properly given by transmission to the ASB Park Press the tour of times and by posting at the Middletown Township Municipal Building and filing with the Township Clerk all on January 11 2024 committe man Clark here commit woman Katz here committee man sen brino here Deputy Mayor hell here mayor Perry here please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all at this time I'd like to ask for a moment of silence to honor the troops serving worldwide defending our constitutions freedoms and way of life thank you our first item on tonight's agenda we have a presentation recognizing July 10th 2024 as Camp happiness day in the township of Middletown at this time I'd like to invite New Jersey blind citizens Association executive director Sarah Toma Board of Trustees president pillar parar kiry and Board of Trustees member George Bros Kirby to please join mayam no yeah no know and I was about to say I was in Swagger today ear so uh first of all good evening everybody um welcome to to our meeting I think this was originally scheduled for was or we were going to do this last meeting but we had to push it to this meeting um but for those of you who don't know uh Middletown and particular Leonardo is home to uh the New Jersey C blind citizens Association which is a great organization that really provides a an unbelievable resource for the visually impaired in in in not just middl toown Statewide um and I got to spend some time there uh L next year uh when the when bore Medical Center was donating um an AED um to the uh to the blind citizens Association and when you walk in you really start to feel and understand what it is that we all take for granted too often and that is just really walking up here right and and the ease that that we all have walking through just a door and and and experiencing something for the first time is not what everybody else gets to experience and and far too often um those that are visually impaired begin and realize that their lives whether it happened at Birth or whether it happens over time um the fact of the matter is now you're Reinventing Your Life um you're you're Reinventing the way you go through life um so uh you know to have this resource for so many people I mean especially you know pre-o people from all across the state were coming and during covid and after covid the the blind citizens Association was was Reinventing itself under under your leadership and to know that it's home here in Leonardo uh right there on Burlington Avenue um to have that there uh as a resource as a tool as as a mechanism to make people's lives just a little bit easier is wonderful to have not just for the residents of Middletown but for the people of our state so uh I'm honored that you were able to join us I don't know if you want to give a little pitch here no I just I'm so thankful for your support uh for all of your support because when you think about these four Blind Men that started this organization 14 years ago 114th year this year but Camp happiness which started out on Burlington Avenue 95 so we're so thankful to honor these gentlemen I mean I think of them all the time thinking like I wonder what if they could look back and say like look at what's going on you know and um our members are just like incredible people they're just like you and me they just can't sit right so we all have um we all have weaknesses but we just look at the fact like how do we build on that and give them uh different experiences and they're they're great for it we're just we just love it and and when you go in and you see the resource ources that are there available there when I was there last there were a few uh individuals there that were um you know there as as they always are and you know working with each other and the the the friendships and and the the the the help that they provide one another is is wonderful to see so um we we are very uh happy and honored to to have declared July 10th as Camp happiness day in Midtown and celebr ation of your 114 years of serving our greatek community so thank you so much well well and I wanted to say so for those of you who don't know my good friend George here George was a baseball player uh born and raised here and live lived his life here in Middletown and um and has been an advocate and and has just been an ad a Middletown Advocate his his entire life and George to have you here and and to know that you're here to advocate for Camp happiness for the New Jersey blind citizens association means the world to me so uh I was just joking with George on his way up here uh I was at Swagger earlier today and I know he is the mayor of Swagger barber shop over there when when he's getting his haircut um so George to have you here means a lot my friend thank you it's a pleasure to be here thank you thanks George all right uh Raven take take a quick thank you all right everyone's ready yes okay one two three perfect thank you so all right let's give it up abolutely our next item on tonight's agenda we have a proclamation recognizing August 6 2024 as National Night Out in the township of Middletown our next item on tonight's agenda we have approval of minutes for June 24th 2024 regular meeting second committee man Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee men sen brino yes Deputy Mayor hial yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to approve minutes mayor all right uh the the next uh item on our agenda is the public hearing for proposed ordinances 24 202 24- 3422 um I'm going to and Heidi do I need a motion to carry that to the next meeting or we can just carry it to to our August 19th meeting yeah we yeah all right so that public ordinance number 2024 d3422 will be carried to the August 19th meeting Mr Nelson yeah just want to explain the reason for carrying this ordinance the reason for carrying this ordinance is that this ordinance first in the first place was to address an issue raised by the developer plaintiff uh in a proga of writ matter which challenged an action governmental action of the governing body this ordinance was designed to correct the issue that they complained about however they also in addition to that prerogative RIT action filed an order to show cause which was entered last week which prevents us from taking any further action uh until a hearing before judge grassa Jones um that will be held in the first week of August so until that time we can't proceed on this ordinance that was intended to fix an issue that they were complaining about that they were preventing from being corrected now um so um can't make this up people so just to be clear to the public as to why they're not speaking on this ordinance Council requ challenged uh a a portion of public ordinance 2024 d3422 this ordinance is correcting that mistake that Council raised and then their own their own motion prevent their own um their own motion prevents us from being able to consider this tonight yes okay just for clarification all right uh so Heidi if you could please carry this meeting to August 19th and properly U not notice for that meeting okay yes thank you all right introduction of proposal ordinances at this time we have ordinance 2024 3423 and ordinance amending chapter 46595 of the code of the township of Middletown prohibiting parking at all times along the south side of Prospect Avenue from Central Avenue motion introduce second committee man Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee sen brino yes Deputy Mayor hiel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to approve with a public hearing to be held August 19th 2024 all right um I believe this presentation for the ocean Mammoth multi-jurisdictional program for public information as it relates to the flood insurance promotion and rates in Middletown is being carried to August as well okay August 19th okay okay at this time uh we have a consent agenda which would include resolutions 24-1 199 through I get Pap resolution 24-25 217 including a firefighter application 27 it's actually with a firefighter application we have a motion just to be clear this is one 19241 199 through 24 218 because it says 217 on the twice 216 217 okay okay so 20 24-1 199 to 24-27 got it okay motion to approve consent agenda second committe men Clark yes committee women Katz yes committee men srino yes Deputy Mayor hell yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to adopt consent agenda at this time we have Township committee common all right committee mclark no comments this time okay committee Senor bro no comments this evening mayor thank you all right committee woman Katz none for me mayor thank you okay Deputy Mayor guess I have to hold mine right you don't have to you don't like to looking forward to see uh Red Bank vet tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the grand opening it's going to be pretty uh North America's largest animal hospital yes that's all I have mayor okay um just wanted to uh put it out there the the one of the events coming up for the America 250 celebration is our campfire stories um that's being uh great partnership with Claire Garland if you don't know Claire she's an unbelievable lady advocate for the Lenny lopi um history um historical Association she does a great job and that is um August 18th and uh over at the Mac so just wanted to put that on everybody's radar ahead of the meeting all right with that 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 and that you keep your comments to five minutes I'll let you know when you have one minute remaining any member of the public wishing to make a public comment come on down Joe hold hold on I'm sorry ma'am Joe's gonna bring over the mic for you he's gonna bring it right here good evening Susan Dina senzo 398 Maple Drive bford New Jersey regarding resolution 24-h I have glasses excuse me number 21 resolution designated Port Mammoth residential developer LLC as the design 212 21 to was that number included in that list of numbers you just went through with that 24199 sorry you really dropped the mic there didn't you apologies now if you do it a second time Joe's not gonna pick it up I don't think I told you I wasn't a microphone I I fairly warned you okay so yes concerned in bord um residents received a letter uh dated June 25th from an Eco EV um evaluation company saying that they had 15 days to respond for a public hearing is this the public hearing for that resolution no okay can you explain to anyone who got a notice can request the public hearing okay probably H herebody so what part does this play in this is this is just formalizes uh what has already been action that has already been taken by this governing body previously and that's including the studies of the land and the ecosystem and everything over there already to do it has nothing they're they're separate they're separate public hearings this has nothing to do with the the the portion that you received okay may we inquire as to who um the developer is back in 2019 we designated a redeveloper it's the same organization okay um yeah it's uh well I mean it's several Woodmont Canoe Brook it's it's all the people that were previously um and they agreed to that development prior to having the land studies done or did they reference the 2012 record study that specifically states there should not be any commercialization urbanization industrialization or any of those entities located on the Wetland near that was that included the the the the designation of a de develop redeveloper is is just a it's a resolution that authorizes that the town has identified a single entity that will has the right to to propose something on on a specific site there they still have to go through all the same processes that every body else would have to go through it's just that entity is the only one that can can go through that process but you are aware of the study done in 2012 post Hurricane Sandy aren't you I've I I've seen the Rucker studies all right we just appreciate your time we're just very very concerned of this stunning amazing area that we're also gifted to have and we want it handled with kit gloves so as do we we would appreciate that no problem thank you all right any other member of the public wishing to make a public comment Rich that Richard isacson 812 Tilton Place Middletown um president of Bel C Co up all these studies and everything going on about the the Redevelopment and everything it's getting awful confused in some people I mean you're talking about 470 407 units down there I I can't get I can't put my head around this we took taxpayers money to buy this land now we're going to turn it over to developer to make a pile of money run up the road stock his pockets with our money that we paid for and what are we going to get out of it anybody got anything to say about that what are we going to get out of it I'll tell you what we're going to get out of it nothing the only thing we're going to get more taxes we've already paid the tax to get that property that prop supposed to be for the for the ferry boat the town doesn't you know the town doesn't own that property you're talking about the county yeah I'm talking about the county but you got to be in with the county because what you guys got to be in with the county on that property the county can't do nothing unless you come in on it the county could they could they could they could tomorrow they still need you the county still need you people it's their property I I I mean it's their property my property but you can come take it when you want it's your property but we can come in take it if we want that's right yeah I didn't even touch that mic okay now don't blame her for that no no he knocked the microphone down he put this well he didn't touch it uh yeah that's fixed now let it fall down again I like to know where you people stand on that Redevelopment down there do you want all them condos down there this is in this is has is in our housing plan Rich it's it's it's been it's been in our housing plan we we never had no public meetings for the people of Belford we did huh sure we did where right right here we had a public meeting here for the people Bel this is you know that this has been discussed for how many years now uh we probably discussed that back since 19 R development investigation study was 2015 2015 almost a decade ago this started yeah I know and you've been trying to take it and get it down there for how many years no no that property was bought with taxpayers money for the ferry boat Richie I I I being it that I have been through several eminent domain process processes now because of people doing what I think are outrageous uh plans no no one is sitting here talking about any type of eminent domain this is the county owned property that is that is working alongside of a redeveloper that that is what is occurring here no one is taking any property I'm going to I'm going to tell you that right now it's not County property that's taxpayer's property I get a kick out of T the county to go put a sign up done by the county ain't done by the county done by taxpayers our money I work hard for my money so it's the rest of these people work hard for our money and we don't want to turn it over some developer to make a pile money on our money they're going to make a pile money pay us all back things are wrong in this government real wrong when the county buys a piece of property for something like that oh we got to have that property for the for the park and for the fairies and everything well they put the fairies in so all them cars G up down the street you can't get out of the road now they do this they'll go right down this right down the coast because that parking lot's not that when when that first went in yeah the the the academy buses and the and NJ Transit was much more a affordable for people and the ferry was not as affordable now they're on equal footing and NJ Transit is unreliable as as as anything yeah yeah okay so now more people are taking that Ferry Terminal there you go so it's a dis it's a disaster area so this this Redevelopment plan puts a parking garage there yeah and it puts the 400 units on an already paved piece of property from who who bought the who paid for the property it paid paved paved it's a paved piece of property yeah it's paved yeah correct but the but the taxpayers also but the taxpayers also the taxpayers also deserve to to have a reliable service that's there they got they got it they don't comes in there and parking lot there parking lot no it's it's not it's not people are parking all down the street no they ain't yeah they are you you're entitled to your opinion you're not entitled to your own facts I'm down there every day yeah I see what's going on we don't have we don't have you're and you're going to sit there and tell me that that people aren't parking all the way down the road not they absolutely are they used 100% they are there's not enough parking spaces there there's not huh there's not enough parking spaces there I'm glad you're saying that on a record mayor because I'll take pictures of that every week okay and I'll come back and show it to you I don't know how they can take our property like that and do it taxpayers paid for it and Court Authority paid for it's some people over there paid for it folks folks if you wouldn't the this gentleman got the floor I thought we were supposed to slow down in a development this town you're destroying the town with all these developments we should have started with single family houses not condos I don't Richie you're not going to find somebody that sits here and complains more about the unfunded mandates and housing quotas that the state passes down every single day you going to find anybody else that talks more about that than me because I'd love to hear who that person is I we're this town's facing three Builder remedy suits yeah three yeah because we we're we don't want the high density housing now this is in our plan okay and I unfortunately you there's going to be people that like it and there's going to be people that don't but no one's going to sit here and say say yeah I agree that a th units should go here and a th units should go here and a th units go here you want to talk about that go to Blossom Cove Road because that's the person that signed that bill not me I didn't sign a highdensity housing bill I didn't try and handcuff Suburban towns and making them have to put this high density housing in so why they hide beh they hide behind the phrase affordable so why hold on they hide behind the phrase affordable there that is that bill has nothing to do with afford ility it has everything to do with high density that is what that bill does that is what that bill is going to do and that is why this governing body has fought that bill every step of the way that's why I called every single Senator's office telling them why this bill that bill was bad did did the did the co-op go down there did you call up Frank palone and say you need to have him call the governor's office and stop that from happening no Okay so want to know why it's okay for for it to be this is bad but nobody is telling the governor's office or the Senate that these high density housing bills are bad you know why because they pass the bills at one o'clock in the afternoon with no public input on it because they don't care but yet here we are at 7 o'clock at night so that the public can come to our meetings can hold public hearings and like Mr Nelson said this has been going on since 2015 got budget is passed in three days with nobody's ability to see a 700 page 55 billion budget I have to wait legally a month to be able to pass my budget after we release it to the public so we want to talk about who's being fair and who's being transparent I will take that challenge on anytime when it comes to the the state and what they are doing they are they the state purposely does that so that people have have to come here and complain about that them going into Trenton because they know they're never going to do it what's that got to do with that down there what's got you got you tell me 4 years be yes it's exactly what I'm telling you I'm not telling you so that I can hear myself talk all 407 or no but a but a percentage of them are but but Rich show me a redeveloper that's going to build 100% affordable units none but they shouldn't build down there you're a business guy they shouldn't build down there so they shouldn't build along the coast so so then so then tell me where tilt Place Farm Road d s grer road one oh I love I love that you said nyn River Road that's right I I love that you said it I you know what I think I think we should certainly take a look as to whether or not high density because you know what if certain people can live on the river then everybody deserves a view of the river right okay damn right yep except you have no no sewer there so you can't oh and when don't have sewer over there we can't put that in there we we have we have an easement over there for sewer that's existed forever but guess guess guess who wasn't interested in in put in putting in putting high density housing on navyn River Road I can only imagine oh I'll give you three guesses but the first two don't count no okay you said it not me so rich I hear but I'm going to tell you something you know this and I think most of the people in this room know this I have fought fought fought against these unfunded M state-mandated programs that couldn't point to Middletown on a map if you asked them to so what does that have to do with the Belford co-op in that area down there everything I'm worried about the co but I'm worried about bord in in in general I understand I lived in Belford my whole life I moved up in Middletown because I couldn't take all them cars coming down the road but I still have property a lot of property down there I hear you I pay a lot of taxes everybody else pays a lot of taxes too and our taxes bought that property I can't see turn it over to a developer leave it a parking lot expand the park you got room to expand the parking lot we don't need all them condos down there 407 what are we going nuts we'll never get out of Belford and our quality of life is going down to tube it's been going down to tube since we saw what we start with sorage authority yeah we got that in there then we come Le Leaf compost got that in there we'll come next then the ferry come and that's been destroying that whole town I think Belford's got enough County where they got to have a meeting I like to beat that one they don't listen to you anyway I try to talk the director out here he wouldn't even listen to you I know when people's listening to you he ain't like Harry larison they can say whatever you want about har Lis H Lis was a stand up man I don't want to take no more your time thank you Richie any other member of the public yes sir he beat you to it but ma'am I'll okay well then you should have taken that opportunity and said I'm 150 what hello all du respect name your name and address my name is genev 123 elmet Avenue mailing is Atlantic Island section is Leonardo uh last month we had I guess it was a Micro Burst that hit this area we had severe Branch damage coming down uh in one case an entire tree went down thank God not our property but large branches fell large they B fell uh it is unreasonable to expect everybody in that section to have the wherewithal to easily card away that that day bring uh in the past and I understand that that the past you have been funded by the state when it's de been declared a Statewide emergency you've sent trucks to pick it up I get that the problem is there's a little laps in logic what is not a problem to the entire State can still be a problem to certain sections of the state and I'm including the township of Middletown not just Leonardo so understand that uh water to do no well just just for as a correction yeah that that when even when there is a town that's impacted that it can be declared Disaster Area you do not need an entire state to have a disaster in order to qualify for FEMA reimbursements well then you know what I'll pick up on what you just said and I I I came in on the tail end of it but apparently the state people in the state don't know we're on the map I guess but it's it hasn't been devastating thank thought it hasn't been the problem though is debris that is too large for the average person to cart it away and what I don't understand I understand that the budget is tight I get that we call up about that you can't do it without State funding but then we come to find out 24,000 has been lent to uh Governor Murphy to host a private political fundraiser well can I finish my point sir may I finish my go ahead thank you on his estate two years ago according to nj12 uh we did the same thing they stiffed us so we had a front 24,000 two years later with a good chance they going to stiff us again and as nj12 put it it's going to be on the P taxpayers backs to pay that if you could find money for that you can find what's probably not that much money to pick up debris only where it is too large for someone to reasonably cart it off that is all we're asking for because now we find out you're ready to find us if we can't get it out in a certain amount of time okay so a couple things we didn't lend Governor Murphy any money let me just be clear I'm sorry that was wrongly stated we fronted the money to pay for the police the closer we pay we pay the police overtime corre correct right and at the the last time um the president came just just last you know last month I guess it was earlier this month I forget uh yes we the the Secret Service along with the state police police and local police were there to shut down roadways um which is a requirement for us uh to do so uh we had the township had to spend $23,170 to pay the police overtime for that do I agree with that no I don't agree with that at all I think when a dignitary of that stature comes for a campaign event I I think that generated according to all report reports $3.7 million I don't think it's unreasonable for the taxpayers of Middletown to be reimbursed the $23,000 that if the president is here for a uh governmental action that the township should have to pick up that bill I think everyone can agree with that that that is okay uh but when you're here for two hours and we have to shut down roads for 10 hours yeah it's kind of unreasonable um yeah given this weekend given yesterday's news I I'm GNA go out on a limb and say that I'm probably not going to get that $3,185.77 back by the way that was a very bad pun L what's that was a bad pun yeah very unintended uh the um but but again um I I understand what you're saying we have a police overtime budget that's what we uh utilize for that um and we will have to make up that money somehow yeah um so whether that's cutting back on something at some point in time we will have to do that uh to to make up that revenue and there is nothing that assures me that that won't happen for any other future campaign events that may include you know the the current vice president um so uh I I I don't know if that's the truth or not if that will happen happen um but it's always a possibility and unfortunately now we we get about 10 days notice as to that the president is coming yeah and that the Secret Service and the state police are now coordinating with that um so uh it's it's an unfortunate um requirement um I I I'm never going to do anything that jeopardizes the Safety and Security of of the the president of the United States regardless of of whom it is but I also think it's absolutely Fair to ask for that reimbursement when it's a campaign event so let me ask you a question um I believe in compromise I believe in working things out is there any way we can strike some kind of a compromise because if it's a question of you have to hire someone to card it off uh we're in a very a weird economy right now where the cost of living has skyrocketed incomes have stayed relatively stagnant in comparison is there any way we can work it out maybe some kind of a compromise where if we take it on to remove the small debris where there's only large debris left it's that's really might be unfeasible for someone to hire someone to cart it off or they're the wherewithal to have it chopped up or whatever we can come some to some kind of a compromise where we can get it out of the street we don't want it in the street any more than you do we take pride in our in our uh properties but it's just an unfortunate situation and we're kind of between a rock and a hard place I I I passed I drove through the neighborhood to today and and it did not seem like there was a large amount of debris out there I I that that I noticed I could show you pictures but I didn't think it would be feasible to bring it here tonight but I have pictures okay yeah so only only one person can speak at a time okay so so when I when I was out there there I did not notice a large amount of debris out there anywhere and where we live if a tree fell in in my yard tomorrow I'm not I'm not entitled to the town coming in and and taking it away no no and if respons for that insurance would take it away we're not talking about trees um where we live there are homes with large amounts of depre in the yart some of them are large branches that if people don't have the ability to cut them up or have them carted away that's where it's a problem I'm just proposing to you one thing we might be able to work out if you are are not opposed to it there's not a huge amount of it but there are a number of homes that major debris come down if we agree to take away the small debris on our own but there's large debris that can't easily be taken away is there anything we can work out with people on it's it it sounds reasonable but at the at the same time what what's a what's large and what's small something that's not going to fit in the back of Aver depends on the on the person you're asking tell I'm telling you something that's not going to fit in the back of an average SUV something that might be too heavy say for an elderly couple or an elderly person to be able to get into an but now you're talking about waiting every single house differently and that's why the policy that we have has always been that unless it is a declared disaster that is how we judge whether or not we send those crews out because we're going to get that reimbursement back we have a mechanism to pay for it it it's not as e we can't just go out tomorrow and say we're going to spend you know several hundred, dollars collecting this debris because that's how much it will cost and I'm thinking if we do what I'm proposing it's not going to be that much it would only be large debris to worry about not the small stuff we can cart away on our own we we would be willing to do that but it's the large debris that is the issue that has been always been the issue this is not just leaves falling down we can take care of that we're talking about large branches that fell down no property damage was incurred insurance is not going to pick it up that's all I'm talking about and I'm not talking about you having to make inspections of every home if people have large debris they call in and say look we've got a Branch you can figure out the criteria for the cut off on that and just deal with that that's all we're asking you to do we're reasonable we want a clean Street we want clean properties just like you but this is a tough economy sir it's a tough economy we're just asking for a little help I appreciate can I just go Ahad raise something the problem with it is that there's no way to draw a line as to when it starts and ends right next next weekend there could be a thunderstorm in a particular neighborhood that some trees come down in somebody's yard do we have to do that then two weeks later insurance no no it's not insurance if it damages a house I'm not say what happens if it doesn't ranches just fall off insurance doesn't pay for that but it it can't you can't pick and choose and that and that's the hard part about this I mean you you you shrug and you say and it's well a thunderstorm a thunderstorm just two weeks ago knocked down a branch in my yard but it it's now up and and gone right and and I pay to have that done for my in fact I you know I don't even have the talent pick up my leaves I just I just have it done because it's just it's they never get to it by the time cannot all afford to have it done so yeah that's that's true and and and I don't pretend in any way that that it I'm I'm not fortunate to be able to to have that done but at some point you have to draw the line and say if a thunderstorm were to knock down a branch in your yard tomorrow and you're unable to pick it up should the town go out and pick that up if I can chop it up I will take it away myself that's not a problem all I'm asking you is simply this do you see any possibility that you could at least consider what I'm proposing and just maybe decide what might be an appropriate parameter for what I'm proposing only so that we can clean up the street I'm not sure what parameters that would be I think I laid it out for you I don't I don't think so if it's extreme if it's an extremely large Branch but not an entire tree that's not easy for someone to cut up could you just look at that every every individual it's the the the differences are going to be the senior that lives next door is going to consider a branch maybe smaller than the one that's in your yard as something that they cannot get rid of so maybe somebody's level of ability including age disability so how is the how is the town going to judge that I guess it's a matter of the citizen taking it upon themselves to call up the town and you make a determination not you having to go and make the determination yourself people call up I'm just only proposing a possible solution don't don't at the very least how about this can you wave finding people then if we don't get this off in a timely basis because we now have to figure this out for ourselves the the letter the letters that go out telling individuals that they have to remove it are the the town has a very very in my opinion Fair effort to tell people that they have to move those the the branches they have to get out of the roadway for a lot of reasons safety being one of them okay that that is an effort to say that you have been notified that you have to go before but the the the court that sits right here the judges that sit right in this in this seat here always provide the residents with the ability to rectify those situations well I don't think I'm getting any any Spirit of compromise um I know if I had fronted the cost for someone to do a private fundraiser I'll put it this way I know this is this is not confabulating two different things if I'm willing to to put money to put money up to pay for police to to to to cover a private fundraiser on a private estate and I'm willing to do that for someone who stiffed us two years ago that's a pretty liberal use of funds we're coming here as ordinary tax requirement of public hang it's a requirement of Public Safety hang on that may be the case but still you could also conflating the two uh and I think I've been very reasonable in in if was an ordinary Citizen and told you I was going to have a gathering like that on my property I need police protection would you say well no that's that's going to be a problem it's going to be security issue we can't do it well so I thought this was a democracy he's that much above us that that that we're going to pay for that well all right I'm not going to split har I just was hoping that maybe you could meet us a little bit here and understand the problem that that we have but I'm not getting the feeling for that I I have sat on this deis for seven years now and and there there have been incidents and and and special weather events that have occurred in the linro section they've occurred in the oakill section th this is not it's not unique where this is never occurred before and that we're we're doing something special this happens more often than we'd like it to occur uh we have we sat not that many years ago for for 12 days out of power after uh a after a um storm came through uh in August of of 2020 um I I I I fully understand where where people were out of power for a long time and branches were down and but the the Manpower that's involved we don't have that Manpower because every every day that you are now taking people off the fields or the roads to pick up brush is a day that fields and roads are not being taken care of and so there there is a loss of services that's occurring on one side or you have the other option of paying a a private hauler who's going to charge you an arm and a leg to to get this done as a special special pickup or pay a fine if we can't get it out of front of the property that that's that's the whole point um all right I'm I'm not going to waste your time anymore um I said what I had to say I'm sorry that you can't consider a compromise but you know that's what it is um I understand we're having a tax increase coming too next year and at the same time you're not going to do bul pickup anymore those are just some things you're not there's a rumor going around town you're not doing bulk pickup anymore incorrect okay well I'm glad we we're in the middle of a trash contract I am glad to hear that sir thank you very much the the trash contract is is still ongoing my field is not yours my field is psychology the interesting psychological thing is perception and people have a perception of their town and what it does for them it doesn't and it's interesting to me how many homes when that occurred the PRI was neatly piled in front of their homes with an expectation that the town was going to take care of it because in the past it has whatever funding took place whatever machinations it took to get that done uh that was not something the average person really is up on but that's why you see where you saw debris was neatly piled in front of home because it was the expectation the expectation came from prior experience with you guys picking it up you can't do it you can't do it but I'm just letting you know that that's the sentiment where we live and probably other places too so thank you for your time thank you excuse me one second sir just one second so just so I I I I read your letters I saw your Facebook post uh uh you somebody delivered one to my house uh I live in Leonardo just so you're aware there's three people at Le belred and Leonardo on this deas we do care about the residents in major in a major way but there's sorry I sorry Don we do care about what you're saying it just it can't be done all the time it's just not possible it's not possible I had the same damage many times trees come down got to clean them up it's just what we have to do we have people coming in just like the mayor said many times to uh in linkof they seem to get hit the worst that there's trees down and we just can't do it all the time it's not possible okay thank you for your time just state your name and address for chyl genev I live at same address 123 elmot Avenue um I have a couple of things to say about this first of all I cart my stuff when whenever things come down leaves branches because we are the kind of people that have pride like he said in our neighborhood um so whatever we I can do personally I'm there sweeping the streets I have a couple of questions about this first of all we pay very high taxes you guys hardly ever come around and clean our streets with the street sweeper and yet we continue to pay high taxes you collect our brush what twice a year uh maybe once a year now brushes once and leaves are once and that's not enough though for the money that we pay in taxes you have a lot of people living in Middletown and you should be getting a lot of tax money you should be able to hire manpower to take care of can I just finish sir just let me finish thank you I appreciate it to take care of these issues um it feels like Middletown doesn't have pride in their infrastructure the way the residents do there's there's Parks all over this town that are not and that's another issue that are not being taken care of the way they should now with our tax money that we are spending I don't see any reason why you can't send a truck down to pick up these this brush and Atlantic Highlands did Atlantic Highlands didn't care if it was a state of emergency or not they have a lot less residents probably a lot less tax money they were out there picking up the brush so I have went around like you saw I went around with those the Flyers there were many elderly people that had to put their stuff in the street expecting like my husband said the town to pick it up because it was out of our control what happened and yes in the past the town has picked up debris from unexpected storms There Was an 81y Old Woman Who whole her whole street was filled with debris and she goes I thought you guys were coming that was the expectation so that's all I wanted to say I think it should be picked up I don't know what my husband means about coming and examining it but I think the town needs to take more pride in its infrastr structure and when things like storms come up that's where our tax money is going for that's all I have to say your your tax bill is is not for When Storms come up that's not the point of your tax bill your tax bill is 23% of your tax bill comes to the township so think about that take your property tax bill and take 23% of that and that is how much comes to the township the rest goes to other entities okay all right so the the the magical notion that the the false nomer that people have about their tax bill is because the town is legally required to collect it is that we get 100% of it but that is not the case 65% of it goes to the school district 10% of it goes to the county so on and so forth your library open space tax so on and so forth so 23% of it right the large majority of it almost half of your tax bill just goes to Public Safety police your all volunteer fire department right okay EMS OEM that that's where nearly half of your tax bill goes so the the the notion that that's what your taxes pay for when we again if you had a rainstorm and a branch fell in your yard the town does not pick up your I expect the town to pick it up but I expect the town when we have a major storm and there's you huge branches that I can't physically cut up or fit into my car I do expect some service I'm sorry this is a big town um other towns pick up their debris so much more often than you guys do and even if it's only 23% that comes to you I don't think it's going to cost a fortune to get a couple of trucks down and bring it to the recycling center and that's really all sir we're asking for thank you for your time thank you any other yes sir you got it just your name and address for the record mayor uh my father built a house just your your name and address Barry O'Neal 24 burlon Avenue uh my father built the house back in 1958 and we always had a a lot of trees and would put them out the street to combine with a big truck or a chipper and that a lot of branches that WR that I put in the street from my yard was also from what was in the street so I moved them so the vehicles come by the police the ambulance fire clear the road now I think that you're telling me to put the branches back in my yard I wouldn't mind doing that but I'm a disable War veteran I'm 77 years old if I have a heart attack moving the trees that fell in that street your street putting them back in my house when my wife had the the opportunity to sue you guys I I'm not well I'm not a lawyer so I don't know no I understand this but I'm I'm kind of doing that sarcastically I but all the time s that I've been living there we never once had a problem now if you sent out a letter saying do not put your debris on the street from my house okay I would find a a tree surgeon or something like that or Store It Up in small pieces put in my uh little Volkswagen that thing I don't have Volkswagen so uh then it comes of the rumor is that if we don't do it we're Li liable for a fine how much time do we have to do it and apparently as this nice lady said uh because I know people work for the road department you guys are just like leaving it there what do you what do you mean I see outside of my brush that a lot of it is sir I did put it out there A lot of it was in the street I put it to the side added added wine to it but I still go around town and there's still a lot of people that rushed still in the street maybe they're still waiting and don't know that it shouldn't be there now I never received a letter actually as outside working this nice ladies gave me this letter and I said you know being a disabled combat veteran I served my country served My Town pay taxes been here since 1958 that I have the right to come here and speak my voice as far as uh to me this is something new all my life all the time you you yourself the previous mayor everybody else we clean it up that's about all I got to say Sir okay thank you for your time thank you for your service to the country thank you sir any other member of the public wishing to make a public comment Mark yeah you want to Mark sarosi 38 pal Avenue yeah uh just to touch on what they said I wasn't going to say anything but all up and down my street um Chestnut Street there is debris out from all the neighbors I don't personally have it out there but I'm the lowest point on the street so when we get rain that debris comes down and clogs the sewer in front of my yard so then I'm responsible for cleaning that um the park Hillside Park hasn't been mowed since June okay you can drive by there and see it it's it's like that every summer so in they're obviously not mowing the park they probably could take a couple guys to go in the isolated area nabin got hit pretty hard Leonardo got hit pretty hard um we lost power for 14 18 hours or something like that it was a pretty severe storm in that isolated area if they're not cutting the grass in the Parks taking four guys off the road for a day it would probably take one day to complete it a a a dumb truck something to scoop it up and four guys two guys to direct traffic and two guys to scoop it up get it done in a day every all the residents are happy if I went there and the park was maintained I'd say you know what these guys are busting their butts doing this it's not happening I'm personally don't have any debris out there but go up and down my street if you haven't seen it in Leonardo go down Powell go down tomorrow morning you can see it because everybody's got it out there and when it rains it comes to the storm store in front of my house that you're familiar with and then I clean it up because I don't want the neighbor across the street to FL it so then it becomes my responsibility because somebody else do it just consider their what it would take the Manpower ask Ted ask Public Works is there a way that we can get four guys to take care of this when something like this happens especially when you go down all these streets and there's piles everywhere it's not like it's one person putting it out and coincidentally after they picked up the the brush last time there was a neighbor that put stuff out the day after they put it out put a whole pile of stuff out right in the street and they do this every year and then they continue to add to it all year then they cut their grass they add to that pile all summer so I called up and I said can we get to nip this in the bud because this happens every single year on Brook Avenue it's still there and I called wh's brush pickup May so that wasn't enforced either thank you are you talking about brush pickup Mark what do you yeah they they after the brush pickup happened in May or okay yeah BR the day after the house of Brook Avenue put out all their brush so when they get a summons they haven't it's still sitting there how do you how do you know they haven't gotten a summon well they haven't moved anything that doesn't mean they didn't get a summons yeah did they get a summons I I I'll check but this is this okay cuz I called because every year they do it and then all summer long they dump their grass clippings there like their person they get a summons to come to court okay if they don't remove it they get a summons and they come to court there's a judicial process to it thank you yes sir no no no behind you Brian Schindler 319 MTH Avenue Leonardo uh yeah I mean again still with the debris and the the big branches I've got a whole bunch outside of my house so if you do drive through that'll be one of the spots you do see a lot it's not mine you know I had actually I had recently I mean doing construction of my house right now so I had the big trees removed everything cut down probably a month or so before the storm hit and I had a handful of larger branches decent size come down to my yard brought him out if I had to you know I found out I had to take those to Kane's Lane I would I can do it you know to pop them in the trailer take it right down we lost power for what 24 hours plus I think for for my residence finally get it back and to go stay at my mom's make sure you know take care of the family and everything come back now I've got a whole ton of debris outside on brient Avenue and it's right right in between the gates that I use to get in and out to use my Landscaping service the guys are doing construction they had to move it so they could fit the machines through and it's not mine you know and I know those summons are coming but you know whose responsibility is it is it really mine now because my neighbors where did yours come from it's my what the the the branches that are now outside your house that's a good question I don't know neighbors it was either neighbors or jcpnl maybe I mean there was a gigantic tree down on Burlington uh you know where the brand new giant house is being built Burlington and rot yeah big old tree came down there and I saw there was a company that came in and and you know took that uh that tree away did all the work there I'm guessing you know was a private company they hired I don't know but you know in my case there's a lot of you know there's a lot of lumber out there a lot of it's fairly big and it's not mine so you know it's right like right in line with my property so if they're going to come to anybody's house and put a summons up it's going to be me you know so what what do I do in that but tone those trees are when when a private when like jcpnl comes out and they remove they're the ones removing the tree for whatever reason yeah normally there those are noted so that that the private hauler has to come back and col or or sometimes our our crews work in conjunction with jcpnl they'll move REM jcpnl will get them out of the wires and then we take them away so things that are in the street comes down in the street we take away right but what happens is after a couple days it's hard to tell which is which people drag stuff out from their yard so some of it might be from the street some of it might be from a backyard yeah I just I know I know 85 90% of it's not mine yeah and I would have taken away whatever was mine it was easy enough for me to you know haul and load away and I've called here three times this week and haven't gotten a call back called and left two voicemails what was your address again 319 Mammoth Avenue okay you know so uh yeah I mean if there's any compromise or anything that can be done you know and I mean I'm honestly if j a bunch of money already for permits and stuff like that so well if jcpnl took down that tree for whatever reason they did that that's on them and and it's far you know because like like I said the Big Trees I had in my yard were already down and gone so I don't know where this stuff came from all I know is it showed up and it's you know I mean it's and it's a it's a sore man it's an ey sore yeah and it's terrible so well Tony can look up that note thank you appreciate it any other member of the public I have another question hold on one sec sorry hold on I I'm I'm going to wait to see if anybody that hasn't spoken already would like to speak first okay any member of the public wish to make Public's comment okay I'm gonna let you had your hand up so I'm gonna let you come back up for a quick second and then and then Susan I'm gonna come back to you okay want to give everybody the ability to speak first just state your name and address for James d23 El Avenue Atlantic Collins New Jersey uh Leonardo section fortunately my parents came from Brooklyn so I can speak fast um maybe this might sweeten the deal one of my neighbors proposed that you get four guys in a truck to pick it up I would volunteer I would volunteer to do that I don't know if you understand what's going on here from our point of view this is about a community sorry iing I know I'm going to be I had a tree hit my house and I was sitting in town hall I know but I just wanted I know but right now the position you're in though is leadership we we are the residents understand that I respect that this is about a community coming together asking you to work with us I would volunteer to go in a truck you could do a waiver of liability if you want and I'd help pick it up but I want you to see the value in what's going on here your residents are coming together pushing back to you about a problem and not only asking for help we're not just saying gimme gimme gimme we're saying we'll work with you and I mean that I'll volunteer okay I appreciate that okay no problem thank Susan come on oh yes all right Susan come on down it does so I'm Tony relli I'm at 152 Chapel Hill Road um Red Bank mailing uh Middletown Township so uh just I'm listening to my neighbors talk about this um and they are my neighbors and um my wife and I we recently had some struggles we had a house fire we had some problems um first of all I can tell you that if you if you make a um complaint with code enforcement they will come so being on the receiving end of that um what I'm saying is that Middletown has a um has a group has a Facebook group where if you need help or if you need something or if you have a question if you post on that Facebook group people will show up to your house we had the occasion to do this more than one time so if you're willing to volunteer watch that Facebook group and you'll see people calling for help and you can do that so um alternatively I understand what you're saying about about the logistics of a storm um over a Township as big as Middletown trying to get crews out to pick up large debris we are talking about how many streets does Middletown have thousands 375 miles worth of roadway 375 miles worth of roadway to be maintained by four guys during a storm we live on the coast that's not going to happen that Logistics is is insanity so a little reason to that 23,000 houses 23,000 houses 33,000 residents in that neighbor 68,000 68 where was I when that happened so what I'm saying is what I'm saying is this is not four guys in a truck we're talking about four guys in a truck every day of the week 365 days a year because we get hit with storms 30 40 times a year and so I understand this is not a small problem we're talking about but as neighbors we can help each other so um just a proposal is there something in the township that could coordinate volunteers um that we're talking about so that if your neighbors need help we have a volunteer coordinator there you go um so is that possible to discuss with the volunteer coordinator and say when there's this kind of thing happening can somebody be the central point to say we need volunteers here and maybe that's the solution if we're willing to help each other as neighbors um we may not be looking for a service from the township it's something we can do ourselves to help our own neighbors and maybe the township can help us coordinate that so certainly possible that's all I have to say thank you sir thank you for your time Susan come on down I'd like to make a comment hearing all just just come up to the mic and state your name and address for microphone um Susan Dena senzo 398 Maple Drive Belford New Jersey I'm hearing concerns of residents and I'm just wondering you're expanding the community and you're going to make it bigger and broader and more citizens and more residents and more action but yet you can't do that thank think about what you're getting yourselves into down the road for the future of America you're all going to be retired if you only have four guys on a truck I don't know where four guys came from I think Mark might have said it so I heard that that's what I I I don't I don't know where this four guys uh what are you going some of you are some of you have to be retired altruistically speaking right now are we retired no it's coming you know that but I want to tell ask you how are you going to handle the size of the bigger Town that's planned when good old Middletown is kind of like not being taken care of how are you going to do that is that in the plan or it's going to be more meetings like this where people are flooded out because the impervious services are overriding the beautiful ecosystem that we have you're going to send people down there to help senior citizens get out of their houses or or mothers with children and fathers that have to get their cars from not getting flooded are you ready for that are you talking about like a hurricane let's see ocean two rivers and a bed yes we're surrounded by water okay so and I'm just saying will you be able to handle will this Council or the council that comes in after you or after that be able to handle the devastation every hurricane that has occurred is exactly the disaster that I'm referring to so why would you why would you endanger a community because water's going to go where it's going to go you're going to create impervious Services more now I'm talking strictly over I'm listening to tree problems here impervious servfaces the water is going to find a way to go where are we creating impervious surfaces oh you you have a you have a proposed project of 400 all impervious already it's all impervious already already it's 100% being built on impervious the parking garage you're talking about no the whole thing the whole project the whole projects happening on the parking lot do not add to any new or existing Green Space take that away it is so then you have the structures and then you have then you have openings between the structures right so then the water comes in and it pushes through a more narrow I'm not a hydraulic expert I think you know what a lot of people here in the county need a brush up on number one common sense number just be clear are you testifying as a hydraulic expert I am not tested now I'm just making I just want to be clear to anybody that's listening stuff I learned in second grade have a good night I'm just saying you can't handle what you have now how the heck are you gonna handle a 400 more Apartments you're talking about trees you're talking about yeah and water and trees go together water will find a way to go have you ever sat there and watched come back up to the microphone if you're I think you would need to really familiarize yourself of what is happening not just the dollar signs I think you're all blinded by the freaking dollar signs I don't think you know what you're talking about I I don't I don't talking about you don't know you're I love when I love when you say that that's the goto I don't know what I'm talking okay all right okay all right all right hold on hold on come on up Ry do you want to go just ma before you before you say that Susan I just want to uh Susan Susan I want to make a comment uh as a former fire chief of this town I have operated in several Coastal storms and we have never ever let our town down not once no that's Ryan R his name is Ryan okay I'm sorry I just wanted to say one thing cherol Jes 123 Elm Avenue we're not here to fight you guys I think we're all here because because we love Middletown and we have pride in Middletown and we want our town to look the best that it can look and so we don't want you to take this as an assault against any of you but we do have concerns about the way it's kept I'm not going to go into the trees you know all about it now but we're here I mean I know I'm specifically here because I believe in the town that ship that we live in and and I would we have pride in this town and we want it to show in the way it physically looks and that's that was basically all I wanted to say none of us think that you're assaulting us it's a question that comes I mean we're not here to fight you we we're here for an issue you're here to voice your concern which is absolutely but we we're and we're hoping that you feel the same way about the town that you serve is that you want it to look the best that it can look thank you thank you all right any other me Richie Richard Isaacson 812 tilon place these people had a serious storm down there it wasn't just a little blow I was down there the day after there was trees down all over the place all kinds of brush we can't send a few trucks down there it's only a small place it's not a big place don't make sense a lot of them people can't handle them big trees I think we should help them out as far as that water goes I got a house on 640 Main Street bord two foot of water on the northeastern bad one you know what it is in a hurricane for foot more house you put down how you going to get them people out of there then it floods down Main Street too down where the park is you know why because the politicians won't dig the ditches out I had Harry LS come down here dig ditch I told him what to do with it we didn't have flood in there for a while but they don't do it no more we got to start paying attention what's going on what we have down there not what you want to put down there we don't need no condos down there we don't need anything down there tell you the truth next hurricane comes you think that's you think that's going to make any difference down there when that wall goes by that Ferry Terminal there Belford gets it bad when Sandy was down there everything was fine as long as the wall was flly com soon as that wall let go holy hell right up Main Street you people don't realize what's going on down there you don't go down there to say it you don't want to say it all you want to do is come down more building more building more building thank you any other member of the public wishing to make a public comment okay seeing no other member of the public stepping forward move the close the public portion and adjourn second committee man Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee man SBO yes Deputy Mayor hell yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to adjourn have a good night everybody thank you