okay thank you calling this meeting to order please rise this meeting is called for vision of the open public meeting La meeting of March 2524 was included and the list of meetings not the H County Democrat and career on January 3 2024 posted on the vo board Hall State and has remained continuously posted as required in addition a copy of the notice is and have been available to the public and is on file in the office of clerk can call Council here councilman Le here council president here councilman Parker vice president oh hold on I'm gonna turn you up and mayor Carol here we have uh no presentations um my marriage report is actually kind of SC Ed into this agenda so I'm G to pass on that uh council member of course uh council president long oh yeah hi good evening I only have a couple of quick things in our fire department related um so far this month 18 calls I'll more to share next time uh and then a reminder we have the animal uh flower sale going uh this week starts Thursday from 10 to 5: and then Friday same time 10: to 5: and then Saturday uh the 30th it's 10 to 300 p.m. and that's it for me this evening thank you Council vice president resetti thank you mayor um shade tree they are holding their annual Arbor Day event at rfus on the 26th so they'll be planting another tree there um they're also participating in an earthday uh celebration of sorts on April 20th over at Echo Hill Park there's going to be some kids crafts and activities there um so lots of good things going on there and that's all I've got for tonight thank you thank you very much um womanart yeah um very quickly um there is going to be a two communic par clean up for also birthday on April 21st from 12 to 4: so look out for advertisements for that um we're thankful that um uh several organizations are going to be um supporting us with that including Habitat for Humanity um and um we had a success fall event last Friday at the Fleming house um where we hosted uh yet another um new school um and that's one of our Charters is to be a education magnet so we are we were thrilled to host them and um if there's anybody that um has any student groups that are interested in touring the museum house we are happy to host them we found thank you you're welcome uh Sor excuse me wonderful event last previous Saturday uh at the library for the makers day was really excited to see all of the different makers come in and do a little bit of participation with that um in light of the heavy schedule we have this week I'm going to delay my report on the planning board for our next meeting and that's it you there was a HBC meeting last Wednesday um tickets for the historic House tours are going to start being sold on April 6th and the HBC is looking for volunteers to help run it and that's it thanks thank you Parker um only one thing I don't have a an actual report but I just want to thank um BPW my champion and his team working along with FCP to get all the signs down so they're officially all I really want to thank them that was huge eff okay um also I just want to thank the fire department for their annual ladies night dinner on Saturday night and number of us were there and uh it was a really lovely event uh was the first round of public comments if you have a comment I your address you to come up to a microphone say your name none'll be one at the end of the meeting minutes long move The Retreat January 27th second second this is 10 227 this is 10 this is 127 yes councilwoman engart we don't have to be real all in favor uh regular session February 12 20124 motion move second any questions um all in favor executive session February 12 2024 motion move second second all in favor I regular session February 26 2024 we'll move second second favor I we're Ona number 10 on the agenda resolution 20243 Yale dates resolution 202454 resolution approving participation for safe and secure Grant resolution 202 2455 resolution authorizing refund for $400 perment fees to turn Enterprises resolution 202 2456 resolution accoring a new member of theer Team resolution 24 202 2457 resolution requesting permission from the director of local government services to anticipate the three-year average current tax collection rate of 97.9% for the year 2024 does any wish to have something taken off the consent agenda or separate vote seeing none can I have a motion on the consent agenda move yes counc president long yes councilman parur she said yes president okay um knock the we're ready for you sir welcome welcome our CFO um tonight we're introducing our budget um which is called a budget resolution just to confuse everybody because it's actually an ordinance because it requires readings what okay uh Bill do you want to explain for the public what you sent Council by email about how the tax rate has changed based on the state audit of our budget well this was based on our Auditors Auditors and the um we received uh additional state aid from the last time we talked plus we received the grant for the safe and secure that you have on the agenda um so that basically those two things reduced the amount to be raised by taxation which reduces your tax rate so now the percentage is the tax rate increase is 2.02% and and it was supposed they had voted for 2.5 2.5 and it's 2.02 one of the things that bill pointed out to me I'm not sure if was had email was regarding our shared services with we in Township um you want to tell them about that yeah so one of the things that U like a really bad un intended consequence State Legislature so since we did a shared service for our court um that is now allowed to be outside of the Appropriations cap so when I put that in there I didn't realize the auditor told me this that we would have to do a cap based adjustment meaning by putting it out of cap you had to decrease your cap so we were actually like 150,000 over the Appropriations cap doing that so I put it back in he said it's it's actually if we can it makes more sense to just leave it incap and uh that way you get that three and a half% increase every year so I did that just left it in there so then we're you know we were able to maintain under the Appropriations right the state encourages shared services and they it just crazy crazy difficult so I mean that would be just a one shot thing wouldn't have mattered for next year but just it would have hurt us this year right right um I did call our Senator to discuss this with him to see if he wanted to address this legislatively but I hav heard back from his um should be an easy list the legislature to fix this you know because they do try to encourage your services so uh the let me let me um ask for a motion to in to introduce the resolution move is there a second Park okay any discussion and questions for Bill just the as far as the Auditors was this was not this was our burrow Auditors not I met our state AIT not new AIT by the state right so I I send I have to send it to our Auditors first and they go over everything they make sure everything um we have enough money for a Debt Service everything matches is the AFS and um so once now after you introduce it then I will send to the state for them to do their way any further savings or like after that I mean did we catch this is there anything else to catch well so it wasn't really a catch it was after our last meeting that the state put out their their state aid figure so that's when I got it and had to change it and that's when I also got the U the email from the state that we were getting this grant so I figured okay let's do it all now and it'll save us money um but yeah it wasn't it wasn't that really that the Auditors caught it it was just that the timeing this okay yeah that's it thanks um I have a roll call please um Council I'm sorry what exactly the motion voting to introduce the to introduce the budget resolution yeah okay councilwoman farara yes councilman L yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes also vice president Rosetti can you hear me yes uh all right so the public hearing is going to be on April no April yeah oh the second meeting April 2 ail 20 what April 22 so unlike most ordinances budget budget resolutions have to sit uh longer than regular regular ordinances so that the public access to so that reason it has to be what 28 days 28 Days by law so uh April 22nd public hearing on the resolution um okay you know mind sticking around a little longer thank you um just so we get through like all the stuff with the police department uh okay we have uh public hearing ordinance 20242 and ordinance amending chapter 35 entitled taxation of code of the Bureau of Clen to impose a municipal occupancy tax of 3% onel hotels and other transing accommodations and I have a motion to open up the public hearing well we move is there a second second all in favor he is now open if anybody has any comments or statements to the council please come up to the microphone your name and address for the record seeing none can I have a motion to close the public hearing I'll move is there a second and second all in favor okay um any discussion I just want to say I was really glad to see the article in tap telling saying all these other municipalities that have tax and uh how much your Township is bringing in so was good information um right roll call please uh Council angle oh did I do a motion to did a motion yes closed it I do a motion to adopt I didn't right I have a motion to adopt please is there a second roll call please councilwoman angelart yes Council fa yes councilman Lev yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes and Council vice president Rosetti she say yes did you say yes yes yeah okay ordinances ordinance 20243 for production calendar year 2024 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget cost of living allowance to establish a municipal cap Bank when ni is equal two or less than 2.5% in JSA 48 a Col 44514 bill can you please um explain to the council what and the public with this is yeah so this allows us to increase the uh incap Appropriations uh by three and a half% over last year's adopted amount and any amounts that we do not go up to that amount we're allowed to bank the difference to be used in the next couple years of uh budget if we had to go up um so you know like we currently have like uh $50,000 Bank from the prior years that we can use for the next couple of years we do this every year every year every year can I have a motion to introduce move there a second any other questions roll call please Council engart yes Council farara yes councilman Le yes president yes Council Parker yes counc president yes uh Mike Campion is online um is he on mute or do you have him on mute he can he can unmute he can unmute himself okay I ask like to join us tonight uh regarding uh the introduction of ordinance 202 24-4 and ordinance amending chapter 11- 2.6d entitled water reservation application contract so um uh when we have a development for any kind of building happening um the applicant has to apply for a water reservation and our current or our current um Administrative Code allows them to sit on that for a year and not use it and then apply for more so for example in the case of the spice Factory which when they first came to the planning board never indicated that they were going to be a phase project and do a second phase they've been sitting on a water allocation and have requested more water even though they haven't used the current water and under under the law right now in this town we have to give them more even though they haven't started building it they actually applied while they were still at the plane board so this would requ ire um anybody doing any development in this town to use up their first Elation for getting a second one I asked Mike to join us so he could address the fragility of what is literally our most precious commodity in this town which is water um Mike you want to just talk about the water situation um and all the the building and the reservations that we have right now sure mayor uh thank you what we what we're trying to eliminate here is investing in our water system without recuperating some of the promised projects that are supposed to go in our biggest uh applicant from the planning board at the time was cut glass we invested in the ball field well well six in anticipation of them coming in and building it never happened so we invested all that money promised them the water and they never built so with all that increased in infrastructure the current rate payers were paying for that we did not return any cost on our investment now with the spice Factory that was phase one they were promised water not but not for phase two that's the second developer there the first developer only needed water for one project and then the second developer came in never told us it was going to be two phases So currently they'll be sitting on um I got their total amount here they will be sitting on our water or 5,063 gallons per day that we're not selling any water to them and this is what we're trying to eliminate with the change in the current ordinance and one of the concerns Mike when you and I and Josh talked about this is that we we have two other sites where we could build Wells then we're out of sight and with the encouragement of the master plan and the pushing of so many housing units um at this moment in time one of our wells crashed and died we'd have enough water for all of our current residents but not Liberty Village or the two adway sites just the current users that are here is that did I get that right correct me if I'm wrong yes somewhat mayor the way the de calculates our criteria on what we can sell we after 911 they have this thing called a resilient resiliency program and they call it firm capacity so we Doran Peak Peak demand over threeyear average we have to be able to produce all the water per day taking out our best producing well and then then times that number by three it's really aggravating because we do have a lot of water it just the way the de calculates it and cuts it by a third we do not have a lot of water to sell we have a surplus I got to give you the 2002 numbers usually we get the they're always a year behind so 2023 will get in June but under 2022 firm capacity calculations confirmed with the D we have 29,000 gallons of surplus water we could sell per day it is not a lot it's not it may sound like a lot it's not no you said spice Factory was 5,500 gallons a day just there correct now you know we get a dry summer everybody's watering The Lawns the gardens uh kids playing in the sprinklers that 29,000 gallons per day can be wiped out anybody have any questions for Mike about this I do um Mike over gosh the last 20 years there's been a few times that the state purposely permits um exensions of Permitting um due to they did it over Co they did it over um the Great Recession where um projects that were approved approved um the permitting on those projects were extended by law like if they had three years to build by you know by uh approval normally they were allowed another you know two or three more and as you know the they actually come in front of the planning board and ask they have to formally ask for an extension but you're obligated to do it if you're under that that uh timeline by law I guess my question is does this ordinance um address that possibility but you know like do do does this ordinance apply um if they're you know the states requiring um extensions on permitting for whatever reason whether it's economic or pmic or any other thing we can't think of does this ordinance have any Clause to take that into account number one and number two if it doesn't I'm assuming any extensions by the state still apply I just want to cover our butts do you know what I'm saying um they don't want us to be not in compliance with whatever state mandates you know let's say 10 years from now we have a recession and the state puts in a mandate that we must extend permitting for two years will we be in compliance with the state law um without I don't see a clause in here that maybe addresses that I can answer this we can't override City New Jersey they the higher so it depends on what they legislate they may legislate just planning board permits land use permits and not water and sewer permits there are very few water companies in the state of New Jersey that private like we are so it's unlikely that they would do that but it's all know what they say what they legislate that and we can't it is what it is yeah I just want to make sure we don't get in trouble that you know sure there's there's wording in here in case we can run into that they can always override us they're the bigger going always I guess as long as Chris feels comfortable with that I'm comfortable I am Alex from my office looked at this in great detail the way they like if you could say just one or two sentences what's the cheap benefit to the current residents I'm sorry I could I couldn't hear it CH benefit of the to the current residents if we pass this ordinance again mayor I couldn't hear it be able to hear me better because I'm online she's asking for the chief benefit to the current residence if we were to pass this ordinance uh the current residence it'll be status quo but for any future um development or expansion at the planning board level will will be better off because instead of these people holding on to our water without us recouping our investment will not benefit the current rate payers great thank you anybody else have any other questions for M yeah just so I'm 100% clear I think I do just want to make sure I'm clear so in the current state uh so the spice Factory developer right now has water sorted out but for this other phase they're in they don't have that water we haven't signed off yet sign off but we have to I mean under our current ordinance we have to we just haven't okay uh if if you remember um on the planning board level the first thing we asked for Public Works on an applicant is their form a and that dictates uh water and sore usage numbers that we get from the applicants uh Team whether it's the engineer or attorney and currently we have uh one two three four five six seven eight nine for sign form A's from applicants so that's nine applicants that are going to come to us for water and SE and may may not have it and if this ordinance is in place then um we're in better position if it's if it's not in place like spice Factory's Grandpa this is not going to affect spice Factory but it'll affect everybody else correct now speaking with Alex today by email Alex fiser the attorney um he I I explained to him the same thing in the email about the form a which we do have for phase two from Spice Factory however uh once all their connection fees and any other fees are paid to the water department then we offer a will serve letter by ordinance which is good for 90 days they'll have to reapply again but Alex did catch something in our ordinance today was if we offer a contract with the applicant we don't we just send that will serve letter uh Alex was going to type up a contract according to our ordinance very good so it's in the ordinance that we're supposed to do a contract we have that that is correct May mayor we were doing a will serve letters governing body Chris gonna have to vote on those the resolution I I don't know that CL I me could that's something that you put in as part of compliance yeah sure discretionary but sure now now the only question I have Chris in the uh draft ordinance Alex sent out was uh completeness of the first phase what's completeness is that a TCO a CO does it have to be occupied I would probably view that as a TCO Mike I would I would want to check with out see that his view but that was my view you put clarification in this ordinance yeah yeah because I you know it's going to come back sooner or later with all the development that's about to happen we haven't voted to introdu this yet so we can introduce it with then saying completeness foruse Atco yeah really really far down the I'm just a little hesitant that this is that that um is a a burden that I don't necessarily know is find a milestone temporary yeah temporary certificate of occupancy is a TCO a certificate of occupancy is a obviously let me ask you this technical question is it better if we wait for introduction until April 8th so that you can put in the proper language so we'll table this until April 8th then we finish our discussion um ra an next point you kind of far TCO is way down the line I want to was a little more in depth on that because I Pi that because earliest stop long but it may be too late what do you think you should be a TCO mayor you think you should be TCO but a point I just don't think it's really realistic in in any whether it's a one you know whether it's a small you know one or you know let's say it's a duplex somewhere or whether it's a a big development I I don't think that's realistic um a TCO is you know 95 to 90 95 to 99% through your pay application I think we can find like maybe you could do some research to find maybe other ordinance that that Define um uh different phases of construction a little clearer um this adds a lot of timeline why do you think it should be the TCO uh past experience mayor Ren Township did allow us a TCO on our Water Tower project even though we still have to put the water line in on Shields and Pennsylvania have in the town Township you know that takes time to put all that together but a a public project is is is not a really good comparison to a developer that has that then when they make certain milestones and you know your financing based on certain Milestones that you've covered I just this is really putting a huge financial burden on any development small or big because you're adding a huge amount of timeline I am not opposed to this at all but I think we really need to be careful about using the term TCO um uh Loosely I'd really like to see what some other pound chicks do um before we finalize this wording so it's excellent point um it may be that there is no other easier Milestone before the TCO but I agree with you obviously so we look at I texted Alex compy I think you know we can we agree that Chris Alex fer from his office who's an expert in water CL and and cell tower issues and my Campion could come up with something in even if it's the TC an agreement between the attorneys yeah there might be any other tactical it on on April I I texted him already he's covered for me mle mer but I'll chat with him tomorrow kind to do little critical thinking on the is what there may not be I mean he may already thought of it don't offering this be back'll be fine with it in two weeks are you okay that yeah that's okay um thanks Mike um you're welcome and then ordinance five and ordinance amending chapter two Administration and three police regulations to clarify the event permitting procedure in burlock lemington um so Chris you want to walk sure I know that here car clerk is here all put fingers into this to the trium Brant of uh St be Sergeant MCN our Clerk and Robin for doing the heavy lifting on this we uh we took their changes and pered our current ordinance and added some clarifications uh I spoke ear today some more clarifications nothing in this particular document um just makes it so I think the point is and um those who are here can jump in but I think that handling be very large events rather corn tomato beer um other ones that have Happ frequent this town um need a little more massage need a little more steps along the way to ensure that the burrow is covered um and save the protocols are met so that's disae that it's it's a significant expansion but I think a good one you guys can sure so um basically it's been a culmination over the last couple years of what we've been changing and practicing so basically now it allows an applicant to come in fill out what we've dubbed the short form which is the permit application um Reserve their dates get on the schedule uh let the burrow know hey we will we want to get started on the planning if the event or um Festival doesn't require any burrow Services the police chief can review it the fire marshal can review it the DPW director can review it they all sign off we can issue the permit and they can get going um if it requires additional expansive uh planning meaning it's going to be a large scale event it's going to be over multiple hours it's going to require um road closures Public Safety resources street sweeping garbage services we can issue a conditional approval right so that the event organizer can begin to advertise and plan and get all their stuff going while they're completing their um additional event application packet for the uh Public Safety resources we're going to need and start scheduling DPW employees police officers uh Rescue Squad services and things of that nature um so that we can continue to collect that that data and then work with the event organizing to ens short we have site plans and vendor lists um the big check and balance came from uh prior to this an applicant would just go to the police department pick up a packet fill it out the chief of police would look at it and would approve or deny the permit and DPW may have never known of it the fire marcial may have never known of it then venders were coming to Burl Hall filling out applications for fire permits and uh food trucks and everything else and one entity wasn't talking to the other now everything will come to burall it will start here it will end here so the clerk will uh intake the application it will then be dist uh distributed out to police chief the Fire Marshall and the DPW director uh they will gather whatever information they need it will come back to Hall they will then reach out for the appc say you're approved or we need more information um and then once everybody's signed off final permit will come from bur Hall issued by the chief and the clerk Chief signing off that all public safety issues have been approved and um taken care of and the clerk will be signing off that all the needed uh applications permits have been pulled from B Hall and all fees have been paid um so it's a catchall and kind of cleans up the process makes it much cleaner for the applicant and for B officials trying to plan so Brian let me ask you a question so what designates a something that needs a permit and something Des so any event occurring in the bro we we want a per anything that's going to occur in a public space or public street so does that designate that when you say public street is it when you close off the street or any event that is people are just walking up and down the street and it's more than like say 20 correct anything that could potentially cause a traffic so if they're walking down the street then if they're there they we should be closing we would have to close it so we had a radio show in the corner of withfield in main they admed a permit yes because they're struck in the side and what about um a rally at the cour house so rallies and uh First Amendment type um events are kind of held a little bit different right uh had very good success with getting the event organizers to work with us over the years obviously a First Amendment event right we can't stop you from um organizing and and getting your message out right but when we know the event is coming we encourage the organizer hey just let us know like you know who who's the point of contact are you coming are you not coming you know because if it's going to rain that day and you decide you're not coming and we're seeing it all over social media just let us know because then we can recall staff we don't have to waste Public Works time we don't have to waste the police time to come in and and possibly sta the event and most most of our um First Amendment events that we've had here rallies organizers completely understand that we're able to reach out speak with them and uh they do they do play what about um historic Walking t of downtown plan so um we would ask for the the initial permit application to be filed because it's an event that's that's bringing the public in in which you know they're going to be crossing streets they're going to be on sidewalks so goes towards it with his Spirit gold they apply for permit for every single one of them they do yeah and it's one permit with all the dates on it and okay but more importantly so there's going to going to be an event soon for for kids the Easter egg roll and then there's something for Halloween is that is that an event that needs to be so I'm just trying to understand right so that fills out a festival and event permit short form as we dub it and that's just saying hey we're having this event on this date and time that way we can hold the event date and it will be entered on the calendar the organizer can apply for it so we know that event is curring that thing an event like that's not going to require a full application packet for Public Safety right but I guess my point of it is because you guys get a calendar ofp so is there any other Stu that we taken to get so I'm just trying I'm a little bit concerned when it comes to kids Y in public safy right right so if you're having a bunch of kids yep and it's in a public place on a public Street concern who's watching the store speak right okay so that does require yes abely are these applications available online yes they will be starting tomorrow if this passes no so so everything's grandfathered in right now until that work to this right we've been holding a bunch of applications pending this we have 13 currently pending um so we're trying to get mov it would be nice to have what the rules are in writing y because I had a conversation with Robin this afternoon and like all of a sudden my antenna went up and going wait who wait a minute that's that's a public that could be public safety issue anytime you have kids walking down the Main Street whether they're with parents or they're on their own we have a blur already ready to go I've already written it up for Carla she has it ready to go to be published on the website um so there'll be an event section it'll be right on the header you click on it and it'll say whatever you know whatever our blurb stated which was if you're hosting a public event in this place this place this place you need to fill out this form this is the process this is who it's going to go to this is who's going to reach out out to you and if you need an additional um application packet for uh Public Safety planning it's here download it's an event in the county behind the historic courthouse so the county Park's a little bit different right because they need to get commissioner approval for that um and we don't oversee that event so what happens at that level the applicant goes to the county they get approval from the Commissioners that goes to sheriff Brown who then notifies the police aieve that the events occurring there and then depending on where we're at with what type of event it is then we would reach out to the organizer and sayy can you f at our form too or is the sherff department handling it that we need fough services but generally since it's on counted property there's nothing we I have a question regarding um the timeline is there a way that we'll let event holders know like if someone's you know an organization has been having an event year after year and they're used to only requiring 30 days for their application and now we're bumping it up to 90 days is there like an Outreach that we can notify them or will there be a little bit of leeway in the first year of transitioning or how will that work everything currently is at the discretion of the events committee so this is by no means meant to be punitive and you know we're trying to roll it out um for the most part all of our event organizers that um I mean we have applications for October already um for for events so um we've been communicating that with our folks already like hey okay new forms we're already using the new forms to the people who have already done this before correct and some new that they've downloaded the old forms we've already sent them over the new forms given them the guidelines what if what if this is on private property like behind L Eagle in in their proper we have we have no Liberty Village we have no we have no control over well Liberty Village parking lot is different because that's considered quasi public space so we have authority of the language is in and in or upon any Street sidewalk park or other public place in the B public place so what about if the library does something in their Garden how so they might need not need a permit because they're appendage of the of the of the bur or [Music] like would just go back to what Liz is saying because I think it's still important and I'm not sure that we that it's given the answer that I think we need to get and that is is that I understand for those people who have been here before been down this road before but there's still some people who don't necessarily oh we'll do our social media I'm wondering if we if we I'm wondering if we should just put something out is it is it on the Burl website that that this this this is coming and then so I just think overc communicating in this in this case is better than underc communicating I'm sure can put it out via the FCP you actually Robin and I actually already worked on a new flyer with what the protocols are to go out to the businesses that and she has copies of the form she was going to attach um with her go some of this is a change of like for example with our Santa events we never we never filled out a form about a permit so and I think with shopping events we should just determine if those you know what I mean if we're having a progressive event that's mostly in shops well we already sent permits in for your sidewalk sales I'm so glad do for the Easter event because like with Santa we haven't that's my point for a that's exactly the point should because EXA the point we need the point is consistency right and you can't I I hear what list still goes I'm going back to what this says because is there ramp up perod is there data absolutely but if you start getting into exception here and exception there and exception here you're going to get yourself you're going to go down a rabbit hole you don't want to go down so it's all or nothing right so the bottom line is here's the policy here's the ordinance here's what you have to do done period that's that's got to be it how many did we issue last year per uh yes I I don't know we'd have to go back be curious to see how often they came to play not a small number no I'm saying 30 plus yeah at least so I just had a couple questions so uh so in the big events that require let's say for instance Police Department fire department and DPW um the uh the the new kind of way we're going to be doing this is everything funnels to you and then it goes out to whoever is involved so Turkey Trot they would come to you corn beer to you right and then I will send it m to the police DPW Morin next door for we have a mailer list already set up and basically they scan the permit in goes to events of historic blomington and it hits inbox of the chief the DPW director the Fire Marshall they respond back with their comments it's all collected Moren gathers it all if everything's approved by each of them she'll just reach out to that and say you're approved come down pick up your permit or you know we need additional information on XYZ and then what she gathers that information back out to so she's orchestrating facilit correct one point of contact okay and and I'm and I'm I wanted to frame that around like large scale bit so then small scale let's say I want to have a block yep so easy enough you come down you fill out the application Carlo sends it out the chief goes yep we're good Mike says okay you need barricades we will be happy BR be happy we'll drop them off the Friday before Ken says doesn't require fire emtional Services done permits issued come pick it up what about like the plan sales third having they have it out front yeah I mean that wouldn't that wouldn't require it's not a festival fundraiser okay and my last question is which brings me to this um why 90 days and I know we change it from 30 we're going 90 is it because of like a large scale 90 for burrow Services 90 days for burrow Services 45 days if you do not require bur Services important because of people like police and overtime and and all of that and D over yeah they're over holidays they're over weekends we need to have that so if you don't require bur Services 45 days and certainly if there is any c like an extrem Circumstance the permit says right on it it's at the discretion the committee so if somebody comes and goes oh we really screwed up somebody did this that it's not meant to be punitive like okay fine we'll work we'll work through it you know but yeah there's certain things that aren't going to be able to be Flex depending on if you're trying to have a large scale event well use S toer for an example s toober came in and decided they were going to try to have something Bes size of qu beer Tomato Festival on stangle road with seven days notice so is Liberty V not Liberty Village um for junction are they considered quasi public also the the property itself is private the parking lots surrounding turntable Junction or quaza correct you are unusual so if he he wanted to have something over there he would not in correct inside the liit I think the definition in the ordinance which we are not changing is quite good um broad enough specific I guess the right I think the sweet spot but in subjectivity I agree with you but there is a some interpretation well this is a concern that I don't I'm not ready to do anything about but my concern is hypothetically let's say turntable decided to do something inside their property and it was so big it spilled out that's where I'm G to correct myself so if if the property owner himself was going to host it it would be considered a priv event if it is a event in which they are selling tickets to to the public by a third party that's where we could require a permit but what if like what if one of their restaurants decided to have a festival out there and it just got so big yes it's Spilled Out I'm I definitely think we could require a permit we would know you and then there's or you could or there are sever other in other parts of the ordinance that would come play Beat on to this and you know I'll um I'll compliment Robin as well like you know we're watching this stuff like you know if somebody's having event you know she's gonna be like hey did have you seen this like we have these conversations all the time did you see this did you know this was going on no I didn't where did you see it you know um and we're doing that with other people in the business community so like we we know these events are coming and we will you know we sniff them so so you know tap reported on the hotel project when they reported that they're going to be putting these enormous televisions out into the courtyard right so World Cup comes along and they have the big TVs up and they've got a lot of people going in and it starts to get r or spoling out I mean that would be that would be something we could shut down for not enforcement yeah clearly enforcement where does it go from a private property event to something that becomes something yeah you gota yeah that's where you got to look at where does it become quasa public from private and you know I mean we can certainly put we could always re-explore the ordinance with a gathering limit you know if it if it exceeds this many people but I think that's something we could probably explore down the down the road that over the summer there was some of those short towns that had like these massive scores of people coming in and the police have to get oh yeah that's right about the the the C at at a number you can have an have the Occupy limits of the individual buildings even in semi enclosed spaces come here plus if they went right away like or it's in violation of our noise ordinance i.m. I mean there's a whole six or S overlays that would like naturally call this cut some checks and Bal yeah right exactly you got some check in the ordinance already we trust our police to do the research just like you were saying about um the uh the the U the rallies and stuff you kind of know what's going on and you hear see some advertisement and you know you can tell whether it's on private or po I think there's there's checks and balances already in our ordinance I don't think we should necessarily assume there's going to be problems before there's problems no I I think it's good I think it's good and it can be you have have a typo in your let's take that now it's just a little it's just a little F you got double e there at section one of time that would be okay so I think that you know we're getting this is going to be effective well right the heart of the Season we look at in the year and see what can I have a motion to introduce long move is there a second sorry is there any other discussions roll call please counc yeah yes councilwoman yes council president yes Council Parker Council vice president thank you the for April 8 um all right thank you very much um and everybody else CHR and all right we're on to the regular agenda items uh 14 number 10 resolution 20248 board carpentry and masonry 274 president streets edbrook New Jersey 07663 the police department phase 2A Improvement processing area and public toilet we didn't put the amount on this it's 500 I for a total of $591 340 um and uh Angela Gonzalez who has been our architect consultant on this project is online right now um I guess can I have a motion uh on this resolution before discussion I'll move is there a second par okay thank you um discussion on the resolution just so you we talked about the process of in executive session um about what was you know the the Deep dive that Angela myself and Chris bini did um on ne's background and responsive responsiveness to be able to responsibly complete this project um they are the low bid for the law um and uh I don't know what else to say it was an exhausted review it was an exhaust we are limit and I think that's not because of Any lack of attention on this because of an extensive with you was discussed executive session you guys all know the ins and outs of it and uh I mean I'm certainly satisfied Angela can speak with great uh detail as well hiel remember when they said that they would start on the project once awarded I'm sorry I didn't hear what you said do you remember when they said they would start the project once awarded um I believe they said they would need three weeks to uh mobilize we can do other things uh to get things going in the interim you know have a kickoff meeting kind of set the the uh expectations um and go from there all right any any discussion or questions for Angela seeing none can I have a roll call please council member yes councilwoman faar yes councilman Le yes council president long yes councilman Parker yep Council vice president rosti yes Okay resolution 2024 59 resolution amending resolution number 2023 144 to inert updated not to exceed amount in the contract awarded for architectural servicesi starts work design work for the police station Improvement project CH you want to please explain to the council CAU this so we uh we did extense to review it as you guys know um of the this contract super notes and in in that review we discovered uh the uh not to exceed amount the original award to Angela firm PSNS and G it not to exceed am amount that was um shall I say a placeholder it was not the accurate amount um not only did it pass the council pass the minutes it was a it was pretty far along the line um Bill to his credit uh worked off of Angel so Bally no harm no fou um but this resolution will tidy down and it will dovea with the subsequent resolution which will then engage the second part of proposal to supervis this contract which is the document that Mar today and was also so just a little bit of a housekeeping uh can I have a motion to adopt resolution 2459 move a second second is there any discussion please councilwoman Englehart yes councilwoman farara yes councilman Le yes council president La yes councilman Parker yes councilman vice president R yes off the call I wanted to ask like where he was on the um survey of the building so because the easement issue um um do you know where he would you please uh Okay resolution 2460 resolution authorizing the award for architectural services to Paul Sakowski and Sor in the amount of 78,000 in the amount not to exceed 78,500 for design work for the Flemington burough police station Improvement project and I believe it is not to exceed in that proposing um can I have a motion please is there a second any discussion um I just want to Angela for everything she's done um especially the hard work with the Department of Corrections um me really I think the all of us were um very clueless about what was going to be entailed in retrofitting to a police processing center and um and is as we we say it is very complicated and it's not yes yes small but but Mighty small But Mighty and that the hbac system is all very challenging um I just want to say thank you for all your diligence and I know that you'll your company will really know as Neil is working that that they do it right and that the docc has no problem with this so we can get we can get back to a full police station with with bringing in prisoners there and not having to bring them to another part of the town and have police officers split up on two sides of the town it's very inefficient and very ineffective absolutely have roll call please thank you yeah we have a motion yeah just want to thank lot thank you you're welcome Council faar yes councilman L yes council president La yes councilman Parker yes and Council Vice pres pres when they start send us in um either regular reports and writing or here at least once a month to us and let us know what's going on I'm sorry were you talking to me I'm sorry after they really get rocking and rolling you please um oh yeah we'll yeah we'll have a kickoff and and have a nail everything down as the how the process is going to be either in person or in writing from you on where they are Nella yeah from you yeah I well they're informed now right no no I think we're talking about two certain things two no what I'm asking is that when they get going that regular reports on oh yes yes either in writing or in person okay okay yep no we would we'll be doing a report anyway so you'll have those great okay thank you're welcome have a good night yeah so maybe just try to make the mics move a little bit closer to you because these are these mics pick up okay I notic why you guys lean back I can't hear or if you're talking at each other then it's it's not going all right resolution 2024 61 resolution appointing cgp and H is the affordable have the agent they are current affordable housing agent um just reappointing them so that if we have openings they advertise and help select I have a motion let move is there a second anglehart R second any discussion roll call please Council anglehart yes councilwoman farara yes councilman L yes council president long yes councilman Parker yes and Council vice president Rosetti yes uh resolution 202462 certified compliance with the US equal employment opport commission enforcement guidance on consideration of arrest and conviction records and employment decisions under title seven of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bill says we do this every year I don't remember I guess I block it out yeah so uh I'm thinking it was maybe three or four years ago the states required us to uh do this when we introduce our budget I don't know why but okay and at least for you can I have a motion please move is there a second angle will second any other discussion roll call please councilwoman angle yes councilwoman faar yes Council yes council president on yesc Parker yes and Council vice president you know in the federal do the same thing every year every single yes yes definitely what contractors in need you any more bill I always need you but I'm not bill if you will stay a little while great okay um we have two work sessions tonight the first one is regarding the Tucker Moran Park biog um um gentleman sitting in the back um came to an environmental commission meeting and he is in quatic biologist correct aquatic ecologist aquatic biologist colleges more or less the same and he is um putting on an event Corporal uh on the 202nd and 23rd of June where he is looking for a number of locations and he's currently uh working with George balone um regarding Walnut Brook he's looking at North Main Street where um um Creek is down there uh the county little park over here owned by the county and uh Tu a mgen park where volunteers would literally be 24 hours uh counting and identifying every living creature whether it's a an insect or a FAA uh not Flora right well we're doing Flora too you're doing flora and FAA bugs plants Aly okay so um he's here tonight well he's night you heard the discussion about um the issue of doing it the tuck mgen tuck mgen um closes at dusk it does not have any lights um so uh I asked Carla to look into contact our insurance company regarding what would be required you know unlike you know the private properties or um the county park is well lit um and that's you know County Park is their problem but it's well it um so can you Carla tell us what your research found regarding having this ATT organ for Jin Before Sunrise is it impossible to do it or is is it so onerous it's not possible to do it I'm gon have to get the email oh but um I will do have a card because I could send you what um our insurance company is looking for and it's more than a Certificate of Insurance okay I don't know if I have one on I give you a number email address I'll give you an email they they have what they have to provide so it's not just certific not just Certificate of Insurance I need you want to talk you know like I mean I know you like to do chck work in park maybe to owners for you Tu par we can we can relegate tuck mgen Park to just daylight hour things the the idea with the 24hour uh situation would be like a 12 to 12 thing is that certain species are easier to find at night you hear your Frog's going at DUS and at dawn a little bit more some birds some some larger animals if you're luck you might spot them um if it ends up being too onerous we may just relegate it to the regular were big light hours um when is there an official time that tuck park closes or is it just okay okay but the park CL right officially no okay could we can we understand a little more about what what your organization is in a probably is your name again and what exactly um is this you know this the purpose of this so um my name is Jesse Smith um I am with um I am an aquatic ecologist but uh I'm actually doing this through Flemington DIY this is going to be a Flemington DIY based event um some people I work with are going to help out but um basically a bio Blitz and this is something that um I'm not sure how much it's actually been done in Hunting County but you'll see it done like over if you have a bigger Park you'll see it just done the park it's it's really you you pick an area and you pick a time frame you do it in and within that time you get a bunch of experts and members of the community out you try to identify as many different organisms as you can and that can mean again that can mean bugs fish plants any anything you find um it's facilitated with the app known as I naturalist it's um I know there's a lot of apps now that can help you identify plants but this was to my know one of the first ones and it it um it uses a little bit of that like you know modeling to figure it out but it also just post it online and then other people can help you identify what you're looking um and it has kind of a internal module for doing bi blitz so it's a very convenient app for using that and what do you use the data for um it's really just a cataloging now with I naturalist the data will be available to anybody um and scientists sometimes do use in naturalist data um one example that I come across often is um invasive spe or aquatic invasive species particularly um USGS has an online database of Aquatic invasives and they will regularly pull from IM naturalist if the observations are good enough there's like a there's like a little quality booster basically if a bunch of people all confirm something it's considered high quality versus like if you get a blurry picture or something nobody knows what it is it's not now but um well for for what I live here um and the idea is to also get it to be kind of a it's as a community event it's a it's a citizen science Community event and it's kind of meant to get people to look at what's outside um we do have a a a largely urbanized burrow um however you can still find life in urbanized areas and this and part of this is looking at that part of that's looking at places like tuck bgen Park which is going to be really is going to be probably the hot spot where a lot of stings were found um and as as the mayor mentioned I'm also looking into some other places um you ask the Hun in Land Trust because even though they're in townships um the Walnut book right there the other side of it is Flemington private owned they actually they may own both sides of it I want to say that that's the golf course no no where the house is house itself where the bridge is and that bridge crosses flemingon into Flemington but I think they own both sides on their side of the creek where the houses and they may be willing to because they may be really interested to know what's over there okay I I thought i' rehad at one point I'll rehad to him again because that would be I'm actually familiar with I naturalist it's used a lot it's almost like crowdsourcing for scence science scientists yeah um I I've used it like when you're um some of the national the National Park Service uses it sometimes at and asks visitors to the park to log their observations in Iron naturalist and then basically scientists can use this open and Joint database for their own um resear yeah how would um Liz and I sit on the park committee um is there anything that we could take from your data that you know from that experience and utilize it in the park um we've been thinking of doing like um a Ser nature talk series and things like that um it might depend on what we find a little bit now something to keep in mind this is not going to be it's not going to be what we call quantitative data we're not measuring we're not getting data that comes out in numbers at the very best we could probably Force some numbers out of it like oh this species was identified the most amount of times and stuff but it's not it wouldn't be like per se if my company that I worked for did a legitimate survey were we're counting stuff and doing it over a well we're doing it over an area but it at very least get a species list and you might get an approximate amount of frequency um approximate amount of frequency a question about the time and you plan to be in a park was are you looking at like dusk to dawn so that's that's what we were discussing and if it again if that's going to end up being a a bit of an arduous process we would keep tuck mgen Park to just the daylight so it would be basically just um if we don't do the nighttime tuck Park would be limited to all of the sites are 24hour site um so they'll have people down at the Bush kill you know in North Maine they'll have you know which is you know right on the sidewalk they'll have people realistically depending on how many people we get there might not be a lot going out at night at all um you know that's too B because then you get her account of De we might see some during the day we'll see you're G stay up all night it wouldn't be an all nigh it would be just like you know it's the idea we're going to do a couple groups in each group might focus on a couple different things um there will be a birding group and I know some birds are um some birds are better heard at night I don't know if we have any of those here oh there are absolutely and Tu Park would be a good place for them but um it doesn't have that doesn't have to be a tuck mgan Park and that's I'm kind of going to leave that up to the group leaders to whether or not they want to do that or not um you know some of the group leaders won't be available for the full 24 hours um so we I don't think we'll actually be pulling an all nighter but the period is there to give people an opportunity to you know people even want to just sit on their back porch and listen to what bugs and birds and whatever they get they're more than welcome to do it it's excuse me it's all forms life so the environmental a really great idea there's a lot of inreasing of the bioglitz um as a like a fun activity give us a knowledge in town what's going on but it really is about keeping you all safe of course and um you know that so I will would ask sorry I don't mean to cut you off but I just had a question um so I'm all about uh citizen science projects my my daughter's done a few that's great but I do just have one question about um how you make sure that the people performing this data collection are trained like we do have Wetlands areas so how do we you know make sure that they're not stepping on Wetlands plants or you know are they going through some sort of training process the uh one of the person who's going to be heading up the Wetland group is actually a cooworker of mine um I work for Princeton Hydro um I believe she has not sure what certification she has but she's definitely been she's definitely well qualified to do uh Wetland work she does Wetland work all the time with us so um we it's something I can look into a little bit more though yeah please do because like like for example for the park cleanup we're actually having an expert flag the area that that volunteers may not go into um so it'd be I I know mik Mike isn't here but I will speak for him he will make it very clear um DPW you know from DTW that nobody's to walk into that Wetland okay uh is this Wetland area that kind of corner by the school there okay um so we can't walk into the no Wetlands we can only go around the edges yeah any other questions for Jesse so why don't you work with Carla she'll get you the email from our insurance company and you will have to fill out an event permit with purple MCN so that they know where your people are and I don't know if we don't need to know where just all we'll need to know is general areas working and who the main point of contact is that way if there's a complaint and we okay we know who it is hey I'm sorry Jesse what date what were the dates again that will be Saturday June 22nd to to the 23rd and then we're probably gonna the idea is to do a 12 to 12 and then we'll probably have a before and after meeting um at Flemington DIY which is just going to be briefing debriefing rules you know we're going to tell people no going on private property without permission um unfortunately uh Mr balone did not get us permission to use his space which is um it's okay he doesn't want us to we won't do it um well hunos has the same Brook so maybe they will yeah and I think the golf course has it going through them too the yeah that's the divorce okay good I can give you I may at some point or another be asking about a couple of different partials of land but we can discuss that on the back thank you thank you so much for coming app it all right uh the second work session is on College licenses of which um we've been asked by a resident to explore having College licenses um uh council president long and I sent this off to uh our attorney and our planner to look at it you want to talk about it and whether or not they want to introduce an ordinance on April 8 so we'll circulate an ordinance shortly butth and I have kind of Workshop this together on two different approaches how to take it and we're in the final stag expect be done I'll circulate at that time I'll circulate at that time and um the council and we can me talk about the whole premise because some people don't know anything about what a cottage license is because it's a reill law by the St yeah so until until councilman long first reached out to me about this I always call it home but but that isn't expansive right so it's baby right ctage Cottage food is more appropriate ter so the state for many years there was lobbying to to get this cross the finish line it is there's a local role to play here um we have approached it Beth and I from a land use perspective um and the licensing perspective um those are the two but L perspective is going to be where you guys have some leeway because you know which Z is it permitted in that's the real main discussion which we discuss but it's it's it's a the home B what was for years called but usually with the cage Li license you get your license from State not from us yeah I don't think we're adding new license think we are adding new license there may be some requirement that they provide that as part of compliance so what's the discussion on the zone and what zone should be at this point my my drive has it allowed I'm looking for the counselor cut if they want to so you could have it in a residential Zone that's kind of point and is is that a pickup thing so if I'm faking counties people can stop by my house all day and pick up have to SLE no no no they can pick it up we have um have some Provisions in there um um I mean the reality is there's several people in the bur and in it's actually and a lot of those individuals will come to one of the festivals to sell their Wares as well so this has been happening my understanding this has been happening for quite some time is this is not kind of new to the Burl um um so you know that's the reality it's already happening and if we permit it like what kind of liability we have if somebody gets SI it's actually a good opportunity for businesses to to organically develop because just like we've seen like bread and culture has gone from the the farmers market to the to a brick and morar gives um a small business and opportunity to get their feet wet to learn about a business plan to kind of make their mistakes on a small scale and perhaps then take a step up and then take a step up so I think it's actually the County Board of Health go and check the kitchen out is that I think that there would be some oversight there I want to conf that's not in newans I do know that the state level there's like a class that people have to take to be C coun woman please repeat did you say yeah on the state level when you get your cottage license I do know there's a class there's a class that people have to take for sanitary procedures with their cooking um I did just want to point out too I know there was an issue in the in a few months ago um with a resident who thought they were operating under a cottage license but they were really operating a retail shop out of their home um and that was an issue with Dave Giuliani so like I think there is uh important point that we clarify what's allowed and what's not but in general the cottage law is is a good opportunity for a lot of people the fact is a lot of people cater out of their houses yes that's just fact when I was first and on the state site there's a whole list of the foods that can be prepared um we're not talking hamburgers and hot dogs these are things that are you know like and baked goods who pleases that to make sure that become something different is that our we seen a neighbor reporting primarily oh so in these instances yeah okay but who goes that enfor code enforcement oh on reporting would be code enforcement well if they're inating as a would be if they're operating as a retail if they're operating it legally so you would have to they would the code enforcement would evaluate it I mean even before this started it was part of my town in flemingon but other towns I've been in there's quite a force my way to job business out of one's home and be what's the I'm just trying to understand what's the difference the point of it is is that if I'm cooking something in my home for for sale that's retail permitted use we're changing the definition so right now you have home businesses home business definition in your order you're all about to see um the do about to CC but we Beth and I have worked on the a companion parallel definition for contage grou which would complement the home business home businesses are under certain in I think all your zones in under a certain level of Regulation that I think Point regulation um that's good I think it served B well Beth IR recommend the change to sered um so we will now have a parallel structure for home bakers that will have similar regulations but that's Bakers but what I'm saying the an I'm sorry isn't a college business I just want to clarify um you you can um cook anything whatever that is that not necessarily baking cook something and people come and pick it up from an order but that's different than a retail you're you're where you would walk off the street there's a big difference they do both they do both so Tony just to clarify Cottage license only allows for pickup not walk you know walking off the street correct says exactly yes so you can't have r with regards to retail do catering you're GNA take your wees and drop them off right at the catering site right and that would be something i' probably be permitted here um the you can't operate like a little shop right that's I think what that's your point I can't walk into a house and see a bunch of pastries and say who those you getting a visit from The Zing officer and that's when I when I get back to the idea of self of neighbor policing right which is neighor stuff you see a lot of parody but every single town right I mean the entire you know every single one of these complaints have a lot of bridgew um and they're all Nam they're not our guys in the feel patroling typically everyone a while little stumble on but 99% of the time it's a neighbor saying cash register right someone the cash register in the garage you know these things pop up like mushrooms sometimes sometimes and this is not this is this preceded the home B the cottage food um regulation a lot of times it's selling all types of things out of one's home I want to get to council vice president time pleas tell me something no that was just I was trying to clarify what's pretty much been clarified but yeah I know that Dave was pointing out the issue with people coming into a resident say someone turned their living room into a small shop like you were mentioning mayor that you're going to go select your items you then need like proper signage for fire exits and Sprinklers and other safety features whereas if you're just having something picked up off your porch or you're if you're delivering it's a different um level of safe you know not as many safety concerns a whole level of of extra um as coun said excent implicated in that let me um let me just go down the line to keep some here counc coun 11 do you have any comments or questions no no counc Parker no no I'm good I'm good Council wonderful as womanle heart um I'm just like to say that since it is women's history month it's it's I think it's really important to um provide opportunities for um women to develop their own businesses and I think the cottage licenses is something that's really um you know kind of let that flourish here in the states so it's a really good thing they can do this too oh I'm not saying I'm not saying they traditionally it's been more difficult but it's also very difficult this is who actually is doing more so it's the Latino and Hispanic doing so vice president Rosetti the very knowledgeable one on this yeah no no the the um Cottage laws almost almost encompassed um honey production sales that's why I know so much about it because my husband's a beekeeper but they decided that was actually under the USDA agricultural it was removed from Cottage laws but just to give that background but yeah I I am very much in favor of the cottage laws as long as we can make sure people are are doing it properly and in a safe way absolutely p is issued pretty stry you and I talk about this you first I don't we municipality okay so I sounds like there is a clear path that people are interested in seeing there's a document that is in it very final circulated to the council for introduction on April 8 please Carla and thank you all for that CHR thank you and thank for the hard work put into this um okay we're now up to item 17 public comment number two uh so if you have any comments for the council please come up state your name and address for the record none uh item 18 payment of bills authorizing payment of bills in the amount of 2, 21287 16 can I have a motion please is there a second yes yes yesc yes yesc president yes we do have an executive session uh with two matters an update on litigation regarding the law Holdings and uh an update on where the contract is with the village and I have a motion to Executive session long second all in favor we'll take a 10 minutes reset all right um can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting and go will move for second second all in favor