recording adequate notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with the open public meetings act puru into public laws 1975 said notice was advertised in the Asbury Park Press and the beacon and was posted on the bolted board showing the time and place of the meeting please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance i pedge al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible withy jusice all first thing on the agenda tonight is the proclamation for National Library week Hi how are hello how are you I am doing good uh for those who may not know me hello everyone uh my name is Chris suori I am the adult and Information Services librarian for the Lacy branch of the Ocean County Library I'm here I'm representing the Lacy branch and obviously the Ocean County Library to get the proclamation for National libraries week so thank you to the mayor all Township for this lovely honor for the library system okay I'll read it to you okay whereas the libraries offer the opportunity for everyone to connect with others learn new skills and pursue their passions no matter where they are in life's journey and whereas libraries have long served as trusted Institution striving to ensure Equitable access to information and services for all the members of the community regardless of race ethnicity Creed ability sexual orientation gender identity or Scio I'm sorry socioeconomics socioeconomic status and whereas libraries adapt to everchanging needs of their communities developing and expanding collections programs and services that are diverse as the population they serve whereas libraries are accessible and inclusive places that promote a sense of loyal connection advancing understanding Civic engagement and share Community goals whereas libraries play a pivot of role in Economic Development by providing resources and support for job Seekers entrepreneurs small businesses thus contributing to local Pro prosperity and growth whereas libraries make choices that are good for environment and make sense economically creating thriving communities for a better tomorrow and whereas libraries are treasured institutions that preserve our Collective Heritage and knowledge safeguarding both physical and digital resources for present and future generations and whereas libraries are essential Public public good and fundamental institutions in Democratic societies working to improve Society protect the right to education and literacy and promote the free Exchange exchange of information ideas for all whereas libraries Librarians and all the library workers are joining Library supporters and Advocates Across the Nation to celebrate National Library week now therefore be it resolved that I pegy Su Juliano mayor of lacy Township Proclaim National Library week April 7th through the 13th 2024 during this week I encourage all residents to visit the library and celebrate the Ventures and opportunities they they unlock for us every day Ready Set Library thank you very much pgy thank you thank you so much so nice it's nice to be here like this right Thank you very ni thank you so much Tiffany mayor would you like to make any comments yeah I I mean know Chris for a very long time uh and she's good enough to host uh when we've all been fortunate enough to be mayor or meet the mayor uh we all I'm sure took our children there it's great to have a branch here centrally located in town right the crossroads of our town so um I know you're doing so much more than just offering books I mean you have audio and Outreach now people have classes there um my people at County Health did a diabetes and a Nurse Program over there uh so thanks for the service it's a real value add to our community and call us anytime you need us thank you Mr Kennis um yes uh my mom is one of the founding members of the friends at a library she's uh still doing it um so uh the library has always been part of my life um I remember all the Book Fairs that we had that were held at the uh the School House Museum and like I said said it just uh she's been at that Library a lot um so it's very near and dear to me and uh we appreciate all the things that the library does for the township Mr McDonald thank you um yes as the commissioner of the Ocean County Library System um very proud of what we put out uh Lacy is one of the shining stars uh we do talk about it in our commissioner meeting and I just want everyone to know that last year the Ocean County library system was in the running for the nation to be the best in this in the country and I think we it's like being it's being like the sweet 16 the ncaas they went down to 16 however which really upset me was Long Branch W so so I'm not happy that the our our to the north won it but it is phenomenal I would hope that if if you just going to get books explore it more anything you want you can get online okay there's two two uh apps out there music newspapers whatever you want you can get it online and if they don't have it online ask them and they'll do the best they can and if they don't send me an email okay so no they do a good job at Lacy it's one of the better ones that we have and we it's one of the ones we have least trouble with so congratulations thank on a personal note my children were raised there we went there every week when they were little ones and and just recently I was there for U meet the mayor night and the library was hosting the art show for our elementary schools and it was what an event the place was packed packed with people actually I got a text message from somebody that said is everything okay because I see a lot of cause over there what's what's going on you know so it was re it was really a nice evening got to talk to a lot of people and and thank you appreciate it very much thanks for being here too appreciate that that's it that's it okay okay special use permit Lacy United Methodist Church car show 51 2024 so the Lac United Methodist Church church has reached out and they're seeking permission to host a car show event on Saturday May 11th from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with a rain date of May 25th and this will be held in their parking lot can I have a motion second all in favor I no I have to obstain okay so we need to take the motion yes I'll do a roll call vote so can I have a motion move it second Mr KOLO yes Mr kis yes Mr M Mr McDonald stain mayor Juliana yes that's all I have unless anyone has anything else no okay motion to adj move it all in favor I okay adequate notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with the open public ACT public excuse me pursu to the public laws of 1975 said notice was advertised in the Asbury Park Press and the beacon and was posted on the bolted board showing the time and place of this meeting please rise for the salute to the flag and a moment of silence I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay first reading of ordinance 2024 d06 amending chapter 185 to revise certain regulations on Coastal and flood zone areas so we have this ordinance um almost ready to go we unfortunately cannot introduce it tonight because we are still waiting on a response from the DP so I am going to move on to item number two okay first reading of ordinance 2024 D7 establishing a cap Bank an ordinance of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank in accordance with njsa 4A col Ford - 45.4 this is part of our annual budget process we adopt uh this ordinance every year and it allows the township to bank and use certain Appropriations uh in future years so first reading move it second Mr canis yes Mr McDonald yes Mr KIRO yes mayor Juliana yes first reading of ordinance 2024 d8 providing for various Capital Improvements and the Acquisitions of various Capital Equipment in Ord to the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey providing for various Capital Improvements and the acquisition of various Capital Equipment appropriating $ 4,251 560 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 3,778 th000 bonds and notes to finance a portion of the cost thereof authorized in and by the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey this includes the purchase of various fire and EMS equipment building improvements to loka Harbor EMS Ambulance remounting the acquisition of Public Safety Patrol Vehicles various Public Works vehicles and Public Works equipment webbit upgrades improvements to Sunrise Boulevard cranberry Hill Railroad Avenue and the Southwest Barnet Pines dredging of Stouts Creek uh improvements at the South docks and a roof replacement for a Township building move second Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennis yes Mr KOLO yes mayor Juliano yes second reading of ordinance 2024-the in titles bingles and Raffles ordinance of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey repealing chapter 141 of the Township Code of the township of lacy entitled Bingo and Raffles and establishing new chapter 141 entitled bingos and Raffles so as to make certain revisions to the Township Code pertaining to the issuance of Bingo and raffle licenses this is second reading open the floor see a second reading open up the floor public comment done make a motion to close the floor second all in favor I motion on the ordinance move it second uh m Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennis yes Mr K yes mayor Juliana yes resolution 202 24-11 certifying compliance with the EEOC resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey certifying governing body compliance with the United States equal employment opportunity commission's enforcement guidance on the consideration of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions under title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 this is another one of our annual resolutions move it second Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennon yes Mr K yes mayor Juliano yes resolution 2024 d102 introducing the 2024 Municipal budget resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey introducing the local Municipal budget of the township of lacy for the fiscal year 2024 General Appropriations for municipal purposes is 39,7 66,1 3630 reserve for uncollected taxes is1 million $26,845 245 less anticipated revenues is 9,764 764 and the amount to be raised by taxes is 2,527 481 so this uh with that being said the tax increase is uh 2.7 so what does that mean for the average homeowner um the homeowner assessed a 28700 could expect to pay $77 annually uh or $641 per month for the upcoming year and I just want to state that the public hearing for the budget will be on April 25th at 6m right here in this room move it second Mr McDonald yes Mr canis yes Deputy Mayor curo yes mayor Juliana yes resolution 2024-25 amending the temporary operating budget resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey providing for emergency temporary operating budget in accordance with the provisions of njsa 4A colum 4-20 this is just to extend our temporary budget for a few more weeks until our regular budget is in place Mo it second uh Deputy Mayor KERO yes Mr kenon yes Mr McDonald yes mayor Juliana yes resolution 2024 -104 recalling a Club liquor license resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey recalling a Club liquor license previously held by the forkin river Colombian Club the state ABC reached out to us um because this um license has been inactive and since the club no longer exists they act asked us to do a resolution to memorialize the recalling of it move second Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennis yes Deputy Mayor K yes mayor Juliana yes resolution 2024-25 awarding or not awarding a contract for CommunityWide energy agregation I'm sorry agregation aggregation thank you thank you resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey award awarding a contract to a third party supplier this is an incorrect not awarding not awarding um thank you not awarding a contract to a third party power supplier to provide electric generation services to Lacy Community energy aggregation participants and to provide government energy aggregation services in connections with lcea so the market is currently unfavorable so it's best to stick with jcpnl and there's possibility that we go out to bid again for this later in the year move it Mr McDonald yes Mr cannis yes Deputy Mayor KIRO yes mayor Juliana yes resolution 2024-25 authorizing the ex execution I'm having trouble with words that's okay authorizing execution of an agreement a grant agreement with the county of ocean resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing the execution of an interlocal service agreement with the county of ocean for the fiscal year 24 Ocean County Sheriff's Traffic enforcement program Grant moving second Deputy Mayor KOLO yes Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennon yes mayor Juliana yes resolution 2024-25 authorizing a change in the dock rental fees resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing a change in Doc rental fees we are changing it um as discussed at the 14th March 14th Caucus meeting from flat fee to $65 per foot move it second Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennis yes Deputy Mayor KIRO yes mayor Juliana yes resolution 2024-the the refund of building department fees resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing the refund of building department fees issued by the Lacy Township Building Department move it second Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennis yes Deputy Mayor KERO yes mayor Juliana yes resolution 2024-25 authorizing the refund of deposit monies resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state New Jersey authorizing the refund of deposits held for the use of Municipal facilities move second second Mr Kennis yes Mr McDonald yes Deputy Mayor CA yes mayor Juliano yes resolution 202 24-10 authorizing the payment of Township bills resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing the payment of Township bills this is in the amount of 6,727 361 47 second Mr McDonald yes Mr kenis yes Deputy Mayor KOLO yes mayor Juliana yes motion to approve caucus minut meetings from March 14 2024 move it second all in favor I motion to approve Township Min meeting minutes from March 14 2024 second all favor I motion to approve executive session meeting minutes from March 14th 2024 second all in favor motion to approve the raffle license for Lacy youth football and cheer and the forid river Tuna Club move it second all in favor all right okay comments from the committee Deputy Mayor yes mayor thank you I just want to commend everyone um in in town hall and of course everyone up here uh for for the work that's been done on the budget these budgets are never easy they take a long time uh and we know that it's your money we all have skin in the game too so we try to make our obligations and we try not to make frivolous purchases and I think that when you look at the municipal portion of our budget we try to do it the right way so we invite your input and I want I want to thank everybody and thank everyone that had inputed for here as well uh that's important so in that regard um you've heard me talk about being a champion for business there are ratables in town um so last week I I did a radio interview it was entitled learn all about the great things uh happening in Lacy Township with the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce uh I am in between appointments now but I served on the Ocean County Board of Tourism and business development and the person who interviewed me currently sits on the board and I tell you um you know in Lacy we we do it right if you have an opportunity to go to Facebook and go to the Southern Ocean page where you see it it's been shared widely throughout the county it's a good interview and what I said in there is what we try to do in Lacy is we're in the customer service business we try to make it a point within the realm of ethical reason to say yes we don't when somebody comes to us has a plan or an idea for a business again within the realm of ethical reason we don't have have them uh push an an application under a 2inch thick piece of glass to them say here fill this out and by the way give me uh write a check and uh that's your permit costs we walk people through it we don't wait 10 days for zoning permits or 20 days uh for other types of permits uh construction permits we act on these permits when we receive them we want to try to do everything right up into the foot of the cross to help the applicant without actually getting into their day-to-day or being responsible for making a business plan with them we want to support business uh in Lacy Township we talked about the future and be coming down here they're going to do a piece on on the wibbit and I and I say all the time how much money since this m since since this meeting started drove up and down past the Parkway north and Parkway South this string of of of uh pearls towns here on Route n it shouldn't just be uh the larger towns Seaside point the traditional towns LBI that get that money our businesses deserve and we can get into it uh so what happened with the webbit it paid for itself several times over already it's booked out for the summer you can book it uh for children's events what happens now it helps the local economy and we have some some food trucks there now um people are employed people say well we you know we can't do it we we don't have an ocean we don't we did it and other towns can do it too I hope they don't I hope we stay the only only wibbit in town and in the county and and because we entertain kids from all around the state they get healthy activity that's stimulating uh from all around the state not just in Ocean County so we talked about small businesses we talked about the importance of applying for Grants I mean when when we get grants and we're able to make purchases that's better serving the people of lacy Township and coming out with less of a tax bite talked about property values I've said it here a lot a lot of people come up to the microphone and said and I I'll close with this hey look we're building too much we're building we're 86 square miles and a lot of it is protected pin lands I don't think we're ever going to look like New York City our property values continue to go up year after year after year it sounds cliche they're making more people but they're not making more land and knowing the pine lands commission which is a good thing I don't think we're ever going to be able to build out completely like some other towns to the north of us and Industrial North Jersey as well so we have a great quality of life uh we talked about that I I bring this out to you what we want to do with the county when they come out to open and clip a ribbon on a business they give a whole social media package some estimates worth $10,000 we want to help that fledgling business so mayor Giuliano has been really above board goes out Clips a ribbon if we can't do it with the county on I want our business to get the county and the mayor if we can't do it on a on a weekday when the Count's not around we'll go out and we'll do it with the county at some other point and then the business has two of them I want the new business to come up to the microphone do anything we can I know it's a little longwinded I want to congratulate we have forkid River loka Harbor in the back back of the room uh mayor Juliano swore those good people in and one last thing the tragic loss Coalition mayor Giuliano my myself and I don't want to take all the mayor's Sunshine uh it was really important uh we've had some loss in our school schools uh the mayor and I both attended um and we had some really strong academic counselors in there tragic loss counselors they're going to be there to help take care of these kids because they need it I applaud our colleagues at the school for realizing that need and at no direct cost to the schools that I know of those people are going to be there and I took the liberty after speaking with mayor and Juliano invite him to the microphone for 5 minutes on our April 11th meeting to talk about it if people need help they're there I got no dog in the race I just know they do good work and I thank you m appreciate everybody being here tonight thank you Mr Cenas thank you mayor um yeah I too uh just want to piggyback on some of the things that Pete was saying um we uh all the fire companies had their installation dinners over the last two weeks and I just want to thank the um all the members of the of the fire companies that volunteer their time um time and energy to uh again volunteer to to serve the township um the they're constantly getting put in positions where there's more mandates and more rules especially the leadership if you're in a leadership position in the fire companies it gets harder and harder because you have they this you know the state is asking you to do more and more things or people are always trying to put more rules to make it you know almost make it harder to become a volunteer so I just want to thank everybody that volunteers and not just the fire company but anybody that Volunteers in town it's it's a lot of work I also want to commend our deputy mayor for um uh he was on the podcast for 91.9 w B&J it's the shore region podcast Pete was on there um advocating for the township um he does a phenomenal job when he put in that position uh he's done it a number of times and he really does a good job of selling the township and and uh pointing out a lot of the activity that's going on in town so I just want to thank him on behalf of the committee for that and finally also to uh I guess what Pete was touching on a little bit as far as the business the Ryan Holmes developments uh sold out um the townhouse is along Route 9 that development sold out we did that ribbon cutting I want to say like last July so that was really fast I forget how many 70 units I I forget but but that project that's been in the works this how long this stuff takes in New Jersey that's really been in the works for was probably seven years they when they finally started it only took them a year to complete that project but that's part of the problem and that's why it probably sold out as quickly as it did because it takes so long to get approvals now that once the you know there's just a backlog of demand which is why you know one of the reasons why house prices are increasing as they are those are my comments thank you Mr McDonald thank you mayor couple pardon me couple of things here um the COA is out the new rules are in and if you read the new rules they've stripped some of our protection away so it's going to come more on to the township we can be sued easier than we were before so it's this is not a good thing U The Ninth District went against it so I'm happy about that um on a lighter note here uh I happen to read the IRS website pretty regularly um so you if you haven't filed your 2002 taxes because for whatever reason 2002 202 I'm sorry 2020 pardon me 2020 2020 for for whatever reason you just didn't feel like filing them or you forgot about them or whatever you have until May 17th this year to file them because if you're getting a return they will give it to you after that you're out of luck and according to the IRS website there's several billion dollars in there that people they should go to the people but they got to file the return so that's that's the return and the last thing I have to say is Happy Easter everybody Tim I find interesting in while you have three years to file your taxes to get your refund if you were the in the opposite where you ow money they can go back in perpetuity to get the money from you but you that to get it from that that's the one thing about an audit they go back and audit your 2020 taxes they find something all the way back to 2000 it's all open so you got to be careful with it thank you yep I'm just going to repeat a lot of things that have already been talked about I first of all I want to just thank Linda and Veronica and the committee for working as hard as we did on getting the budget taken care of and and really is a fantastic budget this year um also we had our lenoa Harbor our fora River and our Bamber fire um I swore them all in to their new positions and again reminding everybody that if we did not have them as our volunteers you would not even believe where our taxes would go at that point so it's something to always walk past them and say thank you because without them we'd be in trouble um I also attended a mayor's breakfast this week and I know some people might say oh all you're doing is promoting what you're doing it's not it's it's my job as the mayor to attend all of these functions and be there for the prayer service the other night at the high school for the bunny the breakfast for the lenoa harbor EMS it's a job when you take on this responsibility it is a job to follow through on all that and that that's what I'm doing so it's not that I'm here promoting myself I'm here talking about the things that go on in our town and that I I attend I also attended a nice uh gathering at feasant run was really nice talking to everybody out there too it was and very informative I felt that we got a lot of information out to them so it was that was very enjoyable too I want to remind everybody that next week the kids are all off from school and there's always a lot going on they if the weather's good they're going to be on their bikes and their scooters and they're walking to the park and everything else so let's really pay attention out there to the kids walking around it's very important we have enough uh to deal with and uh we don't want to add that to our list and with that comment I will say everybody have a wonderful Easter and um I'll open the floor if if I could M Mr Bender just I would like to call this young lady because she's not feeling good so I wanted to get her up so that she can get home okay come on up no I'm not that no she she just had Dent she just had dental surgery so NOA is wearing off just state your name Laura sh um so first of all I wanted to thank you mayor we spoke about the uh cleanup day that I'm trying to get going yes um and so I wanted to thank you and the council for the bags the gloves and the Grabbers unfortunately we had to cancel it last Saturday because of the downpour but uh the rain date fingers crossed for good weather is um April 13th 13th okay so it looks like a lot of people are interested to get out there and help pick pick up some letter I was going to ask you how' you make out with response cuz I know you were putting out an email so did you get a good response back yeah I put out another update on the uh Lacy chatter post my original post okay so uh this coming week I'm going to go back and look at where everybody said that they could go and try to map it out so all right and we'll be meet I'll be meeting in the parking lot here that Saturday morning 9:30 I'll stay here for about an hour and just make sure everybody has got what they need yeah I just wanted uh I know you need the Grabbers back right so I'm not sure the best way to handle that is to like have them sign it out or just say like where do they return them uh you know what um kind of always have done it on the honor System kind of thing we didn't make anybody sign them out and they do get returns so they can either get returns here at the municipal building or they can return them at public works okay right yeah great at their convenience okay all right um just another C on that point like um I've been trying to drive up and down roads and figure out like what is the worst area like let's say in front of um shop rate okay um that whole stretch there whose responsibility is it well if if we're if we're looking at like out in front of the shop right there that would be their responsibility off the sidewalk so it gets caught on that Hill you know all along the sidewalk it's the same thing you and I conversated about out in front of Home Depot there that one area there but they were out there cleaning the other day day so hopefully yeah and we had a lot of wind so of course that created a lot more trash in the area when we had that big wind storm so that brought on some too so um but if if you have certain areas that you don't think would be an area where people want to go let me know and maybe I can you know get a hold through code enforcement we can notify the property owners that they have to pick up the litter in the debris and that has happened and like I'll even give an example before the plastic bag band you used to see a lot of those plastic bags the yellow ones from shoppr or the Walmart ones that would blow across the street especially from Walmart so we would notify Walmart that it's their responsibility I mean it's their bag even though they might not have dumped it but yeah we do notify the property owners through code enforcement but you know based on complaints that they need to go and clean up their areas okay great right um second thing um oh uh back uh last year we talked about doing a vegetation meeting regarding the mowing at the fork River Bayfront Park right and we we have not discussed a date right okay I know the mowing is coming up May is coming up and we talked about the possibility of taking a walk down there right where I can show you and whoever else wants to come where the milkweed plants year after year are getting hacked down before they get a chance to do what they're supposed to do right if we could take a walk maybe that'd be great I could point out that you know areas that we should just leave alone for that reason but um third um I called the DPW twice I think I think once Monday and once last week regarding a dead cat that was um it's been there for 3 weeks on the side of the road by Marios right before Marios if you're heading south on Route n so before before cafre you got Marios and there's a house there that looks like it's abandoned and there's been a dead cat about this far off the road probably got hit and landed there that's the state of New Jersey and that gets called into their um their the line that we have to call it in it's not DPW that no I I found that out cuz I called them and the first time I spoke to the gentleman there he said um it wasn't their responsibility and how about we just let nature take its course which I felt was kind of who said that to you I didn't I didn't get his name whoever answered the phone which I kind of felt was very disrespectful because it's on the asphalt Nature's not going to well I guess biran I've been watching this poor thing Decay for three weeks now I mean it was probably someone's cat I mean if it was a dog or a deer I don't think it would be left there it I don't know I feel like we could do better and I know it's not DPW but he said that he was going to call animal control so the second time I called he said he spoke to animal control and that they couldn't go on the property because it was private property so I'll get three weeks later it's like okay thank you I'm going to go home now yes all right take care thank you yes Mr Bender Barry Bender somewhere in Lacy Township um I I'm uh well I have a little rund down here I'll make it in five minutes okay since I've started our efforts to save the warden house I've gotten many questions from residents as to what's going on now uh there's lots of people out there are concerned about the building uh to clarify things for folks watching here and throughout Lacy Township I'm going to run down a 20-year timeline I'll make it in five minutes to of public records in regard to anything having to do with the pending sale of block 284 lot 101 1.01 I'm sorry excuse me for one second Mr Bender yes excuse me Mr Senza Mr Senza I can hear you all the way in here the go ahead Mr okay which contains the original Charles A Charles A Smith Community Hall along with the warden house in 2004 a historic survey was completed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regarding the impact on three historic buildings which included the warden house um as part of the route 9 Lacy Road planned intersection um reconstruction that was in 2004 the following year in 2005 as a result of that njd historic survey Deputy of the new Jor historic preservation office Dorothy guzo declared the warden house eligible for inclusion in the National Registry of historic places under Criterion C five years later on in December of 2010 prior to beginning the intersection reconstruction Lacy Township authorized the sale of part of block 284 lot 101 to the New Jersey Department of envir Environmental Protection via ordinance 2010-01 Lacy Township received $119,000 from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for part of block 284 lot 1.01 it was approximately 5,087 Square ft to widen Route 9 for the intersection uh reconstruction uh now we jump a few years On and On a different note in December of 2020 Lacy Township via ordinances 2020-25 and 2020 d26 authorized $1 million for the acquisition of block 2 82 lot 15.01 which is 2.03 acres in improvements known as the Knights of Columbus Hall 15 East Lacy Road it would seem that this was done to clear the way for the sale of block 284 lot 101 in regard to the incumbrances related to the charlesa Smith Community Hall not quite two years later on October 27th 2022 Lacy Township put forth resolution 2022-2023 quote Surplus real property by open public auction to sell block 284 lot 1.01 the description red not needed for public use the gov deals come auction number 23383 SL1 with a minimum bid of $2.9 million was a result of this resolution this was announced at township committee meetings details of the auction were 101 North Main Street Corner Lot Lacy Road and Route 9 1 .92 Acres with two buildings that could be used or removed referring to the 1926 Charles A Smith Community Hall and the historic 1850 Warden house on February 9th 2023 the gov Deal's listing for 2.9 Million opened and later closed on April 17th 2023 without a bin being accepted by the township 3 months later on May 25th 2023 a new gov deals listing described as second chance offer opened for the reduced minimum bid of $1.5 million for Block 284 lot 1.01 the auction opened that day at 9:37 a.m. and closed in 5 minutes later at 9:42 a.m. with the receipt of one bid for $1.5 million we now know the bid was from the George Development LLC uh oops I missed the bottom of this on December 21st 2024 I filed an application for the warden house to be listed on the State national register of historic places via the New Jersey historic pres preservation office the township was notified of this filing on January 3rd 2024 a professional structural evaluation was done confirming that the warden house could be moved to a new location the inspection States the structure has no visible indications that another move would be of concern if done by professionals on February 22nd 2024 I delivered a ceon assist letter to this committee during the public portion of its meeting to Halt the sale of the Charles A Smith Community Hall specifically citing the resol resolution that was agreed upon by Lacy Township to keep the building for use of its residents as a condition of the DED transfer as of today 10 seconds as of today and to the best of my knowledge the sale of block 284 lot 101 is still pending and I'd like to thank the committee for bearing with me during this information share last comment history matters save the warden house thank you for your comments Monica just state your name please Monica ssparrow I'm here representing a um couple of groups uh one of them is the uh Methodist Church church and the Mount Zion program that we have for um homeless veterans it is the only homeless shelter in Ocean County and we have it for veterans and four at a time can stay there there's a background story in January of this past year one of our veterans here in town passed away by Suicide when he came back from Afghanistan he tried various therapies and one of them was art and he's left us 100 paintings his wife wants something positive coming out of this so what's happening is on April 12th Friday night at the community the Charles A Smith Community Center between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. there's going to be a dinner catered by the captain's in there's going to be live music and there's going to be a display of paintings we invite you to pay $25 and pick up a ticket from me or at the Methodist Church office or at vetwork or at Captain's in you can pick up a ticket tickets are going we would appreciate your support because we want something positive coming out of this tragedy so the um just so we're clear so the paintings will be for sale the paintings will be for sale they'll be all around the room they'll be by bid so you'll just go and write your bid and by the way the $25 that you're paying to get your dinner and the live music are are also $25 toward the purchase of a painting so come for two hours come have a great time come make a difference in this community I already got my tickets you got your tickets anybody else who would like a ticket I've got them with me if you get 10 people you can have a reserve table otherwise you're going to make new friends 6: to 8:00 p.m. good job Monica she's doing yes it's a fantastic program very good thank you again we' school people with Sude and adults we need to P together and support each other so please come so we can support our April 12th from 6 to 8 thank you anybody else from the audience I'd like to speak come on up how are you good doing my name is Thomas Apollo can you spell that last name for me Dalo D Alo good evening mayor and Township committee I reside in the feun community of lacy I'm here to represent our community and pre present you a petition signed by 298 residents of the fesal Run we are requesting the township and state to conduct studies for the purpose of implementing traffic calming measures reduce traffic speeds and increased safety of all our users in our community our community is poorly lit and we need to have increased visibility during night hours we had an incident in January 2024 due to speeding and dimly lit streets the feun than you in in advance for taking the time to review and consider this petition you please BR present this sure of course you can is what you're trying to get the speed limit is it too quick there too yeah 25 that's as low as you can go they're not private Street stre they're public streets the lighting we can look at maybe we could switch it out to some of the street lightings to LED which would give you more visibility you have to do it in uh blocks of 12 units that's how jcpnl does it but that's something we can look at thank you and you're are you meaning every street or maybe the heavily traveled ones with the lighting the whole comp right so yeah and so we'll look at the lighting but we might focus on the heavy heavily Le traveled ones first and then build into that okay great thank you thanks being here anyone else from the audience here we go good evening happy Easter and um I'm not sure this might be more than five the five minute Rule still in effect in okay so I'll probably come up uh the second time for my Charles Smith complaint um I've been researching the township website as far as what the township has financially money on hand money invested for the township and money owed out and I don't know I can't find it does the budget include what we have what we owe and what we have on reserve Linda I'm going to turn it on to you st also posted onsite or annual Deb I I looked on the website and the most recent information I found on the website is from 20202 what I what okay I'm going to make a proposal that this committee on a monthly basis announces publicly how much money we have on hand how much money uh do have we have invested into different whatever you invest in and how much money do we owe out for instance like the Knights of Columbus building do we have a mortgage on that building yes or no mortgage we took out a bond and borrowed money we don't mortgage things well mortgagees uh a bond okay so how much is owed on that bond for the uh Knights of Columbus building off the top of I had we don't know you don't know because they're lumped together could you publicly make that available next meeting please it's probably in so we could find out what's going on website right so in the annual debt statement it's already listed as to what the balance is as of 1231 of 23 that's online yes it's under the finance department and then it will say financial documents and you drop that down to what Cal year you're looking for okay correct me if I'm wrong though they're not specifically when when it's bonded you it's all lumped together and then bonded if you look at the annual financial statement if it is well you're right so it might just say bious Capital Improvements so you're not going to know what's in that well I I think I think there should be further transparency to break down what we owe money on so when Big Ticket items come up we know where we stand as the as the citizens and taxpayers of lacy Township what indebtedness we already have because unofficially I've been told recently that this Township is in debt $19 million is that true no so if you have to pull up the anual read it in so you don't know you excuse me what is your position I'm just gonna say one thing if you ask a question let I don't even know who this woman is she's our CFO she is our c she's been at plenty of meetings to know that she's our CFO but if you ask a question allow her the time to answer you okay can I ask her what position she holds surely what position do you hold of lacy Township okay so sitting here standing here right now you do not know if the township is $19 million in debt that's your exact amount you're throwing me off cuz I don't have that in front of me so but there is an annual Deb statement that I'm required to file and post to the website so it's all there for everyone to see I just have a question for you just I'm just G to ask this because that's how I feel ask it do you do you know how much in debt you are at home in your house right off the bat don't think about it for a minute just come out with that number right away well first of all I'm not getting paid to know how much debt I had in my house I'm saying she's is getting paid to know how much she's here for the budget meeting tonight completely two different things P well I'm just saying you have to look at it that way too you can't aggressively say to somebody you have the number right off the top of your head she's doing a job to me that's like one of the biggest numbers if I was a certified accountant for a business a union a company I think on the top of my head I would know how much in debt we are but that's me okay I'll move on but I'm I'm I'm asking that this committee or uh your um employee here provides us a an oral presentation periodically on how much money we have how much money we have invested and how much money we owe and a little bit of a detailed breakdown just like when you uh read the thing of the various Capital Improvements about $3 million can I is this online in detail what this $34 million is going for where do I find this information instead of just hearing that we got bonds for three4 million to upgrade this building that building whatever so where would I find it in detail so I can analyze what our taxpayers money is he just keeps talking he doesn't allow you to answer goad the ordinance will be posted on the Bolton board after this meeting and it's also posted online on our online on Monday post posted on the bulletin board yes it's a requirement to have your bond ordinance posted on the bulletin board so I got to come up here to see it you can also look at it online when it's up there on Monday on Monday onl okay okay all right all right now um I'm asking included in this Bond money does it include the $247,000 that we owe Johnson for the uh now uh terminated or postponed new Municipal complex is that included in that one includ in the budget not in the bond ordinance so it's been paid to Johnson it has not been paid you just asked if it was included and I said it's included in the budget it's not been paid okay all right okay fair enough and what about the $35,000 for the engineers report on the addition on this building has that that's been PR prior paid prior I I believe out of last year's budget it was last year yeah okay so that's paid all right so uh on resolution 102 introducing the municipal budget I'm not going to be here so can I find that online in detail and what would that be under Finance documents 5m Finance Finance document okay all right um I hope the uh committee considers uh a more transparent Financial picture of our Township on a a monthly basis so we could better understand uh where our money's going to um I'm gonna talk now about the John Smith uh issue and the transfer the name from one building to another John Smith on the Charles Smith building Charles you said John that's why I was confused Charles Smith building which was the name of the Old Town Hall and it was transferred to the now Knights of Columbus building how did that happen whose idea was it was it uh uh reviewed legally and why was it done I think I mayor I might be able to answer some of his questions I'm not sure all of them in conidence with the proposed sale of the property it was determined through title search that there was an estate that had donated property one of the caveats of the estate donation was that a building a build building be named The Charles A Smith Memorial Building or building be named after Charles A Smith the Community Hall that I think you're referring to is a Charles Smith building right was that the official name of that or name that at any time up to the point that we attempted to sell the property so to F facilitate the transaction the Knights of Columbus which is the Community Hall has been named The Charles A Smith my building the only requirement of the estate was that a building be named that a municipal building be named The Charles Smith and recognition of the donation to land it has been done the title company agrees with that interpretation um I respectfully disagree with you I understand that okay now the title company yes uh I'm under the understanding that a new title insurance uh uh document was created is that true I don't know what you mean by new well with the existing uh Charles Smith Memorial Building on Route 9 in uh Lacy road that had a title uh insurance policy I assume from 1934 that's when it switched over and now I'm I'm the understanding that this title company has created a new title insurance policy that specifically puts you guys in the clear of what you're trying to do that's what title insurance companies are for okay does that supersede the previous title insurance policy all I know is a title insurance company had agreed with that transfer now it's up to them that's why they're an insurance company okay if someone were to litigate it so and they and they prevailed in the litigation that's why the title insurance company is title insurance so does did this new language prevent anything from happening it just s in the event that it does it's going to ensure okay just like fire Insurance on your house doesn't mean your house is going to catch on fire but what I don't what I don't understand I was under the impression and I'm not completely maybe not right that there was an existing title in insurance policy the township got some push back let me let me finish the township got some push back about what they did so now the township or their attorney goes to the title company right were you there Mr Connors for the meeting for what meeting for the title insurance compy have a meeting with the title insurance company the buyer would request title insurance people buying a property you're going to want Title Insurance correct am I correct well as a property owner you would want a proper title insurance policy so no one steals your land or comes up with another deed right right if you're buying it you want to make sure that you get good title exactly so what I'm asking we're not buying it we're selling it what I'm asking let me simplify your question I don't know the relevance of any prior title insurance policy is compared to one that's just been issued now okay so there could be one I imagine it could be okay all right fair enough I still got time Peggy so oh you ran out you ran out a while ago all right I'll come back up I'll come back up let I was just going to say if you'd like to finish you you you're more than welcome to I could violate five minutes yes violate it just for tonight just just for tonight just do it for tonight happy Easter right get on my good side because I don't have I know it's good Friday I thought you had a good side I thought we I do have a good side but the more I hear about what's going on I had to come back up here I do have a good side you're listening to the wrong people out there on the coming to us like you are and having a decent conversation with us we gladly give you the information I think the continuity of questions that he has it's important that he be able to that's right maintain of course say that again but the continuity continuity you you're asking questions rather than to disrupt that and perhaps lose your train of thought that you'd be able to say of okay I think your questions are beneficial to everybody who don't try to be nice to him I'm not try he he's not gonna accept it uh all right so anyways uh Mr Connors you were not at the title meeting right was any Township committee members or Veronica at the title meeting no there's no meeting for a title there's no meeting no you just call them up and say make a new tile attorney does that and they do a title search to make sure it's a clean title meaning there's no encumbrances or leans or bankruptcies listed for that you've bought a house you understand that that gets done yeah quite frankly I'm not sure where you're getting at it doesn't matter if the title policy was written 100 years ago or yesterday if I'm the buyer and I I want I just want a title policy right for to just protect me if anybody comes out of the wood work I don't know what to do I don't know what you're getting at whether it's 100 years ago yesterday could be uh some violations of an existing but that's the title Insurance's problem well could be Township problem Township problem we took out a policy to that's what the insurance is for okay all right so you guys are in the clear then well you know because there were I'll accept that 99% I don't never there were there were uh restrictions on the deed from what I understand well and the deed said from what I understand and I might be repeating other people or whatever basically that Charles Smith donated it for the exclusive purpose for the of the township people to meet greet meet uh education helping uh uh you know young people to get on the right course in life and stuff like like that you know kind of like almost any you know uh moose or different organization you know it's out there for the betterment of the township and to uh bring people together correct right okay so I of the understanding that that was going to to stay that way forever Am I Wrong yes yes how am I wrong when you say stay that way forever well there is a community hall right which is newer and better than the one that is being vacated it is you're looking at me like that I'm sure you've been in both it is no of course newer buildings nicer I'm not saying that that building could is going to provide a better Charles Smith building than the one that was originally built there mhm and it something it hadn't done up until that point actually name a building up until that point it hadn't been named yeah so why why why do I see documents that say that that was but it wasn't you never saw a plaque on the side of the building you never saw any sign there was never any resolution designating it there was never anything established by but I've seen in writing where that was called a Charles Smith memorial building where on different legal papers legal I'll I'll next time I come I'll bring them okay okay all right and we'll we'll we'll discuss that be happy to but um my proposal with that whole deal and I'm surprised that the veterans folded so easily to move over to that bomb shelter over there they folded they folded folded they folded they sat right here and you said well we're going to do something for you so we're going to jam you in the food bank with them people and they gave up that I don't spoken know you should go speak to them they're very very happy over there okay really go see believe you Peggy Sue no really go see them they will tell you I mean and not coming from me or us go over and talk to them they'll tell you besid fact I never knew Bernie SN fold on I know I was just going to say Bernie Snider fold we're g call him and tell him you said he fold I had two Steve I had two meetings with him in the last two months he's tough dude he's a tough dude okay jerman Snider's a tough dude all right what else do you have to say Steve okay so I'm going to have to bring some documents in and read them over because I just have notes on the different things but my my uh proposal recommendation is you stop trying to sell that thing renovate it maybe even get some volunteers I'm a member of the Lacy historical society and when when I call an electrician or a plumber and they're local and I know them they kind of work for free somewhat so maybe we could get some people to renovate that building you talking you talking about the exist the old the one that you're trying to sell the Community Hall or the Community Hall well I don't know what's got to be done with the I have never been in the Warton house but I've been in the other Community Hall it's probably got good bones and everything it just needs you know little uh tender little little tender loving care you're killing me today Chris so and that way you guys wouldn't have all the uh taxpayers in uh a position where we kind of feel that something underhanded or improper is going on go not a and I can't say that for sure but I am going to confront the uh committee with some documents next time I do come okay okay all right thanks appreciate it very much thank you anyone else oh Regina descends the Sunset Drive Sunrise Beach I'm sorry the doors were open I didn't know I could still be heard so I it echoes in the hallway there because of the high ceiling yeah it echoes um first I like to thank um congratulate Pete it's the 100th anniversary of the Ocean County Health Department I was so impressed when I I was so impressed when I heard that yesterday at the commissioner's meeting there's going to be a celebration further on in the year right April 10th yeah you're invited I don't know tell me know me I don't know what that'll get you but all right I just thought it was really unque one of our own here come on you worked for the health department now it's 100 years old I think that's really cool yeah thank you I think yeah I don't think you were on the initial board so um thank you I did mention last meeting those State resolutions about the affordable housing rules would pass and they did and with t right put us in a heck of a bind we can be sued EAS so but do you have any parameters yet on how detrimental it's going to be it did lay out what we have to do it's going to be a logistical nightmare for our administrators to to follow right now based on some uh uh attorneys that have been reviewing the uh legislation and what they believe could be happening we could be on the high side of having to come up with 325 more units so it's not we as in the Township has to build them but it's developers that might have to do a set aside or put money into the affordable housing fund for the township to do something like what we're doing next door with Walter's Development Group so this is right after we're breaking even with the ones next door yeah exactly that's never ending battle so there the state initially was supposed to by August 1st Supply us with what they perceive our number should be now that's been um set down uh has been pushed forward to December 1st and then we have by January 25th have to have all of our crap together to say are we going to sue the state or are we going to come up with an alternate number and see if they agree to it so they're giving you like a six week window to get all the stuff in place that's incredible well good luck with that and um I just wanted to let everyone know that the Forked River Mountain Coalition is having their annual cleanup on Sunday April 21st please see their website for additional information but it's usually a fun morning everyone meets around 8:00 you pick up at the mountain from 9 until 12: and then it's usually followed by a little they meet right here right usually in the parking lot right and then they truck everyone out to the site and um I've done it a few times but uh I won't be here that weekend so I just wanted to let everyone know it's a fun morning out yes it is thank you for your comments anyone else from the audience that would like to speak long as there isn't anybody El de she doesn't like the good evening good evening Linda Miller for at River I was here at the last meeting asking about the start of time of the uh our meeting um I'm here with the same thing uh I wish you would reconsider at least starting it at 6:30 since that is what is in our calendar for the year as you could see tonight um people were coming in after 6:00 um and now there's an accident out there it's the heaviest time traffic time uh when people are trying to get to the meeting so um I I'd like to ask the audience if there's anyone else here that would like it to start at 6:30 instead of 6 I wish they put it back 7 we haven't done that since 2018 we uh we ended 7 o'clock in 2018 okay then we went to 6:30 it's something we can consider let's say that I I'd appreciate that because it would really help for people to be able to get here on time all right and attend yes thank you I appreciate it thank you sure all right how are you Carol middles dorf loka Harbor I wanted to talk to you specifically about your comments earlier I think it's a great idea that you're going out and promoting Lacy because I think Lacy is awesome but I really think it's a good idea if everybody works to try and create Lacy's Chamber of Commerce which doesn't exist and I never could figure that out it used to exist it was very helpful to all businesses what had happened was um I I believe that they stopped meeting another organization came in offered a service under the capitalistic system that we're in Central Ocean Business Association Koba came in and they did the entire String of Pearls uh from the south THS River down to wtown and they were active they went out they held their meetings in all the different towns since 2018 uh and they and people that are business owners chose to sign up with them for their advocacy and their education their Outreach and they meet once a mon it's unfortunate because you had mentioned at a previous meeting that there are there's an interest for people to come in and do scouting and film etc etc yeah not a location scout I call I called Chamber of Commerce to find out how do you coordinate with the township who's got r i called this Township because I thought it was a great idea to try and promote it based on what you had said and it and I call and they're like we don't have they didn't your if I could through the chair go right ahead in a New Direction they just said we don't have one sorry the Director of Business and tourism is working with the state tourism director right now I was with assemblyman rump and commissioner sedi a couple of weeks ago at um Hotel LBI and in order for a town to be film ready it's not a high water mark I want the film commission to come to our town and Scout it out we've got nuclear plant beaches and a lion okay so I don't think you can you you can't get more diverse and beautiful and a farm I do documentary films I have been trying to do this for years here I've gone out and shot on numerous for I'm talking like 20 years and recently over the last 10 years all I'm shooting is garbage in the beautiful area I go up and down Cedar Creek the whole Shores are covered with garbage so I'm just saying the reason why I didn't do the documentary and why I've been involved in safe Cedar Creek for so long is because I can either do it and say look at this natural resource that we have and look at the natural tourism that it could promote and all I've got is pictures of garbage and I can't seem to get there's no water Council in the town There's No environmental committee active right now so I'm just saying I appreciate where you're going with it yes goad in the reality of where I am in my real life this is what I do and I came up really short when I looked at all the opportunities that were here to bring somebody whether it's for photo shoots or whether it's for film so I'm just saying Mr Kenne has something he'd like to say the Chambers of Commerce are basically local uh local groups and in the Chamber of Commerce years ago when it was active it was a lot of small businessmen from Lacy Township um as time went on they've gotten too busy um and couldn't you know th those those uh clubs again they volunteers takes a lot of time to run those clubs and it I think not only could they not keep up with the membership the uh other clubs pick them away like the Rotary Club is sort of the de facto Chamber of Commerce at this point um that's all local mostly local businessmen so I don't mean to burst the bubble of what we think we're bringing here as far as tourism I think historic tourism is really really something that ly could tap into which is a big thing that the state and the FEDS are trying to do right now I'm just answering your question about the Chamber of Commerce why there is not one I'm just saying not having a chamber of commerce is kind of detrimental to having people like myself that that's a normal contact to bring in business I understand so but it's the same thing as on the environmental commission and also uh what else did you we also had the economic development commission where bar Barry was sitting on that um what happens over time is the is I guess people feel that they're not getting anything done and so they the and the time commitment becomes too much for them and then those boards Peter if you're you're more than we we we say this a lot we said you are more than welcome so every year no after the elections we if you want to submit your resume to to any one of those boards we'll take a look at it they're appointed positions well we don't have a chamber or a wood a chamber no we don't not a chamber we have environmental commission and economic devel I wanteded to make a comment about it because it makes it sound like I mean you're more than welcome to establish a chamber but it's not a town like well I don't think you yeah you don't it's not you don't I'm not implying that you have to be a business person I mean the chamber is an independent operation of the township it was never part ex they are yeah yeah and they also yeah promote tourism and things like that and make what exactly what you're trying to do but if you had a team of people helping you I think it would be of value so I'm just putting an outf there appreciate that thank you thank you for your comments anybody else from the audience all right Mr bidnick coming up lots of things I wanted to mention tonight that's why I wanted to go last um first March 26th was the 100 53rd anniversary of the founding of our community um during covid we had the 15th anniversary dat but we never really had a celebration to honor our history we really need to do that I'm surprised nobody even brought it up tonight at the meeting it's the anniversary of the of our community so I marked it down I was hoping somebody would bring this to the attention but nobody did so I'm doing it so everybody happy anniversary local citizens um so code of conduct okay I brought this up for last several months I will continue to bring it up um and why I feel it's important and it's important because I talk to people I talk to a lot of people they tell me Mr bidnick I watch you get up there you challenge the government bodies they try to uh you know attack you at certain times they um Etc and if they do this to you I don't have the abilities that you have so how am I going to get up there and be able to speak and speak my mind about things that are issues at hand and um look I'm a big boy I can certainly take care of myself but a lot of my local compatriots in my community don't have the same wherewithal and for that reason and I'm going to continue at every meeting as I have to push for a code of conduct we need it two the meeting time 7:00 6:30 isn't good enough quite frankly um if you're a working person and so many of our people who live in our town are driving away some have to go to New York I know people that can't come to these meetings because they work in Manhattan by the time they get home they are not able to make the meeting I just want to say this as a reminder you know we pay the taxes we the citizens this government works for us and it should be bending over backwards to accommodate the citizens that it is elected to serve and who is paying all of you a salary now my personal feeling is that these meetings shouldn't be changed or the times for a certain person or any individual who sits on this body basically it should be for the people of our community it's very important I keep hearing comments that are made about you know we want more people to come we want this we want that well I'm telling you how we can do it put it back to 7:00 please thank you very much three and this is all said with due respect because the person that I'm referring to I have great respect for Mr Connors at the last meeting you made a comment concerning my behavior and that I have a reputation of disagreeing with things that professionals project at first I was a little taken back by your criticism but after reflecting on it I actually take it as a compliment in this day and age it was me as a compliment yes in this in this day and age with the mess our country has become each and every one of us should be challenging everything that these so-called professionals and politicians are doing I would like to remind everyone the mess America is in today was caused by our governments it isn't the people who are making these decisions it is our government and the so-called professionals who are feeding them with the justifications for their actions so I wear the comment and the badge of honor sir that you gave me at the last meeting thank you very much four there were many many many comments on social media condemning all of the overdevelopment in our town when will this government body finally take the stand with we the people who it is elected to represent instead of making it as easy as possible for these projects especially these larger commercial ones why aren't you taking a firmer hand that one must conform to the existing variances ordinances and setbacks that are stated in our Township Code if we're not going to do that why do we even have a Township Code okay it's it's time for the government body to be listening to what the people want obviously many individuals are not happy I read hundreds of comments from a recent posting concerning the maxim Drive project I found that a government that is afraid of its constituency is the best form of government to have because the government would never want to do anything that would rock the status quo I have a question though what type of abatements did Home Depot Walmart the Cornerstone properties get especially with taxes dealing with the school district I just have a question excuse me for one second how many more comments do you have because your five minutes is up and I don't want you to go back and sit down and come back up so is it going to be at least another I have a couple more things is there anybody else that wants to speak or no okay he the clad yeah that's why I waited to the end okay okay um so anyway the question is and hopefully somebody will be able to answer this what type of abatements did Home Depo Walmart the Cornerstone properties get especially dealing with taxes dealing with our school district the only abatement program that is required is the Cornerstone at lazyy because that's housing and Mortgage and Finance Agency money and that's part of the program because they're borrowing the money from the government and to reduce the loan that they're taking from the government they have to have it not they but the state requires an abatement program or a pilot program as we call it okay so two pilot programs in this town all right so tell me does that go on forever it's um a 30y year uh it's like with the life of the mortgage 30 the life of the mortgage now from what I understand there are one or two towns that actually got around this because it was Regina who told me all about this because this is you know her end of business and I'm wondering why with especially now you have to realize with the school situation being what it is and all of the kids that are probably living in that complex over here um they're basically not contributing any school taxes because for you know so you and I and all the citizens in this building who are taxpayers are actually paying extra taxes for this facility that you have but I know you guys are getting you're getting all the property taxes want way to answer yes so seab breze pilot is paying approximately 90,000 years in a pilot program Walter's phase one is approximately 47,000 Walter's Phase 2 is approximately 33,000 uh they're not um uh foregoing their taxes that is their tax uh contribution it's a contribution to the township it is up to the governing body to decide how that money is dispersed right but I don't believe you're giving it to the schools well we could the schools would have to request it right okay because this is something that's come up amongst I just want to be clear that said it may be a reduced rate but they are paying their taxes okay just not in the form that you think Mr B I also remember a conversation we had along the road there wasn't like an increase of students because what happened was ones that were living here in town already are ones that moved over there there was like a very it was a very low amount of like the increase in number of far as students went okay may I also I said this this I keep this the same jot of notes in my in my book is the the these same issues come up over and over and over again again in 2002 uh 7 and 2008 was the Mac that was the peak uh School enrollment in Lacy Township was 48 uh 4,897 students I didn't pull the most recent data but that declined all the way to 2020 to 21 to 3,823 students that's a reduction of approximately a th000 students so to assume that you know any one of these uh developments is putting an extra thousand kids or however many kids into the school system that can't be absorbed by the schools is mistaken right but I want to explain something since you brought up the schools okay when Co happened okay in particularly a lot of parents pulled their kids from the school district they have not gone back okay because they are homeschooling they're sending them to private schools or they're sending them to the to the you know the school districts that they can do the school district I'm sorry and this is something a personal beef that I have with this body for years the school district has been in Decline and I would expect that this government body that works here would be working on that body behind the scenes and saying you know what this affects the property taxes in our town and the evaluations of all of our homes Mr benck I don't want to interrupt you but but I know you've you know been um been to the schools many times with the same argument and and that's where you have to take this argument we do have liaison meetings with the school system we you know prod and poke on different issues much like they Pro and poke us so you know I'm currently not the L but but these these conversations go on all the time but that is a that that issue in particular where you're going to say that the schools are are not up to par we'll say that's a Schoolboard issue that is not that has not has anything to do with us at this committee I understand but at the last meeting Mr McDonald's here was talking about in detail you look if you don't want to if you do not want to have any government or excuse me any public comment at these meetings about the schools I suggest that you don't talk about them and that's just what I'm saying cuz it works both ways I'm just explaining wait a second you're we have people in the audience saying that we're not providing enough information and so now we have a liaison meeting which is a private meeting not subject to so that that we all comment on private meetings every all our comments here were private meetings or or private engagements Pete on the radio Peggy Sue at any of the fire house function she goes to and and Tim on the leison meetings and myself on a planning board I said I'm that's the job is to mention these things that are going on perfect well if I want this is a public meeting of our town if I want to bring it up I have you know I do but you've made this point many times and our answer is the same that is an issue for the school board first right if I may just don't do a re-evaluation because of the schools let me let me let me just say this I've been liaison with Deputy mic court for five six years now Pete yes sir not one time not one time we probably hold three or four the aison means with the school board per year M have they mentioned the overcrowding of the kids from next door doesn't happen doesn't happen I'm just looking at excuse me I just want to mention that what the cost the actual cost to educate a student in our school it's expensive there's no question about that there is a little over 14,000 so it's actually 19 but actually when you when you look at um the numbers with these new housing developments that are going up the the taxes that are going to be brought in for each one of these units is not going to cover if the people have a couple of kids in them we're all going to land up in our town paying for all these people that is the reason why part of the reason why I'm against the overdevelopment they're going to be paying for it too they're going to be paying property taxes yeah they will but not enough to cover but either you don't either you're not paying $199,000 matter you're you're not paying 19,000 and I'm not paying 19,000 in property taxes I have look I'm going to say something to you I have a bigger gripe than most people in this town you want to know why cuz I never had a child in the school district okay I don't even use your garbage I you have never seen a garbage can in front of my house let me finish the only time in the 19 years that I have lived here that a service that I have required was when I had to call the police department twice and thank God they were there to help me but I do have a legitimate gripe about the taxes and how we're spending it and the way things are going I'm not part of the friends and family Network in this community I'm not one of the people who's connected to all the bodies who's getting a salary their benefits and their pensions and there are a lot of us in this community who really don't like it you know what let me fin I'm sorry I apologize I apologize so I am I'm a little bit livid about this because I am very active in the school I've been working over there for over 12 years the stuff that I'm talking about now six years ago I warned them about what's happening right now they did nothing okay I've helped get three people on that school board now they're not in control but I helped get three people elected to make this change so I've been doing my work and my due diligence just like I'm trying to do here I want you guys to do better that's the point I'm making to you we have a problem with the schools you guys have influence this is the kind of influence let me finish this is the kind of influence that you can use they last year you gave them a half a million dollars from the MUA did you not yes there influence you gave money so the point of that I'm saying to you is as a taxpayer and an advocate for education for our young that you do the best that you can to put pressure on that body to do better because it affects all of our property taxes and that is an important and passionate issue for me on another note I also want to I'm glad you did the condemnation tonight for the our public library because as you all know as a former Library director libraries are the people's University they're open to everyone it helps all masses of the population where they can get a really broad education even if they can't afford to go to college so I'm glad you did that tonight I much appreciate that on another note I have a solution for your space problems which should only cost a fraction one and I've said this before take the Knights of Columbus build and make it the new police headquarters it's in a better location than where it is now and structurally with accommodations it would serve the purpose two keep the community whole for the purpose it was donated to this town for as a community Hall used for social and educational purposes do the same with the upgrades to the building it deserves it it's part of our historical Legacy and believe me when you destroy your history you have no future use the existing police station for extra space for the government offices after you move it over to the uh newn named Community Hall and the reason why I say this is I actually care about everybody's taxes I know we have problems I'm giving you Solutions solutions that wouldn't cost very much I I think we could get everybody in this town to support these things do you realize that the Community Hall is smaller than the current police station well it looks like it's larger actually it's not it's it's probably about 7,000 square fet smaller but it doesn't have you could reconfigure that building if you needed to inside yeah you could no not with not with the new standards please continue okay thank you very much so um what I'm proposing would save the taxpayers a lot of money okay so all right so on another note um and this is like really the most important thing I'd like to wish everyone in our community a very happy and blessed Easter same to you please cherish your loved ones as life is fleeting moment and the importance of the moment can never be understated God bless local citizens and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak happy see you too anyone else from the public like to speak okay I really would like to respond but I'm GNA I'm GNA find my T no you're not I'm not motion to motion to adjourn real sorry resolution 2024 d11 resolution in Township LA county of ocean state New Jersey authorizing the convening of an executive session in accordance with the open public meetings act move it second second Mr Kennis yes Mr McDonald yes Deputy Mayor C yes mayor Juliana yes motion to adjourn second all in favor I no further business take care guys