##VIDEO ID:UcLjKK5hJCQ## e e got I would like to call to order the reorganization meeting of Bernard's Township for January 2nd 2025 we will begin with the flag salute please stand flag United States of America for stands na indivisible andice adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the Bolton board in the municipal building one call your lane Basking Ridge on the township website and email to the Bernardsville news whiy The Courier News Bridgewater tap into to.net patch.com and filed with the Township Clerk on December 18th 2024 any motion to go into close session will include the matters discussed at such closed session will be disclosed to the public when such matters are finally determined and there is no further reason to prohibit the public from disclosure of information relating to such matters no new business will be introduced after 10:30 p.m. public comment will be accepted at all meetings speakers will be limited to 5 minutes each all meetings will adjourn no later than 11:30 p.m. our first order of business is to swearing Miss Jennifer Acy and Mr Andrew MCN for three-year terms on the township committee Jen if you would please meet your family in front of the deas assembly woman masacus will administer the o thank you where do I go here do I go here do I here to do it okay okay thank you okay everybody ready okay I state your name I Jennifer E do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and I'll support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that it will bear true faith and it will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the Saint and to the governments and to the governments established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this St under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and further and further I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of Township Committee Member of the office of Township Committee Member according to the best of my ability ility according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] [Music] [Applause] congratulations Jen would you like to say a few words Andrew if you please meet your family and friend the de assembly woman Nancy Munos will ad Minister the oath share the okay thank you I state your name I Andrew MCN do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments and to the governments established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and further and further I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially and justly harly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office office of Township Committee Member of the office of Township Committee Member according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratul [Applause] I'll here you go can congratulations Andrew would you like to say a few words I will now call the role for attendance Miss AC here miss Duarte McCarthy here miss Fields here Mr MCN here thank you the next item is the 2024 maril report from Miss Jennifer Acy thank you Happy New Year and good evening thank you all for coming I'd also like to thank Assembly women Michelle matsakis and Nancy Munoz and county commissioner Melanie Morano for joining us in Bernard's Township this evening I'm excited to share my 2024 Maro Report with you as I reflect on last year it brings me great joy of the things we collectively accomplished through the work of our outstanding employees professionals and volunteers within our community Our Town priorities in 2024 included seven priorities Public Safety State mandated affordable housing obligations Economic Development specifically related to the New Jersey Film Production and supporting local small businesses jcpnl reliability concerns transparency regarding the understanding Bernard speaker series recognition of segments of our community via Fabrica Bernard's events and overall Community engagement well how did we do let's talk about Public Safety our Bernard's Township Police Department demonstrated continued excellent police work life last year in March of 2024 berard's Township was ranked as the second safest town in New Jersey per safewise the prioritized Township committee Investments for Public Safety enabled two additional police officers to be hired the installation of automatic license plate readers throughout the township as well as resources needed to support their excellent work despite the uptick in car thefts associated with the home burglaries seen throughout the state and affecting our community our Police Department worked diligently every every day at around the clock to protect our community notable arrests were made throughout the year with acknowledgements by others including the sumerset County prosecutor not only did officers conduct their patrols and investigate their cases they spent a significant amount of time educating our residents and addressing their concerns via the many safety presentations including the 2 and a half hour understanding burnard's video creating tools that are now housed on our Police Department web page and Community engagement throughout the year at all major events in town and hosting numerous copy with the cop events I also value the collaboration with the other Somerset Hill towns regarding the somerset Hill Safety Committee and I look forward to the continued work together looking forward I believe the public safety should be a high priority we look forward to learning in late q1 if Bernard's Township is granted the $ 1.6 million Grant supporting Public Safety that Congressman Cain submitted as part of his community Project funding member submission for fiscal year 2025 number two State mandated affordable housing obligations as I've shared via the Bernard's buzz and Township committee meetings this year we hired one of the best local planners with extensive Mount Laurel expertise before the law was even finalized in March we conducted a thorough review of historic actions reviewed the law and began scenario planning in the spirit of transparency we hosted the understanding burner's presentation in June understanding affordable housing efforts past present and future to educate residents about this new law and process this video has 338 views and is the most watch of the program series we conducted many scenario planning exercises and have multiple options for considerations to address our Department of Community Affairs a signed number of 218 units thanks to the work of the affordable housing subcommittee which included myself and Gary Balman as Township committee Representatives as I the process last year I sought to mitigate the negative impact of the state mandate via the following strategy while burnard's Township will absolutely comply with the state law our objective should be to build the fewest number of new units to limit the negative impact this not new law could have the state requires specific types of housing we must include but we should ensure that we build what our community actually needs which is specifically housing for senior citizens and adults with special needs I am hopeful that the broader ATT committee also shares this view looking forward at the January 28th meeting the township committee must adopt a binding resolution for our affordable housing obligation I sincerely hope that my Township committee members are able to meet soon with our Mount Laurel expert planner because they have a lot to learn and absorb in roughly three weeks before decisions that will affect our community for decades are made third Economic Development specifically related to the New Jersey Film Production and supporting local small businesses in April I attended New Jersey film ready conference this led our Township to adopt an ordinance in June that supports Film Production in our community I personally spent two days with a photographer to shoot 29 locations for the location database I attended a film networking program in New York I hosted five different Scouts for multiple movies I announced in October that we landed our first major Film Production this one-day shoot resulted in a direct economic benefit to Bernard's Township businesses and organizations totaling nearly $52,000 via location fees including those paid to Liberty Corner Fire Company and Rich baseball club and purchases at local businesses for food supplies and accommodations and while this is a great start I look forward to seeing what the future can hold for our community to host location shooting I was particularly active supporting small businesses this year working closely with the brba we hosted State and County experts for Education topics such as grants and even a certification Workshop I personally went door Todo to many local businesses to educate them about the available state grants and I look forward to hearing if they're selected in the very near future the focus on economic development is critical for our future we need to proactively identify businesses to bring into our community as we've recently shared we've lost a significant amount of commercial property tax revenue over the past years such that residents are bearing more of the Brun of this burden carrying approximately an additional $11,000 of residential property tax we need to correct this balance and get more commercial ratables to decrease our residential tax burden we need unique and diverse Revenue sources and I'm committed to bringing those options to our community for consideration as I attempted via an overlay ordinance in December number four the jcpnl reliability concerns in June Bernard toown ship had issues with electrical reliability many actions were taken with the culmination of the November 12th jcpnl presentation at the township committee meeting in July we solicited resident and bus business owner feedback via press release collecting from over 200 residents we ma the responses to see a convergence and potential areas of specific need for investigation I personally read and responded to each email on this topic so residents knew they were heard I provided this qualitative feedback to jcpnl had many conversations with residents with expertise in the area to help guide the questions and the future actions with jcpnl including leadership at the BPU we identified residents who were dependent upon oxygen and linked them to the critical customer list as well as residents who are on Wells and Link them to the jcpnl well list jcpnl was a collaborative partner through this entire process their reliability Engineers completed investigations into our burner Township infrastructure when completed the township employees received the presentation in September with the Public Presentation scheduled November the 12th jcpnl has continued to address the findings from the investigation to improve certain infrastructure and have continued to execute tree trimming to address the most common cause of our reliability concern number five transparency being the understanding Bernard speaker series understanding Bernards is an educational program about the role in scope of local government we had five completed events in 2024 notable performance included affordable housing which I mentioned the most popular with 338 views and the longest goes to the Bernards Township Police Department at nearly 2 and a half hours in length those are all posted on the understanding Bernard's web page for your review six recognition of segments within our community via the Fabrica Bernards events Fabrica Bernards program in 2024 consisted of 11 events that are posted on the Fabrica Bernard's web page I personally enjoyed each and every one of them as well as my engagements with the BCAA the Bernard Chinese American Association the brick events went to S Basking Ridge Indian Community and isbr events this year number seven overall Community engagement and accomplishments it was a very active year two events that were particularly meaningful to me included the captain for chawe dedication led by his family and supported by our parks and wck and DPW leadership and the recent Oak Tree table dedication additional events that I will fondly remember and look forward to seeing continue our world kindness Day November 13th the PEC run with me 5K and family walk to raise money for our special needs Community the sensory friendly Mars Fall Festival to benefit our special needs families Community Food Drive collaboration with the brba to benefit our local food pantry events to support local small businesses and the brba and also collaborating with the Board of Ed regarding Youth and technology and the Board of Ed program restoring Focus additional accomplishes accomplishments that occurred this year include thanks to Jen gander's leadership the mayor's Wellness campaign as we were awarded the 2023 Town upand coming I look forward to seeing how Jen's hard work and the group in 2024 is evaluated for the 2024 award I also want to publicly thank Jen gander for her willingness to launch the Bernards Township Ski and Board club for our Middle School youth thanks to the leadership of Elizabeth sites Desiree Noland and over 20 volunteers we look forward to our first trip this Sunday everyone also hopefully remembers that when the township received the designation of the fourth hottest real estate market in the US this fall it was a lot of great stuff as mayor I also prioritize communication to and with residents this resulted in many phone conversations inperson meetings and 15 meril Communications of the Bernard's blurbs which is Bernard's local updates which were videos and the Bernard's Buzz mayor's reviews additionally I purposely acknowledged resident accomplishments and Heritage months at township committee meetings to celebrate and bring positivity to our community resulting in 33 resolutions which are posted on the Fabrica burnard's web page these accomplishments were possible because of the wonderful Township employees and professionals who are the true heroes working diligently for each and every one of us every day led by Pat Monaco our Township administrator his staff including Christine kefir our municipal clerk as well as our Township department heads John berer Jen Gander Don Marling Shan McCarthy Emily feenberg Tom Timco and Ryan Wallace as well as all of them those that report to them multiple professionals are also important to our work so I would like to specifically call out our Township attorney entering his 28th year of service to Bernard's Township John Bardo I also want to thank the many volunteers who serve our community including those on Town board and commissions special appointments and of course our volunteer Liberty Corner Fire Company and basket Ridge Fire Company number one and EMS I won't let this year be marred by the unexpected and unfortunate concerns that arose in December such as the drones the American Water issue and the unnecessary confusion and hostile response generated for an overlay ordinance introduction it is with great sadness that I share that I cannot support Township committee leadership who've displayed actions both in public and in private who are contrary to the O that we have taken and contrary to the handbook for elected officials appointed officials and volunteers that guide our actions such recent actions have resulted in Resident deception and adversely affected the confidence of our public in the Integrity of Bernard's Township anyone who votes for leadership tonight via a yes or exension vote actually supports and condones this Behavior the creation of a hostile working environment for an intimidation of our Township employees Professionals in volunteer boards and commissions is unacceptable I welcome everyone to watch the township committee meetings for December 10th and 23rd and the planning board member uh meeting on December 17th for reference of the statement I am only one of five votes of this part of this Township committee my one vote will be cast after thorough research and public input with the guiding principle to solely do what's best for Bernard's Township I will continue to serve our community as long as my safety and the safety of my family is not impacted harassing language and vile attacks on me personally are never acceptable and threats will be held accountable while I transition from mayor to Township committee woman I want to ensure the community that I'm still here for you I will still listen and interact with residents aided by my new Facebook profile found at www.f.com Jennifer AC 07920 I will continue to serve all residents as a devoted public service I have no other agenda I will continue to try and create and introduce new and innovative ideas to solve our community problems including the needs of our special needs population like that film and Community concept residents need to be aware and demand accountability from the township committee to address the diverse needs of our community so thank you to all residents of burnard's Township it was an honor and a privilege to serve our community as mayor thank [Applause] you before we continue Jen I would like to present you with this token for your time as mayor I open the nominations for mayor Madam clerk I nominate uh Janice field to serve as the mayor of Bernard's Township in 2025 Janice has served on this committee for several years and as our Town's mayor in 2021 she has a long history of service and dedication to Bernard's Township and will make an excellent mayor thank you any other nominations I close the nominations and we'll call the role for vote for mayor Miss AC no Miss Duarte McCarthy I'm gonna vote Yes and I want to add that without a yes vote this would become a a non- mayor and so I hope that we can all move forward work collectively and collaboratively and do what best for our community not having a mayor at this time would become challenging to all of us I was Ved to serve all of you and I will continue to do so so I vote Yes Miss Fields yes Mr mcnell yes motion carried I hereby declare Miss Janice Fields as mayor Janice if you would please meet me and your family in front of the deis I will Minister the oath of office thank you raise your right hand left hand on the Bible I state your name I Janice Fields do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support that I will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments and to the governments established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and further and further I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully I will faithfully impartially and justly impartially and justly perform all the duties all the duties of the office of Mayor of the office of Mayor according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] [Music] [Applause] ch than I open the nominations for Deputy Mayor I move that Andrew MCN be nominated as Deputy Mayor and I'm proudly going to nominate him tonight thank you mayor are there any other nominations roll call Christie Miss Acy no Miss dwarte McCarthy yes Mr MCN yes mayor Fields yes motion carried I hereby declare Mr Andrew MCN as deputy mayor good evening we would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thank everyone who's here with us tonight and those that are watching um online and I know there's many thank you to my colleagues on the township committee for allowing me the honor and the privilege of serving as your mayor for 2025 I look forward to serving with the township committee to meet the needs of all Burns Township residents I would like to take a moment to congrat congratulate Andrew MCN and Jen AC for winning reelection to the township committee and I'd also like to congratulate Andrew as the incoming Deputy Mayor and I'm looking forward to serving with you and thank our outgoing mayor for 2024 and for her dedication as mayor also a very warm welcome to our elected officials who are with us tonight we always appreciate because we know how valuable your time is and it's so stretched so thank you for coming tonight we have assemblywoman Nancy Munos Michelle mates uh commissioner Melanie Moran Morano thank you thank you for coming a special thank you to my husband and Sons Avery and Jeremy who support me and love me and U know that this is a tremendous time commitment and I'd also like to thank all our spouses and family who support us when sometimes uh we spend a lot of time uh working with the township committee and their support means everything to us and it enables us to really do our jobs so thank you to all of you you a heartfelt thank you to our staff and of course our First Responders you are the heart and soul of our community as we Face new challenges in 2025 rest assured that our Township committee our Township staff Township professionals and our volunteers will continue to be up to the task for the new year one of the first tasks to set clear priorities and goals for our community this involves listening to your concerns add addressing your needs whether it's improving infrastructure enhancing Public Safety better communication or promoting Economic Development the agenda should reflect the community's values and needs those priorities and goals will always be set collaboratively and transparently and with all members of the TC and our community principle among our goals is to continue to provide the essential needs that local government strives to deliver day in and day out and among those are maintaining effective and efficient operations in governance continue fiscal Prudence meet our fourth round affordable housing obligations while maintaining the character of our Township continue to work with our police department and surrounding neighbors to provide a safe and secure Township continue to evaluate and fund our Capital programs to strengthen our infrastructure which is very important while maintaining a respon responsible budget Bernard's Township is known for being a debt-free community we also provide ourselves pride ourselves on being one of the safest and well-run townships with some of the best schools in the nation and our property values reflect that these qualities continue position burnard's Township of one of the best communities in the country we will not rest on our Loyals but continue to strive to make Bernards better in every way possible with with your help the residents in conclusion I'm grateful and humble to serve as your mayor again I'm looking to forward to working with my colleagues as a team together and our staff and you the community in the upcoming year I'm so proud to serve as your mayor for 2025 and I thank you and I will always be here for you and God bless America and God bless all of us [Applause] [Music] for the sake of expediency I will not be reading each appointee name or resolution title outli as we proceed with the remaining agenda I will refer to them by agenda number on behalf of the township committee I want to thank each and every appointe you who will serve on behalf of the township committee and urge the public to consult the agenda for a list of tonight's appointees copies of the agenda are available on the table just outside the meeting room and on the township website I welcome everyone back to Liberty Corner firehouse after the meeting adjourns for the mayor's reception agenda item listed under number 11 on the agenda are my 2025 maril appointees agenda item listed under number 12 on the agenda are my 2025 appointees appointment subject to Township committee confirmation and I ask for a motion to approve the same so moved second all those in favor I I motion carries agenda items listed under number 13 are consent agendum items these items have been previously referred to the township committee for reading and study and a copy placed on the website and our routine they will be enacted by one motion of the township committee with no separate discussion if separate discussion is required the item may be removed for the from the agenda and the township Comm Committee Action and place on the regular agenda under new business I move the consent agenda second roll call Christie Miss AC yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Mr MCN yes mayor Fields yes motion carried comments are welcomed during the public comment period during this meeting on any agenda item or other matter over which the township committee has jurisdiction the public comic portion of the agenda is not structured as a question and answer session but offers an opportunity to share your thoughts with the township committee the township committee may or may not address these comments during the meeting however all comments are considered to address this body the speaker must come forward to the microphone and state his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to five minutes the clerk will keep time please promptly y yield the floor when your time is called and return to your seat your cooperation and adherence to these Rules of Order will ensure an orderly and respectful meeting I open public meetings anyone hello my name is Kirsten light I'm at 13 Victoria Drive thank you first of all I want to thank Miss AC for her term as mayor she's done a great job so thank you very much I appreciate that on Wednesday December 18th I sent an email to this Township committee and did not receive a response therefore I'm going to reissue my comments my email to you was to call attention to discuss a serious issue that arose during the planning board meeting on December 17th the planning board is a quasi judicial B body in the state of New Jersey and as such has to be free from influence from the legislated body for which the planning board has jurisdiction over at approximately 28 minutes and 12 seconds into this meeting the chair Paul meran asked if the vice chair proem Tyler Seville was done with his comments prior to Mr Seville answering the now mayor Mrs Fields clearly stated oh he's finished this resulted in an uncomfortable laugh from Mr Seville some noise from the audience and then Mr ceville stating now I'm finished looking dejected this interchange occurred prior to voting on Mr MC's open motion to table a vote on the consistency of an ordinance with the master plan and it came across as a clear threat against Mr Seville this is grossly Unbecoming of an elected member of our Township government and I was appalled to see that Mr deeran was demoted from the chair of the planning board to the second alternate Mr deian is a tireless volunteer who has spent many years on the planning board and this in appearance is clear retribution for going against the wishes of the new mayor and Deputy Mayor Mr MCN in addition I was also apped to notice that most committee assignments were taken away from Miss Acy who just ran won the last election in a decisive Victory taking away the majority of her input into the operations of the township is not what the voters said just two months ago as such you were subverting the will of the Township in exchange for your own so I wonder now what Miss Fields will do to Mr Seville when she's able to retaliate for not voting her way she clearly used intimidation tactics to achieve her political ends in addition I question whether this can be considered a violation of local government ethics by using her office to intimidate a board member into voting her way on a position that she so publicly campaigned against just that very day online through social media and her proxies in the community therefore I request that Miss Fields immediately resigned from her permission position as mayor for professional misconduct and ethical concerns I request that the board explore an Ethics complaint with the local County ethics commission re reinstate of Mr gersan to a consistent voting position on the planning board and Miss AC to meaningful community positions in the township Miss Fields I truly hope that you look at your behavior towards Mr Seville Mr Jeran and Miss Acy and other members valued members of the community and realize that you were elected to serve the community and not to be bullied for your own personal gain thank you thank you so much for coming in and giving comment next good evening my name is Melanie Morano Somerset County Commissioner from Greenbrook Township New Jersey I'm here just to say happy new year thank you all for your service as another elected official I know the time commitments you put into this and your dedication to your community I wanted to say thank you for that I wanted to congratulate the winners of this election I wish you success in the years to come and I invite you to work together with Somerset County so that we can make Bernard's Township and Somerset County the great places they are to live work and play again happy New Year congratulations and thank you so much thank you commissioner thank you anyone else hello Nancy Dandrea three Vander Drive um first I want to talk about one thing in our town that has was is is something that the county did but also with the backing of Bernard's Township was the Revival of Lord Sterling and the Stables uh this is a great thing and we have a lot planned moving forward with uh The Stables uh with more lessons more horses things coming in the future so it's all good news and it's good news for our town and also for the other towns that wish to use the Stables so I want to thank you all for your work that when you showed up for you know uh photos and things and to discuss what you want with the trails and things it was all very well received I appreciate that as a member of the somerson county park commission um I also too wish that um whatever is happening here is we move along and uh you know uh and we get things done okay basically we just need to have things done uh residents many residents here they are involved but let's be honest the 99.9% of the residents that are not here they're just like oh I voted I'm good I expect you to do your job so please just do your jobs be respectful to each other we would all greatly appreciate that I wish you all well a happy and very healthy New Year to you and your family thank you so much again for the support that you gave the the county park system this year thank you anyone else not seeing any more public comment I'm going to close public comment Township committee and staff comments Pat thank you mayor um I wanted to thank uh thank you mayor Fields um I wanted to uh congratulate Jen and Andrew on their re-election and swearing in this this evening uh also wanted to thank outgoing mayor AC um it's been a privilege working with you uh thank you for your service in 2024 uh May Fields I want to congratulate on appointment to a second round so we'll be working together for a second time forward to it thank you I look forward to it and Steph and I are very appreciative of the support from the township committee and we look forward working with you in the upcoming year thank you mayor thank you Christy yes thank you mayor um Mr Balman has resigned from the township committee effective January 1st 2025 I also want to thank the township committee for their time and support over this past year and I look forward to working with all of you in 2025 thank you great Anna thank you mayor um along with the elected officials who are already identified this evening um along with commissioner Morana who's still here I want to acknowledge uh committee woman Amalia dwarte who is my sister she is a committee woman for mendum Township and the chair of the Morris County Democratic party I also want to thank the Democratic Municipal chair Jane Conlin who's here Republican Municipal chair Scott Mitzner and the Somerset County chair of parks and rec Nancy Dandrea thank you all for being here but the greatest thanks go to my husband Michael McCarthy who as Janice said and and Jen alluded to uh you know they support us through a lot through the good times and bad so thank you for being here um so thank you another year too just a few Reflections I want to start by expressing my thanks to Mayor Jen AC for her leadership this past year she worked tirelessly for the community she was an advocate for our residents throughout the year beginning with resident Safety and Security and she's highlighted the challenges of various communities that are important for us to carry forward in the coming year I also want to offer congratulations to Janice and Andrew for being appointed mayor and Deputy Mayor I look forward to working in partnership with you and Jen and the full Township committee members uh to be just to get work done and to do what best for our community 2024 was my startup year and one where I had the opportunity to learn about Service as a committee woman among my primary learnings are that we have a terrific team of Staff across the Bernard Township departments as well as our fire and rescue and EMT in our Police Department I appreciate all their guidance and patience as I learned the ropes in particular thanks to Pat Monaco our coo Christy kefir our town clerk John Bardo our town attorney and police chief John Berger I served as liaison to five committees and commissions and I'm impressed with the commitment and talent of our volunteers who devote many hours of work to these boards some of you are here tonight and have been serving as volunteers and some are being newly appointed Dr Martin Luther King Jr once said life's most persistent and Urgent question is what are you doing for others all of you have answered that question in saying yes to volunteering for our community and for that I am very grateful looking forward we have a dynamic year ahead with a number of priorities which Janice has outlined we also have a cause to celebrate 2025 marks the 265th anniversary of burnard's Township and 2026 will be the semi- Quinn Centennial or 250th anniversary of our nation at our December 23rd meeting we passed resolution 20244 73 to make Bernard's Township in New Jersey rev 250 municipality and New Jersey in light of being a revolutionary site of battles and activity has created this initiative to provide a framework for the upcoming R um anniversary participating as a REV New Jersey municipality will enable Bernard's Township to have our anniversary programming promoted throughout the county and state and position us for grant money from both the county and state hopefully this will not only highlight Bernard's Township it will also bring new part participation to our wonderful historic sites and ancillary Revenue to our local businesses to that end I'm very excited I'll serve as the township committee liaison for the upcoming anniversaries so whether you're a fourth generation Bernard's Township resident or brand new to our community if you're interested be in becoming involved in the planning and or volunteering please let us know in closing I look forward to my second year in service to you our residents of Bernard's Township thank you Jen nothing to add Andrew yes thank you mayor uh Happy New Year to everyone uh there's a reception waiting for us so I'll be brief um I I first want to thank the voters for reelecting me to serve as one of their representatives in local government I take that responsibility seriously and I will carry it out to the best of my ability I further thank everyone who helped Jen and I throughout our re-election campaign as it was a team effort that could not be accomplished without the help of so many of our supporters I thank assemblywoman Nancy Munoz and Michelle matutas for joining us tonight to swear in Jen and I to new terms and for all their support over the years I thank Somerset County uh commissioner Melanie Morano for also being with us tonight and for all the support that the county provides to Bernard's Township I'd like to thank my colleagues on the township committee Janice Anna and Jen it's has been an honor to serve with all of you and I thank each of you for your hard work and dedication to Bernard's Township I congratulate Jen on her re-election for all accomplishments as mayor throughout 2024 I further congratulate mayor Fields who will make an excellent mayor throughout 2025 I further thank Gary Balman for his contributions to our town during his tenure on the township committee I extend my further thanks to Pat Monaco our Township administrator Christy kefir our Clerk and all the outstanding staff who help keep our town running I think that the professionals we've retained to assist us in carrying out many our many responsibilities I thank the police department our fire and emergency services and of course all the volunteers on the various boards and commissions who all help to make Bernards the wonderful place that it is and of course I want to thank my wife Carrie and my two children Hannah and Alexander for all their support throughout this service I couldn't do it without you finally I'm deeply humbled by the committee's decision to elect me as Deputy Mayor I look forward to working to preserve and improve burnard a place we all call home may God bless Parts Township and may God bless all of you thank you Andre I first want to start and say I'm I'm looking forward to working with uh my boards and commissions uh again this year and I just want to say that um it it means a lot to us to have public involvement so whether you email us or you come here your voice is heard and it's important we're not always going to agree and we're not always going to see eye to eye but it's an opportunity for you to speak and and I respect that tremendously and um there's always two sides to every story so please don't stop being involved if you care about an issue in town uh please come to the meetings email us it's important that we get a feedback because we work as a team there's no I here I may be the mayor but every decision I make and everything we do is always going to be we it's not going to be I so together we want to hear you we care your concerns and the decisions that we make we make as a team and we make it on the behalf of all of you and that's most important I also want to say uh thank you to Anna who's going to be chairing the 265th anniversary we're looking forward to it so thank you and and also for uh getting us um uh to purchase ba and rev that meant a lot and uh you spearheaded that so I want to thank you also for that it's very important so to everyone happy New Year it's going to be a great year and uh we're looking forward think we're looking forward to the year and we're work and we're really looking forward to working together so with that said um you're all welcome to go back to uh the uh Liberty Corner firehouse I want to thank the Liberty Corner firehouse for hosting us for the uh mayor's reception and thank you for all that you do uh for us and support us I really appreciate it I didn't get there yet she's trying to get me to stop talking it's okay well I was closing it with everybody can come back to the reception see we're just normal people here so with that said and me finished this concludes the agenda for this evening I welcome everybody back to the Firehouse like I stated before and if there's no objections I decare the meeting adjourn adjourned by unanimous consent