[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e e e okay [Music] yeah you know I don't I [Music] do like to call this meeting to order please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag IED Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep stands one nation under God indivisible Li justice for all this meeting is convened in accordance with the provisions of the open public meetings Act of New Jersey let the official minutes reflect that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by publishing a notice in the asber Park Press on Thursday January 4th 2024 the Press of Atlantic City and the Star Ledger and also forwarded to the Tom River Times Tom's River patch and wobm news on Tuesday January 2nd 2024 and thereafter posting same on the town hall bulletin board for such notices and filing same with the Township Clerk pursuant to a resolution adopted by the township Council on Tuesday January 1st 2024 the meeting dates have also been posted on the township web page councilman seosi here councilman lamb here councilman Lan here councilman ion here Council L here Council vice president OU here council president Coleman here item five of the meeting minutes from the regular meeting on May 22nd 2024 move the minutes second a motion was made by councilman lamb and second by councilman quinlisk councilman lamb yes councilman quinlisk yes councilman seosi yes councilman lman yes councilman nion yes Council vice president OU yes council president Coleman yes item six is the honoring resolutions and presentation tonight we have Eagle Scouts Michael Becker from Troop 20 Luke Lauder from Troop 20 and Thomas Miller from Troop 59 I'd like those gentlemen to meet we take a motion to move the honor resolutions and presentations make a motion second all in favor I I thank you okay this time like those gentlemen to please come forward meet us down in the well and all Council please join me and mayor for gentlemen could you please come this way please and B the audience they won't bite I promise um since I'm meeting the first turn time I'd like to find out who I'm talking to so who is Michael me all right Michael and Luke oh you guys in a row very very nice and Thomas folks these gentlemen have been through a lot of trials and tribulations and getting to this honor I think I made it through Cub Scouts I'm not quite sure but that was about it so I know what they've been through it's a very arduous task and obviously they've been successful and we're extremely proud of them and they're definitely going to be a good uh residence for the township of Tom Z in the future so let's give him a nice round of applause to start with um I'd like each of them to sort of give us a brief synopsis of the uh project that they worked on so Mike would you start so for my project I redesigned the Master Gardener Garden at the Agricultural Center and um I cleaned it out I took out all the beds everything I put in new beds put in new mulch soil for the beds and now it's being used to train interns for the Master Gardeners and all the food and produce is being donated to local food pantries okay Luke you're on uh with my project I installed five bat houses within Double Trouble State Park in order to reduce the mosquito population to make it more enjoyable to go outside for uh those who use double trouble State Park luk your turn I worked with uh hacken sack Meridian health to help create uh gift boxes to uh kids who were sick in the hospital for the hospital or for the uh holiday season also councilman would like to have a word I've known this young man since he was a child and uh he's been a friend of the family and a fellow Scout with my youngest son and for those who don't know what it takes to make rank of Eagle it's commitment and perseverance for over a decade and these guys have all done that and uh I just want you to know we're all very proud of you thank [Applause] you okay Mike if you come back up like to give you your Proclamation again congratulations and thanks for a job well done thank you so [Applause] much Thomas like to congratulate you again congratul job well [Applause] done last but not least Luke come on over congratulations you hold up your proclamations beautiful all good okay folks thank you very very much just to be clear folks councilman lman had a procedure today concerning his back and wasn't able to participate down in the well um he certainly does wish the gentleman well wishes and thanks them again for their project so just wanted you to be aware why he wasn't down there okay council president may I have the floor it's yours I'm the municipal clerk of the township of Tom's River and as such have the responsibility for the examination and certification of petitions submitted pursuant to njsa 4069 A-1 185 on May 14th 2024 a petition consisting of over 450 Pages was filed with my office by a committee of petitioners the petition contained the following language petition to protest ordinance that authorizes the lease of the Township's animal shelter to the Ocean County Board of Health we the undersigned registered voters of the township of Toms River Ocean County New Jersey hereby requests a referendum election and submission to popular vote for the animal shelter ordinance designated as it ordinates the township of Toms River County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing the mayor to execute and the Township Clerk to attest to a lease agreement between the township of Toms River and the Ocean County Board of Health authorizing the leasing of certain Municipal property pursuing to njsa 4A 12-1 14b approved on April 24th 2024 under the powers of referendum granted in njsa 4069 A-1 185 the undersign the undersigned voters demand that the animal shelter ordinance in its entirety with any changes whether by Amendment or resolution by the township Council be submitted to the electorate for a vote at a general or special election with a question to be put to the voters of the township of Toms River in the form of a referendum njsa 4069 A-1 185 States if the petition shall be signed by a number of the legal voters of the municipality equal in number to at least 15% of the total votes cast in the municipality at the last election at which members of the general assembly were elected the ordinance shall be suspended from taking effect until proceedings are had as here and provided in the general election of November 2023 20523 voters of the township of Tom voted according to the data obtained from the Ocean County Board of Elections and 15% of 20523 is 379 after my review of the petition I hereby certify that each paper of the petition has a proper statement of the circulators using the new using the New Jersey voter registration system to verify each of the signatures and ensure all who signed are registered voters in Toms River I I further certify that pursuant to njsa 40 col 69 A-1 185 more than 379 registered voters which is equal to 15% of the 20523 voters of the township of Toms River who voted at the last preceding general election have signed the petition in question and that pursuant to the provisions of the statute tomser Township Council must within 20 days take action to repeal this ordinance or it will be submitted to appear on a balance on a ballot as a question for the voters at a future election thank you council [Applause] president moving to item seven item seven is an ordinance of the township Council the township of Tom zerver County of Ocean New Jersey uh amending and supplementing section 47770 schedule 12 stop intersection of chapter 477 vehicles and traffic of the township code to establish stop intersections at the intersections of Minter Road and Grover Road and Min Road and Foster Road to improve traffic safety for the area this is a final reading move seven because this is a final reading there is a hearing on we need you need to open this up to a public comment any wish anybody wish to comment on this come right ahead sir we have to turn the mic there thank you thank you thank you council president um real quick at the last the last meeting when this ordinance was placed out I was like this is a little odd this is more stop signs but you know what I'm not going to question safety safety is very important but there must be a process the township has so I wanted to learn a little bit more about how you put stop signs on streets and and so I went about doing it I went to the police department and uh they provided me with the guidelines to put stop signs on the street which is in accordance with um manual on uniform traffic control devices the placement of new stop signs normally requires approval to the township ordinance following a recommendation from the police department and review by the township engineer and it follows the guidance and has a list of the guidance so then I went and I opra the uh background to this ordinance and what I was what I received was a letter from councilman lamb on April 22nd to uh Council attorney uh Peter Pascarella and business administrator Jonathan solanis and uh it's redacted attorney client privilege so I don't know what that says um but then there's a letter from Mr Pascarella to Justin lamb and Linda o who I'm not sure who that is and basically it does say councilman lamb want stop signs for the intersections both Grover and Foster at their respective intersections with midt let's go let's get these ordinances drafted and over to Mike for first reading on May 22nd and for second reading at the following meeting in June um councilman lamb thanked Peter uh and then we were drafted and they were on for May 22nd the procedures as set forth were not provided in the file and the police department didn't have that they did their police evaluation I think it might be I'm not going to question that these stop signs might be necessary okay though I couldn't find any incidents accidents or any con occurrences in those intersections from the police department files I think we should follow protocol and if protocol wasn't filed I think we should not vote on this ordinance and I think we should back to the police department and the township engineer and follow protocol I spoke to engineering personally we had engineering we spoke to them we had number of residents call about stop signs there's no stop signs there oh there AR no lot of children no none there's nothing there there's none right Welling Sandy there was actually an issue few people moved into the neighborhood with with kids young kids riding their bikes around there it's a dangerous road are you familiar with the area or no I I went down there I looked you go there frequently though you you ride your bike that way you ride your bike there no I don't live down there no but I I number of residents called me for about two years about this so it's two years coming and but it's interesting though 10 days after you send an email it gets done without the police department's recommendation or Township engineering and writing spoker pursuant the state statute we could pass the ordinance and then prior to the implementation of the stops signes we could do the analysis from the engineering department or the police department well maybe there should be an amendment to that that that happens I'm just saying we should follow protocol as protocol is set forth thank you very much for your time [Applause] anyone else okay can I have a motion to approve I'll move that we take a motion to close public comment please I'll make that motion oh I'm sorry I got to close public comment first I apologize I'll second the motion to close public comment there was a motion made by Council M Lam and it was seconded by councilman Lan uh all in favor I I and I'll take a motion to move the ordinance motion seven pleas a motion was made by councilman lamb and seconded by councilman lman councilman lamb just want to let the resident snow uh in the area of Minter Grover and Foster roads that we've been working really hard for a while to get this and thankfully we got these stop signs um coming shortly so I vote Yes councilman lman yes councilman seosi yes councilman ion yes councilman quinlisk uh I pointed out to uh officer lamb on several occasions at the police dep does have a proced sorry councilman lamb that the police police department does have a procedure for uh uh deciding whether or not we put stop signs up somewhere and it's a simple as making a phone call I'm sorry as an email to the uh to the police department through the business administrator and they do a study a quick study they'll look up quick data to tell you whether or not there's been any incidences at that par those particular intersections um so until the police do their due diligence I don't know that we can break the rules and uh you know decide which rules we want to break when we want to break them uh so we're going to I'm going to say no until the police department and the engineer do their due diligence thank you Council vice president UL yes council president Coleman yes item eight is a bond ordinance providing for the acquisition of real property for municipal purposes appropriating 2 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of 1, 94764 bonds and notes to finance a portion of the costs thereof authorized in and by the township of Tom's River in the county of ocean New Jersey moving i' make a motion to table this ordinance I'll second it a motion to table the ordinance was made by councilman quinlisk and seconded by councilman zosi councilman quinlisk uh the reason why I offered I I suggest we table this ordinance is because there's been no due diligence done on the property I asked for an environmental study and I asked for the proposed contract uh agreement between us and the and the current land owner the environmental study I got was 20 years old severely outdated never submitted to the D uh never submitted to the state uh the uh some of the issues that came up on that particular study um are dated um um um regulations uh I'm sorry the requirements uh the the account per million on certain things is uh the standards have changed so that needs to be updated before we can Bond before we can bond for this project or even purchase this pro project we should really do a full study on the on the the the gain that the township is going to get uh we're going to spend $2 million just to buy a piece of property that may have some other issues on there and then we're going to spend even more to put a bulkhead up on this property um and I don't know that we're going to get a substantial gain considering uh you know we also need additional parking if you're going to have more uh more Park and Recreation going on there we also don't have a written plan of what the mayor's agenda is with this like what is his plan for this particular piece of property all that being said I say absolutely no to the ordinance so yes to table yes to table councilman sosy uh I want to pick up on councilman quins uh uh this money was in the in the budget and and it says pier and and so it it's the same thing but uh a previous councilman always voted no on this property any kind of development any kind of research on it and um right that's what we're voting on that's what we're voting on tonight yeah no all right counc Co okay but I I I don't know the plans or what's involved into that thank you and um so until I know more I'm voting to table this thank you councilman lamb just want to remind you councilman choia you yourself and councilman quinlisk were supporting development there was a grand plan for a wedding venue in this location and grand plan for large buildings we do not support those plans we're actually proposing open space and we're proposing access to the Bay it's the river it's Tom we are Tom's River aren't we we're Tom's River and we want to be able to access the river so for those reasons I vote no councilman lman I'm going to say no I'm going to say no only because I know that you have to acquire the property first uh the township has acquired I think an average of 8 to $10 million worth of land in the past and each year and the reason for that is to get the open land before somebody can put a 10-story building out there and watch the pretty sunsets so that's my reason for saying no we should buy the land now you don't have a plan until you own the property what's the sense of getting an engineer to do all of the layout and all of the proposals until you actually own the property you could spend 50 $60,000 on development ideas Scopes but if you don't own the property and that something happens in between and it gets sold then your 50,000 is out and so is the property so yes I think but we do not table that and we move on with it and buy the property councilman ion when I was presented with the purchase of the tons over Boat Works I was definitely on board with the possibility of restoration repurposing a historic building you know we've lost too many historic buildings downtown but upon closer inspection I realized it was a tear down heavily mold contaminated as Dan had warned me since Sandy it's been closed up I was there last week put my nose to one crack almost lost my breath that coupled with the need for new and higher bulkheading to bring the elevation up because it's in a severe flooding area add in engineering C for a host of other considerations we haven't even thought of and out of fiscal responsibility I'm going to vote Yes to table it until an environmental study has done it was a a marine repair shop there's got to be some contamination there so maybe we can just not put the cart before the horse I'm all for purchasing the property but I don't want to waste a, 850,000 to buy something that's going to take 2 million to remediate the ground pollution and then another 2 million in bulkheading to get the elevation up so let's let's get our ducks in order Ju Just so that you're all aware the sale of the property is contingent upon uh a clean U environmental study all right well let's get let's get the clean study done but usually can't we tie it up in a guys I'm sorry there's a motion on the floor I need we need to take the vote to I vote Yes to table temporarily Council vice president OU no council president Coleman no all right the motion to move the ordinance there was a first by councilman lamb before the motion is table is there a second second I council president may I jump in here before we have our votes there just for a second I just the floor is yours mayor thank you there there has been an environmental study on the property the the property was uh you know light manufacturing building Wooden Boats back in the day uh the study came back uh on in both parts as clean uh the purpose of purchasing it ahead of time you you have to own it before you invest the kind of money in these studies obviously if there's anything that would need to be cleaned up we would clean it up um councilman quinlisk and councilman Sosi both did support uh development private development at the site uh as councilman lamb said we we don't have a lot of river access we are Tom's River we are Toms River and the only access to the river we have is the limited portion in huie park and money Island as far as public access is concerned so this would would preserve that as open space as part of the park in perpetuity for generations going forward it's a very cheap price uh considering it's a half an acre all on the water with reparan rights it's a great deal it's much less money than what it was under contract for before this was under contract with the capid dagly Development Group uh before but they pulled out uh because I can only speculate and I won't speculate why they pulled out of the deal but it's a great opportunity for us to step in when we ran our election together we all put out a mail talking about making it into a park and into a peer um it's a great opportunity if somebody else Scoops it up uh we won't have that opportunity to evaporate uh so I just ask the council uh and I give my word that I will make sure that Environmental Studies are done updated Environmental Studies as as they would have to be done they would have to be done and we mayor just one second if you're going to call out I'm going to have to have you removed from the room so please let's have respect they as as our attorney said they're part of the purchase agreement we would have to have it done so if it is not clean once we enter into contract uh we we can pull out Endor determine whether we want to uh clean it up uh so as far as putting the C for the horse as councilman ion said um this is the way you do it you you you enter into contract and then you make the determination at that point but you can't make that determination before you have a contract and we can't have a contract without a vote of the council uh that's all I have so Mr NIS said I would just respectfully ask for your support please on this I know we've discussed it uh we will have an opportunity to pull out should something not be clean uh and uh you have my word in public here that we would pull out if if the costs exceeded uh what we could handle Mr that's all I have council president Mr Coleman go aheim um council president I'm sorry there's a motion on the floor for there's a first and a second that was for the uh tabling I have a first and a second okay so we did have a motion okay yes I need to take a roll call vote on this all right go ahead motion was by Council l second by councilman lman councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman Sosi I just voted no to table it okay I'm not against the idea O Okay it I was never brought into this it was never discussed to me anything so how in the hell can I vote on something that I I don't know what's going to happen to the property in the future what kind of development it's going to be open space are there going to be jet skis there uh rental anything I know nothing so how can I vote on it so I'm just going to abstain councilman ion I will vote Yes because I want to see it preserved thank you councilman thank you qu all right um the mayor who just gave you his word that he's going to do something uh also gave you his word he's not closing the animal shelter had that work out now it is fair um secondly if we can't afford to keep the animal shelter open how can we afford to buy a piece of property for two Mill for $2 million and then without having uh our our Planning Engineer or anybody else review a plan uh that could easily cost us another $3 or $4 million to do aside from any contamination to to bring the the uh the the grounds up to usable area in other words the bulk heading has to be replaced the docks have to be replaced and the bridge to south I mean what's it called a pier to South Tom River has to be put in I don't know how that's going to work so you can't spend this money on a on a pipe dream do some homework come up with come up with a plan can we have your vote I think we understand talk to your planner and talk to the people and I suggest that what we do is have a summit on this with Mark mutter because I'm sure he'd have some input on this thing so I propose that we make a summit about this rather than voting hly so what is your vote what is your vote Jim what is your vote what do you think it is no okay coun vice president ool yes council president Coleman yes item nine is an ordinance of the township Council the township of Tom zver Ocean County New Jersey authorizing the acquisition by purchase of block 668 lot one one Robins Parkway as shown on the official tax map of the township of Toms River Ocean County New Jersey for the purchase price of $1,850,000 this is this is a first reading move nine second a motions made by Council lamb and seconded by Council Vice uh council president Coleman councilman lamb vote Yes council president Coleman yes councilman Sosi abstained councilman lman yes councilman ion I thought we just voted on this piece for the bond itself it has to okay yes then councilman Quin uh uh don't get me wrong folks I'm all in favor of uh open space definitely in favor of open space this is a rable property we should let private Enterprise do this thing uh if you're going to build any structure on there it's got to be raised at least five or six feet above grade um there's a lot more going on than just uh buying this property it's going to cost us a lot more and if we're about saving money this is not the place to do it all right I vote no Council vice president no tool yes item 10 is a resolution of the governing body Township Council of the township of Tom River Ocean County New Jersey for certification of the annual audit for the year 2023 Mo second a motions made by Council vice president otou and seconded by councilman lamb Council vice president otoul yes councilman lamb yes councilman seosi yes councilman lman yes councilman nion yes councilman quinlisk yes council president Coleman yes moving to the consent agenda all matters listed under the item consent agenda will be enacted by one Motion in the form listed below there will be no separate discussion of these items if discussion is desired on any item that item will be considered separately we have a motion to approve the consent agenda motion 11 second U yes I also need to uh open this up if there's any item in the consent agenda that the public would like to have voted on separately voted on separately please make that known which number you would like to have voted on separately yes sir oh come on did you did you happen to take the time and read the uh resolutions remove the consent agendas for approval in one blanket so that each and any one of the council m can have a discussion that's the reason I'm do ited it's not an appropriate it's not com it's not an appropriate way to do it sir you have to specifically what what resolutions would you like taking off other than just naming if anybody up there would like to discuss since I can't put this to your attention before a little bit later I'll give you the code of your municipal code that you said the public no longer has the right to speak and I for you I I can't speak this has gone on people have been allowed public to speak gives you the ability to remove it gives you the ability to remove items from the consent agenda for a separate vote not for a discussion it's Crystal Clear then why do I get to remove an item because you may want to have a coun you may you may want the council to vote on it separately naming all the items is not an appropriate way to do it no it's not so if you have any if you have any particular items you'd like remove uh let us know yes please all of them if anybody chooses to discuss it thank you yes sir you can't speak to the resolution oh I want to know do you have a resolution that you would like to H for a separate vote vote that's the easy question what this Council approved on January 1st 2024 as part of their rules for me yeah you could address that during public comment sir but it applies to this you could address it during public comment right now we want to know about particular items from the consent agenda that you would like remove excuse me you're not recognized sir you're not recognized sir one minute to explain minut you can address you can address it during public com doesn't doesn't right now the question is what resolutions would you like the council to consider for a separate vote January Phil please Phil please what resolution would you like to have voted on separately and by the way if you have other questions Stu like that you're more than welcome to contact Administration or the offices come in for a meeting whatever that you would like to have a discussion question but right now we're asking a simple question what resolution would you like the council to vote on separately that's the question right now is you're violating resolution January that you made yourself that's the problem okay thank you I will ask one more time are there yes sir DN DN F okay any other ones that You' like to have voted on by the council separately yes ma'am did you say F oh s and Sam okay could you slow down just one second please okay you said s what was after that okay can't hear what was that CC BB okay CC d d and e e correct okay all right we have a motion to approve the remainder of the consent agenda we get to pull off anything sorry to pull off anything I'm sorry have to I'm sorry you're right Jim right do you have some resolutions you like to vote on separately Jim yes we're supposed to you supposed to offer that up to us right right make sure I'm in order no you're in order I apologize that's all right s right I'd like to pull off uh k d d and FF okay DD was already pulled off DD which may or may not have been pulled off I couldn't hear her and F DD was pulled off okay and which one okay Council any other ones I'd like to pull off bb bb was already pulled off Oh I thought it was DD no bb bb and BB both both sorry anyone else sorry go okay then may I have a motion to approve the rest of the consent agenda do we have a second second all right a motion to approve the remainder of the consent agenda exclud and not including e f k s v BB CC d d e e and FF I missing any can you run that one more time Mike e f k SV BB CC d d e e and FF the motion was made by Council vice president otou and seconded by councilman quinlisk Council vice president OU yes councilman quinlisk yes councilman seosi yes councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman nison yes council president Coleman yes okay then we will start with resolution e discussion was your right them again there is no discussion Peter yeah no discuss can I sign that twice okay then we need a vote on the I I'm sorry to approve resolution e motion was by Council lamman seconded by councilman lman councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman Sosi yes councilman ion yes councilman quinis yes Council vice president OU yes council president Coleman yes moving on to resolution F motion F wait wait any discussion before we motion okay go go ah Mr L motion F please second a motion is made by Council lamb and second by Council lman Council lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman Sosi yes councilman ibison yes councilman quinlisk yes Council vice president otou yes council president Coleman yes I believe if I have my notes worked correctly the next one is resolution K okay any discussion by the council yeah uh the question I had for that one is exactly how much do we plan on saving by switching to this a newer vendor didn't you go to the agenda meeting were you there or no I don't think they give a dollar amount sir thank you okay they were switching to regular gasoline from a County cooperative um so it'll be the difference between that and uh this was the uh road department and sanitation that that asked for this uh we haven't been getting our gas deliveries on time so it's not only a question of saving by going to regular uh it's also a question of having gas for our trucks I just so as far as the dollar amount as you may know when you go to the pump uh you you you know that varies month to month but traditionally it's it's about what is it 5% or so less than medium grade you didn't negotiate an amount you just said we're going to change to you no we don't we don't negotiate it's a Cooperative so we pay whatever the price is how much are we interest so anyway you were at the agenda meeting you didn't ask any of those questions at that time I've given you my answer Jim and we gave you our answer then I have nothing further thank you council president motion you don't have an amount is what you're saying I'm asking we don't have an amount at this time Jim okay calling for a vote I have a first from councilman lamb motion k please is there a second second motion made by Council lamb and second by councilman lman councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman Sosi yes councilman ion yes councilman quinlisk I'm going to abstain I mean I I'd really like to understand how much we plan on saving or why the the switch I mean it sounds like we're going to save money but counc vice president o tool yes yes council president Coleman I also understand I was at the meeting that the uh current fuel is not going to be available to us so we needed to make this switch also so I vote Yes Okay resolution s any discussion move s please do we have a second second a motion was made by councilman lamman second by councilman lman councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman Sosi council president weren't we going to have discussion I asked for discussion I say anything oh no okay I wanted to know what his qualifications are and have we always had a Township Insurance Fund representative yes can I actually I can wasn't he running the shelter and then he was running the senior center and now he's qualified to oversee our insurance council president there is a Theo hold it hold it council president may I jump in and answer the question council president ion council president um there has always been a person that goes to these meetings for the GIF and for the hif to represent the township and to hear what the representatives of the uh Group Insurance uh Cooperative uh and to vote on behalf of the township you have to have a representative there uh the prior Administration used to pay a stipend of $27,000 for that um we pay five um it takes up a good amount of your time you go you listen to the meetings you come back you report to the administration and then we discuss how we're going to vote on things uh that that that's always been the process uh it's a stien uh with a very large range however we are at the total bottom of that range Mr shabo has offered to go over there uh and sit in on the meetings and it's not exactly easy to find somebody who wants to attend Insurance meetings Okay that was my my next question was how much are we going to be paying him and that seems reasonable okay thank thank you council president council president may I ask one more question and and how many meetings a year is it monthly uh bonly or uh council president May it's it's it's every month there's a meeting every month for the JF okay thank you for the hiff not not as often but the GIF is every month okay thank you Council M it is your vote Yes councilman ibison yes councilman quinlisk sure yes yes I'm sorry sorry counc president OU yes council president Coleman yes resolution V any discussion public move V please second a motion was made by councilman lamb and second by councilman Coleman councilman lamb yes councilman Coleman yes sorry council president Coleman councilman Sosi yes councilman lman yes councilman Iverson yes Council quinis yes Council vice president UL yes resolution BB any discussion motion be B please second I'm sorry who made a second me a motion by Council lamb and second by councilman lman councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman Sosi yes councilman ion yes councilman quinlisk yes Council vice president OU yes council president Coleman yes resolution CC discussion motion CC please CC second a motion was made by councilman lamb and seconded by councilman lman councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman seosi yes councilman ion yes councilman quinis yes Council vice president oul yes council president Coleman yes resolution DD uh that was uh pulled by me um just a synopsis uh it sounds like uh it sounds like it's going to be a good plan what I don't remember if it was stated in the meeting or not was exactly what we plan on saving by switching over to uh uh this firm what I what I heard was we're hoping around $2 million $2 million in savings yes and that would go in the I'm sorry council president if you if you want me I'll I'll jump in but if not it's okay if I answer Jim's question I think we like to move on yeah motion DT please second a motion made by councilman lamb and second by councilman quinas councilman lamb yes councilman quinlisk yes councilman Sosi I don't believe it but I'll vote Yes councilman lman yes yes councilman ion yes Council vice president otou yes council president Coleman yes and I'd like to just note that uh the mayor has met with the Union reps and discussed the new new plan and from what I understand it was well received so I vote yes that was resolution DD correct yeah Okay resolution e any Discussion movie please second a motion is made by councilman lamb and second by councilman lman councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman Sosi yes councilman ion yes councilman quinlisk yes Council vice president otou yes council president Coleman yes um item FF discussion I pulled that one off um I tried to find some information on that and all I saw is a report that uh you know how much people that you asked or that were invited to do this report liked one program or the other they they graded it which was a pretty interesting idea and they had a score difference of less than 2% uh in favor of one party over the other but what I didn't see in all that was how much are we planning on saving by switching from one bilding company to the other or how much are we going to be able to generate in in I don't want to say Revenue but how much money we going to be able to recoup from using this service over the other okay council president you have the floor mayor okay so uh we we we put this out the scoring is part of the bid process so the percentages and all are there when the company's bid they see what they're going to be scored on uh we had folks from EMS police finance and administration score it and we basically I you know I'm surprised you said you well maybe this is a first in Tom server but we followed the law as far as scoring these carriers and as far as savings is concerned uh the percentages are basically on par but this particular company has a very strong history of uh increasing revenues by uh being more successful at billing insurance so believe it or not often times uh you get picked up by an ambulance and you know the billing company doesn't always successfully find the insurer uh this company has great success at that they do approximately 10% of all in New Jersey municipalities I believe Manchester made the switch a few years back and brought it an extra million bucks so uh the percentag is like I said are on par so there's really no visible savings but there's the potential for a lot more Revenue because of how strong their ability is to find the insurer again when you get taken off in an ambulance a lot of times no one's getting your identification um so that that whole process is what they're good at um and so this why the committee decided to go with um this company okay that that being said and I know the committee did do uh did some uh diligence on this um I I found in a brief study that a brief search that this company's costing us like $110,000 more per year and you're going to guarantee that we're going to actually recoup far more than that by spending more to get this company and they also found that the company has changed names several times over the past 20 years or so which usually you change name because you got in trouble somewhere and you have to start out to something else I'm not saying that's the case I think we should do I would like you to at some point in time you could present to me your findings of the study that you you uh conducted but as far as I know the percentages are on par and the change here would be that these folks are more successful and I've spoken to other Mayors and they do they they brick brick is using a Manchester is using them I believe Lacy and uh bville and and basically wherever they've switched the township has gotten more money uh we're using uh someone who also I guess did did did a good enough job it's just uh we we don't receive payment for a lot of the folks who get a lift who get and presumably the percentage of insured versus uninsured is significantly higher than what our returns are so it's worth a try because as I said in Manchester you know they picked up an extra million bucks so you pick up 2 million with insurance you pick up a million doing something like this and perhaps we could avoid another tax increase and and and give nice contracts to our employees next year uh because we're in negotiations now so each of these things will help us to keep taxes flat for residents while being able to help employees combat the effect impacts of inflation so it's all you know get little here a little there Jim we're going to give it our best uh I'd like your support on this but I have nothing for for you on it I've been uh you know involved in fire service where we uh we also build for something services like this um we switched a number of years ago to the uh the current provider and we already made that jump in Revenue we made a substant substantial uh increase in the amount of money we've managed to collect so when you're referring to these other towns making the switch how long ago they make the switch are we already ahead of that are we actually going to receive more money from this company than we were from the one we already switched to a couple years ago so I think it's it's like uh I you know I would have loved to do a little bit more research on this one but this is the one that got put on at 5:00 this afternoon I believe right no sir you were in the agenda meeting and it was on in the agenda meeting yeah it came off and then it went back on council president move FF please okay did he come off and go back on am I right about that we did discuss it but it came off you had an opportunity for questions I gave you my explanation a second time I I I'm not going to answer anything further on that you could always come and see me here every day did come off and went back on I'm calling for a vote first was made by councilman Lam there a second second motion was made by councilman lamb second by councilman Lin councilman lamb yes councilman lman yes councilman Sosi I'm G to abstain from this one also councilman Iverson yes councilman quinlisk abstain Council vice president OU yes council president Coleman yes moving to the reports make a motion to move the report second motion by councilman I second by counc President Coleman councilman ion yes council president Coleman yes councilman Sosi uh I I just want to make a a a comment about the building permits uh uh several months ago I I mentioned uh wow the permits are going up and up and up and all of a sudden now they're down down down and I mean you could take it you can make an argument it's good or it's bad so it's it's it's very strange that it's almost $100,000 down for for May so I vote Yes to move reports well Dave that could be also probably because of interest rates also most people when they if you're building a new home I understand all the reasons I just want to give you my take CU I figured you invited response you know also when you're if you're Building Homes you realize that most of the time people pull permits in the spring they pull perms in the winter and then all of a sudden that's where you break ground this time of year it's the best time to start so um but obviously we're working well down there the building department is doing a great job so I vote Yes Council lman yes councilman quines yes Council vice president no I do vote Yes and I will throw something else in a caveat we are facing inflation right now and a lot of building has stopped it's not going on so there's a problem right there moving to the approval of the bills motion to approve bills a second a motion was made by council president Coleman uh second by councilman ion council president Coleman yes councilman ion yes councilman Sosi yes counc lamb see to abstain from Bill number 24- 03321 also Bill 24-0 3326 and Bill 24- 03371 and uh yes to the balance councilman lman yes councilman quinas I have to abstain for all bills payable Tech elevator and to reming Vernick engineering yes to the balance Council vice president no tool yes elected officials comments okay as I always do start from my right councilman lamb thank you chair just want to let the public know that we I met with the ocean oh sorry the ortley beach voters and taxpayers Association last week I was joined by the mayor and the barow attorney where we heard from the Army Corps of Engineers there again gearing up for our beach replenishment and um they gave a great presentation and um it was actually a great meeting um we have another one coming up in July and I know we're joined by the kuchi are on the audience um they're doing a great job on the Beach everybody check out their pollary Gardens it's coming out really well nice up there also want to thank the public works for their Swift response after the storm we had this weekend there was Fallen trees and there's trees in the roadway and um they were all over it we had some streets outside of my ward that I reached out to some residents and got that uh taking care for them and also on the beach we had on Fourth Avenue today we had some issues with the entrance and on Eighth Avenue with the Mobi mats but we got that taken care of so uh thank you to the public works and to um our new uh director of recreation uh Rick Rick pin who's helping us out with a lot just want to wish everybody a a happy and safe and healthy July 4th holiday nice that's all councilman quinl um couple things first I want to say uh you know this is the first time since January that we did have a bit of an agenda meeting ahead of schedule although it was on Monday so it didn't give a lot of people time to uh to do much research on things including the public it was very fruitful and you can see how much calmer the the the meeting goes when everybody has some information ahead of time um and then uh second of all I want to ask uh Miss UL Mr lman Mr Coleman and even Mr nion uh did you guys also know that the attorney we appointed uh last week for our last meeting for um uh the uh the U cagi site uh was also the same attorney that Mr um rodri is using for his personal uh uh employment problems up in Middletown you guys aware that that was potentially a conflict when you decided that we should hire him as a Township attorney I I didn't think I decided to hire him I thought I was the one who brought it up not to hire him I'm sorry you're right because of all the conflicts because of the other conflicts he also are you aware litigant in natural resources damages themselves so they're representing us for polluting and they're destroying natural resource land so you're right my apologies big conflict there were you aware of it I was aware of it did did you say made him yes no I was not were you aware of it when you that he's being used for Mr rodri's personal business no my understanding was that he had written a letter and I didn't uh consider that to be something that was a conflict that's what I understood at the time other than that everybody have a great weekend councilman Lin no I I have nothing to okay councilman nerson just want to thank everybody here who's representing the shelter thank you for coming out we're still working on that the county doesn't want it everybody in Tom's River wants it not one person doesn't want it one one person oh yeah one person doesn't want it can't figure it out Dan cuz you told me you looked me straight in the eye and you said said we're not going to close it Council [Applause] mjosi first I want to mention someone's name um I'm sure a lot of you uh don't know him but um I'm pretty sure most of you might know him John camera uh he was uh a very good friend of mine we go back about 40 plus years he passed away uh a little while ago and um we started out together in Seaside Heights and he was a true public servant um he was such a good man he was a son he was a husband and the most important thing he was a father but uh he was a true leader and uh he he he did everything so so um needless to say my my heart is broken and um and I love John very much he was a good guy so but we get back to business thank you he was a good man a good man um so about the Boat Works um I'm 100% uh about buying that property with the town but I'm not in the loop anymore my opinion doesn't matter I don't know what's going on so that's why I abstained from it but you were invited to the meeting I told you I couldn't make it so listen listen listen listen to me listen to me we offered four days listen the past councilman and the current mayor voted against that property uh several times from private okay listen it's my turn please thank you so to go back several years um I was just a regular Citizen and when the the wick property by the Mattis Bridge was in um foreclosure whatever and it was up for sale I I tried to get uh the town to buy that beautiful property up there with the marina by the bridge and everything like that and that was a couple um uh administrations ago and they didn't want to do it but um uh this property has to be done right for the town so that's why I abstained uh another thing that's going around in town um has has anyone been getting uh letters unsolicited about buying your houses and things like that okay and um and we all know where they come from and and stuff like like that and and pretty much everyone knows that uh I own property down on Main Street for uh over 30 years say more than 30 years and now my tenants are have telling me since January um people are coming to their businesses and saying hey you want to sell your building you want to sell uh the property and stuff so they give them my number and I tell them no um and then uh another rumor is uh uh open space that we bought uh in the past on Whitesville Road like 17 Acres now I I don't know if it's true or not but it's it's in the talk that the town doesn't want to get involved with it and they want to uh get out of the contract or or get rid of it so I don't know the details but um that really stinks so um and to the animal shelter we have a guy here I don't I can't see him right now there he is that we could break even with the animal shelter and eventually make a profit and do the right thing so the mayor should give the people the volunteers and the workers and myself a chance a year or two to to get it going okay it it it it can't hurt and and I know with the the the fees for the licensing it it if we enforce that a little bit better maybe lower the fees down a little bit so people would pay it that would pay for everything there so give it a chance thank you councilman at no I better not because it wouldn't be the right time to do this I have nothing to say thank you one last councilman nison has asked for one more turn Dan I just want to ask you yes and I said this to you the first time the shelter thing came up yes I said this could be the biggest win for you or the biggest loss let's turn it around man come on this seriously well you looked me straight in the eye you said Tom we're going to do the right thing you said you said Tom we're going to get a big sign up we're going to get big sign so people could see it from both ways we're going to make it the best shelter let's just let's just get back to that things would go so much smoother well the everybody the town would be back on his side wouldn't you come on come on it might take a little bit like you know big fight with your wife it takes a while Tommy well since I'm standing up because I I can't see him I want to talk to eye to eye council president can't see who I'm talking to May I jump in is this or is it your time for it wasn't my time comment I me sorry l l so a as we've said numerous times the shelter is going to open under County management they are going to invest in installing all these uh dog runs currently animals were not getting the proper exerc excise the council they were they were getting exercise my wife was going every day just to exercise president I councilman nerson I know I know council president council president councilman Nas I I did hear you and I I I I appreciate your comments and I appreciate it if you would hear mine as everyone has heard it's been written about extensively the county is willing to take over the shelter they're going to install dog runs because for a very long period of time animals weren't getting the proper exercise councilman Nas and you yourself when you were there with me noted that the ventilation wasn't good and that they were behind glass doors I definitely did not agree with that you right and and and and you agree we both agreed that at the time it was not being run well uh the county is going to upgrade with all I agreed that it wasn't being run well I agreed that the ventilation I don't want to go back councilman I I I allowed you to speak to me and if you want my response just bannering back and forth so I think I think let's you know what it's it's it's been extensively written about what the problems at the shelter are and how they're going to be rectified I don't need to add any more as I said the Asbury Park Press uh the patch even the times of were times letters that went to the community and it's been extensively written about everybody knows the position the shelter will reopen under much better management and with much better conditions for the animals and and you'll all have an opportunity to vote on that at some point so for six months you were the management of it and didn't you couldn't turn it around you didn't even give it a Chance's I didn't recognize you Tim come on there's also a concert going on here uh I thought I had the floor Jim no I just I asked him to make sure you had I did but but they anyway I um if if it's my turn I'll I'll finish my public comment but I don't even know if it's really necessary I would like to just thank the council for supporting the acquisition of the Boat Works downtown it'll preserve that for a generations and generations to come I'd like to thank them for supporting changing health insurance providers we're sticking with Etna but we're going direct to Etna and we're going to save $2 million it's the first time in history that this town has gone with a different broker and attempted to save money and we saved a lot of money um as far as uh preservation I I think it's a great idea uh we don't have enough river access for our residents and this will provide that long in the future and it will preserve that Waterfront from from future development uh as councilman lamb said there were a number of folks on Council who supported private development at the site uh I think it's better to double ass size of huie park I think it's much better for our residents and I think it'll be a great attraction downtown so again thank you to each of you uh for the folks who are at home tonight uh there's a concert going on down at Shelter Cove I just saw some pictures it's really well attended uh if you want to get out there it's going on until what time 9:00 9:00 tonight they have a Springsteen cover band we all love Springsteen in New Jersey right so uh too bad we couldn't get the boss himself but uh maybe in in the future maybe in the we'd have to save a lot more money first thank you everyone I appreciate your uh and thank you uh council president for the time on the floor um I didn't get a chance to speak and I'm going to be very brief um I'm excited about the fact that we can be buying the property that I've been looking at since I moved to Toms River 27 years ago and said gez I wish we could do something with that property I want Tom's to get on the map and to draw people down here during the daytime to spend money and go home and we don't have to pay for extra extra resources like busing and garbage and utilities and things like that so I'm excited about buying that property and I'm going to ask the mayor in the future when we start sitting down and talking about plans for that property to also engage people from the community with suggestions on what we should do there I think it' be a great thing okay open SP and it's not going to be open space okay at this time uh do I need to close the comments okay um we're going to move into public comments before we do I just want to be clear on one thing I was criticized for the last meeting for giving some people some additional time and other people not getting additional time this time I'm going to avoid the criticism when the buzzer Rings your turn is over we move on to the next person and I want to respect that again I was criticized for it I heard you I'm listening so we will hold you to the buzzer and you will be finished and give the microphone to the next speaker okay fair as Fair all right uh opening the public for comment yes sir come right up and get in line please like I asked last time thank you Dennis gante 1149 Cherokee Court Tom River um for the animal shelter um I understand the $1 million uh that was donated maybe going back to the estate um and I also like to know I never heard anything more about the $1.2 million there was a in the budget a trust fund what happened to that where did that go well again I suggested before that if you have questions like that why don't you give a call downtown and come down and meet ask them here and find the answers no no I don't go there I come here I asked the question why to go on stage no I'm notest I want the public to understand no matter what any what you do you are stifling transparency you you you allow three minutes okay okay please press please press on with your comment question now the other thing that you did that really bothered me I didn't attend the next meeting the last meeting you told Carlos Alvarez to sit down was he out of order why did you tell him to sit down because he was standing up isn't that body language I can stand in honor of someone I can clap I can boo I can Sor that that's my freedom of speech why did you tell him to sit down what was he doing it wasn't his turn to speak and he was standing up and he was just standing up no he wasn't he was screaming at us you weren't at the meeting so how would you know I listened to the videos come on stop listen I'll accept your criticism I'll apologize and let's move on thank you apologize to him not to me let's move on your time is being run okay council meeting videos I don't see him back up what's going on with that you all voted I believe to have the videos put back up now you are the council the mayor doesn't have to abide by your request I did read your code and there is a lot of procedure involved but there seems to be no action that you can take to force so what is your purpose you're supposed to making comments I think that's the question right you can take it any way you want okay okay and then I have for Mr Pascarella I have both your agenda your code on consented agenda I have that for you to read and I also have the Supreme Court where the um uh the one was overturned by the uh jurisdictional law judge and then the Supreme Court changed it but you told me I was wrong you shook your head at me when I had here right in front of me and I promised to give it to you and so I have it for you and I will give it to the clerk sure all right my time is up hasn't gone off like nothing else to say then there it goes just in time right got without being allowed discriminate again not getting minutes like given last time you can hold that mic in your hand if you wish ma'am there you go hello I was here in December my name is Claire Ling ruts I'm a resident of Toms River of course I was chair of the environmental commission which is currently not meeting um if you look on the website there's no uh there are no dates for any meetings for that uh have been scheduled for 2024 back in December at the end of the year it was your last meeting I brought to the attention of the council and the mayor-elect at the time that four of the seven active members were uh their terms were expiring and so anyhow that happened and My Hope in showing up last December to speak was uh to bring it to your attention and so this problem could be easily remedied uh the environmental commission was established by ordinance in 2004 it had been established prior to that but just for there's not a lack of interest because the seven active members were uh attending regularly we were uh initiating communication with uh the planning board uh we also would initiate information with the njdep and in addition to that we were uh significant in the butterfly and pollinator Garden uh if you didn't have a functioning environmental commission we would not be able to we would not have been able to apply for the funds at that time so right now bringing forward it's easily remedied there are interested people I have uh six copies of uh the roster as of uh December 31st 20 uh yeah 2023 and it just shows whose term inspired who is uh currently you know there are three members who are current that you could still you know call upon ma'am but the or and then I have a copy of the ordinance also excuse me the ordinance requires that you have a seven- member body and they need to meet regularly and uh it the ordinance will show you that President could I uh just when we spoke in December and uh Mr kuchi and Miss kuchi are also on the board I had indicated to you that that folks on boards uh could would continue to serve unless they were someone were appointed to replace their seat I don't recall you saying that at the time perhaps you said it in a private conversation but never officially and in an email to the board and had encouraged them to continue the meet as all of our boards planning zoning Municipal Utilities Authority if someone isn't appointed to that seat the person is a hold over and that was what I had stated to the members of the board that I spoke to and I believe it's spoke to you as well no you did not and you are more than welcome and it's in writing to Mr kuchi you guys are more than welcome to continue to meet and the folks who are on the board are more than welcome to continue to serve okay custom EXC me just for a moment because I just want to say this customarily you would get a letter showing your appointment and uh and it's official and then the website would reflect a new meeting schedule and so therefore right now we're in violation of the ordinance so that's easily remedied thank you I would appreciate that and I think we can fix that okay yeah absolutely and thank you so much maybe you said it to them if Mr kuchi would like is he still in attendance uh Mr kuchi could verify our conversation Mr kuchi do you have a second that you can come up um we did have that conversation and you did say that the board members could continue to meet without being appointed reappointed I should say but the we have to be sworn in by by the clerk and the only one who's been sworn in is myself cuz I was a continuing member the other ones need a letter from the council you mean new folks appointing them again new folks again no no everybody everybody even when I was I'm on zoning also I got a letter reappointing me to zoning you need that official thing I asked the clerk that's correct am I correct the that well I just want to point out I I disagree with what you're saying as far as and I am was very specific that you guys could continue to serve I said slow in writing and you can continue to meet if you stop meeting in December you're more than welcome to meet now and if you have other members we can we can certainly look at them as far as appointing um but we also would want to consider the people who are there already so that's something to discuss but as I had said uh I saw no reason to try to replace any of the folks that were on there that you should continue to meet all all that had to be done Mr Mayor was WR letter saying they were appointed again to the commission and then the clerk and then the clerk would swear Us in and we'd be official right but I may not I may want to appoint someone else to the board but in but in the meantime you would continue to V to serve we're not official look we can take care of it okay we can take care of it all right thank you that communication was not given to like Jack finished your time is up I'm sorry I thought you said it was okay it's it's okay but I would like to solve the problem so that that Anthony and I did have that conversation and and Miss kuchi uh it was all documented via email I would encourage you and whatever members who feel they're expired I would just say that you're not expired you're not off the board unless you're replaced you continue to serve unless you're replaced I have a right to replace a certain number of folks per year I didn't exercise that right I figured that you guys would just want to continue to serve but mayor we can we can send a letter to the people we can we can and and we sort of did via email all we're asking for I hear you exactly thank you you're welcome how you doing my name is Craig stelli I live at 89 Cedar Grove Road and of course I'm here to talk about the shelter so back in 2022 and I'm sure Dan's going to bring up all the stuff that I did back in 2022 I brought up the mold and there was things that needed to get done and the management got on top of it immediately they got rid of the mold they started exercise logs they started cleaning logs so to say they weren't doing anything you have no idea what you're talking about CU from my understanding the first time you've been in that shelter was probably recently but anyway I'm going to bring this up we have we have 99 this is a 2023 census we have 99,000 residents plus or minus of those 35,000 households we have each we have 177,000 households that have pets of those 17,000 11,000 are households with dogs which which amount ount to 14,000 dogs we have in this town we have 8500 households that have cats of those 8,500 households it amounts to 15,000 cats we have 29,000 households in this town that have animals cats dogs Etc so to say that we don't need a shelter in this town of our own is BS to to put this burden on the county is BS we have the right and the and the taxpayers have a right to have our own shelter to do what we need to do don't talk about money we have the money the money is simply there I've spoken to the Pine family who is extremely disappointed in Dan over here for doing what he did to the shelter because their family member simply wanted to donate a million dollars to this shelter because they believed in the shelter because they felt that the shelter was incredible they enjoyed the the volunt here they enjoy the people that worked here and all of a sudden you're going to shut this down on a family whose member died supporting this shelter and the one thing I the last thing I want to point out is as I walk into this room it amazes me that half the pictures aren't up on the wall and the pictures that are on the wall there's no names under the councilmen so how can I be supportive of a council that don't even care that their names are on the wall so someone ripped my name off about three weeks ago yeah well we could fix that well they should be putting it up simply all the time but I brought that to the attention it hasn't been put up yet I I I guess I'll have to do it myself but the bottom line is if you're any kind of a man Dan you said you weren't going to close a shelter if you're any kind of a man you'll let the petition process take its course and do what it needs to do thank you [Applause] yes sir uh my name is Jim cob 112 San Diego Road this is completely different there was a major hydraulic spill on San Diego Road carmell and Delonte and there was an intemp by the Department of Public Works to fix it as you know the Summer started these are two three summer streets there's kids with bare feet I want to bring that to your attention uh councilman lamb are you the representative of the island first I'm hearing about it yeah yeah speak have photos I'll come to you after the meeting can we please have the address for the for the for the business administrator so we can take care of it where the address of where the spill is in front of carel who do you want me to leave it with no just if you state if you say it right now we're going to we're going to write it down all right it's uh San Diego Road carmell and Delonte the whole road yeah there every time the machine lifted a garbage can it leaked all over the road okay all right we we'll we'll take care of that I mean they all three roads we were told because of digging that they would be repaved they were repaved after Sandy two years ago they were told to repave realistically I don't know how you mitigate the situation it's an environmental hazard to have hydraulic fuel um on the road thank you did it wait I'm I'm sorry is this just happened or it happened two years ago happened on either Thursday or Friday Thursday Friday all right thank you we'll we'll we'll take care of it yes ma'am Irene Watson messenger Street sorry it's about the animal shelter again I'll talk quick you all know about the um Asbury Park Press release on July 14th that's when councilman president Kevin gagan and Marie maruka spoke they uh questioned the an animal shelters operations uh Craig cerelli uh notice there were mold in the ceiling that animal shelter was euthanizing bully braed dogs there are uh while there were rescues that were willing to pull these dogs from the shelter um it they uh there was investigation needed to be made of the facility and the people running it uh cats and kittens as well as some dogs have been transferred to the O this is from the Artic article transferred to the Ocean County Animal Shelter to make it appear as though Tom's River euthanizes fewer animals maruka said part of the investigation into this shelter involves Personnel issues that she cannot discuss publicly now this was the thing that I thought was really interesting public comments on that meeting July 13th Craig citelli pointed out the mold and the killing of the bully breed dogs and Fitzpatrick uh offered behavior analysis of the dogs Lauren Lori Cohen said dogs and cats are left alone from 4:30 to 8:30 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. Joanne car spoke about hiring s certified behaviorist there were no comments regarding the animal shelter uh made by the councilman or the mayor July 27th meeting no action or comments made regarding the animal shelter August 10th public comments Craig citelli again spoke regarding the animal shelter the cash donation I'm imagining that was the million dollars left and the locked doors of the F the facility I I don't know why this million dollars wasn't spent right away on Staffing and dog runs okay September 14th 2022 no com action or comments made regarding the animal shelter September 28th 2022 no action or comments made regarding the animal shelter it goes on for the 26th of October November 9th November 2nd December 14th December 8th so for all these dog lovers and animal lovers here where were you for the past two years they clean the place up that's why were you fine with the fact that the place up Sir you're going to be removed from this room you're out of order you are are out of order can we extend okay thank you sir can we miss extend Miss Watson's time since she was interrupted that there were no SCH it's it's only fair to have some diversity of opinion and when there is diversity of opinion and people shout over that other person I think that that's unfair and unreasonable and frankly unamerican so can we please extend our time counsel get let's get back in order let's gohe ma'am go ahead well it was not stated anywhere that all the mat the matter was cleaned up and the the animal shelters uh problems were taken care of but there was no no you were find that there was no scheduled open hours for the public to come in and adopt an animal do you know that is a state law that the animal shelters must be open 2 hours every day of the week for people to come in and adopt animals there was pointed out that there were no people manning the animal shelter 24 hours a day 7 days a week you were fine with that there were no dog runs you were fine with that where were the animal lovers then not speaking up and ma'am can we ask you who you you're pointing out as you were fine with that who are you pointing that at people behind me and the people up at the council at those dates because they were not speaking up I don't think anybody was fine with it they might not have been aware of it okay there was no um there's also no Behavior none of us were fine with it I can tell you that come on that's not fair no she's she's she's still going okay so again it is the state law that animals and thank you to your wife that animals uh are let out in dog runs and that they are if there's no dog run that that she they should be walked for at least 20 minutes it's state law that an animal shelter needs to be open for two hours a day for for um adoption I went to the October to the May 8th meeting and I asked if you took over the toms Riv animal shelter would you follow the toms R animal shelter guidelines of being a no kill shelter their answer was Tom's River Animal Shelter sends us animals that need to be euthanized and all of those posters that were up for the past few months accus the Ocean County Animal Shelter of being a kill shelter council president ifir time is up she's way way off ma'am ma'am I didn't hear I didn't hear the buzzer Mike it was did the hold it up folks just a minute let me get this clarified just a minute Mike did the buzzer go up it did and then you you said she could have more time you did not specify how much time I did not reset a timer I did not hear hear the buzzer go up sorry ma'am you're finished I'm sorry you're finished I apologize for that I did not hear the buzzer my I'll take the blame on that I apologize go ahead ma'am Deborah kiry bartin Street Tom's River New Jersey I'm here to talk about the animal shelter in case you couldn't tell um so the mayor has repeatedly said he's not um closing the animal shelter yet I I ask any one of you to go to the animal shelter and try to go in because it is closed um several it's closed it is closed it is not let's not interrupt the speaker please thank you so um go ahead the week that the mayor closed the animal shelter the Ocean County um animal shelters were posting I I do animal um homeless animal networking they were posting on every possible site that they were Desperately Seeking Fosters rescues and adopters because they were so overrun with dogs and cats so this this plan is was poorly thought out as it seems that much of what has been happening all of the dissension or the negative comments are regarding the year 2022 for those of you who are not aware this is 2024 and there have been marked improvements in the way it was in the way it's been run I have been there I have dogs I've had dogs my whole life you do um you do not need to have a dog run you need what you need for a shelter animal is for it to be socialized for it to have to spend time with people the fact that what these workers were doing was going out and interacting with the dogs that helps decompress them it is very stressful for an animal to be in a shelter and having that human interaction helps to make them calmer and frankly more adoptable and so I just want to say that all of the logic or or or uh excuses for him wanting to close the shelter are from two years ago and not from now it is not relevant it has nothing to do with it I maintain that you have an agenda you don't like dogs you don't like pitbulls specifically um I want to know what is going to happen the Toms River Animal Shelter took pigs pop belly pigs guinea pigs rabbits and animals of you know other animals what's going to happen now to those animals because the County shelter does not take it what's going to happen when abandoned uh baby raccoons are found and a pest control company is going to go and take them and do what they do which is kill them all of those lives done that are lost are on you your time is finished thank you you can just hand next gentleman here you go yes sir Bob toolan 109 messenger street at the last meeting Miss Atul said that the people on the council were getting no respect from many or most of the people in the audience true respect is a two-way street something that must be earned it doesn't just come with a title the people responded to Mr rodri's plan for the police department look at alternative plans petitions were signed ignored they again responded the plans to close the animal shelter again ignored other plans were possible and Mr Rober kept changing numbers as usual as to the cost of the shelter most of you sitting up there have no respect for our concerns why should we respect you when you don't enter discussions and continuously regurgitate anything Mr rodri says and just as an aside two meetings ago mul your microphone was on you asked Mr rodri who you should vote for he responded did vote Yes it wasn't even a question of was it who was it it was a matter of yes or no vote you had no idea what you were voting on and I suspect that what happened was not even legal Mr Coleman during Mr rodri's temper tandr the last meeting when Mr rodri began yelling at Mr nerson calling him a sellout you told Mr nerson to calm down you never said a word to Mr rodri not one word to Mr rodri about his behavior result rodri throws a hissy fit as he's done in the past when he doesn't get his way storms out of the meeting with his to Mr solanis I've been to Council meetings off and on for over 20 years many different administrations never have I seen such childish inappropriate behavior by any Town official let alone the mayor then there's the voting to hire Mr Burke to be another lawyer in Mr rodri's Army of lawyers why did Mr rodri not mention that Mr Burke was his personal lawyer in his case against the Middletown School District was there a deal made was there a deal made between the two where Mr Rodrick said I'll get you a $50,000 contract to defend me and let the taxpayers of Tom's River pay for him how many of those of you who voted knew Mr Burke was Mr rodri's personal lawyer Mr lamb at the last meeting on two separate occasions you told people that you don't work for them you only work for the people of your ward I guess when you voted not to replace police that it was in the best interest of the island people not to have more police presence during summer months when it was necessary to invoke a curfew to combat vandalism that's interesting coming of from a policeman in the town of Lavalette which has more officers than 96% of the towns and more police funding than 98% of the towns of their size in the country in the last meeting when your residency was brought up you never said you didn't live on messenger Court you said you had many properties sir your time is up I'm sorry your time is up no I said your time is up Sir you can get back in the line and come and come forward later and land Alia I reive my time no you cannot do that you cannot do that no yes I can because N St lawence you can come and speak yourself he can go to the end of the he can go to the end of the line and speak again later Bob this not CU you got fired in lavet was it okay let's press on next next speaker next [Music] speaker I'm not going to let this meeting get out of control again up your own rules every we every we guess what take this lady and remove her from the room right now right now thank you remove her immediately sir gentlemen officers please remove this woman please I'm asking you to remove this woman officers sit Paul uh remove this gentleman also for making a threat please you heard make a threat yes please remove this gentleman please he's out of order he is out of order you're out of order Paul excuse me you had not the floor Paul please ask him to leave yeah leave now now I'm sorry I'm I'm the president of the council I'm not going to let these meetings get out of control this is not the way to get things resolved you can laugh all you want but this meeting is not going to get out of control we're going to have some respect for each other and I respect the speaker and their time to speak and you are on yes ma'am d n 1520 Silverton Road Tom's River I was not going to come up and speak but then I realized I'm a constituent too and I voted and I thought this town was going to be made better by the vote in this election but I see hastily made decisions that are against what people want mayor rrick and I talked about the animal shelter and how it was in dire need of help we agreed a larger sign would help stay open more hours allow volunteers again reduce or eliminate the adoption fees temporarily in order to help out I decided to volunteer and I've been volunteering at the animal shelter for about four months there's nothing wrong with the way it was being run under the management of Dave Matthews attained no kill status for the past 2 years then somehow all that changed and the mayor decided he wanted this off his hands at all costs despite the successful petition it was closed in a hasty and sneaky way with no time for staff to prepare the workers and the volunteers were caught completely by surprise no one had time to sort out where the animals were going I guess rodri just assumed they would all go to the county the Port County with their already over completely overfilled overburdened shelters were supposed to just absorb our animals with no advanced notice every day social media for the county States how urgently overfilled they are that means animals are being put to death they have to make room somehow and our mayor and his advisers have all made this happen even more so because they closed our shelter a perfectly fine open running shelter in the middle of kitten season at a time when all the County shelters are already maxed out and the county does not want to just step in and open our shelter and put animals in it they want to spend a ton of time and money to revamp the whole thing in the meantime where are all these homeless animals going they are being euthanized they're being dumped or who knows what else is happening with them and all because of a hasty decision of one person and Council that continues to back him you euthanasia rates will be higher this year because of this all because of an animal shelter that could have stayed open but was closed hastily for no real reason that shelter could right now be holding dogs and cats instead it's sitting there empty in the middle of a giant crisis of homeless animals so if this was done for the betterment of the animals like the mayor said then that's a joke there's an old saying that haste makes waste instead of making these tasty decisions leaders should work like an artist or a sculptor who cares about the end result of their work shoot sorry your time is up time is up please give the microphone to the next speaker thank you [Applause] uh thank you council president Coleman Phil brilliant 79 Holly Tree Lane I didn't plan on using my time for this because I actually wanted to be able to speak about other things and hopefully I can come back but I wanted to go over what I call for a point of order before on the consent agenda on January 1st 2024 this Council approved the rules of meetings and it approved a five minute time limit per person for public comment shall be allowed at the township council meeting both during both the consent agenda session and the general public comment session and then on April 24th 2024 this Council modified that and the modification says I'm only going to read that part for public comment during the general comment period in accordance with njsc 10412 as well as during the public commented on the second and final reading of ordinances in accordance with another state law the time hereby is set at 3 minutes during the general pment period a member of the public may ask permission of the council president to speak for another two minutes only after each member of the public has had the opportunity to speak what didn't change on April 24th of 2024 was the opportunity of the public to speak on the consent agenda session I'm quite certain now I'm giving the opportunity for the resolution for the next meeting but I think it's important to point out that for the past meetings where you have not allowed us to speak and that was why I asked for point of order before we did the consent agenda tonight you did not change it it clearly states your rules public can comment during the consent agenda session okay I'm quite certain I just bit myself and the you know what but it is important to point that out I'm going to move on to a couple more things one is um councilman lamb you made a comment about the new recreation director however I have not seen in accordance with code 54-4 an approval of a new recreation director do we have a new recreation director that's not been approved by this council do we I don't know I don't have the CL I think that's something that needs to be addressed okay um I also think you know so has anybody uh attorney Pascarella have you ever watched the State of the Union Address okay once or twice okay um you're a lot younger than I am we watch it and what do we notice about the Supreme Court justices they sit there and they don't say a word because basically they are neutral in that situation when it comes to the advisors of this Council and the mayor until the advisers are asked to comment they shouldn't be commenting and that goes for you Mr Pascarella thank you that's right that's right that's good evening sorry about my appearance I got out of work a little late uh I just heard you say mayor excuse me sir Mo your name and address I'm sorry Chris L 98 Fisher uh mayor rodri I heard you just say that it's unamerican to let somebody speak when you ever 3 minute what is it 3 minutes you guys give 3 minutes you let the lady go on for 6 minutes 7 minutes you said it was unamerican to let her speak you just kicked out three people that's on americ sir my okay I'm here to talk about something different tonight though uh I know you guys have a tough job this is my first council meeting I've attended I watched them on YouTube you say there's about 16 people same faces there's a lot more than 16 people here tonight uh but I'm here to talk about something different different on July 16th a veterans hospital is opening up in town uh we have approximately 35,000 veterans in Ocean County these veterans are traveling to Brick where there's extremely limited resources and East Orange for services such as hospitalization and psychiatric help my brother is currently in the Navy and he's coming home from being in one of the most dangerous parts of the world with his time in the Navy he suffered a broken leg seriously hurt his shoulders and he suffers from Ser from serious anxiety and depression I'm sure he will be using the services and I'm asking all members to utilize these Services soon that will be offered here in our town um Mr lamb I followed your campaign you're an American first Republican uh I saw your pictures with Trump you're a police officer I also saw your wife on Fox News talking about the indoctrination happening in our schools you sparked my interest will you be attending the opening of the of the clinic of course I will be yeah well I recommend you don't reason being is your track record for our service members is absolutely disgusting and my brother's in Kuwait my brother's in the Army in Kuwait what about what about Dan Leonard the veteran that you accused of Stolen Valor okay he's a paratrooper and he's a combat veteran you said he's stolen valor you attacked this man when he was at a very low point in his life with military service related PTSD our veterans stood in the front lines to defend us the least you could do is stand behind them I don't care what any veteran has said politically that you disagree with would I do with this I'm sorry would you disagree with to attack them on their service to this country is treasonous tonight I want to know if you will apologize to Dan Leonard for saying that he has Stolen Valor no well you're a scumbag thank you you're welcome family serves as well serves you're a fake Republican Robert Burns 531 Lily Road in resolution K that's the new supplier of fuel that you're going to be getting council president I I believe it's a question about fuel would you like an answer is this the the the only provider of fuel the co-op the the co-op is just like the township we get our we get our fuel without tax at whatever the rate is that it's being sold at from like to the gas station uh the County cooperative most towns are in uh this was a choice made by the department heads I support it I'd like you add a modification to that we should have two biders you should have a primary and a secondary if the primary fails you already have a contract I think government to government and it's and there's no like fee on it it doesn't apply it's always good to have a fallback so that we don't have to scramble we can just pick up the phone and call somebody at least have a we'll look into it thank you for the advice good evening good evening some of you remember me from last council could you point the mic up thanks there we go some of you remember from last council meeting my name is Brian name and address I'm with um my name is Brian I'm with B2 Consulting Group I am not a resident of the Town what what town are you resident of man Alpin thank you so some of you remember me from last week I consult in Animal Welfare for the last I've been in Animal Welfare for the last 15 years plus for The Last 5 Years I consult physical wood shelters private shelters government shelters I've consulted with shelters that service 55 municipalities shelters that service one municipality the since we were brought in since I was brought into this there are a number of things that we've seen that could be corrected at the shelter before it was closed I do have a question for the mayor if you allow him to answer before you did close the shelter what would you say were the primary reasons for closing it sir I'm ioun it's it's a comment time okay so comment if you need further information you can always contact question I'm not a resent here I know I I don't mind council president I will answer the question if you don't mind I U I just don't want to to to get a back and forth situation as long as it's not a back and forth would you like my answer I will be as respectful as you and anyone else will be sure um you know as I've said before there are no dog runs at the facility as I pointed out earlier the cages were not or rather glass containment areas were not well ventilated when when we took over uh as far as the council is concerned and and my office uh we had been listening to complaints for many years uh the facility was totally full the doors were locked it was by appointment only at the time we did make some of those Corrections initially it is state law to have dog runs we don't have them some resident asked earlier about uh the money and where the money would go and talked about the resident uh who donated the money that Resident also donated a substantial amount of money to the county as well because she wanted to support the county uh the money would go to the dog runs and up a facility and the county will bring in a vet we have no vet understood can I inter can I interrupt you just so I could I don't lose all my time sure so no I I'll extend your time I appreciate that or council president will if anything long because I'm using it right so go ahead there are certain things that you indicate that are policy things or certain things that are legal things so what I would recommend to the council and to you sir is go to the momas County SPCA what I would recommend you to look at is their kennel runs they are exactly the same that you us that you guys have here there is nothing statuto that is in your shelter that violates state law you you're saying that we don't need dog runs the kennel that you have on I I will call it your adoption for those glass runs are the exact same ones are in MTH County spcs we we don't have glass runs we have glass kennels but there's no dog run to get to the outside there's no an animal control officer has to enter to to get a dog so dog is aggressive I understand that I am a state licensed Animal control officer I'm also a former Humane law enforcement officer so I know that as you were asking me to go to the mammoth County ASPC I'm sorry go ahead so sorry what I am simply saying is that there's no nothing that generally statutorily is an issue with that as now to move forward again I don't want to take up time again I jump back in line council president his time is up I will jump back in the line thank you the only thing that I would just add is that the again the shelter is not closing it will be open up under County Board of Health who runs three other shelters so I just want to be clear about that that this is um this is a misnomer the shelter needs to be upgraded it will be upgraded and it will be opened under County management hi Don Lazar fella 752 Jaclyn Court um obviously I'm here to talk about the animal shelter but more so animal control because because I would like to know with uh the firing of the entire staff except for Dave Matthews what the plan is because I know the decision to bring on a Academy was tabled a couple months ago but according to Asbury Park Press we've hired them so I just want to know what's going on there because we have 109 calls that have been Oprah requested the police department have received 109 animal calls in the last 20 days at $200 a pop if we're only up to $44,000 we're going to spend that in the next 20 days again so I don't know if that I know this is public comment but I'd like to know what the plan is because this town is way too large to have everything fall in one man that is not going to be able to handle it and you guys are basically going to force them to quit any response to that okay crickets that's what I thought because this is not going to go well I I would like to just say Dave's doing the best he can oh I absolutely I I'm worried about him genuinely because I Amo I just don't know how it's feasible as as someone who works 70 to 80 hours a week he can do it and he's going to do it and we need to help him if we can right but he shouldn't have to he shouldn't have to and if the whole premise was that we're saving money by Outsourcing stuff this isn't going to be saving money no no we're going to be losing money yeah we're losing money we we already if if we're I mean and again I'm still wondering the entire plan is ridiculous yeah there is no plan there is no plan the shelter should be open right back up everybody should just be hired back Dan you need to keep your word this is what the people want aren't we supposed to be doing what the people want you just you have aren't you supposed to be doing what your constituents want this is what we ran on I am calm Craig I am totally calm I know but I have to just continually restate it he looked me straight in the eye and he said Tom we're not going to close the shelter I want to move on well okay it's hard to move on when someone lies to you he lied to me and I ran with him I trusted him and he lied right to my eyes if I did that to my wife I'd be divorced taking her and just remember you have his word on the Boat Works he said it here publicly okay Dave you're out of order Dave you are out of glad to be out of order that's not that's not right Dave I I respect you you got to respect me too okay out of ma'am your time is up I'm sorry I had to say I'm I'm sorry Dawn I took up your time no Tracy Barberry 118 to a duban drive in Tom's River so I'm sad about what I see up here I've been a resident here since 1986 I'm a Tom jiver ree graduate I'm a college professor in this town my daughter is Air Force in Virginia helping veterans I am also trained as a veteran provider I'm a therapist I'm a I'm a mom I have a wonderful husband in the back I am grateful and I love this town more than anything and when I see the tension The Divide that's upon us up here it scares me and it's sad because we're not going to make change and we're not going to move in any direction if we're not working together and when we talk about the animal shelter I ran for 23 years at Community Medical Center the pet therapy program and I am also uh was in charge of it on the oncology and hospice units okay specialized in geriatrics and also pediatric oncology if it weren't for shelter pets which I have seven of them through the last few years I came out of the shelter uh all pitbulls all trained uh and they visit the hospice patients in the homes I work also for Visiting Nurse Association and the hospital patients families staff because we were able to work directly with the shelters to do this and under the guidance of Patty Claus I have to say I visited that shelter on a regular basis also Jersey sh animal shelter also pump gun Park and I will tell you that there could not have been better care for these animals and I think we're really making a rash decision because we're not working together on this mayor you obviously have a reason for why you feel the way you do about the decision as it comes but I really think that need to be more inclusivity you know there's a power imbalance here we need to have more diversity we have to have more inclusion more Equitable you know uh decision making because you guys are sitting up there and we're over here but this isn't an oligarchy like we're a democracy why can't we work together to try to work through this we need it please these animals mean everything to us and I can speak firsthand I'll show you the data okay about why they are worth it and that we need this shelter in town please consider this again it's a misnomer the shelter will be in town and it will be run by the county and it will be upgraded so the whole thing about it closing why closed right now because we weren't even able to bring some because you need to do construction and you can't do construction in kennels with dogs and kennels so how do you build dog runs I I every time and this is the problem that we have is every time that I go to answer I've been advised by council president that I should just not answer because people yell out and you see that there are folks that you're with who are just going to yell out they don't want to hear the answer so I apologize but I'm not going to continue to answer but it's a misnomer you can obviously the council president will give you a little extended time it is a misnomer the shelter is not closing it's opening under County uh and it's going to be revamped and reconditioned to be better for the animals I so I I don't understand what everybody's here about they're saying save our shelter we are saving the shelter we're fixing it for the animals and giving it to people who will run it better I guess that is probably the question and we're not going to answer question we're going to make a statement I think that's subjective I'm not sure where that's coming from not subjective it was well documented in the press and a woman had the the courage Miss Watson had the courage to get up here and read and now they're going to yell out again she had the courage to get up here a conservative woman had the guts to get up here and speak into that microphone and read to you comments from prior meetings from the very people who approached protesting tonight she had the courage to read to you quotes out of the newspaper and she was shouted down and she still had the guts to stand up here despite the fact she's outnumbered 50 to one and they yelled her down the shelter was poorly run it was poorly equipped it's going to be better equipped and better run we saved that shelter and I don't care what the humans say or what the former employees say it's about fixing it for animals and I don't care what they think they were the problem we are the solution on the shelter it is not the inform one more time ma'am and you're ma'am one more time and you're gone I know my time is up I would just like to make one more comment mayor certainly again I hear where you're coming from I hear from your own frustration okay and we also stand here with our frustration from a different angle again I would just like to propose that perhaps we could there something called positive deviant where you think that those who are in the community don't have answers or Solutions or at least interventions I think we could all work together to try to figure it out so it meets the needs of all the animals and I would love to be on that committee and be helpful with that if I can so whatever we can do you'll be able to you'll be able to go to the shelter and volunteer as soon as they open have done that for a very long time after the construction is done like I said this a complete misnomer about saving the shelter we are saving the shelter if you want to read you can go back you can watch meetings you could read all the newspaper articles and like I said there was a woman who got up here earlier and she had the courage to speak about it and was shot down and it doesn't matter how many times folks roll their eyes about that folks she read to you from the record mayor we're rehashing things that have been said many many many times ma'am your time is up oh my God your time is up I'm sorry okay Mr Coleman your time is up ma'am Mr Coleman just a minute that was just the question the last question I had about the petition how does that work because I didn't know what was going on well you have you can speak to the clerk give him a call he'll explain it to you okay so we're supposed to be voting on okay all right thank you Mr Coleman if I may go ahead if I can get just a tenth of the time the mayor takes during public comment it' be fantastic the shelter is effectively closed and even when it opens up again as the county it is not going to provide the same service to this community to our pets and to our taxpaying voters all right it's not the same sure we're going to get dog runs but guess what we could have done that without without the county if there was a problem with mold we addressed that without the county we could fix the shelter ourselves we don't need to give it to the county and lose some Services doing it plus it's still going to wind up costing us a bunch of money what I propose what I propose is that there's somebody here from which service do we lose Jim animal shelter that that has a proposal that that would save the shelter and its current form and allow us to uh make any changes the mayor deems necessary but he has the power to make those changes giving it to the county is not helping anybody the county doesn't want it they said the only reason why they're even entertaining this is because they felt that their hand was forced by the mayor okay said they said if that if that petition did not go through that they weren't going to touch it Jim right I think your point is been made what I would like to do is that we have another Summit where we get together and figure out how to fix any problems the mayor uh believes are existing there not push it off on somebody else and keep the services that our town needs thank you Jim yes ma'am yes ma'am uh Julie Adamec 69 Cedar Grove Road um I just want to bring to everybody's mind that uh this shelter is closed so if people don't realize we are paying as taxpayers we are now paying for a building that's closed that's just sitting there um this uh foolish ridiculous plan that was hatched as it like some kind of a sneak attack the real victims in that plan were the poor animals and within several days of that happening uh because of the lack of forethought the lack of planning there wasn't even a sign on the building or if there was a sign it was removed no there were actually cats that were abandoned outside the shelter that were found uh when the fire department responded to an alarm that went off a a fire alarm so uh I think the public needs to know that their their tax dollars are now being wasted and with this ill conceived plan to have the county hatch that was hatched by the mayor for whatever reason and be taken over by the county the taxpayers are still going to be responsible for paying for that bond that was taken out many years ago but our animals are not going from Toms River are not going to be in that shelter that is going to be a County shelter so that means that any animal from the county uh from neighboring towns could be in there it's not going to be just a Tom's River animal so um you the the fact that this plan also was hatched uh during the height of kitten season uh just shows you the cruelty and the lack of compassion in regard for Animals uh really Des really just a Despicable act um and nothing could be and uh more needs to be said about that uh as far as these runs that keep getting spoken about I remember and if my memory serves me right many years ago when this shelter was being planned one of the issues was the police department had concerns because they have their field nearby the location and so the dogs being outside could bark and disrupt them with the training uh somebody else from the audience might remember that uh but that's what I recall from years ago um I haven't heard anybody bring that up but that's what I remember so um the last thing I'd like to say is the mayor in this instance is uh totally disregarding the petition process the the voters the uh residents got the signatures they needed Char your time is up uh just a reminder since uh this is your second shot we're down to 2 minutes per person okay excuse me when did that go effect before all right those of you who didn't hear the great comment that Mr land made when I went to sit down the comment was oh you lost your job 40 years I was a lifeguard in Lavalette as Captain after the last meeting when my daughter and I both questioned Mr lamb apparently Mr lamb went home and cried the daddy and who's a councilman in Lavalette and the next day I got a phone call saying after 40 years I was not going to be rehired that's the kind of man we're dealing with up here on the council a big fish in a little Pond and he wants to carry it over here thank you Justin You' and as far as living Justin in your in your ward yeah Bob go ahead let's talk about it because law enforcement was involved CU you had somebody from your household peeping Tom my wife taking pictures of my vehicles in fact your daughter I have a Facebook post excuse me I'll finish this is my time is it this is my you were asking me a question Bob were you no I didn't ask you anything I did not ask you anything Bob you have the interruped I'm not interrupting you I'm giving you your time go okay so as we were saying last time unless Mr lamb got immediately divorced he was still living on messenger Court after he got married you were spying on me Bob you were taking pictures of my car Bob cman please please Council I got better to do than that thing Mr bman is this one last thing Mr Coleman after I got evicted from here last time for being so put out over the fact of some of the nonsense like Mr quinl was talking and Mr lamb interrupted and was told that no Mr Lamb made a motion I went home and I paid attention to what was going on in the meeting the people keep asking to have the videos put up we've asked since day one 9 Minutes 9 minutes after the last meeting it was down what are you going to do about it as council president I'm going to look into it that's what you said every meeting that's what you have said every meeting excuse me I'm going to look into to see why that happened that's what I'm saying okay so the next meeting when we come here if tonight is taken down again will you have any an to why it got taken down I will thank you council president I'd like to say something to this gentleman sir the meetings will never go back up never never ever we could vote 10 times and all agree put the meetings back up because this guy right here forbids it and he doesn't want the rest of the town to see what he's all about they'll never go back up so people of Integrity have people of Integrity um are respectful they're open-minded they listen to the various arguments and they respect the opinions uh that differ with theirs um I don't see much Integrity I can't include you I don't see much Integrity here in fact I I see no Integrity over there I see no Integrity over there I see three people on this on this um front over here Podium whatever you call this uh who have integrity because they vote and they do the right thing they don't they don't go to the Puppet Master you guys are like puppets it's really despicable you're puppets and you know this is a democracy it is not a dictatorship much to rodri's um much to rodri's dismay and I you know I don't know how much longer he's going to be in office I certainly know he's going to be a certain certainly a one-term um and done person and I think a lot of the rest of you up here are going to be the same Justin what um areas do you represent I I don't want to answer because I don't want you to say I'm interrupting your time so I'll talk to you after the meeting if you want so do you represent Silverton well no no I don't I represent W one I've helped somebody in Silverton recently if you want me to stay up the I've helped somebody in silveron recently but so um anyway I I just it's really despicable to sit here and to listen to to the div the dividedness the the lack of respect that many of you have from the people who voted you in you don't serve at the whim of him you serve at the whim of them and so that is what you need to remember he's not your boss sorry your time is up your time is up thank thank [Applause] you Dawn ion again 1520 Silverton Road Tom's River so tell me again you're not going to close the shelter and then close it really quickly like in the middle of the night with no time to prepare okay I'm going to finish what I had prepared there's an old saying that haste makes waste instead of making hasty decisions leaders should work like an artist or a sculptor who car cares about the end result of their work making small adjustments and then stepping back to see if that was the right move or if something needs to be corrected small little steps that can be undone if needed the council has the responsibility to make sure that one person isn't deciding everything for a town the council should be backing good sound decisions and rejecting decisions done in haste that are not for the betterment of our town or what the people want members of the council if we had more time we could have gotten a lot more sign on that petition I implore you today to take a step back and think this through take a look at the repercussions for the longterm this is a shelter that was deemed necessary and built with taxpayer money because we are a large town and there is a need for it we still have a need for it vote to reopen the much needed Tom's River Animal Shelter the homeless animals and the people of Tom's River are counting on you [Applause] Dennis gante Tom's River 1149 Cherokee Court so I understand now that the council has 20 days to act on the petition now the initiative of referendum is a form of our government under the forner act so I want to know why or what's been going on with the shelter being closed still talk of the county what are you going to do about about it you have 20 days are you violating are you going to violate this statute initiative referendum that's a question okay that's a comment then so who criticized you for allowing a resident to concede three minutes to a speaker were you criticized or were you told not to do that I was criticized criticized okay but you wouldn't tell me and Us by whom you're kidding it was several several people it wasn't just one sir okay um you didn't answer my question at a $1.2 million trust fund you didn't do that um I also would like to know what the opposite is of a sellout what's the opposite of that and thank you Mr nerson I guess that's a comment or a question or Mr Pascarella one more I know you don't like me I don't much like you at least I think okay but you sit in that chair are you an attorney that is representing the council in legal e or should you be running for councel question you seem like you you give us your opinion quite often it's not about legal issues it's about other things yeah no such as what okay such as what time up I'd have to go back and I'm just asking you well I can't ask questions I guess so it's a comment correct thank you next person I'm ask questions for the record thank you good evening I haven't spoken at a Township well then it was a Township excuse me ma'am your name and address for the record Maria borga 2407 6th Avenue Tom Sher thank you I haven't spoken probably in maybe 34 years at a committee meeting then it was a Township committee meeting I got to tell you I miss Rhoden lightbody I miss Joe VI Cary who I hardly ever agreed with I missed those people because those people were much more respectful to us than you are and when I would come to a meeting we would have a dialogue we could ask a question and have somebody respond on to us I was at the Board of Health meeting the Board of Health told us flat out the only reason they're involved in this is because you went to them not because they wanted to be here you told them you were going to close the the shelter and if we got the numbers in the petition they would step away and they didn't even have a final agreement at the time that they voted to continue want the other thing is I've been trying to call Town Hall for a week why can my phone calls not get answered I can't get through to any Department I'd like an [Applause] answer now I got it Joe Coco and you know where I live okay could have your address please no um State your address please I'm sorry 161 WN Creek Lane and don't count that till my three minutes you see folks coming back first second times okay lot going on back and forth I heard a suggestion this evening and I'm I'm I'm going to reiterate it and I don't always agree with them uh but councilman quins lick he said let's I forget how you said it but the bottom line is let's put put put a team together during this time mayor rodri B basically what I'm saying you've got the 20 days you've got whatever you want put put a group of you know some of the chosen people that have some information about this whole thing okay I I I have nothing you know in it I mean I I do I not saying I disagree or agree and you've heard me say that before but take the time out okay because everybody could be sitting here here all night till midnight and and whatever you know let's kind of Calment down for now and and and put that little group together okay Tom I'm still waiting for the the Facilities Management Group too but again why don't why don't we do that put put it together okay and uh I do have one question on on different matter we show we show Revenue in in in paperwork here for the golf course building and everything can we show revenue for zoning revenue for code enforcement you know revenue for some of the other Revenue groups that that that are there that are actually making um you know some Revenue out there and working hard for them and lastly I'll leave you on this I'd like to ask all of you to take a ride around town okay there's a lot of work to be done in town and again coming off you know my time as incode enforcement I'm seeing grass you know growing over you know roofs of almost roofs of houses I'm seeing signs all over the place and I I I think you know I think code enforcement can use a little more support now through down to what I think two inspectors and and that we want to keep this town beautiful we want to keep it what it's been and again the years I worked there we worked very hard hard and you know we had we had support and everything else so just uh take those comments and do what you'd like with him but uh I just I had to get up and say it took me a little while I had to strengthen myself but thank you I said I also uh do want to thank uh president Coleman I met you uh at the health fair yes okay and I want to say they did a great job with that health fair over at the senior center thank you so I'm a senior so I'm going to be frequenting a thank you thank you for the [Applause] time um Phil brilliant 79 Holly Tree Lane uh councilman Coleman I do have a question I hope I can ask this question Youth Services the director was let go last week and it's no longer on the website where did it go why did it go and where are the plans um would you like an answer from the from the administration so uh we had uh two folks it was an8 hour day uh for two folks it was approximately $300,000 a year and it had dwindled down since the why kids program started in a school it dwindled down to uh nine students or nine kids uh so it was costing uh approximately $30,000 or a little more uh to to have a kid have daycare for two hours a day so those kids can go to the Y uh we we did not want to shut it down during the school year so we continued to absorb the cost uh since since January but it's certainly not uh commensurate with the cost of the service and the service is available through the Y and the Y can use the revenue uh so we we didn't have need for those positions anymore and uh frankly you know an 8 hour day uh and contact with kids for only 2 hours is just uh uh not a good use of money or funds so uh one of the employees has been transferred over uh currently to Recreation um but we certainly didn't need a supervisor or an additional management position for that so uh that's why it's just all about um using tax dollars wisely which is uh what we ran on um and and we're delivering on that promise and so the summer campers are under Recreation now summer camp has always been part of recreation so this this Youth Services is an offshoot right of of of recreation and it was put into effect at one point in time when there was no y kids and there was no PR program in the school and uh at one time I believe there were like three 300 kids now we're down to nine so uh you know it doesn't justify $300,000 worth of expenses you know just you could send the kids to college so that's why we uh won't be bringing that program back in the fall it's an administrative decision uh we spoke council president and I actually multiple members of council we've discussed it uh in depth uh again we waited to make sure the kids got all the way through but uh no sense it's starting that back up again next year as you may know like I said the Y has uh has has need for for funding so can I just get one minute go okay um just may I'm not going to get crize for this am I go ahead well ask mayor Rodrick if it's okay that I have one minute because you took my time I'll just take one as question I asked the question so you answered it yeah I'm okay with you getting the time but theoretically I didn't take your time I answered your question you asked the question so okay go ahead we'll go semantics I'll just take one and you do get up like three or four times so you do get an awful lot to say you're a man of many words I'm I'm I think you sent me in the rest of the council like a three-page letter in font nine it was a lot it's a lot and I'm going to tell you hobby I'm telling you you got to get a hobby I have plenty of hobbies parttime job something something you got to find something to do with your time I did get your letter to my house too M Phil I did get your letter to my home go Phil did did you say to my house real quick I'm I sent to everybody's home going talk real quick I all I sent it to all the council was in the patch everybody got it I want to make sure you saw it because I my concern and it's been talked about here tonight are the animals and the shelter because they were abruptly removed okay work could could have been done there's no construction plans this Council hasn't approved anything yet as far as what will happen with the shelter it could be months it could be a year whoever knows what it is I haven't seen anything on the agenda yet we'll see what ends up happening moving the animals out 6 days after the agenda excuse me the uh petition was put in to me was a vindictive act and right now we have the talk about the kittens that were left there nobody knew about it I hope and this is just a recommendation that we have the air conditioner on the building because you're growing mold every day so let's make sure the air conditions on even though it's empty and it's already been said by the health department that that shelter is needed open so if you can reopen it until you start construction or whatever your plans are it needs to be done for this community and those animals thank you uh Brian B2 Consulting Group I'm going to get through this relatively quickly because usually this takes me about 45 minutes to an hour as was noted I that's why I got two minutes um as I as was noted earlier you all received a proposal today from an organization that's a 5c3 nonprofit that is RO to step in and take over the rescue that is WR to take step in and take over the shelter your constituents have already made very clear that they don't want it go into the county sir I hear you thank you the availability that we have this organization can step in the municipality will not lose any services that are already Avail that were already available to the residents they will gain significantly more programs that will be available to the residents and it will be worth it to you as a council and your residence itself I'm going to give the clerk a copy of that proposal I know it was already submitted to the rest of the council as did I as was said before there are licenses for every animal in the town the latest numbers from unfortunately 10 years ago from has pet senses has dogs at around 14,000 and 14 and a half thousand has cats at about 15 half thousand your rates are there that's a yearly rate that's a yearly income that the town has to that would generally cover the cost those costs go into your animal trust account that must be used solely for animal related Services animal control rabes and any other and generally shelter intake those are continuous funds that the town has itself I also did which generally I would build this to a town I'm going give it to you guys for free a cost analysis that what it would generally cost based on the numbers that are readily available to the public between you guys going to a Academy between the cost of medical that would be in the contract with the shelter that the town would be responsible for any medical cost post seven days as well as the cost of the shelter intake this is also going to your clerk okay and you're done thank you can I ask one question no you're done two seconds no you had your time I told you how much time you had all right yes ma'am Irene Watson messenger Street um a couple of things on uh the law the gentleman that just spoke the last time he spoke was talking about dog runs and something with Mammoth County from the New Jersey Administration code title 8 Health chap Health chapter 23 Animal Facility operations blah blah blah adult dog shall be exercised in runs at least twice a day or walked on a leash for at least 20 minutes per day thank you to your wife um another law is the hours for Public Access should be at least two hours uh each business day Monday through Friday two hours on Saturday and Sunday and that is for people to come in and try and adopt an animal another law is you must have a license to take in wild animals if you're if the times are of animal shelter is taking in raccoons and and squirrels and the like yes you can keep them for a little while but it is by law you must find another place for them um this was brought out by the Ocean County Animal Shelter it says it takes in wild animals but finds an appropriate placement for it because a license is needed okay now do a I would love to have a rewind I did not sign the uh petition for uh the animals because the posters that were being presented were very negative um really bashing the Ocean County Animal Shelter as a place that euthanizes animals uh telling uh the U the mayor that he just would I guess love to kill animals it was just so negative have a rewind I agree people should all get together and want the best for the animals have a rewind rewrite your posters ma'am your time is your time is done positive statements your time is done ma'am thank you thank you thank you real quick I'm sorry what was your name I'm sorry your name Eileen Miss Watson Irene I'm sorry um M Mr Rodrick is right I mean you're up here all by yourself uh you're very brave for doing that you're the only one that really stands in opposition of that and I'm and and with all due respect there's 50 other people doing the same thing on the opposite side and he can't give them that same due respect but I appreciate your opposing view thank you okay we have to move on ma'am please moving on moving on this gu think he's get hi no he's not Don Lazar fella again 752 Jaclyn Court um I want to cite a quote that was actually from the mayor himself aired on channel 12 news the day the shelter closed it was an interview with Jim Murdoch and he explicitly stated we are not closing the shelter it's a beautiful building brand new only a few years old um well it's closed and we're being told it's for construction what is actually needed we're being told dog runs uh mold and stuff from 2022 keeps coming back up all issues that have been fixed so there's really nothing to keep the shelter from functioning as Brian had mentioned it is modeled after mouth County SPCA it's so right now animals are getting diverted to County and they're full and I think that's a problem because it will lead to euthanasias and I know people might not like the signs that were out there but that's the truth animals are going to die because there's no place for them to go while our shelter sits empty so these are rhetorical because I know no one can answer them but I want to know what the plan is uh when is the construction start to my knowledge I haven't heard any plans come up for approval uh could it be because we have a legal petition that hasn't been addressed um I want to know if that's going to be addressed because we worked pretty hard to get those signatures and let me tell you this isn't an issue just affecting Tom's River it's it's affecting the entire County and if we could have had other County residents sign we probably would have had 10,000 signatures cuz people were pissed off that they couldn't sign um again all rhetorical questions but I think the council here and I'm going to address the whole Council as well as the mayor and whoever you all need to start answering questions because we just keep getting the runaround and it's not right I want to address the last woman who stood up to talk about wildlife um I'm guessing in no disrespect she probably hasn't set foot in the shelter I volunteered at the shelter for 6 months and a lot of times I was there working full shifts' time is up I'm sorry your time is up ma'am out of fairness your time is up sir we don't do three times okay uh if you have something to you want to address then you can go to and make an appointment with Administration um sir sure uh Dan kessle 101 Dewey Drive welcome back Mr Tessa yeah so it's been a while since I've this microphone four months not fun so um I'm going over these numbers and my main goal I wasn't really going to speak tonight I was going to let the animal shelter and let that go tonight but I just couldn't wait a month before the next meeting um so I kind of had no choice but to come up but um I'm looking at these numbers and I guess now that my case is over I could say a few more things those looks like the building permits for May was 250,000 M Tess you want to speak into the mic so 200,000 for the month of May well when I was operational back in 2021 in an 8- hour event in South Toms River Bud Hub did $125,000 in sales and paid for the fireworks on in one day you guys are arguing over here in over $500,000 though just to make a point for animal shelter we could pay for that on a Tuesday um our numbers are B bigger daily than every number would be for the month in each of these categories the main goal today would be to ask you guys to at least reconvene the Cannabis committee that was together uh what two years ago three years ago Dan something like that I refused to be on that committee so I don't I don't know when it started or when it ended you guys have the power up there to reopen that committee South to server is delivering now I'm sure you guys have seen that their operation is oh it's it's here we're not stopping it it's here are you Opera down there or no what are you operating in South to server no I'm not you want it to operate here or I would like to um well I know that's why I'm here talking to you guys trying to uh you could always try South Thoms river southt zver is on Shaky Ground let's just put it that way um could I just could I just inter intercede here for a second I have five children yeah and three grandchildren all in this area and there's not a day in the rest of the time that I'm alive that I would ever vote for putting Marijuana pot whatever you want you're only here for six more months I know I know thank God because this is really a challenge but you just voted yes for alcohol I could tell you you just for an alcohol I would never my grand my grandchildren are not going to school and picking up a bottle of booze and drinking it in the school that's not the way talk about never ARS now it'll never ever have my V for 6 months you know it's never going to happen I don't need your vote you only need four votes Justin can you put a motion at least reopen the canas committee I've talked to you before I said I I'll I'll certainly have discussions with you but I don't know at this time that the township is ready for that and again you know my profession as a police officer it's I can't but it's here already but it's here already I mean it's about to be changed with schedule 3 so you may not have an option very much longer when it just may be here without you having sir your time is your time is up thank you but you did just vote for alcohol remember you're on a two minute because you've been up here before uh Julie adamx 69 Cedar Grove Road um I'm really uh just up here to comment about the wildlife situation that was brought up by uh Miss Watson uh that was covered in numerous uh prior Council meetings by the rehab people that came uh to the meeting from various locations across the state but uh that the Toms River Animal Shelter has only taken in these animals for wildlife on a temporary basis and as these rehabbers indicated in these prior meetings it was when these rehabbers were filled to capacity they kept them on a t these animals on a temporary basis and then transferred them over once an opening uh became available so I want people that are in the audience that may have not attended one of these other meetings to be aware of that fact because if they could went by the prior information uh they would get a um that that was misinformation I just want to make an announcement that after Carlos speaks I'm going to have a motion to close the public comment portion of the meeting we've been at this quite a bit and I think we're just getting repetitive now but so anyway go ahead ma'am you're on I just really only have a statement um I we have your name and address for the record please sorry Kelly Finley hyen vul 32 Woodridge Avenue um want to thank everybody for listening about the shelter um and the good times um but I just want to know would the council commit to meet with the rescue group within the 20 days before the they must vote on the petition to hear out the group that is willing to help out um they have all the numbers um they've done their due diligence um I'm not looking actually for an answer but I would like for you guys to consider at least meeting and um you know maybe come to a peaceful resolution um that's it thanks Carlos amansar win hams I got to say I'm a little bit prouder first and foremost I don't like that you said Jack Daniel do you know that's responsible for most of the death in our town DWI do you know that a police officer just got awarded an award for most dwir in our town that creates the most death in our town ask your son personally now yes so now sir do you know son I know almost everybody in this house sir my son my son is is a person that you've had experience with like I said sir thewi is the worst alcohol is the worst in our street because it leads to harm drugs alcohol leads to drugs cocaine crack you know why because after you get your little drinks that's the that's what you take I live in the hood remember that now ready oh so you should come to my house never had a an alcohol related accident no I town is known for I'm 37 not me no no never Happ well sirry you should be more involved in that town now let's leave it like that because you're leaving and we need our town to open our mind we're moving forward we cannot be behind South ton River they taking all that tax we could put that tax to where your wife is working we got a 9 point something increase our taxes right we don't support that my wife doesn't support that I know she doesn't yeah but well that's what I'm saying I don't support that I know but that's what I'm saying we should be working towards that so we can put that money because my son starts school next year he's a special as student I want to make sure that my son has the education that everybody at the other side of the island have so I want you to work for this side of town too not just side your side T rivor because you guys are here not just for one side you guys are here for t rivor and if this is what's going to happen guys I got a pair of gloves I wanted to put it up and I get my grandpa because we need to move forward guys it's the end of the year half of the Year already I want to know what you guys going to do educational wise mayor on the property downtown I agree we needed to buy it before somebody else did it's a nice property plus I know something else that is going around there as well but now I believe you guys got to work together because you guys looking over here like crazy crazy and I know you guys a good team I know we can make a lot of money together we just got to remember this is 2024 not 1800 sir and I don't approve of the Jack Daniel um just Tony just one second folks I know I said that Carlos was the last speaker is there any objection to give tony two minutes all right Tony you're on uh Tony rivy 1850 Hooper Avenue um I just want to say cannabis creates a big problem for bar owners we have somebody have a drink they go outside they think they can smoke weed and they come back in and they're stumbling all over the place so thank you for that it creates a big problem for us they don't like to hear that but that's the facts I'm there seven days a week in my business for the past 14 years and that's just a big problem Dan I have a little advice for you the animal shelter my my both my grand Sons play hockey at the ice Rank and before you took over it was dumpy and I told you since you took over the ice rank is great cleaned up did a good job I think you could do the same thing with the animal shelter I think if you put the right people in place if you can do it but you do know you do know you're saying about putting the right people in place the county has an extensive system they have all kinds of Outreach I don't hear about anybody protesting at the count County cuz they do a great job they Place animals they have a very low kill rate great Outreach they bring in a vet we're going to upgrade the facility they have the resources they have the Personnel they have the expertise so it's much much easier like you're a businessman you know you you can't you know you can't make everything right certain things you you find somebody who does it better and and then you you you take that product and you sell it yourself and it's the same concept you you know sometimes it's just not worth us being in a business if someone else is willing to do it for free I mean that that's the end of the day the end of the day is they do a better job they do a better job but you see every time we go to speak we have these activists yell out it's it's not only here in Tom's over it's all over the country no one gets an opportunity to give their side when when when people yell out and scream out and see what I mean yelling shut up and it's it's everywhere but but anyway what I'm saying to you is it's going to save Us close to a million dollar a year they're going to do a better job and everyone in this room that owns a home is paying property taxes and a good piece of that is County property taxes so if we're already paying and they're willing to take it over man and do a better job ma'am stop see that's what I mean Tony I Tony anytime you want to talk we can talk but as long as there activists like this that scream out it it's there's very little reason for me to to to respond um like I said I I'll be here after the meeting if you want to talk I I can't say what the county would do but I know with my experience with the ice rink I think you could do a great job with it too and it's a personal issue it seems like it's really personal in this town and people are passionate about it I'm just saying maybe you should just think about it a little bit that's all that's all I'm saying thanks Tony thank you and thank you guys appreciate it than okay like to have a motion to close the public close public all in favor I motion to adjourn the meeting make that motion second all in favor I