good evening ladies and gentlemen the agenda meeting and and regular meeting of the Monroe Township Council of May 6 2024 is called to order would we all please rise to honor our flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for all you may be seated Township Clerk please read the Sunshine Law into the record roll call oh sorry I that's roll call councilman Charles deiro here councilman Michael marel here councilwoman Rupa P seagull here Council vice president Terence vanzora here council president Miriam Cohen here would you please read the sh 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 29th 20123 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 item five on our agenda is proclamations and presentations uh proclamations include Monroe Township Day of Prayer May 2nd 2024 appr proxia Awareness Day May 14th Om parik Day May 19th Holocaust days of Rememberance April 28th through May 6th Municipal Clerk's week to our right they got donuts as a present earlier today uh May 5th through May 11th National Police Week as our officer is in the back of the room and peace offices Memorial Day May 15 through the 21st National Public Works week May 19th through the 25th EMS week May 19th through the 25th May is Military Appreciation Day month so to all our veterans who are with us we we do have appreciation for the service you gave to our country May is Jewish American Heritage and appreciation month May is building safety month and while not on this list to my fellow nursing colleagues who may be in the audience this is Nurses Week thank you so much we will move to the presentations tonight the human relations commission annual C annual ceremony which honors and and has Awards presented to those students who exemplify the six pillars of character caring responsibility respect fairness citizenship and trustworthiness I would like to ask our mayor the honorable Steven Delina to come forward please and I would like at this moment to introduce as well harit verie who is the chairwoman of the human relations commission thank you madam council president this is a time we come together as a community to highlight our shining stars I can speak for all of the members of the council and the administration on this is an event that we so very very much look forward to every year especially now in a time of such tumult that we come together as a community to celebrate again those good citizens obviously the recipients here the parents and the caregivers that are here as a father of two now grown adult men as a parent as a caregiver you want your young ones to learn how to be good citizens in the world that we all need to share and I just want to congratulate you all and thank you all so very very much and you're going to see me taking pictures with all of the the award winners the younger ones I got to bend down a lot so I worked out I took a lot of Advil beforehand but it's such an honor and privilege to be here with you and celebrate those good citizens obviously I want to thank the commission and I'm going to turn it over to haret Singh to continue with this the accolades that you all going to receive tonight thank you [Applause] thank you mayor Steven Delina good evening everyone I'm harjit wordy chairperson for mro Township human relations commission this is actually my favorite event of the year when we recognize one student from every school and grade in mandro Township for demonstrating good character the school selects one student from each grade who exemplifies six pillar of character trust trustworthiness respect respect responsibility fairness caring and citizenship before I start announcing the name I would like to recognize Eileen Bas who is the secretary for human relations commission and work with school and teachers to get these recommendations for the good character award she's actually in Florida attending her daughter's graduation today so could not make it today and I would like to thank all members of human relation commission who volunteered their time and work to make mro a more inclusive Township where diversity and inclusion is valued and where everyone should feel respected and get feeling of belongingness I would request all HRC members to stand if they are present in the audience now as I speak the name of the awarde they should come in the front take take their certificate and cookies from uh mayor Delina and po for the picture with him and then go back and have a seat in the end we'll get a group picture with all the aies together with with HRC members and with uh May Delina so with that I'll start the award ceremony our first awarde is from Applegarth abinav Beal [Applause] yeah Ana Patel [Applause] next we have bleay Brook School Charlotte [Applause] U Conor d adario [Applause] so cuteist if you ever want barue food down 33 it for Jose Gman ginz [Applause] got one more Anisha shende [Applause] so cute you know we can next we have Brookside School Nora vu [Applause] Lila [Applause] sha she's congresswoman Rupa Seal's niece vihan dhavaleshwar [Applause] next we have mil Lake School adya chhatria look at look at this she may come no closer think you need Dad in the picture so cute zoy day [Applause] woo naida Sha [Applause] Joy masud [Applause] conratulations Nidan [Applause] fness that little jacket want a little kid again next from Oak Tre School satwik ad [Applause] cven Patel [Applause] a [Music] right we all have days my [Laughter] friend next we havea Sha [Applause] Kai Sterling [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] what you say ipsa moar [Applause] pra [Applause] parik mom's in the middle from Woodland School we have Amelia [Applause] wood k sh [Applause] Aria mro Township Middle School the first awarde is Lucas Waka [Applause] can't [Laughter] wait and dad there too May has a lot ofas right and you don't know you right down the middle Lily Diz [Applause] Ava Cedric [Applause] conratulations here it goes again she's not making it back in this room from Monroe Township High School Sophia veroes [Applause] Emily [Applause] kujin Madison Roberts [Applause] and and finally Justin Graham so heartiest congratulations to all the winners and congratulations to parents and grandparents thank you yes um we think we would like to take a break for pictures please I would like us to we're going to hold this to five minutes yep so we're going to have all the kids come up right and all the AG folks from the commission and the council and the mayor we're going to take one giant picture then we'll take a break I think most of you will probably go home but you're always welcome to stay so if you go home can I go with you meeting is reconvened and called to order the next item smaller number of people the next item on our agenda is the ordinance is the second reading with the would the clerk please read the ordinance ordinance 04 20247 Bond ordinance providing for Signal improvements at Oldbridge Englishtown Road and mounts Mills Road in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey appropriating 2,300,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 2,1 190,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof ordinance 04 20248 ordinance amending chapter 97 of the code of the township of Monroe entitled tree preservation please item seven the ordinance is for introduction at the May 6th meeting please ordinance 05 2024 009 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank ordinance 05 2024 010 ordinance amending the code of the township of Monroe section 108-29 entitled storm Warner management item eight is the resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda at the May 6 regular meeting R5 2024 D1 128 through R5 2024 d150 members of the council who have review the resolutions so there any what you wish remove from the consent agenda at this time yes council president I have a few yes sir R5 224-1305 2024 d134 that's it thank you anyone else have anything they wish remove from the consent agenda we move to the public comment section of our agenda remember it is limited to agenda items only with five minutes per speaker may I have a motion to open the public comment section so moved thank you may I have a second second thank you all in favor I any opposed those wishing to address the council please come forward state your name and address for our records George gunkelman 5 Kelly Court Monroe yes sir uh the the first ordinance 007 on on page two um is is this just the town's portion and uh what's the overall of of that and it says signal improvements there was no previous signal so this a signal Mr warberg okay it's a yeah big Improvement because there's a sign this is our our half of it so the way the agreement reads is we share uh 50% of the design um the uh the county pays 100% of the construction management so that's not included in ours um in the construction cost we split at 50/50 and then if there's any uh traffic control we handle that on our end so our budget came out to about 2.3 um for the you know for our our side of the project and there was also some additional earlier Pro uh property Acquisitions as well so this is for um the mounts Mills Oldbridge English toown traffic light the county is the lead on the project what what is the typical life expectancy of signalization f Mr asot as you Ponder this well when you say the life expectancy I mean it has to do with traffic in the area so so if if traffic significantly changed out there they'd have to make adjustments to the signal so so it's you know so so to put a life expectancy on it I I wouldn't be able to do that okay again it's dependent on the traffic in the area so right now this is anticipated for at least 20 years out to handle the traffic but if there's substantial changes out there there may be adjustments to the signal as as you know that we've done over the years to other traffic signals now this this number that we that's up here does it represent all the road work and drainage work as well council president so this represents the the full construction of the intersection it includes um a a a tremendous amount of underground piping to handle the storage for the uh storm water runoff uh it handles uh it also includes the widening of the roads out there the full construction project not just the signal so any any so the bulk of the work will remain for for for many decades but the actual traffic signal may be uh tweaked with timing and and whatnot uh you know down the road thank you um Madam chair item uh in the um consent uh group on page three um 135 and that's um 950,000 for media replacement for mtud yes does that represent what um for what period of time mrroy I turned it on Jo should be you canest it very good can everybody hear me uh the period of time will be depending upon the flow that actually goes through the media Mr gunman so uh typically the amount of time that that media will last is somewhere between seven and eight years okay don't go far um there's two other items here um uh or one other item and that's for um uh Pump Station 2 item 147 and that's 5,6 98,000 um that's for replacing pumps or uh what equipment is what are we buying for for that number it's essentially a total Rehabilitation of the existing Pump Station uh the existing Pump Station I think as you know uh was a hybrid conversion of an old wastewater treatment plant that was used to uh treat the Wastewater coming from Rossmore leer leer Village and what happened is they converted this uh wastewater treatment plant when they found out that it was way too expensive ensive to go ahead and expand the capacity uh of the wastewater treatment plant so they decided to make it a conveyance station and obviously then have an agreement with the middx County Utilities Authority to do the wastewater treatment uh what happened when they did this however was as I said sort of a hybrant because it's not actually one pump station it's two there's an influent Pump Station which has capacity limitations and also an effluent Pump Station which has capacity limitations and what happens is uh they utilize the old processed storage tanks to attenuate and flow equalize based on that lack of a mass balance between the two pump stations so in this particular uh design project we're actually totally rehabilitating the pump station into one lift station that will add uh 2.1 million gallons a day of peak capacity that will enable us to satisfy all of our uh affordable housing requirements as well as meet the uh uh the objectives of the utility element of the master plan what's the lifespan of the equipment the new equipment uh 40 years getting there that's all thank you I had am I done am I out of time oh no minute one minute left that city um 143 um that's the bonds um what what are we bonding and um what percentage of our our budget and what's the period for retirement is this our typical round or is it more or less or what's going on so it's typical and if you look at it on the section two of the bond ordinance it has the entire useful lives for each one of the various uh Bond issues and I would look at that where it's in section two of bond if you look at the bond ordinance itself it lists every Bond ordinance when what they were adopted for the bond ordinance is that what you're talking about I I'm just talking about this one item on on the consent agenda I think I think you were referring to the bond resolution or am I God do I have that wrong I am but the information you're talking about is not here on what I have oh yeah because you only have I'm just looking at section two of the resolution right has all of those provision has it in it Mr warberg do you want to comment on this as well yeah the attorney is correct but it's um 14 years for the 22 m986 on the township side and it's 25 years for resolution 144 which is the 13.9 million and that's the average of all the ordinances as as Lou said correct thank you thank you well you're welcome anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now please remember it is to discuss agenda items only your name and address for our records please Britney Pomano 66 North is Brill Road thank you um I just want to start by saying that I love m Monro and I've helped Monroe anytime they've asked I've offered to help the community guard and I've helped Monroe police department and Animal Control catch animals anytime they're Lo loose in our town they ask they ask I'm trying to make a future here for my family and my daughter on the way I feel that I'm being harassed by a council person due to a personal relationship with a neighbor who is on a personal vandetta against me from my understanding it's not even the C CC IL person's Ward I've worked with the health department I've worked with the fire marshal I've worked with the agricultural Department I've worked with zoning and I've now worked with the construction office I have a lawyer and an engineer to sort out the issues on the property all I'm asking for is the time to do so and to not have a political official using their position of power due to a personal relationship with my neighbor to harass me my uncle is also a mayor and I've never seen him or anyone under him use their political power for a personal manner I don't wish out this person because I'm trying to be the bigger person I would like to go on record and bring this to your attention in hopes that the harassment stops and the council person doesn't continue to intermingle professional and professional professional and personal relationships this is not only unprofessional it is also unethical so I stand here tonight to ask for help in this matter I thank you for your comments thank um that's really all I have okay we will take that under advisement I appreciate it anyone else wishing to address the council please with a reminder that this session is for just the items on the agenda items only Sadia wall 13 Belmont Court I'm not sure if my item is on the agenda but I had sent an email earlier regarding this um so there later on in the meeting there's a there's a point where you can speak on any item this is only for it if you have a question on something that's on our agenda okay so if you wait for the regular meeting which will immediately follow this meeting we will be pleased to hear you okay thank you you're welcome your name and address for our records please ran Fabiano 19 Patricia I just had a quick one um could you explain what uh 129 is Is this different from the flock camera program this is the county owning it looks like two assets when it comes to the cameras Mr wber please that's correct so the county actually has a different provider but it does Network up with us we have 20 flock cameras the county will be installing to additional uh fixed License Plate Reader cameras which will Connect into our police they're not flocks a different brand um but it will benefit us as well so in order for them to put their two cameras in we need to agree to their agreement in order to get those two additional cameras right so so and they're paying for them they are paying for the two yeah so what is their what is the what what's you know what's so advantageous for them why are they looking to install two of them is it for their own surveillance outside of what we're doing or so I don't I believe the county is doing this countywide just with a different vendor um but I under I asked the chief this question the two they're going to put in and they'll coordinate with Monroe Township police will also sync to our immediate dispatch and computer system as well so it's a benefit for us to get the additional two because it's real time information um to the 20 that we already have sure no that I I agree anything they're willing to give us but I just want to make sure that this our Police Department you know that they're still bu the primary on you know responding and being in control of of what comes through these cameras that that's correct and we're going to get the information in real time to be alerted just like with the 20 flocks okay thanks it's the use of arpa money right that was that's the point of the money yes please I'm sorry thank you Madame council president um unlike uh Monroe a lot of other towns of the county have not invested in the flock cameras so this is the County's way of trying to disperse uh some security throughout some of the other towns that that haven't taken advantage like we have and as a follow up to what the mayor said I was at a meeting in North Brunswick within the last month and the police officer commented that their town did not have the flock cameras and Monroe was far ahead of other communities in installing them and using them I would Echo the sentiment um my my aunt was actually aunt and uncle were just the victims in Piscataway about 3 weeks ago where they came into the house in the middle of the night to get the key fobs to a you know a luxury car um and Piscataway said they are at the height of these break-ins right so it's nice to see it seems like things have kind of settled down here now that these criminals know that we have these cameras all around so again I'll take as many as as we can get just wasn't sure what the agreement was here thank you thank you anyone else wishing to speak please come forward now good evening luciel Panos 128 Candera Plaza um ordinance 007 I understand it was said that we pay for traffic control but do we get reimbursed like I know say jcpnl is doing some work they reimburse the police department in my old town so I hope that we get reimbursed by whatever company that's 009 answer the question let me answer them ask she always has little me I just know whether you wanted an answer well because I don't want to I want to get through my questions and in my five minutes and you could take 10 minutes to answer them um 009 how much are you exceeding the municipal budget appropriation limits and what will is the established cap um 130 what are the specifics of the developers agreement just some basic spefic specifics and then there's always my thorn in the side 137 I imagine this is not an electric or hybrid vehicle and I say shame on you guys are doing it again it would be kind of simple I got a list of the fleet in this town let's just maybe you you you could recommend that the council take a look at each one of them because I'm looking at this list I see there's F250 Fords that are listed 2007 and they're listed in poor condition maybe a little site to say oh wow that Ford 250 is let's look for an electric one or a hybrid one we we need if you're going to expect people to step up you need to step up even though you even though brought it up no I know no but you didn't but you don't act on it okay let's thank you because it's not don't tell me I'm not doing something when I'm doing something okay how about voting no that would be doing something okay um 141 what department or who will be the regist or deputy repres STW um and I guess the municipal budget it's online I didn't get to look at it I just see that it's online but so we submit questions before the next council meeting so this way um you're going to vote on it at the next council meeting so the public the hearing is the next public meeting there are no hearings in between no you the Public's not invited to the department till hearings they're on they're the budget hearing is next month but uh is the public public in do you have departmental meetings and is the public invited I am before the introduction of the budget no like it's introduced tonight no you you never have Department uh hearings in the middle of the budget they would be before the budget the budget's not been okay so you didn't have them before either did you have departmental meetings with department heads before this budget that the public was allowed to was established through the administration and I and all data that was needed to be collected was collected and the budget was prepared that's ince it t my question was was the department meetings and is the P was the public invited say yes or no the answer is no thank you okay so now if you can answer the rest of my questions oh good Mr want me to start with the reimbursement under state law when a contractor does a project for a public entity the cost for Traffic Control is a cash through to the public entity when a private entity like jcpnl does a uh if they break up a road for some reason and they need traffic control then they have then they're responsible for paying that directly okay but on but on public projects under the local public contracts law those are passed through cost to us so we would pay it okay but I just like say the the traffic lights does jcpnl have anything to do with them no all right thank you you're thinking of street lights not traffic lights street lights I do traffic right well I was just thinking like but that's thank you for the clarification you're welcome 9 yeah I was just going to get to that so he's just turning to his page sure 09 um this is the 1977 Appropriations cap automatically every town gets 2 and a half% almost every town that I'm aware of asks for an additional 1% particularly a town like ours um we're still approximately $1.5 million under the cap um and it's it's certainly a prudent thing and we've we've always done the ordinance to add the extra 1% so that's 09 on 030 um so what is this established I was just it's a c bank bank we're banking the authorization we are allowed to do it for okay I I I understand thank you not correct um on 130 um the logistics Center I don't know if Joe you want to answer this question um Mt this is a uh a an agreement that we have been doing now for the last uh five or six years uh whereby we clearly outline the responsibilities of the developer and we clearly outline the responsibilities of the township especially as it relates to the fees that are going to be paid uh by the developer uh for the specific project thank you so that's available on online correct it is Dr thank you right I just didn't get the chance to read everything tonight I I was so interested in the vehicles 137 is replacing a 2005 uh vehicle with 142,000 miles on it as I mentioned in previous meetings we are looking to see where we can purchase electric or hybrid V vehicles through our Co-op system it's been difficult I was just at a procurement conference last week and many folks are having a similar challenge being able to get um electric or hybrid vehicles it's certainly on our list to see how we can successfully do that moving up on 141 uh this is just the the state certification of registar if they've passed a test I don't know Christine if you want to add anything to that uh the yeah the registrar's office is within the clerk's office we issue all the vital records within the clerk's office where it was all right um thank you all you're welcome anyone else wishing to come before the council now please do so seeing and hearing none I'll entertain a motion to close the public comment section please motion thank you second on that second all in favor I any opposed N I may I have a motion to adjourn the agenda meeting please motion thank you second on that second thank you roll call councilman's Appo yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council Vice President Van Zora yes council president Cohen yes meeting is adjourned the agenda meeting is adjourned regular meeting is now called to order may I have a motion motion thank you second second roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes may have a motion to approve the payment of claims for the run date of May 1st 2024 council president I had a question on a Bist yes sir I noticed on uh page 24 and 25 there's cell towers and the bills go back to 2021 2022 and 2023 and it's under the storm Recovery Fund what what exactly they're they're named cell tower 1 through 7 can I get a clarification on that sure um Mr Weinberg please yep those I believe are I believe I know are escrow payments uh that were submitted to us recently as part of different escrow accounts for different uh sell towers that were installed there's still money in the escrow and uh the bills were submitted against that escrow okay so that was for planning or zoning application correct okay thank you thank you clarification I may I have my motion now so moves may I have my second on that please second may I have a roll call councilman toiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries item three is the approval of minutes need a motion to approve the minutes of the following meetings as written and presented March 1st March 4th excuse me 2024 the agenda and regular combined meeting April 1st 2024 agenda and regular combined meeting motion please motion thank thank you second second thank you roll call please councilman zapiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you would the clerk please read the ordinance for second reading 04224 d007 ordinance providing for Signal improvements at Oldbridge Englishtown Road and mount Mills Road in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middle sex New Jersey appropriating 2,300,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 2,1 190,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof thank you may I have a motion to open the public hearing motion thank you may I have a second on that second anyone wishing to address the Council on this ordinance only please come forward hearing and seeing none I'll have a motion to close the public hearing motion thank you a second second thank you may I have a motion to adopt 04224 -007 so moved thank you sir may I have a second second thank you roll call councilman toiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you would you clerk please read 04224 d008 ordinance amending chapter 97 of the code of the township of Monroe entitled tree preservation these amendments are to comply with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection recommendations may I have a motion to open the public hearing so moved thank you may I have a second second yes thank you all in favor I any opposed nay anyone wishing to address the Council on this motion please come forward now seeing and hearing none I'll have a motion to close the public hearing motion thank you second please second thank you all in favor of closing the public hearing any opposed may I have a motion to adopt 04 2024 d008 please motion second second second roll call please councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you ordinance 05 2024-the moved thank you may I have a second second thank you roll call please councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you 05 2024-the of the township of Monroe section 108-72 7 entitled storm waterer management parenthetically to this it says privately owned salt storage may I have a motion please so moved thank you may I have a second second thank you roll call please councilman Ziro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you res item six is resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda R5 224-1 128 through R5 2024 -150 minus the following with the exceptions of R5 2024 131 and R5 2024 134 thank you may I have a motion to that effect please I move thank you sir second second roll call councilman toiro no councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council Vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you resolutions removed from the consent agenda for consideration motion please that's for R5 2024 131 and R5 2024 134 motion moved thank you we second on that please second thank you roll call councilman toiro abstain councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you we will move to the report section of our agenda Mr Weinberg yes uh be somewhat brief council president so I do want to make a note to thank Joe uh for the Pump Station 2 project that was announced earlier um we got five bids on that project and came in where we uh wanted to be so thank you to Joe and his team for putting that together special thank you also to Parks um this is I mentioned it last time but this is the busiest season for them and every time it rains um they have to fight to sort of keep up with everything and so they're working really hard so hats off to our parks department do want to mention uh and he'll be here next month that uh Wayne hbat um finished uh his retirement um after 22 years as our DPW director and he'll be here um at the June 5th meeting so want to thank him and then finally thank the council for letting us to go to permanent financing that was mentioned earlier we do this every few years and with our doublea plus Bond rating um it helps us achieve better results so thank you council president you're most welcome Mr res Moz thank you council president uh just update on a couple projects the Monroe Township Police Station building uh that site work is well underway the old uh cell tower has been removed uh storm sore is being installed and the uh fuel pumps were removed um py Reed Road Emergency Services building the uh drainage of concrete was completed and we anticipate Paving a little later this month and lastly the traffic signal at Applegarth and Joan Warren way uh the work has started out there today uh please be careful when you're driving through that area during construction and that's my report thank you we'll move to council reports start with councilman deir please thank I had um I also wanted to say uh Happy Happy Nurses Week as you said before mam president uh we did have plenty of nurses in here and we supported we support them every day um so we I wanted to sh put a shout out to the H to the nurses say Happy Nurses Week um also um we we forgot it's also uh Teachers Appreciation week so I wanted to say thank you to our teachers and everyone involved in our schools that help our teachers who have we just witnessed today a great group of people that uh is that's our future so I just wanted to put that out to the teachers as well and Monro Township course is doing a um performance at the senior center on May 19th uh it's called Uh live laugh and love and children uh through High School are free and um adults uh or $15 it starts at 1:30 it's on a Sunday I just wanted to uh put that out there for the public I had I had a suggestion at the rec center I spoke to Mary Lang about this if um if possible our our engineer could look at a walkway that lights up from our school to our rec center um it's something that we have at our high school going across across the high school to the middle school so uh it's something that's for safety I don't know if there's grants I I don't know uh with the budget in front of us I didn't get a chance we just got this on Friday night I didn't get a chance to look at Capital Improvements but it's something that's safety and there are a lot of children that come across uh that that between the school and the rec center um I wanted to uh talk about Lorie Street we all ended uh BFI meeting there that was was conducted by BFI we just listened to uh the residents and BFI but um I noticed on Lorie Street there's no repairs done to the curbing I know L&L Paving did some Paving but the curbs are still not completed um so I I just wanted to see if we can get that done also top Paving um at the Schoolhouse Road across from the firehouse it it looks like the the water has been fixed the leak the top Paving is is needed at the uh Schoolhouse across from Central Firehouse the um community cleanup mayor and I attended was on primeville road and it was something that we had DPW there we had our police and we had a lot of volunteers but I definitely wanted to put a shout out to stop and shop they went they went over and above um they were out there uh from the beginning all the way to the end and I'm talking managers assistant managers and they also said to um to tell the community if there's something that's one of our Girl Scouts Boy Scouts or or cheerleaders whatever there's needed from Stop and Shop that they have an open door and they're they're willing to help our community so I think by walking the streets and picking up garbage from Prospect Plains to Union Valley that's that's saying something for management to come out there on a Saturday so I just wanted to say thank you to uh everyone involved and as Allan always says if you have a group we have a grant that can give um to to a group so please look into that as well we uh some of us attended along with the mayor we attended um the community garden we received a grant from the from the D and uh it was I think a lot of DP was there green green uh Acres were there it was a it was a very beautiful day and it was a successful day uh and I wanted to thank uh Senator St for getting the Grant and also for the work that they're going to do to design this uh this inclusive uh playground that's well needed and um I just think that that's putting the community together and it's something that's well needed and and the Community garding is uh is really growing uh to which is a good thing for our community so I just wanted to thank everybody I got a question about open space if if our website can include open space example how many acres how many acres are wetlands uh how many acres are tillable land also if we generate any money um from Farmland uh open space because I do know surrounding towns they charge by the acre uh approximate average is $130 an acre so um I just like to know um tillable land how much land how much Wetlands how much how much uh Uplands do we have if that's something we could add to the website i' I'd appreciate it the um past month or so I I sent a few emails and I've been spending some time on Avenue K and through our community I've noticed a lot of electric powered scooters coming out with the weather and I brought it to the attention of our chief of police and also to our business administrator um to enforce helmets for safety it's something that we should have signage up on our parks and our properties uh just to make everyone aware that H That's the Law helmets are needed and if we can enforce it I I don't want to be calling the cops every time I see it but it's just something that our police should should enforce as they as they Patrol our communities it's just for the children's safety also um I walked Applegarth Road the County Paving that was done I noticed some of the um the valves I don't know risers if we use risers anymore manholes valves and I noticed u in the past that they've um county is good for filling in our catch basins with asphalt and debris and also filling our valves with asphalt and debris so I don't know if Joe uh had to our crew go out there to make sure that all these valves are working after the paving and if there's something that needs to be updated as a GIS if that all needs to be updated with so if we do have a problem that we're updated with with the change along with um our records so uh I just wanted to point those out thank you for your time welcome thank you Mr councilman Mark hel okay just like to point I just like to point out a few things um uh I attended the um National Prayer day at um Rossmore they have an Interfaith um committee there there so I read the proclamation there it's probably about 50 to 60 people there was a very nice um hour and 10 minutes um and it was bringing people together from all faiths really very nice I just think people should be aware of uh that event which is open to Monroe not just Rossmore residents um as far as the Holocaust Remembrance Day I'd like to give a shout out to the Henry rickless committee um that's a committee in here here that uh in here in Monroe that um their goal is to keep the remembrance of the Holocaust they did it with um human relations we had the uh remembrance at the uh Senior Center approximately 400 people were there nice event um also like to say as far as teacher appreciation week uh the last couple of weeks I spent a few days here and there in some of our Public Schools reading to the kids and I was also um honored to be interviewed for a book that they're writing at or they wrote at Applegarth um just want to say the kids as you from today I just want to give a shout out to these teachers um the kids were fantastic I I couldn't have been happier they were so polite so inviting and um they asked me some pretty interesting questions which I'd rather not get into here they were kind of surprised with my answers being uh my age I kind of like there was a little bit of a gap between a 11-year-old and me uh but it was a great experience um the only other thing I'd like to say is um it's National Police Week is the week of May 15th um there's nothing bothers me more than um the police when the police get disrespected um these PE these um police have such a hard job I've been reading about a lot of uh police state troopers um being injured and even killed lately and it's something that we have to keep in our minds and hearts and um just remember for National Police Week and uh let's remember that all all the year not just that week um thank you very much welcome counciling woman SE welcome back thank you thank you Madame President good evening everyone um just a couple comments and few items to share so I know there were many proclamations here on the agenda today and there were many honoring some of our different departments in our area in our municipality the municipal Clerk's week National Police Week and police Peace Officers Memorial Day national public work weeks Emergency Medical Service week so I just want to recognize everyone and thank all those that are involved in these departments throughout our Municipal municipality they work very hard day in and day out to keep our citizens safe and to provide all the services that they do uh I also want to extend a congratulations to Greg slavich and his new role as director and superintendent of the Department of Public Works look forward to working with him in his new role um last month I had mentioned about this program know your government at the library and I just want to say it was a wonderful program that was done by the League of Women Voters and there was a great overview by Kevin Macwan on our local government and Road departments and how how we function and how our facilities work so if I do want to recommend we did ask the League of Women voted voters to do this again because it was a great program so if you do see it mark your calendars it's wonderful to hear and see how everything ties together um just a couple other things our Cultural Arts commission they're very busy working on our summer concert lineup the series is starting um the first concert is Thursday July 11th so look out for more information on the lineup mark your calendars when you see that and our historic preservation they had commission had their first open hous this last Sunday I know it was a little rainy but um open houses for die Farm if you haven't visited our first Sunday of each month from May through October and our youth advisory commission I know I've been rep reporting the last couple months they have been working on a wellness fair and it's finally here this Saturday um they are co-sponsoring this with mayor Elena's Wellness campaign um it's also mental health awareness month this month so it ties in very nicely um they will they have been partnering with representatives from middlex County division of addiction and mental health planning our Monroe Township Health advisory commission EMS and Robert Wood Johnson so please do try to stop by it starts at 10:00 a.m. at the senior center lots of great presentations and this past weekend there was a ribbon cutting ceremony at Monroe Township boot camp so just want to welcome this new training facility um to Monroe and wish them all the best and then I did want to share a story I have to thank Mr Weinberg because um it's interesting my little story is when that earthquake happened early in April it was a work day it was a Friday I was on a conference call and nobody knew what was happening we were just you know everyone's messaging what's going what's going on and get off the call and I have a message from Allan and um I get I get off the phone he tells me what's going on literally 2 minutes later my boss calls me and says was I I'm calling you first because I wanted to find out was it really an earthquake because I figured the township Administration would call you so I want to thank you because I feel like everyone comes to me now at work and outside so you're not just here mon you're influencing in other areas so I thank you for always keeping us informed salary stays the same though yeah I'm the earthquake updater yes no so I really thank you because we appreciate you always keeping us well informed of what's happening so that we can report back to people where we need to so thank you and that is my update yes Council vice president thank you madam president you're welcome um first want to comment on the uh young children that were here earlier this evening the uh exemplifying the six pillars of character I actually have a t-shirt that says be nice it's really not that hard and that's put out by organizations that support um people that suffer from you know mental health issues and things like that people that might be considering suicide when you run into someone you never know what they're going through so the theory is just try and be nice to people and and and it's just a a simple thing that doesn't cost anything I see these young kids come in here some kidss are probably smarter than others some are not as smart some may be more privileged they come from different backgrounds but they all go through the the six pillars of character which is basically being nice to other people and I and I just love it because you start at an early age and they start to train them that way and they act that way it continues on through life and boy it' be something if we could see a whole lot more of that as we go forward so congratulations to all the people who helped helped with the program and to the children themselves who uh took the necessary steps um May 19th is going to be the annual on Memorial uh run uh for the benefit uh that's the young gentleman who are passed away at an early age and uh it's always a very good event it raises awareness of uh of the illnesses and things of that nature uh May 27th our annual Memorial Day at at Veterans Park look forward to that everyone is welcome to come uh I did want to throw out a couple of things uh I did want to first of all I want to compliment Mr Weinberg on uh how they went about with the refinancing of our our bonds and stuff it's a little thing that not that many people notice when it's going on it's like a behind the scenes thing but that's the kind of the kind of thing that keeps our doublea plus Bond rating and uh and I think it's important to have somebody that actually uh you know takes effect because it would be just easy to go about and do nothing so thank you for that I also want to thank Kevin McGaw um who's been working on the solar initiative that is one of my my biggest things that I keep pushing them and everything um they're working with another company we're hoping looks like they're making a lot of good progress to the point where we'll have a lot more solar initiative type things as we move forward in the next uh few months and over the next year which can only be good for the town um water safety I I was reading articles earlier in the month about how uh there's a lot of danger with the waters in in all sorts of different towns I got a chance toh speak to Joe styne about it as I expected Joe explained to me that Monroe is about the safest water that you could have and uh it's always always good to know that he explained all the details as to why that is about half of it I might have been able to comprehend but um but but it is it's reassuring to know that that when you drink your water it's safe so um other than that I just want to just mention on the national front I'm glad to see that we're finally getting some funding for the people in Ukraine uh which desperately needed it took a while but at least uh certain people stepped up so that we could do that and let's just hope that sometime in the near future we could have some peace in the midd East so thank you folks that's all I got thank you sir um I wanted to mention uh I think it's maybe two years ago we formed a health advisory Council and it was a rocky start maybe it was three which I was very grateful to the mayor that I was able to do that and now we have a well established team and we are beginning to be able notice I need a lot of little explainers but we will be at the health fair at the high school this week there will be a table members of the health advisory Council will be at the fair on Saturday and um we have folks who have joined us who have expertise in nutrition and in diabetes and we look forward to being part of the mayor's Wellness campaign and being able to educate residents of our community so I feel very really feel very good about that it really makes me feel good and uh councilwoman seagull as you know full well it is not unusual for our business administrator to work a minimum of six days a week there is a Starbucks that he must own by now because he has laptop and some sort of coffee pot on there over the weekend feel like it's my last meeting it's not it's not but it always makes me smile when we finally remember to say something nice about the hours he works so um I think you should keep the location of that Starbucks hidden before someone comes to find you there and so that that wouldn't be uh really a good thing so your secret workplace should stay secret just uh and we know how lucky we are to have you so tonight we've chosen to embarrass you just a little um I would like to ask our mayor please for his report for this evening thank than you there goes your microphone hang on let try it try it now there we go all right right thank you um Madam council president um as you're aware of um this is the end of the semester for the academic calendar so I am um you're going to get the end of the semester mayoral report so I'm a little subdued a little tired um graded I about 35 essays today I got another 25 left before I have to submit my grades on Tuesday night so the um fervor in which I deliver my report may not be there so we'll bear with you sir thank you um before I I um I start my report Council um councilman de had mentioned about the helmets and uh I I have talked to our our chief of police in regards to that and there is a um um you know obviously the police they are the professionals um they look at their own organizations throughout the nation in the best way to get that kid to put a helmet on it is very difficult um unless something tragic happens and we don't want that here obviously um so there is a program that our police have been doing and they are continuing to do is um to catch a kid wearing a helmet and they give him a ticket and the ticket is for a free pizza um slice um in in one of the establishments uh they have assured me um that some of the pizza places didn't want to participate because because it was so successful um but the police were able to persuade um uh to to roll it out again the program so so it is it is on the minds of our police and obviously I trust in their instincts their professionalism to to um to do the best job in in ensuring that we don't have that tragic situation ever occur here in our town um just a couple items regarding some past events that um I've attended or or been to thank the council members for bringing up a number of them already obviously on the 28th the uh Henry rickless Holocaust Memorial um event at the senior center I do want to thank the committee the rickless committee as well as the human Relations Committee in putting together such a a wonderful um solemn educational event and when it was time for me to deliver my Proclamation I said the and we live in a time of tumult and I had mentioned it earlier before this this time that we live in um and I feel education is the greatest tool to um use in regards to thwarting um the Gloom in the doom and I think the uh the program last Sunday um reached that reached that level was also mentioned about uh having our um the njd commissioner as well as other State dignitaries uh come to Monroe Township for a Statewide press release in the grants that they are giving out to many municipalities throughout the state and they chose Monroe Township uh for that press release and that's uh pretty significant um all of these dignitaries there um said we wanted to come to Monroe Township because and I'm it's quote unquote we do things right um they had said they were obviously we you know have to thank Kevin McGowan for uh starting that process for the grants right to ensure there's grants out there and then to provide an excellent application to that Grant and when they received the grant it was so well written but the story behind it is that and I go back to our master plan and the amount of survey results was astonishing they couldn't believe that that many people participated in the master plan and obviously one of the top um one of the top items for the master plan was Recreation which were pretty good at so in that application it was the story was told and they said wow you know that it normally that just doesn't happen and I said well it happens here in Monroe Township so I you know to have them here was certainly a privilege uh but we we deserved it in in the way that we do things here and I do want to thank everybody um and and it's it's that all inclusive playground it's it's the expansion of an already existing Crown Jewel Recreational facility and we all know that I love bathrooms in our in our in our in our um parks and to have an ADA Compliant uh bathroom down there and again the The Thirst to have uh recreational facilities down the southern end of the town was critical so I was glad we were able to do that um I presented the uh military appreciation month proclamation to the Monroe veterans at the Met Monroe veterans movie night hosted at Stonebridge I want to thank the Stonebridge Veterans for hosting uh the movie was called the last full measure um and as what was mentioned earlier by uh Council vice president vanura Memorial Day will be held um on on May 27th at 9:30 at Veterans Park hope to see you there um obviously another thing that I always enjoy speaking of recreation is uh uh attending with a number of other council members uh the uh opening day ceremonies at James Monroe Park um and um it was cold it was cold um but it was well attended and I decided to do a little roll reversal normally I throw out the first pitch but I said you know what let let let a kid enjoy throwing out the first pitch so I I I was the catcher first pitch was was a little outside I gave him another go at it and uh you know he he he threw certainly through a strike so it's certainly good memories uh being uh built there down at James Monroe Park um ribbon cutting at Monroe Township boot camp you got that one was already highlighted oh speaking of a highlight for myself and and and and the schools and the teachers and especially the students I had the um um opportunity to speak to the uh M uh mandre Township High School student council as part of their National leadership week was very well attended uh kind of told them uh um my life Collegiate story which is quite checkered and I think they appreciated that and obviously just told them about leadership and one of the um one of the leadership traits that I stressed uh to them uh was to be able to listen and um and I think that's something that sometimes could be learned um but you have to listen to be a good leader and then how will you process what you listen is the next step and then obviously the last step is is action so I think they got uh I think the future is certainly bright in Monroe Township with the young men when young men and women that I met um just two items on the agenda I want to note certainly want to thank the council for for approving uh these two particular items um having our new director Greg slavich uh I think Greg is going to do a great job um got to have a lunch with our outgoing um director uh Wayne hbat just this last week um I know he's going to be coming in next uh next um month to uh to provide some accolades for the uh service that he provided um and then secondly um the um again the the two additional flock or uh License Plate Reader cameras to add to our already Arsenal so now we have 22 in total which is good um upcoming events uh shredding this is something new normally we have the county come in do the shredding maybe once a quarter or once a couple a few uh months but here in Monroe Township we've decided that um it's such a uh a needed resource that we will be doing it on the following on the second Saturday of of of the months of May July September and November um this is an event the first next one will be May 11th between 8:00 a.m. and 11:45 at our uh DPW recycling center on 76 Gravel Hill Road um we will collect the papers until the truck is full so um Rupa councilwoman SEO mentioned May 11th he May 24th spray park opens that's always exciting Hopey hopefully it's a good day but the kids don't care if it's cold so that's that um finally one other highlight is on May 28th is our first Township wide garage sale from 900 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. um check with your HOA if you live in a senior community they've all been notified uh if you would like to participate please reach out to my office and we will certainly add you to a very large burgeoning list and finally since we have our wonderful clerk staff here let me be the first to say to you um it's the beginning of Municipal Clerks week thank you so much for what you do the assistance that you provide the administration our Council here as well as the citizens enjoy enjoy enjoy thank you thank you madam council president my pleasure and I graded all my papers and every grades are handed in just thought I'd mention that uh just needed to say that and I got a donut because it's National it's Clerk's week so I got a donut should have done without this meting yes and the clerk would has something she would like to share with all of us I just wanted everyone to know that the regular meeting schedule for May 29th at 6:30 has been rescheduled so the next council meeting will be Wednesday June 5th at 6:30 p.m. thank you on that note I would like a motion to open the public comment period Please Please motion thank you may I have a second on that second all in favor I anyone opposed no those wishing to address the council please come forward it is a 5 minute time limit and you must please state your name and address for our record oh yeah good evening Michelle armeno 9 Nathaniel Street I do also want to thank the clerk staff the township municip staff I have always been treated with uh really Grace and um everyone's always been wonderful so I thank you you do a great job I know sometimes I ask the same question over again but um uh everyone's been very courteous and I think we have a great staff and we should U be very proud of them and very courteous to them when we come in right um in term I would be remiss since I was a six sort of I grew up in the late 60s early 70s and I guess you might say um I believed in really openness and concern about and I was a sociology major so the resolution about the uh execution of a memorandum with the county of middle sex and the prosecutor's office regarding installation and responsibilities associated with automatic license plate recognition I know in this day and Agee everybody's worried about violence and crime and all that kind of stuff I'm worried about over surveillance um Monroe and let's face it we sort of have a democratic State a democratic County and a democratic uh town and I'm wondering if this is very Democratic that we do this I know people some people are willing to sacrifice their freedom for what they consider safety I'm not one of them I believe that we should um not have a surveillance State and I would ask to be cautious about the use of such things and I also have heard in the past most recently in this room some uh citizens have asked about uh surveillance cameras throughout the city uh throughout the town and again I would ask that we are judicious about these things I imagine that these are things that are going to happen regardless of my particular political um persuasion about that but let us respect our citizens let us have an open democracy and I would ask that the mayor and the town councel and the police department um are judicious and you know people say well if you're not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about well who's making that decision and something that I may think is not wrong somebody else may think it is and I think we have to be very careful so I would I wasn't happy about this I know part of what's going on in any case I would like to thank um the township and and and the mayor and actually councilman deiro for talking about the environment um when I leave Monroe and go to other places I'm actually astonished about how little recycling other places do in New Jersey and then of course outside of uh the state so I am grateful for the kind of uh environmental uh programs that we have and initiatives that we have had over the years and I think um we should encourage our citizens to even be more accommodating and since I have the podium right now um when people put out their recycling they should not put them in plastic bags I know the public works department has tried to get that message out but if we could do something about that uh recycling material should not be uh contained in plastic bags we have our containers and uh I know the the green uh team and the environmental commission are trying to get that that word out but you know thank you for indulging me in that one and I think like I said we've had great environmental successes but I also hope that going forward and Mr Macwan uh I think is doing a great job but with our master plan I think sometimes the the construction and the need for affordable housing and then the uh protection of our natural resources Monroe I think we have to keep on that and make sure that plan going forward is not um compartmentalized that the plan is an overall plan with our community so we can maintain uh our wonderful resources and our great environment so thank you all for listening thank you for your comments your name and address for our records please sir Brian febio 19 Patricia place um I think there's a common misconception I wasn't going to talk about the cameras again but it's my understanding and reading about it these are not active surveillance cameras right so if you're not driving a stolen car I really don't think you have much to worry about um I mean am I am I wrong in in in that assumption I mean do you have further my understanding is that yes it it it is alerting the police when there's a stolen vehicle or a felony warrant entering into the town right so I would sacrifice my uh quote unquote freedom for that any day because the minute they show up to your house and they're robbing your cars or your house or you they're in your house in the middle of the night I mean I I can't imagine that tracking criminals um and and stolen vehicles would would Trump um you know our well-being but anyhow I want to talk about something actually I I was a little bit disturbed by hearing a young lady up here uh early she spoke not about the ordinances um in that section but she spoke about what she felt was retaliation by a council person uh in her Ward and I know that North dbor Road I believe is ward two I come here tonight with a similar um concern and that concern is after reading a a recent Oprah uh of a citizen that lives in w i uh that was reported by uh councilman deiro who happens to be uh Council representative in my ward Ward three and while I don't know because I didn't have the opportunity to ask her my assumption is that she's was speaking about the same council person that I'm here to speak about tonight and what I think is um just a real shame of how a council person should really hold their seat and and how they should treat members and constituents in this community that they're elected to to um to represent in this situation I read an oah report where um just about two two and a half weeks ago maybe three weeks at this point uh councilman deiro uh who again is Ward three made a complaint about a resident in ward two um about having a dead tree on its property and while that might not sound like a big issue you have a dead tree on your property and there might be an ordinance that says you can't have that I find it odd that that citizen first and foremost um had a big election sign uh on a burm I believe that's uh I don't know the road there Mount Road I believe it is uh in War I um and there happened to be by that 4x4 Board of Education Election election sign a dead tree um I can't find any any anything in my head to spin in any other way of how or why you know attention would be drawn to that one tree um and the councilman would feel that it's a big issue that needs to be made uh against us against that particular homeowner I think it's retaliation simply because and the and the homeowner thinks it it it's that as well it was not able to be here um but I can't imagine that there was was any other intention but to try to retaliate against someone that was hosting a sign uh that Mr deiro was not in agreeance with because he obviously is not supporting those candidates because he has the opposite candidates a big sign on his on his real estate property and every other one of his properties in this town um you know countless properties so I I I I just think we have to be very careful as a council and um governing body here that you don't start to overstep your roles uh and start to attack members of this community and try to retaliate because your personal political views don't align with others in this community I think it's Shameless I think it's what cowards do quite honestly um I live in ward 3 I drive around all the time and I honestly I don't see Mr Dio's dead tree meter working in our Ward because I see dead trees everywhere and I don't see any reports of all those dead trees and quite frankly I think Mr deo's properties have quite a few dead trees on them so I guess I I question if if if this government here in town who wants to enforce dead trees on some people's properties is going to do the same for a counsilman listen it's pure as day that these type of Acts are retaliation and I'm glad a young woman here who I don't even know uh came and talk about a similar situation I think this is a systemic problem I think it should be looked into and again I think I think it's I think it is cowardly uh and and and and I would ask I read the Oprah request or I read the oah report that showed the the complaint that Mr deiro had about this you know 8 foot tree that seemed to be causing a lot of harm because it was dead um and I I'm just wondering why that report wouldn't have gone to the to the ward representative I think Ward 2 m president I don't know who Ward to is that Mrs seagull I didn't see her name even on that report or in that email chain so I again I guess as Citizens we can travest around this town and complain but if we're elected to represent certain Wards we really should be looking to ways to improve the wards that we represent I say we I don't represent anything but you as Council people um and I just think it's I think it's a disgrace that if we have to Res you know resort to starting to attack citizens um because they they they don't agree with us politically um so I I would just say do better uh and believe me if that's the way it's going to be you're going to start to get a you're going to get a lot more concern here at the microphone and I appreciate this young lady coming out and expressing her concerns I know many people are afraid of it uh for retaliation me personally I'm not afraid and I think it needs to stop thank you thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward I don't if I should follow that even just I don't your choice to come to the microphone again ma'am yes Lucio Panos 128 C Dera Plaza I'd like to say that cleanup the other day was a wonderful thing to see all those groups there was the cheerleaders who didn't mind getting their nails dirty and there was young children and older children I will give councilman toiro credit not you you know it wasn't just a photo op his wife and son was out there picking up garbage and I thought that was admirable of them um tonight with these young people that was really nice to see all these people here you had the little kids from prek but what impressed me a lot was the teenagers I mean little kids they listen to their mother their parents but by the time they're 13 14 they might think a little differently but that they still carry on that they were and um they were given the roots some ones going off to college I'd catch them in the hallway apparently their parents gave them roots now giv Them Wings to be better citizens and better people and I it gave me restored my faith between this weekend to clean up the all those people young people out there tonight boy I hope they straighten out the world that's happening now you know that they move forward and um as far as I used to be a councilwoman as you may be aware and I was a councilwoman in one Ward but as you all do you vote on issues that affect every Ward so if one council person is concerned about another Ward I think that's admirable I think you should all be concerned about each other's Wards and to be accused of things I think I hope I heard that you know that's very mature thank you thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address us I believe you did wish to come forward this is your first time joining us I understand so please give us your name and address Sadia a 13 Belmont court and you are aware that there is a 5 minute time limit yes I am please proceed almost 20 years in mon row microphone almost 20 years in Monroe this is the first time I'm here in front of the council I love this town but this is the first time something has upset me so much that I'm here I'm here today about a notice serveed to us regarding a few debries on our property next door to the previous gentleman who um what he was talking about not the same property this notice cites the code 63-7 maintenance of premises by owner and states the dead trees on my property are to be removed I looked up the code on the Monroe Township website and this is what the code States I quote the owner or person in control of any private property sh shall at all times maintain the premises free of litter litter not dead trees the property is maintained grass mowed regularly trees and shrubs taken care of and there is no litter or junk items stored in the yard there is no litter on my property I don't think code 63-7 applies here the dead trees in question are small trees the tallest is about 8 to 9 ft at most they're not in danger of falling over not a threat to Public Safety and do not interfere with existing utility service the may be uncy to some people but these trees serve a purpose I am working to make my yard pollinator friendly I volunteer with environmental commission I have been working in my own yard for quite a while now this means it's not just planting native flowering trees in my garden but also provide nesting and overwintering habitat removing the dead trees would destroy the nesting habitat I am working to build you may ask why am I doing this well you may or may not be aware that the pollinator population in this country is declining rapidly including New Jersey New Jersey is one of the top 10 producers of pollinator dependent crops in the US such as blueberries cranberries peaches apples as well as those um summer vegetables we love to buy in the farm stands the recent census of Agriculture shows New Jersey's overall production of fruits and vegetables is valued at 340 million annually that's a lot of money let me give you a local example of what is happening I was at the green Fair held at Concordia on Saturday and I spoke to a beekeeper whose hives are in the East Windsor area he gets calls from Farmers around the state looking for bees and so he drives his bees around the state to pollinate their crops this is the Garden State imagine what it is around the country I have also um with me literature from United States Department of Agriculture I spoke to them about this and they gave me this to show you please take a look um when you get a chance they also gave me this booklet published by the agency it is called be a friend to pollinators published by the United States Department of Agriculture I'm just going to read one line to you how you can help leave dead tree trunks in your landscape for wood nesting bees and beetles this is important people I'm here to ask for an exemption to keep my trees help me continue my efforts in pollinator conservation and increasing biodiversity in the area provide an exemption to not destroy pollinator habitat this is Tree City USA this is Monroe Dead or Alive these trees are important please help me save them thank you thank you I hearing any comments from anyone anyone else wishing to address the council seeing and hearing none I'm going to close the public portion of the meeting May I have a motion to that effect please motion thank you may I have a second on that second thank you all in favor all oppos any oppos nay may I have a motion to adjourn the meeting Move Motion may I have a second on that second time time of adjournment you need a roll call we don't need a roll call time is 8:20 feel good