this is the commissioner meeting of February 28th 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at the Sussex County administrative Center commissioner meeting room 1 Spring Street Newton New Jersey can I have a roll call please commissioner Shake here director space here deputy director Carney here commissioner de grou here commissioner Hayden here we're going to have a moment of silence and a salute to the flag I pledge of allegiance 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 director uh before we get going can we just have everybody at the days put their phones away in their pocket whatnot I find it very disrespectful to be on the phone up at the Des yes thank you okay otherwise would be over yes yes thank you pursuant to the open public meetings act chapter 231 PL 1975 adequate notice as defined by section 3D of chapter 231 PL 1975 has been made by regular mail and email such notice being submitted on January 7 7th 2024 from the administrative center of the county of Sussex located at one Spring Street Newton New Jersey to the following the New Jersey Herald and the Star Ledger and is also posted on the bulletin board maintained in the administrative Center for Public announcements and has been submitted to the Sussex County Clerk in compliance with said Act at this time please mute all electronic devices approval of agenda there are a few amendments to tonight's agenda first is that we will be moving item 8 public session from the floor for agenda topics only and replacing it with item seven public hearing since there is no public hearing scheduled for tonight we will then be moving item number 16 financials and replacing it with number eight in addition we have a proclamation to present to Ernie katsenstein who has been with the Sussex County department of engineering and planning division of Public Works for 50 years of service to the county of Sussex lastly we will be pulling item number 11 from tonight's agenda okay 10 is item number 10 on the agenda for no should be 11 approval of consent agenda is 10A okay so it's not 11 on mine so it's it's a 10A you want this no because I have my notes so okay can I okay and since we are here for County Business we are going to do the budget earlier so that's what that is can I get a motion to approve the agenda as amended okay deputy director Carney makes the motion can I get a second second uh commissioner shik any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries okay proclamations certificates presentations uh I don't think Ernie is here Ernie pin okay so uh deputy director carne is going to read that well there's not too much to read as director space said uh Ernie C cistin is that he say C katsenstein worked for the DPW for 50 years um it's time that he got recognized as all our employees should be recognized and that's what we're going to continue to do we're going to start recognizing our employees at 25 years up at 5 year intervals they will be getting a pin and their name will be on a placard outside our door so congratulations to him we will be um giving him a nice Proclamation fortificant rather uh with plers and whatnot so and he's still working he's still going he has no uh and he doesn't have retirement plans yet so that's great so congrats yes okay item number seven this public session is for those wishing to make a comment of 3 minutes or less regarding an agenda item please line up at the microphone and state your name municipality and agenda topic for the record that means that it has to be something that's on our agenda for tonight okay uh hold on one second can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment okay uh deputy director Carney and commissioner Hayden uh any discussion all in favor I opposed motion carries go ahead hi good evening my name is Anor Dash I'm a resident of Sparta Township um I'd like to address agenda item number 10 okay which we did pull that it's off the agenda now it's not going to be discussed no it's not it's not on the agenda anymore oh okay I'm sorry when will it be next discuss uh is that coming back on or next meeting okay meeting okay all right sorry about that that's all right nice to see thank you okay anyone else want to speak on an agenda item EXC Helen Heckman Newton um I would like to uh discuss item number I uh the resolution uh about the dentist Library I think it's a good time to maybe get an update um this is the last step M everything think yeah everything is done uh but we realized when we're ready to submit it that the library itself doesn't have a governing board the Commissioners are a governing board and one of the boxes that we had to check was a resolution by the governing board approving the submission of the change of the change form so as soon as this resolution is done depending on what time we leave tonight I'll staple it and either mail it tonight or tomorrow morning but one way or the other it'll be out that's so excellent are you going to release a like a um anything about what it's you know what it's going to look like and what the calendar the schedule is going to be do we have that we we we don't have the approval we don't have I I hate to do that like if if I don't know if it would be legal or not to just sit down and whoever want sure you can I me once it's filed it's a public record I you can share it with anybody so so I you can put it out then yeah yeah it's not a bad plan it's just a shrunken design of what was there just kind of that's all includes the build building as well the the other design did nothing to the old building we were just attaching a new building to the old one so we're enhancing the new one too to make it up to date so it's a little bit of an addition and it's a lot of improvement to the current building oh I'm so on the interior handicap accessible on the interior of the old building only how how about the access the the handicap access that's all in there okay yeah all the ADA Compliant issues will be taken care excellent real air conditioning why don't you you at before I don't know if you're going to stay the whole meeting you're not going to stay the whole meeting can commissioner if you okay she emails me I can copy the plan and that's so wonderful thank so much thanks for coming thank you okay anyone else on an agenda topic hi Wendy Whipple and over Township I won't forget to say my town this time um what does the uh the word in the words in parentheses title only what does that refer to it just hadn't been uploaded at the time if I'm able to just hadn't been uploaded at the time the agenda was posted so we had put that we didn't have the text but the text basically says the commission approves submitting a form it's not much more complicated than that it's one paragraph horrific um do you have any idea what the next steps are yet or do you have to wa once it's in it's in the the the library commission's hands okay and the county library director has been working with you all the way through yeah and I'll and I'll engage with the State Library director to to try to muster this thing through yeah because you're going to work if you're going to invite Helen for t to look at the plans or send them to you you can include me and you yeah just email me whoever email address I just have one other question um and that was in the Motions um it says uh it's concerning F authorizing submission of the public library the report for 2023 by the County division of Library services that doesn't say to whom it's submitted to the state state to the state librarian or to that's who it is yeah it's theual right okay great thank you for everything thank you anyone else on an agenda topic only okay can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment okay commissioner Hayden and commissioner de gr okay all any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries okay next is financial uh a resolution payment of bills list a can I get a motion to pay bills list a move okay deputy director Carney in a second second uh commissioner shik discussion uh roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director cares yes commissioner de grp yes commissioner Hayden yes okay uh B payment of bills list B can I get a motion to pay bills list B so move second commissioner Hayden and commissioner de seconds any discussion can I get a roll call please commissioner shik yes director space abstain deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes Okay resolution C governing body C certification of compliance with the US equal employment opportunity commissions EEOC enforcement guidance on the consideration of arrest and conviction records and employment decisions under title seven of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 can I get a motion to approve resolution C second deputy director Cary uh motion and commissioner de grp seconds any discussion can I get a roll call please commissioner Shake yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner de gr yes commissioner Hayden yes Okay resolution D cancellation of outstanding checks and resolution e authorization to cancel certain General Capital Improvement authorization balances can I get a motion to approve resolutions D and so moved okay commissioner shik and a second second commissioner Hayden any discussion can I get a roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Corney yes commissioner de grou yes commissioner Hayden yes okay F presentation of the 2020 for County budget from Ela if you don't mind I'm going to stand here this way I don't have my back to the audience or to you sounds good before we get that if you could just um annunciate I'll try to be loud too yell at them like you do to me you'll be F good evening uh Commissioners good evening members of the public tonight I'm going to introduce the County's 2024 budget our current commissioner board um is listed this budget will be available on our website tomorrow as will the state budget document for your review to give you a on that so the budget process is a long process and it starts back in July um the budget director who is um for sop who sitting here will get in contact with all the Departments and let them know what what the guidance is from the budget subcommittee and the Commissioners to let them know how to formulate their budget and then they will have a month to put together their budget and submit it on our um budget software in September we um received the operating budget proposals and we review them in our finance department in October the department heads have budget subcommittee hearings with the two of the commissioner board two of the Comm Commissioners on the board and we go over um all their submissions why they're asking for what they're asking for and anything new anything that we don't need and those type of things and then um the capital proposals are also do in October in November the capital subcommittee meets and we go over all the capital um projects that are being requested for the 2024 year and that's two other Commissioners who are on the capital budget subcommittee in December the budget subcommittees review all of the um requests and we drill down the number to get to a number that is being fiscally responsible but still being able to provide the resources to provide the services to our constituents in January the budget subcommittee finalizes the draft budget document and then um January February we have our Workshop which we had the last meeting February 14th um and now tonight we're introducing our budget so an introduction of the budget happens in a public meeting you have to have 28 days or 18 days for for a county 28 for municipality to have it um published so that the audience and the public have the right to look at it and review it and then our March 27th at that commissioner meeting we'll have our public hearing and then there'll be a vote for adoption of that budget part of the budget there's three um caps that the state enforces on our budgets there's the tax levy cap which is a 2% increase on taxes from the prior year there's a 1977 cap which in a municipality is related to the Appropriations but in a county it's also related to the tax levy and then in 2017 the state um created County entity cap so all of our constitutional officers are have to stay within 2% of their prior Year's budget unless the board decides to pass an adoption allow a resolution allowing to them to go above that the budget that we're presenting is consistent with all the caps and within all the Caps um the goals of our 2024 budget are to be fiscally responsible while keeping Sussex County affordable taking strides towards having comp competitive wages and benefit packages to rec retain and recruit employees maintaining and improving levels of service for the benefit of the taxpayer and utilizing grants to assist in funding of cour County functions we've been very fortunate with our American Rescue plan money to be able to pay for a lot of our Capital which has been lowering our debt and helps our long-term plan with our debt service so the 2024 current fund budget the total revenues will be $122,700 of that 84% of that is from County purpose tax um the county does not charge a lot of service fees as municipalities may do so the majority of our Revenue comes from County purpose tax um offsets with Appropriations is are grants um we received grant funding so we have Revenue that com comes in and then that those expenses are on the appropriation side that's 3% of our budget state aid um for our County College we pay we have loans um that we for our capital and the county pays half and the state pays half so our state aid is um 2% of our budget miscellaneous these are our miscellaneous fees um work's office fees foreclosure fees different fees they're um 5% of our budget and then fund balance we're using 7.7 million or 6% of our um budget fund balance um is used in our budget the way fund balance gets regenerated is by lapsing um appropriation reserves from the year before revenues that we receive in excess of what we anticipate in the budget and any mun miscellaneous revenues that were not anticipated so the fund balance at the end of December of 2023 was 2.76 million or 17% of our of the last year's operating budget and this year we're um anticipating 7.7 of that um to offset our budget this graph is just a history of the use of fund balance and the history of using it as anticipated um Revenue you can feel free to look at that on the website the 2024 budget represents a 03 increase from last year's adopted budget and an increase on the tax levy of less than 1% of 0.89 right now we don't have the final um rable Base number so we don't we can't tell you what the actual tax rate will be because we don't have that information yet from the tax board once we get that we should have that before the public hearing though we have in the state of New Jersey you have to have a balanced budget so our revenues have to equal our Appropriations we can't make a profit so um our total Appropriations are 122,123 look at it is your allocation of your county tax dollar so for every tax dollar you can break out how many cents goes to each section of our uh our budget the first section is our Capital debt and statutory expenses 22 cents for every uh tax dollar goes towards those and that includes our Capital Improvement fund our debt service payments our pension payments to PS PFS which is is the police and fire and dcrp which is for our part-time people as well as Social Security payments and uh defer charges 19 cents of every dollar goes to Public Safety that includes our prosecutor's office our Sheriff's Department our housing contract our inmate housing contract with moris County OEM 911 the medical examiner we give Aid to all of our fire um to our EMS departments our uh the Fire Marshall and juvenile ofuse Services 18 cents of every dollar goes to Insurance that's for both our health insurance our workers comp in general and liability insurance 13 cents of every dollar goes to Public Works that includes our roads roads and cks our our snow plowing we are the probably get the most snow in New Jersey so we spend quite a few dollars on that and luckily knock on wood it hasn't been a horrible uh winter yet um also bridge and traffic safety all the tra all the signals you see going through on County roads are we maintain those um parks and Forestry we've been cutting down a lot of uh trees from the ash board uh so that when you're driving home you don't have a tree in the road trying to help you out there um traffic lights Solid Waste Disposal facilities we have over 50 buildings we have to maintain those so that cost a lot of money Fleet Management um all the vehicles that the county owns we have an inhouse Fleet Management Department so we have mechanics diesel mechanics and then mosquito uh control falls under Public Works we do a lot of spraying aerial spraying and checking of diseases to keep our community safe and we send notices out you can find that information on the website um 11 cents goes to uh for Education that includes part of the county College's budget part of their budget is funded by the county part by the state and the rest is through tuition um also the technical school same thing we have the the Ruckers Cooperative Extension that does a lot the 4 programs and stuff like that as well as we help out with the county superintendent of schools office we provide the clerical staff for that 10 cents goes to General government and that pretty much covers a lot of the majority of the people that are in this building um the county administrator's office purchasing Employee Services the Board of Commissioners the clerk of the bo board the county clerk Board of Elections um Department of Finance technology our GIS system our records management the board of Taxation County Council County adjuster the county surrogate dep department of engineering division of planning the UCC appeal board and weights and measures so you get all that for 10 cents for every dollar I think that's a bargain money 5 cents is for Health and Human Services and while that is a big there's a lot of expenses for that a lot of that is Grant funded so we do benefit from a lot of state and uh federal grants that help offset the cost for our health and human services that includes our Public Health nursing we have to pay for um residents that go in state psychiatric hospitals so we have a portion that pays for that our Environmental Health Department um Community Services the off the office of senior services our County nutrition program um Social Services a portion of that is County funded state funded and federal funded um mental health administration Human Services and we provide Aid to um we Pro provide grant and aid for NewBridge Skylands ride family intervention services we're getting to the end two cents on every dollar is for utilities and other common operating expenses that includes um Transit and a lot of our reporting that we do for our audit and um for the safe for Grants as well as our Memorial Day observance a veteran grave registration and then utilities and our um gasoline and fuel that is terrible our vehicles so we can plow your snow next is the county um capital budget so our County capital budget this year is 18.7 million that's broken out um 34% is facilities 32% is roads and bridges and the rest is amongst education Fleet Public Safety Comm services and Technology there's a few of projects um we can break that down facility improvements is 6.7 um million Road surfacing is 4.6 million the County College is getting 2.8 million although half of that is paid for by the state Fleet Management is 1.6 um Replacements is 1.3 and there's some other um smaller projects so just to summarize our budget is advancing County priorities we're continuing to provide resources for County Services during inflationary times while keeping the amount to be raised lower than the current inflation rate we've identified other Revenue sources to limit the increase to tax levy while not utilizing additional fund balance we're using proper utilization of the American Rescue plan funding to offset the annual County capital budget and allow for pay you go funding to decrease future debt um maintaining the level of funding for Debt Service and Capital Improvements consistent with the debt policy and the B the budget is a balancing act strong credit rating assists with our borrowing costs strong fund balance is key measurement for agenci so once again I just wanted to reiterate that the budget represents a 03 increase from the adopted 23 budget and an increase on the tax levy of 0 or 0.89% less than 1% from last year and of a total of $12.8 million I thank you all for listening and like I said this will be on um the website tomorrow than so I already read the 2024 Sussex County budget is being introduced for the first reading at this time and awaits approval from the board the 2024 Sussex County budget revenues and appropriation summary will be advertised in the New Jersey Herald issue of March 3rd 2024 resolution approval of the 2024 County budget as presented for vote can I get a motion please on uh for the first reading okay uh deputy director Carney and commissioner Hayden any discussion yeah listen it's a good budget you know I know we all worked hard on it um with inflation the way it is being under 1% I think is very good because anticipation of last year we were nowhere near um what we came out to be I'm I'm surprised I'm happy cap our capital budget is very very good better than that's probably ever been in anybody's here uh time that they served on the board and uh maybe our administrator um and our CFO so good job to everybody KS to everybody who who put time and our department heads and whatnot so it's a good budget thank you I agree I Echo your comments completely uh we worked as a board um in unity and it was a nice process um all of us well we have two new Commissioners this year but um they were brought up to speed and our board last year we all worked together and separated so that we could get this budget to a healthy place we're we're comfortable with um can I get a roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner deg grou yes commissioner Hayden yes okay great uh motion to authorize the clerk to advertise the budget revenues and appropriation summary as introduced for the first reading and also post same on the bulletin board and the lobby of the county administrative Center together with a notice of public hearing stating that a hearing on the budget and tax resolution will be held at the county administrative Center one spring Street Newton New Jersey on Wednesday March 27th 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at which time and place objections to said budget and tax resolution for the year 2024 may be presented by taxpayers or other interested parties uh can I get you want me to get a motion because it doesn't say that okay can I get a motion please so move second okay deputy director Carney and commissioner de gr um any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries okay uh resolution H approval of the 2024 County Farmland preservation Recreation and open space TR trust fund Le Levy uh resolution I approval of 2024 Library budget and certification of 2024 Library tax levy um are we going to do a roll call on that yes okay can I get a motion to approve that okay uh commissioner shik and a second commissioner degr a roll call please uh any discussion oh any discussion seeing none roll call please um commissioner schik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes uh commissioner deg grou yes commissioner Hayden yes okay next item I think mine says 10 but that's probably nine okay uh commissioner comment we use this time um usually we um update the board and the public on what we've done since our last meeting um things we've attended meetings that we've been to uh I'll start with commissioner Hayton thank you here's the big question who runs the Social Services food pantry and who is responsible for it who is liable for its mistake we all know what happens when this board doesn't ask questions susex County taxpayers end up holding the end up paying higher property taxes like they did after the board failed to ask questions about the solar program that became the solar scan last December constituents asked me to look into the operation of the Su County Social Services food pantry upon reviewing the tax documents connected with the foundation set up by a so-called Angel donor I realized that the sus County and sus County's tax ID it's Ein was listed as the recipient of over $3 million in donations well in fact those donations go to a debit card which the angel donor not Sussex County controls in fact the foundation should be reporting those millions of dollars in donations is going to the angel donor and not Sussex County no money from the donor hits the books I think 50,000 hits the books hits the books as far as this donation is concerned sus Count's books whatever donation the angel donor makes to social service and food pantry should be reported on the angel donor's personal tax returns this is a potential huge liability for susus County at the December 13th public session we hear direct testimony from Carol nor former County Supervisor ran the Social Services food pantry and who now runs it with several volunteers she said that even though the food pantry operates using suss County's tax ID it's Ein and County facilities and County equipment and County Personnel she claimed the food pantry is not part of the County government yet on January 11th we learned that when asked by the County Administrator to consider setting up a 501c3 nonprofit charitable organization for tax purposes and to protect the county taxpayers from potential liability as is done in every other jurisdiction the volunteers who run the food pantry refuse thre to quit why are they so adverse to doing things the right way wor still the County Administration tucked its tail between its legs and weekly allowed the volunteers to keep doing things the wrong way who are these volunteers or so-called Angel donor they have the power to ignore the County's professionals at the December 13th morning meeting again miss n also confirmed that the social services food pantry does not maintain books to account for what they receive and from whom as as all other food pantries do commissioner Cy claimed that he had reviewed the receipts associated with the food pantry told the meeting was bounced out to the penny it has now been more than two months since Carney statement and he has still not produced a document that reflects improper accounting of the food banry books when will we have it since I raised these questions at the December 13th meeting I have been receiving on the receiving end of Highly organized campaign of official political and personal attacks and harassment I've been threatened by my party told me to stop asking questions about the food pantry I've had numerous calls asking me to stop about the food pantry my colleagues attacked and censured me somebody hired a political Hitman to track me my social security number has been stolen my tax returns have been stolen and a whisper whisper campaign was organized with the express purpose not only forcing me out of office but driving me out of the county I have screenshots of texts posts as well as statements as to the campaign to force me from office there have been threats of physical violence made against me in fact one commissioner has harassed family members by asking them if they had dirt on me another commissioner has been pushing an audio tape around claims it is of me if so is made without knowledge or permission and I haven't heard it yet who has the power to put a campaign together like this who can pay for the kind of operators could aain tax return Social Security numbers and so they claimed tape recordings where is this coming from and who is behind it I didn't experience this level attack when I opposed a gas tax and ran against SRA Steve Oro in 2017 after that election Sten I patched things up and he invited me to run for County Commissioner I would have run in 2021 but he asked me to stand aside for Chris Carney and run for State committee instead when I ran in 2022 it was with theor Ste war and Alworth and running mate Jill space nobody had a problem with me for all those years until I started asking questions about the food battery so it is clear that I am the target of removal because of my questions all the investigations that they target a person who is a whistleblower a potential government witness and an elected Fisher that said let me read to you the New Jersey Criminal statute that comes into play here because anyone coming up today in the microphone should State their name clearly because they will be part of the legal proceedings to follow take no this is a threat on this is a crime of the third degree 20 2C 27-3 if this is about official County Business well I don't think a lot of stuff is about official you want to tell us about anything that you've attended any meetings or anything that would be I'm almost done well there's a lot of things that were brought up that aren't about official Cy if we're going to keep it about official County Business when people come up there I'll stop right now is that is that what we're going to do no everyone has a right right to say what they want to say you're getting into one way yes yes 273 feds clearly defined a person basically when one threatens unlawful harm to any person with the purpose of influence of a decision or opinion recommendation threatens harm to any public service with the purpose of influence of a decision opinion recommendation threatens harm to any public service Party official there is no defense to the prosecution that the person didn't know the influence was not qualified this offense in this crime is a crime of the third degree meaning you cannot hold public offer I I I want to clarify uh so I'm not exactly sure what commissioner Hayden is saying and this on the last piece but um if you're a member of the public you have the right to address this commission uh your Commissioners uh free from threat of criminal prosecution um I mean everyone enjoys a First Amendment right there to address their government we are here to conduct County government business um but uh I don't want anyone to think that uh this commission board condones uh silencing a member of the public who may want to speak that said you know we are constrained by matters pertaining to County government we want to try to keep them uh civil not truculent not harassing uh we're not going to sit here and tolerate people trying to hijack the meeting or interrupting each other it's not a Q&A uh the public has the ability to come up and make statements uh but I always want to be very clear that the county is not suggesting that a member of the public you like want to speak here uh would be subject to criminal prosecution by the county that's not the case thank you commissioner shik is he done yeah I think he's done didn't have any comments do you have any done any meetings or okay Library report no okay okay commissioner sh so that's um so being uh elected by the suss County committee on February 3rd I've had the great opportunity to meet so many wonderful people in County government um I have learned at a tremendous amount about the love and the dedication to this County by the County employees of every Department I had a 13-hour orientation the other day and I met everybody in count County government and I assure you as as the as a suss County public they love their job they love serving this County and they asked me uh how can we work with you to make it better um I had a meeting with the uh well I went to the Board of Trustees meeting yesterday at the County College and I um I I had quite the experience there and um some of the more positive events I've I have attended where the Chamber of Commerce uh Gala and um and um schuma event where they uh they introduced me as as uh their new commissioner and everybody from every organization I've met have been incredibly welcoming and eager to work together on making susex County as great a county as it can be and uh I am honored to say to you that it's it's an honor to serve them and it's an honor to have met with them all I look forward to my next report which will have all of the Committees that I'm on and I'll be able to give you a little more substance than the cheerleading substance thank you all for being patient with me thank you commissioner uh commissioner deg grou yes so um the Farmland preservation revitalization tour did not unfortunately have any stops this week however I did take the opportunity to follow follow up with some of the you know prior stops they gauge the progress of Outreach in each of the municipalities I'm pleased to announce that the Committees of Lafayette Frankford um and green have all provided uh approved of their Outreach initiatives and will be you know partnering partnering with the land consy so you know very good news on that I extend my gratitude to the municipal leaders um for embracing and implementing these Outreach Endeavors uh I do have some other stops to make in addition to you know the some of the different municipalities and I'll keep you up date on that um in other news I would like to revisit a goal with you all um on January 1st at our reorganization meeting so specifically the goal of seeking opportunities and supporting agricultural programs at susus County Community College and Technical School um so over the past two months uh I've been diligently laying the groundwork to advance this goal um beginning with the community college so you guys you know I want to inform you on this uh so shortly after assuming office uh I commenced Research into avenues for supporting agriculture control programs first that's County Community College uh after some investigation I identified a promising opportunity in the US Congress uh specifically House of Representative Bill 3425 known as the Community College agricultural advancement Act of 2023 uh this legislation aims to amend the national agricultural research extension and teaching Policy Act of 1977 to provide capacity building grants for Community College agriculture and natural resource programs uh specifically these funds can be allocated to equipment AC acquisition uh faculty development and establishment of work-based uh learning opportunities um upon discovering the potential Avenue of support I promptly reached out to two US Congressional Representatives uh who were previously unaware of the bill um after after patiently waiting to meet in January which is why I bring it up now um I had the opportunity to discuss the Community College agricultural advancement act with both Representatives this past February um after our discussions on I am very pleased to report that both Congressional Representatives have agreed to co-sponsor and support the Community College uh Community College Agri agricultural advancement Act of 2023 uh while passage of the bill um is not assured I'm taking proactive measures to ensure that susus County's interest are well representative and you know with cd5 and cd7 S SC covered um so there's hope that this bill however may be included with the farm bill of 2023 unfortunately Believe It or Not farm bill of 2023 still hasn't been passed so he'll have to wait on that right but hopefully it gets in there um but I'm doing all I can to you know really um you know be on this and in anticipation of these potential legislative developments myself and president Conley have been communicating throughout these two months and this past Monday actually the both of us have attended Susa County Board of Agriculture so the farmers were really excited you know to see the president yeah walk in um and it was really a great meeting uh where you know me and him entered into um you know a great discussion with the farmers about EXP exploring you know ways to better serve the current and future agricultural Community um you know one notable proposal that I brought forth just to give you a little bit Insight you know what I'm thinking um really involved transitioning our Greenhouse uh from Hydroponics to Aqua aquaponics uh thereby you know introducing regenerative uh agricultural practices and incorporating aquaculture into the curriculum um you know the really great thing about this is that fully uh matured fish from the aquaponic system could also be supply for The Culinary Institute right it all goes hand in hand and you know potentially reducing their operational cards so I think there's some you know really you know potential here um this represents just one of the several ideas discussed you know during this meeting but I believe significant uh you know I believe I made some you know significant progress on this I really wanted to present it to all of you here tonight and it's kind of nice you know there's some people to hear about it too yeah right um but uh you know as always uh you know from here on out I'm going to keep you informed before further developments about this and continue to work on accomplishing you know this goal that I set out on January 1st so um additionally uh I met with the sus County 4 uh you know as mentioned uh we have a 4 Club here and organization um and it was delightful to learn about the status and expansion of our 4 programs uh for those that don't know uh 4 provides instruction in various uh subject areas as the teacher teaches youth life skills um this program helps young people learn how to present themselves feel comfortable in front of others and make sound decisions 4 has many clubs that have have association with agriculture um crafting and uh even venturing into stem um from this meeting it was actually brought to my attention that for needs some volunteers to serve as public speaking judges for for each presentations coming up uh for those unfamiliar 4 members in suss County are required to deliver a Public Presentation each year um having you know personally gone through this own program um you know I'm definitely reaping the benefits right now so uh you know I can attest to its value in uh de developing you know presentation skills um I believe it would be beneficial for us as Commissioners to get involved and volunteer as judges um providing you know constructive you know feedback to participants just because you know we're in a role of talking pretty much all the time um if any of you are interested uh you know uh 4 will need judges on Friday March 22nd at K Regional High School I can let you know what time but uh I'm planning on being there um lastly almost done uh susus County's division of health is offering covid-19 vaccinations with Spike backs by madna um this is only offered in 12 years old and older uh covid-19 vaccine clinics will be posted on susus County's website as they become available in addition Public Health nursing continues to provide homebound uh vaccination as requested and then from the Department of Health as well just be aware New Jersey Department of Health influenza activity report as of uh this week uh ending in February 17 2024 indicates that influenza activity level is high Statewide so uh you know please everyone Embrace and practice safe and clean hygiene protocols that is all I have for today okay great deputy director Carney thank you thank you good job Jack I what you're doing appreciate it uh C County division of Public Works DP DPW crw continue respond to win weather events uh DPW had full activation response on February 16th and 17th starting at 11:00 p.m. and continuing for 12 hours which left about 2 or 3 in countywide depending on where you live uh response included 73 staff members and plow trucks approximately 1170 tons of salt was used as well as 450 gallons of liquid de icing in Egypt that is not brine for uh people who don't like brine brine is done on state highways we don't use brine we pre-treat uh the salt before it goes out Ryan kills your car rusts your car it's not good for your car um Bridge d38 carries uh County Route 519 W jav Avenue over drybrook uh in frankfur the project involves Construction of full replacement structure and gu rail installation uh Pickering courts in summerson was a designer uh the fitting was received on February 23rd and it's on a review and that award will be on the 27th um this was uh two grants ttf lbf lbf grants for 227,000 and another ttf l Grant for 500,000 and capital was to determined we will commence in 24 um little um note from our clerk um our property alert systems as of January were 22 so for the the month of January was 22 to dat is 7:01 Daniel's law people sign up for Daniel's law to protect them today he's 549 so that's slowly Rising that'll keep going we do have um I did meet with the county clerk we have our new susus County official directory that'll be going out um I know I'll be delivering these to the American Legions uh it's basically got all the information actually I open up the front page and it's it's the food pantry funny think you might be in there Gary um so all the good things that we do do and um way that you can contact pick another one pick Parker space actually out of blue uh District 24 so on and so forth so they'll be out and about if anybody wants one today I have I have maybe I don't know six of them they're more more than welcome to take one um they're right there uh I attended with uh commissioner shik and the group a PBA venison dinner on Saturday uh we have two of our sheriffs here we have our MC right over here to my right did a great job really really one of my favorite venison dinners go to because you guys have so many people helping out so the food is just non-stop uh they even delivered beer to commissioner ship water to me so it was a it was a very very good events we also attended the chamber dinner I think uh commissioner space commissioner ship commissioner de grou myself was there along with some members of d24 um so that's always a good uh a good dinner tamy horsefield does a great job with the chamber and uh they picked their new chair woman and I forget her name to be honest with you that would be Jamie lacur stole your thunder I can tell um we also met with the DPW in Frankfurt this is kind of a a tour that Jill and I have been doing commissioner space and I have been doing just kind of go over what what's going on with them what their needs are and so on and so forth it was a pretty quick meeting only because it started snowing and uh at least in Frankfurt as I left my house it was just freezing rain so uh it it was good it was quick um which is good cuz usually we're there about an hour and a half and uh we got beat up a little bit but that's okay because um that's what we're here to do we're here to listen and figure out the problems and and fix them um that's all I have and we have one more garage right and then one one more garage yeah okay sounds good thank you uh deputy director Carney okay I'll start uh with my things that I've done uh commissioner degr myself and uh our administrator Ron taen met with uh Sparta councilman Jurell and Herzberg and we discussed shared services Farmland preservation and all the various grants and uh they want to continue that quarterly with us so I think it's great any of the municipalities that want to meet with us um in smaller groups were open for that idea uh Chris St my thunder on the chamber uh they also recognized Tom Ryan for being the outgoing chairman and all his work that he's done with Tammy horsefield last year um there is a Sussex County tourism Summit on Thursday March 14th from 9:00 to 3 at minerals hotel in Vernon the the summit features speakers on vital topics such as branding customer experience and customer service opportunities for networking and lunches are provided there is no charge for agricultural businesses and funding was provided from the arpa funds that we uh all supported um uh deputy director Carney and I also had the opportunity to meet with our new prosecutor Carolyn Murray to discuss uh different uh things going on in the county and had to have a good working relationship with the prosecutor's office uh and last year uh when Chris Carney was the director he started a meeting process of where uh he would call like a lunch in or a dinner with the various Mayors in the county so I hosted my first one on Saturday and uh Chris parney couldn't make it and commissioner dgr decided to join me and we had a full house House of Mayors and at that meeting uh we had um our administrator Ron taen and Deputy Administrator Lorraine hence and our chief of staff Christina Marx and uh we had our legislators and Lorraine started off our meeting with a division of senior services update and all that the county has to offer for our seniors and we're looking to move on with um new ideas that she's been coming up with and then we had uh councilwoman Christine Quinn gave an update on behalf of the Sussex County League of municipalities on shared services and then we had a nice Roundtable discussion with the Mayors on uh different state mandates and affordable housing um and that's all I have on that and then my health and human services update a division of community and youth services for more than 30 years the county in collaboration with the Sussex County Human Services advisory Council has been planning for and evaluating the needs of residents who rely on Human Service services in order to advocate for funding and ensure access to essential Services the last assessment in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families identified housing Transportation behavioral mental health service for adults and children as priority areas of need there are several resolutions on the agenda this evening for the board to award Grant in Aid funding to local human service agencies to fund programs that provide inhome Mental Health Heth services to Children and Families public transportation services on Saturdays an emergency overnight shelter for at risk and homeless individuals and families division of Senior Services the division of senior services collaborates with Sussex County Community College to offer educational presentations and classes to seniors through the center for lifelong learning the center located on site seccc is hosting a free presentation titled birds bees and the butterflies on on Friday March 88th 2024 at 11:00 a.m. in the atrium of the Performing Arts Center at seccc join profess Professor Aaron schroll as she helps you kick off your spring planting Professor schroll will provide you with the information and inspiration needed to attract birds bees and butterflies to your garden Refreshments will be provided and pre-registration is requested to pre-register or obtain additional information please contact the division of Services by calling 973 579 0555 extension 1277 a senior services caregiver support group meeting will be held virtually by Zoom from 2: to 3:00 p.m. on Friday March 1st the group helps to reduce the negative effects of stress and increases the physical and psychological Wellness of the caregiver it also provides information about programs and services available to the caregiver information on how to access these services and provide referrals as necessary please call the division of senior services at 973 579 0555 extension 1288 to obtain additional information or to register to attend these meetings thank you okay back on schedule okay I have down it was resolution 10A that we tabled okay my numbers are off okay next uh approval of minutes approval of the regular meeting minutes from February 14th 2024 can I get a motion to approve the minutes from the regular meetings deputy director Carney and a second second uh commissioner degu any discussion all in favor I I oppose and one exstension okay uh there are no ordinances and next we have appointments and or resignations that would be resolution a through H can I get a motion to adopt resolutions a through H okay commissioner Hayden and a second second commissioner shik any discussion can I get a roll call please commissioner shik yes director Ste yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner de grp yes commissioner Hayden yes okay next we have resolutions a through I can I get a motion to approve resolutions a through I uh deputy director Carney makes a motion and a second please I'll second yeah any discussion yes quick question sure all can we break that out I'm good with everything else but y okay so we are going to vote on resolution a through H and deputy director Carney made the the motion and I'll make the second uh can we get a roll call please commissioner Shi yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner Gro yes commissioner Hayden yes okay and resolution I we're going to vote on that one separately can I get a motion to approve resolution I still move deputy director Carney and commissioner de grou any discussion okay can I get a roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner gr yes commissioner Hayden no okay Awards of contract change orders bids resolution a through e can I get a motion to adopt resolutions a through first the board of County commissioners of the county of Sussex has reviewed the award of contract change orders bids consisting of various proposed resolutions and determined that the adopt option of the said resolutions is in and will further the public interest can I get a motion to adopt resolutions a through e so okay commissioner Hayden and a second second uh commissioner shik any discussion can I get a roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner de grp yes commissioner Hayden yes okay uh Personnel we have none administrative report thank you commissioner director um couple things U thank you for approving one of the resolutions tonight which has been a long a very long long long issue with our County vehicles and maintenance of those and that's the approval of the fleet wash program I'm happy to announce once this you approve it tonight the PO goes out tomorrow night the first official wash at of our County vehicles to get all the salt and Brine and everything off of it be Sunday so we've got a schedule at leworth to get the trucks that we have there and get them through the process and get that going um lastly too uh the county operations will be transferring into Microsoft 365 we started that this week there's 10 people that's been added there'll be 10 10 employees added per week and this could come at a more important time as I communicated to the Commissioners through via emails one of our uh our counties uh in the in the state was had a ransom attack in Salem County and it was because some things just won't done the way they should have been done and this is one thing when does 365 amongst a lot of other protection things we do in the county keep us this County in safe hands for not getting those types of Ransom attacks they don't know what the financial impact is going to be to that Ransom attack yet it attacked their 911 Center which directly affected their emergency services so we don't ever ever want to think about getting it in that type of a game so and the next meeting I will be happy to say that we have offer money Capital money is approved um once that resolution is done we will put a PO out to put the new AVC Sy AV system in this room so everybody in the back of the room can start to hear everything that's coming from the front of the room so we'll start installation of that about 6 to 8 weeks after the PO is issued so this is going to get a little better in here I know we've made it look nice now we're going to make it sound nice so that's all I have for tonight I just have a one question question for you uh we go back to the fleet wash so when we we've been meeting with the garage and we' let letting them know that it's come to push in here we just told the the department heads to make sure they the fleet wash is doing a good job we and if they're not then we need to let them know and switch things up a look at put putting measures in place too to we've started the data collection on does it improve our maintenance what's the what's the extension of life we're all we all have an internal thought want and thought and belief that you get salt off Vehicles it's going to extend the light but it's going to really help the mechanics as well cuz they got to deal with that when that gets into the shop and that's just that's just particularly in a snow event that is just $200,000 in extras with Cadillac converters exhaust RS and so on and so forth in a year it's a year yeah so lot of money no absolutely thank you thanks I'd like to speak on the um internet and uh security aspect uh during my orientation I had an extensive meeting with the uh the head of it and for those who don't know what ransomware is it's where a uh a a non-friendly uh entity hijacks your your uh your capabilities to operate your business by way of internet I can say to you that we are probably protected better than Washington DC I've seen all the levels i' I've seen just you know the data storage if we were to be hit today we would be backed up all the way to yesterday so the claim for ransom would be zero we could we can legitimately say sorry flip the switch and go to work tomorrow so feel comfortable and knowing that uh you have some terrific experts protecting your county and its uh and its systems thank you thank you okay uh County Council um um I don't have a report but I am going to make a comment before we get into the next public comment period uh I'm also going to go home tonight in order to thank you note to my constitutional law professor because it's been 32 years but I still retained something um citizens have a right to speak at a public meeting free from government threat of criminal prosecution this meeting is no exception uh it is a right protected by by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech uh and while the right is a Cornerstone of the United States Constitution uh it is also not absolute it is subject to reasonable time place and manner restriction so conduct not content um such as the the three minute restriction that 3 minutes three minute restrictions that this commission board uh imposes uh on members of the public who want to come forward and speak in order to maintain uh you know uh an orderly and efficient meeting additionally um certain types of speech uh such as uh defamatory uh speech or speech that incites violence uh may not be protected either I say that not to give any attendee any legal advice but rather to establish um a parameters of of the Quorum uh and remind folks as I said earlier that the Commissioners have a three-minute uh uh limit uh for public speakers as I said in order to keep the meeting moving uh that's really all I have thanks okay thank you unfinish business I need to step back County Council report um I wanted to know where we're at with our investigation there's two investigations that Mr Hayden alludes to I just want to know what we've come up with in the last last meeting I was five weeks ago was probably another five it's been about 3 months since we heard about this so I just want to know where we're at we brought it up at the day so what do we have uh if your question is whether I've been contacted by any agency or have heard anything uh related please I'm sorry yeah if if commissioner carne's question is whether I have in my capacity as County Council been contacted by uh any law enforcement agency or surfed with a request for any documents or any subpoena or contacted by any investigator and attorney uh the answer is no uh I've not uh I I I do regularly speak to uh the Commissioners um and staff here none of them have reported to me that they've been contacted by anyone uh I have not seen any document or been served with anything that I've reviewed um so I can only that's the best answer I can give you ter of my own answer that's I was just curious personal knowledge yourself yeah perfect perfect answer thank you good time to thank the all those that donate to the food pantry and all the volunteers without you we wouldn't be able to feed all these residents in Sussex County that are in need so thank you to them um okay unfinished business I do have some unfinished business um this goes back this goes back a while ago probably a good year ago but I finally got the information that I was needing uh this would go to ARA money this is something that actually help has been helping me on and the board prior to all of you um this is the involvement with the Historical Society Wayne MC came up with some numbers to promote education uh suss County history education to our fourth graders throughout the county I have um the information and I'll give it to you all gives numbers and and whatnot so I'm I'm happy that it's finally here because we need to spend that AR of money this year this is going to take a little bit but I I will get this to ELA to but I just want I'm going to get you guys copies of this so everybody can look it over um it's kind of something going hand inand with commissioner deu when it comes to 4 it could possibly fall under the education allotment with this money because the money that we get a lot with the arer funds uh it's it's this doesn't touch what we had a lot it so um nevertheless I'll get you guys this information okay thank you sounds good any other unfinished business any new business Ron I do I have uh two items I'd like to bring up in new business and it's uh permission from the uh the count Council to allow for two things that we want to keep moving on on some good initiatives here in the county one the Department of Human Services told us yesterday that we have a a fairly sizable pool of money that we can roll into next year to spend for our covid-19 carryover and some additional funding to the tune of about $500,000 we just need to allow Lorraine to sign the document of intention of that tomorrow so we can get that process going and then the ultimate chapter 159 to bring that into the budget will be the second meeting in March which you all will be voting on to do that just just just gets us to the table so that we can start that process if I can have an authorization for her to do that that would be great second thing is a drcc grant that we're going to apply for melium our grant writers writing this for us they just need a letter of intent to be signed by the county by this Friday and before that that gets us into the Grant application process the resolution for that Grant application will come in for you again the next meeting to go after it but this is a letter of intent I'd like to have the authorization to have uh chis Cynthia Armstrong to sign that as the point of contact for interactions or anything of that it's a $27,000 grant that will be provided to us to help us train our DC drcc which is our our counselors that that help us with mental health and addictions postco so if I could have that we we can continue to go and do good things that's all I have good I have two things director I'll be quick um I just got an email I got an email a while ago and I just got one to uh see where we're at but uh the Historic Society in in Still Water they are looking for support for a grant application um for the Still Water Gris Mill I don't honestly know where that is Ron had an idea where it could be but um I'll get some more information but a letter support ASAP would be great um Any Grant would help and the Historic Society always does good things in my book um but I'll get you that that information as well I did get an email um about uh a resolution which I like a lot uh literally like two hours ago I I showed Doug this earlier and this is a resolution recognized is recognizing November as veterans month uh they did it in Hudson County so what we can do is put a resolution fourth um for Sussex can and we have the power to do that um I know there's some veterans in here and um I think they deserve that I think you know with with senior services uh doing everything they do with the better just kind of goes hand inand with that as a son of the the vet myself um I think this is it's a good thing as I'm sitting next to a government so if you guys are all good with that um I'd like to get this on for next meeting everybody's with it next meeting or in November or the end of October designating it I would like to um well do we need to put a resolution together to designate that for yeah it can be done at any time I mean we put a resolution together for November dedicating so we'll be everybody at the fun we'll have it everybody's good with that good yes okay quick that's that's quick question what happened with the Trump resolution we put forward a month ago I brought it here we had to read it never heard of that did you follow up with uh Council I don't know anybody told me to write one I mean no I I handed it in she she took it from me I didn't and then from there it's supposed to go to one of you guys to put it on the agenda right pres Trump on the ballot we should be supporting him and I kind of thought that would have got pushed here well we all support him on this on this board so but it's up to you like last year when commissioner Fantasia was here she had to follow through on her resolutions so bring it bring it to the next one bring it again and I'm sure we will support it okay we need to make a motion to approve the authorization of signatures for the Department of Health for lorine Department of Health and Cindy for the D drcc okay applicate can I get a motion letter to of aent okay from deputy director Carney and a second just one second uh commissioner degr uh roll call please uh commissioner schik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner the group yes commissioner Hayden yes okay thank you thank you very much thank you and thank thank you Len okay uh public session from the floor this public session is for those wishing to make General comments of 3 minutes or less on non-agenda topics please line up at the microphone and state your name and municipality for the record can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment still move okay deputy director Carney and a second second uh commissioner shik any discussion all in favor I opposed uh motion carries okay just state your name please hi good evening Commissioners uh my name is Sylvia benavente I'm representing I'm here to represent my family who work Newton thank you for allowing me to speak here this evening I would like to read a letter my husband and I sent a County Administrator happen back in November it is our hope that after hearing what we are requesting the commission members will consider the request being brought forth before this committee and make a motion to approve as you can see by some of these in attendance the issue continues to impact those who were directly and indirectly affected by the events of May 26 2023 they are here for us and to show show the committee their support and solidarity for our cause now to the letter dear County administrators happen on Friday May 26th our eldest son Andrew benavente and our only two grandchildren Andrew Jr and meline were struck by a vehicle that crossed over the double yellow line in the area of 290 County Road 616 in Andover and succumb to their extensive injuries this tragedy affected not only our immediate family but many of the surrounding community and Beyond we know that life moves on but for the benevente family and those who knew Andrew Andrew Jr and meline personally this tragedy has underscored how fragile life is we know that people will forget what happened and what a wonderful family they are they were we do not want their deaths to be in vain and want to remind others traveling through the through to remember what happened and to ask that drivers perceive carefully and be mindful as they Traverse the area of the roadway that is the purpose of this letter to you we are formally requesting that you as County Administrator authorize a renaming of the portion of County Road 616 between lime Crest Road and pinkville Road in our family's honor as the benevente memorial way perhaps by renaming this portion of the road it may prevent another motorist from causing another family the heartache that this one has caused us by keeping the accident on the Forefront of everyone's mind we truly believe that the community that Andrew and his family were part of would welcome this effort as they individually and together touched many lives within Sussex County Andrew who grew up in the north W of Newark and continued a legacy of law enforcement moved with his family to Sussex County several years ago and settled in Newton Andrew had been a nework police officer but due to reduction in force left the career behind since then Andrew had several several jobs in the automotive field so he could provide a good home for his family Andrew Jr one minute come on go ahead you're good Andrew junor AJ as he was affectionately known was most recently a student in holon middle school and was a member of the Boy Scouts troop 85 as well as an entry-level soccer player at susex County Youth Soccer League above all he was an avid gamer and thrived on playing online AJ was a kind compassionate 13-year-old and was old an old soul trapped in a young man's body he enjoyed talking to the older generation for hours on end but also was a great big brother and would ensure meline did what she was supposed to finally Maddie had just completed preschool at Camp's auxilium and was to move up as a student maram Avenue where her brother had been a student meline had been involved in te- ball her personality would light up any room she was in she had such a beautiful Outlook and such a young age and the possibilities were endless for her and for everybody in memory of Andrew AJ and Maddie we we humbly ask that you consider this request and put wheels in motion to make this happen Commissioners once again thank you for the opportunity to speak at this meeting on your way here this evening you may have traversed the roadway in question and might have noticed a billboard that billboard was put up by our family to commemorate AJ who would have turned 14 this coming Friday March 8th in his memory and his memory of his father and sister we want to do this so that other youngsters those who are the cusp of getting their permit to drive just like our a would have been doing will really focus on the rules of the road pay attention to their surroundings and get home safely to their families we don't want anyone taking for granted that everything will be okay and that these things will not happen to them we have all learned the very hard way that indeed these things do happen but they can be avoided by practicing safe driving skills renaming the roadway will hopefully hopefully prevent another tragic accident from unnecessarily occurring all of us were left behind to grieve the loss of our dear loved ones we pray that no one else will go through the pain and suffering that our family and friends continue to endure we hope you will take this request into consideration and improve the remain renaming of this roadway in memory of our beloved family thank you thank you first I want to say I'm so sorry for your loss it's it's just hard to even just sit here and look at the pictures of your beautiful family my heart just as a mother and a grandmother myself just I'm just at a lost of words and I remember reading it in the paper and I'm just so sorry was just on my worst enemy and I don't have many enemies but I don't want this to Happ fully fully percent uh yeah if I may man it's a terrible story and I'm so sorry you had to share it um I've not seen the letter before could I ask if you if you have an extra copy or if not you could if I'd be grateful please so I just could um understand exactly where it is and what we're doing I can let the commission board absolutely again so sorry for your loss thank you for sharing I'd like D that I unfortunately witnessed it why have you P I made I'm not a family member who I saw oh thank you so much thank you I'm so sorry and you have my support thank you thanks I appreciate that thank you um my name is Gary Larson I am from Frankfurt Township um if you may recall I was here in December uh when commissioner Hayden brought up his accusations about the food pantry if you also recall I am a volunteer at the food pantry I am not a representative of the food pantry my role is to Simply pick things up and put things down and and I am not here tonight representing the food pantry I am here as a resident of suss County Commissioner Hayden your comments in December were disturbing to me which I expressed from this Podium and I asked you at that time if you had visited the food pantry you responded that you hadn't I extended an invitation to you correct um I was away for the month of January I am back now I just wanted to see if I've been down there since you okay so you have visited with the volunteers I not spoke to every time I went down there were no volunteers I so there was nobody there when you went there but you went down there okay so you know how the setup is and what's there I forget who here went with me somebody went with me somebody here went with you okay and who was that who was that person were you there with me the one time yeah we Ted it okay thank you all right um I'm not here to talk about all the wonderful things that the food pantry does and how blessed we are are with the one donor as well as all of the county individuals who who donate to the food pantry okay the need is tremendous as we all know but I do have a few questions um you had made a comment in reference to um the people that run the food pantry ignoring the county professionals you just said that a few minutes ago who were those who are those County officials again Mr Larson I just want to be clear as I said before the public common is literally that it's public common it's not designed to be I can't ask a question we can ask a question but the the commission board is not going to answer it because they don't get into they're not because if they get into the the pr of answering you as everybody the the the law is very clear that public comment is literally just that it's a comment I apologize so I'm taking notes of all your questions if I if we need to get well that's exactly what I'll do then at this point because what I would have asked you Mr Hayden that's fine um what I would have asked you Mr Hayden was number one who are the professionals that ignored you number two with all the attacks on you personally that you just mentioned has Law Enforcement been uh contacted and if so who are the individuals in law enforcement that you've contacted um if I remember correctly you said the you were in touch with the AG's office um where is that um and um who did you contact in the AG's office and um my other comment I guess J very simply is your accusations are very troubling okay not only as a volunteer but looking at all of the people that help at the food pantry um and the work that they do I hope you choose your words wisely in the future As you move forward time and I appreciate your time thank you you you do for the food pantry it's much appreciated hi there can I talk over there so I can look at the people like the lady who did the budget yet I'll just stand here I guarantee you I have got the problem ma'am is it won't be picked up by the audio the microphone actually okay and that actually might come off the thing you can probably hold it in your hands but you're actually addressing the commission board not the public anyway there's more of them than you my three minutes start but the comment man hi there everyone my name is Cornelius I am a retired New Jersey state trooper um I worked in the with the state police from 1975 to 1995 during this period of time I worked hundreds of Investigations and the investigation that was done by commissioner Hayden regarding the ma'am I have to I don't want to I have to ask you address the commission board we're the ones that were talking that you're talking that's problem thank you thank you I don't know where I was what what's my time well reset the start again thank you start again um by by off by commissioner Hayden bringing the investigation to to the commissioner's board and to the Skylands tea party meeting was absolutely the wrong thing to do any investigation or any information that he found that would be relevant to any theft corruption anything like that should have been brought to the state police and to the prosecutor's office for it to be evaluated for it to be looked into before any allegations were made against the food Bank against anyone who was there against any any possibility of donations dry enough for those in the food bank who need it so that was absolutely the wrong thing to do I think that he did this because he wanted to play Big Man on Campus and he wanted to take credit for something that may not may or may not be there I'm going to read something that he listed on the um Facebook under immense pressure the governor of Texas stands for America I know what immense pressure is I stood up to them as well for the taxpayers of Sussex now saying things like this he is in no no position to act as if he is in the same space as the governor of Texas so I say that this was wrong from the beginning in him doing this he did a lot of hurtful things for the food bank and it was a disaster for any law enforcement now to make a case for this because one minute okay on another level I'd like to ask commissioner Hayden do you or do you not have a DD214 again it's not a Q&A the commissioner's not here I would like to say back about 2 three years ago I had a great conversation with with Hayden uh we were both at a party it was absolutely a wonderful conversation I respected the man I thought he was a great veteran at this time he told me that he was with SEAL Team Six he did many uh uh uh jobs for SEAL Team Six he was a hero he got injured he had scars to prove it he has lost body parts he said that he solely was responsible for saving his entire Squad and for this he was given the medal of valy the highest medal awarded to any U military person and I bed him tot totally he totally scammed me and he scammed lots of other people to the pleas are you kidding me D we have we have to keep that listen it's and it's also out of respect to everybody here because we can't give one person 10 minutes and another a couple uh everyone is afforded the same amount of time um to keep to keep the meeting moving along but I appreciate your time second you have the ability ma'am you always have the ability travel time for my if you have written comments that you want to submit to the commission board you can certainly you can always do that too well I'll submit one now I'd like to see a DD214 understood yeah thank you um good evening uh I am uh I am here as a name in town please oh shoot yeah I sure can J from Sparta Township uh good evening to you and uh I come here as a taxpayer and as a professional uh I serve as the Chief Operating Officer of Sussex County Community College I come here in my personal capacity uh because there are issues going on at the college and I appreciate commission commissioner degr and shik coming to the meeting last night uh it pains me to speak about this with you today uh and the state of the college that I love so much I want to start off by saying how amazing Sussex County Community College is and what a vital part of our community this little school is uh under his leadership the current president has done many wonderful things for the college he has made improvements to the budget and most importantly he's brought back the education that matters so much to our County and that's the trades the president has contributed so much to the college in the first two years of my career there I admired his work and I admired him very much his compassion and his eagerness to do the right thing really moved me however it is with much regret that I share with you that over the past nine months something has changed our president demonstrates in my opinion the sign of a person who is not well he exhibits symptoms of someone who is paranoid and who thinks the world is out to get him this is evident in the way he treats our staff in the way he pins employee against employee and asking staff to spy on each other he's even gone so far as to ask me to secretly record meetings with many of you on this stand it's not a stand but you understand uh one minute in the meantime uh I did serve as Director of Human Resources for 2 years I resigned from that position because I was asked to do things that were both illegal and une ethical the stories I've heard about retaliatory Behavior testing the Loyalty of people not to the college but up to Dr Connelly were frightening to me this type of behavior has only increased in the last several months faculty staff and students spoke up at the board meeting last night outlining the toxicity where they suffer why do we have over $20 million sitting in reserves at the college this is all public information that I found on the website this county is supporting the college with over $2 million a year here but yet there is a large Reserve there that is not being spent on staff or the college or our students and we are overworked admittedly underpaid we choose that you're you're not paid much for what you do however this is not fair this is an atrocity to the college and if it were anyone else in this position he would be put on administrative leave and so I urge you in supporting us to remove Dr Connelly as president and I do want to thank the board of the college for their support thank you can I get your name again J James y okay thank you good evening Commissioners thank you um I am going to follow do the microphone doesn't that's just for recording that's for are recording yeah but yeah please but just your name in town ma'am please yes ma'am thank you I'm going to follow up um and with the previous speakers speaker I will make my comments brief and in all honesty I would much prefer not to have to be here tonight in my many years at secc under the current president I have seen felt and experienced a sense of intimidation fear instability turmoil hypocrisy toxicity and have also felt physically unsafe on multiple occasions many of my co-workers are aware of this situation and have also experienced and witnessed similar situations and have expressed to me Their Fear to speak up my livelyhood here has also been threatened more than once and I continue to be on edge I am also very uneasy providing this information um sorry uh I am not the first individual to experience or be subjected to this intimidation abuse of power and Corruption I am just is one of many as a reference here are some of the issues in just the recent months the Lee Coffee website lawsuit issue the Fel andar diversity letter Fallout the anonymous letter regarding abuse of power and Corruption the Jason bone letter regarding abuse of power and corruption with proof and receipts and text etc etc the College Community has endured this for long enough the amount of money manh hours energy in time that all of us employees have spent taxpayer money to settle lawsuits to deal with the chaos it we're spending so much money we shouldn't have to spend because of one minute yes thank you um I'm almost done um at this time as I think a couple gentlemen here know the the Board of Trustees met there's no indication to any of us that they are taking any real action into this abuse of power and I again respectfully request that as Commissioners whatever Authority you have it's just it's it's not good it's really not good and I don't want to have to be here and say all this but it's that's it thank you thank you all right good evening my name is Barbara Holstein and I'm a resident of moniku Township first want to say my condolences to the family here I the accident was definitely something that impacted me as someone who's traveled these roads and I do hope that the Commissioners can find a way to rename that mway thank deserve that I'm speaking as a resident and a voter of ssex County how do you go from a hero to a zero you get caught up in a Web of Lies in early December 2023 I was asked by a military veteran friend who knows my love and respect for our military what do I know about Bill Hayden's military service after speaking to my friend I felt I had been gut punched I conducted my own foyet investigation through the p network.org and Don Chipley who maintains a database to prevent and stop Stolen Valor to learn there is in fact no record of military service for Mr Hayden in any branch of our military was extremely disappointing and turned my entire perspective for him and anything that he's ever said to me around stories of serving alongside Brothers in Arms having been in battles on missions that left you wounded and living with PTSD having served with the Navy Seals and other military services units in South America and Africa after falling off your horse I was told how the bright lights in the hospital triggered your PTSD and witnessed your appearance and discomfort and distress just speaking of the trauma that elicited from talking about the lights and my sympathy most disturbing are all the conversations that were about my daughter who is currently serving in the United States military in a job of protecting our US Embassy currently in batswana Africa to have identified yourself as walking in my daughter's boots as she served now for 4 and a half years you were my friend minute to learn that every single detail of your shared experiences are lies absolutely disgusting and shameful and unforgivable whereas many people people have supported Bill Hayden at their vote for him as I did because like myself I believed in Integrity for Law and your integrity for Law and patriotism as a veteran it's laughable that you made a public comment about being concerned for taxpayers money it's interesting how your investigation into the food pantry was publicly launched in early December outside the business of a regularly conducted military or commissioner meeting as your marriage was headed for divorce and miss public we're not going to get into your lies of fraudulent military service and Def and definition of conduct on becoming an elected official therefore I Call On You commissioner Bill Hayden to immediately resign from your position your public position is an elected official should you choose not to resign I will begin to lead an inquiry and later effort to recall you from your seat for conduct on becoming an an elected official that's how you go from being a hero to a zero my name is Ryan Phillips I'm a resident of Frankford Township and I'm here tonight as a a veteran of the United States Air Force who Serv served in Mogadishu Somalia before during and after Michael durti was shot down and I was very disheartened to learn that uh commissioner Hayden who I've spoken with over the past few years uh possibly portrays himself as a marine and a Navy SEAL which is kind of contradicting uh so I would just like to ask uh you know you say that you've been there I myself was there my son served in the military and I would be really really disgusted with someone has an official capacity in this County if you pretend to be there and you never were so I ask you to produce the DD214 and if you can't do that sir you need to resign again just want to be clear Commissioners don't are not here to answer question I respect not asking for a question I'm not asking for an answer I'm asking to produce a d to you all and if you can't do that then you need to resign you shouldn't be here thank you how you doing my name is Jason bow I'm from Stillwater uh you've heard my name multiple times I know uh commissioner shik and commissioner deg were at the college the other day you saw the response of our students uh you heard the impassion pleas of our employees uh I serve I have the pleasure the distinction and the honor until Friday at 5:00 pm. to serve as the veterans liaison and represent an adviser to our veteran students I'm also the adviser to our International students the adviser to our non-traditional students and the advisor to our male athletes as well as uh a trauma counselor uh someone who finds housing for housing and secure students I am the only safe space on campus for Trans and lgbtq plus students I also have worked very hard to reform the college's uh treatment of football players which prior to my arrival had zero uh support there was three buses a day as opposed to the continuous loop of buses we have now going back and forth from Centenary where they're housed they had no meal program I introduced that they had no tutoring program we bring some of these students from around the country some from very bad neighborhoods and because we foolishly fund education publicly in this country based on the municipal tax rate poor people go to poor schools rich people go to Rich schools poor people get a crappier education right you bring in poor people they can't keep up with the curriculum of the college and we were just bringing these people in throwing them on the field and shoving them out it was borderline as a US historian I can tell you which I'll be finishing my PhD at Ruckers in two years with uh that is about two steps away from race based childless slavery right and I stepped in and I and I and I tried to be understanding there's a lot going on there's a lot of politics a lot to juggle right maybe Dr Connelly dropped the ball But as time went on with the clandestine meetings that he forced me to attend off campus with the blackmail attempts and I would like to get on record here tonight I know three of you received an email from me where I laid out all of the things that Dr connley did and I also sent you a receipt I sent you a text message where he very clearly uses the position and power of his office to manipulate my colleague and me to divulge information during an official Union negotiation that is a violation of labor law and the only reason why I do not take legal action against the college or the county is because I support this County and I support our college and I would be petrified and mortified if any of that were to down negatively on our students so I'm not going to take legal action but I am going to implore you to please step in please step in I was a tow truck driver for 22 years I broke my back to become what I am today and Dr Dr Connelly drove me into the dirt while I did it and you can share with everyone else what my students said about me last night and the emotions that came out and the authen authenticity of what I bring to our space and I'm gone now along with other supports Dr Connell is responsible for that thank you thank you you just mind if I may just one sure go ahead so so it I just want to kind of say something to you said earlier we did get your email but sometimes we can't answer things the leg there's legalities of it all of course we weren't ignoring you I need you to know that because I get back to everybody who gets to me that's important to me but you know we have spoke to our Council and since there is things going on besides your issues yes sir we don't always get involved I appreciate the comment very much thank you all right thank you sir John snd Sanderson this been pretty boring comp what's happened so far I got a question what is fleet wash louder please I know you want to do this not really a Q&A but this one's noncontroversial it doesn't matter whether doesn't matter that it's controversial or not if you if you want to I would suggest so we can I would prefer that we maintain some some uh consistency here we going be here for a few minutes I'm sure that much longer but we have yeah answer and I also noticed if the budget I don't understand the wording the resolution approval of the 2024 County budget as presented for vote that make it sound like you approved the budget tonight it was introduced for first reading there has to be a public hearing on the budget that'll Happ thought this wording makes to me makes it sound like it was approved T and I think the director even said that it was being introduced for first reading it's approved for the first reading doesn't say that that's what we did the record's the record's clear okay thank you thank you thank you anyone else no okay okay I'm going to make a motion to close the public comment still move okay deputy director Carney and a second from commissioner Hayden all in favor I I any opposed okay motion carries uh next is reminders please check the County's website at www.sex.nj.us804anddate.com for meeting schedules and adjournment can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting still move deputy director Carney in a second second uh commissioner shik any discussion all in favor I opposed motion carries