adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the co-star the official newspaper of the burrow of Almar and the asra Park Press on December 13 2023 a notice of this meeting was posted on the bulleon board mpal building please stand for [Music] the please remain standing for a moment of silence for our troops and first respondents okay thank you okay first up we have Workshop um any Council people have any items for the workshop before I start okay I I just have a few things um first I would like to you know thank our fire department some of you may know there was a fire in Lomo I believe it was last week and um they did a great job fighting the fire and and actually limiting it to the to the one uh structure I took a ride afterwards and you know I wasn't familiar with the area but I could see that the homes were fairly close so it was uh it was really a good job confining it to that one piece of property so thanks again uh to the fire department and all of our First Responders that responded to that to that fire uh a second thing is once again um DPW did a great job storm prep and uh cleaning up after the storm uh I think uh thankfully we didn't get that much snow so it was kind of manageable but the freeze after Woods really was uh a little bit not what we really needed but thankfully things are warming up so again uh thanks to DPW for for their efforts um two other things you may have seen that on we're having a special meeting on February 6th just for the purpose of approving a Green Acres application uh we have to have a hearing according to the uh the procedures so we will have a meeting on that day just to have the hearing and and approve the application for the Green Acres Grant and on February 7th the next evening we're having a a town hall meeting with uh we've invited all the business owners in town to come and meet with us to talk about uh the future of the bmore Business Partnership and uh whatever else they may want to discuss at that point uh Mr Kane and I met with some individuals from the bbp last week and you know it's it's never really been what it was since the pandemic and uh the two the one individual who's kind of been spearheading it um Mike hay I think it's Hayes he he sold the tandem in and he's out of town so you know basically they need new leadership in order to to keep that going if they want to keep that going so the the purpose of the town hall is really to just get input from the businesses as to what they want to do and and then we will you know act accordingly so obviously the public is also invited to come so that'll be on February 7th and I believe it's at 6 o' and it'll be here um and that's all I have for Workshop anything else okay let us move on then to petitions I have not received any petitions okay approval of the minutes can I have a motion to approve the December 30th 2023 minutes make the motion second I'm just going to make one little correction it's actually the December 29th minutes just a just typ all there councilman Donovan yes councilman Kenny yes mayor B fesco yes Council rero yes Council Le yes next can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the January 2nd 2024 meeting motion second councilwoman Donovan yes councilwoman Kenny yes may bco yes Council rero yes Council Le yes okay reports of council uh councilwoman Donovan there I feel like it's been a while all right um a big thank you out to the Belmar Women's Club they had their um big fundraiser um just a week ago they had 229 tickets sold 27 baskets which were painstakingly put together by members of the Belmar Women's Club uh notably Carol Caple uh were won by attendees and thousands were raised for Education initiatives and Scholar ship so a huge thank you to the bore Women's Club it was a wonderful event um the environmental commission we're happy to say we've moved forward with our Silver Lake team um we will be meetings soon to go forward that obviously goes far beyond the geese we will be discussing uh different ways to different organizations we can partner with to better Silver Lake um and how we want to raise money for that probably a multi-pronged approach I will be updating accordingly and I encourage anyone that's interested to reach out um we have members of the public and the environmental Commission on there and I'm really excited about that moving forward um I can also tell you I've spoken with Mr M here that we have officially received the equipment for the lake um the the lights and the lasers and it seems like those will be putting into place weather permitting as soon as possible so and again I encourage people uh residents uh to report back my email C Donovan atm.com let me know what you think happy to hear from you um tourism commission we also have met we are also doing just great we are moving forward with plans for San Janeiro and the seafood festival very exciting things coming up a few other initiatives that uh I think are going to be really great for bolstering business in town um and last Harbor commission uh I actually had my first Harbor commission just last week very exciting council president Levis wasn't there so he threw me into the deep end um but and apparently I am the thing that makes a long meeting happen because sure enough it went very long but it was a great meeting we had a lot of attendees there um and one outcome was that we are looking into revising um perhaps the definitions of Charter vers party vote just to make it very clear and easier to enforce those rules uh for the vetman of all um we also talked a bit about um benches which I was happy to talk to RBA about we think we have room we might be able to make some be benches if not in the Marine itself perhaps over in the park um is there anything else we want to okay uh and that is it thank you Council woman Kenny thank you um over at The Parks and Recreation side we um Mr Chu in Recreation told me that the junior Gard signups start this Friday so Junior guards is going to be launching we're expected to have a big turnout again at kids Junior guards and the Easter egg hunt is set for March 16th the rain date will be March 23rd and then um I also met with Mr Kane and he let me know that there's going to be big plans to help with improvements for McClary park right with there some some of our grant money is going to go to improving and pickle ballting oh yeah that's right that's going to happen at the special meeting right you're right so we'll talk about that but that's going to be coming up soon um at the Shader commission we were able to at the end of the year last year purchase six large uh Japanese lilac trees it's going to be de de kind of determined where we want to plant those around town and um and where we think they will do best and um then around the schools Belmar Elementary School has their daddy daughter dance this Friday spelling be is next next uh the February 7th and the Board of Ed meeting is February 8th and they also have a 100th day of school Fashion Show on February 9th that's sounds like a really fun event is that a PTA event all I can tell you is that my daughter is still on one of my husband's shirts and is gluing thinga Bobs on it there need to be a hundred and I asked her what a thinga Bob was and she told me you know a whatam call it so we're all very interested all righty and then uh both St Rose grammar school and St Rose High School have Catholic schools week all next week lots of events planned for both the high school and the grammar school um January 31st next week there is a dine to donate event for the grammar school if you would like to eat at vix a portion of your check will be donated back to St Rose grammar school um St Rose High School this past or this coming Saturday they have their Robert Burns dinner but also hosted by the gr uh the high school all the money will help support the St Rose High School pip band Irish food Irish dancing you can purchase tickets at St Ros High school.com and lastly uh last night St Rose grammar of my other the St Rose varsity girls basketball and boys basketball both played Manasquan high school and both of them won big St Rose girls be am of San Girls by eight and the boys varsity won by 19 which puts them at like 17 and one or something so try to get to a boys basketball game it's been really EXC um and then the last thing I want to announce is that the skate park we are having our first fundraiser coming up March 23rd it's going to be an all ages event at salties and 12: to 6 so it's going to be a day event with fans and we're hoping Raffles and prizes and things like that uh to raise money for the skate park to I will have lots more information about that come and so stay tuned for that but that's that's really exciting too and then I would just like to say that um both uh all councilwoman uh Donovan councilwoman R ronero and myself all went to um Chief Steve Hudson's retirement dinner this past Saturday which was also a really really nice event Chief Scott was also there a lot of people attended and it was just really nice of them to invite us and include us so really congratulations to Steve too and that's all I have thank you Council I mean thank you mayor um I also wanted to express my gratitude to the uh Belmar Fire Department police department EMS and all of the local responding uh companies for the heroic response on the fire on 15 also there is a go fundme page for the owner of the home uh Tracy Julius uh who's a well-known member of the Belmar community so if you'd like to donate to the family during this difficult time um you can look up her name on GoFundMe um and uh heads off to the Women's Club that was really amazing uh belmer Housing Authority according to Executive uh director Paul De santis the main elevator has 3 to four weeks to go in its repair um and currently the elevator 2 is successfully being used uh February is a very busy month at the public library uh this is the year of the dragon uh in the Chinese New Year celebration which is Saturday February 3rd at 700 p.m. at the Taylor Pavilion there's going to be dancing and music um the May young Dance Company of East Brunswick uh will be there performing and we'll have some uh food samples from triple green restaurant here in belmare uh so please register to attend on the library's website also the library celebrates Black History Month with a presentation by Fred Carl founder of info age Science Center on local American heroes of color defending our nation where he tells the stories of Belmar region patriotic Americans of color who worked in secrecy in the defense of our nation and that is Wednesday February 7th at 5:00 p.m. at the library uh meet presidents ulyses srant and Theodore Roosevelt at library's living history presentations as professional historian actors portray them in character um and this will be in celebration of President's Day the first one will be February 17th at 11:00 a.m. and the First Time author event will be this Saturday February 10th so I guess it's not the Saturday it will be Saturday February 10th at 10:00 a.m. and that's with author Jennifer clear waters and Cynthia oconnell as they discuss their new book the elevation principles and how to make sustainable life change one step at a time uh the library is happy to announce the reopening of the lower level um tarian media room uh for the public uh it had water damage prior um and that's been all taken care of so we're happy to have that back for work space um study groups meetings uh please see the library's website for scheduled quiet work and study hours uh for the week and then the last thing that I have is thank you to John Walsh for help with the graphics I did make up a flyer for um code blue and uh resources that you can call for Statewide helpline which is 211 um this is would help anyone who is facing homelessness um or who need shelter especially during the the colder um times also it has information about social service uh numbers that will actually give you the direct line to the person you need uh and gives a um a way to find your nearest food pantry by just texting a number in um and that's from F Phil so thank you to the residents who really care about um you know working to to help our homeless population people who are at risk and thank the mayor and Council for supporting it um I went around with to the businesses the schools the churches um the police station and the library will have us on hand as well and I'll update it as um because this is winter resources the warming centers will be different from our spring resources thanks council president leis thank you mayor uh just like to announce that the first parade fundraiser in Belmar is happening this Sunday at M Grill from 2: to 6 um I'd also like to say that tore Little League registration is now open if your children are interested in playing uh softball or uh t- ball or baseball that's uh that's the league we all use here and it's a good it's a good time might be coaching softball this year so we'll see um a good season um I'd also like to ask uh uh administrator K I know we're rejecting the bids here for uh for the Marine improvements that we were looking at uh for the pilings based on the prices coming out being astronomically High I know we were trying to capitalize on the fact that there was a group already in Neptune doing some work I just want to know that uh those pilings will be part of the larger scope uh again when this does go out to bid again for the bigger Marina project correct yes correct yeah because we talked about the next the top priority is the fuel dock has to be totally replaced and what we're going to do is take that money that was allocated for these pilings just move it into that uh fuel Duck and and do it all at the same time hopefully this time next year we you know we need to get everything in place uh in the spring for the work to be done next year but uh what happened is the company that was in doing the drudging in Neptune picked up a bid packet but never submitted a bid and it that had the barge already there the two that did submit had to bring a Flo of barge in from the ocean and just drove the price way up and we just couldn't couldn't do it with uh you know the bids are just way higher than the engineer estimate that's all that's all I have there okay um sorry can I just asked about about the fuel dock again so the fuel dock won't be completely repaired this summer so so what happened is the the middle section as we know the middle section the fuel dock the floats gave away and the supports um were were gone so what we had to do was shut down the two the the pump to the left side the middle of the left side and close that dock off so that so the Marine operated basically with with one pump throughout the majority of the summer so what we've done is we've repl we've made the repairs to the dock and now what they're doing is uh magio electric is in they're do currently doing the electric work on on JK andl docs they're going to redo the conduit that runs on the fuel dock and then what's going to happen is we're going to be able to charge the fuel lines back up so this summer the fuel dock will be fully operational but the top priority of the Marine of work going forward is to replace the fuel dock entirely so this is just a fix now to get the pumps up and running for this season uh with the idea it's going to be a brand new fuel dock going forward great thank you thanks for that to okay um I attended the library uh board meeting and you know councilwoman Theo stole some of myor materials but that's okay that was a lot that's okay but I still have some things to report on um in in terms of the leaders of the board uh Sharon Russell Fowler was elected president once again Michael shaer was elected vice president Darlene Haven Treasurer and Pat Hutchinson secretary for another year uh sworn in were uh Casey cashley and Danielle Arnold um there was some talk about the uh continuing ongoing reservation of the of the bathrooms and um the downstairs space which now I understand is completed and and going to be open um new windows for the for the uh the library uh should be shipped by the end of January uh there was a extended discussion on all the different library programs and how they interplay with some of our Recreation programs and you'll get a lot more detail when you see uh the secretary Pat Hutchinson's minutes because I'm terrible by thinking minutes so if you want detail go to the library site uh and the minutes will eventually be up there uh there was a discussion on the Strategic plan that's a big event coming up for the library and it was a extended discussion on how how to uh get that message out to the residents so that all the residents will know and have put into that plan um and oh there is the uh the living history events which Council AR left me a few things that I could talk about here there's there's also going to be a uh did you mention president Lu Z Grant is coming on Saturday February 17th at 11 and then uh President theer Roosevelt is coming on uh Saturday February 24th and Harriet Tubman is scheduled for Saturday March 2nd at 11:00 a.m. and uh I think that kind of hits all the high points for the library anything else no okay then we can move on to our consent agenda or resolutions if anyone from the public would like to speak regarding a resolution listed on the consent agenda please step forward state your name and address I will remind the public we've we started the the five minute rule at the last meeting so um I have my truste timer here and councilwoman rero will verify that the time is accurate so um as April said if anyone has a comment please come up to the mic state your name and address okay seeing none can I have a motion to close the public session motion all in favor can I have a motion to approve the resolutions as listed on the consent agenda a motion second councilwoman Donovan yes councilwoman Kenny yes mayor Buca Pesco yes councilwoman rondano yes councilman L yes okay next we have first reading and introduction of ordinance 20241 this is a bond ordinance providing for the acquisition of a 2024 ambulance and ancillary equipment appropriating 330,000 do we have a motion to offer this for first reading and introduction motion second second Council Donovan yes Council Kenny yes but I actually have a question about this can we discuss this for one second or do we all have to vote right now I just want to know if the um if the bond is going to be completely on Belmar to pay for or yeah because this as a shared service agreement this is something that's I actually I actually asked that question earlier today uh the way it's going to work is um Belmar Manis Squan will be paying 35% of the cost which is $5,500 each Lake Como and seagert will have a cost of $49,500 each okay uh because it's such a a low amount the bond is is a formality more than anything else because it's likely that that amount will be paid off towards the end of 2024 so it's not like a 20-year Bond or a 15E they probably won't even have to issue notes for it so um that's cuz I had the same question yeah um but that it's it's a portioned amongst all the uh all the the towns that are part of the EMS Shar service okay pointful then yes may B yes councilman Rano yes Council Lon yes so now we just have the regular public session if anyone would like to speak please remember to state your name and address when you come up good evening everybody Linda shus 4 Avenue I've missed a couple meetings so i' like to get updates on a few things one is the Pavilion I overed what was going on in terms of architectural plans and Engineering plans and as of the date that I did my search there was nothing available so my question to you have those plans been completed and when is the plan to go out for an RFP um the plant have been completed but for I think some technical uh I think it's the the piping and wiring utilities parts of that but it's um again I'm I'm trying to remember from our conversation with Jim Morris but it's um it's it's there because we want to get it done the plan's done so that we can go out the bid for the uh someone to actually do the construction correct you're correct Mar it's really just just some some utility line work that needs to be rerouted so so they're just uh adjusting the plans accordingly what was the second part of your question so what I'd like to mention is that since the floor to ceiling doors are being replaced by Windows have you looked at the height of the windows off the floor because if you're sitting at a table I would hope we still have a view I believe yeah short answer yes yes so they're going to be over the they're going to be level with the with the um with the railing outside is that what my understanding was correct okay this second question is 12th in main you said probably a couple meetings ago um had I been here I would have asked the question because that was the time you were supposed to have an answer so what is 12th and Main going to be used for well we don't know at this point but I can answer the question in another sense we waiting for a I think it's remedial action something or another from from the uh the lsrp because we need to uh remedy the the um contamination that is there and so that's the next step we're definitely going to move forward with that uh everyone wants to see that get done and at that point we will be discussing uh with the public uh what the pros cons are of of utilization of that of that property and what is the time frame in which we need to use the $300,000 there's no time frame there is no time frame okay and my last question is um kind of old business um I was wondering what is the outcome of the review regarding emails in the call log for the dispute with the fire department and Mr Kane I don't know administrator that's a that's a uh is it you're referring to the investigation that was asked for by Council L yes I defer to council mayor concluded um all the reviews that I need to to review and I'll have uh a report uh to the mayor and counsel by the next meeting okay okay thank you thank you anyone else M excuse me Mr Mayor and Council Tom madakin 604 10th Avenue and uh I just wanted to see how um I could get some information or how to go about getting a resolution to return the beach parking to the pre pandemic uh days um uh I had sent you an email we've been yes I saw that today actually yeah we've been going back and forth with this and I think I had Kent come to a a council meeting last year but it was like too late in the season I thought if it's something that could be at the very least returned to Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend instead of uh the beginning of May to the end of September and um it's just uh you know it a lot of people are are counting on you know the parking down at uh well down at the uh the mayair hotel was sh on so um I didn't know how to go about that well I think I I think the the answer directly to you would be I do still want to look at the the overall parking situation there and what effect it might have if we if we change the dates uh again I have no vested interest in whether it's May 1st May 15th or May 31st obviously will affect Revenue that we get from that but I have yet to really take a look at what you know how much of an impact that would be and and so we're definitely going to take a look at that and some other things that might have to do with the parking situation but if it if it's going to happen it's going to happen well before May 1st yeah I know I just I waited last year so I wanted to kind of bring it to your attention because you'll definitely have an answer either way or some compromise in between on on that okay yeah as soon as we can as soon as possible as soon as we can all meet and and have that discussion okay app I appreciate your time all right thank you anyone else okay I have a motion to close the public session and adjourn the meeting motion second all in favor I