good evening everybody would like to call this meeting to order adequate notice of this meeting was provided and published in the Asbury Park Press in the ocean star on January 12th 2024 copies of the agenda were provided to the newspaper posted on public bulletin boards in the township website thank you roll call please councilman albanes councilwoman pontorero here councilwoman D young here councilman feineman here councilwoman Travers here vice president ambino here president minikino here thank you thank you can I have every everybody rise to salute the flag in a moment of silence please I Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands na indivisible andice for all thank you can I get a motion in a second to approve the minutes from the March 25th meeting motion second roll call councilman Alban yes councilwoman pontorero councilwoman D young yes councilman Fineman yes councilwoman Travers yes vice president amberino yes president minino yes thank you thank you I'd like to invite the mayor up please I think I'm good hello everyone how with the crowd tonight can I please have the brick memorial girls bowling team along with their coach come on up or down whichever way you want to can have you stand behind me hello welcome welcome and congratulations I have a proclamation for our girls bowling team that I'd like to share with everyone right now Brick Township has some of the most storied and success ful inters Scholastic High School sports programs in the state of New Jersey the brick memorial high school girls bowling team stands as perhaps the most consistently successful and dominant in our community's history this past season the Mustangs girls bowling team was once again a force to be reckoned with compiling a record 23 and 0 winning the shore conference as South championship and winning the njsiaa Central Jersey group three champion chionship with a victory over Woodbridge High School their season was capped off with a resounding 2 and0 victory over the Lacy lions in the njsiaa group three Championship marking the fourth consecutive title and Ninth overall for the Mustangs the members of the njsia group 3 Champion Mustangs bowling team are Brooke Collins Cameron DeMarco Kira fanol Megan guidone AJ Jen I Kendra momer Faith pan Olivia Salvatore Caitlyn whitel Sanchez and Patricia Williams the Mustangs were most ay led by head coach Tor botton a proud alumnus of brick memorial high school where she excelled on the lanes and was twice named bowler of the Year by the Asbury Park Press and was named to their all decade team therefore I Lisa crate mayor of the township of brick in the county of ocean in the state of New Jersey in recognition of their remarkable season and their capturing of the njsia group 3 Championship do hereby Proclaim Wednesday April 10th 2024 to be brick memorial high school girls bowling team day in the township of brick and I call upon all residents to join me in congratulating head coach Tory botton and the members of the Mustangs girls bowling team on their accomplishments and thank them for representing our community in such an exemplary manner let's let's give him a round of [Applause] applause yeah but what we might have to do is kind of shoulder til so we can all fit so there you go and we'll put May in the middle mom and dad can get up and take pictures too congratulations [Laughter] feel like I'm at the B one more [Applause] round that read everybody's going out to celebrate now right that's right all right so we also have some other guests in the room today can I please call up anyone that's here from dispatch our telecommunicators come on up oh I like your uh I like your jackets or sweatshirts I guess those are cool yeah all right you guys ready your week all right emergencies that require police fire or Emergency Medical Services can occur at any given moment when an emergency occurs that prompts uh The Prompt response of police officers firefighters and paramedics is critical for the protection of life and preservation of property the safety of our emergency responders is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained from citizens who contact The Brick Township emergency Communication Center our dispatch making telecommunicators the first and most critical contact each year the second week in April is designated as National Public Safety telecommunicators Week in the United States which recognizes the commitment service and sacrifice telecommunicators make every single day the citizens of Brick Township are fortunate to have a staff of 22 full-time and three part-time dispatchers that work 24 hours a day 365 days a year always ready to assist with an emergency our dispatchers as well as all public safety t communicators are in one of the most stressful positions professions while exhibiting compassion understanding and professionalism during their performance on their job therefore I Lisa crate mayor of the township of brick in the county of ocean in the state of New Jersey to hereby recognize the week of April 14th through April 20th 2024 to be National Public Safety telecommunication telecommunicators week excuse me in the township of brick and call on all residents to join me in honoring the vital work that these dedicated men and women do each and every day let's give them a round of [Applause] applause [Applause] okay now you may have thought I was finished but I'm not there's one more tonight we have some special guests in the audience but we have a more special guest sitting to my left if you'd like to come up it's a little red just a [Music] [Applause] little you ready yes what did we say in here the dedicated Municipal staff of the township of Rick Works year round to serve the diverse needs of more than 75,000 residents of our community Daniel Newman Jr has been an invaluable member of the municipal staff since September 1994 and since that time has distinguished himself through his dedication professionalism integrity and commitment to serving the citizens to the best of his ability since February 20 2002 Daniel Newman Jr has served as the construction code office for the township and has been responsible for upholding the highest standards of Construction and building codes diligently enforcing regulations to safeguard the lives and properties of our citizens Beyond his role as the construction code official Dan has served on several advisory committees and on the townships Property Maintenance board perhaps more importantly Dan has served as a mentor and friend to countless colleagues always ready to share his extensive knowledge and experience and assist them in any way he can Daniel Newman Jr has announced his intention to retire from the township of brick this coming October leaving behind a legacy of 30 years of exceptional service to the township of brick therefore I Lisa crate mayor of the township of brick in the county of ocean in the state of New Jersey in honor of his three decades of exemplary and exceptional service to the citizens of Brick Township do hereby Proclaim Friday because Friday is the best day April 12th 2024 to be Daniel Newman Jr Day in the township of brick and I call upon all citizens to join me in thanking Dan for his service and wishing him the best in his well-deserved retirement and I'm also giving you a key to the city [Applause] he doesn't want to say anything that's actually very unusual for me um it it's been a great experience uh you know I've loved it and it's really nice how many people showed up here because I see members of my family members of my staff uh here which is very nice uh you did not have to come out for this um but I do appreciate it I'm going to be enjoying my my retirement um uh I'm always available for a phone call I just always say I may not be I may not answer the phone but thank you very [Applause] much okay I believe now we have a couple presentations to do um first we be engineering by Alyssa Cummings thank you you're the engineer to push the button can hear me um first and foremost thank you for your time this evening and allowing me to provide a brief introduction to the engineering Division and address the items requested in our 2024 budget uh the primary functions of the division of engineering are to establish and maintain our public infrastructure and assist with its integration to private property we monitor site construction and offsite improvements outside of a physical building envelope engineering currently employs six full-time employees we have uh one licensed professional engineer two inspectors that are certified through the National Institute for certification and Engineering Technologies we have an engineering Aid and Road inspector who recently became a New Jersey certified storm water inspector an engineering permit and inspection Clerk and a secretary uh as a group we provide professional assistance to the township Department such as Department of Public Works in-house construction traffic safety and Parks as well as technical support for homeowners business owners realators and developers we also Serv as the contact for various divisions of the ngj D the do and the Army Corps of Engineers additionally we have partnered with us fish and wildlife to complete a marsh restoration project in sections of the four forye Wildlife Refuge our office is also the designated flood plan administrator responsible for compliance with the rules and requirements of the national flood insurance program which is the division of FEMA uh based on how well we comply with the nfip regulations and guidelines our citizens are provided a discount on their flood insurance premiums most of the day-to-day operation of the division of engineering involves interaction with the public including homeowners business owners contractors licensed professionals while looking for Guidance with their development our goals for 2024 include expanding our gis-based storm water inspection system maintaining the township status with the community rating system for the discount on flood insurance premiums I previously mentioned uh clearing violations from the nfip flood insurance violations tracker assisting residents realators and developers with private property development coordinating with public works for repairs and improvements to our existing infrastructure and maximizing the capital funds available to the greatest extent practical developing a townwide dredge material man habitat restoration master plan and educating the public on flood risk and preparedness we have spent a lot of thought and effort over the last few years in developing procedures for better organization and standard standardization in within the division permit input is now proceed processed by our clerks decreasing our review time our inspection reporting has been streamlined so that results are emailed to homeowners and contractors saving time as well as postage Clos permits are routinely sent to Archive for scan for easy retrieval from all departments coordination with zoning and CT enforcement has been organized so that policies are standardized citizens get consistent information and Engineering violations and are enforced in a consistent manner we're using GIS based app to complete our storm water inspections and to reduce time and waste associated with the paper forms all of these things may seem small but when combined they enable us to better assist the community with their requirements wants and needs while saving time and saving money engineering salary and w budget for 2024 is $170,000 while our salaries are fixed the actual cost to the township are estimated the funds are recouped in the budget from inspections escrow accounts and capital accounts and that will vary from year to year therefore the actual Staffing cost of the townships fluctuate annually we strive to keep our costs as low as possible so this year's budget request represents a decrease from last year uh overtime is something that is very difficult to estimate as the time required to complete completely depended on the volume of work running through the division and this work is development driven we provide inspections requested by contractors of the administration outside of the normal operating hours of the township providing the overtime hours worked can be charged to Escrow projects that can be built to the associated costs our overtime budget request for 2024 is $10,000 which is consistent with our request from last year and the actual cost within the last few years our operating budget request is $75,600 These funds are requested to pay for General supplies tools and equipment we need to do our jobs such as pens uniforms paint measuring tools levels and what have you renewal fees to pay for our professional licenses and certifications as well as the forces that provide the continuing education credits we need to maintain them costs associated with annual premium permits such as njd storm water permitting for our annual Municipal permit our industrial permit for Traders Co Marine Ena and a multitude of permits for our Public Works facility and tidelands license for our Waterfront parks and infrastructure the biggest uh item is our Professional Services of Engineers surveyors Architects and environmentalists that need to be contracted with to complete tasks beyond the resources of our in-house division of engineering engineering's largest line item is for expert services this is money the money that division reserves to pay Engineers Architects other professionals that we can that cannot be capitalized such as surveying flood mapping appeals ADA compliance consultation master plan updates sound studies and general traffic consultation if the services are not rendered or required these monies are not spent this year's request represents a decrease from prior years as we have been able to accomplish more internally as a result of the Cross trining and streamlining processes I mentioned earlier with that I just like to thank the mayor and counsel and our bus administrator and the citizens for their patient support and active participation in all of our projects and initiatives thank you thank you any member of the public have a question yes had a little trouble hearing back there so if my question is already answered do it again all right by it's all good if I read this correctly you had six full-time employees last year and you got six this year yes sir last year your salary request was 220,000 this year it's 170 and last year your operating budget was 125,000 it's now 75,000 you went down 50,000 in both categories how do you do that well your horn come on that's a lot was actually 210,000 last year in salary and wage but so I think we only went down uh 40 and um 210,000 in request last year so we only went down 40,000 okay um we we try to be as billable or as chargeable as possible like our division is um well yeah we we charge escrow accounts for developers building a CVS or building a Walmart or even if you're building a detach garage on your property you pay a permit inspection fee that goes into an account where our inspections are charged if you if we didn't work here the money would still have to be paid but to a consultant it wouldn't come back in our budget okay well it's a great job so I appreciate all how close are you to retirement uh 15 years oh good I started I started with the 10wn late oh good and the other comments I I I make it every year because I don't think a lot of people realize the Savings in the flood insurance because of what the township does we're currently at class six which enjoys a 20% discount and we're really working hard to get to the five T and you can thank Tyra for most of that and I know she's coming up in a little bit but it she she's been working their tail off to get there well people don't know I mean everybody obviously is different but all you have to do is look at your FEMA flood insurance thing and it's a line item right there that says how much you're saving so thank you for that you're welcome thank you anybody else from public have questions on the engineering seeing none thank you thank you very much uh next is uh Daniel Newman for uh code building and code enforcement thank you uh mayor Craig council members business administrator um our reporting tonight on the budget request for the division of inspections uh division of inspections is empowered to enforce the New Jersey adopted uniform construction code as well as local ordinances related to Property Maintenance and the occupancy or reoccupancy of rental units the division therefore has two budgets one is dedicated to just the New Jersey uh uniform construction code and one is dedicated to enforcement of our property maintenance codes and Rental inspections the uniform construction code budget which is 195 um the purpose of the construction code is to protect the health safety and Welfare of the occupants of structures also the code is designed to encourage Innovation and construction including use of modern technical methods and the elimination of obsolete construction regulations that increase the cost of construction the number of permits issued in 2023 was 3,607 with an additional 987 permit updates uh that's the highest number of permits since 2017 the total number of permits issued fluctuates based on the economy and the conditions out that are outside our control um you know people submit permits we we issue them um the number of inspections performed in 2023 was 18,39 the number of inspections also fluctuates based on the economic conditions much of the revenue from the per from permit fees is based on the value of construction uh the value of construction for 2023 was bless you um was 117 m22759 the added value of improvements uh made to real property affects the property taxes that are then paid to the township so a higher number is is is is good for for the taxpayers our revenue generated by permit fees was 2,4 I'm sorry $2,480 th18 uh additional Revenue uh comes in from things of like penalties applications for variation um certificate fees ongoing inspection programs like annual inspections of public swimming pools annual testing of backflow prevention devices uh annual inspections for elevator devices um so that brings our grand total for Revenue to$ 2,859 640 um our inspection staff is made up of a construction official myself subcode officials for each of the subcodes uh uh inspectors and then clerical support staff by law each local enforcing agency has one construction official uh that individual has Chief uh administrative responsibility for administrating the enfor and enforcing the provision of the New Jersey uniform construction code and then each technical area of the code has one subcode official the subcode official under the direction of the construction official has administrative responsible for responsibility for enforcement of their specific jurisdiction they interpret the requirements of of their subcode uh perform Plan reviews prior to a permit being issued and our immediate supervisor of the inspectors within their subcode when I say subcode that's um the construction codes is the total a subcode is building Plumbing fire electric mechanical elevator those are technically subcodes uh in inspectors under the direction of the subcodes and the construction provisional like I said performed the field inspections um state of New Jersey has passed a new new statute that requires local enforcement agencies to plan more carefully for Manpower shortages in 2024 we will be utilizing more per dayum inspectors to provide Inspection Services when a full-time employee is not available this could be when an inspector is on vacation sick injured something of that nature um the staff dedicated to building subcode includes one full-time building subcode official and two full-time building inspectors in 2023 uh we also added a part-time perdem inspector who comes in later in the day and does a few inspections for us when needed um he's also used when a number of inspections uh requested is higher than normal or a full-time inspector is unavailable his use is to ensure we comply with the required time to complete an inspection uh in September of 2023 our building subcode official has also retired um he was replaced with the new full-time sub code official uh and one of our full-time inspectors is retiring soon and will uh be replaced as soon as the valid candidate a viable candidate can be found um Plumbing sub code the SC the staff dedicated to the plumbing mechanical subcode there technically two separate subcodes but they're all inspected by the same group um includes a full-time subcode official and one full-time Plumbing mechanical inspector in January 2024 we just this year we added another part-time per Dame inspector that we us utilize during Vacations or extended AB absences of our F full-time inspectors um also I perform inspections in that subcode when needed my background is Plumbing electrical subcode are the staff dedicated to electrical subcode includes a full-time electrical subcode official and one full-time electrical inspector again in January of this year we added an inspector um on a perd and basis um the fire sub code uh we utilize the inspection services um of the uh brick Bureau of fire safety we contract that out through a shared service Arrangement um elevator subcode since superstorm standing uh with the requirements to elevate homes there's been a significant increase in installation of residential elevators they only need a single inspection but they they it's they've joh wild to remain in compliance with the state of New Jersey regulations we added an additional elevator inspector in August of 20123 so we now have a part-time elevator subcode official and a part-time elevator inspector as part-time employees they are paid at an hourly rate uh when they are needed the clerical staff we have clerical duties include um permit application intake data entry inspection scheduling shepherding the applications through the plan review process processing any violation notices and once approved by the subcode official issuing a perent the clerical staff uh are the Frontline staff that deals with the public and contractors on a daily basis and they do a great job in 2023 we had some transition on our support staff a full-time clerical staff member was reassigned to a different department a new full-time staff member was added to replace the transferred employee also reception desk with the responsibility for greeting welcoming directing citizens to appropriate divisions have been staffed by rotating different staff member from land use engineering and construction that did not provide a very efficient and and consistent service to the public too many different people too many uh different opinions on how it should work so in 20 2023 um an employee was transferred into the department just to fill that need um in addition to the reception staff member um there are presently nine additional full-time clerical staff members one clerk is the supervisor of the clerical staff that staff member also processes applications for for certificates of occupancy responds and processes opra requests and AIDS all clerical staff members in their duties the other eight clerical staff are of different tasks including three permit intake clerical staff who are responsible for accepting residential permit applications a permit intake clerk who specializes in the commercial construction applications that come in um and she also works with accepting other applications a violation clerk is responsible for processing and preparing notices of violation tracking and scheduling them for appropriate inspector to investigate properties following complaints um one clerk is responsible for uh scheduling construction uh inspections one of our clerical staff is responsible for bookkeeping and other administrative functions um uh she's also shared a little bit with Landes our clerks uh are all cross trained but they do stick to their primary responsibilities in most cases even with the changes to our staffing levels the salary line item request for 2024 is stable with a 1.7% decrease when the requested overtime item is added to our regular salary um it's totally for everybody not just the clerical it's reduced by 2.3 7% the total operating budget request for 2024 increased by 1.9% the largest change in our operating budget is for Publications uh line item 243 every three years new code editions are adopted uh the next code change cycle will begin in 2025 uh in 2022 um at the very end we adopted all new codes they had there was a grace period where they went into effect in 2023 um so this line item will need to reflect uh the need to purchase new code books in the 2026 budget so you know we should expect it to go back up to where it was um we do have some challenges for 2024 uh this year we'll have seven several challenges to the because of changes to uniform construction code regulations um and we always work to diligently control costs including overtime uh so the overtime budget was reduced by about 14% um how the new laws are going to affect all that I can't answer um new laws I discussed last year that there was a new statute uh passed regarding the use of thirdparty agencies or supplemental shared service agreements for extra inspection staff and a re requirement for written uh requests for inspections um those changes were estimated to begin in October 2023 uh they that didn't happen uh they did go into effect however as of April 1st of this year so 5 days ago the new regulations have been implemented the new process allows for the use of thirdparty agencies or supplemental shared service agreement for different with with a different jurisdiction uh in the pass if the township wish to U utilize a third-party inspection agency or a shared service agreement to provide inspectors from a different jurisdiction the entire sub code would need to be turned over to the third party or the other jurisdiction um for example if we needed an additional building inspector for a large project the building subcode official and all building inspectors would have to been provided by the thirdparty agency through the shared service agreement the new law allows third party agenc to be utilized for an added staff without turning over the agency to the enforcement of the entire subcode um they so as of April 1st the state regulation which is njac 523 5 23-46 um has been changed and is now in effect so we can do that uh the new regulations also require the township to provide a process for all written all inspections to be written record instead of phone calls um the administrative code 523 2.18 now requires the request for inspection to be submitted by the to the enforcing agency in writing we have already started to provide that service through some work FL software that we use um they have a portal people can uh apply for inspection on um the owner or their agent can respect it can request the inspection electronically the request must be submitted at least one full business day before you are requesting inspection and then the applicant uh needs to choose three possible dates out of our schedule um our software will then notify our software will then notify the applicant of which state is approved for the inspection if the request was sent outside of normal business hours the request is considered received on the next business day after it was sent we've already had someone request an inspection at 4:30 p.m. and request in it for the next day that's not the way it works um uh so one of the other days that they had requested were were approved um they cannot they cannot request an inspection more than 30 days in advance that was something you know we used to almost encourage if you thought you were going to be uh ready uh schedule in advance you can't do it more than 30 days anymore um the state of New Jersey is also directed New Jersey Department Community Affairs to create regulations for acceptance of electronic applications uh presently applications must be submitted on New Jersey Department Community Fair standard forms with what we call wet ink signature an actual signature um njdca has not implemented these news regulations and processes and procedures necessary to allow the full electronic submittal including electronic plans it has been said that the delay was caused by the need to adjust a licensing law for regulated trades that presently require an emboss seal on all their documents and applications that would be plumbers electricians so that has not been uh uh they haven't figured that out into satisfaction of the licensing boort um this year will also bring some staff changes as I stated one of our building inspectors is leaving soon uh his extensive knowledge of the construction codes will be difficult to replace um also uh a plumbing subcode official is considered leaving though it may not now be till the following year um he too would be very difficult to replace in addition as you've heard already tonight I've decided to retire so regardless of who replaces me there will eventually be some changes I'm sure we never do nobody ever does everything the same um the second budget uh we that I manage is 196 is for the code enforcement Property Maintenance and Rental inspections uh that's budget 196 like I said and it's um it's it's still within the division of inspections but we do it kind of separately um the purpose of the municipal codes is to protect the quality of life of our residents and the share of property owners are provided with safe housing when their units are renter our code enforcement staff includes three full-time inspectors and one full-time clerical member who also does some rental inspections supervisory help is provided by an acting codee enforcement supervisor um one code enforcement officer also is through a shared service agreement is providing services for manoi as code enforce an end zone um the township is fully em reimbursed for those costs one code enforcement officer does investigate uh does investigations during weekend hours um and the Code Enforcement Officers share some evening shifts for complaints about light pollution or short-term rental complaints um the idea is for a code enforcement officer to be accessible and available for weekend complaints which as you can imagine occur frequently uh Saturday code enforcement hours do not generate overtime one of our inspectors has a flexible schedule that allows him to work on Saturday he'll take a different day off in the week um workload a rental re uh reoccupancy inspections rental and reoccupancy inspections rental inspections were conducted on 739 properties 157 inspections were also conducted as reinspection due to deficiencies discovered when the uh initial inspections were conducted the total number of inspections therefore was 92 uh fees collected for rental inspections to Total 81,7 the inspections the inspectors also investigate properties based on complaints or spot checks of on of of problem properties that we're all aware of uh 2771 inspections were conducted these inspections generated 1,693 notices of violation of the municipal code 1,611 were have been closed during the course of 2023 uh 82 remain open um 94 have been issued summonses to appear in Municipal Court 38 of the summon summonses have been uh closed in the past we utilized an outside company to register properties that were vacant or were pending foreclosure um whether they vacant or not that program um had always been run from the from an outside uh company that provided that service however they no longer provide the service so the township has started to register those properties ourselves starting this past November so from November to the end of 2023 the township processed 98 registrations uh with we also processed 32 properties that were deregistered from the old list that was provided by the outside company total fees collected for registrations were $53,000 um the state there's a new law the state now requires the township to collect proof of liability insurance from every business and many rental units in Brick this state uh requirement is accomplished by creating the mertile license which the council was gracious enough to provide uh the process started slowly as we needed to educate many businesses about the new state regulation but in 2023 starting in June we issued 43 mertile license and collected $1,075 um as more the public it becomes aware it should pick up so the first three months of 2024 we've already issued 125 martile license so it is picking up um the property maintenance review board is an active body that meets every six to eight weeks depending on the how many uh uh cases we have their work remains essential to the township for uh to to ensure that property maintenances follow both for safety reasons and for the overall Aesthetics of our neighborhoods our St staff Works diligently to prepare cases to be presented to the board provide testimony make factual findings and then implement the board's orders individuals that respond to code enforcement violations or respond to orders of the municipal court judge generally not summoned to beer the property maintenance boort it is primarily used when individual individuals have failed to respond to violation notices issued by code enforcement officers in 2024 our request for operating expenses is significantly lower than 2023 this is primarily from a reduction in theine items to demolish structures uh we we use some of that money um some of the structures scheduled for demolition have been removed by their owners or are presently undergoing repairs we do not anticipate needing as much money for the demolition until the long legal process to removed structures are completed uh we do have some challenges in this department they state is now mandated that dwelling units built before 1978 that are rented for longer than 6 months must be inspected for possible lead hazards uh brick would only need to conduct visual inspections it's based on the uh number of children in your area that have been diagnosed with lead poisoning how however the law does have some triggers that would require additional testing or remediation properties that are required to be registered with the state like large apartment complexes are exempt because they are already checked for lead by the state and have been for 10 years the council passed an ordinance in March 12th of this year to begin enforcement of that state regulation the ordinance went into effect on April 4th um of this year so now we must inspect all rental units that are required to be inspected by July 22nd 2024 and on units every time there's a change of o again I want to thank for this thank you for this opportunity to present budget request the division inspections looks forward to yet another year of supporting and assisting our residents as I already indicated this will be my last pres presentation um thank you very much for the years of support thank you thank you sir you have any member the public with a question can you repeat yourage five a little a little long sorry about that Sam Foster on CH Drive I don't have a question have a comment for Mr Newman since he nown said he's retiring I just want to say he both he and his father have been a great benefit to the township of brick not just in government service but as members of our community and we're all going to miss him a lot I know I'm going to because I KN knew his father very well and uh well not very well I'm not going to I knew him from being a Democrat and see but they've both been very good for our town they've served us well uh and we we're all going to miss you and we hope we I hope we all help you out have a long retirement thank you very much thank youate and thank you for your service to the town thank you anybody else from public seeing none thank you uh we have one more budget presentation this one would be land use and Zoning for um Tyra Paxton and Chris Rano please good evening thank you it was a pleasure to be here for that presentation we've all had we don't do we very well with keeping secrets downstairs we were able to do that from Danny's look on his face I think we got him yeah thank you thank you to uh mayor Creek council president minikino and the entire governing body as well as business administrator Joanne Bergen for giving uh Christopher ra Romano our zoning officer and myself this opportunity to present the budget for the division of land use and planning on behalf of our employees we thank you for your support um and your continued assistance you give us throughout the year uh the division of land use and planning consists of the zoning office planning board zoning board GIS mapping Grant Management Community Development and general land use planning um the most notable accomplishments we we'd like to highlight for 2023 include the following um we were awarded a Green Acres Program uh acquisition grant for the approval of $1.2 million for the uh much coveted purchase of the Breton Woods uh project um so we're working through um the acquisition right now and all of the due diligence with um for the uh reimbursement uh with Ocean County natural lands trust and the Green Acres Program um we had three elements adopted um from our our master plan Library including the circulation and transport Transportation element which was last drafted I think in 2000 by Miss cumins um land use uh element resiliency update was which was something that the state had mandated in 2021 that every municipality accomplished and we did that um and then we updated the uh 1979 environmental resources inventory it was the natural resources inventory and it's about this thick um and my staff including uh Vin paary and myself and Ed Peters uh updated that document and it was adopted uh by the master by the uh master plan committee and the uh Township's planning board another highlight is um Miss cumins uh uh spoke about our community rating system um annual review um it we we reviewed 78 elevation certificates this year um and our staff worked really diligently and resulted in a 99% compliance um which is you know just proves the Excellence in their work um right now we have 3,000 549 insurance policies through the flood insurance program National flood insurance program in Brick uh which results in um over a $600,000 CommunityWide discount uh it's a little bit less than $200 per resident but it's it's all per rated based on their compliance um we have uh seven full-time employees with 11 planning board members and nine zoning board members we serve to the staff of the planning board zoning Board of adjustment land use committee master plan committee environmental commission Architectural Review Committee sustainable brick committee the Green Team um which we're having our our green Fair on May 18th uh our brick open space savers our newest committee um uh the flood plane management planning committee which is part of the CRS program uh Christopher serves as the Ada coordinator um we also assist the shade tree Commission in their um annual certifications um and work with home now who administers our affordable housing trust fund and sit on the homes now board in 2023 our division collected $467,900 in affordable housing fees and passed on 85% of the funds to homes Now Inc um for the contract that we have with them to administer the funds a total of 880 deed restricted units exist in the municipality as affordable housing and are maintained in accordance with the fair share act regulations it's a big job and we need a lot of help to do that I break our our presentation up with uh expense and revenue so I like to talk about the revenue first because it's fun when we earn money uh for the municipality so the division of land and planning has five main Revenue sources um that help to offset the cost to taxpayers for our operations we collect permits and application fees zoning permit fees affordable housing fees Planning and Zoning Board application fees and escrow fees um then our expense is obviously our salary um our budget for salary and wages uh for 2003 was decreased from what the budgeted amount was um including overtime because most overtime charges um are made to the ryer accounts and the escrow accounts because they are rated related to planning board and Zoning Board cases so our salary is offset by what we can charge to the escro accounts and the Ryder accounts as miss cumins explained with the engineering fees as well we also um earn Revenue through salary chargebacks so because we manage uh many grants in the division um we charge 20% of our community development block grant to Administration which uh is realized in revenue of $4,080 last year um our affordable housing trust fund is charged for part of my Sal salary which is $7,495 660 to the plan zoning board Rider account and 22297 to the planning board uh to planning board and Zoning Board escrow accounts so these funds are not taxpayer funded but Grant funded and development fee funded which result in a savings of $17,574.13 92 our operating budget uh is increasing this year uh by 27500 as a result of the expert Services line items um that we needed to increase to 60,000 this is needed um for planning studies surveys environmental assessments appraisals and plans in preparation for master plan updates mostly for open space purchases uh for the Green Acres Program appraisal surveys preliminary environmental assessments Wetland delineations and other studies are required when we purchase land These funds are usually reimbursed to us however when we get the grant funding reimbursed so we have to budget for it and then get paid back for it at this point I'm going to turn over the presentation to Christopher to talk about the zoning office and the boards thank you ter and thank you all for allowing me to uh speak today in regards to uh well in reference to our our zoning office and I'd also like to congratulate Dan Newman um on his retirement I I I served under him actually in the Construction office for two years and it was um it was a great experience learned a lot from him he's a terrific guy and uh congratulations to him so there zoning office is staffed by two employees the zoning officer and a clerk zoning applications can range from a request to build a small shed to the development of a major shopping center the zoning officer looks for consistency with board approvals and the zoning code our office is involved with all development applications from the initial informal meeting requests with applicants through the permitting process in 2023 we processed 1,646 permit applications and brought in 103,000 525 in revenue from the issuance of permits um and the bulk of those permits just to give you some examples is a single family dwellings uh single family additions in ground pools above ground pools Spa decks sheds fences AC units generators finished basement solar panels and Commercial tenant fit UPS sorry so uh just to get to the uh to the two boards s uh that hear residential and Commercial development applications is the Zoning Board of adjustment and the planning board the Zoning Board of adjustment heard 79 cases three additional special hearings took in 29,029 3,640 in escro fees and our planning board heard 13 cases 24,6 25 in application fees uh was taken in and $163,300 in es fees and I'm going to send it back over to Tar to finish up thank you thanks Chris um next really integral part of our division is the GIS mapping division um our our GIS technician doesn't just work for our division uh he works also for for everybody all the township divisions we actually had him do a presentation a couple of years ago because some departments didn't know you know how how what kind of product he could produce our GIS and data specialist Works closely with the Brick Township Municipal Utility Authority and the township Consulting surveyor to maintain the Township's computer computer mapping and tax maps and manages data to create analyze convert and maintain terabytes of GIS data he creates hundreds of maps detailing everything from conservation efforts to snow plow routes um in 2023 we completed a 10-year update to our Recreation and open space invent um and we'll be working on the planning incentive plan which is a huge mapping undertaking which is a pred uh prerequisite to uh receiving more open space funding Grant Management is um another uh project that I spend lots of time on and my staff helps me with um in 2023 the township received the Community Development block grant uh fiscal year 2023 Grant of $39,000 we received 101 $1,000 in Grant requests that we passed through to public service agencies and we were only able to give out $46,000 in Grants because we're capped at 15% of our total Grant amount um but we passed that on to 13 nonprofit agencies that provide services to the residents of brick and you know further our mission of improving quality of life for the residents um through the cdbg program in 2023 we completed nine housing Rehabilitation projects which I'm super proud about um because we were struggling for a couple of years in finding contractors so we solved the problem by um working with Northern ocean Habitat for Humanity so we're getting a lot more bang for our buck in passing through those Grant funds and a lot more families are being helped through this this arrangement we also closed out um our covid funds we received over $1.1 million in covid funds in 2019 and 20 20 for which we passed through to homes Now Inc which used it for rental and mortgage assistance to qualified families and we helped I just we found out today 29 families I only had 21 on my report from last year um and those are 29 families that did not lose their home to foreclosure or did not become homeless because we helped them with their funding for their housing and 364 students and their families have been helped through the counseling grant that we passed through to Preferred beh Behavioral Health to help families and students um who were struggling through covid um and we also focused a lot of that funding on um English as a second language families as well um other grants that offset Capital costs by providing funding for Park development open space Acquisitions uh electric vehicle charging stations and other recreational amenities staff also assists other departments um in their administration of their grants with the Department of Transportation Department of Community Affairs Department of Environmental Protection um the um Department of Justice for police grants and federal grants throughout the year um this concludes our report uh thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working with you in the in the years to come thank you does anybody from the public have a question for these professionals yes sir not a question just a comment I want to thank everybody in Brick Township that has anything to do with grants okay I notice here you have 2,249 1179 I don't know whether that's the total number for grants for the whole Township or just for this division so thank your people and thank everybody else maybe sometime you could come out with that number and put a big smile on my face what what is the total amount of Grants you get in one year for the that's that was actually right right I see one 1.2 for Brenton Woods and another one here for Malad point and another one here for something else but all the other grants well just for just for Joanne has done 1.2 from the Department of Community Affairs for the Senior Services Program okay then that's just but there are we can give you a number I guess can it's actually in the budget I know you have nothing else to do especially during budget time I well I think it's um the main yeah the main page of the budget actually lists the grant Revenue all right well thanks to all those people that do that i it saves US money thank you thank you anybody else from public have questions for these professionals seeing none thank you very much thank you and this brings us to our consent agenda all matters listed under item consent agenda will be enacted by one Motion in the form listed below if discussion is desired on any item this item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered separately thank you 41 please authorized receipt of bids automated chest compression devices councilman Fineman thank you council president this resolution authorizes the receip of bids for a automated chest compression devices as needed for the Township's emergency medical technicians thank you thank you 42 authorized receipt of bids General athletic equipment and supplies councilwoman Travers thank you council president this resolution authorizes the receipt of bids for General athletic equipment and supplies included but not limited athletic equipment summer camp supplies preschool Games Etc used by the recreation department thank you thank you 43 authorized receipt of bids flood control valves councilman amberino thank you council president this resolution authorizes the receipt of bids for the purchase and delivery of various size check valves and their installation the township has many streets with low-lying elevation and High Tides that can cause flooding when water backs up into storm sewers the valves will be placed within the municipally owned storm drainage pipes in areas subject to Tidal inundation a properly installed check valves allows storm water to flow out but prevents tide water from flowing into the storm sewers and could reduce instances of flooding that result from tide elevations that are higher than the surrounding streets thank you thank you 44 authorized rejection of bids and rebid Manufacturing and printing of tax bills councilman albes thank you council president this resolution authorizes the rejection of bids and rebid for the manufacturing of printing and tax bills bid notices were provided to 31 prospective biders from our biders list and three picked up bid packages one bid was received but was rejected due to its substantially exceeding the cost of estimate for the project we are read advertising in hopes of getting a more appropriate price proposal thank you four five authorize Award of contract upfit to six Ford police inceptor utility vehicles councilwoman ponera thank you council president Mano this resolution authorizes an aoid of bid for seasonal surf application to located in farming jail this contract provides for forward we control and fertilizer applications per year for approximately 71 total acres per application at 15 different locations including our Township parks recreational facilities as well as the municipal complex itself oh I am so sorry I ref chance everything I just said I that was a radiation brain moment no one is perfect but you said that perfectly Mr Cel may have another asent sure thank you okay this is a l this resolution authorizes water contract to East Coast emergency lighting located in Millstone in the amount of $4,825 40 for the purchase and installation of various equipment for new police patrol vehicles thank you 46 please authorize Award of contract purchase and delivery of 48 front load dumpsters councilwoman Travers thank you resol this resolution authorizes an awarded contract to Redco products vinand in the amount of $1,242 per container for the purchase and delivery of 48 frontload dumpsters as needed for solid waste collection thank you thank you I guess we'll do 47 again authorize a word of contract landscape maintenance services at solar field thank you councilwoman D young thank you this resolution authorizes an award of contract to on-site Landscape Management of millstone in the amount of $56,000 for the landscape maintenance services at the solar field the scope of work for this project includes a spring and fall mowing seed mix with fertilizer hay top soil mulch vegetation removal and disposal of rip wrap areas of approximately 15 Acres this is a 2-year contract thank you thank you 48 authorize Award of contract Beer and Wine Garden concession thank you this resolution authorizes an award of contract to Winward Tav brick for the beer and wine Garden concession for the Township's events in the amount of $7,100 bid notices were provided to 26 prospective biders from our biders list and three picked up bid packages one bid was received 49 please authorized demolition of structure and lean 24 Adera Drive block 280 lot 32 thank you councilman Fineman thank you council president this resolution authorizes the demolition of 24 a D drive as ordered by the township Property Maintenance board thank you thank you 410 authorized special events permit Church of epiphany Italian Feast councilman amberino thank you council president this resolution authorizes a special event permit for Epiphany Church to hold their Italian Feast from 5: to 10: p.m. on August 15th 16th 17th and 18th at the church on theel road and we go every year thank thank you 411 please 411a is a performance bond release for Block 646 lot 31 thank you 412 12a are tax over payments for 2024 of Block 14 29.02 Lot two thank you and this brings us to the end of our consent agenda can I get a motion in a second motion second open to councel seeing none close councel open to public for questions on the resolutions yes sir Sam Foster 10 ofle drive three quick questions uh first of all I go to the uh chair for of the epip thing very well uh a lot to and I like I like it a lot there however I was there several years ago and I I had a question about uh if there is going to be any uh chance officials there to uh they had like a flea market I don't know if they still do it there I haven't been there in like three years if they have uh still have your flea market there because I was there about several years ago and someone was selling fake megaladon teeth and I you know I know something about megalandon because it's like along long with the crypto don't get I'm not going to get started in that people start laughing at me but anyway I I suspect it was a fake tooth because a real one is wor first of all you selling for $50 real one goes for thousands I picked up it very light like it plaster he admitted it it was a plaster cast but he was selling it like it's a real tooth so the church people they're very nice they threw him out of there because he was fakeing selling fake teeth you're not going to get a megalot done tooth for $50 but uh you like I said no complaints about the church they're great great staff and acted immediately but they have the whole thing there is Brick Township plan on having anything like inspectors there to make sure or before someone is granted a I guess they have if you go to a flea market like clowns wood they the they will they uh they're supposed to check to make sure that nothing is like stolen merchandise there before they Grant the permit I don't know who if the church grants the permit to people that do the flea market or is it the township because that was the only thing I saw that it was suspicious to fake tooth uh who is responsible for that um Madam clerk would you like to add anything about the permit process well it does say that they're going to have food and craft vendors but generally speaking the township does not send officials to um inspect um okay okay yeah because I just uh I don't know if he sold any but people would have been ripped off paying $50 for a fake tooth and they think it's real all right like I said I'm not going to that's going to be the end of my discussion on crypted I'm not going to bring up any anything else like Burj Jersey D anything like that just don't want anybody laugh at me second question is I I have the uh question about number six the frontend load dumpsters where are they being installed this is not for residents I guess correct these are in communities such as wood speaking into yeah I sorry these for communities that have front end loaders like condominium units and apartment units where we collect the garbage okay does that include Evergreen Woods or is that private I believe we do collect an Evergreen Woods okay cuz I lived here and I I don't know who okay all right and let me see uh on number seven would it be has a Township check to see if it would be cheaper to have Brick Township employees do the loan maintenance as opposed to an outside contractor uh yes we have um I'm sorry Mr Foster my here this is my good ear anyway so don't worry about it council president noted my way so I jumped it uh yes so we have looked into that and there is significant slope that that uh is unable we are unable to mow with the current equipment we have so we've priced out buying the equipment training the employees but we are also having an issue with our joint Insurance Fund who provides us with insurance based on the safety of uh our guys on the slope of that significance okay and just one uh other question does I know Tom has a lot of controversy right now about the height limit of the buildings that was going on for several years now they have proposals like build higher buildings and stuff does does Brick chant have a height limit on buildings and statues I know the state of New Jersey does yes we sure do what is it is does it is it the state of New Jersey's height uh restriction or is it was different uh we have our own height Ordinance do you know what it is off hand and developers would need a variance if they want to exceed that height and I think it varies based on zone so did you don't off hand how much it would be or I could find that information yeah I could find that out from L because it varies based on Zone from who land use the land use Department planning downstairs that's the building department right the building department okay all right thank you that's it thank you sir anybody else in public please yes you can come up together if you want y thank you and this is about the resolutions y yes okay number eight I think it was number n sorry yes 24 their Drive okay hi I'm nervous it's my first time here that's okay relax we're neighbors my name is Ruan Corin I'm the owner of 24 idea I recently purchased it um I know the the previous owner that let go of a lot of violations and stuff and then we up to the point they want to demolish the house we went through with engineers and everything and we ready to submit paperwork to renovate the house lift it and get it up to standard so I'm asking to delay the demolition Mr starky yes if I can this is a matter that's been before the property maintenance board uh several times I know dating back to at least 2021 and for years prior to that this property was in significant disrepair um the property mantenance board has held hearings I don't know if you've been if you've been to those hearings um but uh it's really been uh a disaster for a while now I I did hear that the property recently changed hands and I know you're uh looking to submit permits I'll tell you how this works the um the demolition is going to be authorized to take place uh after May 30 on or after May 31st so six weeks from now uh so you do have an opportunity I um I know you have not gotten your um applications in in a complete form into the building department um but you know this has been this has been years and years in making um you have an opportunity if you if you want to get your your applications for Demolition and they are completed and they are approved by the building department uh and you get your permit you can move forward uh yourself um there's also a another property maintenance Board hearing um that's on the 24th of this month that's uh at I believe it's at 300 p.m. in the room across the hall uh you're welcome to attend that we are getting the recommendation from the property maintenance board for the demolition um but I suggest that you have an opportunity here but you have to move uh rapidly because uh we the Tang P has been waiting a long time and it's my recommendation the property maintenance board's recommendation that the council move forward tonight authorizing the property for demolition um with the understanding it will not take place until onor after May 31st so there's a more than a six week period um for you to take action if you can but if not um I recommend that the township authorize the vendor to move forward there will be a lean then if the township does it Place against the property for the cost of that uh demolition this is if I want to do demo how about lifting we have plans for lifting if I could just jump in because I thought I heard you say that as well so the property maintenance board is an unsafe condition issued orders so if you are opting to elevate and rebuild then you're going to need a structural Dan Newman if you can correct me you need a structural evaluation and these are things that we you know that and a permit for all the work that you just have everything ready so the point is I asked downstairs the told need 6 weeks minimum to get permits approved 6 weeks is exactly the time that we're talking started until you submitted them and this has been going on since 2002 and we've had several new own we own hold on I'll finish we've had several new owners each time telling us exactly what you're telling us so here's where the rubber hits the road you have to submit those permanent applications the structural report by a licensed professional telling us that it can be elevated and detail permits if it takes us six weeks it takes us six weeks but submitting it is the first step and that's not been done this is right here I was here this week tonight helps nobody we have tomorrow morning it has to be submitted it's going to be done tomorrow morning can we get extra time can we discuss how we do this six weeks no we're we're proceeding with ask six weeks processing time so we're talking on the same dates you have an opportunity to go to the building department tomorrow morning you have an opportunity to go to the property maintenance board on the 24th and you can make your case there but right now we're get we've got a recommendation uh and from the property board to proceed because we have not seen any action uh on the property and I hear you standing here right now it's been 20 years more than 20 years that this this prober has been a problem possible so uh I would say if you move quickly uh come in tomorrow morning to the building department and if you can get your permits um you know maybe you can do do it on your own and state law gives the building department 21 business days to review so that's state law you should have planned that your you should have planned in your timeline a 21 day review by the brick business day review by the Bricktown building department it isn't fair to have this be dormant and un addressed I spoke to a resident in that neighborhood today who is absolutely positively out of patients so it isn't fair to come here with a permits that are not submitted to the building department and expect us to wave any point is the first hearing we the first hearing letter we received was in December 26 I think 2023 okay we're talking of four months that's the first time I heard about it it takes to process St so I don't know if how many hearings were here we received the first one of December 26 2023 that's when we started did you buy the property we bought the property on January 2023 and the first time we received was on December they purchased the property in January of 202 the first letter we received was on December 23 okay but so you did no due diligence whatsoever before you purchase a property agreed yes agreed but again I'm saying we didn't receive anything so I can really prepare myself here I am it's ready to go so that that's what I just want to okay I'll be here tomorrow morning Council not to Grant any extensions the process is the process if they submit the permits that come before the property maintenance board they'll make that appeal to our construction official in the property maintenance board accepted thank you thank you gentlemen thank you anybody else on the resolutions yes oh only on the resolutions close close public roll call councilman albanes yes councilwoman Pono with one comment I have been on this Council for 10 years and I can recall numerous residents pleasing with this Council to do something about that property so just for the sake of this record that after hearing this for years and after knowing that the acquisition took place approximately one year ago I vote Yes but that's my basis for going forward it's all of those neighbors who have beged us for years yes councilwoman D young yes councilman Fineman yes councilwoman Travers yes vice president amberino yes president minikino yes thank you thank you this brings us to our computer Bill resolution be resolved by the township Council of the township of brick that the following bills be paid and that the mayor and clerk be and are hereby authorized to draw orders on the treasurer for the amounts of the same computer Bill resolution in the amount of 4,388 22354 thank you can I get a motion in a second motion second thank you open to councel seeing none close councel open to public for questions on the computer bills seeing none close public roll call councilman albanes yes councilwoman pontorero yes councilwoman D young yes councilman feeman yes councilwoman Travers yes vice president amberino yes president minikino yes thank you this brings us to our manual Bill resolution be it resolved by the township Council of the township of brick that the following bills be paid and that the mayor and clerk be and are hereby authorized to draw orders on the treasurer for the amounts of the same manual Bill resolution in the amount of 1,943 33829 thank you can I get a m in a second please motion second thank you open to council seeing none close councel open to public on questions on the manual bills seeing none close public roll call councilman albanes yes councilwoman pontorero yes councilwoman D young yes councilman Fineman yes councilwoman Travers yes vice president amberino yes president minikino yes thank you thank you this brings us to uh 51 ordinance on second reading calendar year 2024 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a c bank njsa 48 colum 44514 thank you councilman amberino uh thank you council president this ordinance allows the township to establish a cap bank for future use the ordinance allows for increases for Budget Appropriations and allows the township to bank any unused monetary room this cap Bank ordinance allows the township to increase budget Appropriations by 3.5% over the prior Year's Appropriations and to bank any unused appropriation room for the next two succeeding years this ordinance is simply precautionary it is not funded through a tax increase since it is only used in subsequent years should we need to fund a one-time expenditure the monies available by the cap rate index ordinance may be used to offset costs of any future disasters and the need for any future emergency appropriation we are not generating cash we are creating the ability to raise money in the future should we need it if the funds are not needed in the two succeeding years the bank is simply dissolved thank you thank you can I get a motion in a second motion thank you open to councel seeing none close councel open to public for questions on the secondary yes sir we seem to do this quite often practically every year just to for my understanding you are collecting this money right okay so how does that affect the tax ta the tax levy you're collecting the money but you're not spending it we're not collecting the money it's a paper it's a formula on paper so it's x amount of dollars above what what you have in your bank which if something happens say next year we get hit with a superstorm Sandy we can then go into it and create money that we can use without having to do special bond ordinances and all that other where you either have the money or you don't we have the ability to access money if we need to without going through processes that take two Council meetings to be heard Bond ordinances accesses from where by by by creating it by by taking the the bank taking the paper bank that exists and then you would go about financing it without having to bond okay I might be a little slow I know I try explaining to you every year and you don't get it and I say you could try L if you don't get it from I don't think anybody else gets it if you if you're going to have this money to spend in future years it gives you the ability to borrow money if you need to in subsequent years without having to go to the state and exceed your C bank or without having to borrow borrow it from where you would you would borrow it from money that you would then be raising if you needed to raise it for and how are you raising this money in Sandy we were able to because we had the C Bank we were able to access that which just gets dissolved if you don't use it it's not money it's not real money it's the ability to borrow money in a different process than a typical process maybe you could tell me how you can raise money that's not not really money I'd like to do it in my own house the ability it's the ability to borrow money in a way that's different from how we typically borrow money you typically borrow money through emergency Bond ordinances or if you have to exceed your cap that you have to go to the state to do that we don't have to do that by just simply establishing this ordinance okay so where would you where would if you're not borrowing it from where you normally borrow it where are you borrowing it from where's it where's it where's this money coming from so you the way that you borrow it just like you would borrow any other money you would Bond it but you don't have to go through the same process to borrow it you go through a different process to borrow it because it's on paper that you have it so you can go ahead and do it without having two Council meetings and public hearings and so forth it's an emergency so it can only be used for certain reasons it can't just be used because you want to buy a police car or a garbage truck okay so you're not just so I understand and I'll get it this time understand it because we've been doing this for 10 years no no no maybe I will I'm getting older who knows I'm not saying it's easy you're not collecting anything you're only putting the ability to collect it when you need it corre other than the way you normally do it correct now now remember this go watch the tape next year before you come back I will remember it I'm not that old I'm old but I'm not that old I remember things um is this the public comment or just on the ordinance just on the ordinance sir okay can I stay up here for the next section okay I'll be back thank you I got it I got y anybody else from public on the second read yes sir he didn't get it though I'm not going to ask the same question I promise um Charlie bacon 366 ran cookus Drive uh good evening mayor councel and administrators I do have a question about this and the question is uh mayor the last meeting you talked about it looks like you're going to have a 1.9 increase on the budget is that correct okay looking at the contracts that were signed in late December of 22 right and they were pretty significant welld deserved no is questioning that we all know the cost of living and everything else has gone up and you you kind of go through them starting with the PBA 18% across four years transport workers 22 Teamsters crossing guards 18 and Teamster supervisors 22% so where I have a couple questions on that is we didn't have a tax increase last year and across the board basically these contracts came into play between six and 5% so we didn't have a tax increase I'm not complaining my taxes are high enough and at that time I believe I wasn't here full disclosure at that meeting you had mentioned you retired debt but those 6% increases last year and now they're going into fives for the second year have to come back somewhere in the budget so you know looking at the numbers last year and looking at them this year I don't see a one n is this cap Bank possibly going to be invoked this year so how are we going to make up that increase in those uh new contracts from last year or in December of 22 so that's where I'm a little questioned I know the budget review is coming up in two weeks and I can hold some of that for then but that's the question I had about the cap Bank it was a little confusing to me because it looks like that's an Avenue you could potentially use this year I wasn't sure you know is this something that's done every year you pretty much do the same ordinance just in case an emergency comes up something like that so through storm sand I could understand that yeah okay so thanks for the clarification just had some questions about the contracts and how that plays into this year's budget especially uh in light of what took place last year thank you very much have a good evening thank you sir anyone else from public have questions on this seeing none thank you thank you close public roll call councilman albanes yes councilwoman pontorero yes councilwoman D young yes councilman Fineman yes councilwoman Travers yes vice president amberino yes president minikino yes thank you and this brings us to public comments please note that each person addressing the council during any section of the meeting during which public comment is permitted shall limit his or her remarks to 5 minutes pursuant to Brick Township Administrative Code section 2-33 B Mr SLA John sluk on 950 silver your court maybe for the budget we could add some water in for a night like today it's like 150 degrees in here sure you got water I'm dying's one right there yeah now I could have used it an hour ago okay let me read my letter uh to Dear mayor crate March 30th 24 council president Vincent manino or brick councilman councilwoman people of brick workers residents and the newspaper um everyone may know that the New Jersey T Park Authority Commissioners put a group of Threes in Evergreen Woods area which were May were maintained and still are maintained by the Association uh they were approximately 883s that were about 3 foot tall now to maybe up to 10 foot some of them uh these trees were planted eight years ago and they are continue to be maintained by the Association and are in a one row next to the Garden State Parkway fence that's all they said they could put in because they couldn't put doubles or triples or whatever there wasn't enough room on the Evergreen wood side of the fence doesn't mean they couldn't do anything on the other side the fence but they didn't um well the kids wait of course stre from these threes which again is really close to the parkway waiting for the buses swimming pools that of in Evergreen Woods for instance and other places playground which again if you look in Evergreen Woods or a Parkway entrance of her Herbert park I think it is uh they're close to the the parkway entrance and stuff like that um so basically Evergreen Woods and a lot of other places have the same kind of problem with the pollution flowing across these trees are obviously not sufficient and do little help to the residents the New Jersey T bik Authority Commissioners care very little uh for us all and does not nothing to help the residents Sun Bri Township air pollution in all forms is responsible for 6.5 million debts a year globally and in number has increased in the last few years vehicles are a major source of air pollution producing about 1/3 if you go to Evergreen Woods and look at at the Parkway you could eye level the parkway so obviously that's about where the pollution is and it's 20t off of the main road 20 Fe 50 ft 60 feet off of where the the kids wait for the bus stops every morning the small carbon dioxide and other toxins emitted by these vehicles are troubling and they leave the tailpipe is at that street level the gar State Parkway continues to impact the life of The Not So wealthy resident and very little is ever done in the addition of the NIH research matters wrote about a they read about the findings of the health and retirement study funding of the New Jersey Institute of Aging shows the higher pollution was linked to the risk of dementia a research also found that young adolescent brains develop differently than were exposed to an air pollution during childhood uh even when pollutant levels are below the n standards that still impacts our children um this study is the first to assess how air pollution may affect the growth of children's functional networks which pass information between different regions of the brain essentially cognitive and emotional devel development we just had we'll probably have it in a couple weeks if anybody wants to go to the uh the the meeting that we're going to have on the board of education you're going to get to hear a little a little bit about the report if you didn't read it in the paper uh brick is still below and stays below the national average on most areas I'm you know trying to get there so a 14t noise pollution and safety wall along with increased number of threes and brush is needed alongside the heavily expanded Garden State Parkway the people of Evergreen Woods the people of Green Brier the people of Brier Mill the people of the going to the schools and working at The Brick high school and Lanes Mill School die prematurely and get little no help people of Cherrywood town hall and the library also feel the abuse of the new New Jeresy turnpik Authority uh we need to have people to start caring for the people of the community not just sitting around uh I guess the council comments of the meeting a great opportunity to say what they really believe or you could just say nothing and just same thing has been said for the last 10 years basically nothing thanks for your time John sluka I yeld back 10 seconds almost back thank you young lady thank you for the young well after that this seems pretty trivial but it's driving me nuts um we were at a baseball game in New York City and my we got cut off my girlfriend beeped we got pulled over we got a ticket for beeping coming out of the stadium and then I I had a dinner the other night and everybody saying do you realize how crazy it is around brick now I'm in a vehicle a minimum of 52 hours a week in Breck not out of Breck only in Breck and I got to tell you they're not beeping at me but it's like some people know before the light is going to turn green that it's going to turn green is there maybe would you guys consider putting in an ordinance for for that as well it's crazy I live over on Forge Pond Road and besides that Parkway work that they did and feeling like a zombie with that that I hear all night now because they didn't plant hardly any trees like he said you know you go out on the road and where Jack Martin in 88 is where Jack Martin in 70 is where the big intersection is 7088 Princeton Avenue will thatal meets it's just a cluster over by the plazas and it's loud for no reason like people are are beeping their horns out of I don't know we're living in the Twilight Zone today maybe but I was thinking would you guys consider something like that I mean I know there's not a whole lot of Manpower and a polic would have to catch somebody beeping the horn for no good reason for a school bus to move over or because they don't have the right away but if it's out there and we use it maybe it'll cut down a little bit on this noise pollution this is getting nuts and I don't know why it is like that by Jack Martin in 88 besides being filthy dirty and I know it's time for spring clean up because the bennies are coming in but um well really you know it's time for but but whoever owns that land that big triangle piece of land the state only does a couple of feet we got to get on the owners of that property to do more I mean it's not his fault that people are littering it but it is his property it's not my fault on Forge Pond that I got to pick up little airplane bottles but I got to do it you know and he hasn't done it so I was wondering if you guys would like just take that in consideration some kind of I mean I I found it so strange that in New York City I had to go back to the Bronx for a beeping ticket you know at my friend Michelle we had actually go to court for a ticket for beeping and I thought you know what if they can do it and they can do it why can't we do it Mr President maybe on this issue sure thank you I want to ask our Township Council would beeping in that manner be considered a form of oppressive driving it it could be I want address this by say there there are two there are two laws that govern traff traffic in town most of the traffic laws come from the state it's what's called title 39 state laws um that's most of what is enforced the the town does things like you know parking and and you know basic things like that but the police have the uh discretion um for you know excessive use of the Horn uh to write tickets for that under state law so the council this Council here doesn't have to do anything to enact that um I think probably we seeing been up to Yankee Stadium you come out part of the problem Yankee Stadium is you're you're sitting in traffic and and the cops can sort of walk over to your car and yeah that's exactly what he did pull over you beep Jo and and you're right part of thiss here is the police in order to enforce it have to observe it have to in their discretion determine that it's excessive have to stop cor have to write out a ticket for them um I it's been done in the state I just uh you know I think it depends on the discretion of the police but it's really not up to this Council here it's it's up to the individual police officers out on the street so basically talk to the the new Chief and see what he thinks to enforce it CU it's just going to get worse and you know I mean I I'll go anywhere rather than go through our neighbor town to get where I got to go out west because of that stuff so I'm just thinking you know if they enforce it a little bit maybe it'll slow down maybe not but maybe we can put that on the agenda for the next public station thank you thank you thank you guys take bus that goes up to Yankee Stadium too it's easy to get up there fast buch of drunks on thank you anybody else yes sir two things first if you remember a couple meetings ago there was a resident here that was talking about the dance studio on Drum Point Road and this and this conflict was being done as a renovation rather than a new build but the only thing left was the phony front wall that you can see was phony well that front wall is gone now so that's not even there I don't know if you did anything about it or anybody went and checked the only thing to my eye that's still there from the original building which by the way the one that's there is at least twice the size of the one that was there is the four steel Post in the front and then I beam that goes across the the front of it that's the only thing left from the original building so if that counts as a renovation I'll shut my mouth but it sure smells fishy uh end of that second thing in my mind there's a difference between your budget and the tax levy would I'd be correct in that your budget is what you spend and I know we're not allowed to talk about the budget till next meeting but my question is simple and it has to do with the tax levy according to what I read and what you gave out the tax levy amount to be raised from taxes for support of Municipal budget 84 m862 th000 blah blah blah 884 m862 th000 from last year same report different year that amount was 8,547 th000 that's a difference of $ 4,315 th000 or an increase in the tax levy of 5.35% am I correct then then again I fight I fight my cause this is not a budget question this is a tax levy question and if you don't have anything I will gladly lend you my sheet from last meeting my speak from last year the difference is 84 is is 4,35 $15,000 now there was a lot of talk about the budget and everything else but nobody mentioned that nobody mentioned the fact that the tax levy is going up 5.35% I'll give you till next meeting to check your numbers here's what I want you to remember because I'm going to ask it again right those are your numbers not mine tax Lev is going up 5.35% that's for here you know the school district is going to go at least Max 2% because they have no choice so that's seven almost 7 and a half% increase in taxes that does not include the county tax the library tax the health tax the county open space tax the municipal open space tax or the fire district tax so well it's nice to say that the average house and brick might only go up $98 this sure doesn't look like $98 to me we are looking at a potential of anywhere from 7 1 12% to a 10% increase in our overall taxes and before you say you only control your part of it what I'm looking at right now your numbers your part of it is going up more than 5% so maybe by next meeting you can explain how that is what that is why that is and I know there's no cap money going in there because we got that resolved so how come with we're spending 1.9% more money but we're increasing the tax levy by over 5% you want to answer it now or wait till next meeting okay then you know what's coming okay thank you thank you sir anybody else from public yes sir uh Bob manano and uh brick so I asked last meeting about the uh Dron um at Trader Cove and that's being done with what money from a grant I believe yeah we right okay so that Grant is specifically for Traders Cove or is it a grant for Brick Township to use where they feel it should be used uh it's a grant for Brick Township to use but it's in concert with the njd and um fish and wildlife to who have identified one the areas of Marshland that they want restored and two areas of uh that are in need of dredge based on um uh Petry and other things that show us how uh how deep the needs dredging so it's we had to provide them with a lot of data on what's in the ground and like I said with the Petry how deep it is for them to tell us what areas of priority right so Alise was her name ala Alysa called me two days ago and she told me you know about the draging and stuff like that so she's figuring out that it would cost Us in that development for 25 houses $3 million to get our you know area dredged all areas are being assessed so even those in the grant are being assessed because the grant is for the Marshall land restoration not for the dredging so every area that's being dredged is being assessed right so we have a lot of fill there so if we're going to fill the morsh lands would it be useful to take that that's there and put put it wherever you need it the Mater would have to be tested see if it meets the criteria for Marshall and restoration and I don't know that that area has been tested that's the first step and I don't think we have any vth imetry that shows what's happening how how deep we have to go or any of that stuff that's so I was just questioning you know like what do we have to get on a list to get tested or did a list say she said it'll cost you 3 million so you got to get everybody together your taxes are going to go up 100 and I think it was $120,000 over 10 years which is a lot of money yeah so she wanted you to know that because there's nobody else from your area that has been reaching out to us saying we want to be dredged we started um we did our first pilot dredge under an assessment program um two years ago Neo thank you I just couldn't couldn't get it yeah at Neo and they were assessed um so it's per it's per square foot uh square footage of material that's stretched so we typically are looking at the areas where uh or we have looked at areas where a number of people that live in that area have come and said we can't get our boats in and out we need to be dredged so you coming to the council meeting was the first time that somebody spoke up from your particular area saying they need to be Dred so she wanted you to know that it's not necessarily a resident coming saying hey we'd like to be dredged it's going to impact all of your neighbors because they will all be assessed okay not a choice can some of that grant money be used the grant money would only be used for the Marshland restoration for you you will be assessed just like everybody else beinged is being assessed so next meeting I should have a list of everybody in there well no you don't really need to come to a meeting you know that's it's all done to the engineering department they issue permits for dredging so if people are coming in for these permits which we went the council went through the process of getting a townwide dredge permit to save people from having to go to the state and having to do all the work that's involved with getting perit we did all that work on behalf of all of FR Township so it's an engineering function to request to be dredged and she brings that up to us for purposes of when it's time to do an assessment we're only doing three dredge projects in the first phase that's all the state wants us to start with but the grant was for the me mar and restoration so if you're coming in then we would could easily mailing your neighbors telling them how the assessment project works right but but it's going to cost everybody $120,000 to get our property dredged that manokan road is filling Us in the shopping center all that runoff is just coming into our area okay that doesn't mean you're not going to get assess doesn't where the water come from doesn't give you freedom from the assessment that's the process that we're doing so that it's Equitable to everybody in Brick Township okay and one quick question the the budget for the uh police department that went up 2% I don't have his budget with me that was three meetings ago so I don't have his budget with me but I have last week's in this last council meeting and this council meeting but I don't have the police budget right I was I was just curious about that okay thank you thank you sir anybody else for public please seeing none close public Mr Bergen mayor Creek hello so I just wanted to take a minute this week to highlight our amazing uh senior services that we provide here in Brick Township and to fill everyone in on some of the services that they provide in case you are unaware so our in our new Senior Center we have senior they come in for different kinds of appointments including uh assistance with utility bills uh tax assistance paperwork for pad uh there's lots of different ways that uh we assist our seniors with all kinds of paperwork that they may need so we ask you to check that out but one of the things that uh I'm particularly proud of is our dialysis bus has been a huge success so far we have our one bus running and we have been we've given over uh between when it launched in January and now over 360 rides to dialysis patients and we have our second bus coming and then also we have just we just I know we've talked about grants this evening we did just apply for another Grant to see if we can get two uh handicap accessible vans uh for people who are wheelchair bound that need to go to um these appointments not that we don't have wheelchair accessibility on the V on the buses but it it's a lot of work to get them on and off and if we had something that was easier to get the wheelchairs in and out and a little more private for the person then we think that would work great for them so we do have a grant out right now for two wheelchair accessible access I can't say the word accessible vans um that we hope to get for that program as well also the Community Cafe was launched this year as well and that uh brings meals to the housing authority and so far on site we have had over 600 meals served and although we were aiming for 2,000 by the end of the year uh I believe we put in for additional money and Grant funds for that as well and I think we're going to exceed that so I'm really proud of our senior center when uh I talk to our seniors and we're out at different events a lot of times I'll hear I love our senior center so much it's it's it's fabulous and zulma and everyone that works there is so wonderful and you know the best answer I can give is ditto I feel exactly the same so I'm very excited uh to bring that news to everyone also this weekend we have um The Brick all americ and the brick little league is are they're both starting their Seasons this Saturday it looks like we'll have decent weather for that so I'm excited I think it was been it's been cold and rainy the last few years so I'm glad they're going to have a nice sunny day to kick off those um seasons and I do want to point out that this year is the 50th Anniversary it's uh girls with game 50 it's the 50th anniversary of girls playing in little league as well that we'll be celebrating uh with the brick little league this this Saturday so cheers to that and finally also on Saturday we have um our beach sweeps taking place that's from 9 to2 and that's taking place at Brick Beach 1 brick Beach 3 and also at Windward Beach uh once I'm done with our baseball fun and games I'll head over to Windward so if you want to meet up there that would be great love to see you and uh and I'm going to keep plugging it our senior prom is taking place Friday May 3rd beginning at 6 o'clock at Civic Plaza if you'd like to come uh please reach out to the recreation department it's a really fun night we have a band we have my um mayor student advisory comes and they serve dinner and dance with all the seniors so please uh sign up we had a great time last year and finally the third Thursday of every month uh is our visitation um Community lunch so please make sure you show up for that lunch is served at noon but the doors open at 11:30 and I hope to see you there thank you thank you Mr starky nothing for me tonight thank you thank you Madame clerk nothing thank you Madame secretary thank you councilman albanes uh nothing Council P thank you Mr President I wanted to thank all of our presenters tonight for elucidating our budget in a way that everyone can understand what C my attention was a question from uh Mr fineli is talking about uh the grants and you know how are you able to get them and in good job I want the public to understand that for us since we have been on Council those cuts are being made overa overseen by the rber and RPA and the department heads on a daily basis every expense every effort is made to max out on our grants to keep our budget payable and still increasing our services each year by Leaps and Bounds I want to thank all of our department heads for doing something that is almost impossible when all course go up every year we're trying to keep it from impa matching our residents and through their da work not just when it comes budget season these are J's decisions so I want to thank them and the time and effort that they put in because those excess Grant monies that go for the additional services that people who are on fixed income such as seniors which we have a large population and disabled persons like myself benefit because less money comes out of their pockets for the services that other people take for granted what we will not be doing in this town is cutting positions of our Police Department keeping our town better and safer than it has ever been in order to have a g that won't happen at least while I sit on this size thank you thank you councilwoman D young thank you um I just want to recognize Danny Newman again real quick I know he's with us for he's no longer here but he's with us for a few more months until he officially retires but um he is a absolute treasure and a tremendous wealth of knowledge institutional knowledge that is priceless and he will 100% be sorely missed um and that is all I have for evening thank you thank you councilman Fineman thank you council president I feel a little bit bad because there's so much heavy topics going on I just wanted to talk about a new dog that we adopted um so we adopted a dog from wag on in rescue which profit uh and there's plenty of adoption shelters out there uh but if you go check out www. I'm sorry oc.org and click on animal shelters and adoptions uh there is a report that states that dog ownership was associated with the 24% risk reduction of all cuse all cause mortality as compared to non-ownership um I'm running a separate study for those who are on Council have a 24% likelihood to uh a 24% increase of um earlier death um uh I'll publish the results once I'm done with the report uh you'll be fine you'll be fine I don't know who knows but by but by adopting the dog or a pet they give you unconditional love they give you unconditional love and you give them hope and hope is a good thing maybe the best things and no good thing ever dies so stay safe and have fun thank you thank you what's the dog's name the dog's name is sunny thank you councilwoman Travers it's hard to follow that um I just wanted to recognize and congratulate one more time that Memorial High School girls bowling team and also those um who are part of the Telecommunications um office and again lastly to Dan Newman thank him for his service so have a good night thanks thank you Council vice president ambero I'll Echo uh councilwoman travers's comments and add to that appreciation for all of our department heads that came out and gave our budget presentations this evening thank you very thank you and I'll just Echo all that I'm not going to repeat it it's late enough already uh our next meeting is um Tuesday April 23rd uh can I get a motion in a second to adjourn motion all in favor I motion