Philipsburg Town council meeting February 28th 2024 the Philipsburg Town Council rejects the opportunity to consider a resolution to support Ukraine the text of the resolution that was presented to council which they unanimously failed to consider was resolution in support of Ukraine and urgency for continued Congressional funding whereas in 2018 Russia has engaged in an escalating invasion of the Sovereign land of Ukraine in violation of numerous International laws causing the displacement of millions of ukrainians and whereas this attack on Ukraine is the largest ground Invasion on a European country since World War II and whereas the town of filisur recognizes the importance of fostering international support for Ukraine's war effort against Russia and showing the Ukrainian residents of filisur the Lehigh Valley and New Jersey that we stand with them and whereas the people of Ukraine have demonstrated astounding resilience and commitment to democracy in the face of the invasion as of this date February 28th 2024 approximately 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and over 10,000 Ukrainian non-armed civilians have died as a result of Russia's Invasion whereas continuing to send financial and weapon support to Ukraine is vital in the protection of a sovereign country and sends a strong message to Russia and to the world now therefore be it further resolved that we the mayor and the members of Town Council of the town of Philipsburg affirm our support for the people of Ukraine and their efforts to secure a stable and prosperous future and urge the Congress to take immediate action to approve funding that will allow the United States to continue sending weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people and be it further resolved that suitable copies of this resolution be sent to President Joseph R Biden and vice president camela Harris and the New Jersey Congressional Delegation below is a list of just a few cities and counties throughout the United States that have passed resolutions in support of Ukraine similar to the resolution the Philipsburg Town Council was asked to consider Forest Park Georgia Bay City Oregon carboro North Carolina the county of Santa CL California in fact this County of Santa Clara actually terminated relationships it had with Russia Cleveland Ohio the city of Berkeley California the city of eastn PA is considering an even broader resolution covering even more conflicts if you Google this topic you will find many more local government bodies that have passed resolution in support of Ukraine so I do not believe the council member's argument that this resolution is outside the council's perview holds water so is it a case the members of the filisur Town Council lack the moral courage to make a statement in the face of an attack by Russia on Ukraine or is it a case that they do not strongly support Ukraine in their struggle against Russia I leave this for you to decide one last note before the video Town attorney wenner stated that the section of the meeting for public comments was not the appropriate time for a motion and vote for a resolution attorney wenner said that if council members wished they could bring the resolution up for motion and vote at a more propriate portion of the meeting this seems to have been interpreted by at least one council member that he could go to jail if he considered the resolution I believe that this was a gross misinterpretation of attorney wenner's comments if any council members supported the resolution they could certainly have brought it up for a vote at a more appropriate section of the meeting now on to the video well first of all Council um thank you for letting me speak again uh my name is David Moret and again address is rejected so um start with me a second okay so um I do want to let you know that I think uh you know I come up here and complain about things uh 90 95% of what you guys do I think you you're doing you're doing a great job and you'll continue doing a great job it keeps the town function in and moving forward um and I do have a request tonight um we're all doing well here at the council meeting when we go home tonight we don't have to worry and wonder if we're going to be alive tomorrow morning it's not something that that is at the Forefront of our mind however not everybody is as fortunate and right now there is a crisis in Ukraine Russia in 2018 attacked Ukraine and for some crazy reason we're just having trouble getting help to Ukraine I know people who have been traveling in Europe lately and the Europeans are be be fuddled and bewildered as to what is happening in the United States you Council have the opportunity to make a statement tonight I have before you a referendum or a resolution in support of Ukraine and urgency for continued funding I'm asking for a motion and a second and I'm asking for Council to pass this resolution in keeping with protocol if there is a motion and a second of course council president Marino will read the resolution in case anybody wishes to come up and make a comment on the resolution since it was not on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting I thank you very much Council for the opportunity to speak and present this thank you thank you David first of all Dave my personal reasons I'll have to hold off I want the attorney can we put this on tonight I'll gladly read it uh well I would recommend not putting it on tonight not because of the subject matter just because we don't want to get in the habit of non-council members walking on resolutions and asking the governing body to uh endorse them at that moment I think we're at the public petition time right now if if certainly if one of the council members up here wishes to do this during Council open time that's fine um but at this moment in public petitions I would say no okay so public petitions is not the right place for a motion and second and the vote understood okay Council has everyone had the opportunity time to read it on my opinion my opinion here as council president I will follow the advice of the attorney okay what my personal beliefs are you know it's an in agreement but we have to do it by the book and by the right any councilman have any questions on that my go ahead go my only comments I know this is a big issue in the international field this is way beyond our scope as a small Town Council I mean we should be focused on filling the potholes in the streets making filbur affordable so I'm very sympathetic towards what's going on out there it's just so far beyond our scope if this comes up for a vote and not to mention I am nowhere near fully educated enough on the complexities of international politics of the war on Ukraine to make a solid vote on this so I'm going to be fully transparent that if this vote comes up I'm abstaining I just don't believe it's in our scope and it's a very complicated International conflict going on that five council members and a mayor really shouldn't be taking a stance on any other input from Council yeah um I agree with uh councilman Clark I think uh of course my own personal belief is I I support the Ukrainian people and uh I think what we can do we can contact our state our Senators I mean our uh senators in Washington our Congress people and and let them know how we feel about this and that we do in fact support Ukraine or at least I do uh speaking for myself so um I agree uh you know pburg Town Council is for uh local issues and uh even though I'm in support of this uh you know I don't think it's for Council to decide councilman scuro yeah I tend to agree with my uh colleagues on this um and I'm not going to I'm going to reserve my comments on the war and National politics uh I agree with uh councilman Clark I don't think this is the um forum for that uh I think we have to focus our energy on what's going on in our town and the problems ahead of us that we need to tackle here first um there's a lot of senators there's a lot of uh people that can tackle this uh subject that's here um I do have sympathy for the people of Ukraine um but I I'm not at Liberty to talk on more um here at a council meeting thank you Council vice president PA I don't think there's really much left to say I think everybody else has said it okay Dave I thank you for bringing that up but I always follow the advice in the attorney he's way smarter than I am so we just have to let it drop that's why we have you sir keep me out of Warren County Prison I don't like jails okay moving on count it is my hope that the members of the filisur Town Council will reconsider their positions and quickly bring up a resolution to support Ukraine in the future Additionally the members of council should send to the members of New Jersey's Congressional Delegation the filisur town government's desire to see immediate passage of legislation that gets Ukraine the weapons and air defense systems Ukraine needs to defend its people --------- Philipsburg Town council meeting February Council vice president will you please read the open public meeting act statement this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law this meeting of February 28th 2024 was included in a list of meeting notices sent to a newspaper of record and posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and has remained continuously posted as the required notices under the statute in addition the copy of this notice has been available to the public and is in on file in the office of the municipal clerk thank you will everyone please rise Allegiance the United States of America and to the for stands one nation God indivisible Council would youe the Lord we seek blessings on the task before us bless our efforts with clear Insight our D deliberations with wisdom our work with Clarity and accuracy and our decisions with impartiality amen amen call please Council M Clark here Council MC Kennedy here councilman scuro here Council vice president bis here council president Marina here uh Matt read the bills list please uh the regular Bill list summary as of February 28th 20124 total regular Bill list is $283,200 4648 for a total of $537,475 Council any questions on the bills I have to look to my right make sure I don't listen seeing none need a motion please so move we have a second second okay roll call please councilman Clark yes councilman Kennedy yes councilman scuro yes Council vice president Pauls yes council president Marino yes proclamations here I just understand you have few to read tonight uh yes we do we have two um does everybody want to come up with the uh with the recipient please um we have one for Brian and Mickey each respectively uh Micky do you want to come up first your closest okay uh Brian would youon I'm sorry whereas born and raised in East Orange and North New Jersey Byron b Macintosh known as B to family and friends has owned and operated The Chop Shop Barber Shop located at 396 Hekman Street in Philipsburg since 2008 and whereas Byron b McIntosh founded The Chop Shop with his late Brother Jay McIntosh who recently passed away in February 2022 and whereas Byron b Macintosh learned the trade from his mother Audrey Clark bur who owned and operated Clark's barber shop on Hudson Street growing up working in the barber shop industry running errands cleaning and learning to cut and whereas Byron b Macintosh has continuously strive to foster a diverse familyfriendly and inclusive small boutique style shop where individuals of all backgrounds are welcome to relax and interact with each other and whereas The Chop Shop has parent parentally been involved in multiple Charities events in the greater Philipsburg area including the F you Center back to school event as well as various food food and clothing drives and whereas the Top Shop is the embodiment of the barbershop as a community Hub and Gathering Place and whereas it is fitting that Byron b McIntosh be recognized for his contributions to the town of Philipsburg during African-American history month by the Greater by the by a grateful Community now therefore I Rand ESP Piaza Jr along with the governing body of the town of Philipsburg wish to honor Byron b McIntosh for his service to the community and to the town of Philipsburg at large congratulations thank you no speech spee whereas branching Out Foundation was founded in 2015 by Vicki Mendes branch in an effort to provide much needed services to children with autism in the Philipsburg school district and whereas branching Out Foundation has hosted autism walks monthly caregiver support groups first responder trainings as well as other specialized caregiver trainings sensitive Santa events special needs bowling and the Philipsburg Christmas Community Drive and whereas in 2021 Vicky Mendes Branch opened page one resource center which satisfied a need for a safe space for newly diagnosed families to be able to locate local resources offering grant funding weekly social groups and including caregiver support groups and monthly speaker and trainings and whereas in addition to her contribution to the autism and developmental disorder Community Vicki mandz Branch made history as the first African-American elected to the governing body of the fburg school board in 2016 breaking new ground and Paving the way for greater inclusivity and representation and whereas it is fitting that Vicki Branch be recognized for her contributions to the town of Philipsburg during African-American history month by a grateful Community now therefore I Randy Piaza Jr along with the governing body of the Philips town of Philipsburg wish to honor Vicki Mendes Branch for her service to the special needs community and to the town of Philipsburg at large congratulations you guys look great perfect thank you than thank you again thank you both we appreciate everything you do if you want to trade I'll TR exper you get you get no here like I am okay thank you mayor for those proclamations uh I'm going to move the J Around we have our chief of police here Chief would you kindly date your name only not your address just your name uh Chief Robert St Town resident me one second here paperwork out please talk about a few things tonight um what I'm handing out here this is uh some information for the council in sound thinking at 3:30 p.m. today we went live with our shop spotter technology this kind of gives you guys a reference guide Ladies sorry to go by um I'll forward an email to you council president probably in the next day where uh there's some email addresses and phone numbers if you have any inquiries people would handle that so at 3:30 p.m. today we we uh began our our use of the shot spotter technology which it detects gunshots in the town of Philipsburg uh the advantage for us with that from a police department state is if we get a call for a shots fired from dispatch we're 4 and 1 half to 5 minutes behind that's the statistics we'll get this information within a 60 seconds we're going to if we should never get a call from dispatch for shots fired we should be getting it first our guys will have it on their phones they will get that alert it's going to give them a real good location of where it's at um I know we've had some in stes recently about people see some trucks around town putting some stuff up we're not going to confirm whether or not the shot spotter technology companies like to companies like to protect their stuff they pay for that stuff to go up if it gets broke they got to come out and fix it they don't tell us where it's at we don't know for sure we get a pretty good idea cuz people call and ask we take a look and say yes probably is so it's a big announcement I think the town should be really proud of me and the mayor had talked about it on Friday tonight was a night actually worked out perfectly and we were having a council meeting and we went live at 3:30 p.m. uh you know many of you know me I I do believe that technology is the future of law enforcement I think that you know the more Technology based you can be the better off will be so going forward we're we're going to keep milking you guys for that money though um coming up in the next few uh next few months really you're going to see a lot more uh walking Patrols we're uh we're healthy as a police department right now so we're going to get back to getting our boots back on the ground so you know I think that's a step in the right direction for us guys will be assigned in their neighborhoods uh if anybody has any questions about who might be their neighborhood officer if they haven't gotten to you in the next few weeks just call up we're working on a we're working on a solution where it'll be accessible to everyone but we're not there yet with that we'll make that announcement when we get there but if you have a question if uh somebody calls up and says uh you I know Joe has questions but you want to know your community policing officer is you shoot us an email at police.org we'll get back to you we'll let you know who it is with the officer's email address we do think that uh residents are hesitant to call police at times we do believe that when we set up these groups they're more comfortable if they they think it's not something worth while calling about they email that officer and that officer gives them an answer and they they they get to a better solution with that so we will you will see walking Patrols in the in the near future not really healthy uh and the last thing I would say and I you know I mentioned this with the mayor one thing we're we're going to urge everyone call police if you think something's wrong we don't want to learn about it from another another Avenue there's plenty of times where someone will tell us that did you see on Facebook this happen and somebody's on there talking about an incident that occurred that we weren't even alerted to you see something say something call if you don't feel comfortable and you want to remain remain anonymous you tell them I want to remain anonymous we abide by that we're never going to throw somebody out in the you know at the end of the day it's your right to testify or do any of those things but the more information that we can gather and our residents are our best resource the better off we're going to be as a police department so that's my report for tonight council president if Council has any questions thank you Chief I'll open the here's my policy I do not throw any Town employee under the bus you want to speak to them you give them a call find their phone number or go on the website and notify them especially the police nature of their job and I don't want them to say anything that would jeopardize them this guys do a great job Council anyone wants to ask the chief of anything you're free to do so just take your time if I ask I have something um yeah coun do do we have a time frame on the camera system that's going to be going in it's the next big ticket for us okay we were on the phone today actually making phone calls that to get everything I mean we do have cameras but to get us where we need to be I mean the money's been allotted from past budgets it's not it needs to get done we're we're at the mercy of the company right now that's what's holding us up okay if I is there anything that Council can do to help expedite that maybe a letter to the company anything like that no not at this point if there were we would ask we we let Matt know Council SC you good yeah I just have one question so the police report that goes online that you guys post every I think it's every two weeks or every week month month monthly okay mon um when it says other um what are what does that characterize that that would be your your uh tail light tickets uh any any equipment stuff like that okay thank you councilwoman no I'm good Chief thank you for coming in take your guys and as I said there is more information for sound thinking if if anyone's interested they do have Representatives who will speak the governing body so that you have a full a full gist of what's going on I do think it's important for everyone to know what does go on with that I mean ultimately you're the people who make the decision on whether or not we spend money in the future luckily this this project was all done to a grant so the taxpayers really we benefited on this but going forward if if if you don't know all the answers it's not going to give you a good you're not going to have a good guidance moving forward we decided to go for further with it but thank you for your time you're welcome Chief and like the chief said anyone wants to contact them contact them and if you see something say something thank you Chief thank you okay uh councilman scuro your a gentleman here yet yes um Mr Henry's here for the presentation sir give us your name uh should I connect uh somewhere can this is about at this golf course proposal that's correct okay wor I think I think to be PR fr I that's nice you know after super follow okay to show you how the council Works they suggested that we move the habitability hearing now so can you wait for us what's your name by the way uh Justin Justin Henry okay Justin if you don't mind us thank you Council see how we can work together if we really want to you got to have a little fun in a while not too much but okay Council we have 475 again thank you council president uh Pat yeah get behind that curtain kid yeah yeah all right all right so this is the continuation of habitability here in 475 South Main it's block 2003 Lot 12 we last uh heard this matter in December uh on the 19th and it was Ren noticed for today really just for a status update at the time that the council last met if you will recall uh much if not everything that was requested of the Hill witer had been completed P have you had a chance to look at the property recently I did get by today to uh take a look outside uh it seems to be that the progress is about the same as it was uh in December on unfortunately I had hoped that uh Mohammad would be here today to uh talk about it uh where it's at is that the renovations for the interior the plan review failed for that uh so uh and that would be to replace the uh floor joists that are going through the first floor they've all been removed and that's where it's at now uh and there's no change in status on that um the work for uh they did fix up the outside a little bit and put a deck on the side uh and that is passed and a certificate issue so uh do you have any recommendations for the council regarding this property moving forward should it relist it for a shorter period of time and issue an order directing the property owner Mr ganam to uh resubmit plans for the interior specifically with the joy uh yeah i' I'd like to see that I I think think that would be a great idea and do you have an opinion as to what is a reasonable time for that to occur uh I don't see why uh a month would be plenty of time okay and again this is just for clarification this is just for Mr G to submit plans passing plans for the interior renovation work specifically The Joy yeah okay so there's a motion from the council to that effect we can issue appro any questions Council 30 days no longer I'm a new judge okay we keep waiting the house will be older than most of us well it be okay P 30 days yeah you got we work with them quite well so we'll AG to your recommendation of 30 days but just tell them the weather's getting nicer let's get it done thank you can let's get a motion to that effect a motion please so mooved second second V call councilman Clark yes councilman Kennedy yes councilman scuro yes Council vice president paulus yes council president Marino yes thank you just you're on council president Council thank you for having me today my name is Justin Henry I'm a resident of Philipsburg particularly Delaware Heights and I come today to actually over a concept design proposal for a disc golf course on the back side of the Delaware Heights Recreational Park some of the elements that I'll be discussing today are Lista here full table of contents uh and I'll be able to share this out with the council and anyone else who is interested after this meeting but basically from a high level uh disc golf is more than just a game it's a fun recreational activity that gets people outside it gets people energized and quite honestly it's free which is awesome compared to any other sport out there um you know I'm not going to read off this quote but you find a lot of inspirational quotes when you look up uh dis Golf and it's just a general fun activity that I think would benefit this town going over some of the data points disc golf is a rising sport it has an increasing uh number of participants year over-year as technology actually finds it and it uh builds upon the sport some notable um data points here there are 14,000 courses worldwide there were on average 4.3 new courses installed each day in 2022 and that number has just statistically risen year over-ear so it's showing signs of becoming like the next big paddle ball sport um and we know how big paddle ball is these days or pick B rather so so I can kind of bore you with all of the details of it growing and and becoming this key next sport next big sport here in the United States but I won't do that um what I am going to kind of go and focus on in my limited time here is the space and the opportunity so um those familiar with the Delaware Heights recreational park it has two baseball fields two soccer fields and a lot to the back of the park itself that is currently unused and has a nice wooded area as well as several lanes that are pretty much ideal and built already for a disc golf course this is unutilized land this is land that is kind of in disrepair and could be really beneficial to the town as well as uh bringing in potential Commerce from people participating in the sport so there's a lot of benefits to adding a disc golf course not just the ability for people in the town to get out and you know re-energize themselves participate in a sport but also bring people from neighboring towns neighboring states into a a new area to play an enjoyable outdoor game so just again recapping some of the benefits here full body exercise weight loss improving heart health it's an energy booster a stress reducer and gets people Outdoors the sight and scope so uh from a quick Google Maps view we do have about 7 and 1/2 to 11 total Acres back in that area which is probably just about what you need for a 9 to an 18 whole course depending on how it's laid out I have some ideas obviously but you know there's also a lot of people who have a lot more experience in this uh sport than I do I'm simply a recreational player who spent a lot of time this past summer getting into disco if you couldn't tell um the actual site itself this is what we're looking at here so right behind the soccer field um closest to Carpentersville Road there is multiple Avenues into that back field already there's that wooded section there's actually a burm that runs along the highway side creating a pretty natural barrier for you know another lane or another dis golf pole so ideally the land is already cut up to fit a disc golf course quite perfectly it just needs to be added to the um Department of recreation or the uh the land use committee's awareness so that this could also be taken care of and you can build out the proper lanes and the proper holes for this disc golf course um so existing conditions on top of that it has the parking lot already there so there's places for people to park there is a stand potentially for um upselling of discs upselling of snacks and beverages creating a small hub for not just the Delaware Heights Community but again for the town Town itself also what something else that's worth mentioning is that the town of alpha is putting in new uh condos right on the corner there and it would be very appealing for a younger Community to have something like this basically in their backyard um operations and programs there's a a lot of opportunity for us to develop this into both a potential High School recreational opportunity as well as um creating programs for the Youth to participate after school and do other activities in this uh buding community so breaking this down some cost metrics and mind you this was in done in November of last year so things have gotten a little bit more expensive with inflation but uh generally speaking building out a disc golf course is very cost effective for what it provides to the community both again from a sports context as well as an as a Commerce perspective but you're looking at any where on the very very cheap side of things around $3,000 for a N9 hole course um I would suggest you know potentially doubling that because you would have less maintenance over time paying uh Upfront for better equipment better stands that sort of thing but if you were to really do it on the cheap cheap that's literally the requirement um that plus the L which marks it down to around uh $300 a hole thereabouts um and like I was saying additional opportunities so with something like this something sports related something recreational and something additional to this town you do have opportunities uh that come along with kind of the dis Golf Community that's a a love of you know beverage a love of fun and other opportunities that go along with it so you could start building out you know restaurants bars whatever it may be in that area that would also go hand inand with this kind of free outdoor sport a lot of times you do see breweries kind of participate in this and you know that might be a cool opportunity there so next steps uh just wanted to you know be here speak raise some awareness about it I think there's an opportunity to build a team potentially you know maybe fund raise obviously design the course clear the land build the structures and then go outside and have some fun so that is my presentation and dis golf proposal for the council I appreciate uh your time and I'm open to answering any questions thank you very much before I open up the council very great to hear something like that get the kids involved and those apartments are in poac by the way oh okay right interesting out outet doesn't benefit from start CS uh so you actually answered a number of my questions so first of all I love this golf I played a bunch back in college it's one of those sports that really brings in a younger generation te active um and you're right a lot of Industries like breweries um really build around that because you can do a lot of things like disc golf tournaments um younger people young professionals such ourselves do it for hobbies because you know it's a great way to network and meet people so it's definitely something positive um you also answered my question regarding the space needed so about 7 and 1 half to 11 acres which sounds about right for nine hole course um so I guess my one question I do have is the the land itself is it Green Acres encumbered now I don't see this being a problem if it is Greenacres encumbered because it is a recreational sport but from our end we may have to do a little bit extra paperwork if we wanted to move forward so is it Green Acres encumbered so uh I um we're not 100% sure if the Green Acres encumbered uh when I think two previous Recreation directors go DJ kesy and I walked um this piece of property looking at putting something like this believe me we didn't do nearly as much work as Mr Henry did we only initially walked the property um with the idea that maybe being a good spot for it and uh he seemed to believe at the time uh that it was possible um but that's the only information that I have at this time for that okay I'll just uh recommend if we do move forward we should just find that out um like I said I don't think Green Acres would say no to this cuz it is Recreation but you know we have to just tell them that we would be doing this we just don't want any problems in the future but that's my only question this seems like a great project and we mesh very well with what's going on with the hipple ball courts and then how rooking field is that at that so Council Kenny yeah I just want to thank you for the presentation great um and I'm I'm in favor of anything that brings another recreational activity to our community so uh very interested in it and you know you see how it goes I love to hear that thank you Council thank you very much that's a fantastic presentation um we did talk in the past and I think you have a lot of great ideas and you'd be an asset to the town and hopefully you'd be interested in joining our open space committee or the recreation committee when we get them up and running yeah absolutely thank you so much thank you Council yes just want to thank you again J for coming uh taking the time out of your night um to present this to the town um if you talked to some of my college uh roommates they would say I probably spent more time on the course than in uh in class um I'm excited to see this um very excited for the kids in the community this could really get people outside doing things again uh postco I know there's not a lot for us to do here in town um again I appreciate you coming and uh I think this is definitely you're an asset to the town appreciate it thank you counc yeah mayor so uh yeah I just want to thank you for coming out um we've had like an opportunity to speak on a few occasions um I I'll just Echo what you said a lot of people do travel for these courses um they're looking to play different courses have different challenges and seek unique um I guess uh HS yeah uh I know the area is pretty ripe with uh of coures Harmony had just put in one last year um Easton has one at hacket Park which was curated and designed by f for Resident just recently he runs tournaments people show up there in droves um and it's maintained I I their pars Department maintains that par but they take extra care when they show at their course to make sure that it's well kept maintained and if anything's broken they see that it's fixed immediately so there it's a community that does care about their uh just say uh about their courses and um it's the type of recreation I I think we are looking for here and I I thank you for doing all this work CU I know we put a lot of work thank you very much okay Jus I agree with everybody on here you know until the open space and Recreation committee and the recreation director and the administration get a hold of it this is great anything for kids all kids I don't care who they are what they are anything that we could do to help the kids in this town is a benefit instead of them going to college and don't come back we got to keep them coming back and we change great presentation thank you very much thank you so much okay thank you Council thank you all right moving on public discussions on agenda items only state your name sir Joe M it's just question my glasses on in a motion take your time Joe and I'm up there as well thank you uh 20 24-34 uh I got the general idea I'm not sure exactly where Brainard start Park Site Street Park is right behind where your cousin have his office on South M Street go up timle Avenue go to Randall Street there's a little Jug Handle that takes you to Briner Street and it was houses that were ripped down okay it's a parking lot on the odd side of the street so that it's it's a it's ripped out it's start it's gutted out it looks like a a jump guard right now that's what I all that was that takes care of is that a pretty good description yeah okay okay so it's in the it's sort of in the middle in the middle of the block yeah from Tindle Avenue to Hudson free hille and the and the other thing is uh is there some kind of rough plan in mind because you're starting a con condemnation procedure already I mean and if so just tell me what it is who do you want to rip down I don't want to rip down any anybody I don't do things like that but well is it on the agenda you're only on the agenda now at the end I'll let you talk more I'm I no I don't want to talk more I'm just asking there's got to be somebody has some idea what they're going to do with this yeah oh we'll let Tim answer that okay the engineer uh so the the resolution and consideration for brainer uh Park is the park that's located if you take Hudson going up the hill you make a right on brainer and it's just it's right next to the rail track oh I got the other end I got the other part excuse me J he's on the high side I was on the low side yeah so right now there's a what was a swing a swing set or swing structure and a half fast ball court uh the grant is seeking funds through Green Acres for Jake law which is accessible inclusive park for all ages um in this we previously were approved to apply to install new playground equipment shade structures um the state in reviewing the application is asked to include restro facilities in there so the resolutions approving the applicate applying for the amending the application to increase the budget by believe about 150,000 that was my fault Joe I brought up long ago about the other part that has to be PL of thank you can this one is part be funded with state grants the other part would be funded with u additional bonds or loans from the state but it's very much like a the kitty Park I might have gone to when I was a child of swings and that kind of stuff yeah so it have your typical swing slides um there will be a a trail p a passive trail that gets you into the park there will be benches and seatings so other users can sit and enjoy the park um or watch the trains go by um it will be in sight of the train yeah there's just a 4ft chain length fence that separates you from the the train um there's also a little bit of the bment but um there will be a restroom building that's what they grants the Amendments adding um and there will be shade Structures Incorporated into the playground area is that on the walking trail by any means uh I mean the or near enough oh it's it's Hudson Street so the walking trail is just on the other side of South Main so if you end up oh all the way up and down the hill though no just I mean the future Rails to Trails will be um the South Main side um of the river so if you just leave the park go to the light that's at South Main and Hudson walk behind the gas station head over to the the training St and you're on the TR and looking through here in worst case it would cost us a half million dollars because and maybe we don't even wouldn't cost us that if I read this stuff right is that about right can you answer this question how much yep I'm just going to pull up the figure so I get it right I wasn't very good at Matthew well this there only one thing somewhere in here it said uh the applicant agre for to its matching share to the green Acer funding request that's us if a match is required uh in the amount of up to 550 $500,000 so we're we have a max out number corre after that for Phil and maybe it's nothing so it's a Grant application so we're applying to seek the money there's a maximum Grant amount of 750,000 the state said to be eligible you potentially have to have a match and you need to add restroom so we had to increase the the line item um once you get the once if you're approved the state will tell you how much you're getting and how you're getting it you can accept or deny so you still haven't spent any real funds on the project and then once you get accept the money then you can tailor it to work with your budget um and to accommodate what the grant requirements are so you have to build a restroom and there's certain number of accessible inclusive features that have to be provided certain age range Tim so then you work backwards from there to minimize your out of pocket Tim one question Joe you brought up a good point there are they going to put a fence there cuz right now the biggest problem when the kids come off the hill they cut across the railroad tracks school district has been aware of that will there be a fence put up where they can't get out of that playground area so this park is already fenced in on nearly 80% of it although the fence needs repairs so you when you get the money you can amend tojust what you put funding in as long as you meet the minimum requirements but you could use that money you should have sufficient money to put fencing if you desire CU if you're at the odono apartment here you will see them run across those tracks very D this is a bit up from that so there already is fencing in the park here there used to be the playground for S gr school when build should be very active okay any other questions good then well I like the idea of us railroad freaks being able to see the train sort of safely up close and it looks like that's a the actual possibility that could occur in this park yeah if you go there today I mean if you went to the fence line you're the when you come into the park it's already get in the brainer to the right side there it's envisioned to be a path either at least 5 foot but maybe 8 it really depends on and you would make it safe for us it would be accessible yeah it would be flat access ible so there's no tripping hazards to be able to get there there should be some green space in there that you could set up a picnic chair or table if you wanted to and enjoy your afternoon the shade there is some existing tree canopy and vegetation between you and the the tracks but when we're out there you could definitely see the track lines clear as day and I was a little confused in the answer to I was thinking it was going to cost us uh half a million dollars maximum but it if I I after your explanation that's potentially the out of pocket part which the state fun potentially will fund through a 20e bond at 0% but we it would still be our five half million dollar right we'd have to borrow we have toor you're borrowing from the state to pay back at Z 0% but you control how much you spend once you get the money so you can meet the requirements of the grant you control okay I just want to know that maximum number though so it's out to bid by the govering body and authorized the the exact dollar figure is not set it's just for the Grant application you you have to tell the state what you're targeting and we're telling the state that we we're seeking the maximum amount of grant money 750,000 and then to cover all the additional items they've at that are needed it brings it up to 1.2 million 1,200 50,000 for us so this, is I 500,000 you're going to borrow that you have to okay over a 20e period 750,000 you get for as a grant that does not need to be repa okay so we are only risking 500,000 and it's just on a bond that um okay Joe what we can do out to Joe has Joe has my okay this way know you guys can get right down to the pen thanks Jo I don't I got it you got it thank you so he'll reach out to you Joe we heard it now okay I got it okay good any other public discussion on agenda hello David Moret address rescinded by order Council thank you so uh I just had a look uh tonight so uh for forgive me if I'm not well prepared but I'm welome everyone said welcome at a public meeting they even if I'm not well prepared so there's an ordinance ordinance 202 24-4 and uh it's regarding the open space committee and getting it active again and uh I actually have agreed with some of you up here um I'm kind of mystified why the open space committee wasn't meeting before uh the only thing I can think about was it may have had something to do with politics but I you know I I'll stop there so uh in ordinance 202 4-04 I do have some questions or I guess one question so um there were members of the open space committee and I think the open space committee is kind of like the land use board the uh the terms kind of like overlap some people have terms that last longer and then not longer but they they overlap so it's my assumption that you currently have members that were duly appointed to the open space committee whose terms haven't expired and additionally they've not neglected their Duty by incompetency or inefficiency uh they could probably still serve because they're not incapacitated due to meal mental or physical disability uh they have they have not misused the or the or unauthorized use of authority uh you can't say they're chronically absent if the uh group didn't meet and uh and they they haven't failed to cooperate with members of the committee to the Department of the operation of the committee and they haven't demonstrated a lack of professional skill discretion or attitude so there's no cause to remove them it reads in here like uh ordinance 2024 d04 is going to remove the duly appointed members of the open space committee uh in one of the where as it says to reconstitute the committee so I'm looking for clarification am I wrong in my interpretation I have to believe that you wouldn't just get rid of all the committee members that were appointed in uh due standing thank you answer that sure second I can answer that Mr Mar said you're not wrong in your belief that that's what this ordinance will do if adopted so the for Clause uh instances that you read There are not currently in the existing ordinance and as you noted the open space committee did not meet for whatever reason for a period of some time so we had no way of removing we didn't want to remove certain members but not others there was no removal mechanism so the cleanest way of doing it was to re to dissolve the board and reconstitute it and what in doing so amend the ordinance to provide for a four cause removal mechanism in the event that going forward we do have members that aren't meeting that aren't doing aren't doing their um their Duty or whatever the I think there are five or six enumerated instances of for cause there's a due process provision that's built into this ordinance as well if adopted whereby if a member is s to be removed that member will be provided notice and an opportunity to be heard before this governing body and then the governing body will issue a decision as to whether to remove that member so that was the cleanest that was what I thought was the cleanest way of accomplishing the revamping of of the open space committee so but there are members currently prior to this ordinance yes that are on the open space committee with unexpired terms is that correct that's correct and so this ordinance is doing the right thing saying that you have due you have to have due process to remove a member correct correct and now you're removing people without due process well isn't that we're not removing some members we're removing all the members and reconstituting the board so that's not to say that's not to say that existing members won't be put back on the board it's just the the terms that some members were appointed to one are unknown and then to the uh the inability for whatever reason of the open space advisory committee to meet we felt that this was the cleanest way of starting aresh with a new committee with due process Provisions built into the ordinance so you're you're saying there's no way to figure out what the current members of the open space committee when they were appointed there's no way to figure that out and I assume that their terms would be a fixed term is that not correct they should be a fixed term correct the the roster that was provided by uh the administration through Miss Turner there and she says in her email she's unsure of when these terms actually expire so let's just start aesh reconstitute the whole board reappoint members with definite terms and with a due process removal provision in the ordinance okay thank you I won't make it sounds it sounds political but I I thank you for your time anyone else in the we here okay no one else from the public okay hearing n ordinances for the first reading ordinance 20 24- 04 in ordinance of the town of filbur County of Warren state of New Jersey deleting and replacing Chapter 93 open space of the code of the town of fburg council any questions any comments this is only for Council the next reading will be from the public the second reading hearing no comments do we have a motion so move have a second second roll call please Council mclark no councilman Kennedy no councilman scuro yes Council vice president paulus yes council president Marino I'm voting yes and I'm going to tell you why I'm voting yes this is an ordinance an ordinance is the law they haven't had a meeting in over two years so we're going to do it the right way by a current ordinance and so therefore everybody will know who has the term when they expire when they were put on I tried to get a copy that list you can't you just got the new ones that were put on in the month of October and November of previous year so therefore that's why I'm voting yes because I want to go by the book and by the law so it's a yes vote okay moving on to Total please 3 32 32 thank you pass put that on a record please ordinance 0224 05 in ordinance of the town of phsb BG County of Warren state of New Jersey amending various sections of chapter 422 Parks regarding the use of parks and other facilities Council any questions any discussion hearing none seeing none he a motion so moved second second any discussion hands up roll call please Council M Clark yes councilman Kennedy yes councilman scuro yes Council vice president paulus yes council president Marino yes okay moving on to resolutions consent agenda anyone any Council have any questions on any the resolutions see none motion please some moving second okay roll call please councilman Clark yes councilman Kennedy yes councilman scuro yes Council vice president paus yes council president Marino yes moving on to Old business any Council have any old business see on any councilman have any new business I have I have one thing council president go ahead so regarding the the resolution um for the open space um something that was left out I would like to explain a little bit more to the public um so the appointments that were passed on October 31st of last year um any of you know anything about government um or served on boards um there's a period it's called a lame duck period if uh you know that certain members aren't going to be on that board anymore which we knew that uh councilman pza and councilman Wyant weren't going to be on board the next year uh regardless of the outcome of the election um so that's was one of my main reasons that I think that we need to do that resolu uh resolution because you always should wait till the next year to new people are put on the board to do appointments or contracts of those sorts um so just want to put that on the record that was one of the main reasons um why I wanted to start over and let these same people that were appointed they have the right to put interest in and they very well could be picked um for this committee Asal so I just wanted to state that for the record uh council president any other councilman under new business see on any motions any public petitions at this time anyone in the public if you want to talk now's your time to talk cuz some people don't understand that and then as we're going to Jour andt there I give everyone the opportunity to talk and I don't even have a time limit if you're saying something that's important important excuse me I'm going to listen to you that's why we voted in to listen to the public and listen to our people theyave you up again no oh I didn't want to jump the G oh go ahead we got a hand out okay we got a hand out here well first of all Council U thank you for letting me speak again my name is David Moret and again address is rejected so um start with me a second okay so um I do want to let you know that I think uh you know I come up here and complain about things uh 90 95% of what you guys do I think you you're doing you're doing a great job we continue doing a great job it keeps the town functioning and moving forward um and I do have a request tonight um we're all doing well here at the council meeting when we go home tonight we don't have to worry and wonder if we're going to be alive tomorrow morning it's not something that that is at the Forefront of our mind however not everybody is as fortunate and right right now there is a crisis in Ukraine Russia in 2018 attacked Ukraine and for some crazy reason we're just having trouble getting help to Ukraine I know people who have been traveling in Europe lately and the Europeans are be befuddled and bewildered as to what is happening in the United States you Council have the opportunity to make a statement tonight I have before you a referendum or a resolution in support of Ukraine and urgency for continued funding I'm asking for a motion and a second and I'm asking for Council to pass this resolution in keeping with protocol if there is a motion and a second of course council president Marino will read the resolution in case anybody wishes to come up and make a comment on the resolution since it was not on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting I thank you very much Council for the opportunity to speak and present this thank you thank you David first of all Dave my personal reasons I'll have to hold off want the attorney can we put this on tonight out glad we read it uh well I would recommend not putting it on tonight not because of the subject matter just because we don't want to get in the habit of non-council members walking on resolutions and asking the governing body to uh endorse them at that moment I think we're at the public petition time right now if if certainly if one of the council members up here wishes to do this during Council open time that's fine um but at this moment in public petitions I would say no okay so public petitions is not the right place for the motion and second and the vote understood okay Council has everyone had the opportunity time to read it my opinion my opinion here is Council president I will follow the advice of the attorney okay what my personal beliefs are you know it's an in agreement but we have to do it by the book and by the writing any councilman have any questions on that my go ahe my only comments I know this is a big issue in the international field this is way beyond our scope as a Small Town Council I mean we should be focused on filling the potholes in the streets making fburg affordable so I'm very sympathetic towards what's going on out there it's just so far beyond our scope if this comes up for a vat and not to mention I am nowhere near fully educated enough on the complexities of international politics of the war on Ukraine to make a solid vote on this so I'm going to be fully transparent that if this vote comes up I'm abstaining I just don't believe it's in our scope and it's a very complicated intern naal conflict going on that five council members and a mayor really shouldn't be taking a stance on any other input from Council yeah um I agree with uh councilman Clark I think uh of course my own personal belief is I I support the Ukrainian people and uh I think what we can do we can contact our state our Senators I mean our uh senators in Washington our Congress people and and let them know how we feel about this and that we do in fact support Ukraine or at least I do uh speaking for myself so um I agree uh you know phsb Town Council is for uh local issues and uh even though I'm in support of this uh you know I don't think it's for Council to decide councilman scuro yeah I tend to agree with my uh colleagues on this um and I'm not going to I'm to reserve my comments on the war and National politics uh I agree with uh councilman Clark I don't think this is the um form for that uh I think we have to focus our energy on what's going on in our town and the problems ahead of us that we need to tackle here first um there's a lot of senators there's a lot of uh people that can tackle this uh subject that's here um I do have sympathy for the people of Ukraine um but I I'm not at Liberty to talk on more um here at a council meeting thank you Council vice president PA I don't think there's really much left to say I think everybody else has said it okay Dave I thank you for bringing that up but I always follow the advice of the attorney he's way smarter than I am so we just have to let it drop that's why we have you sir keep me out of Warren County Prison I don't like jails okay moving on Council open time will start with P you got to laugh what no more no more comment we did public petitions you want another one okay goad what do you got joh yeah I I'm Joe Miner and in the past I have strongly encouraged the council to stay out of ma uh uh National matters with the same arguments I just heard from all five of you so it's not it's it's quite a departure but sometimes when faced with the mass execution of masses of people and an understanding that is that 70% of our country wants us to do what has gotten to be impossible and when this life death thing is happening and there is a demand for the public to speak up so that basically One National Congressman change his mind this this is not your run-of-the-mill everyday thing this is a blood and guts moment this is a place for your church and your soul I hope that between now and with time that you Rec reconsider but I would ask that you make one adjustment to this you must take the politics out of this issue the last line should not refer to President Biden ande vice president Harris it should instead be amended to re to refer to We the People of Philipsburg in support of the people of the United States please consider again you have a week to think about it thank you okay moving on oh didn't see it two more two more I'll be brief and by no means have that kind of weight behind what I'm going to say I want to talk about the filbur Downtown Association and I want to make it clear for everyone uh on the council as well we have a a great new liaison to work with the PDA uh president of council Mr Marino it is for the entire town of Philipsburg so as you find people that are looking for uh business assistance advocacy education networking uh we do meet on the third Wednesdays at 5:30 uh we are in the Union Train Station but we're kind of hung over from the holidays so we're meeting at rocos uh we have a new website that launched yesterday filisur downtown. org uh so again if anybody's interested from the council if you hear from somebody looking for work uh or you know to help business we'd love to have them I just dropped my card off at Dunkin Donuts on my way here and and would ask to to continue to share that uh we' look forward to it we have about 70 members and I'm trying to get to 100 so thanks a lot oh I'm Bill Ben thank you Bill thanks okay sir how's it going everybody uh my name is tomack I'm a part of the community here I grew up here uh this is Roseanne I don't know if you guys are familiar with uh the Warren County warhawks it was a football team that was started a while back about a year and a half ago from a guy named Isaiah Korn um that being said he has moved away and um Roseanne and I are looking to continue the warhawks we're going to Rebrand it make it a new name um cuz some things have happened with the warhawks and stuff like that but uh we just came here to try to get the town's support with that um the type of football we do is D1 competitive football it's not your local recck football and stuff like that um we just recently went to Atlanta Detroit and the events like that Aly yeah the events like that we had 108 teams there and that's family members that came with them as well so with that being said we would like to try to do something with the town here to where we could bring that type of event here you know what I mean to you know help with the town you know the high school sports you know um I'm not too good with this kind of stuff so it's my first time ever here something like this sorry but uh we're just looking for support uh more kids you know what I mean um I grew up here in this town playing sports and ever since I was young you know there's been pal ftown still Hill all of that it's it's now diminishing we only have one team left um so I'm looking to keep that door open to more kids because our type of football it doesn't limit you just to weit it goes by age so any kid could play and we're looking to help them kids that way for when they do get to high school they have the knowledge to play safely and everything like that you know learn what they're doing before they go into something as competitive as the high school you know um so with that being said we're just looking for the town support and looking for more kids if anybody knows and in the past um the warhawks definitely ruffled a lot of feathers um like I said we're rebranding um looking to possibly change the name because it might be associated with some negativity and we don't want that any further um and in the past a lot of people um had some harsh things to say because they felt that we were taking away from the local Rec teams and in that process we have sympathized with that and along with the rebranding comes with us not offering season play so we would do spring football summer we would refrain from those wreck times you know mainly September October that way we're not taking away from steel Hill po hat low hat you know at that the Warren County maget football league um but still keeping these kids active there are a lot of kids that love football that want to play year round and haven't had that Avenue um you know I've been with the warhawks since day one um and you know one thing that I will say that that I think everyone should be aware of is we had a kid that played with us um he was over the weight limit all through wreck he was unable to play at 9 years old or 8 years old they wanted him to play on The Varsity level because of his weight and that's not safe you know at the end of the day it's not um and that kid didn't have a chance to play again until he was 13 years old and now he's starting on the line for a high school and um on Varsity but he had that opportunity to play with us for the first time in x amount of years and actually get to hit in pths and know what it was like and I think that for the safety of kids it is important to know we will take them um and travel and and that's also nice too you know so I just wanted to make that you know clear for you guys and and if you guys had any questions because I'm sure you know the name has gotten around town and we just want to alleviate any um but any thoughts or any ill will or intentions that might have happened in the past and also with that being said um if there's anything like that somebody can point us in the right direction with maybe the town helping us we are currently Str Ling to get helmets and new uniforms due to the fact that the person that was with us took all of our stuff and went to a whole another state with it um so yeah well certainly thank you for taking your interest in the kids of furth uh but as a council president we're powerless to do anything to help you maybe uh you could call the rec director and see what they have available I thinke yeah is that Mr n yeah supposed to be meeting with him tomorrow he's a he's a good guy I think he'll direct you in the right way okay and good luck to your outfit awesome thank you very much anyone any questions anybody want to ask them name please Kelly um I'm I live in Philipsburg I know some of the faces in here um so I'm just going to be I only can be three minutes I always have to remind myself of that cuz I talk a lot um so my song was played for the war War Hawks this last year and I know when I had issues I came to you and you clarified them and you made me feel more confident in everything that was being said and um so I would support it so you can reach out to me and we can figure out something I'll be somebody that can try to out the best way I can um but the reason why I'm up here is because we have I joined a committee in town some of the people's faces I've seen here that I know and it's it's for like development of events and things like that and I'm new at that so I don't really know all the terminology to use yet I'm learning it but I'm here to let any of the residents know that every first Tuesday of the month you can go to rocos and you could speak about ideas issues it's not like an arguing match it's for people to come together um Norwest capap is helping run this and speak how you feel um not everybody you know in the community can make it to here so it would be nice to be able to have the residents come out and meet up together at a local spot that everybody should be familiar with where rockers is it's by Chelle park across the street a lot of events are done there so people come out you know if you don't know where it's at Google it or ask a friend but you can come out and you can express anything that you want to be brought into the town changes in the town issues that you're having stuff like that it's where the residents can come out and speak and be heard um more like you know how you guys are doing this here it's just a little bit designed more for the residents to come out so that's all I have to say what time is it on Tuesday's oh I'm sorry um 5:30 p.m. every first Tuesday of the month yeah see I'm learning I forgot the details but um I made a live on Facebook I will do it again and I will share in local rooms because a lot of people viewed it a lot of people said they were going to be coming out so the feedback is good so I'm getting off of here now thank you Kelly anyone else from the public sir your name Randy pza senior just one little comment uh I've been hearing a lot of people tonight saying about the groups you know having people young people getting involved maybe we can see if we can restart block Watcher groups and that might help that they've been let go for the last few years so maybe we've got a lot of new young people here in town with families maybe we can start one up again that's all thank you sir anyone else looking all over last shot all right I was a corporate president I just lost my $500,000 job job thanks did you Council just got you just got Council open time was Kelly Kelly goad can I go ahead we'll give you another minute I just have a question I don't know who to ask about this so somebody actually comes here and like helps do something with the seniors they the crafts and stuff during the day they said that they only have transportation from one part of Philipsburg so who would you contact to see if they can get it on South Main Street for the seniors down there we'll we'll relay that to you to the senior board I'll personally do that tomorrow okay okay and I'll get back there okay last call and it's not a barro no more all right moving on councilman sco a good time sure um I just want to uh make some comments on the resolution uh 202 2439 uh I want to actually thank uh my colleague uh councilman Lee Clark he brought this up last meeting uh I made a motion to uh remove Needler Avenue uh in the future uh for the remarks of the past remarks of Mayor Needler um I think this was great that we can all come together on this issue um and I just want to thank my fellow uh Council people here uh for the support of that resolution thank you Council will pa um I'll tell you tonight it was really heartwarming to see the people coming forward with all the great ideas uh with Recreation for all ages I want to thank you very much we're going in the right direction councilman Kennedy yes um on uh the 26th uh New Jersey in uh or Insider New Jersey uh came out with their uh African-American list of Honor for black history month and I just want to make everyone aware that our very own councilman Le Clark made the list uh congratulations congratulations he came in at number 87 I thought he should have been way higher Cory Booker came in number one by 86 there you go told you not to run up against him uh it was also announced today that um the hos family through retired NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick are contributing $100,000 toward the mcain rien field and also uh 25,000 will will be coming from the Rotary Club so uh we're getting closer and closer to fulfilling our end of the deal here um I've been in contact with Chuck Brady from uh the ricken foundation he will be in attendance at one of the council meetings next month to give an update to everybody as to where we stand on that um I wanted to congratulate the filbur basketball team and uh the the boys and the girls for the great run they had this week they lost a heartbreaking game the other night and um they broke all kinds of Records this year for basketball and they had a great season uh and lastly uh there will be seven felsburg wrestlers uh trying to win a State title in Atlantic City beginning tomorrow anybody can't make it to Atlantic City they can follow it on nj.com they will have the whole thing on on free video or on track wrestling so good luck all those those seven wrestlers in Atlantic City that's all I have counc Clark uh so first thing I just want to share my excitement for this new gunshot technology and I want to thank the chief for coming in and doing that presentation I honestly believe that in order to keep up with criminality in the 21st century we have to update our technology and by having the right technology gives our officers the Fighting Chance against criminality in our streets so I think this is a bold step forward and if we if done right we can become a Trailblazer for other cities who are experiencing the same problems and the same ilks that we are so I'm very hopeful about this and I think we have a great staff of officers behind this to push it forward so I just want to thank the chief for his presentation tonight uh second it was a very heartwarming uh event today to see the acknowledgement of Black History Month I know we're on what is it the 29th 28th 28th second last day but I think this was a great thing and I hope that the reporters here tonight report on this it's great positive information that shows the town in pH of Philipsburg in a bright diverse light to the rest of the towns here uh the state it shows that we're growing in diversity in both our leadership and our constituency so please take a bold action on writing something positive about that because quite frankly I think every month should be black history month because black history is Philipsburg history so thank y'all uh for those proclamations and supporting folks um Cal Ripken Field was already shared so thank you councilman Kennedy for sharing that and I just want to also uh thank councilman Scerbo for his remarks we did great work uh regarding nler Avenue um and I hope that we can continue to progress on that initiative as time goes on it's a slow process but a process that can be done nonetheless um and then finally this is kind of a curveball but as we exit February we're now entering into March so there are two things I want to highlight obviously women's history month so let's give the same amount of excitement to women's History Month that we did with black hist month because there's a lot of strong women in this town that can be recognized that should be highlighted and I think we can do that non-politically both Democrat Republican and independent should be recognized and then finally St Patrick's Day we always have our annual flag raising I was just wondering if that would be announced publicly I've had a couple of people ask me when it was going to be it's usually on St Patrick's Day but if we could have like a town announcement of when and where yeah um uh Audrey Frank as you know is a member of the Kanas she's working on a um much like Easton had with their um the heart cutout she's doing a shamrock cutout she's working on different patterns I um I don't know where she is in in the process so I don't want to step on her toes and uh um you know before she announces anything should be out in the next day or two she told me just today okay so she'll um she'll I I don't have every detail but as soon as I get it I'll distribute it to council and um we can put it out publicly all right thank you that's all that's so number one I want to thank the former councilman P Mr paz's the mayor now because we pushed for the additional police officers I went and spoke to the prosecutor's office we got two canines even though I'm not a cop I have no experience and police family they have history from 1967 so anything we can do to make it a safer town if you've ever been in sales you have to have a a town that's clean te which we have to do starting clean up we do I do have some people that are going to start doing projects of cleaning up the downtown area they're volunteering to do it it's like anything else if it doesn't look good nobody wants to invest and you can say well a lot of people are investing they are but we got to clean it up and we uh we're going to clean up a mess here getting some complaints about what we have with the municipal building now that's not this present mayor's fault or this council's fault that's over five years at I'm going to just recap it at this time we're working towards completion by March 15 now they have to go to a full evaluation of the roof in order to stabilize that building and prevent further water intrusion once that abatement is done then they'll engage in a full service architecture engineering firm to fully evaluate the feasibility of moving all Town operations does not say they're going to move them back yet they got a lot of more work over there I believe the last meeting we had someone report that they were still finding mold now I'm going to go on a personal note I know personal people that worked in at City Hall that ended up with cancer especially a lot of the police officers to them being my brothers so I will not vote for that building for anything until we have 100% that there's no mold and there's no aestus or anything like that I will not endanger anyone to go back to a building that's not safe until whoever tells me it's safe we'll back it by 100% to those who don't like that statement so B to those who had families in there that suffered from cancer or died it means a lot to me and with that motion to adjourn there will be no executive session move Mo call please all in favor have a good safe