commit man Clark committee women Katz here committee man s bro here Deputy Mayor hiel here mayor Perry here please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all at this time I'd like to ask for a moment of silence to honor the troop serving worldwide defending our constitutions freedoms and way of life thank you our first item on tonight's agenda we have a presentation of the 2023 Dennis J board veteran of the Year award to Robert W seamer at this time I'd like to please invite um Robert seamer to please come forward all right well good evening everybody um it's it I was just uh talking to the team upstairs I said it's Veterans Day here at uh here in Middletown Township it's there you go I knew he to say um uh it's it's only our second second time stand in giving this award because the first time we did it Dennis nominated Bob Bob nominated Dennis and in the end uh it it's kind of uh humbling to now go to the opposite side of of who did not receive it because uh now Bob will be receiving the Dennis uh J board a veteran of the Year award um but real quick for those of you who don't know these two gentlemen up here um there is is honest to God not two people in this town that work harder for our veterans every single day um I I'm humbled to stand up here um with the with these guys and I called Bob uh late next year and told them that he had been selected to receive this award and to show you how humble this guy is he said I I don't think I'm deserving I didn't do enough in 2023 to take this award to to receive this award um and when you talk about the the spirit of America when you talk about patriotism when you talk about individuals that day in and day out live and breathe what it is to be event veteran that their service may have ended in in conflicts far away but their true Valor their their Victory their efforts and their strive to make every Veteran's life better um is embodied by both of you and Bob this year we we are so humbled as as a Township committee to have you here for everything that you do for our veterans um so very quickly I'm going to go I'm going to go through this this is a this is a pretty impressive list that I got here for you Bob Bob served in the US Army from 1968 to 1971 held the rank of first lieutenant with the first Cavalry combat engineer from 1970 to 1971 and is a Vietnam veteran he earned many service ribbons such as the National Defense medal Vietnam service air medal bronze star and a solders medal with the oak leaf cluster for the past six years Bob has served on the Middletown Veterans Affairs committee where he enjoys helping local veterans enhance their quality of life Bob's worked tirelessly to help veterans file claims for compensation of benefits for their disability and Bob has co-chaired the back booth for five years at Middletown day where he interacts with local veterans and answers questions about VA benefits and encourages them to join the F Veterans Affairs committee Bob has served as chairman of multiple committees designed directional street signs to highlight local veterans monuments in town and has started the p Patriots program as well um there are uh very few people who work as as hard as you Bob and you are incredibly deserving and and I have to tell you when I called you to let you know um and you said that you weren't you weren't you didn't think you were worthy enough you had half of the mayor's crew in tears at the fact that Robert seamer didn't think that he was he was did enough for veterans um Bob you have done more for veterans than you'll ever know in this Township and you are more than deserving of this award so I want to congratulate you my friend you are Beyond deserving and you are Middletown's veteran of the year so before they before they snag all the pictures and I'm trying not to touch touch it so that my fingerprints aren't all over it all right the veteran of the year is hereby presented to Robert W seamer in recognition of your wholehearted dedication to our community Devotion to and inspiring educating Our Youth and the development of thank the veteran program which encourages local businesses to support those who have honorably served our nation given to you by the middle Midtown Township committee March 18th 2024 congratulations my friend one two three I didn't know excuse me I'd like to thank mayor Perry and all the members of the township committee for this award that they just given me um I really think I'm accepting on behalf of all the Middletown veterans where we do have a lot of veterans in Middletown and in their own way I think each veteran contributes to our community we have a great Community here so I I'd like to accept it on behalf of all the veterans especially the number one veteran here my mentor Dennis got me involved uh got me off the couch and got me up doing things for the veterans so I appreciate him and he's he's shown me a lot how to do things to help veterans file those claims and things like that uh the other person or person's Dennis and I and I'm sure the other veterans would have to thank is our significant others my wife Cheryl backs me up and supports me in everything we do P committee we interact with the township a lot but our Prim primary go-to person for us I have to acknowledge the efforts of Tara and Raven but every time we need something right there that's about all the only other thing I'd like to say is it's a quote from Ronald raag some people spend their entire lifetimes wondering if they've ever made a difference in the world a veteran doesn't have that problem good one it's a good one excent my I was honored that Ang Warriors they gave me the honor and name of a service talk well come to mind my name I named it partner partner is my partner here he is there for me when I need him for coming and for assistance B call you make sure I get up B call you my part thank you let's give it up for these guys real quick hey mayor all right hi okay our next item on tonight's agenda we have the approval of minutes for February 20th 2024 regular meeting the March 4th 2024 Workshop meeting executive session minutes for December 18 2023 February 2024 Fe 2020 uh February 20th 2024 and March 4th 2024 motion to approve second committee woman Katz yes committee man srino yes Deputy Mayor hell yes mayor Parry yes motion carries to approve minutes at this time we have introduction of ordinance 202 24- 3408 an ordinance for calendar year 2024 to exceed the municipal budget Appropriations limits and to establish a cap Bank per njsa 48 col 4- 4514 motion to introduce second committee woman cratz yes committee men s brino yes Deputy Mayor hell yes mayor Perry yes motion carries a pass this ordinance on first reading with a public hearing to be held April 8th 2024 at this time we have ordinance uh for introduction 2024 3409 a bond ordinance providing an appropriation of $9,200 th000 for the Development and Construction of affordable housing for Veterans buy and for the township of Middletown in the county of Mammoth New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of $4 million in bonds or notes of the township for financing part of the appropriation motion to introduce second committee woman Katz yes committee sedino yes Deputy Mayor hbel yes mayor Perry absolutely motion carries to pass this ordinance on first reading with a public hearing to be held April 8th 2024 at this time I'd like to ask the township committee to adopt a consent agenda which would include resolutions 24- uh 111 through 24-120 including a firefighter applications for Matthew gski Melissa Tim and Chris uh wymer for Navas navasink hook and latter company number one motion to approve consent agenda second committee committee woman Katz yes committee men sen brino yes Deputy Mayor hell yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to adopt consent agenda at this time we have the township committee acting as the ABC issuing authority we have resolution 24-21 a resolution authorizing personto person and place topl transfer of Plenty retail consumption license 133 1-33 d03 0-11 which is uh from John oraco to Lifetime Fitness motion to approve second committee woman cratz yes Comm sen brino yes Deputy Mayor hell yes mayor Curry yes motion carries to adopt resolution 24121 we have Township committee comments all right commun and Sen bino thank you Mr Mayor just be short this evening um congratulate Bob known her for a long time uh certainly all the time I've been on this committee and Veteran of the Year welld deserved um certainly second second to n so congratulations to Bob and uh I'm sorry mayor I missed the skate park grand opening I couldn't make it back in time but I understand that the mayor hille has scheduled a skate off with all the members of the township committee next Saturday and when Heidi will let us know when we have the time and we expect everyone to be there to watch us I I think that we might hold our next Township committee meeting to be perfectly honest that's a that's a that's a great Park mayor and that's all I have this evening thank you all right thank you uh committee woman Katz thank you mayor so also just want to extend my congratulations to Bob I too have known him for for some time and it's been a pleasure I've gotten the opportunity to work with him and and watch him in action and he is surely a force so very grateful for his service to our country to our community and and to our children he's also um you know served as as a ref in in different capacities through by too so he is he is truly welld deserving of of this award for sure so I offer my congratulations thank you mayor all right Deputy Mayor gotta congratulate congratulate Bob I don't know where he went he ran out with the trophy so fast I don't know which way he went but uh he he is uh truly an amazing person uh I I've worked with him since I've been on his committee and he's just does a fabulous job so excited to have him uh receive that award tonight I also want to talk about the uh Conover Beacon John wrote so nicely about in The Two River Times um that was an amazing uh thing that we were able to accomplish and uh Ted and his crew uh I I climbed the 45 ft which I didn't know was 45 ft but uh it is as clean inside as it is outside uh our Public Works did a fabulous job amazing job skate park I don't think I'm going to be doing those things Kevin I'm sorry I can't do it but mayor Perry's lame so lame um I hope with the crowd here everyone's not going to be talking about the skate park but uh it seemed to be a big hit uh every every couple days I pass through it and I see people uh skating and having a good time and that's the that's the purpose of that park there so hopefully uh stays good and clean as it is so thank you mayor thank you yeah the the the uh restoration of the Conover Beacon truly an unbelievable effort and uh Ted I want I want to thank you through again a after months and months and months searching for a crew that was willing to do the work on the inside and being unable to find anyone that was willing to do the work and our Public Works crew put their heads together figured it out learned what they had to learn and got it done ourselves and in-house was um pretty unbelievable um they should be really proud and then the fact that the restoration of you know I saw a picture from 2004 and the the beacon didn't look all that in rough shape um and to look at it only just a few years ago now um versus what it looks like today um is just spectacular um there was a guy there who even had a tattoo of the Conover Beacon who showed me and was very happy that we stuck with the original paint scheme of the because he thought he was going to have to get his tattoo redone um of the lighthouse he lives in Bricktown too drove does he yes oh I didn't know that where was the tattoo mayor it was it was very clear right in the middle of his chest um it it couldn't have been easy to get that um but that's dedication through and through but to the community from Leonardo that came out for the beacon thank you um I am so proud of of that restoration I'm so proud of our team I'm proud of everybody that was involved and to see the excitement of the community from Leonardo in particular come out and be so appreciative of the fact that that Beacon now lights back up for the community was unbelievable to see the community rally around the old roller rank at kungle Park and see the new skate park um which was born out of people trying to find escapes during the pandemic yes they did something that that they shouldn't have done um but something great did come out of that and and from the DIY Park Skate Park um was built this new skate park and to see people of all ages of of of from all over Middletown coming and enjoying that to see Community businesses come and also participate with that was giving out helmets um for free uh the pizza Julio's pizza in Atlantic Islands um coming out and and donating the pizza because the owners are Leonardo residents um was just awesome and you know I I know that that world construction started today over at McMahon on our new all-inclusive Park uh playground for for kids of of all abilities um the the dog park being wrapped up on March 25th with the changes that we made it's great to see that these um projects are coming to fruition and tonight the fact that we've awarded that remediation for the veterans housing project um to to finalize the environmental that that was there and I I also just want to quickly thank Tony and Colleen uh I want to thank Rick colber I want to thank his team at the Middletown Housing Authority um you know we put out the veterans housing project to bid last year the Housing Authority put out the the veterans housing project to bid last year and we had originally budgeted 5.5 million do for that project um the lowest bid that came in was $8.3 million just just under 8.3 million and because everybody got their heads together nobody rushed anything we did it the right way we tried to figure out yes it's it's it moved too slow but we got our heads together we fig figured out the way to make it work where we were not putting anybody at risk from a financial perspective in terms of the town the Housing Authority or any any other parties we figured out how to do it with the plan that we had in place the plan that we had promised we and here we are where we expect to award that bid um at our May 6th meeting when we go about the bid so that project and to see all these projects at different phases coming through they're definitely not not all of them are moving at the speeds that I thought they would um but all of them are moving and I'm very proud of that fact I'm very grateful to have a Township committee that's willing to put those dollars together and get those things done for the people of this town so um so I I won't go on any longer uh I'll open it up for public comment oh yeah I I am gon to go on for another minute um tonight we are starting something um new we announced it as as early as we could um late last week um but tonight uh during our regular Township committee meetings um we have announced that we have standardized our hours um as well as created an opportunity we understand that residents can't get the town hall between 8 o'clock and four o'clock we we we know that that there's a lot of people working out there and they just can't make it we're trying to create that convenience as best we can for the residents so uh most if not all of our public facing departments whether that's the Clerk's Office passports um whether that is uh our planning office um uh um who zoning Health uh building uh Court as well all these resources are now available to the public to to come out between 5:30 and 7:30 during on the meeting meeting nights to come and know that they can come without an appointment and meet with uh folks within those departments so we're just trying to open up town hall so that people have the opportunities to be able to uh to interact with uh with their Township um outside of those normal business hours so I want to thank the team that was part of that um and getting that done so with that being said I'll open it up for public comment any member of the public wishing to make a public comment may do so we ask that you state your name and address for the record we ask that you keep your comments to 5 minutes at 4 minutes I'll let you know that you have one minute remaining with that being said any member of the public wishing to make a public comment yeah you know what actually before I ask any of the students want to ask so you're from you're all from Communications where are you from Sir Brookdale and where are you from Brookdale do any of you want to ask question before I open it up for the public you're all turning as red as Irish people did yesterday okay all right any member of the public wish to know make a public comment John come on down John great story in the tour over times about Conover Beacon than you John spell 91 Burlington uh thank you guys again uh especially Mr M and their Department like I said the Conover Beacon was came out really well U my mom walks the dog like around that little uh uh turn right there so she uh she said it looks really nice um I just wanted to um ask the township committee if I could uh we have like a a sapling growing on the property border with my neighbor uh it's a red bud tree and I just wanted to ask the township committee if I could uh maybe try to donate it to the uh town or one of the parks do do like a veterans and or Vol Middletown veterans and volunteers like Memorial tree or something like that um yeah VI Vic wimes is really the right person to talk to I I don't want to pretend like I'm an arborist or anything like that so I don't know at which point you can move a tree like that um but I'm sure Ted can connect you with Vic and he's kind of the guy that knows about trees oh yeah he got a little spidey sense knowing I mentioned his name during a Township committee meeting so we'll we we'll connect you with uh with Vic I was going to say well I'm unemployed until uh April 8th so I have plenty of time in my hands to come in during the day to uh see if we can try to find a good location for it so okay all right we'll we'll hook you guys up all right thank you you got it any other member of the public wishing to make a public comment going once all go all right come on down Don well yeah yeah I'm sure now you want to go atro okay hey D how you doing my name's Don Watson I live at One Collinson Drive in new Mammoth um I just had an idea for John tree you can plant it on Len Road by the veterans housing you know that would be a good spot for you definitely yeah that's that's actually a good good idea yeah very good to see you're thinking back there oh my goodness I thought I smell something thank you that's all I got all right thanks Don Wayne just just um for so that the record is clear because Kier is going to tell me this anyway just one one of you can speak at a time all right so just one of you identify yourself name and address and then feel free to uh um you know utilize your time and then we can have each of you speak if you'd like okay W Wayne Van Sant rolling no Drive Middletown I was just wondering if the township was made aware that um St Mary's plans to rent out modern day to a caps Charter School um under their prior building use they just like to obtain building and use it as they like without prior notification given to towns to the town so I just wanted to see if they were aware of that um we well uh yes I'm a St Mary's parent so um I I I was notified as a St Mary's parent um the town has made Outreach um to St Mary's to have them come in um for further explanation as to what the plans are um for modern day um because we do have some questions um and but we'll afford them the same opportunity that every other application and and person Andor business nonprofit has to come in and meet with us and and make any proper applications that they need to for the certificate of occupancy that they would need for the school okay and they are just from 36 other districts as far away as Patterson nework and stuff like that just so I feel like Middletown itself you know the other residents should be able to be notified and speak up because they just released it to St Mary's parents M you want to say anything all right thanks way Kathleen Gaines chanwit Court um as a resident uh living across the street from St Mary's I'm also St Mary's School parent uh for the last 10 years um and a resident that lives across the street and I do hope that you do all consider this um application from them you know it is it's not modern day as it was before this is a you know 200 person school um that as Wayne had mentioned coming from 36 different communities um Asbury Park uh Camden Neptune and and so forth um and I think it's it will make the environment and the community will be have a big impact on our community so we just the way it was written to us was almost like it was a done deal um in that letter so we just wanted to see really what was what really is the situation here um and that the whole Community should be know made known of this because this will back the entire town um no I I appreciate that I I certainly think that they're um the basis that the town will make any decisions on comes from the zoning construction code enforcement uh DCA rules that are set forth um for what comes and constitutes the the necessary equipment to um have a school um like that um but uh those those decisions will be made by those proper um officials our construction official our fire marshal our zoning officer our planner um those decisions decisions lie in their hands um and uh but but obviously just like everybody else we have to afford them the opportunity um whatever the tone or tenor of the um the notification was um uh does not stop the Township from having the uh ability to seek an application and seek answers Andor set the requirements that the state Andor town has for any other business or uh use that it would um require uh under the ordinance all right thank you good okay yes sir come on down thanks Tom Z town which court also I just had a question um in terms of the the communication around around the charter school um obviously if it's a conforming use or you know whatever other reviews have to be done is there like a central point of contact because there's a lot of you know questions and concerns with the uh with the the parent group on Facebook sure um which I'm not a part of just just to be clear um it that will probably roll through our zoning and planning office to so um so uh Aaron um and Amy satano um our zoning officer and and our planner so that will really they they will be part of that process but there's also a construction side which our construction official would be in charge of as well as our fire marshal buddy Skelly uh all of them will play you know equal parts in this I I appreciate that I mean in terms of just commun communication outward um is uh do should we expect that things will be posted on the on the township website we have to file Oprah requests you what would that actually look like uh well at this point in time there's no um there's no application or or anything that the town has received so um it would really um you know Tony merant tante will will kind of be the the lead in in all honesty I guess I yeah sorry T you know but but Tony will be uh ultimately whoever sees all those departments will be able to to fill in anybody that wants further information as to what part of process um the cap school is going through you know I've met with parents um both uh you know here at Town Hall I my office has received calls um and at drop off right um and and pick up um and that's okay that that's I know that there's a lot of questions out there and there's a lot of desire for more information um you know and and I don't blame any parent for for wanting that so um I I'll continue to expect that those calls and questions will will come in um but at this juncture we you know while they the email said September um you you know at this point in time the town doesn't have a date that they can or or can't do it they have to come to the town first before they can do anything else completely understand it maybe it may be a conforming use there may not be any issues but um Mr marant tante would be our point of contact and okay yeah that's all thank you so much no problem any any other member of the public wishing to make a public comment okay seeing no other members of the public stepping forward move the close the public portion and adjourn second committee women cratz yes committee men s bro yes Deputy Mayor hbel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to adjourn have a great night everybody thank you all so much