mayor would you like to proceed yes please good evening this is the meeting of the burough Highlands mayor and Council regular meeting on Wednesday June 5th 20124 the notice requirements provided for in the public open public meetings act have been satisfied notice of this meeting was properly given by transmission to the asay park press and the two VI times and by posting at the burough of Pence municipal building and filing with the burough CLK all on January 1st 2024 items listed in the agenda are subject to change please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all I will now do roll call council member santes Council M here Council melck here council president meski here mayor bran here first we have oath of office for C a good boy treat better for our officer Mr here I hope fa and parti without fear favor or profession discharge myties as police officer for the B High I will support the Constitution of the United States the state of New Jersey and against all enemies forign or domestic true fath loyalty ands to the same I further swear and affirm that I will protect and serve citizens of tence assist my hand and enforcing the law to search for lost children to find drugs to track suspects and to be a good Ambassador for the support I understand the badge I wear is symbolic of public Faith trust charging me to perform my duties and personally without favor or ill will and without regard to race religion politicals or aspirations so [Music] such a good boy that's a good picture doesn't like that good boy y well we're going to scan it so that's going to be on the website how do you know that's not a forgery absolutely so obviously is a no addition for our department is 2 years old he's a German Shepherd we got him from a penel in Connecticut he came right from Europe bre C and col have been in class together for the last 17 weeks col is what's called a new purpose uh pay so he can do multi disciplines he can track he can find L articles and he also is used for patol work and also forent workers any else causing a know [Music] next we have the proclamation for the family uh this is a proclamation uh recognizing the Gunther family's 100th anniversity as a summer residents of Highlands uh that's 1924 through 2024 uh whereas 2024 marks the 100th anniversary that Bruno and Mary Gunther with their three children first came to Highlands as summer residents from their home in Manhattan New York in 20 in 1924 uh they first stayed at the Blair House and later at a bungalow in the Grove on Portland Road whereas they bought their first house in Highlands at 57 South Bay Avenue in 1938 3 days after the great hurricane of 1938 whereas they then bought their now current home a kit house Bungalow located at for marine place in September of 1943 whereas they have there whereas they and their two sons Arthur and Walter rebuilt The Bungalow after major damages from the 1944 hurricane Donna and numerous other storms whereas the next gener the next Gunther generation Walt Kurt Eric and Janet rebuilt and raised the Bungalow after sup Sandy and whereas five generations of the gun family their extended family and friends have enjoyed quality time together in Highlands every summer since 1924 now therefore be it resolved in recognition of their history and Highlands that the mayor and Council of the burrow Highlands do hereby recognize the 100th anniversary of the Gunther family as summer residents and wish them many more memorable Summers to come filled with family traditions laughter joy and love to the gunthers next we have approval of minutes May 14 2024 special meeting minutes I'll offer I'll second council member CH yes Council Mel yes council president sesi yes mayor bran yes motion carries to approve May 14 2024 special meeting minutes next we have May 15 2024 meeting minutes I'll offer them second council member yes CC yes counc peski yes mayor bran yes motion carries to approve May 15 2024 meeting minutes next we have May 15 2024 executive session minutes I'll offer those I'll second councilman chac yes Council mik yes Council peski yes mayor bran yes motion carries to approve May 15 2024 executive session minutes next we have public hearing on proposed ordinance 0248 amending chapter 16 heal section 16-3 retail food handling establishment code section 163.5 GRE trp I'll open uh before we open up for public comment is there any comment from the council on this ordinance okay now open it up for public comment this is a revised grease trap ordinance no one has any comments okay then I will close public portion public comment that is and I will offer this ordinance I'll second council member CH yes C Mel yes council president jeski yes mayor bran yes motion carries 02 2408 passed on second and final reading next we have 249 amending chapter 25 storm water management and control uh any comment from the council regarding this latest D update for our storm water okay opening up to the public is there any public comment regarding this update to our storm water ordinance okay seeing none we close public hearing and I will offer this one as well second council member CH yes Council M yes council president sheski yes mayor bran yes motion carries 02 2409 passed on second final reading next we have introduction of proposed ordinance 02410 authorizing the sale of FL 101 lot 3.02 in the B Highlands County of MMO state of New Jersey at auction pursuing to njsa 40a col 12-1 ex uh this is little strip of land that's at the end of um Matthew Street um it's a non-buildable lot I believe it's about maybe 10 ft wide um and we squared off these uh this section of uh the property to um to take away encumbrances uh Andy do you have anything else that you'd like to add there for being offered among the contiguous property owners for bidding uh and potential sale okay it's sorry this is public it's it's burland um and with that um do I have an offer I'll offer it okay I'll second it counc m yes Council melck yes council president chesy yes mayor bruan yes motion carries to pass 02410 on first reading by the public hearing to be held on June 19th 2024 next we have 02 2411 Bond ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements to the acquisition of various Capital Equipment appropriating $2 Milli 640,000 therefore in authorizing the issuance of 2,543 677 bonds and notes to finance a portion of the cost thereof authorized in and by the bur of Highlands in the county of MTH New Jersey um and this one is for a bond ordinance for various equipment and uh vehicles that we are replacing because they are well past their useful life and with that I will um I will offer this as well I'll second CC Mar yes just before uh voting just in addition to the vehicles significant improvements the public access to various parts of the town too so making this town much more walkable so yes Council presi yes mayor bran yes motion carries to pass 0241 on first reading with the public hearing to be held on June 19 2024 next we have resolutions r24 1119 approving renewal of liquid licenses for the 2024 2025 term all I'll second council member CL yes council member vck yes council president sheski yes mayor bran yes motion carries to adopt resolutions R1 2419 next we have consent agenda mayor would you like me to read the resolutions by title yes please R 2410 increasing contract amount for professional planning services in connection with the res revisions of the business district Redevelopment plan r4121 authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for Professional Services in connection with the 2025 open space Grant application for the Frank Hall Park R 24122 requesting approval of insertion of $40,000 to the 2024 budget Revenue available from the American Rescue plan firefighter Grant r4123 authorizing letter of support to C streak LL for zero emission Vari Grant application R 24124 authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for Professional Services in connection with the 2025 NJ doot State Grant State 8 Grant r24 1225 authorizing payment of bills R 24226 property tax cancellation Aller second council member to yes council member melik just uh again great to see the open space uh furthering for Frank Hall Park just hoping to see that uh progress as we go through the rest of the year and then also good luck to C streak on that zero emission fa that'll be awesome so FR was a it says ger it's Frank it's okay yes okay and the hydro foil is um that se streak is applying for this grant is a um it's very cool they have them over in San Francisco go um and they're great to see in action so they'll be faster because they almost they rise out of the water um so there won't be as much drag um yes Council presidentes Council pres yes mayor bran yes motion carries to adopt resolutions r24 1220 through r24 1226 we have mayor's report okay so this is the May report and uh first off in the Highlands Elementary School news uh the new roof will be installed over the summer break and the uh pto's gift auction that was on May 3rd ended up netting a little bit over $133,000 for the PTO so well done for them um in Henry Hudson News um I very large Capital project has uh been approved that will benefit all three schools meaning Highlands Atlantic Highlands and Henry Hudson Regional uh and that is all um brick work Windows um that type of uh just upkeep to the schools and that's a a little bit over a million4 uh for our Emergency Services uh calls answered in May uh the first aid Squad had 31 fire Department 20 and the police a whopping 851 code enforcement there were 14 summons three warnings 27 reports 23 inspections 14 permits and 18 Oprah requests for the building department there were 83 inspections of which uh 66 passed 18 failed two were not ready and 29 new permits were issued for the DPW um they installed all of the banners that we had for the first aid Squad sponsored Hometown Heroes program along Bay Avenue I hope that you've noticed them if you're not uh the weather's been kind of nice so if you'd like to take a stroll up and down Bay Avenue and have a look at some of our Hometown Heroes Service mbers uh from the past uh it's a really great program thank you for State Squad uh burough events just be sure to check on the recreation page and also at Highlands nj.com for what events are uh are in the hopper for June we're going to see the farmers market soon and um there's also the taste of Highlands the uh fluke tournament so there's a whole bunch of things going on in town now that it's finally summer um everyone's favorite project the sanitary sewer projects um just in case anyone has been um sleeping for a couple of years this is the replacement of the sanitary sewer lines that were originally installed in 1925 uh the remaining work on the county portions of Bay Avenue have stalled due to um water main portable water man conflicts uh and the sanitary sewer manholes um back in 1925 somebody thought it was a really great idea to put these um the water line embedded into the wall of the uh the manholes for you know to keep it upright so that it wouldn't sag into the Sandy water um but uh that can't happen so and we can't get at them because we try to go around them gingerly but the pipes are so old that they just break so we have to work out a uh a work around with New Jersey American water so that they can uh re reroute those water mains so that they don't conflict with the sanitary sewer uh manholes so that's probably anything that's probably going to take a while to get that fixed and to get it even sorted out uh from an engineering perspective um what we have planned for June is uh whatever the remaining punchless items are having them clean up around town um and also to uh get started with the sidewalk replacement and Paving of central beach and ocean um as well as the burrow portions of Bay Avenue um water witch Avenue is also going to be milled and paved uh the county roads which Encompass lynon water witch and uh the majority of Bay Avenue that is a county road so it will be paved by the county and their last uh promise to us is that that would be done in July they haven't given us a date that they just gave us the month um moving on to Veterans Park upgrades uh we are waiting for deliveries of uh the picnic tables the solar lighting and upgrade of the basketball courts and a uh Stone Checker chest everything's on back order so we're just waiting for all of these things to come in so that we could finish that out and close out the project um speaking of closed out projects uh the Bayside Drive in Marie street that project was finished on uh May 10th and we haven't done our close out yet but we know that it is going to come in under budget which is always good news um and also uh the Army Corps of Engineers project happened we had a meeting in May May 14th to be uh exact over at the high school to he their flood wall and see the presentation for their flood wall plan uh the most I would say the worst news about this is that it it is only 30% complete so after four years they're only at 30% of of getting their plan completed uh let alone and if this will ever happen but um I if you go on to our website you'll find my report here and then you can see where uh all of their documents are and all of their materials from that meeting um moving on to projects planned for 2024 and that is um the other side of marine place to do the raised platform so it matches what we did um on the North side uh and we're using about $167,000 that we received from a county grant for that project um what we just approved uh in that Bond ordinance was a section of uh for Shore Drive uh industri and safety improvements so that is the installation of sidewalks from huy park down to Willow Street because it's sidewalks are sporadic throughout that entire area and you know people that walk to the ferry it's very dangerous cuz half the time the walking industry so we're going to make that a lot safer um Jones Creek we are still waiting to hear back from D our friends at D um because they have to approve us to have it dredged once they finally give us an approval we'll get that dredging work uh underway and the county is going to do that work um Overlook Park we have environmental completed we also have two grants that we got to help us make that into a really nice passive Park if you're not familiar with Overlook it is um that grassy area that is uh pretty much diagonally across from burough Hall on 36 that used to be the steese ice cream parlor many many years ago it's just been laying there and not in use we wanted to make it a nice place to reflect look at the uh get rid of a bunch of scrub trees weed trees and be able to look at the ocean the bay Sandy Hook and Manhattan of course um updating Frank Hall Park um we are looking to uh get a Lo uh local Recreation Grant the of one of the resolutions that we approved tonight uh to get that funded and that is just a reboot of that Park to make it more user friendly it's the park that is closest to the senior center um and just uh it it h it needs a little bit of love it hasn't gotten love in a long time so we're looking to update that Park as well um and then I'll jump down to the CRS update that's the community rating system which would uh once we enter into the program uh will be able to give us discounts on flood insurance not just for the burrow but for all of the residents that are in the flood zone um it's a tiered system so you have to accumulate a certain amount of points and the higher your points are the more of the percentage that you can get off of your um insurance I think the lowest rate is 5% and the highest rate is 45% of of a decrease so we've been uh the commun the coordinator has been working very hard to uh find as many points as possible so that we can we can all start saving in the process and this reduction comes from the national flood insurance program and that is my report and we'll have public portion of s as we finish no worries um yes um I'd just like to talk about uh the boat races that we had a few few weeks ago and to uh go on the record to thank uh the police department the first aid Squad uh and all uh the fire department everyone that was involved Highland's Business Partnership uh it was a big success a lot of businesses really loved it they they did well and we managed uh with the uh boat parade and everything else we also were blessed with beautiful weather on the day of the races as well so uh the feedback seems to be very positive and we're hoping to establish a a date for next May to do it all over again so um thanks for everybody that watched and thanks for everybody that helped and uh we'll go on from there and that's that's all I have to say okay either of you have anything next meeting next meeting okay I have nothing further to add nothing further to add okay so if anyone doesn't do you have anything that you'd like to add [Music] or okay excellent and for those unaware what we're doing on Portland Road is uh providing for better uh storm drainage because what happens is it the RO the road is very Steep and when it rains especially those spring um rains that are very very I don't know I I put torrential I guess is the word to use um because there's nothing to stop it the water just Cascades straight down like a river and it's not it jumps over the storm DRS that happen lower um that happen low you know down lower so there's no inlets Upland and uh so we're looking to put in some uh Road curb and also some Basin so that we can collect more water up land so it's not a raging river by the time it gets to halfway down um I think that's it I guess uh now would be the time for public portion public portion individuals wishing to address the council shall be recognized by the presiding officer and shall give the name address and the group of any they represent although the council encourages public participation it reserves the right through its presiding officer to terminate remarks to and or by any indiv individual not in keeping with the conduct of a proper and efficient meeting if any individual refuses to conduct themselves in a proper manner they will be removed from the meeting the council will not during the public portion of this meeting discuss matters involving Employments appointments termination of employment negotiations terms and conditions of employment evaluation of the performance performance of promotion or adment of any specific or perspective or current employee there's a 3 minute time limit for your comments if you would like to speak if you could just come up and give us your name and address for the record and speak into the microphone it's right over there my name is Joanne Hughes I'm at 26 barbery I just have some questions um maybe you guys can give us some information on quite a few businesses that have closed that they've lost in the last year um there's a few with them I mean Cafe L CES but my one concern they have new bakery which was fantastic and they're gone um I just want to know what specifically with that and that building next door to it that ground I think it's been uh I don't think it's been occupi in Sandy I'm wondering is there anything going on to those buildings that the public uh can know about um they going to be knocked down or I'm just curious what's going on I believe you're talking about the M&R building on the corner of Bay Avenue and Spring Street okay that building has been abandoned for quite a few years and it uh gets it it has been sold over the years to different owners um the current owner does not have a plan for that building yet um so that's all I could tell you is that he doesn't have a plan for that building no no no no no no none of that at all are the are we did the area of Redevelopment with no condemnation which means no eminent domain please we want to work with building owners to beautify their property like what happened with saltwater social and with uh Pharmacy and you know other places that are getting renovated or fixed up and uh made into beautiful spaces um I think 132 Bay is very near getting its Co that's uh at the corner next to spiritual Beauty the corner property that looks beautiful um so we're getting there little by little it's hard because the DP a couple of years ago changed their um change the way in which you can remodel in the flood zone um so there's only two things that you can do if you if you get over a certain amount of substantially improving your property and that means that you would either have to raise it lift it or you would have to dry flood proof it so every one of those Bay Avenue properties have to make that decision as to which way they're going to go and of course either one of those things are not inexpensive right right I that okay I'm sure that Z commercial mixed use Y and the bus development yes I'm just concerned I mean some people have been saying what's trying to get in there they're talking about opening up a methodone Clinic I said I haven't heard anything but I have noticed that they didn't renew the lease for Bay Bakery so I thought maybe something is going on and I that's not the I the owner is the same the owner of the building has been the same owner since the kovix owned it 15 20 years ago so I don't I know that that has not changed hands and they're different owners right two Bay bak and that no Bay Avenue oh those are two separate owners but the owner of Bay Avenue Bakery is the same owner that it has been since Bay Avenue Bakery came to town asked just about that insurance thing yes does that apply to regular homeowners insurance or only flood these points no only only flood insurance and the points are do we get the points or is it no it's something that it's something that the township is doing and we're paying this coordinator because it's it's a tremendous amount of work and um we are going to be doing isn't it the 27th the 27th there's going to be a meeting here uh for um uh businesses and homeowners and it's going to explain the CRS process and explain the building process as well because now that we finally have our building department back uh people are coming in and and getting a little bit of shell shock because they don't understand the laws that are in place from d and FEMA okay thank you you're very welcome Joseph Joseph to Valley Avenue um a quick question to uh Mr Raptor um has Tim Thomas from has anyone been in touch with you from free make make it that easier that those things no contact no only youever been out there I request time to to necessarily be I know that process is probably start waiting for start but two there two problems short term problem where every time R comes down my property and soil one hand um the tigation of that problem has been successful there's there's silk p and and hand there and a lot of that's now deter so whatever was doing it's uh it's it's obviously we won't find out until the next comes but that's never so there a short term obviously we also know there a long this and at some point infor I hope will take place take Andress this Mr have you been involved in any this and that I've had a conversation with their attorney uh today just to see what was happening because I know they had the last planning board meeting uh and there's conditions that they have to address including the Burrows right away and uh open the street and behind the property um they've provided an initial uh you know gave me a quick summary of an email and the plans uh that we'll be taking a look at to comply with those conditions but beyond those initial conversations there hasn't been too much going on because we we still need to review everything right right I there was one last last month be another one the next week but that will not be addressing if I understand correctly July 11th is their next they were as to come after July yes okay so least you're in conversation with that yes hopefully hopefully something something gets resolve or gets moving to compel the Builder to repair D Stu that's take a [Music] while it's all concern been almost 2 and Years thank you very much thank you Mr Doran does anyone else have any questions or comments go hi my name is and you spoke a little bit about the seall project and the plan that they presented was only 30% of the plan how is the council your going to prepare that resolution that will be on Val what what is your process is it going to be just yes or no all all questions are yes or no no I me in terms of like we're going to do it or we're not going um okay the question all Municipal questions are are by the they are nonbinding municipal questions so it's not like like what we voted on uh with the school board because that came from the state and the state said yes you could vote on this and then we voted to merge the schools um any Municipal questions are when when we here want to hear from all of you and the best way to do that is at The Ballot Box because we want to know where the thought process is we wanted to know where the gaps are where people don't like people that this was going to fix all of our internal uh flooding and it's not and people need to know that um they The Core is coming back I want to say in September to do a refresher of whatever they've completed but if it took them four years to get 30% complete I'm not really holding out a lot of hope that it's going to be 50% Complete because it just doesn't seem to make sense that they're taking so long that said the government has funded the hours and the you know for all of these Engineers to sit around here and make that plan 100% so even if we say no they can still finish their plan we we have no say over them finishing the plan or not um your yes or no vote is going to be for us so that when we have to make the decision to accept or deny the plan that we know that we've got what the people want so that's that's [Music] exactly right shut it down because basically we can all the majority could say yes or no you could [Music] exactly exactly well I mean there and there's people have of two schools have thought of it some people said well we elected you to make this decision and but you elected us to make 2 million or or12 million decisions not $160 million decisions that's going to change the entire face of the town if you want that your town to be like if the majority wants our town to be changed to that drastic of a situation where that does not exist in any other town in this country I that can't be a 5 person decision that's got to be a 4,000 person decision you got it any other questions s okay then I'm going to move to adjourn I'll second close public portion no close public portion yes and by now I will make a a motion to adjourn second and all favors thank you meeting adjourned at 7:42 thank you all for coming out I appreciate it thank you