will call this special regular meeting of the Lake Como mayor and Council to order please rise for a salute to flag and a moment of Silent iedge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the for stands Nation indivisible andice for all please remain standing for a moment of Silent reflection thank you Sunshine May of January 2024 resolution agenda and regular meetings janary set fors and roll call please council president here Council here counc here Council here Council here all right thank you all very much for being here tonight um it is a very special night for us here in Lake KO uh we are celebrating our 100th anniversary this year and tonight uh June 3rd is exactly 100 years to the day of the first ever council meeting in South Belmore so in a few minutes I'll get into a little bit of of uh a history of the Town um um we have some C ceremonial things that we want to go through first and then um we'll get into the regular meeting um but what I'm going to ask I'm going to ask the council to join me down front for a couple of proclamations that we want to give out we have a couple proclamations that we're going to receive um and then if there's anything that is not on the agenda we can do that during our first open public session um if there's anybody else that wants to present um um so I'm going to ask the uh Council to join me down front and do we have a representative from Senator singer office somebody here or not they were supposed to be here but okay or any of the legislative offices uh yeah oh there we go we knew you walking so why don't you come up and join us no come down here just get to the mic real quick just can give us your name and your title my name Islan I am the chiefa I'm sorry I missed okay D how are you so I'll ask the council to come down here and I believe there is a proclamation that we had from someone's off they didn't tell you you were going to have to that's even better all right I don't typically speak so do you want to speak you think you're going to be okay everybody here is family they may live here but they they're all related to somebody so you want to go for it this is good practice okay yes of course um where start here the Senate and general assembly State House Trenton New Jersey joint legislative resolution by Senate singer and ass Kean and SCH uh whereas the year 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the burough of Lake Tomo and mmth count uh and whereas the Senate and general assembly of the state of New Jersey I'm pleased to acknowledge this felicious occasion and recognize the bur's proud and faithful Cy uh which will gather together at sponsored events throughout the coming months celebrate this auspicious mon aome and whereas established in 1924 Guided by its first mayor Claud W Bol uh Lake homo has since benefited by the Peerless leadership of steadfast citizens devoted to the Burrow's ongoing Prosperity including its current mayor The Honorable Kevin Higgins that's me you were looking around for we continued the long held tradition of effective governance and whereas for 100 years Lake H has been admired for its desirable TR location for its reputation as an excellent Community for family living and for the Public's spirited men and women who have inspired its residents to support and uphold the community and whereas it is altogether F fitting right for the members of this legisl to pause their deliberations to commend the fine people of Lake Pomo as the 100 years successful participation in the history of New Jersey and our nation now and there after be it resolved by the state and general assembly of the state of New Jersey that this legislature hereby congratulates the bur of Lake ELO pays tributes to its illustrious history and extends sincere best wishes for its continued Vigor in all days to come and be it further asol that a duly authenticated copy of this resolution signed by the Senate President and the assembly speaker tested by the Senate secretary and assembly cler to be transed uh transmitted to the B of Blake awesome in the newspaper too pictures awesome thanks appreciate it thank you we're hold it up we're going to take a picture right very good thank you thank [Applause] you okay we have two special proclamations to give out tonight um and they are to two of our citizens who have carried on a tradition that was started by councilwoman Paulie skull um and they are here with us tonight we have Britney Danto and Molly fiper who have taken on the charge of running Lake Ko's mommy and play group for the past number of years so we have a proclamation for them watch you guys come on [Applause] up okay so the proclamation says whereas the lakeo momy and me playgroup established in 2015 by councilwoman Holly skull to facilitate weekly Gatherings offering an opportunity for parents caregivers and their children to for con Forge connections build enduring friendships and exchange advice within a supportive and non-judgmental environment the Lake Como momy and me play group provided the children a chance to develop social language and cognitive skills while providing a safe and enjoyable environment to play and allow parents and caregivers to actively take part in their child's growth and development without the dedication of the parents who volunteered their time to organize the play group activities and their many field trips this program would not be the success it is today now therefore be proclaimed by the mayor and Council the bar of L comoo that Molly feifer and Britney Danto for their countless hours of dedication to the Lake Como mommy and me playgroup and the parents caregivers grandparents and children of Lake Como and surrounding communities [Applause] congratulations you can read the paper to you go in the middle found thank [Applause] you there's one other Proclamation um when we were planning this night and we were talking about what we were going to do for the this year we came up with a couple of different ideas and this being a very ceremonial night we wanted to to think about or talk about a way that we could honor the people of Lake comoo those that came before us um those that are here now uh and one of the things that we decided to do was write a proclamation to the volunteers of Lake Como those that have volunteered for our community since its Inception uh most importantly in speaking with Doug our council president who was a member of a lot of these organizations uh we would like to recognize our volunteer firemen and volunteer first aid who have worked tirelessly in this community since their Inception the lake com I'm sorry the South Belmar Fire South Belmar First St South belmare Fire Department was also found it in 1924 so they would be 100 years old today um whereas the spirit of volunteerism is the Cornerstone of strong communities and the volunteer South Belmar Fire Department was founded in 1924 the volunteer South Belmar first aid was founded in 1938 and the volunteers of the planning board zoning board tourism commission and environmental commission have served citizens of South belmare Lake Como and for a century the dedicated volunteers of Lake Como and South belmare have SE selflessly serve their Community with courage compassion and unwavering dedication whereas the volunteers have tirelessly dedicated their time and responded to emergencies risking their safety protect the lives and property of their fellow citizens they have provided Aid comfort and support to those in need during times of Crisis and distress therefore I Kevin Higgins mayor of Lake Como New Jersey to hereby Proclaim June 3rd 2024 as a day of Celebration and recognition for the 100th anniversary 100 Years of volunteer service provided by the volunteer fire Volunteer Fire Company volunteer first aid company planning board zoning board tourism commission and environmental commission and it in discussing who are we going to give this to I think it's fitting that that Doug received this on behalf of all of those that have worked with him and come before us because I think you've served on every one of these boards at so Doug this is for you and this is for the the volunteers of Lake Como and South bmore for the last 100 years thank you thank you um Doug's got a few words but he's going to hold off until his report right and you to say a few words um we can take our seat you thank you very much so I'm going to sit but usually when we talk about um the history of Lake comore the history of South Belmore we usually get former mayor Mike Ryan to give us a little bit of that history unfortunately or fortunately if you know Mike Ryan he's not here tonight uh to talk to us about the history of Lake homeo and he would be totally okay that I said that um but I just wanted to share with everyone a brief history of where we came from where the town came from um and it was really interesting doing some of this research some of this um finding out who these people were and where they came from and what they did while they were here the Barrow of Lake Como formerly South belmare was formed out of the boundary of Walt Township in 1924 the land was originally a part of Shrewsbury Township which was formed in 1693 by an act of provincial assembly at the time the area included all Land from the Navin River to Little Egg Harbor this land was settled by congressionals from Connecticut and Quakers and Scotch uh Presbyterians from New York and New England in 1879 Neptune Township was carved out of Shrewsbury Township Which comp which compromised ized um all of the land between Asbury Park and manisan one of the earliest settlers here Jeremiah Newman arrived in the early 1800s and cultivated this land as a farm his son Isaac Newman played a pivotal role in the area's development by selling tracks of land in belmare and South Belmar for $1 an acre the land was eventually sold off and subdivided but it was subdivided in a very less regular pattern than the areas north and south of what is now Lake coma this is why we have 25t lots in the 60t zone Newman Street stands to as a testament to the early influence of the Newman family in the area the burrow of South Belmar was created on May 6th 1924 by referendum in which a 152 voters favored the separation from Wall Township 115 citizens voted against the referendum once the burrow was founded citizens quickly gained intense pride in their new identity and continued to strongly support the local government on June 3rd 1924 the Burrow's first mayor Claude bsaw presented his F his first message to the council he outlined three main areas where the community needed Improvement sanitation Street repairs and Parks sounds like our last meeting addressing sanitation issues was given the highest priority as there was no garbage or sewage disposal at in the burrow at the time secondly he considered Street repairs in immediate need since Auto traffic was increasing and the gravel roads were quickly becoming inadequate although the original mayor considered Lake KO the Burrow's Chief asset creating Parkland and dedicating open space were placed at the bottom of the list of highest priorities in September of 1924 Norris woolly um which I did a little bit of background on Norris woolly he was 25 years old when he was the barrel collector in South Belmar presented his first official report and it was challenging time for the burrow and they had a cash balance of $141 and outstanding notes totaling $500 despite these Financial hurdles the council authorized a $500 emergency note to pay the bills but it wasn't until 1926 that the burrow was able to float $220,000 bond for sewage and a 25 a $75,000 bond for improving the water supply neighboring Belmar stepped in to provide the sewage services and water sounded like our last Council over the next few years the mayor's Improvement plans were implemented bids were asked for trash and garbage disposal and a pickup system was organized streets were graded and widen into the proper standards and confusing dead end roads were extended not all of them some of them the shore of Lake Como once called three corners Pond was not made a park until 1950 World War II had been over for 5 years and it was dedicated to the to as the Denman fiser and Perkins Memorial Park in honor of those who died in service since its Inception Lake KOMO has sustained itself as a small community of Bungalows and homes in 1924 the first volunteer fire department was established and in 1938 the South Belmore volunteer first aid began serving servicing the community the burrow has always been famous for its summer rentals and active nightlife but it remains predominantly a yearr round Community Lake KO the Barrow's namesake is one of the most prominent featur in the past the lake was part of an ancient Bay extending from Lake tanassi in the elberon section of Long Branch to the manisan river more recently it was connected to Shark River West of rout 35 and south of belmare Boulevard around 1950 Route 38 also known as the Army mile was constructed permanently separating the watersheds of Lake KO and the Shark River these watersheds were further divided due to the widening of Route 38 now known as Route 138 for thousands of years Lake Kom was directly connected to the ocean by a small Inlet however the construction of outfall pipes over the years the lakes's status changed from a tital basin to a Shallow Lake trans the transformation being necessary to protect the shorelines of belmare and Spring Lake from severe erosion then nothing happened until 2006 when we became L comoo just kidding so on November 2nd 2006 the voters of South Belmar voted to change the name of the burrow to the burrow of leomo which came into effect on January 4th 2005 so I just wanted to give a brief brief um review of the start of our wonderful little town um and then as we do our committee report reports we'll talk a little bit about where we're going over the next year and what we're expecting what we're expecting to do okay um so thank you all very much for listening to my um my presentation um and at this time when I find my agenda um I will open it up to our Council um and I will start with uh councilwoman Al balad Doyle thank you mayor uh for the recreation department uh just a reminder that summer tennis lessons the registration Ends by June 30th um and the lessons start on July 1st the running club the registration ends on June 23rd it will also begin on July 1st and the basketball recreation the registration ends on the 9th but there is a $25 late fee that started on June 1st so if the kids are interested in any of those activities please go on to the belmont.com website um as far as the park an update on the park currently we're working on the drainage and the grading and leveling of the field once that's completed then the fence will be ready to go up and that'll be about a month so things are moving along the guys are doing a great job other than that all matters are in order thank you Council Mo entries thank you mayor from the environmental commission uh the students who helped us do a uh 3D rendering uh video of the Main Street Arboretum of uh trees that we are hoping to uh get to uh we're going to try and have them uh do a presentation in one of the next couple of meetings um to show them what they've done otherwise uh thank you all for coming out so nice to see so many residents and um and our friends from belmare also otherwise all matters are in order thank you councilman deoro thank you mayor uh first things first Chief anything anything to report from the police department are seasonal help our seasonal employees are out and about in the summertime so you see them just stay uh Dre Heisman anything update with the Ambulance Corp I know they're doing a great job and they doing a fantastic job status great I have the easiest report I just asked two professionals what to do thank you very much mayor for been honor and privilege to be part of this uh Council for The Last 5 Years and uh I would have never thought 40 years go when I was hanging out at Mary's husband's Pub up here uh but uh it's it's a great little town and uh thank you very much for being here tonight thank you mayor that's all right thankk you councilman danan uh thank you mayor I just also wanted to thank everybody who came out tonight and congratulate uh the recipients of this evening's proclamations other than that all matters are in order thank you councilwoman skull thank you mayor um I just want to take this opportunity and add some personal remarks to the proclamation for the mommy and me volunteers so I started this group in 2015 um back when I only had two kids now I have three and like a long time ago but um it really was a a opportunity for parents to meet together and have a place to go with their babies and kind of have just like a um you know like a a non-judgmental um place to to meet friends and babies to be together um we are now on our fourth generation of mommy so I'm really proud about that I feel like our volunteers have um kept the Integrity of the group by keeping it here in Lake comoo um taking great care of our room um and and um planning field trips and just volunteering their time so thank you again to Britney and to Molly we have um a fourth person named Katherine who's going to be taking over and so I wanted to announce that um the group will be meeting on Fridays starting this week from 10: to 11:30 I believe they'll mostly be going to the playgrounds on these nice days and then they'll come here on for inclement weather but you can join the the face group Facebook group that we have or you can call burall to get the uh confirmation for the location um so again thank you to my volunteers and other than that all matters are order thank you m you have a question tonight no do you have a tribute question no well we'll get here thank you council president with okay first thing on the budget the 2024 budget we will be introducing that budget tonight the budget is cost me 79,000 less the last year's budget our tax rate is going to go from 453 to 437 a decrease in our tax rate for this coming year under the 100 anniversary committee I have a little thing I want to talk about uh since how years ago tonight was the first council meeting of this great little tab there are some people think that I was at the first meeting sorry I was not there however I was there for the 50th the 75th and now the 100 anniversary I the only member of the count I grew up in South bore Lomo and I feel that I need to talk about how things have changed over the years when I was a kid growing up in town I completely different I was able to ride my bike down 18th Avenue there was never any traffic we used to play in the street and very very seldom do we had to wait for cars there was never an issue with parking none of these can be done into town today as our town become a year round Town back in the 1950 centy showed that it was 1,95 residents and 898 homes in 1950 the 21 s 2021 s show that there was 1750 residents and 833 homes so some of the homes have been changed to year round home home but the residency have gone up back in 1960 the town had a barbecue each year to raise money for the Youth Center that was held in the playground that that one stood where this building is today now that event have been replaced by Le kod day and the mayor bash when I took office for the first time in 1979 there was only two people in in the town office he was the tax collector and the burough clerk now we have six full-time workers and many part-time workers back in the day there was a different type of pride in town and many Resident was volunteered as member of the first aid fire company and youth center all of these organizations are now and as a past member of the first day fire department I personally want to thank all the members that dedicated their lives to helping their neighbors over the years I have served in Residence of OCTA for 54 years and 32 years as counsilman I had been asked many times over the years why do I do it and the answer is very simple it's an honor to serve the town I grew up in the town I started the family and the town I love that's it thank [Applause] you well said thank you um for my report I would just like to thank everyone that came to join us here tonight our family and friends um we have uh commissioner unnown is with us from from Mammoth County uh we have our County Clerk Miss hanin is with us tonight mayor mayor bucka Fusco from belmare and our belmare friends uh councilwoman Rondo councilwoman Kenny councilwoman hanlin I'm sorry councilwoman Donovan um and then we also have some former uh Lake comoo people uh Council Council people and um and Mayors or mayor uh Kevin Lynch is here with us tonight former councilman for Lake KO uh Virginia cropac former councilwoman for Lake Como and Brian Wilton former mayor um and uh council person for Lake KO so thank you all very much for being here with us tonight um as I as I did the history over you know looking over what what it was like here in 19 24 uh we still have the same issues and concerns and thoughts that we do today we're still talking about the lakefront which we rededicated last year it's beautiful um we're talking about the park bman park which you can see is going through changes a 100 years later it looks great it's getting better every day um water and sewer are still a concern streets are still a concern and roads are ever changing so um I would i' would like to thank those that are sitting up here with me tonight and the hard work and the dedication that they show to addressing these issues on a daily basis um and every month and every meeting that we're at so thank you all for being here um thank you all for what you do and congratulations on your anniversary Doug congratulations on your 100th anniversary um and uh thank you all with that um I will take a motion to open for comment on the consent agenda or the new business so move second thank you all in favor anyone wishing to speak to anything on the agenda if they want to speak to anything about the 100th anniversary they can do so now they can come to the mic and they can they can uh just name come on up commissioner and uh name and uh position sure if we have to down we'll come back down so uh I go hear you can do you can do hi commissioner director Tom Mar from County and County Christin so um thank you for inviting us absolutely I don't want to have my back to everybody here so um but first of all congratulations and and I it's really special because as you know I governed over a small town for 15 years and and I know the closeness the ties the the love and the compassion that you have with the small towns and what's unique is we are so unique here in modern County because of 53 towns you know you go from the large towns like Middletown more wall um to to small towns like yourself and Neptune City I'll use that for example and Avon and stuff like that but you know the leadership stays the same the committed and the drive and of course I see this here because being close to proximity and and being around here so much and you know a quick joke counsman about Mary's husband's public when you said that that like click so as you know back in those days the drinking age was only 18 at that time and um and I 40 years and I can honestly say that um I I must not have read my license on that birthday and I thought I was 18 but I was only 17 and um and I went in and I was probably the first person to get thrown out at 17 at that same night there but you bring back your memories of what you know it used to be and what you guys have built today is it's really remarkable and the changes and and transforming all the things you do and and you know quite frankly we all know that and the former elected officials that are here know how difficult it is in today's Times you know to balance it to do something that you guys just did with your budget there that's remarkable I mean that's you know that's just good government and caring for the people here because quite frankly you're doing it for yourself because you live here but you're also doing it for the residents of Lake H too so so you keep the quality of life and you make affordable and we keep the good people right here staying right here so that's a credit to each and every one of you and it was important for us to come here and present something so I am going to read a quick proclamation to you guys if you don't mind this certificate is presented to Mayor Kevin Higgins in the lake CUO bur Council on the occasion of their 100th anniversary on June 3rd 2024 Lake CUO was originally formed as the burough of South Belmar out of the boundaries of Wall Township it is a small interior municipality bounded on the west by the railroad and on the North by 16th avue on the east by B Street and on the south by Lake Cuomo and polypod Brook the burough of Lake coma has become a destination spot for families as it is safe Charming smalltown Shore Community the M County Board of County Commissioners joins in in a cation and celebration of the 100th anniversary and proclaims this day June 3rd 2024 to be known as Lake homeo day to the county M congratulations [Applause] I just have thank you so much for inviting me it's such a pleasure to be here uh for this momentous occasion uh as the uh Keeper of the records in M County and overseer of the county archives it's um I just love when we get to such a historical event such as this and I just brought a little certificate of hisor significance um that I present this certificate to the B of lake homeo on occasion of your 100th anniversary and it's historical significance to mmth County and a copy of this will be preserved in our Mammoth County archives and I'd just like to offer if there's anything that you would like to send to the archives about you know extra photographs or things like that we can keep a copy of it for future Generations um to keep for our history I'd be happy to take you know anything like to share send copies and things like that so and also to know that you know we're here that you know that you know we just every anytime you call and we know the importance of us sharing and working together so we'll continue that process and grow on that process so um and we'll be back soon and we'll be back very soon too exactly exactly take picture J awesome very good thank you very much [Applause] apprciate how are you drew the next day say the door in the middle um anyone else wishing to speak to the agenda okay see seeing none I'll take a motion to close move second all in favor I opposed all right we have nothing under the consent agenda under new business we have ordinance 20247 offered by councilman danana thank you mayor so offer ordinance 2024-25 thank you with that we will have an introduction of this year's budget offered by council president witty so offer the24 budget which I talked earlier about that would be a budget of 79,000 on budget and the tax rate decrease 016 thank you this is uh an introduction of the budget we will have a second reading and public hearing uh in a month July 2nd at the July 2nd meeting um if anyone wishes to digest the budget and come back we'll have a public meeting at that time um I have a motion to introduce the budget do I have a second second roll call please yes yes yes yes yes yes thank you we have resolution resolved by the mayor and Council of the ble comoo with the proper officers be directed and authorized to make payments from the following accounts current account 2024 $ 39,44 186 Water and Sewer account 2024 83665 General capital account $18 unemployment account 2024 $ 66933 100th anniversary account 2024 $349 2016 AC wire payments 2024 $3 39794 for a grand total of $887 188 have a second call please yes yes yes yes yes yes thank you resolution 2024 d87 by councilman deor resolution by the mayor and Council of Bar Lake com of the prop office be directed to authorize to make payment from the following account New Jersey natural gas for $213 54 second second M yes yes yes yes yes thank you and we have resolution 20248 offered by Council inventores thank you mayor so off for resolution 20248 resolution appointing a code off code enforcement officer we have resolved that is in the best interest of B Lake comoo and its residents to hire a part-time code enforcement officer and it is at the recommendation of Mayor Kevin G Higgins and the council appoints Frank Nell to the position of code enforcement officer for the burrow of Lake commencing June 3 2024 terminating December 31 2024 so and just for the record the um we had a committee that did interviews for this position after it was posted um that position was then recommended to the finance committee for salary and um is bring being brought to the council at this time so we have a motion do we have any questions have a second roll call please council member Wy yes SC yes yes yes andri yes yes thank you the resolution passes welcome Frank good luck um at this time I will take a motion to open for public comments second all in favor anyone wishing to speak uh comments at all for the council can come to the mic and do so now see n I'll take a motion to close second all in favor hi hi okay with that um our next item is um before we talk about the next meeting our next item is is a lake comoo tradition uh something we do very well after the meeting you're all welcome to go back to mcan's and celebrate the 100th anniversary with the mayor so with that our next meeting please may motion to adjourn um we can we can do that we can say that the next meeting the June 18th meeting is will be the ABC meeting for the town so we'll be talking about uh the liquor licenses for in within the town um and if anybody wishes to come to hear that meeting that's the meeting that you want to come to all right um motion to adjourn s all in favor thank you we are Jour thank you all for coming [Applause]