good evening everyone welcome to the east brunswig Township council meeting February 12th 2024 everyone please rise as we salute our flag remain standing in memory of specialist Kennedy Sanders Sergeant William Jerome Rivers specialist Briana Alexandria muffett all three lost their lives in a drone attack on their military base in Jordan two weeks past the pledge allegiance to flag United States of America nation God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Town CH clerk lawful please call roll and announce our statement of adequate notice council member Hall here councilman Wendell here councilwoman Winston here councilwoman ziki here council president makoy here also present mayor Brad Cohen here administrator Joseph kulo here and Township attorney Anthony aoka here adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as required under chapter 231 Public Law 1975 by specifying the time date location and to the extent known the agenda by posting a copy on the bulletin board located in the main lobby of the East Brunswick Municipal Building providing a copy to the home News Tribune and the Asbury Park Press newspapers posting a copy on the Township's website and by filing a copy in the office of the Township Clerk which will be entered into the minutes thank you just take note for a moment that the uh the youngsters who are in the reserve section are coming to us from the East Brunswick Youth Council led by Miss Ashley Falcon and they are here to get a lesson in Civics so we'll keep our deorum on on spot so that these students leave our sacred Hall here with a reminder of how our government works Council you have before you resolution 24 hyphen 74 adopting the minutes from the January 22nd uh 2024 meeting I have a motion motion approved second second any points of clarification or correction seeing none roll call please councilman bahal yes councilman Wendell yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman zigi yes and council president ma boy yes at this time I'll turn over the meeting to Mayor con for his annual stateof the township address mayor con thank you council president council members uh members of the audience and of course all the members residents that live here in the township of East Brunswick tonight I'd like to take this opportunity in the state of the township to address and really highlight the municipal staff as my comments are going to be uh directed towards their many achievements and unless we're prepared to stay here to the we hours of the morning I will simply be scratching the surface on their accomplishments in 2023 and their plans for the year ahead but gone are the days when Municipal Employees were thought of as depicted in the picture uh across the room as we take our tour around the township know that this Administration and this Council are supported by a team of professional Municipal staff that will help us navigate the Redevelopment projects that have been started proposed and contemplated they're behind us as we witness an explosion of the Arts here in the township whether that be performances performance arts such as the Brunswick symphonic orchestra which debuted a couple of weeks ago our visual Arch such as the six feet apart and the Butterfly installations around town the film Arts such as the Indie F uh film festival and the rose clang film Awards which were held here in East Brunswick they will be with us as we embark on an expansion of our Recreation and sports programs in town as we look towards Cricket fields and an ice hockey rank and others and while the Board of Education prepares to unveil its plans for either a renovation or a new high school any project approved by the voters through referendum will be aided by the competent and skilled help of our Municipal Employees both in planning engineering construction the Water and Sewer Department Department of Public Works and of course the East buzuk Police Department so to start this review I'm going to steal the most famous line from the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire which is show me the money because of our focus on cash management replenishment of cash reserves a High collection ratio and a low debt our finance department has continued to earn a double A+ rating from Moody's our debt stands at $78 million which did increase this past year due to the approval of40 million ion dollar bond which will be used to pay for the ice hockey rink this gives us a debt ratio of 0.893 per. which is still an enviable ratio compared to most other towns due to our high Bond ratio the township is able to secure funding and financing at a much lower rate than you would be able to do in the open market while approved the bond for the rink will not actually be secured until we're closer to construction which may actually work out well for us as Financial analysts predict a reduction in interest rates from the Federal Reserve in 2024 the department handled over $250 million as it collects for the public schools the county our fire Districts The Water and Sewer utility the pool utility the Redevelopment agency the public library and of course the municipal budget notably the department has seen an increase in a payments for property taxes and for water and sewer bills our set it and forget it program was a big hit among seniors who are proving that you are never too old to adapt to new technology we thank our residents for our ability to boast a over 99% collection ratio on taxes and while we're speaking of taxes our assessor's office reports that we had 200 47 added Assessments in 2023 equating to an additional $13 million in tax ratables the office processed 822 Deeds which is an indicator of new residents and they handled 45 tax appeals which actually represents a 15-year low for tax appeals in the township besides new residents who have called East Brunswick Home in 2023 there were approximately 80 new business businesses that found their way to town according to the economic development office the businesses range in fields from restaurants to Health Care technology to Logistics and government to Education Services notable among them are Wipro United healthc Care RWJ Barnabas children specialized United Foods Corporation canine Resorts Duck Donuts just to name a few and 2024 is already lining up to exceed that number now even our third graders who come up directly to the township right here where you are today to learn about municipal government know that our biggest responsibility as both the mayor and councel is the safety security and well-being of the people who live work and travel through East Brunswick for this we depend on a wellt trained Police Department along with all of our First Responders such as the fire department which any of whom are here today and our first aid squads as we look at crime statistics over the last six years despite public opinion polls our crime statistics do not show an increase in violent crime the areas that are concerned and are showing any moderate rise here in East Brunswick and are not unique to East Brunswick includes Larsen attributed mostly to our route 18 business corridor forgery and counterfeiting which is primarily identity theft and auto theft again problems that are going on throughout the entire State our department stresses the need to be proactive when it comes to protecting the public and much of this can be seen through their accomplishments this past year and going forward our Patrol section logged in 70,000 calls last year which averages to 192 calls a day it is a very busy Department we uh uh Pro progressed on our drone program which is used primarily for evidence recovery suspect search and crowd and traffic rep um control we did hire three new sworn officers they are presently at the Academy in Cape May and we had added three special police officers detective Brian Adams our school resource officer his Department started the clean sleep program for firsttime juvenile offenders to to get back on track without being dragged through the criminal justice system our community police led by Sergeant Paul Young started the community Response Unit which is a drug addiction Intervention Program that allows us to work with the courts as well as addiction counselors attorneys and the prosecutor's office to help those that are addicted get the help they need outside of the criminal justice and prison system the administration division is careful to ensure that the department remains compliant with all the requirements of our ongoing accreditation through the New Jersey Association of chiefs of police in 2023 our officers completed over 10,000 hours of training that's both in service online and at outside schools and finally the Community Police Department continue to reach out to the community Through programs such as neighborhood watch an active shooter training the junior Police Academy security assessments and Hazard analysis which is used by our local houses of worship businesses and our public buildings both the township and the public [Applause] schools the Department of Public Works maintains our 165,000 Square ft of buildings maintains our Fleet of vehicles manages all road maintenance including snow removal storm water basins and Road repair the department also manages the water and sewer utility the most notable achievement in 2023 was the awarding of a new 5-year contract for solid waste and recycling to iws the changes were broken down in pamphlets that were sent out to every resident they were in ebtv segments and is explained on the Township's website and Facebook page the changes include twice per week solid waste pickup and every other week recycling everyone will be getting 95 gon garbage bins which will be distributed this spring and will can allow for sidearm automated pickups despite early plans to curtail loose leaf pickup the township is happy to continue this service and will provide schedules for those pickups this fall other notable achievements of the Department of Public Works includes the fact that they did lay down over 1600 tons of asphalt used for Road repair this past year and crack sealed over 32 mil of roadway Solid Waste tonnage was reduced by 212 tons this year thus reducing our tipping fees and I'm going to digress for a second the cost for removing garbage is the the hauling cost which is what was made up in that contract that's only one part of the cost of removing waste when you get Solid Waste in the trucks and they brought up to the local landfill those that the solid waste is weighed and the town gets a separate tipping charge for the amount of solid waste that's thrown away so anything that a town can do to reduce the amount that we put in the waste uh is actually going to also save tax dollars and this new contract should expect us to be able to do that because it's estimated that without proper Lids on your garbage cans most of the garbage accumulates close to 25% of water absorption so we're paying to throw away water so I think we could do better uh so that 212 ton saving I expect should uh improve this year the water utility has replaced meters in about 80% of our homes this year we will be looking to complete the rest of that project there were 26 water main breaks that were reped in 2023 that is a 13-year low uh part of that is due to the proactive work of the department to make sure that they maintain the lines and I think the other part was we actually had a fairly decent year with rather mild weather the New Jersey Department of Transportation water main replacement project on Route 18 is actually 50% complete at this point that's just the water part they estimate that this portion of the water repair should be completed by the fall of this year the sewer utility continues to work to reduce biochemical oxygen Demand by using smart technology and pure science-based decisions the department apartment saved over1 120 $175,000 compared to that they had estimated they would need to spend this past year we also finalized the Kingswood Pump Station upgrades that are awaiting final approval from the D this upgrade will allow us to convert the septic system up at the Community Arts Center to Municipal sewer this change allows us for the to do the safe expansion of the community art center as our plans will ultimately result in much higher utilization which is beyond the capacity of a septic system the department of planning engineering and construction worked so closely with DPW that I action actually often lose track of where one ends in the other begins cooperation is the name of the game there and their major accomplishments over this past year and for the year ahead include the fact that our pavement Improvement program which started uh from taking office uh has now resulted this past year in 35 local roads that were repaved for over six miles of roadway White Hall Road was repaired using a New Jersey DOT Transportation trust fund grant for the repaving part of it the water repairs was done through the water department Ty's Lane uh part of that was done with Transportation trust fund granting from the state uh that was the portion of tyes that went from Ryder's Lane to the YMCA and the portion of riders that's between uh Walmart and ShopRite that portion was all done with a grant from the state through the transportation trust fund the portion of the highway a portion of the road that was done from Hearts Lane all the way to Route 18 is part of the agreement that we had with 110 tyes the uh Legacy project that was part of our deal with them they had to do all of the uh repaving the disability upgrades the widening of the road the Turning Lanes the reworking of the intersection with Renee Road the continuation of Renee Road and a completely new signal that's all on their dime the portion that remains is a project that's part of the agreement with hidden oaks who has not kept to their deal that approximately $2 million stretch that's left to be done uh is something that was agreed upon by the developer who has not honored that part of the agreement to date and they don't want to tax the public with that $2 million so we're waiting for them to finish that off in 2024 we will also got a transportation trust fund Grant to repave uh all of New Brunswick Avenue uh on the docket for this year will be be the new signals at Fern and cranberry hardenberg and Reva and hardenberg and fresh ponds Road also on the docket for this year is going to be the sidewalk repair on Dunham's corner Road by Young Israel because as many people in the room know a lot of people walk on that part of the road and there's no median there's no um real uh buffer between the sidewalk and the road that sidewalk is going to be moved back there's going to be a buffer put PL put in place and guard rails as soon as the weather breaks that project's already been approved we already have a uh project uh uh assigned to somebody and that work will be done shortly the department brought in two .1 million in permit fees in 2023 and over 2600 certificate of occupancies were issued so again very busy Department in 2023 and going into 2024 we will be dealing with the development of the public Municipal ice ranks the design and bidding process was done last year bids are expected to go out shortly after which we will get a contractor and commence with construction proba probably within the next couple of months 110 tyes uh again the Legacy part of that deal included giving the township the eight acres of land that that's going to be built on and all of the site improvements the uh storm water the parking lot that that's already actually been built uh all of the water and sewer lines all of that was part of tysa our responsibility is the building itself the department maintains silver status with Sustainable New Jersey and the East Brunswick community housing Corporation under our department of construction continues to purchase units and has currently A 2.6 million fund balance this self-liquidating Corporation founded in the 1970s continues to help our Township meet its affordable housing obligations and has helped us to limit the number of units required to be built through fair share housing and the courts the department of fun otherwise known as the department of Recreation and Parks has another banner year in 2023 with the swelling of new programming and a higher than average turnout their accomplishments included the complete renovation of field C at Heavenly farms and a new scoreboard and bleacher system which was added to field B at Heavenly Farms this year they will be well actually last year they designed and sent out forbid uh a new Cricket field up at Heavenly Farms construction again should start shortly the community art center expansion that I spoke about earlier uh did achieve Green Acres approval from the New Jersey DP and plans will be available this year and the department along with the East Brunswick Arts Coalition will look to bring on professional fundraising firms uh to help raise the money for this project which we hope will be completely done through raising uh fundraising efforts again the East Brunswick Ice Arena committee and the department finalized its planed for The Rinks the bids expected to go out shortly in construction this year the Sadowski Park was completely uh redone along with resurfacing of the grounds we had in addition to our regular East Brunswick Day and 4th of July other programs that the township has traditionally done the T the department brought on new programs such as Winter Wonderland Pride at the pool Halloween trunker treat national hot dog day and dogust which is celebrating our canine friends in the dog days of August the East Brunswick Youth Council obtained a $130,000 grant from Lowe's Hometown Heroes program to completely renovate the youth center at Dunham's Corner Road if any of you have not seen it it really they did a terrific job the Township's day camps received re accreditation through the American Camp Association making it one of the only Municipal rund day camps to achieve that status the East Brunswick Symphony Orchestra was started in 2023 and they had their de debut just a couple of weeks ago at the community art center and finally with all that the department was able to bring in over $300,000 more than last year cocking in at $2.6 million now with all due respect I do not want to insult the Department of Aging who also considers them the department of fund last year the department saw 302 new members join the center which was a record high that brings their daily census to 120 members showing up on a daily basis the department provided over 10,000 bus rides for shopping banking going to the pharmacy and provided over 11,000 hom delivered meals to housebound seniors they provided support groups Social Services ship and Medicare counseling to hundreds of residents the department also helps match seniors that are in need with either fall leaf pickup or snow removal with volunteers from our youth Council most importantly the department sought attendance at classes programs and lectures increase to 825 attendees per month the year was capped with 200 attendees attending the annual holiday party at the park Chateau the East Bruns public Library also had another busy year with over 200,000 people walking through its doors and customers borrowing over 500,000 500 not dollars 500,000 items in books DVDs ebooks Music Museum passes and Tech kits it the library continues to obtain grants among those were two six week summer programs one for immersive English language Learners the other was for summer concert series at many people attended which reflects the diverse cultures living both here in East Brunswick and middlex County the library meeting rooms hosted 889 outside events and almost 22,000 people attended some of their special events that were done either in person or virtually now to promote Township events and achievements and general marketing the township has had the service of a full television network through ebtv this past year the township approved the addition of a marketing manager to Aid in this Mission while we still rely on print media TV and mail there is an undeniable shift to the importance of social media in increasing the town's reach last year ebtv produced 243 videos had over 137,000 views on YouTube for over 8,900 hours of content and that was viewed in 36 countries Facebook and Instagram reached 129,000 accounts and was review and was viewed by 50,000,000 people for 500 hours of viewing marketing has resulted in a 20% increase in Facebook and in almost 50% increase in Instagram we expect that to actually go up in 2024 Township it Department continues to be that critical glue that keeps the township our department our employees and outside contacts connected and in this world of security threats identity theft and Ransom targeting we cannot let our foot off the gas for one minute now to read to you what they're doing would be like me reading to you a medical text no one's going to understand what I said so I uh I clearly don't understand Tech G jargon but from a 30,000 foot view they've added critical security measures mitigated our cloud system of storage they upgraded the Township phone system they upgraded the system bandwidth installed card key access and cameras at critical points in the municipality they upgraded Township and and uh police uh firewalls along with there many other regular and daily responsibilities and in many instances our it employees came in at off hours to complete this work because it simply couldn't be done during the day now as we look forward to the year ahead the are exciting projects uh which include the construction of the rinks and the cricket field plans for the expansion of the Community Arts Center many new businesses better Solid Waste and Recycling Service as we Implement our new contract I'm also happy to report that the New Jersey do has indicated that the route 18 construction project is ahead of schedule you can clap for that should they they continue to make progress at the current Pace the project should be completed ahead of schedule finally one of our largest Township projects that a town will ever ever undertake is completely out of the hands of this municipal government as you can guess this would be the renovation or new construction of a new high school I expect that the Board of Education will continue to make progress on this project and will provide plans for a renovation or or a new school to the public along with these plans must be a complete understanding of the tax effect for residents as this will ultimately be determined by the residents themselves through a referendum and they are entitled to all of the information before they are asked to vote so as you can plainly see the township Administration our Council and I are extremely proud of our professional employees it is a privilege to work with them as a team and on behalf of the residents of East Brunswick long gone are the days when the image of municipal government employees is like the one I opened with uh and uh it continues and continues to be the honor of a lifetime to serve as your mayor so God bless this Township our employees our troops and the United States of America thank [Applause] you Council you have before you resolution 2402 C clerk can you please announce an ordinance approving the fee schedule for the Department of recreation parks and Community Services we have a motion second is there any need for further discussion going to open this matter to the public is there anyone wishing to address the council president with regard to resolution 242 seeing none I'll close the public portion roll call please oh we don't need we don't need a roll call this one right we do roll councilman Bal yes councilman Wendell yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman ziki yes and council president McAvoy yes let's move on to our report section mayor con do you have any further matters you would like to address Township administrator Mr Chris gulo nothing this evening sir Township attorney Mr aoka nothing new to report Township Clerk Miss laer uh I briefly want to report on our upcoming fire District's election which will be held on Saturday February 17th between the hours of 2: p.m. and 900 p.m. voters will have the opportunity to vote for their District's budget as well as elect their Commissioners um last Wednesday February 7th was the commencement of mailin mailin ballots if you have received your mailin ballot for this coming election as a friendly reminder there are three ways to return your ballot you can submit it via mail through the US Postal Service you can drop it off to the board of election located at 26b Kennedy Boulevard or you can drop your ballot using our ballot Dropbox conveniently located within our Municipal complex by our municipal court and our police station parking lot also if you choose to not um if you're not registered to vote by mail you can also vote vote in person uh you would go to your District's poll and location if you are a resident in District One your polling location is the Civic Center Firehouse located at 310 ruse Lane if your residence is located within District 2 that address is William C peek Administrative building which is 216 Joseph Street if you're located within District 3 that location is the colonial Oaks Firehouse which is 361 Dunhams Corner Road and that is all I have to report thank you thank you clerk W council members any committee or board reports uh as a member of the planning board I did I believe no report no report no we're good it's okay um pleased to announce a new service coming to us from Walmart in which you will be able to order your groceries and they will be delivered to your car upon arrival via a text message um and so away we go on that one look for this service to be um completed by late Spring Township Clerk would you please announce our public comment statement the public Comon portion of for meeen is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments in accordance with njsa 10 col 4-2a and the East Brunswick rules of council the council asked the public to limit their comments to five minutes or less at the conclusion of the statements or questions from a member of the public the council president at his discretion may choose to respond not resp respond or ask the administration to respond see Mr kic in the back of the back of the room I I forgot once again in case of emergency we have two emergency exit doors and you can go to the right or the left thank you Mr kask for all you do for our community with regard to the public portion of our Township council meeting I will break down this portion of the meeting into two separate portions first I will entertain those individuals who would like to address a particular East Brunswick issue a consent agenda item or an item that affects the welfare of the individual or the welfare of East Brunswick and its entirety then I will allow for discussion related to the current Middle East crisis limiting that time to 20 minutes and all comments addressed to me as council president would anyone like to address the council president on East Bruns related issues sir and what we'll need from all of our speakers will be uh your name your address your name spelling of your name and address so that we can get back to you if need be president thank you Fred Hoover n Avon Court East BR h o v r just like the uh vacuum Michael moer 25 Cornell Drive MOS H R thank you thank you for time tonight uh Mike and I are running for re-election for fire district one um that'll be our campaign done we're done campaigning the main reason we want to talk tonight is to bring to the public eye um probably the lack of knowledge awareness of the three fire districts clerk already gave the information that's coming up Saturday um last couple years our budgets have been approved by a hair and I I I don't know what else to do we've sent Flyers we've knocked doors I'm at a loss to explain it this town has three fire districts and a outstanding group of folks that protect everybody 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year no matter what the weather what time of day volunteer firefighters which we are 22% more prone to cancer than the general public these men and women deserve the Township's resident support they deserve nothing less thank you thank you councilman w yeah I'd just like to you know thank Fred and and the rest of the the men and women who come out from the fire department having been a member of of the local volunteer fire department for a number of years um I understand what it is you ladies and gentlemen uh do every day and I have always been a supporter if I could come out and vote for you Fred and Mr moer in your District I would but I'm in District too but honestly I'd like to encourage everyone to get out to their polling place this week and support the candidates that are running who are who are the volunteers who are part of the fire service not people that are just trying to get their name out there so thank you all for what you do I appreciate everything you do for our town should it not be for you we'd be looking at budgets that were two or three times higher for paid fire persons um rather than the volunteers that you all are so thank you you all for your service anyone else wish to step forward and and speak to the chair good evening all my name is Steve Oster tag I'm running for district two commissioner I'm a resident of East Brunswick for 22 years um married to my wife Kathleen who sits on the commissioning on Aging uh for since 2023 I have a son who's heading to college and um in August uh currently uh I'm a retired New York firefighter uh I was also on to um the usort team uh for the city of Newark we we were also part of a strike team that supplemented task force one uh for the for the state of New Jersey so uh I volunteered before becoming a newerk firefighter um currently East brunic volunteer firefighter I did 26 years in Newark as a fire captain I I uh conducted uh numerous drills meetings um and uh I was in command of numerous uh incidents um thank you for your support I just wanted to introduce myself thank [Applause] you anyone else wish to come up to the microphone I don't I know I know most he is uh Bruce Smith 28 Shetland Road East Brunswick New Jersey B Ru c s SMI uh just to let you know about uh Fred Hoover Mike moer uh gentleman a served 50 years this year Fred Hoover that's running for commission he's on 50 years this year Mike moer Mike moer is on his 25th year I served 45 years with FR with Fred 25 Mike uh these guys are great guys doing a great job for the town and I as I spoke with the mayor earlier there's nothing like Hands-On especially in the fire business you need to know what you're doing when you're called you need to know what to do uh the gentleman the other gentleman that's running as a candidate okay has no firefighter experience at all I don't know why he's doing it the rumor that we hear it's it's for political reasons we're not into Political business we're in life and safety business politics should stay out of the fire serice totally it should not be involvement of fire service but like I said I'm just asking all our residents district one vote Hoover motion thank [Applause] you anyone else wish to address the council president Ashley voker 17 Hill Wood Road uh I'm a current member of Oldbridge volunteer of Fire District number one so today I stand before you with great enthusiasm to endorse two exceptional candidates for the position of fire commissioner Mike moer and Fred Hoover are two individuals that I have had the utmost privilege of being mentored by for the past four years within the fire department it is not every day that we have the privilege of choosing from a pool of candidates with a combined experience of 90 years in the fire service these two individuals epitomize immense opportunity for our community to ensure the safety and well-being of our firefighters and our community in times of Crisis or duress we look to leaders who possess the skills expertise and dedication necessary to take the Helm of the challenges we Face these two candidates exemplify all these qualities with Decades of service under their belts they bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the table their commitment to our community has been unwavering they have run into the buildings that everyone else was running out of they have saved lives and protected property their dedication to duty is evident in every action and decision that they make it is not just about the years that they've spent in service it's about the impact that they've had on our community they have worked relentlessly to implement strategies improve response times and enhanced fire prevention efforts their leadership has undoubtedly made not only us firefighters safer but our community safer as the SE selection of our next fire Commissioners is upon us let us not Overlook the significance of of their experience in a field where Split Second decisions can mean the difference between life and death we need leaders who have been tested by fire both literally and figuratively I urge you to do your due diligence When selecting your fire Commissioners and I urge you to join me in supporting two humble and outstanding candidates together they embody the vision dedication and the experience needed to lead our department to ensure firefighter safety and above all else our community safety thank you does anyone else wish to address the council president uh my name is fa Sarah 337 Danbury Lane could you spell your last name for us s e r a first name is e f thank you I wasn't going to come up here because I didn't have a speech prepared but seeing as my friends um took the time to come out and speak some good words about our two um Commissioners running for reelection I just wanted to emphasize on some of their points you don't hire an electrician to do plumbing work and what these guys bring forward to the table really means a lot to us and I want you guys to keep in mind that these guys aren't here on a political campaign or trying to gain experience for it these guys genuinely care about our fire department so I want you guys if you don't live in District One tell your friends that do that these are the guys that have our back so thank [Applause] you Council Mr Mayor Tom inran Deerfield Road East Brunswick on behalf of the fire department my father was a fire lieutenant in in New York and he developed neisma from it eventually died from it there's nothing that they would give for their lives to save somebody else's life an experience comes with everything possible you just can't say go in that building I've seen people in New York where 12 fem men died the building collapsed on them but you have to have the experience to tell everybody stay in stay out but it comes down to experience I have no experience as a fireman I have experience as electrician yes I I can't tell you how to run a fire department so like my heads off to these guys and they're very good people to know and that's my thing one other question I have it's just a local question about New Jersey licenses there's such thing now as a real license and a an ID license I went to I went I got my real ID you have to have it by May 25th of 25 and um I took my wife to get it down they turned it down because her name doesn't match her ma name so I took it down twice they still won't take the birth certificate the the only thing you got to do is get your marriage license which I lost for over the years CU I think in 2001 we had to apply for a real life again and um it comes down to what the woman if they're married you have to show proof that your maen name was this and your marriage name is this so and there was a thing over in East Brunswick at 721 cranber uh Cranberry Road I think it was they have a they have a what do you call it the a mobile one got T down twice but it's going to be a law to go to another state by plane to have the real ID by next year year in May so that's the only I got to say on that so if anybody could find out about it and do something about it I think it's ridiculous but because I went through it before and that's all I have to you you know me Mr I'll get back to you excuse me we will get back to you on that one okay it's a jersey thing it's actually 50 state thing I understanding I understand but it's you need a woman needs the marriage license if their name is different okay anyone else wish to address the council all right we're going to close that portion of the Public Public portion and move over to our middle I'm still labeling it our Middle East crisis and hopefully this will be the last evening that I will use that terminology in this sacred room or any anyone like to address the council president with regard to Middle East crisis Joshua Hess the rabbi at the Young Israel of East Brunswick 193 denim Corner Road my name is joshu hes Rabbi hes and I speaking on behalf of the Jewish community in East Brunswick the Jewish Community respects free speech for all and thanks the council for supporting the Democratic right of all citizens to express their opinion on October 6th there was a ceasefire between Israel and Kamas and Gaza on October 7th this all changed when Hamas attacked Israel massacred over three 1300 Israelis violently raped countless women carried out hundreds of executions beheadings and kidnappings of Israelis of all backgrounds religions and ages this must not be forgotten failing to recognize and remember this reality outright ignores how this conflict began and ignores accountability for hamas's actions widespread misrepresentations of how this war started Foster misinformation stoking and anti-israel and anti-semitic sentiment and threats and do nothing to solve the real problem this must not be overlooked it is a fact that Kamas attacked Israel entering civilian homes indeed since October 7 Israel is currently under attack from pro-iranian factions in Gaza the West Bank Lebanon Syria and Yemen with 250,000 displaced citizens forced to leave border towns in the South and the north this cannot be ignored dismissing proof as lies and propaganda despite hundreds of testimonies videos audio recordings and articles published by Major media Outlets with verified information is a denial effect go to Saturday october- 7.com to see for yourself be warned the contents are extremely graphic the truth can be difficult to handle because it May challenge beliefs perspectives or self-image the truth of this situation cannot be denied be assured that the Jewish community affirms and encourages peace-mind people of good faith and Good Will to affirm that the suffering of all innocent people including Palestinians at the hands of Kamas is very real and tragic and the concern for their well-being is unquestionable life is a gift that has been given to us all we can give ourselves the gift of Living Well Kamas must be held accountable for the current humanitarian crisis this war can end now if Kamas returns all the hostages and surrenders pressuring Israel to cease offensive military attacks and compromise its security and stating false accusations against it is sorely misdirected both fuel anti-israel sentiment aimed at Jews in this country and our local New Jersey communities creating a demoralizing and unsafe situation while failing to advance workable Solutions facts matter in Gaza Kamas elected by the people of Gaza is the authority in charge and responsible for the well-being of his citizens Kamas is blocking evacuation telling all civilians to return to their homes to be used as human Shields Kamas is killing their own people this is a fact go online to hear from Gins again this war can end now if Kamas returns all hostages and surrenders this would immediately solve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and free gazin from the murderous regime that has destroyed any hope for good and prosperous future to date Kamas rejected at least two ceasefire offers once again Kamas puts his own interest ahead of the people of Gaza where is the outrage and the protest given the facts the release of innocent hostages must be first in any list of requests from the US Administration the UN or other national International or local body this should be the defining assessment and demand of those concerned with truth justice and human rights War kills and armed civilians with a catastrophic effect on the health and well-being of all involved this war can end now if Kamas returns all hostages and surrenders thank [Applause] you anyone else wish to address the council president hi I'm Barbara Ellum eem I live at Ford dis spral Court thank you for allowing me to speak before the council there are people around the world who are implying that the onus of ceasefire of stopping the war in Gaza is on Israel I would challenge you to find a single example of a Nation being attacked during peace time that single-handedly decided to end hostilities to accept that its citizens were killed its territory invaded its infrastructure damaged and then went on to just accept this as The Way of the World the United States did not do this after Pearl Harbor neither neither did Russia in 1941 we did not do this after 911 nor did the Union when attacked at Fort Sumpter in 1861 the British did not do this with the Faulkland in 1982 nor did Ukraine when invaded by Russia in 2022 a quick perusal of military history for the past 3,000 years or so will find you hundreds of examples of the same Israel was brutally attacked on October 7th and its people were murdered raped and taken for Loot and that is why Israel can be expected to stop searching for its kidnapped citizens and residents in Gaza two of whom were rescued Only Yesterday by Israeli Special Forces Israel cannot be expected to forgive the coldblooded murder of 1200 of its people and the massive damage to dozens of its Israeli communities Israel cannot be expected to Simply stand down because doing so has proven that Hamas will continue to indiscriminately fire missiles at Israeli cities and towns seeking death and destruction in the Jewish State Hamas has stated this themselves no other country has ever been expected to do any of these ever the speakers tonight well normally and anywhere else around the excuse me around the world that expect or demand that Israel do so is for one reason only because Israel is the only Jewish state in the world and its blood is supposed to be cheaper than anyone else's that is not true not today not tomorrow not ever nothing said will affect the tragedy of this war it is a terrible terrible situation but I am a resident of East Brunswick and I am here to stand up for truth because I cannot stand to hear people expecting a tiny Nation to accept death and fear as part of its everyday life and that is what will happen if Israel ceases to destroy Hamas ter tamas Hamas infrastructure in Gaza and if the Hamas terrorists in Gaza are not eliminated it is not right we as Americans cannot tolerate the lies a ceasefire will not protect lives rather it will only enable Hamas to continue its murderous attacks against the people of Israel Israel did not start or ask for this war and it must continue to defend itself to achieve Victory rather than allowing a ceasefire and abandoning this necessary objective of eliminating Hamas and Gaza thank you for allowing me to speak speak the truth before you tonight we'll take one more speaker I see a hand good evening Martin Jane that's GS and George NE 39 Sullivan Way East Brunswick I wish to thank East Brunswick Council for allowing me to speak and point out truth and facts there there is no genocide committed by Israel in Gaza the term genocide has been used falsely at this podium in some speakers attacks on Israel genocide is defined by the convention on the prevention and Punishment of the crime of genocide as quote a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national ethnic racial or religious group in whole or in part end quote Israel has never planned or committed genocide the truth is that it is Hamas who calls for genocide in the Hamas Covenant it states and I quote the day of judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them then the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees and the rocks and trees will call out oh Muslim there is a Jew hiding behind me come and kill him end quote Hamas leaders have called for worldwide Jihad against the Jewish people the killing of people because they are Jews this is indeed a call for genocide against Jewish people it is entirely unlike the war against terrorism that Israel was drawn into when invading Hamas terrorists from GA Gaza barbarically murdered 1200 Israeli citizens and other residents in Israel on October 7th Colonel Richard Kemp commander of British forces in Afghanistan qu is quoted as saying after hamas's Savage Massacre and kidnapping of Israeli citizens the IDF took Extraordinary Measures as part of its defensive military action to give Gaza CI civilians advanced notice of advanced notice of targeted areas dropping millions of leaflets broadcasting radio messages sending texts and making tens of thousands of phone calls never in the history of warfare has an army phoned its enemy and told them where they are going to drop their bombs no army takes such risks in order to protect protect civilians as the Israeli Army does end quote Hamas senior leader Ismael hanaya commenting on the loss of civilian life in Gaza on October 26th said the blood of the blood of the women children and elderly we are the ones who need this blood so it awakens within us the Revolutionary Spirit these are the words of Hamas leadership proven to have in place their terrorism in infrastructure in hospitals in schools mosques in the home of Gaza residents Israel has taken care to protect Gaza civilians population as much as possible and has been documented to have the lowest rate of Civilian death in any Modern urban War this is anical to genocide in 1949 the population of Gaza of the Gaza Strip was estimated at 171,000 at the end of Egypt's administration of Gaza in 1967 population was 356 ,000 during is Israel's administration of the Gaza Strip from 1967 until they withdrew in 2005 gaza's population grew to 1.3 million gaza's population in 2023 was 2.1 million this is seconds okay this is almost a 59% growth in population since 1967 it is the very opposite of genocide and one of the things that these individuals that talk about genocide that is being killed uh committed by Israel they forget to mention all the other genocides that have happened whether it be Rwanda Bosnia East timour the Sunni Muslims thank you sir thank you I'm going to close the public portion and take a few minute recess allowing our firemen to return home to their loved ones if need be the young students who are here they can return to their their homes to finish up their homework assignments and our our Jewish Community as well can uh know that you're in good hands with us up here thank you and good evening let's move on to our consent agenda Township Clerk uh would you would you please read that no I'm going to go with the uh the following items are considered by B routine I'm sorry like to hear that resolution 24-25 through resolution D 2482 the following items are considered to be routine and non-controversial items by the township Council and will be enacted by one motion there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member so requests in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda to be discussed and voted on following the approval of the remaining items listed on the consent agenda is there anything that needs to be separated we have a motion for Resolutions 24 hyen 75 through 24 hyen 82 Some Mo second second roll call please councilman Bal yes councilman Wendell yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman ziki yes and council president mavy yes ordinance 2403 Township Clerk can you read an an ordinance provided for various General improvements in and by the township of East Brunswick County of middlex state of New Jersey appropriating $175,000 therefore we have a motion uh motion approved this is scheduled for hearing on February 26 I just want to make that uh right available to the public a second so moved Mr Chris gulo can you add any life to the clarification on this this very quickly as you said we don't talk about our it infrastructure Secrets uh but uh we need to do our network switch replacement program which we do you know every year we've replaced a segment um also in this uh ordinance is uh this year uh Windows 10 is no longer going to be supported by Microsoft I see some people in the ordiance that are shocked uh you we'll have to either upgrade to Windows 11 and if your computer does not support Windows 11 you'll have to buy a new one U so at this particular time we have computers that are in the 5 six seven years old those uh machines will be replaced uh with equipment that can run um Windows 11 uh so we'll be in compliance and we can continue to protect uh the Township's data resources thank you Mr you're welcome Lo councilman ball yes councilman Wendell yes councilwoman Winston yes councilwoman ziki yes and council president maoy yes for the good of the CL one I just like to give a shout out to the Bron of grow I've been there the past three days having food they have this tremendous cucumber Bretta which you have to go and try it is fantastic and uh you know never heard of cucumber Bretta before but sounds good it was it was really good so anybody wants to get out there and try it it seems as if um mayor Kona has become quite the Robert Frost of the New Jersey municipalities magazine this is the second uh time that that we have seen um the mayor's work and he has a comprehensive essay on the Physicians shortage and as everyone in attendance here knows and everyone who's watching at home knows that our mayor is a doctor and so coming from him he knows exactly what he's talking about um our police chief Frank lasaka announced that Lieutenant Charles bble recently graduated from the New Jersey State Association of chiefs of police command and Leadership Academy this Academy is an intensive 14 week program with a unique blend of theory and application candidates with the greatest leadership potential are selected for this highly competitive program from Municipal County state and federal agencies throughout the region congratulations to Lieutenant bble on the East Brunswick Police Department and motion to close can we get a signal from I for those who are want to say good night all in favor I good night everyone good night