just because it's being taken away for uh the taxpayers in this budget uh there is a very clear commitment to do in the future so there's $2 million remaining uh for fair grounds and Recreation improvements the master plan is going to be presented on the 26 by Mr pizari of which I think the draft is going to be posted on our County website uh for anyone to peruse and then make comment on uh in two weeks so the improvements that are listed there um are able to be accomplished before the end of the year with these remaining ARA funds County option Hospital fee that was something that started this year in July 1st uh and know that was a major topic I think in May when we had the meeting in Upper Deerfield we did the ordinance uh essentially we um assign a fee to the two hospitals in spe and Encompass they pay us the fee County retains 9% it goes up to the state the state retains 1% it then gets used as a matching component uh for the federal Medicaid Program and then comes back as direct payments to the hospitals and what understand everything is going very well for them uh and then this becomes a general County revenue so that's an increase of 1.2 million to the county everything else listed below uh County Clerk surrogate Sheriff Pro these are all just general County revenues these are the ones that are subject to whatever you pull in in any given year so there's really not much to explain on that fringe benefits is uh basically charging other en so like Library Health Board social services and then a grants uh for um employees that are covered by grants we charge the grants for the respective shareff for benefits debt subsidies this is for the cost shares through the state uh through the County College chapter 12 program which is half the principal and interest of any college chapter 12 vot Tech we get about 60% Debt Service aid for um those respective uh principal and interest payments tax levy impact this is a lot of numbers so this is the same as last year as far as how it's uh Illustrated so on the left in highlight and yellow is based on the assessed values between 23 and 24 so assessed values across the county had increased about 77 million in the middle in blue is the equalized values now what that means is the state division of taxation comes up with a ratio of how close to what the actual market value of properties is to the ass assessed so for example um if you look at Vinland there 24 assessed values are 3.9 and then as far as 24 equalize it's 5.4 they're saying that there's that much of a difference between what is on your tax bill as what your assessed value is versus what it's actually worth so the county looks to see okay what's the equalized value what is the actual market value of all these fs and then looks at the municipality in relation to the total so if vinand is uh 46.5% of the total ratables in the county then viin gets 46.5% of the total Levy so if you have a $100 million uh Levy then 46.5 million of that goes to violent and they gets spread amongst the taxpayers there and then it gets a little complicated because it's not based off of that same equalized value it goes back to what's the assessed value on the tax bill so you look at County tax rates which I have a later slide to go over and I don't know what do there and I'll kind of give an example of how the rates could differ which is on this slide over here but I have it right here so if you look at the uh assessed rates by municipality the county has not raised its tax Li all stayed flat So based on off of how the ratables do in each individual municipality versus the rest of them dictates whether not they get an increase or decrease in the rate so for example bridon because they their percentage of the total had increased in 24 versus 23 they have a tax increase but we didn't raise the tax levy on the opposite side Stow Creek they have like a 20 C decrease just because their share had dropped that significantly so this is just an example of okay well the based off of like there's no increase or decrease from the county side but then these municipalities still experience this unfortunately it's the state system and then further just looking at the actual rates uh countywide so between 20 20 2024 if you look at the equalized it went from 8.6 billion to 11.6 assess values went from 8.3 to 8.5 not so much but then if you look at the assess in 23 and 24 uh keeping the tax ly flat you've experienced roughly a one penny decrease in 23 and then a 1 cent decrease in 24 and again the levy stayed flat just the rate was changed this is just an example um I'm not going to go through it because I kind of alluded to it already but I kind of lightly touched on it so bridon um in 2023 their equalized values incre or uh decreased uh coincidentally roughly by about the same amount as an increase this year so they had a tax decrease last year and then this year they have a tax increase uh meanwhile the levies stayed exactly the same it's just their share of the ratables had just fluctuated that much and then this is just a rable trend so what you want to see is these n this orange line and this Gray Line you want to see them close because that means that your assessed values are close to what the uh true value or the market value is but then once you get here the market value the equalized value starts getting a little farther away and if it stays far away uh the municipalities may have to consider a revaluation uh and I know nobody likes to hear that but I mean if if the assessed values are not where they actually are in terms of what the market values are then you got people that come in with new homes new construction theirs is closer to what the actual Market is and then they in effectively start subsidizing the people that are not being assessed at what their true value is not a problem yet if it stays that high yeah uh cash Surplus kind of already alluded to it we put back a little bit over 10 million we end of the year were 22.6 million in Surplus and then using 10 uh for next year I'm expecting things to be pretty similar uh because all what we have currently unspent uh from last year's budget rolles in the Surplus at the end of this year while parking that to be around 8 million and usually that's about 80% of whatever um the total is that we put back this is just an example of a surplus available versus what is anticipated so when these get close that's that's a problem however we are in good shape right now so back towards here everything is looking good future budget Outlook we're almost done I'm so sorry we're at 38 minutes 40 minutes was accurate and I thought I was moving fast and skipping over stuff wow future budget Outlook kind of already alluded to the 700 mahz project arpa Revenue loss this is the last year for arpa so that's uh also plays into why the resolution is canceling balances because we have to obligate and have contract Awards before December 31st where we lose it uh Union contracts they are being settled uh which becomes challenging because in recent years are the cost of living has gone up tremendously there were law enforcement contracts that are no longer subject to 2% interest arbitration so this is going to these were all the first contracts uh subsequent to that Sunset County Jail operations we're in the process of ironing that out pension costs are going to be on the rise with the state and they've been funding the last couple years but I'm not an optimistic person State mandates elections uh just with the printing ballots by voting the 92 voting districts body warn camera mandates from the AG's office psychiatric hospitals uh we don't have I know we have some Grant funds coming for some of these but psychiatric hospitals and then Body Work cameras we do not Insurance costs Rising wildly medical liability property which we already kind of discussed interest rates are likely going to taper off it uh in 20242 five I've already seen that uh with our certificates of deposits they're doing six six-month call options on them uh so they're not trying to have things that uh last U offer like 5% interest rates for longer periods and then solar developer being uh something that we're investigating that could be uh come in the form of new revenues could come in the form of reduction of utility costs uh it could also depending on what properties we look at um provide some sort of functionality there too so public hearing 49 that's where uh the public is able to make comments and questions however I I don't want to um tell anyone they can't ask ask questions so I if anyone wants to reach out to me in advance then it's appropriate that everything is done at the public hearing but it again it doesn't stop you so um yeah that's kind of bit 40 minutes 20 seconds sorry Kim [Applause] [Music] the department heads well all they see their grand moneyy you are oh I did want to say a couple things about the other resolutions uh so there's two resolutions for the Constitutional officer caps um sorry I just want to get off the 45 minutes uh the said you were done yeah just help I have the microphone uh so there's two resolutions for constitutional officers so state law in 2015 uh any constitutional office if they exceed 2% of their budget uh has to go before the Commissioners for resolution so the only ones that exceeded 2% were the shareff in the prosecutor's office which directly ties to uh collective bargaining negotiations at settling contracts so those two re resolutions are on the agenda for tonight I have to submit those to the state as well I think that they actually read them I'm not sure uh but that's that explains what that is the eeo uh there's going to be an affidavit the Commissioners have to sign basically saying that our hiring practice to do not discriminate based off a criminal records uh Arbor resolution touched on and capital ordinance and Cat Bank touched on okay I'm good I you Mr reice okay thanks good job Jeff you did good sir I'm sorry I like your new haircut approving c bank for the 2024 County budget do I have a motion and second so move second for the be read on first reading only by title only roll call I mean I'm sorry ordinance 20241 c bank for the 2024 County budget do I have a motion to move the ordinance for the on the first [Music] reading call commissioner Al yes commissioner L yes commissioner Sor yes commission Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director rero yes director Soo yes notice is hereby given that ordinance 20241 was introduced and approved by the board of County commissioners of the county of Cumberland a first reading on March 12th 2024 it will further be further cons will be further considered for final passage after a public hear hearing thereon at a meeting of the board of County Commissioners to be held at at the Cumberland County Administration Building 164 West Broad Street Brion New Jersey 08302 on April 9th 2024 at 6: p.m. prevailing time at which time and place comments and objections to the ordinance 2024-25 West Broad Street Bri New Jersey Okay resolution 2024 171 resolution introducing approving the calendar year 2024 County budgeted and notice of public hearing do I have a motion and second second do I have any questions and comments or comments no commentary on the budget itself the just the budget yes just a couple things the uh and just a comment about you mentioned the psych Psychiatric Hospital stuff it's not as cut dry Fair because the north Jersey uh uh counties um if they did it in our for they'd be paying a lot more than what they were assess is that still true that they've paid less than we so it depends on what our civil commitments are um North Jersey hasn't been and I'll be honest I have not looked at a comparison to see cuz I don't I don't also see how many people that they are committed all we can see is what we just before let's say last year pants out they if you went per capita I think the whatever numbers they were piding much less or assess much less than we were and actually we didn't understand it why were piding so much for what we had so I mean has it changed or is it you think it's a say what has question I'm sorry uh I'm just poting out a statement that North Jersey is not paying their fair share Psychiatric Hospital uh and sees that not pay their fair share for the am am of people amount of money that they were assessed compared to us yeah so as far as yeah you look at the number that they're committing to could be that they have um maybe the people that are being committed in those counties are actually not from that account uh could be somebody from Cumberland that happens to be up there and then they the County residents so yeah prob psychiatric inmate is different because we may have less than we may have yeah so okay anybody else coms you had a lot down there just asking you said this our the capital the budget the capital budget you're going to put vehicles in that capital budget is that what you're yeah yeah we traditionally do we traditionally dock trucks clouds bigger trucks but but Vehicles like so we're not going to take it out of our own budget operating budget to we're going to buy we're going to buy a SUV for for with the capital budget stuff yeah and it's it's allowable and it's something that we've traditionally done too so like transport band for Corrections for example would go there too and uh also you mentioned the design the uh cver design stuff that that the U um did we put money aside for that is that the is that the har the arpa F we put aside that was the planning and design of which the contract was awarded so that's we set aside 500,000 contract came in like two and some change so it came in under what was set aside for it and then the actual construction is going to be covered under separate Grant funds uh through the engineer's office did well do we already design it that mean all the star weight we have have we spent the body design it have we actually come up with well it's all obligated so if it's an amount not to exceed and it's it's currently set aside for that do we have to spend that money by the end of the this year the money you set aside for yeah oh no no I'm sorry it's obligated at this point so it's it's reserved we're good anything else commiss yeah just you give me a second director but I read my hand writing so hope be well yes yeah the did you mention the CCI the the 5% is statutory U it's statutory point the state or by uh we've said it 5% so the state allows us to take up the 5% of any authorities uh operating budget so we get 5% off the landfill operations of the Improvement uh the statute enables us that we could request the same from its uh Economic Development operations or we could also look at the utilities of but I don't that's a for decision have we ever have we always requested the 5% for them I what that was actually stated when it was created that was in the not constitute it was in the the procedures when they when they actually created the Improvement Authority that they would give that I let me finish my statement with that it's that uh so they they so there's no complained no doubt it's 5% whatever they're is what they're giv us it's not their choice or not it's we decided that it was going to be that is that so no the 5% was actually set when they created The Authority by the state okay okay so what they do is we we get the 5% now we can ask for more all right we can ask for more do they have to give it to us not necessarily but as as the F just stated there are other things that the the ccia are involved in that we can actually go for the 5% of that too but it was that part I don't ever believe was done and I believe that that's something that we should look at in the future well thank you commissioner the uh well I just every once a while I hear that they get a choice there is no choice we determined that they're supposed to give us 5% that's what I'm driving at and that's what you're saying that's okay so there are other areas we could explore whatever you mentioned a few don't you have to say it again okay um our de Services is coming down and and hopefully and that well should should this be marked somewhere because I know we got the jail hanging out there there that we pay thatt it's noted there but you're telling it's noted there but it's still there cuz we pay it is there should be somewhere noted in the document that there's a a Debt Service that it's not in the budget it's in the budget but you understand what I'm driving at that our it's not part of our debt service CU it's a lease but we still pay correct 3 and5 million dollar every February yeah I think we have it in our budget advertisement we list all the debt that is getting retired and we include it there so it's included somewhere there yeah it's included our financial statements our audit reports our debt statement you can see it coming in and out but it's not in that it's not in that debt service for you showed us all the no it wasn't in my presentation well all right but that's but as we're planning I know we're the way under our our margin when we're planed we should at least somewhere be it for our eyes maybe my eyes that it should be noted that we still have three5 million dollars every year for the next 20 some years right um uh that's owed now with that said our debt service is still coming down M and maybe we do this jail they uh they help they also assume that that service would also come yeah so should now sorry here's what I'm coming director is that we're going to borrow $6 million again six and every time I've sat in this chair we always oh we borrow $6 million every year B $6 million a year Debt Service coming down should should we have some savings that we put aside that we don't have to borrow $6 million a year every year to buy vehicles that's so that's the decision is whether or not you want to um realize those Savings in the budget or you want to take the money and then appropriate for something else can it lease we noted that there's a difference so we know how much money we might have in a savings that we don't have to bond $6 million in a perfect world we would like you mentioned that we whatever we borrow we would have to borrow we would live within our means uh if we're paying less Debt Service and we're paying it we're collecting Mone to pay it would that mean we would have money available besides debt that again it comes into the decision of how you want to balance the bu comes within a maybe a work session to decide where we want to do you're right you're right but I'm making a statement because I I have a problem with the that we just talk about the Su I I think that's you're you're um you you're very well loaded on that particular subject you've always been against the $6 million Bond if we need it we need but it's something that can be discussed later on in in a finance committee and then we can take it I'm not in the finance committee so that's bring up still for discussion that's that's fine and uh all right just other stuff need so okay thanks you did a great presentation don't take it as up say these are just things I like to point out so all right now I did have one question um now you mentioned that we had to use some RPA funding by we had to allocate it by the end of the year correct obligate with contract Awards okay so not necessarily spend it but the contracts have to be signed is what you're saying and do you have a figure of what's left that we would have we have a little over 2 million for recreation and Fairgrounds uh 75,000 for the code blue shelters for the three cities and uh I think we have but it's already obligated those are the other obligated fair enough thank you any other comments commissioner Al uh yes commissioner LS yes commissioner SAR yes commission marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes ordinance 20242 Bond ordinance 20242 providing for various Capital Improvements in and by the county of Cumberland New Jersey appropriating $6,400 th000 therefore and authorizing issue of $680,000 bonds are know to the county to finance part of the cost thereof do I have a motion and second that the ordinance be read on the first reading by title only all in favor ordinance 20242 Bond or providing for the various Capital Improvements in and by the county of Cumberland New Jersey appropriating 6, 400,000 therefore authorizing the issuance of $680,000 bonds or notes of the county to Finance part of the cost thereof do I have a motion to move the ordinance on first reading Mo second second roll call commissioner Al yes commissioner loads yes commissioner SAR commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Amero yes director Soo yes notice is hereby given that ordinance 2024-25 on March 12th 2024 it will be further considered for final passage after public hearing thereon at a meeting of the board of County Commissioners to be held at the Cumberland County Administration Building 164 West Broad Street in bridon New Jersey on Tuesday April 9th 2024 at 6: p.m. prevailing time at which time and place comments and objections to ordinance 2024-25 to the board of County Commissioners 164 West Broad Street bridon New Jersey we're going to go into public comment note to the public this comment period is for public comment and questions on resolutions only when making public comments please state your name Municipality of residents and in 5 minutes or less please make your comments to the board do I have a motion a second to open public comment on on resolutions only second all favor okay there we go good evening I'm Nancy richway from uper Deerfield in Fairfield Township good job Mr welcome back Mr Johnson resolution 2024 175 resol a resolution authorized ing amendment number four to the spending plan for the Corona virus local fiscal Recovery Fund and that was the Americans rescue plan Act of 2021 and canceling certain balances now evidently this says that there the spending plan that we made in 2023 was not binding or permanent commitment to use such funds and there's un unobligated balances of 5,26 th450 identified below in order to utilize the funds in the 2024 County budget and I was reading this and we're going to put some to to the jail uh better are under $600,000 and then we had public health and the behav the behavior health building at almost $400,000 and Recreation and tourism at almost $3.5 million and the South Avenue cover design at $300,000 and administrative expenses almost $50,000 and upgrade technology of 66,500 $0000 and County Fairgrounds at almost $400,000 um there don't tell me what you plan to do with the rest of the money and I've had some inquires to me and some inquires to this board that during the virus we had a lot of essential workers it was mandatory for them to come back the work such as Board of Social Services employees the cats bus drivers and of course your public works and one of last meeting you always praising your employees but none of these employees got extra money during the virus but you want to spend all this money on some other things and and you don't want to take care of your employees were they essential or not you praised them at the last meeting what's more important our employees or some of your pet projects you don't have to answer me we already know the answer thank you any else [Music] come Sandy asido Upper Deerfield Township and and on that same note did I hear you right when you said there was $75,000 for the warming centers out of that budget still available still available for this year what do you know offand what was given in previous years under 75,000 each year yeah so the 25 each PR so what is that total percent or do you know but like I don't know how the city out how many centers they have but yeah no is 25 25 25 each year that's not a lot it's not a lot when you consider the amount of money that we had to use not a lot thank you anyone else for public comment motion Clos second all in favor resolution 20241 72 resolution authorizing the County Sheriff's Office to exceed the 2% budget for the 2024 County budget do I have a motion and second I'll make the motion second questions or comments commissioner Au yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 2024 173 resolution authorizing County prosecutor's office to exceed the 2% budget cap for the 2024 County budget do I have a motion and second move second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner s commissioner marshan yes commiss Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 2024 174 governing body certification compliance with the United States equal employment opportunity commissions enforcement guidance on the consideration of arrest and conviction records and employment decisions under title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 do I have a motion in second second questions or comments I I have a question this is and here's the thing and I this the solicitor U since we have and I I know it's the law but does this open a up to anything and we hire someone that has a criminal record we do not check uh or do not you know U someone has a background and we're not really we're taking in account does that open us up to the county state there are positions we that would be sensitive other positions where to discriminate based upon the background would be actionable itself well so we have to use it on a Case by case is this allowed cuz this this is a pretty broad stroke that we decide we're not supposed to take this into account consider I believe it's a condition of it's a condition so we're going to vote on it accept it as is and we could open our technically we can open ourselves up and we don't um mean tell me where the line is drawn that we there's some areas that we can actually use be a case by case basis I can't give you an examples okay because we're not there yet well it does make sense it's just that it seems like a very uh we're telling we're saying all right we're we're accepting it because this is what's the way it's written but in the reality that we could put depending where we hire this person if we don't look at their background which do we look at their background depends on the depends so does that open us does that open us up to a problem you're saying so we're actually 95% of the jobs we don't even look at but 5% we do that 5% said no no I'm saying it I'm saying it I'm saying the 5% does that open us up for liability that we we decide that this is at this point at this job whatever this job is we decide to look at because we have we're we're concerned that this person that we should be looking at a criminal background does this open up since we do a blanket adopt this blanket uh statement I mean does this open us up that we all de 5% should be background checked and there are positions aren't backr check okay but that doesn't say that that doesn't say that here policy speaks to this policy speaks to okay this that's the car I de make for that so commissioner Albert yes commissioner loads yes commissioner SAR commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director CA yes resolution 2024 175 resolution authorizing amendment number four to spending plan for the coronavirus local fiscal Recovery Fund and canceling certain balances do I have a motion and second second questions or comments I'll make a comment of this because of the public uh just real quick that many of these things that we put aside for have been decided in past boards not this board we just followed through we've actually taken some money from them because we have to spend it right I'm assume that's the we discussed we have to spend it or we're going to lose it and these projects so this agenda or whatever's been laid out it's not just been laid out by these the new Commissioners especially it's been laid out by past Commissioners and we're just follow through like we've done like we're doing other things so uh to point out that there's some it's our wish list it's not our wish list except for Parks which we put aside probably 2 3 years ago we put aside for Parks so so it's been a game play for a while what we're doing with this m there should have been more for it should been more for intention of these funds is to uh help um improve things that have been left uh to go by the wayside and um with this basically with all our employees at the settlement of contracts I think we prob satisfied a lot of their salaries to some extent um have this point out that this this has been laid out by us I'm totally agree with you not not just you not just Mr uh commissioner Romero but by a board put this aside two three whatever done way before us correct great commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner SAR commissioner Maran yes yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 2024 176 resolution approving change order number two to contract for the row and Medicine project do I have a motion and second move second questions comments do we anticipate this being the last change order on this project yep okay and this is just because the original quote was for the equipment was old and outdated and then there was the transition for uh virtual becoming partnersh a lot of the tech Chang the requirements and they're and we we going to recover this money too they're going to pay an back to us over whatever about top 10 years 20 years what's the so 25 years the um first five years are deferred and then everything Gos in in that sixth year we get 50% of the principal interest for college chapter 12 and then the university had given us $2 million towards this so this money we're allocate to we're going to get fully back down the road commissioner Albert yes commissioner luds yes commission Soro yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 2024 177 resolution reappointing members to the tourism advisory council do I have a motion and second move second questions or comments yeah just the question was this brought up the the beers which is was it for up that it uh has been I don't remember talking about this but uh was it presented to the board May missed it so I'm director I do recall um Mr rosini being introduced Miss Jester and I think there was some conversation about Maran loads a while back uh Maran Lo and L Jester also reappointments they have been on you been reappointed okay yes that's like primary all right I just I don't remember being presented to us but they're all good members it's just that for future it would be if I missed it that it's uh I don't know how it said uh that because there going to be more members we're going to appoint it would be it would be nice to see it that if I missed it it's my fault so commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner s Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes resolution 202478 resolution amending resolution 2023 769 entitled resolution amending resolution 2023 369 a resolution amending and authorizing the award of non-fair and Open professional service contract for Engineering Services engineer service support for the p25 700 MHz digital trunk radio system for Greenwich Cedarville JC Plaza engineering and vinin water tank do I have a motion and second I'll make the motion questions or comments commissioner any questions or com I just laughing how it's worded it's all mine [Music] yeah um commissioner Au yes commissioner loads yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director director SEO yes resolution 20241 79 resolution declaring a proclaiming month of March 2024 as a Red Cross month do I have a motion in second so move questions comments like to say I'm proud of our board for recognizing March as Red Cross Awareness Month um R cross is a lot here in our community and I'm glad that we are recognizing this thank you commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Soro commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director rero yes director SEO yes resolution 202 24-18 resolution authorizing payment of bills do I have a motion in second I move second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner loads yes commissioner Sor commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director Soo yes okay public comment for new business own consent resolutions oh okay I'm sorry apies res um ID number 14895 resolution awarding contract for providing and delivering a multiplied asphalt for the Cumberland County Public Works Department bid number 24-2 ID 14976 resolution approv approving change order number one to contract for acquisition and installation of a 700 MHz radio system for the office of emergency management I just want to make a comment on that one so some can we do change ERS it doesn't necessarily mean that there's going to be an increase or decrease of funds sometime a change order could just be a scope modification so for example in this one there's no plus or minus to any monies it's just a matter of hey these radios under this model was originally in the contract award and then it changed the model type so because you guys get a quote in front of you and you do the contract award and it says one thing if that changes at any point down the road it's similarly has to come before the board and we have to use the term change order because something changed you're ordering a change thank you for the explanation thank you ID 14979 resolution exercising first option to renew contract for provideing pling repair services for the county of Cumberland and the Cumberland County cooperative contract purchasing system identifier number 181-c ccps bid 23-6 resubmission ID 14980 res solution exercising first option to renew contract for providing food services and food Management Services at the Cumberland County Department of Corrections RFP 22-04 14991 resolution amending resolution 2023290019 approving an application to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs division of local government services local efficiency achievement program naming Cumberland County as participant to implement a shared services agreement between the counties of Salem Cumberland and gluster 15006 resolution approving change order number two to the Professional Service contractor to to conduct a preliminary assessment for midcounty par to construct a 5.2 permanent trail system RFP 23-24 director I just wanted to go back to the one about the lead Grant um so just to kind of bring it home uh so while we're pursuing this Regional entity the regional entity is kind of known as either a joint meeting or as the new La STS uh Rehabilitation and re-entry uh Center so in getting to that point when the entity is created that's what it'll be shared services so we create the Shar service between the Three Counties to create a a planning funding mechanism so that we split the costs and then once the regional is created then it becomes the Regionals uh financing to take care ofh cor and why does it have Sal list as the Le agency just because of we're actually reimbursing s because they did the lead already okay they took the Le has GL committed and they committed funds to this spoke to Eric Campo this afternoon and it's on [Music] this they're like they're they're uh two weeks from now they have two weeks if not commissioner we're still pursuing and absolutely but and just to be clear for the public and I I understand this but I want to be very clear to the people who are listening to our meeting we are not spending money to improve Salem County's infrastructure this is under the agreement that this becomes a joint facility right so I just want to be very clear about that this particular agreement only does wetlands delineation can it be done it uh does the leap Grant application can we find Grant Monies to do this with and it does some design work but doesn't spend the dime to improve their infrastructure when we get to any kind of improvements it's going to be on the basis of a partnership not a shared services agreement meaning you'll be owned and then the entity is owned by every County who are you stay ear there's no time FR a there it's not 40 years it's for it's for Perpetual so so it's like three families buying all together and chipping in to renovate and bring bring up speedor that's not a good example that's about what it's going to be big you like the um I I had a question on the next um the 15 so I don't know we make a comments after we go through this I'd like to see us do that please 15007 resolution accepting Grant award for the njsl capital project fund Community Center digital connect in the amount of 3 million 1 15008 resolution authorizing the submission of proposal to Salem County division of Workforce Development to offer services for in school youth in cumland County 1 15009 resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for celebrate premium system for the prosecutor's office per quote 37 31151 1 1510 resolution authorizing purchase of tomal Premium maintenance renewal for the county department of Information Technology in accordance with New Jersey Cooperative purchasing Alliance contract number CK 04 subcontract number 22-24 1 1511 resolution authorizing the award of a nonf an open contract for repair of a rolling security gate at the C County Courthouse 15012 resolution declaring one lot of firearms and various related accessories held by the county sheriff's office as Surplus and unneeded property and authorizing tradeing credit be used toward purchase of new firearms and related accessories 15 013 resolution authorized the board of a non-fair and open contract for serveu system VI receiver Alarm Monitoring system equipment replacement for the 911 emergency communications 1 1514 resolution approving change order number one to contract for proposal for proposal for Community Support Services older Americans act services for elderly and disabled for the 2022 -204 area plan contract RFP 21-50 second renewal 1 1515 resolution approving change order number one to contract for Community Support Services older Americans act services for the elderly and disabled for 2022-2023 area plan contract RFP 250- second renewal 1 1516 resolution authorizing Grant application to the New Jersey office of Attorney General for sub Grant under the ffy 23 stop violence against women act grant program 1 1517 resolution authorizing execution of memorandum of understanding between the American Red Cross and the county of Cumberland fing through its office of emergency management and preparing for responding to and recovering from emergencies and disasters 1 1523 resolution cancelling hisp contracts for 20 March 2024 covering material services and supplies 1 1524 resolution authorizing purchases from State contract vendors 1 1525 resolution declaring a 2013 Ford 5 E450 minius bin number 1 FD fe4 fs7 ddb 04930 used by the Cumberland area transit system a surplus and unneeded property and authorizing dis disposition via government deals online auction 1 1526 resolution authorizing purchase from New Jersey state contract vendor for provision of quarter services for the cly County Department Corrections 1 152 7 resolution declaring April 2024's National Child Abuse Prevention month and inviting the community to attend the pin wheels for prevention guarding ceremony on April 10th 2024 1 1530 resolution exercise and second option to renew contract for providing global positioning system satellite based offender tracking services for the Cumberland County Department Corrections RFP number 22-19 1 1532 resolution affirming emergency to exist at the cumland county department correct s regarding repairs to the Jail's Annex elevator system on March 6 2024 and affirming the repair thereof 1 1534 resolution authorizing increase of monetary cealing for legal expenses in the litigation matter of ccj Energy Partners LLC versus Cumberland County docket number C- l- 71320 in accordance with mjac 5 30- 5.3 through njac 5on 3- 5.5 1 1537 resolution amending resolution 20244 appointing commissioner Romero and commissioner luds as caon of the Cumberland County Social Services amending to replace commissioner luds with commissioner Taylor 1 1538 resolution approving change order number two and final to contract for FY 2022 Federal Road program city of v and Cumberland County New Jersey Federal project number STV gp-0 655 bid number 2238 1 1541 resolution authorizing approval to accept a grant award from the southern New jerse Southern re Shore Regional destination marketing Organization for marketing programming 1 15 15042 resolution declaring onecu jet ski watercraft model GTX 4-tec Li limited bin number 1 H9 FS1 91411 1 35122 Sur plus an un unneeded property and one load right trailer model wv1 12000 WT VIN number 5 A4 y NS j19 l2050 429 as Surplus and unneeded property and authorizing sale to the city of milville fire department 15045 resolution amending resolution 223-7111 4,355 for the county Innovative Innovation program they were on the consent agenda now these other resolutions are could all still be pending 1494 resolution awarding a contract for electric and Natural Gas Energy director before we go on can we talk about the casseta Jed itself um we we could I mean I was just going to go through the mole but that's problem we can we stop stop there um anything in particular yeah a couple things um the is there any consider this is 150 006 is there any idea of thinking about doing this inhouse this uh to conduct a a prelimary assess of the middle uh CL instead of told it out to the tnm U the rest of to do it you know do within our own Department we're going to have to start thinking inward that outward and we're going to be build it on to this park system for what resources we have I mean I I don't know commissioner lo you agree that well and we have changed a lot of things to be able to do them in house but I know Mr is here so you're quick so um this is uh soil analysis and not something that we have qualified staff to do um this relates directly to the D Green Acres grant funding requirements we have to do a preliminary assessment prior to design and construction of the trail um these are on the two Parcels on the west side of morias Avenue which previous for properties right and there was an area of concern which was an old field uh it was an orchard and they did find uh some soils that were potentially contaminated it is not something that we can do in house it's an insecticide looking forward and I have to say I have to give you and your department recommendations for everything that you have done to what what we are qualified to do in house we have taken back um it's saved the county really a lot of money and time and and I think we have better product quite frankly because you know our County a little bit better than an outside vendor does so so far everything that we have been qualified to do in house we have done and I I know there's a few other things components that we've discussed that we' even had volunteers um come forward to work on so um I think that the Department's made a really go on commissioner anybody else on that same resolution questions okay s so as long as we're can more in house I I appreciate because down the road hopefully this parks department starts finding ways to fund themselves and they can uh they should build a skilled uh Department to handle different things CU they're normally going to be about the same requirements of skill down the road and whatever we're doing the next parcel land we're going to look at I I I get it it's a little more in depth that uh any opportunity we can do something in house I would absolutely I agree with you I would like to do that because I think we get obviously have a cost savings to our tax and we have a much better product as well and we've had the same conversation over the jail at the last meeting about trying to do things in housee if it's out of our perview then we try to definitely set a contractor out anything else you got sir thanks uh 15007 I just want to speak about this uh I this is uh actually an awesome I've been talking about for a while um this is going to open some doors and more Township and uh uh that they're already looking forward to the what could could be and it's just the beginning of what a lot of things are happening there people looking to invest and but this I wrote a whole bunch of stuff that uh not only our literacy attack our literacy Pro this County not only open up the ability for our our professionals to have a place to go down and actually work out them open up our uh programs to for kids to actually come together and um uh U uh actually have U almost like a Min Community Center um designed by our library does a lot in Bron in this area but now it's going to bring it down farther to the southern Parts uh there is no there's a small little Center in Port noris but there's nothing commercial Township there's nothing more Township there's no in in school libraries it's really going to attack a problem that we know is a major issue yes you made a very good point on the last meeting but that's the same project so here it is that we're finally we're getting to accept the grant we'll be accepting this grant this this commissioner board is pushing this we're not going to sit on our WS we're going to move keep pushing forward this gives us an end point to a middle mile it may it also extends that maybe it's almost like a Tourism Center that people can actually wash their hands and do a laboratory uh when they're coming down to visit our historic sites our our East Point Lighthouse our uh things we have that are there's many historical sites I've been pointed out to but we have programs here's a place that they can stop before they cane a back up we do not have it it's just so basic and we don't have it is this just for the construction or is this for also operational startup operational cost construction this is just for construction and that's what because it was kind of alluded that this is opening doors and this is an investment into our future into the into our County yes it's going to be eventually we're going to have to F we're going to actually have have people work there but it's it's a it's a step in the right direction for a lot of things and they're looking forward to it U or uh 15 uh 15 012 um I just want to comment on the sheriff's department our Sheriff our new sheriff uh who look took inventory of what they had in their in their U department and saw that they had such they had stuff that they didn't need and made a deal to to get stuff they do need to operate effectively and I command this is just an out outcrop this there's many other areas he's taking inventory stuff that and cleaned stuff up that's been sitting and got rid of stuff here's an outcrop that he's actually trading something that we don't need this County or something they actually do need really uh it's a credit and a purchase um it's it's a win-win for everybody and I just want to kind of commend him for what he's done in a short time he's been there um and this is another result of this uh this he had reduced cost then um on um 50 1517 um uh the question I have on this one is have we never had an agreement with the with the Red Cross before the Emergency Management we ever had an agreement before just so we discovered I don't know if they're here we we've had one in p why why a sudden it down are we this is the update update okay before you go move on anybody else have any comments about previous resolutions okay sorry sorry about that U now this is U 15 1525 and I noticed we're going to uh we're going to retire a bus a cat's us which is great and we're going to sell it off I we I've asked for over and over time and time again to have a bus that when we have events in this County I've been told we don't have any Vehicles available and this engine works in this thing it has 200 20 some, miles why why don't we put this aside so when we do have events or and I'll give you the butterfly Festival down at East Point Lous our historic uh events out green witch that we that they've asked for to run people from the parking lot to where their beds being held can we do that with this vehicle before we Au it off we [Music] never no this is taken away from remove cats remove cats a CATS Bus do have the first question is the engine working this thing well did I like to take it off youone to speak to the cat's bus I saw that bus I thought it was in pretty B bad shape but I could according to the mechanic it is the floors is uh busting out on it and it's not really safe he's declared it not safe for public use I if somebody the county wants to put funding in to fix it I mean once we declare it as as not needed then the county can you know we can transfer it to another department we've done that with the the uh the road bus with the Human Services we transferred a bus to them uh freeh holders or Commissioners have a a bus that was transferred to them we can do that um is this Ed worse or any better than those that you transferred in the past or this we the ones we transferred were better than than this this bus we received a new bus last week that's why we we have to take one off over public workso it was a pretty bad shoot but that's I was talking to Neil Riley about it was over there at the time if it's the same bus I think it is it really wasn't a good Sho but I'll be more than happy to pull it off than we have you guys well I mean if it was de not yeah I mean if it's not it's not the commissioner wants to pull the we'll pull it off if it's not if it's not safe this is nothing that we want to put back out there on the road it's only a Sund we can move people for the park but it's it's got 220,000 miles it's a fleet vehicle 220,000 pull it from pull from let's at least look at it yeah thank you mechanic take a look at it um the Dex is f503 to don't we have a contract to fix elevators do we have a contract no sir I would not allow anybody to fix a elevator other than an elevator company I didn't say that ask do we have a contract Tech elevator has been in for a while yeah and we don't have a contract to fix this that when there's a problem contract vendor and they usually get set up with like a prev maintenance but repair head some it's not depend on the model so there's maintenance Char you want to explain to them what you explain to me today please sure and I have to good evening Chuck AO uh director Department of Corrections uh in this particular case this was the main elevator in the annex um it it was an emergency repair uh as Jeff pointed out they the they are a State Contractor so we are following but there's even the these contracts that you have with these vendors to service your equipment it doesn't include the cost of a repair it it's just basically a service contract that they're they're on not on call for you but they're they're set up to to make your necessary repairs in this particular case this vendor went like above and beyond he it's an older elevator as you can imagine from the annex and it's um would have been 90 90 days for him to acquire the the um motor that needed to be replaced instead he located parts from all over different vendors had him shipped and is actually rebuilding the motor on site and I'm pleased to report that he's I think about a day ahead of his estimate so we should end up saving uh maybe about $4,000 off not questioned pairs it's just I thought maybe we should have because I know it's an older one and I figur maybe we had some contract because how many elevators you have in there one two uh three three that we have no contract that that covers in case a major problem happens that you know I don't think we would have one to do with I think you're you're stating that we just call them and they fix it and under noral circumstances service contracts do not include yeah and the director and I talked about this at length and it just seemed that it was a very important elevator needed to be repaired and that it could be done much more expeditiously the way he proposed it as compared to waiting months for it to be done by going through a normal process and there's three main elevator companies within the East Coast Shindler Otis and Tech and they're the most qualified to actually uh perform these this year because and I have to stain for this particular um because I do counter weights for this this company and several other companies so uh I know the company and I agree with Mr albo that this is something that needs to be done especially for insurance purposes because God forbid we had another problem absolutely director have not question that doing it needs to be right but just I just figur we had stuff because we brought this brought these cou you're not incorrect we do let's move on to the next okay I'm good thank you Mr the uh now this5 15034 I would like this pulled off the agenda too to talk about this okay all right okay thank you anybody else have any comments commission Mara commiss tayor the only comment that I have to make has nothing to do with the resolutions and that's just how much I appreciate mayor our mayor Rothman committee men Jordan coming in with a presentation I just that's all I have to say say that while I didn't have the opportunity at that point time I would have given it to you thank you commissioner mayor no I'm good Commissioners let's V okay let's vote no we're not voting back we're going to resolution resoltion yes um 1494 resolution awarding elri Natural Gas Energy the county of cber Cumberland County cooperative contract pricing system identifier number 181 CC ccps RFP number 24-5 that's pending 14941 resolution awarding contract for supplying and delivering toner cartridges for Cumberland County and the Cumberland County cooperative contract pricing system identifier number 181-c ccps bid number 24-6 pending 14946 resolution awarding contract release of county-owned farmlands located near Cumberland County matter bid number Manor bid number 24-9 14949 resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for providing software maintenance for cumland County 911 pending 14969 resolution awarding contract for providing specifications for replacement at 22 North Laurel Street 800 East Commerce Street Bron New Jersey bid number 2408 -08 pending bid opening 31924 14985 resolution awarding a contract for for providing various youth services for the Cumberland County Youth Services advisory Council RFP number 24-10 pending proposals proposals open 31224 public comment on new business no to the public this comment period is for public comment M and questions on new business only we're making public comments please state your name Municipality of residents and in 5 minutes or less please make your comments to the board do I have a motion and second to open Move second all favor I anyone want to step up have a comment my new business new business new business evening of this way from Upper Deerfield and Deerfield Township I um opened up your uh County website and uh I was going to check the calendar and it looks more like a daily pner this says 312 tourism 314 Recreation 319 CCAC CC meeting it don't tell me what day of the week it doesn't even look like a calendar what happened what is she say I got to get out another calendar to see when these dates are and that doesn't make any sense we're not seeing what you're seeing Mrs yeah I know but you go to your County website open up the calendar for your meetings and it's not really a calendar it looks like a daily plan okay and some other people was complaining about their departments and how you changed them I got something else that's really been bothering me for a few months now let's see we had a meeting here in January we had two in February and we got one now that's four meetings and nobody has took notice and nobody's done anything it might be a minor detail but if you can't take care of the minor little things how can we trust you to take care of the bigger things that's the thing of it how can we trust you we live in America we have an American flag we live in the state of New Jersey where's my New Jersey flag this is C County C county has a flag where are the flags thank you director please do wait till the end anyone else for public he's are you stepping up as public or what said well I do want to wait uh is there anybody else who wants to make public comment do that first so it's close to the public if that's what we're anybody we didn't close no we didn't motion to close okay all in favor I'll work with with no no I think he need we there's there's probably a lot of people out there would like to hear your explanation I don't have my expanation is I'm going to work with her to see what it is I don't know what she's talking about do we have a little po outside we're do it in front everybody about putting the events on calendar and that EAS okay instead of just to tie that up let's go let's go to the next if you're going to work with her that's fine all right let's go to the next tell the public yeah the public should know that that's we do have a flag we should have outside we just waiting for the looks different on looks different on for one okay all right let's move forward resolution 2024 181 resolution for providing a meeting not open to the public in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey Sen Byron and open public meeting at njsa 10 4-12 matters relating to collective bargaining agreements matters relating to litigation negotiations and the attorney client privilege matters relating to the employment relationship do I have a motion in second so move second commissioner Al yes Comm LS yes Comm Sor M marshan yes Mr Taylor yes deputy director Romero yes director SEO yes and it is not intended to take action after this has been a QBC television production in association with our partners and sponsors QBC broadcasts on Comcast cable channel 22 and live streams its programming on Facebook and YouTube All Rights Reserved by Quin media and 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