I'd like to bring the meet Township committee meeting of the township of Hamilton to order Monday June 17 2024 could you please stand with me for the flag salute to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all adequate notice in this meeting has been provided person to the New Jersey open public meetings law by posting a notice of this meeting on the bulletin board in the municipal building and by publication in the Press of Atlantic City and Star Ledger on January 6 2024 Mr cheek here Mr laws Mr patali here Dr Witherspoon here mayor Shanker here can we have a moment of silence for PIV private reflection please thank you um additions and deletions of late agenda items to be considered for Action tonight we have one addition it's 7A under business registration for J mcdog training 1975 Mcall Avenue so moved second we have Motion in a second are there any questions or concerns hearing none all those in favor signify by saying I I all those opposed eyes have it early public comment on agenda items including items listed for public hearing we have no one signed up mayor okay discussions formal action may be taken a presentation by GPI Grant award to reconstruct The Trestle Bridge Okay believe this gentleman right here is that that presentation I'm Dave with GPI U so thank you for having us here tonight uh so we are presenting on the bike way maze Landing Bikeway greater egg egg harbor River Crossing it's a $1.5 million Grant received from the new New Jersey DOT for under the transportation alternative set aside program and then along with that is a design assistance uh support uh that is over and above the grant amount so the the project runs from Taylor Avenue to the east to Central Avenue to the West uh about 1,500 ft little over a quarter of a mile uh and then in there's a pedestrian bridge in the middle that's about 170 ft that's proposed uh not exactly in the same place where the Trestle is just to the South zooming in on that photo uh you all have the handouts on the next page uh zoom in on the uh the bridge see the abandoned Trestle at the top and then uh under that uh you can see the proposed new bridge the it will be a 12T wide Bridge uh and on uh there'll be a 12T wide path on either side there will be Street Furniture uh it's not shown here that will be included as part of the design next uh you'll see there's some uh for the bridge itself uh the section for the bridge is a prefabricated truss bridge is what's currently proposed and uh on the top left are a couple of Alternatives that are out there for the boardwalk uh it could be a Timber Boardwalk or a concrete Boardwalk on either side of the bridge so along with this project uh there are just wanted to point out there are quite a few uh agency required approvals or permits required not going going to run through all those but those are uh it's a considered navigable Waterway through part of that and uh so there's a number of of things we have to get get through on the approval side this is the overview of the project timeline so right now we are in the first part contract execution uh four to six months and then we move to what is called preliminary engineering uh we are projecting 15 months for preliminary engineering and the the point of preliminary engineering really is to get the environmental document approved approval since this is a Fally funded Transportation Alternatives Grant we got to go through the Neer process National environment Environmental Policy Act uh and we have to have a little public involvement uh piece involved with during the preliminary engineering phase once we get that NEPA document then we move to final design we're projecting another 15 months on the schedule for final design and that's where we finalize the plans and ensure uh that we have clearance on all the right of way and util ities and all the permits in hand before we can move to construction so at this point we are in the contract execution phase as I said um we are finishing uh developing uh the scope and fee proposal for preliminary engineering and we also do a preliminary estimate for the final design at that time um but the funds uh will only be authorized for preliminary engineer preliminary engineering by New Jersey DOT at the begin uh as we start and then when we get to the end of preliminary engineering we go for a supplemental authorization for final design and that is it any questions I have a question um this is excellent I I really like this the design and it's going to make the township look very very well I do know we have the 1.5 million construction Grant and Brett I know that you've done a lot lot of work to make up the additional monies I just wanted to um you to just talk about that or you can talk about it Mr whoever wants to talk about it that we're going to have to go along with this project to complete it and I also wanted to know did the township have any um part in this is there any monies that we have to um contribute so right now GPI is putting the spec together for the bridge design and it has to get kicked over to dot who's going to have to approve whatever the design is and part of that design is a cost proposal so right now we have a million half dollars in grant funding Dave's firm's going to give the cost proposal to do when they're reviewing the specs and Dot is going to have to approve that cost proposal and uh at that time they're going to have to look at supplemental funding for the project and make you know we've been told that the dot typically will if they buy into the project pay for the uh you know if it if we get a million5 dollar in Grant funds and the project comes in at $3 million do has to agree upfront that they're okay with that project and the supplemental grant funding Award right so I just wanted to be kind of clear on that because we knew that there was going to be additional funding needed for it and I knew that you were working very hard to make sure that we secured uh that additional $1.5 million the project is going to cost about 3 million we're not sure what the Project's going to cost yet Dave may be able to speak that's right so you know as we get started into the preliminary engineering phase a big part of that is really scoping this out in detail and as we get into the permits and mitigation requirements and all the the things you have to do um no doubt the construction estimate will more than likely go up uh but New Jersey DOT is in the past has been very flexible on on that funding um because once they start in on these projects um and fun design they want to see them through and they know the towns don't have a lot of capital to work with yeah so the grant the Grant application was to rev was to rehabilitate The Trestle and you can see by Dave's presentation that we're actually not we're actually going to build around the existing pilings of The Trestle probably because of historic I would assume yeah so that's just another you know cost factor that we didn't figure in when we applied for the grant so that'll be part of the presentation to do um so what I'm being told Township's contribution in this is going to be paying for the permitting all those agencies that we have to get permit permitting from that's where our cost is going to come in and that's and if there's any right a way to be acquired right away in permitting if if there's any property that has to be acquired I don't know if there's any that has to be acquired this point uh so we own we own the the uh Reliance or the masing firehouse side of the project and the county and the uh Taylor Avenue side County gave us a verbal on um basically kicking their property into the into the project if if that's something that we need to get this thing built um our cost won't start coming through until probably sometime next year the permitting um yeah the uh initial permitting um I think at this point I think the permitting is going to be close to I think $37,000 or something for permitting the initial permitting will be for uh some borings um related to the pilings and that may be next year and then 2026 will be probably the remainder of the sub for the remainder of the permitting needs okay that's fine and we've already budgeted for that yeah we we have money we had some money set aside in um in legal for this for permitting it doesn't sound like we're going to need it for this year so that money would go into Surplus and we would just budget again for 25 and 26 we can split the cost out over the course of the project depending on how long this takes we're not sure exactly how long these permits are going to take to acquire uh just based on what we went through with the dam right it take years could take a year could take years we don't we don't know okay thank you so the $1.5 million we have have and I know it sounds like a lot of money is that enough money to cover the engineering and all the laundry list of agencies we got to get through so the 1.5 is for construction okay so design assistance is separate so the GPI fee is under the design assistance program so that is separate and apart from the 1.5 okay now as we go through preliminary engineering as as Brett mentioned we're going to find that the the cost estimate will change and likely go up but Dot's been you know pretty solid about funding you know cost increases on the construction side yeah just seeing the preliminaries I can see where the cost has already exceeded the 1.5 with the right with the go around right all right anybody else have any questions Rich I'm fine all right thank you so much appreciate you coming in sounds like we're on track and uh look forward to hearing a update soon all right thank you very much thank you thanks all right so we have a resolution adopting procedures for the administrative and inspection of the federal AIDS Highway projects which be under excuse me 31a 3a1 so this was required by the um this is the federal piece that we have to adopt and this is so we can basically take we can accept any Federal grant so this wouldn't just apply to this project it would apply to any future grants that we would get the federal government good to have what's your pleasure committee on motion we have a motion we have a second a second there any questions or comments uh Mr attorney when to do roll call on us yes Rita Mr cheek yes to accept Mr patali yes Dr Witherspoon yes mayor Shanker yes all yes and carried perfect thank you thank you let's see B discussion on proposed land clearing ordinance amendments Mr solicitor could you uh bring us up to speed on this please yes thank you Mr Mayor in front of committee is revised 3B which is a draft of the ordinance uh this will look familiar to committee because we adopted the tree ordinance back at the end of April that was required by d uh so about 90% of this has already been adopted by committee and placed uh in the prior ordinance but we added with the help of uh the the business administrator as well as Mali given a portion regarding uh clear cutting and the issue uh with clear cutting so it goes above and beyond the removal and replacement trees and adopts a clear cutting uh procedure a permit and an additional penalty if clear cutting continues to happen uh so there are minor changes that we propose to committee to be able to adopt or introduce it at the next uh committee meeting okay okay anyone have any questions no I just this is something that I that I brought up with Brett after um that lot was cleared in the industrial park without any permits and then also uh a small area was cleared on Bears Head Road behind the bus uh company and uh you know you come to find out that there's really the ordinances that we had really didn't have any teeth and it kind of seems like some other uh entities aren't very Swift in trying to make things right so it's frustrating when um when people come in and they clear a whole lot without getting any of the work done that they were supposed to get done and now we're stuck with empty lots with no trees on them and don't get me wrong I'm the kind of person that says you should be able to do what you want to do with your property but you also have to go through the process and and take care of business before you do that and um I think this is something that's really important to hopefully curb these people from doing what they're doing and uh make them see that they're they're going to be paying a penalty from us along with whatever whatever other entities there are can the fines be higher than this well you'll see there's there's two separate fines the first fine that we added in in section six the first one is the clear cutting fine but we're putting that in addition to subsection B which is the current fine for the removal of each tree and the replacement policies so the first fine is I believe is at the maximum but I can see if we can lift it higher but it is much higher than the tree removal penalty okay and they are in addition so it's not one or the other it's structured for okay I just feel like this is a uh a new thing that developers are doing uh rather to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission and there is you know we are in Pineland so there is a lot of things that we must or a developer must do be prior to clearing land and this is a way of them getting around it s to speak so anything we can do to make it a little more painful I'm all for it listen I'm not against people building businesses and clearing lots and all that stuff but you know anybody that wants to see what happened go through the industrial park it was it happened in a day how many acres was that Brett five I think five six five yeah that was amazing they went through with a bunch of machines before we even knew what was happening by lunchtime yeah I got I got two phone calls and uh I was busy at work so I didn't call Brett right away and I kind of kicked myself in the butt for that but uh slacker yeah I know um but then when I I said something to Brett Brett s somebody out there and it's like it's there there's yeah they're done we caught them right-handed yeah we cut them yeah there's a couple Twigs sticking up in a pile of trees in a pile of trees and yeah and it's all just sitting there so here we are that's what we're trying to stop from happening so when you see something say something please because sometimes we don't know so will this be on the agenda next month or next meeting Excuse me yes sir so we don't we don't need to move it forward we're just going to no if committee wants to take a look over the draft there's any suggestions any proposed uh adjustments let me know and then we can introduce it okay very good great thank you for getting us at this point appreciate it all right very good uh C discussion reestablishment of the lenpy dam subcommittee um Brett you want to so so South State actually started mobilizing out on the spillway today um given the complexity of the project and the length of the project um I I think it makes sense to reestablish the subcommittee to so we can be invol more involved with the decision- making up there um you know when when things happen when when there's a change we we we need more saying what happens before the change actually happen so um it's a good idea to reestablish this subcommittee even if it's just for the duration of the project we can revisit it after Project's over but um I Ken look into the complexities of doing that and I guess he can that thank you I had the opportunity to speak to County council at the end of last week and again uh this morning regarding putting the addendum in place not changing last inter agency that was agreement that was put through uh a year or two back but just adding the addendum to reestablish that Dam committee um speaking with uh them today I don't believe there's going to be any issues so we're going to start drafting that if that's what committee would like us to do okay so uh just so everybody understands a couple years ago we had a problem and uh they dissolved the committee for one reason or another um we're in a situation now where the dam is moving forward and we are on the hook for half of whatever the expenses could be upwards of $10 million um I uh reached out to uh exe County Executive Dennis levenson he was gracious enough to sit down and have a conversation and after that ation we kind of saw eye to eye I thought you know and I explained to him that it's important for our town to have input on this there's been um couple decisions made that affect us financially so I think that you know it be in our best interest to uh to sit down back at the table and make sure that we are represented um in a proper manner which is conducive to both the county and the township so he agreed and this is where we are now I think uh as our solicitor just said we're just really working on Final language and we should have this back together within I would say a month at the most yeah that should be sufficient okay correct very good so Comm so we just need a a go ahead with this or it's already in process we don't yes just a go ahead if it's committee's pleasure then I can start uh discussing out County Council to be able to draft that put before you to get approved all right is everybody on board with this I think it's a great idea thank you okay yeah Rich yep okay very good we'll move forward then thank you uh no public hearings no introductions of ordinances um Brett another fantastic agenda Awards businesses contract and change orders a resolution awarding a supplemental number 2 bid 20244 to all final fencing in Hamilton New Jersey the amount of $1,725 for Underhill Park improvements so I guess my first question Bob is this was not included in the other Underhill improvements it was bid already it's what we separated it was separated that's all got you so we separated some of it just so everybody knows because of the situation with the football fields whether the football fields going to remain there or not remain there so this is like an alter alternate sort of yeah this is for fencing on fields B and C yeah yep okay all right right so it's not the whole package it's part of the correct for B andc right okay very good Bob this is the same company that has the uh yes to the work yes and they are going to be on site tomorrow MH that's my Engineers report too very good excellent progress um so I need a motion to move forward thank you second have a motion in second are there any questions concerns Rita could we do a roll call votee on this please Mr cheek yes Mr patali yes Dr Witherspoon yes mayor Shanker yes all yes and carry excellent consent agenda we have a we have a through I does anyone have anything they want to pull out no but there was a revision that was on our desk for seven yes uh e 7 e yes I just wanted to make sure that that was it's a resolution of all the liquor licenses that have to be renewed right now Rita yeah they get renewed the change was a few people were able to proceed um they got things straightened out with the state so that's why your draft had some cross outs that we were able to resolve we we're down to just two now okay very good we'll do those at a later time or they okay thank you all right very good I'll move a through I we have a motion do we have a second second I just okay any questions comments just on I go ahead the this is a Cooperative B and award where we're going for the electricity [Applause] [Music] and I was just I saw that has the bid been accepted or we're going out for a bid because it looked like we were with Camden but I wasn't sure Camden Camden put this out the bid we opted in we we we provide yes we provided all of our addresses and meter locations they included that in the bid package when they put it out um this is just opting into the program and the pricing that was bid for the program we don't save a ton of money with it but we do save it's not it's not a lot but we do save money is that the purpose of us Coop I mean going in with the bid basically we just enjoy bulk pricing bulk pricing yeah all right okay uh we have a motion a second are there um all those in favor signify by saying I I all those opposed eyes have it Personnel a resolution appointing Nicholas Amato Chief Financial Officer to fill the unexpired term of Cynthia Lindsay effective 617 through 1231 24 at an $115,000 annual with a $5,000 increase added upon receipt of qualified purchasing agent certification contingent upon successful completion of a background check and employment physical drug screening so moved motion second second all those uh we do a roll call anybody have any questions by the way that's Nicholas over there guy that kind of looks like Aquaman but we're not allowed to talk about that I say that out loud I'm sorry Rita can we get a roll call vote Please Mr CH yes Mr Batali yes Dr Witherspoon yes mayor Shanker yes all yes and Carri L River welcome my all kidding aside uh we're very excited to have Nick here that we we he did interviewed very well we're very impressed um he he's been doing this for quite some time and uh we look forward to working with you um and good luck anything we can do to help you let us know resolution appointing Christina litzky as Deputy Chief Financial Officer at $80,000 annually with an additional $5,000 annually maintaining the developer developer redeveloper escrow accounts and 10,000 added to all annual B base salary upon the receipt of cmfo certification within two years effective June 17 2024 so move second uh we have a motion in second any questions reic we do a roll call vote Mr Chek yes Mr patali yes Dr Witherspoon yes mayor Shanker yes oh yes and Carrie congratulate Christina welld deserved she's a very hard worker and and it's it's comeing due time resolution appointing William Johnson is Municipal housing liaison effective 2017 2024 at $112,000 annually funded by the Housing Trust second there a motion in second any questions or comments hearing none read a roll call vote Please Mr cheek yes Mr patali yes Dr Wier spoon yes mayor Shanker yep oh yes and Carrie okay D resolution to hire Rodney Brooks a full-time regular full-time truck driver labor a base salary of $41,600 plus annual compensation of $22,000 for possessing and maintaining a Class A cd CDL $500 tanker endorsement for the team Local 3 331 agreement effective 61924 contingent upon completion of a background check and employment physical drug screening so move second we have a motion we have a second are there any questions or comments Rita can we have a roll call vote Please Mr Chek yes Mr patali yes Witherspoon yes mayor Shanker yes all yes and carry e resolution appointing Bonnie cherry on an as needed hourly basis to assist financial department with payroll at $75 per hour not to exceed 8 hours every two weeks not to exceed 60 days not to exceed 60 days sorry um you have a motion so move second we have a motion in a second are there questions or comments Rita Mr Chief yes Mr yes Dr Witherspoon yes mayor Shanker yes all yes and carrye joh Sherry if if you don't know has been helping us through the transition with our CFO and and other things and and she's going to hang around uh for a little bit longer uh until Nick gets up to speed any assistance he needs on in the future is is uh going to be um she's going to be available for that F motion accepting resignation of Terry Elliot from the Senor senior citizens advisory committee effective 61724 motion second we have motion a second are there any questions hearing none I don't think I need a roll call for this do I all those in favor by signify by saying I all right all those opposed eyes have it i' would like to thank Terry for a service to the senior citizens advisory committee it's a a very good committee that does a lot of good things and it's very hard to keep those uh splots those slots full so anybody interested let us know approvals minute regular minutes meetings June 3rd 2024 so moved second a motion and second any questions or concerns all those in favor signify by saying I I all those opposed the eyes having B Minutes special executive session meaning minutes June 3rd 2024 so moved second we have motion is second there any questions or concerns read can we get a roll call vote Please Mr CH yes Mr patali yes Dr Witherspoon yes mayor Shanker yes all yes and car c bill Bill list total $868,000 are outgoing Deputy CFO the best of Lu and that's all I have okay Mr solicitor nothing report thank you mayor another excellent report Mr administrator or Mr engineer um just quick for leapy uh final inspections will be 628 next Friday wow um so it's it's wrapping up excellent um we hope to have it uh close to budget I believe it it will be okay okay very good yep Township committee members Dr Witherspoon yes I would like to report on Wednesday we will be having well that week there will be a Jun teth celebration aish 3rd annual Jun teth Freedom celebration and it's going to be from 3: to 8: the program will begin at 5:00 p.m. it's going to be H held at the Gill Park 40 faragate Avenue in Maz Landing uh right next to the library they're going to have food games gift baskets music and dancers um some of the vendors and special appearances will be the FBI Four Seasons sweet and yummy Jam has it aar's Boutique not your average vendor AT&T Atlantic hair sassy C Miracles miraculous iced tea what's good with Isaiah shael of follow South Jersey Hy a Hanmer Care League of of American B bicyclist the Buffalo Soldiers the sword church we do it all n do slair hairdresser platter King the New Jersey state troopers the Prosecutors office and the Coalition of safe communities uh it's going to um again the program will begin at 5:00 uh p.m. they're starting at 3: but the actual ceremony will be at 5:00 all also and they're doing a great job this is going to be a wonderful program and I'm excited for them to have this on Wednesday also I on June the 26 from 9:30 to 12:30 p.m. the elections officials meeting Regional Conference will be at the Maz land and Library 40 faragate Avenue in Maz land in New Jersey and I have been asked to be one of the speakers on that date so I just wanted to report to the committee that I would be going there on that day that is my report thank you former mayor Coral patali um we just want to uh say thank to Mr K he left uh happy to see things moving forward with the trussle um it's it really went through some some tough times and Brett did a lot of work to get that thing moving but uh it's it's we're getting closer um it's going to take time but we're on the right track so really happy to see that um congratulations to our new CFO good to have you on board Rob good luck um hope everything goes well with you and thank you for everything you've done for us and congratulations to everybody else especially uh Christine ly um she she really is a hard worker and I'm I'm glad to see us moving somebody up from in and and seeing them uh um get promoted and and move up it's it's nice to see uh really that's all I have um hope everybody had a nice Father's Day I know I did with the exception of going all the way down to Baltimore to watch the Phillies lose on Saturday but uh uh last year I went all the way to Cleveland to watch the Phillies lose so maybe I should stop going so we'll see what happens but uh but had a really really good time uh it was really great being over there in Baltimore and seeing Camden Yards so um that's really what's that celebration in the park room 29n that oh yeah um Hometown celebration 29th right 29th Chief how come it doesn't say on the chief that he's given a a report but I thought we were going to do that oh he he should do that I told you right after I say adjourned he can say whatever he wants I thought we were clear on this last meeting know uh Hometown celebrations on the 29th from 10: till 4: I believe it is uh War Memorial Park and um the chief will be there yeah the chief will be there mhm uh I'll be there I don't know who else will be there but come on down and um I tried I tried to bail out earlier but you you you suck me in for some more so but uh Reagan I'll talk to you later and Maddie I miss you I love you and I hope to see you soon very good committee man cheek a week or so ago I had the privilege to go see one of our local residents Gwen Gad receive her igle badge it's the first time I ever been to something like that and it was really quite an accomplishment it's amazing isn't it and this is troop 452 Boy Scout Troop 452 out of ma Landing they started their troop in 2019 in less than five years through Co they have had four girls become Eagle Scouts and from what I understand that's unbelievable for any troop to get to get a F four Eagle Scouts especially in less than 5 years and it was just a great accomplishment and to see those young women it's an allom troop and the way they acted and How They Carried themselves that's our future and when we can see our young people our future looking so good and promising it's very enjoyable and then also with the hometown celebration but Carl already touched on it and Welcome to our new CF thank you thank you Rob and that's all I have thank you um so all I have is I'll be joining uh Dr Witherspoon at the election officials conference uh they asked me to speak I don't know why but they did um so we'll be doing that on the 26th um I also want to say thank you to our Deputy CFO you've done a great job for us Bob and and appreciate everything and wish you good luck and your new Venture um and once again uh Welcome to our new CFO we are uh we're very lucky that we were able to fill those shoes um as quickly as we we did um and also June 19th like uh Dr Witherspoon said gasal Park uh June 19th for the the celebration out there I'm looking forward to it um other than that that's really all I have I will piggyback a little bit I I get the honor of going to some of these Eagle Scout present ations and they are they take you back a little bit cuz you don't really know what to expect and these young men and women who get to that level are really something else they're really really Stellar young people who um kind of know where their future is going at such a young age and it's impressive so uh I have nothing else I will open it up to public comment anybody in the public like to speak just I want to tell you guys we graduated our students last week on Wednesday if you missed it you the excitement can be found on the the dragon Network which you can find on YouTube along with all their other broadcasts they do and one thing that we did receive award on it was from ESPN on the dragon Network's ability to report on Sports so they were recognized by ESPN on their one of the reports they did I I apologize I don't know which one it was but we did receive an award from ESPN which I thought was quite interesting and it's our first year with the dragon network uh the program is held up by a new teacher his name is Kowalski and he's doing an awesome job so if you ever get a chance to take a look at it it actually is quite impressive the graphics and everything that goes on there um the other thing is I want to say thank you to U Mr Chek and Mr laws he was they both were able to help us with the getting endorsement from um Senator um paulino's office on our expansion expon so we're working to expand the Shaner High School to add additional six classrooms uh which will help us with our Universal number number we keep driving towards increasing and uh get it to the point where we don't have a lottery system to get into our school district so that'll that'll help us quite a bit and um I think that's it so thanks thank you anyone else from the public motion to close we have a motion to close we have second second all those in favor signify by saying I I all those opposed motion for adj German is an order so moved second we have Motion in second all those in favor signify by saying I I all those opposed the eyes have it good night everyone