good evening everybody Welcome to the Monroe Township combined reorganization an agenda and regular meeting today is January 3rd 2024 I now call the meeting to order it is 6:30 p.m. if you could please stand and join me in the salute to the flag States will the deputy clerk please take the roll call councilwoman Miriam Cohen pres councilman Charles depiro here councilman Michael marel here Council Rupa P seagull here councilman Terrence vanora here thank you with the with the deputy Township Clerk please read the Sunshine Law into the record in accordance with the open public meetings act it is hereby announced and shall be entered into the minutes of this meeting that adequate notice has been provided by the following one posted on the bulletin boards within the municipal building on December 29th 2023 and remains posted at that location for public inspection two printed in the home News Tribune and the cranberry press on December 2 9th 2023 three posted on the Monroe Township website and four sent to those individuals who have requested personal notice in accordance with chapter 3 section 17 of the Monroe Township Code public comment shall be limited to 5 minutes unless further time is granted by the council president thank you at this time we are going to be taking nominations for the position of council president which is a two-year term do I have any nominations Adam clerk if I could be heard yes please as we move forward in 2024 in our efforts to continue to do what's best for the township of Monro there's no doubt the role of council president is critical in helping us to achieve our goals it is now my distinct honor and privilege to nominate Miriam Cohen to continue to serve in this most important role of council president for the next two years do I have any other nominations at at this time having seen none I please request a motion to close the nominations so Mo do I have a second second all in favor I I any opposed I now ask for consideration of the following resolution r1224 d001 which is a resolution appointing council president to Miriam Cohen for a two-year term which will start January 1st 2024 until December 31st 2025 do I have a motion so moved do I have a second second can I have a roll call please councilwoman Cohen yes councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes councilman vanzora yes thank you motion is carried congratulations yes I'll meet you where you in yes yes left hand down right hand up I'll right hand up repeat after me I Miriam Cohen do solemnly swear I'm Mariam Cohen do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and true I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Saint and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established 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 that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially and justly performed impartially and justly performed all the duties of council president all the duties of council president and the township of Monroe in the township of Monroe according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me go go help me go [Applause] congratulations I now officially turn the meeting over to our council president in a moment while we move yes for those of you who remember the seat I was sitting and was occupied for a number of years by Betty Schneider and I think I'd like to think that her memory and the hard work she did through our Township is will always be remembered by all of us who had the pleasure of knowing her and working with her excuse me I know you're Lefty I am all the time I'm a lefty okay item seven on the agenda is nominations for the position of council vice president to serve for a term of two years it is a privilege and an honor to work with Terry vanura we have been a team for the last two years laugh together work together and sometimes enjoyed a meal together it will be a pleasure to have him continue in that role we have much work to do and we look forward to doing it we are all a team and certainly councilman vanzora is an essential part of that team therefore it is an honor for me to nominate him for the role of Vice President of the Monroe Township Council any other nominations seeing and hearing none I'd like a motion to close nominations please motion thank you a second on that second thank you all in favor I I any opposed no we move on to r1224 d02 002 which is a resolution appointing our Council vice president may I have a motion please motion thank you second second roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes Council councilwoman Rupa P seagull yes councilman Terence vanzura yes council president Cohen yes are we moov councilman if you would like to meet me at the day so I could swe you in audio everything everything put your left hand down your right hands up and repeat after me I Terrence vanzora do solemnly swear I Terrence vanzora do solemnly swear that I I support the Constitution of the United States that I support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established 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 that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully and partially and justly perform and partially and justly perform all the duties of council vice president all the duties of council vice president in the township of Monroe in the township of Monroe according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God help me God [Applause] congratulations item eight on our agend agenda is a reorganization meeting adjournment don't anyone go anywhere where we have much more work to do this evening but I would like a motion to adjourn this portion of the meeting please so moved thank you may I have a second on that second thank you all in favor I any opposed reorganization meeting is adjourned you run to the chair get the time down 6:39 6:39 run you had to run we'd like to call the agenda meeting to be called to order at this time a motion please so moved second on that second thank you all in favor I any opposed no that's good we move to item two it is always an honor and a privilege to ask our mayor to move to the podium for presentation to our much beloved retired chief of police that just got a kick in The Shins uh Chief Michael J beanis III for his 36 years of service service and dedication to Monroe Township and the Monroe Township Police Department please sir good evening everyone a Happy New Year to all um Chief we come together as U as a community uh both formally and informally to recognize your dedication and service to all of the residents of our town and I know I can speak uh myself the council members the administration a lot of your co-workers here the police force family and friends to say thank you so much me personally um as the mayor of Monroe Township um the mayor and the chief have to have a true symbiotic and open relationship both working formally and informally and chief it was an honor to work with you as the mayor um anytime you go through what we went through in the pandemic Chief the daily phone calls the the count how many citizens had covid it was a surreal moment and it was a frightening moment as well when that phone call would come from the chief to give you that update of what what are the numbers are we we going up or we going down but Chief throughout throughout that your stewardship um as myself when I was council president council member and now as mayor I do want to just personally thank you uh with that being said please allow me to to read the best and the brightest here Chief bienen served the township of Monroe for 36 years as a law enforcement officer he was sworn in as a patrolman at the Monroe Township Police Department on December 30th 1987 a lot of people weren't born yet either Chief and is a graduate of the seagert police academy 188th Municipal class I think they're in like 300s now right he was promoted to Sergeant in July 1999 lieutenant in December 2014 and C in July of 2017 and I remember that day it was a hot day and the next day uh Chief I got to see you at the Recycling yard CU your family was up for that so let's not meet at the Recycling yard tomorrow it's a little too cold um before his promotion of chief of police obviously in June of 2019 prior to being promoted to captain Chief bienna served the Monro Township Police Department in many capacities but most of his years were spent in the patrol and Traffic Safety Division as a supervisor throughout his career Chief biis focused on moving the department forward while valuing the history of the profession and honoring the officers who put their lives on the line daily he fostered Community engagement through public Outreach programs ensured the ongoing modernization of the Department's technology and much needed building expansion all the while guiding the men and women of this organization through the challenges of a global pandemic and let us also um give accolades to Chief biis for the continued accolades that we receive as a community of one of the safest towns not only in the county not only in the state but the United States of America Chief biis led the department with strong morals and integrity he led the Department as they were his family and displayed extemporary leadership and strong sense of Duty and deep understanding of the complex challenges that the law enforcement faces we extend our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for your remarkable 36 years of dedicated service to the Monroe Township Police Department my friends Michael JP Andis chief real quick I just like to say this is not my night this is the night for my officers and excuse me my ex officers and uh their promotions and their families and all that stuff stuff but thank you very much um all the accolades that I just that was just mentioned by the mayor um would not have been possible without the women and men in the back of this uh in the back of the building right now um it's their hard work and dedication true professionals and I'm very proud and I'm also very proud to work with the administration I work with you know in these crazy times um didn't affect us whatsoever I just like to thank you all and that's all I'm going to say and can I have the report cler swear me out only kid thank you thank you very much all righty yeah you might as well stay up there yeah and then I'll come around and start yeah as we move along on the agenda I'm doing the council president's job here of saying so much for that I'm grateful great we now going to swear in our new Chief Griffin [Applause] BOS Chief Griffin BOS attended Thomas Edison State College where he earned a bachelor's degree in human services with a concentration in criminal justice he graduated from the Somerset County Police Academy in June of 2004 as an alternate candidate Chief BOS was hired in Monroe on October 4th 2004 Chief BOS served in the Patrol Division from October of 2004 until July of 2008 when he was assigned to the detective Bureau inside the detective Bureau he focused on narcotic cases and often worked with County task forces on issues related to Monroe in December of 2010 Chief BOS was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and assigned to the Patrol Division where he ran a patrol squad until December of 2014 when he was again assigned to the detective Bureau as a supervisor Chief BOS stayed in the bureau until August of 2018 when he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant as a lieutenant he first served in the training Bureau for a year and then as commander of the detective Bureau until his promotion to captain in January 2023 as a captain he was assigned to oversee the detective Bureau Administration Division and Records Chief BOS has attended numerous supervision schools and training courses sponsored by the New Jersey State Police FBI and Penn State with Chief BOS today is his lovely wife Lauren his lovely children Nicholas Colette and of course Briel my friends let us all once again say thank you and [Applause] good left hand down right hand up after I Griffin BOS do Solly swear I Griff BOS swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States government established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people of people and that I will Faithfully faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of chief of the Monro Township police Department dep according to the best of my ability my ability so help me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] God Mr Mayor I'd like to say thank you um I'm going to get used to public speaking a little bit more um thank you for entrusting me with this Police Department um this was the first town to give me a chance uh 2004 um October 4th 2004 uh the feeling I had going to work that day um it's kind of the same feeling I have now so um I'm going to take that feeling going forward every day I come to work it's going to be my first day I don't like getting comfortable anything I do and I don't I think that leads to good thing so I'm going to take the department from where we are continue moving forward and um it's going to be good uh to the men and women in the back I don't again I don't take this uh responsibility lightly um you guys mean the world to me I believe we are one of the best police departments in New Jersey um we could always be better so you know it's I don't get comfortable uh being good so uh we're going to continue moving forward I want to thank you for all your support and it means the world to me to get the lead you guys and girls thank [Applause] you all right now I get to do the cool stuff Captain Keith salum would you please come forward Captain Keith salum was hired by the milis county sheriff's department in 1999 he attended the Somerset County Police Academy graduating in June of 2000 cther salum was hired as a mon Town police officer on November 11th 2000 where he served as a patrol officer until 2010 in 2010 Lieutenant suom was Captain slum that's interesting Captain slum was assigned to the investigations division as a detective in 2012 he was promoted to Sergeant and continued to work in the investigations unit on January 1st 2023 he was promoted to Lieutenant overseeing the criminal investigations Division and Professional Standards he has served as a SWAT team member a field training officer a bike officer traffic safety officer commander of the honor guard unit Internal Affairs officer and held executive board positions in PBA 255 including the president Captain slom received a life saving award and a unit citation has has given 24 years of service to this great Community he has also attended numerous trainings in leadership and advanced investigations offered by the New Jersey State Police the DEA and the FBI with Captain slum today is his wife Leslie slum his son John salum his daughter's Riya salum s okay good right hand up after me I Keith salum do solemnly swear I Keith Sal do Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and allegiance to the saint same and to the governments established in the United States the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people from the authority of the people and that I will Faithfully I will faithfully impartially and justly perform impartially and justly perform all the duties of all duties of captain of the Monro Township Police Department captain of the Monro Township Police Department according to the best of my ability according to the best my ability so help me God so help me [Applause] God I'm honored to be up here today um I gave 24 years to this great community and I'm proud to serve this community I appreciate everybody in attendance this this evening uh all the officers and Command Staff that is here to support us uh there was good things ahead as Chief said and I thank you for this honor of serving the community the captain of the modern Township Police Department thank [Applause] you thanks sylvestri attended mommoth University where obtained a bachelor's degree in criminal justice graduated from the Ocean County Police Academy and began his law enforcement career with the B Police Department before being hired by the monor Township Police Department in July of 2005 Lieutenant vest served in the Patrol Division and was then assigned to the criminal investigations division in 2014 while a detective Lieutenant vestri taught the lead program and completed trainings to become a certified Financial crimes investigator as well as a certified crie scene investigator some of Lieutenant Sylvester's notable investigations include a return of upwards $200,000 to a victim of fraud as well as a large scale theft case which was used as the focus of midd middlex County prosecutor's office annual Symposium while a detective Lieutenant cvest also developed the voluntary cam registry program in 2019 Lieutenant sestri was PR to the rank of Sergeant and returned to the Patrol Division in 2023 Lieutenant SES was assigned to the administration division as well as the internal affairs unit Lieutenant SES will now oversee the Professional Standards Bureau Lieutenant V is married to Dena and has a son James also present this evening are his mother and father Joe and Sharon sylvestri holding the Bible will be his wife Dena and Son James I Joseph sylvestri do solemnly swear I Joseph syv that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the contition and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith fath and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States the government established 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 that I will faithfully and I will faithfully and partially and justly perform partially and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of Lieutenant of the mon Police Department dep according to the best of my ability [Applause] senik in July of 1998 George enck graduated from the gler County Police Academy class 14 as an alternate route candidate he graduated first in his class where he earned a director's award as well as a Firearms award he was hired in August of 1998 by the monor Township Police Department and is now serving in his 26th year Lieutenant nck was assigned to the Patrol Division for approximately 22 years in 2003 he began teaching new officers as a part of field training program he also has specialized in training in firearms and has been an agency Firearms instruction for the past 12 years liutenant nck has shown great Zale for the field training of new officers he wrote and implemented a current policy and has managed a field training unit since 2019 Lieutenant nck was briefly assigned to Administration division as a detective in 2019 then promoted to Sergeant in January of 2020 and returned to patrol in April of 21 Lieutenant ol was assigned back to the administration division der served as a sergeant of the administration and training in January of 23 agency training expanded to be its own division s uh Lieutenant only became a training sergeant and at that uh at that time moving forward he will serve as a training Lieutenant sorry here all right family members that are in attendance with Lieutenant nck are his wife Lynn his son George his daughters Emily Alexander and meline and his parents George and Joan uh his wife Lynn will hold the Bible I George enck do solemly swear I Solly swear that I'll support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same allegiance to the same and to the governments established in in the United States the governments established 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 that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform impartially and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of Lieutenant of the Monro Township Police Department Lieutenant of the Monro Township Police Department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability help you God to help you [Applause] feel safe last one Taylor Ryan Taylor graduated from seaten Hall University in 2012 with bachelor's degree in criminal justice Brian was then hired by the monor Township Police Department on January 2nd of 2014 after being hired Brian was signed to the patrol division during his time in Patrol Brian was a field training officer and became the Department's domestic violence the aison in January of 21 Brian was transferred to the traffic Traffic Safety Division where he became the Department's radar instructor and investigate serious motor vehicle crashes today with Brian is his wife Kelly his daughter Evelyn his father Brian senior and mother Kelly wife please come for us I Brian Taylor do solemnly swear I Brian Taylor do Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey and the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and ALG to the same and to the governments established in the United States to the governments established 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 that I will Faithfully that I will Faithfully impartially and justly performed impartially and justly performed all the duties of all the duties of Sergeant of the Monro Township Police Department Sergeant toship Department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me [Applause] God ladies and gentlemen in accordance with the usual custom and practice of this Council uh we will adjourn for a brief recess to take pictures so please feel free we will get five minutes should be enough I would think so please go ahead and I didn't touch I don't know to order again please take your seats we need to sleep it's okay we're not switching they said just for the speed ladies and gentlemen we are resuming the agenda meeting of the Monroe Township council at 7:30 is it thank you all for remaining and we will move on we are at item three on the agenda meeting agenda will the clerk please read the ordinances for introduction please 01224 d001 supervisory personnel 2024 salary and wage ordinance for Monro Township middlex County 01202 24-2 Bond ordinance of the Monroe town of the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey appropriating 2,500,000 expected to be received as a grant from the state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs supplement the 2 million appropriated by Bond ordinance o-6 d223 022 finally adopted August 7th 2023 to provide for improvements to the police building and the expansion of the parking lot thank you item four is resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda at the January 3rd 2020 for a regular meeting that is r1224 d003 through r1224 d045 with all of our Council colleagues please review if there are any items you wish remove from this consent present agenda please so State now thank you R1 2024 D21 R1 d224 d29 R1 d202 24-31 R1 2024 d33 R1 2024 d04 Zer that's it yes thank you anyone else having any no no other Council people need resolutions removed okay item five is public comments these are limited to our agenda items only five minutes per speaker may I have a motion to open the public comment section please motion second please second thank you all in favor I oppos okay those anyone wishing to address the council at this time please come forward have that a microphone your name and address for our records please on only for items on the agenda please you'll be that's okay well then let's hope they will come to Second as well any anyone else wishing to comment please sir on agenda items only oh Mr gunman you're on my right and on sorry I even put it down today yeah I had your name and address for our records please Sir George G 5 Kell Court Monro uh I have a question about item uh4 uh resolution authorizing temporary budet me just continuing under last year's uh schedule or what do it three months of three months of last year so process yep there are some additional items uh where there's debt where there's debt due that's also Incorporated in it um because we can't skip debt payments so it's a quarter a third as the as the attorney said it's a quarter of our budget plus any required stat Deb payments okay um item 031 U offal services for the landfill um what I thought we were that that was operational and we were done with it so I was confused to find that there are uh additional uh there's well final design I I thought it was up and running I don't know what final design means please president I'll ask Joe strin our utility director to provide the answer probably with that microphone Joe that's right on the corner here that's okay that's an excellent question uh as you know this is uh probably the most important public health and safety uh project that this Township has uh undertaken in quite some time and there are essentially four reasons for this this work was done uh by CME without getting any payment to make sure that the work was completed uh the the first thing is is that as you know there was and as I reported on there was a long and extended period of time whereby uh the construction and permanent easement for the pump station was not uh you know granted as a result of ongoing negotiations during those ongoing negotiations even though a design of the pump station had been completed based on a previously approved site plan that we received from CMA they did a ground penetrating radar survey that highlighted a different location of the clay cutof off wall as a result of that they asked for some changes to the design to facilitate uh non-disturbance of that clay cut off wall that was done by CME and uh obviously was part of uh this change order the next thing that occurred was that uh as you know one of the most important goals that we had with this particular project was to make sure that it was done prior to uh School letting out so that the residents of Inwood Estates would not have to go through another summer with uh those horrible trucks going through the neighborhood as you also know and as I reported on several times during the course of our ongoing reports during this project there was a supply chain is with regard to the delivery of specific electronic controls to preclude a potential delay in starting this Pump Station up collectively mtud and CME designed a backup pumping system so that if the permanent uh facilities would not be delivered on time we'd still be able to put the station in operation prior to school letting out and then last but not least uh they have been critical in supplying information on ongoing litigation associated with uh the landfill on the project and that's the reason for the uh the change order is there a schedule of time to complete the work anticipated work uh related to this there's there there there is uh you know we anticipate probably within the next month or two everything to be closed out uh as you know we didn't get the actual emergency generator we were doing a temporary emergency generator uh for a period of uh eight months because again of supply chain issues uh we have the permanent generator installed but as a result of a variety of different issues that we actually had to uh advised the BPU on with psng they haven't uh finalized the hookup of the me for the gas to to complete that generator hookup so uh that now has been taken care of within the next couple of weeks that should be done we should uh complete as built drawings and those types of things final punchless items and then uh then we should be done with the project okay thank you thank you sir that's all I have anyone else wishing to address the Council on agenda items please come forward now sir and state your name and address for our records when you reach the microphone please hen 24 Federal Road yes sir uh I have a couple questions uh the resolution authorizing engineer another $45,000 oversee the construction so Mr Weinberg will answer your question I mean last month we just the issue $27,000 a mon now we going to give enough 45,000 plan just to watch what's going on with the building that me Mr Weinberg will answer that question of course okay thank you you're welcome sorry I was just waiting for you to finish I wasn't that's okay I didn't want to interrupt you CU you were still going so um so as you know this is one of the larger projects we've taken on as a Township um and you'll see this later on the agenda it's a $5.7 million expansion um of the uh of the police station much needed expansion as we've grown to 67 officers and as you may know we received a $2 and half million do state grant for that so it's approximately 42% funded by the state um as a Township we don't we don't normally do these level of projects um it's pretty pretty large project for us and so within the township we don't necessarily have the technical expertise either myself or someone else to oversee the the contract between the construction manager and the township and all the coordination that'll happen within the township and how it connects to all the different um roads utilities and other items so in order to make sure that we stay on schedule on such a big project as is done in other municipalities we've asked our Township engineer not to construction manage the project but be sort of like an owner's rept when you're dealing with so much money like this to make sure that we have the requisite expertise um sitting in on behalf of the township to make sure that we try and stay on budget and on schedule um so that's that's the reason for the uh for the appointment of uh of the township engineer to help oversee this project on behalf of the township thank you yeah but isn't that a month p no it's not so there's there's a couple separate things uh so there's there is a 27 ,000 to be the township engineer to come to meetings to prepare for meetings like this there's also excuse me General engineering when we get different engineering things that come in and then there is uh when there's specific projects sometimes there are road projects that's a separate um separate cost as well um so they're all covering different items within the township that need to get done we don't have any in-house Engineers on payroll or Healthcare or pension we do it through outside Consultants within the township this firm happens to to be located in Monroe thank you thank you're most welcome anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now seeing and hearing none I'm going to have ask for a motion to close the public comment section so move may I have a second on please all in favor I I any opposed no public hearing section session of the meeting is now closed I would like to ask a motion to adjourn the agenda meeting please thank you may I have a second on that second second all in favor I any opposed n this meeting the agenda meeting is now closed 737 7:37 the regular meeting is now being called to order by the clerk at what time 7:30 7:30 7:38 may I have a motion so move may I have a second second second roll call please councilman depiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzor yes council president Cohen yes item two is an ordinance for the first reading 01224 d001 supervisory Personnel 2024 salary and wage ordinance for Monro Township bidix County motion please motion second thank you second thank you roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes please read the second motion no second ordinance is 01224 d002 Bond ordinance of the of the township of Monroe in the county of middle sex New Jersey appropriating 2,500,000 expected to be received as a grant from the state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs to supplement the 2 million appropriated by Bond ordinance 062023500240 12 24-3 through r1224 d045 minus the following with the exceptions of r122 24- 021 029 031 033 and 040 did I get that right correct no well motion please some move second second roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes resolutions remove removed from the consent agenda for consideration motion so move second second roll call we're doing all all resolutions council president remove from the cons agenda as a group okay as a group councilman deiro abstain councilman marel yes councilwoman seag yes Council vice president vanzora council president Cohen yes Mr Weinberg yes thank you very much council president I'll be uh somewhat brief uh first a quick update on the rec center the new HVAC on the roof is installed and operational this is being done with a 50% Grant from the Board of Public Utilities um the new hbac system is more energy efficient and will save us energy costs going forward we also upgraded our HBA system at construction um and that's getting its final tune uh final tuning and the new entrance at the library which was mentioned previously was completed last month a couple items uh that are are uh good news we're taking delivery this Friday of our new class uh eight single axle dump truck with plow and salt spreader literally coming in we have plenty of equipment but literally coming in the day before the the snow um as I saw on Twitter anywhere from 0 to 100 in I'm voting for zero thank you very much um but we are DPW is prepared and they are meeting uh to get ready we only have at this point uh one truck uh one of our f450s that is currently getting its transmission repaired we actually hope to have that back by Friday as well otherwise our whole Fleet is in place and all of our salt uh Dome is completely full so we're ready I know we haven't had snow in a while so everyone in DPW and the folks that help at mtud are anxious and eager to get out there um for those of us who manag the budget where we always pray for rain because does save us a little bit little bit of money um one day when I'm not the business administrator I'll like snow again um but for now um hopefully it's it's just it's just rain um before I close I think there'll there'll be a little bit more about this uh next meeting um and uh I'll try and be brief because we're going to recognize Patty uh Patty Reid at the next meeting um who will be retiring at the end of this month as our Township uh Township Clerk I'm sure uh the mayor and and the council member will have some some brief comments although we'll get to do it all again when we give her a plaque that she's so excited about but um I won't waste too much of people's times except to say that it's you know it's certainly been an honor and privilege to work with Patty the business administrator and clerk work uh very closely together she's the consumate professional super Fair incredibly responsive to the residents um it was a great opportunity for for me to work with her um I will definitely miss her and I will certainly have more to say next month and wish you all but the best in retirement so thank you I thank you yeah don't make me thank you sir you will miss there's no doubt there's no doubt Ramo smiling at the other please thank you council president I just have a brief report uh the middle sex County project Oldbridge Englishtown Road Mount SMS Road intersection traffic signal uh that's under construction um use caution in that area uh there were some concerns raised at the meeting I was out there right after the council meeting uh looked at it I saw no traffic safety concerns out out there barricades were all in place um also uh Monroe Township police are on site uh daily uh during construction and again I was by there yesterday and today and I I see no concern um lastly the Emergency Services building on Hy Reid Road uh we've completed the drainage and the concrete work um and the project is buttoned up until the spring we'll complete the paving in the spring and that's my report Council reports that will begin in my extreme right councilman de please thank you uh last last month I brought up a um request about an intersection that's um on Federal Road berens Mill and Gravel Hill if that intersection uh can be looked at as far as at least cutting the trees back in the rways um I don't know if anything got accomplished since the last time we were here look over to your right I think Mr certainly council president uh yes I met with our uh public works department they were out there they trimmed back some of the the trees and the bushes and opened up the intersection made sure the signs were all in place and and the area was clear and that's been completed okay thank you um as the uh liaison with the economic development I have an idea and I'd like to share it with um with the mayor and the council and the residents that business owners in Monroe maybe we should recognize a business owner as we recognize volunteers at the last meeting and maybe we bring business owners that were here for so many years and we recognize them give them a plot give them appreciation give them our support as uh mayor and councel that they're in in town are farmers U pizzerias hair salons and and local businesses that were here for many years so it might be a good idea to recognize our business owners I just wanted to point that out uh I wanted also as as Alan mentioned about Patty uh there's it's so hard it's so hard to look at the clerk's office and it's the heart of our town uh that keeps everything going and keeps everything together and since I've been on a council that's who that's my go-to it's either Allen or the clerk's office and they're always there for us uh they're always there for our residents and um I just want to say thank you and we'll get into more as Allen said for next month the plaque will be here and we'll definitely appreciate we definitely appreciate everything um that you guys in your department does so thank you we had a uh water main break on uh Christmas Eve um I come up to the intersection of Mount SM in Oldbridge English town by Franklin Plaza and I see half half a mud there and I was like what are these guys doing out there and it's like it's amazing to watch inhouse staff take care of a water main break so and and Christmas Eve to boot so no matter what day it is no matter what time it is these guys answer to all the U the issues that we have as as being in-house water uh mtud and I just want to say thank you to the staff and all the guys that were out there uh making it happen um I know the uh we were told that the mayor sent a letter to BPU in reference to the uh the the power surge that jcpnl denied all the claims uh I'm on uh the receiving end of that because I I did have a a situation also but are there any updates on the response from BPU on that letter Mr yeah Madam uh President we have not received a response an official response from uh BPU uh we will continue to monitor that um we have been in touch with the residents who who have reached out to us uh to let them know what's going on and obviously any other recourse they might have in regards to um that um what jcpnl calls a uh Act of God which it wasn't okay thank you I had a um question with the 2024 budget or few comments if we could consider uh the following um still well have house at the d farm um it's been sitting there for many years it's deteriorating as the days go by um it's in need of some repairs uh Unitus Barn is another situation that we were we were asked to preserve that Barn so it's something that a lot of people in the community would like to see preserved and also uh the Meadow View Nursing Home that we just acquired if that's something that can be considered in the 2024 uh budget Capital Improvements or however however or we can get grants to put some of these uh buildings and preserve them that would be something that that maybe I think we should consider for 2024 um also I had a question in reference to the South middle the middle sex study that we had a uh million dollar that was given for a study for drainage because flooding is a big big issue in in the community can we get an an update on where where is that study or are we going to get a copy of that when it's complete yeah Alan Mr warmer yeah and I'll defer to mark but I believe it's just getting underway I think it's a multi-year study and everything about the study including the public hearings will share on the township Facebook page as well as the county will share on their page and all the results just like with the other studies will be made public on the County's web page as well Mr did you have anything to add to that nothing to add Allan summ that up okay so so if that's just going to be years down the road that might be something that we might need to put into our budget for the continuing flooding that we've been having um Federal Road board and town Route 33 Forest Park Rossmore It's seems to be the same same situations with flooding so you know I just wanted to uh point this out we did talk about a million dollars for a study but we we need to do more than a study we got to get out there as we're cleaning ditches and years ago the mosquito control did that for us and they went into the they went into the the woods and cleared out a lot of ditches and and got flood got water moving but as we build I've I've noticed that other properties are taking their water and and it's being dispersed on into the infrastructure into other communities and Property Owners ad joining that creates Wetlands or or flood situations for them so maybe we should put some money earmark some money for 2024 to continue um to do the actual work and and get it done get something done uh and with these continuous properties in areas that have have low areas I had a question with the pump station uh mounts Mill Road who's the owner of the pump station on mounts Mill with the Monro Park development Mr St do you know who that is councilman the uh developer is still the owner of that pump station okay if the developer still the owner um I believe it was built in the wrong location it was built built in a in uh in a wetland area and he was he was fined for that um from the D and if you know that's something that I mentioned in the past I don't think uh we need to take a piece of property or take over a pump station that was developed and built uh with issues and problems so are they are they ongoing problems or they been resolved these these issues being in the wrong location and Wetlands is and the fine relative to the issues between the developer and the D I can't comment on that I don't know what they where they stand but as far as the pump station we have had no no issues okay thank you thank you Joe I have a question to um I noticed the reflectives in our County Roads they've been putting the reflectives in on primeville uh Prospect planes after they did Paving uh will that be uh same on 522 and also spots with Englishtown which they just completed will we get the reflectors in the center line council president typically the county puts them in the center line of all their roads um I'm not sure if there's an area that that wasn't done but I believe they I'll take a look at it but typically they do it they put um yeah we can follow up they just paved uh I want to say a month ago maybe within the last month and a half they just paved the portion of spots with English town so I don't know how often they put out that contract for the reflectors but I'm sure it'll be coming okay thank you just wanted to follow up with uh with that because they as you said they just got paved they just want to make sure that we get the reflectives in those roads um Prospect planes Apple guard the intersection um are there any updates on like when the bid was is going to be um when it's going to be ready for bid on the improvement with that County intersection than uh council president um you know we're we're still in the land acquisition process as uh as you know and uh I believe there's still one parcel um out there that um you know that we're still working on we be assured that when that final parcel is acquired that we will get the updated information once we get all the parcels then then it'll go to the county and then they they're ready to go out to bid uh I know I think we were still in court on a condemnation on on a couple of the pieces um correct correct so it's going to be a while all right thank you and um I noticed the snowflakes on spots with English toown Road they were put up by the uh Station 51 and also DPW and they just make uh makes the street look uh really well and and it it lights up for the holidays I just wanted to thank them and just wish everybody a happy healthy 2024 thank you thank you sir Mr Mar Moving Straight Up first I'd like to uh thank uh Mrs Reed for all the help she's given me uh since May when I became a council member here she's put up with a lot of my uh learning process and I really appreciate it and uh not only is the town going to miss you but uh I'm personally going to miss you just to say that really um just briefly I'd like to just mention one uh one thing um I'm on the human uh relations uh commission which deals with diversity in the town and the various celebrations we do here in town um I don't know if everybody's aware but um Governor Murphy uh signed the proclamation making January um Muslim Heritage Month here in New Jersey um you know it's a difficult time what's going on in uh Gaza and Israel and the United States with we've talked about anti semitism but there's been a lot of uh hate crime against Muslims also um and we should be aware of that um there is approximately 300,000 Muslims living in New Jersey um and believe it or not we have the highest um concentration of Muslims in the United States right here in New Jersey um I just like to also mention that there's a lot of celebrations coming up this year for various groups um we're we're going to have the uh Holocaust Remembrance Day we're going to have uh celebration for juneth we're going to do things for the African-American Community um there's a Jewish Heritage Month there's a Hispanic Heritage Month um there's American Indian Heritage Month I just want to make sure everybody's aware of that keeps track of that here in our town and we have to concentrate on celebrating for all our diversity in this town um in my swearing in cereem our swearing in ceremony excuse me on uh January 1st when I was looking at the crowd um it was very heartwarming to see the diversity in this community and that we all do get together in this community and we all live together in this community and when we turn on the TV which I don't turn on as much as I used to because I can't take it You' think we were all different but we really are all the same and we really are all the same um on a just a quick note when I was growing up my mother used to say to me when I walked in the house with my friends here comes the United Nations that's what he referred to me and my friends we were all people from different walks of life um when we wanted an Italian meal we went over in my Italian friend's house when we went over we had people we knew when things were being made by whose mother and when we wanted to eat what food and they dreaded us coming over cuz we ateed them at a house and home but that's to me it's very important the diversity in this community and um I'm just saying the human relations uh commission is going to work hard this year to make this a more diverse and celebrated community and just wanted to mention that thank you very much welcome councilwoman seagull good evening thank you Madame President so I will be very brief um I just really want to congratulate Patty Reid my friend there um who really when I first came on as Council I called her I think the next day and said okay I don't know what to do can you tell me what I need to do I don't know how the agenda works and she took me under her wing and really taught me what I needed to know worked with me checked up on me so I thank you for that because you made me feel feel comfortable in the role that I needed to do I have a lot more to say next month so I'll save it for then you better we'll both bring tissues but um yeah I just want to say congratulations and I wish you all the best thank you Council Vice President vaner we are all being brief tonight did you notice that yeah weeks since our last meeting so not a whole lot happened in town but but you know it was nice to see uh the officers here tonight you know always have mix feelings when uh people retire you know a chap pianis 36 years that says a lot and uh you know we're happy for him that he's able to retire and move on and yet I feel very confident with Chief B's taken over and I I feel confident we're in good hands we'll continue to move forward you know we we've always said over the last few years we were the second safest town in the state now I actually saw a statistic that said we are actually the safest town in the northeastern United States however that's divided up but it was a an article I read and uh statistically speaking they do a great great job so we're we're we're really blessed to have have the officers that we do have they get the training they have and and they do a great job so that's wonderful speaking of retirement Miss Reed there's nothing I'm going to say that they have already said but you will be missed you know you have a a clerk's office and I don't even think people realized half the stuff they do um all the stuff that they they guide us along to make sure that you know the the meetings here are run properly the agendas are put forth and all that about around election time how's that huh that's that's a lot of fun right exciting so uh but but everything seems to come across and and you know when you don't hear about it and you don't hear people complaining about it you know you did a good job cuz if there was a problem you would hear about it right so congratulations and uh again I guess we'll see you next meeting and and finish off there but great job and thank you for all you did for me personally also um well it's that time of year I hope everyone had a a happy healthy New Year um you know with all the stuff going on in the world now and all these conflicts let's just hope somehow some way some PE can come and there'll be an end to all the killing and bloodshed that's going on around the world I I think that would be the best thing that could ever possibly happen and uh I think we all we all hope for that so um I wish everyone the best with that one last thing I want to mention it was great we had our resolution tonight about the $2.5 million grant for the police station that they will be giving those improvements so Chief Banos takes over he'll have a little uh couple of extra things at his disposal to help him in handling the job but thank you everyone I I wish you all the best New Year and let's all work together and uh as I said before we're going to try and do more in 24 so let's keep working thank you thank you um I just a brief comment Patty and I work very closely together as you can see she works together with all of the council members that's because they are they are assigned the task of taking care of the council and within a month of my joining the council some years ago I was told when I asked for something clerk's office does that so I learned very quickly that I should hop into the clerk's office with some great regularity and it will be an honor to honor you next month because we will certainly miss you uh not inappropriate before I give this to our dear mayor to comment that Christine will assume the responsibilities as Township Clerk following pad's retirement and we are fortunate that we have a depth in this town of people who work for us that allow us to go into the ranks of those who work here to have them assume positions of responsibility that they all handle so well we are fortunate to live here um Mr Mayor once again council president thank you for allowing me the opportunity provide a little here again it is my honor speaking of Honor I was honored to attend uh the January 1st swearing in ceremonies uh the council members U was a nice event um and I do want to certainly congratulate uh the council president and Council vice president for reassuming their positions uh council president um you have you have and will continue to provide that leadership um and it's having been council president for some time I know it's it's a difficult job at sometimes uh to manage the meeting um but I think you do a very fair um and impartial job um to all of the council members the administration but most importantly I think you provide the residents with some ease uh especially some of times it's their first meeting that they attend to uh attend and they're a little nervous and I think you provide that calming effect to make the citizen at ease so again congratulations to our Council uh leadership uh just a couple items on the agenda I do want to make a comment obviously uh when I became mayor my one of my priorities was to seek uh tax relief from um uh for the residents from the state and I think there's two items on the agenda uh tonight which I think is um an example of that obviously which has been mentioned before the expansion of the uh police station and covering over 40% uh of the capital costs I think is is uh quite impressive and also uh just pleased about the uh BPU Grant uh for the new air conditioned Chiller for the senior center now a lot of the things that um you know may not be sexy as a as a bathroom in a in a in a park it might be air chiller but those cost a lot of money and any way we can regain recoup some of the money that we send to trat and obviously through the grants is something that uh is important to us um since our last meeting which only seems like it was last week um I did have the honor of playing the Jolly red guy Santa Claus uh at Rossmore uh Nancy uh the soup lady delivered soup I dressed up as Santa and um you know I'll I'll always say that you know being Mayors is a tough job for sure um but when you have that opportunity to go and you know I guess put on a silly costume and deliver soup to those who need it um not maybe not for nutritional value or you know but just for human contact um I walked in on somebody was their 90 they were 98 years old um and they happen to be watching uh Here Comes Santa Claus on TV when I came in um and the joy of just handing over um a packet of Coco for hot chocolate and a candy cane um that's the stuff that I'll take as mayor uh when I when I need to dig down deep inside to say what it's about is about that human contact for the people that need it um so I do want to just thank Nancy and the entire soup for Rossmore team what an outstanding job that they continue to do um and it's all for love and that's pure baby that's the good stuff um I also was able to attend the grandparents day uh at the rec center I do want to thank uh the recck department for once again I said it was the hottest ticket here in Monroe Township it sells out quick uh they didn't even bother with a waiting list this year because there was just so many uh people attending and having the opportunity to uh again uh be in contact with what Monroe is uh the seniors the grandparents as well as the uh the children and a lot of the parents don't live in Monroe Township so it's an opportunity for to come and and visit their grandchildren and to hear from those residents who don't live in Monroe to say wow we we they wish they had that in Monroe um and and I know all of the electeds hear that quite often uh the accolades that we all receive that from you know from people who live in other towns to say wow I wish we had that in Monroe and I know that's something that we all take uh dearly um Allan used the word the sww about this upcoming wi uh weekend I will not use the sword I'll just call it a storm for whatever what whatever it brings us um obviously the first storm winter storm of the Year kind of sets people crazy uh especially we haven't had that inclement weather so driving sometimes we all forget a little bit how to drive in that type of weather so just remember our Public Works our mtud are out there for you doing the job please let them do their job stay home especially if it's a weekend um last weekend of NFL football football you know watch that uh you know catch up on on the crown or any of those other Netflix shows or whatever please just just take it easy um for your own safety but also just for our our our um staff out there trying to keep the roads clean um yep Patty Reid um Patty yeah so I'm I'm not going to make you cry but I I have to I have to take the badge I'm sure Patty of all of the elected you've ever dealt with that makes you cry the most okay so so I'm I'm going to give you a pass on this one okay cuz I'm going to save it all for for for when when you come back to get that plaque I know that Allan's going to you know uh make in craft for you and and so um but yeah no it's all good um hey it's last meeting babe it's all good it's all good we're trying to make it easy for you and Christine I I know uh you know the ink is still wet on on the contract there uh but uh you know we're just just pleased and again I think Mariam was was correct that that we can have somebody um of your status of your professionalism to to come to come right in is is truly a blessing for for all of us here not only the the administration the electeds but the but the citizens as well and I'll finish with a uh uh again just wishes for a happy healthy and prosperous New Year to all thank you thank you sir we are going to move one more to the public comment section please I need a motion to open public comments so move thank you I need a second on that second again thanks all in favor I any oppos no please come to the microphone state your name and address for our records there is a time limit of five minutes please so we shall begin yes welcome good evening uh dear respected Madame council president respected council members Mr Mayor uh our valuable Engineers uh good evening to you uh I'm deep voson I live at 37 prnus in the southern part of Monroe in the C run development uh not withstanding these uh uh wonderful statistics regarding our safety profile here in Monroe and and obviously is fantastic town we all need to be concerned about the uh changing geopolitical um forces geoeconomic forces that are actually changing the face of crime itself uh we in the southern part of town are maybe a little bit more insulated than other parts of town because we have been feeling the impacts of multiple break-ins recently in recent weeks and it's really pretty frightening um we feel that perhaps other neighborhoods are not being uh impacted yet to the same extent hopefully they never will be uh so in in that regard uh we in that part of the township respectfully requested a flock safety camera be installed as soon as feasible at the intersection of urch Road Mount Road and Northwind Court the thought process is that criminals race through this intersection to get to Applegarth Road down to Highway 33 and an escape onto the New Jersey turnpike at Exit 8 where they can deliver their Mischief um first of all I'd like to thank uh engineer rimx for working with the County engineer George fellet in terms of reconfiguring the intersection the very dangerous intersection at the uh Junction of Old Church Road and Applegarth turning left from uh Old Church Road going to southbound Applegarth towards 33 sometimes you feel like you're taking your life in your hands just to make that left turn it should never be that way especially in the township like Monro or anywhere else in the United States for that matter there uh the county is working actively on it I've been in touch with the County engineer uh and uh and again we thank Mr Renwick for continuing to keep up with that contact with them uh we would also respectfully request A Flock safety camera at the intersection of Federal Road and England Road to surveil those criminals who escaped to that uh to by that route to crash through the township uh number three Monroe Township sprawls out over an area of 42 square miles it's the largest Township in middlex County by geographical area we simply do not have an adequate sized police force to be able to control this the area of this entire Township not withstanding the the Fantastic presence of all the wonderful men and women that we saw this evening even though it might appear to be a large Force we need more Patrol officers there um we simply don't have an adequate sized police force to be able to patrol the area of the entire Township particularly at night time when it is most needed the police officer's job is already stressful as it is it doesn't do them any service nor the Township's residents any service uh for police manpower to be spread thin on the streets of Monroe at night we certainly know that there are cherish services and and missions for the township including uh open space acquisition historical Acquisitions Etc we do appreciate that however but before acquiring more open space we need to feel secure in the safety of our open space in our own backyards before we go on to other concerns as such uh to that end uh money that is not specifically dedicated to uh by law to be used towards open space acquisition should be strongly considered to be shifted towards hiring several more police officers also if taxes need to be modestly raised to dedicate a portion a certain partt of money towards hiring more police officers so be uh we respectfully asked that the township pass an official resolution advocating the state of New Jersey to close the Catch and Release loopholes for juveniles ages 15 16 and 17 years old and to try juveniles of Ages 15 years and old and above as adults for burglary robbery assault and manslaughter further furthermore we ask the parents and or legal guardians of these same minors also be tried in conjunction with the minors for the same crimes once parents know that they're on the hook they will start paying attention to what their kids are doing lowering the age to be tried as adults to 15 and making parents and legal Guardians accountable for these crimes will provide effective deterrence to parents and to juveniles and perhaps most importantly to The Pimps The Pimps who lured the infinite pipeline of juveniles into a life of crime and hopefully to shift their operations out of New Jersey not that I want to make New York and Pennsylvania more dangerous however because Monroe is geographically smack dab in the center of New Jersey any change in laws that exerts a beneficial and holistically uh uh beneficial effect upon the entire state New Jersey will actually have a disproportionately beneficial effect upon Monroe so we we respectfully request the council to strongly consider a resolution advocating these um points to the state of New Jersey and thank you very much for allowing me your time happy to us all Mr War I am aware of the fact that we have ordered additional flock cameras for the township to complement the existing number that we have I have also been informed of the fact that the police will not indicate where they intend to place them for reasons of safety and making sure that the those who wish to do bad Deeds don't know where they are ahead of time to avoid them but I thank we thank you for your comments sir anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward and give us again your name and address for our records good evening Council and mayor and wish you Happy New Year and congratulation pad you know for retiring you know everybody is appreciating from the audience also recognizing your effort thank you thank you and the reason I want to bring today sir your address yes 11 preservation Drive Monroe Township New Jersey thank you and the thing is one thing is just now my friend brought it up you know actually the Old Church Road and the Apple Road the near pares Junction traffic light so that already is been considered or is there any status update you know when can be expect to finish the traffic light anybody council president I I believe the previous uh resident answered that question uh uh we uh we have met with the county middlex county has been doing a study at that intersection and uh like I said the previous resident has uh been speaking directly with the county Engineers office as am I but they are working on a study for that intersection is there any way can we Post in the website you know Township website you know okay this is the status update so that you know everybody aware of that one so when it is going to be complete that project don't have they're doing a traffic study at that intersection to determine traffic counts and if a signal is warranted there's no plan there's no design going on at this point there is no plan okay okay thank you and one more thing I would like to ask because you know Indian population is becoming more and more and the cricket is more popular in our Township too there is a lot of demand already we have the two grounds Legal Professional playing leagues right yes there is one more ground in appleg Road school is there any other grounds are you planning in that Mr wber because you know locally they are very much interested everybody wants to play cricket you know this do we have yes yes so as council president as part of our long-term uh Recreation plan which came out of the master plan uh there is a there is a uh vision and plan which is part of phase two so it'll take a couple of years um to put some uh cricket Fields over over on Mount Road I think it's going to be a total of three Cricket Fields uh that would be put out there um over by Mount Road so that's been in our master plan and also South Side we don't have any Recreation and Parks is there any plan considering this year or next year in the budget so the master plan address that issue Mr warberg y so again I think I mentioned this last meeting there is there's a whole set of early plans uh to move forward on that um you saw some additional uh volleyball courts go in as near-term items um there'll also be some I believe some pickle ball and uh volleyball courts that'll be going in by the senior center there's some additional playground equipment that'll be going in um over by the uh the Garden on Applegarth on Applegarth Road um and I believe there are some uh um sort of missing one and then some additional expansion over on Mount Road as well Senior Center yep pickle ball and and volleyball by the senior center there is an Old Church Road there is a big lot you know 50 acres lot are there planning Park anything for that uh that that is still uh owned by the developer the township doesn't own that yet so I don't know what the future plan will be okay thank you you're most welcome thank you anyone else oh look at that perfect on five yes sir good evening good evening your name and address for our records please sir yes uh Father Michael soel I'm at 112 day Grove Road um and happy holidays Happy New Year here to all of our uh members of the council uh I do want to uh just extend a word of gratitude uh to Mr DPO bringing up the request at the last council meeting that he did mention about the intersection of uh Bergen Mills and Federal Road uh it was following an accident that my wife had on November 22nd the day before uh Thanksgiving uh she was involved in um a pretty serious car accident uh she could have lost her life her and my son um she was coming south on uh Gravel Hill towards Federal Road um towards the intersection um and she approached the intersection she stopped the intersection looked both ways crept forward looked both ways and then proceeded forth and there was a a van minivan traveling pretty quickly uh I do appreciate that it was indicated that the trees were trimmed back and that helps a little bit but part of the issue also on that road is that there is a hill a slight uh Hill on both directions uh over the last 6 weeks I've traveled that road dozens of times kind of replaying uh that incident in my own mind and I've uh almost myself been in an accident at that intersection uh just because of when when cars or vehicles are traveling quickly down Federal Road uh which I understand the speed limit was dropped uh from 50 to 35 but nonetheless uh for those he who has ears to hear Let Him hear uh but nonetheless people still travel fairly quickly down that road um the day of the accident the uh the neighbor at the intersection her name is blandina she came out uh ended up calling me uh on behalf of my wife and my wife said to her how did you get out here so quickly she says we know that sound uh we've heard it a number of times in the past so uh I am here requesting that the council consider a for way stop uh at that intersection um just to mitigate any other potential disasters or near fatal disasters in the future thank you thank you uh one last thing unrelated on behalf of the uh the parish I know it's been a wonderful holiday season uh for each one in their own tradition uh on behalf of the the community of St ananis Coptic Orthodox church and the numerous Orthodox Christians that we have uh here in town we are celebrating Christmas actually on January 7th so uh wishing uh a merry Christmas and happy holidays for our Council and all of our um residents here in town thank you we thank you for your comments I hope your wife is recovering well thank you and without complication sir thank you very much hello name and address for our record sir hello um happen to everyone uh my name is gan Musta uh address is 283 Morning Glory Drive Monro New Jersey uh so few things I mean um I I saw that there was some break-ins recently in the township and I got the message from my WhatsApp groups so I was thinking like May the Tom trip should have some kind of notification to the residents through the website or something we can subscribe so that these alerts are like um more given to the residents directly like like if it is happening to nearby towns something like that I don't know if that can be done but that's a suggestion if something can be done you don't subscribe to nixel alerts not yet nixel alerts regularly about events I'm I'm confused to what you what you wanted information about so we have ni we can I can subscribe that that'll give me alerts for the township any events happening in the township or nearby also certain toship our Township all right okay okay okay I'll look into that thank you the other was like I think um this was discussed a lot of time doing the master plan also um I think I have bring this up U to the Cil Vice print earlier when I met him um during the green Fair um that on the south side right I mean if I have to go to uh do a one mile like a bike Loop or a walk Loop right I had to go to East Winder there's nothing something on the on the southern side uh it will be helpful to have something like that which is very simple uh right now we have to go to Township like we have to go to Middle uh what you say we have to go to the Thompson park for any Recreation I mean there's no we have discussed that in yesterday yeah so I'm just want I'm just bringing up like having something which is where one mile Loop or bike or a walk Loop should be good okay uh on the Old Church Road again actually I want to bring up one more thing was my son also when I was driving I think a few weeks ago um it that that turn rate I know the engineers working on some um the plan the count is working on that but at that moment right we don't have a dedicated what you say a turn like a right turn because the when people take uh from the ult trasure to the Apple they can go left or right there are two sides to it so if you have something kind of a dedicated say um right turn or something like that then it's easier for people to know okay they're going this way because when I took the turn also people are coming from that side inside to Old Church Road and they don't know they coming on the right side or the left side so it's just a suggestion if you can add that sure council president again U Middle sex county is the lead on that uh Applegarth Road is their jurisdiction however they're looking at it they're doing a study it is a complicated intersection um you do have a stream that that cuts through that intersection as well so there's some uh environmental restrictions but the county is looking at that all right okay I bring that because my son also had that he didn't have any accent but it was something I want to bring it up and uh I want to thank you for the pickle ball code which things are coming up on the halfer uh this is good um would love to have see something which is more indoor because people want to also play during indoors I usually use the the Thompson Park one but it's like at least a 20 minute drive from my place so that will be good all right thank you so much thank you sir folks see made it through the home meeting you're up here now your name and address for our records please hello everyone my name is Mark soral at 10 Emily Court this is my wife Teresa scander um we've lived in Monroe Township since 2021 uh I grew up in East Brunswick she grew up in Monroe we we both went to TCNJ um there we're we're here to discuss a conservation easement uh shown on our home survey plan uh over the past four months we've gathered information from the uh shat Tre commission the township engineer Mark Ritz uh Isa certified arborists and um we want to present this information to the council I hope this is the right venue for that I was that's what I was told um our goal is to ask the council to release us from the restrictions of the conservation easement and we're going to do that by showing that the original purpose is not being fulfilled um share some homeowner concerns and uh propose a solution uh that benefits both the township uh our neighbors and us the homeowners uh to give some background there's a 25t wide uh conservation easement along the back of the property it's approximately 240 ft long uh consists of many old Pitch Pine trees no surprise there um Shrubbery years of Fallen pine needles branches pine cones um also in the backyard are about 60 to 70 Pitch Pine trees located outside the easement um this eement starts from the East uh between Samantha and Emily Court this is the dynasty States area if you're familiar uh it wraps behind our neighbor's house 11 Emily court and it continues into our property but it ends at our property it doesn't go beyond that um behind this easement there's uh houses of course properties with the backyards nicely landscaped no trees um these trees in our backyard they're spaced very widely apart um they're very long they provide little to no privacy uh between the properties uh the majority of the branches are up top so you can kind of just see right through you can hear cars driving headlights come through um in terms of homeowner concerns uh the trees are old they're unmanaged uh they pose a risk um they exhibit signs of insect and disease uh there's sap you can see the sap it attracts insects it attracts beetles and weevils that can damage the trees poison ivy is growing along the ground um the trees present uh challenges for maintenance of our lawn uh we've been trying to get this lawn going it's expensive it's timec consuming the needles are acidic it's it's just a battle a constant battle um so we put in a tree removal permit with the township uh in August and um uh to remove all the trees uh we included a letter with that um after submitting the permit the township tree assessor of course came visited the property of course he said can't touch anything in the easement you know we kind of knew that but of course he said that uh he recommended that I discussed the easement with Township engineer Mark R simowitz who was very kind to share some information about that easement um obviously it was a new subdivision so as part of that construction process of the the Builder was to notify the residents they were to express their concerns to the planning board among those concerns was a request for a privacy barrier as a result the the easement was a requirement of the township planning board um to conclude our goals to ask the council to release us from the restrictions of the conservation easement um try to give you a little bit about its original purpose try to give you a little bit about some of our concerns proposed a solution which is to replant if we're allowed to remove these trees to replant fully according to the township tree assessor his guidelines we we've already gone through that for the trees outside of the eement we know that process we understand what it takes um it allows us to beautify our backyard it allows us to plant new healthy trees to actually provide privacy in a sound barrier um and it'll allow us to maintenance those trees in the future um just want to assure the Council that we're both professional and responsible Township residents we've done our due diligence we've gone around we've tried to gather as much information as possible to help this process move as quickly as possible um for your time we have any comment any familiar with the conation I believe they were believe they were council president so Emily Court was a uh subdivision that came before the planning board uh 11 12 Lots in that neighborhood um basically a fill-in lot in the middle of Dynasty States and Monroe Pines um came through the board went through the process and uh you know during the approval process a conation eement was uh proposed by the developer and uh and put in place as part of the uh the filing of the map um it it provides a buffer to the neighbors behind them um that that's part the reason that it was in it was put in by the planning board and um and again that's what the planning board approved and it's on the file map uh if I can just add there there are some um I know you mentioned that there's ground cover and and Poison Ivy and stuff like that you are allowed to do some of the ground clearing uh to clear that out if there's a uh uh a a tree that is in danger of falling if it's dead or disease and I I had mentioned all these items to you as well um you know there there is you could seek that permit uh through our arborist who will come out and inspect it and certainly okay a tree that is in danger of falling within that easement um but but it's it's very limited to to uh you know if a tree is in danger or falling or or disease what you were asking is not possible to do honestly I it it was put in by the planning board and it's on a file map so and and it's in our ordinance as to what's permitted in the conservation ently so our understanding is that an eement should have a purpose and the purpose from what we understand was to provide a privacy and sound barrier that we don't feel like it's providing right now we have I have pictures of our property we can see the house directly like all the houses behind us no actually the purpose of the E is to prevent any disturbance of of the area that's the purpose these so that's serving that purpose that's like uh that's like the true definition of conservation it is it's not just it is actually the definition of conservation e so that's that's the reason we we have them all over town uh don't I mean once again they're planning board approvals um and they're not the purpose of them is to prevent the disturbance of that part of part of the land I realized said you know everybody's view as to what's attractive and what's not attractive different um but that's the purpose of it is to prevent the disturbance of that literally way we understood was that what you're defining was is like a certain area of land that undisturbed but because of the construction that was being put in this was part of that that's how no no it was put in by the planning board as part of you know marketing yeah but it was put in once again it's an infield development it was put into bar from property it was to prevent you from disturbing the land between you and theor property own and Mr chair and and Madame council president I'm sorry um as this Council knows we we have some some pretty strict ordinances in place for buffers um around any new development uh whether it be a front yard a backyard um and and our planning board work works hard to uh preserve uh as many trees as they could and provide buffers for joining residents and and our ordinances is is pretty strict with the buffer requirements we we are a uh a tree Community um so we do work hard to provide those buffers and maintain them we went through the process did everything Township you know serious about that we're proposing to keep that buffer and make it more you know make it buffer even better than than it is right now we cannot Grant you the relief you require you're requesting it is requirements of the planning board when it was built I'm repeating what we said the the area within which you can maneuver as Mr rimo had says there was something working with the arborist that we may in fact be able to manage if I heard if there's a a dead or or a tree in danger of falling certainly that can be taken then that would be granted but we can't give you what it is you is this the right venue to request to be able to PL in the even no that would be they have to go through the arborus department all through the arborus it's not the council who makes those decision thank but we thank you for coming this evening sir call any questions name address for our records please Dr prash pup 33 D drive uh Patty re we are going to miss you you have been so nice whenever we have question we call you and she's very prompt thank you thank you okay and also congratulations to all the directors which have been appointed today by the council for the different activities and we look forward for the safety very environmentally green beautiful town with a good roads and uh you'll do a good job and continue to do that um three of the things is I also every day go on Prospect plan Road cross the Apple guard that intersection I know is troublesome and uh already the trans Transportation they have given the what you all have to do any progress on that when we are going to complete that project proect plan and Happ B council president I believe we spoke of that earlier uh Prospect Plains and Applegarth we're still in the condemnation process okay so uh and it's in the court and and there's one entity one is in the court well we're doing condemnation for AC land acquisitions okay so so I don't have any time the process is there yeah until we acquire all the parcels um then then we'll have a better idea one thank you thank you very much um another one thing is I stay you know every day getting out of my community I had to go on Deer Path and Halfacre Road and there is a stop sign stop sign is here and there's a big tree here so we have to cross the stops sign come halfway on the Halfacre Road to turn left or right so it is a safety concern so please um look into it is a deer part and half acre stop sign turning right or left the tree is blocking the entire view so we have to come in the road so please uh take a look at that take that that's present yeah another one thing now is this is crime going on everyone offers every day the car is stolen in different part of the town New Jersey and all other Township when there is a car stolen or the bulgary happens they announc to the you know the police department announces our Police Department don't announce so I called them in month of November last month and uh they say that the officers were very nice it went to detective division they were very nice this is I had to get back to you after two hours is we have to look at what our Administration laws are our Administration whatever terminologies police Administration Chief and mayor and all sit on that our our law says whatever our thing says is unless the life of a person or individual is in danger we are not going to announce it so other towns are announcing when the C have offens when bulgary happens our Township until the I said car is stolen is gone now nothing no life is in threat so we don't announce bulgar happened okay gold is stolen nothing happened material lost so are we going to wait until some crime happen because these guys are coming in the house when we are sleeping so are we waiting something to happen then we will start announcing I think we should not we should take be a proactive my request is whenever there is a bulgary whenever is a carft immediately announce an Exel or anything like other towns are doing it alerts us as a community also so that we will work with Police Department police department always works with us we'll be alert so that we'll make sure our town is not only the police we the Civil are also working to make sure that these criminals don't come in our clown so that's a request I would think we have chosen not to have a police blot it's not the policy at all council president i' I've answered this before and I don't know if anyone else wants to add so obviously we do rely on our Police Department for the most effective way to communicate to Residents um there are very few if any police departments that report each and every crime that happens in each and every location certainly in a in a town of this size um we do have on our web page under the information section the statistics by month of every crime that's happening and our Police Department uses the nixel when they do believe that someone is in when someone is in imminent Jeopardy and and I think when our Nixels go out people pay attention um there are certainly some communities that nixel four 10 times a day um and I think people may or may not uh pay attention um but all of the information is out there we uh we are un we are like other towns in which there are motor vehicle uh thefts I think our thefts from last year were at 21 which is certainly down um obviously uh a town of our size looking at the 15,6 77 cars that were stolen last year we should have about 86 so we're at about 25% of what would be the average uh for the town all of this comes from our computer computer aided dispatch system which is the 911 system which then tracks to the website so we have relied on our chief and our Command Staff to make the decision of when things are noted when there is a surge in an area of of crime and you've seen this before then the chief or the Command Staff will put information out um but if there is a a random issue that is not connected to anything else they seem to use their professional judgment on the best way to communicate uh with residents um and obviously our numbers are low but obviously any crime is certainly not a good thing um and certainly to those who have been victims of it it can be very difficult um but that's sort of uh that's sort of our our philosophy I think we have a very professional Department um and we let them make the decision on the right way to communicate with residents uh within the town okay and mayor May Madam Madam president and again relying heavily on our Command Staff especially our chief um the effort that they have put out the last two to three years now in um reach Outreach to the community commun in different parts of the community Monro is very large and I listen you never want it to happen to anyone in in in in your town okay I mean and I'll never make an excuse for you know or have that experience obviously you know not going would until it happens to you um however the the police want everyone in Monro to be you know V you know Vigilant it's not just a particular part of the community it's the entire town itself so we do try to cover you know North Central and South in Outreach and obviously when there is there is some sort of concentration our our police will go out to the neighborhood as well uh to reinforce what they have been reinforcing these last couple years now is um you know if you have an alarm use an alarm do not leave your keys or fobs in the car um and and other other uh tidbits of information that that will help and again our commitment our commitment with the flock cameras as well to uh I'll be writing a letter what communication I had with the police department what they said I'll give the examples of other Township so look at it is a communication I'm talking I'm proud of our Township what they are doing on just communication I'll write a letter and talk about it give examples so that way to be clarified thank you very much thank you anyone else wishing to address the council oh so is cute we may not is your name and address for our record please sir we're coming up together only because it's um please have a seat have a seat it's all related and and your name and address for our records please Al Johnson 35 Federal Hans swen 44 Federal BR he had his first turn at the Apple we onlye one sir and Michael Smith okay and your concern uh yes the concern is the um on 35 Federal the flooding it appears that um there's been some excavat in a construction being done to my neighbor on one side 21 Federal and it's causing excessive flooding on the properties um because of that we're concerned about the permits and everything that going on with that see if they were actually um granted in place uh we were kind of like concerned that whatever is being done is caus it's the major issue what I would say just let me just put the mic in front we we really do need the mic they won't hear you on that side there you gok you what I would say is just a general observation I've been you know we've owned our property since 2001 um and Through the Years um we've never seen it like it is between our two properties and and around us where I get literally three and four acres that just flood out right uh it's really happened in I'd say probably the last year more so than ever before um and the township was great about on I think probably about three weeks ago we contacted um the townships to come and take a look right the pipes through the flooding they actually did replace some of the piping they've been out this past week right tring out the front at physical um Federal Road like around from Monroe Boulevard down right but there's a a lot more that has to have been going on and it's our understanding right again I don't walk the gentleman's property but you can look and see the Excavating equipment you can see the stuff there and it's just something's changed where the amount of water flowing down is just staggering and you know we've all collectively worked with each other right clearing out there you know canals making sure that things are clear where we can but I think it's just a cumulative flow of water that's just been beyond the nor and we're just kind of looking for help and honestly I've heard people say it before the township um Department of Public Works every single person extremely professional extremely helpful ex you know just and the way they work great but that's one part of the solution which is has been really good but the it doesn't actually remediate the issue which is where is all this excess water flowing in from whether it's in the back area I forget what they they call that side New Beginnings New Beginnings or at the properties where maybe people are alter you know changing the flow of the water or building up burs so that the water doesn't flow out but something's something's going odd Madam president yes please uh I've been there 44 years M on Federal Road we always had water issues won't deny that but lately it's been crazy I contribute to a couple factors they're in the section 522 and L and Lada Avenue Tracy station I'm sorry Tracy station that was widened that was widened and all all that water comes down Tracy station okay goes up sou abue a little bit and then makes a right behind Jem goes underneath the railro track there's a 4ft pipe under there okay so a lot of water from the road goes that way then we have water coming from the other side of the country view Country View the water's coming down Country View through the county property goes underneath the railroad track right and all comes find in one area behind was that 21 21 we have there's just so much water coming down now between New Beginnings the top of the hill between Country View uh the railroad the pipes aren't big enough the pipes aren't big enough when we first moved there in the early 80s we had the mosquito commission there's a a a ditch along Monroe Boulevard they cleaned that nobody cleans it anymore nothing's done so I cleaned the ditch but was biggest mistake I ever made because then all the water stayed there and I got all the water D do I have a commentary council president yes please sure um I know our Public Works was out there last month we actually replaced the pipe across uh Mr Smith's driveway I believe um you know so they they've really went above and beyond out there they've cleaned the ditches out um um most of the ditches along Federal Road on that that side of the road uh Public Works has cleaned out I've driven through there a couple times checked them out um they're not they're not full at this point uh as far as the water there as as Hans Mr Hans indicated there's there's a 4ot pipe under the the railroad tracks I mean that's the volume water that was designed to come under that tracks now whether that has increased or decreased previously um I I I don't know but uh but certainly it's a 4 foot pipe that's a lot of water I think the ditch cleaning has done a lot um out there to help the problem um there is uh flood Plaines Wetlands throughout that whole area um I know I'm familiar with Mr Smith's property and and certainly there's there there's a lot of flood planes and wetlands on the property to get to the house in the back um it's just a low-lying area um it's it's in our rural residential Farmland preservation zone out there um larger Lots uh um you know a lot of streams in the area uh at one time we looked at man alipin uh for the community that that was mentioned um and because it is on the border of man alipin to see what was coming out there um in the past we didn't see anything um that was that that would have caused a drastic increase frankly I haven't looked in man alapin lately I I I will take a look over there to see if they developed something new or or added to it um I know the D was involved with I believe 21 Federal Road at one point um and I know our zoning officer has has been involved with that property as well and uh and looking into it I don't have a status of it but but certainly I'll I'll look further into that okay is is there a way we can find out like is there actually something that's been done there and are they actually remediated because that's the piece where you know you don't want to walk down you don't want to be bugging somebody like I we're just really looking because as I said it's I want to say within the last year seven months the last seven months right but when I look at my driveway and literally have the creek and River just flowing over it and Al's property is completely underwater which has never been the case ever it so it just feels like something's drastically changed recently M Madam president yes excuse me he drained a swamp that's what he did seriously you this is area explore yes yeah um well again as I I mentioned our zoning officer has been involved with it and and U the DP was involved at some point I believe um so whether whether there was some violation and there's a remediation going on I'm I'm not aware exactly what's happening out there if anything I know there is a farm there is some uh there's quite a bit of Farmland out there I believe on this property as well as gasco's properties are are you know uh as right the farm act so I'm not sure what may or may not have been done on those properties he will do his will remain in communication and we will know what is see if we can Lear What's happen fair enough that's fair enough I like that council president I would just add that the contact would be our zoning officer zoning they should be in contact with the zoning officer tell them about this last issue they were using be Chris bans Chris be does zoning I'm sorry could you say his last name BS chrisopher zoning officer would have the information you want about that okay because that that's where when I did the opra it was just asking like what's being done so kind of get a sense of timing call Mr bevans that will help none of that is a secret okay he will resolve the problem it may be getting late but I'm not that TI thank you let's see what he can learn and what they can do okay thank you very much you're welcome anyone else wishing to address the council this evening please come forward your name and address for our records please good evening Chrissy scurby 21 pness drive just want to say Happy New Year to the council and congratulations everybody who was sworn in this evening um congratulations to all of our police officers that were honored this evening as well I just wanted to comment on um some things that my neighbors had brought up with the recent break-ins um it it's very upsetting for our community um on pness Drive Belmont skeba North Wind um you know we we want to believe we're the safest town in the country uh but right now it doesn't feel like that for us in our neighborhoods um going to sleep at night we have started um a neighborhood watch we have several of us that get up in the middle of the night and stare out the windows um because we have had multiple attempted break-ins on pness break-ins Christmas Eve morning on Belmont and it just seems that these criminals are being um they don't really care they know they're getting away with it I know Governor Murphy Murphy recently signed um some new legislation into law I believe last week um dealing with some of this but my question is do we know how that legislation will affect us here in Monroe Township so I know when um the officers apprehended somebody who broke into one of the homes they were 13 years old and we were told that they were let back out you know they were they were returned to the parents and there was nothing that could be done because they were juveniles and that they had a wrap sheet probably 50 pages long um that this is just a recurrence that they keep going out because they know that they can't be charged as an adult so do we know how that legislation um is going to affect juveniles in our Township that are cought because they're not from obviously from our town um they're being used um by crime Rings uh up out of North Jersey and they're hiring the juveniles to come and break into the houses and steal the cars because they're not being tried as adults um so that that I wanted to know if we know how our um how how any of that we don't currently own that information I am sure it is available yeah I um there I could really briefly there was a package of bills um I want to say about three or four months ago I can certainly forward that information a series of bills to literally try and deal with the issue of uh balance ing underage individuals uh doing these crimes and getting off uh with limited consequences and so they were trying to enhance some of those bills um and uh I can get you that information as well I think it's I think the council and mayor have talking about how important that is as well yeah for the whole state no because we could certainly use that information and then we will all know more absolutely and and then just as some of the other um residents have mentioned if we if we could look at possibly sending out more nixel because I know when and I reached out to some friends of mine um two streets over they had no idea what was going on so we've all kind of banded together and created our own um group that we're communicating as resident you know as a community but the Greater Community doesn't know and when you don't know you let your guard down and you're not being vigilant I mean now all of us in our in our neighborhood we go in the garage we close our doors the police officers told us they look for the cars that they want at the gas station at the shopping mall they follow you home home they're casing your neighborhood it it's very upsetting and if the Greater Community doesn't know that they're not they're not being vigilant I I would I am sorry for what the neighborhood has been experiencing but as a resident I am very well aware the fact with the last minimum of 6 months maybe a little more our police force has been telling us to lock our cars not leave our fobs in our cars to pull our cars in the garage I remember the mayor delivering a a statement about that in one of the Monroe News so I certainly I think that much of Monroe should be aware because they have it has been out there I'm so sure we can always do more to get out more information but I know that the police force has been doing that because I know they've and they've been going out speaking on in schools and communities about safety measures to do that and as I said one knows we can always do more no absolutely and and I think the of us locking our doors now they're coming into our homes and and that's not what people know they don't you know they the the detective came to our neighborhood he sat down with us he was wonderful and he shared so much information with us that we did not realize that we could be doing so I'm just saying that should be shared I think with the Greater Community cor and I think our police department has been doing that and we'll be pleased to do more great keep our residents safe anyone else wishing to speak with us this evening please good evening everyone and happy New Year um a few meetings oh best got follow the rule yeah name besto 404 Spotswood grael Hill Road in Monroe Township um a few meetings ago a concerned resident came up to the microphone and inquired about a plan for keeping migrants out of Monro Township I don't know if it was laughed at or just put aside but what came out was they're not you do not have a plan as of that time you did not have a plan for anything and you don't think it was going to happen so you're not going to eat even make a plan well unbeknown to maybe some of you Edison got their first boat bus load of migrants and the mayor that's probably not true oh it was on went to the train station and the migrants went to New York City right right so they didn't go to Edison they and they went to New York City and then the mayor stepped up let me finish please the mayor stepped up and said he is not allowing these buses to drop the PE the migrants off any longer they cannot drop off migrants in the Edison Train Station his statement he didn't say that that's that's not what he said they I have it on video if you want to listen to it right now I'm telling you that the migrants the migrants will put on trains and they York City and the Edison mayor said he will not allow the immigrants into his Township any longer none that he will personally see to it that these buses will not be letting out the people at his bus stations or train stations I just want to know if Monroe Council was aware of this that it is yes we are all aware we heard the news we read the newspap and what is our plan do we have a plan are you going to make a plan or are you going to laugh at this and say it's not first of all we never laughed I really rarely take offense we didn't laugh at what was said we listened to the speakers who spoke about it and answered to the best of our knowledge as to what we thought from I'll just answer from the migrant point of view d as you know over the past uh several months we received countless number of calls from residents who were told by a group of people I don't know if it was a campaign that the migrants were already here within the township and living at the boy home so we spent an incredible amount of time explaining to residents who called to the community at the meeting when we met with the boy home that there were at this point no migrants within the town although that was very difficult and and for a lot of residents frustrating for them to receive that information I don't know where they received it but it was constant that the migrants were here they're already here they're up Applegarth Road they're being dropped off at Route 33 they're living at the boy's home and none of that was true I think what you see here today is obviously we all know why the migrants were droing off at train stations the mayor of New York is trying to control how the buses come in obviously um it's a national issue they're sending them to big cities where there are services and maybe potential opportunities whether that be Chicago or New York and they were trying to regulate the buses to come in so a total of eight buses were dropped off at train stations with migrants coming in um I think what we did mention at the last meeting or at the meeting several months ago is that there are 565 municipalities and that this is more of a federal if not State issue and that you know there's going to be no plan just for heleta Jamesburg Englishtown Monroe or Spotswood that we're going to have to look at this regionally I I don't think we're in the same position because we don't have a train station or a way for people to go in and at this point I don't I can never predict the future but the migrants aren't here at this point at the boy's home or around Route 33 um so we're going to have to rely to a certain extent on our state and federal leaders to handle this situ um and so that's that's exactly where we're at like every other town of the 565 towns that are uh you know watching this issue throughout the entire nation I agree with that all of that but I from my point of view I think we should have a plan because you can't wait for something to happen because that's what this town is good for wait for a death to happen at an intersection and then the light will go in that was the past Monroe they never took upon themselves to jump ahead and plan for the future they did not do that and I'm just saying I think we should protect what we have in our town and at least come up with a plan or a situation if something should happen What do we do do you have a complete list of people that you want the police to guard that they don't come into town that they should remove from town are you being cous no because what I'm saying is that these are people who are being used as political pwns by a governor in Texas and um it's a it's a joke when they fly them to Martha's Vineyard so that he can get on television to do that and it's a it's a problem that we we're making up that there's a problem just like over the making it up it is a problem making it up I'm not making this up not even a train station in in Monro no people would drop it will happen because train stations will stop letting these migrants on the towns will stop letting so what the buses are going to do it's just you don't know you don't know the future I I would say this if I could just add one thing and I I think I appreciate your point completely I think it's the right of every citizen to come up and make recommendations of what you think the town should do what kind of money we should spend to plan or run programs for this I think we would be all open to listening to that of what the town or all 565 that's all I'm asking is no I'm saying do you have any ideas of you have any he's asked your question I it's something that would have to be thought out but no I don't right now don't have any ideas the only thing is I am afraid for my home I am afraid for my children and everybody else who lives in the town you don't know when these buses are just going to start dropping people off in the middle of nowhere Madam president I I empathize with your uh your concerns um Mr pero and your um I just Liv living living in fear I can empathize with that to some extent um however the politicians now have won right it is a national it is it is it's not a political issue it's a humanitarian issue now and now the the politicians have won right I mean all we heard in a federal election four years ago was build the wall now is that going to extend to Monroe you know to all the you know are we now going to need passes to go from Monroe to uh Jamesburg and cranberry being very farfetched that's not what I'm talking about I'm not talking about WS farfetch is that farfetch is that we have to have a plan for something it's said that we have to have a plan and I am just saying maybe make I'm making a suggestion to come up with a plan let the township residents know that you're concerned for us every resident of this Township knows that we are concerned for them we we we execute our responsibilities as carefully as we can your suggestions are made we have existing forces in town that provide us excellent protection we have emergency services in town that provide us excellent support we have a variety of things that are here and that work whether that compiles into a written plan for an ephemeral issue that may or may not happen because as the mayor said they have all one we will just continue to be aware suggestion to hopefully get a plan on board at least just talk about it amongst yourselves because it's going to happen something is going to happen we thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address this today and at that moment may I have a motion to adjourn to close the public portion of the meeting please motion motion may I have a second on that motion second thank you all in favor M Madam yeah I'm sorry madam president once this vote's over to close the public portion I just have one comment to make sure all in favor I all in it's your turn again there was just discussion about recreation in the southern part of the town and I'm I'm sorry that all the gentlemen who who had brought up uh the the issue it just seems like the one thing that gets lost in it I've never hear anything about James Monroe Park which is on the Souther side of the town I mean it's a beautiful Park to use uh uh in in in which we're putting some you know uh future upgrade in it as well and and and this the thought of the complaint of having to drive from the southern part of town up to say the community center um you know boy I never complained when I had to take my kids and play in James Monroe Park I enjoyed I enjoyed the ride through Monroe um and and um you know it's I con car with you because I timed myself riding to the other side of town so far but again I'm just trying to stick up I spent many years in James Monroe Park and I just think it's overlooked that's all thank you we will try to stop that we now we have closed the public portion of the meeting and the other coun I would like to request a motion to adjourn this meeting