to the flag of the United States of America stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all not good for you than than you sir public notice of this meeting pursuant to the open public meeting act has been given on December 13 2023 by the city clerk in the following manner poting written notice on the official bulletin board in the lobby of City Hall providing written notice to the offices of the Daily Journal and Press of Atlantic City and following written notice in the office of the city clerk of the city of B and at this time is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard sorry I it every time chair entertains a motion at the 20 24 minutes and of the pre-meeting conference regular meeting and closed meeting of February 13th and the work session of February 20th 2024 be approved as submitted so move I second make one correction there is no closed meeting to be adopted this evening but that's stricken from that so it will be the pre meeting regular meeting 13th and the work session of the plan okay thank you all right uh councilman Francis Kini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes okay we'll open up the general public comment portion of this meeting public comment provides an opportunity for members of the public to inform the governing body about their views the governing body prescribes the city council's bylaws and the New Jersey statutes and open public meetings when engaging during public comment as such each individual shall have a five minute limit to comment cannot yield time to another individual may only approach the podium once during public comment for any one topic vulgar and offensive language is prohibited and city council will not engage in dialogue with the public during the this time the governing body maintains model courtesy and respect and requires the members of the public to do the same and at this time if there's anyone in the public who wishes to be heard please come to the mic to my left here state your name and the municipality in which you reside we'll read we'll read a resolution on an ordinance and it will ask for public input if you want this is comment time if you want to talk about Pooles anything El or the Broadband you certainly welome to do that you will have the opportunity to when we read that ordinance you will have the opportunity you it will be asked is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard on that particular ordinance you may come up then thank you and you'll have five minutes in which to make your comments you're welcome there anyone in public who wishes to be heard on any item at this time if not Mr Franz okay I present ordinance number 20249 ordinance amending ordinance 9842 as amended chapter 372 Article 1 Section 4-9 be taken up for a public hearing and open to the public for discussion no moveed a second councilman francini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes is there anyone in the audience at this time who wishes to be heard on this ordinance number 20 24.09 no one Mr BR motion to Clos chains a motion that the public hearing on ordinance number 2024 -09 be closed so move by second councilman Francis Keen yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes gains a motion that ordinance number 20249 be taken up for final reading and adopted according to law so move second there any discussion by Council on this motion none councilman Francis Kini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes ordinance number 22409 ordinance amending ordinance 9842 as amended chapter 372 Article 1 Section 37214 of the code of the city of vland entitled public water supply for firefighting with a vote of four y this ordinance is hereby adopted Mr bran CH please submit ordinance number 202 24-9 to the mayor for his approval or disapproval yes thank you I present ordinance number 2024-25 be taken up for a public hearing and open to the public for a discussion I'll move by second councilman Francis KY yes councilman spelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes is there anyone in the audience who wishes to be heard on ordinance number 20 24-10 at this time no one car attains a motion that ordinance number 20 24-10 be closed move second councilman Francis KY yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes G contains a motion that ordinance number 20 24-10 be taken of a final reading and adopted according to law so I second there any discussion by Council on this motion none councilman Francis Kini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Bargas yes Dr Arthur yes ordinance number 2024 d10 an ordinance to release vacate and extinguish any and all public rights in and to Pennsylvania Avenue a dedicated but unbuilt street with a vote of 48 a this ordinance is hereby adopted Mr Panetta please submit ordinance number 20 24-10 to the mayor for his approval or disapproval yes thank you I present ordinance number 202 24-11 an ordinance amending the violence city code to establish in the department of administration a Broadband utility service chapter 5 utilities article 17 violent Broadband utility which is ready for a public hearing here entertains a motion that ordinance number 20 24-11 be taken up for a public hearing and adopted according to law for a public hearing and open to the public for a discussion so move sorry I second councilman Francis skini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr arur yes at this time is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard on ordinance number 20 24-11 please come to the podium state your name and the municipality in which you live also there is a timer you have five minutes and the timer will start when you start talking thank you my name is Dan Pano I'm on Ma Landing Road in vinand New Jersey uh my understanding is that um every uh aspect of the Broadband um can't remember the term when we were at the last meeting at the college if this is exactly the same I didn't know this meeting was coming tonight but we're here for the um for that broadband and uh I would like to say that um they were going to charge $45 million to the um Cumberland County that was going to go into our taxes and to make maintain that Broadband was going to cost $12 million a year and our understanding and reading and checking out all of the data that went with that was that most of the municipalities that tried it and used it ended up it failing and it never worked for the municipalities now I see I hear Broadband but I don't hear anything about the the dark um remember what that was Dark Matter sorry about that um I'm sorry I don't I I can't remember the term but anyhow it's it's the use of the unused um wires that they they bring into the uh if Verizon brings in 130 wires they only use 50 then the rest is sitting dark so those dark wires are are picked up by an additional company and they're run run to places that don't have Broadband right now if this is if this is what this Broadband is about then that that's what I'm opposing right now because in in 99% of the places that it was used it never it never made it it it it uh it failed and the the city or the county was left with the bill so at $45 million which is the the amount that a uh uh quote it at the uh Cumberland County College and then an additional $12 million after that for maintenance uh seems to be uh to me a a big burden on on uh the county of uh Cumberland and especially if it's being proposed to just violent itself if got my thoughts here if um excuse me one second there was there was additional um questions asked to the um representative from the Broadband person how many of these Broadband uh and additionally those wires that were left were sold at so much per wire and when they said um how much how many of these wires were sold they only accounted for nine so they had been advertising them to my understanding greatly you know they were really pushing these wires to be to be U um sold and they couldn't sell any more than nine I might be wrong so um as of the time we were at the college which was about three three or four months ago uh they only sold nine of these wires and they had a 100 or 200 of them to sell so in order to cover that cost of 45 million they would have to sell these wires for x amount of dollars so they didn't do that and they just dropped that subject real quick there was also uh some Advocates from um Washington DC there which backed up all these figures about all the all the municipalities and all of the states that took these uh this deal with the Broadband company that was going to put this out and sell these additional wires that they had left over which are called dark dark wires or whatever I'm sorry I don't know the exact term of that tonight I was we were just called earlier today to come so um my my opposition to is is that our economy is not very uh um Hefty right now we don't have a um people don't have a lot of money they don't have a lot left over our gasoline is high everything that we have is High um so for to get the benefit out of these additional wires they would all have to be sold and since they weren't sold as of the time um it was a very bad deal for the for the um um Cumberland County so I I put my opposition in uh for that thank you sir I P NN I NL you're very welcome thank you sir Dan's wife okay to Contin know where Dan left off um the people in the room were actually under the impression they were going to benefit from these wires they will not this will not me the general public you will not be helping the people before working this bill like Dan was saying a lot of these people a lot of the elderly okay we cannot afford the higher taxes it just can't be done okay there's just too many other things out there we have to pay for like food gas electric okay um then hit on a lot of different informations that I didn't really have or I was at the meeting but I wasn't you know making notes on this I thought we were done with this but I guess we're not um at the other meeting they had a gentleman who worked really hard on this and he was really pushing for it okay because he didn't want to make all the work that he put into it to go to the waste he felt it was a good idea but he's not the one paying the bill we are the public the ones who put you in office you on the board okay and we're asking you now to not do the Broadband do you want me consider it a lot said a lot of the Cities a lot of the states that started it check into it you're going to find out it was not completed it was not completed and it did not fulfill the oblig it didn't do anything for anybody all it did was leave a big hole for someone to pay for we can't afford any more holes we really can't that's it thank you ma'am thank you uh Steve Lis V New Jersey uh I've been getting spam calls and it happened to be from this jersey 1 they um they finally left a message right and I read the message and to me it sounded like it's going to cost tens of millions of dollars there's no real account on what things were really going to be and until you can really find find out what things actually cost you don't know if it's good or if it's bad and I I suggest that uh first off why isn't there a representative here tonight from uh Jersey first they put out all these calls and uh that they have a problem with it and uh so where are they tonight why aren't they here right and then they can discuss it and then we can really find out what we do know what we don't know you know and I think that's the right way to do it um I also think that uh I didn't know anything but I always come to the meetings and most of the time I'm the only one here that's sad when I come to the pre- meeting I asked the question what was going on they explained it to me and I wish city council could explain it to you the way they explained it to me and uh maybe somebody will come out with something new that will change their minds but they're just looking into it the way I understand telling me and it's not something that's set in stone so they are doing due diligence and trying to find out what the costs are it's you know because uh it's easy for somebody to just send you a phone call and say in scary and say this is what it's going to cost right and this is what it is and what it isn't and that's the problem I have with these things it's training out here you know we got a few people that came which is nice but where is first they're the ones that put the message out for people to come but they're not here so what do they have that they're going to benefit by that's the question I always ask and always been told follow the money so who do they work for what's going on what's the real issue here what's the real cost and until we can find out what it is I can't make my mind up to say yes or no you know because maybe it's a good deal maybe it's not they be up to city council they have to do uh through J and uh figure out if it's good or bad but I suggest anybody that's concerned to come to the work sessions right they had work sessions the first and third Tuesday of the month every month right and then you can actually sit at the table with them and have a discussion here you come you can't have a discussion because that's not how it's run you can come talking and say what you want to say and then you sit down well then you didn't you didn't accomplish anything really that you voice your opinion right so until you can have a real conversation with people and sit down and talk to them I think you can change your mind or you can disagree with them and that's the way it should be you know and uh I've been coming here for years previous councils and this one here they sometimes I don't agree with them and I was my opinion sometimes I win sometimes I lose but hey at least I come and I voice my opinion so people that don't come look at how many people are here tonight for the whole city only a handful of people are concerned enough to come and that's a shame and you don't know what's going on so uh like I said the best thing to do is come to a a a work session meeting you know and have it talk to them on your paper they have phone numbers you can call them personally and talk to them the city council you know and really get to figure out what's going on and let them explain to you in person or on the phone because they're not going to get into a conversation with you tonight about this because that's not how it's run so anyway I hope that uh if you're really interested that's what you do and uh maybe you can uh bring your point they can have their point you can agree and disagree maybe you might change their mind if it's something that they want but until you do that you know I don't know what Jersey first is but uh they're not here and you people are here tonight in the rain but they're not not here and they're the ones who told you to come or asked you to come so to me I don't have much faith in them either so thank you thank you Mr Le Steve soloff from vinin sold off um I'm GNA piggy back off of what this gentleman said uh I was getting the advertisements on Instagram about Jersey first and the Broadband thing and I made the same assumption that it was the same type of project but I actually got in contact with mayor fucci and he spoke with me about it and he said that they're very different projects and the $60 million proposal that Jersey first was putting out was nowhere even near accurate and when I asked the mayor about how much it would actually cost he said there would be no significant cost because we already have the fiber um so the impression I got from him is he's just upgrading for infrastructure in regards to how the fire department will be run in the future how the police department will be run in the future for like I like more advanced contact for emergencies and stuff like that that might be wrong but that was the impression I got so yeah like what he said maybe trying to contact the mayor or going to the work sessions to get a more direct information Source because I I was in your shoes a couple days ago I just saw a thing on Instagram and I was like oh here we go again but apparently they're very different so I know that's just my opinion but that's where I would go thanks thank you sir is there anyone else who wishes to be heard on this ordinance at this time no one motion closed me a motion that the public hearing on ordinance number 20 24-11 be closed move second councilman francini yes Council Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes a motion that ordinance number 202 24-11 be taken up for final reading and adopted according to law so move I second there any discussion by Council on this motion just very quickly uh I think Mr soloff was right in his take that uh with your conversation with mayor fucci it's nothing like what the county was doing and if uh people came to a work session where we could actually have a little bit more of a discussion they would learn that and you're right the infrastructure is already in because they've been putting it in since 19 1998 or 1997 something like that so the the fibers in and we own our own poles so a lot of the things that uh other people would incur in costs we already have in place that's it anything further okay councilman Francis scy yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes ordinance number 20241 an ordinance amending the violent city code to establish in the department of administration a Broadband utility service chapter 5 utilities article 17 violent Broadband utility with a vote of 4 a this ordinance is hereby adopted tra please submit ordinance number 20 24-11 to the mayor for his approval or disapproval yes thank you I present ordinance number 202 24-12 ordinance authorizing the execution of an agreement of sale and such other closing documents necessary for the acquisition of certain properties owned by Christ The Good shepher Parish known as block 3119 Lots 19 2022 and 23 on the violent tax map to the violent industrial commission which is ready for a public hearing here contains a motion at ordinance number 20 24-12 be taken up for a public hearing and open to the public for discussion so move I second councilman Francis gini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes is there anyone in the audience who wishes to be heard on ordinance number 20 24-12 no one here attains a motion at ordinance number 202 24-12 be closed so move a second councilman Francis Key yes counc spelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes a motion ordinance number 202 24-12 be taken up for a final reading and adopted according to law so move a second is there any discussion by Council on this motion none councilman Francis Keeny yes counc Spinelli I will abstain since I'm conflicted exstension councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes how you recognize ordinance number 202 24-12 ordinance authorizing the execution of agreement of sale and other such closing documents necessary for the acquisition of certain properties owned by Christ The Good shepher Parish known as block 3119 Lots 19 20 22 and 23 on the violent tax map to the violent industrial commission with a vote of three a one exstension this ordinance is hereby adopted Bretta please submit ordinance number 20 24-12 to his to the mayor for his approval or disapproval yes thank you I present ordinance number 202 24-13 which is ready for a first readings a motion at ordinance number 202 24-13 be taken up for the first reading so move I second councilman Francis Kini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr arth yes ordinance number 202 24-13 an ordinance to amend and supplement ordinance number 8 which establish the classification and compensation plans for the city of Island analyst clerk contains a motion that ordinance number 20 24-13 be passed for the first reading and that a public hearing be held on Tuesday March 12th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. so move a second is there any discussion by Council on this motion none councilman Francis KY yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes present ordinance number 202 24-14 which is ready for a first reading cars a motion at ordinance number 2024 4-4 be taken up for the first reading don't move I second councilman Francis Keeny yes councilman Spinelli yes Council Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes ordinance number 202 24-14 an ordinance to amend and supplement ordinance number 8 which Revis the classification and compensation plans for the city of Island Omnibus operator aains a motion at ordinance number 202 24-14 be passed for the first reading and that a public hearing be held on Tuesday March 12th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. show move second there any discussion by Council on this motion none councilman Francis G yes councilman spelli yes Council Vargas yes second yes I present ordinance number 202 24-15 which is ready for a first reading here entertains a motion that ordinance number 20 24-15 be taken up for the first reading so move a second councilman francini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes ordinance number 202 24-15 ordinance authorizing the sale of block 5901 lot 70 at private sale in accordance with njsa 4A colon 12-13 B5 car a motion at ordinance number 20245 be passed for the first reading and that a public hearing be held on Tuesday March 12th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. so I second is there any discussion by Council on this motion M councilman Francis gy yes Council Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes I present ordinance number 202 24-6 which is ready for first reading fa entertains a motion that ordinance number 20246 be taken up for the first reading no move second councilman Francis Ken yes councilman spelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes ordinance number 2024 -6 ordinance amending ordinance 2004-2 as amended entitled an ordinance adopting the center city Redevelopment plan consistent with resolution 5203 of the planning board of the city of Island so as to amend block 316 Lot 17726 East Wood Street consistent with resolution 6634 of the planning board sh contains a motion that ordinance number 2024 -16 be passed for first reading and that a public hearing be held on Tuesday March 12 2024 at 6:30 p.m. so move second Council Francis KY yes councilman spelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes no discussion by Council on this thanks thank you thank you I present ordinance number 202 24-7 which is ready for a first reading here contains a motion that ordinance number 20247 be taken up for the first reading don't move 5 Second councilman Francis Keeny yes Council Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes ordinance number 202 24-17 ordinance amending ordinance 2004-2 as amended entitled an ordinance adopting the center city Redevelopment plan consistent with resolution 5203 of the planning board of the city of band so as to amend block 41 lot 25.1 27 Southeast bulard consistent with resolution 6633 of the planning board here entertains a motion at ordinance number 20247 be passed for the first reading and that a public hearing be held on Tuesday March 12th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. so move I second is there any discussion by Council on this motion thanks for asking welcome councilman francini yes councilman spelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur resolution number 202468 a resolution authorizing and approving the filing of an application with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for supplemental Green Acres Program funding for Romano Park complex improvements # 06 14-219 and authorizing the execution of agreements for seing resolution number 22469 a resolution authorizing the payment of an invoice to the New Jersey Public Power Authority for 2024 2025 annual dues and assessments resolution number 202 24-70 a resolution authorizing the issuance of a mandatory supplemental change order number one to contract number 23- 086 issued to Capella Construction Incorporated Medford Lakes New Jersey in the amount of $9,500 even resolution number 202 24- 71 a resolution authorizing an issuance of a mandatory supplemental change order number two to contract number c 21-7 purchase order number 21- [Music] $2,955 even resolution number 202 24-72 a resolution authorizing a Professional Services agreement with tnm Associates Mount Laurel New Jersey to provide environmental services for the site evaluation investigation and Analysis of 544 East PE Street former South Jersey ice and Cold Storage in an amount not to exceed $5,245 73 a resolution authorizing the execution of Professional Services agreement with Harden burrow Insurance Group Marlton New Jersey for Risk Management Consultant Services resolution number 2024 74 resolution exercising option to extend contract c22 d86 for delivering and supplying office supplies resolution number 2024-25 a resolution authorizing Award of a contract at cayenta a division of Harris computers bernabe British Columbia for cayen the database and application Administration managed services in an amount not to exceed $6,850 61 resolution number 22476 resolution approving forgivable loans from first generation Enterprise Zone funds for project beautifly resolution number 2024 77 a resolution to amend resolution number 202 24-54 approving shity reduction release or renewal as submitted by the city engineer resolution number 202478 a resolution cancelling outdated checks issued by the city of band resolution number 22479 a resolution cancelling a portion of the unexpended balances of improvement authorizations resolution number 20248 a resolution establishing a new petty cash fund resolution number 2024-the 2024 pending final adoption of the calendar year 2024 budget resolution number 2024-25 Reserve budget Appropriations balances 2024 -83 a resolution providing and authorizing the payment of bills and demands against the city of bence resolution number 20248 the resolution authorizing the director of department of license and inspections to issue various original Andor renewal licenses for the year 2024 resolution number 20 24-85 a resolution approving and or transferring members of the various fire companies of the violent fire department resolution number execution of Grant agreement with the county of kland cultural and Heritage commission for 2024 block grant funding resolution number 20248 7 resolution amending resolution number 2024 D31 resolution providing for the transfer of certain calendar year 2023 Reserve budget Appropriations balances resolution number 20248 a resolution amending resolution number 23- 275 entitled a resolution granting a renewal of alcoholic beverage licenses for the licensing period July 1 2023 to June 30 2024 resolution number 202 24-8 a resolution granting the renewal of alcoholic beverage licenses for the licensing period July 1 2023 to June 30 2024 resolution number American Red Cross in designating March 2024 as American Red Cross month resolution number 2024 d91 a resolution authorizing the execution of a Grant application for grant funding from the Department of community of Affairs to pursue a local Recreation Improvement Grant L rig for the development of pickle ball courts I have reports from the various departments for the month of January 2024 that is all the official business sh attains a motion to approve all items on the consent agenda I second there any discussion by Council on this motion none Council frini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr yes thank you and at this time are there any comments from councel uh yes I just want to thank the for coming up and uh doing the flag salute um they're very impressive all in uniform great support from the faculty and uh as always it's always nice to see kids up here I actually had a pleasure of um reading today in the reading cross America inititive with district has and so I was able to read to to second grade uh class at pway which was at my reading level so I was pretty comfortable um they helped me with some of the big words uh this month is or this coming month is March uh in March is the break cross month and just to let you know that if you don't know is that red cross the symbol it's the second most recognized symbol in the world um the first is Believe It or Not Coca-Cola they get you I um as we know the American Red Cross provides Blood Services that they provide almost half the blood supply in our country um we should be proud of our city because we Champion numerous blood drives and very successful blood drives here um with City uh City Hall they have it in the library L theater has been uh really a big component in this past four or five months uh the high school also has a great um flood drive and then every year of now we've had the battle of the Cities so it's us B versus milville and Bron and you know of course we win but that's just draging rights there so Red Cross also provides health and safety training um such as CPR a first aid and uh and then the big thing is they anything any money they raised they earn from Blood Services or health and safety goes to disaster relief um and of course you see that symbol when there's hurricanes tornadoes um floods that kind of thing but also simple um single family house fires uh that our fire department has called numerous times uh to help displace um uh victims so that's all I have yeah I would like to thank vet moral as well for coming in black salute uh it's always a pleasure to have the kids coming in VD is preparing for the cruise which is in June uh which is a big event generally drawing close to 10,000 people to the city um so uh we are in preparation for that I know uh March 15 karaoke night at Eastland uh there's allegedly 300 and some people coming uh to Eastland for the karaoke night uh it's a free event put on by the city of Island and uml theaters is constantly having their concerts and their restaurants are open that's it thank you councilman Vargas none at this time also want to thank the students from veterans memorial for coming you're always it's always a pleasure to have the students here and um you today right that did you read today I read today as as well at the Petway School and so did the mayor he was going in as I was coming out spell are you reading I am not this year I I'm conflicted this whole week with crazy stuff so you have one more month and they are doing it in uh March as well yeah I think I'm going is coming up yes also we have a um flag raising the Irish flag that's coming up in March as well is another activity or event here in the city I add one thing sure we like to thank the people who came out tonight usually we don't get Mr Lewis is it so uh we do enjoy having people come out ask questions and you are always invited to come to work sessions uh to get information if you choose to anything further nothing further chairs a motion to adjourn the regular meeting so move I second councilman francini yes councilman Spinelli yes councilman Vargas yes Dr Arthur yes thank you and have a good night