e e e e e me C St and a letter dated June 13th 2024 Sussex County Board of Commissioners notified Cumberland County Board of Commissioners of a resolution establishing Sussex NJ 250 committee and designating the logo and catchphrase for the Sussex NJ 250 committee Ed at a meeting held on June 12 2024 in a letter dated 20 June 27th 2024 the Mars County Board of Commissioners notified the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners of resolution 2024 547 adopted at a meeting held on June 26 2024 urging State leaders to pass legislation that will authorize counties municipalities school districts and all local governments to electronically publish legal notices and newspapers presentations good evening everyone I'm Dr Gina Rossy the proud superintendent of CCT Tech and Deerfield Township Public Schools and this is exciting because we had our graduation festivities in June but we get to extend them a little bit for some of graduates um in the awarding of the New Jersey and Jack scholarships John was unable to join us here this evening as he was um called up to North Jersey but at this time we have some students here that are the recipients of the scholarships when I call your name if you could please come up and join Mr CIO and I okay our first recipient is Carly Ferguson Carly come on up and Carly is an aspiring filmmaker with a heart full of empathy and passion for storytelling Carly eagerly anticipates her journey into Film Production at Mont Clair University her dedication to her craft was nurtured during her time at Tech where she studied diligently in her chosen program what sets Carly apart is not just her technical skills but her Nate ability to connect with others on a deeper level her empathetic and Cooperative Spirit has been a driving force in her success enabling her to collaborate effectively within groups and maintain harmonious relationships with her peers for the past four years she has donated countless hours of time as a tech Ambassador has been a stage crew leader for teex stage Productions and was a writer for the school newspaper Carly is humble kind and compassionate and will certainly be an asset to Monclair as she was to Tech congratulations Carly congratulations our next recipient is Jackson BNA Jackson come on Jack is however shared that through his involvement in Information Technology at Tech he discovered his in talent and love for coding his experiences within the C program not only honed his technical skills but also fostered his creativity and problem solving abilities Jackson's acceptance into the honors program at ruter University serves as validation for affirming his passion and potential in the field of video game design with this Milestone he embarks on a new chapter filled with opportunities for growth and Innovation eager to explore the boundless Horizons of game development so again it is my pleasure to introduce you and congratulate Jackson BNA Jackson and then also um for the board of those chosen freeholders Commissioners um we give you certificate appreciation and also compation pleas really appreciate I want you to do one thing both you and and your lovely camarad that was just up here um I like you to come back to C County and work here that's so what you work over here maybe broadcasting and I got to P it real quick it's coming up congratulations our next recipient is Teresa iner Teresa Teresa is a natural leader she has served as a Tech student ambassador for the IT program she is a student member of our program advisory committee and is a member of National Honor and National Technical honor societies her commitment to her school Community is unmatched she is humble and unassuming even though she is at the top of the class of 2024 and with that even though she has a challenging academic schedule impressively Teresa also earned her associates degree through our dual enrollment program Teresa will major in Information Technology at Ron University with an ambition to pursue a career in cyber security and boy don't we need that she hopes to promote the fostering of a secure digital environment for everyone recognizing the impact and influence the internet has on us all so again it is my pleasure to congratulate Teresa in Jer when we're done we'll take a picture with that would be wonderful come back to [Music] the final recipient although unable to join us this evening is George Cardona and I'd like to read a little bit about George George was a model citizen throughout high school and consistently exhibited excellent leadership and impressive work ethic in and out of the class room George has an amazing curiosity that encourages him to explore and learn new things this trait proved to be beneficial in his engineering program he challenged himself academically each year year and demonstrated a maturity Beyond his years George is grateful for the time he spent at Tech as he learned multiple disciplines of engineering he is eager to continue that pursuit in a major in electrical and computer engineering at Rowan University George was known for his ability to lead with kindness and patience and although George has a quiet demeanor he offered valuable input into class discussions and projects in addition to his challenging academic schedule George was actively involved in his community through his participation in Varsity Sports and volunteering at the child Family Center summer camps he is genuine kind and humble and will make excellent contributions to his school Community next year congratulations George Cardone the reason I wanted you to be is because you have a heartfelt sense of these children who are and they're really not children they're growing up and becoming adults and they're going to move on and they're going to come back to come and get J here all right because we need you coming back that's the only I can really just say to you is that come County needs our youth to come back to us and just come back and see Dr once a while say they can you over there teach right absolutely you go we'd love to have you all right thank thank you everyone congratulations and John I know is on the phone he was able to join us on on the phone I don't know if he wants to make some comments to our recipients John he's Frozen is he there is you now hi a tough connection and I apologize that I couldn't make it today uh thank you for for a couple minutes Mr director I appreciate and just want to want to thank uh the continued generosity of our companies uh Amazon act Shi International South industry for their generosity that allows the foundation uh to provide over $90,000 in scholarships to hardw workking CH location technical school graduate school continuing their education right here in the state of New Jersey and most of I just want to congratulate all of the students their their resume the credentials get better and better every year an impressive group of again hardworking students and want to wish them the best of luck uh them and their families the best of luck and congratulations and thank you again here [Music] George you want to come on up you made it perfectly in time have somebody else here oh he came okay come all right um can you see can you see commission maybe get on the side of the students yeah it's a shot [Music] very good guys congratulations good [Applause] [Music] [Music] job do I have a motion in second to open public comment on resolution items only move second all in favor [Music] I anyone for public comment on resolutions only 5 minutes state your name and where you from Sanyo upper Dei Township I will be providing a copy of my comments to be placed on the official record my comments tonight are in reference to item five on tonight's agenda the reading of the minutes of the last public meeting which took place on July the 5th 2024 I'll tell you Joe right now this all feels very Deja Vu to me it was just a few short years ago that you and I stood outside this very building trying to prevent special interest political party bosses and members of our own County government from attempting a hostile takeover of our public facilities and now you sit in the very same seat Excuse Me Miss what resolution you speaking I'm talking about the minutes from the last we talking about noce for the resolutions and now you sit in the very same seat attempting the very same thing public comment on the resolutions only good evening all welcome everybody it's good to see a lot of people here this evening from Nancy Ridgeway from up the Deerfield Fairfield townships on the resolution 2024 464 the resolution authorizing the direct in housing contract between the county of cumland and the county of Salem with respect to the housing of County adult male and adult female inmates at the Sal County chair I read this resolution and I'm wondering how many inmates will we be sending and what is the charge I conce what will'll be paying for s house our inmates i l on resolution 2024 468 it's a resolution authorizing a shared service agreement with Bergen County for the provision of juvenile housing and the same goes there this is a shared service agreement there was no shared service agreement in the pocket and there's no amount of what we'll be paying or how CH we be housing here so answer to these questions I would appreciate it thank you thank you anyone else for those resolutions motion Clos second all paper we're going to answer questions so sir is a housing contract between and County uh it's still being worked out as right resolution says as it may be updated and talk to County Council for sale on today and of course a question being the number of inmates that they're capable of taking um so I'm going to say at that point we're still negotiating the number but the charge for inmate at this point was to be $140 per in that's for adults males and females as to resolution 2024 d468 same thing it's still a work in progress there is a crush on juvenile housing given the few counties left that do juile housing in the state of New Jersey being one of those shut down juvenile housing unit um so we're looking for any possible place to send juveniles because it is a major issue nobody wants to send to bur count we help it but that at this point is subject to the discretion of their housing coordinator to make sure that there's a fit um and for the placement and it's 400 dollar per night for child we got about in the discretion of the of the facility up there I understand but how many how many do we have do we have toal not it's not an easy process it was it was 17 this morning okay yeah it goes up and down but fin 24 recently it's 17 morning just G us the ability to set it to the because we said it elsewhere correct many times we get to the point where they say gosh we have a spot but we need an agreement get agreement this is the precursor it's just it's just having an agreement because there are seven facilities for the 21 counties in New Jersey and so on a Friday night a juvenile comes in and somebody from the jail starts calling the seven facilities trying to find one that'll take a shot do we have any with all seven at this point no we have an agreement with five we're working with this one we'll have an agreement with five Atlantic says they're not able to handle any in agreement with them that's never been resed this is a Statewide problem Statewide I've talked about at least 12 different Commission of directives in the past about this problem you and very a lot sleepless nights trying to get these juveniles taken care of so they're not in some type of othering which is basically not a standard it's it's and we have just lost another facility I think it was Essex County ESS count that wants to remove themselves from juvenal housing that'll give us six it's not a good problem to have in this sleep so it's lot of lot of lost sleep in the state is aware and John denardio is working on it very yes he is regard for the New Jersey Association of counties and as to Sal them we'll send as many people as we can because anything's better than than Hudson if you know what I mean not as to their quality of care but as to trap as to trap Mr what you say the cost is for the juven I'm sorry for the juveniles it looks to be $400 per night more services more programs thank thank you thank you sir all right okay please so it's my understanding I'm going to read all the resolutions for the consent agenda and at the end we'll vote as a consent agenda correct correct resolution 2024 d426 resolution awarding the contract for supplying and delivering drainage pip and materials for the Cumberland County Department Public Work B number 24-20 resolution 2024 d427 resolution awarding contracts for providing for benefit maintenance and repair services for R station pumps at various Cumberland County locations bid number 24-21 resolution 2024 428 resolution authorizing read advertising for for and acceptance of competitive contract proposals for Community Support Services older Americans act services for the elderly and disabled for the 2022 through 2024 area plan contract RFP number 24-22 resolution 2024 429 resolution awarding contract for providing translation transcription services and authorizing the read advertising for request for bids for interpretive services and sign language interpretation bit number 24-24 resolution 20 24- 430 resolution authorizing application to Grant agreement apparently there's a problem with the buzzing online I hear there something we can do I'm not sure with the so we can speak up is the best I can yeah we're hearing the people online can't you sorry is is the volume up too remember the the the the recommendation of the IT director was that everybody speak as letter close to the microphone choose if you can please resolution 2024 430 resolution authorizing application to and Grant agreement with New Jersey Transfer transportation funding for elderly and disabled residents resolution 2024 431 resolution authorizing purchase from New Jersey state contract vendor for 5 2024 Grand Char ladar four-wheel drive vehicles with option for the prosecutor's office resolution 2024 432 resolution approving change order number one to contract for providing permitting and Design Services for replacement of structure number 06 v0 058 chesna Avenue over Panther Bridge Panther Branch in city of binland Cumberland County fre qualified per RFQ number 19-50 as needed General architect and Engineering Services resolution 2024 433 resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for annual support maintenance for civil service for the C County Sheriff's Department office resolution 2024 434 resolution authorizing the of a non-fair and open contract for annual software license warranty fees for the Board of Elections resolution 2024 435 resolution authorizing purchase for New Jersey state contract vendor for 19 Elite 1 840 G9 all-in-one computers and two convertible two in one notebooks with accessories for the C County division of employment and training resolution 2024 436 resolution authorizing purchase from Cooperative contract vendor for HP server and portable projector for classroom for the County division of employment and training under EJ Cooperative contract number EJ aa- 22-g resolution 2024 437 resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open window contract for the purchase of repair parts for the County Department of Public Works motor pool resolution 2024 438 resolution cancelling expired contracts for July 2024 covering materials services and supplies resolution 2024 439 resolution authorizing purchases from State contract vendors resolution 202 24-44 resolution approving change order number one to contract for providing various youth services for the kland County Youth Services advisory Council RFP number 24-10 resolution 2024 441 resolution authorizing agreement between County of Cumberland and the participating municipalities for the administration of the municipal Alliance Brands to prevent alcoholism and drug abuse for the contract period July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2025 resolution 2024 442 resolution affirming emergency to exist at the courthouse control area regarding the failure of a component within the HVAC system and affirming the repair thereof resolution 2024 443 resolution affirming emergency to exist at the county jail regarding failure of an HVAC system and admissions of medical units and affirming the repair thereof resolution 20 224-444 resolution approving budget amendment fiscal year 2024 local Bridges fund program CR 640 over kahy River structure replacement project 1,297 284 resolution 2024 445 resolution affirming emergency toist at Maple Avenue downtown wearing the roadway collapsed over 36 in and 54 in corrugated metal pipes under the travel laning of the road and affirming the repair thereof resolution 2024 446 resolution amending resolution 224-2198 in corrigated metal pipe under the shoulder and partial travel Lane of steep Run Road commercial Township and affirming the repair thereof resolution 2024 447 resolution authorizing a Grant application and execution of a grant agreement with the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the mayor aan drive over Sunset Lake Raceway Bridge replacement project resolution 2024 448 resolution authorizing purchase of two 2025 for explorers four-wheel drive with Options under bid number esnj 23 24-11 for the kland county department of Works Cooperative contract number 65 MC ccps D cnj Cooperative contract resolution 2024 449 resolution amending resolution 2022 609 and 2023 466 and titled resolution authorizing submission to the state of New Jersey Department of Law and public safety for automated License Plate Reader Initiative Program resolution 2024 450 resolution authorizing purchase Wireless signal control from the New Jersey state Cooperative contract vendor for the Cumberland County Department Public Works in accordance with Somerset County cooperative number two- s s o CCP contract number cc- 0099 d22 resolution 2024 451 resolution approving budget amendment for the child advocacy development forant Treatment Services programs technology $143,200 resolution 20244 52 resolution authorizing purchase from New Jersey state contract vendor for 60 Dell 24 monitors and 60 o o oplex small factor plus desktops complete with accessories for the division of Social Services resolution 202443 resolution consenting to the temporary closing of County Road 615 South on July 27th 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and on July 28th 2024 from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. for the 58th annual Puerto Rican festival resolution 2024 454 resolution approving and renewal of commodity resale agreements for the sale of gasoline diesel fuel snow removal chemicals and Public Works materials resolution 20244 55 resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for 107 gift cards in the amount of $200 for the kland County division of employment and training resolution 20244 56 resolution authorized and Sheriff Services agreement with commercial Township for resurfacing of the county owned roadway within commercial Township resolution 2024w 57 resolution authorized an increase of monitary ceiling for legal expenses for services provided to the cumber County Planning Department resolution 2024 458 resolution authorizing Sheriff Services agreement with Cumberland County Board ofal education for video reporting services resolution 2024 459 resolution authorizing increase of monetary ceiling for legal expenses in the litigation matter of Bernard vers County of conin in accordance with njac 53-53 through njac 5 305.5 resolution 2024 460 resolution we sending resolution 202-1173 authorizing all future Street and or road closings to be coordinated between the Department of Public Works and the office of County Administrator without the necessity of individual resolution resolution 20244 61 resolution authorizing purchase from the New Jersey state contract vendor from G data enhancements to the county 9911 GIS database for the office of emergency management 911 resolution 2024 462 resolution authorizing amendments to the sheriff Services agreement between the kland County prosecutor's office and the City of bridon the city of milville and the City of vol regarding automated License Plate Reader resolution 2024 463 resolution authorizing Amendment to the inter departmental agreement between the Cumberland County prosecutor's office and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office for the automatic license plate readers resolution 2024w 64 resolution authorizing direct inmate housing contract between the county of Cumberland and the county of Salem with respect to the housing of Cumberland County adult male and female Ms at the Salem County Jail resolution 2024 d465 resolution authorizing amendment to sheriff Services agreement between the county of Cumberland and counties of Salem and Kate May provision of Workforce Development board Services resolution 2024 466 resolution reassigning a workers compensation matter entitled kenth Thomas B's County of Cumberland claim petition number 2010- 28899 and setting initial ceiling resolution 2024 467 resolution of the county of Cumberland authorizing making an application to the local Finance board pursu to njsa 4 a 67-1 ET SEC for review Andor approval of the proposed Intercounty agreement for for the creation of authority to be known as the regional Rehabilitation and re-entry Center of Salem fluster in Cumberland resolution 2024 468 resolution authorizing a shared service agreement with Bergen County for the provision of juvenile housing resolution 2024 469 resolution of payment of bills do I have a motion a second V so move um need a second a second okay before we vote okay on resolution 202443 I have to obain payment of bills um item 20.4 24-0 4413 for clarification El I I have some comments director when wants to make comments now we vote I hope so yes okay um I just want to this was far up last we U obviously it's 4 438 it's just a simple resolution canceling expired contracts this is where uh the uh the b b Ed uh mone's coming back to us uh it's $361,500 76 because we already have another company handling that so it was talked about and just wanted to make sure people knew that it's actually been done in that resolution um thank you commissioner for yeah give a second on U on 4 on 437 um 2 224 437 which we buying equipment and see kind of just play or buy equipment from a a pool but one key thing about this is that we've been uh cannibalizing equipment for years now and finally getting away from that we're actually this is a sounds like a real simple it's a we're buying equipment to fix something but we're actually fixing something without aart it's equipment that has more has a lot of life to it left and we're actually fixing order the right piece of equipment to fix it part to fix it so we can continue using it I hope we do this on a lot of other stuff and don't cannibalize some things to fix others uh it's a good at least it's a good start and I I appreciate the explanation I got because I had some issues with that so um I'm I'm U pleased that and this is on the on what I see that the agreement with the I don't know I'm looking for the number I think it was the last number uh with salm County the naming of the JL the regional Rehabilitation it's actually a nice road that this commission's going down uh we're getting to the this is what we have a year of deciding fix deciding how it's going to be done setting up all the parameters so it's really nice that this agreement it's not a shared service agreement it's a partnership with two other counties uh it's it's a solid problem it's been a longterm problem and and and basically having all really every member every part uh Labor uh uh management uh the and all all on the same page coming together agreeing that this is a good thing to do and here it is this is another document that's right place and U we'll just keep plugging along and actually will probably be a model for the state when we're done so it I I along with that twist it was brought up the idea of the of the juvenile which we were paying through the nose but you heard it's only seven facilities entire state with this this may open up possibilities for the county jail to be uh reinvigorated and uh handle a problem that we may actually become a sending place for there's juveniles and actually maybe help re bring in revenue for for the county and for the C the jail operation uh with that on another resolution which uh the idea we're fixing the jail put a new HVAC system on it I had this was um 443 that was an emerging situation I'm fine with it actually I asked why we're doing this I thought we already fixed it uh we are now going to replace the system and I thought well we're getting near at the end light why we replace it why we spend the money and it was told me that this will now if we turn the annex will actually be able to be used it's so efficient that we can tie the anex and upgrade the anex at the same time it's a so it's actually a very smart buy we did that CU we be a reor for the so so it's actually yes exactly so it's actually we're not to store good money after the bad we're actually upgrading the system and really making this building possible for the future future use of it um some sorry want a roll here so um all right okay thank you D thank you commission I had a question on one number 64314 looks like the prosecutor's office is getting five new vehicles coming in so I was just wondering is that retiring five old vehicles and what's going to come of those just good evening Jennifer w County prosecutor um we routinely purchase so many vehicles per year so that I can have truth and budgeting and be able to budget and then what happens is we bring vehicles on and we take Vehicles out of the rotation when we take Vehicles out of the rotation we turn them over to the county and for the most part because we have a really good schedule now and we're rotating out cars as we rotate in those cars are viable to be used by other departments well that was going to me to my point so you're thinking five cars going to come back us can utilize dep correct correct and we are buying trucks and I I when I was looking at the agenda because they are coming out of capital and they have to be truck they becoming harder and harder to purchase Vehicles off the county so if there's any help that can um come from the Commissioners maybe to the association of counties it will be more cost effective to have some trucks and some some cars but it's been we've always we seem to miss the contracts for the cars we're competing with other folks yeah thank you thank you thank you and the process is Mr the Woody will give me a list of those five cars and a list of the entities that have requested the a vehicle and so we uh and then you guys will ultimately approve any such recommendation or disapprove it very good thank you I the same topic um so they're getting Jeepers uh it's SUV so um I know Subarus are a little more uh cost efficient they're considered SUVs but that is not in the um program that we use yeah we're sort of we're sort of stuck with the state contract the prosecutor is stuck with the state contract that she just said uh have to buy so I don't I've never seen a Subaru on a state contract it's all more American cars and it's the same for um resolution [Music] for yeah the same for well it's basically American cars on okay and then I also um I feel that I should abstain from resolution 2024 445 regarding downtown CH okay commission Mayon no commission commissioner lo you want yes I am you have any comments about the resolution no it's not at this time thank you Mr s I'm good okay I have a motion [Music] second right calliss Al yes yes Maran yes Sor yes for the abens Comm Taylor yes uty director Romero yes director yes I have a motion and second to adopt resolution 2024 426 through 2024 d469 by consent Al yes Lo yeah Mar yesion SAR yes commissioner tayor yes deputy director Romero yes director C yes there are no other resolutions do I have a motion in second to accept Treasures report as provided all in favor do I have a motion a second for Al driving payment of all salaries and wages move second all in favor do I have a motion in second to open public comment on new business only so moved second all in favor okay public comment new business only please step up you have five minutes state your name and you're where you're from Sano Upper deeri Township I will be providing a copy of my comments to place on the official record my comments tonight are in reference to item five on tonight's agenda reading of the minutes of the last public meeting which took place on July the 5th 2024 I'll tell you Joe right now this feels very Deja Vu to me it was just a few short years ago that you and I stood outside of this very building trying to prevent special interest political party bosses and members of our own County government from attempting a hostile takeover of our public facilities and now you sit in the very same seat attempting the very same shame on you I really thought you were going to be different and shame on your colleagues that are in favor of such a move what makes this attempt very different than the last is the many County residents business owners professional Business Leaders and County professionals that collaborate with ccia on a regular basis that are coming forward in opposition to such a misguided attempt I'd like to thank them for their support and hopefully it will make a difference at the special meeting called on July 5th those same professionals came forward to gain insight as to this board's reasons for attempting to derail the economic growth that is taking place in our County today and to express the hypocrisy behind it all I would encourage everyone to read the minute and to review the video of that meeting to fully understand why your veto of the current CEO's contract is not in the best interest of our counties the comments made by the speakers brought to light the numerous failings of this board in doing your jobs as County Commissioners with a 30% attendance rate as liaison to ccia you are very you may be very excuse me you may very well lack the knowledge required to fully understand and address the issues so rather than to do your job you chose to second guess the ccia board and the job that they are doing Joe you commented to me rather proudly I might add we made history that this was somehow an historical event however without considering the consequences to the taxpayers of this County and its economic future in reality it was instead just an empty gesture on this board's part because it was done without any clear objective other than making history by vetoing something because you can't and in my opinion your actions displayed a great lack of leaders ship and frankly that's the only thing that was made you know made history that day I must say that the pretext that Miss Lou used at the July 5th meeting and that you agreed with using me as your scapegoat was very unprofessional and not up to the caliber of leadership that we need in our County government and for that matter very poor judgment coming from a person in your line of work Miss LS that in and of itself is very disappointing and concerning considering your immediate future political aspirations and a leadership role in our County government the bottom line is that I should not have had to request from you an audience with ccia that's your job which is another failing on your part Miss us using my genuine concern for accountability and good governance does not excuse your lack of produci oversight misquoting me and misrepresenting me to suit your needs only demonstrates to us how shallow this board is by looking for excuses in order to justify your actions that do not benefit the county taxpayers but that satisfies your political bosses and oh yeah we mustn't forget special interest role in all of this because it's in there I recognize it all too well in closing if this board would like to seriously listen to ideas that I may have for your consideration let's talk but I guess that should be a subject for new business thank you thank you appreciate your comments I'm Dave hamran president and CEO of centuy s in Fran in Vinland I don't know this lady but she's a tough act to follow my comments will not have the verb that hers did but similar to her I'm here to speak um in regard to the board's action to be taken with respect to the CEO's contract with ccia I been been a banker in Cumberland County for nearly 20 years for most of that time we've had the pleasure of working on projects with which ccia is involved and I can tell this board that Jerry blasquez is a smart and creative and energetic and clever representative of ccia who finds ways to get things done who in all of my my experience acts with the best interest of the county at heart and he um he he really really does a good job for the county um I can't think of a time where there was a project that he advocated that didn't go off successfully I can't think of a time that there's a project that he advocated where he was anything other than professional and again acting in the County's best interests and as somebody who uh runs a bank with hundreds of borrowers in this County and thousands of depositors in this County um there's there's lots of benefit that I've seen firsthand that County business owners and residents have uh received under his leadership of ccia and I I encourage the more to renew his contract thank you very much thank you anyone else ran Gus Mars River Township um sir could you get to the microphone only because nobody might hear you I thought I was loud enough we just want to make sure it's on the record that's I was trying to help the feedback and everybody's here Marsh River Township um I addressed just last month about the drainage along County Route 710 Station Road um just came out just Jed a couple pipes me and the other neighbor thank you for that um the problem's still there like they cut grass and just you know the trench is full of debris now so that's not raining at all project that he had on the other side of the street redoing the stream to move remove standing water that's all that's in there now it's just full water and it's standing water um the other I was told they came out looked at it cut the grass over there and said they were cleaned it up and then they said as far as anything else that's the mosquito is there mosquito commission mosquito commission is problem I don't know how to get tou commission thank you Care thank we get that hope every hear me um Cherry Velasquez I'm the president and CEO of the kland county Improvement Authority uh send a letter to the Commissioners uh to the solicitor and to the clerk on July 15th I wanted to uh read that um my understanding doesn't have to be put into the record so I just wanted it to be part of the public record Miss kispa please accept this letter as a former response to questions that have been raised related to The Authority as well as my position as president and CEO during a special Commissioners meeting held on July 5th 2024 there was a comment raised by commissioner LS related to a report that was requested by the public the record recorded request that was made by Miss Sandra AO during the 25th commissioner meeting was to request that the CEO of the ccia give us a presentation of all projects that they are working on that involve County taxpayer funds while the CCI has many projects with the county none require or have required the county contribution to satisfy the financial obligations of the CCI in fact as will be highlighted below the ccia provides significant financial cash contribution and shared service savings to the county please note that at no time has there been a request from the Commissioners to the author regarding a presentation during the meeting additionally I would like to point out that my monthly report highlighting the project to initiatives of the authority is presented during our regularly scheduled public meetings held the fourth Wednesday of every month the authorities monthly meetings have been held without fail since my tenure began in April of 2013 as you know the commission has designate two Liaisons to the authority board Liaisons are invited to every meeting and are provided with my monthly report along with the meeting agenda and proposed resolutions being considered by the board each month prior to the authority public meeting commissioner liaison the administrator and the CFO receive copies of the agenda and proposed resolutions commissioner liaison are invited to attend and are specifically included in a lotted time to make comments during the monthly agenda since January 22 when commissioner CA was appointed to the authority as one of the Liaisons there have been 29 meetings commissioner liaison have been present at 11 of those meetings no Commission Commissioners contacted the authority president CEO prior to nor did anyone attend the June 26th meeting construction meetings to update County projects and initiatives are held every other week there have been 70 meetings in that time frame to review project status and next steps minutes are forwarded to commissioner liaison administrator and CFO immediately after conclusion of the meeting no meetings have ever been attended by current commissioner liaison in addition and to further update the county commissioner County economic development committee meetings are held providing updates regarding Authority County Economic Development projects and initiatives agendas and minutes are provided prior to and after meetings 11 meetings were held from February 22 22 through June 24 current commissioner liaison attended one of those meetings there have been several misrepresentations made by the current Commissioners regarding my salary and the proposed increase I would like to provide a clarification of the facts my tenure at the already began on April 1st 2013 with an initial salary of $133,000 plus health benefits 12 years later January 25 my proposed salary is $2,765 my health benefits are W the proposed salary represents an average increase of 3.6% over that 12year period the proposed increase from my current 2024 salary to poos January 25 salary is 3% in 20 13 the Authority's annual budget was 10.3 million and there were no Economic Development Redevelopment initiatives initiatives or projects responsibilities of this position have grown exponentially over the past 11 years the annual budget is now in excess of 34 million we employ approximately 90 employees and we manage and develop many properties and projects throughout the region annual increases are determined by the board of the authority and approved by County Commissioners based on performance and the success of the authority theor budget is 100% supported by the operations 2024 total compensation mine is less than four other authority directors in the sou jurge region that includes Cumberland sale and c m ler only during that same time period the annual cash contribution to the county from The Authority increased from just under 400,000 per year excuse me to just under 800,000 this represents the highest contribution of any other authority in the county total unrestricted count contribution from the authority to the county during this period was 6.7 million annual savings was 20, 59276630 [Music] state your name hello my name is Joe RMA I'm the chief Ling officer of century Savings Bank beh J last I'll say that during that same period the annual you talk about cash contributions annual County Savings from 2016 to 2024 Rose from just under $1 million to more than 4.5 million total savings during this period were $2,592 766 which does not include contributions made with surrounding communities the landfill is a major component of the authority and provides significant public infrastructure and services to the residents of County the landfill operation has one of the lowest tip fees in the state widely regarded as one of the best landfills in the state out of state as well as International visitors have commented on the efficiency and cleanliness of the solid waste complex the land microG grid creates sustainable electricity via methane gas which is extracted from the landfill that runs the entire complex and the authority administrative J want want to skip that part I'm going to skip those things to and say in summary a billion dollars of economic impact of it made from 2015 20123 there have been more than $700 million in project development between 2015 202 the rateable base increase of $1.3 billion median incomes increased by 20% the Northeast preast TR National facilitated via shared service between the city of Lin and the authority which represents a $200 million private investment s facility with the Authority business development activities $180 million private investment another facility with the Authority business development activities 45 million private investment the ctech facility and all expansions medicine building and the RC SJ campus Jerry's purpose of this letter was to provide factual information that may be helpful to the Commissioners and one thing I'd like to say is that as a partner of the authority during the last 13 years at two different banks I found Jerry to be trustworthy and honest and lack of management continuity at the authority represents a risk to us as partners that could make us less inclined to want to support its activities in the future I'd urge you to seriously consider we with this contractor okay anyone else good evening my name is Lou magazu I'm here on behalf of the COO group seeing uh commissioner Soro and Judge Johnson all we need is trout we could have old Tim G I think oh yeah it's good to see everybody uh I sent a letter on July 5th to Judge Johnson on behalf of the CEO group supporting um Mr basquin it was a unanimous resolution by our board I just want to know if that that letter was not read tonight and it was not read on July 5th did it come through did you all get that letter no you did not yet is that correct it was not received I have I have the letter that would be my fault now I'm not going to blame you're too good of a guy to ever blame on anything um let me just recite then uh the letter indicated the support of the CEO group for Mr Basquez um and I'm not going to repeat things that have been said previously um I would indicate though and this may surprise you uh although Mr SAR and Judge Johnson were remember I had differences with Improvement Authority director once and uh we asked for reports and we asked for accountability so I totally support that being part of your purview I am surprised though that at the July 5th meeting and apparently at tonight's meeting Maybe I'm Wrong uh there was no response to any of the citizens Miss rway and I had lots of meetings and I was sure to respond to all of her questions and uh when she came to our meetings um I'm concerned that the county is going to lose the leadership of someone who frankly in the private sector could make two times what he's making uh and I suspect that if he winds up going and is replaced by a political appointee without the experience um you're going to lose the confidence of uh of some parts of the business Community I don't pretend to speak for the entire business Community I can share one point to you oh I want to go back to accountability do you still director do you still have department head meetings do you have the monthly yeah we do you do we have a department head meeting so when I was director I would actually go to department head meetings um and I would actually insist that the executive director of both the Improvement Authority and the C of the Utility Authority go to the meetings that may be one way to have communication and accountability by asking those directors uh to come I used to I guess welfare is now part of you once it's separate I would have the welfare board come uh that would be an a way to have uh literally monthly accountability as to what's going on so there's a suggestion perhaps a couple of about 6 weeks ago uh I had a group that has a billion dollar fund uh that wants to do investment in a couple of different areas and specifically $250 million in Cumberland County because I suggested to come to Cumberland and we met with Jared uh they were so impressed with him that they asked for a follow-up meeting uh in New York City that's supposed to happen I think next week or the week after where they want to deploy 250 million into this County I can assure you that if Mr Velasquez is replaced by someone who they don't know someone doesn't have the depth of experience uh and I think it would be tough to replicate that experience they're going to be less likely to deploy that type of money into this County they might still if you were to replace him with someone of equal quality but I suspect that would be difficult uh the CEO group board as uh I spoke with the president Sam pepone today in the secretary treasurer we would like to invite the County Commissioners uh to the extent that you can legally to come to our August 6th board meeting for August 12th general meeting and explain the reasons because we only know one side of the story which is Jerry's side because he's a member of our group but if you have reasons that are legitimate reasons and not political reasons but legitimate reasons uh we would invite you to come and talk to us because uh all of my members uh who've spoken with me who've had the opportunity to speak with individual Commissioners or other elected off offals who have interest in this matter have indicated that they cannot find a reason except for two one because in the jail which I would suggest he was told to do by your predecessors and shouldn't bother uh redempt his negative and secondly uh because he's making too much money as I think Mr Velasco has indicated he makes a three he's getting a three and half% increase I suspect if you were to look at um prior administrator salaries 30 seconds thank you prior administrator salaries uh and you extrapolate the same amount of years at the same experience you get the same kind of number if somebody stays that long you have the capacity to do something extraordinary here and that is to change your mind and to keep Somebody by the way you have Capac to do one other thing and that is to enter into a three-year contract rather than a fiveyear contract with him and say you know what we're giving you the options to do that don't speak about negotiations please well I'm not I'm not I'm allowed to because I don't I'm not one of you guys uh but I appreciate the time and I just would remind you since I had a minute taken from me I would remind you that as I said the other day uh the entirety of the business Community is paying attention to the action of this board on this vote thank you thank you anyone else anyone else have a comment I you're on I want to get off the subject you want to get off the off the subject of state your name and where you're from Sir name is Joe condo from Estelle minor City 40 Years of South Jersey politics and I've heard my share of misinformation and I can't believe what we're hearing here tonight let's talk about some of the facts that are actually out there no action taken by this Board of Commissioners did anything at all to adversely affect Mr Vas his current contract which I will remind the Commissioners lasts until the end of this year it's really still a fuddling to many of us why the authority where did that name come from anyway the authority that kind of creates the the tenor of the entire problem we have right now what did they give up on Cumberland County or Improvement but I think we'll still call them the ccia in any event why the CC Board of the ccia chose to act so quickly so early in the year without as I know consultation with the board of County Commissioners is a bit befuddling I don't know that any of the County Commissioners was contacted by the any of the members of the board of the i in an effort to try to come to some terms that would be acceptable to the board of County Commissioners but let's keep a couple things in mind no action taken by this board has adversely affected Mr Velasquez's current contract no action taken by this board prevents the board of the I from entering into a future contract with Mr Velasquez and no action taken by this board has in any way suggested for even a moment that Mr Velasquez is being fired this board doesn't have the power to fire Mr Velasquez and everyone in this room knows that the idea that this is about firing Jerry is misinformation and it needs to be stopped what we're talking about here is a change in the way this government is going to conduct itself the Board of Commissioners is accountable to the taxpayers and the residents and the people of of com County and the authority is accountable to the board of County Commissioners we've heard it a dozen times if we've heard it once the commissioner should come to the IIA meetings you get the minutes you can read why do you need to go to the IIA meetings because the IIA thinks that this Board of Commissioners is accountable to it well the days of the Shadow government are over the IIA will be accountable to the board of County Commissioners in this County and as soon as the IIA realizes that the sooner we'll all be able to have a reasonable dialogue about what's to become of Mr Velasquez and his leadership of the IIA thank you for your time sh I want to wrap this up real quick good evening I'm Nancy richway from up Deerfield and fair Township I think this board was just told they are accountable to the citizens and the taxpayers of this County at your special meeting you blamed a citizen for something she asked for for the decision that you was making I get up here quite often and cry about the position that your public RS department and engineering department put put me in a gentleman just got up here a few minutes ago and I guess he's in the same kind of problem that I'm in except I think mine's a little bit deeper than his and this committee takes no action the committee before you takes no action so I'm assuming that citizens really don't count in this County nor the taxpayers you're going to do what you want to do anytime you want to do it regardless if you're told that there's an infraction being made so I'll see you next month and maybe we'll discuss it again goodbye Mo close make sure motion to close no no uh just couple uh the CL board just uh had this I just want to point out to and I said it before U we we just uh reviewed a data center um in the city of Iowa and the City of IA is doing something a little different we are their smart system um it's it was as I was said it was the largest check ever delivered i' ever saw so delivered to the county to review a project but I want to point out that you know many of the critics of the middle mile uh had said we'll have no customers there'll be nothing nothing will go well all of a sudden we've got a concrete plan it happens to be in V hopefully be other the ones in our a data set and it has multi phases it's it's it's just to point out how important that is is a step that's that's what that's do the whole thing but it was red by the the County Planning Department it has you know many more hers to overcome but at least it's coming out of the W work so I just point out this is how it starts and and you can't you can't I don't have a crystal ball but this is what we see what I see can happen if the middle mile is pushed and then the end mile uh is adopted that we don't know but it's but if we put the infrastructure in place good things will happen and here's a good um I also point out that the library um has uh they do programming all the time and one of the good things that uh they're having right now and this is part of the U the uh by the they have a reading program they have over 300 kids 300 individuals reading this program we're going to be this board just recently looked over the idea of expansion in the morer township just think if that starts catch it all different to another Library I I also want to point out that the city of Briton we were going back over I mentioned to the commissioner Maran that that we've proposed the idea of working with the city britchen providing programming they they have to hand up to do that but extending it there also it this is where it starts and the the library is very has been very aggressive on programming and bringing things in having kids and teens and adults through their career programs to uh to learn and educate and we're seeing the results I just wanted to make sure you guys knew about the reading program so and uh I just make a comment about the fair I and I know you all attended the fair uh I thought the fair was was uh despite the rain I thought it was very successful I was very impressed with the way public Works um and then anyone also mentioned the how good the fairgrounds looked uh and I I also want to say the sheriff's department how impressive they were uh we had no no problems or minor problems and the thing the fair was um it was just it was just a good event and I I felt good being there and you guys would make your own comments about it but again C County's pulled it off and a fair fair Association definitely pulled off we just we just f the side they do a great job of doing that and and more improvements as we're planning is just going to make it better and better so the fair grounds is really going to become a centerpiece to our our Park system as we go and last I got thank you commission s director U just have to make a comment about what happened here tonight um one I want to thank everybody that came I want to thank everyone that uh spoke why came I don't know why I don't understand no one was fired con said no one's contract was recently we didn't know about the contract till later um we're not looking for an adversarial uh relationship with the ccia or with Mr Vasquez or with the CEO group what fascinates me is that it's being done at this setting when every one of us is accessible and can be talked to personally that's what fascinates me that's what concerns me we're all readily accessible so why it happened here have no idea as long as everybody understands that ccia is still working that's all I have to say thank you commissioner commission Mar I have to agree with uh Mr Alber the county fair was was fantastic I've been going there since I can remember um like res in County going through the County Fair since my parents took me wonderful once again the grounds look fantastic thank you so much to our Public Works and everyone who had a hand and and playing that all once again it was just it was amazing my kids always enjoy going I enjoy going look forward to it every year now this summer has been one of the hottest Summers I can remember so I I just want to urge everyone to make sure they stay safe we have another hotman coming up I know the county offers cooling centers throughout the county I believe there's a list available on the website I would encourage anyone who's in need of that please uh look into that the these are available for everyone I'd like to see people obviously get to a cool spot and cool off with all this hot weather coming so just want to make sure everyone's aware of that and get some information to them at thank you thank you commission would you tell yes um I would like to say I in regard to the ccia I did have the opportunity to tour the CCI in the past month um beautiful facility extremely clean I did talk to Jerry about some of the projects that he has done done and um I was not present at the special meeting I've had recently have had surgery and have had some you know personal medical issues going on uh I will say this had I been present I would have had to abstain because my husband and I own a company that does work on ccia projects so I do want to call for that up to the public I'm sure everybody if they weren't here for the special meeting they heard about it and and have heard that commissioner Taylor was not present so I wanted to set the record straight on that I I also would like the comment on the cumland county fair uh we I was I was there opening night I did not get to walk Fair because you know I had knee surgery so um I would like to say I enjoyed seeing Jaden Jacobson received the Cindy hedel dream award and from 4 age and I would like to congratulate her Cindy heel was an outstanding leader for the 4 Community for many many years um I also you know have attended the uh County health department meetings via the uh phone and would like to um congratulate them on the great job that they're doing they continue to receive grants to you know fund a lot of their projects also at the uh monthly Commissioners meeting that uh South Jersey Commissioner meeting that was held in SE the Kate Mayo came and did a presentation at that presentation um or I should say afterwards they we were offered as Commissioners to go on the back you know behind scenes of Kate Meo and I am looking to figure out how we can get more money to donate to our bridon Zoo so Matt polar he did agree to join me on an adding and we will be going to Kate may we haven't set it up yet I'm waiting for my L to get a little better to um be able to participate and that's all I have thank you commissioner Comm I didn't have much to say uh other than the county fair was uh really came out really nice the grounds were very clean uh and I had a great time um you turn out well uh I visit do about a month ago and had a great experience over there with uh with employees I see a new morale going on people being higher uh shery contact me doing this couple weeks and told me Tony we need this and and I'm working on it and I have sent them my fewers and this is the kind of teamwork we like to see and I come and date you on that and I and really moving forward with us is a commissional board and I appreciate that uh CCT here so I I'm going to pick then I go down to uh Dr Dina RI I go down to uh c tech almost every night now and pay and play pickle B you know I wish we had some lights there because an old guy like me when the hot weather is I start to melt so maybe we when when we have lights there then it gets cool maybe we could enjoy that a little more you know but uh we'll talk about that next week and um that's about all I you know this is all I got to say good things commissioner L are you still on yes I am you have any commissioner reports that you'd like to speak about well first of all I would like to absolutely extended congratulations to all of the scholarship recipients from DC Tech this evening what an amazing accomplishment that is and I hope it really does plan to a lot of opportunities uh that you will take uh each of those scholarship recipients will take and certainly funnel that back into their communities and Pay It Forward um I do Echo the sentiments of everybody tonight about the fair the Kling County Fair commission did a fantastic job as they always do it is something so very deeply personal to all of them um and and it really does show because the fair just gets better and better and it uh truly does showcase the heart and soul of kber lingon County and that is I think why we love being there we all feel that energy and it's because of the love and the hard work that that commission does put into it and all of our County Employees um I do want to thank everybody who came out tonight to speak um on behalf of Jared blasz and the kland county Improvement Authority and um the July 5th meeting uh we have all ran on and promised the taxpayers of Cumberland County transparency in this government and when I heard a voice from the public come and ask for information and we were able to provide it with plenty of time for the authority board to continue their negotiations with the contract from Mr Vasquez I really did want our board in the interest of transparency to take that opportunity I do really appreciate Mr basz coming to the meeting tonight giving your update and certainly providing very clear correspondence to the Commissioners and to the public public as far as everything that is going on and that's what this board is about that has been my mission is to always be transparent with the public and with the taxpayers of kland County and I'm glad that we have done that here tonight Mr blasquez is is still in place until the end of the year and this does give plenty of time for the authority board to continue on with what they are doing um so I just really want to Echo my appreciation for everyone coming out tonight and certainly all the information that's been shared with the public tonight thank you very much Mr PA um and last but not least we have I just want to make a little announcement because I am the Leon to culture and Heritage in Trum County and we do have our Puerto Rican festival um under underway this week and our it's going to culminate with a breid this weekend and I hope everyone gets out there to celebrate quter and culture some like thank you commissioner much appreciated thank you I thank you I have no Clos stat we have a we have closed session yeah s and there's not intend to be any action no AC Okay resolution 20244 the resolution providing for a meeting not open to the public in accordance with the provisions of New Jersey senator and of the public meeting act and JSA 10 412 matters relating to litigation negotiations and the attorney client privilege matters relating to the employment relationship do I have a motion in second move second commissioner Al yes yes commissioner Lo commissioner s Mar commissioner yes deputy director R yeso [Music] yesy 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 Quinn media and QBC programming that serves the South Jersey Market