stes justice for all all right roll call please here m a live check here council president Conan here councilman KS here Council dinino here councilman Dodie here councilman Quinn here councilman Rex here administrative Poli here and attorney corini here okay okay we have a present I'm very pleased to say that assembly wom mudas did I do that right hey would a name like you got to work on things like that all right it's here to give us a legislative update so the floor is yours assembly one thank you good evening everyone I'm so happy to be here and on behalf of Senator John Brandon assembly woman and myself I would like to start out by saying welcome to legislative district 21 we could not be happier to have you as part of our district and we are here to help you any way that we can uh some of the some of my teams work that we have been doing around the district in many of the towns is something we did here tonight we did uh we had our mobile office hours this evening and we hosted them right here in Middle sex and uh it was a good ch I'm happy to say my team and I were here and uh it was it was great turn that and just so that you know any any of your needs anything that you need unemployment disability anything like that we're here to help and as I'd like to tell everyone if you can't get to us we will come to you so if you don't have our office's phone number please reach out to the mayor and he can give it to you um so as a result over the last session to this session we've recovered over $779,000 for constituents and that is in over 230 individual cases involving things like unemployment disability anchor payment all those kinds of things and more we've also prioritized its common sense of bipartisan Solutions in Trenton in my first term are 58 pieces of legislation that are sponsored or co-sponsored P the assembly and 36 of those were signed to law so we were very excited about that some of the highlights included the were laws to help poliy veterans become licensed nurses in in New Jersey therefore trying to help out the nursing shortage and that steing shortage that say also expanding Mental Health Care access there an interstate counseling compact again trying to help with some of the shortages that you see around the state we're trying to help make a difference and get services to people that are in need and also we provided U another bill that was signed law provided quality age appropriation appropriate instruction on Grief in our schools and enabled all stalking victims to obtain protected orders where they didn't happened before so again as you can see we're all we're here trying to work for you and with you I'm looking forward to continuing my work this session I'm on three different committees I'm on the education committee higher education committee as well as Commerce and agriculture I'm very excited to be on these committees and again hoping to make a difference um I did want to mention one more thing I had spoke to your mayor this evening about it and it's a bit of a s point I know it's Heaven Lan I want you to know that we are doing everything we can and we're trying to help move that forward but unfortunately sometimes state government is lower than life so do know that we are on it and we are trying to work uh together to get some answers and really get some things done uh lastly thank you for having me here this evening to share this update again we here if she can't get us will come to you I do have to sneak out in a minute because my hometown of New Providence is for giving um a recognition for VFW in town so unfortunately I won't be able to stay but I do look forward to hearing privileg in every one of you thank you so much and thank you again mayor and coun right thank you very much all right all right take care all right um just so you guys know we're gonna try and have presentations every single meeting of of this type or stuff that's gerine to the town some of the committees some of the commissions all the rest of that because I think it's important that people understand what we're up against and what we're doing I think it's just it's transparent it's the way to go um Linda if you would take a strey appointments please okay accepting the resignation of Tom hary from the Board of Health motion moot second all in favor all in favor I I appointing John Edward to the Board of Health as a regular member and Rich J K as an alternate one motion motion second all in favor I age okay next appointing hasmer chry to the Board of Health as alternate two motion second all in favor I I and appointing kid Mazy to the swim pool commission motion motion second second all in favor I all right so those four passed thank you uh no proclamations we have no ordinance for introduction tonight we do have some ordinances for public hearing and final adoption uh let's start with the first one please yeah ordinance number 2111 d24 and ordinance authorizing the mayor to approve and sign for the release of conservation easements executed to the benefit of the burough of middle sex as part of the greenbook flood risk management project with the United States Department of the Army Corps of Engineers okay uh motion to open the public portion motion second second do we need a roll call or oh all in favor I I all right the public portion is now open please step up and state your name and address Jo s 321 Sal where is this uh land is this part of the South Lincoln Avenue projects I believe it is at this point yes that's what they're looking for the access for where they Tak d i noticed today they were taking down one of the houses the other house is all stripped looks like it's ready to come down also I mean it's a shame we've lost over 80 houses through through this uh anyone else seeing no one else I'd like a motion to close the public portion motion second all right all in favor I all right I'd like a motion to approve ordinance uh 2111 d24 motion second all right any discussion roll call no council president Coman yes councilman corns yes councilman dinino yes councilman Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes and councilman Rex yes all right motion passes okay next ordinance we have ordinance number 2113 d24 and ordinance authorizing the Sal block 265 l25 in the bar of metal sex to be sold at public sale in accordance with njsa 4da 12-13 a okay motion to open the public portion motion second all in favor I I all right uh the public portion of this is open right now if anyone wants to come up to the mic state your name and address this is a this is round two for the fire headquarters all right seeing no one coming up I'd like to uh make a motion to close motion second all in favor I I I like a motion to approve motion second okay any discussion roll call please council president carahan yes councilman cors councilman dinino yes councilman doie yes councilman Quinn yes and councilman Rex yes okay motion passes all right ordinance 2114 24 we have ordinance number 2114 d24 an ordinance exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish of cap bank and JSA 48 colon 4- 4514 okay I like a motion to open the public portion second all in favor I okay please step up to the mic state your name and address okay all right seeing no one stepping up I'd like a motion to close motion second all in favor I okay I like a motion to approve ordinance 2114 motion second all right roll call please council president conahan yes councilman cors yes councilman dinino yes councilman Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes and councilman re yes okay ordinance passes all right next we have ordinance 2115 d24 okay ordinance number 2115 d24 in ordinance appropriate appr I proportioning the responsibilities of the culture and Heritage committee chapter 19 to the recreation committee Chapter 93 and the middle sex Public Library chapter 260 okay motion to open the public portion motion second all right all in favor I okay uh just to catch everybody up on what's going on with this uh um Mr CR and I had a had a email go back and forth and I'd just like to read them for the record all right this uh was sent to me last Friday uh from Mark hi Jack sorry this took a bit to get get to you but the last week to 10 days has been crazy busy the current members that show up and are vested in the committee are Mark crans Lisa lentini Pomo Leonard Jackson Mark Holmes hardik Shaw and Steve cor corali who agreed to do the landscape design for a community garden these three have expressed interest in being on the committee James Johansson Dwayne Phillips and Jeremiah KS our current projects and possible future projects open mic night color and flowers festival art photography contest SL show local artists and photographers community garden and the middle sex burrow documentary as I at the last council meeting I'm not quite sure why so much time effort and resources are being wasted on a committee that is viable has active invested volunteer members yeah all and period uh dissolving the cnh committee over an event SL disagreement that had nothing to do with the cnh committee and didn't occur at any meeting or event is just silly and senseless I'm sure there are many more important issues in town that all this time and effort can be devoted to if you have any additional requests or questions please give me a call and he gave me a cell number best regards and stay safe Mark cray okay next uh I I reply to Mr gr on on the ninth mark thank you for your response I will address your concerns below I'm replying to you and to Michael the business administrator only Michael can forward a copy of my responses to the other members as replying to All In some cases can be construed as a violation of the Sunshine Law once it appears the dial is taking place with all the information that has been presented I still believe a split of the cultural heritage is appropriate looking at the projects list you have forwarded looks like active projects are open mic night the color and flowers festival and the community garden of these projects active open mik night has no future dates on the calendar active the color and flowers Festival hardik is mentioned he is planning on having this event this year but no date set uh subsequent to that I did find out that you did actually apply for a a a May date active uh the community garden still in the planning stages with no firm location or plan set possible artphotography contest show uh the local artist possible for 2024 no detail or date possible the middle sex Barrow documentary possible for 2024 no firm details at this point with the exception of the possible documentary know the potential or active projects are Heritage in nature and have been a contributing factor to several of the members leaving Having the library looked after this portion is the best way to see the projects of this nature through and they are already well underway with this project okay um we're not trying to shut down anything but to give projects a better chance of being successfully completed as a large portion of the projects have nothing firmly on the calendar making the move at this time would have the least amount of disruption and May in fact and coordinate with other Rec events have an increased participation rate I have conferred with the business administrator and he has had several conversations with the rec department the charge is simple these active projects are to be given support to have them continue new projects are to be discussed and if viable help to move forward the rec department has committed to this if the need becomes too great and the rec department down the road needs additional help this can be addressed at this time based on the information presented it doesn't not appear to be a problem your statement that the cnh is being dissolved over an eventd disagreement is not true I was put into a position of conducting the exit interviews for the five recent departures the responses I received and further investigation clearly pointed to the finding that the Heritage portion of the committee was structurally an issue my recommendations have been based solely on that belief nothing else my recommendations on the cultural side are founded in the belief that this reorganization will result in projects being funneled to resources in Middle sex where these projects will have the best chance for a successful conclusion we are hoping the volunteers stay engaged there's a council vote on Tuesday and this will formulate our course of action forward for these projects if the vote passes I would hope that you do not discontin that you do not discontinue your efforts but in the true Spirit of volunteerism and wanting to make middle sex a better place give the new Arrangement a chance so sincerely Jack mck I have one other uh thing on here that I would like to read and this one's going to be the challenge because it's kind of small um this is from Melissa good afternoon mayor it looks like I'm able to attend the meeting tonight but I put put these thoughts together I reviewed the current and possible projects that the culture and Heritage committee has planned and without a doubt welcome them we are fully committed to providing as much assistance and support as possible to promote culture and arts within our Community the recreation department is excited to offer its full support to integrate the committee's valuable insights together we can Inspire educate and celebrate the cultural richness that makes our community unique please let me know if you have any questions thank you Melissa thank you Melissa um that's everything that's up to date at this point um the public portion is open if you guys have something that you would like to say please stay up to the mic and give your name and address please good evening everybody I'm Mark cron from Seven par Poli and I am the chairman of the culture and Heritage committee um i' just like to talk about your response to uh to my email um just some facts I mean the the color and flowers Festival last year had over 100 people attend and did raise some funds um outside of what spent um you said in your email that Michael can forward a copy of my response to the other members it was not which was very disappointing because tonight was the first time they all hard um your response um which I don't think is fair um open mic night nothing's been scheduled because of all this Ridiculousness that's going on um we have had open night nights in the past they're usually roughly once a quarter we didn't do them over Christmas and Thanksgiving because the holidays and like I said starting in January with all this Ridiculousness going on nothing was scheduled um you did find out that that color and Flower Festival uh permit has been applied for for a May date and the community garden we actually have a meeting with the uh leadership of the uh American Legion Thursday evening at 4:00 we have a tened location we have to discuss it with them we have somebody in town that's willing to donate flowers and plants for the community garden um and we have a gentleman that is a landscape designer that will design it for us so to say that there's nothing planned is again ridiculous um this is a committee up until I was involved about a year and a half ago was non-existent when Jeremiah asked me to come to the meetings that were run by somebody else in town it was a joke um they talked about history statue open m night and that was their meeting the two meetings I went to there was no creativity no motivation no talking about future projects no suggesting future projects or anything none of that was started until until I got involved and we started talking about other projects and things like that which we continued to do up until our last meeting um I mean as far as giving any of these projects to Parks and Recreation um looking at uh the duties of recreation committee and duties of Park Improvement committees none of these projects fall under their purview even close even close so to put them there is just as long as getting rid of this committee um and as far as history I found it rather interesting that there is nothing anywhere in the town code that says the library is responsible for Town history and culture nowhere but yet in the ordinance for the culture and Heritage committee uh 19-45 the preservation or commemoration of the culture and history of the burrow of middle sex is one of the responsibilities of the culture and Heritage committee um additionally um It also says in the the committee shall advise the mayor and burrow Council on Ways and Means for the encouragement of creative Talent within the burough of middle sex for the preservation of the history and Heritage of the burough and for the recognition of persons who have made any contributions to development expansion or preservation of culture and history and middle sex which such person is or is not an art again none of that perview falls under the library at all the library is responsible for books and things like that and as far as I can tell anywhere in the code there's nothing that even tells you what the library is responsible for um so again doesn't fall under them but it's specifically an ordinance falls under culture and Heritage committee um and I did some searching and if you go on the library website there happens to be a history link nested under one of the topics and if people on the history link there's a box that says they have heritage culture committee at the library I find that very interesting considering there's no ordinance or anything anywhere that says they can do that there's no members listed there's no agendas there's no history there's no minutes there's no nothing it's one box that said they created two books from like 18 years ago and that's it there's essentially nothing in the library that shows they do history why isn't there a section of librar they've been doing doing this for so long why isn't there a section of the library dedicated with pictures and explanations and history and things like that if you look at the library's agendas for January and February there is nothing on their agenda for history nothing no committee no discussion no topics nothing so if somebody looking from the outside in it looks like Library doesn't do history again specifically stated in the ordinance for the cult Heritage committee that history is part of bar herview okay it's nice that they did it but it's not their responsibility simple facts okay we have currently six members they're vested they're interested in doing something um they're involved they're suggesting projects they're being involved in projects we have three more members that want to be part of it one member was brought up to the mayor a few weeks ago he chose not to introduce that to the council because in his mind the committee was going to be voted out and dissolved um so we have a lot planned um I have a connection that does documentaries they done they've done over a 100 documentaries um an hour they did one on the train wreck in 1951 in Woodbridge it was outstanding they did one on four Chinese survivors on the uh the uh Titanic and follow their history and their families and interviewed people family members in England and stuff like that this is a close relative of one of my friends and potentially I don't know if they'll do anything but would be awesome if we had an hour documentary of middle sex on the history of middle sex flower toown uh libert uh Lincoln and everything but the statue not going to happen if there's not a culture and Heritage commit um so there's a lot of things in the book in in the hopper that we want to do that won't get done um I'm sorry to say that if you dissolve this committee you're going to lose all the volunteers they've all said that they will not be part of Parks and Recreation nor the library and any project that they're heading will die um the culture and Heritage uh the the color and Flower Festival Harvey just going to talk a bit about middle sex uh cascadeway does one over a thousand people to it it's a grand event and that's the kind of vision that he has for something here to do something like that here and again you vote the committee out that's dead that's gone and based on what I see for Parks and Recreation and what I see for uh the library none of our projects should be under that it just simply is not written in their ordinances it just isn't um so it's and again the library has a link for a a Heritage and culture committee that doesn't exist that hasn't been sanctioned by you and it doesn't exist so what's up with that um as far as uh just bear with me here um as far as how this all happen um I think it rather interesting that the mayor never spoke to anybody on the committee until about 2 weeks ago he spoke to everybody that left the committee and quite frankly the people that he's talking about I've been with culture and Heritage for probably a year and a half or so most of those people weren't even on the committee when I started with the committee the only the only people that were on it were the free women that left reasonably the rest of them how many people you spoke to were non-existent they weren't on the committee they didn't show up they never came to a meeting so again I we're talking a year and a half of somebody not showing up um so and again you didn't speak to me and granted I get that Jeremiah wasn't communicating with you and things like that but why didn't anybody ever call me I'm the chairman of the committee I could have given you any information about the committee that you needed um as far as the three women that left and they were unhappy with something never once did they say anything during a meeting nor talk to me privately about being unhappy they always appeared content and contributed at times well one of them did contribute at times during meetings the rest never said a word during meetings never said a word and again they left without ever voicing any kind of opinion that they were unhappy but yet they felt a need to send a letter to the mayor and the council saying they were unhappy but couldn't speak to me face to face about being unhappy I'm sorry but I have no respect for somebody that does that um that does that um so I mean that's pretty much I I think it would be a travesty to get rid of this committee um like I said up until about a year and a half ago it was a non-existing committee nothing was going on they were just going through the motions and now we have viable projects we have meetings to start get things going um and you want to shut us down for no valid significant reason other than people left I could see if there was nobody left on the committee but there is and there are people that like I said are vested they contribute they're they're suggested projects they're involved with projects and there's a lot who knows what come from from where we are right now so that's pretty much it thank you now just to address a couple of things uh you know the split is between the culture and Heritage and I know that the prior meetings you said don't get caught up in a name but in at a prior meeting you did mention that you when the people suggested that they wanted to talk about Heritage that you sent them to the library I hang on let me finish all right that's that that you would if that's where their interests were that's where they should go regarding the library the library is a standalone entity they have the friends of the library they have the library and they do handle historical type projects they actually have a history room that they're in the process of working on right now all right um in terms of not speaking to anybody this started with exit interviews that's where it started when we didn't get an answer I made the exit interviews and it was at that time that I determined that there's a definite disconnect between the his the Heritage part and the cultural part and that's how I moved forward at that point it came out into the public I made my recommendations and then at that point everybody got involved because I I spoke with you I spoke to everybody back and forth everything is here is is the writing that's been the communication you know um as far as dis you know disbanding everything as as you guys see it I mean we're trying to split it into two places and we've given you an Avenue to get these projects done the the the rec department is willing they've said as much as they're happy to help they they don't want to lose lose people they're willing to work with you but at this point all I'm hearing and is if we don't get our way and you don't leave us to be autonomous in and of ourself we're going to take our bow and go home that's what I'm hearing I'm not trying to be disrespectful but that's what I'm here they said they would do it they'll help you to see these through that you know hardik I know you have it was like May 17th or something like that 19th I I know that Melissa you know I was talking to her about it today you know she may come back to you and and ask you if you would consider possibly moving it because there are two two other town events back to back right after that and to you may want to consider having it at a different date either earlier in September just to be able to Foster greater interest and get more people coming to this you know because we want to see you hit a thousand people too we're not trying to kill these events we're trying to we're trying to push them along you know so this isn't like that you know we're just going to we're just going to kill it off I think you know and I meant it and I've had a conversation with one of uh the council members that I think we should we should try this new Arrangement and the my conversation was based on um actually he called me for a different reason we just got into a long conversation and um I understand the way he's going to vote and that's okay too but I did give them my word that if that if you guys are not getting service the way that you think that you need to be serviced to to push forward the events that you want to have I'm not averse to reconsidering and starting a cultural and Fine Arts committee but I I I think at this point to to move forward in this fashion is not unrealistic I don't think it's rash and I think it's something that's you know to be quite honest if everyone put the kind of due diligence into into coming up with this stuff that I did for this I probably have 30 hours involved in this just trying to make make a good decision you know I I I think I'm founded I mean and tonight I don't vote just so you know no I know I don't vote you know it's what if there's a tithe then I do vote so you do vote okay but I knew that that's not which is okay but that I mean that's basically all I have to say on this I mean give it a try no one's trying to shut anything down no one's trying to stop anything no one wants to to have these these projects die away and you have an Avenue of which to get them done well respectfully you are shutting something down you're shutting down with culture and Heritage commit and quite frankly you're wrecked in the park committee are not going to yeah maybe they'll continue this Festival but they're not going to do anything with culture they're not going to go out there and create more cultural events and things like that that's not what they do that's what we do that's our main focus is to go out there and create cultural activities that make middle sex a better place okay so you're saying you won't call them up and and say hey I got an idea for an event that you guys might like why would they do that when we are already have a place to do that it makes no sense and again there that's not what they focus on they focus on summer camps and they focus on baseball and football and all that kind of stuff that's their focus and bettering the parks making the parks a better place for Middle sex and other residents to go and enjoy themselves their focus is not on culture I guarantee you if you split this committee up there will not be another cultural project that comes to fruition in middle I disagree with that and I'll tell you why because I gave you my word right now if nothing's happening in three or four months and you guys aren't doing it we'll reopen the culture and Fine Arts because the Heritage just doesn't work but the culture what's the sense of dissolving the committee and I'll tell you in three or four months I would be unhappy I know it would be unhappy what's the sense of dissolving a committee instead of just letting it perform it's already doing and again history is built into our ordinance it's part of our ordinance to be history and Heritage of middle sex not the library I I I understand that but you didn't service the people that were there for history I only told them that because I didn't know this I just researched this within the last 24 hours and what's what's your opinion on the fact that they have an actual web page for Heritage and culture committee that doesn't exist again no members no minutes no agendas no nothing but yet they have a web page for Heritage and culture committee to me that's wrong that's just wrong it could will be and I'll and I'll address that with the with the library who does not by the way report to us so we we can certainly ask question culture and Heritage committee that is sanctioned by ordinance that is busy doing culture and herit Heritage type stuff in town to me it makes no sense to dissolve a committee and then 3 or four months say oh it's not working let's reestablish the committee and the name is meaningless the name means nothing you could call it Joe's Crabshack and it and it does uh and but it can do anything it wants within the purview of what the ordinance says okay the ordinance says it's culture and Heritage and the ordinance tells us what we're supposed to be doing okay there's five or six things in the ordinance that says we should focus on history is just one of them okay and granted okay if the library does history and we just go through history culture and Heritage the name means nothing it doesn't make any sense to change the name um it's again it's what the committee accomplishes and what it does you can't tell me that there aren't other organizations in town that are doing things that aren't part of their name okay the fireman have Carnival Carnival is not part of their name so maybe it should be the fireman's and Carnival entertainment committee I'm not getting hung up on the name and we're not getting H up are you are you're saying it shouldn't be Heritage it should be fine arts that doesn't mean anything so it's culture and Heritage and we do fine arts that's in the ordinance to do that kind of stuff I understand that but the at the same time until 24 hours ago you didn't realize that the history was such a big part of it and now you know that's which is why we're saying it should be split no not they me that's what I that was my recommendation and that's I said in the last hours I didn't realize that the library had Heritage and culture committee that wasn't a legal viable committee with members minutes agenda not on their agenda for January and February there is nothing about culture and Heritage or history Street on the library agenda anywhere new old business anything nothing understand wasn't one of their committee reports so as far as the library is concerned it doesn't exist if it existed they would have history committee on their agenda but as as a matter of fact they are working on a history room they have a big history project on room there I'm talking about no but I'm saying they have a whole they have a whole project and there is a committee that work works with it that's great but like I said they have a web page that says Heritage and culture committee listen we can go back and forth on this forever I've been sitting here for the committee's been around for four years you know outside of a verbal report I've never seen any minutes I never seen anything I I mean the reason all this came up is until Friday or Friday night at 5 o'clock I didn't know of of the projects that you had in the and the and the committee people so at this point I mean listen we' thrown it all out there all the information's out there I mean I think I mean if you got more to say let him vote prior to me I can't speak for prior to Mee surely Penrose took the minutes every meeting I don't know why she didn't give them to you that's her respons that was her responsibility as secretary okay so that's on her you have to talk to her about not minutes was very good with minutes and she submitted them on time and they came in all the time to that so she was a very good secretary and I don't understand why you're saying there's no minutes that's just weird but she was very good secretary she kept very detailed minutes of what was accomplished and what was discussed and I think if somebody would have resar to go look at those minutes or asked for those minutes we wouldn't even be here but we're here with your 30 hours of re research that things you have an amazing leader back there who I know is more than capable of doing everything you're asking her to do because she's a wonderful leader I know she can accomplish it but I don't I think the point's being missed like you're you're hurting the volunteers that's what I'm hearing so anyhow like I said I I think with all due respect this is just silly I could see if the committee was non-existent like the environmental committee at one time was not existent and it was just voted away that's not this case okay we have projects we have things we want to accomplish again we have vested members that want to do things on the culture and Heritage committee not on Parks or Recreation nor the library and culture will die if you put it in any other committee because it's not a focus Recreation what is Recreation going to care about culture they're not going to do anything with culture they're not going to generate ideas and bring them to completion and they're going to reach out to you I'm not on that committee and I'm not why would I want to be part of the Parks and Recreation committe when I'm part of the culture and Heritage committee now and we do that stuff now so so basically you're going to split hairs over this unless you're an autonomous committee doing what you want you're not interested in anything else already an autonomous commit you want to get rid of a committee that is doing what it needs to do all right so anyhow all right thank you is there anyone else my name is Avenue um as you already know I have questioned for May 19th date uh one of the things that I do want to point out uh when I did the event last year for the first time I was able to raise about $167 as a donation from different Wenders who came uh the apart from that um I got the local business owners to come out and put out food and do other things as well so that looking forward to do that uh perly as a c Heritage committee name it whatever you want but maining is we as a group as a group that is existing right now would like to continue serving the community and move forward with it rather than have this go on and on and I I understand and no one's no one said we're not going to continue with anything we want to keep it all going so I just it's it's you know you say it's not an aim but it is an aim to to to certain members that's why we just you know so I mean I agree with Mark I would like to keep this as a culture and Heritage committee and move forward with it rather then have it held up in in the meeting and I'm pretty sure you guys have a lot more to attend to than culture inheritance right well like I said at this point we' we've made some recommendations uh well I've made some recommendations it's up for the council to decide and like I like I said before if it doesn't work if it passes and it doesn't work we will have a culture and Fine Arts committee one two three you know but I think at this point based on the workload I've done the due diligence I've checked with everybody to make sure that these things can get accomplished they they've assured me they can you know let's let's try it yes sir question mark I don't know you're the chairman so how many your members are here tonight in your opinion if this is dissolved will you not be involved in any other committees you will walk away you will all walk away it's got to be a little diffic difficult because the mindset is set right now is more on wavelength of we want to do something new and creative and have continuous event and support one another to get things going forward so so will you will you walk away or you won't walk away I'll probably walk away just for to understand what else can be done from a different aspect he won't help any other if it's split on either side I don't know right now I would love to but right now it's going to be hard to determine because I don't know what other companies do and what other people do so I would have to say and understand and see if I fit in that environment so and when initially walked into the C inheritance committee Council cor invited me I sat there to understand what they do and what can be done before I said yes to join the so in all honesty I would have to sit and understand what's going sure com it's a very like hard scenario to put a volunteer in like how do you want to volunteer when they're already doing successful things and I keep hearing the mayor say doe diligence for the the one thing I do want to ask our Council to do if you take my name out of this right Jeremiah Jeremiah's actions supposed actions why is this happening that's that's a very fair question as well I think for you guys to consider in this decision sorry hi I'm Lisa lentini Pomo 102 G and I've been a volunteer in this committee since it's Inception since it started and I've put in a lot of hours uh I've been involved with um the open Mike my husband carried lots of equipment help set up and um help out with that which I'm very thankful for and um I've been involved with some photography exibits that we've had over the last two years and I think these are all things that are important to the community um and I hear what you're saying and maybe at this point instead of um dividing up the committee and dispersing it maybe it should just be the name change now it should just be what you're suggesting um culture and Fine Art um and keeping us as a unit together doing positive things and moving forward as a unit together um so maybe that's the change that needs to be made now as opposed to splitting up and putting people into commit that they really interest I I do get a little confused by that and I'll tell you why because if you're if you're doing the same thing that you were doing but just going through a different avenue why is it different it's not no one's asking you to do anything different than you're already doing I disagree it's completely different you're taking a committee and you're dispersing it um so just by that alone it's different um so that's just how I feel about it um I love being a volunteer in this committee I think there's been a lot of positive things that have happened for the community um and I would love to see a lot more happen for the community um so I hope that it could continue to go in this direction and I think with the group of people that we have now um I think everyone wants to go in that direction and I hate to see that stop because of this situation splitting up the committee as opposed to letting it move forward thank you okay you know farming Doug you know the the idea isn't to split it up the idea is to utilize the committee but basically going through the rec department you know you're kind of getting hung up on that but it's we're not looking to stop anything and or or the collaboration that you guys have together it's just that the fact that you would get get it funneled through the rec department which has a better chance of helping you coordinate events and also be able to to to try and pull things together more cohesively in the down that's that's where we're at okay anybody else I just have a quick comment on that sorry um if you're saying you're not split this up then why bother get rid of the committee if you're going to put us in park in Recreation why split up the committee and by putting this in Park and Recreation you're just ordering down the committee our committee focused on culture okay and let's say culture and Fine Arts I don't Carey changed the name our committe is focused on culture and Fine Arts the rec department quite frankly doesn't give a crap about culture okay I I think that's unfair it is it isn't what evidence do you have that they're not there done they might see hard's project through but there's not going to be any new cultural projects they're focused on Recreation it's in it's in the code of town their purview has nothing to do with culture it has everything to do with football pads and baseball bats and uh summer camps and things like that that has nothing to do with culture zero and if you get rid of this committee I guarantee the Parks and Recreation will not have any more cultural events they will not have it's not their focus that's what the culture inherit and if you're saying you're not going to split us up but you're going to put us into Parks and Recreation ation why split us up we're already together an autonomous group and we can focus on if we go to a Parks and Recreation we're going to have this much time to talk about culture when we do meetings now it's a whole meeting we'll talk an hour on projects and old news and new news and stuff like that Parks and Recreation we're going to be a blit in it let let me ask you a question sure if if it was to remain an intact committee but was has to work through the parts not sorry through the rec department not their committee their Department directly to help with funding and setting up events would that help you guys as long as we leave the committee as it I like that um I'm not sure I see the purpose of that because just to help with the money no I get it but we can work as a separate committee and work with other committees without being part of them correct that's what why should we be part of them it's just like I'm involved with the pool we work with other organizations but yet we're not part of any of those organizations yeah that's exactly what I'm saying I mean I have why wouldn't we work collaborative with somebody else but I don't see a reason to be under the recreation department that makes no sense so you want what you want don't you yeah I do I was going to say the same thing is there's there's a lot of of representation Co there I would like to some clarity from our attorney as well when we are whipping votes we're whipping an understanding what does the mayor have to do with that like if he's like if he's boldly speaking to our volunteers saying that this is done and even here what I'm hearing now is crazy the council president I didn't hear anything about like what was going on or what was the decision about what was happening but for in my brain I'm just trying to see Clarity it's like if our Cod conduct that doesn't seem impartial it's like what's the question Jeremiah can the mayor speak to the volunteers to say like something's done before even the agenda to change the stuff be done and I get what he's saying because he's saying and like we do have a very talented Rec staff I get it but in my brain like we're burdening our work staff to where they can operate in other areas and functional areas and taking it away from our volunteers who are already working so you're taking an additional burden and worksome throwing it on the rec department me as a Rec Department like part of the committee I haven't heard anything from the council mtic committee there's no discussions no nothing this is all caught off like by a very like weird start that makes me uncomfortable and I do strongly believe that if my name wasn't even a part of this that this wouldn't even be happening so if you took me out of the equation and Jeremiah K hit over here why this wouldn't even be happening this wouldn't even be happening this would wouldn't there wouldn't be a 30 hour 30 due diligence research and then all of a sudden come in that's what I'm trying I'm not trying to insult you because I know you're very smart and do a lot of good things but can't you like hear your volunteers Jeremiah I hear the volunteers remember in a campaign Om I'm saying we need campaign we need help we need help help us help us help us and I'm like here it is and like it's not Jeremiah pocket it's I understand let's just let's just stop for a second you said if you take Jeremiah out of the the the situation we wouldn't have been here correct right well that's that's incorrect and I'll tell you why Jeremiah wasn't here and the only reason I got involved in the first place is because five people quit over the course of two months and I was and I asked why did they quit that's what I did has that not been answered though yeah been proven by itself to be like okay that's not right that should shouldn't be happening let's go back and keep it but you're pushing to make a change and you're pushing to separate well saying you're not separating right no I'm I'm exactly saying the separate the History part and the cult the Heritage part and the History part does not belong part of the culture thing in my why wouldn't we promote collaboration because you didn't so you didn't why do you think they all left what well who are you looking at I I disagree with why you think they left first off I believe two of those people were never involved May um com the three people that left over personality conflict you know at at listen at this point we can go back and forth over this 100 times is anyone else different have something to say please step up to the microphone Frank Ryan 303 Maple Street two things um with the energy that I see from the volunteers here tonight and I think that I'm got friendly with Mark hope friend with me um if the name to me means nothing I'm part of the parks committee I'm interested in Victor Crow Park so whatever happens at Mountain View Park there's committee members that do their job there I'm focused on Victor crra parner and when I the committee is not called Victor Crow Park committee it's par committee so when I go in there they can they hear me I can fall asleep when all the other stuff is going on my voice is and so I don't think maybe I'm putting words in marks M the work that he does with the swim pool and how he's spoken tonight whether you guys vote to keep it or you vote to change the name their voices going to a meeting are going to be hurt you're going to go there and if if the so-called committee doesn't how you came across tonight is going to push your way in and there are going to be a lot of events they might not know it but we're going to have a lot of events so if the council chooses to change the name and incorporate it and maybe get more funding I don't see a problem so and number two the town attorney even musini had his clocks and the train is running on time we don't have the train station I agree why you can't get a clock on time all right you know the last comment I'll just make on this and this is why I think it's very important that it goes when you're running events most of the events that run in the town run out of two places they either come from the library or they come out of the wreck department and having it coordinated with the direct department is going to be the best way to see events that you want to bring forward get out into the public and that's that's all I'm going to say to work that's enough Mark is um mayam here comment so it's like my whole press on this um for my colleagues up here is like we all desperately need volunteers like we know this we've been asking this since 2020 um the comment that I'm I'm not getting back I mean the these have already been on the agenda they've already been discussed when I discussed with the the burough attorney he advised me because such matters have been discussed not really like comment on it anymore and I followed his advice I just kept my mouth quiet I said okay because these they've already been on the agenda for thing but mayor you have been on part of this like how come you're making this to use as a like some type of bullet where it feels correct me if I'm wrong but it feels like you're using the time of the separation of all these m MERS which Mr Adams who was a previous member said I can use his TCH of thing but he left because he was becoming a commander of the American Legion like there's a variety of reasons why people left over the years but also more so is that they've been on the agenda every time so when I've answered these questions which I have answered these questions what what what are you talking about like this doesn't make any sense to me it's very confusing is there have been answers for people who've been leaving it's been on the agenda to accept their their their res Nation it's been up for discussion and we've replaced so on so on there's a variety of reasons there's only a couple reasons that have promoting this discussion I know you have a good heart for this community I don't know between us we have a couple Burning Bridges situations going on I'm asking you to just we're here together like this isn't Jeremiah's committee we created it together we created everything together Mr dy I asked to be a member when we first started is that not right and he was busy with work but now he's here doing this I understand now the value of that maybe I didn't communicate with him well the first time I'm not Edy which is a which is a protected issue sometimes when I get emotional things to get out of way but it's like this doesn't make sense this is embarrassing I'm embarrassed and I don't even know what to say like I I'm sorry for my volunteers I hope that the council realizes that I don't know so it was a situation that was created I offered a solution we could vote yeah I just don't think it's a good solution for our volunteers I understand where you're coming from and functionality and how your mind works but I do not think it's how a municipality should treat its res of volunteers but thank you for your time any other comments I I would say that probably the smartest Way Forward would be to leave the culture and Heritage committee intact but have it coordinate through with the uh of the B offices is there any way like we can push it off and have this discussion and maybe the administrator we can have a big conference meeting I don't I don't know table it but my point let me make then we can meet with the library be a discussion so my fear is and we have this campaign going with Bara Benson where we're trying to get volunteers and I hate to lose that's why I asked the question if you would leave or stay and I got some several of them said they're leaving I don't want to see any of you we're having a hard enough time now with volunteers and I I kind of like Martin's thing too I mean I would just hate to lose volunteers that's the that's my I understand you're part of separating and makes so much sense to me but I don't want to lose volunteers and and if they would jump on board say great I'll jump on board with the separation I be all four it it's just hard for me to lose my well let let me just and that's all let me just ask the question if if it becomes the cultural and Fine Arts working with the rec department are you guys all right I'm guys remain a committee I'm coordinate I don't think we should formally be under the no not under we will still be chapter 19 correct yes still chapter 19 will coordinate their events with r so that they can get the advertising the funding and the support the the borrow can get I see nothing and again the name to me means nothing well the main the name does mean something that's why you know we go through all this because we do need a clear division of who's going to do what if it's history goes to the library very simple like I said you have organizations in town that are doing things I don't want to I don't I'm not talking about other organizations I'm talking about yours different culture culture Fine Art CU we were doing things where um Miss levenson was working on the historic designation of Lincoln Park right like that was an active project on the culture and Heritage committee that was being moved with the culture and Heritage committee it was part of it so I think what would have been a catalyst of this is when they left because of this s scenario it K wanted to go with them because there's a pride in sense I understand what Mr fr is saying with the announcement of the library but they do have an indepth like history connection I've seen your books I've seen them talk and even miss dza and miss Penrose and uh the other lady they all wanted to work with the library like what happened to that they wanted during the meetings they said hey we want to work with the library committee I said sure like it's not up to me it's not my decision it's you guys like I'll just tell the thing like there's so many that could have Happ we we beat this around for for what well just for before we talk about among any any other comments real quick from you guys so let me just let me just see where we're at here right well right listen this is the only way you get things done yeah all right so right now what we're saying or what's on the table is a cultural and Fine Arts committee less members reporting to the recck department I would say no this is this is off table I guess yes sir I guess for the council but um the attorney this was this is a different proposal now administrator of the place there is the proposal that was put on first reading two weeks ago is what is on the table now that is not the cultural and Fine Arts I don't care where it goes right but that's right well we would have we would have to table this or or it down go back you would need to you need to ask the Govern body finish please I am so sorry um so if there is a motion to table there's that or a motion to approve one or the other you have to ask your governing body what what the is there a motion here or seek consensus towards a motion but what's on the table now is the I understand that and I it's either table approve or or vote it down the question is if we table it we're not we're not going to continue the way that we're doing it so we'd have to we'd have to come up with some sort of rework to to to figure out how we move forward possibility or could be brought back at a later date I mean anything could come back the the the Fine Arts it could be left as it is you have an instrument that's on for final reading tonight and need to dispense with it however you see fit be it a table okay H hang on one second be it a tabling or approval well let me just say we table it and we do nothing sure all right what mechanism makes the committee go through the wreck what do we have to do to have that happen we would need to ride coordinate with the wreck we would need to revise the the ordinances right now towards that effect yes you to revise it it wouldn't be the instrument you have on the table now you would be reintroduced we have to reintroduce I think yeah all right my recommendation May table it well do we table or just vote it down rev there would be no need to vote it down if there's consensus towards tabling you table it motion table second second can rework it right andoun corre call the r on motion to table I have a motion Conan din second council president Conan yes councilman cors yes councilman din yes councilman doy yes councilman Quinn yes councilman Rex yes okay all right let's get it Rewritten let's do something that works for everybody thank you for your time no date um it's not table to date no no table go table it just goes to away yeah goes away no all right so we're going to need a rewrite on that you know you going to do it we chat about it yeah okay good all right thank you all right adoption of minutes I have we go there can I be included those emails on to rewrite just so I can have some sure thank you ready yep I'm waiting on you approval of the February 13 20204 regular and executive meeting minutes motion second second all in favor I all right I and approval of the February 27 2024 regular and executive meeting minutes motion second all in favor I I okay let's go with the mayor's report right now well guess what we table the cultural heritage uh it's going to go for a rewrite and uh hopefully it's something that's pable to everybody and we go forward from there okay speaking of that we do have the middle sex volunteers volunteer coming up uh volunteer Fair coming up on April 20th 202 forour um that will be held in the middle sex Boro Library community room there's a lot of work going into this we are interested in our volunteers and we do want to keep them all right uh one of the other things I had is that we did meet with uh Michelle masak cudas before the the meeting tonight one of the things that we discussed very deeply was was Heather Lane to let us to let them know that we're a little disappointed I mean I know that they're working on it but we really don't see anything coming out of it and it's and it's hard it's hard on our end because we don't want to we don't want to just have it keep happening and and not and getting anywhere I mean talk is cheap we we we need some help we we have we've committed some funds we've committed more funds than I would have liked to you know towards trying to rectify it we haven't been able to to get this item going you know weather has been getting in there but we we'll take care of that um just one of the other things I just I would just like to to mention is that as as we go through the stuff you you wind up finding like um Finance notices and stuff like that and when you sit in the seat you get them and it's a matter of recordkeeping right but one of the things that becomes interesting is when you start seeing them they're coming from areas and neighborhoods that you would never expect to see them it just goes to tell you that we have to be on our on our on our dime for the p's and q's of watching where the money comes from watching where the money goes and no matter what anybody says it ain't easy out there right now and and finances are tough you go to the gas station you go to the food especially the food store you know and just so everyone else knows well we're going through the budgets and everything else it is at the top of our mind because we don't you know we don't want to lose volunteers but even more so we don't want to lose residents you know especially in situations like that having them lose their homes that's that's all I have to say on that couple of things that you're going to notice in the next month we've been working on the pillars of middle sex that's going to be uh the award system that we we did talk about earlier guys please make sure you get some names in um residents That's goes for you too uh Linda hate to put you on the dime for this if you send them over to Linda chismar she does have a list that she will be putting together for for for consideration for this going forward um we're anticipating at this point that our first uh presentation will be at the second meeting in April um I'm not going to tell you who it is right now because someone's got some homework to do and uh at the next meeting I am uh I'm I'm very proud to announce that we're going to have the environmental commission after 10 years how many 20 20 years is coming back uh that's Claire in the back she's going to be one of the members she's been pushing for this for a long long long time her knowledge on this subject is way greater than probably all of us in the room um I'm looking forward to to some of the fun things that you guys are going to be doing not even fun but you know one of I know the initial projects that have been baned about is uh the tree project which is um where you get the be root trees um you're going to get them in soil we're going to put them on the side you're you guys are going to maintain them we're going to get them to be saplings so we don't do what we wind up doing every year have the Girl Scouts plant 100 trees and then 105 trees die so we're going to try and do that and as a matter of fact just for for you guys the trees that would also be used for the DPW and and the the the the bonus to that is you know it's it's out of huge savings to the burrow what do we figure 100 trees was worth Linda about 30 yeah about $30,000 100 trees because that's what it cost when we when when we buy these trees and we put them in you know so this is this this is a win um I can't wait I I'm very excited for the good things that you guys are going to do and um that's it that's all I have at this point all right moving on let's go to uh council president conahan I know you're going to cover one of the items that I did not mention am I yeah you are I know you got two pages of notes yeah uh thank you mayor thank you to assemblywoman uh mudis I know she left unfortunately but uh thank you for hosting Mobile hours today she was here from 5: to 7: um I I also thank her for presenting tonight and um all that she does for for the burrow I want to also thank Tom her for his many years of volunteer service to our Board of Health our annual Bunny Hop will be Saturday March 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to 12: noon in Mountain View Park uh and it is free admission re softball and baseball registration ended and the season is beginning later this month thank you Melissa and McKenzie uh the fire department conducted its first inspection in several years and councilman Dodie and myself attended this past Saturday we visited all four firehouses and inspected all four fire trucks uh it was a great learning experience for me the annual fire department Carnival uh which I know has come up a couple times tonight is the week of April 22nd uh pray for lots of Sun as I briefly mentioned at the last council meeting I want to confirm the details tonight I know the mayor just mentioned this that Saturday April the 20th from 10:00 a.m. to 2: P.M will be our first volunteer fair in the community room uh middle sex everybody knows this is facing a um critical shortage of volunteers so please come and learn more about how you can get involved and make our community stronger all ages all experience levels are welcome Refreshments will be served um I want to thank Barbara Benson and Lee pandle for spearheading this initiative they both have done a tremendous job I and I personally appreciate all of their time and efforts look for a mailer uh it's actually going out next week to every postal address in middlex it'll be a postcard uh also April is National volunteer month and our uh Fair kicks off National volunteer week which uh is is that Monday April 21st uh lastly I attended my first Library Board of Trustees meeting uh last night uh I have some numbers here the uh 2024 circulation report through February total circulation uh through February was almost 5,800 uh it was up 400 and that's that includes digital and print versus February of 2023 so a nice increase total circulation for all of 2023 uh was at almost 69,000 so quite a bit and um that was 5,000 more from 2022 uh we also had in the month of February 42 new users sign up uh compared to 31 in February of 2022 2023 I'm sorry and we had a total of uh 452 new users those are new folks to the library that register um for the entire year last year 2023 so quite a bit um a couple of other stats that were um very impressive to see so my kids went through these years ago but it's it's been a while uh February this is the February data children's programs in the month of February this this February 22 children's programs and a total number of 215 uh kids attended um and then also in February there were seven adult programs and 123 adults attended so again quite a bit going uh going on in the library um let's see the last piece that I I did want to talk about uh was the friends of Library I know uh the president is here Susan um for those folks that don't know about much about the friends at the middle sex Library um I'll give you a quick synopsis there are seven events uh this year already through the first four months of the year um there was a flute duo in in January 21st um a was takes wing with Carol Simon 11 that was February 7th us Grand life and myth with Kenneth surfs that was February 18th uh early prison release with Dr John patake was uh was March 3rd coming up on March 24th songs you know in love with foot Peter and Kevin Brown um begin writing your Memoir today with with Susan on April the 10th and a guitar concert with Vic Leonard on Sunday May the 5th um all these events are free of charge um leading to I I did want to read it this into the record mayor it is a um overview of the friends put together by the president um I'll read it quickly the friends of the middle sex Public Library are solely dedicated to charitable literary literary and educational purposes to increase public awareness to the library and to encourage the use of the library facilities resources and services the organization has been in existence informally since the 1980s throughout those early years we offered free concerts historic reenactment enactments and lectures to our patrons and members of the community a new Administration took over in 2013 Incorporated and applied for tax exempt status in 2014 10 years ago hoping to expand our scope audience and resources we created a website Facebook page and increased our networking and marketing activities the friends continue to offer approximately 15 educational and musical programs yearly spring and fall only all of our programs are free of charge and are funded through charitable donations and yearly membership into the organization which is 10 bucks a household we have offered financial support to the library summer reading programs and when funding permits we donate to other Library activities after each of our programs we offer Refreshments donated and often baked by our volunteers our guests look forward to this time to socialize with each other our performers and our volunteers the Friends host a Memoirs a memoir writing group a book club occasional chair yoga classes and are a presence at community events where we offer free children's books and gently used adult books at a nominal cost um like the community day I know from last year our organization achieved solvency until the pandemic hit in 2020 since that time we lost several of our active volunteers and have been working diligently to rebuild our presence in the community we also lost the use of our meeting room which is the community room for a year after Hurricane Ida the meeting meeting room didn't reopen until the fall of 2022 when uh we resume programming we are fortunate to have been offered a $4,000 Grant from the arts institute of middlex County to help sponsor a series of six jazz concerts to be held this fall 2024 musical programs have always been our most popular events our goal is to entertain educate and provide social connections for our audience while our audience is primarily seniors we hope to provide enough diversity in our programming to attract patrons from all generations the arts institute requires of us to carry liability insurance so the friends of the library is asking us this evening um the buau to Grant uh our request to be added to our GIF policy so that we can accept the county Grant and continue to provide our services to the library and to the community so tonight I'd like to ask uh for a consensus on the governing body to approve adding them onto our GIF uh I did speak to um our uh Insurance uh broker and I I also spoke to Chris about this um and if yes a resolution will be added to our next meeting agenda March the 26th um there is paperwork that I have with me uh it's basic paperwork 501c3 and the only requirement at the very end is that the buau of governing body supports the friends of the library and uh that's needed with the resolution council president why don't you also tell uh the governing body about the good news about the payment on this how much it cost and who's paying for it as as you told me which is also excellent news yeah so so our uh the the increase to our annual premium you know which I don't know the exact amount but it's tens of thousands a month we it's another 360 bucks for the entire year and the and it's going to be funded through the friends of the library so there's no cost to the BR it's a fun it's a functional equivalent of event insurance as the council president I spoke about earlier today I commend him for his excellent work on this um as long as the library can square it with their tax exemp status and that's their problem not ours and I did confirm that at the meeting last night Chris about the you know as far as the payment it is going to be a by line and uh we can invoice the library like we do for other things uh there won't be any calls to the burrow and if they went out on their own the event insurance would be four to five times that 100% so what do we need it's well done on it's well done on the council president's part and uh just I think you just need a consensus I don't think you need a resolution just a consensus sure I it's it's an administrative action minim a consensus to add the friends of the library to the policy for the GIF policy sure yes yes yes all right done uh for the next meeting I know we do need a resolution if there there's forms that Amy has on this okay council president provide them to myself and administrat the Poli in C chisar and I'll review them but Amy is the best of what she does so uh I think she's an allmighty right now that she joined us here in Middle sex so um yeah she got forms I'll review them okay we'll put them on Linda and I Linda Mike and I can talk about them so Michael and I can talk about that thank you Chris sit there you let me down oh yeah so I'm sorry it was added to the burough website William Smitty Smith uh was a member of Kevin do you have this in yours okay no no go ahead you got it I've spoken enough tonight all right let's move down councilman cars yeah thank you just like to thank all the colleagues for listening to the volunteers for the culture characters committee as we move forward I mean it's greatly appreciated and I hope that it moves in a good communication moving forward um for um I was talking to I sent an email out uh to councilman doie and Council M Casino with discussion that we're going to move forward with Mr L about um seeking interns to help in the administration area um it's something we've discussed I know me and the council president and the mayor and have discussed this over the past um and I just found out that um Council mot said that there has been a success in the past yeah there was one summer were I believe there were Recreation for summer girl approached us and a college student so that's something that I think we're going to pursue um and bring it and bring it to the council to like figure out how we can have that as well to help with that um I'm still getting new used to this Council mtic uh reporting so it's give me a few fin I don't what's happening over there I just wanted to say I'm done thank you you sure yeah I'm yes sir all right um just do me a favor next time just reach out for the for the senior people I I did I did speak this morning and I asked that however I am here here for you let me know and I said the same thing I just said here to to the director perfect so now we get that's the update thank you there I appreciate that just check okay anything else no uh councilman dinino yes just uh joint L use board meets tomorrow night we have two uh applications on the docket um as far as DPW grass pickup has started every Wednesday also brand pick up the third Wednesday of the month um Lenny's guys have been out cleaning with the jetpack for catch basins especially in the flood prone areas the pier section capan midal green and the West Second Street section also the street sweeping has begun the schedule will be posted this week on social media also on the burough website um also uh they've been addressing potholes you know this is pothole season they've been addressing potholes throughout they go out twice a week week the pothole you know machine so they make a list during the week and twice a week they all they go out and do potholes so I think on Facebook someone mentioned there was a big one uh down by it's a county Rob they took care of it de end to on the county road you know what I'm talking about yeah that's happening a lot also Lenny's doing a his his yearly evaluations they've completed 80% of their evaluations of all employees so that's a good thing that they he does so uh stationary record and it's a good thing right anything else that's it Ela um went to the OEM meeting over the last year for those you that don't know seven new members including one that's going to be appr tonight um they asked a good question because our Hispanic uh population is going up can the Nix will be broadcast in Spanish also because that's our emergency way of getting to people right now they did we we did talk about the AM radio station that we have they said it's very difficult to get the message from here to there for some reason the connection issue if we could rectify that CU we have this AM radio station for our emergency where's there from from downstairs they were supposedly able to type in the message and then it gets broadcast and the the the actual station is over by the plump station out of 28 here oh okay and they have to physically go over there to do anything all the time versus how it was originally set up where they were able to type it downstairs on the computer it goes over so we have a little disconnect well technology has changed quite a bit since they've done it it might be a Telly thing take a look at take a look at it Michael yeah I mean any director of any Department if they need some technical assistance yeah Jack just lives with it you know I haven heard anything about this no I I'll I'll I'll email you he he was just saying it it's become difficult for them to get the message over there and then they wind up just riding over there okay we haven't had that much W okay right now that they've needed it um that was the OEM basically um fire department KN on wood it was a slow month 29 calls only last month which is really good two structure fires two smoke conditions three motor vehicle options and they went to three Mutual AIDS um he had a couple of things he wanted me to they went to Highland Park burrow for one of the mutual age on February 6 they located a small fire at 921 Lincoln Boulevard on the 26 put it out no problem they found a smoking I February 27th at on Cedar Avenue that they were able to clear um I like the chief he does pretty good stuff here um they were dispatched on February 28th to piscatway to help them on a mutual Aid and they are going they completed their annual bailout training on the 18th of February which is if a u firefighter gets in trouble how to escape so that we don't lose a life we don't want to lose our firefighters also they had a firefighter pass away pull it up here so I don't mess this up I get yelled at by them guys um William Smith Smitty he was a 48-year member and a 40-year active member with Pierce Fire Company passed away he is currently um at midle middle home they will have have a viewing um 6: to9 on the 15th and then services will be Saturday March 16th at the funeral home at 9:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. know that anything else no uh I just got the reports for the court and police after the agenda was set so that'll be next one okay very good thank you ccil mcquin well I'd just like to again thank Tom Harry for all of his uh years on the board of health that we missed um the next Board of Health meeting is the 14th and it's over at the rec center there's also shap tree commission meeting that night on that here at the court I got that there you go thank you very much you ask me I said yes thank you all right so that's everything I have um I guess the one question I do have you is on the um the the zoning thing yeah we have we have dat you got to meet when's that it's uh Monday the5 okay very good want to make sure that gets handled quick fast and in a hurry before I before I start let me ask you what since now we've uh tabled this with the culture Heritage can we appoint some of the members that were put up while we're waiting to see how this gets reworked well we're hoping that it would be done relatively quickly but the bottom line is we we have to figure out how many members we're gonna have once we have that then then then I would actually at that point I would I think it would be prudent like we do with most of the Committees reach out to the to the chairman say here's how many spots you got who do you have yeah and go from there perfect thank you all right good yeah thank you all right councilman Rex I no I'm sorry this evening there I don't have anything to report all right thank you okay uh one last thing we are going to be doing some swearingin at the next meeting for the environmental commission so Claire tell whoever you want or don't want to come up to to to stop High We but be looking forward to uh administrator's report please thank you Mr Mayor members of the council members of the audience um the preliminary round of 2024 budget meetings with Municipal departments and there review of proposed Capital funding requests for the year have been completed I again would like to thank our Chief Financial Officer Carolyn venson and the entire management team for developing a lean and sensible Municipal budget uh the council resolutions on the agenda this evening include ones to approve the purchase of 18 45g recycled trash receptacles for Mount View Park an application to middlex county for a 2024 recycling enhancement Grant the authoriz ation for the annual Route 28 coin toss fundraising event for Parker engine and hose company number four the DAT of that would be March 20th June 1st and September 14th and this will be at the intersection of bber Road and South Lincoln Avenue for the purchase of thermal cameras for the fire department and authorization of a memorandum of understanding between the bus of South planfield and middlex to allow the middlex police department to use the South planfield firearm range um burrow departments are working with the middle sex Public Library to assist with the development of a local history room and archives at the library the Department of Public Works delivered a rendering of the middle sex buau 911 memorial to the local history room and relocated the scale model of the memorial which was in burrow Hall um over to the entrance lobby of the community room so all this work is in progress this spring repairs are planned for the Victor cral Park andex building at 32 Union Avenue this will include painting the trim and repairing the roof and other exterior um features the municipal engineer is preparing an estimate for a preliminary site plan for Lincoln Park the initial site plan will include turbing walks Access Road ways and parking the plan will also anticipate amenities such as landscaping for the expanded Green Space new shaded trees benches and ornamental lighting uh regarding the Val Road streetcap beautification project our Municipal engineer has reported to me that the installation of a longwa vintage style Street lighting is expected to begin this week and I think St Patrick has something to do with that so let's all keep our fingers crossed um the topic for discussion during the agenda Workshop session this evening is headed Lan and the Residential Properties impacted by the serious erion there and in the executive session this evening there'll be two discussions uh real loated at 119 M Avenue and cre BL thank you Mr Mayor okay thank you I just want to just want to make a quick note that I came in today I came in through through my office and um one of my conversations with Michael was Michael why don't you move the uh the the 911 Monument over to the library it be a perfect fit it was already done so I should have wished to win a lottery it would have done me a little bit better but sometimes youo okay um mayor quick question uh Michael can for the Lincoln Park stuff are you going to present that to the parks comme yes I've already spoken to a member of the parks Committee just was in my office this week and really at this stage we're just getting an estimate for what the work with cost engineering concep right but now that we have clear title the bur clear title to the park it's really imperative I think to start to physically Define where the park is there's a lot of confusion as to the extent physical extent where the park actually is access to it and who uses it beginning of the also question Michael I mean I know now that we own that area there's a lot of parking when that camper company comes there we need to I don't know if we talked to the chief or we want to put an ordinance about parking there like a limited parking hour parking two hour the difficulty is that the area is so badly defined it's just all gravel and you know I think we can do two things at once we probably put up some signage and have the police do more we also need to physically Define the part better so that people know where they should be and where they shouldn't be not so much now I guess but like later on when it get those get right on a case to case basis when we get a reporter off I observe someone else observes Vehicles park around the park we report that right okay thank you all right and lastly I just want to thank uh thank Lenny for putting up the uh Annex parking signs there because people hopefully now are starting to get the idea that we own the building they can park over there rather than just crowding around the the loop that's there they have two signs up I think one more is going and hopefully that people read them and kind of pay attention to what they're doing right and just to be clear that's a temporary move because well until it's all done right we're going to have a comprehensive plan for the park that the community will be involved with with and once we have that plan and it's done parking may be a different configuration that was to make just for right nower yep no very good thank you all right uh privilege of the floor I need a motion to go uh open motion second second uh all in favor I all right floor is open please uh state your name and uh address good evening May Council my name is Maria Bruno the owner of 735 Drake um unfortunately a burrow best member did not follow the law and other uh residents of this community may have also similar issues I was never served that I needed to comply with a property maintenance matter and at this stage I have approximately $112,000 of a lean against my property I have communicated with my attorney he have sent emails we had I contacted Darcy I spoke to Tyler he said that another Property Maintenance official did not did he it but they did and I'm very disappointed I I should not have um if I was notified in writing by certified nail or say take care of this I would definitely take care of it so I don't know who do I speak to to resolve this matter but Leen is there and I'm not I'm not getting any response I keep okay just bear with me for for one second what was your name again Maria BR sorry I was writing the address down and be before you leave tonight or you know because if you don't want to say it in public if you could give give your phone number and email address yes I will all right so because um this way we can start fing up I think you we don't no we'd rather just give it to the administrator so he can he he he can start doing some followup and he will re let you know and he will report back to us what's going on with the property yeah I just have one quick question and I'll give you my card if you want to email me your contact information that might be the most secure way to do it um you hadn't received any communication from the bur prior to the leave no so you had no idea this was happening until you until you saw that the the was placed on until I received the bill and then I contacted Darcy the tax collector and she said to contact Tyler who is now the new Property Maintenance and I have and then Tyler is telling me me to contact uh that he can't do anything now it's sold to a tax mean holder who is now hated I'm getting interest at 18% and I'm very disappointed you were receiv see my on on the email but I don't I don't know who to speak to but my attorney's been trying too I have quite a bit of well I've seen some emails on this matter but I don't recall I just was wondering no that's I understand you weren't really a part of it but Tyler clearly told me I did what the prior property man uh department is so I just need this resolve I'm selling my home and I if this gets paid I still need this resolve I'm not going to I'll speak I'll give you my card I appreciate it thank you very much thank you days had a couple things I want to ask about um mayor during one of the ordinances tonight I think was first one you commented that uh 80 properties have been lost through the flood control project is that I'm I'm pretty sure Dave I can get you a better count but I mean it's it's it's way up there at Point blue Acres um how much have l i I don't know exactly but you have to figure I think it's 800,000 800,000 a 10 000 so what does that equate to a year in tax revenue $800,000 $800,000 well it's probably important to know that that happened over many years not an impact of one budget year right right but it's still a hit for the bur yeah it's been it's been a hit and over how many years has that occurred you know 35 I think 40 I think 35 I mean Mike is about now numb you said 35 or 40 probably about right May 35 4 yeah okay we we like to it's been said the meetings sometimes not recently but know a couple years ago all this pilot money that we were getting some of the property it sounds like we're making up for what's been lost in other absolutely no it's it's a loss of ratables period yeah and and also factoring in the overall project um the Army Corps is also you know as you know purchase property going burrow so that goes into Ledger as well okay uh one other thing I want to ask about um about a month ago um I don't I don't get aary meetings usually I think a lot of times they meet Tuesdays some of their meetings or Tuesday same night as you guys meet um but I did happen to watch the video of the last for bed last one was on Wednesday night and I know this stuff is not Tech in you guys perview but um a gentleman got up and and asked about something I guess they they typically meet Tuesday night and they meet Wednesday night and at the Wednesday night meeting he asked about something that happened the previous night and there was no video for that but he made a mention of a demographic study um and I did contact a business administrator over there and she said that they have they offer us I know several thousand for a demographic study and this gentleman also asked I guess this was mentioned the night before about the superintendent apparently tore in all and be school um I was just wondering if you guys have heard anything about that what was the what was that the superintendent what supposedly supposedly this is what this guy said it the meeting asked about it supposedly they had mentioned it the night before that she went over and took a look at Al the school I guess maybe as a potential place I don't know maybe it was just a what I mean maybe but I mean I haven't heard anything about it but let me let me finish this is this is the one thing that I found you know I watch this on video and I sent an email to the business administrator she took a couple days to get back me then gave me the resolution for the um uh demographic study um I got no response to my question about the superintendent and when the guy got up at night and mentioned this that you know something about superintendent pouring o there was just no response um um and you know I'm very happy about some of the trans the efforts you guys have been making recently to increase transparency um I'm sure and I know this is not your part of view but I knowa I'm sure occasionally you guys have conversations with people who are on for bit um if there is something going on um maybe there's not maybe like I said maybe it's so just like what if but they've commissioned a demographic study um and if the superintendent is taking it upon even just go over and walk through all school I think everybody should know about what's going on so maybe if you guys haven't in over there and can bend somebody's here who who is uh Mr Toman you're have you heard anything about the nothing Dave no but I'll now that you're bringing it up I hav it but I'll ask okay because like I said and I really know nothing about this all this is all from a half hour video that this one guy got up and spoke and asked a couple of questions and there was just no response you know it just could be a a new superintendent taking a look because I remember back in the day when they had that referendum going on and Kevin knows that that when we asked that very same question their their interest in that building was less than zero you know so this all could be a what if and do check in I know from covering school districts it's not a bad idea for them to periodically do demographic s and see you know do we think our en going it doesn't hurt that it doesn't hurt to ask absolutely but if some guy shows up in your audience and asks a question I would think they should give a little bit so um again I understand it's not your guys perview I was just wondering maybe you heard anything this no all right so now I'm sound your on this all right thank you very much all right thanks anybody else okay seeing nobody else I'd like to make a motion to close the privilege of the floor second all in favor okay Linda you ready y Okay resolution 86 2024 acceptance of standing reports resolution 87 2024 authorizing the purchase of 1845 gallon recycled garbage receptacles for Mountain View Park in the amount of $1,699 32 resolution 88 2024 approval to submit the middle sex County 2024 recycling enhancement Grant application resolution 9 2024 authorizing par for engine and hose company number four to hold their annual coin to events on March 30 30th 2024 June 1st 2024 and September 14 2024 at the intersections of South lincol Avenue Route 28 pending all required documentation being filed in the clerk's office prior to the events resolution 90- 2024 awarding contract for heating and air conditioning preventative maintenance services to jrc South for a contract term of April 1 2024 and ending March 31 2025 and an amount not to exceed $10,400 resolution 91 2024 canceling 1 and second quarter 2024 taxes for Block 154 Lot 1 resolution 92 2024 approving tax titling Redemption funds for Block 7.04 L2 resolution 93-220 approving the purchase of 10 K2 thermal camera kits in an amount not to exceed $10,000 resolution 94 2024 refund of first quarter 2024 taxes on block 77 lot 3 resolution 95 2024 authorizing the purchase of two K65 thermal camera kits in an amount not to exceed 2,928 under the New Jersey state contract 17 Fleet 804 for the fire department resolution 96 2024 authorizing the mayor to execute a memorandum of understanding with the South planfield Police Department reved of the South planfield Firearms range resolution 97 2024 waving permit fees for Pierce fire company for the replacement of the and air conditioning system okay out of breath yep okay uh could I have a motion please oh does anyone want to pull any of these items out no no all right um motion to Mo motion second second any discussion no roll call please coun president Conan yes counil K coun Dino yes cman Doby yes councilman Quinn councilman Rex yes okay okay uh non-consent agenda we have resolution 98- 2024 payall claims have a motion motion second all right any discussion on these no okay all the roll please council president Conan yes counil corn counil din yes coun Dodie coun Quinn yes counil Rex yes okay very good all right we have one agenda Workshop item tonight the Heather Lane property erosion uh um there's no real update on this other than the fact that you know the we have the assembly woman here tonight we did get her around the table and give her a little what for that we need some help to try and get that moving along and as far as the the materials and everything else it's all there it's all sitting there we need a little weather cooperation so we can get moving on that that's today gave us some weather yeah until Friday had 10 Ines of rain since January that's a lot yeah that's a lot um that's all I have on that uh does anyone else have anything that you want to add all right um privilege of the floor on agenda Workshop items motion motion second all in favor hi okay anybody uh have anything to say on the Heather Heather Lane nobody okay motion to close motion second all in favor all right uh we're going to move into executive session uh the next regular meeting there's going to be no action the next regular meeting will be uh March 26 2024 I'm going do the resolution you're going to do the resolution first I'm do resolution 99 2024 executive session motion motion second second second right roll call council president conahan yes coun corns counil Dino counil doie yes coun Quinn counil Rex yes okay okay so move five minutes guys