uh col call orders City ventor Commission meeting June 27th 2024 Jim if you allow everybody in anybody in the zoom I just okay thank you uh okay today is our commission meeting uh for those of you on Zoom um we work workshop agenda um and U starting with the flag salute the United States of America stands Nation andice all Leisa roll call please commissioner langra here commissioner Mento here mayor Kel here uh Lisa would you read the open public meetings announcement pursuant to the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting has been provided the agenda has been posted in City Hall and on the city's website uh would you also read the uh live streaming notice the city of venor offers live streaming and the option of public comment via remote access public who participat remotely will be muted during the commission meeting accept the public comment portions of the meeting any person attempting to disrupt the meeting may be denied access at the discretion of the city in the event remote access is unavailable due to technology malfunction or any other reason beyond the city's control the city will not pause or stop the live meeting City commission meetings are held in person and the public is welcome to attend the best way to ensure that an individual's ability to publicly comment is to attend in person so that the comments may be made in the event of a technology malfunction the reserves the right to discontinue offering public comment via remote access at the discretion for any future meetings Thank you Lisa so just to reiterate this is our Workshop meeting we go through our Workshop agenda first which is basically the same as our regular meeting and then uh that allows us as a commission to discuss um some of these items in an open forum and then at the end there's time for uh public por public comment on Zoom or in person on those particular items and then any item at the end of the at the end of the meeting all right so uh starting with this agenda um there are no presentations there are no department head reports there is no Capital discussion today uh following items are scheduled for Action during the regular portion of the meeting um following this Workshop meeting uh there are no minutes to adopt and there are no ordinance IND introductions today there is also there are also no ordinance public hearings for adoption um but there are a number of resolutions uh to approved by consent um so throughout this if uh either of you have um Commissioners have any questions or comments on them I'll go through them and just please interrupt me uh for any comments so first is a resolution 2024-the uh resolution that we do for all of our events it just allows the police department to uh to restrict parking for certain streets when there are events any questions on that nope um item 198 is refund of of volleyball league overpayments uh any uh item 199 is a refund of pickle ball membership fee um item one item 200 rejects bid received for the construction and Bandshell and authorizes rebid so we had a meeting with the architect um buiness administrator uh uh we discussed uh redesigning the the the foundation removing some of the structural concrete and adding some other details that would be cost savings measures to bring it more into a realistic mod than the the bids that we received for the band we hope we hope we hope so uh yeah things are things are expensive all over um so that will be going out to rebid we're waiting on the redesign for that um items one 2011 through 20 one thing on that we did not anticipate that delaying the construction right we were anticipating construction starting in September we still anticipate that so winter time it'll be constructed so as as planned the temporary stage will work work through the summer season and this um new redesign with some tweaks um uh we did some brainstorming on those um but as you say we're we're keeping the we're keeping the track of timeline all right any other questions um resolutions 201 through 204 are the remainder of our liquor license renewals throughout the city these are existing liquor licenses um that are just up for Renewal so they pay a fee and we memorialize the renewal 205 authorizes seasonal and part-time employment this is mostly um the rec department so these are counselors um we have a huge lineup of uh of uh camps um and I want to thank um the rec department for working so hard to get the surf camp which is totally sold out getting that re re remand but there's a there's a huge amount of camps from CSI to to volleyball this Sumer so we and the sports camp which is always packed so we were able to get instructor instructors for and uh counselors and assistant C surf camp yes that was an issue was yeah yep so the surf camp is up and running and G to be U it was all sold out already so are struct with anybody returning um we're running it through uh one of the um one of the Sean McGill from the F to ask that and I believe there are some other yeah okay thank for him returning so um item 206 authorizes interm Fire official while Jose Joseph AA Elli um while Tom is away uh item 207 authorizes the uh authorized refund of tax overpayment and there will be two resolutions that are added 208 approves uh settlement litigation of uh with Camden County Nicole do you want to mention anything on that sure that's a an improvement approving a settlement agreement um with Hamden County for a matter in which the city has hired a police officer that was trained through the Camden County um program um the officer is still working with us and working out well um under the statute if we have that officer come to our uh City within a certain amount of time after they were trained by another entity we would compensate them for the training cost for that officer so it's pretty routine it's required by the statute and that's what that's approving right right so once this is approved the um County will withdraw the litigation will be settled yeah and the officer is working out well he's been um yes they they are CH very happy and proud to have him so that's a that's a the monetary return to City of am County 209 approves his hiring of seasonal lifeguards um there's any uh questions on that any of the others that we've mentioned so far nope no all right um so uh we'll have approval of bills and payroll uh if there are any discussion items I have none and then we will um we can open to public comment for items that we have discussed so far that is there any is there can I have a motion to open for public comments on any items that we've discussed so far in the workshop so moved and second least a roll call please commissioner langra yes commissioner men yes mayor Kel yes comments on items we talked about so far uh any comments from items we talked about so far on Zoom Jim anybody on Zoom who wishes to or comment any of the items that have been uh spoken about or will be voted on please make yourself known within Zoom by raising your hand or within the chat feature and you will be recognized see none have a motion to close public comment make the motion second roll call Lisa commissioner langra yes commissioner Mento yes mayor Creo I'd like to call to Yes I'd like to call to order a regular portion of the meeting uh we have no uh as I said before we have uh no approval of minutes no ordinances introductions uh we have uh no public hearings uh there are uh public hearings that are pushed to June 11th uh because the Press failed to publish them uh ordinances if anyone's interested are 2024 14 15 16 and 17 mayor just be clear it's July 11 July 11th I sorry I said June thank you um so uh there are no ordinance adoptions and I have a motion to adopt by consent resolutions 20241 197 to 2024 207 including the 209 209 just um heads up nette Galloway just texted she can't get into the meeting oh Jim could you uh check and see if Nanette is in the waiting room she's not in the waiting room she's in the meeting her name is on on [Music] there all right on that motion to Mayor I'm I'm sorry to interrupt again but want to record just be clear it's resolutions 2024 187 through 209 through 209 we added to so motion to adopt resolutions 20271 202 24-1 197 through 202 24-29 I'll make the motion to adopt those resolutions by consent can I have a second second Lea may have a roll call commissioner langra yes commissioner Mento yes mayor Kel yes okay is uh do you have the I do not here Lisa do you have H can you read into the record bills and payroll of course so the bills for this meeting are 1,948 5.96 payroll for this meeting is June 9th 2024 through June 22nd 2024 6917 589 I have a motion to approve bills and payroll please I'll make a motion to approve the bills and payroll as noted I have second I second and I am recusing myself also from 24- 01411 payment to Aca for water testing okay as noted Lisa M roll call please commissioner langra yes commissioner Mento yes with recusal mayor creel yes we Have No announcements or safety report today uh commissioner comments do we have any comments commissioner Mento yeah yes um well pretty much in the Departments of finance and tax it's business as usual those offices just pump out the work morning and night um there's not nothing new that really happens in there other than you know the business of the city um however we did have a bond sale last week and um we had uh interests from Seven banks for the seven bid two on notes and two on the bonds so we had a bond sale for notes and on bonds um the pricing as indicated by our fa was very good and competitive and uh aggressive and um I think uh Tom you have some specific numbers maybe you want to go over in front of you I do the bonds for the recover with an interest rate of 3.26 uh the ordinance is that that b were ordinance 2020-24 which was General improvements for 4 and A5 million 2021 d006 which is water and sewer improvements that was 3,525 th000 in ordinance 2022 [Music] d0 also Ur approv is for 14 75,000 or a total of 95 million that was the bond sale uh there was also Bond anticipation node sale which are maturing uh and TV Securities were two biders of one is the winning bid at 3.73 7883 and they Carri out that many dment points because TV security you'll see was at 3.7 4595 so very close uh it was 13, 400,000 in genu improvements 3 million in water in SE improvements for a total of 16, 400,000 again those are Bond anticipation notes that mature in one year and we'll be back next year Rolling that over and probably going to per financing of the bond sale and some of it those that's the results of the sales now that follows the rating that we got and we spoke about at the last meeting from standard and pores where our bond rating is double A and the were at the standard highest rating yeah we have an excellent rating yes and it stems from you know good management mostly good management from from 2016 right you guys came into office yeah I mean the the the commission land grass departments take the the to end up taking the majority of those money his projects and Public Works are the ones that have most costly the most costly but every Department benefits from the ability to to borrow money at a favorable rate which is this is a very favorable rate if you look at the market case today and these these these these go for Capital Improvements for new ambulances new uh uh you know the police department has various improvements that they have to make to their physical plant there there's a there's a wide variety of of places where this money um gets used and gets used um carefully including in the ground right Lance things you don't see but we bury a lot of that pipes pipes and more pipes yeah keep the city running it's important yeah bunch of it's goingon to go to Recreation we had sson and I met today at the basketball court talk about how we're going to redo that um it's in need of some work he's got some ideas maybe save us some money when he and I met after we left UT Tom um might just need resurface it depending we're going to do some core samples see what's underneath midle the top and see what we got so yeah and one of the things I think the rating um the FAS did for us is they sent us a list of all the sales in the area and um we did well you it's sort of a a way to compare yourself you know to others and and see that we got a fair right um that actually came through Alexis baton or Bond Council from Archer and grer and I think she got that information from Phoenix advisers yep okay yep do you have any I have a couple things um Beach replenishment project we had a call today with the Army Corp and the d uh it's moving forward they're getting ready to put the project out to bid the one hiccup is that they want to replace the crossover at New Haven Avenue with a wooden ramp it's wooden now but it's failing we've we've actually just spend about $20,000 um that's a main access point for us as well as the Army Corps when they come into town to do the replenishment we've asked them to replace that like they did at sokk with a concrete ramp there's some push back there they are going to change their bid to put in a concrete lamp it may be an add alternate because of the cost um we're going to see that our structural engineer um butar is preparing the specs for that for trying to save time we're trying to get it on on their SCH um I did get a letter of support requesting that from uh Congressman van Drew saw that we sent that out to the Army Corps and they're in receipt of that if the money's not there they're not gonna be able to do it but at least they're trying it would be very helpful to us and them if they were able to put a concrete ramp in there right it's just dollars well looking forward to the the beach replenishment that's an access point for heavy equipment right yes right now they use Suffolk and if they can get it under the pier at low tide it's fine it's not they have to go to Margate and bring it all the way up right so that's problematic in their interest as well it is and the wooden ramp is just doesn't it's less costly now and Ed give a perfect description he used a kind of a bar graph to to show us you know it's very cheap now to put it in but maintenance of it after two or three years goes extremely high right um concrete it's high at the front there is no maintenance it's done you clean it sweep it power wash it whatever so um so that's on the beach replenishment still on schedule for the fall very much depending on federal funding um the numbers that they've got so far for other replenishment projects have been extremely high exceeding the amount of money that was allocated for that replenishment so hopefully those numbers come in a little bit more competitively um couple things on offshore wind we received notification from the FAA that they are conducting an aeronautical study concerning the following paraphrase wind turbines uh they exceed by significant number of feet the structure described above exceeds obstruction standards to be eligible for consideration comments must be received before July 13 so they are looking at how high these structures are you would have thought they would have done that already U we also got a letter from the mayor britin vinera Thanking us as a governing body for supporting his effort and all of our efforts um in opposing offshore wind um and trying to get and the county is now backing this as well backing our U opposition to the offshore wind project so and again we say this every time if we can find a better alternative energy source we're there right this just is way too subsidized way too impactful to our communities um in a negative way uh and it's just it's going to cost us more and not what was originally presented cor not was originally presented and and honestly the the group of them the several hundred that were going to be off our shore has not been re represented yet but that lease is out there again yeah the state has put it out there again to rebid it so they will be nine miles off our beach if this goes through so that's and well you have four of them four or five over at ACA that's four or five six yeah not thousands the plan is to put these things all the way down our coast and they're at a sewer plane right and they're at a sewer plan yeah and there's nothing really no pretty around the um so that's it on the Wind offshore wind they did have a meeting yesterday talking about what's going through Atlantic City I did not attend that it's about the open space and the areas that they will be coming up in Parks they have to like we do with our open space and and um uh Green Acres land they have to purchase other land to do that because they're disturbing protected lands so they're going to have they're going to have difficult time get a diversion permit diversion permit right looking for that word um are you gonna talk about the concerts um uh go ahead no that's you par Beach yeah so coming up we have some concerts um this Saturday we have parot Beach playing at six o'clock at Newport Avenue food trucks entertainment that whole night um the movies the movie at jaws was shown uh last Monday was pretty cool yeah I got to go out there for the beginning of it again I think I said in an email we should have shown twister yeah because the wind was blowing about 40 miles an hour out there um good thing no bug right so was a good thing um about 200 people showed up so that's nice a lot of kids which I'm like kids this is a pretty scary movie when I remember that when I was 14 watching that thing but um it was a lot of fun and the next one is July 29th that'll be I want to go with a Christmas theme Christmas in July kind of thing and then there's one in August and it's um monoa I don't know that movie so it's a kids cartoon movie so July 3r we have Independence Day celebration on July 3rd which is Music veter Mile Fun Run and fireworks off the pier right so that's all I have I I'll just piggy back to say that the fourth after that is the peer will be open for public view so we we open up to the second gate um and allow people to watch the wargate fireworks from that location it's always a good night um and then uh and then of course tomorrow is the farmers market and every Friday at 8:30 uh near Newport Avenue um I did put out a kind of a PSA around biking and bike safety um there's a a bike I just want to reiterate that bikes are permitted on the boardwalk during daylight hours uh they're restricted on Saturday and Sunday between July 4th and Labor Day to 6:00 a.m. to 12: PM I think I think it uh our our city is a biking community and we we encourage alternate uses of Transportation because uh um parking is at a premium during the summer but bikers when you're on a ve when you're on a bike you are a vehicle so you need to follow the rules of the roadway which includes stopping at stop signs and red lights and going the right way down right oneway Road streets following the right side of the the roadway and those Provisions are there because bike because uh vehicles are not expecting you to be on the left side and um I've personally uh been in an accident where a vehicle where a bike um was traveling on the leftand side the vehicle fortunately no one was hurt but um it happens every year last year we had two pretty significant bike accidents where there were injuries and we hope to avoid any this summer so please use the uh and always wear I helmet please use the the bike ways safely and use our our bike Lanes safely and then last I have um uh a local uh student who is attending the College of New Jersey Maddie Sno was awarded $1,800 from the Atlantic City Education Foundation a scholarship that um looks to help um High School seniors and um uh that by um uh providing uh promoting overall well-being of Atlantic City's children so she's Atlantic City High School uh recent graduate uh that program is run by a family friend of ours who has been a uh Anne Rosenberg has been a school board member for decades since 1987 I think she's run this program very um very very proud of her and the work she does for Atlantic City students and in this case one of our uh our local kids one more thing yeah one more thing I am going to say what you you suggested Tom we had a um meeting with judge on our County or Central Municipal Court the County Central Municipal Court um went very well um we were working towards um resolving some of the problems we've had over the last few years with the Central minist Court R just really for you and and the public but um they've seem to have addressed a lot of our code issues with the code office PD is still working progress the chief was there and he was able to voice his concerns and judge B staff wrote those down and they're going to try and work towards fixing that um we still have and and bl was very honest with us he said look your presentation on how and this was Tom and the team that put it together along with ggan te to to merge with them was well done and it and it met all the parameters we could he will if we really want to he will approv that at some point down the road if we want to get out um he did say it's going to cost you more than what the County's doing um so we we said we would give it a try and see we can still finish these things you know we're always looking to try and save money and and it's a significant amount of money that we could save staying with the Municipal Court as long as we can get and it's not just our people it's not just code it's people that are being adjudicated they're having trouble getting through to the county court right or having trouble getting online or going to the meetings and or the the hearings so we want to make sure that our constituents and even visitors that have to deal with the court sorry to say you're dealing with them but you have to um that's what we're we're trying to make better and I think judge and I've know judge B for a long time he's very honest with us he said we have some things we can we need to fix and we think we can so it was a good meeting hour and 20 minutes long um so it was good yeah it sounds promising it did it really did as opposed to I'm glad the last few meetings we had they were you're not going you can't you got to do all these things we were able to do all those things yeah so we have the option I know we were really UPS when they wouldn't let us go to Brigantine but I think this gives time to flush everything out make sure that we're making the best decision one of the biggest things that will help them as as a central Municipal Court is the fact that the state passed a law that will allow the state police matters yeah that were coming out of a municipality who wasn't in the Central Court to go to the central forcing it to go to the Central Court right saving money for those other towns that weren't paying into the Central Court so when that comes out as of August 1 we'll start to see so they won't be going no they'll go back to their home municipalities so hamon is key there's a lot of those because they have the expressway um Galloway buo was a big buo was a big one bam was a big one because that's got you know does right um buun doesn't have their own Police Department right they use PD they use State Police about BBT them too BBT and bu yeah un Township is what we're really talking about both of those yeah so that's all I have sorry thanks Tom for reminding me that I think to that that we we're looking also at our ordinances and the way that the F structures are set up there's a lot of things that we have as a court appearance mandatory that could be made to uh for people to be able to plead online and pay a fine without having to go to court right that that will likely improve the efficiency even more to reduce the case load that the court has to deal with not to mention that it'll help with collections because frequently when people get uh summonses they don't go to Municipal it's more and more difficult for the courts to issue uh failure to appear warrants and those sorts of things so uh Nicole's going to be working on an ordinance that will be presented to you sometime in the future when you're to consider uh to make more things make less things Court maned PR yeah yeah I think you're pulling as many levers as you can and if you look at it from the over time we've taken we've already that you know the C the the county program was already a savings and now that they can and we I think we gave them until December to make to see where these State cases get adud get get drop and some of the other efficiencies come into play to see if it can be uh even more efficient but we but you know going from we've got options now that are more efficient and more cost save where where where and there's always going to be growing pains if there aren't growing pains and you're probably not doing something right you know yeah sounds like it was a very like there's there's some some light at the end of the yes agreed agreed all right so that does that cover commissioner comments I think so think so so I will uh ask for a motion to open for public comment um this meeting would be uh so motion open for public comment so moved have a second second roll call commissioner lram yes commissioner Mento yes mayor Kel yes so at this point we can open the floor to public comment for any matters of interest uh we ask you to come up to the microphone give your name and address for the record and um then we will we we we have two here in the uh in the in the chambers we can start with you folks if you if you'd like and then we'll move to zoom so this could be about anything from the color of the flowers we planted the micr there just have to give your name and address my name is Jessica Tolan I live at 108 South Portland Avenue okay and we had a question regarding the new lines that were drawn up for parking today um for example one of our neighbors it goes past her driveway right onto her grass rather than going at the end of her driveway across and we're just wondering how you decided where the endline would be because it's actually truly does affect her property right so this is a we can our business administrator can speak to it as well he did a he did a survey with our police chief and um the in general the the distance is 75 feet it was previously 100 so we kind of coordinate we we we we codified the um all the street ends to be um to be equal and in some cases um we adjusted I think on Portland Avenue there's a driveway that's new to a a a a PR a um a Pittsburgh facing home Princeton facing home that um we stopped it so it wouldn't interrupt the middle of that driveway but 75 fet is the sort of the the Citywide standard for an ordinance that has been on for decades unfortunately Portland and over the years um Portland wasn't included on that but we had to include all the streets in the entire city to have the same am I am I speaking basic wasn't done today they're not done yet they're gonna do them they're gonna do every street in this every street end in the city of ventner is going to be codified the same way I can give you a copy of the ordinance if you like um but it's a process where the painters are doing it and this has been something we've been working on unfortunately it comes right in the hills of probably the worst parking day of the year uh um which is the 4th of July weekend but um but it but we can't look at it as a uh we kind of have to we we we' working on this process for a while um and in in some cases um and it may seem as though you're losing some parking spaces but those parking spaces were actually illegal so the parking spaces that were on the opposite side of the street and the parking spaces that were on either side of the ramp were not necessarily legal and there's three reasons why we did this um one is obviously um access for emergency and um so uh emergency vehicles and and private Vehicles had were unable to make a turn they would have to go into someone's driveway to make a three-point turn to get out and that is really not conducive to Emergency Response um so those those are uh the unobstructed access for fire trucks and ambulances the other thing is Public Access so the parking is not is not allowed in that street end but drop off for for people to allow Public Access for public beaches uh is allowed so people will still be doing drop off and pickups in those those ranges but they're not allowed to park but now you have so many cars parking on the street having people going down turning around you're just creating a bottleneck well they were doing the same thing but there were cars parked there so now the the space is wider right it it's open but you're still going to have issues of people trying to get down and back up because now everyone who's on the street has to park and the little spaces that are left are going to be blocking their driveways there's not going to be a lot of openings and it's going to make it much more difficult especially for the residents who live there right so consistency is another thing so every street end including the high-rises and all every street from Fredericksburg to Jackson has the same requirement that there would be emergency you know the city city it's incumbent upon the city make sure that there's the the street is is is open for for safety access that's really the primary thing and and it wasn't and then the other the other thing is uh Public Access so they can make those turns and and the street is um and then consistency throughout the entire city it's the same it's the same condition Portland happens to be one of the more narrow streets because our city is an old city so it wasn't really designed for a lot of the SUVs and and and large vehicles that people have so this is in some way going to release some of that string but still left the parking space that people have been using at the End of the Street next to the pier they won't be able to do that anymore is it going to be a sign that goes up because Park told me that without a sign sign and there'll also be it says no parking with a big X but you mean on the other side of the ramp about on the sidewalk at the end on the sidewalk one of two cars that go up their park and because if their sign parkfor says they won't take it because that's no longer true yeah there'll be a there's an ordinance that says you can't park there with a big EX in that whole area says fire zone from the end of it all the way forward or at least no parking All the Way Forward Street I'm actually talking about the sidewalk no matter what yeah you're not allowed to park on the sidewalk it's public right away We'll advise those commiss mayor cre will advise those parking officers that no one can park on the sidewalk yeah and that that's anywhere if you have a driveway to call the driveway it's still extended the driveway the side they did it all last summer and nothing was done and and and that's part of the problem right because it wasn't very well marked and now part of our part of our because it wasn't it wasn't just your street no but I actually spoke to the parking authority the person giving the tickets everything he said he couldn't do anything because there was no no parking sign right and now there will be and that's part of this is that it's going to be consistent throughout the city there'll be signs that that allow him to enforce that kind of a thing and and I'm not saying it's going to be the sidewalk I understand so there's going to be signs on either side of the ramp and the sidewalk that there's no parking I'm G laugh this other stuff but I know that there's other people on that want to discuss the parking so I want to keep on the same topic before moving on a different topic sure I'll give the online people a chance to okay engage in that did you have something you have to give your name and for the record your add suggested you have to give your name and your address Ester 108 South Portland she's my daughter oh um so of the people suggested that the people who live on the street get a parking permit because now it's fewer parking spaces and actually not you haven't been able to park there people just been doing it not there but like one of the houses she lost a parking space because of how the line is drawn put yes and then one at the corner of the house with two garages they go into the street so there's no parking there are they but you put that new yellow angle there so nobody could walk there anyway what you're proposing is that we allow there's somebody said when she lived in l City they gave them uh permits so that you can park because as you said July 4th God help us on the street I don't know what's going to happen yeah but but but in January 4th there's not a problem so there for yeah I understand so um we can look at it there's a parking permits only in one section of the city that is in Atlantic City and that and that was really regarding the the the Jitney stop where there there's usually more traffic around that area that's the one area that um but they can be Pro they can be problematic as well I don't think that it makes sense to have at first blush to have parking permits on the beach block she just asked that I'd bring it up doesn't stop any so that's the other thing so parking is not a parking permit doesn't allow you doesn't stop someone from parking in that spot I understand that but if and with it you'd have to have restricted parking like a two-hour parking zone no um streets in Philadelphia if you don't have a par permit you don't park on the street you get tick of it you get toed right marget has that you can't park on the street marget has the entire block they don't allow parking on the block whatsoever but we we saying if everyone who lives on the street you must have a permit to park on the various streets to stop the the onslaught stop public from getting access to the beach that's why we don't do it yeah you said they're going down they dropping off and turning around still not park there still Park someplace else now right out the spot we're not going to prohibit the public from parking on public street so the so the unintended consequence is that now the people that live a block off the beach are now going to be inundated with those folks that are not able to park on your street so the the the the none of these parking spots are any individuals property they're the city's problem they're the the city's right open parks there I understand that but it seems that the way the line is drawn some people have lost access to even put their own car if they have two cars in front of their house well that partty is a public speed it's not their property it's not their spot okay it's a it's not as much as it and I get the same comment from my wife when she when she drives us home someone's in my spot it's not her it's not your spot gotta so it's it's may be in front of their house but um but there are there are many homes built in the 20s that don't have on street parking at all so that's the that's just kind of the it's kind of a a it's kind of a reality we all deal with right and before we go on thank you for opposing the Wind forms okay you're welcome thank you thanks I think we're agreeing on that James do we have anyone in the zoom loaded that would like to speak uh anyone raise their hand would like to speak first make give your name and address for the record please anybody on Zoom wish to speak please make yourself known by raising your hand or in the chat future no I'm not seeing anyone [Music] okay last chance um give the floor back to uh the tall ones if you'd like to say something else it's it's different topic okay we had a notice in the mail about lead in our pipes for drinking water so I'll kick that to commissioner gonna be done for four years say it again nothing's going to be done about it for four years so the lead levels that are in our water there's lead in all order are two parts per billion the threshold for the from the state the state DP drinking water rules are 15 parts per billion so they're extremely low that's that's the high we've ever had is two parts per billion we're actually I think the last reading was one and a half maybe even less than that so what the state has done we test our water every year I believe and Ernie um Gratz has to provide that up to the state our water is fine we have no issues with the water what the state has done on top of that is two years ago they required every municipality in the state to remove any lines that have led in them um we have old pipes in our in our community none of our Mains are lad but what happens is there's it's called we call a goose neck it's the interconnection between your house and the city water lines that may have some lead in that that joint so we have to go in and remove all of that what also has to be removed is galvanized pipe which isn't lead but under the state's definition they're considering it led so over the next 10 to 15 years the city will be coming in and removing all of those service lines everyone's home it's about a $65 million project that the C that the state is mandating on us as a municipality uh we are first in line because we saw this coming two years ago yeah um to get money from both the Environ the uh State EPA the federal EPA as well as there's a second group uh the ibank so to get loans and grants to help pay for this the first phase of this will start in the Heights Edgewater Avenue Sur souw in that area in the Heights right by the if you get off the bridge and go hard right that's the area we're going to start there um that it has to go back to each person's home and we're responsible to do that that's why it's a very expensive proposition but your water is is clean we send that letter out every year every time every year we test the water we have to show those results um the lead in the water is is extremely low um as I said kind of said don't drink your water that didn't come from us the letter did not say don't drink the water no your water is safe okay that that did that letter I read the letter I think I you signed it or I signed it got a it did not say don't drink the water no no it said be cous don't you use the hot water oh that was when flushing fire hydrants in your neighborhood yeah say that part though so I'd like to see that letter CU that's not from us yeah yeah you gave it to me someone sometimes when they flush fire hydrant you get a color in the water and you're supposed to let it run until it runs clear it's not still not a danger mention the fire Hy yeah if it's letter that we sent out it did not say anything about not drinking the water and that's not from the city if you would if you if you would share that with us we'd love to see it drop it off to the city clerk's office we'd love to see we give you a copy back and make a copy and give it back to you but yeah that' be great but the direct answer the real simple thing is your water safe it's some of the safest water in the county you can ask the water department to come test it for you as well you can ask you can call them and they will come out and test it for you at no charge um and the city is in a is in a is in a particularly good position financially that we've gotten ahead of this huge um expense to be in in those things that commissioner langra mentioned um to be prepared for this and it's already started so we're actually ahead of this in some cases in and what the rest of New Jersey and the country has to do because of what happened Flint Michigan and nework and where Newark and Newark nework was handing out bottled water to everybody they had had they had water issues with lead so the the that's what kind of started this whole process thanks for bringing it up I want to see the letter because it concerns me that that's something that's going out because that's not the letter that when Ernie is normally here he said oh there's nothing about water tonight I'm not gonna come sorry so you get my explanation instead of his curious to see because I suspect it may solicitation toing the WR service for you yeah American Water sends those out that's right yeah I would like to see there was one that came out from American Water American Water if you could drop a copy of that off to the city clerk's office that would be great love to see it warranties on yourip yeah yeah yeah you do and they look very official because we'll go after them for putting that out for our residents bring it in um next since you're redoing the concert space at the library is there a chance to move it so that it comes off the library directed at the beach the the thing moving the wires so that it's not affecting the people who live on either side and those on the beach can then hear it better and stay on the on the ocean side we can't move it to the beach not not move it to the beach but move it from being on nework Newport Newport to actually behind what the fountain is at the library that's on the s s of grass but it's in the middle versus on the edge so this kind of falls under the the the federal department of D I believe and the location the permit right that was given so the permit in these types of cases were very difficult to get and we were actually very fortunate to be able to build a structure like this it took us six to eight months to to get the approval to replace replace existing with new so we so that location was kind of fixed in our in the in the permitting of us otherwise I don't know that we would be able if we were to propose a new location in that area where the dunes on this side of the dunes I I don't know that we would have got under the cppa rules Coastal air Facilities Review act that is the first structure from the ocean landward so that's why we had to get a cical permit and Waterfront development permit so where it was is where it has to stay we can't move we couldn't have moved it we tried to look at options of moving it there the issue was moving it where other issues were access from back of the stage to get equipment there that was some other issues we would have had to remodel the park to allow access for the bands and for the and for uh and for mechanical so we did we did at it kind of got shot down you know it really affects the the people who live on the houses a long way I I do very well and I know them very well very gracious in this last round and we're doing some things to try to create a buffer for them and I think the new stage itself will have a a a buffer not just visually but acoustically to put the the the the direction of the sound more of a Bandshell where the back comes up and directs the sound okay it'll be about three times size on New Haven you're lated at the radio station and that yeah radio station was was putting a lot putting loud uh Amplified music before and after so that's kind of quiet it down a little bit most people I think when we have a new layout we have the layout the new new layout this year is going to have the food trucks uh a little closer to the they're gonna actually there was some PUSH Pack so we're putting in a little closer in the parking lot yes you saw that but they'll have more ACC people will have more access that live on that street um Newport Avenue to get down to their homes it's not like it was last year we shut the whole thing off the first half of it or two-thirds of it will be open for parking still right and then the whole Lane coming down to their homes on the AC side will be access so I'm glad to take advantage of them there something that we T we SP the amount of hours that we go into the planning and Logistics of it is not small so those are and the and the cost is not insignificant either so I appreciate that you're using it all well I love the concert so um last thing is kind of personal if I was to get a petition together how many SES would I need to make to dog on the beach in the morning a million a million so we we tried to do that our first like so we tried to do that one of our first or second years in office the push back was horrendous um you had a lot of people come out they were concerned about dogs using the beach as restrooms like they do they don't you know seen some dogs learn how to use a bathroom but so we have the most some of the most lenient dog rules on the beach than any other City we have we the most City New York everywhere else the only ones that allow dogs to be to 79 yeah right so we have to have some balance here and there are other people that use the beach I mean you'll see this Fourth of July weekend and that and we we restrict it in a way that supposedly allows um you know those evening hours um and then and then um there's always people that um that that that bend those rules too you see a lot of people that aren't using their dogs on leashes that sort of thing so then we would have to then enforce it so we we aren't we don't really have the Manpower right now where it's not easy to find um special officers for the summertime if you're interested in that you might second job you can take your applications the other issue we have is when people don't clean up after their dogs so at at at night as a dog owner I have an issue with that yeah we do too I I'm yeah Boomer wants to come in here and sit with me at night so for these meetings but the issue is that if you allow them on at night in the morning one you get the tide that cleans up to the waterline and then our guys rake in the morning that cleans up a lot of the issues that you have if you allow them on in the morning there's no one to rake there's no one we're raking then yeah so it's it's hard to get the beach clean for the daily use of the beachgoer so look I would love it I'd take my in the winter time Boomer and I are down there all the time you might consider we might consider like morning hours for dogs at ski Beach l there now they're allow there now yeah so but that's it may not be as convenient but there's a bit of a beach there it's kind of a Bay Beach it's a boat ramp yeah TI there's a beach there's a beach I would love it and we did we tried and we had we had quite a few people here it was they were concerned about you know kids coming down the beach and digging through the sand and then finding something that's not supposed to be there and yeah so that was our our problem we didn't try that letters in the mail almost weekly about yeah about not doing it so we try to create a balance there's there's but there's a lot explanation balance there's a lot of dog owners and I think we like like you said they we're one of the most per pervasive permissive cities Longport Margate don't allow whatsoever practically you know and only in the offseason if they do I think Longport doesn't at all so and try yeah but and a beach the dog beach there but I told no one cleans out there because no one oversees it and that's not dog hi all right thank you thanks for coming out yeah I appreciate you coming one more sorry one of the neighbors asked if I would ask you to enlarge the bike lane because that would slow down the traffic he said the traffic is speeding up the street at this and it slows down when it gets to Margate right and it slows down when it gets to long we're not going to be promoting the road diet here it's not something that our police or fire chief support um for emergency access to our community um the bike lane here cannot be widened without reducing the lane width and the lane widths are what they're required to be he just asked me if I would we get the question all the time are we going to do the same road diet that that Margate did and and you know I've been an opponent of it I I don't support it um we have too much traffic here we have more traffic signals for people to cross the streets um that whole process was done for pedestrian and pedestrian safety we're all for pedestrian safety but to reduce traffic from four lanes to two would severely restrict traffic flow I get the bik lanes I know what it would do I see it all over Philadelphia yeah where you cannot move the congestion is so bad exactly one thing to keep in mind is that there is a project in the works to to synchronize the lights like they were back in the 70s and 80s where you could and so that will I think will moderate the flow a little bit and if you synchronize it and you synchronize it at 25 miles per hour that slows it down Su that's what it would be done for it's less frustrating right so know you're not you know you're going to get where you're going to go and you don't have to try to beat a light or beat a person that's with you from a absolutely there's there's pluses and Min I think that's going to be our first step I know I've seen it takes time and money everything takes time and money we did set aside the funding for it so we're yeah good for that okay thank you you're welcome thanks for come now all right uh seeing none no more public comment had a woman back there but she left she left yeah any more last call for uh public comment any on Zoom think we're good motion to close public comment please so moved second second least a roll call please commissioner langra yes commissioner Mento yes mayor Kel yes we Have No executive session tonight that brings us to the end of our meeting uh motion to adjourn so moved a second Le a roll call please commissioner langra yes commissioner Mento yes mayor Kel yes all right thank you