all four days fish three then the following week he will fish for call order the pack on Township regular meeting for March 6 2024 please bow your head for a moment of silence conratulations [Music] conratulations to the flag stes of America to the rep for it stands one nation God indivisible adequate notice of this meeting has been provided indicating the time and place of the meeting in accordance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 by advertising a notice in the Star Ledger The Express Times Warren County Zone and by posting a copy on the bullton board in the municipal building best have a roll call please yes councilman valaro councilman Marinelli here councilman McQuade here council president bedo here mayor R here L would you mind summarizing executive session yes thank you uh the um first matter was that the uh Council authorized a uh to send submit advertisements to hire a deputy clerk with which is an existing position in the township but which presently is unfilled so they authorize to go out for ads to obtain applications for a position of Deputy clerk as far as the Construction office is concerned uh there um the presid the person who is taking over for the uh construction code official who unfortunately pass away uh needs an additional is now going to school for additional license and in the meantime time as a stop Gap measure of the township will be retaining the services of a licensed building inspector to do plan review for up to 4 hours per week uh at a rate of $45 per hour is a contract uh uh employee not a regular employee uh the shared Court update uh if everybody knows uh the township is now going into a shared uh Municipal Court uh program with the township of poong the Court will be at the poong facility and the judge over there will be the presiding judge many municipalities majority of municipalities in in Warren County doe shareed services with reference to courts because of the cost uh the last is in attorney Klein issue dealing with some update issues on the uh uh LC ta emcy Medical Services the uh pre-existing entity uh that I think sums up the close mayor I'd like to motion that we contract with Mark forer as interm building inspector to do the plan review in the Construction office have a motion on that a second motion second roll call please be yes councilman Marinelli yes councilman Quade yes council president PLO yes mayor R yes okay old business minutes approve executive and regular session for the February 7th 2024 I have a motion and a second please motion second roll call B yes councilman Marinelli yes councilman McQuade yes council president PLO yes mayor yes number two ordinance number 24-3 second reading and public hearing to adjust established wage rates for certain employees um Motion in a second to hold a public meeting or hearing sorry all in favor motion oops motion yeah second okay all in favor I questions see close it motion to close motion second all in favor I a motion to in a second to act please motion act and roll call please yes councilman Marinelli yes councilman qu yes council president poo yes yes ordinance number 24-4 second reading and public hearing to establish a yearly cap Bank under the local cap bank law in preparation of the annual budget need a motion is second to hold a public meeting motion second all in favor I questions seeing none motion second to close the public hearing motion to close public hearing second all in favor I and motion to act motion to act second and roll call Beth please yes councilman Marinelli yes councilman McQuade yes council president pedo yes May yes ordinance number 24-5 has been tabled vacation public Street know as block 95 lot 1801 to become part of the Jon Lots uh this matter is being referred to the planning board for their review and recommendation and will be p uh put forth for a second reading on April 3rd 2024 uh new visitors or number 24-6 first reading to include provision of background checks for members appointed to Recreation committee motion and second please motion second roll call that yes councilman Marinelli yes councilman qu yes council president Leo yes right yes okay consent agenda 1 through 14 if everybody had can a look at it any Motion in a second to approve them motion second roll call please councilman Marinelli yes councilman mqu yes council president poo yes mayor right yes right Council reports mayor I don't have anything nothing Scott I have nothing thank you mayor the town Easter egg hunt is scheduled for the 23rd of this month rain date of 30th and the town Cleanup in connection with Earth Day is scheduled for April 20th that's all for now thank you right report from the engineer Chief yes thank you um yeah to give the the council and public an update on some of the engineering items that we're currently working on um the council no doubt has seen some of the items in the consent agenda I can speak to those specifically um the first item that was an engineering matter was the award of the contract of Top Line Construction we received bids for that project um and this is a contractor that's worked uh in the township on multiple occasions over the last over many years they will be doing the Jade Lane Improvement project specifically the sidewalk and drainage structure repairs so now that that contract has been awarded we'll be coordinating with them I'll be coordinating with them to to get started on that project uh with the intend to construct those improvements uh and then follow on that with repaving of Jade Lane the entire length um the next project is the Upper beler Road Transportation Alternatives program uh again to Topline construction this project was actually bid last May but because it is a transportation Alternatives program through the njd there's also a federal funding component to that so the review process is uh as you can imagine very uh strict and stringent and takes a long time with the federal federal requirements for bidding an award so now that we've been a um authorized to award that contract will now be uh starting the process of coordinating with the dot so that we can move into the construction phase of the project with the intent and the hope to break ground on that project as you as school lets out um you know to minimize the amount of disruption to the school traffic in the public during during school sessions um so that that project the limits of that is from First Street up to wo Avenue and that's going to be construction of new sidewalk and reconstruction of the existing sidewalks um finally the next item is um let's see what I had that's right we received authorization to bid the Belleview Road Phase 2 project that project was constructed two years ago the phase one portion uh the phase two portion is from Striker road to 519 um so the ngd authorizes us to bid that project will'll be bidding it uh in the next week or two and shortly after receiving bids and hopefully um bringing that project into construction as well so we have a number of capital jobs under construction um one item that mayor you would ask me to provide an update on um the work on the um Township pool and park project improvements the concept plans and cost estimates have now been completed uh the next step in the process is establishing and securing the funding mechanis isms for that so um in conjunction with with Beth and the CFO Clerk and cfo's office we'll be having a meeting with Bond Council to re review that funding process once that completes um then we'll be able to move into the design process and and advancing that project eventually into construction as well that'll be all the pro all the um the improvements that were presented uh as part of the park master plan um see what else I have here and then there was an item that we're currently working on I think this came out of um the clerk's office Beth had requested us to review the the ordinances related to Road opening permits and the procedures for processing those so um there were some recommendations that that Paul stur took put forward and we're currently working with the Town Township attorney's office in legal review for some of those recommendations and revisions which you know hopefully shortly we'll be advancing that to uh an ordinance revision uh to create more structure to the sort of enforcement of Road opening permits and give us more ability to manage contractors that come in to do work in the township um and that's all I have great thank you Chief you have anything I'll just add my traffic report sir so for the uh the past month we uh the police department saw 160 motor vehicle stops 56% of those stops resulted in motor vehicle uh summonses to those drivers and then 13% of them were uh of those issued were tractor trailer drivers um we did also uh spend some time on South 6 Street over this past couple of weeks probably spent better better part of 20 hours out there but um U there really wasn't a whole lot of activity to to report so um we did receive a complaint that there was a lot of speeding activity not to say that it doesn't happen but it wasn't happen frequently as we're out there at least uh 20 hours this past month and that's the end of my report great thank you thank you Luke you have anything for the figh party you want to bring up great to seeing you guys here yep so uh I'm pleased to announce that we were awarded a $40,000 Grant uh by the state of New Jersey Department of Community uh Affairs uh for structural firefighting gear it's the second time that we got the grant last year we got a grant for $9,000 for a gear washer so it'll be a plus for us to get additional gear for our members great thank you okay uh ran do you have anything you want talk about Brian no you're good basic same Stu for sports uh approval of Department reports motion second in favor I approval of payment of bills Mo second councilman Marinelli yes councilman mcqu yes council president yeah yes all right yes public comment anyone anything to say John um just seeking clarification on something um John KET 38 I'm sorry but I forget that every time uh in May of 2023 um going back a little bit uh the council passed a resolution to send to the highlands Council an amended petition for performance that includes a Highland Center designation for the on for the Farmland behind the mall so that's where the second of the warehouses is going to be belt there in December of 2023 the council passed a resolution authorizing submission of a petition to the highlands Council for designation of the Highlands Redevelopment area again including warehouses of both properties now if you look at the Highlands Council website it states that the PAC Kong has withdrawn the request for Senator designation for the warehouse and the farmland behind them all uh but the town's now seeking HZ designation for the uh for a handful of properties along Lock Street that abut that land but they withdrew the application for the Ware to for the highlands Council so to build a warehouse so I'm wondering uh what's L Pak Hong's plans for these properties since the latest document of the Highlands Council website states that warehouse plans have been withdrawn um what they say it it just says right I don't know well leekong submitted the uh uh the new request I have it here if you I can read it to you it just says it's been withdrawn um so why were the warehouse plants uh withdrawn I mean I'm glad they were and will they be resubmitted in in the future no they were not withdrawn about that the Highlands Council asked uh informed us that they wanted a different um approach to that longer a center designation the yeah it's like a Redevelopment plan yes there's a hearing that's going to be held right April 21 but the latest yeah that was that was on our website but the latest one um says it's the joint petition for amended Highland Center designation and it says uh a warehouse project involving two vac Lots uh situated behind the mall uh you know um for warehouses and theong it says note withdrawn is that a uh Highlands letter correspondence that you have There It Is Well it's it's the do if you go on the highlands Council website um it has the notice of what you know is coming up and if you click on the document that this is what it is it says that the warehouse plans have been with I would suggest that contact them because we're not aware of that at all so the plans are still submitted for the warehouse okay all right thank you okay anybody else Bob Bruce at Hall wrote U regarding the concept and the cost approval on the park uh is that going to be meetings like are you done because there was very good disc discussion held in public about that uh Beth actually had some very good suggestions about the wait room and whatnot we're going to hear more about that right we're putting it out right and then once we yeah we need to get through the bond Bond attorney review and then I believe there's going to be further discussion absolutely okay great and and the issue of the phase one uh I think we uh I didn't mark well was but there was a an approval of uh yeah yeah so I thought that that was not I thought that was delayed until later phases but it's I can speak to sure this is a separate Grant application so the township sought a grant last year for the plant pickle ball Courts at the at the park and they were and we were awarded that Grant uh through the DCA the njdca local Recreation Grant fund um and this year we're seeking a grant under the same program they open grants for that and we're seeking a grant for the first phase of the playground at the park so the future playground okay but the so it's first phase of the playground but that's actually going to be a later phase of the park the idea was well it's it's a grant thing but we break the playground into multiple pieces because it's not going to be cheap right to make a handicap accessible all ages all abilities ground so we're going to seek multiple rounds of Grant fun if we can right to build it over the number of you know grant grant funding Cycles right I just want to also thank you give a shout out we were at the planning board meeting and your old business ordinance 2404 that you tabled 2405 that you tabled about the vacation of the paper Street uh I I was quite impressed with the way uh the planning board and the people that were affected came together and basically came up with a common sense solution so I'm glad to see that that got pass forward to you guys thank you anyone else Mr [Music] V I just got one statement to make my name is John vets and I live break the gardens I just hope the Lord and our aggregate wit gets us through the next several and multiple years ahead for our country and I hope it's successful I hope it's it's prosperous and I hope it goes goes forward and does not meet and Untold demise thank you very much okay all right anyone else see none um motion for adment motion second all in favor hi hi thank you guys for all come [Music] out