e e e e e e e e e believe e e e e e [Music] e all right s ready you tell me whenever you're ready we go take your time I got rid of those first three pages so I don't screw [Music] that let's go we're just going to start with the salute okay every everybody we all set to go baseball Boys Baseball boys you ready to go I coach those guys so I'm I'm being extra nice right now I'm a third base coach so I yell louder all right okay so good evening everybody and welcome to the township committee meeting of July 16 2024 for those of you joining now we just have to come out of an executive session and uh we are reopening the public meeting uh all please rise and uh uh join me in a salute to the flag pledge flag of the United States of America the rep for stands one nation under God indiv justice for all all right so first may I have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of June 11 2024 some move mayor second yep okay roll call please committee Mo hand yes committee M Leon yes committee woman Pay Here Deputy Mayor chck RI yes mayor bring yes may have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of June 11th 2024 you just asked me have it in twice good we're done all right good I read that point all right so reports from committee liaison receipt of reports so first we're going to go with committee woman hand thank you mayor all right um first of all last Friday I had the distinct pleasure of attending the SE senior exercise class at the YMCA I'm serious they were going at it it was like we were there for an hour we did cardio we did weights we did balance exercises it was really impressive and it was um I it's funny I saw the instructor here later in the day and it was her fifth class of the day all of these classes were full and it was just it was awesome like I think it's a wonderful offering from the town and I think the participation from our seniors was really exciting and I think um again if you know anything about balance if you're taking care of people older older in um life it is uh super important so well well done Health Department okay Health Department there will be a dermatologist here to host a free skin cancer clinic that is coming up on Thursday August 15th from 10 to 5 here at the municipal center you do need to make an appointment um so please don't drop in you can call ahead and make an appointment and the number should be up there it is up there all right so um please call and do that family fund day mark your calendar um Family Fund day uh well I'm sorry we already attended this one this was was fabulous um so Saturday June 29th we had the family fund day and again the weather we we did the best we could uh with getting the fireworks off and getting everyone home safely so thanks for um all of the cooperation and uh we were very excited to be there um again several of the departments were there in Force and and having fun giveaways so great event so thank you to all involved um we are also poised I know this is not news to anybody for the second warmest summer on record I think today um might have gotten up to 101 so please know the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke stay cool stay dry stay hydrated and stay informed all right from the wreck department um parks and wreck is introducing a camp care aooa that's not easy to say um and wacky and wild and wacky Wednesdays and Feelgood Fridays so each Wednesday there's going to be a different fun theme while Fridays are going to focus on random acts of kindness so um they are hoping to create a positive ripple effect through the community which is exciting um and on the 28th of June the rec department did have two therapy dogs come to Camp um they got a lot of love a lot of pets and it was great for the uh campers also got to read to the dogs um so very very fun for everyone involved all right get the calendar back out um August 2nd we have a lot going on this should all be at an van we have the fishing derby the picnic in the park and the summer movie Under the Stars so no matter what your area of Interest age um athletic ability there's something for you here so please um come out uh the registration you'll see in the E news tomorrow and last but not least for social services so we would like to thank Lynn Barry from Barry's blossoms located here in Hillsboro they donated flower assortments to the Social Services um which allowed the clients to pick out colorful bouquets to bring the bouquets home so really really nice effort there um and Social Services is excited to announce that 2024 marks over 10 years of collaboration with the food pantry and the high school Community work program so each week students help the um Social Services prepare for the clients and they're doing all different types of tasks they want to congratulate the 20 24 graduates and they look forward to the continued partnership all right and Social Services again wants to um you know thank the community for your generous donations um again you'll see the list of items that we need in the e- news tomorrow you can drop them off anytime and last but not least they have begun the annual backpack with school snack and school supply Drive I know it's Midsummer and we especially the kids you don't want to think about school but but um if you're purchasing stuff for your family grab a couple extra items and please um consider dropping it off at Social Services thanks mayor thank you committee woman committee man the pon thank you mayor I got another long list I'm going to sit first when you have one meeting a month there's lots of stuff to read Sor right so buckle up so the uh I had the pleasure of last Wednesday uh attending uh the HT Hills Ro Township Police Department annual summertime cone action connection event at the Ice House ice house has been a gracious partner with the PD I think they gave out a record number of coupons for free ice cream this year um all the kids got to sit there and jump on the motorcycles and got in the cars and of course every once in a while the sir would go off and scare everybody but uh it was a great event and a and a a great turnout so I would I would encourage any of these events that the police do uh either coffee with a cop or these things bring your kids come out and uh get to meet our officers they great people their family people mothers and fathers just like we are and love to talk to you about what's important to you uh in the township so thank you for everybody that attended um unfortunately there are some things that we need to make you aware of uh to be to protect yourself the suer County prosecutor's office is warning residents to be aware of the following scams if you receive a distraint warrant notice in the mail saying that a you owe a balance due to unpaid taxes to the state of New Jersey do not call the number listed on the notice again if you get a a distraint warrant notice from the state New Jersey for unpaid taxes do not call the number on the notice instead call your county tax department to verify if you have any financial obligation sumers County does not have a tax Processing Unit a tax assessment security unit nor a Tax Group seizure unit as stated on many's fraudulent notices there's also been a recent increase in sers County identity theft in which scammers pose as jury duty managers asking jur asking jurors for personal information and informing the victims that they have missed their jury duty obligation and are being fined or threatened with arrest if you receive a call from a person identify themselves as a jury duty manager please note the following that new Jersey Judiciary does not contact by phone or email or by sending representatives to the respective homes the New Jersey Judiciary does not make follow-up calls or send emails to jurors Judiciary will never ask for your personal information or payments for fines for not attending jury duty over the phone or via email so in in in essence if you feel it doesn't seem right it probably isn't and don't get give it to them get their information tell them you're calling back and then contact our PD or the county or somebody to verify their information Hillsboro hosted a very successful mobile MVC unit event last week appointments once again were sold out so back by po man we will be hosting another event on August 7th I still might have a chance to get my license plates back I keep missing that's building quiet over there uh appointments are now available online online through this easyto use New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission mobile unit appointment scheduling Tool The Economic and Business Development Office great place to be we are looking for an administrative assistant in The Economic and Business Development Department the role supports the day-to-day administrative duties of the of the department does community outreach and coordinates events the administrative assistant inter interacts with the Hillsboro business Community Township departments and committees and Sumer County business partners so if you're looking for an opportunity you like talking to people and dealing with businesses and and and doing Outreach uh like our great Samantha did right before she moved on would please uh make it a uh an application the HBA summer networking social was held on June 27th at the Landing the soldout event was a great night of network in forming valuable connections thank you to Deputy Mayor John chiarelli and myself the Economic and Business Development commission Hillsboro Township staff and all the businesses who took time to come out your presence made the event a success and it was actually a nice evening we were outside at the patio at the landing and uh I didn't get the memo everyone showed up in casual clo and the deputy May and I show up in jackets but you know next time we can um the next business soci will be be our annual Awards dinner held on October 17th at Royce Brook Golf Club we are still accepting nominations for local local businesses to win this is your chance to shine and Spotlight on your favorite local businesses of 2024 stay up to date on HBA events and sign up for their E News registration is now open for our 7th annual restaurant week it will be held from September 24th through September 29th and you'll get to say that a lot mayor coming months uh when you do your videos participation is free and it is a great opportunity to promote the food establishments restaurants can create a special for the week unveil a new dish highlight an existing menu item or any any way of promoting their offerings to Foodies from hillsbor and beyond for more information and to register visit the Hillsboro Township website and the last thing I got going on here uh a little bit personal for myself and now the deputy mayor of the rotary Fair save the dates the annual rotary fair and business expo will once again transer Hillsboro prominade into a classic Carnival with colors uh colorful Midway amusement rides games of chance fireworks food vendors and exposition of local businesses the Rory Fair will be open 5 days beginning Tuesday August 13th Fair hours are from 6:00 to 10: p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday uh fireworks are usually Friday night uh they are sponsored Again by petrock Bar and Grill and petrocks liquor uh with a rain date of this that Saturday afterwards um so again it is August 13th to the uh 6 16th um and come and support the rotary it's a great event and all the money that we raise 80% of it comes right back to the community to families and charities in need so that's all I got mayor sir thank you committee woman pay thank you mayor uh more police news Hillsboro Township welcomed three new police officers there were vacancies within the police department after a thorough search and interview process the top candidates were hired to fill those vac icies joined by their families the three new police officers were sworn in on June 11th officer Ryan Dean officer Anthony Deo and officer David falby we are pleased to announce the well-deserved promotions also of four Hillsboro veteran officers Lieutenant Scott McCarthy was promoted to Captain Sergeant Chris anglehart in the back was promoted to lieutenant corporal Chris Pac was promoted to Sergeant and Corporal Rich tenner was promoted to Sergeant Sergeant sorry congratulations to everybody the Hillsboro Police Department is hosting the Township's second annual uh National Night Out on August 6th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Mountain View Park National Night Out is a national initiative with municipalities from the US and Canada participating it's free and open to all attendees will witness live displays by police and emergency services including K9 motorcycle and Fire Company demonstrations attendees can also participate in kickball with the cops and a dunk tank will uh while while taking home prizes and souvenirs vendors interested in participating in the National Night Out should contact Sergeant geraldi at Gerald uh C hillsbor pd.org once again Hillsboro residents are reminded not to leave your pets and children in cars unattended this is especially important during days with extreme heat like today if you come across a pet or a person that is stuck in a hot car please call the police immediately if you cannot find the owner for the Municipal Court the update is the um Judiciary has several online tools that allow Court users to view Municipal Court cases conveniently and often manage to resolve them a full list of these tools and how to access them will be made available on the Hillsboro Township website beginning tomorrow for the veteran Community we recently held Hillsboro Township's second quarterly informational session for veterans the focus uh was VA processes and mental health I thinkk those who could 10 for their support and I'm glad that these sessions are proving helpful this past session on June uh 15th we had a great conversation with our very own Hillsboro resident Marco Laguna Marco works for Dava which is the Department of military and Veteran Affairs here at the state of New Jersey the next two information sessions will be held on September 14th and December 14th the December 14th session will be a fair setting with vendors sharing products and information of interest to Veterans so if you are a vendor that supports veterans or if you're a veteran-owned vendor or or know of one please ask them to reach out to me to secure a table free of charge uh finally the hillsbor township is hosting the annual Purple Heart ceremony on August 7th that'll be right here at 10:00 a.m. on August 7th at our garden of Honor uh weather permitting and that's everything mayor good Deputy Mayor chiarelli thank you mayor um so from the building department the construction Department uh has openings for a plumbing inspector an electrical inspector and a multi-licensed fire and electrical inspector these roles would perform fi field inspections for New Jersey UCC Code Compliance um so we we've we have several openings in our building department um if your a second note from the building department if your air conditioning unit stops working and needs to be replaced bed in an emergency as I'm sure it's been happening in these past couple of weeks um is a requirement to notify the building department before starting the work once the department has received notification the work can begin uh the permit application that has to go with that work needs to be submitted by the licensed contractor within 72 hours of the initial notification and this procedure applies to any like for like replacement of HVAC so hopefully nobody's dealing with that problem but uh there's a requirement for uh licensed contractors and permits associated with that um the planning and zoning department uh the planning and zoning department adopted the climate change Hazard related vulnerability assessment in December which was the first part of the master planning process and since then the master plan subcommittee has been meeting to further update the master plan and where the focus has been on developing the vision and goals and updating various master plan elements with mainly with uh inhouse with with Township committee departments uh but a vital component of the Master Plan update is participation and feedback from you the public and to gather input and include residents in the planning process we are proud to announce engage Hillsboro engage Hillsboro is a public participation platform uh through Community engagement software developer public input this has been used by numerous other towns uh to for this specific purpose um as well as other purposes but really the master plan drives it uh it'll be a One-Stop shopping for all master plan updates upcoming events and meetings initiatives and opportunities for the public to provide input uh an official launch will be coming soon so you know just stay tuned for that it it should be a pretty slick software uh it does a lot of things it it transcribes it it interprets different languages so it's it's it's pretty sck and it it encourages engagement um Public Works uh Public Works will be repairing several drainage culs located on Montgomery Road Willow Road and L Hill Road in the upcoming weeks advanced notice will be given to the public regarding any potential minor minor detours and each project will last between one and three days this these FEMA FEMA funded projects will help uh us maintain the structural Integrity of the affected areas so that the drainage operates properly uh for storm water all right on last Friday I had the pleasure of attending the ribbon cutting for starlow Salon along with uh mayor uh leani committee woman hand and uh commit Le committe man leani no well so it's confusion it was mayor bring yes uh because committee man leani was not there to get his hair done um but committee woman hand was um and along with the business development commission to celebrate the grand opening of starlow salon's second location here in Hillsboro Magna the owner has been serving our community for 25 years and operates two other successful salons in neighboring towns uh she even closed her locations at the other other other locations so that her employees could join in the celebration I heard a rumor she was going to be here I don't know if she is I don't see her um but two locations in Hills Bor is pretty good um they offer a wide range of beauty services for women men and children including haircuts coloring waxing facials and makeup uh be sure to visit starlow salon at 630e 206 building 3 unit 115 in the Hillsboro V Village Center uh to experience their exceptional Services firsthand and we extend extend our best wishes for continued success at the new location and lastly uh a message from the fire district uh last week I attended the Fire District Board of Directors meetings uh their meetings Tuesday nights the same as ours so I don't often get get a chance to uh to to to stop in and see them uh and they one of the items that they discussed that we could help with is is their need for volunteers uh if if you ever dreamed of being a firefighter but never thought you could you're in luck uh right now the local fire departments need your help if you're 16 or older please reach out to a local fire company at the following locations and times that are shown up on the board uh we have fire company 1 in flagtown Fire Company 2 right on 206 by the uh uh the bypass and Fire Company 3 on on Woods Road um Bill Woodruff is in charge of this and His email is not up there and we oh yes it is B Woodruff htfd do us so reach out to him and he can arrange he prefers to arrange people to come and visit he says you get a better feel for what they're doing you come to the fire department while they're open on on the days listed so take this step if you're interested and become a volunteer for the fire district and that's all mayor okay thank you everybody all right so um I just make a few comments and um then we'll get down to the proclamations but before I get to my specific comments um you know we we our nation went through a significant event just a few days ago with the assassination attempt on a presidential candidate and as a Township committee as a full five group of people on the township committee um we made a statement that um that I'm going to read out to you in case you didn't see it on social media receive it on email or whatever made you get it so this is our Township committee statement on the attempted assassination of former of former president Donald Trump Saturday our nation was shaken by the news of an alarming event the shooting of former former president Donald Trump our thoughts and prayers are with all the innocent attendees who lost their lives and with those who were injured it is a moment that calls for our unity and strength as a community we acknowledge the remarkable bravery and dedication of our nation's First Responders their Swift and decisive actions were crucial in protecting lives and ensuring the safety of everyone present we owe them a profound debt of gratitude for their courage and professionalism in such a dire situation we concur with President Biden and others world leaders that violence and hatred have no place in our society it is our responsibility to ensure that love and compassion Prevail and we are committed to upholding these values in our community we urge all Hillsboro residents to maintain order and upold the values that Define us our true character is revealed in times of Crisis let us show the world that we are a community built on respect understanding and peace and that we stand together in the face of adversity I thought you'd all appreciate hearing that that we came together as a group to to make sure that we made a formal statement um from our perspective and um aligned as a team to make sure that we made that statement because nobody running for president should ever have to fear for their life okay now going to uh transition into this next a few items here on a much uh lighter level here so um so at a high level I wanted to show the group here too this is something that I most check in with either every other month or every other meeting and since we only have one meeting this month I want to make sure the the residents are are are um oriented to what we focus on on a regular basis as a Township committee we're focused on fiscal responsibility Public Safety infrastructure open space and new business ratables these are the the five areas that we focus on on a regular basis to ensure our Township runs and a very well oiled way very well so I wanted to start off with that but leave that on that slide please um last committee meeting we we voted on our budget for 2024 and since that uh meeting I received numerous phone calls with residents um confused and concerned with some of the comments that were made at the meeting and I wanted to um just let everybody know that I we'll be releasing a video tomorrow uh with regards to just a general education on what bonding is longterm we have our CFO on the front here bonding is a way that our Township um is able to pay for larger scale projects without um making significant uh uh implications on the taxpayer in the moment and helps protect the town and um a little primer for uh that video just to share a little bit what was accomplished from around the 2017 2018 time frame to 2022 if you don't mind going to the next slide some of the bonding efforts from our Township we've preserved over 800 acres of land approximately and we protected residents and taxpayer burdens from multiple items it's very important that people understand that Hillsboro Township like other towns in central New Jersey were targets for massive massive development one of which was a 1 billion doll nuclear power plant in the mid what around 2017 2018 time frame massive warehouse distribution centers in that same area the mindale property area um 2,000 high density residential homes right where my kids and all the boys here that are here for the baseball where they play baseball so if it wasn't for those purchases we wouldn't have baseball fields with the county there would be residential homes and our schools would be completely inundated with with even more children than what we have and we have a couple high school students here know how pretty crowded is Right 400 affordable housing units above the state mandate so it's I see the reaction here right so there's a lot going on there's a lot of people there so we have to make sure we mitigate that so bonding allowed us to do that and in tomorrow's video that I hope you take the time to watch it's longer than normal it's about 10 minutes it allows you to see a little bit of the historical context as to how we got to where we are so we understand why the decisions were made even before I was on the township committee I think everybody has a right to know so if you mind go into the next slide uh let's stick with the bait we're going to talk about the baseball guys in a second I won't be labored too much but only thing I will say is I know we got some really good basketball players here some like awesome awesome scores and you're going to hear about them in a moment but these little guys scored 14 runs a game and won the district championship in in in this District these little dudes are good like these are good little guys I mean they were good and they were they were crazy on the base paths we'll talk about that and the coaches will talk about that so we can go to the next slide but that's a little primer for those guys so Project Graduation so Project Graduation is something that probably you gentlemen right some you had to go through right so Project Graduation is a volunteer Committee of parents and Community Partners who come together each year to create fun safe drug and alcohol free graduation night celebration for our seniors of the community uh of the community of hillsbor so they not need to suffer a tragedy on one of the most important and dangerous nights of the year for our young people what happens is they went to mount to iron Peak and they have a good time they play sports they hang out with their friends but they're out on the street drinking doing anything they shouldn't be doing so it gives them a place to go and have a good night and I think that's wonderful uh all I believe all the township committee we were all there all five of us were there um we cannot we cannot hope to protect them every night of the year but we can do our best to ensure that no Hillsboro High School graduating class is affected or remembered by a tragedy and I have some of those from my previous years as well too so it's very sad when that happens amazing night uh it was an amazing night so 429 children attended or or or young adults attended which is just under three quarters of the entire class which is great that's a good number here's a look at the Fun Some of the fun stuff that they did um and when the gentlemen come up if they want to talk about some of the fun things there were Sports there there were rock climb everything you could do with iron Peak they had a really nice time Project Graduation we like to extend their thanks to the chaperon the iron Peak oh look at that look at that yeah I know I used to have triceps uh chaperon iron Peak Staff office uh officer Chris who who stuck it out until 2 a.m. to make sure our students were safe and having fun we do have the best darn Police Department on the planet that's why we fully funded them this year 1,00% we do that every year but this year we took extra effort and sit down with the chief to make sure they have what they need and they were there as always protecting our children so thank you for doing that um businesses were there neighbors parents Partners who stepped up donate contribute and support in this huge undertaking uh there's a planning board a Planning Group an event committee for tyly uh striving to create an absolutely over-the-top night of celebration for a graduating class if you ever want to get involved and helped out the kids um slide which is the name of the group has a QR code you can scan it there um and contact info we will share this information the ews on our website if you'd like to take another take another look at that and help out um I also had the opportunity to one of the summer camps which I think I don't know yeah yeah yeah so that one of the that's the which summer camp was that so that was one of the that was the summer summer camp uh with regards to the township I've been going to the Middle School summer camp last week with the board of education so this was a great group it's a day camp uh you know you guys know Joey you know Joey joseppi right we know Joey real well Joey was there and all of his other buddies were there and um had a great opportunity to talk to the children they asked me some great questions about being the mayor but they also asked me what favorite color was favorite kind of pizza it was that kind of day so it was it was a nice time it's just another great thing that the township offers those are important questions those are I know and the red white and blues the answer is my favorite color it's very simple very very simple so uh Hillsboro Township received a grant uh a a a a recreation Grant um for local Recreation Improvement grant for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs this war will improve the quality of life for 43,372 Pion if you don't know where that is there was the original Police Department hillsbor not far from here the YMCA there's a really cool Pavilion that you could use for free there's they're putting up a new charcoal pit where you could do a family uh some some fun family time there as well and I actually did a video last week there took a ride around one of the ATVs with John crosson runs our parks to show you the about mile and a half worth of walking paths and where our uh track stars in Hillsboro Township do their training so that's a great opportunity there all right so uh is this New Jersey best the next one correct make sure we're on we got the right one there yep new J best so Hillsboro Township New Jersey New Jersey best has selected our Township as a finalist for destination of the Year we're at top five finalist which is pretty cool in the State uh Duke Farms the sourlands family fund day the rotary Fair flounder Brewery and other holiday festivities are just a few of the reasons why Hillsboro Township made into New Jersey's top five destinations of the year um I had the opportunity to partake in an interview with with their um with a few of their members in the uh uh our Township administrator who's who's on vacation and um they were just very much impressed with with Hillsboro Township and what we have and the opportunities we have for the long term so it's just great to be recognized from a third party all right trail maps and Township calendar this is a f one so there's a brand new uh uh Park map so the the team did a great job of building up park maps where you can get these little maps and see where you are and different Parks we have just about 20 Parks now in Hillsboro Township there's a ton of them really cool place to play boys I'll get there don't worry I can see them starting to lose the baseball team I'm getting there for you but um it maint it maintains these Parks um so in addition to new Trail Max located Parks you can also find maps on our website and a pocket and and a and a pocket guide um let's see uh our Township planner as well too we have our 2025 color printed calendar that will be mailed to every resident in Hillsboro OR residents as always the Township calendar will feature photos taken by our residents so if you take a great photo of the beautiful beautiful grounds please send it to us uh our challenge this year is to uh capture the unique attributes of our Parks so if you can go to a park and find something really neat to take a picture of please do it um take a please see the Link in tomorrow's E news for information on how to submit um and just two more items here and then we're we're going to get down to these proclamations gentlemen and and yes so all the little boys there yep um so last month uh on June 16th uh we didn't have the opportunity because of uh the meeting time frame because we have one month the meeting um it was the uh the month for the Muslim Community we just wanted to recognize uh uh that holiday it's a very very important holiday for that Community we just wanted to recognize that and um just just just say happy holidays to them I know it's a little bit late but that's the only opportunity we had we put it out on social media we sent it out on email and all the other other features as well too so staying connected last thing as always you can stay connected with all the events and more via the Wednesday E news and Thursday's experience Hillsboro bulleon be sure to follow and like the official Hillsboro Township Facebook page Twitter and Instagram tune in to Hillsboro YouTube channel and sign up for Hillsboro alerts for traffic and emergency notifications I'm going to take a drink of some water and I'm going to come down and we're get some proclamations done how about that all [Music] right so when these guys Mo the back who is the sh they always put up these guys I don't get that they get all their own music when they walk up all right all right cool all right let me see I'm not that tall here we go all right let do all right Jaden Jaden green everybody round round of applause for Jaden over here there you go all right here you go Jaden thank you here you go all right all right let's get to you first I'm sorry bud all right this guy can shoot all right so we go watch the games he can play I I know you you beat him by 100 points I know just chill we'll get to you all right here we go Jaden green at Hillsboro High School senior Varsity Boys Basketball team member has the honor of being named the first team all Skyland conference and the first team all division for basketball big round of applause that's [Applause] awesome now baseball team listen to this how right the Hillsboro High School Varsity Boys Basketball team was the 2022 20323 Division champion all right that's right yep Jaden is the student council treasurer at John's Hopkins cty scholar uh and the Hillsboro High School of V of Varsity Boys Basketball team captain he volunteers for the somerset Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity you're a good man now therefore be Proclaim that we the mayor and Hillsboro Township committee further commend Jaden green for being named to the first team for both all Skyland conference and all Division and we wish him all the luck and the best of luck in his future endeavors congratulations want say something now he's going to learn how to public speak here we go go for it get in there no I wasn't I wasn't ready for all that but um thank you as just thank you um it's it's been fun love playing with these guys um yeah it's been uh fun last few years but yeah I a few words that's it that's it that's it let's take a picture let's take a picture let's take a [Music] picture we'll get you guys all together at the [Applause] [Music] end all right Zion Harrison here we go let's do it God I feel like a next to you guys here we go all right Zion Harrison sorry that's it's inappropriate I'm sorry it's inappropriate Zion Harrison a Hillsboro High School senior has the honor of being named to the first team all Skyland conference and coaches Player of the Year 2022 23 and 24 the Hillsboro High School Varsity Boys Basketball team was the was the was The Division champion we just said that already big round of applause for that ver good job man first team that's awesome Zion has played on the Hillsboro High School boys of varsity basketball team since his freshman year and was a Hillsboro High School voice varsity basketball team captain and 21 through 23 and then 23 and 24 he plays on the varsity football team as well he's an active member and volunteers at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in New Brunswick you're a good man good stuff now therefore be Proclaim that we the mayor and the Hillsboro Township committee further commend Zion Harrison for being named to the first team all Skyland conference and coaches Player of the Year 22 and 20 2023 and 24 and wish him the best of luck in all of his future endeavors congratulations uh I just want to say thank you to the mayor like everybody who really believed in the team you know I I really have fun playing through the past years um it's it's a surreal experience really playing with the guys and like just not playing no more so I'm just really proud of them and my team so thank you good [Music] St bring up [Applause] get Philip philli you next right there we go got it now who' you have 100 points more then you were barging there earlier who was it both of them okay gotcha I thought he was the high score and he's like no no no I beat him by 100s so I'm like okay gotcha so Philip unik the Hillsboro High School senior and Varsity Boys Basketball team member has the honor of being named to the first team all Skyland conference and the second Team all area for basketball that are good what are they going to do without you guys the Hillsboro High School boys bask varsity basketball team again was a 2022 and 23 division Champions Philip led the team in points rebounds and blocks he has volunteered at the Saint Santa Claus coost the church Costa Church did I say that correctly all right good probably you don't even know incredible you don't even know High School guys are great I love the oh know there we go now therefore be Proclaim that we the mayor and the Hillsboro Township committee further commend Philip yank for being named to the first team all Skyland conference and the second Team all area and we wished him all the luck in his future endeavors [Applause] congratulations um I didn't come here prepared to say much but but I just want to say thank you to my mom for allowing me to make all these accomplishments that the mayor just listed and thanks everybody for coming [Applause] out and then you guys want to come do a picture together as a crew I know you have any telephone books no are you kidding me not in the middle are you kidding me they can hold me across no absolutely not [Applause] you okay now we have a lot of eight-year-olds here I I know for what though and a six seven-year-old now right all right so how about the Hillsboro U District 10 Champion baseball team comes on up come on come on come on hold on hold on I brought my jersey all right all right I'm the third base coach so I got to put my jersey on with everybody see if I can get it on over my shirt let's get a look funny on paper you guys you guys spread out this way guys all right I'm going to read this out for you guys all right let's see let's see let's see Malloy so I'm at a home yeah you can stand next to me where's BR Malloy I've been coaching BR Malloy since he was two and a half so I'm going to ask him to hold this look get back with your buddies all right you're going to hold it all right you get the special what AM you got the special thing here we go all right so I'll stand over here so you can see all these little guys and the coaches I'll I'll have them name off Everybody in a moment so the 2024 Hillsboro baseball league U travel team had a very successful season and won the 2024 district 10 championship against Bridgewater so we whooped Bridgewater that's right I hope they hear me Bridgewater we beat you now the Au travel team had 79 runs in six games and has a current right at this time this current record of 15 and 15 wins and seven losses now more importantly they scored 14 runs a game in the in the in the districts 14 runs a game and look at that look at that wow look at that hold that look at that pretty cool so what I'm going to do gentlemen what I'm going to do hey boys that they use that word all the time so all right I'm going to give you guys the mic and you're going to say your first name okay so moms and dads can get you on tape saying right so say your name go ahead Dominic franzosa yeah first and last name go ahead Braden shrim say shrimp Robbie bring Gabriel K Brandon Campbell Jeremy Owens Samuel vitel Breen Rez BR mooy Braxton Crow Arjun P Chase morz give it to give it to coach M Patel Nick franzoso Matt Campbell Brett Malloy John Shimp Bob breing third base coach all right so all right so all right so now I'm going let me finish the proclamation and then we'll we'll have hand it over to the coaches and we also are lucky to have one of the sons on the team as a president of the league as well too to say something about HBO now therefore Bri Proclaim that we the mayor and the Hillsboro Township committee do hereby commend the 2024 Hillsboro baseball league U travel team coaches and parents especially the parents you guys are everywhere all the time thank you for being such a great support to these guys not only for the successful season but their hard work dedication commitment to the sport and to those principles of good sportsmanship teamwork and academic achievement which the organization endorses congratulations boys for being the Champions and beating Bridgewater good job so I'm going to hand the mic over first to Matt Campbell who's our head coach if you'd like to say something about the boys in the team yeah I just want to keep it really quick uh we have a lot of postgame speeches we've played a lot of games recently so we've had a lot of talk um but could not be more proud of this group of kids they're together a lot they're best friends on and off the field we do a lot as coaches to try and teach them life skills outside of the field which matters more and a lot of what they learn on the field is just building them up to be great young young boys that are going to turn into great young men great ambassadors of our town the Bridgewater coach dropped that off at my house today cuz he knew we were having this tonight um coaches that don't respect the other players don't do something like that these kids really present themselves well on the field and are respected by their by their peers and other coaches so great job to the parents as mayor said they're raising really fine young men here so good job today guys sure so I've been uh president of HB for about four years been in the program for almost eight I have three kids that have come up through the program and I have to say by far this is the best team I've ever seen so they deserve every acclamation that they get these coaches uh they work we work so well together they play hard these kids come to fight every time we're in a game no matter what the score is we're super proud and you know it's very proud for us to have Hillsboro represented tonight so thank you mayor abolutely thank you all right boys let's let's let's tighten up and take a picture okay let's do it yep I want all right that's okay now would any of the siblings like to come in the picture real quick come on up come on y yeah get an official picture first and all the siblings come on in because you guys are at every single game all right all right siblings come on in get away from all right all right chrisy come on in no leave him there he's okay Christian knel okay right there you're good you're good go right in the front no go in the front so they can see you cuz you're too short bab there you go all right siblings everybody funny face now all right fny face all right all right we're good all right guys thank you for being here tonight congratulations [Applause] Champions oh Matt this is for each of the kids that's give that to coach Matt and then each of the kids all right so this concludes our proclamations um we're going to take a few minute break um when we return we'll have a short presentation from the Hillsboro Health collaborative congratulations to everybody that had a proclamation tonight and thank you for joining us this evening we're going to take a just a few minute pause e e e e e e e e e e e Sarah it's close Sarah yeah sometimes we get sometimes we get mixed up ready okay so uh now that we're back from our break uh we have a quick presentation Hillsboro Health collaborative the health action plan I ask Robin yes there we go hello hello hi thank you hi my name is Robin blamus I work at the health department with Siobhan Spano and I'm here today to present our health action plan this is a plan that we've developed to help promote and protect the health and well-being of Hillsboro residents so this initiative is led by the Hillsboro Health collaborative uh Group which many of you are familiar with is is a group of about 50 local stakeholders working together to identify key issues related to health and wellness in Hillsboro we um have representatives from Township departments local organizations businesses college students seniors Etc as well as committeeman ch um leani and Deputy Mayor chiarelli um also appreciative of having their participation in the group so our our first big project was to cond conduct a local Health assessment and this was done to better understand what the uh main health issues and concerns are in Hillsboro so the focus was not just on health outcomes like how many people have cancer or diabetes but also the community conditions that affect our health like the environment access to healthy food economic opportunities as well as identifying the priority populations most affected so to do this we looked at published statistics some of the sources you can see there conducted a robust Community Health survey and also conducted interviews and focus groups with a wide variety of community leaders organizations and population groups we're proud of the fact that so many people were involved in this effort and we feel confident that it's representative of the community so we share the results of the local Health assessment widely including with this group um this is a very very high level overview of of the results if anyone wants to see the full report it is available on the sustainable Hillsboro website at any [Music] time so the collaborative worked together to narrow down uh the top five areas to focus on we knew we couldn't do everything so we wanted to prioritize the main health issues so you'll see these top five listed here um these were narrowed down based on the significance the potential impact existence Partnerships and feasibility so in order to develop our action plan um the collaborative de lot of work to better understand first what are we doing in all these areas already throughout the township what Partners exist um and then researched what potential ideas we could Implement looking at evidence-based solutions for um programs practices policies that have been implemented elsewhere some of these are sustainable Jersey actions um um and we came up with a giant list and then kind of narrowed down a series of short and long-term strategies that we want to implement in each of the five areas so sorry for the wordiness of this slide but it does give a good overview on the leftand side these are all the current strategies uh and initiatives that uh we're doing to impact mental health and substance use and on the right hand side these are things that we want to do in the future both short-term and long longterm so for mental health promoting our existing Mental Health Resources uh and long-term uh adopting a stricter tobacco and vaping ordinance if you want to see the full action plan this is also on the sustainable Hillsboro website um some of these strategies cross areas so you'll for example you'll also see the ordinance tobacco ordinance under chronic disease next slide so for chronic disease we're focusing on a series of sustainable Jersey actions some of which we've already started as well as well as some other strategies and initiatives like programs to promote physical activity and expand mobile Outreach for access to healthy food uh we are already well underway with the community garden and then long-term plan to work with child care and preschool settings uh on their nutrition and physical activity standards and practices under Community engagement we are currently doing a lot as you can see but we'll look to expand that through a series of un sustainable Jersey actions that look at the demographic profile of the Town identifies populations who are socially vulnerable or have special communication needs uh as well as to encourage participation from more residents on our boards commissions and Community groups we also plan to expand the welcome letter that new homeowners currently receive to renters to excuse me let them know about the programs resources and services that are available to them for communication about resources uh I'd like to highlight the communication resource guide distribution plan this guide's already been developed um but we just want to get it out there uh we have it in English and Spanish so we plan to put it um throughout the township Township offices faith-based buildings apartment complexes schools doctor's offices Etc so lastly this slide just gives an overview of the process uh it's almost been a two-year process um to complete all of this starting with the establishment of the collaborative to the local Health needs assessment to the development of the action plan we share the results of the action plan publicly um to get feedback from people after incorporating their feedback we presented at the Board of Health uh last month and got their approval and sign off so the next step is to ask all of you to consider a resolution to adopt the implementation of the health action plan if that happens uh we will submit for health gold certification through sustainable Jersey uh something only a handful of other towns in New Jersey have been able to do and then the award ceremony for that is in November at the uh National League of M municipalities conference and that's it but i' be happy answer any questions Robin I have a question for you this is the second year that you did this assessment right it we have done other assessments through grants that are kind of mini assessments this one was a much more robust uh comprehensive assessment and it took about a year and a half to to really fully complete it so you may have seen earlier results but it's been about a year and a half process and through that time did you reach more than the 1% of Hillsboro or is there any plan to expand this and actually get like a target market or so we were told by sustainable Jersey for a population our size we needed to get at least 100 surveys back and we received 467 so we felt like that was a pretty representative sample and based on other towns that have done this action we far exceeded their expectations interesting were they mailed to the homes uh we didn't have the budget for mailing to homes but we have about 50 different places that we either posted it online put it in the mayor's newsletter um announced it at the senior clubs uh sent it out through all of our mailing lists with the apartment complexes um had it at the Green living Fair um put it on social media posted on we know what's happening Facebook groups had different groups send it out through their mailing lists so we really made a very robust effort it's hard to get people to answer a survey especially one that's long like this yeah it took like 10 to 15 minutes to complete okay interesting yeah if I might um uh Robin thanks yeah I know this has been we've seen this come up here a couple of times so we have some significant progress but I think there there's some other uh let's say synergies or coincidence or happen stances that the the sustainable Hillsboro uh let's say office has transitioned over to the planning department um and with that the planning department is I I some of the things I remembered reading through here there are elements that we can pull out specifically to the master plan so you know areas that are most affected what can we do in those areas in the master plan for either Transportation or whatever so so there's not everything up there fits into the master plan but there are key pieces I think that we can glean from this into the master plan and so um you know and when when engage Hillsboro comes out let's we'll see how that dovetails in as well absolutely so thank [Music] you any other questions anybody else uh thanking Robin and the whole staff for for putting this together over the last few years it's it's a big undertaking um you OB the uh um like I said to do the surveys a lot of people they start and they probably didn't finish I don't how many people did that but it's it's a long survey and it requires some pretty decent thought so the fact that you got 400 is is is is great but really um it's hard to understand the macro kind of thing that this prevents right we're all used to immediate actions right and this is more of again long-term planning looking at areas of need and addressing the future which is always the first step is the hard AR and then you just build from that and I think you guys did a great job of of setting the tone for for the future thank you thank you doing this appreciate it okay going into the consent agenda we have uh for this consent agenda we have uh 45 items I apologize I'm actually getting text from the governor's office checking in to make sure that we're okay due to the tornadoes and all that so that's why I was looking with the chief to see if there's anything that we need to report back which we're we're okay all right great um okay so uh items number 1 through 45 um may I ask for a motion to take item number 17 separately motion a second second all in favor I I any opposed okay so now we'll go to all items except for number 17 no just th all items except for number 17 correct yeah not here reads yes and AES that yeah we'll go yeah we're going to go yeah but yeah we could definitely 100% go through all that um yeah that was there's a lot here excuse me one second you're right commit one no you're right there's a lot here believe me I'm I'm want to make sure that we have you the numbers yeah so we have the numbers here so we have numbers number three four five 6 and 7even so number three first we have Gian biano for the new police records Clerk in the police department we have Frank sypos the building inspector of the construction Department we have Michael corkran a seasoned Public Works worker Samantha ring uh assistant manager in the tax assessor's office and Mar and Marcel mlin Marcel mlin is the municipal housing liaison um we have some some new hires and some some promotions and some really good things happening here and we just you know I think there's that's what shows you know Mr ferer always talks about how Hillsboro Township is uh a place people like to come to work and we have our our our HR Director as well too as well here if she'd like to say anything about these new hires but I just want to welcome you all here you're in good hands here you have great directors that run each of our departments we have 43,000 people that count on us for the best customer service and uh we work very very hard for them so we just want to thank you for being here and we really do appreciate you uh joining the town so um is there would anybody else like to make any comments about these these these people except for I Mr I know commit is going to say uh no I just I just want to uh welcome um the new hires plus those who are promoted to new jobs I'd like to uh acknowledge there's a couple that have moved up you know starting with with Samantha Ball moving up from our sustainable uh into our into our planing Department she she I've got to know her for the last year I was mayor she was side by side with me for a lot doing all them filming for a restaurant Week um she was always there support and she's a great individual very caring and I couldn't be more happy for you to get uh to move up into this the job that you have now uh congratulations I would like to throw out that we' have not met our quotas of Samanthas we do have three working for the township now we are for a fourth so if you're Samantha out there qualified for one of the positions in the building department or otherwise please apply to the township okay so we are on all consent agenda items except for number 17 and I am going to get to that after I get through the seven page I'd like to nominate that we add Sam as a man name as well as a female name and not cap it at just Samantha absolutely and and be more inclusive okay they just want to beat the devs it's it's a competition now that goes to the top of the list please Sam hiring 13 you going skip to 13 gotcha yep all right now um may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items we did that 1 through 16 and 20 through 45 so we did that first and a second we didn't do that that we didn't do that I thought we just did that that's why we're talking got may I have a motion to approve the consent that agenda items 1 through 16 and then 20 through 45 excuse me all consent agenda items except for number 17 this is wrong all consent toena items except for number 17 keep it simple yes we have a motion for that motion to approve a second please second comments from the days comments from the floor I got couple mayor quick um just in particular um I consent agenda on this is number 28 this was part of our doing our road projects uh authorized in the beginning of this uh that we'll be doing for the next few years uh we were actually able to uh without giving away the H the house we were able to get these roads done below what our estimate was uh because we're able to group these roads together in bulk uh so that just gives us a uh a bonus of now doing more roads for less money uh which this bonding has afforded that that ability to do plus for those who've been up here at the deis the last few years saying about we want pickle ball well we got pickle ball coming so in 36 we've got a grant coming and a project coming to convert a little used area of the park at dockerty into a full functioning pickle ball court for those who like to play I don't play there's a net in the way but um it's a great game it's fun I ain't got time for that uh but but I'm very happy to deliver that to the to the residents of Hillsboro that's all got any other comments from the days from the floor roll call please committee woman hand yes committee mapani yes committee woman pay yes Deputy Mayor tarelli yes mayor Bing yes may have a motion to approve consent agenda item number 17 to moved a second second comments from the deis I'm just I'm curious why did we do 17 separately I'm confused you'll know in a second yeah may all rightone from the floor we have thomon D first all right uh roll call please there's a comment need a comment from the D first want you I'm going to obstain you're going to obstain okay okay okay all right okay okay yeah that's as simple as that yeah yeah yeah um all right so comments from the floor roll call please committee woman hand yes committee Pani yes committee woman pay yes Deputy Mayor Chelli abstain mayor pry yes all right public hearings uh uh TW uh 202 24-12 an ordinance appropriating certain monies held by the township of Hillsboro County of Somerset state of New Jersey for the purchase of various Capital Improvements in the amounts of of 1, 631 221 and for the township of Hillsboro may have a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance 2024 -12 joh moved I have a second second all in favor I I I any opposed is there any discussion from the deis we vot this we're not just opening we are voting on this one tonight correct all right so my my only comments are that um while I am not in favor of the overall budget and the tax increase and the fact we're over 15% um I am glad to see that we are investing in parks in sidewalks in police vehicles and improvements and I'm hoping along with pickle ball courts and the other things that these things happen this year so that folks can actually see and feel the improvements this year so I think that would be a goal of this team is to make sure that that happens any other discussion from the Das I'll just I'll just ease the committee woman's uh angst angst I guess best word um this uh ability to get this done now and uh go out to to bid is is this is the first step and I don't believe anything is going to prohibit us from getting this stuff done other than the ability of the contractor to complete the project um obviously not withstanding the fact that supplies sometimes interrupt that but um well I think the ones that you're most approving to or alluding to are things that that should and we expect to be done this year any other comments from the dasas no not yet okay comments from the floor all right may I have a motion to close the public hearing and adopt ordinance 204-12 motion to close a second second comments from the deas NOP yes we're done this is it all right comments from the floor none roll call please committee woman hand yes committee men the P yes committee woman pay yes Deputy Mayor Chelli um before I vote want to make a comment um I'm second to last to vote but committee woman Han voted yes and I think it's a little hypocritical on her part because as part of this approval the committee woman and us will approve down payment on the $9 million Bond as authorized debt and by default approve what she felt at the last meeting was a negative influence of debt on the budget a budget that was she rejected said no so I think you I think it's being a little bit inconsistent with this prior budget vote uh but uh from last month but is consistent with a yes vote on the paving bond that was voted on prior to that and speaking of the $9 million Paving bond this approval uh your your yes vote puts you in the same group with the rest of us up here on the de as the alleged uh prior Administration that is responsible for Rising debt where uh mayor leani or I'm sorry the mayor committeeman leani and I were specifically called out in an opinion piece placed by the chairperson of your political party as committeeman leani pointed out last month this entire episode was grandstanding and was immediately seized upon for political purposes and embellished upon for political purposes and since my name was invoked as a result of your feelings about the budget and debt I'll again point out that the fact that all of the debt but for 9 million the $9 million Bond Paving that was raised was on the books prior to my election and prior to the mayor's joining the township committee but apparently overlooked that and chose to ignore those details during the times that we reviewed the budget with you and so based on your apparent approval this Capital ordinance including the bond you're equally associated with the false allegations that we ex exacerbated the debt as much as anybody up here on the dayas the budget and Township finances are well thought out well planned and well under control and your decision to approve the capital ordinance I think demonstrates that maybe you actually agree with our budget in hindsight and with that I vote Yes mayor bring yes and as I close that out this this budget for $683 more per month for a house that's assessed at 547 uh $547,000 allows us to fully fund Police Department the state of New Jersey is in a very interesting place right now and we need to make sure that we're living a safe Town it allows us to fully fund R DPW it allows us to to put money uh uh towards the begin of the $4.5 Million worth of roads that we're going to do this year and it it affords us significant opportunities for the long term uh this capital budget is one component of it this is something that our families need and people need to recognize something too um you know during uh postco Co was a difficult time for every town and this Township was the only Township that pretty much stayed open in the area when others were shutting down and um the way that we were able to keep things flat we really trying to help taxpayers at the moment but right now we recognize with cost higher and with uh the the the issues with safety and we see that nationally too uh safety is huge and Incredibly important and I think that fully funding departments that keep us safe and give us a better town is the way to go and for a very small number uh it puts us in a great position longer term so we don't have to look backwards and do something different in the future so I'm very happy to vote Yes all right um introduction of new ordinances 202 24-13 an ordinance appropriating certain monies held by the township of Hillsboro County of Somerset state of New Jersey for the purchase of Municipal Building thermostats in the amount of $185,000 and for the township of Hillsboro further consideration and a public hearing will be held on August 13th 2024 for the those in the in the audience know this is just introducing it it's our responsibility and the next meeting that we'll have a public hearing if you have any questions on that just so you know may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 202 24-13 no mo I have a second please second all right roll call please committee woman hand yes yes committee M leani yes committee woman pay yes Deputy Mayor chick R yes mayoring yes claims list may I have a motion to approve claims list 202 24-10 motion to approve uh second please second comments from the deas from the floor roll call please committee woman hand yes committee M leani yes comme Bo pay yes Deputy Mayor Elli abstain mayor Bing yes new business I don't see any here so public comments for matters not on the agenda so this is for the public if you have to make a comment this is the time uh Miss break please read the statement regarding public comment the township committee welcomes input from the public please state your name and address and please spell your name for the record you will be given one three minute allotment for your comments please understand that this public forum is not structured as a question and answer session comments are to be addressed to the mayor again please keep your comments to three minutes thank you any public [Music] comments I'm not seeing any public comments right it's raining a lot to be sure all right hear the rain May I have a motion tojn adjourn so moved second here we go roll call please commit woman hand yeah so question before so given the comments prior do I have an opportunity to reply or because he moved on to the next item you have a right to yes you have a right to reply of course you made the original comments in in your in your vote based on the the comment he responded so your comments during the vote that despite the I think you said tax increase and other things so you you brought the comment up so he was just answering your comment so that's right I know you had multiple comments to me last time so I'm just asking do I do I have an opportunity you you yes yeah yeah so I I do you know appreciate the observations I think really helpful being a res in this town for so long come in and start to understand even over the past 10 years we had about a 2% increase every year and then all of a sudden in 2023 was almost 7% and now this year over 15 if I'm looking at the trajectory that is alarming I don't know what's next I don't know what's next year I'm not on the budget committee and not I don't you know what what is that going to be so I think everyone should be very happy to ask questions we should poke and PR and do the best thing for the to and not the best thing to get elected after that's so I I'll just respond cuz I know Deputy Mayor probably can just move but uh you also need to make sure you give everybody the truth and the reality of the situation versus making statements like that 15% of 13.56% of all the taxes they pay that's important number that you should tell people this doesn't mean that their tax if they pay 10 grand a year it's not going up $1,500 that's the perception you're P you're giving people 100% because you're not you're not qualifying for what it is that's number one number two I was trying to be very very nice and thoughtful about it and what I just said about the um kept it very flat and and committee man Pony as mayor can attest to this I had a chance to watch that prior to be on the township committee did a nice job of keeping things flat after Co because this world went through hell and back during Co right people have struggled right so right now we have to pay for certain things and the costs have gone up dramatically every single person in this room pays for more pays more money than they've ever had to pay over the past 20 years it's off the charts so we have to cover those costs because we only get 13.56% of what everybody pays in taxes the School Board gets 65% the county gets 14% but they get 14% from all the different towns so from our perspective it's important to qualify the reality of that so I would throw back at you from an election standpoint I can already see it online the 15% that's going to be a fun thing that you guys are going to talk about until November it's not true because the truth of it is it's 15% of 13.56% of what people pay that's the truth that's the truth for this year to cover the cost to make sure that we fully fund our police department and another another another number of other items that we need to make sure our town can move forward with so I think you're being a little disingenuous there and I think Honesty is very important here so just be brutally honest with everybody versus making basic statements that's not qualifying the reality of it so committee woman hand I have a question for you so we did go back and forth with this last meeting um and maybe there was an unfair disadvantage for you at that point because I came through with a resolution for this team the finance committee came through with a resolution for this team and for the township to move forward so maybe it's unfair that you weren't given the opportunity to State your resolution last meeting so slowly raising taxes over time um you know was part of that resolution what would be your resolution and and how would you move the town forward to get us out of this incredible hole that we're in I think I was I know it's not a home I'm asking using her words I was focused on trying to understand why what had happened and why bub seem to be bursting what's the resolution so tonight is probably not the night to go through that we're not going to line item but I want it to be a thoughtful approach and I think that there needs to be transparency to where decisions are made for a long term like what is the you know three 5 10year plan for the town yeah and that things aren't made on a year-by-year decision with five people one to two of whom are up for re-election every year so you know again we all live here we want good sidewalks we want police we want you know beautiful Parks we need the municipal building doors to operate efficiently like we we all want and need these things um I'll just I'll just I'll just respond I think we' what two things you had an opportunity you've met with our CFO you've had three weeks to to think to look at the budget and offer any comments you offered none but that being said our budget 99% of it is based on things we can't control this little exercise we did here with the B capital ordinance is the only thing that we have discretionary spending on that's it it the rest of it is keeping the lights on paying our police paying our pensions paying our insurance which one up paying our cost which one up at the mayor said so the economy created this situation as much or more than anything that we did as a group now or in the past and you have to recognize that to say that it's not you're not recognizing what people are feeling at home when they go to to the supermarket when they go to the gas station when they go to buy clothes for their children Etc the pinch is out there we are just like everybody else what we did do is that we looked at the budget fiscally responsibly took what we had what we needed to pay and what we needed to do and what we needed to do in the long term which was a get our roads done B keep our Police Department funded get some parks done to for people to appreciate the fact that they need to be outside since Co the uh in our health and wellness promoting people to get out and stay healthy for and wellness so improving our Parks so we are looking at that but the bottom line is the cost were generated a lot of the ways that we had no control over now what's going to happen next year when the budgets come in we see what our costs are that that uh are out there every year is a different year okay just like last year was a different year than this year but to say that we are doing this to get reelected if I really wanted to do this to get reelected I would have said screw it it made it flat or made a drop down to make everybody happy but would put us in a financially difficult situation none of us chose to do that 100% CH to do what's right for the township and that's what I said the day I took this job I'm here for all 42,000 people not 20,000 not 5,000 not 10,000 I have to do what's right for the township and I think that's what we all did here and that's what commitment hand promote proposed to us pain pain I'm sorry and pain hand sorry but not a Sam it's not a Sam it would have been much easier for not to do it but it was took real fortitude and guts and commitment to this community to do what we did and we welcome any input you have at any time and I reach out to you we continue to reach out to you if you have any questions to come to us or to our our CFO or to Anthony with what your thoughts are because we are a group we are all have friends friends in this town who are both have different letters in front of their names that we see at parties that see at birthdays that that are customers are mine that are play baseball with him so to say that we are here just for S sector a group is not correct is in disingenuous and I I will welcome any conversation you offer I likewise do take exception with the inference that it was done for political reasons I didn't spend three months four months 5 months working on the budget for political purposes to get elected first of all I'm not up for election um but you know when SNP rates us and has comments like the Township's Financial results have been consistently balanced when we operate at a surplus not a deficit a surplus meaning last year we had a surplus of operations of 3.5 million which is reflected in the conversation we had with uh uh Roy Fryman um so you know the we're operating at a surplus not a deficit and you know we we did make some tough choices we also are losing we lost what 750,000 in Revenue because nobody's building so we we had to take a hit on the revenue side as well so we dealt we had to deal with a lot of things and you know to to to not have faith in the finance committee I find a little disappointing as well I mean we have the CFO involved we have our our new CFO um Anthony's been doing budgets for years for a long longer than any of us up here uh Sean uh myself is my second year on this on a municipal budget so and you know we we put Faith in all the Departments when they bring their their um estimates in their operating budgets their salaries that all get rolled into the budget we put our faith in them we do ask questions when they come in um we look for opportunities to save we understand if if we're if somebody's leaving and we're replacing with a lower higher we're going to we're going to catch up on that we're going to save money there's a lot of factors that go into the budget and again a little disappointed that you didn't have the faith in those of us up here to develop the budget that was acceptable to everybody so or uh that that could could be unanimously AC uh uh approved not for political purposes but um you know we don't want to raise taxes but we had to and um and knowing what could be coming next year we've got a lot of balls in the air a lot of potential deals and you know upon the advisement of our CFO this is what we also was what we did and we're hoping that next year we're flat that's what we're hoping um so that's what our our goal is going to be um but we've also got to manage manage the business manage the business of government and so that's what we intend to do for the rest of the year to this budget and I also would just want to add that I do agree that this is a good conversation for the Das for the public because also to know that when I came up with a budgetary change to this finance committee it was not looked on favorably initially until it was thought through and explained out and that is the benefit of working with the team behind the scenes to iron out all those fine lines and make those things work I was not for the budget initially we had a long talk about it and brought all of those things to light that is what this is about this is a team there isn't a a party there isn't a thought that isn't congruent with each other because our Focus has to be Hillsboro my focus from a financial background specifically was next year we're halfway through this year the budget's moot honestly right to your point I don't know that everything can be built this year I don't know that everything everything that we have planned could be touched on this year but everything will be felt and seen and tangible to our Township and that's important to all of us secondly 2025 by fixing the half of 2024 that we can we've set 2025 up for Success that was the resolution that I brought forward that was the resolution that would not have been agreable if we didn't talk it through with the finance committee they have the expertise of this obviously Alicia too I'm sorry so there is that discussion that has to take place to the minutia level that it did take place and there there was not happiness this was not like Oh yay Catherine wants to change everything we just work five months for but we got through it in a way that made sense and in a way that was decipherable line by line and that's what made the difference again and mostly not for 2024 CU 2024 is half over it's the 2025 and beyond that we're already looking at as a forsome that we hoped you would have been more on board with also and for the public should be aware that the five of us are not able to talk we have to talk in groups of twos I would love to be included more proactively and and sooner like we should be talking I've asked you know what is the five what is the 10e plan but we have to we have to at least have a ballpark of what next year will be we have to anticipate we doation do we think will go so I appreciate the discussion tonight so thank you very much sure I think we're on motion to close we already I think we have a motion I'm ready for the roll call roll call committee woman hand yes committee Leon yes committee woman pay yes Deputy May CH yes mayor BR yes all right thank you all is done this evening at 9:06 p.m. still not bad 9:06 we started at 6:30 though for