the notice requirements provided for in the open public meetings act have been satisfied notice of this meeting was properly given by transmission to the Asbury Park Press the Two River times and by posting at the Middletown Township Municipal Building and filing with the Township Clerk all on January 11th 2024 committeeman Clark here committee woman Katz here committee man sen brino here deputy mayor hybel mayor Perry I was going to see if she was going to respond uh for deputy mayor hiel uh I'm here okay at this time can we please stand 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 with liy 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 the first item on tonight's agenda is the administration of the oath of office this time I'd like to invite Christopher D and his family to join Maya Perry at the front of the room these are for promotions to Lieutenant almost going J first I just want to say good evening everybody obviously very exciting day for Middletown here a lot to celebrate a lot to get to it's great to have a pack room I love it um so I just want to welcome everybody uh honor to honor to do all these promotions and swear in these great officers so uh I also want just want to give a shout out Sheriff gold was here uh not only because we're doing radios but because of all these great police officers that we're uh that that we're promoting today Chris left hand Bible raise your right hand towards God after me I Christopher d i Christopher D do solemnly swear solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear TR faith and I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I do swear and I do swear to Faithfully to faithfully and partially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all of the duties all of the duties of Lieutenant of Lieutenant according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help you God help you God congrat ulations they just got a contract I swear one one more yeah sorry one more one two three thank you no oh wa the okay at this time I would like to invite Stephanie gel and her family to the front of the room to join mayor Perry he doesn't want to take a picture hi Stephanie I Stephanie do solemnly swear swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and Allegiance allegiance to the Saint to the sa and to the governments established and to the governments established in the United States United States and in this state and in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I do swear and I do swear to Faithfully to faithfully and partially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all of the duties all of the duties of Lieutenant liutenant according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help you God so help you congratulations thank you one two she okay yep um okay okay at this time I would like to invite Brian mcgrogan and his family to the front of the room to join mayor Perry holy he got up that's the freakiest thing that ever happened I'm like you pretty casual for me pretty bro I Brian mcran I Brian mcran do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and the state under the authority of the people under the authority of people and I do swear I do swear to Faithfully faithfully and partially and justly perform and justly perform all of the duties all of the duties of Lieutenant Lieutenant according to the best of my ability to the best of my ability so help you God congratulations the Shelf here yeah we're all about to know each other a lot thank more all right okay next we have the administration of both of office for sergeant at this time I would like to invite eletta benel and her family to join mayor Perry at the front of the room I elizabetha benel I Eliz benel I didn't pronounce it as well as do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and Allegiance allegiance to the same to the same and to the government's established and the governments established in the United States United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I do swear and I do swear to Faithfully to faithfully and partially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all of the duties all of the duties of Sergeant of Sergeant according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help you God so help me God congratulations all right ready great thank you one more one two thank you thought that was funny okay at this time I would like like to invite Anthony and his family to join May Perry at the front of the room I anthonyo ithon do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the Saint to the Saint and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I do swear and I do swear to Faithfully to Faithfully impartially impartially am I taking too long and justly perform and justly perform all of the duties all of the duties of Sergeant of Sergeant according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help you God so help you God congratulations right yeah here want to say cheese on the count of three one two want to see cheese we're doing this again at our next meeting by the whenever threey olds you that they are not that at this time I would like to invite Kevin Mahan and his family to join mayor Perry at the front of the room I Kevin Mahan I Kevin Mahan solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the Constitution the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I do swear and I do swear to Faithfully to faithfully and partially partially and justly perform and justly perform all of the duties all the duties of Sergeant of Sergeant according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help you God help God congratulations yeah Mom's Grace no 100% no the hours are long the pay is not that great Jason you want to wait no we got at this time I would like to invite Jason troan to join May Perry at the front of the room with his family of you have children huh okay I Jason TR troen I Jason TR do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey in the constitution of the city and that I will bear true Faith bear true faith and Allegiance aliance to the same and did the government's established and the government's established in the united states in the United States and in this state in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and I do swear and I do swear to Faithfully to faithfully and partially partially and justly perform and justly perform all of the duties all of the duties of Sergeant of Sergeant according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help you God so help me God congratulations Stitch is it me is this yeah where's that Stitch that Stitch right take my word all right wait till Lieutenant it'll be fine we need to give it up for HS well we got the government's established in the United States start getting a little wor said look who's boss yeah I don't want to blor this the biography up here they're outstanding candidates they're gonna make great supervisors uh mentoring guiding and leading our young uh police force right now so I'm proud of each and every one of them terrific background schol on the GL a crisis negotiators water officers uh school resource officers very dedicated uh supervisors lot of character integrity so very it's been wonderful Comm tonight t a wonderful turn the department want thank the governing body the mayor sheriff for their com and support so thank you so much let's give it up for for these just I just want to say this I want to thank the chief I want to thank everybody involved and I want to thank uh these officers and their families in particular uh I say it all the time this is not done without the families you know you may be wearing that badge but it is the families that are also wearing that badge each and every day so uh nothing but success nothing but safety security for you your families and for the township of Middletown we're we're proud of you and we're proud to have you serve as a as a superior officer so thank you all very much jump in here John John all right let's hear one more time I was going to say on the eve of Lieutenant's promotion to Sergeant he asked me some advice I said stop at Sergeant best job in the department listen at the distinguish city um we just have a couple more uh presentations so we just ask if everybody could just hold tight real quick so the next item on tonight's agenda we have certificate of appreciation and proclamations Distinguished Citizen of the Year presentation at this time I would like to invite longtime volunteer firefighter and low staff coordinator John Ducker to join Maya Perry at front of the room so uh we're we're going to keep the uh the great feelings going here um there there are key people that you rely on when you are when when you're the mayor when you're when you're in a part-time job and whether that's from the PBA s SOA your your police chief your fire chiefs uh individuals that are there your administrator individuals that are there to give you the Insight that that you might not have to to to make you understand what the job entails um and I Rely heavy on those individuals because it it's it's an absolute team effort uh when we get things done and when we can and there has been a lot of people that have helped me along the way um but what a lot of people don't realize is that there's so many people out there that are helping individuals and no one knows the job that they're doing because they're not looking for a headline they're not looking for recognition they're not looking for the spotlight they're just looking to do a great job for their Community for their family for the families of Middletown and one of those individuals I am very honored to recognize here today um John Drucker has been a friend since I got on to this Township committee before I was on the township committee giving me unsolicited advice and solicited advice but it's the unsolicited advice that's more important because it's an individual that's telling you something that you probably don't want to hear but it's necessary for you to hear but John is beyond that we have a great losap program rewarding our volunteers and John manage help not only design it but manages that so that our volunteers that M that that fit that criteria are rewarded for their service in a in a very small way but a very impactful way and John Ducker has been a leading voice on that every every September 11th anniversary there are people out there that wear it on their sleeve not about what occurred on that day but reminding people of what why it is an important day to reflect upon why it's an important day to understand what happened on September 11th 2001 that's Sean drer there are people out there that are dedicated to their community community and have been serving it for almost 50 years as a volunteer firefighter that have ran away from their dining room table Jane his his wife Jane is here who's a who's a nurse over at rview Medical Center there are people that are running away from that dining room table running away from their families from soccer from football from sporting events because the town needs them that's Sean drer so every year we decide on an individual that is deserving of Middletown's Distinguished Citizen and normally I do this in like March April um but when you when you really think about it you try and figure out somebody that's worthy of calling them the Distinguished Citizen it's hard you put pressure on yourself to find that right individual but the reason that we do this job the reason that we're here is because we want to see a great Community we want to build a great Community we want to thrive in a great community and most importantly today I think we have had more kids in this room than we have ever had before why is that important it's important because the Middletown that we are going to pass on they are going to be the leaders of they are going to be the recipients of that and we can only build a strong Middletown so that they can have a stronger Middletown that's defined by John Brook you know I called up I called up the deputy mayor who I know it's pain in him to not be here tonight um but Rick is sick and I'm sure he's watching watching uh on on on the web here um because when I called him I said hey Rick I've uh I thought about Distinguished Citizen I said I just wanted to let you know who I I've decided upon uh and he says let me guess John Drucker and I said yeah how'd you know that he says because you always try and take from me what I eventually think I'm going to get um and I said well that's why you're the deputy mayor and May um but John you have helped every single person up on this Das you have helped thousands of and thousands of volunteers volunteer firefighters you've helped promote and and make sure people and young people understand what we all witnessed on September 11 2001 forever is understood not because of the destruction and and and the the death that we saw on that day but for what it stands for today what it means for today so on behalf of the entire Township committee John uh we are presenting you and awarding you as 2024's Distinguished Citizen of the year and this key is hereby presented to you a volunteer firefighter since 1975 your leadership bravery and unwavering commitment to the safety and betterment of our community have had an incredible impact on Middletown your time and talents advocating for volunteer First Responders over the last decade as the Township's Losa coordinator are unmatched and appreciated by every dedicated volunteer especially your your peers in the world's largest all volunteer fire department it is hereby given on this the 24th day of June in the year 2024 by this governing body as a small token of appreciation for all your years of service to this great Community congratulations I was born here I grew up here served in the fire department in the mass and I can't find enough things to do I just love our town so much and uh it is really a wonderful one May thank you so much brothers um it is a great honor to serve in the volunteer fire department I continue to serve there are no words I encourage anybody who has the time to step forward and take that step into the fire department and serve your community and that's the one say that I like the most is many communities one Middletown thank you very very real quick I just want to say this so I called up Chief morsy here and I said I just to let you know we're going to be giving John the Distinguished Citizen and he's like yeah I know I said well how'd you know that because really nobody else I mean John doesn't know and he goes well he asked for somebody asked for back Tower asked for background information so I just kind of assumed that that was what was happening and I so last week I started panicking I'm like boy did anybody like invite John's Rucker to come to this so basically we're buying all new radios for the fire department and that was the guys that we were doing it under um but but I call I call up Jan and I said uh yeah we kind of need John on the 24th to be there I said it's really important because we're not buying any radios unless John's there because it's really the biggest thing that we have the sheriff said no I think I'm pretty sure you're buying these radios uh but uh so to the Chiefs John John your entire family I I had to say something to him Jamie why not I had to say something to him because when he saw that his his uh cousins or nephews were here back here stand up my neighbors are back they all Alla that's fun John be important my because I wrot all the information about and chief Mory my my friend my long friend John you got to be here about the radios you need all the technical data on the radio John this is a full PE so so when I ask for public comment you don't actually all right uh let's give it up for John Dr one like this one like this okay one two ni you had you had insed radios up in the fire maral's office work all work all right all right hold hold tight everybody real quick we have two two more presentations that we just want to get through um well-deserving individuals that we want to we want to honor Karen okay next we have a presentation recognizing individuals for their assistance with the Conover Beacon restoration at this time I'd like to invite Department of Public Works master welder Justin Van Arsdale Department of Public Works director Ted Maloney and Leonardo resident Vinnie Moran to join May Perry in the front of the room all right so as as many of you know we were uh we were fortunate enough um to have a great guy in our Public Works um back in 20121 I want to say Ted Tony and I met in in h Tony's old conference room in town hall and we started discussing the restoration of the Conover Beacon and Leonardo and if you haven't been out there yet please go out and take a look at it because the the first time I went out there and and got to see the The Vault opened up um it was nothing to be proud of uh it was really in bad shape in fact I was a little bit uh nervous about standing inside because it was obvious that seawater had gotten in so bad that the center support beam of the Conover Beacon was completely rusted all the way through the first three steps I think it was of the staircase that goes all the way to the top we're gone and this is a piece of our history a piece of the town's history and as we approach America's 250th anniversary uh this year we're celebrating Middletown's 360th anniversary um we started putting our heads together as to how we were going to restore this Beacon and a lot of vendors didn't want to touch it they didn't want to touch touch it they were too nervous we would bid it out and go through the whole legal process that our qualified purchasing agent makes us go through every time you know no offense Mike but it it's it's it's long it's it's crazy what the state laws require of you and Ted calls me up and he says Tony I just want to let you know Justin um I I think he can do the work he tells me he can do it and I said Ted give him whatever tools he needs to be able to get this thing done that con over Beacon when we got to unveil it earlier this year freshly restored new paint Reagan and I climbed all the way to the top and yes those three stairs were back plus the center beam was but it was because Justin was able to make that happen um and I I think it's even more important and out on that plaque it pays special tribute to the public works employees that we able to get this done and Justin without you without you stepping up and saying we can get this done we don't need anybody else outside that was too afraid to do this job that beacon in this past weekend I don't know if you heard we had a bunch of straight line winds that ran through Leonardo but the reason I bring it up is because it might have fallen over that's how bad shape it was in and so when you talk about people that that go above and beyond for their job you could have kept going doing the things that you were doing but you took this on you made it happen and I I know I'm incredibly appreciative the T Township committee is but when you saw the opening the rededication of that Beacon you saw what it meant to the people of Leonardo and you saw what it meant to the people of Middletown to the history of our town and because of you it will now be able to survive the next 150 200 years because because of your work so and this all began because Vinnie Moran who normally sits right in that back corner back there kept bringing to us documentation schematic showing me and I said all right I'm all in you know he it was one of those brick wall speeches that you're ready to go and but so because of him spurring that idea and because of your efforts Ted's the township committee agreeing to fund that project that Beacon is here to stay and will be a proud symbol of Middletown for generations to come so Justin thank you very much have for you this a beautiful picture of what you have create been able to help create in in Greatful appreciation of your invaluable contribution in helping restore and preserve the historic Conover pein in Leonardo allowing it to illuminate our Shores once again Justin thank you very much just has been a great employee with DBW saves us tens of thousands dollars a year by keeping our Fleet going our snow plows on the road um but when we were trying to fix this very unique structure we were scratching our heads we were talking to water tank manufacturers and metal building Fabricators and and ship Builders to try to figure out how we're fix this thing without you know totally breaking the bank I almost called an asset like SPAC but uh then I realized we have a metal fa we have essentially engineer he's also an artist really he stepped up and really rebuilt this whole structure two hands over several months in the Heat and the cold working on Saturdays trying to get going and he again not only did he save us probably hundreds of thousands of dollars he also gave us a great work of art and restoring that beautiful structure over there Le thank you again you did um jealous of Ted's work of art line that he just uh gave gave uh out there um but Justin thank you again let's give it up for Justin we we hired somebody in the thought he was free he tried to support guy tried to escape without a picture one two thank you all right Karen let's do this okay next we have a presentation recognizing Middletown High School South track and field state champion Rosemary Shay at this time I'd like to invite Rosemary to join May Perry at the front of the room along with Coach Vic Bayers so I'm already tired looking at how long this race was um you know we we've been uh very fortunate and I say it all the time uh since I feel like we we opened up and moved into this building we have had champion after champion after Champion um and that is a testament to Middletown's athleticism it coaches and its athletes in particular and I'm flipping through the Asbury Park Press and I see this unbelievable picture flipping through I'm L does the as Park print anything anymore I I was scrolling and tar says they do I'm scrolling through and I see m a big Middletown South logo and there's Rosie and I'm looking at it and I'm like reading I'm reading I'm like 3200 meters I'm like oh I got to calculate how far that is um but when the the way that the Asbury Park Press had had made it out it was of you know track and field and I get further into the article and I realize this this is an unbelievable Champion athlete that has been repres that is representing Middletown that will continue to represent Middletown in every way we want young people to represent Middletown and for you to have won this state championship 3200 meter race again I'm tired saying that out loud um it just shows the will commitment and dedication you have to your sport but also that you have and may not realize it to your town because when you're putting that effort in when you're when you're with your coach putting that time energy everything into these races it it's above ourselves as individuals it's it is for the community for for as a victory for ourselves but a victory for the school that is represented on the front of your jersey just as much it is is the back with your name on it so when when young people come in I want them to always realize that you're representing those two institutions your family and the town and organization that you represent and for Rosie that was Middletown South but it was for your family and I can only say congratulations on behalf of the township committee myself and everyone here that appreciates your dedication your commitment and everything you do to represent Middletown we appreciate and we applaud you for that so let's give it up for what you don't realize how many months ago did you win this race uh this month no no didn't you win it previously oh yeah in March oh yeah I won I wanted I want it to um and where you headed off to college fova good as a Temple University graduate I asend it by that but congratulations uh the wild cats are lucky to have you so Rosie on behalf of the entire Township committee um we want to uh provide you with this certificate on winning the 3200 meter race at the 2024 NJ SI AA track and field meet of Champions congratulations on ending your high school running career as a state champion over the last four years you have grown tremendously both as an athlete and as a person you impressively won this race twice within three months once at the indoor championship in March and again at the outdoor championship in in June you also won third place in the 2024 NJ SI AA cross country meet of Champions and as a true team player you don't prefer you don't you don't only cheer for your teammates but also for your peers at other schools and we are incredibly proud to join you in celebrating this extraordinary achievement and wish you all the best yes at Villanova University congratul and Hy couldn't be here tonight because he knew I challenged her to a race with him that's when he camea to be sick coach um thank you everyone congratulations to everyone who's here tonight uh just real quick um congratulations to Rosie I've been lucky to coach her the last four years um it's been truly a blessing she's been willing to work extremely hard and all of that hard work has paid off with her two state championships and uh her heading off to Villanova next year so while we will all miss you at Middletown South the town and everybody's very proud of you especially myself and your family congratulations all right she says she has nothing else to say she wanted me to let you know that I love this embarrassing like Anyway congratulations Rosie congratulations let's give it up one more to go one more to go okay okay our last presentation this evening we have the D youth Citizen Award presentation to Riley Higgins at this time I would like to invite Riley Middletown D representative Kim best Serena shriber Molly mcabe and detective Rick Cruz to join mayor Perry at the front of the room how you doing going well you have the name tags on if you this is your show if you want to if you want to um but uh first of all I just want to everybody here knows Kim Kim Welcome in your civilian role here right um but so I want to just introduce quickly Serena um as Serena is a member of our America 250 board uh where we're working on the um the 250th anniversary of American independence and uh is heavily evolved with the Daughters of the American Revolution and as as I know she has told me every single time the ability to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution is a very intense uh background I don't want to call it a background check but I'm looking at a bunch of police officers over there so um but uh a great organization that recently kind of moved to Middletown um and formed their own their own organization so um I'll let Serena and Kim kind of kick it off here well thank you very much and good evening everyone um on behalf of the Daughters of the American Revolution the Middletown chapter thank you for coming to today's ceremony um I'm Serena shriber and I'm the vice Regent of our chapter Middletown chapter we're two years old and um The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution also known as a Dar uh was founded in October 1890 and it thrives today as a nonprofit non-political volunteer Women's Service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism preserving American history and securing America's future through better education for adults and children D has a long history of supporting Youth and good citizenship the DAR youth citizenship medal recognizes a recipient that has distinguished herself through outstanding leadership honor courage service and patriotism this year our recipient Riley Higgins was nominated by Middletown police explorer advisor detective Ricardo Cruz Riley is a 14-year-old freshman at Middletown High School North where her dedication to academics and the Arts shines brightly growing up in Middletown with her father a now police lieutenant and her mother a now nurse practitioner Riley has inherited a keen sense of community service and a passion for helping others s from her early years at Harmony Elementary School to Thor Middle School Riley's love for music and performance blossomed she actively participated in the School chorus and proudly joined the B natural show choir highlighting her vocal talents and Stage presence Riley currently volunteers with the Middletown Police Explorers and has been part of the Middletown Police youth week since childhood as a camper and is now giving back by volunteering her time as a youth counselor with the program for three weeks each summer in the past her commitment to community service also led her to volunteer with Middletown helps its own and the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore embodying her family's values of support and generosity in the spotlight Riley thrives she has contributed her creative skills to Middletown High School noris drama Productions including providing herir and makeup for its a Wonderful Life a live radio play in 2023 and acting in the weirdest honeymoon ever the same year and Young Frankenstein in 2024 Riley's enthusiasm for theater music and Broadway feels her dream of becoming an actor in the future Riley is also a student athlete and swims competitively on behalf of the Middletown chapter of the daughters of the America Revolution it is my honor to present this medal and certificate to Riley Higgins teren that's her trademark two three congratulations CJ's taking a picture um okay um Riley congratulations um um congratulations at a time when we're uh when we're talking so much and and so frequently in the news about about America's history and um it's it's a proud moment not only for me but I know for the Daughters of the American Revolution to have you here to have these people here to celebrate our Great American history to be proud of our history and to reflect on that history most importantly um and and and I think there needs to be a more abundance of Riley's out there that are willing to participate in that process and understand and know and appreciate that American history so on behalf of the township committee we want to congratulate you we want to thank the tech Ive Cruz for who's Whispering over there um for for nominating you and for having such a great family that works tirelessly to better our community whether that be in healthc care or as a police officer and by being recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution truly is an unbelievable honor so congratulations one two three Perfect all right let's give it up for Riley yes thank you yes yes inde all right we're we just have a proclamation for the record tonight it would be recognizing July 10th 2024 as World Airway disorder day in the township of mtown thank you we're going to take a quick maybe two two one minute recess counting now okay all right Joe you want to bring that mic up okay oh you were all right um okay Karen okay next we have approval of minutes for the May 20th 2024 regular meeting and the June 10th 2024 Workshop meeting motion to approve the minutes second seconded by committee man sen bino committee man Clark yes committee woman cratz yes committeeman sen brino yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to approve the minutes next item on our agenda is the public hearing of proposed ordinances ordinance 2024 3420 Bond ordinance we'll have no action taken tonight we'll move on to ordinance 20243 421 a bond ordinance providing an appropriation of $2,525 th000 for the acquisition of emergency service radios and other related equipment for various departments by and for the township of Middletown in the county of Mammoth New Jersey and authorizing the issuance of 2,398 750 in bonds or notes of the township for financing part of the appropriation um before we're going to we're we're going to open it up for public comment on 2024-25 allocation for these radios to our um fire department so Sheriff thank you mayor as usual thank you and to the township committee for all your support of law enforcement and Public Safety as displayed by all the promotions this evening I want to congratulate all those uh Superior officers that were promoted and I want to congratulate John Ducker who with his technical data sheet probably should be up here you know I I I laugh there you know we know his uh dedication and commitment to the community but it goes beyond that I assure you as uh we look to them in County government and sometimes when I'm called upon by other towns about you different codes and everything for fire I say call John Ducker he'll you know he'll tell you so um you do have such an asset in him and all your fire chiefs uh who worked hard and tirelessly to transition to County dispatch and this is one of the final steps so as you know we upgraded uh some of the software systems the county commissioner under the leadership of director Tom arnone have invested uh millions of dollars in the county infrastructure for our First Responders uh including this trunk radio system and so uh just with recent improvements uh last year to the systems in Haslet and Highlands uh towers and now with the uh over $750,000 investment that's going into the Red Hill Road Tower uh which will provide coverage for these radios you're about to purchase so the First Responders in terms of interoperability and in particularly the police department as every surrounding Police Department uh in Middletown is on the current trunk system and we're going to welcome Middletown PD onto that system it's going to be great to have them interrupt with uh the neighboring towns and they'll get more channels and and certainly have better coverage uh in their uh work and line of duty and then uh for the fire department as well this is a big transition for the fire departments in Mammoth County we are investing in Mammoth County the commissioner passed a similar Bond ordinance of over $5 million for fire radios of which that will be uh added on to some of the radios that you're purchasing for fire uh for your 11 fire stations and and some other needs so uh collectively this is a big move it's the last component in County dispatch uh we have EMS police already on board and now we're going to be bringing uh the fire departments uh on board as well Middletown's part of that project so uh again we want to thank you for the investment in public safety and the security and safety of all the First Responders yeah Sheriff thank you so much appreciate your leadership appreciate everything that you're doing for the county County dispatch uh we're we're fortunate to have a great partnership and with the Commissioners and everybody I I think I can speak on behalf of all the township committee members and thank you you for your leadership when it comes to Public Safety and you know Chief Kelly Chief morisy are here here um and just certainly appreciate that that ongoing dialogue that that is always available through you and and uh under Sheriff Dawson and everybody that's uh under your leadership so thank you Sheriff I appreciate it thank you so much thanks any member of the public wish to make a public comment on public ordinance number 2024-25 I want to thank you for uh sitting with us and understanding need it's comforting to know that we have your support Sheriff golden I want to thank you for being a great partner with us in this uh we're fortunate we have two former Fire Chiefs on the council their understanding their knowledge of our needs from day to day cannot be overstated and I really just want to say thank you and really appreciate you looking out for the members of our department thank you Chief appreciate you Chief Kelly the entire uh Chief's ranks that that are always there for a call and and uh just I think our last meeting or two ago you all ran out of here after that meeting uh to to a fire um and when I I I went out there and to see an unbelievable response I mean there must have been hands easily 50 volunteer firefighters that had left their dining room tables to go to this this fire along with an additional dozen EMS volunteers that were there as well so uh um certainly appreciate everything that that our volunteer firefighters do and thank you for your leadership as well any member of the public wishing to speak on public ordinance number 202 24- 3421 seeing no other member of the public stepping forward move the close the public portion and approve second committee men Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee men said and brino yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass this ordinance on second and final reading all right thank you guys next we have introduction of proposed ordinances ordinance 2024 3422 and ordinance repealing and replacing ordinance number 2024 3418 amending and restating ordinance number 223-3321 solely as to the established fair market value for property identified as block 1045 Lot 2 nuts Swamp Road Block 1045 lot 3 11114 nut swamp Road and block 1045 Lot 4 Dwight Road within the township of Middletown motion to introduce second committee man Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee man s brino yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass this ordinance on first reading with the public hearing to be held July 15 2024 next we have a public hearing on Grant application for the mammoth County open space Grant appli for conle Park Janet for any meeting for Vinnie Moran not to be at it's this is the one I thought he would definitely been at but uh what might best like it all right I'm just going to wait for our presentation to be posted or displayed awesome great thanks Joe um okay so just briefly this is for our MTH County open space Grant application for 2024 um this year we're proposing to do the bill conl Memorial Park um briefly Joe you can uh Advance this SL sorry um just briefly about the Grant application or the grant program um it's an annual Grant funded through the mammoth County Municipal Park uh Improvement project there are there's up to $6 million that they pro set aside for this with each award being up to $500,000 these are some of our past uh Grant applications I'm Sor I'm sorry sure the I just want I think it's important to note that what at the at the request of this government body we and at your leadership and bringing it to our attention that that open space Grant cap went from 250,000 to 500,000 as a result of you bringing it to this governing body and and thank you to the mammoth County parks for the parks board for making that happen not just for increasing that amount but also then allowing for us to um uh get more of a reimbursement when it comes to open space so I just want to point that out that Janet certainly was the one that brought that to our attention and is able to make these projects more possible so thank you Janet thank you so much um yeah this is the second year that this the cap has gone up to 500 which is great um these are some of our past projects that I wanted to share with everybody 2023 is botman Park uh baseball field 2022 was the McMahon Park Phase 2 which was for tennis courts and basketball courts in 2021 we had the McMahon Park phase one for pickle ball courts 2020 uh we had McMahon Park phase one it wasn't um selected that year but we revamped it up for for 2021 and it was selected that year 2019 was the Normandy Park soccer Complex 2018 was kungo Park pickle ball which we obviously know now it's now the skate park so I think that was a good year to have that one not selected and then in 2017 was the Cen Hall playground so you can see we've been pretty active with this program and pretty successful each year which is wonderful so like I said mentioned before this year's Grant application is for the bill uh Bill conl Memorial Park Improvement for this one we have a number of different uh uh different uh improvements pled so to begin we've got Field improvements for the baseball field that's there we're actually looking to propose a combination 4660 and 5070 baseball field and softball field we're having an open concept with covered dugouts warning track and a home run fencing a scoreboard new back stop portable Mound with on-site storage scoreboard I said that already I'm sorry uh aluminum bleachers with concrete pads we're also proposing proposing tennis courts improvements right now there are three tennis courts we're proposing to resurface the entire area with new fences new tennis courts new tennis Nets but we're actually going to do two tennis courts and two pickle ball courts as well since that is a very fast and upcoming sport we're looking to improve the playground as well with a brand new playground with pour and place rubber which is what the same surfacing that we did at McMahon Park so that would be a great um Ada accessibility project for this playground um we're also uh proposing a new asphalt perimeter walking path similar to what's at door set so parents and kids can uh walk the path they can learn to ride their bike there they can scooter rollerblade Etc the one thing that is not listed is listed on here um but it's not part of the Grant application I do want to mention it's the resurfacing of the basketball courts there's two basketball courts that are out there we're not proposing in that Grant in that in this Grant application because we're actually dedicating money for that to happen this fall as it is so that's going to happen we're pulling that out of the grand application so overall uh the park will get a full full renovation can advance it so this is a small it's a picture of it um it is a little bit small I apologize it's pretty much everything I just talked about with the baseball field the warning track you can see the asphalt path that goes through the the entire perimeter of the park um on the bottom of it we talked about the tennis courts and there's two pickle ball courts as well um we have a storage shed for the portable Mound uh the playground a kidney-shaped playground not a square playground and the basketball courts you can advance the next slide Joe I think I talked I'm not going to read the whole slide to you guys but we talked about the benefits of the project already um the one thing I do want to say is that you know this is named after Bill kungle which I'm not sure if many of you guys know but he was an MLB player and also an MLB umpire um we kind of the way the park is right now we're not really doing a Justice for what he did for the town for his community did for um his career so we'd like to kind of put a little bit more effort into maintain the baseball and softball field so granted if we receive the grant once the product's done we will rededicate the field in his uh rededicate the whole park in his memory um again talking about the different sizing of the fields it is one of the biggest age groups that we have in baseball is the 46 60 and 5070 plus the 60 foot softball field so it's a benefit for everybody um we talked about the playground we talked about resurfacing the tennis courts so there really the benefits are endless to have this program um this the renovations go to cono and now the budget part um so like we talked about before the we can get a grant of up to $500,000 the total cost of the total hard cost projected for this program for this Grant application is uh $1,429 we're estimating $200,000 in soft cost which unfortunately are not eligible for the grant the grant program so I'm requesting um if we do receive up to 500 I'm hoping to receive the full amount I would be requesting 1,442 sorry 1,442 n10 um in capital match so at this time I'm gonna ask Joe to please go back to the picture of yes that's the one and we'll open up for any questions okay any members of the committee that would like to ask Ju Just One what's the What's the timing the of the grant receipt and then the potential timeline for the project so I can talk about the 2023 if that's okay so for 2023 last year um we apply in July so this this application is due July 11th we find out in October um we actually just got both the 2022 and 2023 Grant agreement signed by both us and the county in May so borrowing any red flags for Capital Bond ordinance coming up hopefully in July or August we'll be able to start that so it does unfortunately take a little bit of time to go through all the the rigor morall of getting everybody to sign the grant agreement once we receed okay any other questions for Janet from the committee you know obviously we we've made a a large Capital Improvement to part of kungle Park which which turned into our skate park um which was unbeli the grand opening unbelievable earlier this year um lessons being offered to the public um to to young people um and to me this is a this will be a great Next Step to completing the overall um viability of kungle Park not only memorializing um Bill kung's uh memory and Legacy in Middletown but also providing a great uh Legacy for Leonardo to have this unbelievable new park um you know made up and and Janet mentioned that will'll be um going we've been working to get bids for all of our t uh basketball court throughout town to be done all at the same time uh basically um which will be happening um later this um later this year um but this is uh will be a great Park and you know it's it's one of those parks that really deserves that complete um facelift um for it it had the one component with the skate park but now with with the rest of it it'll be a a great new park for the town um any other member of the committee have any questions okay I'll open up for public comment any member of the public wishing to make a public comment on this Grant application okay seeing no member of the public stepping forward move to close the public portion and approve Janet great job thank you committee man Clark yes committee woman cratz yes committee said and brino yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to close public hearing next I'd like to ask the township committee to adopt a consent agenda that would include resolutions 24186 through 24196 including firefighter applications motion to approve a consent agenda second committee man Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee man said bro yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to adopt the consent agenda next we have the township committee acting as the ABC issuing authority resolution 24197 is a resolution authorizing a place-to-place liquor license transfer plenary plenary retail consumption license 13 31-33 d010 motion to approve second committee and Clark yes committee woman cratz yes committee maned brino yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to adopt 24197 next we have 24198 is a resolution authorizing the renewal of liquor licenses for the 2024 2025 licensing term motion to approve second committee woman Comm committee man Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee man s brino yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to adopt resolution 24198 next we have Township committee comments all right committee M Clark uh I'd like to thank you mayor I'd like to uh first congratulate all of our officers on uh their achievements um the the leadership starts from the top down with the police department and uh Chief Weber has exemplified great leadership and it shows with uh each and every one of his uh each and every one of his officers that have that are getting promoted have been promoted and will continue to which I think is uh is awesome um the uh I think the the radio upgrade was um underplayed a little bit and and I think the amount of the amount of energy and effort that's gone into upgrading our radio system over the last nearly 10 years um in cooperation with Mammoth County in cooperation with multiple iterations of our Township committee uh the police department the EMS uh the amount of conversations and data you know we were joking about uh John Ducker and having his list right uh it's it's pretty amazing you you think when you when you hear about stuff like this right you click on a radio and you talk and you don't realize the hundreds of thousands of man-hours and dollars and energy and effort that goes into making that one click work and uh our Chiefs that are here um you guys have done an excellent job of continuing the work that was started uh earlier on um to make sure that our fire department has state-of-the-art equipment state-of-the-art support and uh um you guys are doing an amazing job so thank you um and the rest of the committee some of you have been here through this entire trial and tribulation and and the administration and some are learning um the the decisions that we make up here literally have an effect on everything uh that they do and uh our support is truly speaking as a former Chief and firefighter the support of the committee in whatever iteration and the administration is super important so I'm glad to be a part of this side of it now I'm glad to have been part of the other side and uh Janet I think she popped out I just uh thank you for a great presentation and continuing to try to make our Parks awesome so uh that's it mayor thank you thank you commit sen brino thank you mayor I spoke with the deputy uh mayor hiel before the meeting he seated all of his public comment time to me for this evening so oh good need about an hour and a half tonight um no I continue to be amazed and in od the the depth and breadth of this uh this Township coming from a small town uh to a town of 68,000 people that just that you contined to have people of of of all ages and individuals stepping up to make this Town what it is today and I'm just uh honored to be a part of that uh town and uh to be able to contribute to it um that's all I have for this evening mayor thank you all right committee woman Katz thank you mayor uh just want to offer my congratulations to all of our sergeants and our lieutenants that were promoted this evening um it it's what a what a meeting it really is amazing when we have the opportunity to celebrate so much so um just wanted to acknowledge all of them uh to Riley hi is also um a big accomplishment and and really something to be so proud of um I still would like to see Deputy Mayor hiel and and the mayor um have a have a little race or at least race Rosie that would that would be something so I'd love to see that one Someday I'm not worried about coming in first I know that I'm just I I just gotta come in second that's you know um but yeah so just wanted to again um just express my thanks you know that this past storm too was just evidence of really how dedicated all of our emergency service Personnel are and and really can't thank them all enough for their dedication and their time and it was a crazy past couple of days so again you know our our thanks for all of their hard work for sure so thank you mayor all right um yeah I I want to Echo Community woman Katz's comments her her last comment in particular you know over the weekend we were we we were hit we were hit by a really bad storm that came at us um very quickly um and very intense and um from Tony merante to Buddy Skelly to our fire chiefs Kevin morsy and I were hanging out at a at um a uh watermain Break um over in Loft to um the police officers that were guarding all of the Fallen trees as it be uh as as Darkness started to fall on Middletown that were crossing the road at Center and Thompson um all up in all all through Leonardo um in particular through navyn um Charlie Rogers Charlie eret all of our fire chiefs Fire Marshals office administration um everybody was working seamlessly and that's what made it easy Ted and his Crews that were out there um it was I I I was concerned because it was working so well and and it sounds weird but when everyone is clicking on every level and communication is clear and Tara and and Raven um and John wner from the police side the nixel communication the communications when it came to the power outages that were occurring that's what makes it where when I walk into town hall this morning there are no messages about what we are going to why aren't we doing this and that was because every single person was working and was getting done and was in constant communication with each other so Tony and everyone that I mentioned um it was it was working well and when I was out in Lan coft and when I was up at Kings Highway eastn Chapel Hill when I was out in Leonardo I mean I stopped in the middle of the street and the these individuals have no power their house is now at 88 degrees and they came out and they said two things to me number one thank you for all of our Emergency Services personnel and thank you for stopping by and I said I I said to this woman I'm like it's no problem for me to stop by it's the police officers that are sitting here for hours on end waiting for jcpnl to get here it's our fire chiefs driving from POA and by the way while all this is happening there's hundreds if not thousands of other calls that are all occurring at the same time that doesn't mention the emergency um our EMS teams that are working in Ideal Beach while everyone's out of power in Leonardo it doesn't talk about the the water collection that our OEM teams are doing so that the people who are out of water are able to get that water and dropping it off I do have to give a shout out to uh the folks over off leedsville Drive they started tailgating um the the the uh water main break hey they didn't know what else to do so they tailgated outside you know it works for them God bless you know um but when I got to town hall today talking to news2 talking it was one consistent theme and that was our Emergency Services Personnel they did they worked and they made sure that every single resident knew everything that we knew and what we were doing and that takes a collective effort so on behalf of the the entire Township committee from our professionals to our volunteers thank you guys seriously um very much you did a hell of a job over the weekend and it it does not go unnoticed so appreciate it very much so thank you guys tonight um another big item that was on our agenda you know I can go through all the all the presentations that we had um but as many of you have seen uh the three final phases of remediation over over at the veterans housing project have been ongoing um today there was a 20 foot hole that was dug remediated and filled back in with clean fill finalizing the the second phase of that of that final remediation one Final Phase to go which will have a slight lane closure uh over on leonardville um that the police will be directing traffic for because it is so close to the curb line um but tonight um almost $2 million um under budget we have awarded the construction of the veterans housing site and there's a lot of things that I'm proud of that we've been able to get done over the over the six years that I've been the mayor and the seven years I've been on this governing body but today will stick with me for a long time because at one point we were thinking ourselves how are we ever going to be able to afford this we had budgeted one amount we had gone out and when we got those bid backs uh bids back they came in at $3 million over over what we had budgeted for and several individuals collaborated put their heads together came together from Moren r on down I mean I was on the phone with Moren and she helped me figure out that final million dollars of of where we were going to get that money from and so it's taken too long no doubt about that but it's finally here we got it done we're getting it done we're tomorrow we're meeting for our preconstruction um uh with our Architects our our contractor to get this project done and the fact that we've awarded it here on this the 24th of June I I'm real happy proud and grateful to the township committee for everything and for all of our Professionals for everything that they've done unfortunately it's just a resolution um but and and unfortunately it's a it's a uh it's a consent agenda item but it won't be a consent agenda item it won't be a simple resolution to the people that end up living there so I want to thank everybody that was involved in getting that done 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 um Reagan asked that you keep your comments to five minutes and at four minutes I'll let you know that you have one minute remaining had a little bit of an emergency today so I figured I'd bring the real Deputy Mayor um to the meeting um and I am baffled at how quiet especially being related to me um she has been through these two hours so any member of the public wishing to make a public comment Yeah Carl I came here tonight to see the awards presentations so just say just I know who you are Carl I don't have your address memorized but just state your name and address for the rec Carl Ron 52 Pelican Ro Middletown New Jersey I have seen many awards given to our wonderful folks Volunteers in Middletown and I but I haven't seen an award given to our committee for the amount of work that you've done as a former n Air Force veteran I'm so glad to see that we're getting the housing done I remember when it first came to the planning board at least four or five years ago and I appreciate it very much and thank you for all the help that you folks do that no one has told you about I'm sure they may have but I'm telling you Thank you thank you Carl appreciate it any member any other member of the public wishing to make a public comment Don come on down good evening Don Watson living at one Collinson Drive in new Mammoth um I too am happy to finally see that Shell gas station turn into something a little more useful than a Reclamation project um I also say that we contracted a Landscaping service is there something that this group is doing that our grounds and building and grounds Department can't do uh yeah and that's uh do what the state should probably be doing uh I don't have enough people to mow every Jug Handle and I know the state loves to you know see high grass in The Jug handles and and all that good stuff but we can't handle all of them plus what we Norm have right um so there if you want them cut every week well if you lived across the street from a Jug Handle you probably want to see it cut right I used to lead a group what's that I used to lead a group of volunteers that maintain jug Handles in Middletown and like the day before we were scheduled to go over to cut the grass the township was there to cut it before us I just wanted to thank you guys for that years ago long before you were probably even born if I had a nickel for every time I heard that yeah I'd still be broke yep so they're mainly to hire they're hired to they're they're HED to in I mean we had them last year too um they're they're there to supplement anything that's not being gotten to um or or is you know technically outside the bounds of what the the Public Works team should be doing um we we also continue to add swaths of open space that need to be maintained right um and the town in fact Ted and Tony and I met um probably last week or two weeks ago to talk about some of these areas that can probably um be returned very nicely Back To Nature as they should be um we needed a plan we can't just allow the GR has to grow you know six feet high we want to plant some trees in these areas plant some wild flowers support the pollination pollinator groups that are that are struggling at this point in time um and and try and return them back in in a manner that doesn't disrupt any of the um any of the neighbors that are around these areas that see them every day right I just did that with half of my backyard yeah we killed everything last fall and we planted all kinds of flowers and it's FL well you have a lot of milk weed don't you uh yeah yeah so does Ted I hope okay good because I gave away all my seeds this year my daughter's growing in town of Virginia right now but um I got tons of milk weed the backyard is so fragrant right now because they're all blooming oh per yeah it's beautiful and that plus bachelor buttons and there's flowers that roow back there I had no clue what they are but they're unbelievable yeah or the bag of's now the head of the uh so appointed the head of your new pollinator uh yeah group they do I got all kinds of bees on the milke wheed and the butterflies are moving in there too y um there something yeah maintain we came back from Virginia last week and we're coming down Red Hill Road and you know the sides of Red Hill Road coming down the hill um need to be cut I know I don't know if you guys do that but um yeah we do we usually close the road for a day and cut it all yeah everything's starting to hang out in the road that was last week probably with this rain we had it's all all in the street probably in the next couple weeks we'll probably be out there doing that yeah all right cool I was just curious about the landscaper guys yeah it's um it's it's actually less expensive expensive than it was last year um and uh just to kind of support um the Public Works teams because you know we want to be as as a responsible for the taxpayers and responsive to their requests um but when we're sending out teams that should be cutting parks and should be lining fields and raking INF fields and ensuring that uh the the tennis courts are blown from leaves and and debris and and brand anes we're we're getting call simultaneously that the islands aren't being maintained so now we're the governor he's right I'm sure I'm sure they'll be cut this weekend yeah especially on Ayn River Road I undoubtedly they will be cut on navyn River Road yeah for sure and if for any Resident that is listening to this ahead of Saturday don't travel down navyn River Road on on Saturday okay for sure yeah um also your thought is exceptional thank what do he say cut her tongue out or something oh thank you I got little ones like that I would have brought all of them but I didn't think that the township committee would be able to take all three of them up here no I don't see Ryan doing anything you can sit there right knows me well yeah anyway thank you and thanks Don all right any other member of the public wish to make a public comment Reagan nothing oh no no all right uh seeing no other member of the public stepping forward including Reagan move to close the public portion and adjourn second committee man Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee man s brino yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to adjourn have a great night everybody thank you all we'll see you in July July 15th July 15th oh I got that right on the money all right July 15th we do not have a meeting on July 1 have a great Fourth of July everybody