the meeting back to order obviously we had a technicality or technical issue here Zoom bombed I guess what it's called so we apologize for that we're gonna ask Nicole to do a brief statement for us that what we how we'll handle this in the future sure for for the future meetings we're going to prepare a statement that will say that in the event of a technical difficulty of any kind where we are unable to um continue the meeting online we will be continuing the meeting in person and that the best way to assure your um way to publicly comment would be to attend the meeting in person we don't anticipate any other issues but just in case there are um we wanted to make that clear I think for this evening we are we have identified certain issues that were um that we had that allowed for the disruption um we are not permitting those particular individuals back in if there's anybody out there that does wish to comment and would like to do so we will certainly attempt to let those people into the meeting um however we can't guarantee that at this time thank you all right with that we're talking about the resolution bringing um Nicole and her firm in as our solicitor I need a motion to adopt resolution 2024 d001 motion to adopt resolution 2024 d001 second roll call please commissioner Kel yes commissioner Mento yes mayor langria yes welcome aboard I think I was trying to thank was Mark nead for his work for the last year that's what you doing um so he did a great job for us uh we wish him well yeah I had a conversation with him I I don't do things without letting people know that we're making a change and he was very appreciative of the the chance we gave him here and and you know I told him if we needed backup or or conflict conflicting attorneys we'd certainly reach out so great U it was very understanding so um no we don't need to appoint one we can go out to one as we need that I asked Tom that and that was the recommendation I think Nicole even agreed with that so yep all right so moving on this will be our Workshop um wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year this is our first meeting of the year uh we look forward to 2024 everybody safe happy and healthy um a couple things that I missed at our our December meeting uh Jim tuy and his group on Troy Avenue had a phenomenal event right before Christmas was like fun um they set up a Christmas carol play on four neighbors porches and they had actors come in and portray different characters of the Christmas carol how about that they had a snow machine at the end they had lights sound it was it was fantastic there had to be 150 200 people there nice just mulling around the sidewalks and little bit in the streets but so we might have to do something with that but I want I told Jim I would I would mention this and it was all on his own does it him and his neighbors get together and hot chocolate stuff for the kids andot and different it was it was it was so much fun so I I said need to make sure I know about this next year a lot of fun yes we do uh actually miss commissioner Mento mentioned our the water fountain group The the veter fountain friends um if you get a chance go by there um they have lit it up for its 100th birthday right um Dawn Barb and Dave and their crew have gone out there assisted from Public Works to decorate the fountain to celebrate its 100 years it's 100 years actually last year but we we had it decorated right at the end of the year so there is an effort by that group The ventor Fountain friends to refurbish that or replace it I should say it's gone past being refurbished uh they've been working on it you see them at all our City events they're raising funds to do that work um the city has partnered with them we will do everything outside the fountain right uh the pumps the electric and everything else around sidewalks and what we have to do but they're going to raise money to renew that Fountain so it's a great effort yeah they're at the the the farmers market and um and I think they're getting a great ground swell of support yeah slowly but surely yeah they're at every event they were at the um I think they were at the parade they were at the uh the U Arts Festival that we had the same weekend so look forward to seeing them around um Kudos is also to commissioner Kel and his crew at the Viking Rowing Club oh yeah did you want to talk about that at all but I mean fantastic night um so they partnered with vendor Square Theater to show the boys in the boat which is a 1936 um movie about a 1936 University Washington crew team that ended up going to the Olympics I don't want to ruin everything who haven't seen the movie yet but um did a fundraiser for the Viking Foundation through foundation and our theater in ventner was the only theater in vent Square Group which is five theaters that had the movie playing so everybody came here to watch it it was packed House dinner was was fantastic yeah it was a really great night to see that to to honor the crew started in South Jersey here with with Doc Holland Stan Birdman and um Bob garbett and all those guys I mean you you can talk about it better than I can it was just a great night you did you really recapped it and I'll just add that that um reinforce it the you know boy rowing this is the heart of it we had when I was a kid there was just us and spirit that we would pass in the bay and barely see each other because we were at different parts of the bay but now when it's grown to our club The Viking Rowing Club hosts Mainland and other schools we host colleges we host we try to have a Riata we group together as Masters and go every weekend to Philadelphia or sometimes float get a boat Up To Boston so it's it's become because there's Generations now yeah of people that have rode through high school that come back and give to the club and and then but it was a great night for uh just to recognize some of the some of the old leaders that we if you're if you were if you're rowing in this community these are the men to thank J coach Bergman coach garbett uh uh uh and and some of Bill subin Bill sub and U and Ray Deo these St Al stall these are the guys that kind of spread out the the the sport to make get um something really special in the area and then we all got to have dinner drinks and watch the movie together so it was complete win fun to watch some of the reactions of of the coaches yeah watching that so it was a lot of fun um and then today I about three o'clock anybody notice all the Jets buzzing around yeah like we had our own personal Air Show here I was I want to call the commander out there and thank them for you know all the the f-16s buzzing around um all right that's all I have for announ Ann Ms um no presentations tonight we don't have any department head reports no Capital discussion just yet uh the following items are scheduled for Action at our meeting tonight commission meeting will go through them uh and discuss them before we vote on them later in the meeting so tonight we'll have three minutes regular meetings October 12th 26th and then November 9th um I was not present for the 12th and commissioner Kel was not here for the November 9th meeting so we'll we'll adopt those minutes we'll have uh two ordinance introductions ordinance 20241 is the calendar year ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation and to establish a cap bank it's one of the ones I was going to read from here so from that resolution the city of veter uh finds it advisable and necessary to increase the the current year 2023 budget up by 3.5% over the previous year's final Appropriations in the interest of promoting the health safety and Welfare of the citizens uh determines at a 1% increase in the budget for said year amounting to $263,200 C in excess of the increase final Appropriations otherwise permitted by the local government cap we're gonna take that into our our cap bank so it's something we do pretty much every year I'm thinking everybody else does it every year so pile it there I wanted to read that because that's detail it's important all right um so introduce that ordinance the second ordinance introduction will be 202 24-2 which is chapter 14 vehicles and traffic part two uh article 8 now Article 13 meter schedules and again I'm going to read right from this our our staff action here to be consistent with other Beach block and Southside locations the ordinance needs to be modified the beach block and Newport Avenue removed from the year round section uh we enforce the other metered Beach blocks suffle Somerset uh New Haven as well as Mars and place seasonal only or in season only so we're going to do the same we do on the other ones is pull them out so clean that up so that's that makes sense I think I guess it was chief that that caught that in there yep good work by him then we're going to do 40 plus resolutions all by consent we're going to do all these except number 17 um so the first one we have is resolution 2024 002 and that is uh hiring or appointing blay Don hu and Weinberg as our Labor Relations Council not to exceed $330,000 and that is part of our consolidation of services with Nicole's firm any questions there no right next resolution is 2023 Z3 and that is appointing Ford Scott Associates as our auditor not to exceed $64,000 and we're we're continuing with them they've been our auditor I think since we've been in office office and even before so they do a great job for great job questions there we're good yep resolution uh 2 202 24-4 is uh appointing our professional service contract for a planning a grant consultant and Jim Rella not to exceed $60,000 to note most of those costs are covered by the grants that we receive there are some that we pay for but most of that goes through the grants yeah successful it's a it's it's a great deal yep resolution 20245 is appointing Hank roard as general tax Council not to exceed $100,000 I will note that there was an increase in his hourly rate in that at that time for this year um I did discuss that with him and and I thought it was a fair increase and I think Tom you made sure these guys were good with that ahead of time yeah did right I'm not sure that I would say they were okay with it but well we'll find out the vote all right um any questions do you have any questions on that or no no I think we discussed it I'm okay with it Okay resolution 202 24- Z6 is appointing Archer and grinder as Bond Council not to exceed $10,000 you good there yes resolution 007 Joel flan as uh NJIT financing Bond Council not to exceed $10,000 good there and that's our environment Al funding that he assists us with resolution 008 George R Brown is Appraiser for State Tax Court not to exceed $5,000 I'm just going to go through these if there questions just bring them up yeah 009 is continuing professional contract with human resources personnel consultant and Cynthia cotton she's been a godson I think where you you and Beth found her yeah um and or Lisa that were good she was she was a great great find uh resolution 010 is uh accorting insurance agencies Inc Jean syracusa at as Risk Management Consultant with our GIF 011 is professional benefit Consultants health insurance broker not to exceed $12,000 that's Terry Flynn's company 012 is authorizing the taxes to handle appeals 013 get to this one hold on one second is authorizing Public Employee bonds it's necessary for public officials to provide performance bonds for the faithful performance of their services all the years while employed for municipality and it's something we do we do this every year it's just something that some employees need to be bonded yep we take care of that no questions there so 014 is Professional Services contract for police training to the Rogers Group LLC not to exceed $1,313 it's a very specific yes it is um resolution 1015 is um medical surveillance program for firefighters police Public Works it's for physical exams for right our staff 1016 is execute an agreement with emergency training and Consulting not to exceed $2,200 we're good there we're pulling 017 to get some more information on that we'll get back to that our next meeting 018 is Atlanta County Utilities Authority in the city of vard or digital media Consulting Sarah does an excellent job for us she's very reactive uh to our needs and getting stuff out there quickly um she does a great job for us that's a good partnership and share Services she is very professional very very ccin then you give her a small amount of Direction and she comes back and always exceeds your expectations yeah and you guys remember she was the girl dressed up in the recycling cany remember that I I try to remind her that she doesn't do it anymore she got she got a promotion did you did that oh we gotta bring we need pictures we need photographs of that I don't think you no she's really a great resource 019 is uh setting our 2024 commissioner meeting schedule y 020 is Rules of Order and conduct I want to just touch base on a couple of those I think they're they're standard we we've did them we've done these the last couple years right that seem to recall the rules of during these meetings public interaction that just set some param in there so okay all right three minute rule that kind of thing three minute rule they have to speak through the the mayor it's not back and forth something like that so we haven't had that issue lately but no we haven't all right we're done there we're done there see 021 is official newspapers uh we've got the AC press Finland Daily Journal Courier Post Atlantic County record Hamington news Mainland Journal and the nework nework Star Ledger as the newspapers adopt a temporary budget Amy is there anything on here that we need to to go through it's the amount of temporary appropriation amount of 9, 80072 7 8723 1568 nothing that carries us through to uh probably through March March when we do the budgets yeah and resolution 02 three is self-examination of the 2024 Municipal budget that's something again we do every year that's consistent and we're allowed to do that because of the um one report we submit yes I can we can do that because of the one report we submit where we've met to do our our um that right self-examination of our Municipal budget yeah the board of local finance a cycle of every three years yeah ass self-examination yeah I was thinking about that one report where you have to answer do you do this do you do that I think that's the one we have to do every three years that qualifies us for this pres no the best practices checklist is not part of this not okay no the state reviews everybody's Budget on a threee cycle so for a couple of years got it as long as you qualify you do self-examination don't need their approval to adopt okay that's corre good clarification um 024 is New Jersey or designating Bank depositories um do I need to read those into the record or they're in the resolution all right they're in the resolution 025 is reappointing class three member to the planning board that's commissioner creel Y for the year of 2024 you want to take that Penance again it's another meetings a month I enjoy it it does it look we get to see what's what's happening in the city yeah yeah it's yeah it's really good board it uh next one is 026 um appointing the planning board for the year of 2024 and the new the members that are being re reappointed is myself as mayor um Tom halin Wendy Bartlett and Jessica stilly Wendy is alternate number three and Jessica is alternate number four and Tom is our um he's a for full member he's also our fire inspector which is nice to have on the board um 027 is appointing police custodian of Records we're appointing police chief Joe fussner is that custodian comment I don't know if you saw my comment Tom but if this includes Personnel records you should also be on here as I was allows you to get access to Personnel records because they're not stored in the clerk's office like other Personnel records and prior resolution I was on it with the chief you're not I'm saying you should be no it says City administrator oh I didn't see the city administrator Jo police chief and City administrat and the city administrator sorry I missed that I should have read that too I'm sorry I didn't see that at all Tom add another job to your title I oh and the city administrator oh gee okay never mind that's good just okay so we're good there uh 028 is appointing Lisa Han as public agency compliance officer is that okay Lisa sure 029 charge interest on any uh authorizing tax collector to charge interest on any delinquent taxes after the due date for the payment of the same and 10day grace period this is the grace period that we we kind of Grant each year 030 um authorizing the tax collector to process property and or tax refund and cancellation of a refund or delinquency of less than $10 I think that's we do that every year as well 031 is appointing uh fund is it the fund commissioner and Alternate Joe I nelli and Jim pacanowski pardon me drink resolution 032 is oring the contact person that'll be Lisa and Tom two two people correct correct thank you yes there two people Lisa and Tom they contact people for our joint Insurance Fund that's again standard practice 033 is appointing a gif safety coordinator and Donna Peterson 034 is appointing the team advisory committee I don't believe there's any changes in that so I'm not going to read all those names U same with 035 which is the 2024 Municipal Alliance committee same members uh 036 is appointing members of the city Venter creative team veter Arts Alliance again I don't think there's any changes there they're in the res those names are in the resolution 037 adopting a wellness policy uh in the city of ventner and again to give kudos to somebody who does that for us and sorry in the finance department she does great she keeps us on her toes does a great job and and keeps people interested with different things and and somewhat harasses you to P participate in some of these things it's good it's good sometimes I need reminders that's right do those sit-ups right um 038 is adopting a cash management plan again we do that every year for 2024 we're doing it again 039 is authorizing disposal of surplus proper there's bunch of equipment that is beyond its useful life to us and we have to do it by resolution to sell at that auction and that list is also in the resolution some dumb trucks trucks Mar want yeah right two of them 04 Z waiver of fees for the application of special events for city sponsored events instead of paying ourselves to host events Yeah Tim are there any new ones on here no this is the not not to my knowledge I think there's it's all the same things marshmallow roasts and uh yeah and even some of the nonprofits there's one that like the heart surfing it's one that jumped out to me that we that we participate in yeah vendor pickle ball um tournament right so that that kind of stuff we wave those fees then we have two additional resolutions Surf Rider that we're adding from the bench and that's 041 which is is appointing NW Financial Group LLC as our continuing as our disclosure agent not to exceed $1,500 and then uh also appointing or 042 is appointing NW Financial Group as Municipal Finance advisor of record not to exceed $10,000 we're good with all them yes that was a lot that was a lot good job sorry getting through it sorry it took so long but I think there's some of things in there that I wanted to get some details it's good and do that then we'll have bills and payroll approvals any discussion items I didn't see any other than with none than I am aware of okay anything from you guys to add no all right this is our first public portion we'll have a public portion on anything that we've discussed so far that's on the agenda I don't see anybody in the audience so I'll go to zoom Jim is there anybody raising their hand in our Zoom meeting no there's no one on zoomed okay all right so we'll close the public portion on that and I'll need a motion to close the workshop and move into our regular meeting motion to close workshop and move into regular meetings second okay uh all in favor I I I'll call to order our regular portion of our hearing and we will look to adopt the minutes from our October 12th 2023 regular meeting need a motion motion to approve minutes of October 12 2023 second uh roll call please commissioner Creo yes commissioner Mento yes mayor langria abstain I need a motion to adopt our October 26th regular meeting motion to approve October 26 minutes second roll call please commissioner creel yes commissioner Mento yes mayor langre yes need a motion to adopt our November 9th regular meeting minutes motion to approve November 9th regular meeting minutes oh wait a minute you have to abstain you need to make the motion make motion I second roll call please commissioner Kel abstain commissioner Mento yes mayor LR yes okay the first ordinance introduction is ordinance 202 24- z001 is to exceed the municipal budget and create and establish a cap Bank need a motion please motion to approve ordinance 2024 d001 second roll call please commissioner kille yes commissioner Mento yes mayor langre yes okay I need a motion to adopt or or introduce ordinance 202 24-2 it's the parking ordinance to bring the beach block uh meters into compliance with all the other areas yep motion to introduce ordinance 2024 d002 as described second roll call please commissioner Kel yes commissioner Mento yes mayor langra yes okay we're GNA adopt these resolutions from 2024 002 through 0042 except 17 they get the right numbers yes yes need a motion to adopt those by consent motion to adopt resolutions as described by consent second roll call please commissioner Kel yes commissioner mentel yes mayor langria yes okay we have bills and payroll Amy you have those for us payables for this period $375,500 okay I need a motion please motion to approve bills and payroll as described and I'll second but I recuse myself from JPM 23- 01084 okay roll call please commissioner Kel yes commissioner mentel yes mayor langre yes announcements and safety report that's on the agenda uh commissioner comments and reports I kind of did mine at the beginning I don't really have too much more other than that I will say the storm that's coming up this weekend uh it's going to be rain uh down here this one is not going to be the heavy hitter apparently Tuesday we'll have the make sure Public Works is ready with with our cleaning out some things it's going to be more of a heavier nor Easter winds three inches of rain possible so streets we're going to have those issues again so um just be aware of that coming up this weekend we're going to get rain on Saturday and then Tuesday Wednesday is the bigger of the storms still rain right for us title issues because the moon's I think it's a new moon yeah so that's all I have you have anything yeah I know our finance office and our um tax offices are um preparing for year end doing all the things that come with that in the various entries and then we had a um tax sale an online tax sale on 1220 and um letters were sent out to those that in prior to remind them and let them know that they were going to go to tax sale and um there are 14 account sold at the tax sale and it generated about 65,000 okay all right Mr I had a uh just a few I'd like to share from the annual few details and numbers I'd like to share from the annual report from the fire department I expect the police um coming soon I want share them all but I I I apologize but these kinds of this kind of data kind of is interesting to me when you uh so I'll just share some of the highlights um response totals for 2023 our highest monthly totals were in June and July no surprise there but it puts us at 284 and 316 respectively per month in those months um a total of just about 3,000 for the year so we float around 200 250 per month responses um and um a 15-year comparison and these are just the highlights you guys could get a copy of this abely um a 15-year comparison of our responses shows that we're average almost the entire time of 15 years about nine calls per day so that's so it stay the same yeah 15 years which is kind of interesting I mean it goes It Go it went up it went up during Sandy it dropped a little but we're we float from 9 .8 9.2 9.9 9.1 9.2 those kinds of averages um so it stayed uh roughly the same it don't and it looks like the categories have stayed roughly the same as well fire response service response EMS response and total response so those percentages have stayed about the same as well uh EMS is always the highest um we live on near Venter Avenue we know yeah I know you can hear them I turn on the radio if it's a any or you can usually hear anyway um so members uh also training uh a tremendous amount of training I think this is to to to Chief kill's credit total of 2,900 hours of training in various things um from uh Homeland Security fire academy courses emergency medical technician course recertification courses um and other just general safety courses so that's a lot of hours of training um uh and there's there's a lot of good data in here shows that our we got a pretty good distribution of age of the majority of our firefighters are between 30 and 39 um and um and that uh a large percentage is the ambulance the EMS 23% is EMS of the entire package so these are the kinds of things that we we know and it's just good to know the complexion of the responses that our departments go through good good report I I read skim through a little bit I'll go more detail thanks for the the high level stuff that was good to hear yeah um I don't I don't have anything else we we have two major construction projects going on on on Monmouth Avenue and over on Lafayette they're continuing moving forward um hopefully they'll be done in the next 30 to 45 days so the water water line Replacements yeah at the Viking event they were Thanking us for the the quality of work and the the apparently the that on Mammoth Avenue they said that a couple people live on that street said that the the you know contractors contractors doing diligence good Contractors Lafayette their local company feraz a local company yeah so they're all they and they do a lot of work on the island so good that's good to hear I did hear a couple comments from right there just it is nice to hear yeah um that's all I have so we're good um we'll open it up to public comment uh there's no one again here in the room Jim is there anybody that joined back into Zoom no okay so with no public comment we'll close that portion no executive session and we're ready to adjourn any anything else nope all right motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second all in favor I all right