meeting order plge flag the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all open public meetings act statement for S to the open public meetings Act adequate notice of this meeting was forwarded to the additional Township newspapers posted on the bulletin board Township website this meeting is being Medi and will be on channel roll call Mr Doyle here Mr fella here Mr Mar here may here uh can get a motion open public hearing on ordinance 324 model ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a camp Bank motion for three that's 24 in the public all those in favor I public hearing is open how you doing uh Tony Kowski 2424 Main Road uh I'm here I I guess I really have a couple questions uh uh this about the uh the ordinance yes okay go Ahad Tony uh yes this is about the uh the ordinance about the asphalt millings in the in one this one here this is apologize there's open public portion you can talk about anywhere I'm I'm new to this I apologize a motion to close the public he motion to close second those in favor I I a motion to adopt ordinance 324 motion to adopt 324 second Mr do yes Mr Pella yes Mr Mar yes yes I get a motion to open the first public portion for Resolutions and ordinances below make a motion for the public portion second all those in favor I a motion to close the first public portion for ordinances motion to close second all those in favor I can get a motion to approve correspondence and reports motion to approve correspondence and reports second all those in favor I I can I get a motion to approve the minutes from March 26 2024 motion to approve the minutes second all those in favor I we a motion to approve the bill list motion to approve the bill list second Mr do yes Mr Fen yes Mr Mar yes yes a motion to approve food handling licenses motion to approve food handling licensees second all those in favor I I I can I get a motion to approve Farm Stand permit for Keenan motion approve second all those in favor I uh can I get a motion to approve a raffle license for St Mary's PTA motion to approve the raff lense second all in favor I um resolution 6524 authorizing the tax collector and Chief Financial Officer to refund overpayment taxes motion for R 6524 second Mr Doyle yes Mr F yes Mr Mark yes yes um resolution 66.4 we're going to uh take that off the agenda yes sir could get a motion to remove resolution R 6624 motion to remove R 6624 from the agend second Mr G yes Mr yes yes may no yes throw some more stuff can I get a motion to approve resolution 6724 authorizing the hiring of senior bus driver Kathleen hman hman motion to approve R 6724 second Mr do yes Mr Fel yes Mr Marsh yes yes we have motion for to approve resolution 6824 approve the refund of money for tax leans in the township of Franklin motion R 6824 second Mr G yes Mr P yes Mr Marsh yes may yes I got a motion to open the second public portion for any comments motion to open public portion second you're all right uh what what I'm here for is uh uh a a good friend of mine and customer of mine I'm a contractor town uh I I installed an asphalt millings driveway uh at at his property it's like 1,800 ft long uh he has a a flag lot off of coill Road it go it goes back to an you know to a farm field uh where he built a house and they won't give him a CO on the on the property because of the asphalt millings they what they said he was allowed to use is uh uh compacted gravel or or or right blend Quarry blend um I I can't find anywhere where there's the ordinance it specifically says you can't have the asphalt millings so I had asked I had I don't know if it was you that complained or someone else that complained about a week ago I someone it was probably him yeah so probably him Matt's going to look this stuff up I haven't looked it up yet but there was a period of time where you weren't allowed to use Mel you have the seal my me remember he's right five six years ago the state changed the regs on that okay so I think our regulations the engineer is correct he's telling you what our regs at the problem is the state I believe changed our regs which they don't tell us um and you are allowed to use them I believe in in certain situations so we're going to check that and that's something that if uh the states change the RS then we're going to update that doesn't give you an answer today and and and that's okay I mean he he's he spent a lot of money on you know on the driveway and to to take it out or put something over top of it now you know it's sure and we we used them at the ball field years ago before I was on commedian had to take them up because we weren't allowed okay and U I think it was the next year again there a guy advertises on yeah like we have a billboard right down the street that advertises for I remember reading that regulation but I don't know the number where it was so let us get that was if we change our ordinance it needs to match that or else it's we're going to be right back in the same spot right so I would say maybe have him reach out the m and we can try to work with him want hold hostage okay believe wasn't there I I think there was an email that just came out in the last couple days where there was a solution given by C can correct it I think they they did they gave you they're trying to make me c with um either Stone thread stone or something they want it covered with which you know you're talking another $16,000 and that CME uh just I mean CME really they're they're just uh enforcing the you know what's what's there which is I think it was correct at one time maybe he needs to get updated or it's just something until this happens you don't know okay so he's definitely going to look at it we're going to see what we can do try to figure out because they're all yeah I mean they are but thank you very much good evening Chris sers 184 malago Lake Boulevard I don't know if these questions should be directed towards the solicitor I don't know Mr Lions if you could enlighten me um the regulations for the community center for any group that utilizes it it says in the contract that I recently signed for an event that I had back in December that the community Center cannot be utilized for any kind of political meetings rallies or fundraising events for political organizations advocacy groups political candidates or groups affiliated with any political candidate party or ballot referendum are those still the rules are they still in in effect I don't know as far as I've action okay and second question real quick I just wanted to make sure um this is in the uh employee handbook for Franklin Township employees it says in accordance with state laws employees are prohibited from engaging in political activities while performing their public duties and from using the employer time supplies or equipment in any political activity political activities include but are not limited to advocating the election or appointment of any candidate for office verbally or otherwise and soliciting funds for campaign materials is that apparently that's state law so I guess that's still in effect as well this is what the employee this is the employee handbook for Franklin Township that I received from the clerk this during this week so I guess that's still holds true well I don't have it in front of me okay I I would say I take it under guidance that if it's in the handbook that it's there so okay thank you very much just wanted to double check that do to it all right hi there shelle Collins 2606 Dutch Mill Road not sure how much time I have I'll make it brief um I have an issue where I'm trying to get an ordinance changed in our Township uh due to our new demographics people building new homes and people moving in that think that they now live in the wild wild west uh we have a problem with gunshots at all hours um more importantly for me and my neighbor I'm subjected to gunshots with where my horses are getting crazy and I'm potentially going to get hurt in my own yard uh where this burm is set up if they shoot a Ricochet if I have anything in my back property potentially can be either shot at or hurt or myself um there's other areas new houses guy was shooting guns for five hours with an M80 that he put off like I I don't understand where in this there used to be an ordinance for hunting 450 ft from all of anybody's dwellings but yet you can shoot a a gun 50 ft from your neighbor I don't understand how that's possible so I'm trying to find out how I can go about how we can go about as a Township to try to make it more safe for for our residents because right now I don't feel safe in my own house um again this guy is shooting a small gun he's now moved up his driveway sounds like a cannon my older neighbors that live next door they're 80 years old she's very upset she's now dealing with her husband uh with dementia he's very ill and she feels very unsafe in her own property so this is becoming a problem in our community again I'm not the only one there's other people in my area that are experiencing the same issue and we're here and they're here so I don't know how you go about changing or implementing a new ordinance that's I guess what my question I read the ordinance years ago I know part of it okay adequate back stop and I believe it's a that that's not the issue they have a proper back stop I know we have Anin yeah that that's not the issue the issue is is that if I go in my yard because I put a privacy fence up because they decided they were going to have intimidation practices against me while I was you know calling the cops on them to stop making you know I'm out there feeding all the time potentially setting me at risk of getting hurt that I'm out there with my horses now I can't see them coming so if they start shooting and I'm out in the pen with my horses I'm going to get hurt I'm going to get killed and then what that's not helping my family my son I'm a single parent at home that's not helping anybody so is that when we're going to Institute a possible ordinance to change that when somebody gets hurt I don't want that to happen cuz it'll probably be me so that's what I'm trying to find out hi I'm Jean griffy 2401 Victoria Avenue um I just read a few bullets down I'm following up with Michelle what Michelle has said and we have not conversed about this we just every now and then we'll tag each other did you hear that noise did you hear that noise and um so whatever I wrote down has nothing to do with what Michelle said um excessive noise is a nuisance especially when done for hours on in with multiple people discharging various weapons pipe bombs it's sounding like a pipe bomb went off I went outside and I saw this big poof of smoke I thought something had exploded that was a gas caused or something um large making Firearms should not be allowed and I think there should be a minimum Acres as Michelle said I really feel bad for that woman right there she's a single parent um no less than 10 acres to discharge a firearm in my view I think that that would be adequate that's not too much to ask for instead of like somebody living in a Four Acre parcel and they have this little BM set up the bullets are going to Ricochet like they did over at um the shooting range last week and in some police officers um a shooting BM should have in my eyes should have three sides it should be high it should have three sides so there will be no possibility of a uh bullet ricocheting and injuring a child or even anybody that's human or an animal when do when does the Firearms a discharge of firearms turned into an intimidation of neighbors I think that poor Michelle I feel so bad for her I mean I'm dealing with it as well on my side on Victoria Avenue Michelle backs up to my property I'm dealing it with some different neighbors that she's talking about but it's I feel like you know you're they're intimidating I mean this went on for five hours um and the guy had like four or five of his friends out there shooting too go to the shooting ranges that's what we have shooting ranges for there should be a limit you know either your son or your father or your wife should be able to go out and target practice if it's properly set up but not have a bunch of people over and this party you know that should not be allowed um the neighborhood hood has become um very populated there's three houses that are going up in a Victoria Avenue uh there's one that just recently went up um and I think that the ordinance should should definitely be changed my objective here is to for the township to set boundaries for shooting Firearms that's all I'm asking for okay Dave Marshall 67 New Road Mela uh just a couple questions one I want to thank you for getting a driver for the seniors uh that it'll go a long way to getting them where they need to be in them sure'll make them a lot happier so it's appreciated thank you right there Mike I don't know it's com from there yeah it sounds it sounds over this side from back there yeah but I don't know where it's try to G got a couple questions I mentioned in the last meeting about a certified pack packet was brought up to it it sound like you hadn't received as of that point until maybe that day uh just wondering I got a couple questions for IT one is of course I had asked for a response which nothing has come about from any of the members yet I was wondering if there's a time limit or any of you plan on on responding to it I wasn't sure what you were referring to and until tonight okay that packet that we had in front of us last night was that yes we did receive it okay uh now it was supposed to of course there were some part of it was supposed to go to you and some were supposed to go to the master plan committee did that happen Mr fin yes okay so they all received it no so I gave it to the I contact the chairman and the co-chairman one of them picked it up one of them did not pick it up still sitting there and been sitting there for a couple weeks front desk and it was I spoke to them on the phone I told him what it was was up to them to distribute however they wanted I did not think it should be done via email right that they should distribute it one picked it up one did not okay that's all my asking now there was a at one point there was an email that went your direction and you were had we found out that had been not handed out at that point in time to the master B and there was a comment you made that was based on the open public meetings act that you had to speak to the the township committee before another committee received it could you reference where that's at because I cannot find it in the open public meeting act where that states that to make sure they all had it they would get calls and if they hadn't seen it they weren't going to know it was being talked about okay I wasn't going to email it to them because we had a problem with that before Distributing emails that you or your wife didn't want distribute it right so even though this was addressed a certain you know for certain board members you know for the committee this and committee that you still withheld the the the committee one for the master plan committee until they had seen theirs I want to make sure they each had it so in the master plan committee if they appoint it called then they would know if they were talking okay but where is it in the open public meeting act that it states that well have to talk to them oh I know why you wanted to do it but where does it state that in that open public meeting act I can't find that anywhere you would reference that portion discussing with the solicitor anything like that that has to be discussed with all of them should be done when they're together like I said I'm not I understand why you would want to do it but you had referenced the open public meeting act I wonder where is it at in that the purpose of that was that you're submitting these things to to have a discussion to drive policy and decision making and that's when the open public meetings act patches when you're seeking the audience of the entire government body one points of interest that you're trying to elicit response in decision making that's when the that right no I understand the purpose of it I just couldn't find that reference to that in the actual act you know in the actual documents of it so that's why I was asking where it would be because I have the legal Le version and then the simplified version that came out much later and I I couldn't find it either but I could be over reading it that's why I was asking just so I know where to reference it I don't know exactly what you're looking to reference again to communicate with the governing body and to draw them into a communication a group discussion of policy enacts the it starts the the covering of the open public meetings act you can't have a meeting via email you can't discipline people via email you can't that that's the point of of the act right if you could do that it would it would eliminate the the the entire purpose of the ACT your emails when know when you and I email and respond often times you you copied many people to establish a quum and I routinely communicate directly with you so as to not walk into that possibility what could be construed as a violation of the act right I wasn't even thinking of the cor I was just trying to make sure everybody got what they should have got just make sure two different things we're talking about we were talking about pushing stuff forward and getting it to people that's one thing and then the second thing is when you're trying to actually have an ongoing discussion and draw out positions from a form of the govering body you are you are in essence ringing the bell public so that's you know you do that with one member or two or directly with with um Mr Finley that's not the case but when you when you routinely copy all five elected officials that that is absolutely covered by the Republic act that's I Wasing exact portion of it it's it's the entire the exact it's the entire the purpose of it all right well appreciate that thank you uh just one other quick question here I know I'm out of time but if Town Township employee pleas them signing a ballot P petition is that a conflict of interest now I know obviously during work hours it would be but is that and I'm just I'm just asking for clarification of a Township employees signs a ballot petition to become on the ballot you know an actual person running for are you asking if they have no political rights no no of course not I mean that I know but I didn't know if as an employee of that answers your question okay again I'll maybe the wording is a little off I'll refree that the next time thank you excuse me hey good evening my name is Terry and I live over on White Hall Road between the griffy and uh Miss Collins um I've lived here since 1994 um I do understand that um things need to be changed I want things to be changed um I have people that live in my home I have dogs um I don't have horses or anything like that but when I moved here in 1994 um we used to target shoot out back of my house and then people moved in like the Griffies um and you know we respected that people moved in behind us um so we did not target shoot any longer um our neighbors at 9005 uh whiteall we've tried to speak with them number of us um as as Michelle said Miss Collins um we've called the police you know they just kind of don't want to settle it they just want to do what they want to do they're from a different area I I moved down from marleton I did all that stuff when I was young too but we have horses and children I got nieces and nephews that walk in my backyard in my Woods I got 3 acres there four acres and you know I do not want to see something happen um anything can Ricochet off a BM off a Target and you know I sit in my backyard I'm Three Doors Down from them and I just don't want anybody to get hurt so we do need to do something to kind of control it so and what's the clarification like are you allowed to do that what what's the law in yes you are allowed to target practice um in your own yard um as long as there is a burn and you're shooting safely um down down Target um now when you're comes hunting then it's a fishing game issue I understand that um so you're not allowed to hunt unless you're 450 ft from the residence but you are allowed to target practice in your own are okay so if they don't how do you know if they have a prop M how say off say how do you know if they have a proper Target like have you physically been there to see it so I have been to the one in question I'm sure you have I have seen it um and as far as I can tell I mean I don't I didn't measure it or anything like that but it does have uh three sides and it's built up pretty high and you know I I can't go onto his property I can't just walk on some property right I understand so what if I mean you know listen you know we're all old enough to know better you know how about just be kind and respectful like if you don't want you know if is there a limit as to what time you can shoot or how long you can Sho there is a noise ordinance um on week nights I believe it is 10 p.m. um on week ends I believe it is 11th um but the ordinance does state that any unnecessary noise that would be um detrimental to the safety um of the public so um he's shooting uh you know during the day and and it's successive and it continues and and you know you asked him to stop and you sign a complaint against him then it would be your duty to come to court and and show the judge that you believe it's excessive and and maybe the judge will determine that it is maybe maybe he won't but that that would be the process of trying to get it to stop so what are you allowed to what kind of type of weapon are you allowed to discharge on your property just asking cuz I don't know um any legally owned weapon so any legally owned weapon so it could like a automatic rifle or anything that you own and register to yes really those bullets travel through BMS and they travel through my trees and it's not safe I feel for the situation that you guys are are going through um and you know I think you know where I I think you know where I live you guys have your rights and you know the people that are shooting are going to probably come in here and say well we have our rights I understand so the Township's kind of stuck you know in a in a place where you know state law supersedes this issue um so I don't necessarily know this is a Township issue as much as it is a state issue right um so we would have to contact the state I I would say that's probably your best bet so what branch of the state would you suggest um I mean at this point I believe it's a legislative issue you know there there's state laws that that supersede this now can the township um pass something more stringent I don't know that that would probably be a question for the solicitor to answer um but you know as far as what is going on out there um if you believe it is in violation of ordinances then I recommend you signing the claim well I believe it's a safety issue for I believe it's a safety issue um so I mean it's also you know be nice to your neighbor issue too and we've all tried to talk to these people they're from out of town I think they're from Maple Shad or something I get it I understand they want to do what they want to do they're living in the Country Now whatever so to speak whatever um but it's a safety issue and I just don't know what else to do about it you know my I walk the I walk the woods myself me I think at this point what we need to do is I you know I'll sit down with the administrator uh with guidance of the solicitor and we'll see what we can do at this point but like I said this this probably is a state law issue well would what what do you think about this like if we had a like a meeting with the with that owner and maybe one of the representatives to kind of come to some sort of resolution neighborly I mean if you guys would intervene if we could get them to do that that is something that we can get together um I will coordinate it and and I'll sit down with with everyone and bring everyone to the table okay um but he certainly has the right to say no that's fine I understand that but at least let's maybe we could try that and just do like a neighborly thing because we've tried that but they're you know I get it everybody wants to do what they want to do I will personally go out there tomorrow and try to make contact that would be great um you can contact Michelle does you guys know each other second house in or the first one on the corner second one one on the corner or the second one the corner 905 white one right yeah my house or no their house their house yeah the one that sits back I know where it is so can contact Michelle and coordinate that and I will be there and Miss griffy will be there with the owner um either tomorrow okay fair enough thank you guys thank you fair enough uh good evening Leah Vali 560 dely Drive I I was hoping John Keem would be here because my questions actually refer to his committee report at the end of last meeting he uh working l I'm sure um he decided I guess to take a look back at the years 2019 to 20123 and I'm not sure why he picked those years if that's a standard four-year look back or if it had any significance to anyone but at any rate he said he was looking back from 2019 to 2023 and then he started naming a few statistics that he felt I guess showed that things were improving and I really um question pretty much everything he cited so he's not here but I'll ask you guys since you are here um Can anyone up there tell me what anticipated surpluses in the budget can we tell you yes like can you tell me what it is anticipated yes that John brought that report to me right but I'm just asking it's a common it's a very common budget item is anyone familiar with what it is what it actually is I would think it would be Surplus you're anticipating having going and that's what I would have assumed too when I was on committee but it's not that's not what it is so when John cites and he says in 2019 you had a surplus of only $29,000 and we brought it back because in 2023 we had had an anticipated surplus of $1.8 million that's actually incorrect anticipated Surplus is how much of your Surplus you anticipate spending that year it's a revenue item in the budget so the fact that you only anticipated spending $29,000 of surplus in 2019 doesn't mean you only had $29,000 in Surplus good right uh well I mean it's not necessarily good or bad it's just a different thing it's a very different thing so like they said this the first time we so yeah and ju just to give you an idea like in 2018 the Surplus was 2.3 million you know so to reference the Surplus in 2023 as being 1.8 million and being a big accomplishment you know it's still 500,000 less than it was in 2018 the actual Surplus not the Surplus anticipated to be spent then the other thing he brought up which I found even more odd is he said our bond rating in 2017 was an A or an A+ and our bond rating in 2023 is an AA minus which for anyone who's not familiar with Bond ratings anything double A is higher than single a and AA a is higher than double A so a a a minus is one step higher than an A plus so there was an improvement of one rating level between 2017 and 2023 does anyone want to guess when that change actually occurred two months later in 2017 so when not a single person on Township committee was on Township committee or Bond rating improved which is great but you can't turn around and seven years later say we're so much better than the group before us which you know I take a little bit of offense to because that included me I because you're using the things we did and claiming them as your own and then last but not least and I'm just going to throw it out there Farmland preservation I think is a great thing this is one area where me and Mr Doyle actually do agree that Farmland preservation is a great thing for the township and preserving the rural community but to say like we preserve this great amount of Farmland between 2020 and 2023 the two things to consider one is it's a long process so if you did it in 2020 it started before 2020 and the second thing is if you had this great Improvement why did you get rid of Michelle Doyle who arguably would have been the one who brought it about so congratulations on preserving Farmland but again I think the the little Victory lap is UN unwarranted anyway the other questions I have relate to his reference about tax rates and I I'll save them for him for for next week when he's back thank you thank you Tak a motion to close the second public portion motion to close second public portion second those in favor I committee reports Mr M April 27th we have the um go for for Community Day if we have good weather again this year ALB albat and go but it does benefit the rec committee and Community Day just one thing I do want to put the bed is the Michelle Dole thing I reached out to Michelle myself my wife did actually she did not want to be on the Farmland preservation I asked my wife asked her the agriculture board U she said she was too busy but I just wanted to put that to bed and said I don't care what person things going on Mr keny I will make sure she did not want to be on I appreciate that so she does not want to be on she's too busy she said so Michelle does not want to be on the a uh this historical uh Society has an article coming out actually came out today about the history of uh baseball in the set home so and I believe next month they're going to f hist come out with um got to go to the Little League opening day which is just great uh it's one of the fully functional things in our town nothing perfect those people do a great job um if anybody got to see Jake throughout the first pitch it's pretty memorable I like to volunteer to throw out the first pitch because they look more like bowling Matt actually had a tear in his eye but that being said it it he picked it he picked it good the fourth bounce now one bounce one bounce Marsh you weren't there one B I got the video the bounce was like 6 before the but it was one Bounce It was one the Little League thing was great um it's nice to see some of the positive things um DPW is a little bit behind on trash removal um two of our sidearm trucks are down one has a blown motor one of course was in an accident so we're stuck using W trucks so they're doing the best they can we found a few people asking you know uh we're also starting Spring Leaf clean up but that's got to take a back seat the trash so that's all I have thanks um yeah I just want to congratulate Matt and the people with the l i mean it's it's fully volunteers and there's 500 how many 500 kids 500 kids coaches that put this this off every year and uh it's just a great thing to be uh you great a great thing to say um like Tim said Public Works they're they're working a little overtime picking up the trash um again if anybody has any issues they can call Public Works and talk to Deana and they'll see what they can do to get you the problem remedy we will be picking up trash on Friday dud it's we we're probably going to go into Friday picking up trash nor if we don't pick up dire we're probably going to be a half day behind them at least one route pick up my Matt you have anything no I just want to remind everyone that our um foyer and uh the front of our station is under construction um so there's signs up uh giving instructions for everyone how to uh get a hold of an officer if um the crews are down there working so they've been working hard and uh it's moved forward and it looks good that said can I get a motion to close motion to close all in favor I thank you for coming for