I call to order this regular meeting of the township Committee of the township of moris this Wednesday June 19th 2024 the time is now 7:03 this meeting is being held in accordance with the open public meetings act an adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as required by law specifically notice of this meeting was emailed to the Daily Record in the Mars newsby on January 4th 2024 and posted on the township of Mars website the agenda and resolutions for the meeting are available on Marist township.com under agenda Center certain portions of this meeting may be closed to the public for the purpose of personnel and or other matters as outlined in the Sunshine Law notice to members of the governing body and Township staff any use of electronic devices during this meeting shall be used solely for the purpose of Township business and any Communications are subject to the open public records act Madame clerk roll call please Mr gazelle pres Mr JY Mr ravitz here Mr janata here mayor ggia here will everybody please join us in pledging allegiance to the flag I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible and jusice for the next item on the agenda this evening is the approval of the minutes may I have a motion to approve the minutes from the March 20th 2024 closed and regular session all in favor we have two proclamations for at tonight's meeting and the first one is honoring June 20124 as pride month and committee and Bud rabbits is going to address that Proclamation uh thank you mayor it's my it's my honor and my pleasure to read the proclamation from the township committee for uh June being pride month whereas the month of June is recognized around the world as pride month celebrating the diversity resilience and contributions of the lgbtq plus community and whereas inclusivity Fosters stronger communities by ensuring that every individual regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity is valued respected and able to participate fully in the life of their community and whereas our community is enriched by the presence and contributions of the lgbtq individuals with Talent voices and experiences enhance our Collective social cultural and economic Fabric and whereas the theme of this year's pride month is inclusivity equals stronger communities underscoring the principle that embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive environment leads to Greater Unity Innovation and mutual support and whereas we acknowledge the struggles and achievements of the lgbtq plus Community recognizing that while progress has been made there remains a continued need for Education advocacy and dism ing of discrimination and Prejudice and whereas we commit to creating a safe inclusive and Equitable Community for all residents where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and be their authentic selves without fear of discrimination or harassment and whereas we celebrate pride month not only as a time of festivity and joy but also as a reaffirmation of our commitment to Justice equality and the protection of human rights of all people and whereas in the spirit of Pride we encourage all citizens to reflect on the importance of inclusivity and to actively engage in practices and policies that promote the dignity and rights of lgbtq plus indivi individuals now therefore we the undesigned duard proca Proclaim June 2024 as Pride month in Mars Township and we urge all citizens to join us in celebrating our lgbtq plus Community embracing the theme inclusivity equal stronger communities and working together to build a world where love respect and equality Prevail for all and I'll have more to say about this later in my commentary mayor thank you committee man rabbits the second Proclamation we have is the on juneth and I'm not going to read the entire Proclamation but I'm going to just give some remarks June 19th finally marked the end of slavery in Texas and gaining increased recognition and support over time making it a nationally recognized holiday on June 17th 2021 it was signed into law by President Joe Biden designating Jun as a Federal holiday underscoring the importance of this historic moment in the fabric of American history on the proclamation the last whereas reads on a larger scale the celebration of juneth reminds each of us the precious Promises of Freedom equality and opportunity which are the core of the American dream please join us in recognizing and celebrating end of slavery and the ongoing contributions and achievements of black Americans whose stories should never be forgotten but more than that let juneth be a reminder that we have to continue to work towards great greater racial Justice at this time there is currently one member of the public joining us on Zoom mayor before before you proceed can I just make one comic yes I'm sorry sorry I'd like to make one comment relating to juneth uh just so there's no confusion I know today was the Federal observation of juneth and a lot of federal Offices and the banks were closed uh but in Morris Township and the state of New Jersey were observing it this Friday so I just wanted to be clear to the public that this community is observing juneth this Friday even though the federal holiday is today thank you thank you Deputy Mayor and yes and Town Hall will be closed on Friday here in the thank you there is currently one member of the public joining us U there two members of the public joining us on Zoom at this time we will open the meeting to public comment we'll take comments from inperson attendees first and then we will switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom if to indicate you would like to speak please state your name and address for the record before speaking and please note that comments are limited to five minutes per speaker if you have questions you would like answered your remaining time to speak will be yielded back for this purpose is there a motion to open public comment some second all in favor uh is there anybody in person who would like to speak could please come to the podium and say your name and address yes I already introduce myself to ingred here from the Handover B my name is Paul walls have been living here since 1965 and it's a very serious problem maybe you have or have not please oh 31 bradwall Drive Convent Station New Jersey I've been living there since 1965 and um this is the problem you can hear the the train horns are so loud my house is one mile away because we have three grade crossings by federal law the trains have to sound their horn now when I used to be commuting about 15 years ago they were not loud that they were disturbing now they're so loud that weddings at the mass hotel are Disturbed and the commuters are Disturbed and St Thomas Morris Church disturb I do not think they will voluntarily lower the sound of their horns I think you're going to have to have the township attorney go to Essex County ask for a judge trial and sue for a billion dollars get their attention this is outrageous they're just out of control it's so loud it disturbs my Parish St Thomas Moore they're having mass and meanwhile New Jersey Transit trains going east and west and they go 22 hours a day 22 hours a day they don't stop till 2:30 a.m. in the morning and they start again at at 4:30 a.m. two hours there's no sounds anyways that's my that's it I know it's five minutes so you guys just do what you want I would recommend a simple letter by the mayor signed by the mayor and and and mail it just mail it to New Jersey Transit and let them know about the problem first let's see if we can sell peacefully we we thank you for concerns and we've had this issue brought up before so we will address it I know that we have already and we I thought we the transit they were abiding by the rules no no we we have a quiet zone for the intersection a little bit farther to the to the West um but this one of the train station there is not a quet Zone where they're required to blow the horn coming into that station um but I know that other entities in that neighborhood are looking at it including the Madison Hotel about uh establishing a quiet Zone it's just it's very expensive to do so thank you very much you're welcome oh and maybe give a raise to the mor T Police Department dly noted seeing No Hands raised on Zoom is there a motion to close the public comment so moved all in all in favor we have four ordinances for public hearing and adoption on tonight's agenda Madame clerk please read the title of the first first ordinance into the record and we will then open the public hearing ordinance 16-24 an ordinance of the township Committee of the township of Morris amending and reopt chapter nine article one of the township Co code note environmental commission creation revision we will take comments from in person tendies first and then we'll switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom to indicate you would like to speak may I have a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 16-24 second all in favor seeing nobody from the public and nobody on Zoom will somebody please make a motion to close the public comment second all in favor I may I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 16-24 so moved second is there any discussion Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr dorfy yes Mr aitz yes Mr gazelle yes Mr Jada yes mayor griglia yes I Donna J griglia mayor declare ordinance number 16-24 approved and adopted and direct the Township Clerk to publish proper notice thereof in the official newspaper Madame clerk please read the title of the second ordinance into the record and we will then open the public hearing ordin ordinance 17-24 Bond ordinance amending section three of bond ordinance number 0923 finally adopted on May 17 2023 in order to revise the description of the improvements referred to therein note reallocation funding for Firehouse roof replacement projects we will take comments from inperson attendees first and then we'll switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand to indicate you like to speak may I have a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 17-24 so moved second all in favor I I is there anyone from the public I think so mayor if I could and Tim I think the this is the description accurate because I'm looking at the ordinance and the ordinance is funding for for example of various Park and playground improvements 1724 so I don't think the the note is accurate this Bond ordinance is to move money from a firehouse project to other firhouse project that's I think that's I think that's the last one that's I think that's 19 17 is allocating funding to various improvements across the municipality so the roofing the roofing project we did last month didn't we and that this month we're doing and we're we're adding this money from an old ordinance um to this which is amending one section of this oh you know no I'm going to find it so I know where it's at I mean I think the I think the note releases a different ordinance that's no it's in there it's 0923 and there's like $25,000 left in that ordinance and it's getting reallocated um to um section D which is the purchase of installation of the Woodland Firehouse in Hillside firhouse um and those are for roofs and we're now adding in that additional funding to that oh so that's part D the installation of a new roof for Woodland Firehouse correct um but just you know for the public and I see um Pamela Watson and the in the audience I mean section A is various Park and playground improvements for Collinsville Tucker Park uh that includes materials and necessary therefore for $570,000 so Tucker the cville park is part of this ordinance um and the firehouse is just a piece piece that we're amending just that piece of it oh we're amending just that piece just that piece ah for the moving the money from uh 923 over to this one 17-24 okay got don't enough because it seems more expans expensive than just a note okay understood now no just the additional 20 roughly $25,000 that was left over from the um Firehouse project from last year okay I understand now thank you um you need to close okay you did open seeing nobody up Pamela would you like to speak okay yes yes I would my name is Pamela Watson I'm at two Cory Road Unit D in Morris Township and I just needed a little explanation on theendum that you were just talking about and how the firehouse is part of the Collinsville and Tucker bille playground renovation and that's being done but do you have a date of when the renovation will begin in the Collinsville playground and in tuckerfield will it be this year I'll answer the first one the money that's being changed it's all part of the same ordinance but it's all split up in different dollar amounts so that is what's being changed as far as the construction um the T committee awarded the contract out um at the last meeting and we have a preconstruction meeting on Tuesday and we should be after that meeting we'll probably have a start date of when we can be in great thank you very much thank you seeing no other people here and no hands raised do I have a motion to close the public hearing so Mo second all in favor May I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 17-24 so move actually I'm sorry mayor I seconded that I shouldn't haveing from I should second all right I'll second and I'll I'll still make the motion oh is there any discussion mad clerk may I have a roll call vote well did we finish we didn't move I so I moved I moved that we adopt it but we need a second for the adoption did to close it no he he he he seconded the closing to okay keep it simple okay is there any discussion Madam Clark may I have a roll call vote Mr Griselle yes Mr rabitz yes Mr janata yes mayor griglia yes I Donna griglia mayor declare ordinance number 17-24 approved and adopted and direct the township CL cl to publish proper notice thereof in the official newspaper Madame clerk please read the next title of the next ordinance for public hearing and adoption to the record and then we will open the public hearing ordinance 18-24 an ordinance of the township Committee of the township of Morris ratifying the resolution authorizing the execution of the corrective boundary line agreement note correction in boundary line Morris Town morrris Township wi we will take comments from in person attendees first and then we'll switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom if you would like to speak may I have a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 18-24 so move it's not good all in favor hi is there anybody here I do see a hand raised Mr O'Reilly ah there I unmute James O'Reilly 50 Independence Way this this boundary I mean the library The Joint Library the one we're talking about right correct it's in the middle of morrist town somehow the how is the how is the boundary being between moris Town moris Township being affected how much land is going which way could you hear me yes Mr O'Reilly although the building is in marown we uh jointly own that building with the town of marown that is why we are involved in this I know I know we are jointly involved but being jointly involved wouldn't affect the the Town Township boundary so a change of Territory between the town and Township is that what you're talking about no what's unclear is the property adjacent to the library is being sold and the boundary line needs to be established is that correct corrected yes correct it's the property where the library is situated the boundary the property or the boundary line of a town in Township just the library property just the library property but since we're joint owners we have to sign off on it so it doesn't change the any Territory between the town and Township no no okay thank you very much bye I think we seeing no other members of the public wishing to speak will someone make a motion to close public comment some moov second all in favor I may I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 18-24 some some second is is there any discussion Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote do we motion to adopt may I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 1824 comme I asked for any discussion mad cler may I have a Mr janada yes Mr RIT yes Mr gazelle yes Mr JY yes mayor griglia yes I Donna J giglia mayor declare ordinance number 18-24 approved and adopted and direct the township cler to publish proper notice thereof in the official newspaper Madame clerk please read the title of the last ordinance for public hearing and adoption into the record and we will then open the public hear ordinance 19-24 ordinance amending ordinance number 18-19 finally adopted on May 15th 2019 in order to revise the description of the improvements referred to therein and for the record committee M Jor is recused from this ordinance reallocation funding for Firehouse fire alarm upgrades we will take public comments from in person attendees first then we'll switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom to indicate if you would like to speak may I have a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance number 19-24 so move second all in favor all right all right seeing nobody from the public and nobody's hand raised on Zoom is there a motion to close the public comment so moved second all in favor I may I now have a motion to adopt ordinance number 19-24 some moved second is there any discussion Madam Clark may I have a roll call vote Mr Ritz yes Mr gazelle yes Mr janata yes mayor griglia yes I Donna J GLE and mayor declare number ordinance number 19-24 approved and adopted and direct the Tanta clerk to publish proper notice thereof in the official newspaper we have one ordinance for introduction on tonight's agenda Madame clerk please read the title of ordinance 20-24 into the record ordinance 20-24 an ordinance amending chapter 88 entitled vehicles and traffic article 2A section 882a point2 and schedule to handicap parking spaces no new handicap parking space I have a motion to introduce ordinance number 20-24 so second is there any discussion uh I have a question for Mr Quinn s today this has an expiration date of I saw no is there an expiration date maybe on the application I saw that there was an expiration date do they have to renew like every two years they have to renew their handicap permit parking if they don't do that then we would have another ordinance to resend to resend but we don't have to affirm this ordinance every two years no we just once once it's in they don't need the park The Parking Spot anymore then we resend the cor correct if the gentleman uh does not renew or if he should move then we would have a another ordinance to remove it from the schedule for the handicap parking okay and does the police is there a process where the police informs us that a handicap spot has not been renewed I can see I can see a circumstance where they he doesn't need it anymore he moves or he might pass geted there is not because we come from Department of Motor Vehicles we would have to check and see if they still have that do you you see what I'm saying there's a process for even though the parking spot is still in front of their home they still need to have a valid handicapped parking permit hanging from their rarw mirror right so yeah and if somebody else um it's not just exclusive for this gentleman if there was somebody else that came to his house that has a handicapped parking permit they would also be permitted to park in that spot okay all right thank you is there any other discussion Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote did you okay Mr Dorthy yes Mr Giselle yes Mr janada yes Mr aitz yes mayor griglia yes the public hearing and final consideration and Adoption of ordinance number 20-24 will be at the next regular Township committee meeting on Wednesday July 17th 2024 at 7 p.m. next we have resolutions we have 36 resolutions on tonight's agenda may I have a motion to approve resolutions number 13824 through 17324 by one motion so moved second Madame clerk may I have a roll call vote Mr aitz yes Mr janata yes Mr dorfy yes Mr gazelle yes mayor griglia yes we have five items on the consent calendar this evening can I have a motion to approve the items on the consent calendar by one motion second all in favor consideration of monthly reports the following reports are on file in the office of the Township Clerk and Town strip administrator January February and March 2024 Finance April 2024 5 fire marown and Mars Township library and police and may 2024 tax department marown Mars Township library and police can I have a motion to approve the monthly reports I think we accept the monthly reports right we don't do we approve them or accept them technically uh I'm goingon to go with that synonymous uh commit gelle okay thank you I in that case in that case I will move that we uh we approve the monthly reports mayor is there second all in favor hi claims for payment the list of bills and vouchers the total amount of bills and vouchers for this meeting is 10,615 47459 we are also the tax collector for the school district the library and the county I have a motion to approve the list of bills and vouchers second Madam Clark may I have a roll call vote Mr dorfy Mr Griselle yes Mr janata yes Mr abitz yes mayor ggia yes we'll now go into our standing committee reports and commentary by the patent committee and we will start with Mr janana thank you may mayor uh regarding the environmental Commission of the environmental commission held a had a table at the Great Swamp Musical Festival back in May it was held in Drew University because the outdoor venue was too wet from the rains but it was event was well attended and people did go to our the table and also uh I think last month I mentioned about the plantings of native native plants and flower beds um the first step of that is we got uh the measurements for for the plans uh for where the plans or the flower beds will be put and that's been passed to the environmental commission and they'll that give us a a run down and what plants native plants we should purchase for that and then maybe hopefully in a month or so we'll get that going and also the green team is continuing to do the sustainable Jersey trying to go from bronze to Silver what we're looking for is um collecting the data sets and what really what we're looking for is if there's anything Environmental Conservation of sustainable events that have taken place in the township that we want to be categorized and recorded so we need to put that into the data database which then gets uploaded for sustainable Jersey and briefly on Tac the transportation advisory committee they held their first walking tour for mors Township in motion back in May 25th in Washington Valley and U it was such short notice that I couldn't make it in time but uh those who did attend did but the next one will be on June 29th at Normandy Park there's a registration form for that and many others during the summer that's on the TAC web page or the Morris Township web web page and on June 15th the mobility challenge was for our our swimming pools that both swimming pools we were encouraging people to not use their cars and uh don't have the outcome for that yet but because I couldn't make it but uh that that we're looking for any other build uh ways to not be be able not to use our cars to use our bicycles or any other vehicles that we can do or our own two feet and to conclude on this we had a Memorial Day ceremony on May 27th at Town Hall and moristown green and if you see outside we still have our banders on display for Veterans as well as those who did not come home their families have given their thanks for the de Banner displays and it has been our honor to recognize our local residents who have served in the military and uh our foro my nor your neighborhood but I'll speak about an organization that I belong to that has been celebrating its 100 100th year this year that's Toast Masters International it is a public speaking it promotes public speaking and Leadership skills it was founded in 1924 by Dr Ralph Smedley the first Club is located in California and believe it or not is still an existence and if you're a member you can actually be a member of this club because of the magic of zoom and they do have many International members the organization is international it has over 10 270,000 dues paying members in 148 countries and over 14,000 clubs a few years ago they had almost 20,000 but due to covid a lot of the those clubs had to shut down I had joined the Toast Masters in the 1980s and the club that I had joined just recently celebrated the 40th year and um I'm proud to have been a part of that celebration and there are many different styles of clubs there some are very very formal if people are into that some are not as formal but they follow the agenda and they're more flexible but all successful clubs have make sure that they encourage their members to improve their speaking skills and members work at their own pace some finish in a few months some just like me take many years to do and one of the things I noticed is there are some members have English as a second language and they use the club to improve their English speaking skills and U also people recover from medical conditions such as a fasia from a stroke because they need to know how to speak and they use Toast Masters as a met a way to improve that and I've known people who are recovering from Lyme disease or diabetes or covid who also use that because they want to get get involved in um in public speaking just to get involved there and politicians have also improved their skills Believe It or Not uh the mayor of Ry I forget if it's Ry town or Ry Village in New York was was told by constituent to join Toast Master Toast Masters I won't tell you what why but he said it improved him very much and one of our past International presidents was asked asked by a fellow Countryman whether a clumsy politician in his home country needs Toast Masters smartly this fellow said whether he he's an unpolished politician or whether he's the Prime Minister who is very polished anybody everybody can benefit from Toast Masters so it does not matter what skill level one is whether you're a beginner or professional we all can benefit and if anyone is interested I'm available to let you know thank you thank you committee and janata and congratulations on the 100 years I know you've been with that organization a long time committee andori uh thank you mayor um I had a few quick things just uh Prov updates on um Mr Quin spoke about earlier um the cons playground project through construction meetings coming up um I believe Tim part of the contract or when we award the contract they have a certain amount of days to begin to commence work based on the award what is that is it 30 or 45 days or I think it I thought it was three to four months I I will I will check on that okay but we have it in our contract the work as the start this year so we're I'm excited to see when that work is going to begin um and I think we're all looking forward to having shuttles in the ground there um I did want to mention another big project that the township is taking on is um building out our community center and I know Mr Cancer's office is working to get those closing documents uh with the state polished up very soon so we can officially acquire the building um and mayor Gia and I and Mr Quinn talked about um going out to artpiece for to hire a Consulting architect to start the planning process building out the structure which is very exciting so looking forward to getting that work under way in the next few months um and also planning once that architect is hire and starting to do public Outreach um work and having a public information session hopefully this fall to get um the ideas and suggestions from our residents on what they want to see from what they want to see in a community center um and start things together our wish list of things we need to start raising money for in the coming years so with that I'll turn it back to you mayor thank you committee JPY committee rabbits thank you mayor um thank you all for attending or watching the township committee meeting tonight uh National politics you get all the spotlight but typically it's what we do here locally that has the biggest impact on our lives very brief tonight I don't have much in terms of committee updates just we are at record membership for our pools and just in time for the heat Dome that's over us so please do stay cool um any way you can and using our ginty or Street of pools is an excellent way to stay cool um also check the calendars on the website for special events that are going to be uh at each pool uh for my commentary tonight um I'm excited that Mars Township will be closing out pride month uh by hosting our first Annual Pride event which will be held at the G de Zebo on Sunday June 30th beginning at 10:00 a.m. the theme as I had read in the proclamation earlier is inclusivity equals stronger communities so let's turn out big for our lgbtq friends and family to let them know that we are a stronger Community together and help make our initial Annual Pride event a great success by spreading the word because all are welcome uh moving on thank oh just one more thing on that there will be um going out tomorrow on Municipal messenger and our electronic boards uh this event will promote it uh through U every means that we we can at our disposable disposal uh let secondly thank you for all those who voted in the primary election earlier this month part of being a good citizen is being informed and engaged and we when we make our voices heard at The Ballot Box we can have a a government that represents all of us and I'll close as I usually do let's not marginalize or demonize the people who have less political or economic power that some of us currently enjoy rather let's stand up to those who continue to profit from our division equal rights for all citizens don't diminish the rights of any other citizen we have more in common than should ever divide us which we will read discovered by talking to each other and not at each other amplifying misinformation and hateful or violent rhetoric is not part of any Civil Society lastly remember as you go about your business each day be kind be kind to yourselves be kind to others because kindness matters mayor thank you very much committe and rabbits deputy mayor grel uh thank you mayor I have several standing committee reports tonight uh first for police on our agenda tonight we had the appointments of two probationary police officers I'd like to congratulate Haley buana and Dong Lee who will be two new officers in our town after they complete the training at the police academy committee man rabitz and I form the police committee and we had the opportunity opportunity to interview these two candidates and I would like to thank police chief sheriff for the hard work that he puts in to find the best candidates to present to us I think we would agree that every candidate that comes is really incredible absolutely outstanding so I I wish Haley and Dong Well in their upcoming training and look forward to them joining our police force um for sewer on the agenda tonight we had two resolutions relating to the sewer system one was for a manhole installation at the mendum road Pump Station we had previously approved an upgrade to the pumps at this pump station and it was determined that we needed a bypass line so that we could install one pump at a time without disrupting service so this new manhole will service the bypass line to the second pump there was also a resolution related to the internal recycle system improvements um at one of our sewer plants there have been a couple of change orders along the way but as the project has progressed but it is moving along and these two projects are just two examples of several that were on our agenda tonight of how Morris Township is continually investing in our infrastructure for the joint Court last week we had a quarterly meaning of the joint Municipal Court of Madison the cadams and Morris tanip and Mr janata and I make up the the team that uh goes to the Joint Court meetings the chairmanship of the joint Municipal Court committee rotates from year to year and as a reminder this year it is moris Township's turn to lead the court so I am proud to be the chairman uh in the meeting we discussed special sessions relating to the backlog related to DWI cases um as many of us here know Morris Township does uh a great job of DWI uh monitoring and subsequently arresting uh people who have who are driving under the influence and we are one of the leaders in morish county and thus we have the most cases that come through our court system um in October 2023 there were 123 active contested pending DWI cases in backlog and as of June 2024 there are just six Active contested DWI cases in back um in addition there is an average of 11 or 12 new DWI cases being added each month most of those coming from Morris Township uh sometimes all of them coming from Morris Township um there were let's see for the traffic cases there were 1,60 active contested cases in the backlog in October 2023 compared to 669 currently active contested cases in the backlog for June of 2024 um this case backlog has shown great Improvement in the past several months uh for each ticket classification and that's because we've been adding special sessions as I said uh we had a special session this past Monday there's another special session this coming Monday if anybody ever wants to attend the the court um for one of those live sessions it's open to the public and uh you can go in and sit sit in and see what happens um and as we also discussed at the meeting uh getting these older cases scheduled and resolved not only helps decrease the back log but it also increases the revenue as well for engineering uh the Reconstruction project of South Kate Parkway is now complete it is beautiful it is absolutely beautiful and I urge our residents to go take a look later this year we are hopeful that we can complete the work for a sidewalk extension and Associated crosswalk across South Street so that people can move more safely across uh South Street to get to our pool pickle ball courts and guy field and a raised intersection was installed at the intersection of Cleveland and Walnut Streets ajacent to Collinsville Park I don't know if you noticed that Pam uh but this should improve the safety in the neighborhood and provide more safety uh for the people that are walking to the park uh for my general commentary I would like to congratulate Tac on holding their first inmotion event and I noticed when I tried to register for the upcoming event in June that it is actually full so uh that that's a great sign that people are attending uh so the next available date uh date to attend is going to be in July and lastly on our agenda tonight is the appointment of Aaron Williams to tax assessor Aaron is sitting in the back of the room so uh thank you for coming to the meeting tonight um I wish Aaron well in his new role it's very important to our municipality and he is replacing Kathy V Vango who is our who is our current tax assessor and is retiring after 20 years of service here Kathy has done an incredible job in her role and just this week I got yet another compliment from someone in the community about the quality of her work she will be missed and I wish her well and all the best in her retirement thank you mayor thank you thank you Deputy Mayor Grace L and welcome to Mr Grace L who came in towards the end of the meeting two grell's in the room right exactly you almost have a majority I also love when you're the mayor and you get to the end when it's your turn to give reports in the commentary youve kind of checked off a lot of the boxes from the other committee people so appreciate that I do want to go first I want to welcome ingred gresen did I say that right uh who is here from the Mars newsby so we're really happy to have you with us tonight appreciate you being here as far as my reports on uh the transportation advisory committee committee janada mentioned already about the micro Mobility challenge that was at the pools the initial report I got back um we were they had Tac members at both pools there were about nine or 10 families that did come not by car so they are all eligible to receive a prize and we're hoping to increase that number but that's not a bad start when people are just learning about how we want them to not come to the pools by car on my way here tonight because of the heat um I went by Street of pool and it was and I did actually see a young father with two of his kids walking home which I realized he must live in the neighborhood but as a mom I realized oh my God at the end of the day when your kids are exhausted and now you have to walk home with all their stuff and they had their towels over their shoulders so um we're making Headway there and hopefully we'll get more people to find ways to to do that easily uh one of the other things um the chat members did there they did share all the other events Deputy Mayor is correct that the next one is filled already it's actually um it's with the historic preservation committee as well so I think people are excited to get to view some of the historic cols on that walk so we're really excited about that uh during T we always we get police uh we had speeding record reports on vernham Road in Shephard place we're always continually look looking at that and making sure that we're doing everything we can to have um safety on our streets and less speeding we're working on a Township bike plan that's ongoing Neil Elson has put together some nice bike routes for that people can use in their neighborhoods we're hopefully be able to get those put up on the TAC website and there's a wellness campaign part of the mayor's Wellness campaign on July 13th at ginty field there's a kids triathlon and T volunteers will help assist there we will in the next month or so the tack annual report has been done it will be submitted once it's approved and posted we will have we share that as well and we'd like to thank prior chairman Jim hunt for putting that together as far as the senior citizens advisory committee we continue to meet a lot of our discussions are around all things for seniors one of the big pieces of that is ongoing is transportation Andy Feldon from tac has been big help and he's helping to us to find better ways to promote transportation for seniors there was a flyer that went out on a senior's web page that was put together and it's also been put at both libraries and it's here at town hall for anybody who's looking how to get on to the website and use it and the New Jersey Human Services has come up with an age friendly blueprint which we will also share which we which will be used not only for seniors but something that everybody can take a look at um again Aaron wanted to welcome you as well we're thrilled to have you and I have to um also thank Cathy Vango for all her hard work she's been such an asset to the township um as far as my commentary um if you get a chance if you're if any residents making over to Town Hall you can stop by the health department you'll see what nice Renovations were done there it really all everybody works in the health department was thrilled to get back in their space and it was a great job congratulations to the Marist toown girls lacrosse team on their group four state championship it's their second title in four years congratulations to head coach Ali Ferrara hopefully we'll be able to get the lacrosse team in here at some point to personally congratulate them I was also honored to attend the marown high school graduation and congratulations to the 451 students who received their diplomas a message of listening to the signals and avoiding the noise around you was given by principal Mark Manning the class of 2024 were freshman in 2019 and the pandemic changed their world it was heartwarming to see such a vibrant class now four years later who didn't skip a beat and Rose to the level of excellence in spite of the hardship they faced we wish them much success in all their future endeavors and we are definitely in good hands um also really glad to see the pools being used because of the high temperatures this Friday I this Friday this Saturday from 12: to 5: at Streeter pool there'll be a pool opening everybody is welcome you do not have to be a member if you're a resident and you want to come to the pool at Streeter you can come on Saturday there'll be hot dogs and hamburgers and hopefully we want everybody to stay cool and enjoy all the events the township has to offer this summer we'll now go into our second public commentary there are currently five members in on of the public joining us on Zoom we will take comments from in person attendees first and then we'll switch over to zoom please virtually raise your hand in Zoom to indicate if you would like to speak please State the name and address for the record before speaking please note the comments are limited to five minutes per speaker if you have questions you would like to answer your remaining time to speak will be yielded back for this purpose is there a motion to open public comment so moved all in favor we welcome Mr grel to the podium hello my name is Alexander grel I live at One Indian Head Road in moris Township uh I am here to announce the reorganization or the rebuilding of the special needs Athletic program also known as snap uh it is a program where uh their motto is kids helping kids so it's kid kids my age and younger uh playing sports and different activities with kids who have special needs it takes place right at Su susex Avenue Elementary School uh I just wanted to say thank you to our Council and to the Morris Township uh Municipal Alliance for helping funding help funding the organization um and really help step forward in our process uh we have a lot of members on our uh committee including myself who have been working really hard at getting this program forward getting more people on board and more people coming to these programs and with your help uh We've honestly had a really great last session that we've had um for our spring uh and it's really exciting that we're announcing that we're having new sessions in the summer a few new sessions so if you have anyone my age or any participants who want to go then tell them or ask or tell them to tell you about more information excuse me um but I just want to say thank you for all of your help and we really appreciate it thank you very much and thank you for all you do you certainly are following in your dad's footsteps I'm trying thank you we have two hands raised on Zoom uh we'll start with marleene mem good evening 63 Independence Way uh I noticed on tonight's agenda there was a resolution regarding the recycling my question is not regarding that particular uh resolution of today uh but I'm referring back to resolution that was approved in January of 2023 it was resolution 4523 and I believe there was a similar resolution done the previous year in 2022 in reference it's in in particular this is in reference to endorsing the submission of the recycling tonish Grant application to the state of New Jersey but I was interested in the wording of the resolution and um I won't go over the whole thing the one part that I um outlined here was it says whereas it is the intent and spirit of the mandatory Source separation and recycling to use the tonish grants to develop new Municipal recycling programs and to continue and expand programs and my question this evening is regarding that particular um paragraph of the resolution uh every year we get our Township municipal calendars and they give a very good outline as to the materials that we are to separate and um recycle and it um outlines the particular items that are you know within the program for us to recycle uh I think about this resolution every time I throw out something that is a styrofoam and uh there's a we have recycling um numbers that we follow one two and five and when I see other Plastics that are other numbered and again referring back to the wording of this resolution the intent is to uh develop this program but to expand also so my question this evening is any attempt by the township to expand you know exactly what it is we are recycling many yes yeah Mrs member we have certain restrictions we contract out with a recycling facility um as do most municipalities throughout the state of New Jersey as to what can be recycled um as mandated by the state of New Jersey and then we have to follow those protocols because we take something to the recycling plant that is not permissible then it goes into the regular trash and we actually pay more for it than we would if we were recycling so we follow the state of New Jersey for what the guidelines are as you mentioned that a number of years ago they changed the numbers on the plastic used to be able to recycle 1 through 7 I think now it's four and five something like 125 so um as the state comes with their regulations um we follow that um you also mentioned styrofoam again you know very difficult there's not a market for it um so trying to find you know what what can do with all those styrofoam uh items that unfortunately there's just not a market for it at this time to recycle those peanuts and other things like that okay thank you very much for that Mr Quinn I understand you know the restrictions that we would have how is can you hear me yes well can you hear me well okay you know I just got something on the system here telling me that's okay um you know I understand the restrictions and everything how is it as we could as as Citizens what can we do to encourage our state and encourage our state to look into uh more um areas where we could actually you know recycle more things is is there something we could do as Citizens to encourage our lawmakers to you know follow this program and expand this program um we we are at a state where we should really be concerned about what's happening to the environment and and um I think by you know pursuing these types of programs I think is the best way to do it so if any of the members know if any way that we can you know step up our our um you know our participation in um you know trying to really clean up our act here so to speak uh it would be appreciated okay thank you for sorry Mar yes yeah yeah Mar wanted to comment on on that last piece uh just this week I read an article that said that a number of business organizations were have recently started lobbying the state of New Jersey to do just what you said to start recycling more and do a better job um I will forward you a copy of that article and if you want to contact that organization that seems to have formed uh to Lobby the state to recycle more uh that would be a great first step for you so I'll go ahead and do that great Mr gazelle sounds very great it is a step in the right direction and if that is seen and if we can put that you know in you know on the website you know and not only for myself but for other of our Township uh you know uh residents that are truly truly interested in pursuing this and that's great that's great of we're moving in this direction thank you very much for that thank you and that's it for this evening yeah and as I like as I often like to say when we talk about recycling you know everything that we can recycle costs us it actually saves tax dollars because it costs less to recycle than it does to actually throw it away as garbage uh so the better we can do as a society to recycle more will actually save us money so I I appreciate your comments thank you Marlene okay thank you good evening thank you Mr O'Reilly unmute Riley oh yes 50 Independence Way I haven't moved uh anyway uh I noticed that two probationary police officers are being hired I'm glad that Mr Jeff grael brought it up U wondering what background training and uh do they have are they going to the Morris County Police Academy is that where they're training now and how long is their training going to last before they get promoted and enter the active force Mr oy they start on July 8th at the marsh County Police Academy it is a 22e program and when they finish that then they come back to Mar T and then they enter into it 12-week field training officer program before they are permitted to go out on their own so it's a you know roughly a eight-month process and what background do they have before they're taken on as probationary officers one has a previous law enforcement experience plus college education the other one has extensive uh military career thank you very much uh one additional point I understand the noise problem from the trains we live on the other side of the tracks from Madison Hotel so we're about the same distance from it it may bother me from time to time but I'm also aware of the safety considerations that required it in the first place now uh in what you do uh it maybe it can be ameliorated but I think the first requirement is Public Safety we don't want people getting run down uh so I I'm sure you'll keep that in mind absolutely we agree Safety First May mayor May address Mr Ry yes uh thank you uh Mr Ry thank you for your comments and thank you for recognizing the probationary police officers uh the reason why I thanked uh Chief sheerer in my commentary uh is because as we as I stated uh we get the best of the best uh applicants here in Mars Township uh technically you don't need any kind of police background or any kind of training in order to try to be a police officer um often they have no background in other towns and they go to the police academy and get their 22 weeks of training is that accurate Mr Clen yes sir it is very good uh but in Morris Township we seem to really attract the best candidates uh an example as Mr Quinn just said one of them has previous uh experience in in in law enforcement and the other one has extensive military training they're coming to us because we're a desirable Community to to be in and we have uh put together I I guess uh a police department where that people want to be part of um the culture that we have here the way we operate as a police department is very attractive to a lot of people and uh uh we we really have the best candidates so I just I just wanted to share that with you uh so that you understand the high quality of the policing here in moris Township uh not that other towns don't have quality policing I I it's not meant to detract from anybody else's policing uh but we do really get the best candidates coming to our police force thank youe thank you yes just and I just want to piggy back on what uh Mr gelle had said because I sat in the interviews and I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of both candidates and you know these were separate interviews and the question was was asked you know why why are you applying to Mars Township and you know independent of each other they had they had said because we think that Mars Township is one of the best run police forces in in the county so I have to say that I Not only was I very impressed by the quality of both these candidates I will say that that Mr Lee David Lee who who was a captain in the United States Army uh who had 88 people under his command when I was out on Memorial did doing the brief Lane he was there his dress uniform he's already being part of the community so I just want to applaud him for that and I look forward to you know he um and and the other candidate was her name um Haley haey thank you I'm sorry Haley I think will rise quickly through the ranks and Hope they'll have long and distinguished careers here in the township thank you committee and rabbits seeing no other members of the public wishing to speak will someone make a motion to close public comment so move second all in favor I the time is now 8:07 can I have a motion to adjourn the regular session so move all in favor I the next regular Township committee meeting will be held on Wednesday July 17th 2024 at 700 p.m. in person and Via Zoom thank you and have a great night