##VIDEO ID:el6YINfhDjM## 17 good evening please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indice good evening this regular meeting of the township council is being held in accordance with the schedul the meetings of the township Council established and adopted by Township Council which scheduled as need the time date and place of this meeting adequate public notice of this meeting has been provided pursu to the provision of the open public meetings Act we are using electronic amplifying and recording device in order to obtain a clear and audible record and request all those wishing to speak be recognized and state your name address directly to the microphone the recording device be so be utilized by the township clerk's office for the preparation of the minutes and shall be the official record of the township council meeting Madam clerk May the roll call please Mr here Mrs Al she is on vacation Mrs gra love here Mr Nash here Mrs wers here Mrs here Mr Mar pres Mr par is Mr ctis here Chief arkins here Mr M here we have a special presentation tonight from the glou Township Police Department uh recognizing volunteers and the citizens Police Academy graduation Chief Harkin council president if you would join me down to administer the oath so we are very uh as part of our uh community policing program we have two Pinnacle uh programs that I encourage everybody to get involved especially the citizens Police Academy but uh also I want to recognize our volunteers many of them are here these are members of our community who assist the police department with uh support roles in various events if we have a uh a large scale incident they can get called out but they're they're truly volunteers they they assist us in our uh coffee with a cop our community events gler Township day I could go down the list there they're here for so many things and they're here to just out of support of the police department the officers and what this does is freeze up uh officers to do other roles they've been invaluable it's one of our most successful programs that we've implemented with the Cadre and the uh the caliber of these uh folks that assist us every day so to the existing volunteers that are here I I thank you on behalf of all the men and women of the glosser Township Police Department and tonight I'm proud to uh have us uh swear in two new volunteers so i' ask uh Deborah Vos come up and Angela oberholzer also please your family can come up as well if they like um we're actually going to swear you in and this is a to take part in any of the activities that the officers uh being part of the police department they have to take an oath because they have access they go through background checks um to be able to have access to certain information that we have so it's a big deal for us and uh you know we appreciate them coming forward so that's why we actually swear them in one of the prerequisites is to be a volunteer is to do what all you folks were going to recognize the citizens Police Academy so these ladies uh Mr President uh attended our last session of the citizens police academy and we got them on board so I also ask Lieutenant Paul Fischer our community relations Bureau Commander to come up and join because he falls under their command so at this time council president I would respectfully request that you uh swear in these two new police volunteers come on yeah we'll get the pictures how you doing yes we can see come on over here congratulations if you can please raise your right hand and repeat after me I state your name do Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established under the authority of the people I further Solly swear that I will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties of State your title to the best of my ability so help me God congratulations [Applause] ladies thank you you and council president if you'll stay with me to uh present the certificates so our citizens Police Academy again one of our most successful uh programs some members of Council in the past have done it members of the administration and I'll just say this it is a 14-week program that uh typically starts in January so we're in the fall we'll be uh putting out for signups again to attend uh later January we'll get the exact dates they're being worked out right now by Lieutenant fiser uh and so these folks dedicate uh several hours a night uh on a Wednesday night typically for 14 weeks to come and learn about the Gloucester Township police department and they truly get an inside look at everything that we do they get some of the admin Administration they get dispatched they get operations the patrol they get detectives they get how they do investigations they do Internal Affairs you learn about firearms and train and the training center traffic what the Traffic Unit does what our juvenile Family Services Bureau probably their f one of their favorite nights is the K9 unit they learn about the K9 unit the Special Response Team uh they get to see them uh in the equipment they also get certified in CPR right they also uh get to learn uh the ins and outs of police operation I think it's fair to say that you a lot of questions get answered correct um you people people come to the citizens Police Academy we always encourage even those that have questions or about how the police department operates why we do certain things we explain some things I'm there the opening night the mayor joins us and uh they go through and get them meet all the leaders of the police department and they really get to know the police department and they become part of the police department and so we thank all the all of those citizens and we encourage everyone to attend the citizens police it's a big deal it's uh they have to write up reviews we like to hear what we how we did um they like I said they learned CPR and it is a prerequisite for those that want to move on to become a volunteer that's how intense sometimes the information they get so folks I want to thank you and uh for all attending all the past attendees of our citizens police academy and for anyone that wants to learn about what we do procedurally uh you want to know about how things happen here in in Gloucester Township our approach our uh mindset our community policing programs and how it all comes together in the police operations and how we keep this place going and the Town protected 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year um the citizens Police Academy is the way to come and learn that so thank you folks so at this time I'm going to turn it over Lieutenant fiser who's going to uh uh announce the names of so this is run through our community relations Bureau under uh Lieutenant Fischer's command officer orenic one of the main organizers Corporal McHugh is the other community relations officer um these they're there every week with uh the citizens Police Academy group making sure everything gets done right uh and uh they do such a fantastic job like I said I'm very proud of our citizens police academy and we encourage everyone anyone to attend that so they can learn about how we operate and answers a lot of questions so Lieutenant Fischer thank you Chief I appreciate it so first off thank you to everyone who was able to come out and have such an interest in uh one of our many community relations programs that we have I hope you got a lot out of it I would like to thank um also arenic and mue for all their hard work putting into it with the um with the scheduling and then all of the instructors we had some great outside instructors and then a lot of uh with the Narcan and um Narcan certifications and CPR I'd like to thank all the officer instructors as well so I hope you guys got uh a lot out of it you had a lot of great questions and um I feel like we had a I feel like a lot of good questions got answered whether it be during or afterwards so with that I'd like to announce all of the graduates uh if you come up um grab your certificate and then if you could stay up here and we'll get one group picture should Mark Leon villager Jessica dogado Katherine [Music] Delgado Amy Pato [Music] congratulations whole table Elliot [Music] Rosen Autumn Tron Doug molland Kevin Davis Kevin's back a few times it's not the only talking to Bill em humy Christina skul conratulations [Music] re nir [Music] Chris Valor Heather [Music] f Ronald Hill Cheryl wayen Hill Debbie Aaron Bonita Joy Marson Debbie shman Robert tratman is Margaret Nicholson here Joseph y Miller and jamaah Johnson [Music] Hendricks [Music] we miss and we miss miss Jasmine Jasmine Franklin say CPA one two three CPA awesome thank you guys I really apprciate word we'll take a brief recess not you need [Music] br [Music] yeah we'll get it we'll get Youk [Music] like it's [Music] no one hope [Music] not the are [Music] look at my deleted that to thank you guys you thank you guys [Music] [Applause] [Music] we're going to reconvene our meeting man roll call again please Mrs wers Mr marado pres Mr ctis Chiefs here Mr Miguel here we now have our first first public portion this is for agenda items only anyone addressing Council may speak one time each speaker is in three minutes there's a total of 15 minutes total for first public portion once uh an individual's had address Council they may address Council second time only have to ask what was said earlier not repeating earlier statements anyone would like to speak speak excuse me for the first public portion is an agenda item sir okay Mr leader David leer Huntington Avenue lur good evening my my voice is a little weak tonight from the allergies and so forth I hope you can hear um I'm looking at R 24828 the subject appears to be the word unit is that a vehicle Chief Special Response Unit thank you um r24 [Music] 8281 it refers to o Avenue to eam for I guess it's a f Fitness trail there's two Oak Avenues in that geography one's a dead end street that runs off of eham the other one is south of Big Timber Creek what I understand there's no Bridge from the trail across the creek so I just thought i' bring that to your attention I don't know which Oak Avenue you're referring to in that in that statement Mr cars I believe this is the Oak Avenue in the hilltop section I believe it is yes last okay is it going to be Troublesome to get the path over quick um I mean it'll have to be constructed in normal practices so I mean it's not as simple as other ones I'd say but TR yeah okay thank you Council thank you is there anyone else on agenda items only miss smithman hi good evening Council my name is Shauna C smithman I live in the SDK Milbridge Gardens apartment complex on milbrook Court Apartment 341 the I previously had a question on the what is it called a bicycle trail that was running between Oak Avenue and Eve sham Road um if it's up on the agenda again was it ever mentioned on who the electrical contractor there was going to be that was assigned to that project Mr Miguel project wasn't awarded this is to reject it so wasn't contract project wasn't awarded so there wasn't an electrical contractor set up at this point this is to reject BS thank you is there anyone else we'll close the first public question bid report 2024 emergency generator maintenance and inspection services can I have a motion please I'll make that motion is there a second thank you on the question roll call please Mr yes Mrs Grace yes Mr Nash yes Mrs Walter yes Mrs yes next is ordinance 0-24 d18 it's a second reading and there will be a public hearing for it ordinance 0-24 d18 ordinance amending chapter 81 of the code of the township of bler entitled vehicles and traffic of the code of the township of bler this amends to section 8126 for a no turn on red and is is hereby a minute to read as follows Jarvis Road and CYO Road direction of South de directional travel southbound there are prohibited right turns on red at the southbound Jarvis Road and at the intersection of C Road due to limited intersection uh site distance at this approach Now open up the public anyone like to speak on this ordinance seeing none close the public hearing may I have a motion please that motion on the question roll call please Mr yes MCE Mr Nash yes walk yes yes okay next is ordinance --24 -13 is a second reading and there will be a public Hearing in orance of the township of glester County of C state New Jersey adopting prohibited uses to the Land Development ordinance what this does is amends the Land Development ordinance Article 2 definition and word use section 500- 202 definitions be amended to add the following shortterm rental what a short-term rental is but not limited to uh airb verbo homeway Flip Key tripping.com bookie.com Trip Advisor and not associated with regulated commercial activities such as hotel motel and what a bed and breakfast is overnight accommodations uh that this development uh is to be amended to add the following that short-term rentals in all residential use districts and bed and breakfast is uh prohibits the use I now open up the public hearing on this matter anyone wish to speak on it seeing none close public hearing I I entertain a motion make that motion there second on the question just a reminder this is contingent upon the outcome of the planning board meeting tomorrow roll call please Mr M yes Mrs Grace yes Mr Nash yes Mrs Walters yes Mrs wers Mr Mar yes next is our consent agenda any council member like to have any of the items removed please speak up hearing none I entertain a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented on the question roll call please Mr yes yes Mr n yes Mrs Walters yes Mrs W yes Mr yes next is our GTE go access emails we have six of them this evening Mr leader you have four of those uh six so yes so I I'm going to read the other to first uh if you like to read your uh ovs you can do so that'll be doing your time during the second public portion I don't have a voice for so therefore I will read so I will read them during the second public portion but it's going to count towards your time because you're in attendance today yes understand okay all right so first is uh from Donna leonardis 1500 Jarvis Road cville the agenda for this August 8 special meeting indicates that the township is entering to agreement of sale with American Water the agreement of sale my my response the agreement of sale is a final form but has not yet been executed by the parties and is subject to a referendum passing in November her next question what language is in that agreement that avoids it in its entirety should the residents vote no in November to the proposed sale if the if the referendum does not pass the agreement will not be signed next question is there language in that agreement that requires the township to pay a fee or some other remedy to American water should this sale fall through that the council will try to leverage as a reason to go for sale no there is not isn't it premature for the township to enter into agreement of sale before the vote results after the November election the response the township is not at any point and turned into agreement of sale the ordinance that was adopted on August 8th authorized the execution of the agreement and only if the referendum passes in November the last question is the full agreement of sale draft available for residents to view as a public record yes it has been posted on the Township's website since it was first introduced on July 8th under the clerk sta on our homepage our next question is from Trish rker at 1012 Melrose Avenue in a patch article from today council president Marcato answered stated the following if the re referendum passes the township of New Jersey American Water will execute the sale the process typically takes about six months with a closing estimated for the end of the June end of June 2025 Marcato said but if the referendum fails the sale won't happen unless Council decides to commence a new procurement process in the future ricado said my question is what exactly do you mean by unless Council decides to commence a new procurement process in the future does the residents voting against the sale on November 5th not matter are you saying council is just going to find another way to sell to American Water please clarify your statement quote Mr Mot if the referendum does not pass Miss reard uh November 2024 the agreement of sale will not be executed and the sale process will not move for this year Council may or may not decide or may not decide to initiate a new procurement at some point in the future uh so that is an option okay so the next the the next four from Mr leader so this will be read during the public portion since Mr leader is in attendance today and I'll be reading it this will count as uh towards the 30 minutes time that we have for our second public portion uh so the public portions for any item that the public chooses to address anyone addressing Council may speak one time each speaker is entitled to five minutes once all those wishing address Council had their turns they may address the C second time only if it adds to what we said earlier not repeating earlier statements uh so the first question uh from Mr leader at 1105 Huntington Avenue after after the July 22nd 24 council meeting has spoke with Council pres about increasing the second public portion from 30 minutes to at least 60 Minutes president Marcado agreed to bring this up uh to council at the Council planning meeting that occurs in January 2025 I thank you I just wanted this discussion to be on record Mr leader grab me here at the end of that meeting and indicate is it possible that we can have additional time for a public portion we currently have 15 minutes for the first public portion on agenda items 30 minutes for the second public portion when we have our reorganization of council which takes place in January that is when those changes are made next from David leader at 1105 Huntington Avenue how can the public be notified of press releases and public announcements clerk said nixel from police but not happening clerk said press notified I.E the chief mayor and other dignitaries about gler Township day I would have attended the township advises uh the public about news and announcements a variety ways the Los VES website our Facebook page a Twitter feed an Instagram site the mayor has a Weekly Newsletter called GT works and those archives can be found on the Township's website under the mayor's Weekly Newsletter um also resume also received the newsletter weekly in their inbox uh by signing up with the Township's nixel service at the same web web page regarding the Gloucester Township press conference that took place regarding Gloucester Township day Dem mayor attended that was arranged by the fourth district legislators Senator morard assembly Hutchinson Cody Miller um any advisories concerning that press conference were handled by the local legislative office our next uh OV or comment is from David leader 11:05 Hunton Avenue will there be a working meeting to gather public and Council input Corrections and additions to the draft of the 7524 sewer utility draft agreement of s between law Township in New Jersey American Water document I have some inputs and I'll like to consider uh that no there is not that meeting moved forward and the second reading took place on August 8th and we had three hours worth of comments from residents at that meeting and the last question from Mr leader 1105 Huntington Avenue as a courtesy to council I'm copying below a message that I emailed to the mayor I do expect a response from the mayor subject the barbecue is free sale of the sewer division the free barbecue celebrating our veterans someone has to pay for it who is buying who is it who is buying us a barbecue the barbecue is a free admission to Veterans and their families who join them in attendance uh to be clear of course there's there's a cost associated with that barbecue and the township will be using some of the operational budget for public events to fund this event um I see it as a small price to show some appreciation to our veterans and for their service to our country uh in addition there may in the future may be events that are sponsored by uh private uh from Private Industry as well two why were you not present last night at the public meeting on the sale of the sewer division this is directed TOS mayor uh the mayor as the Township's chief executive officer does not as a practice attend townsel uh Township Council meetings as these meetings are hosted and conducted by the township Council to conduct its legislative affairs as I mentioned at the August 8th 2024 meeting and prior the mayor has recused himself from all matters involving the township exploring a potential sale of the sewer utility back in March accordingly it would not be expected for any official to attend a meeting on a topic they recuse themselves from and it's unsurprising that the mayor did not attend that event excuse me that meeting on August 8th three why was Gabrielle mcar the director of sewer division uh not present to discuss the sale of the sewer division Miss mcare reports to the business administrator uh there's no need to have the director of sewer department to be present at the hearing to answer questions about the sale since the director is not involved with the process of the sale lastly why do your your monthly newsletters only address you posing for pictures and good news I'm going to Cobble these together have you ever addressed the current Township issue in the newsletter in the past and lastly what communication mechanism do you the mayor have with the citizens of the township of bler concerning uh questions number four through six the mayor's office will typically compile various topics of ventes to Residents from a variety of events or projects going on in town as a practice the mayor typically tries to bring attention to positive things that are going around in our Township which often get drowned out by other things that may take place the administration will use a variety communication means to convey information such as the Township's website uh it's Facebook page Twitter feed Instagram and its mayor's Weekly Newsletter which is GT workers so that concludes our questions uh anyone else that would like to speak his public portion Miss SM hi good evening Council my name is Shaun C smithman I live in the SDK Milbridge Gardens apartment complex on milbrook Court Apartment 341 it's considered clementin New Jersey but I'm told I'm to utilize the clester Township New Jersey Police Department and municipalities hello Council hello hello uh there was a ceremony this evening to celebrate um apparently there were some local citizens that attended a volunteer type service for the local police department um when I was a child I grew up in Williamstown that's mro Township it's in Gloucester County uh my I have an older sibling who's about um eight and a half years older than me a little bit more so around 1986 1987 uh would have been seven or eight Kimberly dated Walt Ison Walter Ison uh his family his parents were or his father was a police officer from mon Township so I have little tidbits of information she had made me aware when I began to drive if a police officer pulls me over and his badge does not match his police vehicle I don't have to give them any information they may not be an actual police officer different things and such um my sister was I I was latchy sort of uh she was responsible for watching me since my parents both worked um another local resident to Victory Lakes was uh Maria Botsford her mother Gloria Botsford her son committed suicide he shot himself Gloria bford was prescribed psychiatric medication most likely for the grief Kimber Lake to throw parties had people over drinking and such she would take Gloria bot for medication and give it to me she would spike my juice or my food they thought it was funny Walter Ron would have been attending those parties he would have been fully aware of a elementary school child passed out it was must have been very comical to them that as a police officer's child so forgive me if I'm not um running to the volunteer line to learn how to be a police officer I'm still trying to learn how to be a citizen um without offending anybody because what they're permitted to do it really seems illegal um my father was a local Barfly the police officers were all fully aware that my mother left several times my father right my father grew up in this town on Oak Avenue 34 Oak Avenue to be specific which is the hilltop section they would have been aware of his family I'm the youngest daughter of Harry courland smithman Jr I have been having trouble with my identity fraud against the state with funds being fently acquired in in my name I brought this matter to the to the police the local clester Township Police Department uh there was several meetings there was one meeting where they said that it was out of their jurisdic after they opened and closed a case they said I had to go to the township where the crime occurred which would be Pence Ain Township yet they communicated with the Camy County prosecutor's office I went there and the Camy County prosecutor's office told me that they spoke with the gler Township New Jersey Police Department the detective on the case and they transferred emails back and forth and that I'm not permitted to see my own case file that I have to go through an open public records act request I'm going to go back a little bit further before I went to work and earn money for people to steal before I actually had an identity worth Tak it I still don't think it's worth anything nobody's that special for this much effort to go into taking over somebody's life um at 15 when I became pregnant the Williamstown High School I told them I said I can't I have to use the bathroom more often and I don't know if I can take gym every time I have gym class you know physical education um they said that there no there was no acknowledgement that I was pregnant unless I had a note from a doctor all the different things I had to go through through the local municipalities nobody called the police when a pregnant 15-year-old girl was having trouble trying to figure out how to maneuver through the legalities of the local Township law I have four seconds left if I'm permitted to come back up and speak I'm sure I can different topic thank you council is there anyone else who would like to speak Mr leader David leer 1105 Huntington Avenue glendor Mr madoo it's my understanding that you are the HR Director of the township is that accurate No that's not accurate I'm sorry I work for the glou Township Public School District as a human resources supervisor I see but for the school district thank you and Mr understand that the division uh directors report to you directors report to the mayor but the mayor also allows directors to report to me I'm the director in charge of administration of finance and there are several divisions under my department thank you like get to think back about a month ago when Mr Anthony calabre came before you and talked about his troubles and getting a sitdown meeting that he requested electronically an email with the division director of the sewer Division and he's never gotten anything but kind of a runaround asking for more details that was the meeting is about that meeting has not yet taken place as of uh two days ago with the with the director of the sewer division having been a manager of business organizations in my past I find that when an employee asks for help the HR department and the director in this Cas is or whoever the person's manager is that he's requesting a meeting with or she uh is usually noted and that director or manager is encouraged by management to follow through on the requests Mr calab came here and said his say that he's been trying to get this meeting to take place and it hasn't had any response other than email bounces back asking him for more information it seems to me after I learned that Mr Cal gree is the shop steward for that organization and represents those employees from the union side it's even more important that management take the time to talk to Mr calabri I find it in poor practice that no one has brought this attention to Mr calab and he had his chance to meet with his division director and the companies I work for I would if I was that manager or director or vice president president I would have been severely represented and I also would not have enjoyed a bonus or a salary increase that year there's no question in the companies I work for that that would have happened that way if we ignored an employee that's just an an unexpected behavior for an executive of any company to Ure a shop steward is even more Grievous because the shop steward as well as the managers and supervisors represent the employees of that company and you should never fail to take an opportunity to talk with your employees about whatever issues the employee may have on their mind so I'm pretty uncomfortable that nothing has happened to assist Mr calib in his quest to talk to the director of the division would anyone care to respond there is a separation of our government here we're legislative we're not the administrative we don't oversee any employees uh that is the role of the administration right understand that but somebody here so I need to talk to the mayor because the mayor talks to Mr ctis and Mr ctis talks to the directors so I need to bring this case before the mayor which is almost as embarrassing as having Mr Mr calab stand here and be excused with not even a comment a month ago could you give me some advice on how I would carry Mr Cal's concerns forward to the township of cluster I don't have any advice Mr Carter is there something that you have a list of Mr Cal's concerns no I'm not privy to that I'm not an employee of the township nor do I Mr leader nor do I but your director he has not submitted a list you're asking for a meeting without a list in this particular instance if he was uh you know wrong he would be subject to the grievance process he has not brought a grievance before the township I have not heard from Gabby moscara the director of uh silver utility that Mr calri has brought a grievance uh before her so if if a general meeting is being requested to know where we are going I have to tell you there are no answers right now as to where we're going because as you're keenly aware there is a referendum that will be on the November ballot that will change things dramatically or it will stay the same there is nothing changing for Mr Cal nothing has changed as far as assignments nothing has changed with regard to rate of Patty nothing has has changed so again without something in writing submitted through the formal process and as you just mentioned you're familiar with HR so you know there are formal processes and involved with grievances or meetings if you have items that you want to discuss they've not been submitted thank you thank you Mr cars thank you Mr leader anyone else like to speak yes good evening Council um I'm having a hard time okay good evening Council my name is Mary Kendricks I reside at 10 Brand Avenue in the hilltop section of Blackwood um and I'm unable to come to the council meetings because of my work I'm in the medical field tonight I had a special reason for coming um I have a question is it always closer townships um how can I say um the way they hire um for this mua is it their practice to always hire somebody who is not I don't let's say not capable don't know the workings of the MUA um my understanding was she was um a senator or whatever or counil person or something in Washington Township she had some office and she was also the mirrors worked in the mirrors office so how can she be permitted to an a job like that mua when she has no experience no idea about the working system of the MUA it just seems like wouldn't that be for somebody else in the realm of the utility to take on somebody who works there knows the working components who knows how the how the department works and how to handle it and how to approach their employees I mean she's the director she should shouldn't she be aware of what she's doing shouldn't she make appearances at the MUA at least show her face of these guy well we all know who she is but to come around and say hey how's things going is there a problem not wait for somebody to have to come and say I want to hold a meeting go to them and say hey is there a problem you know it should be open door policy and I don't see where there's an open door policy here at all for the men who work for the MUA and I've been in glester Township many years I've went through school here and I think what the council's doing is Pretty Dirty because it's all going to affect use too and my next thing is um how well are you guys guys into doing communities getting to really know your community in Gloucester Township your residents all the council people up there the mayor how are you really how would you really get involved are you really into going out and meeting the community I'm not talking about taking photo ops or opening new businesses how about getting out there and meeting them by helping and cleaning our streets neighborhood by neighborhood I've been the president of cler town cler township baseball and flag football 600 players for over 13 years now Miss Grace and I'm a social worker and I've been very diligently in the community for many years my hand well I understand that you have all you all have you know you're in Miss I don't want to interrupt you but all these individuals are intimately involved with the township yes I understand very no prior to any individual being on Counsel and I also but let me let me let me go a little further okay please go further okay um I'm not only do I take pride in my community here but I also belong to an organization in Camden City who the mayor is Beck I don't know how to say his last name their Council people they're involved in baseball football they're in involved in the organization that I'm involved in every year we go around we volunteer Council the mayor they're out there just as much as we are getting their hands dirty they have regular jobs they involved with they're involved they're coaches on on teams and all on sports teams why can't we step up and do something like that and show the people okay they're not afraid to get their hands dirty they're not just standing there coaching our our kids let's go clean up the community I know you have little trucks that say uh they're supposed to be out there cleaning up the streets and all be honest with you if you're interested in more activities Pastor Mike is having a backpack dve just this week so did Camp over at Morgan Village on 17 I just I'm just making you aware that there are things that are going on in Glon townships that very similar to what cam does and we do get out we are out you may not see us all the time I even take phone calls I I handle phone calls from residents who talk about housing or need housing so again we've had this conversation before you know it's it's kind of disheartening when you don't think we're doing things but we always are doing okay then the other thing that I want to share is that you talk about leadership or a position that um that's being h i you know I'm listening to you I sometimes relate a lot I try to step in the shoes of other people and when I do that I I hold degree in social work but I also have a principal certification and I always said can I do that job yes I can my professor said I can do that job you want to know why because I'm trained in leadership it doesn't mean I have to be a teacher now I do have a teacher SE too but I've never talk but I can lead teachers because I have that leadership background it's about leadership it's about being a director is not just about because you haven't been in the trenches it's that sometimes you have the the the qualifications to lead people so some you know I just want to respond to that because I can go be a principal and never taught a school in in a school a day in my life so it's about your leadership skills whether you can lead folks so if that helps your question a little bit in regards to that I hope that's helpful but again it is disheartening because I know for a fact that all of us up here have passions about our different professions and what we what we work with you know whether it's softball baseball or Little League or Community cleanups um Community cleanups I don't see too much what do you think just the bike trail believe I can attest that when I got my property back it was only worth $42,000 we cleaned up a community that that housing development is now worth $211,000 so we we worked hard and not only did I work hard the community and the people that live in that Community worked hard and so do laas Scot they do the same things that would does you may I don't know how long you lived here in in in gler Township but I I think you might be if you've been here a while you've been aware of that when I met before I became a council woman um councilwoman winners used to go out and clean up and she would come by and drop off volunteer stuff for when we first got started but she was cleaning up in Parks or lakes or something like that blackw l so it's it's it's something that we do all the time and sometimes you don't see it because maybe I I don't know but we we are very passionate about our community we we care we wouldn't sit up here if we didn't care but you're talking about L Go Britney Woods thank you Miss GCE miss hendri your time moves I'm talking about the regular neighborhoods okay and I will I I would imagine there are some people when they have their Council comments if you like to know what they've done in our community they'll tell you or you can Google each and every one of us and see what we have done in our community thank you very much I know is there anyone else that like to speak as I spoken Miss smithman you're our last speaker hi good evening Council my name is Shaun C smithman I live in the SDK Milbridge Gardens apartment complex on milbrook Court Apartment 341 um if I could with I know it's five minutes that I have to speak thank you so much for allowing me to speak again um three of the standing council members on today have actually been to my apartment um when it was around election time to introduce themselves to see different parts of the community um I have heard different volunteer projects and have seen the results of them the traffic signals have been vast greatly improved on Blackwood Clementon Road at Kelly drivers and Milbridge Road intersections as well as the broad Acres Drive I think it's called is that where where where the old briad AG used to be um so so thank you for that um see the different things I've been going through that I've been trying to have assistance with from the Township from the local police department um I was told that I cannot get assistance with being a victim of identity theft unless I can first prove that I'm a victim that is what the federal government told me they need to assist me with proving that I'm a victim of identity that the local glosser Township Police Department has two different identifications within their system one is for 341 Milbridge Road even though I live on milbrook court the other one is for 1341 Blackwood Clemington Road depart 341 for clemon New Jersey 08021 the one that they have for 341 Milbridge road which is one of two ways at least to write my address has a different picture the Gloucester Township Police Department is telling me to look it up I have to go to the Motor Vehicle Commission I said it's identity theft the police department I can visually see that by identity has been stolen yet they they won't assist um like I said from the time I was a small child um they helped their children not not the seven-year-old they made sure their kids didn't get in trouble but I had parents too but they didn't affect my parents either and at 15 when I was pregnant I was denied welfare I had to fight a municipality at 15 years old to say you have to cover the health insurance I'm forced to give birth in a hospital I'm not allowed to give birth at home and you're telling me that I'm not old enough to work you have to you have to pay for that I think right I don't know because I was only 15 nobody called the police not against the pregnancy not against the parents for neglect not for any type of exting circumstances that would have placed me in that position they made a 15-year-old fight as an adult and doing that I worked myself into total mental exhaustion they called it mental illness I couldn't speak my words were Stamper I couldn't sleep I pushed my body to the brink working in heavy construction trying to raise a child failing at it he's now 30 and I don't recognize him the local police here not only did they try to place it to another municipality they said had to bring it to pensal Township the C County prosecutor's office is now using the same words they are yet they're exchanging information I can't even access it because they won't acknowledge that it's a case that I opened they took my case that I brought for crime against the state a crime against the federal government identity death it includes human trafficking both through insurance fraud taking injuries to somebody's body and using lawyers to sue companies for injuries to somebody who who is not benefiting in any way from those lawsuits they're not even aware that they're doing it that's human trafficking they go into the Section 8 and the Supportive Housing connection two separate entities that's a crime against the state that's they're taking from the Housing Authority the Cy County prosecutor's offic is uses the same words that the gler Township Police Department is using they're say stating that I need to file an open public records act request and I'm telling this is the case I open and I have not participated in any part of this other than to bring all the information and evidence for them to review to open a case I may be a high school dropout but I did get my general equivalency degree and my father served in the United States Navy who's born in 1948 I think that's treason we're getting dangerously close to treason here thank you thank you have a good evening that concludes our public portion polling of directors Mr ctis I Chief Parkins Council I want to thank you for recognizing our volunteers and the time it took um to recognize our Citizen Police Academy graduates I know how important you guys have seen it and how what a great program it is so I appreciate that support I also want to thank you all and the community uh for our national night out where we were out in the community at length uh you know we were watching the weather uh many towns around us had had canceled their events and we were glad that we pushed through we had a great night we got great feedback great insights from people we had some great great Community it made us very proud to be going out into the community like we did at some of the events and so it's very important to us that you guys how you guys were out there with us and we appreciate that and uh it makes it a special night I I'm I'm very proud of our National Night Out The Way We do it we actually go into the neighborhoods and meet with our neighborhood watch groups and I know it's not a on a Tuesday night it's not always easy but I appreciate Council support the administration support uh we really just had a great night and I want to just recognize community relations Lieutenant fiser who was here uh officer o renck who was running around all night uh that night and weeks in and Corporal McHugh that unit that puts that all together phone calls making sure everything's set so and our our public work also um and the whole Township Administration they did a lot of of preparation for that and it really was a great night for us so I thank you for that I just wanted to bring to council's attention again it made some news national news um but uh uh we have two officers that are deployed with the New Jersey Army National Guard out of Woodberry 114 um just keep uh all these men there and there's many more citizens from Gloucester Township that were aware who are deployed it's the largest deployment of Army National Guard uh in the state of New Jersey and there's many Law Enforcement Officers two of our uh officers were very proud of um on Friday night they came under attack with in they're in Syria uh they're an infantry unit on front lines and whatnot and uh we were able I was able to communicate with uh one of the officers uh because communication is very sketchy but he was able to text and communicate with us um but they had a significant attack on their uh base and uh they were very lucky that no serious injuries occurred um it is new it's in the news but it's not getting enough attention but it's really hitting close to home here not only for us in Gloucester Township but throughout the state of New Jersey especially throughout the region for all the local Guardsmen uh that are activated uh so I just wanted to let you know that keep them in your prayers keep them um you know we we're we're here doing what we're doing tonight talking in civil discourse and and about the things we do because of the men and women that do that and I think I just want to recognize them so just want to let you know that and I thank you all have a good night thank you thank you Mr Miguel nothing add thank you Mr M A couple things congratulations to the new volunteers and the assistant Police Academy graduation uh folks and G I absolutely love National lout it's a it's a great event going around and seeing everybody and uh mingling with the community I know we at each stop maybe 15 20 minutes but we know we're under the pressure to get to know and see and talk to everybody 15 20 we go to the next stop but absolutely love that event it's a great night you said it's a Tuesday night it's a long day but it's just just fantastic it's a great event uh couple of different things uh Miss Hendricks uh volunteering getting out in the community a couple things when my resume uh started out in 2007 to 2017 and Al sendas behind you can vouch for this uh was on the board of very Little League to go to vice president for the last seven years of that actually won a state championship as a coach which is probably the last state championship team in B Township uh actually today today marks 11 years that that happened and uh couple other things uh Mr Mado introduced me to Martin Luther King D back in 2016 that's a great event I know prob talk about so I don't want to steal his St there but that's a great event where him and I take a trip to Canon and deliver peanut butter and jelly sandwiches other things to folks pedal kitchen pedal kitchen I'm sorry and but probably the most important thing that I'm the most proud of that uh that I'm part of in this Township is was called the glossal township Field of Dreams and we opened that up in 2017 U that's a Facebook Organization for special needs kids and a couple of the folks people in this in this room here I volunteer with myself to to coach and uh we are always looking for organizations to help be a buddy so I would love one day I know you said you have a team you go out in cden um if you have a team that would love to participate on a Saturday morning or a Friday night to come out there and and be side by side with a with a player be a buddy love to see you do that so that's it thank you m Grace Love Yes again uh congratulations to the Citizens Academy um police academy and I didn't make National Night Out this year un fortunately but I did see all the wonderful pictures and all again it's always a great event so thank you all for everything you do dur National Night Out and prayers do go out for our military service and our police officers who have been deployed um I don't want to go again into the the the part about community service only because that hits heavy for me as a social worker sitting up here on the council 25 years so I've spent my entire life being of service and doing things out of the goodness of my heart for my family or my friends or anyone who's ever asked me of a favor or anything that I could do any phone call I try to address anything so um service is what I know and and I'm always that's in my heart it's in my blood and and um so I I do get emotional when I hear when I know of the entire Council what they do and I I see them and I'm when I see them I'm passionate about when I see them out and about and I get excited when we're H having a good time helping those who are most vulnerable who are the most disadvantaged um who need things the most when we deliver turkeys when we deliver food for the needy um we do soup events or um go volunteer to make food for the less fortunate we do this out of the goodness of our heart we don't do this to take photo ops and if I saw anyone doing that I would be offended we do it out of the goodness of our heart we do it daily and we're always open to any suggestions so if you know of anything that you think we should be volunteering for and I am um someone who graduated from Camen high so I do know bck and I do know all the council me members there Chris Collins and all of them I know what they do and I'm very proud of the things that they do there and we do very similar things our Township and cam is a very very needy town and they have a lot of work ahead of them and yes they are foot Stompers and I know that because I come from that foot stopping grounds so that's all I like to add um but again that's a very passionate place for me when I see our police officer ERS here of service out doing you know the the resource officers in the schools I see them all the time I'm a School employee so we're always doing things of service every day through the hours in gler Township and around so um that's all I have to share today but thank you for your questions um and I'm glad that we were able to answer them Mrs Walters all sorry Mr Nash okay uh just going to reiterate what what the fellow coun people are saying um I don't feel we really need to go into detail everything we do we put a lot of time in um but you have every right to ask that um but so thank you for your your words and have a great than Mrs Walters um I want to thank everybody for coming um and the police um and the new citizens um in the academy it's very um nice of them to volunteer their time it is um on their time so it's it's nice to see them coming out and learning um and thank you for letting us know um about the officers overas um as far as what I do for service um I'm a nurse I've been a nurse for almost 30 years so whether I help a patient a patient family I work inner city also as well um Along being in the school so whether it's bringing a cup of coffee for somebody's mother I'll do that for them to get through the day because they are at whether it's I went around through the township um some librarian I know collecting books so that another nurse can send these books to um her country so that kids can read them they don't have access to this so I'm doing that on my time I help with Martin Luther King Day the projects I help uh Fielder dreams be a coach for those special needs kids to give them an opportunity to play and to be part of a team um I am willing to I and I've done this in the past families in need I will go and buy clothes for their children I will buy food that day and deliver it for them no child or family should go without so if I know of something I will I will go and do it and bring people with me so if there's something that needs to be addressed something that's a concern please bring it to us we're here to help Mrs reeners i' would like to congratulate those who graduated the academy um you know it's a great thing for people get involved in and learn about our town um and to the volunteers thank them for what they do that's an amazing thing we have this Township um that citizens are able to be involved and be active and it's positive um the chief thank you for letting us know about that I'll definitely add that to my prayers um same as Tara I've been a nurse for over 30 years I've been working in the city of Camden for 30 years uh volunteered many different things through that through the schools with backpack drives and uh Christmases and all different things I picked up patients before their families have had surgery because they couldn't get there at 5:30 in the morning um so I've driven you know gotten up extra early and picked them up and brought them to the hospital uh we all do various things I think it's just in all of our DNA and that's one of the reasons that we're where we are um and I hope that the town can see that and appreciate that and get get Evol to do those positive things the way we have all done uh none of us looks for recognition for any of it um but it is what we do and it is why we're here and it is part of us thank you have a great night Mr Mar I want to thank everyone for coming out this evening uh congratulations to the uh citizens Police Academy graduates and also to our two new volunteers and uh thank you Chief and Lieutenant Fisher and your department uh for the National Night Out that was a wonderful event um very well done with that Iain a motion to adjourn there second all those in favor have a great evening over