e e e e e e I open the Bernards Township commit meeting for May 28 2024 please stand for the flag salute IED Ali to the flag of the United States of America to The Republic which it stands na godible and justice for all the opening statement adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building one col your lane Basking Ridge on the township website an email to the Bernardsville news whiy The Courier News Bridgewater tapin to.net patch.com and filed with the Township Clerk on December 18 2023 any motion to go into closed session will include that the matter is 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 disclosures of information relating to such matters the meeting rules no new business will be introduced after 10:30 p.m. public comment will be accepted at all meetings speakers will be limited at 5 minutes each all meetings will journ no later than 11:30 p.m. Christie roll call please Mr Balman here miss DTE McCarthy here miss Fields here mayor Acy here and Mr MCN is excuse this evening thank you that takes us to number five executive session none this evening mayor thank you then that takes us to presentations resolution 2024-25 Jewish Heritage Month celebration May 2024 so we are very honored to recognize this month as Jewish heritage month so what I like to do is is I have a resolution that I like to read on some elements of whereas Bernards takes great pride in the varied religious and cultural traditions of residence and seeks to afford all people the opportunity to better understand recognize and appreciate the rich histories cultures and shared principles of Jewish Americans and whereas like so many of the cultures represented in this Township Jewish Americans bring values and traditions that enrich the fabric of our Township and whereas there are nearly half a million Jewish Americans in New Jersey representing one of the largest Jewish American communities in the United States and whereas Jewish Americans continue to contribute to every area of society where and whereas May has been Des designated Jewish heritage month in New Jersey to celebrate the cultural heritage achievements and contributions Jewish Americans have made and continued to make therefore be it resolved that the township Committee of the township of Bernards does hereby recognize may as Jewish heritage month so I'd like to do is I'd like to ask ask my colleagues on the de if they have any comments that they'd like to share go ahead okay just thank you so much for coming um just want to say for myself I there's so much that you can say about Jewish Heritage so I just thought I would reflect on the things that I I admire and I respect to uh immensely which is just the history Jewish her is just draped in so much history from the uh Heritage of celebrating family and tradition and rituals which I am so proud to say I'm part of my husband is Jewish and so being part of that and learning so much from that the uh like I said the traditions and the uh Heritage but the family is the value that is so important to the Jewish community that family is everything and in so many cultures family is everything but with the Jewish Community they make a point of making sure that everyone knows that it's always Family First no matter what in life no matter where they travel wherever they go and speaking of travel most people don't know that the whole world you can't really say there about too many PE too many um religions or representation of people but all over the world Jewish people are represented from from China to other places on the globe uh most people don't know that that everywhere in the world someone is Jewish and so that really makes it makes a difference and the humanitarian and charitable efforts the Jewish Community makes with sedoka box which they put money in and they donate the money that they collect and and they give it to Charities because they feel that someone always has less than they have and that's so important that they recognize that somewhere someone isn't more need than they'll ever need for themselves and that's so important and education is so important in the culture they've made so many contributions the community themselves made so many contributions when it comes to medicine and law and music and artarts and people forget all that the contributions that that Community has made is invaluable and it's going to be be on for Generations we've all celebrated it but how important the contributions that they make when it comes to education and what is really important and why it's so important to the community to to have education and that be so important is because if you think about this no matter what happens you can take everything you can from somebody you can take all the material things but you can never take a person's mind so having education will get you everywhere and I want to say shalom which most people don't me don't realize means hello goodbye and peace and it's such an important part of life is to wish people peace and to say hello and to say goodbye and I just want to say that I'm so proud that it's part of my family but I'm so proud of this community uh for that rich Heritage and being part of it and I want to thank the rabbi for always including us both of you for always including us in everything that you do with your with your synagogues and your temples it's it's it's wonderful to be part of that and you've outreached to us and and made us feel included so I want to thank you so much for that and I'm just just so proud to celebrate the heritage month thank you so so so so yeah it's a month right it's it's Jewish Heritage Month um and it's easy to say that we have a month um but what should Our obligation be I think during this month Our obligation should be as a community to take an opportunity I'm going to to recognize and celebrate the profound impact of Jewish culture history and contributions to our Global Community from literature to science from the Arts to social justice Jewish Heritage has enriched not just contributed but enriched every facet of the human endeavor it it's time to honor the resilience and perseverance of the Jewish people especially now in the face of adversity to reaffirm our commitment all of our commitment to combating anti-Semitism in every form let's use this month I'm personally using this month to deepen my understanding of Jewish Traditions values and experiences and together we must promote a world where diversity is embraced and everyone is respected and recognized so it's been nearly 20 years since the first presidential proclamation of May as Jewish American Heritage Month in 2006 and while it's almost 20 years it is more important now than ever to create awareness and respect for the Jewish American community and recognize the many contributions to society past present and to come I'm very proud that this Township committee is recognizing may as herit Jewish Heritage Month in light of the events of October 7th and the rise in anti-Semitism globally it is important to focus and recognize the contributions and accomplishments of our Jewish residents and reaffirm that we are a community that Embraces unique differences and believe we are a stronger Community when we value inclusion locally our Jewish American Community plays a vital role celebrating Traditions such as the annual lighting of our manur including at habad of Greater Somerset County and this year for the first time at the Allen Street gazebo on South Finley Avenue we also recognize the efforts of our synagogues in fostering interreligious understanding across the faith groups in our community which is so important again to build inclusion I have the pleasure of serving with Rabbi green on the municipal Alliance committee and appreciate his insights and support of the work to educate our youth on tobacco alcohol and drug prevention efforts than thank you for your leadership our rabbis and for the respective synagogues to you and members of your congregations for all you do for our community so it's hard to um add to what my colleagues have said so I'm just going to speak from the heart we all live here together and we are all blessed to have you as members of our community many I'm proud to say that many of my friends are Jewish many of my children's friends are Jewish um we see no difference we um appreciate and we want to learn and understand and respect and we want everyone to feel included and so um it was really an honor and a privilege to be able to outreach and so thank you rabbis for entertaining this uh to come in and and allow us to do this honor this evening so thank you for your willingness and your openness um it's truly a privilege so as as what's been stated we are a community where we are inclusive um and we are completely against any anti-semitism uh we all stand together and we all support you and we thank you for all that you've done for our community now and what you'll do in the future so with that may I have so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried so what I'm going to do now is I'm going to ask our rabbis to please come forward and say a few remarks I will hand you the resolutions and then we will invite everyone up for one group photo thank you very much thank you just want to I know there's a lot on the agenda tonight but I want to just take a moment to thank May AC and C committee first of all for initiating this number one number two for all your words for support the Jewish community and um for Jews and what we bring to the community and for ourselves and the unequivocal support I may ask I may add and I think this represents a another step in the ongoing support that we feel and the relationship of town leader with Community leadership and community members with the Jewish community and I think it's especially meaningful during these times considering what um many Jewish communities are going through throughout the world and that your support your encouragement your friendship is deeply meaningful and appreciated so thank you I I too want to offer my thanks I'm Rabbi Robert Green from CBI and um it's heartening to have you uh welcome us and to um present this resolution um this is a a very uh challenging time for the Jewish community and uh and to know that we have the support of the town in which we live um means a lot to us um you know I Jewish Heritage is is Rich and varied and um as a rabbi I um try and go I try and focus on prayer as a way to um help people understand um how we are supposed to use all that we've gained in our Jewish heritage um and all that we carry with us to help make our world a better place so if it's okay with you I'd like to just read um a piece by Rabbi uh Jack uh Rymer reer and um and just to say a little bit about it it says um we cannot merely pray to God to end War for the world was made in such a way that we must find our own path of Peace within ourselves and with our neighbors we cannot merely pray to God to root out Prejudice for We Are already have eyes with which we see the good in all people if we would only use them rightly we cannot merely pray to God to end starvation for we already have the resources with which to feed the entire world if we would only use them wisely we cannot merely pray to God to end despair for we already have the power to clearly to clear away the slums and to give hope if we would only use our power justly we cannot merely pray to God to end disease for we already have great minds with which to search out cures and healings if we would only use them constructively therefore we pray instead for the strength determination and willpower to do instead of merely pray to become instead of merely to wish that our world may be safe and that our lives may be blessed and the reason that this appeals to me this piece is because this is our mission this is how I understand our mission on this Earth to make our world a better place and um and we use our Rich Heritage and we try and do that and um sometimes we're successful and sometimes we have challenges like everybody but um this is this sort of sums it up in a nutshell so with that I thank you very much uh for your honor and for having us here with you this evening else like to join will the middle thank you thank you so much thank you and as as we've shared with all of our other presentations um you are always welcome to stay but you are also welcome to leave um and most people leave so um there's no offense taken if you decide to head out so thank you so moving on please Christine number seven any public work session none this evening mayor any reports none this evening any correspondence none great then that brings us to public comment 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 however if an ordinance is listed for its own public hearing on the agenda please hold your comments for that particular public hearing the public comment 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 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 the record each speaker is limited to 5 minutes the clerk will keep time please promptly yield the floor when time is called and return to your seat your cooperation adherence to these Rules of Order will ensure an orderly and respectful meeting I open public comments uh Lesley Moran was wondering about that thank you a lesie Moran 20 Village Drive um I spoke to Mayor aay a few weeks ago and she explained that the town committee um passes only resolutions that are strictly local uh the mayor was very gracious to suggest that I share my concerns uh during public comments so I'm here uh I will read this Proclamation uh into the record edited for brevity uh this Proclamation declares the first Friday in June to be National Gun Violence awareness day to honor and remember all victims and survivors of gun violence and to declare that we as a country must do more to end this Public Health crisis every day 120 Americans are killed by gun violence and more than 200 are shot and wounded with an average of nearly 18,000 gun homicides every year Americans are 26 times more likely to die by gun homicide than people in other high inome countries towns Across the Nation are working to end the senseless violence with evidence-based Solutions support for the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens goes handin hand with keeping guns away from people with dangerous histories Mayors town councils and law enforcement officers in partnership with local violence intervention activists know their communities best and are best positioned to understand how to keep their citizens safe um gun violence prevention is more important than ever as we see an increase in firearm H homicides and non-fatal SHO shootings across the country and increased calls to domestic violence hotlines in January 2013 hadia Pendleton was tragically shot and killed at age 15 and on June 7th 2024 to recognize Hada uh people across the United States will recognize gun violence awareness day and wear orange in tribute to Hada Pendleton and other victims of gun violence we resolve to renew our commitment to reduce gun violence and pledge to do all we can to keep Firearms out of the hands of people who should not have access to them and encourage responsible gun ownership to help keep our families and Community safe um in closing I share some updated information about New Jersey perhaps committee members know that the 2022 uh US Supreme Court Bruin decision provoked a challenge to New Jersey's sensible gun legislation uh this challenge remains in the third Circuit Court of Appeal s and I would guess that Chief Berger is well acquainted with what else I'm going to say I'm also confident that law enforcement is respected and listened to in burner's Township uh we have seen a tremendous increase in permits issued to carry firearms in New Jersey the Attorney General's website now has a dashboard on which anyone can view the number of new gun permits issued I emphasize new not renewals in 2020 the state issued less than 50 permits per month 50 average in 2023 and 2024 the average permits issued per month climb to over 1750 neighboring towns are well represented of course a few in Bernard's Township we are not an isolated Community I hope we are home to responsible gun owners who practice safe storage although by the way New Jersey does not have a state safe storage law yet um our committee members confident that the responsible designation applies to everyone who passes through our town and do committee may just a rhetorical question here do committee members view our concerns as alarmist so and I still have a minute I think I'll share my story I worked as a school psychologist in Washington Township Long Valley for 32 years and so why do I have why when I retired did I have this interest well our child study team secretary's daughter was murdered uh so many of us have a story like that she was murdered at Cornell University and uh I used to commute to New York and that was enough to frighten me in the 80s so thank you for the opportunity to speak thank you thank you for coming good evening my name is Teran madine I live at for 7 King George Road in Basking Ridge earlier tonight I attended the Somerset County Board of County Commissioners meeting where they officially made a proclamation announcing that June is gun violence Awareness Month in the county of Somerset I am saddened that death by gun is now the leading cause of death for children 18 and younger in our country that is an absolutely crazy and horrifying statistic I am saddened that in New Jersey our elementary through high school students have to monthly perform an active shooter drill due to the amount of gun violence in our state and these drills themselves can cause a lot of anxiety especially in the youngest of our children I am saddened that we lose 120 Americans daily to guns and more than 50% of these American lives are lost by suicide by gun we are all new jerseyans and we take care of each other and we are Jersey strong I am hopeful that next year This Town Council will agree to Proclaim June gun violence awarness month in Bernard's Township thank you for your time thank you g to take a deep breath after those statistics and this is totally separate thing so I it's bad disos um Debbie Marquez 16 Lafayette Lane so just two positive things I'd like to um convey one of course is a heartfelt thank you for the resolution today to declare um May Jewish heritage month I know the dates of the meetings meant we're doing it at the end of the month but that's fine it's um the spirit is there and I appreciate the um the mayor for bringing it forward and also for the unanimous support on the committee it is very much appreciated um in addition to you know me loving living in this town I'm so grateful that I'm much more comfortable on a day-to-day basis and some of my friends in nearby not so far away towns and also um you know I did share with um some people I'm in a closed group that this resolution was occurring and people in other towns were um like thinking very highly of Basking Ridge so it also helps our Town's you know Vibe um reputation too although of course that's not why it was done but I just want to give you another round of kudos for that and thank you um from the bottom of my heart um completely separately I I originally come before I saw the resolution um to also um compliment and thank the committee um for how they run the website and oversee the public works department I had submitted a um pictures for some sidewalks i' had some 2-in tripping hazards on Mount Ary Road and I think like within a week um they were just taken care of it was unexpectedly responsive and appreciated and I I think that people don't know how responsive the town can be you just have to let them know um and remind people that the website does have like a report issues like button that you just click and um you send the information and it they'll get back to you if they can't do it quickly themselves all right thank you thank you thank you anyone else okay then I will close public comment moving on to staff reports Pat would you like to start sure thank you mayor um I just wanted to welcome uh Christopher DIC who's being promoted to full-time electrical inspector uh that was a vacancy with Roger retiring so uh welcome aboard to fulltime status to Christopher it's a I thank you Christie yes thank you mayor um I just wanted to mention that early voting begins tomorrow Wednesday May 29th and runs until Sunday June 2nd at the Bernard's Township community center 289 South Maple Avenue this is open to all Somerset County residents and if anyone has any questions they welcome to call the clerk's office at 98204 30001 thank you mayor thank you Aaron just to thank you for welc nice to meetone thank you Anna thank you mayor um just quickly in response to uh resident Moran when I my daughter was born our pediatrician had said whenever she goes to play somewhere make sure you ask if there's a gun in the home and I remember thinking well that's maybe a tough question to ask but it's so important and it was in light of the rising accidents with children and the results in that so while we have been passed to resolution I really appreciate all the statistics you shared and the education and awareness that you provided us this evening both of you so thank you um differently uh I also want to thank our Police Department for excellent work in the arrest of four individuals on May 19th uh while our Police Department performs service every day in light of the heightened concern we've had these past few month over burglaries and auto theft um I hope that this has brought some release and satisfaction of the hard work that our police department has done for our community um also thanks to parks and wreck and all involved DPW the police department among others for Charter day uh this is probably my 30th Charter day uh however it always Delights and I want to thank uh Deputy Mayor um fields for the idea of having a Township committee space it was a great way to interact with the community so hopefully we'll do that again next year and then lastly in thanks our basking bridge fire department for our Memorial Day celebration um recognizing all who've paid the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our country and thanking all the residents for coming out um it's days like this when I feel like our community really shines so on our uh commit ities and Boards notable this Sunday June 2nd we have our Twilight Challenge and this is a fundraiser for our Municipal Alliance um the organization in town supporting tobacco alcohol and drug abuse prevention there is still time to sign up as a participant both for the 5K run or to walk or just join the community for the event that will be at Pleasant Valley Park at 6m our golf advisory committee is running the mayor's Cup tournament this Saturday June 1st you must be a member of the golf course to register a team and it's pretty reasonable and our mayor I believe will be there to present the trophy to the winning uh group also on Golf Course uh we offer student summer memberships uh the criteria you must be a resident however ages 12 to 23 $290 no Initiation fee this is a wonderful opportunity for those with you with young people in your lives um that would be valid now through Labor Day unlimited play no no additional Greens fees so tell Jen Gander I shared all of that um also on others our environmental committee and Shad Tre commissions have met and I'll have more to share that on our next meeting so thanks mayor thank you Gary a couple of announcements um Pleasant Valley pool is now open for the season they're open on the weekends um and they'll be open daily starting June 15 membership to Pleasant Valley pool is still available check out um uh the PVP was uh they were pleased to have celebrated the replastering of the pool so for those who haven't seen it it's gorgeous um with a countdown and a and a big jump in at the main pool on Saturday uh it was a great event and all who attended enjoyed um we are still accepting applications for lifeguard all other positions at the pool have been fully staffed um pickle ball Courts at PVP Pleasant Valley Park will be closed for two to three days for crack repairs in early June um signs will be posted on the courts and uh on the township we website on the closure dates but if you play pickle ball or know anyone that plays pickle ball pass the word around it's going to be two or three days in early June for some much uh desired and needed uh repairs um and then um one last announcement Madame mayor um for those who haven't noticed Hometown hero Banners are now on display here at Town Hall and at Pleasant Valley Park they will be on display through July 4th uh these banners recognize those who've served uh who who are who are residents former residents of our town um we will have a list uh of banner locations on our Bernards dorg website on the homepage on our homepage and if anyone is interested in sponsoring a banner for the next display of Hometown Heroes in November the application deadline is August 3 ver so come please please come see our Hometown Heroes check out the banners um and and and sponsor if you can that's it Madam mayor thank you Deputy Mayor sure thank you as my colleague Anna had mentioned about the arrest here in town I just want to say we are all feeling um a little sigh of relief it was a a very big deal of very big deal and uh very uh proud of our officers um who um made the arrest so what I want to say which is really important is that we made a decision as Township committee to purchase the license place readers uh we were on a slow track where we were going to purchase two um every year but we made a decision that it was important that we purchase all of them at once and we made that investment and it paid off so I want everyone to know because of that system that's what really really led to this arrest uh the system had hit on the the car that had come into town and that ensued a Pursuit and the pursuit was you know the car was pulled over so I want to say that um what we're what we do here does make a difference so the license readers really uh was a a good investment and there's other Investments that we're making for safety but I just wanted everybody to know about that that that investment really paid off for all of us so um together that's a a great decision that we all made um so and I want to really congratulate the officer um on on that arrest um as far as the uh librar is concerned they have a couple of updates uh they did some Outreach they attended the Oak Street School Community helper day um as well as Charter day uh the library is always looking for opportunities um uh to to engage in the community and the in the community to um to visit uh the library um their project on the entrance way is almost complet um they're also like I said they're always looking for ways to engage with the community the community engage with them they have started a pilot program where it's called meet your neighbors where they are enlisting speakers from local communities Township departments local government to do short informal talks about work and how the community members can get involved uh their first series uh featured uh mayor AC um and they are looking for future speakers so if anybody has any suggestions or any ideas please please reach out to the library if you think of anyone or yourself you're involved in a nonprofit or you do something spectacular in the community and you like to talk about that please reach out to uh to the library and speaking about reaching out so one of the things we had a speaker come up and talk about um about gun violence and tonight we're recognizing um Jewish heritage month I always say we're only as good as the information we receive so if you have any ideas or suggestions or or it is a recognition month that we don't know about and you think we should recognize it or a person just reach out to us just send us a quick email and say did you know it's a you know it's a a flower month and I really would like you to recognize it or you know somebody did something in town that really is important to the community and that we should recognize them so if you just send us an email and ask us we can't do all the requests but we do take it into consideration and if we can do it we will do it we'll recognize an organization or a month and um and and the mayor has gone above and beyond with doing doing that and I want to thank you for that with recognizing our sports teams uh when they win championships or the Heritage months for each of the uh cultures or religions or or whatever we can do so just want to let everybody know I'll say it again just just reach out to us and um if we can do it we will do it and lastly I want to talk about Farmstead our lovely Farmstead um they are having um they're having the Lord Sterling theater company is doing the wisdom of Eve play and it will be on June 7th there will be a couple of performances but Friday June 7th from 7:30 to 10 p.m. um at their King George location so um while they're busy doing plays and there are some art shows and art lessons please visit fet's um website for more information thank you mayor thank you so I have a lot to go through um before I start I did want just to make it clear um we get a lot of requests for proclamations and resolutions and I just want to share that um we try to be fair to everyone and one of the fairness uh criteria is is there a an organization that is based within the township for which if we make that recognition there is someone to receive it and this is the topic or an issue that is directly applicable to us and so um literally today we got a request or I got a request for a proclamation and it did not meet that criteria so I just want you to know that um by not doing something doesn't mean that we don't support a cause it's just trying to be fair for everyone across the board that that is just sort of the rule of thumb that we apply so I want to thank Leslie for coming and speaking and sharing um because it is helpful to to do that so I just wanted to clarify that in case there was any questions um so let me just do a quick in review because we've got some great stuff to get to um but I don't want to diminish the amazing accomplishments so just a shout out to the brba they did a wonderful social event on May the 16th at the Washington house um Charter day was absolutely obviously phenomenal um the uh brick had a wonderful holy event uh as well as PEC parents of exceptional children hosted a fabulous fundraiser of Touch a Truck at the mahong collection on May the 19th um I could barely keep up with all this stuff um cof coffee with a cop thanks to uh Sergeant Bal deseri May 22nd at just riding along and then not you know the just a few days ago was it yesterday the Memorial Day Parade was very touching and a huge thank you to all who participated it's very important um as I had shared we recognize all of our veterans and um it's really important for people to know what the meaning of Memorial Day is um and so I think that we were able to do that in an appropriate way and again to continue to honor Captain Ford Shaw who we recognized earlier this year so um switching topics Fabric or burnard so that is our you know uh diversity and inclusion and and uh membership within our community small business owners so this is something that I am now going door too to uh businesses within our community to raise awareness of these grants that are at the state level so I will continue to do this this information is on our website I'm pointing people to it um I would love to have another program for our small business owners um as a panel for anybody that actually applies for the grants so guys there is money out there if you know anyone that has a small business I mean I have literally reached out to my vet my kids orthodontist and like I said I'm literally going door too my husband thinks I've lost my mind um switching on to uh coming up something very exciting is focus on seniors so this Saturday and I have to gulp here for a second because as we approach this number the state defined seniors as 60 years old okay so seniors is a depends on how you define it but the state defines it as 60 plus so um June the 1st we are very grateful to Somerset County um aging and disabilities for the collaboration to host this program on Saturday morning 9 to 12 at the senior center on Mount Ary road so I hope that we will see many folks there we have a nice showing though thus far with RSVPs but quite honestly if you come we'll still we we would love to have you there we've got all four levels of government um so it's a wonderful opportunity to understand what our taxpayer dollars get us so if you know a senior um you take care of seniors please encourage them to come and I hope to see them Saturday morning and it was just announced today um we have yoga in the park so uh note that on the calendar for June 21st 5:45 until 7:15 now um understanding burnard so that is our educational program we have the affordable housing presentation on June the 10th at 700 p.m. please come and learn that is going to be about the topic of the new law that was put in place by the state um from Trenton uh so it's not going to go into specifics for our municipality but it's going to give us a good ABC's nuts and bolts about that new law so here are some things that you guys may have not heard about before so we're very very excited on Friday May the 24th Congressman Tom Kaine announced that his office submitted 15 Community Project funding requests to the House Appropriations Committee for funding consideration ahead of fiscal year 2025 Congressional Appropriations process now you might be like okay that's great what does that have to do with us we were one of the 15 we were one of the 15 uh for guess what safety um so it was uh submitted to the subcommittee Commerce Justice science and related agencies the amount is $1.6 million uh the justification is to improve communication capability of our Township Police Department and partner emergency response agencies within the township so we are very excited about this this is something at the last Township committee meeting I thanked our leadership I thanked Pat and Ryan in particular as well as uh Chief burger for their support and putting all the background so what this means is is that we were one of 15 picked of over 70 submissions um from 95 towns um and we made the first step so fingers crossed we'll keep you a prized as this goes what this means for us is again our budget was voted on we are locked and loaded as of April but if this money comes through this is going to be great so again as was stated Sean had communicated the town will approach opportunities for Grants and this is one example of that so I'm fingers crossed on this and very grateful um for that process um safety updates have been talked about ladies and gentlemen I continue to do neighborhood safety updates unfortunately crime still happens and um residents when it happens in their Community they want more information so it is my pleasure to go and and meet with folks um did that the last time May the 15th I'm still meeting with our Somerset Hills Public Safety Committee we have another meeting this week and as been said by my colleagues on the de um a huge thank you to Chief Burger um for the press release that was issued on May the 20th um officer Olivia stama so she as an individual stopped one car of four individuals and you can only guess what they were probably doing as she found in that vehicle you know things that tools that would be associated with committing residential burglaries so she was so brave made that stop of the South American theft group is who we they believe that um was they are associated with and they connected due to the diligence of our detective Bureau they found that this was connected to a burglary that took place on Spencer Road on May the 7th in our community so we can't thank our police enough for their 365 24/7 coverage of our community and we are so grateful for the Investments that were made to help them do their jobs a little bit easier so again thank you for that and um when I was walking away from the Memorial Day U parade um Olivia was she was the one blocking traffic there um over by Washington house and I thanked her so if you see her please do thank her um we are very grateful for her and all of the officers for our department um one other fun little tidbit um in this is coming later in the agenda but the New Jersey motion picture and uh television commission I've had so much fun working with these folks and we are very honored that Dave is here in the audience and he'll speak later in the meeting um we have had so much fun with this to enable our Township to be able to support uh Film Production within our community so I had fun on May the 17th went around with Ben from the county Ben Nana is absolutely fabulous and we shot more sites um one of those actually was the habad that uh was here uh and so it was wonderful and we're so excited we are uh going to introduce something later that will continue the process um the benefits of this besides the fact that we're helping to support the Arts is it actually translates into Economic Development supporting our business Community um so it's something I can't wait for for and we'll hear a little bit more from Dave here in just a bit when we introduce the ordinance and last but not least um one thing I've been working on behind the scenes is um we're going to be issuing in the next day or so Bernard's Buzz so it's a mayor's trimester update so I've tried to summarize um this update that is a review so it's not talking about things in the future but there are valuable tools and uh present ations that exist on our website and we really want residents to know that they exist so this is going to be a non-printed um online uh PDF uh type of document that residents will be able to go to and look back to say oh this happened or here's this tool all of the safety tools that for instance that the police have rolled out there's links to that so again a huge thank you to christe and her staff for helping with all of this um so we're excited you'll see that on the socials when we push that out um and that will be something that I will commit to continuing to do so with that mayor do you mind if I say something please I just I just want to let everybody know um how profound this grant is so we have to purchase new radios and it's a lot of money so we we were lucky that we uh our finance department has been this we're talking about over a half a million dollars plus for these radios so we've been saving for these um and we do have the money but the mayor has gone out above and beyond and worked with the Departments to fill out this application and try to really fight for this money so if we were to receive this grant money I want to thank the congressman for uh having us be one of the you know one of the ones who qualified for it but I I really want to thank the mayor because it was really tedious to go to each department you have to fill out the information and get the information and work with the uh work with the congressman's office and if we if we get this money it's a lot of money that goes back into our pocket which is our community that we already have a lot of towns have not saved this money and they now they're found they're finding that they have to increase taxes even more and try to find the money for uh for these radios that we all have to purchase uh in the surrounding areas so just want everyone to know I really appreciate the work that you did because I did speak with the mayor because I cross over with my departments but she took the initiative worked with each of the Departments made sure that it was filled out worked with the congressman's office and if we get this money it is it's really incredible um it's a lot of money like I said that we have that's free for us to spend on other things that this community needs so I want to really thank you for that and I appreciate it and thank every Department that participated and the congressman so I'll be praying thank you you it has to go through many approvals there has to be the appropriation committee then it has to go to the house then it has to go to the Senate and then the president so they've told us that potentially that we won't know if this is funded until between October and December but please know that we will be watching it like a hawk and you know the congressman's office has said that they had a decent uh you know rate in the past a success rate so fingers cross that that we get through that so we're just happy to be selected uh to be one of the 15 so we're very grateful thank you thank you with that then may we move on please fire and rescue appointment none this evening mayor then that brings us to unfinished business please ordinance 2 557 an ordinance to amend the revised General ordinances of the township of Bernards chapter 4 General licensing subsection 4-7 Municipal Police rotation towing service non-consensual Towing regulations and this is a public hearing and there I would also like to State for the record that in ordinance 2557 section 4711 item F the ordinance should read umbrella liability insurance policy in the amount of $2 million as stricken I spoken with with Township attorney Bardo and he has advised me that the vision is not substantive and recommended the ordinance be adopted as revised thank you thank you then I'd like to open the public hearing and welcome comments hi uh Jerry Schmidt 15 tiley Street uh I want to say thank you for opening this up and uh looking into changing this ordinance um it's a little outdated all the other towns I work with they're switching to this type of ordinance so I appreciate everything you guys are doing for me or for doing this ordinance so thank you thank you anyone else then I will close the public hearing may I have a motion mayor I move ordinance 2557 to be adopted as revised and advertised as required by law second before we make the final vote um would anybody like to make any comments yes I'd like to discuss it mayor so Jerry is one of our uh Toe Companies small business uh companies in town and for years actually two years in last year he has come and asked us to lower the umbrella policy because small business owners cannot do business in Bernard's Township because the umbrella policy was too high and they couldn't afford it so he's a he came and asked us to lower it and uh we looked into it and we found that we could do it and it was like we have said before we're pro business especially small business and it was an opportunity of us for help out our small businesses so now more businesses in town our smaller ones can afford that policy which means if we have a towing issue um they can help out and Tow and it makes it where more people are able to do business in Bernard's Township so it's another thing that Bernard's Township has done like we remember this I always say that this reminded me when Jerry came in and I said we should pursue this the Scream Machine where our ordinance was outdated and we weren't allowed to help small businesses sell soft ice cream in their trucks it was the same thing when he came in here and he pleaded with us and said I'd like to do business in town and he grew up here but I can't because it I can't afford the policy so can you help me and so I wanted to thank my Township committee uh for agreeing to do that and for us like we said being proactive and pro small business so I just want everyone to know the history behind that change in the ordinance thank you anyone else and I want to acknowledge Deputy Mayor thank you for pursuing that and making that happen thank you also I'd like to um thank um Deputy uh deputy chief Eric coleta who was um instrumental in working with our attorney John Bardo to gy or is written in proper way so I want to uh thank the police department but especially um thank deputy chief gal great thank you then may have a roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss Duarte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you next ordinance please ordinance 2558 an ordinance to amend the revised General ordinances of the township of Bernards chapter 2 Administration section 7 Police Department subsection 1 a establishment and organization and this is a public hearing I open the public hearing and welcome comments seeing none I'm going to close the public hearing may I have a motion I move that ordinance number 2558 be adopted in ad no the wrong one sorry yeah hold on you're right that's correct thanks I move that ordinance number 2558 be adopted and advertised as required by law second thank you clerk roll call please Mr Balman we have discussion on this sure view officers I wanted to mention okay oh okay so I just wanted to let everyone know this is the this is the ordinance to increase our uh police department by two officers so again we're being proactive in the past what we had done was we had 38 officers and then when there was a need for 39 we increased it to 39 temporarily but then we found we really needed to go to 40 and so this ordinance is going to do that like I said again safety's our priority um instead of Slow Rolling it we decided that it was more important that we knew that we needed to be at two new officers so that's what we're doing here increasing it by two so safety being the priority thank you mayor thank you any other comment no I was just going to what Janice said uh well is that this is a line to what we've passed in our budget we approved two additional officers um with $215,000 so it's completely aligned and I think in the May 19th we saw that having a strong police force is really critical for our community so thank you excellent clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes carried thank you and congratulations and thank you for your service Chief thank you moving on then to new business consent agenda the items listed within the consent agenda portion of the meeting have been referred to the township committee for reading and study are posts on the agenda on the website are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion of the township committee with no separate discussion if separate discussion is required the item may be removed from the agenda by Township Committee Action and placed on the regular agenda under new business would anyone like an item remove the consent agenda okay then may have a motion please so moved second chrisy roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you then moving on to the next ordinance please ordinance 2552 in ordinance to amend the revised General ordinance of the township of Bernards chapter 16 shade tree production and this is Introduction I'm sorry I move that ordinance 2552 be introduced on first reading advertis are required by law and scheduled for a public hearing on June 11th 2024 second would anybody like to make any comments please me again so I was on the committee for writing the ordinance I just want to let everybody to know on the shade tree on on the on the on the ordinance um and Anna will will also uh agree with me uh the shade tree the shade tree uh commission was um advised of on this so they had input um we worked with the engineering department and DPW to uh draft this ordinance as far as when it comes to shade Tre so I just want everyone to know that there was a lot of effort a lot of time a lot of meetings back and forth that this was written in a way where we had to file the F we had to make sure that we were following the guidelines of the Department of um Environmental Protection so they had their guidelines we had to follow those and then what we felt was important for our community and the most important thing for all of us on each each part that took place with the ordinance was not to make it so restrictive for our residents when it comes down to cutting down trees um so following like I said said number one you have to follow the department of environment protection which we did and then second what we thought was important but that wasn't just we like I said it was engineering and depart works and Shad street so together I just want everyone to know that we made a large effort and took a lot of time and this ordinance was very well thought out and with keeping the residents in mind and what was best for everyone so I think that wanted everyone to know that that was really important and I really want to thank our engineering department Tom Tim um for making sure that you know we went back and forth and back and forth it wasn't an easy ordinance to write at all but just him understanding our needs and him giving our input and really getting to the Finish Line I just really want to thank him for that tremendously the the effort and like I said the effort of everyone to make sure that the community was in mind and what was in the best interest of our community but for the residents too because we all know that sometime some place will be cutting down a tree yeah and I I'll de said that the Department of Environmental Protection has created even more restrictions and at the same time the ordinance takes a great balance between that the restrictions but also the opportunity to continue to make our community vital and I serve as liaison to the shade tree commission and was very impressed with the diligence and intentional focus on ensuring that the ordinance was able to move forward so I agree that it was a tremendous amount of work by a lot of people to get it to where it is and the the shade tree uh commission is vital it's really vital to the community because there was two ways to go about this when we wanted to have um permits for the trees and cutting down we can either take it back and have the engineering and have our employees handle it or have the shade tree and we felt the shade tree that's what they're there for to help help the uh Township committee and help our departments and that's their purpose so if we took that away from them why would we really need them so we brought we're keeping it with them so if that situ ation comes up it's going to go through the shade tree first before the before we get it so I think that's really that was very uh very conscious effort on U Mr timo's part and I want to thank him for that for thinking of the commission and appreciating all the work that you all do because it is f thank you with that then clerk roko Please Mr Balman yes mrte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you next letter C please ordinance 2553 an ordinance to amend the rise General ordinances of the township of Bernards chapter 21-3 definitions chapter 2-43 landscaping and Chas trees chapter 21-45 tree removal and protection chapter 21- 52.3 details for minor subdivisions chapter 21- 54.4 details required for preliminary development plans chapter 21- 63.2 construction permits chapter 21 appendix a article 3 checklist chapter 21 appendix a article 10 plot plan checklist and chapter 21 appendix B article 3 checklist and this is Introduction mayor I move chrisy read all that again no mayor I move ordinance 2553 be introduced on first reading referred to the planning board and advertis is required by law scheduled for a public hearing on June 25th 2024 second clerk roll call please Mr Balman yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you next please ordinance 2559 accepting a reparan Zone conservation easement and a termination of stream buffer conservation eement on property located at 295 North Maple Avenue One Verizon way block 8 04 Lots 2.01 lot 3.01 4.01 and 16 from 295 North Maple TTS North Maple LLC and Verizon Corporate Services Group Incorporated and this is Introduction mayor I move that ordinance 2559 be introduced on first reading adverti as required by law and scheduled for a public hearing on June 11th 2024 second clerk roll call please Mr bman yes mrte McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried great that takes us do we say The Best For Last ordinance 2560 in ordinance of the township of Bernards County of Somerset state of New Jersey amending revising and supplementing the revised General ordinances of the township of Bernards by establishing regulations and permit requirements for the filming throughout Bernard's Township and this is an introduction I move that ordin 2560 be introduced on first reading advertisements required by law and scheduled for a public hearing on June 11th 2024 second before we vote I wanted to ask for Dave to please come up and um make a few statements thank you so much for coming to our meeting this even well thank you very much for having me tonight I really appreciate it um my name is David shoner I am the associate director of the New Jersey motion picture and television commission and I really uh the great thing about what I do is I have my dream job and I've been doing it for close to 40 years I was hired in Tom K's uh uh first ye term of his fourth year and so we've been coordinating film making in New Jersey ever since and New Jersey film making is booming and it's really exploding in a very positive way we've been very fortunate to have so much film making in the state because of our film and TV tax incentives and it's a great mixture because it really is as the mayor pointed out it's about small business and it's about jobs it creates jobs it creates great Union paying uh middle class jobs for everyone depending on what you're doing and it's not something like where you are necessarily the star the celebrity or the writer it's those people that are the trades that are working on them and the one great thing that over the past six years that we've encountered is that people that live in New Jersey can now officially work in New Jersey I dear friends years ago that when they would work in New Jersey they would be traveling to Steiner stages in the Brooklyn Navy yard and it would take them two hours to get there and then two hours back four hours out of their day so this is great I appreciate you know the council and the committee members doing this a little some statistics some quick statistics uh in 2022 um film making generated $700 million in the state of New Jersey and that's a direct spend it's no trickle down Theory it's no it's it's directly what what is actually spent in the state we monitor it very closely what happens what takes place we created uh 8,500 jobs during that period of time so we're very very excited um I'm kind of the point person the boots on the ground spoke to the mayor spoke to uh the clerk and the ba and uh so I'll be working with you very closely on this whether there's any questions or any issues and it's kind of fun because you get to uh you get to see New Jersey all over the screen you may not be realized you're watching new JY but New Jersey is there whether it's a Super Bowl commercial a regular commercial some TV series a feature film and uh we're looking forward to it and uh it'll be it's going to be a lot of fun I don't know if you have any questions please far away and and ask me no I think you've stated the economic empowerment that it can provide I read you know in preparation for tonight about the pandemic's impact on the hospitality industries among others and the Rev ization that this could provide so thank you for being here tonight I appreciate it it it really is it is about the jobs and it's about the economic impact we really track it and to just give you kind of a little uh an overview we had a TV series that was filming in New Jersey and they dry clean the clothes because it's part of the process and the that dry cleaner in a season a uh um 12 episode season made $320,000 in just dry cleaning so it's those those little those type of things Dave I can't thank you enough um Ben Nana from the county yes you guys are just have been so helpful to us you know we appreciate your guidance and your expertise for us to be able to introduce this ordinance tonight and we look forward to obviously passing it and for Bernards to be film ready and for those that may not appreciate um we're leveraging um our relationship with the Basking Ridge business Alliance so um to become film ready there are multiple steps that have to happen our um official liaison is Christie that was step one step two um and I might have the steps out of order well you you you the mayor attended a one of our film ready programs we actually have a training program that we do it at the end of a day and it starts at 9:00 typically ends at 1:30 and we kind of like compress and walk you through everything that you would need to know we bring in fire we big in public safety we bring in location managers that talk about the ins and outs we bring in Mayors Municipal officials so one gets a crash course was step that was that that technically was step one yes step step two and then again thanks to the the Gratitude um other two other steps that have to happen besides this ordinance that's one of the steps is um to have film uh sites so through their generosity I had the privilege of spending two days with Ben and a photographer on behalf of the state and I know you you met him and and such on May the 3D and May the 17th and we shot 29 sites um so we we kept them moving and um it was so much fun I can't wait to see them on there and for all residents uh we will be issuing very soon a flyer that encourages all residents if you want your house to potentially be a set perhaps or your business you'll be able to do that um at no cost you'll be able to upload your photos to your property so that'll be something so that'll be a fun Community involvement um type of thing and the other is is the the Basking Ridge business Alliance we have to provide a list of at least five businesses that can support this production as like you were saying that that happen to be a um a dry cleaner well we need to provide those that list and um the bask Ridge business Alliance is going to maintain that list for us and provide that to us so it's a wonderful thing that is helping them it's helping all of us and so it's just been so much fun it is it's been a blast I'm I'm very up I'm very positive and I'm trying to be just level you know very level with you folks because it's just wonderful I love what I do and one of the great things about um working with the businesses is we really encourage them to use local as much as possible it's the Crux of our incentive you have to use local um that it's just it's just that simple and part of what we did what the mayor did going out and touring with one of our interns is the um Economic Development Authority which I'm part of actually we pay our interns uh to do that and we try to give opportunity mentorship and also inspiration and knowledge with that I go out and speak to maybe 30 high schools a year talking to young people about this so we we're all in on uh on what what you're doing here well Des was fabulous and then uh Sienna pitched in um on the 17th yes again we're just so grateful and yall are welcome anytime thank you thank you thank you thank you for coming this even you're welcome thank you so with that then may we do a roll call please Mr Balman yes Mr McCarthy yes Miss Fields yes mayor AC yes motion carried thank you going then to letter F please approval of minutes May 14th 2024 Open Session minutes so moved second all in favor I I then we'll go to Executive session none this evening mayor thank you then that takes us to adjournment may I have a motion to adjourn motion to second