ladies and gentlemen the agenda meeting is now officially called to order would we all please rise to honor our flag pledge ALG flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all will the clerk call the rooll please yes yes councilman Charles deiro here councilman Michael marel Yes councilwoman Rupa P seagull here Council vice president Terrence vanzura here council president Miriam Cohen president would you please read the Sunshine Law into the record yes 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 Bolton boards within the municipal building on December 30th 2022 and remains posted at that location for public inspection two printed in the home News Tribune and the cranberry press on December 30th 2022 three posted on the mono Township website and for sent to those individuals who have requested personal notice in accordance with chapter 3 section 17 of the Monro Township Code public comment shall be limited to 5 minutes unless further time is granted by the council president thank you we have a proclamation tonight that acknowledges the effort of the sewa deali food drive 2023 item six is ordinances for second reading at the December 4th regular meeting which follows this meeting immediately 01223 d026 is an ordinance authorizing the township of Monroe to convey a deed of easement over property at 210 cranberry Halfacre Road known as block 41 lot 14 on the official tax M of the township of Monroe parenthetical to that is that it's a jcpnl easement for the veterans housing project ordinances for introduction at the December 4th 2023 meeting 012 2023 d027 is an ordinance amending chapter three of the code of the township of Monroe County of middlex entitled administration of government specifically section 50 entitled division of police where it reference seeing an increase from 5 to six lieutenants eight is our resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda at the December 4th regular meeting R12 2023-24 through R12 223-2712 none oh very good we will move to the public comments section of the agenda meeting remember please it's limited to agenda items only five minutes per speaker may I have a motion to open the public comment section motion thank you second second thank you all in favor I I anyone opposed public comment section is open those wishing to make a comment please come forward to the microphone stating your name and address for the record I don't know if this is on is it on it should be Mr Gman okay uh George gunman 5 KY Court Monroe uh I have a question about um in the consent agenda item uh 255 which is transfer of of U of budget line items um my question basically is um how much money are we talking about but particularly I'd like to know what if there are any significant increases in the light items that it's being transferred to so are we taking a line item and doubling its value by way of the transfer as opposed to having allocated in the original budget are there any big distortions here Mr wber what my question is yep real quick uh so it's actually quite a small transfer it's just $6,000 in a $70 million budget so I could get into the details if you'd like question answer thank you um in uh also in a consent agenda item 261 which was um rejecting all proposals uh my question is why were they all rejected was it to do with money or they didn't meet the um uh the requirements of the RFP okay so and I may defer to Joe stoin as well who took the lead on this but basically the prices were higher than we expected um and our previous experience towards the end was not as positive as it was with one of the biders um throughout most of the contract so I can have uh you know Joe expand on that if you'd like council president I please sorry I think I'm gonna have to pick this thing up do you know where the spend a lot of time with microphon sorry no problem thank you council president uh one of the big things Mr gunkelman is that uh this is very similar to the uh energy aggregation program that the uh that the township is doing we uh took a number of different bids analyzed them and looked at to see whether or not there would be a benefit to our residents as you know Monroe makes nothing on this program this was just a benefit to the residents and after a thorough and complete review as well as looking at the fact that the original uh contract provider was uh sold and purchased by another firm we ended up finding out that the uh level of service and the cost was prohibitive to have the municipality endorse it going forward thank you um thank you actually I'll back up to the to the um um the aggregation item which is 254 um page two um are any of those are we going to be reaching out to any uh clean energy type thing so is there going to be an option there I get a lot of stuff from the mail uh wanting to sign me up but none of them have a fix rate for more than a month or two so it's uh it's like crap shoot Mr sure so so um as many of you know I'll try and be as quick as I can we had the municipal Community energy aggregation program um that ran for eight years ending in 2021 where we were able to collectively participate in a rate that was lower than the tarff rate um unfortunately the energy aggregation programs for almost everyone who's doing it I think it's everyone um the rates were coming in higher than the Tariff rate and we certainly couldn't sign our residents up for something that would cost more than the Tariff rate so this just allows us to begin to uh for May to look again and see if we can come in well under the Tariff rate so that we could make an award there is a significant amount of Renewables in there because the standards keep getting higher um but they're not some of the higher you know not the some some some some places have 50% Renewables and this wouldn't be that um but it is it is it is higher than it was when we first started with the program because Renewables are a larger portion of everything so um so that's that's that's my answer council president thank you thank you um item 270 oh yes yeah uh the item 270 uh there's no dollar amount given there do we have a dollar amount for the award oh yeah sorry contract forward remediation technologist Emergency Services apologize take me one second here uh council president 117,000 there's your number which is in the resolution 11,700 I apologize for that that not being on the agenda Mr no problem that's what we're here for find thank you doc wait this gentleman and then Dr prash go ahead please your name and address for our records sure good evening Council my name is Christian Kaine I'm a resident of East Brunswick and a registered nurse at Robert Wood Johnson I'm sure by now you've heard of our tentative agreement and we're very happy to hear that the Hospital seems to have met our demands for safe Staffing ratios but we're here today because this battle for safe Staffing may be coming to an end in new brunwick but it has only begun in making its way toward Trenton I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank council president for her proud history as of registered nurse with strong ties to Public Health and nursing education um today I'm asking for you to play another part in improving Healthcare in New Jersey and amend the resolution on your agenda today to endorse that the township of Monroe supports the passing of safe Staffing Bill a453 6 and also known as s304 the current version of the resolution is insufficient in demonstrating dedication toward the future of nursing care I was happy to hear in your last session that you would reach out to Dr Cadmus the director of the nccn for her input on this matter the nccn's extremely valuable research provides much of the basis of these bills while I appreciate their contributions I can't help but feel that their silence on the bills to this point is a result of their partnership with the Rucker School of Medicine an entity resulting from a controversial merger between the New Jersey medical school and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School one of the Deans of the school recently stated regarding the merger our commitment to Robert Wood Johnson University in New Brunswick remains strong and our relationship with these institutions will remain unchanged I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that the nccn has decided to remain silent on these bills as a matter of self-preservation the other Deans were responsible for asking medical students to volunteer as support staff for the strike Breakers the student body bravely responded with a joint letter that I can submit to you uh as an example of advocacy for patient safety the decision to this is a quotation the decision to seek student volunteers during a strike could be perceived as disregarding the legitimate concerns of the nursing staff specifically related to patient safety the nccn's relationship with r School of Medicine makes to me them an inappropriate source of advice on this matter as for industry experts such as Hospital associations they have vigorously opposed safe Staffing legislation for over 20 years ever since California successfully passed their ratio law the industry has doubled the amount of money spent in lobbying across the country look no further than New Brunswick Robert with Johnson spent over $120 million on replacement staff alone because our Union dared to St stand up for nurse patient ratios Hospital associations don't want this bill to pass because their mission is to improve business not patient outcomes they attempt to drown out the voice of nurses with nonsense Hospital associations claim that quote studies indicate that one size fits all nurse patient ratios do not improve quality of care or patient outcomes this statement fails to acknowledge that plenty of other studies do indicate that ratios increase workplace safety patient safety and job satisfaction among nurses on top of that this is not a one-size fits-all bill this legislation is about Staffing minimums objections to Staffing minimums are like saying that cars don't need four wheels because tractor trailers have more sure sometimes trucks may have more but they have at least four in an emergency you can drive on a flat just like how these bills have reasonable exceptions for uncontrollable circumstances the final part of the resolution I take issue with is that it goes from the reasonable position that the legislature and the Department of Health are best suited to investigate and evaluate Staffing standards to inviting industry experts to dis to the discussion to let industry which is focused on business and profit into the conversation is a grave mistake you're asking a police officer to sit down with a burglar and debate the value of handcuffs this legislation empowers the Department of Health to regulate the industry why would a burglar willingly put handcuffs on himself please amend your resolution to remove industry insiders from this discussion and urge your legislators to co-sponsor bills s304 and a453 6 the future of Nursing and Healthcare in New Jersey depends on it thank you thank you for your turn may I V any pardon may I give this to you of course thank you of course apprciate Dr P good evening everyone evening yeah this is uh just needs a clarification on this resolution I'm not against it I needs some clarification resolution R1 12223 253 a shared um you know work regarding the health and we are going to with middle sex County uh $107,000 per year shared service I like to understand what type of shared service we are doing what way it is helping us as a residents uh so I don't know about it so just uh explain to the public please sure thank you please council president if I can so this would be uh we've been part of this shared services agreement since uh since we got here and I'm going to mention in our in my remarks in midix County there's 25 municipalities 23 municipalities are part of a shared services agreement with the county to get health services whether it be health inspection Public Health a whole variety of other services and the economies of scale that help with that are significant also environmental envir environmental reviews I believe only Woodbridge and Edison has their own health department so what's great about this for us is instead of having 23 separate Health departments we have one County Health Department that has those resources um and this is about a 2% increase and it's worked well for us in the past it does make sense thank you you're welcome anyone else wishing to address us please come forward good evening your name and address for the record please good evening Lucio Panos 128 C Lera Plaza on ra I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and grateful we're all here tonight um item number 254 there's no amount how much was this contract for item $259 it says there's an administrative monthly fee of $1,300 did that go up and is that you pay that whether we use their services or not so if it did go up how much did it go up on 261 um how many proposals did you actually get and on 266 it's almost it's health insurance how much did that go up what's a percentage of that that that bit everybody this year as far as I know Mr Warren bur so if I could I'll start with the 254 so 254 there is no cost to the township as part of this process if we go out to bid um and we do not award um ultimately if there's an award for energy aggregation and we haven't been successful the last two times we tried cuz it was over I believe it's 0059 um as part of the rate which gets built in but that would automatically be uh make sure that we're under 5% of the Tariff rate so there's no cost to the township that's built into the program that's how it is on every gener uh General energy aggregation community and aggregation program on 259 the administrative fee went up $100 a month from 1200 to 1300 um uh it's incredibly hard to find um animal shelter services and so we're you know thrilled to be part of um um Oldbridge the costs are increasing um this year overall particularly with the daily boarding um but there's just not a lot of places to go for animal shelter care um and it's a it's a complicated thing to procure and we've been very happy with our relationship with Oldbridge Township on 261 um we received I believe two correct two two proposals um as part of the RFP for water and sanitary optional sewer repair insurance for lack of a better word um and that's the one that we're rejecting and on 266 um the increase um in healthcare is 3.9% um overall last year was Zero um as you know the state last year was 23% um in the state this year I believe is 7.6 so we're at 3.9 that'll go down a little bit with a couple of changes uh that'll happen in July as well thank you I hope you all have a nice holiday you too thank you anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now sir your name and address for our record okay I'm Alan Chris G at 518b Hazen Road and Monroe New Jersey thank you okay and um Mr G can you just bring the mic closer to you please so sorry the back in here thank you okay okay MH so uh I do want to confirm uh what Christian has spoken about earlier about the uh that perhaps we really should amend the um ordinance for the safe Staffing um I also I do thank you for moving this so quickly which is good like you know that's good uh and also uh we have noted that the uh let's see uh Linda Greenstein has been a sponsor in the past and presently now for in the senate for the bill uh 304 and uh also uh Dan uh Benson has been a sponsor one of the sponsors in the assembly and now recognize too that uh Dan is is uh no longer going to be there and uh toil koi now is is uh the assembly uh representative uh there now uh but plus we would like to amend that the um Amendment uh support or or recommend that uh the assembly Representatives who are not already sponsoring to uh co-sponsor the bills in their uh respective um houses there and that's that's it thank you for your comments sir thank you thank you um anyone else wishing to address us please take you Pi Which Way sure to walk that way your name and address for our records please hi my name is Mari Santo I live at 9 Mimi drive here in Monroe Township I've been a resident for 22 years here in in this um Township and I've been a nurse at Robert Wood for 22 out of my 35 years um as you all know we are currently on strike still after today is our fourth month out on the street with no insurance um this bill that you guys are looking at has been in the state um for about 20 years now and it's been given a little pat on the head here and there and it's something that ultimately is going to impact all it's impacting all of us uh for the past 20 years if we haven't wound up on a hospital bed we will wind up on a hospital bed we'll have loved ones will wound up on a hospital bed and if you don't have somebody in the family that knows a little bit about medicine to help you figure things out and speak for you um those nurses at the bedsides are going to be the ones that are going to speak for you and look out for you and we're just looking for safe safe patient to nurse ratios that will at least least protect us and the patients at the bedsides from Grievous uh mistakes uh oversights um you know sometimes there's nobody to speak for a patient other than the nurse that's taking care of them and I feel that this is a public safety sit situation that needs to be addressed um and I find myself in my 35 years of nursing getting scared for what's come becoming of medicine it's no longer a personal thing it's no longer there's no care in it anymore it's all about the the bottom dollar it's a it's a become a corporation it's no longer about caring for that human being at the bedside and that's my major concern that I will not not just be a nurse one day I'm going to be a patient in one of those beds and I'm very scared for it thank God I have a nurse daughter and I already told her to you know have my back just as I did for my family members but not everybody has that and I think in good conscious we at least as human beings need to take this into consideration for everyone's safety thank appreciate your comments thank [Applause] you anyone else wishing to address the council at this point ma'am please come up my name is Adrien fine I live at 15b Canterbury Drive here in mono Township have been a member of the township for 23 years I have been a registered nurse since 1957 and I have gone through all kinds of craziness over the years both with the state nursing association and the American nursing association to get something like this taken care of of is to everybody's benefit in this room and I urge you to support their their uh legislation that they want to pass thank [Applause] you hello your name and address for our records please uh good evening uh my name is Emy rabie I'm a resident here at went to spatswood Gravel Hill Road and I'm one of the 1700 nurses on strike in robot wood right now um since August 4 so we've been here for 4 months now um safe Staffing is the plan where an appropriate number of nurses are always available to provide the patients with the attention and care they deserve the issue of un underst Staffing which we have experienced is a public health concern The Chronic inadequate Staffing compromises the quality of patient care and creates an unsafe working environment for the nurses leading to undue stress burnout and poor retention of nurses the nurses at Robert Wood are demanding better better Better Staffing levels to safeguard the well-being of our patients and to help preserve the nursing Workforce why is safety Staffing important research shows that safe Staffing ratio are crucial and one of the main contributors for success of any Healthcare institution it reduces mortality rate by at least 7% it saves the facility significant amount of money because it decreases readmission rates decreases length of stay and decreases nurse burnout therefore it lowers the nurses turnover rates the core of our fight for safety Staffing is the community our working condition is our patient's care condition safety is the basic human needs and rights it is not a radical idea we are level one trauma unit and I work in a neonatal IU and I work with a 26 24 weer babies and I love my work I love working with people so I'm just begging you guys to help us out we care we care for the sickest of the sick in the community we are fighting for the unforeseeable safe patient to nurse ratio an evidence-based practice that proven to be saving lives and so we would like to request for a resolution in support for the safety stopping bills the the township of Edison pitcataway Maplewood have already passed the resolution in support of the safety Staffing Bill I'm also um active in our church and our school and you know I'm a good citizen of this community so I'm just hoping to help us out thank you thank you for your comment anyone else wishing to address the council this evening at this point in the conversation anyone else wishing to address the Council on anything else on our agenda very good at this moment I'm going to ask for council president council president may I add sure um I'd like to ask Mr Ron if there's any way that we can amend this resolution that the public has been discussing sure well this is your I'm sorry this is your work session so you certainly this would be the the time to do it uh if you wanted to add or change language you would change it and then we would adopt it at the regular portion of the so before I close this so well right you're we're still in a public portion is that correct so at the conclusion of the public portion we do it may I have a motion to close public portion may I have a second on that second all in favor I any opposed public portion is closed councilwoman I believe you still have the floor yeah I would just like to Mr Rino and if you could help us reword this possibly if everyone else agrees to to go ahead and amend the resolution based on what we're hearing from the public I am curious as to the sense of my colleagues on the council what you are feeling at this moment Madam president could I be heard that's of course that's why I just said I believe the first gentleman that came up uh uh addressed further specific bills and language that was not in our original resolution correct and I don't you know it was a lot to kind of grasp in a in a short period of time but I think that's what my colleagues are looking to perhaps try to add because we're very supportive of of all of your efforts and and very appreciative and we appreciate you're coming here and and letting us know I not to speak for my other Council people but I think what we'd like to do if I'm hearing my colleague correctly is put the language in that you feel that is appropriate so that we could then uh vote on that language which perhaps might be stronger and have more of an effect when uh when our resolution goes forward and and perhaps I don't know I know you handed something to uh I have ccil President is that a revised resolution or is that there's some way we can get the proper language no it's his statement and so I I I just I just he has Luke go ahead I'm just writing it as he's writing it as we speak we do have experience Council here in town so I just think that you want to Ian I think that the the whereases of your resolution are generally okay I just think that you want to add as a second whereas be further resol that ex be the second resolved be further resolved that the township Council does hereby support and endorse the passage of assembly Bills going to the mic please sorry I'm got a little bit of a cold uh be it uh further resolved that the township Council does hereby um support and endorse the passage of assembly bill number 4536 and Senate Bill sorry I was reading as we were going along uh s uh 304 304 and then I think if you just put that in Patty is the second resolve then the last resolve um calls for us to send a copy of this resolution to the uh legislative district Representatives by hearing consensus on my right over here gentlemen yes yes yes that satisfactory coun excuse me Lou if I can just ask so when we adopt are we taking it out of the consent and and voting on it separately or leave it in the consent no I think that you could if if there's a consent amongst the council people I think you can just add add that res resolved in and um and adopt it as as revised changed and we would read the revised council president just had a question for Council so that we'll be voting on the way it gets amended correct correct end unless there's some objection it would be it would be endorsing the bills right Madam president did I also hear something about a safe Staffing bill 80536 is that a different bill or did I just not hear that right maybe a different Bill not not something that think I I had the numbers right right the assembly bill is 4536 and the Senate bill is I think Senator vitali's Bill is s304 I was confused with 4536 I believe 4536 okay thank you you're welcome just to comment that we had gotten I had gotten information from Dr Cadmus and what we did was give it out to our my colleagues on the counil who all got it it was not a matter of having discussions with them about it but rather of obtaining information to share to educate all of us in the most effective manner possible and efficient since we did as was noted wish to get this done relatively quickly okay is there a motion to I I don't know that you need is there any well I guess that's the question council president if there's no objection you could just do it by consensus consensus so the consensus is there's any obje does any council member have any objection to doing this by consensus not no okay so it could stay in the consent stays on the consent agenda just with that result stays on the consent agenda for our regular meeting so you can stay please and hear it adopted okay [Applause] okay motion second to adj motion uh may I have a motion to adjourn that was interrupted who made that motion no we didn't someone make a motion to adjourn please motion please thank you may I have a second on that pleas thank you roll call councilman depiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes the time is wrong on the wall so it's always wrong on the wall 7:04 704 Apple yes 7 7 Apple Time 704 Apple Time Android Android she's an Android okay motion and second to call to order yes I am regular meeting is called to order at the time of 7:04 Apple time or Android time you said may we have a motion to call this meeting to order please motion thank you may I have a second on second H someone second second second may we have the roll call vote councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes may I have a motion to approve the payment of claims for the run date of November 30th 2023 motion pleas thank you may I have a second second thank you roll call councilman deiro obained councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen a motion to approve it I need your vote Yes yes thank you sorry that's okay Pro may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the following meeting meetings as written and presented November 8th 2023 the agenda and regular combined meeting motion so moved second second thank you a roll call councilman deiro yes councilman mark C yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cowen yes thank you the ordinance for second reading is 01223 d026 it is the ordinance sorry somebody sne question oh ordinance authorizing the township of Monroe to convey a deed of easement over property at 210 cranberry Halfacre Road known as block 4 1 lot 14 on the official tax map of the township of Monroe I need a motion to open the public hearing motion thank you a second on that second thank you all in favor I any opposed public hearing is open anyone wishing to comment on this ordinance only please come forward and state your name and address for the record seeing and hearing none may I have a motion to close the public hearing on this ordinance motion thank you a second second thank you public hearing all in favor I anyone opposed A I may have a motion to adopt please mov thank you a second on that second thank you roll call councilman depiro yes Council marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president venzor yes council president Cohen yes I item five is the ordinance for introduction is 012 2023-24 it's an ordinance amending chapter three of the code of the township of Monroe County of middlex entitled administration of government specifically section 50 entitled division of police that is an increase of from five to six lieutenants may I have a motion so moved thank you a second on that second somebody roll call councilman depiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes we move to the resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda r1220 23-25 3 through R12 223-2712 71 as amended we don't anything as revised as revised may I have a motion please so moved thank you a second on that second thank you roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Coen yes yeah War oh we move straight to the administrator's report Mr Weinberg please uh thank you very much council president I'll be somewhat brief and may mention some things that came up during the q& so just uh bear with me did want to highlight on here a little bit about the uh uh 3.9% Healthcare increase um and the the cooperation uh between the employees the unions and the management to keep Health Care increases more manageable um and so we continue to work on that and move forward um I also want to comment a little bit on managing legal fees um we're still down about 200,000 from 2019 in our current fund for it um which has been stable at at that rate and and we're switching on here as you know uh 55,000 from tax appeals um which are down thankfully to General legal and litigation um so we're dealing with that as you as you know and as the council knows um Republic Services has sued the township and its residents regarding the closed landfill and so some of this money will be used to defend the residents um vigorously over the coming months and years in that lawsuit did want to comment on the County Health Department shared services agreement um we are always trying to move into shared services agreement when we do that as government we can certainly uh not only save money but uh get get a better product um the optional Water and Sewer program uh will no longer be municipally sponsored as was mentioned earlier this was an opt-in program only um the future cost increase from the two biders and the recent contract reliability issues uh make it difficult for the municipality to endorse the program is still the available to the public privately um and folks can uh make choices as they see fit and finally engineering design was approved in here for Inwood Estates Road and Ada Pro improvements moving forward with this $328,000 uh State local aid grant this will improve the roads um in and around where the tanker trucks were uh were moving over by the landfill for several years um and we'll be excited to uh work on this project later this year and hopefully uh get into Paving thank you thank you very much engineer Mr rmo hi thank you council president uh I'll be brief as well um just a quick update on a few of the projects the Emergency Services building on Hy Reed Road the drainage and concrete work is complete uh the paving should be this week if the weather permits our Township uh sidewalk program is still in progress uh the county uh traffic signal improvements Oldbridge English toown Road and mounts Mills Road intersection the county work is well underway our utility work uh was completed by uh Monroe Township utility department and lastly the uh traffic signal at Applegarth and Joon Warren Way intersection middle SE County anticipates Construction starting in the spring of spring of 2024 thank you thank you Council reports Mr Jiro you wish to do the council report sure good first I wanted to um wish everyone happy holidays uh this time of the time of the year just wish everybody Happy Hanukkah Merry Christmas and safe New Years to all um but I also find that listening to um our residents and and the our co- uh workers of Robert Wood Johnson and all the hospitals I just want to say um I've been through hospitals enough with my family and um through good times and bad times but um never had a bad experience uh with nursing uh and with Staffing and um sitting up here I just want to say as a resident of 63 years of Monroe um sitting as a councilman I I will always support the uh First Responders and also our our staffs that you guys went through Co and everything and just want to say thank you to uh to everyone involved because we all as you said we're all going to end up on a hospital bed where we're going to have a loved one there and just listening to um our attorney attorney's advice I want to thank our Council uh president for her expertise and her support and her knowledge with this and also educating me as a uh a citizen and as also as a a councilman I want to say thank you because um it's something that it's close to all of us and I just want to say thank you for for everything that you do and if there's anything that we could do um I'm glad you you came to the mayor and to the council and we we we appreciate that and we just want to I want to say thank you um I had a couple questions uh Links Drive Costco Drive there's a a gate that's um someone ran through uh the gate and our police escorted um chased this uh individual was like two or 3 months ago there's still some cone there um when can we get this gate fixed and at whose expense will this gate be who would be paying for this so um good thank you Council uh councilman so we are in the process of replacing it um and I believe as is always the case if we were able to catch the person and I'll double check um then we would our insurance company would be going after them as well to reimburse us for all the costs of replacing the gate so I'll have to look into to that to to confirm that we caught the individual but I know that the process of replacing the gate is already underway um and it's a it's a a complicated gate last time when it broke about a year ago it took us a little while to fix it um but uh but hopefully in the next couple of weeks we should be in good shape okay if you can keep us posted on that I'd appreciate it thank you um I sent a couple emails out past couple months um I know Shannon used to take care of a lot of Street lighting issues that are out in our throughout our town um I got involved in um some that were out in Greenbrier some that was out in Concordia but we have Avenue K we have Grano street we have matchaponix Texas Road spots with Gravel Hill the new section that we've uh just paved probably 25 to 35% of those lights are out I don't know who we have driving around at night that can can report these lights to jcpnl but there's quite a bit of Lights Out through our through our community so I do send emails and um on which streets they are because residents do either send emails to uh our Administration or they send them to us as councel and I just pass them the information along but um they're quite a bit of lights out and I'd like to see who who's in charge of in that in our community now Mr warber council president so yeah I did pass uh your outages out to the regional representative from jcpnl cuz ultimately they're responsible for the lights um we've been pressing them to fix lights and and in and in being on different uh email servers with other Municipal managers this is unfortunately a chronic problem and I know the mayor um has brought it up to not just jcpnl and I'll let him speak to it um but also to the Board of Public Utilities because that's ultimately um who they answer to at the uh jcpnl we've been able to get some progress throughout the town um but there are certainly you know too many lights that are out and we continue to uh push them they're a regulated agency so the pressure continues to go to our legislators and the BPU to encourage them to fix more lights they have made a significant amount of progress um that they have been in town and we have been getting some updates um but but we'll continue to push them uh to do more um to try and fix those lights it's particularly important when we're in this time of year when it gets dark so early you know becomes a safety issue for our residents um and becomes a more acute issue okay thank you because I know we've been waiting for municipal Plaza for a few years for them the new lights they're going to put from primeville into the complex but they're still not still not here right so that's that's different that's putting in new construction and we are we are waiting a long time on that but there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be fixing lights quicker sometimes what they say to us um and this happened a little bit in Clearbrook and I know the mayor can address it some of these lights have underground wiring which makes it more complicated but it's never an excuse for it to take too long to do it because we are paying for those lights so they should be on right thank you so um there's a ribbon cutting which I visited again today Monroe bagel and uh pastry at um 8:00 at 6:27 spots Englishtown Road uh December 7th uh the owners um appreciate the mayor coming cut the ribbon and Council and public whoever can attend it's at 6:27 spots Englishtown Road 8:00 a.m. on December 7th uh also uh manur Lighting on December 7th at 400 p.m. at the primeville and Prospect Plains Road and there's also on December 10th at 5:00 p.m. at the senior center the manure lighting uh that will go at the senior center on um nove on November 29th Veterans Park to uh the rec center we had the tree lighting and the H holiday parade I wanted to say thank you to everyone that that helped the police with the escorts and our First Responders Station 51 station 57 I want to say thank you for all of that and also for the recck Department on everything in DPW what they did also um some of the council and the mayor attended the uh luncheon at for Thanksgiving at the senior center that was uh something that was very nice uh as always it was well done and and our staff I just wanted to thank everybody for that um we have we have two uh two employees that no longer work with us this year I just wanted to give a shout out um Alicia Gonzalez in the clerk's office and also saman ramp our tax collector um I just wanted to wish them well and on their new careers and and their new towns that they're working for and I wanted to say thank you to them for everything that they did for us and and our departments that they helped because I knew them personally and I also had experiences with them and they had everybody had nothing but good things to say about those two employees and I just wanted to pass along that along and say thank you and we also have two employees um Christine U Braden who's going to be retiring from Mt UD which I call MTM mua cuz that's when she started 25 years ago um and she was the voice that when you called she always uh made you feel better and said hello and bubbly and she always um answered the phone in a good spirit and I know her last day is December 29th just wanted to give her a shout out and thank her and um for everything and wish her well and her retirement also uh Wayne HB at our director from DPW is going to be retiring and everything he did for our community and um I just wanted to thank him and his uh his expertise on everything that he did for our community and wish him well on his retirement um I had a question on the server have we gotten any updates yet on the server I know we talked about it with the Board of Ed and when can we get this server back up so these these meetings are live live yes so if I could council president so the meetings are live um we're on we're on YouTube um and and they're also recorded on on there as well um I know that the server was down at the Board of Ed I can certainly follow up on that and and see if there's any communication or plan there um and see how we could be helpful to resurrect that that would tie it into the cable system um but it is already taped and live um here you know as you look to the back of the room you could watch it from your car if you're so inclined um but I we can certainly follow up on that I don't have a recent update yeah but if you wanted to watch it like my mom watches it on Verizon she's unable to watch it and she keeps asking me why and I keep saying I I'll ask I'll ask and when we started it was 35,000 65,000 we're going to get it a couple months we're talking to the the Board of Education I mean you know you talk about it being on YouTube but everybody doesn't have YouTube like like I said my mom's uh watches it on Verizon some people watch Comcast um I just thought by now we would have an answer and try to get it so they they can watch it on Comcast Verizon and everybody can see it not just people with uh on YouTube or um live like like you said recorded on our website so uh it's just something that I think that we need to resolve and that everyone could see the uh see our meetings all our meetings um I had a a question in reference I sent an email on Friday in references some bills and I noticed we have um Lowe's Home Depot uh we are making some payments uh where it says Lowe's credit Home Depot credit so I think um on the bill list when I see credit cards and I look back at the past of some Township employees some fire companies um and so forth uh with credit cards uh I think um that that's a problem and I I what I would like to do is I'd like to get from our auditor uh and also from our attorney a a letter of opinion on any credit cards that or any um credit cards made out to mtud or in the name of the township of Monroe uh I think that I'm I'm requesting a letter of opinion from our attorney and also from our auditor uh so if I can U get that if you need it in writing from me uh council president just let me know but that's a request that that I'm making I I could answer that um either at the end of your comments or now if you'd like councilman you now no I just would I like the letter i' like to respond either at the end of your comments or now if You' prefer um you can respond okay so we don't have any credit cards we do have and I've explained this in writing several times to you we do have we do participate in state contract programs with Home Depot and Lowe's there are no credit cards in the township I know there was a major issue within the audit and at DCA as it relates to the fire district but we do not use any credit cards here within the township okay so whatever we use if it's a if it's a qualified card I spoke to George Lang because you asked me to go see him tonight and I did and he re his reference to me it's not a credit card it's it's a purchase card that's the it's state approved so whatever cards we use i' just like to have a letter from our attorney and also from our auditor a letter of opinion on these cards that says Lowe's credit and and Home Depot credit when it's when you see credit and then when I when I requested the invoices I was not given the invoices Home Depot I was not given the invo were given all I mean I can we can pull those after the meeting I thought it was just so we gave it to you it's the DPW that you just lauded that's the that's who goes there Pur minute here folks you've asked for the opinion to be red by our attorney and our auditor and the and the auditor to the legality of doing this is my question I need the letter of opinion of the use of the cards if this is an appropriate use corre state issued cards for certain Council council president if it was a problem our auditor would have put it in the findings like they did at fire district one they what DCA refer to his PE cards is that PE cards similar to PE cards but also some of them are State contract cards I can give you the local Finance notice that allows us yeah that's all I'm asking for that's all I'm ask my letter as a DCA opin when we're asked to approve bills I'm just asking for the bills and now I'm asking for a letter from our attorney and our order that's all I'm asking said he would give you well our order would have flagged it in an order so obviously would clean on an order right but I'm just asking never happened but the attorney said that he can get this um from is a release information you can provide so we can move on the Department of Community Affairs there a local Finance own that approves it it's there's a state regulation on it our auditor doesn't render opinions like that our auditor conducts an audit we don't pay him to have the Home Depot bills if that wasn't included right next to her because has the Home Depot bills if you need them okay but there's also State contracts that we we need we want to follow and I'm just asking for that letter that's all um you weren't denied getting that us to move on all right so I also sent an email in reference to um how much taxes we collected so far for 2023 I I requested added assessments roll back taxes there was um I got a response 996 added assessments with a total of 4,596 728 this money is um collected over uh what we budgeted for with each Board of Education um also our fire companies and and fire districts and stuff like that so with this money that we collected in 20123 4,596 728 that money we do not disperse that money other than to the county correct the by by State Statute it only goes to the county nothing gets dispersed by Statute okay so what do we do with that remaining 4 million right so the council president if I may there's an offset as you know both the fire district and the Board of Education when there's a tax appeal don't have to make those payments this Council makes those payments in full um we don't share it and we do have an offset for the county that's how the legislature um set this set this up um and we're just following the statute ultimately that runs into our AFS um and ultimately into our audit um as part of as part of our as part of our budget as every other town would do becomes part of your Surplus correct okay so part of my Surplus if there last time we had this problem my recollection was we had to go borrow the money to for tax appeals because we didn't have the money to pay the taxpayers but the county also gives us a credit correct if tax appeals correct the same 20% that they get from the assessments they give us a credit for the same 20% on tax appeals okay for collections all right so so right now we're just that extra 4 million that we collected this year where does that go goes into the general fund and it probably lapses into your Surplus because it's not appropriated this year it's an it's an item of Revenue sorry I can't speak any L on this on my voice is over little it goes it I I heard this correctly it goes into our Surplus correct so we because it is unspent so it is there okay thank you council president thank you you're welcome you good now I'm all good okay thank you Mr marel your report please a very short report um I just was going to re reiterate on some of the events we had um over the last month uh the dwali event at the senior center was uh wonderful um great event um The Christmas lighting last week was really well attended did very wasn't too cold and we had a great person light the tree our our council president um the Thanksgiving dinner at the um Senior Center served about 265 members uh people which was a really nice turnout um and I just wanted to say that the manora lighting on the 10th is we all should attend that uh one thing I would like to mention which is kind of um has affected me uh personally over the last month is um what's going on um in Israel um I've got number a number of uh emails from uh people um in my counil as a councilman not personally asking me my opinion on what's going on I'm really not going to get into my opinion but it's um in this time of holiday of the season um when we're all celebrating um I think we have to remember what's going on with the people in Gaza and the people in Israel and the people in the Ukraine um and while we celebrate we should keep in our minds and our hearts um what they're going through um it's very important um to remember this and I also want to thank the all the nurses and all the staff uh that are here tonight uh representing um your patience and everybody who's going to need you and is thankful for you um that's all I just had to say that happy Holidays happy Hanukah happy Merry Christmas Quanza everything have a good have a good holiday thank you before I move over to councilwoman seagull we have already been to that bagel store you were referencing earlier councilman we went there after some event and had a really good bagel little large and and the latte and so pretty Place councilwoman thank you councilwoman Cohen um good evening everyone nice to see everyone here today just a couple comments and updates that I want to share um as was mentioned by Mr marel we had our Township dwali event back on November 19th and it was truly a wonderful event showcasing The Cult culture and Heritage of India and we did a little tour of a celebration around D how dwali celebrate around India it was a day of cultural programming we had a lot of local vendors um exhibits a room dedicated to making a community Rangoli and we had food from purchase from a lot of our uh our local Indian restaurants so and we ended with a special de de lighting but I do want to thank people there were so many people involved in this event our Dali committee has been working on this since the beginning of last last year um our DPW and Greg slavich they were such an enormous support to us helping us out all over with the event um our Police Department EMS everyone else that was involved our Township Administration there's so many people helping to make that event a success and we were also able to collect a food pantry donation with the help of our local vendors of over $550 so we're excited that we're able to do that too and I wanted to share that our mayor's youth advisory Comm just kicked off last week we have about 20 High School age students that are participating this year and I have to say the selection proess process was very challenging we had over 50 applicants who applied to be on this commission so we are looking forward to really working with these students over the next several months and seeing what they come up with and um again as others have mentioned the senior center Thanksgiving event it's always nice to be there and see such a great turnout the senior center does an amazing job with that event and I want to point out if anyone has hasn't visited the library please do go stop in they just redid the circulation desk that area looks amazing it looks like a different library and I know DPW and some other areas were helping too so thank you for all the great work and it's the season of giving it's upon us and you know it's always a time to think of others there's many organizations around town that are doing collecting food donations collecting coats um toy drives there's so many things out there and even if you can't donate money they're always looking for volunteers who can help and lend a little bit of a hand so I wish everyone happy holidays to whatever holiday you may celebrate thank you Council vice president venzer thank you madam president um most of my colleagues had hit on the items that I was going to hit on so I'll be pretty brief tonight but um I thought it was wonderful we had our annual Veterans Day event we had a dwali festival we had Christmas tree lighting now we have manora lighting coming up kind of things that make Monroe a great town we have a great mixture of people here and it's it's nice to see the community come out and get involved and and have some forms of Celebration um I especially want to compliment all of the nurses who came here at this meeting as well as the last meeting and you came out here and you came out here to fight for a cause but you did it the right way you did it the right way you came before a council you were respectful you got your point across you educated the council and whoever else might be watching as to what the nature of your issue was and the council reacted and we reacted promptly it's very unusual for us to get a resolution together from one meeting to the next meeting and to be able to do that and have it passed and then also amend it in the middle of the meeting tonight from our uh agenda meeting to our other meeting to reflect your updated concerns that we were unaware of I I mean I think that reflects uh very strongly on how you guys presented yourselves and the fact that you came forth and you uh you got your point across and I I think based on the vote of the uh Council which was unanimous you could see that we all agree that it was a very very worthwhile cause and I and I wish you the best I I hope that the uh the rumors of settlement are are positive and and that it'll be to your satisfaction but if not and for the other uh issues beyond the initial settlement that you also brought up I I hope that you'll continue your fight wherever it may be and and I think you could see that you had our support so thank you so much and and thanks for everyone thank you Mrs why nurse is the number one trusted profession in the United States year after year after year but on that note you're after year but on that note as is always a pleasure our mayor M Mr Delina please uh thank you thank you Council thank you thank thank you council president for allowing me a few minutes to uh just um make some brief remarks uh first and foremost to the nurses the staff members here uh thank you so much for what you do uh for your clinical stewardship uh but now more importantly um um I have to admire your advocacy to your profession to come out here uh to fight for um not only yourselves but for the generations of skilled nurses to come so thank you so much for being here um before I begin my comments uh regarding some of the agenda items I would like to just share my statement on the vandalism at Temple at himim and the ultimate um or the follow-up arrest of a juvenile suspect uh the van vandalism to the itsim synagogue has deeply affected our entire community at a time when there is such an alarming increase in incidents of anti-Semitism law enforcement and prosecutors must take all bias cases very seriously I must applaud our acting Chief Griffin Banos and the Monroe Township Police for their hard work and thanking them for apprehending a suspect as the individual is a 15 year old juvenile there is no more I can say at this time except that we expect the appropriate legal process to move forward we appreciate the community's support for temple aeim since the incident our Township would not tolerate actions of bias or hate in this town again while this was a sad day for Monroe I I was glad to see how the community responded with support and help uh which helped the police catch the suspect Monroe continues to be a caring Community uh which respects all of its neighbors and citizens um I did also want to mention a little bit about the street lights um it has been an ongoing issue for quite some time now um dealing with jcpnl is very very difficult uh um as as the energy provider to many communities in the state um it is a conglomerate which is very difficult to Traverse through uh we do have a regional coordinator who we've had discussions with um especially regarding the street lights in our town um the problem is is that the system that they use for streetlight uh repairs for acknowledgement that there's repairs or if citizens want to call uh or call to that there is a street light out and then the subsequent work orders that go go out are is a um it's a it's a aric system uh which causes just trouble after trouble after trouble and as opposed to getting something fixed it just causes more trouble um conversely I've told them that I think their system of uh power outages and letting you know how many residents are out and then the ultimate uh repair time I think is pretty good however I guess they their you know information system that runs the that is different than the work system to say that there's traffic light uh street lights out um after many discussions with them and hoping that they were going to take care of the situation um again it was brought to my attention where I needed to escalate this to the BPU as as our administrator had mentioned so I was on a zoom call with members of jcpnl as well as uh our state representatives uh to um voice our concerns our our deep concerns on how this system is just not working um not going to get into the Weeds on on you know underground wires and the different types of bulbs being used but they decided that they their new strategy was going to be um more of a uh a roll out a centralized task force so instead of going peace meal to a light on one side of the town and then getting called over to the other side of the town they were going to roam through certain designated areas um they've chosen a few the gated communities as a as a project um it's been successful to date now while they might not be able to get every light just based on the configuration of that street light there has been some success so I would expect at some point for them we'll designate uh certain areas outside the gated communities as well but that's where I wanted to at least give you an update regarding JCP jcpnl uh the lights that are out and the process that we're we're following um on the agenda was mentioned earlier about the aggregation uh program which we're trying to roll out again this was a very successful when fact the first time we did it I was on the council and we had some very successful um opportunities where we're able to take care of the energy aggravation uh aggravation aggregation now it's aggravation because quite frankly uh we just haven't gotten that rate uh that dollar rate that we've uh that would be beneficial to our citizens so I am looking forward to hopefully something more positive uh in the upcoming um budget year speaking of energy um I had the uh privilege to climb a 40 foot ladder and climb on top of the uh Warehouse on one Costco uh drive to to look at one of the largest solar Farms on the roof of a building in the state of New Jersey so this is a um uh this is the states solar program um which is right now in its pilot stage it it will help residents in the community uh who are are um uh you have to have certain uh income to participate in it uh since we have some gated communities that are all electric it's an opportunity for them to take advantage of it uh for more information please go to our website however again I must warn you that is it is a in the beginnings it is a pilot project so some of those things that that you may have enjoyed with the aggregation where it's a Consolidated bill this is not the case with the solar program but again it's something as we move forward to a more green Society um uh more energy and environmental friendly energy sources this is something that I I'm proud that uh we're part of um as mentioned before please check out the library the circulation desk um it's is a kind of much needed uh uh um update and it's really really interesting looking um and and and again it's just a it's a great asset that we have here and I when I say asset I talking about the library in total uh this is one of the few libraries in Municipal libraries that's open 7 days a week uh a lot of other libraries in in the surrounding areas are not so please take advantage of that um this past month we held Veterans Day events at Avenue K we had our veterans lunch and at our senior center and again just wanted it was a an official opportunity to truly say thank you to all of the veterans in our town uh the senior center saw some great ction as was was mentioned uh in particular the Thanksgiving luncheon but uh of note the dwali event I thought was outstanding and I have to publicly thank all of the members but especially councilwoman roua seagull for her stewardship in being able to um plan that um and then get me to go into a um a CTA and and and get involved in in dance in a fashion show I I was told that Bollywood would be calling me after and I'm still still waiting um this past Thursday as was mentioned was our holiday uh parade I'd like to thank the rec department and the uh uh the fire the members of the Fire District 1 for for putting that together fortunately I was not able to attend and and drive in uh in the uh convertible and and be cold but again I guarantee next year the weather is cold you can you can you'll see me out there uh it's is the season uh manur lighting uh the municipal Township minur lighting will be on Sunday December 10th at 5 o' uh 5:00 at our senior center and since we have our uh nurses here let me just finish off by just a special thank you to our amazing EMS employees the best in the region in November they answered 998 calls for service with Sunday this past Sunday being the busiest day with with 202 calls uh they are they are our consumate professionals and we are certainly lucky that we having uh having them in our town serving us 24/7 uh throughout the live Geographic locations of this town and with that I thank them and I thank you thank you Mr Mayor we now move to the public comment section may I have a motion to open public comments please motion thank you second please second thank you all in favor I I any opposed no the public comment section is open comments are limit Li Limited to five minutes per speaker please come forward state your name and address for our records Pat swall J 586a Madison Drive um a couple of things uh first of all uh um commenting on U what councilman DP had said about the lights I would like to thank councilman M marel he is our W one councilman and I uh had the pleasure of working with him in our clearbook complex and so as a result of his interest and his pushing and his keeping on top of getting these lights F fixed um in a couple of the senior complexes uh that job is getting done so thank you very much for for your uh just taking that upon yourself um I have a question for uh councilman dipierro a couple of months back he had stated that there was there was road work being done on one of the County Roads or one of the roads and one of the businessmen had suggested to him that signs be put out that the businesses are open so I wanted to ask him if he has pursued any of that and um has he you know kept up with finding out if what can be done about that if the county would provide a sign or how that works when there road work uh going on any any business that is affected by road closure we should it should be normal practice that the county or the town or the contractors allow the businesses to have ass sign it say that is that but when you brought it up it it was that I guess the county when they're doing road work on a on a county road should apply a sign that's what I was wondering if you had followed up on who who does what with the sign so what the the project was on 522 which is a County Road okay farmer Al's business was still open right and he as a as his councilman in that District in that Ward I asked if the sign could be put up that his business was still open because he was open and there was no sign said that his business was open so moving forward I said all of the construction that's going on for all throughout our community throughout the town they should have signs up if the roads are closed that all our businesses are that are open a sign will say that they're still open it's not up to me as the councilman our Township engineer is right here and he's the one that he does he does all the sence all the approvals is done through his his company that he works for Center State so any business bus that is open they would notify him and notify the contractors and it's up to them to follow up with the proper signage it's not up to me as a councilman I just brought it up that it wasn't getting done and because a resident and also business owners brought it to my attention I think we Mr Mo we didn't we have to follow up on that yes because council president that is the typical practice to uh to have signage for local traffic only um to get to those businesses oh okay thank you and also I I have no problem getting and I look at the um Council minutes meetings all the time on the website our Township website if you go on there and you can just put in Monro Township Council meetings and you you'll get them right away I don't have a YouTube subscription um but my suggestion for councilman I have sons and I'm sure Mrs deero wants to see her son uh on TV or at the council meeting so my suggestion would be for Christmas that would be a nice gift from him to Mama he could get her subscription to YouTube maybe that's just a suggestion thank you next person please no no Dr pan thank you your name and address please sir prakash pup 33 uh Dana Drive uh wish entire Council everyone happy holidays the first thing is uh I want to thank um mayor for the $4 million whatever you know I I don't have the wordings on that for the Apple Guard School you know they needed 10 million and the matching fund which was arranged thank you mayor and the counil for that appleg is very important is a old school and we need to support and thanks for the continuous support on that and and also thanks for the SE Diwali okay Council woman that was very good not SE Diwali celebration it went very well and thank you and next one is I thank for the mayor for giving us the proclamation for sea Diwali for the town I want everyone to know that we are in the sixth year of doing SE Diwali food drive sea is a self-less service during our Diwali Festival the most important is children should understand there is a poverty there is a hunger and last year we had 300 individuals visiting our three pantries in Monro and Jamesburg and it has increased this year to 600 and that is a sad story so anyway I have to thank the children and the parents who went around and collected food and we had 10 organizations Indian organizations temples and everyone joining together we gave 26,000 of food to three pantries of one of our senior center and two in Jamesville so I thank them and thank mayor for coming and giving Proclamation and also school district and Bo President coming and admiring the children now uh I want to bring one there are lot of nice things are happening in our town so thank you very much okay roads everything looks good lights are the problem my street three lights are not working for one year my front house light was not working I called within 10 days they fixed it I don't know why but it got fixed but coming to one thing bulgar car stealing is going on last week last 3 days back three bulgarians South Brunswick during daytime morning 5:00 6:00 they came they broke the window came inside the house what they are looking for the car keys they search the drawers took the cars stole the cars this is a state issue this is a national issue even the Senator's car in Washington was stolen so where is our FBI where is our intelligence this this is a national theft there is a organized criminals they're doing it very organized way the car disappears the police cannot chase them because they drive so fast they kill whoever comes on the way so I urge that we talk to the Senators we talk to the legislator we talk to the FBI this has to be solved because when the cars are stolen the insurance goes up it all impacts us and also impacts the safety they not killed anyone but they came last week to South BR week when people were residents were at home they were sleeping they came early in the morning and stole it so the request is that things are going well we have systems in place we have updated our police system with lot of you know information and activities so I want to bring this to your attention president thank you yeah thank you anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward as you're walking forward good evening my name is Ellen Panzer Schwarz 19 London Drive as the President of The Sisterhood of the kabad of Monroe I wanted to personally extend my invitation to everyone in our community to come out I know someone had mentioned that the lighting was uh Thursday December 7th it is but it is at 3:30 in the afternoon and it is on the corner of Pineville and Prospect Plains Road it's directly across from uh shop and stop uh shopping center and we really want especially in this year to realize the humanity of everyone's celebrations and I think that's one of the most wonderful things about Monroe is how much we can share so please everyone you are invited out we have Refreshments we have live music um I'm very proud to say that the manur is built by my husband who it is the largest manur in the United States uh it is the same size as the national manura and so it's really a treasured thing that we in Monroe get to share and again everyone is invited it's December 7th and it's at 3:30 p.m. lots of entertainment lots of good food you can park right on that side or especially if you have little children please park where the manura is otherwise you can park in the parking lot of the supermarket and they don't mind to come across thank you thank you yes sir please name and address for our records Brian Fabiano 19th Patricia place uh I wanted to I have a couple of things I wanted to go through here um it was just mentioned about Public Safety the break-ins you know I'm proud of the things that the mayor and the uh police department are doing in our town unfortunately this is a Statewide national issue what we need to do as individual citizens is Safeguard ourselves as best as we can and I seen there was a couple of things that the police department put out regarding locking your you know locking your doors making sure your windows are secure lights on yada yada right um unfortunately this is something we're dealing with as a society it's not just here in Monroe I think we're still one of the safest towns out there it's nice to see the expansion of our police Administration so that more can get done um that's obviously in addition to all the cameras and things that you guys have installed recently um so keep keep that up and that's all we can really count on from a safety perspective is that you guys continue to make those improvements so I thank you um I want I did want to also mention about uh Mr prob mentioned about the school district and the money that the mayor delivered on I think what's important is to mention is that that fell in the council and the mayor's lap at really at the last minute um and I believe it was at the October meeting that the mayor said a plan would be put together uh Mr Weinberg was working with the uh School administration and you guys delivered and it's huge it's huge because obviously you know the referendum failed last year it was a poor plan uh but it it Did You Know by it failing uh it did uh you know make things look pretty bleak in terms of the repairs that needed to get done and by the township stepping up and getting this grant matched we can get the much needed repairs so I really do appreciate that you guys delivering on that um I wanted to ask a question about the citizens review board um if there were any updates at the last meeting that took place the citizens review board for the training school Mr wber please pleas trying to refresh my memory um you know uh thank you council president I don't have my notes in front of me I did I did attend the meeting um so is there anything in particular you were looking for I just do we have a council member that leazes to the to that commission that can give an update uh we have two council members councilman vanzura and councilman deiro is the is the chair okay so could the chair give us an update at that of that meeting got to ask the counc council president do you want Charlie chair Charlie the chairman did we have any recent reports from them I was not pres at the meeting okay so so the reason why I ask is so if you weren't present can't give a report that's fine I'm I'm concerned that um there is a this commission that I believe meets by anually that gives updates on the status of the training school um which is a state prison for juveniles um and there's been a lot of discussion um some things that I've seen in particular from Council de councilman deiro in in this place being magically transformed into a migration camp for migrants that are being shipped to Monroe and and and you know that this is not a train school I'm just wondering is there a breakdown of communication between the training school and the committee and chair or I'm just wondering why that that the misinformation is being spread throughout the community because it it has been a major concern for members of the public that are hearing these kind of outlandish things that certainly I don't think are true and but where is the breakdown of communication or or are these just things that are not actually happening I can I can answer some facts having been at the meeting on so the as many of you know the training school um uh is is eventually going to close um it is approximately and the update at the meeting was I think four to 5 years before they create the three regional locations that would replace the Statewide location that is now the training school in Monroe so we're still about four or five year uh years away about a year or two ago we were four and five years away just to keep in keep in context with the state and what their what their numbers mean so we're still four to five years away um a member of our board did ask the question um if it's operating you know are these rumors about you know uh uh migrants moving in there true and the uh the head of the school said you know absolutely not it's a facility for juveniles at this point and it will be for you know four to five years plus so those are obviously just just rumors um it's still operating and fully functioning um not fully functioning but functioning for the I believe it's about 90 or so juveniles 80 or 90 or so juveniles that that still are housed there great and and one more question on that top IC uh can you maybe explain so could I finish my last piece well I think you were did you you took my time when you're answering right no we okay okay could then you can you just the last question on that is Could you um just give an update on the land negotiated deal where we were able to acquire land for open space from the state right so there's there's two issues there um one is on the uh what would be the east side of Spotswood English toown Road the I believe it's 94 Acres if I'm correct um that sit behind the old police station for those of you who may recognize that facility that was knocked down this is sort of on the Spotswood English town road side of of uh of the location so we were able thankfully we were able to get that land um approved by the D to become Green Acres which gives it a a more protected status than just being land owned by the state that could at any moment be sold for development um so it is it is it is a Green Acres location at this time and that's why the council um and the mayor took down the building was because Green Acres can't uh own anything that has buildings on it that aren't being maintained so the police department building which was our Police Department which we didn't build but um was a building that was there that our Police Department moved into um we we we took that down um because it could have been years before the state allocated money to do that and then they did some work back at at Camp Derek to clean up that area back there so it would be just a a green space um and I you know and I believe it has some farming on it as well so that that one is done um as I've probably explained to the council and I know that working with the mayor on this the area around the boy home um is 570 Acres um we have been working for years with the state agriculture development board um where in uh 1999 uh the state passed a uh law to put that into Farmland preservation or a bill into Farmland preservation they haven't yet filed the Deeds so we're in the process with the state Agricultural Development Corporation to have all the meats and Bounds done um accommodating our Danny Ryan Field that's out there um and then hopefully in the next year or so those deeds will be fi fired filed it so it's partially protected but um we uncovered that you know the Deeds weren't filed yet so now we're moving um to to make sure that land is protected in the way it should be protected as well as uh Farmland preservation outside outside the gates of the community thank you thank you anyone else wishing to address us please come forward George gunman 5 Kelly Court I want to thank the township I there was an issue on my street with a county probably subcontractor that was doing the handicap access ramps and um in short they were not the best contractor in the world uh but the engineers office was able to get their attention to finish up their work and clean up uh and not just string it out over uh a long period of time and that was resolved and I want to thank the engineers office in particular and and the various office Clerk's offices that directed me to the engineer's office um it was it was well done and when it was all done I noticed that the street sign was kind of hanging off at a nasty angle so I looked at it more closely and uh they had managed to damage it so I uh pulled it out and uh discovered that big problem was they had bent the pole uh with their back ho and uh I put it back in and compacted it better and fix the street sign so it should be good for a while but uh very unimpressive performance by the County contractor um regarding the street lights I I appreciate that you know being from Ohio that uh PS uh uh Jersey Central uh lighning and power which is is an Ohio based company can be difficult to deal with um one of my questions would I'd like to get in front of them is why aren't they replacing them with LED lights when we're replacing our lights here in the parking lot we're replacing with LED lights we did at the library and we do whenever we're doing um any kind of a renovation but it one they last a lot longer don't have to be repaired as long often and they're more efficient and since we're paying the bill uh I can't see why they can't but it is jcpnl um I have a a little I'm going to go out in the left field here a little bit and make the comment that we have in Monroe great public services and you know was mentioned regarding the retirement at at Public Works um and we've also talked about the mtud a lot um I just want to say that we have to remember how good these things are and not the the day will come when we'll be under Financial pressure it's happened before and the temptation to sell these off you know particularly the mtud uh because there are buyers out there that will come constantly want them and it's big money and it's it's upfront money and it can solve a lot of problems but the result is almost always terrible for the residents in the long run I've had the uh experience of working in towns that sold off their utilities and the interacting with the the newer companies and the T people that the resident stents that had to interact with them it was almost entirely negative and also quite costly as soon as their period expired that they were supposed to maintain a price for it just went up astronomically and and it was a burden so uh we should all keep in mind that these are good and we want to hang on to them um the the last thing I wanted to say was that well I wanted to ask when is when are we doing reorganization this year Jan January January 1st January 1st will be the inaugural ceremony January 3rd will be the reorganization so it'll be a ceremony on the 1 but the actual and and that's just a ceremony it's not correct then the meeting will be on the third correct thank you you're welcome thank you Happy New Year happy anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward good evening all good evening and uh Michelle armini 9 Nathaniel Street and I I need 30 seconds of indulgence please from Council president yes 30 seconds so I may thank you with all my all you nurses and first respond of people there's no one better in those building than the Nur and the staff and I honor you all and I'm sorry you are under such press but you have have and the best gratitude so thank you okay so a little segue into into uh maybe Community Health um resolution R12 2023 270 authorizing the award of a contract for water remediation Technologies um could we explain what that is uh Po and I think it's a potable water issue and uh what you know the safety of our our our water source and our drinking water is very very important to me along with our open space and protecting our natural resources but um can we we talk about whether there's a uh it says for treatment for emergency treatment emergency and or can that be explained I'm I ask yes please you want to TRW using that one you gra theic pick it up they want you to take that one take that off out of the sleeve it's got like a 20 20 foot cord on it you could move it around this is is Good Very uh wrt which is going to be doing the emergency work was essentially a uh request from the njd we had uh two months ago a contract issued to a company that is going to actually repair two filters in our well 21 uh the two filters are pressure vessels uh and it's a specialized contractor that does an ASM which is American Society of mechanical engineers code welding because it is a pressure vessel but the njde in order to do that work we have to remove and temporarily store the media that is in that filter so the njde has asked the wrt get involved and perform that service and uh that will enable us to complete the repair and then once the repair is completed then wrt will replace the media is that well in any way contaminated or is coming up on its testing as high no it's still it's still operating uh just those two filters have been shut down because of the internal corrosion issue on those vessels okay and how often do we actually test all of the wells in Monroe they're tested uh essentially for a variety of different water quality tests uh anywhere from monthly to quarterly to uh by anually and annually have have we had any heavy metals lately in any of any of the wells that come up no so are they function well and all the treatments are in good shape and yes abely we can drink the water okay thank you you're welcome I'd like to thank um so we're looking for 570 Acres up near the boy home to be preserved it's not yet the state is really taking their time huh M yeah please do you want me to try and explain that again so and L jump in if you can pleas there was a bill I guess signed by Governor Witman in 1999 that would turn that into farmland preser a through the state agriculture Development Corporation as part of our review of the entire area um when they announced the closing we discovered that even though the bill passed they hadn't filed the Deeds so we reached out to the state agriculture Development Corporation and we're working with them in the Department of Treasury now to make sure those deeds get filed um actually one of the members of the uh of the committee uh that reviews that saw them out testing the meet and Bounds probably about six months ago so hopefully everything will be up set I still think we're somewhat protected there but this would put the icing on the cake once the Deeds are filed now will that with that land is that anticipated being conveyed to Monroe or is that going to stay with in the state hands no I think that those are agricultural development easements that are held by the state so our Farmland preservation stuff is held by the state as well correct we sell it to that so correct okay we give them an easement in other words okay and then the 94 acres is that successfully in the Green Acres and that's also a state um yes that's State also but it's Green Acres and that's deed already correct okay let's keep up the good work with uh preserving our environments because uh the more we knock down trees in this town um the hotter it's going to be and and we're starting to discover that in urban areas and we're starting to make Monroe look a little Urban in terms of lack of trees and some of these big buildings that are going up and the the high density um that's not going to be healthy for the residents coming in and it's certainly not going to be healthy for every well the lack of trees a high density you're making you're making a b but like if you if you hear anything about Urban environments they're a lot hotter than a suburban and places with trees so did I and finally in terms of the um the okay just really I again I want to make a plea to put things on cable again not everybody has uh computers not everybody has YouTube and I know public radio did a survey and they found that people over 60 tend to still use cable a lot more than the other devices so to take that away from the majority of well a very high percentage of people in Monroe um I think is is not good I would ask you to again work with the Board of Education get that back up and running thank you very much for your comments anyone else wishing to address us this evening your name and address for our records please Betsy Nichols 254b belmare Road um you you guys mentioned the financial audit and there was a issue with Fire District 1 can you tell me what the issue was it's not our fire districts are not under our jurisdiction fire districts operate independently of us and conduct their own meetings in business did I leave something out of that no we don't have that information to give it so you're not aware of what the we may be we do not have that information to give you you can contact them yourself I would and call there them and ask them to give you that information okay okay thank you you're welcome anyone else wishing to speak speak with us this evening yes please name and address for our records please good evening uh Chrissy scurby 21 pness Drive um I want to thank the council for passing the um resolution this evening for the nurses um having a mother who has been battling cancer for the last two years we've made several trips to Robert Wood Johnson and I could tell you the um there has definitely been a shift in the care um that the the nurses that they've brought in are providing so I I'm happy to hear that there is a tenative resolution um and I hope that the state does whatever they need to do whatever legislative action there is to get our nurses back in uh where they belong and um I I thank them all for coming out tonight because they truly are um Heroes to those who who are in the hospitals so thank you for the council for recognizing that and I just want to um make comment on something that Dr P brought up about the um uh local break-ins that have been happening for the for the cars um Not only was it in South Brunswick it was actually in my neighborhood um Thanksgiving week um two homeowners um saw on the ring camera that several individuals were trying to break into their garage um to access their cars there were three vehicles stolen out of um Southfield Estates the same even evening um the detective that came out to our neighborhood uh was very informative I want to thank the uh police department for their um uh information that they're giving to our community um there were two meetings that were held in homeowners homes where the detective came out and gave us a lot of information a lot of information that I had no idea what was going on um there's two different types of organized crime uh at work in across new Jersey and across the country and it's alarming to hear what they're doing with the with the cars you know they are following people from gas stations home to see where they live they're taking pictures of the cars they're posting them to whatever websites they they use and they're getting buyers and when they have a buyer they come back and get the car so basically we were told you know come hell high water they're coming back for that car cuz there's a buyer for them so it is very scary knowledge is power I always say that um I know the detective said that they are willing to do um multiple uh presentations in in people's homes rather than large um forums because they want to make sure that the information doesn't get out to those that shouldn't have it right the criminals um but I do know that they the police department mentioned that they have installed these cameras around town that have been very useful to them and I know my neighborhood has been sending um uh letters I think to the council and to the mayor um asking for in the next budget cycle if you could increase that because it seemed like the detective that came out to speak to us said The more cameras the better um for them to track so I I would really hope that the council would maybe make that a priority to in the budget to put more of these cameras in um because what they can see from those the license plate readers uh really has been I think helping I know the detective said that they have um indeed been able to see when a stolen car has come in and they've been able to escort them out of town he went through why they don't chase vehicles out and also something alarming is that um these organ these organized crime are using juveniles because they know that the juveniles are not charged like adults and they get they get apprehended and they're let go that evening and what happened in my neighborhood we were told that that juvenile had a you know probably 50 pages of a wrap sheet and they just got let go and that is because of the state of New Jersey the laws that they have for juveniles so perhaps maybe the council can look at some type of resolution urging the state of New Jersey as well to to change some of these laws because these juveniles are being used in in this in these crimes because they know that they're not going to be charged so it really it and it's across the state and you know nobody's to blame here in Monroe for these for these break-ins but again like I say knowledge is power and letting our residents know all of this information and how to protect themselves I I think we have to get that out um as well as letting our legislators you know understand the need for changing some of these laws so thank you happy holiday so happy holidays anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now I'm looking and hearing seeing none I'm going to request a motion to close the public portion of the meeting motion please so moved I have a second second someone second thank you thank you all in favor I all anyone oppos no may have a motion to adjourn so moved may I have a second on that second all in favor I any opposed this meeting is adjourned with the thanks of the chair and the council members happy holidays to everyone 8:22 p.m. 8:20