e e e e e e e for e e e e e we will begin very shortly we're very excited and we're just giving it a few minutes in case anyone is arriving now we figured we'd give it just you know two or three minutes because people have come and I'm sure some a long way to participate so we will be getting on very shortly okay thank you e e e e e e e e e e good evening I'd like to call to order the March 20 March 12th 2024 Oldbridge Township council meeting please stand for a pledge of allegiance and then for a moment of silence I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all as um in this chamber is customary we always stand for a moment to remember those who are protecting our freedoms both here and abroad and this evening we'd like to also recognize the people who lost their lives during covid there were several here on Oldbridge and we are really always want to you know take the time to remember that they their loss was great to their families and to the community uh we will be having a plaque at catrell Farm to remember all those who passed During the covid period I have a gentleman up here if you'd like to stand here while we do the moment of silence thank you and please be seated and good evening sir just [Music] want okay start all over okay I just want to take this moment to do a thank the mayor and the city council for acknowledging all the uh Co victims of Oldbridge my wife of 42 years who also died very young 61 so I mean she fought like hell in the hospital for 25 days and she had to die all alone so we don't want to let them be forgotten never that's why so I just appreciate everything that you do for us and just thank you for [Applause] everything okay so now I'd ask everyone just for a moment while we do our prayer Mr pescetti would you please do the prayer yeah let's pray dear Lord bless thy servants in the ministry of public affairs who serve thee in this chamber give us quiet minds and hearts that we may hear your voice help us to know when to speak when to be silent give us strength to oppose the wrong and uphold the right and Grant we are at peace with one another amen amen thank you please be seated and welcome to the meeting all right we'll we'll we will be with you in one moment okay just have to wait a moment for our clerk she forgot to bring something with her and she'll be right back I feel like I'm on the they're too exciting everyone got excited for getting Lord they'll be saying who runs that meeting crazy woman e e all right okay we're good okay all right we'll we'll start proceeding now with our swearing in of our new [Applause] chief okay y we're just going to do roll call real quick council person auli here council person dearo here council person D here council person Desai here council person Garcia here council person Murphy here council person pascetti here Council per Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell here and council president soar okay all right ready it is with great pleasure that i' like to bring down our new chief of police Thomas [Applause] montaga I would like to read a little about now Chief Montag if you get sworn in Thomas montaga began his law enforcement career in 1993 with the Spotswood Police Department where he served for six years prior to coming to Albridge while serving with the Spotswood Police Department Tom received the matous M oh my God service medal the life-saving award and the gallantry star Tom took his oath of office with the alridge police department on July 1st 1999 in 2005 Tom was transferred from the patrol Bureau to the detective Bureau criminal investigations in January 2007 he served with the midd County prosecutor's office task force for one year upon his return to Albridge he was assigned to the naric buau in July of 2007 Tom was selected to receive honorable service award from the mammoth and Ocean County intelligence jural his Keen observation skills and recollection enabled him to provide information and to make an arrest of the subject and close an unsolved case Tom was promoted to Sergeant on October 15th 2015 and to Lieutenant on September 13th 2022 in September 2018 Tom was instrumental in establishing the school security program which led to Albridge being the Forefront of school security throughout his 33 years of service he has received numerous Department commendations including the unit citation award and letters of gratitude from the public for his assistance and support tonight it is a privilege and an honor for me to bestow the title of chief of police to Thomas [Applause] Monaga I would like to call up Thomas's family for the swearing in Kate you need a you got to switch around here your right okay repeat me I state your name I Thomas Montagna do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I'll support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of New Jersey and the constitution of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that it will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and the governments established in the United States and in the state and in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of my position of all the duties of my position of Township of Oldbridge chief chief of police Township of Oldbridge chief of police to the best of my ability to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God [Applause] [Applause] thank you like to say a few words I couldn't make the font any bigger so I'm going to have to wear my glasses mayor council Oldbridge police officers friends colleagues and the residents of Oldbridge I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to Mayor Debbie Walker and all those who played a part in appointing me as a chief of police in the old Council Police Department it is my privilege to assuming this role one that comes with significant responsibilities and I am truly honored by the trust and confidence you have placed in me thank you for this incredible opportunity I want to take a moment to express my deep appreciation to each and every one of you who has taken the time out of their busy schedules to join us tonight your presid presence here is profoundly meaningful I also of course want to thank my family as those of as those of us in law enforcement understand the support of family is crucial for the success of any police officer the demanding nature of our profession with it long with its long hours shifts and sacrifices can take a toll on family life I am incredibly fortunate to have such a wonderful and supportive family by my side to the esteemed members ofd Council I extend my sincere gratitude for your unwavering support of the O PD I am eager to collaborate with you as we work together to Serve and Protect the residence of wber to the dedicated men and women of the oldridge police department I want to assure you that I hav't forgotten my roots and I'm always and I'll always Stand By Your Side the residents of Oldbridge are blessed to have such outstanding individuals serving in our department please let's take a moment and show our appreciation with a round of applause for the Hard Men Hard Men hardworking men and women of the O Bridge p [Applause] my vision for this Police Department is rooted in reducing crime Community Partnerships transparency and accountability I want to emphasize to the residents of bridge that your safety is my top priority we will not tolerate individuals coming to our community and committing crimes our approach to crime prevention will be proactive and unyielding the re the relationship between the orridge PD and the community is Paramount and it's something I'm deeply passionate about we will exert maximum effort to strengthen our relationship I am committed to being proactive in the community and I'm eagerly anticipating meeting many many of you along this journey I am honored and humbled to lead this police department and I pledge to work tirelessly to make a positive difference in the lives of the people we serve together we can build a stronger and safer Community thank you again I look forward to working with each and every one of you in in the days and months ahead God bless theberge Police Department thank you [Applause] than where's the [Applause] I just want to say Oldbridge is very lucky to have chief [Applause] montaga okay this meeting is being held in conformance with the open public meetings act notice has been given to the official newspapers of the township on January 6 2024 has been posted in public places next open public meeting of the township Council will be held on Tuesday March 26 2024 at 7:30 p.m. and just as a reminder the budget Workshop meeting um will be tomorrow night upstairs in room 201 1 at 600 p.m. okay thank you and thank you again for being here congratulations we are so excited and proud we really are Oldbridge proud we'll give you a few minutes you want to move on with this boring meeting thank you Old Bridge Police yes it was a very nice ceremony a little slow and coming but it was once it was here it was good very good how are good we got to be so proud yeah oh no it's so nice we're so happy he's wonderful he's going to be so different yeah here so yeah my husband Roman was there yeah my husband Roman was a counsilman I was really good friends with Ellie we were always out up up and around with Ellie yeah she was such a great lady really nice lady now this is you have to Bey see you Friday no TVs for you get some big we don't drink but we go any it's a good time thank you e e yeah thank you that's only what a night okay good evening everyone once again that was a really beautiful ceremony we're very proud and uh Bridge really has a very very strong Chief so that's a good thing now we're going to move on with more more presentations mayor Walker I would like to call up a Barbara grippy from our Public Works Department [Applause] and also Casey lenning so Barbara won an award and I just want to tell you she won an award for our clean communities program for you that those of you that don't know it began about 12 years ago and what happens is volunteer organizations sign up and I think they s uh it was full on a wait list within an hour of opening so our volunteer organizations sign up and they earn money by cleaning up the road so it's a win-win for our community because we get our roads cleaned and our volunteer organizations get money that is very hard to come by and Barbara runs that program very well and I just want to read a little something about Barbara on March 7th 20124 Barbara grippy received the 2024 New Jersey cling communities Municipal program award at the annual substainability conference in Atlantic City this award is given each year to a local government agency who demonst rates and achieves measurable results and reducing litter this award speaks volumes of Barber's commitment to advancing the clean community's objective and going above and beyond to engage the residents in litter batement activities the award recognizes the entire clean communties team at orridge township for being a valued contributor of the collective Mission barbar I had like to present you with this certificate of recomendation so much this is a certificate to commend Barbara grippy for being chosen by New Jersey Clan communties Council to receive the 2024 Municipal program award also this is the award that Barbara received in Atlantic City it was really a big deal this was through the whole state she won this award so that's pretty [Applause] amazing this is Casey lenning our director of Public Works he does an amazing job we have amazing employees over there also our business administrator is going to present another award thank you mayor and TK thank you Barbara I was exciting to see you on that stage accepting the award uh I didn't realize how big that would be um and what the clean communities program means to New Jersey so for our municipality to have been chosen is a big deal so thank you Barbara I also wanted to take a moment to thank all of our groups who vol ER in the clean communities program to go out and clean and I would be remiss if we didn't also mention our part our public works department uh our men and women who go out there on Saturday mornings to assist with the safety of those clean communities group who go out and make sure to then pick up all those bags that are collected by our teams who sometime pull tire out of the ocean and lakes and things like that so with great pleasure I'd like to present this plaque to our director of Public Works Casey lenning as a certificate of appreciation for their hard work and dedication in the support of the mayor's clean team and clean communities program than you much than we over thank you g to say something I never pass up an opportunity to talk so uh as the mayor and Anna had mentioned uh Oldbridge was selected out of number one out of 564 townships within the state of New Jersey so uh to us this is a really big [Applause] deal um over the years this program has developed and Barbara has really taken it to the next level and uh it's really an honor to work with Barbara every day she's the backbone of this program so there's more than just you know sending groups out on the road all the paperwork the insurance waivers locating the spots that need to be cleaned and making sure everybody's safe you know all is behind the scenes um last year we had 65 groups participate these are nonprofit organizations within the Township School groups Boy Scouts Girl Scouts um any 501c3 or organization is eligible so if you want to participate you know feel free to check out the recycling website Barbara will get you signed up and uh you know I have to thank the mayor the council for your support um I think every council member has been out on a road cleaning up they roll their sleeves up you know with the residents and you know they they see the hard work that the public works department puts in and it's really appreciated um I I just have to thank Barbara again you know Barbara does an amazing job I'm going to keep it short you know but uh you know I appreciate everybody support the residents that come out uh at the end of every cleanup we ask the the groups if they're going to litter anymore and they say no after a couple hours of hard work so we appreciate that as well so thank you [Applause] everybody well thank you thank you very much we're very very proud of all of our employees but this was a very special honor and Barbara has brought a lot to the the whole program she really took it to another level and I really think um this is such a successful program and we have a great team in place here that work together it's wonderful congratulations Barbara and Casey okay moving into the body of the meeting now we'll we'll be doing the bill list Mr Garcia thank you and good evening uh Bill list as of March 12 12 2024 accounts payable March 12th 2024 1,433 719 69 payroll March 1st 2024 1,287 3448 payroll overtime March 1st 2024 $4,620 36 Cents that's the end of my report thank you okay move it Mr Garcia do you have a breakdown of the overtime breakdown yeah no no thank you Council council president um so we did have a slight uptick in our overtime as council person Garcia mentioned uh that was due to budget preparation in our finance department as well as our two snowstorm events on February 13th and 19th um for public works and Parks and Recreation uh our police overtime during that time period was $3,622 the duck $1,120 92 deduct $1,698 53 for etto deduct accreditation zero for a total of $1,242 75 for a total of 1315 hours men and men and women hours we had no officer on light duty and no no one injured as well okay thank you very much do I have a motion move it and a second okay Dr Green yes roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes and council president soar yes motion carries okay next is US ordinances for second reading H1 ordinance establishing the municipal budget appropriation limits and cap Bank njsa 4A colon 4- 45.4 for the uh calendar year 20124 okay um council president I need to ask for a motion to carry this uh public hearing to the April 9th meeting as to uh the fact that there was not enough time to timely notice the ordinance okay uh we required 10 days we did not have enough time so we're going to move it to the April 9th budget second okay moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr dama roll call council person ASI yes council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses okay next will be our consent agenda I'd like to get a motion in a second and then I will ask for separations move it second okay move by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr Murphy council person auli any items uh removed from the consent nope none council person de Caro no thank you council person dama no thank you council person Desai yes any items removed okay anything said no okay council person Garcia none thank you council person Murphy no thank you council person Pas gidy no separations thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell no thank you and council president soar no none thank you roll call on the full adoption of the full consent agenda council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes council president soar yes nine yeses okay report of the Township Clerk I have no report okay report of the township attorney uh same Madam president report okay and then our administrative report thank you council president soor um first the 2024 middle 6 county paper shred event will be held at the Township municipal complex on Sunday March 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. this event is open to all middle six County residents and will be held rador shine please visit or bridge.com recycling for more information midix County will hold a household hazardous waste drop off day on Sunday March 17th from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at middle sex College located at 2600 Bridge Avenue in Edison Township this service is open to all County residents and for for more information please visit middlex County nj.gov registration is now open for the mayor's health and wellness 5K race honoring our Hometown Heroes it will be held on Saturday April 20th the race will start and finish at the orbridge municipal building in addition to the race there will be a health and wellness Fair where residents can take advantage of free giveaways and healthy helpful tips from local sponsors for more information and to register please visit runsignup.com and just look for orbridge Township race Oldbridge Township recognizes women women History Month women's history month is a dedicated time to celebrate and honor the achievements and contributions of women throughout history it serves as a reminder of the resilience courage and accomplishments of women in various Fields including science politics literature and activism it is a time to recognize a progress made toward gender equality and to acknowledge the ongoing efforts to ensure that women's voices are heard and their stories are remembered it gives me great pleasure to serve under um mayor Walker and to have a council filled of strong uh women and leaders and also several of our directors and department heads including our engineer our CFO our Township planner our Clerk and many many of our employees managers and all of our women employees we are grateful and thankful for all their service and finally I would just like to say happy Ramadan to all of those who celebrate we have several employees that do observe the holiday um the holidays uh started yesterday and will last a month so happy ramadon to those that celebrate thank you thank you very much Anna does any council member have a question or a comment for Anna yes Mr Desai you're going to move okay anyone had a question no okay moved by Mr Desai second okay seconded by Mr pascetti roll call on the acceptance of the uh administrative report council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dama yes council person Desai yes council person Garcia yes council person Murphy yes council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes nine yeses thank you again okay next will be public comment on any subject matter for a maximum period of three minutes the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments this section is open for any topic or items in the consent agenda in accordance with njsa 10 4-2a and the overridge rules of council the council ask the public to limit their comments to three minutes or less only one member of the public shall approach to speak to council at a time the council respect the public public Time by refraining from any comment until the speaker has finished with their allotted time should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured as a question and answer section if a member of the public has questions they seek answers to an appointment can be made with the corresponding Department's office during regular business hours the Township Clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of your meeting we do ask that when you come up to the microphone just please State whether you are a resident of Oldbridge and no name or address please okay all right so good evening good evening I'm a resident of Oldbridge I'm also a parent and a and a grandparent prop 5756 was rescinded because it was denying parents their right to know what was taking place regarding their children in school it was about parents rights how could you miss it it was all over Oldbridge this past election cycle when the new school board members were candidates they spoke about it all the time didn't you get the message therefore I propose a resolution to protect children who are deaf children who are blind children who have autism children who have Down syndrome children who have cerebral py children who have MC ma Mas muscular distrophy children who are overweight children who are underwe children who have cancer children who are diabetic children who are adopted I apologize if I missed any children with other handicaps or illnesses and for those children who have none of the above in short all children must be protected stop being a divider there is enough division going on already stop feeding it there are laws against discrimination protect all children and just one other thing you have a wonderful Police Department I know I'm think I'm on their speed dial and also Mr Desai maybe someday you'll help me find the Republicans who are in Governor Phil Murphy's Administration thank you for your time is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to be heard this evening good evening good evening my name is Dorothy Dy and I'm here name oh okay okay well it doesn't really matter anyhow okay I'm here on regards to our road which is Joy Lane in Oldbridge we have been residents in this Township for 80 years my parents bought a house on marad drive and we bought a house on Joy Lane now our road is a disgusting disgrace and it's a paper road that we are willing to pay give it our part of the road to the township the township does not want to keep on maintaining it now the township has maintained it for 50 years now if somebody gets H hurt on there there's a liability for Township and it's really it's very big Pooles and um I don't know there's a similar there was a similar Road our road like a p Road and they had their Road paved and we didn't I'm looking for you know like why was their Road paved and our road wasn't now we pay taxes just like everybody else I'm not asking for a handout because I I give to the township and stuff I just want it done because it's a hazard to our cars to our children and uh that's what I'm here for you know and I I think that our Township should you know the chief of police said safety um the the uh girl Barbara said safety everybody's talking about safety our road is a hazard to everybody that comes down the lane my father was 88 years old we had a call emergency for my dad amb that's your time ma' okay thank you for listening I'll keep talking all right well we concerns and if you we will get back to you okay okay no keep tell get back I this the first I heard of it first it's really great you finally have a chief of police thank you very much mayor for appointing a chief finally um not finally for you but finally in general that said I actually do know Joy Lane because my friend Martha Joe cisa 69 Joy Lane I worked for them for many many years party ponies and I can tell you the potholes are bigger than the ponies were so it would be really good if you guys could get on it that's for sure um but I am actually here because I'm wondering what's going on with the person that you hired to lower our rates and get us um electric rates that were going to be um environmentally that you were looking for cleaner Solutions this was something that was negotiated it was voted on it was pass it was voted by the people in the township you guys appointed somebody well over a year ago and uh we haven't heard anything and this is like two years in the running and so I'm kind of wondering what's the problem we right we wore the contract we're working with the vendor uh with the contract for him to get out the necessary bid so we didn't forget about it believe me U um Kate and I communicate with him so we have to finalize with him and get so that we can get the necessary information out on that I mean I just so you know the township already takes advantage of this plan right we know this so I just I I I I'm just explaining just pointing this out to you guys so so it's it shouldn't be rocket science for the person to do it but um and that that really is it other than the fact that I think that it would be really nice to see you guys make nice comments and make nice on the council instead of being brewed to a lot of the council people for the people who don't even look up when we're talking to them thank you very much yeah is there anyone else who wishes to be heard this evening in the public Okay no Okay see no hands I'll close public and I'll go to council comments council person ASI yeah I just was I was excited um to see the police department here today and um you know we're the fourth and to everyone watching at home I just want to say thank you and by the way we're top five safest town in all of New Jersey so uh what about Joy Lan it's okay it's all right it's okay it's all good don't worry about it I just want to say thank you to the police department and public works and all for all that you guys do um you really make this town something special so just want to say thank you man that's it council person Dar Caro thanks Kate um first I want to say what wow what an exciting exciting um evening it was tonight um I just want to extend my congratulations to uh Chief Montagna for um clearly having an an amazing following and and everyone seemed to be clearly very very uh happy that um that he was chosen as police chief I want to thank mayor Walker for making the decision and and getting that done it looks seems like you really made a great decision so so thank you for that um it's a wonderful thing um also congratulations to Barbara gripe and to Casey you guys do an amazing job um and uh I have definitely been out there um picking up garbage uh you know doing that road work and the guys that you have out there they're so great you know they keep everybody safe they make sure that we're all protected in the side of the road and you know they do a great job so thank you guys it's a wonderful program that Oldbridge has um also um just real quick just with regard to the resolution that I talked about last uh last meeting um I just want to uh uh it was approached a little bit uh quickly and and whatnot so what I did is I sent an email and I appreciate um the response Anna and uh council president uh soor I appreciate you guys responding um and I know that um uh our attorney Mark is going to review it and I would love to see something done you know I'd love to sit down and work with you guys for the wording whatever um you know pride month is in June so we have plenty of time you know and uh it's all about just making everyone feel good so I appreciate you guys looking into that and uh and that's that and uh the only other thing I have to say is Happy Ramadan uh to those that celebrate and also we have uh St Patrick's Day coming up soon so happy St Patrick's Day to everyone I am not wearing today but I do have green nail polish so I am celebrating so I'm wearing green all the time but um and that's it thank you all council person dama thank you uh again I would like to congratulate our new Chief uh Tom Montagna I look forward to working with him and the rest of the police department in the years to come to continue to keep the community um safe I also wanted to thank our former acting Chief Captain Fritz for for his time as chief he was the acting chief for for quite some time uh and I wanted to thank him for always being available to me when I had to pester him with questions and concerns that he had and and thank him very much for his professionalism through this time congratulations to barara I I know bobara personally um she does take a lot of this stuff extremely seriously she takes it the heart she believes in everything she does and it's a wonderful uh award that she received and I'm very happy to see her get it St Patrick's Day as uh councilwoman the Caro said please everyone be safe I'm gonna I'm going to break my promise and not talk about uh driving safely on the roads uh Dr Greenberg but please if you're out there this weekend please drive safe take an Uber take a car service get a designated driver stay off the road if you are out having a good time please you know for the safety of yourself for the goodness of your family and other people's families just be safe and everyone uh that is celebrating Happy Ramadan this week U marked the start of the the holy month so I just wanted to wish everyone celebrating a month of peace and prosperity and that's all thank you council person Desai first my congratulation to our new Chief Mr monana and also the public for department for winning the award and Oldbridge has a habit to get this kind of award in last few years we have received as I recall I think there was a finance department received the award at the state level so Oldbridge is good in getting the award from the state now last week last Sunday we lost one hour of the sleep but what we are going to gain one or or 2our extra daylight shaving in the evening for 6 month so you have to give something to gain something so we lost 1 hour of sleep but we are going to get 2 hour every day in the evening for 6 month and that is the sign of spring is just around the corner and as we all already experience the weather is getting warmer and I hope everybody will enjoy the coming spring I want to wish happy Ramadan to all Muslim who lives in this town and this County and this country also there are lots of green I did not have a green but St Patrick's Day happy St Patrick's Day I don't drink otherwise I would join to drink the green beer the so everybody please be safe and enjoy the spring thank you council person Garcia thank you I'll have a drink I'll have a drink for you how's that I I'll have two drinks and we should keep daylight s in effect forever I think it's a great thing uh I also want to thank uh congratulate the new Chief couldn't ask for a better guy I mean I I I've known Tom for the past Chief montago I should say for the past couple years and I tell you he's a great guy so we I'm happy the guys like him I want to thank the May everybody involved and Anna everybody involved because they picked a great person so thank you uh as well the ex the ex-chief Don I've gotten know Don for the past year and a half or whatever it was and like like councilman Department said he's he's he was a good guy I liked him as well he was always attentive every time I can always call him so I I wish him nothing but you know good luck going forward I'm not sure what his plans are so I I want to thank him as well because he he was a good guy I also uh earlier we had a moment of silence for the gentleman that was here as well of all the other uh you know victims of uh Co unfortunately I worked with Jim his name is Jim Jim was a cop I worked in jorgia city with him he was a good man I didn't know his wife but his mission is cuz he's been an oldd resident for probably 40 years and he's been on me for two years now to get this thing going and we've been trying it's just it finally came to fruition I'm happy so mayia thank you as well because this means so much to Jim I get chills thinking about it because Jim's a good guy it just it just means so much to him so I want to thank everybody involved for giving him that moment and and all the all the vant that we've lost to co it's it was you know it's it's it's heartfelt it's just it was a horrible disease so I want to thank the the mayor again so thank you for that uh same Pat's day like like councilman said promis say Enjoy don't drink or drink and don't drive whatever the case may be and those celebrating uh Ramadan happy valan to you guys your family and that's uh it's pretty much all I have so thank you I would just like to say that we are working on a proclamation for the victims of covid and we're also going to have a plaque at the new Barrell here council person uh Murphy yes uh first of all I'd like to thank uh Tom uh I congratulate Tommy mataga he's a great person I've known him for years and St Patrick's Day is coming up uh I probably won't drink but what I do want to say um when I was on the uh mua I served on it for 45 years at that time when I became superintendent I told the people consider Joy Lane a public road and they fixed potholes they did everything and I'm sorry you called me I mean I'm not sorry you call me I went out I looked at the road it was horrible I spoke to the engineer she said that she offered you some different options to become a public road they didn't anyway what I want to do right now I'd like to make a motion that we make that road public and the township takes care of it thank [Applause] you so so Mr Murphy I think there's um a lot of issues associated with that particular uh paper Street um which I my understanding is it goes back a number of years and the same request had been made over a number of years as well uh relative to uh that Joy Lane um that being said um I know Nicole and prior Engineers have reviewed and examined uh the same issue um so um you know and and again it's my understanding that it wasn't regularly maintained by the township there were times I think when it CU it's Stone I think uh that there would be some Stone put on the road as an accommodation uh and there may been some snow removal but it's clearly not a Township Road and just like any other and unfortunately there how it was built I'm not sure I mean it's kind of the whole area is kind of strange it looks like there was probably one property owner at one time who just cut up the the the Lots uh and involved over time without getting a real uh Street put in uh and then like any other um Municipal um to to the extent that it uh Road becomes a missal roadway there's certain conditions or requirements that need to be met um notably the width of the road um and then and then the condition uh whether or not even can meet a public road I'm not even sure um and then uh and then proceeding whether or not given the condition of the Town that's something Township can can do because they think have to determine as if there are other encroachments in the area where the road would be just because there's a people have used it as a drive I should say I'm not sure if it's ever been surveyed so you need to know all that information as well right I I understand it could be taxpayers but there there's legal ramifications to actions and then and then ultimately and this is something relative to actions taken um it wouldn't be a resolution anyway ultimately it would be required ordinance and and then and then there's steps that have to be taken uh relative to that um so um that wouldn't be the appropriate process if the township were interested in doing it certainly would require a study by the engineering department and then it may even require survey to see uh What uh what what encroachments if any you're out there it even appears as if the MUA there's an mua Drive uh and it may have something that the MUA have used over time because on a on on a Sur on a survey on a survey uh that I've seen that showed as if there's mua property behind those those lots as is my understanding as well it may have been a drive that it was an mu that mua used and over time other property owners developed as well so there are a lot of legal issues associated with that that area um and the proper of course wouldn't be a motion um which again uh you would necessarily ultimately need to be an ordinance but I think the items have to be studied uh first by uh engineering and then uh moving forward uh to figure out what what actually is out there uh who owns what and then and then make the step forward uh as to whether or not it needs to be improved or will be improved if the tangent will accept it I was told the engine gave them options they're saying they didn't did John this is like this is this portion of comments you and so on I know I know you can you speak louder no I'm saying this is not this is commment time for the coun if you want after to talk about it you could you could go and talk about it with the ladies no you want to explain yeah yeah no of course but what what it is is this at this particular time this is time for comments he made his comment the lawyer explained excuse me excuse me you were just talking about rude up here were you not resp what I said it doesn't matter what you said you you commented about people being rude that's rude but anyway at the end of the at the end of the day the lawyer explained why this could not be done now he he explained the the legal ramifications there needs to be an official study there are steps that need to be followed that are legal well this like I said he just I but he just brought it here this evening so can act on it our engineering department has gotten back to you numerous times I had sent the emails to them okay well it seems to be that this this is something that needs a little more investigation and a little more discussion so tonight would not be the place to do it we have to research it we have to get all the information yeah so that we can yeah so we can make a decision an informed decision we're not trying to put you off and as I said that the lawyer explained this is all legal so we can't it would be John has his feelings on it but he can't act on it this evening okay so yeah right the only thing I would add is it's not it's an issue that was brought up in Prior administrations and the and the property owners were told it's not a Municipal Road it's clearly not a Municipal Road I think uh the fact that has been used the fact that it's been used as a driveway for those homeowners um again I'm not sure how it evolved but again it evolved over time but it's not a Municipal Road it's never been accepted as a Municipal Road nor recognized as a municipal road so I just want the record to be clear on that regard can you have taken from engl road down Joy Lane down Joyland you've taken 10 feet the township has taken right and you're telling me that you don't own anything I didn't say that I said Joane is not a public roadway it's never been a public road has never been a public roadway and and again you're saying that I don't know what that means when you say the township and I'm not so again if it's the township I don't know it could be the MUA but these are all issues that need to be explored so everyone has a proper understanding of what this is what it has been and who owns what because that has not been produced right so that there is well this Council hasn't so we will definitely do the vetting out okay thank you very much council person pasky no comments thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes I would like uh once again to congratulate our new Chief um Tom mananga and look forward to working with him and his VIs vision for Oldbridge and see all the support that he got through um tonight with the men here um and women of the police department was very very nice to see that and I want to also thank um the acting Chief Don Fritz for his service and commitment and all the years that he has given to um Albridge um I would also like to say tonight when we see Awards not only tonight but if you listen or come to Council meetings you see very often what our departments strive and always try to do better whether it's through grants getting things done um achieving different Awards accolades and it reflects throughout the whole town by what you do when and especially in finance the way we manage the town um we've had we've had a doublea bond rating which is totally phenomenal so when you hear all these things it comes to mind why does the governor Murphy take $2 million away from our Board of Ed why you it doesn't make any sense you know it's a burden on our taxpayers so now when the tax comes around again first of all it's a stress on our Board of Ed to begin with now I remember the first time he took money away the budget was already done and then then the the school budget was already done and then Murphy comes in and takes money and they've been paying back money um for the past few years when I say paying back the township residents have enough is enough enough is enough and so I think everyone here should reach out to Governor Murphy's office and say why $2 million at this time if you look at some of the other townships that got more money if you look out through the whole region is it because we're Republican and he's Democrat so when you always talk about that so what the reason what is the reason I want to know that okay so no I'm not asking you I'm want to ask Governor Murphy what the reason is okay and I'm not happy with it so if you're happy with it then you should call him and congratulate him for taking $2 million away from Albridge so anyway I'm not talking to the public right now this is my time to speak so I would like to say that that is very disheartening to me when you see that when if you need money for other things that need to get done so everyone is stressed right now to the Limit with what's going on so when you think of Co you someone brought up about the Board of Ed tonight it is crazy that the school was closed for two nearly two years and you come back and you talk about this curriculum sexual curriculum 5756 whatever you want to call it the right to read porn you should be talked about learn learning loss and how to Ed educate these kids so they can go on in their life and be successful it's about success not sex and so that goes on and it's utterly disgusting to even think about it but with that said I always like to be in a festive mood so I wish everyone a pot of gold and the joy all the joy your heart can hold so happy St Patrick every one be safe and enjoy thank you very nice well I also read at the and it's kind of just redundant but it still should be said um I'm very very pleased with the appointment of Chief Montagna being chosen as our chief of police um I'm sure most people that lived here as long know him and his family and how he really does have Oldbridge at the Forefront and I think he's going to he's going to be a wonderful example for all the new police coming in and someone for the PE people that are here already to look up to I'm very happy and of course acting chief we wish him well um you know it's not an easy job so that's you know how I feel about that but also there was a lot going on this week we had ribbon cuttings of new businesses we're so pleased it's so nice to see that people are having these small businesses they mean so much to the community and we were really it was a lot it was really nice that the openings and then the shop right Debbie it's the Sunday okay Sunday is the grand opening the ribbon cutting for the uh shop right and I know a a lot of people were anxious to see you know what was going on with the shop right um also we had a program at the senior center and um one of the local residents and she's also someone who's lived here a very long time her name is Pat Shook and she gave a a whole program on um all the different things that went on here the school she had all the things for the school you know that were in the schoolhouse and she brought all kinds of memorabilia and she talked about Mary Brown who was the clerk for how many years so it was such an interesting program the seniors everybody loved they start reminiscing right Deb and how you know who went here and how long right it was it was really it was just it was a fun day so those are the nice things and thank you for that really I'm proud of Barbara she does a great job that went so far from the beginning and it's just such a great program um again happy St Patrick's Day to everyone I will here and have that that Irish coffee definitely and also naturally Ramadan to every one who celebrates um we are very happy again I think this was a very positive evening for Oldbridge and I think it's going to be a very very good thing for us so thank you again close session uh we're going to take a motion to adjourn and enter close right okay so the motion is to adjourn the body of the meeting but go into a Clos session anyone to a motion to adopt the resolution for purposes of uh contract negotiation and uh litigation update National lead litigation move it second okay move by Mr dama second by Dr Greenberg Ali roll call council person auli yes council person dearo yes council person dep yes council person Desai council person Garcia yes council person Murphy council person pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes yes good good evening everyone have a good night for e e e for