good evening use your microphone good evening ladies and gentlemen welcome to the council meeting okay the March 4th combined agenda and regular meeting of the Monroe Township council is hereby called to order roll call please councilman yiam Cohen present okay councilman Charles depiro here councilman Michael marel here councilwoman Rupa P seagull here Council vice president Terrence vanzora here thank you with the 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 board within the municipal building on December 29th 201 23 and remains posted at that location for public inspection two printed in the home News Tribune and the cranberry press on December 29 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 Proclamation it is save the soil day is March 2 1st 2024 at this time I would last ask the honorable mayor Steven Delina to please go to the podium good evening everyone I'm here for the read Proclamation wait a minute there's this is a mistake I thought this was for George Reed I got all excited for a George Reed Proclamation Patty obviously you'll get your due but you know what I do I do want to say something about Patty's better half in life Mr George Reed 31 years of working for Monroe Township and you know at least my time being involved on the council and now as mayor George I don't think you ever were really truly publicly publicly recognized for your service and even after you retired you still were around so please allow me to and everyone else here just to give George Reed a hearty congratulations for what you did got you Mr Reed good one good Patty Reid again you know it's as I I talk about my time involved in the town and there's certain individuals who who work for the town you you get really close with professionally but also on a on a friendly basis and Patty Reid was the epitome of that my obviously my time on the council vice president president sharing the deis with you and now my time as mayor um from my perspective Patty I got to see the inner workings of not only what you do for this town but also out and about as mayor to see your impact on the many many citizens of this town and you know there's that unicorn right once in a while and you are truly that Monroe Township unicorn truly um obviously your relationship with your co-workers not only here in town hall all the other council members but again that focus on the citizens of Monroe Township um that friendly voice on the phone that email um all of those citizens who would pop up into your office how you handled them was truly a Class Act and your retirement obviously is going to be a very difficult time for all of us but also a time to reflect on that service a reflection of that friendship that we all made and Patty your co-workers here your family that good feeling that we get when we think of Patty Reid I hope that you can think of us in that high level that we all hold you my friends I'd like to read this proclamation to you and then we're going to call Patty up for a little hug and kiss session pictures and then for us to wax poetically about how how important your professionalism was to Monroe Township but again more importantly your friendship congratulations on your retirement Patty Patricia e Reid with great appreciation of your 27 years of dedication and commitment thank you for going above and beyond serving the citizens of the township of Monroe wishing you the best on your new adventure with much respect and gratitude congratulations the proud mayor of Monroe Township Steven Delina and the proud Township council members of this great town February 1st 2024 your official date Patty Reid come on up [Applause] baby it's all yours okay my family has bets on how how much I could get through this I know I I know all of you are betting on me I love to think you're all here for the safe soil Proclamation but I'm going to keep that in the back of my head to try to help me get through this cuz I'm a big mush if you know me that's I'm a mush so it's going to happen I already hear it in my voice I'm done okay so I just wanted to thank the mayor and the council for recognizing my 27 years here with Monroe Township I I was very hesitant in taking the clerk's role I didn't I didn't know if I wanted to I think Allan was present in the room mayor tamburo called me in and he said what's the matter I just told him how I was feeling you know I didn't know if I wanted to take on the role I I didn't you know I didn't know what was how it was going to pan out um and he just sat me down and he said listen trust me trust me I will never let you fall and I will always have your back and he was true to his word till his last day and I have to say that mayor Delina has also taken on that same that same role the mayor as well as all the council members I think I've worked with mayor Delina about 12 years 12 years or so I kind of loved watching his progression from Council council president and into the mayor's seat and it was his path his path and everything everyone has continued between the mayor of the council and the administration to give me and my office unwavering support and along with the administration I couldn't have done my job without all of you and I I don't know if everybody knows but the every municipal office in the township Works under the mayor and administration but my office Works under the council the council is our boss so to think every two years your boss or bosses can change due to an election it's true it happens it it happened through the 2 of my 27 years in the clerk's office and I worked with so many people so many amazing council members that I have um grown very good professional and personal relationships with and I am grateful for each and every one of you I know I leave here with a full heart I've worked together with all of you and your confidence and your unwavering support made my job easier because I knew I had the support system behind me to my office Christine Tanya and Lorena I know I leave the office in more than capable hands of all of them with Christine as the clerk it was my honor I've worked with all of you and always remember when it gets tough what do we do Tanya We rise above rise above they're all like oh cut it out already I'm like rise above rise above just smile and just keep on going to my Monro family my department heads my the employees and the professionals the clerk's office is fortunate to work with every office within the municipal umbrella whether it's for purchasing elections permits meetings anything anything that they need to get done to get on to the meeting they come to us we work well with every single Department I've never had any worries of of our relationships I leave here with so many lifelong friendships you are my friends I love and respect each and every one of you to my family George to my family George my husband who retired eight years ago on the same day that I retired last month was going to talk about how he's sore that he never got one of these but the mayor already handled that same same we're still on the same he pushed me to retire so watch what you wish for because now I'm home I'm not late for dinner anymore I'm there um yep his vacation is over he better find a hobby um to my sons Christopher and Tyler you are my purpose I love you and to my brothers and sisters that are here with me today I thank you each and every one of you for your love and support and and always being there for me as my sounding board uh as my Confidant anything that we ever need we know we always have each other's back it's no different from any other family my work family and my blood family last but not least to the residents of monreal Township I've always tried to greet everyone with a smile and kindness and I've always received the same in return no matter what the issue no matter what the you know even if it was a political issue I've always had a very well working relationship with everybody no matter what no matter who they were or what they were there for and I thank you for that opportunity to help and be there for each and every one of you for the last 27 years this is not goodbye I live here I raised my family here Monro is in my blood I will see you soon and thank you for this honor thank you thank you P Mr Weinberg before I ask for the council comments sure I know you wanted to say something thank you council president I'll be very brief because I certainly don't want to go before the the the council um it's it's obviously been uh full seven years of us uh working hand inand on a daily basis Patty is the consumate professional uh one of the fairest and most decent people that I know um always great to give terrific advice uh super funny and at times you know this job can be a little stressful um and so you really need people that you can bounce ideas off of and really rely on and uh there really is no one uh no one better until Christine comes along now um who can do this job as clerk um and uh I learned a lot from her and I will appreciate our friendship and all that you did for me uh to help me become a better administrator and advice so wish you nothing but the best in your retirement well Patty tonight I would like to remind you and tell you again what I've told you privately it has been a sheer pleasure to work with you and I know you will enjoy your retirement I wish to know if George still is cooking I find this intriguing the other day I'm like what's changed I'm I'm cooking now and I don't like it you knew that but on a serious note the clerk's office requires a high degree of professionalism it requires the ability to work with disperate groups of people on a regular basis patio always exemplified those words plus she had a level of respect for the staff with which whom she worked that not everyone has she valued them their contri contributions to the work that needed to be done and she lobbied for them when she thought perhaps not everyone was seeing the value of each and every member of her staff that is a very special behavior and I was always grateful for it because it reminded me of how good you were at your job and what you did was train the people with whom you worked and soort to it that they had opportun unities to learn more about the work they did again that does not always occur and that's a tribute to you that that occurred I do remember being stopped and you saying council president I need to be sure you understand that this is the work that so and so does and she shouldn't get left behind that's important and not everyone who's in charge remembers that about the people with whom they work you became my friend I became yours and yet that never interfered with having a professional working relationship those things are very important with that said I am going to move through the council Mr vanzor or Council vice president you wish to go next would you will yes sure of course for Patty why not um let me say this um in all your years I I've lived in the town 27 years I've only been on the council three and before that it was the planning board but you've been the consumate professional you've done your job you've done it well I don't think people realize how difficult that job could be particularly when it gets to be around election time and making sure that everything is done properly so we have Fair elections and you and I know that if there was anything wrong she would hear about it you know it's very similar to our police the police go out there they do a great job and and you know they keep us safe you don't hear about them because they're doing a good job but if you mess up that's when you hear about it and you haven't messed up so for all the amount of time you put in to not mess up is quite remarkable and then I also look at it this way and you said it yourself you treat people nicely that might be the biggest tribute I could give you because in all the stuff that we do all the people that we deal with there's people you're going to that are nicer to you and there's people that are not as nice to you but when you can treat them nicely and treat them fairly and with respect that is the ultimate goal and that's what makes you the person that you are so I just want to thank you for all that you've done all this time thank you thank you councilman councilwoman seel please oh Patty so Patty I don't even know if you remember when we first met do you remember when we first met you probably don't so I was that person that came in panicking cuz I had to fill out raffle licenses um gaming commission changed all the rules my entire PTA was scared of filling out the Raffles and I remember Scott from the gaming commission said go find the clerk's office and I said where is the clerk's office I have no idea so um I find the clerk's office find Patty I come in for those who know me I always have lists upon list of questions I came in with an enormous list of questions and she sat with me and went through every question you didn't push me out the door you said come back to me when you get to filling out the next piece of the process and you the one promise you said was please pass this along to the other PTA so that they don't all come to me with these questions which I did I had a whole little procedure manual that I passed down at least in our PTA so when I think of you I think of patience and willingness you didn't know me I came in with this question you sat there with me and spent that t time until I felt comfortable when I came on to the council you did the same thing I walked into your office you sat me down and you worked with me you showed me the agendas you showed me maps you showed me all kinds of stuff but you sat there with me so when I look at you I see patience and willingness and I know you give that back to our community too with every resident who comes into that office so I wish you well thank you for your 27 years um I look forward to maybe going for a walk and having some coffee with you one day soon but enjoy your retirement very welld deserved thank you for everything councilman Marque Mrs Mrs Reed um I really don't like you very much uh actually um I've been I've known you probably the short shortest out of anybody on this up here um and I want to thank you for putting up with me for the last two years I've had some uh questions that you answered um multiple times from me as you know um and I do appreciate it and I hope you're not retiring because of me which you guaranteed me you weren't but I've employed um tons of people over the 40 years I was in business and um there are very few people that I've employed that can match up to what you've done here and the job you've done in this town there's not much more I can say you know how I feel about you I appreciate it thank you so [Applause] much deiro please Patty what can I say growing up in Jamesburg Reed was a was like McDonald's tell the name the name of Reed and I knew George and his F and his family Charlie and everybody and then Patty came along and and I and then I said who's this Patty Reid who's this Patty Reid and and we and we got to uh to see who Patty Reid was and we watch you from day one all the way to now and it's um the only thing I could say is you never changed I've never heard a bad word through all the years I've been here and that's saying a lot because everybody that's experience working with you and every position that you were here as our mayor said before and our council president said you dealt with every situation and you and you treated everybody more fair Square from the county the state from the township with everybody and my personal um learning experience is councilman Markle just said I dealt with we dealt with a lot and you was always there for me and you was always there for the mayor council Ministry rtion can't thank you enough and hopefully your retirement will be just as well as your your years here in Monroe stay well thank you before we take a one minute break for pictures Christine has asked if she can take the mic I'll keep it short and sweet but Patty um on behalf of me and Tanya and Lorena um I just we just want to thank you for your leadership you were a wonderful boss um true mentor and and friend and I just want to thank you for believing in in all of us um you know you always said you were only as good as your team um and you truly built us up um and we never wanted to let you down so I hope that I make you proud as the new Township Clerk and I thank you very much for everything that you have given to the office we love you we'll miss you you and don't be a stranger I love you too you're taking a break who's taking pictures right we're going to take about two no no more than five minute break folks to take some pictures please genda meeting is called to order again thank you all what time would we call 7 o' up to item six on our agenda the ordinance for second reading I will ask the clerk to please read them ordinance 02 20243 an ordinance of the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey to authorize a conservation restriction agreement for Real Property known and designated as tax block 60 Lots 28.4 and 28.4 Q form also known as 330 schoolhouse road on the official tax map of the township of Monroe for open space ordinance 02 20244 Bond ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middle sex New Jersey appropriating 2,900,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 2,396 640 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof ordinance o 2 20245 Bond ordinance providing for improvements to Applegarth School in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey pursuant to a shared services agreement with the Township Board of Education appropriating 5 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of 4,761 n00 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof ordinance 02 20246 ordinance appropriating 4,300,000 2,300,000 of which is from a state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Grant and 2 million of which is from the middle sex County open space Recreation and farmlands and historic preservation trust fund grant for the acquisition of property for use as open space in and by the Town Township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey thank you item seven call the council's attention to the resolutions for consider ation under the consent agenda at the March 4th 2024 regular meeting it's R3 2024762327 any resolutions that you wish remove from the consent agenda please State now yes thank you council president any resolutions that any council person wishes remov from the consent agenda that information should be shared now I'm sorry yes council president I have one R3 2024-the only and speakers are limited to five minutes may I have a motion to open the public comment section please thank you may I have a second second all in favor I any opposed public comment section is open please come to the mic and give us your name and address for our records George Conlan five kill court on row um on the cons s agenda the first item we can't hear you George uh lights on we need a course in microphones I'm convinced I do I do we all do I'm sure okay um the first item 076 i' like to know what the the value of that item is estimated at allocation Mr Weber on on 076 the uh the Ada uh sorry the Housing and Community Development citizens advisory committee that's a Grant application for $166,000 that flows through the Community Development Block Run block grant through the county and to uh certain municipalities and we can apply and designate it for a certain project so it's 166,000 for the for the grant that we're applying for okay um continuing on to item 097 on page three which is um temporary budget Appropriations how much are we talking about I'll have to U give me one second to pull up the numbers but ultimately what we're doing here is putting in place the money to allow us to be able to uh get through May at which Point um hopefully we would be in the position to pass a budget so I'll just give me one second to pull up that exact number okay this also includes Debt Service payments and other contractual obligations what while you're doing that let me skip ahead to 099 uh which is um contract um for General Engineering Services um for um the water tank uh how much is that sure um and I'll probably have Joe answer that question on your previous question if I could go back to it real quick president so I think the total I know the total amount is $54 million that would get us to that point that includes both um the township budget uh the utility budget um Debt Service and capital um to get us through uh probably May or June at that point and in terms of item 90 did you say 99 yes Joe do you want to talk to that for just a second I have but I'm going to go back to 98 and I'm curious what the amount of transfers are under 98 sure so the amount of transfers under 98 is 237,000 on our $70 million budget we're allowed yeah yeah it's nothing and then on 99 you're good I think heading right I want to give you an exact number Mr $71,200 council president that's all I have at this time thank you so much for your comments thank you anyone else wishing to address us again please come to the mic state your name and address for our records Dr Pros thank you uh Pros 33 uh dinner drive just uh president just want to appreciate some of the ordinance and you know really feel good about it uh $5 million towards Apple Guard School really appreciate that well deserved and we should I'm sure we are going to do more and also for the open space we are buying about 3 33.8 acres for $2 million looks like that's great and we are getting $2.3 million from as a grant from New Jersey for open space what my request is also we are you know constructions are going on we are cutting the forest so reforestation in C open space uh you know that is the request we can get experts from New Jersey Department and uh we have volunteers youngsters who are ready to do that so that is the request thank you and the last one is I always appreciate the shared service the township does with the Board of Education and other things so it's a cost-saving and very efficient also rs202 484 the shared service with Board of Education of 36,500 is appreciated thank you very much thank you very much anyone else wishing to comment please your name and address for our records please shell armeno 9 Nathaniel Street and I think it's okay just to congratulate Christine Robbins she's the ultimate professional so happy she's taken the position and I look forward to working with her and in the past she has always been uh extraordinary to work with and uh Monroe is in good hands thank you Michelle congratulations okay she deserves it thank you um so uh resolution 32024 d84 also the shared services for the video um that's long overdue I'd like to thank U Mr deiro for for sort of helping us with that and members of the public who talked about it and I would like to know if the P well it's the public access to the video uh of meetings and in case anybody wasn't sure what that was and I would like to ask if that Public Access if those videos would be able to be downloaded by members of the public do we know that was in the past and I'd like to see that continue Mr Weinberg are we aware of that capability I'd have to check on that I know that our YouTube videos I believe you can you can capture now but I'll have to check on that what's exciting if I could just for one second about this is not only will this allow us to put it up um on uh on uh sorry on cable vision Infinity um and on Verizon but this will allow us to also connect to streaming services because some people are getting you know cutting the cord and getting rid of that so it's another way to get through um your TV to get to it in addition to the YouTube but I don't want to speak out a turn I would imagine you could download it I'm certainly easily accessible i' have have to get back to you on that to be 100% certain please or let the clerk know because I think that's um and just just to point out one of the resistance um that I had heard uh in the past about putting this back was that most of the people uh are doing streaming services and all that but we have almost 40% seniors and there was a study that people over 65 of which I am uh that we still never we still uh you know do we we like cable and some of us still have cable so I do appreciate it and I thank the council I thank the board of education for going forward Mr uh deiro also and um I will come up again but I would like to thank uh the mayor and the council and Mr Weinberg um for the uh the conservation easement for this particular property on Schoolhouse Road it's a magnificent parcel it's adjacent to the park it has environmental uh qualities it has wildlife habitat and Brooks that flow into the Manalapan Brook it's a I believe it's Farmland preservation though under the Farmland preservation and not necessarily it's the open space but Farmland preservation is that accurate that's correct it will be preserved as Farmland it will be unable to be developed right for a there there's a caveat on that right how long is that on the the township owns the development rights as I understand it is that correct yeah my understanding for that is it's in perpetuity it is in perpetuity yes okay great well I'd like to thank the taxpayers because this is like a social contract uh Monroe has gone through so much over the years um and a lot of people are upset by it so um taxpayers are obviously contributing this but the mayor in his wisdom has been very Cooperative with environmental um uh folks who care about this stuff and I know he grew up in Monroe so it's important to him as he knows is important to many of us who have been here long term and as Mr as Dr Pros said a lot of the trees have been taken down uh we have enormous growth it's time to preserve open space just for that for the for the quality of open space and sustainability because we are losing it rapidly and it's going to uh be problematic for us and Monroe shouldn't go down that path where we have no trees left so thank you very much thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address us please sir your name and address for our records yeah my name is Salo uh 49 Bentley Road Monro Township um I don't know if it's on the um the docket but the this Gardens thing I know they have all the literature up there and the expansion of the gardens where the farm markets are on Apple goth road yeah it it was on the last agenda but we are mentioning it again with our grant for 88 bathrooms so it's back comments are accept so um i' I've spoken with you you have number of times and and you as well so um so there you providing um bathrooms sewers there's already water there so I'm representing the Monro town uh Apple goth Associates for water and sewer on Apple goth Road on Bentley Road and we've been turned down uh we do have an agreement with the township that once the master the Builder builds between Pineville and Bentley mhm um we would get water and sewer MH but we'd like to expedite that and we we're taxpayers everybody's paying taxes you're providing all the services for the farms and the gardens which serves everybody well food right and all we're asking for is water and sewer before this developer uh develops because we're not sure you even have an agreement with him to do anything Mr weberg yeah and Mark you can jump in if you want as well or or Joe do you want to take it or do want or all three of you I mean I can jump in first and Joe will correct me if I'm wrong and appreciate your being here sort of tangentially connected here I'm sorry I didn't mean to it's okay you're fine sir you're fine you know so you know as you know and as was mentioned earlier uh you know we have uh I want to get too far down the road on it but the Mount Laurel settlements that that are every town has to deal with as part of um providing affordable housing without getting into a long conversation there are different rounds associated with it there was a round in 2015 um which was known as the third round of affordable housing and that is um what you see over at the uh intersection of Mount Mills and spots with Englishtown Road that's what you see over down by Applegarth off to the right um or towards the West um and ultimately there will be uh some housing as part of that um to you know to the uh east of Bentley Road on Route 33th um what's interesting about affordable housing is um you know the job of the township according to the court order is to create the reasonable opportunity for affordable housing but ultimately it is driven by the market and the folks um as you know we we were trying to keep the number as reasonable as possible and different developers can intervene and say hey I can help you build that um and then they build for market for everyone affordable I don't want to make this the whole context But ultimately we don't know exactly when they're going to build on the north side of Route 33 because that's driven by the marketplace and I believe when they came in for their approvals um the planning board required them since they would have to get their um water and sewer coming towards Bentley and up towards Applegarth to uh put those lines in um the challenge is um you know we don't know when they're going to when they're going to build do do you have a signed agreement with this Builder that he has to do something right so and is there a timeline yeah so I don't know that there's a timeline because it's part of his approval doesn't everything expire at some point well his permits no hang on let me just try and answer as best I can we're we're putting in we put in place um the zoning that allows for that um Mark maybe you could talk about the timeline or Joe um because it's it's very difficult to know exactly when they may begin sorry Mark going first okay coun president well that that developer did break ground off of Pineville Road so they started some of construction over there someone told me that yeah yes so they constru have been let Mr reso please then you get to talk in remember you only please sir so they did start construction over there there's no housing going up at this point or any of the commercial development but they are doing uh site work uh and getting some of that in order um as part of the approval they are required to bring water and sore to that development and it does come through Bentley road so but as far as the timing that's going to be tied to when they they start to develop and and get building permits for the the actual construction of the units but at this point I I don't have a timeline for the development okay so let's let's let's back up a little bit right so again we're taxpayers I've been there since 1983 um we've always asked for water and sewer and we've always been turned down and I don't know why we all have we all have we all have water conditioners on our wells we have pre filters on our wells I'm going to your your time at the microphone has ended um but I wanted to say to you excuse me folks I'm really trying to answer and so is everyone sitting here what I heard Mr rimo would say that is the Builder is required by the approvals he got to do the water and sewer for Bentley road but we don't have control is what I also heard of when he's building but he did break ground they did break ground on the site work that's correct on the site work so that there is some sort of start to what we've spoken about on the phone when I've spoken to you Etc that Bentley Road at some point and we don't have the year none of us have the year it's nothing we're holding back to that to happen am I correct is so that's where we are right correct that's where we are can I get 30 more seconds I'm giving you 30 more seconds why can't why can't the township put in the water and sewer and when he decides to build you get paid from him what's wrong with that what's wrong with that I don't know that that's a reasonable thing for us to be able I really know you're a taxpayer sir okay I don't doubt that and I don't doubt the the urgency you feel for this please don't misunderstand me Mr Weinberg that is not to my understanding or perhaps our attorney wants to comment on that for us to do that well I mean I I'll try and answer aimos I'll take my turn here we try to answer it it's uh certainly certainly it's a large project that um and again the developer is on the hook for it um at one time I know they were looking to extend some water and sore lines on Bentley Road about 20 years ago under the approvals that were at the corner right and there was some public uh public from Bentley Road came out to some of those meetings at the at the planning board or the zoning board I believe it was and and those utilities were not extended down that road so you know had that had that been done we probably would have been uh a little bit ahead of the curve um you know as of right now again it's not just a matter of a little bit of an extension of the water and sore lines and I know Joe could probably speak more about it um it it's quite involved in in looping the lines running them out on to 33 so so it's not just an extension of of the line that's uh on Applegarth Road can I my my comment to you would be first of all that we will Contin continue to monitor the situation there isn't a person sitting here who is unaware of the concerns of the people on Bentley Road and this answer has to stand now we are way the Builder is finally Broken Ground the approval requires that they build the sewers so perhaps we will have some better news sooner than later I I can't do more than that now and I thank you for coming and I thank you for your comments okay thanks thanks everybody any anyone else wishing to address the council now please your name and address for our records Amy Benner 33 Bentley Road thank you um I didn't wasn't aware of this building at the Garden Center where you grow plants and stuff that there's going to be a playground which is pavement I'm assuming um and restrooms so that's more pavement which doesn't help filtering and again as he was saying in our complaints I'm bent L we basically being flooded away a lot of our septic Sy systems are backing up um I can't imagine what the well water is at this point you know we shower with that we brush our teeth with that so again we do have a concern with that hoping that the township can help expedite something to move this along a little faster because this is really a concern just going to flush your toilet when the the wind is in a certain direction smells absolutely lovely lovely so it's just not fair that we have repeatedly asked for help and we are now desperate most of us on our street with all these issues so we were hoping that you know something can be expedited on the Township's level that they can maybe you know get the developer to do something sooner we appreciate your comments thank you thank you anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now related to the agenda item of night I'm going to then enter yes please sure and your name and address for our records good evening Lucio Panos 128 Candera Plaza um she's gone but she was she was a great you know when I first became County chair way back then and I I reached out to different people she was always professional and as was your whole office by the way so now my questions um 086 and 086a to do with the um audit first of all it indicates when I tried to it's 164 pages when I tried to um I hope you guys read at least what you required to by law but um what was going to say at the very first page says it's the order of 21 2021 and 2022 well which is it and then you turn on the second paragraph where the whereas is it says 2021 so are there's some typos here or especially if there was an order from 20 if it's an order for 2021 and 2022 how'd you p a budget that year without an udit right so it's okay wait that's my one question oh I'm sorry I know how it works here so I just want to get them all out thank you um then again my my The Thorn on my side we're required or no we're threatened we're harassed basically to get electric cars this is how it is it's going to be mandated blah blah blah I'd like to know how many cars did this Township Buy in 2023 and how many were hybrid or electric okay do I have to open for that I hope not but don't don't say do as I say and not as I do okay that's something I try to live by um the 89 um 089 somebody is getting a contract to you know services for detention basins I hope they dis they discuss or at least the environmental commission has the opportunity to discuss possibly plants that are preferable to detention bases so they're just not cleaned up or scraped out but there's actual plants that could help detention Basin and then 093 what were the various locations that would uh for the building demolitions thank you thank you Mr Weinberg sure thank you um so it was the uh uh 2022 audit um and then of course when we did the 2023 budget that's built on What's called the 2023 AFS which is always done before that the annual financial statement and then that rolls into the audit so we'll be actually doing the 23 audit next and we'll be doing the 24 AFS next that's the my question was could why is it 2022 was that budget passed without an audit you you you would never do an audit before you pass the budget that would be impossible you it's an the audit is a endof year end ofe calculation of everything that so you're ending the year of 2023 on and it says 20 for 2022 I I must be missing something I I mean I if George wants to add something 2022 is the audit we're now into 2024 and I'm curious how did the 2022 budget pass because we did the audit following the budget adoption is my understanding correct the audit follows the budget adoption follow the bud that's always 2022 audit in front of us this is the 2022 audit the next will be the 2023 audit I know how 2022 202 are we doing a 2022 audit now we just completed the 2022 audit which matches theet AFS I understand the question but it again answering it you you do a budget each year based on your annual financial statement which allows you to look at your previous year figure out how much Surplus you have reconcile everything and then you pass your budget for 2022 at the end of 2022 after you certify everything and in 2023 you do your audit for 2022 usually have in this case I think it was till the end of the year to do it and then you and then you uh produce it and it verifies your annual financial statement that's how it's done in every town you know throughout the throughout the entire uh area it just it just just and the f s and the audit match almost almost the same if there isn't there would be a material issue with it so why does it say 2021 also because it always list two years because when the and George can talk about this can you just yep so I think what George is saying he's our CFO is go ahead George in part of the audit there's comparative statements so they do refer to 22 and 21 like the balance sheet and the uh results of operations so there's comparative so that's the reason why they have 21 in there okay so should there be a t is there a typo in the second paragraph to whereas is it only refers to 2021 but just check that out please check yeah other questions time is yeah let me do you mind if I just finish the question finish question the question she asked so um in terms of the electric uh Vehicles you know we as I mentioned in previous meetings we did look to try and get some hybrids and we even got a grant for electric vehicles but they've been almost impossible to get and purchase for uh through the government procurement um the one vehicle we have on here is for the police um which is a Dodge Durango which they they've always requested gas vehicles but we are trying to get hybrids and electric for some of our other departments the basins are managed um by DPW and this contractor um and we have worked with the environmental commission to do in certain cases natural basins to promote uh more uh uh insects and other things like butterflies um but we also to be careful where we do that too because it may not be perfectly sightly depending on who lives next door to it um and then finally um on item 9 three the two locations for that were um was a house on the corner of posum hollow and Doc's Corner that was flooded out as part of Anri um tropical storm onry and the other one was a house uh at the corner of uh Buckaloo and mount Mills um which was part of a uh historic farm that we purchased over there uh next to the red Barnes thank you knock down a historic farm an historic farm was knocked down we did not do that but I think the time is time is up I tried to answer all your question that was real sick my time is up my question cor I did excuse me I'm intervening at this point Thank you anyone else having any questions for the council please come forward if not seeing and hearing none I'll entertain a motion to close the public portion motion may I have a second second all in favor I any opposed may I have a motion to adjourn the agenda session please motion thank you second second roll call councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes the agenda meeting is closed time is 7:30 sometimes being Lefty in the right-handed world is not always as easy I'm going to this is regular meeting of the M Township council is now called to order motion please motion please to call the regular meeting to order motion thank you second second roll call councilman toiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes may I have a motion to approve the claims statement claims for the run date of February 28th 2024 so moved m have a second second thank you roll call councilman toiro abstain councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion to approve the minutes of the following meeting as written and presented the January 3rd 2024 agenda and regular combined meeting motion please motion thank you second second second yes roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen obain I was pretty sick ordinances for the second reading would the clerk please read ordinance 02 2024-25 003 an ordinance of the town of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey to authorize a conservation restriction agreement for Real Property known and designated as tax block 60 lot 28.4 and 28.4 qarm also known as 330 Schoolhouse Road on the official tax map of the township of Monroe for open space I have a motion to open the public hearing please no moved may I have a second on that motion second all in favor I any opposed no public hearing is open anyone wishing to address the council please come forward state your name and address for our record remembering please it is five minutes not going to take that long Michelle armino 9 Nathaniel Street I don't like to give incorrect information so just for the record um mayor Delina I don't think you were you grew up here in Monroe however your children have so again thank you for the ordinance uh to protecting uh the environment for your children and everybody else's thank you so I I would encourage everyone to vote Yes for this ordinance thank you anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now seeing and hearing none I'd like a motion to close the public hearing some move second on that please second all in favor I any opposed no may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 02 2024 d003 motion please motion to adopt thank you may I have a second second thank you may I have a roll call vote councilman deiro yes coun councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes with the clerk motion that ordinance is now adopted the clerk please read 02 2024-25 04 Bond ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements in and by the township of of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey appropriating 2,900,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 2,396 640 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof may I have a motion to open a public hearing on the ordinance please may I have a second on that motion second thank you all in favor I anyone opposed no anyone wishing to address the council about this ordinance please come forward now Dr per go ahead please yes prakash par 33 Dana Drive just one clarification um primary for Township Wide Paving so this includes also the housing communities like my community is about 22 23 years old and a lot of cracks on the roads and all does this include also the house communities I anyone wish to answer Mark that's your turn so we're reviewing council president we're we're reviewing a list of roadways right now that would be included in in this um uh you you one of your roads uh I'm not sure if it's on the list but I I believe it is but um again we're reviewing a list and from that list we'll be we'll be uh uh picking the roads that are in most need of it uh that list is compiled by not only my office but the uh Department of Public Works as well as the police department so my understanding this is for the roads mostly we are giving priority that is my understanding president yes thank you very much engineer said you most welcome anyone else wishing to address the council at this time seeing and hearing none motion to close the public hearing please motion thank you may I have a second on that second all in favor I any opposed may I have a motion to adopt dordan 02 2024-the councilman toiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes ordinance passes uh would the clerk please read the next ordinance ordinance 02 20245 Bond ordinance providing for improvements to Applegarth School in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey pursuant to a shared services agreement with the Township Board of Education appropriating 5 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of 4 million 761,00 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof thank you I'd like a motion to open the public hearing on this ordinance please motion thank you may I have a second second all in favor I I any opposed anyone wishing to address the Council on this ordinance please come forward again please state your name and address for the record Lucio penos 1208 C andera Plaza Monroe um it's it's almost not nice to say something when it's shared services is the buzz woring however the school budgets were turned were were not passed by the by the people of this town and this is something that circumvents circumvents what the people voted on or chose not to do so and it's not the first time it happened happened last year too you guys did this so how about you get a a laaz on to the board of EV maybe if you're going to bond for them and spend for them whatever maybe one of you should consider being a on or maybe the board of V this is this is circumventing what the people want or voted for they they turn down the school budget and now they're getting 5 million which is needed I'm not saying it's not needed but you you know not this shouldn't be please consider having a l l on to the school board thank you for your comment anyone else wishing to address us on this issue please come forward now stating your name and address for the record Brian Fabiano uh 19 Patricia place I I I I just wanted to make a comment here and I I do agree in some sense with the previous speaker this is a great gesture and something that was definitely needed to bridge the gaps at the board of educ ation we know the referendum failed last year and that was the will of the people but the problem is we have a reckless School Board who doesn't know how to balance a budget so not only did they put themselves in a position where Applegarth school really in all honesty needs to be te torn down so we're putting a 5 million from the the town which is still you know we talk at the the Board of Education meetings and here really it's all the taxpayers money no matter if it comes from here or it comes from across the street right it comes from our tax bill the problem is is that we can't continue to Lavish the school district with money if they don't know how to balance their own budgets right so this is a great gesture it's something that's needed and I appreciate the council and the mayor getting it done because kids sit in classrooms on rainy days and there's water coming through the ceilings um but people come here and talk about the issues and and wanting to spend the money not want to spend the money really need to go across the street and there's a budget hearing tomorrow night for the Board of Education where the intent is to raise taxes on April 16th in the special election that they're having right there are three board seats open but there is also the intent to go above the state mandated 2% cap so that we'll all and we're all going to see another tax increase as a result of that so you know it really comes down to we need to vote out people who can't make fiscally responsible decisions for our school district uh who don't hear the residents who continue to put out things you know referendums and budget votes that the town you know art us as taxpayers say are not appropriate um and and they continue to dig the whole deeper so while I think this is great it's much needed um I don't think that we can continue down this path for a long time of just lavishing the school district every time they put themselves in the in these Financial holes because even with this the whole will get deeper it is getting deeper and on April 16th when us when our us as taxpayers are asked to vote for a budget above the 2% cap we're going to be again financing this mismanagement so it's got to end and and and I don't see this as this is a great thing but I don't see it as something sustainable you know for the future of this town thank you thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address the board on this ordinance please come forward now again your name and address for our record 33 mayor has taken a good step in getting $5 million for our school which is needed the roofs are falling apart the 80e old school no Pol itics here I supported the referendum we need to renovate that school expand that school and make it eligible for our children now talking about 2% cap what is the inflation in the country it was high as 8% which this number 2% cap came from the salaries have to be increased the insurance has to be increased materials have to be increased where this 2% cap came on the school budgets I question that when the there is no brain when the inflation is going more than 3 to 4% how you can put a cap of 2% want to debate in this 5 minutes I can debate anywhere you know stop this politics you know our students need good education good buildings and everything and we have to provide them and we can effort our taxpayers we can effort everyone can effort okay we can discuss about it thank you anyone else wishing to address us please come forward Madam president can I make a statement sure okay we're having an interesting meeting tonight you want to hold it for Council comments we have someone coming to the microphone now well I just wanted to maybe Mr uh we're in the public portion so we will get our turn to speak again fair enough oh wait sir cus Maus 552 BR cus Maus 552 BR Mor Ro Monro I agree a million per with that gentleman over there what he said is our vote worth anything when we vote on the school budget who gave them authorization or you to spend $5 million I understand the school needs fixing who gave them after the school budget was voted down to spend 5 million and I'm asking you again is our vote not count this budget was voted down and not by Li it was voted down period so again I ask you does our vote kind or should we just stop voting and just let you do what you want spend millions of dollars cars electric cars and this and that there our vot count tell me who gave them the author authorization to spend $5 million who we didn't we entered into a shared service agreement to support a grant that the Board of Education had received and required a hard match we provided the match for the grant they had already received and the council the mayor and the Council made that decision so the budget that we voted down just means nothing that we voted it down correct means nothing I can't answer any as far as the J saying 2% cap on inflation well the inflation is not two and not five inflation is over last 3 years or 4 years is 40% so should we raise the taxes 40% maybe he can afford to pend 40% more for taxes but a lot of people here lived on fixed incomes and it be hard us we'd have to move well that's all I got to say I thank you for your comments sir anyone else wishing to address us please come forward now seeing and hearing none I call oh I'm sorry sh min9 Nathaniel Street uh well I respect everyone's perspective as to uh why uh this ordinance is necessary or not necessary um one of the things that people need to C to keep in mind that it's not necessarily only the Board of Education the board of education has an obligation and sometimes they do it right and sometimes they do it wrong uh to educate our children and we have had such massive um and such massive buildout that we have nearly 7,000 children in our SK school district and if we think that education is and I'm I'm quoting somebody else but if we think that education is expensive think about ignorance if we don't educate our children and we keep them ignorant we are not moving our Community forward and I I want to be sensitive I'm a senior as well I don't have children in the school system however I believe and I talked about it before a social contract with my community we need to have good schools I thank the council and mayor for the shared services however the real issue is the overbuilding in this community with a these people here talked about um the builders not being responsible for bringing these resources in if we really want to help our taxes and to help our students as well we need to get our legislators to get impact fees back into this community and when you hear PE people um counsel and lawyers and say well impact fees are illegal well they're only illegal because the people and our legislators choose not to make it legal so that's what we need there's too there's thousands of units being built in our town a lot of which are children and a lot of which um require services so our children's education is important I thank the mayor again for being open-minded about we need to get some of these things done we can't Overlook it it would be far more costly I have been I was around for three referendums that have failed at some point it's going to cost so much more and we have to bring the educational system up so yes is there is there poor budgetary issues absolutely but not all of it is is for that we have to understand that the builders are absolutely coming into town and and such high density is really hurting and it's hurting the school system the the township Council the planning board and the zoning board all of which you are responsible for you are the ones who make the decisions about how many how many uh applications and how many building units are here the board of education has no control over how many kids come into the school system but they do have an obligation to educate them please the education of our children is far more important and again it's a social contract that we have to work out thank you I I approve this coun come forward not I will a motion please I oh I lost my mic again I need a mic class I swear I don't um I would entertain a motion to close the public portion of the meeting motion it's public hearing now motion may I have a motion to close public hearing thank you may I have a second on that motion second thank you all in favor I I any opposed public hearing is closed May I have a motion to to adopt ordinance 020 20 24-5 motion to adopt please anyone motion thank you may I have a second on a motion second thank you may I have a roll call vote please councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora m president I'd like to be heard before I cast my vote Yes sir um I want the public to understand what happened here what happened is yes the referendum passed for the extensive amount of uh money that was being asked for we all have our opinion on that both ways whether it was a good referendum or bad but despite that it fa failed failed what I say passed you said passed I meant failed it failed we knew you fa failed Terry did not go through true good like that word because of that we are continuing to use appleg school it's a necessity and the things that were that need repair have to be repaired now without the council originally knowing about this the Board of Ed went and got a grant from the state of New Jersey so the state is giving them $5 million but the caveat is when that occurs the town or the Board of Ed would have had to post $5 million under the way it works the Board of Ed cannot do that so they came to the town and they said look we're getting $5 million for free from the state but we need you guys to come forward and post the $5 million otherwise we don't get that $5 million from them so we're now in a situation where the mayor and the council have to decide what do we do do we forego getting 5 million out of the 10 million that's needed simply because we don't want it on the Council budget at which point it would ultimately go back to the board of ed budget and Town Township taxpayers would have to pay for it so do we want taxpayers to pay $10,000 or $5,000 the preference is to for it to be $5,000 that's why we approve the $5,000 Milli millions millions my I'm again my numbers all mixed up but but you understand what I'm saying I'm glad you're paying attention we are tend to listen um but the $5 million that's a big difference so you don't want you don't want town taxpayers to pay an extra $5 million and and that's why I think that this is an appropriate thing to approve because it ultimately no matter what it is whether you're paying it through the township council with through our Township budget or or the uh um through the uh Board of Ed 5 million is saved the 10 million is needed and and for that reason that's why I'm approving it so thank you sorry for the mix up on the numbers yeah now you can continue Council vice president vanzora yes your vote council president Cohen yes motion carries motion carries it is adopted thank you with the clerk please read ordinance 02 2024 d0 06 ordinance appropriating 4,3 300,000 2,300,000 of which is from a state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Grant and 2 million of which is from the middle sex County open space Recreation and farmland and historic preservation trust fund grant for the acquisition of property for use as open space in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey may I have a motion to open a public hearing motion hi thank you may I have a second on that second thank you all in favor I any opposed anyone wishing to address the Council on this ordinance only please come forward now seeing and hearing none I'm entertaining a motion to close the public hearing motion thank you may I have a second on that second thank you all in favor I thank you may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 02 2024 -006 please motion thank you second on that second thank you roll call vote please councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you the mo ordinance is adopted we move to resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda with the please read R3 2024 076 through r322 24101 with the exception of R3 2024 088 which will be voted on separately not under the consent agenda thank you motion please motion thank you second on that motion second thank you roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you item seven is the resolutions removed from the consent agenda in the name and number of resolution R3 2024 088 thank you motion motion thank you so much second second roll call councilman deiro stain councilman marel yes Council woman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank so much we will move to report sure thank you very much council president I'll be uh somewhat brief I do want to confirm that the YouTube site which tape records this meeting and the zoning board meeting and the planning board meeting are all downloadable um I I will check on the new server to make sure that is as well but you can download it now and you know and then we'll make sure the other one is if it can be um just commenting a little bit on the landfill as many of you know and I mentioned this at the last meeting we built the Force main to prevent the leech 8 from moving inside the sanitary sewer system and ultimately into people's homes um we have been getting complaints about outdoor air from several residents which I mentioned last month um is much more complicated to identify and we've certainly alerted the DP to this um I did want to note um on the record here at the council meeting that the DP will be doing their sixth this is hard to say sixth fif fiveyear review so their end of their 30th year to ensure the landfill is protective of Public Health according to the D website um that'll be published between November and January of this year so I just wanted to put that out there also wanted to thank our parks department this is probably their busiest month um for them as they get literally every field ready to go whether it's baseball um lacrosse uh softball football um and cricket and a whole variety of other fields we have some really excellent grass fields and they work incredibly hard on them um in March to make sure everyone's ready uh for opening day so I just wanted to thank them and as Mark mentioned earlier um this month we'll be identifying the roads most in need of improvements um and we'll be moving forward on that in coordination with DPW Public Works engineering the utility department and the police department that's my report council president thank you so much Mr R mois thank you council president uh just just uh one item of uh new business uh we are out to bid for the Reconstruction of South Middle sex Avenue um and I anticipate an award at the next council meeting that project has uh an NJ doot local Freight Grant of uh about $600,000 and that's my report thank you so much going to move to council reports I'm going to begin with my extreme left councilwoman seagull please thank you council president good evening everyone uh just a couple updates I want to share uh First Council councilman councilman vice president vanzora and councilman Markel and I went to a vigil and flag raising ceremony marking the 2-year anniversary for the Ukrainian war in Thompson park it was a beautiful ceremony and they had two students that sang the national anthems from Ukraine and the US and the event was hosted by our two Monroe residents Anna and Edward mauet who lead the Leon Leon Leon Foundation where they provide a lot of different ways of support to our Ukrainian refugees in our community local communities around them so that was a beautiful ceremony and I just want to share some conversations I've had recently with some of our community members around town as I wander around and it's always nice to hear about the positives and how they feel about some of our services and amenities that we have in our Township and I happen to be at the library checking out a book and uh a mom recognized me and she had mentioned to me how she really loved our library I know we talk about it so much as Council here that it is one of our crown jewels but she went on to say just how nice it was to be able to walk in there and there was something for the entire family to do it became a family outing for them where there was a lecture the parents were able to attend there were some children programming and their older daughter could do the research for a project so she was so happy that to have a service like this and a place to go for the entire family especially when you're looking for those little things to do on a weekend and you know we got talking a little bit more and she said you know I just learned in the library too that we have Museum passes that we can utilize for free so I just wanted to share that make sure you know community members know that we do have a great library and all the different programming and services it offers you know we have our rec center I hear a lot of great things about DPW and how we someone mentioned about the styrofoam cycler and how nice it is that we can do that use that foam cycler so just wanted to highlight some of those items and I did want to share a couple updates from some of the commissions that iais on to our Cultural Arts commission this year has been providing a um Through The Barnes Foundation virtual tour series that began earlier this year and they're on their last virtual tour of the year that's going to be happening on March 13th and it's honoring women artists for women's history month this month two artists Mary cassette and maren La laurenson women painting women so I know I've watched a couple of these over the past year and earlier this year and they are really well done so if are interested to learn a little bit about the art it's a great virtual tour that you can just write watch right from home and you can find more information about these on the cultural arts commission website and I want to give a little update and our on our youth advisory commission our C youth advisory Council sorry um there are our high school students we have about 25 of them and I know I haven't provided an update lately because every time they seem to have a meeting scheduled it snows so they actually met this past month and one of the things that we've been doing with our students is each month they get to learn from a different department in our municipality learn about government how it works so this year they've so far they've met with the clerk's office Township planning and administration and EMS and we are very fortunate we have Kyle Johansson who's our video and media coordinator who is our adviser this year to the council and he is yes Kyle and he's working very hard to guiding our students on their Community project which will be some type of community event we're working through this a little bit but the topics that the students have been working on is learning more around opioids education and also around youth mental health which is something that our group last year had worked on so we are also partnering with middle sex County Health Services who will be coming to our next meeting and sharing more information with our students around opioids and mental health and that's it I just wanted to give a little update thank you everyone thank you I'm going back over to my right yeah I just have a I just have a few things I'd like to mention mention hello is it on yeah uh this morning I school and um I read to some children uh for re Across America the great experience meeting some kids the kids were absolutely great um they were a little older than I thought they were fifth graders so I thought they could probably read better than me but uh they were very retive and uh I enjoyed the uh experience um one of the things I did over the month of February um because of Black History Month is um I went to the library for a middle school Civics contest um where students um did reports on black Americans that have made it different some of them are living and some of them have passed so I saw some eight eight U six kids do two people each was a great experience I learned a lot about some African-Americans that did some great things um just want to tell you um as far as I'm on the senior um the agent committee which I thought was inappropriate being I'm So Young um but uh I just still want to let people know that um in just in the month of December there was 1,173 new members signed up for the senior center so I mean if you just stop and think about what the senior center has been doing over the years um that's a lot of new member I'm sorry that was for the year I'm sorry for the year 2023 uh for the month of December um they had 6,338 people registered for programs so you can imagine what these women and men that work there have to do every month to make sure everybody's happy we should give them a shout out every month um also March 8th is international women's day which was a shock to me being I have three two daughters and a wife so I thought every day was International women's day in my life for sure um I also just want to mention one other thing I know it's a a little pre uh a little bit early but on April 28th uh at the senior center there's going to I mentioned it last month I'm going to mention it every month because I think it's important um it's Holocaust Remembrance Day at 2:00 so everybody's invited to that there's going to be Holocaust Survivors there which are very unbelievable people I've met with some of them they have some great stories and um we're losing our Holocaust of members at this late date so put that down on your calendars please right away so that you have no excuses for April 28th at the senior center at 2:00 it' be a great program that's about it just want to touch Bas with a few things thank you Council uh thank you I just wanted to start off by um asking maybe our legal department if they could look into our residence on Bentley road to see if there if there is something that that um maybe can be worked out with that developer uh along with the Board of Health because if there are health issues um they've been living on that road for a long time with issues sending us emails um and as one of the residents said they did call us and we spoke to some of the residents but um think about think about the um the kind of held hostage in the way that they're waiting for utilities where um their homes are already there so maybe if it's there's something that you know I know that this Council and this mayor is going to do what we can to uh try and get that done that some of our residents came up with the building and overbuilding but one of the things we have to do is uh we have to look out for the residents that are here so if there's some we could do I would just ask to get back to them and and let us know uh what can be done yeah councilman um you know it's a shame they actually left actually I was going to wait till afterwards and get all their details and then we were going to pull the agreements with the engineer so yes we are definitely going to look into it thank you thank you Cuz one one of the things sitting sitting um in many meetings many years uh past past mayors would uh have what the he would call uh a task force and uh when you had an issue like this like we had the BFI we all came together a mayor Rose to the occasion uh and everything that I've been up here with um mayor tamboro and also mayor Delina so when there's a there's a need for a residence um these our Mayors are definitely in the past are definitely doing the right thing for all our residents and i would support that um as this part of part of this team up here that we need to do this um each and every time and whatever we can do uh as some of residents were happy with the $5 million budget and some were unhappy but as our vice council president explained it um we were going to let $5 million get away um and and that wasn't going to help our children was going to help the building so I just I thank you legal counsel for that I just want to uh run police awareness I attended a a scam presentation at the rec center there was also one at the senior that's available uh detective Robert Bennett uh did a great presentation our mayor did a introduction to it and the residents that were there that's something that it's on the website for the PO in our Police Department website and something our resident should definitely look into if you missed the presentations and I just wanted to thank our police department and detective Bennett for doing a great job also um this past Saturday was R they had RAB Clinic I want to thank the clerk's office and I want to thank the DPW the the Board of Health everybody that was part of that direct Center and I just want to say that's another service that we did for our community and and make sure that we get rabes and license and everything like that so thank you um I had a question on County Bridge inspections and County repairs um council president if if you could get a maybe um Mark could look into when the county is going to inspect our bridges uh in our town and and if there's any repairs that are going to be up and coming for 2024 um also the County Paving they usually give you a list um on when uh what streets they're going to PVE so if that's something that I would ask for yesterday I received a nixel about a missing person um and I just wanted to point this out next month April is Autism Awareness Month and I think it's very very good um to reach out maybe our Police Department could um make families if they can be in contact with families schools um nursing homes assistant livings there's there's programs out there and there's also different types of uh personal uh they have a personal GPS trackers there's there's a program called like Angel sense and if our Police Department could reach out uh maybe to assistant livings nursing homes and make them aware and there are there are like I said trackers that they can they can put for elderly and for people with special needs autism and it's um it's it's a big thing in in our schools and and our community I just wanted to point it out that next month is is uh April is the Autism Awareness uh DPW I I I can't thank those guys enough um I send a few pictures in along with Allen's help and DPW they fixed the wall on Tindale and and ferad um something that we didn't have to go out to bid for it's it's something that uh wall was built years ago and they they weren't able to get the exact color blocks or whatever but they did the job and they did the job well and this was something that was done in house so I just want to thank you know the administration and also the workers that got it done um we uh we received an email from a resident and and I said this last last meeting um when someone sends us an email I'm not really sure if it ever gets answered and and I don't want to I don't want to answer you know um each and every one email it's addressed to the mayor and it's also addressed to the councel but it was it was an email that was um someone came to the public and made us made a comment and um private concern and everybody seemed like we were all talking at a turn and we're all attacking a resident when they come to the microphone when a resident comes to the microphone I respect the resident regardless of what the comment is what it's nothing political it it's a concern they took the time to come here we have to take the time to listen and that's how I feel and if I don't know if this answer this ever got answered this email but and it also o said something about us being professional to each other uh we we try I try that I know a mayor does and I know our Council does at all time at all times we we try our best but sometimes you let political things get in the way and it's not about politics it's about Monroe and that's what that's what I feel and that's what we need to do move move forward is just say it's not politics it's about Monroe we're not we're not going to agree on every single topic and every single vote however I just like to know if someone could tell me if they answered an email and that's all I'm asking for last time our our our Council said oh it's under the Sunshine Law well I understand that but we receive our packets and we receive emails um that are more so we have to be careful when we say the Sunshine Law and that's why I never answer it and I try when I send an email I send it to certain people I don't send it to every single person on a council but um I don't know if this if did this get answered do you know council president I have no notion of I have some familiarity I read every email I get you want me to read it I have the email see no reason to read someone's personal email that went to the well she sent it to the mayor and the councel we all received it but I don't know if it ever got answered can I have him read it I'm not sure I'm not sure uh councilman how about we we get the email and find out amongst who the individuals if someone had responded to it I I don't think it would be productive to go read the email in case that there's other requests in there that were more of a personal nature okay so more of a protection of the resident I just I I just want to know if when we send emails out we we should just we should just know if if somebody's sending out email I'm not aware if it's like from BFI where wherever wherever it whoever it is this topic I don't know if this this resent received a response that's all I'm asking and Allan I don't know if if he can keep track of that and send it to us because I don't know if they if we got response to this I ask every time about painting the water tower somebody sent me an email and I sent it to Allan and I sent it to Joe and then Joe responded and he copied me that because I sent it to Joe also I'm asking for if somebody sends an email to the mayor and councel I have no idea if it got answered I would like the email I would like to follow our attorney's advice not read the email into the record we can pass it among ourselves we can verify whether or not it was answered yeah I think that would be easier in general if Administration gets an email the administration will respond to it individual council members can also respond if they they were addressed in it um the only thing I think was mentioned is if it becomes a dialogue amongst council members on that email about stuff that could violate the open public meetings act if you start discussing what we should or shouldn't do so Administration I can't think of an example where Administration doesn't respond and council members are always welcome to respond directly themselves as individuals if they yes because on occasion I have sent to Administration was this email answered and on those occasions councilman uh when you've asked me if if the Administration has responded I'm always able to let you know if that's happening right I usually ask Allan and that but this one I don't know if anybody answered am I on there I don't know if I'm on there okay all right um also a resident came monor Township Board ofed um he he made an announcements tomorrow night's the hearing uh budget uh for 2024 and um you know it's important that we go we attend and and ask questions and and concerns that's that's the time and also vote as we all know in the past you know one out of five people vote but five out of five complain so now's your time so go speak up and and vote and and make your vote count so that that's that's that's what's important tomorrow night 6:30 at the high school and the last thing Schoolhouse Road has a a a water leak for about few months um in front of the firehouse I sent an email uh before the snow and the ice dpw's putting salt on it do we have a projection on when that's going to get fixed at water leak right and we we discussed this um so it's not in the road it's it's sort of on the curb so it runs down the curb um Joe I know you ordered a part we were waiting on a specific part to be able to fix that water line can you give us a estimate on when that part will be available to be able to fix it but it doesn't generally go in the road it goes down uh the right away uh the curb yes councilman we uh ordered the because there's a couple of different uh things that that we noticed when we were investigating that leak so we had to order a number of different parts to take into account uh every situation that could potentially occur I I know that 75% of the parts have arrived uh when the other 25% are here we will uh we will go ahead and make the repairs is there is there a meter is like is anybody paying for that wasted water that's going down the road uh at this particular point I believe that it is actually before the meter before the meter yeah so technically we're paying then yeah it's unaccounted for water in the utility budget yes all right thank you thank you uh before I um just uh very Bri quickly I wanted to make a comment uh before I ask our Council vice president for his to let you know that in April if you walked your bulletin from the library there is a program being put on by the library in cooperation with the League of Women Voters that says how your government works over the last few months and in conversations we have heard from many people that they are not sure of this process locally or that process locally and so it will be a good program I I and I know it is in April that it is occurring and additionally Civics education is now required for our students in school so I'm hoping that we begin to see students taking physics showing up for Council meetings uh again an opportunity to learn how our government works I'm going to ask our Council vice president please for his comments thank you um first comment is uh I've read that uh uh the recck department is now taking applications for people that want to be involved with different sports and things uh so if you have any of the kids with baseball softball soccer whatever it may be uh Now's the Time get the word out if they want to sign up Mo I know most of the kids are already signed up in their repeaters but uh sometimes uh there's people out there that might have interest now would be a great time um want to congratulate our our boys hockey team which won the middle sex County Championship I believe for the first time ever I think that's pretty impressive we don't even have a hockey rank and they went out there and they practiced and they still won the championship so that shows shows how good they are um also an individual accomplishment one of our girls basketball players uh haly catrell scored her 1,000th point this year which is also pretty big accomplishment for her um I want to talk about maybe about 15 years ago we had a a young fell that lived in town uh by the name of Danny Brooks Danny uh played basketball for the Monro high school team and his family lived in town and uh after his junior year he transferred over to St Joe's turns out he was a pretty good player he also scored a th000 points uh he played with some of the really good players uh uh Quenton toosi Carl Anthony towns who happens to still be in the NBA and St Joe's went on and had a really really good couple of years with him they won a couple of tournaments and things of that nature after he graduated and moved on Danny uh uh ultimately wound up as an assistant coach over Colonia High School uh where he he was an assistant with their basketball team I I think in addition to being uh a teacher of some sort I didn't quite follow the whole thing but anyhow uh unfortunately uh Danny passed away at the age of 30 so I was very sad but um his family no longer lives in town they moved to North Carolina but I want him to know that he's remembered so uh rest in peace Danny Brooks um we had uh we had a couple snowstorms this month I I want to thank our DP that I thought came out and did a great job getting the D see M all messed up tonight the DPW who came out and did a great job uh clearing the snow um another thing I noticed uh the applications for the senior tax freeze are scheduled to come out soon so keep an eye on your mail and uh if you don't get it you think you might be eligible that's another thing that you should look out for cuz that'll save you some tax dollars over the over the long run um I also uh had the uh luxury as Rupa said of going to the uh the Leonid Foundation uh commemoration of the uh two-year anniversary of the Ukrainian war and um it was both a happy and a sad event I mean we were celebrating the fact that these people were there to help them but two years in and uh Ukraine is still trying to fight of Putin these people Anna and Edward they provide aid for these people they send aid over to people that that can that need it there they' they've helped some of the families move out of there that were In Harm's Way so in my book these are these are real heroes and and they're people that live right here in Monroe so if you can do anything to help them out it's Leonid Leo nid foundation and talking about heroes uh another said passing this month nothing to do with Monroe was Alexi Nel uh who in my book was a true hero one of the people that stood up to to Putin and uh he paid for it with his life so uh it's all I got to say tonight thank you at this point Mr Mayor do you honor us with a report please once again uh Madame President I appreciate the opportunity to provide some commentary my report to uh to you um just two items on the agenda I wanted to highlight and obviously I'm very pleased um I thank the council for supporting uh the two ordinances in particular the one uh for the Barnes property The Schoolhouse Road property the procuring the $2.3 million uh Grant from the state as well as the 2 million from the county uh to help preserve that um that tract of land um OB obviously one of the larger issues that we all hear is about preserving open space uh we try to be aggressive in that regards and it also it's in support of the master plan so it's it's a it's a good purchase um and obviously to have um 34 acre property um in perpetuity kept open space that's certainly the um the goal uh secondly pleased that our application for the County Housing Community Development grant for the funds for the park improvements and the Community Gardens was certainly uh approved as you know we applied for the njde Acres Jake law playground Grant application and the location was identified through our master plan yet again so it's again I appreciate that we move forward um some of the events uh in the past month or so um that uh I like to provide some comment comments um it was mentioned before about the uh the police Outreach the continuing police Outreach regarding scams uh crime Trends and just how to keep yourself safe um some of the council members were there was very well attended both at the rec center the community center in the northern part of the town as well as our senior center and it's just so important to reinforce and we will continue this effort um and it's my understanding the next one that we're going to have we're going to record we have recorded um some of these uh presentations in the past but obviously technology information gets updated so the next one we're going to record to make sure we certainly uh uh post it but it's that reinforcement and um I'm going to tell a story I tell the story and I'm sure people have heard it before I'm going to keep it short about just the reinforcement on how to keep yourself safe in regards in particular to phone scams my mom a couple two years ago I was at her house and we were talking and she says oh how's the mayor thing going I'm like hey Mom I said I'm going out with the police talk about uh you know scams for seniors and uh how to keep yourself safe and my mom was like oh I know I know I don't answer the phone if I don't know I don't know the caller ID like my good M she goes yeah they had something like that here she lives in Woodbridge you know they had something in Woodbridge she goes oh don't worry I don't I don't I don't pick up the phone well month or two later uh phone is buzzing and it's a call that she doesn't recognize but it was from the state of Maryland we have family members in Maryland moment of weakness my mom answers the phone well lo and behold it's her grandson calling he's got into a horrific car accident don't tell his dad um and could you please you know give me some money just pulling at the heartstrings of a 91 year-old woman she didn't have the means to give anything over the over the phone so the grandson said could you please go to the bank and get cash and don't tell anybody so my mom using a walker doesn't call any of her sons live live live close enough around she gets a neighbor to take her to the bank she withdraws $99,000 in cash she comes back to the house and calls the phone number of the lawyer that she spoke to and the lawyer was going to call a courier about an hour later a courier shows up at the door my mom hands over $99,000 in cash and that's the end of it so I will continue telling this story because the information that our police this Outreach that they are doing is so very important it's a team effort truly and just when you think in that moment of weakness that you know yeah it won't happen to me well maybe it might not but maybe a relative or a neighbor so what the police are doing I commend them on that it is a great presentation it is vital that we pay attention and I have to um say that I will continue to tell that story um speaking of the police uh this week we we will be going from 10 flock cameras to 20 flock cameras with an increase uh flock cameras are license plate readers uh that are strategically uh placed throughout the town as well as on the police cars to identify you know uh it reads the license plates and it will identify potential cars that are coming into Monroe for potential nefarious purposes and I tell the story about well you know if a car with stolen plates or a stolen car comes into Monroe Township they're not coming as see Grandma and Grandpa they're coming in for nefarious purposes so we're trying to stay ahead of the curve and we have been successful and there has been AR rest directly related to the installation of these flock cameras so it's something that we will continue to invest into our police uh and crime prevention I assure you um last month the um New Jersey D announced another Eagle was born in Monro Township um now this is they report on 2023 so the nest was first discovered in 2017 uh in Monroe one Eagle egg uh began to incubate in the Upper Millstone Nest on January 28th uh 2023 and the Egg hatched on March 10th 2023 so happy birthday little Eagle um we are hoping to see a repeat in this um potentially again this week so so again it's just like to tell a bird story once in a while um councilman Markel talked about uh read Across America uh I had the honor and the privilege to attend uh a class fourth grade class in Woodland Elementary School uh I read a book on um Penny uh the fourth little pig my friends I always grew up thinking there were three little pigs this book there is a fourth one who was an engineer who comes and he helps the three other little pigs rebuild so uh I I you know I if I maybe at the next meeting I I apologize I should have had this information with me My Librarian wife is going to be very upset that I didn't have this info but if you're interested I'm going to provide the uh the info next week and you can go to our local library it's a great read and it'll take you about 10 minutes um the uh governor of New Jersey uh presented his budget address um this past week um paid attention obviously for for wanting to want to hear certain words um you know it it sets the tone it's not the actual dollars and the cents that's going to be worked on over the next couple months but you want to hear some of the themes you want to hear some of the um um the the tone and and for me obviously any type of State funding that can come to the municipality is important uh but I was very pleased to hear Money about uh uh going to the um anchor program the potential for that but more importantly um uh the senior freeze um and again this is a critical tax relief program for our residents uh certainly keep an eye on it yourselves we will monitor it closely as well uh we get very aggressive and ensuring that the information gets out through our website and as well as some of our Publications uh any help that is needed by any of the residents to apply for these uh certainly will be um uh available to you at our library and Senior Center as well as our tax office here as well just finishing up it's uh we are in March some of the items uh some of the um events coming up is the makerfest at our library on March 16th 11 to4 uh March 23rd will be our always our fun egg hunt contest at the soccer complex on Prospect Plains Road certainly weather permitting at 10:00 a.m. and there I after Sunday's weather do I dare say spring is in the air oh I'm feeling confident I went for a bike ride my one my only my second ride this year because the weather's just been so crummy um driving riding my bike uh bicycle through uh Veterans Park on Avenue K it was packed it was packed so my first run run through it was packed the second run through was even more because there was an ice cream truck there and the line was 10 Deep so I am going to say say spring is in the air let's hopefully it stays that way and again you know to finish on a note like that Happy Spring Madame President thank you again oh it is always my pleasure sir always my pleasure we will now go to our public comment section five minutes per speakers and I need a motion to open the public comment section please is everyone paying attention motion thank you so much may I have a second second thank you all in fav favor any opposed nay come to the microphone give us your name and address and remember there is a five minute time limit sir good evening good evening Joe atanasio 21 Wellington Place in green Roy uh last month I came to the council and I had a concern about what they call engine braking which is the practice of the truck drivers using a device which slows down their engine and causes a major Rumble to the people on Prospect Plains Road half acre and also pinville Road I explained it and I wanted to know if it was possible to put additional signage around town the next day I sent an email to all of the members of council and I'd like to take the opportunity tonight to thank councilman deiro sure for answering my email and instructing me to also copy Allan Weinberg on it and I want to thank Allan for his list of where the signs are and also entertaining my request on where the signs should be and because of Charlie efforts and Allan and Kevin mcgaan and the DPW the signs are now in place on Prospect Plains Road on millroad and hopefully the truck drivers will see these signs and adhere to the ordinance that was put into effect in 2004 and if they don't I trust that our magnificent police department will start issuing summonses here because this is nerve-wracking when you hear these guys going down the road and they pull that emergency the uh engine breakup the walls of your house actually Shake okay and again thank you guys and I hope the uh the truck drivers do adhere to it and on just one note mayor on the on the camera thing a few about maybe when it was put into place my wife was caught speeding and it was a picture was taken of her plate and she was issued a summons and she came home and presented me with the summons and she goes this is for you what do you mean unfortunately what happened was once the plate was taken it populated the summons with my name because the car is in my name smart woman so I went to the police department with it and I met with the officer and he apologized and we became kind of friends and I know that I and please bear me out on this if I had gone to court with that it probably would have gotten thrown out but in my heart I felt these guys are going through enough okay so I said we just go into the place and change the ticket to my my wife's name cuz I was afraid the points were going on my license she's she was speeding I wasn't speeding so and you know we shook hands and we issued my we both issued my wife the summons which we paid because she was speeding she knew it so I just want to note that that might have been a problem at the time it's probably been resolved okay but I'm kind of happy it happened because maybe it was a glitch in the system that's now been resolved thank you folks you're most welcome next person please yeah just Council oh yeah go ahead yes sir I I do want to just put on the record that the the flock cameras do not record speed however yeah but however uh if if a if a camera is on a car uh police car that's following a car that's speeding they will take the picture to capture capture the moment but but the cam don't don't be afraid if you see the camera you know and I'm not giving you permission to speed past that camera but it it doesn't doesn't it doesn't record uh speed thank you sir your name and address for our record please hello Colleen Pace 39a John Paul Jones Drive Concordia uh I know this is the five minutes is limited to agenda items only not in this portion that was for the agenda session have another issue you need to disc I'd like to know the plan for valah home which is housing the building project for the veterans veterans housing project on cranberry Halfacre Road uh the plan is that a private property building is that a privately owned building number one uh is it for exclusive for veterans and if not why not the sign is advertised veterans Valor home so the whole Community thinks right now only veterans are going into that building uh I believe there's 70 plus units how many are for veterans and what Assurance only veterans will go in there and no other people sure Mr wber can we get an assurance on that give you all your answers be happy to answer and also if you know I'm also happy to speak either after the meeting or we've been out speaking in different communities and updating people on this project so just to give you the quick overview if I can okay because there's a lot of rumors going around in the communities a lot of Buzz and I want to hear it from a horse's mouth not that I'm calling you a horse no birthday we do have a lot we do have a lot of questions I'm going to get a lot for that tomorrow okay um so so it's a it's a great it's a great question so as I mentioned earlier there's a requirement uh for a certain amount of affordable housing within the township and as I mentioned um when you see some of these other Dev El ments whether they be over by Mount Mills and spots with English toown Road or you're seeing them down by Applegarth Road um you know over by Route 33 you know those those are where folks have come in and built four market rate units to build the one affordable unit which is part of that settlement we have gone out of our way and this predates me the previous mayor mayor tamboro we had some of our own money to try and build affordable housing um affordable housing is very different than section 8 housing and other things that people might be familiar with um in more of like a city or Urban environment affordable housing is more like Workforce housing and it really ranges and I actually have the income limits here from last year because I always keep them with me um so so for a two like a two-bedroom I'm going to keep going so I'll try and be as quick as I can for a two-bedroom unit um there's three levels moderate low and very low and there's a certain amount of units for each category for the moderate you can make up to 91,000 this is last year so it'll be adjusted for this year 57,000 to meet the low category and 34,000 to the very low category so these are many of these people could or may still be working they could be retired they could be on on that situation so what the council did at that point is we were going to build actually 37 units and we got as part of our court judgment um the ability to build 37 units for veterans only and we put the money in to be able to do that we were able to get uh additional um tax credits through the housing and mortgage Finance Agency to build an additional 43 units and those units are are Veterans Preference and what I'm going to explain is every unit in there is going to be a veteran unless we get to and when I say we there's a third party that operates it that is you know a housing provider they've done a very similar program in another part of the state down by Clayton um and our goal is to make sure everybody in there is a veteran and certainly the 37 if no one applies um then they would have to consider other folks um who are also citizens but only if no veterans apply past 37 hopefully we can get it completely full with 80 veterans but the only scenario where there wouldn't be a veteran in there is if no veterans choose to apply to location they are guaranteed the first 37 and then the preference on the next 43 and it's our goal to uh fill it up through this nonprofit with veterans now all the other affordable housing that you see around town whether it be at stradford um whether it's in m mil Lake uh Monroe Manor that's not designated for veterans almost all the affordable housing that you see in the state is not designated for veterans so this is very unique in trying to prioritize and make sure that veterans can get into this and they will absolutely have the right to go in first and before everyone else um so we're pretty excited about it um when mayor tamboro did it and mayor Delina did it this is about obviously recognizing um you know what the veterans have done for our country and that they should have the priority to be able to use utilize these facilities fine if if you just quickly if you don't get enough vets okay however you advertise the VA or whatever if you don't who can that go out to so I if we leave it empty hypothetically then the develop you know then we'd have to build more housing um if you don't fill up all 80 units ultimately you you know you wouldn't you wouldn't in general leave them empty um otherwise you wouldn't get the the credits and I know this sounds sounds a little difficult but every time you build one of these all affordable housing units and we build them ourselves with affordable housing trust fund money that is paid for as 2 and a half% contributions when people build stuff um when we build those there's no 4:1 ratio it's just the one so you're really saving 320 market rate units you heard comments earlier about the school by building these 80s without that 4:1 ratio so the priority will be to Veterans we'll need everyone's help um to help you know solicit veterans um and their families um as well be aggressive and we will be aggressive and we can use everyone's uh help in doing that I'm happy to come out and speak to groups um we've done it at different veterans groups all throughout the different uh communities be on a future agenda this this topic of you know the housing for an agenda to come up or well um I I don't know if it'll be specifically on an agenda but now that the project is about 40% complete you're going to see in the spring and the summer the Outreach because if it's more than a year away they don't really do too much marketing until it's a little bit closer to opening up so you'll start to see that Outreach but we're available anytime I mean you can always come to a council meeting and always bring it up at the end but if you want to grab my card at the end or Kevin Macwan or Tanya if you want to just raise your hand down the end there um she works on affordable housing we we can come out and speak to you in any form we can sit in this room without a council meeting and answer questions and we're going to work with all the veterans groups at all the different communities and posts to try and find people from and not just Monroe it could be from all the different happy to do it okay thank you great question thank Youk thank you anyone else wishing to address the council oh you're second and you are third I had asked Dr pkos to wait this woman please sir thank you president prosup 33 did not d uh I would like to thank V harber Christopher wein and Mark rosich okay we have about 15 Acres of open space behind my house okay we have about 60 houses 15 to 20 acres and it is a water retention so they came up cleaned the things removed the trees and made it very beautiful so we thank for them taking care of it now the birds can fly in the turtles can move in so it is very friendly so I thank and also when we were coming out of our community the stop sign I you know I said you know complained about it the trees are blocking they came and cleaned up so uh thank you very much for follow up then the next one is I did attend the uh Community awareness which was organized by our Police Department on February 22nd at senior center it was 1 and half hour presentation practical presentation with examples and one of the offic sir has videotaped it so I called Police Department tomorrow today and they are editing that video and um tomorrow I had to follow up they told me to call tomorrow so it will be um available for the public and I want request public to hear that take a time every day watch 15 minutes because it's going to be 1 and a half hour but the presentation is very practical example so I do appreciate uh public to do that and I thank mayor and Council and the police department for this outreach program and lastly snow was there our you know public works department did the excellent job so thank you very much thank you thank you ma'am yes please I Lucio panel 128 Plaza I I neglected to ask this before the resolution 086a what was the corrective action needed Alan sorry if I could yeah so the the audit was clean but it was a little bit later than planned um so we should have finished it by the end of the year and we're we were a month or too late so the corrective action plan is to just do it a little bit quicker next year it's the only thing that's the only thing I questioning before why is this the only thing all right well anyone else waiting to address us please your name and address for our records Jenny ludus Jamesburg I want to thank mayor and councel for all the wonderful programs and events and all the great services that you provide for your residents I'm lucky enough to come and participate in all your great events that you do and programs and I want to commend you on what a great job that you do for the residents of Monroe thank you thank you anyone else wishing to address the council seeing and hearing none I would like to entertain a motion to close the public comment section please motion thank you may I have a second on that hello second thank you so much all in favor I anyone opposed may I have a motion to adjourn motion may I have a second thank you we are adjourned the time is 8:50 we are adjourned thank you very much --------- good evening Michael good evening ladies and gentlemen welcome to the council meeting uh would everyone please rise to honor our flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands Nation indivisible liy and justice for all thank you chick needs new Wheels okay the March 4th combined agenda and regular meeting of the Monroe Township council is hereby call to order roll call please Council C pres okay councilman Charles deiro here councilman Michael marel here councilwoman Rupa P seagull here Council vice president Terence vanzora here thank you would the 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 board 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 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 Proclamation it is save the soil day is March 21st 2024 at this time I would last ask the honorable mayor stepen Delina to please go to the podium good evening everyone I'm here for the read Proclamation wait a minute there's this is a mistake I thought this was for George Reed I got all excited for a George Reed Proclamation Patty obviously you'll get your due but you know what I do I do want to say something about Patty's better half in life Mr George Reed 31 years of working for Monroe Township and you know at least my time being involved on the council and now as mayor George I don't think you ever were really truly publicly publicly recognized for your service and even after you retired you still were around so please allow me to and everyone else here just to give George Reid a hearty congratulations for what you did got you Mr Reed good one good one patty Reed again you know it's as I I talk about my time involved in the town and there's certain individuals who who work for the town you you get really close with professionally but also on a on a friendly basis and Patty Reid was the epitome of that my obviously my time on the council vice president President Sharon the deis with you and now my time as mayor um from my perspective Patty I got to see the inner workings of not only what you do for this town but also out and about as mayor to see your impact on the many many citizens of this town and you know there's that unicorn right once in a while and you are truly that Monroe Township unicorn truly um obviously your relationship with your co-worker not only here in town hall all the other council members but again that focus on the citizens of Monroe Township um that friendly voice on the phone that email um all of those citizens who would pop up into your office how you handled them was truly a Class Act and your retirement obviously is going to be a very difficult time time for all of us but also a time to reflect on that service a reflection of that friendship that we all made and Patty your co-workers here your family that good feeling that we get when we think of Patty Reid I hope that you can think of us in that high level that we all hold you my friends I'd like to read this proclamation to you and then we're going to call Patty up for a little hug and kiss session pictures and then for us to wax poetically about how how important your professionalism was to Monroe Township but again more importantly your friendship congratulations on your retirement Patty Patricia e Reed with great appreciation of your 27 years of dedication and commitment thank you for going above and beyond serving the citizens of the township of Monroe wishing you the best on your new adventure with much respect and gratitude congratulations the proud mayor of Monroe Township Steven Delina and the proud Township council members of this great town February 1st 2024 your official date Patty Reid come on up [Applause] baby all yours okay my family has bets on how how much I could get through this I know I I know all of you are betting on me I love to think you're all here for the safe soil Proclamation but I'm going to keep that in the back of my head to try to help me get through this cuz I'm a big mush if you know me that's I'm a mush so it's going to happen I already hear it in my voice I'm done okay so I just wanted to thank the mayor and the council for recognizing my 27 years here with Monroe Township I I was very hesitant in taking the clerk's role I didn't I didn't know if I wanted to I think Allan was present in the room mayor tamburo called me in and he said what's the matter I just told him how I was feeling you know I didn't know if I wanted to take on the role I I didn't you know I didn't know what was how it was going to pan out um and he just sat me down and he said listen trust me trust me I will never let you fall and I will always have your back and he was true to his word till his last day and I have to say that mayor Delina has also taken on that same that same role the mayor as well as all of the council members I think I've worked with mayor Delina about 12 years 12 years or so I kind of loved watching his progression from Council council president and into the mayor's seat and it was his path his path and everything everyone has continued between the mayor of the council and the administration to give me and my office unwavering support and along with the administration I couldn't have done my job without all of you and I I don't know if everybody knows but the every municipal office in the township Works under the mayor and administration but my office Works under the council the council is our boss so so to think every two years your boss or bosses can change due to an election it's true it happens it it happened through the 25 of my 27 years in the clerk's office and I worked with so many people so many amazing council members that I have um grown very good professional and personal relationships with and I am grateful for each and every one of you I know I leave here with a full heart I've worked together with all of you and your confidence and your unwavering support made my job easier because I knew I had the support system behind me to my office Christine Tanya and Lorena I know I leave the office in more than capable hands of all of them with Christine as the clerk it was my honor to have worked with all of you and always remember when it gets tough what do we do Tanya We rise above rise above they're all like oh cut it out already I'm like rise above rise above just smile and just keep on going to my Monroe Family my department heads my the employees and the professionals the clerk's office is fortunate to work with every office within the municipal umbrella whether it's for purchasing elections permits meetings anything that they need to get done to get onto the meeting they come to us we work well with every single Department I've never had any worries of of our relationships I leave here with so many lifelong friendships you are my friends I love and respect each and every one of you to my family George to my family George my husband who retired eight years ago on the same day that I retired last month was going to talk about how he's sore that he never got one of these but the mayor already handled that same same we're still on the same he pushed me to retire so watch what you wish for cu now I'm home I'm not late for dinner anymore I'm there um yep his vacation is over he better find a hobby um to my sons Christopher and Tyler you are my purpose I love you and to my brothers and sisters that are here with me today I thank you each and every one of you for your love and support and and always being there for me as my sounding board uh as my confidants anything that we ever need we know we always have each other's back it's no different from any other family my work family and my blood family last but not least to the residents of monreal Township I've always tried to greet everyone with a smile and kindness and I've always received the same in return no matter what the issue no matter what the you know even if it was a political issue I always had a very well working relationship with everybody no matter what no matter who they were or what they were there for and I thank you for that opportunity to help and be there for each and every one of you for the last 27 years this is not goodbye I live here I raised my family here Monro is in my blood I will see you soon and thank you for this honor thank you thank you P Mr Weinberg before I ask for the council comments sure I know you wanted to say something thank you council president I'll be very brief because I certainly don't want to go before the the the council um it's it's obviously been uh full seven years of us uh working hand inand on a daily basis Patty is the consumate professional uh one of the fairest and most decent people that I know um always great to give terrific advice uh super funny and at times you know this job can be a little stressful um and so you really need people that you can bounce ideas off of and really rely on and uh there really is no one uh no one better until Christine comes along now um who can do this job as clerk um and uh I learned a lot from her and I will appreciate our friendship and all that you did for me uh to help me become a better administrator and advice so wish you nothing but the best in your retirement thank you well Patty tonight I would like to remind you and tell you again what I've told you privately it has been a sheer pleasure to work with you and I know you will enjoy your retirement I wish to know if George still is cooking I find this intriguing the other day I'm like what's changed I'm I'm cooking now and I don't like it you see knew that but on a serious note the clerk's office requires a high degree of professionalism it requires the ability to work with disperate groups of people on a regular basis Patty always exemplified those words plus she had a level of respect for the staff with which whom she worked that not everyone has she valued them their contributions to the work that needed to be done and she lobbied for them when she thought perhaps not everyone was seeing the value of each and every member of her staff that is a very special behavior and I was always grateful for it because it reminded me of how good you were at your job and what you did was train the people with whom you worked and soort do it that they had opportunities to learn more about the work they did again that does not always occur and that's a tribute to you that that occurred I do remember being stopped and you saying council president I need to be sure you understand that this is the work that so and so does and she shouldn't get left behind that's important and not everyone who's in charge remembers that about the people with whom they work you became my friend I became yours and yet that never interfered with having a professional work working relationship those things are very important with that said I am going to move through the council Mr vanzora Council vice president you wish to go next which you will yes sure of course for Patty why not um let me say this um in all your years I I've lived in the town 27 years I've only been on the council three and before that I was the planning board but you've been the consumate professional you've done your job you've done it well I don't think people realize how difficult that job could be particularly when it gets to be around election time and making sure that everything is done properly so we have Fair elections and you and I know that if there was anything wrong she would hear about it you know it's very similar to our police the police go out there they do a great job and and you know they keep us safe you don't hear about them because they're doing a good job but if you mess up that's when you hear about it and you haven't messed up so for all the amount of time you put in to not mess up is quite remarkable and then I also look at it this way and you said it yourself you treat people nicely that might be the biggest tribute I could give you because in all the stuff that we do all the people that we deal with there's people you're going to that are nicer to you and there's people that are not as nice to you but when you can treat them nicely and treat them fairly and with respect that is the ultimate goal and that's what makes you the person that you are so I just want to thank you for all that you've done all this time thank you thank you councilman councilwoman seagel please oh Patty so Patty I don't even know if you remember when we first met do you remember when we first met you probably don't so I was that person that came in panicking cuz I had to fill out raffle licenses um gaming commission changed all the rules my entire PTA was scared of filling out the Raffles and I remember Scott from the gaming commission said go find the clerk's office and I said where is the clerk's office I have no idea so um I find the clerk's office find Patty I come in for those who know me I always have lists upon list of questions I came in with an enormous list of questions and she sat with me and went through every question you didn't push me out the door you said come back to me when you get to filling out the next piece of the process and you the one promise you said was please pass this along to the other ptas so that they don't all come to me with these questions which I did I had a whole little procedure manual that I passed down at least in our PTA so when I think of you I think of patience and willingness you didn't know me I came in with this question you sat there with me and spent that T time until I felt comfortable when I came on to the council you did the same thing I walked into your office you sat me down and you worked with me you showed me the agendas you showed me maps you showed me all kinds of stuff but you sat there with me so when I look at you I see patience and willingness and I know you give that back to our community too with every resident who comes into that office so I wish you well thank you for your 27 years um I look forward to maybe going for a walk and having some coffee with you one day soon but enjoy your retirement very welld deserved thank you for everything councilman marqu Mrs Mrs Reed um I really don't like you very much actually um I've been I've known you probably the shortest out of anybody on this up here um and I want to thank you for putting up with me for the last two years I've had some uh questions that you answered um multiple times from me as you know um and I do appreciate it and I hope you're not retiring because of me which you guaranteed me you weren't but I've employed um tons of people over the 40 years I was in business and um there are very few people that I've employed that can match up to what you've done here here and the job you've done in this town there's not much more I can say you know how I feel about you I appreciate it thank you so much now Ziro please Patty what can I say growing up in Jamesburg Reed was uh was like McDonald's tell the name the name Reed and a new George and his F and his family Charlie and everybody and then Patty came along and and I then I said who's this Patty Reid who's this Patty Reid and and we and we got to uh to see who Patty Reid was and we watch you from day one all the way to now and it's um the only thing I could say is you never changed I've never heard a bad word through all the years I've been here and that's saying a lot because everybody that's experienced working with you in every position that you were here as our mayor said before and our council president and said you dealt with every situation and you and you treated everybody more fair Square from the county the state from the township with everybody and my personal um learning experience is councilman Markle just said I dealt with we dealt with a lot and you was always there for me and you was always there for the mayor council Administration can't thank you enough and hopefully your retirement will be just as well as your your years here in mono stay well thank you before we take a one minute break with pictures Christine has asked if she can take the mic I'll keep it short and sweet but Patty um on behalf of me and Tanya and Lorena um I just we just want to thank you for your leadership you are a wonderful boss um true mentor and and friend and I just want to thank you for believing in in all of us um you know you always said you were only as good as your team um and you truly built us up um and we never wanted to let you down so I hope that I make you proud as the new Township Clerk and I thank you very much for everything that you have given to the office we love you we'll miss you and don't be a stranger I love you too you're taking the break who's taking pictures right we're going to take about two no no more than five minute break folks to take some pictures please I'm sure someone always wants their camera out if I'm wrong and then we will reconvene okay okay okay [Laughter] take gender meeting is called to order again thank you all what time would we call 7 o'cl to item six on our agenda the ordinance for second reading I will ask the clerk to please read them ordinance 02 20243 an ordinance of the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey to authorize a conservation restriction agreement for Real Property known and designated as tax block 60 L 28.4 and 28.4 Q form also known as 330 Schoolhouse Road on the official tax map of of the township of Monroe for open space ordinance 02 20244 Bond ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey appropriating 2,900,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 2,396 640 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof ordinance 02 2024 05 Bond ordinance providing for improvements to Applegarth School in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey pursuant to a shared services agreement with the Township Board of Education appropriating 5 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of 4,761 n00 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof ordinance 02 20246 ordinance appropriating 4 million 300,000 2,300,000 of which is from a state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Grant and 2 million of which is from the middle sex County open space Recreation and farmlands and historic preservation trust fund grant for the acquisition of property for use as open space in and by the Town Township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey thank you item seven call the council's attention to the resolutions for consideration under the consent to agenda at the March 4th 2024 regular meeting it's R3 2024-25 through R3 2024-the State now yes thank you council president you any resolutions that any council person wishes removed from the consent agenda that information should be shared now I'm sorry yes council president I have one R3 202 24-8 okay that's it that's it any other council members have a resolution they would like remove from the consent agenda thank you we'll move to the public comment section of our agenda remember this is limited to agenda items only and speakers are limited to five 5 minutes may I have a motion to open the public comment section please thank you may I have a second second all in favor I any opposed public comment section is open please come to the mic and give us your name and address for our records George gunman 5 killer court on R um on the consent agenda the first item we can't hear you George uh lights on we need a course in microphones I'm convinced I do I do we all do I'm sure kind okay um the first item 076 i' like to know what the the value of that item is estimated at allocation Mr Weber on on 076 the uh the Ada uh sorry the Housing and Community Development citizens advisory committee that's a Grant application for $166,000 that flows through the Community Development block grun block grant through the county and uh certain municipalities and we can apply and designate it for a certain project so it's 166,000 for the for the grant that we're applying for okay um continuing on to item 097 on page three which is um temporary budget Appropriations how much are we talking about I'll have to um give me one second to pull up the numbers but ultimately what we're doing here is putting in place the money to allow us to be able to uh get through May at which point um hopefully we would be in the position to pass a budget so I'll just give me one second to pull up that exact number okay this also includes Debt Service payments and other contractual obligations what while you're doing that let me skip ahead to 099 uh which is um contract um for General Engineering Services um for um the water tank uh how much is that sure um and I'll probably have Joe answer that question on your previous question if I could go back to it real quick president so I think the total actually I know the total amount is $54 million that would get us to that point that includes both um the township budget uh the utility budget um Debt Service and capital um to get us through uh probably May or June at that point and in terms of item 90 did you say 99 yes Joe do you want to talk to that for just a second I have but I'm going to go back to 98 and I'm curious what the amount of transfers are under 98 sure so the amount of transfers under 98 is$ 237,000 on our $70 million budget we're allowed yeah yeah it's nothing and then on 99 you're good I think it's I didn't write it down so I want to give you an exact number Mr G $71,200 council president that's all I have at this time thank you so much for your comments thank you anyone else wishing to address us again please come to the mic state your name and address for our records Dr prash thank you uh prakash 33 uh dinner drive just uh president just want to appreciate some of the ordinance and you know really feel good about it uh $5 million towards appleg school I really appreciate that well deserved and we should I'm sure we are going to do more and also for the open space we are buying about 3 33.8 acres for $2 million looks like that's great and we are getting $2.3 million from as a gr from New Jersey for open space what my request is also we are you know constructions are going on we are cutting the forest so reforestation in certain open space uh you know that is the request we can get experts from New Jersey Department and we have volunteers youngsters who are ready to do that so that is the request thank you and then last one is I always appreciate the shared service the township does with the Board of Education and other things so is a cost-saving and very efficient also rs202 484 the shared service with Board of Education of 30 6,500 is appreciated thank you very much thank you very much anyone else wishing to comment please your name and address for our records please sh armeno 9 Nathaniel Street and I think it's okay just to congratulate Christine Robbins she's the ultimate professional so happy she's taken the position and I look forward to work with her and in the past she is always he been uh extraordinary to work with and uh Monroe is in good hands thank you Michelle congratulations okay she deserves it thank you um so uh resolution 32024 d84 also the shared services for the video um that's long overdue I'd like to thank U Mr deiro for sort of helping us with that and members of the public who talked about it and I would like to know if the P well it's the public access to the video uh of meetings and in case anybody wasn't sure what that was and I would like to ask if that Public Access if those videos would be able to be downloaded by members of the public do we know that was in the past and I'd like to see that continue Mr Weinberg are we aware of that capability I'd have to check on that I know that our YouTube video I believe you can you can capture now but I'll have to check on that what's exciting if I could just for one second about this is not only will this allow us to put it up um on uh on uh sorry on cable vision Xfinity um and on Verizon but this will allow us to also connect to streaming services because some people are getting you know cutting the cord and getting rid of that so it's another way to get through um your TV to get to it in addition to the YouTube but I don't want to speak out of turn I would imagine you could download it I'm certainly easily accessible I'd have to get back to you on that to be 100% please or let the clerk know because I think that's um and just just to point out one of the resistance um that I had heard in the past about putting this back was that most of the people uh are doing streaming services and all that but we have almost 40% seniors and there was a study that people over 65 of which I am uh that we still never we still uh you know do we we like cable and some of us still have cable so I do appreciate it and I thank the council I thank the board of education for going forward Mr uh deiro also and um I will come up again but I would like to thank uh the mayor and the council and Mr Weinberg um for the um the conservation easement for this particular property on Schoolhouse Road it's a magnificent parcel it's adjacent to the park it has environmental um qualities it has wildlife habitat and Brooks that flow into the manop and Brook it's a I believe it's Farmland preservation though under the Farmland preservation and not necessarily it's the open space but Farmland preservation is that accurate that's correct it will be preserved as Farmland it will be unable to be developed right for a there there's a caveat on that right how long is that un the the township owns the development rights as I understand it is that correct yeah yeah my my understanding for that is it's in perpetuity it is in perpetu yes okay great well I'd like to thank the taxpayers because this is like a social contract uh Monroe has gone through so much over the years um and a lot of people are upset by it so um taxpayers are obviously contributing this but the mayor in his wisdom has been very Cooperative with environmental um uh folks who care about this stuff and I know he grew up in Monroe so it's important to him as he knows is important to many of us who have been here long long term and as Mr as Dr Pros said a lot of the trees have been taken down uh we have enormous growth it's time to preserve open space just for that for the for the quality of open space and sustainability because we are losing it rapidly and it's going to uh be problematic for us and Monroe shouldn't go down that path where we have no trees left so thank you very much thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address us please sir your name and address for our records yeah my name is Sido uh 49 Bentley Road Monroe Township uh I don't know if it's on the um the docket but the this Gardens thing I know they have all the literature up there on the expansion of the gardens where the farm markets are on Apple goth road yeah it it was on the last agenda but we are mentioning it again with our grant for ADA Bathroom so it's back on again comments are acceptable i' I've spoken with you yes you have a number of times and and you as well so um so they're you're providing um bathrooms sewers there's already water there so I'm representing the Monro town uh Apple goth Associates for water and sewer on Apple go Road on Bentley Road and we've been turned down uh we do have an agreement with the township that once the master the Builder builds between for rinville and Bentley um we would get water and sewer but we'd like to expedite that and we're we're taxpayers everybody's paying taxes you're providing all the services for the farms in the gardens which serves everybody well food right and all we're asking for is water and sewer before this developer uh develops because we're not sure you even have an agreement with him to do anything Mr warberg and Mark you can jump in if you want as well or or Joe you want to take it or do you want me or all three of you I mean I can jump in first and Joe will correct me if I'm wrong and appreciate your being here sort of tangentially connected here I'm sorry I didn't mean to it's okay you're fine sir you're fine um you know so you know as you know and as was mentioned earlier uh you know we have uh not want to get too far down the road on it but Mount Laurel settlements that that our every town has to deal with as part of um providing affordable housing without getting into a long conversation there are different rounds associated with it there was a round in 2015 um which was known as the third round of affordable housing and that is um what you see over at the uh intersection of Mount SMS and spots with Englishtown Road that's what you see over down by Applegarth off to the right um or towards the West um and ultimately there will be uh some housing as part of that um to you know to the uh east of Bentley Road on Route 33 north um what's interesting about affordable housing is um you know the job of the township according to the court order is to create the reasonable opportunity for affordable housing but ultimately it is driven by the market and the folks um as you know we we were trying to keep the number as reasonable as possible and different developers can intervene and say hey I can help you build that um and then they build for market for everyone affordable I don't want to make this the whole context But ultimately we don't know exactly when they're going to build on the north side of Route 33 because that's driven by the marketplace and I believe when they came in for their approvals um the planning board required them since they would have to get their um water and sewer coming towards Bentley and up towards Applegarth to uh put those lines in um the challenge is um you know we don't know when they're going to when they're going to build do do you have a signed agreement with this Builder that he has to do something right so and is there a timeline yeah so I don't know that there's a timeline because it's part of his approval doesn't everything expire at some point all his permits no hang on let me just try and answer as best I can we're we're putting in we put in place um the zoning that allows for that um Mark maybe you could talk about the timeline or Joe um because it's it's very difficult to know exactly when they may begin sorry go you mark G first okay counil president well that that developer did break ground off of Pineville Road so they've started some of the construction someone told me that y yes so they have let Mr reso please then you get to talk remember you only please sir so they did start construction over there there's no housing going up at this point or any of the commercial development but they are doing uh site work uh and getting some of that in order um as part of the approval they are required to bring water and soore to that development and it does come through Bentley road so but as far as the timing that's going to be tied to when they they start to develop and and get building permits for the the actual construction of the units but at this point I I don't have a timeline from the developer okay so let's let's let's back up a little bit right so again we're taxpayers I've been there since 1983 um we've always asked for water and sewer and we've always been turned down and I don't know why we all have we all have we all have water conditioners on our wells we have pre pre- filters on our wells I'm going to your your time at the microphone has ended um but I wanted to say to you excuse me folks I'm really trying to answer and so is everyone sitting here what I heard Mr rimo would say that is the Builder is required by the approvals he got to do the water and sewer for Bentley road but we don't have control is what I also heard of when he's building but he did break ground they did break ground on the site work that's correct on the site work so that there is some sort of start to what we've spoken about on the phone when I've spoken to you Etc that Bentley Road at some point and we don't have the year none of us have the year it's nothing we're holding back to that to happen am I correct is so that's where we are right correct that's where we are can I get 30 more seconds I'm giving you 30 more seconds why can't why can't the township put in the water and sewer and when he decides to build you get paid from him what's wrong with that what's wrong with that I don't know that that's a reasonable thing for us to be able to I really know you're a taxpayer sir okay I don't doubt that and I don't doubt the the urgency you feel for this please don't misunderstand me Mr Weinberg that is not to my understanding or perhaps our attorney wants to comment on that for us to do that well I mean I I'll try and answer aimos I'll take my turn here we're trying to answer it it's uh certainly certainly it's a large project that um and again the developer is on the hook for it um at one time I know they were looking to extend and some water and sore lines on Bentley Road about 20 years ago under the approvals that were at the corner right and there was some public uh public from Bentley Road came out to some of those meetings at the at the planning board or the zoning board I believe it was and and those utilities were not extended down that road so you know had that had that been done we probably would have been a little bit ahead of the curve um you know as of right now again it's not just a matter of a little bit of an extension of the water and sore lines and I know Joe could probably speak more about it um it it's quite involved in in looping the lines running them out on to 33 so so it's not just an extension of of the line that's uh on Applegarth Road can I my my comment to you would be first of all that we will Contin continue to monitor the situation there isn't a person sitting here who is unaware of the concerns of the people on Bentley Road and this answer has to stand now we are way the Builder is finally Broken Ground the approval requires that they build the sewers so perhaps we will have some better news sooner than later I I can't do more than that now and I thank you for coming and I thank you for your comments okay thanks everybody anyone else wishing to address the now please your name and address for our records Amy Benner 33 Bentley Road thank you um I didn't wasn't aware of this building at the Garden Center where you grow plants and stuff that there's going to be a playground which is pavement I'm assuming um and restrooms so that's more pavement which doesn't help filtering and again as he was saying in our complaints on Bentley we basically being flooded away a lot of our septic Sy systems are backing up um I can't imagine what the well water is at this point you know we shower with that we brush our teeth with that so again we do have a concern with that hoping that the township can help expedite something to move this along a little faster because this is really a concern just going to flush your toilet when the wind is in a certain direction smells absolutely lovy lovely so it's just not fair that we have repeatedly asked for help and we are now desperate most of us on our street with all these issues so we were hoping that you know something can be expedited on the Township's level that they can maybe you know get the developer to do something sooner we appreciate your comments thank you thank you anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now related to the agenda item of night I'm going to then enter yes please sure and your name and address for our records good evening Lucio Panos 128 ceing Dera Plaza um she's gone but she was she was a great you know when I first became County chair way back then and I I reached out to different people she was always professional and as was your whole office by the way so now my questions um 086 and 086a to do with the um the audit first of all it indicates when I tried to it's 164 pages when I tried to um I hope you guys read at least what you're required to by law but um what was I going to say at the very first page says it's the order of 21 2021 and 2022 well which is it and then you turn on the second paragraph where the whereas is it says 2021 so are there's some typos here or especially if there was an order from 20 if it's an order from 2021 in 2022 how'd you p a budget that year without an order right so it's okay wait that's my one question oh I'm sorry I know how it works here so I just want to get them all out thank you um then again my my the Thor on my side we're required or no we're threatened we're harassed basically to get electric cars this is how it is it's going to be mandated blah blah blah I'd like to know how many cars did this Township Buy in 2023 and how many were hybrid or electric okay do I have to open that I hope not but don't don't say do as I say and not as I do okay that's something I try to live by um the 89 um 089 somebody is getting a contract to you know services for detention basins I hope they dis they discuss or at least the environmental commission has the opportunity to discuss possibly plants that are preferable to detention bases so they're just not cleaned up or scraped out but there's actual plants that could help detention bases and then 093 what were the various locations that were uh for the building demolitions thank you thank you Mr Weinberg sure thank you um so was the uh uh 2022 audit um and then of course when we did the 2023 budget that's built on What's called the 2023 AFS which is always done before that the annual financial statement and then that rolls into the audit so we'll be actually doing the 23 audit next and we'll be doing the 24 AFS next that's the was why is it 2022 and was that budget passed without an audit you you you would never do an audit before you pass the budget that would be impossible you it's an the audit is a end of year end of year calculation of everything that's happen you're ending the year of 2023 on and it says 20 for 2022 I I must be missing something I I mean I if George wants to add something say 2022 is the audit we're now into 2024 and I'm curious how did the 2022 budget pass because we did the audit following the budget adoption is my understanding correct the audit follows the budget adoption follow the budget that's always how 2022 audit in front of us on this is the 2022 audit the next will be the 2023 audit I know how 2022 202 are we doing a 2022 audit now we just completed the 2022 audit which matches the AFS I understand your question answering it you you do a budget each year based on your annual financial statement which allows you to look at your previous year figure out how much Surplus you have reconcile everything and then you pass your budget for 2022 at the end of 2022 after you certify everything and in 2023 you do your audit for 2022 usually have in this case I think it was till the end of the year to do it and then you and then you uh produce it and it verifies your annual financial statement that's how it's done in every town you know throughout the throughout the entire uh area it just it just just and the AFS and the audit match almost almost the same if there isn't there would be a material issue with it so why does it say 2021 also because it always lists two years because when the and George can talk about this can you just yep so I think what George is saying he's our CFO is go ahead George in part of the audit there's comparative statements so they do refer to 22 and 21 like the balance sheet and the results of operations so there's comparative so that's the reason why they have 21 in there okay so should there be a is there a typo in the second paragraph the whereas because it only refers to 2021 but just check that out please check that the yeah other question time is yeah let me do you mind if I just finish the question finish question the question she asked so um in terms of the electric uh Vehicles you know as I've mentioned in previous meetings we did look to try and get some hybrids and we even got a grant for electric vehicles but they've been almost impossible to get and purchase for uh through the government procurement um the one vehicle we have on here is for the police um which is a Dodge Durango which they they've always requested gas vehicles but we're trying to get hybrids and electric for some of our other departments the basins are managed um by DPW and this contractor um and we have worked with the environmental commission to do in certain cases natural basins to promote uh more uh uh insects and other things like butterflies um but we also be careful where we do that too because it may not be perfectly sightly depending on who lives next door to it um and then finally um on item 93 the two locations for that where um was a house on the corner of posum hollow and Doc's Corner that was flooded out as part of HRI um tropical storm onri and the other one was a house uh at the corner of uh Buckaloo and mount SMS um which was part of a uh historic farm that we purchased over there uh next to the red Barnes thank you you knocked out a historic farm uh an historic farm was knocked down we did not do that but I think the time is up I time is up I tried to answer all your question that was real sick my time is up answer my questions correctly I did did excuse me I'm intervening at this point Thank you anyone else having any questions for the council please come forward if not seeing and hearing none I'll entertain a motion to close the public portion motion may I have a second second all in favor I I any opposed may I have a motion to adjourn the agenda session please 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 the agenda meeting is closed time is 7:30 sometimes being ating in a right-handed world is not always as easy I'm going to this is the regular meeting of the town council is now called to order motion please motion please to call the regular meeting to order motion thank you second second roll call councilman Ziro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanora yes council president Cohen yes may I have a motion to approve the claim statement claims per the run date of February 28th 2024 so moved may I have a second second thank you roll call councilman toiro abstain councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion to approve the minutes of the following meeting as written and presented the January 3rd 2024 agenda and regular combined meeting motion please Mo thank you second second yeah roll call call councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council Vice President Van Zora yes council president Cohen obain I was pretty sick ordinances for the second reading with the clerk please read ordinance 02 2024-25 003 an ordinance of the township of Monroe in the county of middle sex New Jersey to authorize a conservation restriction agreement for Real Property known and designated as tax block 60 lot 28.4 and 28.4 Q Farm also known as 330 Schoolhouse Road on the official tax map of the township of Monroe for open space I have a motion to open the public hearing please so moved may I have a second on that motion second all in favor I any opposed no public hearing is open anyone wishing to address the council please come forward state your name and address for our record remembering please it is 5 minutes not going to take that long Michelle Rino 9 Nathaniel Street I don't like to give incorrect information so just for the record um mayor Delina I don't think you were you grew up here in Monroe however your children have so again thank you for the ordinance uh to protecting uh the environment for your children and everybody else's thank you so I I would encourage everyone to vote Yes for this ordinance thank you anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now seeing and hearing none I'd like a motion to close the public hearing so moved second on that please second all in favor I any opposed no may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 02 2024-the motion to adopt thank you may I have a second second thank you may I have a roll call vote councilman deiro yes coun councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes with the clerk motion that ordinance is now adopted the clerk please read 02 2024 d004 ordinance 02 2024 004 Bond ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middle New Jersey appropriating 2,900,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 2,396 640 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof may have a motion to open a public hearing on the ordinance please motion may I have a second on that motion second thank you all in favor I anyone opposed no anyone wishing to address the council about this ordinance please come forward word now Dr per go ahead please yes prakash par 33 Dana Drive just one clarification um primary for Township Wide Paving so this includes also the housing communities like my community is about 22 23 years old and the lot of cracks on the roads and all does this include also the house communities I anyone wish to answer Mark that's your turn so we're reviewing council president we're we're reviewing a list of roadways right now that would be included in in this um uh you you one of your roads uh I'm not sure if it's on the list but I I believe it is but um again we're reviewing a list and from that list will be be will be uh uh picking the roads that are in most need of it uh that list is compiled by not only my office but the uh Department of Public Works as well as the police department so my understanding this is for the roads mostly we are giving priority that's my understanding president yes thank you very much engineer Zed you're most welcome anyone else wishing to address the council at this time seeing and hearing none a motion to close the public hearing please motion thank you may I have a second on that second all in favor I any opposed may I have a motion to adopt dordan 02 2024 d004 please motion thank you second on that motion second may I have a thank you roll call please councilman toiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seal yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes ordinance passes uh would the clerk please read the next ordinance ordinance 02 20245 Bond ordinance providing for improvements to Applegarth School in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey pursuing to a shared services agreement with the Township Board of Education appropriating 5 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of 4,761 00 bonds or notes to finance part of the cost thereof thank you I'd like a motion to open the public hearing on this ordinance please motion thank you may I have a second second all in favor I I any opposed anyone wishing to address the Council on this ordinance please come forward again please state your name and address for the record Lucio penos 128 Candera Plaza Monroe um it's it's almost not nice to say something when it's shared services is the buzz word however the school budgets were turned were were not passed by the by the people of this town and this is something that circumvent circumvent what the people voted on or chose not to do so and it's not the first time it happened it happened last year too you guys did this so how about you get a a la onto the board event maybe if you're going to bond for them and spent for them whatever maybe one of you should consider being AIS on or maybe the board of EV this is this is circumventing what the people want or voted for they they turned down the school budget and now they're getting 5 million which is needed I'm not saying it's not needed but you know not this shouldn't be please consider having a l on to the school board thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address us on this issue please come forward now stating your name and address for the record Brian Fabiano uh 19 Patricia play I I I I just wanted to make a comment here and I I do agree in some sense with the previous speaker this is a great gesture and something that was definitely needed to bridge the gaps at the Board of Education we know the referendum failed last year and that was the will of the people but the problem is we have a reckless School Board who doesn't know how to balance a budget so not only did they put themselves in a position where Applegarth school really in all honesty needs to be te torn down so we're putting a $5 million from the the town which is still you know we talk at the the Board of Education meetings and here really it's all the taxpayers money no matter if it comes from here or it comes from across the street right it comes from our tax bill the problem is is that we can't continue to Lavish the school district with money if they don't know how to balance their own budgets right so this is a great gesture it's something that's needed and I appreciate the council and the mayor getting it done because kids sit in classrooms on rainy days and there's water coming through the ceilings um but people come here and talk about the issues and and wanting to spend the money not wanting to spend the money really need to go across the street and there's a budget hearing tomorrow night for the Board of Education where the intent is to raise taxes on April 16th in the special election that they're having right there are three board seats open but there is also the intent to go above the state mandated 2% cap so that we'll all and we're all going to see another tax increase as a result of that so you know it really comes down to we need to vote out people who can't make fiscally responsible decisions for our school district uh who don't hear the residents who continue to put out things you know referendums and budget votes that the town you know are us as taxpayers say are not appropriate um and and they continue to dig the whole deeper so while I think this is great it's much needed um I don't think that we can continue down this path for a long time of just lavishing the school district every time they put themselves in the in these Financial holes because even with this the hole will get deeper it is getting deeper and on April 16th when us when our us as taxpayers are asked to vote for a budget above the 2% cap we're going to be again financing this mismanagement so it's got to end and and and I don't see this as this is a great thing but I don't see it as something sustainable you know for the future of this town thank you thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address the board on this ordinance please come forward now again your name and address for our record 33 D drive mayor has taken a good step in getting $5 million for our school which is needed the roofs are falling apart the 80e old school no politics here I supported the referendum we need to renovate that school expand that school and make it eligible for our children now talking about 2% cap what is the inflation in the country it was high as 8% which this number 2% cap came from the salaries have to be increased the insurance has to be increased materials have to be increased where this 2% cap came on the school budgets I question that when the there is no brain when the inflation is going more than 3 to 4% how you can put a cap of 2% want to debate in this 5 minutes I can debate anywhere you know stop this politics you know our students need good education good buildings and everything and we have to provide them and we can effort our tax prayers we can effort everyone can affort okay we can discuss about it thank you anyone else wishing to address us please come forward Madam president can I make a statement sure okay we're having an interesting meeting tonight you want to hold it for Council comments we have someone coming to the microphone now I just wanted to maybe Mr uh we're in the public portion so we will get our turn to speak again speak fair enough I'll wait sir this Maus 552 BR C this Maus 552 BR more R Monro I agree a million per with that g over there what he said is our vote worth anything when we vote on the school budget who gave them authorization or you to spend $5 million I understand the school needs fixing who gave them after the school budget was voted down to spend 5 million and I'm asking you again is our vote not count this budget was voted down and not by Li it was voted down period so again I ask you does our vote count or should we just stop voting and just let you do what you want spend millions of dollars cars electric cars and this and that does our vote count tell me who gave them the author authorization to spend $5 million who we didn't we entered into a shared service agreement to support a grant that the board of education had received and required a hard match we provided the match for the grant they had already received and the council the mayor and the Council made that decision so the budget that we voted down just means nothing that we voted it down correct means nothing I can't answer any different as far as the J saying 2% cap on inflation well the inflation is not two and not five inflation is over the last three years or four years is just 40 % so should we raise the taxes 40% maybe he can afford to pend 40% more with taxes but a lot of people here lived unfixed incomes and it'd be H us we'd have to move well that's all I got to say I thank you for your comments sir anyone else wishing to address us please come forward now seeing and hearing none I call oh I'm sorry shelle armini 9 Nathaniel Street uh while I respect everyone's perspective as to uh why uh this ordinance is necessary or not necessary um one of the things that people need to C to keep in mind that it's not necessarily only the Board of Education the board of education has an obligation and sometimes they do it right and sometimes they do it wrong uh to educate our children and we have had such massive um and such massive buildout that we have nearly 7,000 children in our SK school district and if we think that education is and I'm I'm quoting somebody else but if we think that education is expensive think about ignorance if we don't educate our children and we keep them ignorant we are not moving our community forward and I I want to be sensitive I'm a senior as well I don't have children in the school system however I believe and I talked about it before a social contract with my community we need to have good schools I thank the council and mayor for the shared services however the real issue is the overbuilding in this community with they these people here talked about um the builders not being responsible for bringing these resources in if we really want to help our taxes and to help our students as well we need to get our legislators to get impact fees back into this community and when you hear PE people um counsel and lawyers and say well impact fees are illegal well they're only illegal because the people and our legislators choose not to make it legal so that's what we need there's too there's thousands of units being built in our town a lot of which are children and a lot of which um require services so our children's education is important I thank the mayor again for being open-minded about we need to get some of these things done we can't Overlook it it would be far more costly I have been I was around for three referendums that have failed at some point it's going to cost so much more and we have to bring the educational system up so yes is there is there poor budgetary issues absolutely but not all of it is is for that we have to understand that the builders are absolutely coming into town and and such high density is really hurting and it's hurting the school system the the township Council the planning board and the zoning board all of which you are responsible for you are the ones who make the decisions about how many how many uh applications and how many building units are here the board of education has no control over how many kids come into the school system but they do have an obligation to educate them please the education of our children is far more important and again it's a social contract that we have to work out thank you I I approve [Music] this I oh I lost my and I need a mic class I swear I um I would entertain a motion to close the public portion of the meeting motion this public hearing now motion may I have a motion to close public hearing thank you may I have a second on that motion second thank you all in favor I I any opposed public hearing is closed May I have a motion to adopt ordinance 020 20 24-5 motion to adopt please anyone motion thank you may I have a second on a motion second thank you may I have a roll call vote please councilman toiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora Madam president I'd like to be heard before I pass my vote Yes sir um I want the public to understand what happened here what happened is yes the referendum passed for the extensive amount of uh money that was being asked for we all have our opinion on that both ways whether it was a good referendum or bad but despite that it fa failed failed what I say passed you said passed I meant failed it failed we knew you fa failed Terry did not go through good like that word because of that we are continuing to use appleg school it's a necessity and the things that were that are need repair have to be repaired now without the council originally knowing about this the Board of Ed went and got a grant from the state of New Jersey so the state is giving them $5 million but the caveat is when that occurs the town or the Board of Ed would have had to post $5 million under the way it works the Board of Ed cannot do that so they came to the town and they said look we're getting $5 million for free from the state but we need you guys to come forward and post the $5 million otherwise we don't get that $5 million from them so we're now in a situation where the mayor and the council have to decide what do we do do we forego getting 5 million out of the 10 million that's needed simply because we don't want it on the Council budget at which point it would ultimately go back to the board of ed budget and Town Township taxpayers would have to pay for it so do we want taxpayers to pay $10,000 or $5,000 the preference is to for it to be $5,000 that's why we approve the $5,000 millions millions my again my numbers all mixed up but but you understand what I'm saying I'm glad you're paying attention we are we tend to listen um but $5 million that's a big difference so you don't want you don't want town taxpayers to pay an extra $5 million and and that's why I think that this is an appropriate thing to approve because it ultimately no matter what it is whether you're paying it through the township council with through our Township budget or or the uh um through the uh Board of Ed $5 million is saved the 10 million is needed and and for that reason that's why I'm approving it so thank you sorry for the I got mix up on the numbers yeah now you can continue Council vice president vanzora yes your vote council president Cohen yes motion carries motion carries it is adopted thank you with the clerk please read ordinance 02 2024 d0 06 ordinance appropriating 4,300,000 2 milon 300,000 of which is from a state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Grant and 2 million of which is from the middle sex County open space Recreation and farmland and historic PR preservation trust fund grant for the acquisition of property for use as open space in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey may I have a motion to open a public hearing motion I thank you may I have a second on that second thank you all in favor I any opposed anyone wishing to address the Council on this ordinance only please come forward now seeing and hearing none I'm entertaining a motion to close the public hearing motion thank you may I have a second on that second thank you all in favor I I thank you may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 02 2024 d006 please motion thank you second on that second thank you roll call vote please councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you the mo ordinance is adopted we move to resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda would be CL please read r322 24076 through R3 20241 01 with the exception of R3 2024 088 which will be voted on separately not under the consent agenda thank you motion please motion thank you second on that motion second thank you roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you item seven is the resolutions removed from the consent agenda in the name and number of resolution R3 2024 088 thank you motion motion thank you so much second second roll call councilman deiro obain councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries than so much we will move to report sure thank you very much council president I'll be uh somewhat brief I do want to confirm that the YouTube site which tape records this meeting and the zoning board meeting and the planning board meeting are all downloadable um I I will check on the new server to make sure that is as well but you can download it now in you know and then we'll make sure the other one is if it can be um just commenting a little bit on the landfill as many of you know and I mention mention this at the last meeting we built the Force main to prevent the leech eight from moving inside the sanitary sewer system and ultimately into people's homes um we have been getting complaints about outdoor air from several residents which I mentioned last month um is much more complicated to identify and we've certainly alerted the DP to this um I did want to note um on the record here at the council meeting that the D will be doing their sixth this is hard to say sixth fif fiveyear review so their end of their 30th year to ensure the land Phill is protective of Public Health according to the D website um that'll be published between November and January of this year so I just wanted to put that out there also wanted to thank our parks department this is probably their busiest month um for them as they get literally every field ready to go whether it's baseball um lacrosse uh softball football um and cricket and a whole variety of other fields we have some really excellent grass fields and they work incredibly hard on them um in March to make sure everyone ready uh for opening day so I just wanted to thank them and as Mark mentioned earlier um this month we'll be identifying the roads most in need of improvements um and we'll be moving forward on that in coordination with DPW Public Works engineering the utility department and the police department that's my report council president thank you so much Mr R Moz thank you council president uh just just uh one item of uh new business uh we are out to bid for the Reconstruction of South Middle sex Avenue um and I anticip iate an award at the next council meeting that project has uh an NJ do local Freight Grant of uh about $600,000 and that's my report thank you so much going to move to council reports I'm going to begin with my extreme left councilwoman seagull please thank you council president good evening everyone uh just a couple updates I want to share uh first councilman councilman vice president an Zora and Council Markel and I went to a vigil and flag raising ceremony marking the 2-year anniversary for the Ukrainian war in Thompson park it was a beautiful ceremony and they had two students that sang the national anthems from Ukraine and the US and the event was hosted by our two Monroe residents Anna and Edward mauet who lead the Leon Leon Leon Foundation where they provide a lot of different ways of support to our Ukrainian refugees in our community and local communities around them so that was a beautiful ceremony and I just want to share some conversations I've had recently with some of our community members around town as I wander around and it's always nice to hear about the positives and how they feel about some of our services and amenities that we have in our Township and I happened to be at the library checking out a book and uh a mom recognized me and she had mentioned to me how she really loved our library I know we talk about it so much as Council here that it is one of our crown jewels but she went on to say just how nice it was to be able to walk in there and there was something for the entire family to do it became a family outing for them where there was a lecture the parents were able to attend there were some children programming and their older daughter could do the research for a project so she was so happy that to have a service like this and a place to go for the entire family especially when you're looking for those little things to do on a weekend and you know we got talking a little bit more and she said you know I just learned in the library too that we have Museum passes that we can utilize for free so I just wanted to share that make sure you know community members know that we do have a great library and all the different programming and services it offers you know we have our rec center I hear a lot of great things about DPW and how we someone mentioned about the styr foam cycler and how nice it is that we can do that use that foam cycler so just wanted to highlight some of those items and I did want to share a couple updates from some of the commission at iais on to our Cultural Arts commission this year has been providing a um Through The Barnes Foundation virtual tour series that began earlier this year and they're on their last virtual tour of the year that's going to be happening on March 13th and it's honoring women artists for women's history month this month two artists Mary cassette and Moren La laurenson women painting women so I know I've watched a couple of these over the past year and earlier this year and they are really well done so if are interested to learn a little bit about the art it's a great virtual tour that you can just write watch right from home and you can find more information about these on the cultural arts commission website and I want to give a little update in our on our youth advisory commission our count youth advisory Council sorry um there are our high school students we have about 25 of them and I know I haven't provided an update lately because every time they seem to have a meeting schedule it snows so they actually this past month and one of the things that we've been doing with our students is each month they get to learn from a different department in our municipality learn about government how it works so this year they've so far they've met with the clerk's office Township planning and administration and EMS and we are very fortunate we have Kyle Johansson who's our video and media coordinator who is our adviser this year to the council and he is yes Kyle and he's working working very hard to guiding our students on their Community project which will be some type of community event we're working through this a little bit but the topics that the students have been working on is learning more around opioids education and also around youth mental health which is something that our group last year had worked on so we are also partnering with middle sex County Health Services who will be coming to our next meeting and sharing more information with our students around opioids and mental health and that's it I just wanted to give a little update thank you everyone thank you I'm going back over to my right councilman marel oh yeah I just have a I just have a few things I'd like to mention mention hello is it on yeah this morning I school and um I read some children uh for Reed Across America a great experience meeting some kids the kids were absolutely great um they were a little older and I thought they were fifth graders so I thought they could probably read better than me but uh they were very receptive and uh I enjoyed the uh experience um one of the things I did over the month of February um because of Black History Month is um I went to the library for a middle school Civics contest um where students um did reports on black Americans that have made a difference some of them are living in them have passed so I saw some eight eight uh six kids do two people each was a great experience I learned a lot about some African-Americans that did some great things um just want to tell you um as far as I'm on the senior um the agent committee which I thought was inappropriate being I'm So Young um but uh I just want to let people know that um in the month of just in the month of December there was 1,173 new members signed up for the senior center so I mean if you just stop and think about what the senior center has been doing over the years um that's a lot of new member I'm sorry that was for the year I'm sorry for the year 2023 uh for the month of December um they had 6,338 people registered for programs so you can imagine what these women and men that work there have to do every month to make sure everybody's happy we should give them a shout out every month um also March 8th is international women's day which was a shock to me being I have three two daughters and a wife so I thought every day was International women's day in my life for sure um I also just want to mention one other thing I know it's a little pre uh a little bit early but on April 28th uh at the senior center there's going to I mentioned it last month I'm going to mention every month because I think it's important um it's Holocaust Remembrance Day at 2:00 so everybody's invited to that there's going to be Holocaust Survivors there which are very unbelievable people I've met with some of them they have some great stories and um we're losing our Holocaust of members at this late date so put that down on your calendars please right away so that you have no excuses for April 28th at the senior center at 2:00 it' be a great program that's about it just want to touch Bas with a few things thank you some in uh thank you I just wanted to start off by um asking maybe our legal department if they could look into our residence on Bentley road to see if there if there is something that that um um maybe it can be worked out with that developer uh along with the Board of Health because if there are health issues U they've been they been on that road for a long time with issues sended us emails um and as one of the residents said they did call us and we spoke to some of the residents but um think about think about the um the kind of held hostage in the way that they're waiting for utilities where um their homes are already there so maybe if there's something that you know I know that this Council and this mayor is going to do what we can to uh try and get that done as some of our residents came up with the building and overbuilding but one of the things we have to do is uh we have to look out for the residents that are here so if there's something we could do I would just ask to get back to them and and let us know uh what can be done yeah councilman um you know it's a shame they actually left actually I was going to wait till afterwards and get all their details and then we were going to pull the agreements with the engineer so yes we are definitely going to look into it thank you thank you Cuz one one of the things sitting sitting um at many meetings many years uh past past mayors would uh have what the he would call uh a task force and uh when you had an issue like this like we had the BFI we all came together or mayor Rose to the occasion uh and everything that I've been up here with um mayor tamboro and also mayor Delina so when there's a there's a need for a residence um these our mayors is definitely in the past or definitely doing the right thing for all our residents and i would support that um as this part of part of this team up here that we need to do this um each and every time and whatever we can do uh as some of our residents we're happy with the $5 million budget and some were unhappy but as our vice council president explained it um we were going to let $5 million get away um and and that wasn't going to help our children that was going to help the building so I just just I thank you legal counsel for that I just want to uh run police awareness I attended a a scam presentation at the rec center there's also one at the senior and that's available uh detective Robert Bennett uh did a great presentation our mayor did a introduction to it and the residents that were there that's something that it's on the website for the PO in our Police Department website and something our resident should definitely look into if you missed the presentations and I just wanted to thank our police department and detective Bennett for doing a great job also um this past Saturday was R they had Ray Clinic I want to thank the clerk's office I want to thank the DPW the the Board of Health everybody that was part of that the rec center and I just want to say that's another service that we did for our community and and make sure that we get rabies and license and everything like like that so thank you um I had a question on County Bridge inspections and County repairs um council president if if you could get a maybe um Mark could look into when the County's going to inspect our bridges uh in our town and and if there's any repairs that are going to be up and coming for 2024 um also the County Paving they usually give you a list um on when what streets they're going to PVE so if that's something that I would ask for yesterday I received a an Nel about a missing person um and I just wanted to point this out next month April is Autism Awareness Month and I think it's very very good um to reach out maybe our Police Department could um make families if they can be in contact with families schools um nursing homes assistant livings there's there's programs out there and there's also uh different types of uh personal uh they have a personal GPS trackers there's there's a program called like Angel sense and if our Police Department could reach out uh maybe to assistant livings nursing homes and make them aware and there are there are like I said trackers that they can they can put for elderly and for people with special needs autism and it's um it's it's a big thing in in our schools and and our community I just wanted to point it out that next month is is uh April is the Autism Awareness uh DPW I I I can't thank those guys enough um I send a few pictures in along with Allen's help and DPW they fixed the wall on Tindale and and fad um something that we didn't have to go out to bid for it's it's something that U wall was built years ago and they they weren't able to get the exact color blocks or whatever but they did the job and they did the job well and this was something that was done inhouse so I just want to thank you know the administration and also the workers that got it done um we uh we received an email from a resident and I said this last last meeting um when someone sends us an email I'm not really sure if it ever gets answered and and I don't want to I don't want to answer you know um each and every one email it's addressed to the mayor and it's also addressed to the council but it was it was an email that was um someone came to the public and made us made a comment and um private concern and everybody seemed like we were all talking at a turn and we're all attacking a resident when they come to the microphone when a resident comes to the microphone I respect the resident regardless of what the comment is what it's nothing political it it's a concern they took the time to come here we have to take the time to listen and that's how I feel and if I don't know if this answer this ever got answered this email but and it also said something about us being professional to each other uh we we try I try that I know a mayor does and I know our Council does at all time at all times we we try our best but sometimes you let political things get in the way and it's not about politics it's about Monroe and that's what that's what I feel and that's what we need to do move move forward is just say it's not politics it's about Monroe we're not we're not going to agree on every single topic and every single vote however I just like to know if someone could tell me if they answered an email and that's all I'm asking for last time our our our Council said oh it's under the Sunshine Law well I understand that but we receive our packets and we receive emails um that are more so we have to be careful when we say the Sunshine Law and that's why I never answer it and I try when I send an email I send it to certain people I don't send it to every single person on a council but um I don't know if this if did this get answered do you know council president I have no notion of what email you I have some familiarity I read every email I get you want me to read it I have the email see no reason to read someone's personal email that went to the well she sent it to the mayor and the councel we all received it but I don't know if it ever got answered can I have him read it I'm not sure I'm not sure uh councilman how about we we get the email and find out amongst who the individuals if someone had responded to it I I don't think it would be productive to go read the email in case that there's other requests in there that were more of a personal nature okay so protection of the resident I just I can't I just want to know if when we send emails out we we should just we should just know if if somebody's sending out emails I'm not aware if it's like from BFI or wherever wherever it whoever it is this topic I don't know if this this resident received a response that's all I'm asking and Allan I don't know if if he can keep track of that and send it to us because I don't know if they if we got response to this I ask every time about painting the water tower somebody sent me an email and I sent it to Allan and I sent it to Joe and then Joe responded and he copied me that because I sent it to Joe also I'm asking for if somebody sends an email to the mayor and counsel I have no idea if it got answered I would like the email I would like to follow our attorney's advice not read the email into the record we can pass it among ourselves we can verify whether or not it was answered yeah I think that would be easier in general if Administration gets an email the administration answer will respond to it individual council members can also respond if they were addressed in it um the only thing I think was mentioned is if it becomes a dialogue amongst council members on that email about stuff that could violate the open public meetings act if you start discussing what we should or shouldn't do so Administration I can't think of an example where Administration doesn't respond and council members are always welcome to respond directly themselves as individuals if they yes because on occasion I have sent to Administration was this email answered and on those occasions councilman uh when you've asked me if if the admin has responded I'm always able to let you know if that's happen right I usually ask Alan and that but this one I don't know if anybody answered am I on there I don't know if I'm on there okay all right um also a resident came minor Township Bard ofed um he he made an announcements tomorrow night's the hearing uh budget uh for 2024 and um you know it's important that we go we attend and and ask questions and and concerns that that's that's the time and also vote as we all know in the past you know one out of five people vote but five out of five complain so now's your time so go speak up and and vote and and make your vote count so that that's that's that's what's important tomorrow night 6:30 at the high school and the last thing Schoolhouse Road has a a a water leak for about few months um in front of the firehouse I sent an email uh before the snow and the ice DPW is putting salt on it do we have a projection on when that's going to get fixed at water leak right and we we discussed this um so it's not in the road it's it's sort of on the curb so it runs down the curb um Joe I know you ordered a part we were waiting on a specific part to be able to fix that water line can you give us a estimate on when that part will be available to be able to fix it but it doesn't generally go in the road it goes down uh the right away uh the curb yes councilman we uh ordered the because there's a couple of different uh things that that we noticed when we were investigating that leak so we had to order a number of different parts to take into account uh every situation that could potentially occur I I know that 75% of the parts have arrived uh when the other 25% are here we will uh we will go ahead and make the repairs is there is there a meter is like is anybody paying for that wasted water that's going down the road uh at this particular point I believe that it is actually before the meter before the meter yeah so technically we're paying then yeah it's unaccounted for water in the utility budget yes all right thank you thank you uh before I um just U very quickly I wanted to make a comment uh before I ask our Council vice president for his to let you know know that in April if you watched your bulletin from the library there is a program being put on by the library in cooperation with the League of Women Voters that says how your government works over the last few months and in conversations we have heard from many people that they are not sure of this process locally or that process locally and so it will be a good program I I and I know it is in April that it is occurring and additionally Civics education is now required for our students in school so I'm hoping that we begin to see students taking physics showing up for Council meetings uh again an opportunity to learn how our government works I'm going to ask our Council vice president please for his comments thank you um first comment is uh I've read that uh uh the recre department is now taking applications for people that want to be involved with different sports and things uh so if you have any of the kids with baseball softball soccer whatever it may be uh Now's the Time get the word out if they want to sign up Mo I know most of the kids are already signed up in their repeaters but uh sometimes uh there's people out there that might have interest now would be a great time um want to congratulate our our boys hockey team which won the middle sex County Championship I believe for the first time ever I think that's pretty impressive we don't even have a hockey rank and they went out there and they practiced and they still won the championship so that shows shows how good they are um also an individual accomplishment one of our girls basketball players uh haly catrell scored her 1,000th point this year which is also pretty big accomplishment for her um I want to talk about maybe about 15 years ago we had a a young fella that lived in town uh by the name of Danny Brooks Danny uh played basketball for the Monroe High School team and his family lived in town and uh after his junior year he transferred over to St Joe's turns out he was a pretty good player he also scored a th000 points uh he played with some of the really good players uh uh Quenton toosi Carl Anthony towns who happens to still be in the NBA and St Joe's went on and had a really really good couple of years with him they won a couple of tournaments and things of that nature after he graduated and moved on Danny uh uh ultimately wound up as an assistant coach over at Colonia High School uh where he he was an assistant with their basketball team I I think in addition to being a a teacher of some sorts so didn't quite follow the whole thing but anyhow uh unfortunately uh Danny passed away at the age of 30 so was very sad but um his family no longer lives in town they moved to North Carolina but I want him to know that he's remembered so uh rest in peace Danny bricks um we had uh we had a couple snowstorms this month I I want to thank our D that I thought came out and did a great job getting the D see mine all messed up tonight the DPW who came out and did a great job uh clearing the snow um another thing I noticed uh the applications for the senior tax free are scheduled to come out soon so keep an eye on your mail and uh if you don't get it you think you might be eligible that's another thing that you should look out for because that'll save you some tax dollars over the over the long run um I also uh had the uh luxury as Rupa said of going to the uh the Leonid Foundation uh commemoration of the uh 2-year anniversary of the Ukrainian war and um it was both a happy and a sad event I mean we were celebrating the fact that these people were there to help them but two years in and Ukraine is still trying to fight off uh Putin these people an and Edward they provide aid for these people they send aid over to people that that can that need it there they've they've helped some of the families move out of there that were In Harm's Way so in my book these are these are real heroes and and there are people that live right here in Monroe so if you can do anything to help them out it's a Leonid Leo nid foundation and talking about heroes uh another sad passing this month nothing to do with Monroe was Alexi Nel uh who in my book was a true hero one of the people that stood up to to Putin and uh he paid for it with his life so uh it's all I got to say tonight thank you at this point Mr Mayor do you honor us with a report please once again uh Madame President I appreciate the opportunity to provide some commentary U my report to uh to you um just two items on the agenda wanted to highlight and obviously I'm very pleased um I thank the council for supporting uh the two ordinances in particular the one uh for the barns property The Schoolhouse Road property the procuring the 2.3 million uh Grant from the state as well as the 2 million from the county uh to help preserve that um that trative land um obviously one of the larger issues that we all hear is about preserving open space uh we try to be aggressive in that regards and it also it's in support of the master plan so it's it's a it's a good purchase um and obviously to have um 34 acre property um in perpetuity kept open space that's certainly the um the goal uh secondly um pleased that our application for the County Housing Community Development grant for the funds for the park improvements and the Community Gardens was certainly uh approved as you know we applied for the njde Acres Jake law playground Grant application and the location was identified through our master plan yet again so it's again I appreciate that we move forward um some of the events uh in the past month or so um that uh I like to provide some comments um it was mentioned before about the uh the police Outreach the continuing police Outreach regarding scams uh crime Trends and just how to keep yourself safe um some of the council members were there was very well attended both at the rec center the community center in the northern part of the town as well as our senior center and it's just so important to reinforce and we will continue this effort um um and it's my understanding the next one that we're going to have we're going to record we have recorded um some of these uh presentations in the past but obviously technology information gets updated so the next one we're going to record to make sure we certainly uh uh post it but it's that reinforcement and um I'm going to tell a story I tell the story I'm I'm sure people have heard it before I'm going to keep it short about just the reinforcement on how to keep yourself safe in regards in particular to phone scams my mom a couple two years ago I was at her house and we were talking and she says oh how's the mayor thing going I'm like hey Mom I said I'm going out with the police talk about uh you know scams for seniors and uh how to keep yourself safe and my mom was like oh I know I know I don't answer the phone if I don't know I don't know the caller ID my my good she goes yeah they had something like that here she lives in Woodbridge you know they had something in Woodbridge she goes oh don't worry I don't I don't I don't pick up the phone well month or two later uh phone is buzzing and it's a call that she doesn't recognize but it was from the state of Maryland we have family members in Maryland moment of weakness my mom answers the phone well lo and behold it's her grandson calling he's got into a horrific car accident don't tell his dad um and could you please you know give me some money just pulling at the heartstrings of a 91y old woman she didn't have the means to give anything over the over the phone so the grandson said could you please go to the bank and get cash and don't tell anybody so my mom using a walker doesn't call any of her sons live live live close enough around she gets a neighbor to take her to the bank she withdraws $99,000 in cash she comes back to the house and calls the phone number of the lawyer that she spoke to and the lawyer was going to call a courier about an hour later a courier shows up at the door my mom hands over $99,000 in cash and that's the end of it so I will continue telling this story because the information that our police this Outreach that they are doing is so very important it's a team effort truly and just when you think in that moment of weakness that you know yeah it won't happen to me well maybe it might not but maybe a relative or a neighbor so what the police are doing I commend them on that it is a great presentation it is vital that we pay attention and I have to um say that I will continue to tell that story um speaking of the police uh this week we we will be going from 10 flock cameras to 20 flock cameras with an increase uh flock cameras are licensed plate readers uh that are strategically uh placed throughout the town as well as on the police cars to identify you know uh it reads the license plates and it will identify potential cars that are coming into Monro for potential nefarious purposes and I tell the story about well you know if a car with stolen plates or a stolen car comes into Monroe Township they're not coming to see Grandma and Grandpa they're coming in for nefarious purposes so we're trying to stay ahead of the curve and we have been successful and there has been arrest directly related to the installation of these flock cameras so it's something that we will continue to invest into our police uh and crime prevention I assure you um last month the um New Jersey D announced another Eagle was born in Monroe Township um now this is they report on 2023 so the nest was first discovered in 2017 uh in Monroe one Eagle egg uh began to incubate in the Upper Millstone Nest on January 28th uh 2023 and the Egg hatched on March 10th 2023 so happy birthday little Eagle um we are hoping to see a repeat in this um potentially again this week week so so again it's just like to tell a bird story once in a while um councilman Markel talked about uh read Across America uh I had the honor and privilege to attend a a class fourth grade class in Woodland Elementary School uh I read a book on um Penny uh the fourth little pig my friends I always grew up thinking there were three little pigs this book there is a one who was an engineer who comes and he helps the three other little pigs rebuild so uh I I you know I if I maybe at the next meeting I I apologize I should have had this information with me My Librarian wife is going to be very upset that I didn't have this info but if you're interested I'm going to provide the uh the info next week and you can go to our local library it's a great read and it'll take you about 10 minutes um the uh governor of New Jersey uh presented his budget address um this past week um paid attention obviously for for wanting to want to hear certain words um you know it it sets the tone it's not the actual dollars and the cense that's going to be worked on over the next couple months but you want to hear some of the themes you want to hear some of the um um the tone and and for me obviously any type of State funding that can come to the municipality is important uh but I was very pleased to hear Money about uh uh going to the um anchor program the potential uh for that but more importantly um uh the senior freeze um and again this is a critical tax relief program for our residents uh we'll certainly keep an eye on it yourselves we will monitor it closely as well uh we get very aggressive in ensuring that the information gets out through our website and as well as some of our Publications uh any help that is needed by any of the residents to apply for these uh certainly will be um uh available to you at our library and Senior Center as well as our tax office here as well just finishing up it's uh we are in March some of the items uh some of the um events coming up is the maker Fest at our library on March 16th 11 to4 uh March 23rd will be our always our fun egg hunt contest at the soccer complex on Prospect Plains Road certainly weather permitting at 10:00 a.m. and dare I after Sunday's weather do I dare say spring is in the air maybe oh I'm feeling confident I went for a bike ride my one my only my second ride this year because the weather's just been so crummy um driving riding my bike uh bicycle through uh Veterans Park on Avenue K it was packed it was packed so my first run run through it was packed the second run through was even more because there was an ice cream truck there and the line was 10 Deep so I am going to say spring is in the air let's hope hopefully it stays that way and again you know to finish on a note like that Happy Spring Madame President thank you again oh it is always my pleasure sir always my pleasure we will now go to our public comment section five minutes per speakers and I need a motion to open the public comment section please it's everyone paying attention motion thank you so much may I have a second second thank you all in favor any oos osed nay come to the microphone give us your name and address and remember there is a five minute time limit sir good evening good evening Jo atanasio 21 Wellington Place in green Roy uh last month I came to the council and I had a concern about what they call engine braking which is the practice of the truck drivers using a device which slow down their engine and causes a major Rumble to the people on Prospect Plains Road Halfacre and also pinville Road I explained it and I wanted to know if it was possible to put additional signage around town the next day I sent an email to all of the members of council and I'd like to take the opportunity tonight to thank councilman deiro sure for answering my email and instructing me to also copy Allen Weinberg on it and I want to thank Allan for his list of where the signs are and re also entertaining my request on where the signs should be and because of Charlie's efforts and Allan and Kevin mwan and the DPW the signs are now in place on Prospect Plains Road on Mill Road and hopefully the truck drivers will see these signs and adhere to the ordinance that was put into effect in 2004 and if they don't I trust that our magnificent police department will start issuing summonses here because this is nerve-wracking when you hear these guys going down the road and they pull that emergency the uh engine breakup the walls of your house actually Shake okay and again thank you guys and I hope the uh the truck drivers do adhere to it and on just one note mayor on the on the camera thing a few about maybe when it was put into place my wife was caught speeding and it was a picture was taken of her plate and she was issued a summons and she came home and presented me with the summons and she goes this is for you what do you mean unfortunately what happened was once the plate was taken it populated the summons with my name because the car is in my name smart woman so I went to the police department with it and I met with the officer and he apologized and we became kind of friends and I know that I and please bear me out on this if I had gone to court with that it probably would have gotten thrown out but in my heart I felt these guys are going through enough okay so I said well just go into the place and change the ticket to my wife's name cuz I was afraid the points were going on my license she's she was speeding I wasn't speeding so and you know we shook hands and we issued my we both issued my wife the summons which we paid because she was speeding she knew it so I just want to note that that might have been a problem at the time it's probably been resolved okay but I'm kind of happy it happened because maybe it was a glitch in the system that's now been resolved thank you folks you're most welcome next person please yeah just Council oh yeah go ahead yes sir I I do want to just put on the record that the the flock cameras do not record speed however yeah but however uh if if a if a camera is on a car a police car that's following a car that's speeding they will take the picture to capture capture the moment but but the cam don't don't be afraid if you see the camera you know and I'm not giving you permission to speed past that camera but it it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't record uh speed thank you sir your name and address for our record please hello Colleen Pace 39a John Paul Jones Drive Concordia uh I know this is the five minutes is limited to agenda items only not in this portion that was for the agenda session have another issue you need to discuss please bring it to us I'd like to know the plan for valah home which is housing the building Pro project for the veterans veterans housing project on cranberry Halfacre Road uh the plan is that a private property building is that a privately owned building number one uh is it for exclusive for veterans and if not why not the sign is advertised veterans Valor home so the whole Community thinks right now only veterans are going into that building uh I believe there's 70 plus units how many are for veterans and what Assurance only veterans will go in there and no other people sure Mr wber can we get an assurance on that we give you all your answers be happy to answer and also if you know I'm also happy to speak either after the meeting or we've been out speaking in different communities and updating people on this project so just to give you the quick overview okay because there's a lot of rumors going around in the communities lot of Buzz and I want to hear it from a horse's mouth not that I'm calling you a horse have a lot we do have a lot of questions I'm gonna get a lot for that tomorrow okay um so so it's a it's a great it's a great question so as I mentioned earlier there's a requirement uh for a certain amount of affordable housing within the township and as I mentioned um when you see some of these other developments whether they be over by Mount SM and spots with English toown Road or you're seeing them down by Applegarth Road um you know over by Route 33 you know those those are where folks have come in and built four market rate units to build the one affordable unit which is part of that settlement we have gone out of our way and this predates me the previous mayor mayor tamboro we had some of our own money to try and build affordable housing um affordable housing is very different than section 8 housing and other things that people might be familiar with um in more of like a city or Urban environment affordable housing is more like Workforce housing and it really ranges and I actually have the income limits here from last year cuz I always keep them with me um so so for a two like a two-bedroom I'm going to keep going so I'll try and be as quick as I can for a two-bedroom unit um there's three levels moderate low and very low and there's a certain amount of units for each category for the moderate you can make up to 91,000 this is last year so it'll be adjusted for this year 57,000 to meet the low category and 34,000 to the very low category so these are many of these people could or may still be working they could be retired they could be on on that situation so what the council did at that point is we were going to build actually 37 units and we got as part of our court judgment on the ability to build 37 units for veterans only and we put the money in to be able to do that we were able to get uh additional um tax credits through the housing and mortgage Finance Agency to build an additional 43 units and those units are are Veterans Preference and what I'm going to explain is every unit in there is going to be a veteran unless we get to and when I say we there's a third party that operates it that is you know a housing provider they've done a very similar program in another part of the state down by Clayton um and our goal is to make sure everybody in there is a veteran and certainly the 37 if no one applies um then they would have to consider other folks um who are also citizens but only if no veterans apply past 37 hopefully we can get it completely full with 80 veterans but the only scenario where there wouldn't be a veteran in there is if no veterans choose to apply to the location they are guaranteed the first 37 and then the preference on the next 43 and it's our goal to uh fill it up through this nonprofit with veterans now all the other affordable housing that you see around town whether it be at stradford um whether it's in Mount mil Lake uh Monroe manner that's not designated for veterans almost all the affordable housing that you see in the state is not designated for veterans so this is very unique in trying to prioritize and make sure that veterans can get into this and they will absolutely have the right to go in first and before everyone else um so we're pretty excited about it um when mayor tamboro did it and mayor Delina did it this is about obviously recognizing um you know what the veterans have done for our country and that they should have the priority to be able to utilize these facilities fine if if you just quickly if you don't get enough vets okay however you advertise the vao whatever if you don't who can that go out to so I if we leave it empty hypothetically then the develop you know then we'd have to build more housing um if you don't fill up all 80 units ultimately you you know you wouldn't you wouldn't in general leave them empty um otherwise you wouldn't get the the credits and I know this sounds a little difficult but every time you build one of these all affordable housing units and we build them ourselves with affordable housing trust fund money that is paid for as 2 and a half% contributions when people build stuff um when we build those there's no 4:1 ratio it's just the one so you're really saving 320 market rate units you heard comments earlier about the school by building these 80s without that 4:1 ratio so the priority will be to Veterans we'll need everyone's help um to help you know solicit veterans um and their families um as well we will be aggressive and we will be aggressive and we can use everyone's help in doing that I'm happy to come out and speak to groups um we've done it at different veterans groups all throughout the different uh communities be on in a future agenda this this topic of you know the housing for an agenda to come up or well um I don't know if it'll be specifically on an agenda but now that the project is about 40% complete you're going to see in the spring and the summer the Outreach because if it's more than a year away they don't do too much marketing until it's a little bit closer to opening up so you'll start to see that Outreach but we're available anytime I you can always come to a council meeting and always bring it up at the end but if you want to grab my card at the end or Kevin Macwan or Tanya if you want to just raise your hand down the end there um she works on affordable housing we we can come out and speak to you in any form we can sit in this room without a council meeting and answer questions and we're going to work with all the veterans groups at all the different communities and posts to try and find the people from and not just Monroe it could be from all the different happy to do it okay thank you great question thank thank you anyone else wishing to address the council oh you're second and you are third I had asked Dr prash to wait for this woman please sir thank you president prakash P 33 D drive uh I I would like to thank V harber Christopher wein and Mark rosich okay we have about 15 Acres of open space behind my house okay we have about 60 houses 15 to 20 acres and it is a water retention so they came up cleaned the things removed the trees and made it very beautiful so we thank for them taking care of it now the birds can fly in the turtles can move in so it is very friendly so I than and also when we were coming out of our community the stop sign I you know I said you know complained about it the trees are blocking they came and cleaned up so uh thank you very much for follow up then the next one is I did attend the uh Community awareness which was organized by our Police Department on February 22nd at senior center it was 1 and a half an hour presentation yes sir practical presentation with examples and one of the officer has videotaped it so I called Police Department tomorrow today and they are editing that video and um tomorrow I had to follow up they told me to call tomorrow so it will be um available for the public and I want request public to hear that take a time every day watch 15 minutes because it's going to be one and a half hour but the presentation is very practical example so I do appreciate uh public to do that and I thank May and Council and the police department for this outreach program and lastly snow was there our you know public works department did the excellent job so thank you very much thank you thank you man yes please those boots hi Lucio penos 128 Candera pla I I neglected to ask this before the resolution 086a what was the corrective action needed Alan if I could yeah so the the audit was clean but it was a little bit later than planned um so we should have finished it by the end of the year and we're we were a month or too late so the corrective action plan is to just do it a little bit quicker next year that's the only thing that's the only thing I was questioning before why is this it's the only thing all right well do anyone else waiting to address us please your name and address for our records Jenny ludus Jamesburg I want to thank mayor and Council for all the wonderful programs and events and all the great services that you provide for your residents I'm lucky enough to come and participate in all your great events that you do and programs and I want to commend you on what a great job that you do for the residents of Monroe thank you thank you anyone else wishing to address the council seeing and hearing none I would like to entertain a motion to close the public comment section please motion thank you may I have a second on that hello second thank you so much all in favor I anyone opposed may I have a motion to adjourn motion may I have a second second thank you we are aen