e e please notice of this meeting was provided in accordance with chapter 231 Public Law 1975 I'd like to have silent meditation and also a special uh heart felt thoughts and prayers to the families who had lost the people today on the uh on the bridge in Baltimore it was very sad it's Affairs hopefully it's uh they'll be recovered and family see some at least some some relief and some closure so with that let's say our prayers stand I pledge aliance to the flag the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible withy and justice for all thank you commiss call please commissioner Al commissioner loads pres commissioner Soro here commissioner Maran here commissioner Taylor present deputy director Romero he he's excused director C here do I have a motion in second to accept and dispense with the reading of the minutes from the last public meeting so move second all in favor Communications correspondence Atlantic City Electric notice of filing and public hearing dated February 27 2024 in the matter of petition and of Atlantic City Electric company for approval of energy efficient program cost recovery mechanism and other related relief for plan years one through three very good and we have a couple presentations today we do um Okay who wants to be first website that's good so good evening everybody um thank you for allowing us the time and opportunity to speak about the revision or refresh of the Cumberland County website um I promised Matt that we would be less than the budget which was what 40 minutes so I didn't say how long last but no I I Pro no shots no shots I promis that that within range um how we doing I uh oh so what I will uh start out with is I want to thank some people that were really integral in this process um Kim kespa was was very helpful um here I have with me two members from my department which Robin deatri is here and josn Jin could you please just stand up just wave say so Robin and Joselyn really have done a lot of work on this um I also want to give a shout out to Omari Williams uh Omari has also helped as well and I also want to give a shout out to Kathy Duran Kathy really has helped us significantly um while we uh while we get this going thank you so this is this is a picture of it's a screenshot of what you would see from a desktop computer if you're going to go to the to the uh to the new website um I just want to give a little timeline so our department got involved late December and the County's website has been I've been with the county for five years now and we've had multiple transfers of of the website uh it's been in and out of numerous hands and I'm glad it's back with with my folks with Robin and and Jos I'm glad it's in their hands so we got involved to refresh this website and the reason why this is really important for you to understand is the work that these two did on this refresh January 3rd was an initial meeting January 9th we received the first draft of what it would look like January 19th we got the second draft January 26 we initiated to build it out February 16th testing and cleanup February 26th it was available that is absolutely amazing work by these two individuals right here I cannot take any credit but just standing up here to be their voice right now as a department head I cannot be more proud of the work that these two committed to do working hand inand with the director on this bothering him multiple times bothering Kim multiple times I think they're all tired of hearing from me about this and one other person who I want to give so much credit to he's not in the room is Hal Johnson so Hal stood behind us throughout this whole process um he stood behind us when we gave him ideas he stood behind us when Robin gave ideas and Joselyn gave ideas he trusted us and you can see that his trust paid off we promised that we would do a refresh within two months they did it folks they did it they met with departments they sat with them so I cannot be more proud now I'm going to turn it over to Robin for the next half hour no for the next five minutes to just show you a brief overview of the work that her and Joselyn uh did with this I'm very I have to walk around I can't St in one place hello um so uh we've had a few goals with this project um first was the redesign we wanted to try to keep everything above the fold we wanted it less scrolling so as you're moving whether you're on a desktop or whether you're on a mobile device everything is within one or two Scrolls down um we wanted to stay on brand we know some people are already familiar and utilize the website so we didn't want to make things completely totally different um but we did want to give it just a nice little facelift um and the other thing is we did want to do it within a timely manner um the website has just been as Stan said turned over from person to person for year after year after year and um there was a lot of organization and a lot of work that went into the back um so far we have completed Human Services office of emergency management fire academy Finance personnel and Doss um and these were just meeting with department heads seeing what they wanted how they wanted their uh departments represented um one of the things I am going to pull just for a quick overview I'm going to have to end the slideshow sorry and it's not coming up we're stuck I think it's the cast that's a picture of Mars River that is a picture of Mars River oh yes planning planning has done a wonderful [Music] job I know the right oh you know what she's right because it's a it's miroring the image sorry guys someone have it on call um so we've reorganized this top navigation we've included government here the government was a part that was missing from the old website who are your um uh constitutional officials right who are your elected officials how do you get to your Commissioners how do you get to the Sheriff's Office the surrogate um prosecutor as well um and then we've also put boards and commissions over there so it's just a brief organization next is business we are still in the process of kind of building out business um for multiple reasons and we've discussed with how why that is um but departments and services these are now grouped by kind of as you could see by topic and then if you need if you need every Department that we have in alphabetical order you can just go to all departments and that will list everything in alphabetical order um one of the Departments that Joselyn has worked closely with Melissa Niles who she's not here but Melissa Niles from Human Services has um a tremendous Outreach so we kind of felt that building a landing page for her would service her Department there's a lot of different things from The Recovery Center to um the the homeless at risk Services all of these services that you know you just can't put under Human Services and then let them kind of file through and find it themselves so that that three click find anything you want within three clicks we we we've hope that we've achieved it um on the other hand County government is huge it is so extensive that sometimes to make things within that three click reach is kind of hard um but we're trying the best that we can and we we have full control over the back end um and we're just trying to do our best so um like I said we try to keep everything above the fold this is particularly the screen that I'm working on it's a smaller screen and the responsiveness will change depending on the screen that you are using whether it's a a mobile device or a larger desktop so perfect is there with with what Robin had just said I just can't even emphasize enough the work that these two did and to put it in perspective their their title in civil services their data processing they don't get paid tons of money to to to work for the county but they come in every day they love their job and they do a great job at it and they did this in addition to all their responsibilities and all their duties 800 users we have I deal with all of these almost every day we talk on the phone right 800 users we have we have board outstanding I can't say enough about the two two of them thank you both I don't oh one last thing so this screen right here we're we're kind of proud of this um we're going to actually use this as a bulletin so anything that's current that's going on within the county you can now just click on this and it will take you to uh this this takes you to the County's um Department of Health I believe it's all the Raby clinics and again if you go to the second one here is surprise surprise um the midcounty park and this link right here will take you directly to their page where you can find the park and its guidelines so which is a perfect sideway seg way [Applause] into thank you guys and again we're bringing the county out to the public now because everybody uses some type of communication it be a laptop phone it's just amaz amazes me some I'll learn use one all right good evening I'm Matt bazarski the planning director for Cumberland County and I have Elena Gable our assistant planning director um and we have a brief presentation on the components of the cumland County midcounty Park and Fairgrounds master plan which is on the website um the the plan incorporates a variety of sections we uh went we go through the background information that was collected and used as the basis for the recommendations um those were meshed with site analysis assessments either done inhouse or by other entities and then section three are the recommendations based on the assessments and uh background research so the goals of the the overarching goals of the plan are shown on the slide to create a park that can be used throughout the year for a variety of events and uses improve utility infrastructure and Facilities of the existing Fairgrounds develop the west side of Marias Avenue with appropriate passive recreational amenities and to consider Administration administrative recommendations and Staffing um so existing conditions um so we looked at some mapping tools um this is showing an aerial map of the fairgrounds and the two properties across maras Avenue that the county does own you can see on property a that's the existing Fairgrounds and then there's uh B and C and both the county owns both of those properties um the map in the middle kind of shows the existing land jues in the area so the yellow is residential the pink is commercial um the green is forested area the purple is a cemetery the light brown is farmland and the teal color is uh potential Wetland areas and then the last map is showing the kind of the regional location of where the midcounty park is so in the dark blue outlined in Black that's our property um across Carmel Avenue is a Wildlife Management Area the dark green shows all the parks in the area the teal color uh Municipal parks and then the brown color our nonprofit preserved areas as well so we also in doing our Baseline conditions we reviewed the County's planning documents and also milville City's planning documents so milville did a comprehensive master plan in 205 they had a re-examination report in 2012 and then in 2017 they adopted a new land use plan element um for the County's master plan we went all the way back to 1966 where we looked at their open space and Recreation plan at that time we looked at the 1970 M County Park concept um kind of looking all through the years at different documents that were prepared by the county um that help inform some of the basis of our recommendations and so what this slide is showing here is the map on the left that is from the 1966 master plan so it actually says on the plan I don't know you can't see my mouse but in the dark green area says proposed location of the fairgrounds in midcounty park plan um the middle map is showing the proposed concept for those two properties across Marias Avenue property BNC the top right is from the Bikeway inventory and in the bottom right is millville's land use plan element and so the land use plan element in dark green shows parks for the midcounty park um and so it's just kind of showing the location of how everything kind of comes together and is in harmony with one another and then for analysis and um just as a little bit of background so the mid count Park was acquired by the county in the late 60s um and it is the primary open space property owned by the county um we've heard a lot that there's no uh there's not a county park system per se in Cumberland County but Cumberland County does own a park and this is at these three Parcels on either side of Marias Avenue kind of we it's referred to as the midcounty park because it's geographically in the center of the county um on the Northern end of the city of milville so when we look at site analysis on some of the things we looked at were existing infrastructure the electric the utilities um and the Architectural Components that are currently existing on the property which are exclusively on the fairgrounds parcel um and then circulatory plans not only between the three Parcels themselves but the surrounding Road system so um you know the size of the road system the intent of the road system um and how you would get from let's say public transit to the park system um we then looked at at the needs assessment so there were a variety of Outreach efforts done over the last 24 months um with municipalities um and with event organizers so people who have used the fairgrounds in the past um and some of the things that they have noted would be nice new amenities or that they uh if they were installed at the fairgrounds would improve their programming in some way um and so so we conducted interviews for for those and also for those who have not used the fairgrounds but would potentially use the fairgrounds if new amenities were created on site and that leads us to the uh recommendations we broke the recommendations into three categories so immediate recommendations that we feel um confidently that would have direct impact on programming at the fairgrounds and and the park in general uh and can be completed in one to three years um and those would include things like utility improvements electrical upgrades um the county has been working with the health department on improvements to the red building to be used as a mobile vaccination site should uh some pandemic ever happen again um changes to the programming related to events so allowing for limited uh camping on site uh improved signage improved entrance and ticket booth um surveillance systems and security PA systems improvements to the fencing uh Trail development on the sites on the west side of Marias Avenue uh grand stand improvements um and again utilities um and those are uh specified in more detail in the actual document um additionally we looked at things like adding water fountains to the Fairgrounds bike racks there's there are no bike racks out at the at the county midcounty park um renovations to existing buildings um improvements as far as signage and and trails for horseback riding which is heavily utilized by 4 um and then looking at access to site C which is a landlock parcel owned by the county but could be accessed um through the uh Jewish cemetery which is in front of it um and and uh is along Marias Avenue additionally we've had uh programs uh at the fairgrounds in the past that have been CH challenged with catering and how to provide food services and so one of the things that we also looked at is the viability of putting in uh commercial kitchen operation or something some type of commercial kitchen out there to improve uh food uh Pro providing food for different events we then move on to intermediate recommendations these are recommendations which um would be nice we um that potentially have grant funding available to to us to apply for um and that could be completed in the next four to S years so we looked at addition signage improvements to the parking area improvements to the stage and Lawn area at the fairgrounds uh a loop trail system that would better connect all three Parcels um improvements for pedestrian bicycle access along moras Avenue maybe a disc golf course on sites B and C which are on the west side of moras um additional improvements to the grand stand Beyond those that are made in the immediate recommendations potentially a mountain bike trail um picnic pavilions uh improvements that would allow for additional camping options um and then ongoing planning initiatives and then strategic considerations that would be you know 8 10 or more years out uh we looked at the there is there is a strong interest and use of the the fairgrounds for ewine programming um there is the dream park in Gloucester County uh that provides high-end uh facilities for ewine operations but definitely the fairgrounds can play a role in providing um local ewine uh facilities and we should look at uh how those can be additionally improved upon uh if there is an opportunity for for children's programming and and amenities like a playground or a Safety Town something like that out there that would be a good location for it some of the things that were brought up in the Outreach that we um ultimately determined were either a long stretch or needs additional research or maybe this site isn't the best for those specific recommendations would be things like a dog park a splash park um inter rural Sports Fields High rope um and then overflow parking so those were areas that we felt if we do want to go in that direction additional research needs to be done on that and then Additionally the report is so large because we felt it was important to include as much information as we could um into the ultimate document so the appendices are pretty extensive um they include the preliminary assessment report uh related to sites B and C that were done by tnm Associates and are still being done in fact there's a resolution on your agenda tonight for additional work related to that assessment report that's a requirement for the grant funds that would be used to um provide Trail development there um the condition assessment report that was completed by Clark Kon hint in 22 um and the Outreach and public engagement report by Clark Kon hints from 22 and the grand stand structural condition assessment report that was done as part of a separate Grant um to try to find funds to to repair or replace the grand stands that are out there um so and all of that relates directly to the parks that Park system and the three Parcels that we felt was important to include and that is the report in a nutshell okay all right very good thank you sir thank you very much okay do I have a motion and second to open public comment on resolutions only I move second on favor by anyone wish to step oh Robin you can speak state your name address and five minutes please good evening I'm Nancy Ridgeway from Upper Deerfield and Fairfield Township on resolution 2024 209 it's a resolution appointing and reappointing members of the disabled advisory Council and um you've talked a lot about how hard it is to get volunteers to uh sit on these commit IES and boards and councils and uh this young lady that you're appointing this evening came to [Music] me and uh we looked at the resolution and I don't understand why it's a one-year term and it commenced on December the 1st of 2023 and we're just now doing the resolution March of 2024 she put in her application or whatever she had to do and she's never heard from them she doesn't know where the meetings are or what time the meetings are or anything and uh that's a problem when you want to get people to volunteer and it should be looked into and addressed we don't have to get Barber up here on resolution 2019 2024 219 this is a resolution affirming an emergency to exist relative to repair replacement of a 48 in corrugated metal pipe under the shoulder and partial travel Lane of steep Run Road County Road 633 commercial Township and affirming the repair thereof I read this resolution when I got to the second paragraph I was intrigued whereas said collapse is an immediate danger and an issue of health and safety for motorists the general public and surrounding properties that may be affected by blocked water flow and must be repaired immediately excuse me but that's very interesting that you do not want to flood these people's property but it's okay to flood my property so I guess the people in commercial Township with their septic and private water wells are more important than the people in Upper Deerfield with septic and private water wells that get flooded and I think that's called discrimination thank you anyone else Hey sir state your name all hear me from my voice very loud uh my name is Blake Maloney ument of Upper Deerfield Township and been involved in the county number of different areas through the years and uh what I was wondering on the the park system has any thought or given through how much thought has been given to the funding uh what you're going to be looking for over the next 1 to three years as far as how much money you're looking out here to reach and get funding for have you established any kind of data on that as of yet which I didn't read anything in the report on that well let's just wait till we wait till all the public yeah we'll answer your question in a minute sir we're just going to finish com anybody else thank you Mr motion to close second faor okay all right so we have three questions here 209 219 I didn't really understand the question on 219 and the funding um well I think there's still concerns that they're still flooding in Upper Deerfield is that the issue it's next to her property looked at over that's the question okay on my prop is there and I know that that's been something that m way has specifically experienced for a number of years before right right okay do we have any feedback about that from it was looked into several years ago Mr rway could tell you all the details it was studied and they if I misspoke the bottom line is that it it was uh I guess not caused by whatever the county that it's the road that if you drive through UHA road road It's it's where the bridge was out for for a while and there was a lot of work done there Mr R you want to chime in it was it was done right property D whiter had answered that question previously looked at like maybe two three years ago the first got on the board they looked at it and I guess it wasn't looked at later I don't not sure but it was looked Le wats it was looked into how the flooding was from uh uh how addal flooding or how it affected her property so and the response was what doug whiter gave his response he's online right circulated his report to this board within the last six months yes you have I just like to see it reiterated just for Mr at this point F Mr Whitaker are you [Music] online yes sir could you please answer the question on uh Miss ridgeway's property please the construction of the minor bridge on Burlington Road just south of Irving Avenue um because of the city of Briston Utilities in the roadway the temporary bypass could not be put at the proper elevation for the stream bed so during the actual construction the stream elevation was raised I don't remember the exact elevation but it was it was somewhere between 6 in and a foot during the actual construction phase okay following completion of the existing structure we returned to its uh original um elevation uh the DC was actually called instruction to review what we were doing um and found that basically we had not elevated the stream except for during the actual construction okay and so now it is back to normal is that your report yes and it has been since the construction completed many years ago is that also your experience hold on who approved who approved the D approved the construction yes we had much like on most of our Waterway projects we had to get um D permits to remove or replace the structure um like I said during the actual construction phase the temporary bypass which was in the form of a fight could not be put at the bottom of the stream elevation because the uh has various Water and Sewer in the area um but the new structure is put back at the bottom of the existing structure the Perman structure was constructed at the bottom stream elevation as it was prior to the rep was this done by an outside contract or by us no this was contracted I can get you the exact date but it's been several years ago right okay all right very good but the but the pipe that what we're were talking about besides Miss Ridgeway is that was an a bird SE that crushed it you you guys know the road was a j so that's why I was tackled I think we can revisit this and just see the D made the approval I how you got away with but we'll take a look at it again um Mr Ridgeway will um take a look at this again is your property still flooding Miss Bridgeway I have pictures from Saturday Okay disgusting all right did you um support him to uh the county no but I have five five years worth the pictures well just not just something recent would be adequate enough to to get to to get to the um engineer I think we the only thing I can say is this okay s line there was an agreement with Bron remve the s l and the water lines the BR was going to pay for count decided not to do it he's saying the bridge was installed back to the original level it never was I was here it's all on the record that from day one I complained about the flooding and the flooding continued even after the bridge was completed the water never went back down to where it was supposed to be and your engineer and Kim wood and uh Mrs Strickland that was an attorney for the county all came out there one time I complained for 103 days before anybody would come on my property look at the damage and the damage is continuing all right Mr Rich we're going to we're going to revisit this all right um 209 that was regarding the park regarding yes where did Matt go Matt would you like to come and respond and thank you for your question Mr Malone I'll just chat while mat's on his way up but we do have funding as he said to complete no 209 was um appoints funding of look like a typo all right 209 that's for the appointments and also I would like to say that um as for all the appointments not just on this board but M Ridgeway um that was something that I was concerned about as we have been appointing people to different committees that they you know very at the very very beginning they were not being contacted and so at this point in time um I have worked with Miss kispa and some of our other staff here at the county to make sure that after people are appointed and after the resolution is passed that they are contacted and they are given the information for when and where the meetings are thank you let's let's speak to this hi Barbara from the Department of Aging uh yeah we um the reason why this was held up a little bit you know January to J initially January um but I know that the Commissioners was interested because the council was new to the Commissioners and they had asked for some additional information on the members that are on the committee so I had to provide that in background information on them to that's a concern on who they're appointing and reappointing so I did provide all that information I had discussion with uh commissioner Romero who's not here um and director cilio we had a little bit of discussion um the new member um there was a even though there wasn't an active board we did have a meeting um and I thought that the staff person in charge had contacted the person that was going to be on you know admitted as just to appointed just to learn about the committee to have some contact but I did not check and apparently she wasn't contacted so I apologize for that but um she will be contacted once once the appointment is done she will be contacted as to when the meeting meetings are held they're not held every month so it's not a monthly meeting and that has kind of been our of our best practice with appointing people as I said after the resolutions are passed then those people are contacted for whatever committee that right but we do ask for the resumes and we do ask for some background and if they're showing up for their appointments and so forth because if they don't do so then we want to find out why in this particular case she was never notified but we have a lot of other applicants who come in for board want to be on board members and all sudden don't show and then are absent on several occasions and then of course we have to look otherwise thank you very much uh the last one would be the funding one to three years correct brings Matt back up again just for the show so uh and we have prioritized the immediate recommendations which are the most um concurrent so the 1 to three years um and we we did estimate rough estimate total cost for everything in the immediate recommendations would be roughly $2.7 million to implement and thanks to the commitment of this board towards recreational opportunities in Cumberland County uh we either have secured or in the process of applying for $936,000 in Grant funds which would leave a remainder of roughly 1.75 million of which the remaining arpa funds held by the county would cover that expense so um provided that all the grants come in uh everything in the immediate recommendation category can is funded or could be funded and can be implemented within the next 12 months um we've concentrated on immediate and so we have not spent a lot of time looking at later categories but um as soon as those are completed then we will move on to the next category and I think it's been my experience but I think it's safe to say the show the public as well as we've been working on this project other opportunities have been coming up in our discussions um so I do feel confident that we you know are continuously finding the funding for those future projects what was selected as the first phase was really about Public Safety you know to be on the grounds and to be around the facilities um to make sure that it was safe first of all before we were able to build out and develop and really make this into something special for the community Mr M is that satisfy you thank you perfect perfect good thank you thank you man okay do I have a motion and second to vote by consent agenda on resolutions 20241 182 through 202 24-21 second questions [Applause] comments commissioner Al yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner marshan yes s yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes do I have a motion in second to adopt resolutions 2024 d182 through 2024 d210 by consent second commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner SAR commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 20242 resolution boing contracts for supplying and delivering toner cartridges OEM only no substitutes for Cumberland County and the Cumberland County cooperative contract pric and system identifier do I have a motion and second moov second questions or comments commissioner Al yes commissioner loes yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 202 24-2 212 resolution awarding contract for lease of County owned farmlands located near to Cumberland matter bid number 24-9 do I have a motion in second move second commissioner Al just a comment real quick before we uh start I for several years now we've had inquiries from other people about this land using it and speaking to solicitors morning or just before the be uh that person that uh it's the The Village out there the old dut Village did not respond so he's been asked several times or to put stuff in work a hope well Township but already has it so at this point this is the single Overture you have to make use of this I I have no problem with that so yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 202 24-21 resolution authorizing the award of a non-fair open contract with q's enforce development Incorporated for software support maintenance services for the q's enforc computerized dispatch system at the Cumberland County 9 911 emergency Communication Center and Sheriff's Department do I have a motion and second second commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Sor yes commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes director Leo yes resolution 202 24-24 resolution awarding a contract for providing various youth services for the cly County Youth Services advisory Council RFP number 24-10 do I have a motion and second second commissioner Al this a question on the uh where the Buddies being sped these the girls the uh the Girl Scout between central and southern New Jersey is our body going to be you know it's go to two Central jerseys their District whatever why is our money being shipped up toward cenal Jersey and not just hanging around in southern Jersey U their District are they Cooperative is a good no idea I believe the local girl troops are part of that right I think it's umbrella organization well for what it's worth um I know this is one of Melissa no and I'm not sure if she's here she's not here um so when she put this is a part of a grant fund that she gets for the benefit of Cumberland County so when she puts RFP out it'll specify that it must be for the benefit of come County you so the organization may be titled Central and Southern but it has to be benefiting did any other organizations apply for this at all usually we state it in the resolution um before we should list out all those that did apply uh the ones that are in the parentheses in the title are the ones that are being awarded so it goes through a scoring process okay yes thank you commissioner Al yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 2024-25 resolution approving change order number two to the professional service contract to conduct a preliminary assessment for Mid county park to to construct a 5.2 mile permanent trail system RFP number 23-24 do I have a motion and second second commissioner Au yes commissioner loads yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes with a comment um this is it looks like a heavy increase an 88% increase but it's only $4,800 and the actual uh bid was not that great to begin with so um this is for again for the mid mckany Park project which we're speaking of today so just don't let that 88% and this is for the planning of really what extends it and makes it into something that the entire Community can utilize so okay anyway yes resolution 2024-25 resolution declaring a 2013 for E450 mini buus bin number 1 FD fe4 fs7 ddb 04930 used by the Cumberland County Area Transit System a surplus and unneeded property and authorizing disposition the Govern via gov deals online auction do I have a motion and second second commissioner Al all right the I raised this point two weeks ago about using this for other purposes I I called theal deal Riley about it to see what condition was it I never got a chance to get over there take a look at it so I have no feedback whatsoever I just I'll I'll r on the cats people that they say this is is not but here's a fleet vehicle with 229,000 mies uh it this is commissioner with Tonyo and I both took a look at the vehicle um it's basically stated as this repair it does look like it's in some condition we'll set it up for auction and we'll take it from there so I appreciate it thank you well so you say it's a some disrepair it's in some disrepair it can be fix but it may not be the cost to fix it may not be the interest of the county at this point in time especially for insurance reasons so uh we'll we'll take a look at we'll take a hard look at it and see if it's available for some other we're not taking a hard look at it we're going to set the S it off the g. deals to get sold so I I don't get that so thank you commissioner thank you commissioner I'm asking questions right now no I know you already asked that last week two weeks ago and it was looked in both by myself andon Romo so what was the verdict and the verdict is the vehicle should not be all right no my vote is no okay okay commissioner LS yes commissioner s yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director Soo yes resolution 202 24-27 resolution authorizing increase of monetary ceiling for legal expenses in the litigation matter of ccj Energy Partners LLC vers Cumberland County docket number cuml 71320 in accordance with njac 53- 5.3 through njac 5 P 3- 5.5 do I have a motion and second second commissioner Al um Mr Carr this we we got into this uh uh ccj we're increasing about a money again is there any uh like progress being made at all on this on this deal that there's upcoming mediation and an expert report that's recently been rendered to get ready for that can we uh since the board has changed a little to CCI can we reach out to CCI I I know they're not uh they've been uh relegated the side we may sue them later on or whatever we're going to do is there any chance of trying to settle this thing with with the cooperation of instead of the with the cooperation in ccia because they got us into this thing is there any chance of actually sitting down talking with them say and figure out a solution to this problem without because it keeps going all and all and all I can't contemplate a way to answer that fully in public but I'm happy to have that conversation with you well that director could we sit down with ccia about the ccj which they I mean there is Fault there there's some changes in the this is this is not something this is not something we should I'll be ask you can we sit down that we can we can make a sit down uh but right now this type of situation with this particular litigation is too well you're asking me now to to you're asking me to approve and I guess it's just me to approve another increase to these guys uh which when we got into this we thought we were very positive where we're standing it's it's uh is or isn't a making progress uh there's been some rulings is public rulings on this the on this uh that U that I'll say maybe you can correct me that that we've had that went against us and so I'm asking the director at this board to consider actually sitting down with ccia with these guys and figure out a solution to this that that litigated anymore so no the Comm so noted thank you commissioner Al now commissioner loads yes commissioner SAR yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 202 24-28 resolution amending resolution 20241 18 awarding a contract for providing a pro um probation enrichment and transportation program with life skills component for the Cumberland County Youth service Youth Services advisory Council RFP 2359 resubmission do I have a motion in second move second commissioner Al yes commissioner loads yes commissioner SAR commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director CA yes resolution 2024-25 resolution affirming emergency to exist relative to repair replacement of a 48 in corrugated metal pipe under the shoulder and partial travel Lan of steep Run Road commercial Township and affirming the repair thereof do I have a motion in second so move second commissioner Al I I agree with this was asked this is just for the board to know I was asked by commercial Township they uh they requested the idea of a putting a ra a uh a rail draw lack of a term but guard rail around this area cuz they say it's pretty steep I asked Doug Whitaker if you could look into um uh if it needs it there um he said there's a procedure to that will actually Define if it if it's allowed or not U I just want to make you aware the mayor of commercial tum asked us to look at that so and he is so hopefully if he comes into ter we need it they'll come back to us if we could rail put that rail up if not just know it's being asked about so commissioner alri yes commissioner loads my vote is yes and with the comment that I'm I'm glad that as a county um and under this Administration we are learning from the mistakes of the past I apologize that Miss Bridgeway is still experiencing issues and I do trust that this this County will look into that and solve it um I I have myself been a victim to this kind of issue uh in the county back say maybe about 10 years ago um on a County Road there was substantial flooding um and it went into our farm and it rendered two acres of Farmland unusable um and that's that's kind of a big hurt when you're talking about a small family farm so miss Ridgeway I absolutely understand um your pain and your issue um the county didn't fix my issue either we ended up having to spend about $330,000 to make our own drainage um that was a personal business expense so I I very much understand your plight I'm glad that we are making this move um to make sure that we don't continue to have issues like this around the county so my vote is absolutely yes thank you commissioner Soro yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 2024-25 698 for the county of Cumberland do I have a motion second move second commissioner Al and just for people to understand that we have a system that we do these these packets that are St U uh I guess pretty archaic U we haven't upgraded the system to do that in 10 years so it's pretty outdated and one of the things what I last year asked what we could do to improve uh the delivery of information to us to the public it was proposed maybe we should look at upgrading so I'm very I I appreciate that this is being done uh hopefully there'll be more uh uh additional uh things involved in this will help us get the information out to people better because we will have to be able to technology to do it uh so I'm I'm glad to see this is all the agenda so the vote is yes I think that was a yes commissioner loads yes Commission yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 20242 resolution authorizing Grant application to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General for subgrant under the ffy 23 victims of crime act grant program do I have a motion in second move second commissioner Al yes commissioner LS yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 20242 22 resolution authorizing application to agreement with the New Jersey Department of Health for the minig grant for the senior citizen Farm Market voucher program do I have a motion in second move second commissioner albre yes commissioner loads my vote is yes I do have a question though um I apologize but um this is a voucher for them to be able to use [Applause] where I know it used to be in the the County Farm Market that we had in the Cumberland mall but I believe we're not we're no longer going further with that so where are they using this voucher they can use them at any of the um approved uh any for Market in the county that's actually gone to the State Department of Agriculture to request it to be part of the program it's a it's a wick program but it's for seniors and only during the summer they get it's a $50 voucher that they get to use at any forarm market for Jersey Fresh Produce okay where are the locations actually well that's I was just going to ask I'm I'm assuming it's listed on your website yeah we we we haven't gotten them back from the state yet we will we will get them from the state and then we give that everybody that gets a voucher gets a packet of you know some health information we give them and um we give them a list of all of the farm markets not even in the county but there's some that are right over in Salem um you know County especially in North Vinland maybe like right over in Atlanta County like Mell or something yeah yeah that's that we get people CU people go there where how do you how do you contact them how you how do you contact Conta the locations because I'm probably the seniors are not using that's what she said when they they apply for the program they're given a packet with the list of the final question is that can we as a county provide signage to those participating farm markets um to you know ask them to display it as a way of this the state because they get approved through the State Department of Agriculture and they do the state provides the signs for them to put to post in their locations very good those case it's be did you if I missed it they are on your website correct on the we will put them on the website when we have it and even with the new website we can even put that as part of that front page where people can click a link and then they know how to apply for the um okay them too so good so much yes my vote is yes commissioner SAR commissioner Maran Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 2024-25 resolution supporting Cumberland County NA Avenue Extension project do I have a motion in second commissioner Albert I just to make a comment about this I was at the I was at the city of Bill well this is a request because we're trying to find funding for the dab Avenue Extension which is very important to it's actually was the number one economic development project and and as a request for back from the congressman was that we support this project and actually put a resolution in this sport the city of billville follow through and did it their last meeting uh we're doing it tonight I don't know if uh I think Fairfield is also doing it they did it already I I don't know if Lawrence Township also did it but this is where the Count's coming together as a group to show that we're behind this project a necessary project which been talked for over 15 years and get it done this board is actually getting it done uh with cooperation with the the IP alties and and now we're reaching out to get the funding for it and this is part of that to try to find the funding to get this done so thanks vote is yes commissioner LS yes commissioner commissioner Marsh commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 20242 resolution accepting the 2024 midcounty Park and Fairgrounds master plan do I have a motion in second move second commissioner Al yeah I have some comments this point so the uh the overall the overall project reading is the plan is a good plan and a lot of the details and the intermediate goals but as I I counted how many Studies have been done to get us to this point n studies over since 1966 have been completed to get to us and you mentioned this is the only Central Park that we have we they bought it and we've been striving we still don't have a park system per se that I think we and I'm glad the question Mr asked about funding we have to if we're going to do this I'm tired of let's come back 3 years from now and another group is sitting up here and there's another plan presented what what we do next that let's start getting out of the planning stages and I'm not knocking back Rel for do because it's a good good plan a good start and a Direction but let's go even step further that we put a person in place let's create this uh which was talked about the play Let's create this parks of recreation U group and I and I'll go back my history this County one time had a planning and economic development side by side a department by itself which uh had both sides let's plan it out let's get the let's create the economic development edes to make it happen let's make it work let's let's do this and along with that let's consider a long-term uh financing of this or or investment in this and I don't know if it be done it's done at the county level maybe back and get back up there but the city of Briton just passed U uh I guess an open space it's allowed in the state of New Jersey a one set or up to two Set uh uh uh fee or tax that would help support uh open space development Park system development and I don't know if it's allowed at the county level maybe they can ask that but this will allow us to put our money where our mouth is but we're going to develop this uh and you and do this not make this the 10th plan and then the next one the 11th plan or the 12th plan that we actually put teeth into what we're doing so when we decide to do something we actually get it done and get it get it moving I and I'll give you an example uh we they talked about actually B mention it the the horse u u building the building to do indoor uh events concert events or whatever it when it was a uh we saw that that study that came out a year ago that I thought was a pipe dream part of that was to put up a building and to do indoor outdoor events and I and I'm look at like this is this is way out this is not even a thing we could think about but then I I was at one of the horse shows and I asked the question where where are you guys going next this is 4 and they were doing their show where are you going next oh we're going to go to Gloucester cuz they have this building that they can do events in and I go so everybody goes there says yeah all all the all the horse people you know I guess from Central Jersey South Jersey go there so well so and my old body was like well why director wrap it up please thank you yes sir aren we aren't we putting in 1 Point $7 million so in other words we're moving forward yes we are okay excuse me did we take money from out of the money we put side which is over $3 billion we took to balance our budget is that correct that's okay so we took buddy which is every board does we did it for wise reason but we're putting 1.7 into this now right now yeah for now for now I'm talking about the future don't you understand why you start now the future is the all right point of order do I have a second and a motion we did we I'm not finishing what I'm saying can I please finish just wrap it up all right so what I'm suggested is that we don't yeah we just did it now we did it now and because that's the money we put aside actually the commission before this put more money aside to do it and we took it because it was convenient so what we had to do to make a decision next year who another be another choice and we put this on the side which is make what I'm making a point of is that we have this plan and we stop it we betting it we we get off the side we can't do it this year so instead let's look ahead and say yeah it's not it's not worth it call listen call call it might be in time might be a time yes you are yes you are is is that is that the Rival rules of orders be I'm I we set this I set this way back that was a minute and a half comment on the resolutions you've gone Way Beyond your resolution time so if you want to speak all right wrap it up I'm ask I was being for to say wrap it up so you're holding up the rest of the Commissioners from casting their vote I'm sorry about you have this agenda you have to go to this meeting so right cuz that's what we're here for every two weeks to make decisions and tell the public I'm not here to with you and I'm not scff with you the B is I'm trying to make a point but I guess it doesn't go on ear commissioner point point of order please okay all right call the call the role please for for again commissioner Al yes commissioner LS my vote is yes with the comment that I glad that the that we have looked at the past plans that have happened and and commissioner alre to your point you are correct that there have been many administrations that have come through this building and through this County that have looked at Recreation that have looked at parks and we have seen and I this is a big reason why I believe that you got involved and myself as well that we weren't seeing action and now I'm so happy that under this Administration we are seeing action that we do have a significant investment from the county and that things are happening this is not just a recommendation we are in fact voting on the plan to approve and take action on these steps and this is just phase one and we are AC ly working on Phase 2 three and four I for one from the meetings that I have sat in and what I have heard I'm very excited to see what comes next and I know that as long as this Administration is here that we're going to keep this charge moving forward in a very positive direction to continue to see action in recreation in Cumberland County my vote is yes commissioner SAR yes commiss marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes director solo of course yes resolution 2024-25 resolution authorizing amendments to the shared service agreements between the county of Cumberland and the cities of Bron milville and vinand concerning code blue warming shelters do I have a motion moved second commissioner Al yes commissioner L yes commissioner s commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 2024-25 resolution approving Cumberland change order number two to contract for acquisition and installation of 700 MHz radio system for the office of emergency management do I have a motion in second so move second commissioner Al yes commissioner loads yes commissioner s commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 202 24-22 resolution awarding fair and Open professional service contract for providing Legal Services as defense Council for the Cumberland County Workers Compensation Program RFP 2369 resubmission do I have a motion in second so move second commissioner Al no commissioner loads yes commissioner Sor yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner tayer yes director SEO I want to make one comment there are some uh firms on this uh particular resolution that are still receiving funds they are um basically hold owners from previous administrations that were on the hire those contracts as soon as they are um finalized uh they will no longer be used in our um our pool of attorneys so at this point in time to settle the debts yes resolution 20242 resolution awarding fair and Open professional service contracts for providing legal services for criminal defense for the county of Cumberland RFP 2365 resubmission do I have a motion in second move second commissioner AUB no commissioner LS yes commissioner Saro yes commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 20242 resolution awarding fair and Open professional service contracts for providing labor counsel and Labor Law related services for the county of Cumberland RFP 2366 resubmission do I have a motion and second second commissioner Al state commissioner LS yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 20242 resolution awarding fair and Open professional service contract for providing Litigation Services Council for the county of Cumberland RFP 2367 resubmission do I have a motion and second some move second commissioner alre no commissioner LS yes commissioner SAR commissioner marshan yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 20242 31 resolution assigning cavanal cavan all to provide legal services for civil commitments and representation of the county of Cumberland and the county adjusters office do I have a motion in second so move second commissioner Albert yeah make a comment on this and I've made this comment in the past that I think we can do this in house we don't have to farm it out to this law fir or any other law firm U So my answer is no commissioner Lo yes commissioner SAR commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 224-232 resolution declaring the month of April 2024 as National alcohol awareness month and April 19th 2024 as we purple day do I have a motion in second second commissioner albre yes commissioner LS my vote is absolutely yes I hope that everyone will participate in this and have the difficult conversations that are out there um to provote to promot alcohol awareness commissioner Sor yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 2024 d233 resolution consenting to the Cumberland County Improvement Authority awarding a contract to colar engineering and design for the wetlands delineation and letter of interpretation for propose cand gluster Salem Regional Jail do I have a motion in second so move second commissioner albre yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner s commiss Maran yes Taylor yes director SEO yes and with the comment on this really it's very simple this is the first start um to the new Regional Jail um and it's something that's very exciting to the county um to uh help alleviate some of the bleeding that this County's gone through um we have done a decent job of getting this taken care of in a very short period of time this goes back to um commissioner rre as well when we first started the idea and we are continuing forward and we're going to continue forward in this Administration as well thank yes definitely a yes resolution 2024-25 resolution ratifying authorization for stanfield's Chief Information Security Officer Cumberland County Department of Information Technology to effectuate enrollment with apple developer program for the County website citizen request mobile app do I have a motion and second make the motion commissioner Al yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner Soro yes commissioner Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes resolution 224-235 resolution authorizing assignment of the of the litigation matter of Don farbach versus Cumberland County of Cumberland Cumberland County Department of Health at all superior court of New Jersey Cumberland County law division docket number c-l 10124 do I have a motion second move second commissioner Al yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner s commiss Maran yes commissioner Taylor yes director Soo yes resolution 202 24-23 resolution authorizing and approving class settlement in the litigation matter of brown Clark at all versus Charles Warren US District Court docket number 1 20- cb- 7907 do I have a motion in second move second commissioner albre it's it's a actually a good a good deal this is finally uh coming to where we're at this is something that we've been taking one step at a time to get to these uh to handle all the problems we have with the jail we're getting down to the Diddy gritty with the The Settle of the class acual lawsuit uh it's a good day cuz one thing at a time another thing is Fallen because we've been putting the pieces together of our our jail the director mentioned the S County and loster our combination there for the S County Jail uh but our our report from our our director of the jail how we scool how well we've the jail is being paid uh the the our Union contract being settled every little step and this is the next step in that it's it's great to see so yes commissioner Lo yes commissioner s yes Mr marshan Mr rway if you could just speak to a minute about how this is going to be paid I think it's being broken up reinstallment $300,000 each uh it gets charged to our trust fund uh reserved so the first ones to basically within 5 days of the uh settlement last Friday Friday the payment should be made uh Thursday is when I'm anticipated wire the next month is December 31st and then December 31st of the following calendar here thank you my vote is yes commissioner Taylor yes director SEO yes and just to uh pay you back on Arts commissioner Mora and commissioner uh MRE this is some of the bleeding that I just spoke about um this is a very good milestone for us as a county this is going to save us a good deal of money but you know as soon as I mention money Bridgeway start to get all you know happy and so so uh but this is something that's a very positive thing for the county and again we've worked hard on this for some time again to the attorneys who worked on this and to John Carr uh who has also done a really well with this as well as the rest of the staff who's put their two cents in and got things done so I want to thank you all director if I may yes one question yes please is Insurance involved in this all at all no I mean when I say Insurance are we covered for any of not on the claim that got settled okay just a little all right thank you and then yeah yes counil fees our Council okay thank you okay one more thing one more thing I was impressed that uh you guys got done two presentations in less time than I did last two weeks ago so that was cool for improvement I know was it time okay I'm timing I'm timing you good so we began the month of February the cash balance at 23,44 18653 cash receipts at 37 m592 67554 and then dispersements of 2,389 18458 ending the month of February with a cash balance of 35,6 58,7 7749 itemized list of Investments still totaling the same of 61 m962 332 59 so two weeks ago uh we introduced the budget the next day I submitted it to the state So the plan is that the public hearing is going to be on April 9th I just want to give some that it can happen where the state examiner may not get to it in time um hasn't happened since I've been here but it has happened to other municipalities and counties so in the event that happens I'll inform the board what that means is the public hearing still occurs as it would it would just prevent us from adopting uh um I don't foresee that happening but it is a possibility um if that happens of course I'll be corresponding with you guys the budget has been adverti in the Daily Journal South Jersey Times uh copy of that and the presentation are on the County website uh under the Department of Finance however I would like to put it on the front page and then uh we can talk about some creative way that I can have an image on there so yeah I have a Captain America sheld at home if we can set up something in front of the flag and like the the lab on if you want yeah yeah we don't have to photoshop much we can figure it out yes sir please um you want a little quick which is unusual but uh are you saying you're going to do the the open uh I mean the uh the public P portion at a work session yes sir okay will we be voting on that night if everything goes squared away or no yes sir okay thank you if everything goes squared away yeah thank you all right uh with a motion in second you can adopt and file the treasures report as right so moved second all in favor do I have a motion and second for authorizing payment of all salary and wages I'll make the motion second all in favor do I have a motion a second to open public comment business only make the motion second all in favor public comment on new bus anybody want me make a public comment please man new bu can I ask for one public comment I'm sorry can I do that sure okay from Barbara is she still here um just and I I I apologize because this was something that you spoke on earlier but can senior still apply for the voucher program um we haven't started uh the voucher program that'll start probably in miday um just because we're televised now would you mind just announcing to the public like how they can apply if they're interested um I don't have the income limits because it is an income um limit uh program but it's eligible seniors 60 and over that with their proper income qualify and they could either call or come to our office um there are some uh income uh verification that they would have to provide and um and the number for the office is 856 453 2220 okay thank you very appreciate that thank you okay my name is Donna mlan I live at 86 Rama Road in fton New Jersey uh I'm coming because the road I live on Rama Road was resurfaced 3 and A2 years ago except for like the half a mile portion from the main street of Fon to where the they stopped um I at the end of October 2023 I had to I contacted the County Road Department about this because it's a county road so I had talked to somebody in Fairfield Township and they said that uh they couldn't do anything about it uh I spoke with the secretary Karen and she advised me the road would be resurfaced shortly okay and in November I called again and I was told again the road would be surface shortly uh so I asked her what was the hold up and she said it was Verizon they had not removed the equipment from the poles so the poles could be moved and then the road could be resurfaced so I at that time asked her if the County engineer would call me so I could talk to him about this also so in November I called Verizon took over two hours till I finally got a hold that they pass you from one person to the next yes and they gave me a ticket number and then uh within 2 days a lineman showed up my house he thought my Lane that I was on needed the the equipment taken off of that and i' explained to him no I'm calling about Rama road because nobody else is concerned about this problem um so he said he would take two to three weeks and they would complete it and they did work on a poll I know that in November I had a knee surgery so I didn't really pursue any of this anymore for a while but in the beginning of March March 5th I spoke with somebody at at Verizon they gave me an additional ticket number and then they said later that day they would let me know what had happened and they said that Verizon had completed their job and the job was closed Comcast had to remove their equipment from the PO okay I called Comcast and they gave me a ticket number on March 7th a lineman came and he looked at the polls with my husband and uh Verizon still had equipment on the post so they never did it never did it right let me ask your question uh when was the original phone call to the county do you didn't recall the end of October okay so was just say 10:23 okay around and you called several times yeah do you recall any of the other dates or about when about a week later all right so still in October or November no in November I think then and then several of my friends also called too and also got the same answer shortly all right and do you happen to recall the well is Doug Whitaker still on yes you still there Mr Whitaker yes sir yes sir you want to get through the public section and um I just wanted one thing rmer Road you said spell it for me please r a m a h all right R okay when we get a chance Mr Whitaker you'll speak to this and get us the the actual um County Road number please 692 692 okay all right you ma'am please proceed thank you so just that uh last week it I was on the phone for 2 hours 35 minutes with to get to the Verizon to the correct person that's how long it takes and uh they I just went through it with Comcast for almost two weeks and then they said the man was going to come repair was two between two and four and never showed up so I get you and so anyway uh they said that somebody would be coming to look at them and then let me know and that was as of Tuesday of last week and I've had nothing but what I'm saying is it's now three and A2 years and the rest of my road is resurfaced but this one section and uh you know it's full potholes and it needs to be done and and nobody in the county is is pressing this issue how how what's the distance man it might be about a half a mile okay all right very good okay all right thank you I appreciate anybody else want to come up good evening again I'm Nancy Ridgeway from Upper Deerfield and Fairfield Township thank you uh we have a problem here I wanted to show everybody on TV the flag of the county that we finally got we don't have the state flag yet but we have a county flag now and we still have the American flag it's ordered man I I heard state flag state flag no we have the American flag here that's real important we all we are all Americans okay um we had two presentations this evening from employees of the county that normally don't have to do public speaking so with uh Mr fields and his staff JN and Robin I want to commend them they've done an excellent job and then we have Elena and uh Matt that they done an excellent job with their presentations this evening and that's all I'm going to say thank you thank you thank you m rway I agree with you okay anyone else I had a question surely who's speaking sir I'm sorry Mike Mike hello Mr Marco yes Deano okay Mr Deano can you can you speak up a little bit please so we can hear you sorry I have my uh Apple airpods on and they've been having a little bit of an issue but I'll do my best to speak up that's good right there that's perfect yes I just had a quick question about the uh approved outside Council list because I'm one of the uh one of the law firms on the outside Council list I was on all the matters that are going to be signed entirely done through the law department and Mr C okay you want repeat your question one more time he's asking about who's being reassigned okay all right yes I'm one of the uh uh owners of these law firms uh on the out Council okay I was just wondering with regards to the way matters are assigned is that done entirely through the law department and Mr car okay all right anything else any other questions sir or is that the only question no just that okay would you like to speak to that want close public we'll wait till public is over yeah yeah but you want to speak okay okay all right um if that's anybody else have anything to say anybody online as well motion to close second all in favor okay so we have two uh may I make a comment on the uh the problem with the uh the road yeah surely okay I just would like to tell you a number of years ago when I was involved with public works it actually got to the point where we had to threaten to sue uh Verizon okay U because of how long and it was the same thing was months and the the county did make numerous calls until I made a call and threaten the suit and uh because their poll was actually in the roadway okay and we were afraid of an accident we told them that they would be on the hook for you know litigation and then they finally moved it this is not uncommon for the utilities I just want you to know that I I do believe that the I'm not saying the County's doing everything but I I do believe the county has done numerous calls but this is not uncommon uh between Verizon and any of the other utilities on these P so I'm not surprised I'm disappointed but I'm not surprised but I think the director will uh work with the our engineer and seing and exct that thank you Mr Whitaker are you online yes sir um rodner road which is your you mentioned route 692 are you familiar with that small let's say half mile patch that has not been uh paved yet yes about half of it is currently at do and will be resurfaced as part of this year's over program is is that the other half is is the remainder from the railroad tracks to Main Street there are still either three or four utility FS with wires that we have met with comat on site we have had calls repeatedly with Verizon um through the last several years um to get the work done um as Mr s described it's not a they they they are responsible for it we're not responsible for paying them however they do not answer to us so the timeline um for this type of work is generally what they feel like it which isting as well as res uh Mr wer also um on our new updated construction uh format that you sent out recently is 692 on that list um that is the current construction list it'll go on there the part that will be done this year will be added once the project goes to construction phase a do right now for approval so I don't believe it's on there because the hasn't released it for us to bid yet okay is there any expected time frame um I hope that it would be under construction in the summer um but again do has to review it bless the plans and release it for us to be able to get okay commissioner you want to say something yeah um could you um could someone go out there just to make sure that you there's no really deep problems I was just I just going to suggest perfect commissioner perfect um there's any Pooles there or of anything that is unsafe can we see how that gets taken care of yes yes we'll have the road department check it in the morning that's the only thing I'm worried about right now is people's safety when you turn when you turn from the main street of fton on to Rama Road there's a big dip and my cars fell okay we we we'll we'll take a look at that looks like there's a corner problem as well sir all right Mr Whitaker yes sir I'll let them know thank you very much for your time appreciate that and that'll get handled we'll follow up on I'm not believe me I don't that's one thing I drives me out of my mind thank you um okay then then the other question was outside Council list reassignment sure so the process is that Conant with New Jersey purchasing laws we do an RFP and we have attorneys respond once the attorneys have responded um this office the office of County Council makes recommendations as to the assignment of cases and fortunately I can say I do not do that in the vacuum in that of course I have the VA who's available and interested and has an idea of which firms are the most suitable for which kinds of cases so that's the process whereby you all get resolutions right where cases are assigned um to confirm their assignment that's that's how that process works sir are you still online he dropped okay he got his answer thank you sir y much appreciate Council all right M CL uh commissioner reports Okay who wants to start today how about art art you got anything for us sure commissioner I mean first I I do thank the two presentations that came before us tonight found them to be of course very informative and everyone did a great job specifically I wanted to talk about the website though if you haven't been on the website I would highly recommend that you get on there try it out it is night and day different from the old website I myself in the the old website found it difficult to find various things and items and this new website that we have up is I think it's fantastic it's easy to use it's user friendly and you're able to locate um at least I've been able to locate uh the items that I've been looking for much easier than before and I do find it to be a lot faster and more responsive on my browser so I do thank Stan and his staff for the hard work they put in I find it to be commendable to be able to do that within two months and I just wanted to let them know what a fabulous fabulous job that they did and what a great product they've produced so thank you s thank that's all thank you commissioner commission Taylor recently we've had four local women inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame and I'd like to congratulate those women and announce who they are we have Lisa Stewart Garrison Dr Christine Johnston Dr Dena Ross and Mary Rossy thank you anyse that's it that's it okay um commissioner or yes what a bet of the uh Library the procedure the idea of coming together for this uh uh this Sports River Library U is slowly Surly going it's right now the next phase that actually it's in the governor's hand he's going to make an announcement over it what the reason why we're I've described in the past why we're doing this but the overall goal is that we always had this chart of that uh we're 21st out of 21 or this category literacy is been is we are the idea this bringing out there is that hopefully it'll improve our numbers of literacy because there is no public library in that area that commercial more sure Township area and then they have a little Library Port do very little but the idea IDE is that extended out there and reach out there to bring uh services and education enhance education to that area there's no school libraries either so that's we're actually coming it's actually been front of this board the idea of supporting this it's U it's a good thing a really good thing um the uh I mentioned the prosecutor's office we the we talked about the pilot program in the these various schools around here the lack of a community center that we bring um U uh programs to well we have a the center city school probably be we're talking about it now may be one of the first we have a uh U actually Mr M is really she's been really pushing this thing uh which is really great and bringing the resources to possible that we could kick off against the pilot in that school and then Branch into other areas of the County uh at the board of election um they expressed some of the things that they uh are lacking which is space and we they ask for the uh they need to remodle their building to make it more efficient uh especially when they're counting and I found out as out of that meeting that we still have money ail available to it's not enough to put up a building in the back but we be able to maybe renovate that space to make it more efficient also maybe upgrade where we brought the juile Detention Center we used uh 3,000 uh Square ft of space but maybe build a Mez add 1500 square ft uh so maybe it's not everything they need but they were very happy what we could bring to the table with this commission board was done for them uh to enhance their operation and as the elections so showed that we're getting information quicker because of some changes I I really kind of uh feel very positive about where we're going with that I have up the report on cultural and Heritage but M commissioner W may add something to that so I appreciate it thanks thank you commissioner commiss s besides going to all the committee meetings that you're assigned to which was ccia ccua uh the events um the thing that I want to bring up is mainly what happened last night we were at the uh the southern New Jersey um County Commissioners meeting it was held in in Paulsboro and um after listening to uh the other counties and the events they're they're having and the projects that they're working on uh one of the things that we brought up was Forest View downtown sh Andy Beach which is of course the waste water plant that we're looking at and um I am personally very excited about this project I really would like to see this go through as long as we had that funding available and I was talking to um Jane Sela uh last night and uh she is I I got to say something about Jane she she is working extremely hard to make this work and I don't know if a lot of people in in the county realize that when you have a project of this nature uh that's going to affect really the base your community and I I want to stress this a lot that right now the systems the septic systems at the bore Community are fail and because they're failing they're polluting the bore area which means the individuals that farm oysters can't do it in that area so what happens you know you lose you lose money doing that um you have businesses that are on the verge of going out of business because of the situation that are in you have um some state government uh institution are trying to remove individual due to the fact of the pollution this is why I think this project is so important uh I believe that when this is done and I believe it's going to get done uh and when it's done you're going to see a total uh revitalization of the baser community you're going to see businesses expand you're going to see employment expand I think you're going to see uh uh businesses go down there uh it's going to a win-win and you're looking at you know what's government we talk about money well you're going to talk about tax rbl so what happens is when you improve an area the county like this and you have these tax ratables what does it do it helps the rest of the county and I think that's very important for people to see you know you talk about a library in in in mors town okay um this project here is something that one is going to help a lot of people two it's going to help the environment three it's going to increase business four it's also going to increase U besides business development but employment so I'm really excited about this Jane gain me more information she seems very very positive that everything is working that way and I just never got a chance to tell the rest but Sandy was there um L was there and mcot body was there so I appreciate that but I think we're really heading in the right direction when it comes to that thank you thank you commissioner um that wasn't going to be part of my reports tonight Jimmy but to your point last night I did an interview with Mayor Mike Rothman um and Shane godsha from the loral society and we had that conversation you know about what was going on on our beay short communities and you know it's it's very easy to think of the potholes in the roads and and the flooding in the roads and those things matter they do and they are menome um however the things that we don't always think of cuz we're not driving we're not in a boat we're not in the water um is what's happening in our bore community and the way that some of um the areas are kind of you know the marshes are wearing away the pollution that's going into the water um and some of those barriers are the only thing protecting South Jersey from the ocean and waves coming in and huge flooding from the next storm so uh I'm glad that you brought that up and you know it's something a lot of times it's out of sight out of mind but it's so very import that this is happening for a lot of reasons um not only the tax ratables in those communities that have so much open space um but also protecting the oyster industry protecting um and protecting the basore in the South Jersey coastal line area from flooding and storm damage that can be to come because those are the only um things that are kind of protecting us uh I do want to thank certainly Stan um and your team all of you did a fantastic job and I I just have to commend the efficiency of time right because you know often times government is uh sort of you know um let's say slow right critiqued uh for not being very quick and your department under your Direction with the website has moved unbelievably fast and I really appreciate um how efficient you have been with um taxpayers money and time so thank you for that um as well as to Elena and Matt um we've been working very closely on this plan so thank you um and to the this board and the admin ation um to keep pushing in this direction to continue to make that difference and make this uh make this County Park plan a reality there's so much opportunity and we barely even touched on the opportunity tonight but it's just right with opportunities to grow the county park system and I'm so excited to be a part of that and I want to keep pushing to make sure that that happens um I do want to let anybody know out there in the public that the county Tourism Committee uh County tourism Department rather does have um a little over $112,000 that we are starting a marketing grant program this year um and that's for any of our small local organizations nonprofits who um you know need a little bit of help with funding with marketing what what their services are what they're doing um they can go to the county to to obviously improve County tourism so they can go on to the county tourism website um and that is just sort of an open and rolling Grant process there's no deadline it's just until the money's run out so first come first serve hurry up and get there but last year the county tourism um committee did support 12 organizations um and you know it it's a big deal when we support them because that means that positive information is going out there um again just the way government can be critiqued for being slow Cumberland County can be you know sort of have a light shown on all of our negative aspects when you know we're all sitting up here and fighting for Cumberland County because we know all of the positives and I think that's what this is about so I'd like to say you know see something say something when you see something great when you're in our bore Community when you're you know flipping over the horseshoe crabs when you're watching a sunset um out in milville when you're anywhere in this County and there's something fantastic when you're at a great and Farmers Market spending your senior voucher whatever it is um talk about it there's so many beautiful things in Cumberland County and that's what this marketing Grant does um our East Point Lighthouse recently they um they were going to host a Valentine's Day climb um they couldn't they had electrical issues they had cancel the public climb so they still did it anyway because they were so excited and you know Nancy she's just very passionate so she said we're doing it anyway and they streamed it online they had 177,000 viewers for this Valentine's Day climb so there were 177,000 people that tuned in just to watch them you know walk through the the lighthouse and kind of look at that view so the interest is there the drive and the desire is there so please kindly positively promote your county um and I want to talk a little bit about our County College about RCS um they recently introduced a new um a new fraternity there it's the tri Alpha chapter um it's one of only 19 in the state of New Jersey and tri Alpha it's alpha alpha alpha affectionally called Tri Alpha and it's for first generation students to help them with networking opportunities leadership opportunities mentoring opportunities um I got the chance to listen to several of their triaa members and it's just really amazing what they are doing them so I'm so glad to see that that's there at rcsj and I also want to give kudos to rcsj they came into Cumberland County um and a lot of people were sort of a little bit critical and you know wondering is this going to work is this not going to work what happened to my Cumberland County College and unfortunately their timing was terrible because they came in right before the pandemic in 2019 um traditionally a County College um would be well let me just say this they went through the pandemic and they were looking at three years in this pandemic where numbers and students went down credit hours student population went down they were expecting to be 3 years in this pandemic and hopefully three years to get out right now they are ahead of schedule and this is the first year in 2024 where they have seen a positive increase instead of a negative so it's only taken them two years to dig out that hole and it's rapidly happening the progress is happening so quickly and in fact rcsj Cumberland is still maintaining that traditional model of a County College a third a third a third where the state commits a third the county commits a third and the student population commits a third not every County College is doing that Gloucester County isn't even doing that they're at about 19% um we are still at about a little over 29% in in County funding um so we're still maintaining very closely that one-third ratio and that protects our student body at the rcsj Cumberland Campus and I'm very proud of us as a county for continuing to do that that um and just one last little note we did vote on the wear purple um resolution today which might seem like a very minor thing and just a a silly trivial thing wear the color purple on April 19th but I will tell you that 15 million people in America do suffer with alcoholism and only about 8% of those people get help and I can't tell you what that leads to the difficulties in their life The Strife of their families um and even death so please wear purple and it's just to support the convers have the conversations have somebody ask you why you're talking about this because the more we talk about it the less of a stigma there is and hopefully more people will get the help they need especially in Cumberland County we have nearly 40% of our residents that suffer with alcoholism so please have those conversations um I hope you all enjoy your Easter break and your families and happy Easter good okay you got everybody in that's great this is what a good commission does they give you good reports and you have and they basically leave me to say nothing but good night um but serious but yes almost uh one one thing never give me a microphone um I'm very proud of this commission theyve doing an excellent job they're moving the county forward and you're going to hear that more and more as time goes on and you're going to basically hopefully get sick of us saying that we've gone from here to here to here um people call we listen people ask we listen I've gotten calls from certain uh department heads and different employees we listen to your complaints we listen to your troubles and we hopefully hear hopefully here some good things in the future you know there's an ACC would be nice once in a while but it doesn't seem like that always happens because most people like to complain because of their situation and it's understandable everybody in their little Silo and compartment but we need to basically do one thing as a county group together come together and make this a better County than it's ever been before we're doing so the recreation committee Matt and so so forth with Victoria is getting this park in place a few dollars we spend here and there to get this back to a place where we can enjoy especially for this year I would really love to see that happen is something that I'm I'm really really excited about the jail situation we're almost there from getting out from underneath that is there's just a little bit more to push forward that the state and the environmental project on that side environmental project is that we'll be able to build on Salem ground and that's very important it's all coming to tuition this is something that we've been looking for it now since I've been on the commission so with that said I want to thank everybody have a great Easter have a very good Easter enjoy it enjoy your families and the county of kland is going to be kicking some butt real soon thank you any further business no do I have a motion to motion toj all favor 759 this has been a QBC television production in association with our partners and sponsors QBC broadcasts on Comcast cable channel 22 and live streams its programming on Facebook and YouTube All Rights Reserved by Quin media and QBC programming that serves the South Jersey Market