[Music] [Music] I hereby call this meeting of the Howell Township Council to order Diane will you please read the opening statement this meeting is being held in accordance with public law 1975 chapter 231 open public meetings act adequate notice has been provided in the manner prescribed by law this agenda is complete to the extent known and formal action will be taken I'll begin with a roll call Council fiser here councilman gager here councilwoman O'Donnell here Deputy Mayor Nell here and mayor Burger is absent this evening is there a need to go into executive session tonight yes uh yes there is Deputy Mayor we have matters to discuss including potential litigation attorney client and some ordinances I have a motion to go to exe motion to go to Executive session second Council Fischer yes councilman G yes councilwoman odono yes Deputy Mayor Nel yes thank you exactly time is 7:05 like to reconvene the meeting I'll begin with a roll call councilwoman Fischer here councilman gager here councilwoman odonnell here Deputy Mayor Nell here mayor burer is absent this evening could all stand for a pledge of allegiance followed by a Moment of Silence i al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you go through the acceptance of minutes for previous meetings I have a motion of acceptance of the minutes for June 11th 2024 motion to accept second councilwoman Fischer yes councilman gager yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Nell abstain thank you move on to reports of Township officials Mr Clark uh just a couple quick things so first of all our fourth of July celebration will be held this July 2nd at Soldier Memorial uh 5:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. there's going to be a lot of really good stuff happening so everybody come out there's going to be buses running uh from middle school north and south uh if anybody needs transportation to the event um pickle ball will be open we are doing a ribbon cutting this Friday uh at 9:00 a.m. we'll put a post out on Facebook tomorrow uh with some more details about it but we've got a lot of positive response we're looking forward to it it was part of an overall project at Deerwood um so we started by sort of uh fixing up the roller rink and then the other one we decommissioned it's now two full-size basketball courts uh a kid-size court and a half court uh and then we have pickle ball where the old skate park is um after the 2nd of July event we're going to be having concerts in the park so you can check our website for more information about that uh we got a few more grants that we are applying for we've had some pretty good success this year with it so we'll keep you posted on that um and then pretty soon we're going to start working with our Engineers on designing uh the echol lake playground so good stuff coming up thank you Mr Howard manager Clark covered it all so I have nothing else any legal updates yes I have one um I want to give uh uh the council and residents uh information that uh your tax bills might be a little late this year uh right now the governor passed a um some legislation that allows the school boards to increase their budgets after they've already been passed um there is a meeting I believe on July 17th from the Howell Township Board of Education where they will be considering increasing their tax levy um so you might see your tax bill go up from that um we have no control over that um as soon as we know more we'll let everybody else know but your rates might change based on that anything the clerk nothing thank you i' now like to open the floor for a hearing of citizens and public comments each person shall first give their name and address to the clerk the council should be addressed as a collective body and not as individual members each person shall have one turn to address the cancel and comments shall not exceed a total of 5 minutes speakers shall be notified when their time has run and no time extension shall be permitted Peter Phillips uh state your name and address for the record Peter Phillips 120 Moses milch Drive hello members of the council and Deputy Mayor nadell my name is Peter Phillips and I live at 120 Moses milch Drive in ramtown with my five children wife Bridget I grew up in belmare most recently residing in Bradley Beach and my wife grew up in Ocean Township formerly residing in belmare we purchased our house in 2019 we chose how Township because we heard from friends that it's a great place to raise a family with an amazing school system and open wide spaces something we weren't used to while living in Shore towns within the past year us and our neighbors have started to notice a steady decline in morale within the neighborhood the new trend of single family homes being sold and purchased under llc's with the sole intention of renting to multi multiple families as devastating our small community and making it very undesirable place for young couples to start families and raise children and talk with some of the renters they are also receiving government subsidies in order to help pay for the overinflated rent payment which is Mo in most cases is double what the landlord's mortgage payment is a little background about me I'm a homeb builder who has renovated a number of multiple units single family homes in Asbury a few of these houses were built in the early 1900s and at some point converted to multi multiple apartment dwellings in compliance with local laws this allows for people to safely live in separate units these properties are zoned as multif family apartment buildings with insurance cost to reflect that what is happening in my little neighborhood and all around Howell is on the opposite side of this legal dwelling multiple families in a single house with no privacy or separation lead to an overcrowding problem state law allows one person bedroom one person bedrooms to be 70 square fet with each additional person in the same bedroom needing 50 additional Square fet I feel as if these conditions are not being met based on the volume of people living in some of these houses if the renters refuse to open the door or work late hours it is impossible for code enforcement to accurately see if these guidelines are being met without being certain that renters are following this criteria we can only assume that unsafe crowded living conditions persist increased traffic in our neighborhood has become a major issue as well recently people driving cars fly down the street at speeds over 40 mph the speed is clearly marked at 25 it being a residential street many young families in my neighborhood have small children that like to play in front of each house something else that needs to be discussed is landlords that are falling to failing to maintain their properties overgrown grass and garbage present from the street is an issue that may discourage new home buyers to the area and possibly one day bring down the property value of the residents living in the vicinity of these code violations few landlords take these seriously and just rack up the penalties me and my fellow me and my fellow neighbors put a lot of time money and effort into not just maintaining our properties but going above and beyond making sure our community is aesthetically pleasing another thing to mention is infrastructure of our small community that was not originally built to deal with the heavier loads recently applied sewage roadways and electrical grid just to name a few this will lead to Future issues down the road with overuse lastly and most important issue facing Our Town moving forward is the school system with the recent influx of new students I fear our children are getting a subpar education how will once touted as one of the best schools in Mammoth county is falling victim to overpopulation there's a vast amount of new students stepping into our school system that need more help with speaking English there is not enough ESL teachers to accommodate leaving this issue open-ended the teachers are not even able to devote enough time and attention to all the students making it a bad situation for everyone me and my wife have been dealing with some issues at home related to this topic I am speaking on we have a 12-year-old son who attends Middle School South this school year he has been targeted and bullied by a group of students of Spanish descent as I said earlier the great school system for the kids was was one of the main reasons we moved here in 2019 our son started school during Co being that everything was remote at the time it was really hard for him to make new friends there were four separate incidents this year with my son being bullied by new kids at the school first he was chased on his bike the second was he was chased in the hallway at school and the third he was pulled off his bike riding home from school all of these ended without incident the fourth and final happened two weeks ago before school's over my son was walking through the hallway on his way to class when he was assaulted and kicked by a boy in the same group this time he defended himself both he and the other student missed missed the last week of school which really upset him the next day was the day of Awesomeness a day him and his friends were really looking forward to after a long school year Mr Phillips I'm sorry but your time has ended thank you I appreciate it is there anyone else would like to come up to speak state your name and address for the record please sure hello my name is Dominico klei uh my address is 379 Buckaloo Road um so first off good evening I'd like to thank you for your time and consideration night it's very important to my wife and I that we have our thoughts and our concerns be heard by you and for providing us that opportunity we're thankful um like I said my name is the medical kti my wife and I are former residents of how Township Township and soon to be future residents of howl uh being as we just purchased the property at 379 Buckaloo road which is why we're here tonight for this property we had to obtain a variance in order to build which we were granted resolution on at the beginning of this year and as part of that resolution the zoning board waved our requirement to construct sidewalks and curb due to the very rural character of our location the property is located in extremely rural part of Howell where sidewalks are neither practical nor planned for the foreseeable future there are no sidewalks anywhere near our home and because of how rural the area is there likely never will be so because because it is the land use office's responsibility to ensure the proper use of land and to protect the Integrity of the master plan they felt that sidewalks in our specific location would undermine the Integrity of the master plan itself because this area is zoned for and meant to be kept rural so although it was within the land use offices power to wave our need to construct sidewalks and curbs it was not within their power to wave our need to contribute to the sidewalk trust fund and that's why we're here before you today because it is within your power to do so now while my wife and I understand and support the Township's efforts to enhance infrastructure and safety contributing to a fund for sidewalks that will never be built in our area feels both disproportionate and burdensome we like I said we purchased this property at the beginning of this year and we haven't started building yet because frankly we haven't had the money to do so every further expense is a considerable burden on us especially the $4,200 that the town is requiring us to pay into the sidewalk fund we kindly request for your consideration for an exemption or an adjustment to this contribution for our unique circumstances as representatives of how Township as how Township residents we ask for your understanding and support to ease our financial strain and to help enable us to thrive in the how Township community and that's something that um I don't know if you guys can give me feedback on on how to pursue to go through the proper channels of actually having something for you guys to go through a vote on but it's something I'd be very interested in hearing your comments on thank you thank you is there anyone else who would like to come up and speak seeing none may have a motion to close public comment motion appose uh comment public comment second all in favor uh before we turn to professionals does anyone from Council have any response to the public comments i' just like to address the gentleman who talked about the schools uh we have no say in what goes on in the schools we have two School teachers up here as far as the problems that your son has been experiencing the school is required by law to handle that and handle it in uh as a Hib incident and you should talk to them about that we we have nothing that we can do about that up there okay yeah I think our our professionals are going to address what you talked about because we've been talking about it also that's all I got anyone else want to address the speakers I would just the same as councilman gager said I would urge you to attend Schoolboard meetings and and express your concern they're important yeah I'd like to address Mr Phillips as well I agree with most of what you said up here I got small children in the school system as well and I see what's going on in the schools and how the redistricting going to be affecting who's in the classrooms and who's going to be getting more attention less attention than other students and again that's an issue that needs to be addressed through the school board and the school administration but on the township end we do have some ordinances that are going to be set to be adopted tonight that are going to address those other issues that you did mention um as far as Mr kety I know we spoke a few times via email and I will um myself and rest of the council will take your comments tonight under advisement uh professionals you have any response to the comments just on the the housing issues so obviously we know that there's there's some housing issues out there and we've talked about it so if I'm a broken record I apologize um we do have two ordinances on for tonight the main one um is dealing with our inspections of rentals right now it's only when there's a time of uh tendency change we're updating that to be in there once a year um that's for every unit in town um we feel that some of the let's be honest some of the nonsense that goes on where we give a CO we leave the property and drywalls moved in the next day and they're framing out rooms in a garage something like that it's it's unacceptable we wind up having to chase them for it and we do it um but if we're in there next year then they're not going to be able to get away with that and if they try and do something that permanent it's not going to last for long or or they're going to you know if they're if they're in there doing construction and deconstruction every year then then we'll catch them at that but um this ordinance should really help in terms of tightening the grip a little bit being able to get in and see those changes um those are the ones that are causing the overcrowding causing um the potentially unsafe conditions and we want to make sure that we're seeing those yeah so so just to to key off what Mr Howard was saying they have teeth so it's part of a suite of ordinances that we've passed since October of last year so you know we have the tools and we're going to go in and we're going to find the stuff you know Mr Phillips isn't the first resident of Moses milch who we've heard from I know Felicia and Vinnie were here at the last meeting and and they have echoed his concerns um and we're going to do everything we can because when you do move into a neighborhood you expect a certain amount of quality of life you don't expect to have some sort of boarding house or something akin to that popping up next door and then all of a sudden what you thought was a quiet neighborhood is no longer that so we're going to enforce this we're going to go after people we're going to pull cosos we're going to go into Freehold Court into Superior Court we get injunctions if we need to we're going to make sure that quality of life is maintained in this town um we also as part of tonight's ordinances have the ability to um fine or create penalties for landlords if they have to vacate their tenants as a result of uh remediation work that's necessary not only will they have to pay the tenant six months rent the tenant has the ability to place a lean on the house for that the same amount should come to the township as a penalty um and then on top of it all if it happens more than once that there is an illegal rental then we can work with the schools to force the landlords to start paying tuition for every student that is registered in that particular uh dwelling so that's substantial money it's it's it's a real number um and we intend to take charge of the situ ation so that people can live their lives here in peace and quiet and for Mr Phillips if you have specific properties and you're seeing a trend to when that overcrowding is occurring let me know we are I I have been authorizing over time just without question almost to my code enforcement officers there's nighttime issues and we have some just some backing to know that there's something there um issuing them to go out either first day in the morning 5 6 o' before people leave for work or at the at night after they get home to try and observe some of the overcrowding um in terms of the family definition I've said it before we don't have a lot of teeth there um if they are using the house as a single family house even though that term Single family we have something in mind if they're using common kitchen common living areas and bedrooms with different groups of people technically it's not something that code enforcement can can get involved in Property Maintenance we've actually started and on the agenda tonight in the resolution one of the resolutions is a lean to be placed on a property we their grass it was a long-standing dispute with the the owner we knew it wasn't going to get done anytime soon neighbors had enough so DBW mowe the grass we're placing a lean on the property property maintenance issues of that ilk we can now um authorize DPW to do some of that work and put the lean on so if there's property maintenance issues that just aren't getting resolved let us know and we can look into doing that as well like Mr Clark said we had really in the last year higher minimum fines um revocation of ordinance of uh cosos a lot of different tools and ordinances we're putting in place and it's it's there we're we're using them and we're hoping it's going to really put a dent in this yeah we'll hire more people if we have to we're we're going to analyze our needs and we're going to make sure you said that we maintain order and peace and quiet people live here for a reason and I'm sorry that this is happening and we're going to take control of it and we'll like I said we'll start yanking Co so pretty straightforward Matt I I have a question uh we've been doing about this for two years every time we have a meeting we talk about it and I know that we've been tacking on and tacking on and tacking on eventually The Tide is G going to turn but this comes up every now and then the legality according to state regulations of how many people can actually live in a house you know when it comes to unrelated people or square footage or bedrooms and just for a point of Education I know you're up on that would you just please sure Mr Philips had a right it's uh we you state code we've been down this road we it's the first question that we've all asked so so State housing code dictates that and it's you need 70 minimum of 70 square feet for the bedroom as long as you have that then it's 50 square feet per occupant so um every 50 square feet if you have 150 foot bedroom that's three people and I know somebody's probably thinking well 70 plus 50 plus 50 it's that's not how it reads it's 70 ft is the minimum for a bedroom every occupant needs 50 so a lot of of the houses in Candlewood have maybe a master bedroom of close to 200 square F feet that's four people bedrooms could be 100 maybe the biggest third bedroom is 150 you get into the 9 10 12 people very quickly there's overcrowding beyond that yes that's easy if we if we go and see that boom it's done um the issue becomes you know there's loopholes you go over you see 12 people well they're they're staying just for the day they're they're not here they're not living we've all had 25 people over for a party we've all had maybe some extended family stay and maybe we've even ourselves gone over those limits there's those types of excuses that it's a draw on Code Enforcement let's let's be honest because now we have to catch them over multiple times to say hey you you know you're lying to us we know a lot of times what's going on what we know and what we can prove in court are two totally different things and we have to be careful to make sure that we are going after what we can prove in court and that takes unfortunately a lot more time than saying I know what's going on over there get out tomorrow you got to be out it just doesn't work that way unfortunately yeah I think also if we put people out we're responsible for them too potentially yes depending on the circumstances we could be respons IDE we want to get the landlord and we've we've had that happen already where we've been come down on people and they put everybody out and sold and believe it or not yeah or they they'll occupy themselves the owners we've had dozens of eviction processes started based on our code enforcement actions eviction takes 90 to 180 days so that's the time where obviously it looks like nothing's happening it is moving incredibly slowly but there is resolution coming and and that's actually happened dozens and dozens of times in the last year that I could tell you uh Switching gears to sidewalks before we wrap up um so obviously this is an ordinance that's we've had for a couple iterations um the idea for the ordinance is that sidewalks are required by ordinance the planning board or zoning board can grant a waiver from placing the sidewalks but all that waiver does is say that in Li of the sidewalks you have to place the equal amount of cost that the sidewalks would take to install which is $7 per square foot and place it into a sidewalk trust fund that trust fund acts as a capital fund for the township that we can then install sidewalks where they are needed so we are a very very town we have Apartments higher density housing low density housing rural areas it that the ordinance has to the ordinance exists it's not just for one area it is for the whole town that's why that's there is if we don't need the sidewalks in in a specific spot the idea is that that fund can get built up it we are getting sidewalk requests like you wouldn't believe like every week we're getting a new street that somebody wants a sidewalk on they're not cheap and the fund applies to the developers whether it's the big Warehouse the big commercial site or if you are if you do need a variance that is part of the ordinance it is just like any other residential design stand your your RightWay dedications are required at that point RightWay widths there's a lot of different things that go into it and one of them is the sidewalk um we changed it a few years ago to exclude minor subdivisions um and minor site plans so that's how the ordinance sits now when you do need a variance for a new construction it is applicable it does serve a purpose um it serves the townships overall good it is part of the master plan um we don't recommend any waivers I've spoken to Mr ketti and kind of expressed that as well um obviously has every right to come and ask for that um I would be careful because I think every developer if we do Grant the waiver is going to seek it uh and it may or may not make sense all the time but they're they're going to seek it and you're opening Pandora's Box a little bit thanks we on to comments by elected officials start with councilman Fisher Council oald no I think Administration SP all of the upcoming events um you can always go on the H Township website and just uh for recollection of dates and times but July 2nd uh from 5: to 9:00 not only fireworks we're having music and vendors and it's really for the full family so I would encourage you to take uh take advantage of some uh fun time with your family because all ages are going to uh enjoy the evening so please come out Council m gager I'm looking forward to the uh Amish Outlaws I really I hope the weather holds out next we'll move on to the consent agenda does anyone wish to vote on any of the items separately we have three don't we uh Deputy Mayor we are going to be pulling resolution 24247 uh um authorizing an agreement with Howell first aid uh they're not ready to enter into the agreement so we're going to pull it until we can uh iron out a few more details we have a motion to approve consent agenda consisting of resolutions r24 d235 through and including r 24- 248a with the exception of 24- 247 so moved have a second second councilwoman fiser yes councilman gager yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Nell yes thank you the consent resolutions passed may I have a motion to approve resolutions r24 d249 through and including r24 d251 motion to approve resolutions 24- 249 through resolution 24- 251 second councilwoman Fischer yes councilman gaser yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Nell yes thank you the resolution is passed move on to unfinished business business adoption of ordinances ordinance 24-20 ordinance setting forth and amending and supplementing the salary arrange schedule for the salaries of certain officers and employees of the township of Howell Public hearing on this ordinance is now open if anyone wishes to comment on this ordinance please come to the podium state your name and address for the record seeing none we have a motion to close public heing motion to close second all in favor I I I have motion to adopt ordinance 24-20 motion to adopt ordinance 24-20 second councilman fiser yes councilman gisher yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Nell yes thank you the ordinance is adopted ordinance 24-21 ordinance amending chapter 150 fire prevention Article 1 fire prevention code section three establishment and duties of local enforcing agency per recommendation of Township Bureau of fire prevention public hearing on this ordinance is now open than anyone wishes to comment please come up seeing none we have a motion to close public motion to close public second all in favor I we have motion to adopt ordinance 24-21 motion to adopt ordinance 24-21 have a second second councilwoman fiser yes councilman gaser yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor idell yes thank you the ordinance is adopted ordinance 24-22 ordinance amending chapter 139 fees article article 10 fire service sections 17 18 and 19 per recommendation of Township Fire uh Township Bureau of fire prevention public hearing on this ordinance is now open if anyone wishes a comment please come to the podium seeing none may have a motion to close public motion to close public second all in favor I I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-22 motion to adopt ordinance D 24-22 have a second second councilwoman Fischer yes councilman gager yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Nell yes thank you the ordinance is adopted ordinance 24-23 ordinance authorizing traffic enforcement upon real property known as block 141 lots 13.01 and 14 in accordance with the request of the property owner public hearing on this ordinance is now open if anyone wishes a comment please come up seeing none may have motion to close the public hearing motion to close have a second second all in favor I I I have motion to adopt ordinance 24-23 motion to adopt I have a second second councilwoman fiser yes councilman gager yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Rell yes the ordinance is adopted ordinance 24-24 an ordinance of the township of Howell County of Monmouth state of New Jersey amending and supplementing chapter 178 of the Township Code entitled housing code rental property public hearing on this ordinance is now open if anyone wishes to comment please come to the podium seeing none we have motion to close public hearing motion to close public second all in favor I I may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-24 motion to adopt ordinance have a second second councilwoman fiser yes councilman gager yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Nell yes the ordinance is adopted ordinance 24-25 an ordinance of the township of Howell County of Monmouth state of New Jersey amending and supplementing chapter 139 of the Township Code entitled fees public hearing on this ordinance is now open if anyone wishes to comment please come to the podium seeing none may have a motion to close public hearing motion to close public second all in favor I I I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-25 I move to adopt ordinance 24-25 second councilwoman Fischer yes councilman gajer yes councilwoman odonnell yes deputy n yes the ordinance is properly adopted ordinance 24-26 an ordinance of the township of HL County of Monmouth state of New Jersey authorizing an outdoor advertising sign lease agreement with Premier media LLC public hearing on ordinance 24-26 is now open if anyone wishes to comment please come to the podium seeing none may have a motion to close public hearing motion to close public I have a second second all in favor I I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-26 motion to adopt ordinance 2426 second councilman fiser yes councilman gazer yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Nell yes the ordinance is adopted ordinance 24-27 an ordinance of the township of Howell County of Monmouth state of New Jersey authorizing an outdoor advertising sign lease agreement with Premier media LLC public hearing on this ordinance is now open if anyone wishes to comment please come to the podium seeing none we have a motion to close public hearing motion to close public have a second second all in favor I I I have a motion to adopt ordinance 24-27 motion to adopt ordinance D 24-27 may have a second second councilwoman Fischer yes councilman gajer yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor nidel yes the ordinance is adopted ordinance 24-28 an ordinance of the township of Howell County of Monmouth state of New Jersey authorizing an outdoor advertising sign lease agreement with Premier media LLC public hearing on ordinance 2428 is now open anyone to comment please come to the podium seeing none may have a motion to close public hearing motion to close public second all in favor I I may have motion to adopt ordinance 24-28 move to adopt ordinance 24-28 second councilwoman fiser yes councilman gager yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor nidel yes the ordinance is adopted there are no new ordinances to introduce at this time the next regularly scheduled council meeting will take place on July 16th 2024 executive session begins at 6 pm and regular session will begin at 7 p.m. seeing no further business before the council may have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second second all in favor hi