##VIDEO ID:ejoVJxchISM## you can help El she got through a couple of pages and she needs somebody to explain it to [Applause] her you're ready we're good this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law this meeting of August 13th 2024 with instructions for internet access was included in a meeting notice sent to the buring county times and The Courier Post on February 14th 2024 and advertised in said newspapers on February 19th 2024 and February 18th 2024 respectively posted on the website and the bulletin board in the municipal building on February 14th 2024 and has remained continuously posted as required under the statute in addition a copy of this note notice is and has been available to the public and is on file in the office of the municipal clerk would you all please rise for the flx IED to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all mayor Gilmore here Montgomery here woman Evans here CL here here okay and we have minutes for regular committee minutes of July 9th and executive session minutes of July 9th I need a motion and a second motion second M CL yes M Evans yes M montomery yes M yes yes reports we have Sergeant antinucci here Sergeant would you like to give a report hello everyone nothing uh significant through report uh follow up to uh last month with the mail thing it's ongoing investigation uh so far that was the the only reported incident that happened here in hesport but as a reminder it's been going on all throughout New Jersey uh you know anything valuable I would go right to the post office and drop it off inside in the mailbox in there but uh other other than that everything's uh been good so far this uh summer uh I've been in touch with Donna getting ready for the uh Fall Fest and we'll get that all uh together as well that's all that's all I have than do thank you thank you thank you we have um reports from the tax collector code enforcement Fire official construction EMS fire department I need uh can we have a motion in a second to accept moved second Mr Mont yes M yes yes yes mayore yes we have a guests here this evening Mr tyer evening mayor and committee thank you for having me tonight I pretty much know everybody here um I'm the new not elected but I'm I'm the Freshman senator now in legislative district 8 our office is in Elwood Business Park in in Ean and if you've dealt with my predecessor Jean Stanfield nothing has changed same office same staff great staff um and I'm just here to introduce myself say hello um if there's anything we can do please feel free to give us a call I'm going to leave some brochures here uh with business cards and um if if the other thing we've been doing is a lot of proclamations and stuff like that so if you have school teams or a citizen who's done something great um let us know give us some Le way we can get proclamations and presented at a at a committee meeting or however you would like to do it um some of the the issues that we're still dealing with a lot of it is is from from covid still is unemployment our our office is still getting flooded with unemployment so if you're running into constituent that's having trouble navigating the state system let us know give us a call our our staff will be more than happy they have Liaisons for each department and they can they can help you out with that and with that that's pretty much all that I have for you tonight where would you you want me just leave it with you guys or okay thank you thank you thank you Le thank you thank you thanks so we are now open for comments from the public and this is with regards to agenda items only comments are limited to five minutes is there anyone in the room that has any comments with the agend online no one onine seeing none I'll close comments and go to ordinances ordinance 20 24-12 supplementing chapter 161 with regards to storm water control for major um development this is the first reading and introduction the public hearing and final adoption will be September 10th so I'm going to need a motion and a second but first I have um just a little correction on page 11 Table Six all the way to the right that should be a 100e with those correction I'd like to make a motion second thank you Mr yes Mr yes yes Montgomery yes may yes ordinance 2024-25 D9 with regards to the tree removal and replacement this is the first reading and introduction the public hearing and final adoption will be September 10th 202 24 need a motion in a second please motion second Miss yes M yes Mr Montgomery yes Mr CL yes mayor yes ordinance 2024-25 I need a motion in a second I'll make that motion second Mr CL yes yes M Montgomery yes yes may yes seems like the state Lees to keep us busy making amendments oh yeah so we have uh consent agenda resolutions I'd like to remove one thing from the consent agenda please remove or just move oh move it of the consent agenda yeah and and this isn't because I'm necessarily going to vote against it's just I feel that our residents would benefit from some discussion of it so could we remove um uh item D resolution 202 24-11 15-8 authorizing escra agreement with CA real estate company yeah any objections we don't need to make a motion on to move no okay so removing item D we have a through I I consent resolution we need a motion in a second motion second M EV yes M yes Mr Montgomery yes Mr CL yes mayor yes so do we want to take resolution 20241 15-8 authorizing an escrow agreement I need a motion in a second um I would like to ask uh Paulo If she wants to explain exactly what that is for the benefit of our residents thank you sure this so this is a developers escrow agreement only this allows the developer uh and the township to work through the process of informal discussions um it also does include a revisit of the adopted Redevelopment plan that does include this lot and block so there's already a Redevelopment designation for this particular area it may call for an amendment to that Redevelopment plan uh but without getting too much into the weeds it enables um the municipality and the perspective developer to work through those conversations and they transfers the cost onto that particular developer and not the taxpayers and could you explain where this property is in layman's terms sure it's the Longbridge Farm area it's the large parcel on Route 38 eastbound so the commercial land so not the the land that's being developed into the town houses and the single family homes but um the land immediately in front of that that Bard is 38 which we've always allocated to commercial okay correct all right thank you to the west to the west side of mhel yes Corner property okay so I'm still waiting for a motion in a sec I'll make a motion second CL yes Montgomery yes M Evans yes M yes mayor yes resolution 2024 d121 d8 authorizing a payments to RV Regional High School for 2024 25 school year motion second motion second M yes Mr Montgomery yes yes Mr CL yes may yes resolution 20241 22-8 approving the contract uh with fonx we need a motion in a second for digital motion second yes yes Mr Montgomery yes M yes mayor yes now you can go to work John resolution 20241 1238 authorizing the appointment and the execution of a contract for hesport Township affordable housing planner need a motion in a second motion second Mrs Evans yes Mrs yes Mr Montgomery yes Mr CL yes mayor Gilmore yes resolution 2024-25 d8 authorizing the purchase of a 2024 Ford F450 four-wheel dump truck with a snow plow I'll make that motion second Mr CL yes M yes M yes M Montgomery abstain mayor what color better be white yes white yes it'll match the rest of the fleet Oh I thought it was red okay business we have a couple of business licenses to approve we need a motion in a second I'll make that motion second Mr yes yes M Montgomery yes M yes mayor yes we're now open for comments from the public these are limited to five minutes anyone in the room yes ma'am Kitty please state your name and address c m now it's 407 Bishoff Avenue I just have a couple things uh a lot of townships open up their community centers and their senior centers for people who have asthma or breathing problems if they don't have air conditioning I I don't understand why we've never opened up the street building you have air conditioning going 24 hours a day the whole year or heat so it would have been really nice with a heat index of 105 sometimes if the some of the people that didn't have air would have had a place to go I think you ought to think about that everybody else does it and another thing I still don't understand why we can't keep water in the fridge in the street building I'm sure if I OA how many times the building was needed with the refrigerator for the 100th year anniversary which was the excuse why we couldn't keep water in there I'm sure it wasn't more than a couple times a year this year so I don't understand why they still not letting people put water in that refrigerator so that when the seniors come in if they would forget to bring a drink they could go out and get a GL a bottle of water it just doesn't make sense to me and it shouldn't make sense to you either and then um that I asked last time about my street either being widened or something because of the parking I'm sure nobody even thought about it after you left here but I think that if you're not going to allow I mean if you're not going to widen the street there should at least be a sign no parking maybe 100t from the corner so that people aren't going around people sitting there and have somebody come around the corner hit your head on and like I said last time who would be at fault me in the wrong lane or the person coming around the corner I think you should try it at least think about it and then for many years I had a container out here in the foyer that I collected things for the troops and I had the Box removed by the administrator she just didn't like it and didn't want it there anymore so it was put just taken away now even though the building area you have a whole area full of cat and dog food beds blankets towels which I think is wonderful I take stuff in there myself but now they're going to have a box out here in the foyer but you can't have a box out there for the troops I guess because there's no war our veterans don't matter thank you oh I'd hate to think that thanks Kitty thank you anyone else in the room yes thank you for the opportunity to speak um I'd like to share my opinion about request oh Janice slen 14 Heather Lane um I'd like to share my opinion about a request for an easement through Creek turn Park which will come before this committee sometime in the near future I bring it up tonight even though it's not on today's agenda while my thoughts from The Joint land use board meeting of last week are fresh in my mind and because I believe that it will be a significant decision with lasting effects I think it's appropriate for the committee to have ample time to consider the options and implications I brought copies of a letter from the environmental commission which was addressed to the J joint land use board I'd like to give a copy for everybody um and I hope you will take time to read it although it was addressed to the Joint land use board in retrospect it would have probably been more appropriate for this committee at any rate it was not allowed any time for consideration at last week's meeting prior to the board's vote on approving final amendments to the site plans for Longbridge in that letter the environmental commission describes what is at risk and in need of protection in the park my comments tonight are not as a representative of the environmental commission those are in the letter but these are based on my experience at last week's meeting and my thoughts as a resident I would like to First State my opposition to the easement because I believe it's not in the best interest of the residents of our Township our future as a town or the environment if the joint land use board meeting is any indication there will be a significant amount of pressure from the development developer to Grant the easement in fact it was implied that hesport didn't have a choice but to approve obviously you do have a choice or a vote would not be required the primary argument for the easement is that the development cannot manage all of the storm water on the property and that is true based on how it is currently proposed today is it a today it's a forest and the land is managing all of its storm water so in reality it's a matter of finding the right balance of impervious surfaces to the trees and open space um the balance between those two I think that the plan can't be too far off of that balance as it has been indicated that the pipe will only be used for 100-year storm overflow reduction of the number of structures should allow this development to be able to manage its storm water on the land owned by the developer without affecting the park this will not only benefit the residents of hesport who own the park but I believe this will also help those who purchase housing within that development the developer is currently planning so many units that the only open space allocated in that development is a huge sand pit for water retention and there are no other amenities there isn't a pool a pickleball court a clubhouse nothing so I think reducing the number of units could at least allow for a shaded area another argument I have heard is that the developer is doing the hesport residence a favor by allowing access road from bankof to the park and thus has earned the easement in my opinion in a senior development with nothing but houses access through an entranceway benefits this development as much as the township if provides the residents with a place to walk outside of their little Loop access to the public Creek turn Park and probably access to the lake at Lake View it was argued at the meeting that the pipe will rarely be used and so should be allowed it's not really the use of the pipe that I oppose rather the destruction of an area of land that hesport has been given the rare opportunity to preserve in fact because the pipe will remain mostly dry makes it even worse proposal we will be clear cutting through a previously undisturbed forest with 150y old trees ing the view from the top with fencing and the river with concrete for a mostly unused pipe and another argument was made that the size of the strip to be cleared is just a minor portion of the park sadly the proposed easement will cut straight through Irreplaceable sections of pristine forest and although maybe a Bend or two might be added that will probably only preserve one or two of the trees and once you deser disturb an area Forest like that it makes it vulnerable to invasive species while planting n native saplings and plants is important unfortunately the reality is that given the opportunity invasive species will most likely take over unless a lot of maintenance is done to remove them and protect the native plants invasive plants like Green Brier and Japanese stilt grass usually went out plans include developing sections in the park but those are primarily in the areas that are already covered by dilapidated buildings and cement and where the plan is to place other trails in the park we can and hopefully will have minimal impact making Trails which can me Ander Among The Majestic trees Creek turn Park belongs to the residents of hesport and should not be compromised for the profits of a business individual or family and I hope that you will take time to read the letter from the environmental commission and again I thank you for taking time to listen to my opinion and for all of the service and dedication that you guys provide for hayport thank you J thank you J did you want to give the what you have for us to Paula sure so she'll distribute thank youa oh I didn't know whether you had [Music] something well why save a tree but I do believe cuz I'll only print it out the board members did receive this letter prior to the meeting just so you know that didn't you board the luse board luse board so I think you have a copy and you have a copy I have one yeah but did you send that to Paula before the meeting I said it's called I oh no okay we got we got them all right so there's three additional ones got it thank you thank you anyone else in the room [Music] yes good evening Samantha loveman 2514 Creek Road I'll be short um I just want to say that I agree completely with Janice and I was at the Joint uh land board and there was a lot of residents here that opposed this easement um and one of the things that I brought up is I live on Creek Road that's where the affordable housing's going it's going to be 72 units and I bring that up because it's 72 units for us to abide by the housing the affordable housing authority right so we have to do that in order to maintain and stay in compliance whereas this company or business or individual person that is going to build on this land is stating they must do 41 units but in reality why why is that and I don't have all the information so all I can assume is it's for profit um and it's going to be at the expense of the town and like she said the park um that you know I think a lot of you have been working really hard to to get funding for so I just wanted to put out there that uh I agree and uh would like to see that we oppose the easement so thank you thank you than sir anyone else in the room yes sir hi good evening Jeff Noble proud 20-year resident of psport uh first time speaking address my address 8 charer Circle um I just wanted to point out in the last month I had two very fortunate experiences to see our state police in action uh one time was a minor motor vehicle accident on Route 38 there were no injuries but there was Lane blockage I called the not emergency number for the State Police and uh very proud to report that the troopers were there within 60 seconds um I trust they weren't on 295 I want to dispel some of those rumors that we often hear that the Troopers are out patrolling somewhere else I personally saw that when I called they were there within 60 seconds and not only were they there but the two young Troopers um did an exceptional job and then second um one of my neighbors uh came to me and told me uh that they had an incident with the state police as well where um a teen daughter was going through a mental health crisis and they called the state police and the state police responded also in a very timely manner and the Troopers did an outstanding job and the Troopers spoke with compassion they offered their family services and uh pointers and network them with the appropriate uh facilities and services that are available to them in Burlington County so I just want to take a moment and commend I think sometimes we hear some of the negativity and some of it may be grounded some may not but at least in my experience uh in the last 30 days there were two exceptional uh moments when our our state police responded well and secondly be remiss if I didn't commend the entire committee on the incredible uh 100-year celebration that we're all fortunate to have I want to thank you all for your efforts that was truly a remarkable proud day for all thank you for your time thank you thanks Jeff thanks anyone else in the room anyone online no one's online seeing no one I'll close comments from the public and comments from the administrator all right I'm happy to report that we received final judgement of compliance for our third round affordable housing obligation uh that was uh achieved i' like to thank uh our solicitor as well as our current affordable well our round three affordable housing planner Megan York with cgp and um and everyone for their outstanding work on this very daunting Endeavor um so one ends and another begins um so this third round is only good through uh it actually expires July 1st of next year um um as John put it uh there's no rest for the weary so we're already assembling for the fourth round as evident by your appointment of our new round for affordable housing planner Leah Fury Bruder um she's an exceptional planner and I'm excited to be working with her uh we're already scheduled for next week to have a meeting for Megan to pass the torch on to Leah and for us to regroup and start talking about fourth round compliance uh we are having a pre-construction meeting with Shore toop construction this Thursday morning for the Reconstruction of the Municipal Park hockey rink uh the tennis court which will also include a new perimeter fence and Chase Park tennis and basketball courts um alongside of that work our public works department is going to be installing new tables and benches so they're going to do that they're in but we're going to wait until that reconstruction starts on the courts before we install those so nice little refresh for Chase Park yay um I did have a a formal meeting with Scott Taylor uh last week to formalize um and map out the phase work uh phase one work at Creek turn park now that we've received our grant uh confirmation from Green Acres our DCA Grant confirmation um the recreation Opportunity Grant and our CFO has confirmed that we have budgeted and appropriated our Capital Improvement funds so we've got a significant Bank of money there ready to be spent um so I'm excited about that and so with Scott um Jen our clerk um is going to be starting her courses this September for um municipal clerk certification um so it's a great timing because we will not have the privilege of Donna mle's assistance um you know we pulled her out of retirement to help us out in the office and I want to thank her for all of her help she's ensured we've had a seamless transition we absolutely did not skip a beat um and she's helped out as well with a lot of other matters and she's been training Jens over the past couple months so great timing for Jen to uh to start now on her clerk certification what do you have now zoning what else technical assistant recycling by the time she's done she's can now do it all then I can retire move on no you see how she slipped that yeah yeah I see I see it the okay all right and then finally our tax collector has been super busy um collecting our third quarter taxes so a lot of of lot of activity going on in the building this this week indeed and last week thank you thank you comments from the solicitor nothing from us comments from the committee Mrs Evans yes uh I would like to congratulate Jag physical therapy on the new premises I think we all attended the um the opening of that and it was a lovely event uh the Green Team submitted the uh sustainable Jersey certification for the final round um on July the 31st it is possible just about that we might get our certification in September if not I believe we'll definitely get it in March because we've got another couple of projects on the burner that will get us the points and the priority actions that we need so thanks to everyone in the Green Team and everyone who's helped me with all the documents Etc Jen the committee Paula um for getting that together I'm also very happy that we are starting the process of digitizing our documents which was one of the uh resolutions that we passed tonight I do want to respond to a couple of the statements made in public comment firstly Kitty I think it's an excellent idea to open the street Center for people who need air conditioning when the heat index is above a certain level and I don't know how we push that forward but I'm sure somebody will right other other townships do it other County buildings do it I don't see why we shouldn't so thank you for that idea um now about the easement I don't want to respond to Sam and Janice uh I as you know voted against um having the easement giving the easement when it first came up before us and nothing that I've heard since then has changed my mind I do not think this is the best thing for the residents of hansport I don't think it's good for the park um I don't think that we've spent enough time thinking about the impact of that it feels like the project has been very rushed and it has the sense of a it's always been a done deal that this was going to happen I would be in favor of slowing down thinking about it this is the first I've heard tonight of the possibility that if we reduce the number of units in this development or maybe made some of them single family homes with large yards then we wouldn't even need this 100-year storm water overflow pipe I I would like to have some time to explore that fully and so when it comes up again I will plan on voting against it again uh that's it thank you very much thank you all for coming okay Mrs tordy uh yes so um as a member of the J Love board I I'm heavily involved in these decisions so I want to make sure that everybody understood what we were doing last week we were voting on whether the developer upheld their end of an agreement that was made with Creek View and the developer and when I came into the meeting I spoke with our professionals and I was advised that oh yes they had and in fact the New Jersey Environmental Protection Agency had um gave G gave the okay for this and in fact they went above and beyond what was requested of them so what we were voting on is whether the agreement they met their end of the agreement and they had so that's why I voted yes knowing full well that the environmental issues come back to us and that they are going to be given a great amount of consideration and our planner is willing to work with you Janice I think you had excellent presentation today I think what you have your input is invaluable so but having said that at the last meeting the questions were who's paying for the pipe is it going to raise our taxes and I said I would get the answers to these questions so I'm just going to put it on the record that the pipe does not belong to the township it belongs to the developer we will not be paying to build it we will not be maintaining the pipe we will not be responsible for repairs and your taxes will not be going up in fact in fact our taxes our base may increase a little bit with this development so and I know that the other issue was the Clean Water Act and that was brought up a couple times we're not responsible for that because we do not own the pipe okay so um just I think most people know that by now but for those who did not hear that I wanted to make sure we're not responsible for the pipe um so let's see so the easement as you know the environmental issues will be coming back to us but not only do we have to worry about the strip where the pipe is we have to worry about the whole park so we really have to work hard on that and do as as much as we can to keep that environmental safe protected as much as we can and that's our issue that was not the JBS that's ours um and as far as the number of the homes going in there that would have been an excellent suggestion two years ago but unfortunately we have the contract with the developer and we have to honor that the only way that would ever happen is if the developer themselves decided to back up with two houses that's nothing that we can do um here at the township so having said that the issue goes on we still have a lot of work work to do we're excited about the park and we are very concerned about the environment um so having said that the concerts that we're be having in the park the weather has become an issue regarding them and we've had to cancel some but we were able to get another one in recently with Charlie and Tad it was very very well attended um it was a great night we have one more coming up on August 18th loose Bandits contemporary Rock Jazz and soul and also we will have a movie on night on August 30th and our t-shirts and our flags and our mugs and our ornaments will all be available for purchase okay so thank you God bless you God bless hesport God bless America thank you Mr CL uh thank you all for coming I just want to I don't want to get into no storm water pipes or anything like that so I'm let that up you um good I did want to mention about the state troopers uh I too had an incident I guess about a month ago where they knocked on my door and they needed a a wellness call for my neighbor they were very professional they couldn't get in our house I had a key and luckily she was just asleep for a while you know we didn't know that but uh every experience I've ever had with the state troopers has been 100% professional and uh I I I think that's uh you know I second the comments earlier that's it thank you thank you Mr MC um yes thank you all for coming um proud that we offer a tax break for 100% disabled veterans that we had approved today um also uh there is um a scarecrow competition as part of our 100th anniversary celebration September 28th the deadline is 9:17 so there's a application and some information posted on the website but also uh like to thank Janice Len for her um her letter her pres presentation and it was boy it was right a five minutes to that was great um and uh I as a former Boy Scout and a member of the environmental commission I'm concerned about that as well I appreciate um committee woman toy making some clarification on some of those things from that meeting as well I'd like to congratulate once again Paul and our Administration for securing a grant of over $184,000 for the resurfacing projects that was paid and that was from uh New Jersey Department of Transportation and being able to negotiate a contract that matched that um and then that's it for me thank you okay thank you well I'd like to um thank you all for coming especially Senator it was a pleasure to have you and see you again um it has been a very busy uh week for everyone here in the township building I'd like to thank all of our um employees um for the hard work and positive attitude they've been putting forth with all the tax money being collected reports being made and Corrections to corrected Corrections and mandated Corrections um I saw public works out uh picking up Storm damaged you know limbs that have um been going on we've had a a rough couple of weeks with the storms um and it's it's great to see um this Township has a team that works together and works very hard uh for the people of the town and and um that being said uh tomorrow is officially National creamsicle day and I uh would like to make a motion that we celebrate that day with our team here and um I will go out and pick up pric go for everyone oh I second that motion and with that being said um I'd like to pay some bills oh I'd like to make a motion if I may make a request first uh to amend the bill list I have two changes okay uh first is a request to add purchase order 24- 0047 uh to New Jersey Department of Labor in the amount of $532 5 and I believe that is for unemployment or contribution and then the second request is is uh an amend amended amount to purchase order 24- 0419 from $2,866 to $2,966 it's an increase of $100 it's an added service fee that was omitted right okay I'd like to make a motion with the uh to the amended bll list the amended Bill list that we pay them I'll second that yes yes Mr yes yes may yes and with that see said I need a motion to motion to adjourn okay second all favor all right thank coming thank you Le and thank you very much for coming yes thank you appreciate it thanks for the brur not going to be happy is that is that a record n it's not a record no it's not a record I think our lowest is like 18 minutes