##VIDEO ID:vrCZ9T17kpc## e e e e all right good evening everybody we have a regular meeting of the city council the city of Kate may we are here in the Cape May City Hall Auditorium today is Tuesday October 15th 2024 the time is now 4 5 please join me for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands Nation indivisible withy and justice for all thank you under the open public meetings law notice of this meeting was sent to the C May County her in the Press of Atlantic City and a copy of the agenda was delivered to each member of city council and posted on the Kate May City website and Kate May City Hall bulis and board notice is hereby provided that Kate May City Council meetings are audio recorded and or video streamed live live video streams are posted to the K May City website the city of Kate May is not responsible if audio recording or live video streaming of a meeting is unavailable roll call Deputy Mayor Balwin here council member McDade here council member Meyer here mayor mik here council member Jagger here City cister Gillan Schwarz here city manager Dietrich here Deputy manager rigs here and Council I believe we have a few um additions and deletions to the agenda tonight if you'd like me to go through those please all right uh so first we are going to remove resolution 28-10 2024 this is a resolution recognizing the service of The Honorable Lewis J Basco Jr as the C City Municipal Court judge um the judge was is not able to be with us tonight so we're going to remove that for a future date and we'll recognize him when he's available um and then we have two additions we have 293-1224 a resolution authorizing group enrollment with a Mara health and EB Employee Solutions LLC the difference card for all active and retired city employees and 29410 2024 resolution amending schedule council meeting date for the year 2024 do I have a motion I'll make that motion mayor do I have a second I'll second roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Stephanie mayor Balin yes mayor mullik yes all right Paul are we Paul do we have an employee of the month I'm going to discuss it uh unfortunately the employee um had some uh things come up and could not make it to the meeting but I didn't want to delay it in another meeting I so I did want to recognize her uh so this uh month we have um our employee of the month is Marie uh bagaro uh she's uh works in the public works department in the Building Services section uh she's actually a seasonal employee but she's been working for the city for nine years so you know even though you know it's still a long-term employee and you know the her fellow employees felt that that she Rose to the occasion to to be recognized uh and I just my sheet um you know and if you've noticed she's been uh doing this year she's been doing the cleaning here at City Hall uh where she was assigned so you probably if you were inside the city hall during the day you probably saw Marie uh cleaning up and probably saw her you know her great attitude um she always is seen as cheering up her co-workers and really do willing to do anything that some of the um office staff you know hey can you help here can you help clean up there um she's always Johnny on the spot and really helpful so um that was a Marie Bago was our employee of the month this year our month that's great thank [Applause] thank you marray uh up any updates uh old business city manager uh yes I have several and most of them revolve around construction uh projects uh that we've got uh getting ready to go so um upcoming most likely I believe it maybe the first week of November uh there's going to be a little activity here at City Hall where the city hall parking lot is going to be getting reconstructed so you know obviously if you're coming here to do business at the city hall um you're not going to be able to park in a lot and uh all of our city employees are going to be getting their extra steps in because going have to park a little bit far away and uh you know have get here a little bit earlier and get some steps in so uh I'll keep uh that obviously updated on the uh website but um obviously if you're coming to the City Hall that week and probably for probably about a month um you're probably going to have to not be able to utilize the City Hall Parking Lot Paul can I just to add to that obviously nice benefit there's going to be I think eight eight additional parking spaces here at City Hall so that's going to be a good thing and is it still three handicap on uh on the street side street so I haven't finalized that but yeah we're going to be looking at along the where the library side is to be able to add some additional uh handicap possible parking along along that side uh just to have some more drop off in in spots uh for the library but but we and which that may involve because of the width creating that as a one way possibly but we're going to be evaluating that as as that project moves forward Paul will that be um in play at the the night of the council meeting October 29th no it won't start until after the October 29th meeting um but we'll have to see it could impact the the second meeting in November yes thank you sorry to interrupt thank no no worries um the next uh construction project for an update um is uh the repaving of Washington Street uh and this is from Ocean to Sydney so the whole length the week of October 28th should take about three days so it's starting on that Monday obviously weather depending through traffic will not be permitted so essentially if you recall what we did on Lafayette Street that was closed and everybody used Washington we're just doing the reverse obviously this is just a Mill and resurface we're talking about three days it's not a year and a half of reconstruction this is just three days of milling and Paving uh during the Milling you know it'll be easy you know local residents will have no problem getting in and out obviously the next couple day and a half Paving operations they will restrict um access down Washington for residents only and I'll again we'll have that posted on our website and social media and we did have two projects going out to bid this week uh and that is the nature trails uh behind Lafayette Tree Park and then I'll say I don't know what phase where we want to call it now but the new phase one uh for Lafayette Street Park it's the section closest to um the the school which would include the uh reconstructed dog park the open ball area and um the bot ball courts as well as a sidewalk that would then connect from lafette Street Park back towards the nature trails to kind of connect that all together um and again those plans are on the city's website uh if you want to take a look at the details of those projects and but they're just going out to bid right now what day do they go out to bid they're going out to bid on they're advertised on tomorrow or th thsn Wednesday I believe they should be active tomorrow perfect thank youday Tuesday and that's all I had for updates toight okay and then I think most people here know about the nature trails but that's really exciting and um I think all the hard work of getting it to this point and and getting it out to bid obviously that needed a d and a CF for permit for the nature it's two miles of uh nature trails so that'll go um basically behind laet Street Park um most people don't even recognize that there's a saltwater Marsh back there but it's actually very lovely and um I think it'll be a wonderful place to enjoy nature so uh thank you Paul and everyone up here who was involved and and all the volunteers uh city solicitor um I don't have anything to report mayor thank you city council we like when the attorneys don't have anything to report so city council any updates for old business no okay and we are not going to honor The Honorable Lewis Blasco today but we always do so we will get him next time and on to U public portion um so uh anyone wishing to speak on resolutions only right now uh resolutions anyone wishing to speak on resolution iions please come to the microphone state your name and address Stacy Shan 928 Columbia Avenue um I have a question about the shared service agreement with Cumberland County resolution 282 -10 um my question is I mean Cumberland county is not next door so can somebody explain how this shared services going to work and what actually it's for because from what I'm reading it's it's a has to do with engineering I thought we hired a city engineer it's a good question uh sure this uh project is for really it's for construction Management Services uh for the as part of when we get going on constructing the police station building um if you recall you might have seen a Authority car in the parking lot over the last year and a half in the city K City parking lot well that's because the authority had a construction manager over at the Franklin Street School the kimy county uses them as part of their construction management team um so they you they were on site every day as part of the inspection of the Franklin Street school they're up they were up at Rio Grand as part of the Reconstruction of the social services area and they're working over I think at the airport now at some of the county rehabs so they they're integrally involved in the rehab of that so that's kind of how we got connected to them so yeah they are from Cumberland County um as part of their their utility authorities they have the shared service where um they do a lot of construction management in Cumberland County and they've kind of expanded their services uh outside of that and they've found that they can keep full-time staff working in Kate May Atlantic and Cumberland counties and cover the different projects um but they also bring an extra benefit uh when when people bring them on early on in the design phase of the project and that's kind of why you know people are saying well why are you starting construction management we don't even have a shovel on the ground kind of a thing what they do is they offer services to start during the design phase and they help because they not only oversee construction of projects they also manage Building Services once projects are open and so they have that unique ability of understanding how buildings need to be managed and functioned and what works and what doesn't work so they help on the design phase and work with our architect and our Engineers to help us prepare a good set of bid specifications and plans so that not only can they be refined and retuned so that they're designed not just from an hey does this work from an engineering or an architect function but is it going to be a good functioning building and be coste effective us moving forward so um when we looked at it we felt that this would was a good expenditure of money to make sure that we design this building properly it's managed properly from a construction phase to have somebody on site every day that can make management decisions um not just kind of there take some pictures and say hey this was done and you know kind of record stuff but they would be the city's eyes and ears and be able to make uh on-site decisions and Communications with the city during construction and they'll be here on a regular basis during the construction they'll be here on a daily basis during and it's a set fee you know they base it on the uh preliminary estimate of what the budget estimate is so if regardless of what price the the the bids come in uh their fee is their fee and that fee that they charge is significantly less than what a typical engineer or an architect would charge based as a percentage of what the bid price would be okay so my other question is so this is for $210,000 and um are we starting to pay a fee to them now or even though we don't have the land yet to build the building can I just uh just point out one thing too this would because I've heard we've had this conversation uh before this is what you may call too a clerk of the works so this is someone who's going to document the entire thing so not just construction management but documentation of the of the entire process but uh your question is valid obviously uh starting to pay for someone before a project starts but well no no not before it starts but we don't even have the approval to build it yet so we don't even have the land to build this project but we're going to be paying this guy to do this work well we have preliminary approval from the DP so it it we do have some approval just to be clear but um this this we did ask them about the I think the cost at this point is it's fa it's similar similar to the uh the architect's contract for the police station this is a phased approach a phased fee based on progress so the first 25% covers this initial mobilization development design development construction documents procurement phase phase excuse me so we're not getting ahead of our skis much like The Architects contract we're we're doing this on a phased approach the city manager is going to be monitoring the progress and it's only the next phase will go based on a notice proceed once we cross each Milestone so it's not 210 out the door it's 25% let's get started and if for some reason some uh unlikely event it doesn't proceed beyond that City's not on the hook for 210 it's it's based on the the amount of work that they've done and the phase that we're in and that initial fee is 17,500 and that's just to help us through the this design phase so that they can you know work with our architect and help make sure that we're designing the best building we I know with the firehouse we actually paid the architect to do a lot of this is he being paid also the same idea that he was before with that we'll scale back some of the architect's scope and really the architect didn't do they did some contract management but they didn't do day-to-day right but it wasn't their agreement they did get paid extra for something like that well the architect is necessary to to review the work pursuant to the plans and certify that it's completed this is providing actually different service and that it's an independent Management Consultant that's going to come in and and you know help with execution of the job and and with a fee that's really tied to progress you know the last payments withheld until we get a final Co so there may may be some things that need to be done but there's money tied to that so that the city's paying for Progress okay my next question has to do with the addition of the resolutions the amended council meeting what day is that amended to um obvious October 29th obviously we were going to bring you know put that on the agenda um but yeah October 29th October 29th it's moved from November to OCT from November 6th so that will be there won't be a meeting November 6th there will be a meeting October to 29th Tuesday okay Y and the americ 500 P PM too by the way yeah okay the um this ties into resolution for the cancellation of the health the state health benefits and the I guess the mayor Health that you're in that you're going with um I'm assuming it's for cost that you found out that you can get better cost um how much would the city be saving with going to America Health versus the state so you realize how important this one is so we'd like to introduce it and then I'd be happy to take any questions on it okay just so you you allow us back up here sometimes you don't allow us back up ab absolutely um and let me just say before the next thing I back to the construction because look we don't want to spend money when we don't have to I hope people see it as a good thing we want to hire this construction Management Consultant um we did negotiate the prepayment I think typically they're twice what we twice what they charged us they usually get a half they usually get a half a percent and they're only charging us a quarter percent they're charging us a quarter percent to get started um obviously a uh Municipal uh entity like that is typically doesn't negotiate very much with their fees they they were flexible on that um but I just hope people do see this as a positive thing we really on an important project like this want to have a clerk of the works we want to have someone who's reviewing the contracts uh re obviously the daily operations of the construction um and and frankly we had a very good um um experience with them at for the library they were there every day um and they represent us they they will represent the taxpayer uh in regards to working with the contractors and and all all of those things so we have someone in our Corner that I I feel is really important I just I didn't want to just gloss over that I mean I I hope people recognize we're doing that we're spending a little extra money but I think in the long run it'll be money well spent uh my next question just a it's a brief one it's 284 the speakers I guess this is the speakers on the beach another $20,000 for this the speakers what happens that why was there an emergency to replace her to for $20,000 with these speakers well unfortunately that that somebody uh broke one of the wires they had to make a major repair and so they had to do it as as an emergency were the wires underground yeah and they still got broke yeah so the person that broke it shouldn't we be going after after them the repairs it was it was a deep it was a Department of Public Works employee okay I thought maybe it was it was a m it was a mistake I mean I having said that just so you know they had GPS um tracking of all the wires now marked on the gis I believe is that correct so corrective action has been taken to hopefully make sure that doesn't happen again okay somebody brought to my attention that they were concerned about the rusting of the speakers that were new on the beach should they be rusting already Justin you want to talk about that so we have been extensively working with the vendor to um obviously make sure that it's up to our specifications um you know be more than glad if they take pictures we've been out there the OEM team on countless days I know people called in with you know saying hey why is the speakers going crazy because we were testing them to try to get them back to you know what we thought was better um you know and we are currently working with the vendor on the OEM team just met to try to figure out a plan to either a take them off probably for the winter time so we're working through that um so I'd be more than happy to look at specific ones but we will be out there again to look at the speakers and if they are rusting we would take note and then work with the vendor again to say hey why why is this happening thank you yep Jules Rous 1010 New York Avenue I just on the on the same subject as the uh Cumberland County Improvement Authority uh will they be assigning a specific person or several people so that they don't end up with different engineers at different times yes they typically would have one person assigned routinely to to work the project in the information that was uh in the the contract will they will they continue to have um project meetings with you and your staff of course um will that be on some kind of a regular basis I yeah we would have regular project meetings as part of any major construction project like that we I should have pre prefaced I've been before this body a number of times over the past years I'm very much in support of management contract uh supervision so um this is not a crit criticism I just want to make sure that the city is is uh uh gets a full full uh full measure the the only thing that is concerning is that you're you're going to be spending $17,500 now without having air a firm contract with the on the exchange of the property um well well we feel what we have from the DP see the DP works the way the land diversion process works is you get preliminary approval it's kind of like you're you're I like when you get married and and and you go and you have the ceremony but you're not really married until you return that certificate back to the clerk's office and then you're technically married because if you don't return the certificate to the clerk's office and it gets lost you're not married right because it didn't get officiated it's kind of the same thing like this we've gotten we've been to the ceremony okay we've gotten approval but now we got to get that piece of paper to the clerk's office and we're we're you know we got to get you now just like on that form marage the offici officient got to sign it your Witnesses got to sign it and all those people have to sign it before you get it back to the clerk we're going through that process of getting all those signatures on that piece of paper to get it back to the DP so that it can go to the uh State commissioner's house I hope that explanation gets back to the D well I a lovely ceremony but I think but but I think that's a it's a process and yeah no it is you so everybody thinks oh you don't have your approval yet yeah we don't have the approval yet but yeah we do because once you get to that step you're I and this my other euphan ISM it's like I Ivory pure you know 99.9% pure yeah we're we're right there but we do we have the approval no but we've got the approval you know it's not going to get to this point and not get approved at the state house and if if I could just add to that it just doesn't happen the alternative not not hiring these folks um we are pretty far along we hired an architect the architect has made a design you've probably seen some of the preliminary designs we want to make sure that those designs are reviewed now rather than later and not have somebody look at it and say hey if we were included in this process through the design days we would have changed a b and c we we don't want to hear that later we want them involved right now especially at a $177,000 number which is look nobody wants to spend $177,000 when they don't have to but it's definitely I think a smart move to to do well it's not just 17 you you you're going to have uh 50% of it paid out before you start construction based on on what I've and construction won't start unless we have approval you got the first the first phase is I I wasn't aware of 17,500 but according to the contract they get 25% at the signing of this contract so that you've modified that already and then another 25% when the bids are finished so it isn't until after the bids when the city accepts uh a bid for the commencement of work which means that we're in a position to put a shovel on the ground and we're not going to bid until % of of their fee will be paid to them before we put any shovel on the ground only if the the other 50% is going to come if the city accepts a bid for commencement of construction when it's shovel ready and that's that's going to be precipitated by approvals land in hand everything that we're discussing right now we're not going to go out to bid on something unless we're ready to dig I would hope not I mean we we we did that with the am church we we don't we're not hoping that that's not going to happen we can't do that um will this contract have a performance mainten maintenance bond to it no you don't do performance maintenance Bonds on I mean the construction project will that's the only place you have performance maintenance Bonds on Professional Services you don't don't have no performance what will the project when it's finished have a have a performance maintenance Bond yes all all capital projects have to have a performance in main do we have one on the firehouse yes yes um to your your incident of your story about the marriages having been a real estate developer you don't have anything until you can take your plans in and have them recorded and have a transfer of property and a transfer of money then you know you have a project approved I still believe that's uh we need to be careful how much money we spend before we actually have all the documents Signed Sealed Delivered and returned by by D let me just I I agree with you totally nobody up here wants to spend money until we have to believe me but we can't go for permits without a plan we have to have a plan to go for those permits I just I want everyone to understand that we wouldn't spend this money if we didn't have to we we we can't say to the D can we have an approval before we present them with something I mean so you I hope you understand we have to hire an architect to present the plans we have to hire we don't have to hire this person but I I think you agree it's smart to hire this person to review those plans those plans have to be approved by different authorities including the D so I I just want to be clear we're not like putting the cart before the horse we have to have a plan to present does the EP have to approve the bilding they want yes they they approve the exchange of land no think so but they no but they've been asking all along what are you doing with the land they want to know so does so does shipo shipo wants to know what are you going to do with shipo is part of the D just to be clear so the state historic preservation office is in the D they want to know what is the plan so we we will not have a shipo approval without providing plans so and shipo needs to review any public property any public building that we do so we can't go to shipo and say we have an idea I I frankly I wish we could I I I would like them to be able to review an idea and if it's an absolute no then get that absolute no but that's not how they function fine um the uh and and just by the way the city is much like the state in that way I I you know when somebody wants to present a plan to the HPC now I appreciate that the HPC and I think the city is actually a little bit more flexible than the state you could probably approach the chairperson of the HPC and say look this is what I'm thinking do you have any thoughts on that and they probably might give you some some direction um we don't get a lot of direction from the state they they won't really talk about ideas they want to see a just we do the same same thing with applications from anybody in Kate May when you come before our boards whether it be zoning or or or uh uh HPC we want to see a plan and that plan may be denied but one of the things that they do do is this pre-application versus final application process and the pre-application process is usually harder to navigate than the final you don't get to this step unless you've flushed out all the objections and comments and critiques and things like like this and you almost have to guess to get to this point the city wouldn't be taking this type of action they wouldn't have authorized you know Architects plans an initial phase an initial phase like this unless they were confident that they've gotten to the point where to use the city manager uh analogy maybe the NJ dp's ready to kiss the project you know so they it it's it's to that point where we're in the details phase of preparing it for uh a final application and that's why I think the city might be confident and comfortable proceeding with something like this which again is not 2 10 out the door it's let's get started with uh reviewing the plans maybe reviewing the bid specifications based on management experience and maybe including things that might help the project advance or protect the city's interest that's the type of feedback that I think the city would want for this upcoming project and can I also assume that we will get the city will get as built plans of course thank you thank you Mr Ral anyone else on resolutions this evening so I I just want to comment um my experience with doing facilities design and construction in a healthc care environment when you were beginning to design whether it be a building or an outpatient office or even you know Hospital Suite you had the project manager was sitting at the table when you started the process it wasn't you brought the after you did the design or the construction they were there from the very beginning it was a critical person um who was running the project making sure all of the key principles were tasked to do what they needed to do whether it be the architect whether it be the construction company whether not to be the purchasing agent so I'm very comfortable with this um from my professional experience because uh I think it speaks to the fact that we are looking at making sure that all of the eyes and all are dotted and all the are crossed before shovels hit the ground and you want to make sure that we've got everything in order um so the investment which is how I see this from my perspective is a good one so I just wanted to add that thank you I just want to interject uh one of the things um I agree with some of the things Mr Ral said of course and and miss machine and and their concerns are very valid but one of the things I can tell you is from the onset or Inception of this project with the mayor and city council Mr jger included prior to U Mr dietrich's arrival in the office and seat um we've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes with the architect and it's actually given us a lot of Headway ahead of this because we knew the D was going to take a long time um to down to the the the matter of door swings and how doors are supposed to swing the one thing that manager Dietrich C tasked me to do as soon as he took office was to actually to go to these meetings with the with the library I was an observer I I sat in the trailer the little trailer over there and I watched Maro Maro guso and and then the authority they sat there and they would chime in they they were so analytical so so crucial on door knobs and swings and how things moved and they would catch things that the contractor was doing wrong before those change orders had to go into effect I think that's it's a lot of money to put out for something like this but as Miss MCD said as well you know that those other fresh eyes that third party eyes looking upon this um and I learned a lot just by you know I built my own home but never built a building facility of that magnitude and that was the crucial to manager Dietrich as far as watching what they were doing how they I mean they gave a detailed report weekly and it was like wow this they go overboard you know what I mean and they would catch things so um I do agree with their assessment but I I have to agree with the Authority's ability of what I saw just as an onlooker going forward in the building that I'm going to be tasked with helping build just as the police chief but I do think it's a very good project to do and I think to uh continue with the authority so they do good work thank you Chief anyone else on resolutions this evening seeing none we'll close public comment on resolutions and move on to the consent agenda yes council is there anything you'd like to remove from the consent agenda tonight anything Council no I would recommend the payment of bills we had an amendment to I don't know if Council had the opportunity to review that I had um an amended resolution in front of you if we'd like to take that separately that's fine sure yeah so that's 291 but other than that are we good for the consent agenda Council yes okay so do we have a motion to adopt the consent agenda do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second second roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member mcde yes Deputy Mayor Balin mayor mullik yes all right and so we have 29110 2024 this is the resolution for the payment of bills point of VO Mr Mayor are we going to have the uh the resolutions for the healthc care system separate in case anybody has any questions they they're on the regular AGA I'm down no worries no we'll definitely do those separately thank you um so yes just 291 the resolution for the payment of bills there was a last minute bill that was added today for a payment um for hurless engineering um that was added so if council is interested Ed in amending to include that bill on the B bill pay do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second I'll second and this is to add it to the resolution yes thank you roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member mcde yes depy mayor Balwin yes mayor mull yes do I have a motion on the resolution as amended I'll make a motion do I have a second I'll second roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meer yes council member McDade yes Stephanie Mary bobwin yes mayor mullik yes all right on to the added resolutions we have 293-1224 resolution authorizing group enrollment with Mar health and EB Employee Solutions LLC the difference card for all active and retired city employees do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have a second I'll second uh I know probably have a couple questions or comments um first off I just want to thank um Council woman McDade um she and the city manager and Deputy city manager uh am I missing anyone really K and Kevin our CFO did a really wonderful job navigating this which has been a a few years really of work um and just to provide a little context um I believe it was 2021 it it went up like 24 4% the state health benefits um 12% last year um so the state health benefits have uh really been in in bad shape to be blunt um I don't know how much you want we want to talk about it publicly but it the it's it's out there as the news it's just I what's really happening is uh a lot of the good accounts um and the good U municipalities that have uh um of course seen as good in the insurance insance industry um are leaving because they can get better rates outside the state health benefits of course with the good accounts leaving it's only making it worse within the state health benefits it itself so it really is trending and it has been trending in a bad direction and frankly looks to be getting even worse um so city council and this kind of task force that was put together put hours and hours and hours of work and I have to say right for the beginning most important was our employees making sure that our retirees and our current employees were taken care of obviously looking at it as a financial issue because it is one uh as as those uh prices have just astronomically increased looking out for the taxpayers as well um so with that I want to just say thank you to Moren and anything that you want to to add councilwoman McDade so um just to give an overview and I'm sure um the city manager the deputy city manager will join in and we we were facing another double digit 16% increase from the state health benefit plan for 2025 um so it became evident that we needed to look at an alternative and as the mayor said this really became about the fact that the uh claims risk and our risk pool was very positive so to continue to be in a plan that was going to cost us more money and that was not the claims experience uh we as an organization the employees had because of the good employees exactly um so it it really came down to what were the Alternatives we started this process in May um and we're working with uh two separate Brokers to evaluate options um M many hours uh presentations materials information um and that was really done to make sure that we came out at the end of the day with a product that was going to be of quality for the employees and the retirees this was not to detract from the coverage that they had and in some ways we've been able to enhance it um so this will net a savings for the city of about $800,000 it will also uh put an additional approximately on average for an employee uh average I say 1,600 for each employee back in their pocket the plan is going to an amera Health Plan um currently the State Health Benefit Plan is through Horizon I've reviewed the provider directories and the um Health System coverage it is comparable these are both standup uh insurance companies and Mar health is owned and operated by IBC in the Philadelphia market and has been in that market for greater than 25 years um its quality the Physicians the providers they're all the same but what this does is enable the city to be able to offer a plan um get some money back to the employees as well as put some money back into the city um so that we can continue to offer additional benefits um and one of the things that we have evaluated is adding dental and vision insurance something that the employees have not had to date um so which is very attractive to them so I think overall um we came out with a good product the uh the city manager and the deputy city manager did a a wonderful presentation to the employees it was very well received um and we're going to do everything and my participation is whatever I can do to make sure this transition to this new insurance plan starting January uh one is both efficient and effective um and goes without hitch so if thank you if I could I I really just want to thank the employees uh of the city on twofold one that they took the time to to listen and and review the proposal that we had and and um you know really evaluate it and you know they asked tough questions and we tried to get them all the answers uh that we could even some tough answers we Wrangle back and forth and I think I only have one or two questions still to get back to employees but I I think you know I I really want to thank the employees for being very attentive to that and two on the employees standpoint you know we were able to get good rates because the employees take good care of their health you know healthc care is important to everybody we all have life things that go want like I said you know if if I wanted to talk to our 130 some employees each one of them has a different medical story whether it's them them their spouse their dependence everybody's got a different thing going on so it's not chocolate or vanilla it's it's a whole Suite of flavors out there and everybody's got a concern and that's why I think the choice is so hard and I think you know they have made good choices that's why our rates I think we got a good price and good quote for our rates but I I just really want to thank the employees for you know really sitting down and and being part of the conversation this time please something else that we actually introduced this was for the first time was a benefits letter um something to give the employees to sort of really show and illustrate um it was um a document that I was used to having when in my professional career uh and worked with um the city manager Deputy city manager and the CFO to craft that so it was for each individual employee so it spoke to them what their you know um income was what they you know how much this was going to cost them if they stayed in the State Health Benefit Plan and what savings they could realize for that for themselves and their family by moving to this new plan so it really was trying to be as transparent as possible about it um and I think that was another important aspect to this and it went to really the communication style um that was um Illustrated and demonstrated by the city manager and the deputy city manager and the CFO so I I again thank you all very much and Echo your sentiments city manager Dietrich um frankly we would not be able to receive these savings if it weren't an attractive uh insurance policy because we have employees that have been fair with it so I thank the employees very much and and just to highlight that I mean it's an $800,000 savings per year year I mean you know we don't know what it'll be next year but hopefully it's pretty similar um and I would assume that it would be less uh of an increase than the state health benefits will be um again enforcing a 600 $1600 average savings per employee for them for the employees not not for us but for the employees obviously that's ATT track of there's less co-pays within this policy just for an example an emergency room uh right now on state health benefits cost a $100 for co-pay under the new plan it would be zero a doctor's office I believe is 10 or 15 uh that to that that under this plan would be zero so it's definitely um beneficial and then including Dental Envision which has been asked for for years and uh we think that employees deserve it we think it's a um attractive for recruiting and obviously obviously retaining um Good employees so it's something that um obviously the city and the city council is Happy sharing in some of the savings that the taxpayers are going to see as part of this as well so I really think overall um a home run because I frankly Kate May is far from the only municipality getting out of state health benefits but I have been watching the other municipalities and I think um we're seeing I think a very good savings and a very good package for the employees too so uh very thank you Kudos um with that any other comments mayor yeah uh let's uh be before we vote on it we'll open it up to the public on this uh resolution uh go ahead Dennis please uh Dennis Crowley 8806 Lafia Street and uh before I begin let me just pull the marriage analys these analogy is a little incomplete because there's a lot of other things you need to do to consummate a marriage but we won't go into that right now contract though I I'm chairman of the MTR also a taxpayer and I just briefly comment that the health benefits move you're making tonight is a smart move and it's a Well Done process it's the kind of process that uh MTR was designed to encourage and yeah we weren't involved in this issue but it but we do commend you for applying a a comprehensive and well-rounded process and uh just as afternote uh SE City just did the same thing last night so everybody's realizing that uh this is a smart move so well done thank you thank you uh Stacy Shan 928 Columbia Avenue I guess my question would be just for uh Mr Gillan Schwarz can you explain why we didn't have to go out to RFP for the insurance like we do for other contracts there's there's an exception in the local public contracts law which is actually referenced in this resolution but it's for things you know insurance coverage this type of thing allows the municipality to go out and because it's a considered an extraordinary extraordinary unspecifiable service service is the legal term but that's it's a specific exemption in the local public contracts law okay CU I know a lot of people like see us going out to bid for things yet we didn't go out for that thought they had in truth be told some some towns do um go out for rfps for things like this but just like Professional Services the town has the opportunity and option to do it but in this case we're running up on a time crunch to get this done and seeing the the vast increase in C cost of staying the course so I think the informal process was used here just from timing standpoint okay but I think as uh Council McDade stated you we we worked with two different Brokers pulling in multiple quotes from multiple insurance carriers so we did you know even though it wasn't a formalized process you we did informally receive you know three or four I'll say individual quotes from different uh insurance companies regarding the different plan so we did so it was an effect that it was comprehensive process that we did thank you Jules house not not to be this to death but were you able to negotiate a a minimum increase in the forcoming Years with a maximum increase over a period of time it doesn't work that way in healthc care um M Mr Ral um it really is Market driven and it's experience- driven so um they'll look at the claims experience for the prior two years when they set the rates for the next year okay um that's just the way health insurance works thank you anyone else on this resolution seeing none we'll close public comment I have a motion in a second right we do mayor yes anything else Council roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy Mayor Balwin yes mayor mullik yes all right and finally we have 294 4-10 2024 a resolution amending the scheduled council meeting date for the year 2024 do I have a motion I make the motion motion a second and just again this is uh for the public and we will have this on the website um this is moving the scheduled November 6th council meeting to October 29th so that'll be two weeks from today uh o we will have a council meeting on October 29th at 5:00 p.m. yes sir any questions or count uh comments Council roll call council member Jagger yes council member Meyer yes council member McDade yes Deputy mayy Balwin yes mayor M yes right on to new business new business any new business city solicitor nothing tonight mayor thank you city manager nothing T tonight city clerk I do I do tonight I will be quick so we have a number of Halloween festivities coming up we have the Halloween parade on October 20th at 1:30 is the registration at Perry Street in Lafayette the parade begins at 3: trick-or Treat night is Thursday October 31st from 5: to 8:00 p.m. a portion of Washington Street will be closed for the safety of the trick trick-or-treaters from Jefferson to Union correct Chief yes perfect um on to election information we have early voting voting is starting October 26 through November 3rd the closest early voting location is in lower Township at the library 2600 bashore Road in the Villas um we have vote by mail applications the to apply by mail the deadline is October 29th 7 days prior to the election in-person applications at the county clerk's office deadline is Monday November 4th at 3 p.m. election day is obviously the November 5th polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. we've already disc discussed moving the council meeting date oh and ending on good news um you'll notice the deputy clerk Brian Turner is not here today um he and his wife welcomed a new baby on November 3rd their fourth child a baby boy uh Bennett Jack Turner and everybody's doing very well so I just wanted to say congratulations and he'll be back in a couple weeks he's enjoying newborn cuddles that's great congratulations congratulations very cool okay uh council members uh Deputy Mayor um just a reminder jazz festival is in two weeks um and that's it mayor thank you okay council member McDade um just real quickly I just wanted to um thank Deputy um city manager Justin rigs he's been working with me um uh Outreach to Atlantic City Electric um we're looking at the lawn utility boxes down in the Village Green area um and trying to get those areas cleared out um from a lot of overgrowth in vegetation um and so we walked the the uh area the last couple blocks and he's been reaching out diligently to the Atlantic City reps and we're finally making some Headway so thank you Justin for your efforts uh I know it's uh it's taken a little bit of time but we will finally get there I hope so thank you Council May council member Meyer all yes thanks mayor uh I think the only thing I have is little update from the trade tree commission under the direction of the city manager the city uh received the grant uh for lantern flies $20,000 and uh We've created a subcommittee to discuss of how we can uh better educate the public not just about the lantern flies and that you should kill them when you see them but uh there's a tree called tree of Heaven which you know dove tailes into the lantern flies it's their natural home and that's where they uh I guess lay their eggs so uh we're also looking around town to see if there's any properties with tree having located and uh coming up ways to work with the public to help them uh remove them from their properties U councilman Meyer is the picture of the tree of Heaven on the website or anything or could we do that or that's part of you know we're working with shade tree and they're going to I think you know that subcommittee is going to kind of put together a a promotional package and Outreach package that we're going to do to you know social media website print media and would be helpful I mean I could send it out in the village newslet but like to be able to direct people where to go look to be able to see something you should have something ready for the public uh the next CH tree commission meeting okay great thanks it it grows like a weed it's like everybody would recognize it when you see it it's like always in like it's one of those trees that's the first thing that grows in like a empty field or whatever yeah and is a specific way to remove it so you can't just pull it out right council member uh joerger nothing tonight you're thankful thank you uh I just you know I was trying to look up actually I think we I just missed the other day the greater kit May Historical Society celebrating 50 years but uh congratulations to them of course that's their offices right out here at the Colonial House which is wonderful if you get a chance to take a look the history that they have is is pretty incredible um I have nothing further with that we'll open it up for public comment anyone wishing to speak please come to the microphone state your name and address two little items that uh frankly I name and address please sir Jes Rous thank you um in the bills there was a a a d permit for 4,000 $750 what was that for please $4,750 I'd have to double check I I think it's for the site remediate ation fee change let me look it up again that's all it said in the bills Paul was New Jersey treasur D permit do you want to ask your second question while he looks at I I would have to go pull the actual physical Bill to to to to look at but I believe it's for site remediation fee and the other question was uh there was a payment made of $ 35,6 181 to CME for a a Dell EP a grant is that a fee that we paid them to prepair the grant no that that's it's just buil under it's a Grant Line that we got if you recall the they helped us apply for a $600,000 grant from the EPA that's helped funding the preliminary design of the desalinization plant and it's just charged under that line okay so this this was funds that the city received no we received $600,000 but we're paying C out of that $600,000 okay so if you see let me put I have to look at the I don't know page that's on oh it doesn't but that that that Line's being that's being paid out of the Grant Line That's well thank you come on thanks okay good evening hi good evening um Charlotte Todd of 1308 Cap May Avenue Hell charl City and tonight I as I look at all of you um who are serving us so well here in the City of Cape May I think about a role that I hold on the environmental commission and that is a historian so I have been with the commission for almost 40 years and I feel that it's an opportune time to talk to you about the Cape May Harbor and I'd like to do a little bit of that tonight please so to start with with we have a Green Acres Program which preserves open space throughout the state of New Jersey it's referenced by Statute 13 colon8 c-24 and within the Department of Environmental Protection it serves many purposes and has many projects that receive funding for the conservation purposes therefore we know r o SII The Rosy list as a result of this program and it has helped to purchase many sites here in the City of Cape May and in the end of the 196 80s a massive development was proposed for the land surrounding Cape May Harbor in that proposal by the developers there were at least 300 boat slips proposed Condominiums marinas shops a restaurant all which would have impacted amazing nature area and to look at that proposal at that that time a group of local citizens plus our environmental commission took into account that this proposed development might not be suitable for the City of Cape May and one of the reasons we cited was the lack of drinking water we were just starting with needing a desel plant and we knew that voters in particular need to wash their boats quite frequently and that would have been from our aquafer so therefore um the environmental commission um and a group of citizens did take on this project and for two years we were in a lawsuit at the end of the lawsuit um there were some compromises and the compromises included one portion a very large portion for some housing and another portion for Environmental Education at this time the Statewide Green Acres Program came forward along with the city and the Green Acres folks did partner with the city to purchase this particular area on which we now have a nature center and I have to say that I am very very interested in Green Acres um they have so many partners that we would recognize at least 35 partners and I won't read them all to you but certainly um us fish and wildlife are an amazing amazing group and they partner with Green Acres as well as many other well-known groups um within our master plan which we update every 10 years we have one area that we've listed and continued to list that the environmental Commission has expressed interest in reducing the intensity of the harbor use the commission recommends permitting only natural ve vegetation as an erosion control method and no further housing or commercial development in the harbor area and then an opportunity for living shorelines be given to that area it's also recommended by the environmental commission that safe access to the harbor be created on a very small scale in terms of a small pedestrian ramp so that a portion of this Harbor remains as peaceful a wetlands area encouraging fish and wildlife nurseries and in the end remains a resource protecting our birding and fishing industries um further if you want to look at the Rossy list and we have in our booklets that we keep all of those listings you would know that the rosy list includes Rotary Park Colonial House Park Lafayette Street playground the Harry lazour Park physic State Park William Moore tennis club Massachusetts Avenue mini Park Pennsylvania and massach Massachusetts mini Park Indiana and Missouri mini Park open space median of the Cape May Avenue between Madison and Pittsburgh Avenues Fisherman's Memorial Delaware Avenue beachfront and then it goes on to list all of the beachfront areas that we have um within the city Harborview Park and the Cape May City Nature Center so I think that's important from time to time just to bring you a little history and that's what I intended to do tonight I Charlotte I really appreciate it and it is important because I I Le pride myself on trying to know Kate May history and I always remember to not I get corrected too often to to consider myself a historian of Kate may but I did not know the Genesis of the Nature Center in regards to that lawsuit that's pretty amazing and thank you you're welcome and thank you for your 40 years of service to the environmental commission Charlotte and I think it's a it's an important reminder of all of the efforts that people have put into making Kate May a wonderful community and and protecting our environment so truly Charlotte thank you and um Mike joerger as the um uh liaison to the environmental commission I I thank you and the commission for your efforts over these years too you know Charlotte did touch on the living Shoreline I know you did give a little bit of of an update would you mind uh I I don't I know you don't have a new one but where we're at I think think the plans were reaching the final stage at with the Army Corps and I think over the next 12 months that we should see that project out to bid so we actually should see that project finally out to bid Charlotte the living sheline on Delaware and we all know anyone who's looked at that area it's it's very necessary though I don't know if I would consider it's not a true living shore line it does have uh it's more of a you know because of the nature of it I I think it's it's not a true living Shoreline in where it's all nature based it it does have some rip wrap Stone okay Edge to it so it's not a true living sh line in that pure respect thank you anyone else this evening Stacy Shan 928 Columbia I know I had bought this up before about putting the box back for payments for water and tax payments uh yeah I've talked to the tax collector and at this you know we might reevaluate it after the paving is done but at this time uh you know we moved the box over on top on the side of the building and she hasn't had a call or you know nobody's been requesting to add it out there uh well I think I got up here before and asked for it so I did have an ask cuz I did ask for it and the thing is is because when people come come they don't have ability to park all the time and the people that are handicapped can't get out of the car walk over and put it it was and it's not in the paving area it's actually in the dirt area is where the thing was before and people could just pull up put their payment in for water and water sewer and for tax collection I think it was very helpful for people that didn't want to get out of their cars couldn't find a place to park and that they could pay their their bills on time thank you okay well I mean before when I up here it was said that you you were going to put it back so that's why I'm up here again it hasn't been put back I never said it was going to get put back I said i' we'd evaluate it and take a look but I never said it I didn't say that it was ever going to get that it was going back oh I think it well my recollection was it was said it was going to be put back and just so for the record it was asked to be put back cuz I I'm asking people people approach me and and that's why I'm here voicing my in their opinion on certain things that they have issues with so just because it's me doesn't mean it's just coming from me I can get out of my car easily but there's other people that can't park and get out of their cars and walk and the reason why it was moved was because of the construction of the firehouse now the firehouse is back from construction we're only asking for a box to be put out there that was there before and make it easier on the public okay anyone else good evening Ross hello uh eight uh Ross Johnson 826 Lafayette Street my question has to do with um the money that the city is getting for the lantern fly control um are the residents uh that are taking down trees that are host um to the lantern fly will they be uh eligible to receive any of this money it it's one of the Avenues that we're looking at yes is to help residents pay for the removal of tree of Heaven yes and but but it has to be done it can't be oh I removed the tree of heaven and here's my receipt it's got to be coordinated through the shade tree Commission because there is a specific process of taking down uh a tree of Heaven because if you just go up to it and cut the at the trunk no there's a specific process that's why it's if we do that process it's going to be coordinated through the shade tree commission and that's why they're developing a subcommittee to kind of develop how they want to take care of that RZ can I say okay because I do have a neighbor um who did get an estimate it was something like um $6,800 to take down because she had um she has several of these trees on her property and uh she was told that the city was not going to give her any assistance Ros I'd be happy to talk to you separately um to be blunt the the tree of life is is almost not a tree I mean they do get big but they're they're like almost like a very big weed more bushy than than a a tree you might think of but in any event I'd be happy to help you offline on that and um one question I do have Mr Meer I think I think it was West Kate May was giving out traps as part of uh the the the use of that Grant is do we plan on doing that next year I know they're basically dead I mean that's why the shade tree commission's looking at you know what is the best use of that money and okay and how to utilize that money yeah right okay good good yep the main thing is identifying this in the spring and I think we should have a campaign for that you know but I'll be happy to talk to you about that okay great um my second question is um have you considered um the um a town hall meeting I know you said you going to think about it we were going to add it to the agenda of the uh I I understand why that probably isn't a good idea um so let me just say this before December we will have one okay great yeah okay thank you very much I I we considered adding it to the New Jersey pact rules plus flood insurance yeah it we just thought it might be too much yeah yeah I agree okay thank you thank you Stacy Stacy Shen 928 Columbia real quick um I guess is for you Paul when is the your department and Kevin going to hold that public meeting where people can come in and see what the department heads one for budgets I have to take a look at it um we're still evaluating the schedules but it might have to slide to the first week in December just based on conference schedules and the holidays okay just so it will be um it'll be advertised just advertised we'll have an announcement at the next meeting okay because I know the last meeting you were thinking about having an October and that's why I was asking because I haven't seen it on the the website we've been looking at I think it's going to slide to the first week of December okay and and Aon you'll have that advertised on the website when that comes around yeah once they solidify a date we'll have it out while in advance thank you hi I'm lorri buck 911 Avenue um I've noticed so many improvements around town I love living in this town um so I want to thank the counil for that um I just have one question I think I asked it about a year ago and I think I saw something about it in the paper it sort of concerns lower Township and the crosswalk there in front of Lucky Bones to Lobster House y the state it's the state are they the buttons they approved it they did okay I talked to the uh Mike lafy Township administrator lower Township and he said that they've been working on it and I think they're just trying to go through the dot bureaucratic process okay so it is still moving forward Department transportation but they approved it and and approve payment of it but right and I last time I talked to Mr lafy that the do moves very very slowly and it's it's just stuck in their process so you know next time we talk to them we'll try to get an update but okay are they going to at the same time they do that maybe position those um guard rails that are similar in front of duckies on um Seashore to have the the traffic coming out of Lobster House again I know it's lower Township but so it they make a right because I've seen so many almost accidents with people coming out of Lucky Bones trying to cross over and the people set making the illegal left that would you your best bet is to reach out to Mr lafy or lower Township all right about that specific all sort of if anybody knew okay all right thank you thank you and uh thank you for the idea previously because otherwise I don't think that would have happened so thank you anyone else this evening seeing none motion to adjourn thank you everyone the time is now 6:17 have a wonderful evening everyone thank you gentlemen how are you good good good how many more RAM you do you know e