called the January 16th 2024 Hamilton Township council meeting to order the meeting is being held with benefit of public notice as required by the open public meetings act Madam clerk can you please call the role Mr yes Mr whan here Mr Ty here Mr parelli here miss Phillips is absent this evening I just want to um before we jump into the agenda I just wanted to uh provide One update um to tonight's agenda um that was posted on the website there's a correction to resolution titled CA 44 24- 049 the amount has changed from 90,000 to 60,000 under that uh Professional Services contract said um can I please have a motion on the amendments to the agenda I'll make that motion second on the motion Mr yes Mr wh yes yes carabell yes can we now please stand for the flag salute and please remain standing for the invocation I pled to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for dear God source of all hope and mercy pray pray for this country State and Township may we grow with a strong compassion and generosity for others and may this government represent and be responsive to the needs and concerns of the public we make all these intentions in your name amen amen amen so before we jump into executive session I just wanted to um because I know some members uh from the nursing Community are here for resolution 124 063 the resolution in support of um assembly bills a 4536 and s304 establishing the minimum Registered Nursing staff standards for hospitals and uh ambulatory surgical facilities so I know members are here this evening um are there any comments from our Council body uh before we bring them up to make some coms as well so we're going to pull this out of order and uh push to the top of agenda council president thank you no I'm I'm glad to uh support this this agenda I appreciate the nurses and your activism uh and bringing this issue to our attention um this was uh originally sponsored last year by both Senator Greenstein and our now former assemblyman Benson uh so it was uh easy for me to get information and have confidence uh in that uh but certainly we've all seen uh any of us who have had the misfortune to even need to visit a loved one uh that you know our nurses have a large uh burden that they carry obviously important work so we appreciate you I'm glad to support this tonight I agree with the councilman Tai's comments uh I I'm happy to support the resolution and I'll just State I I'm I'm happy that we're uh at this point that we have this resolution before us and it goes into folks if they haven't been able to take a look at the resolution it goes into the specific standards nurse to Patient ratios and spells that out um so any comments from uh the public the public on this on this topic minut good evening hi you can just state your name and of course Kobe Walsh from Robins um just an update we have about 20 one thank you so much for your support um we have about 20 to 20 22 22 Towns now that have passed the resolution um we have been at Trenton quite a few times I think about eight times now um and we were just there last week and um they brought it to a hearing for the Senate so that is the first time um in the 20 years so it was um Senator Vitali is the sponsor sponsor of it yes thank you and um it was actually very interesting we were able to listen to not only our Union president speak but a lot of um other nursing um unions speak um and then they also had the flip side where they had a hospital CEO they had a nurse manager um and the president of the American Hospital Association for New Jersey speak why it is not important um so it was very interesting to to hear both sides and to kind of watch the Senators like question both sides and uh Senator Vitali was a huge support for us so we you know this we're starting here and and we're we're just going to keep on going even though we're back at work now like we talked about the first time it's not just about our hospital at Robert Wood in New Brunswick um it is about every Hospital in New Jersey and getting everybody safe Staffing Kobe uh any sense on when it may make its way of of uh comme no no no none at all but the fact that they even have a hearing on it is huge for us yeah definitely what what's the percentage I I I I don't know what it is but what's the percentage of the nurses in the state of New Jersey that are signed to a collective bargain agreement so it's interesting I do believe we talked about that yeah there isn't many I want to say there's probably only eight hospitals at the most um in New Jersey that are union so the rest are not which that's where it brings a a battle for us is they it's hard for them to come out and support because they can be let go for any reason they don't they don't have a union to back them up so we tried to get nurses to come to our picket lines and and help us but we only found that nurses that had a union that could back them up and protect them at their job were they the ones that were able to come and support so they basically support it but they have to stay quiet about it yes that's a shame yeah and we have some nurses that work in other Hospital and even they said they've talked in those hospitals and people are like I need my job so that's what our fight is for is that they may need their job but those patients need to have safe Staffing and those nurses need to be able to work safely so that's why we continue and of the 21 municipalities that signed on um how many are from Mercer do you have a a sense of of the 12 others Robinsville just did Robinsville just did um East Windsor is either did or in the work um Hamilton a lot of them are more from like North Brunswick we did have yeah we did have the support of our assemblymen um I think what they were trying to do too was in the beginning focus on uh the counties that did not okay great thank you K I appreciate all your activism this this ordinance okay sorry no no problem any other questions from the public can let them know there's more agendas in the back okay just for everyone's uh attention there are more agendas that are in the back of the room uh if anyone needs one you can find them back there um so no more comments on this resolution I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion on resolution uh 12463 three can I have a second I'll second that roll call Madam clerk Mr pero yes Mr wh yes yes Mr Carabelli yes 5 Z Madam clerk now I just want to jump um us back to the uh executive session portion I'm sorry um so can I have a motion to recess as the township Council and convene as the Board of Health I'll make the motion can I get a second second on the motion Mr pap yes Mr yes Mr yes later all right okay director Kathy Fitz Fitzgerald can uh you please St step up to the podium I appreciate you being here this [Music] evening Kathy I know that you like to you first present um to us um just tell me is it am I following along here this is Chris's you'll follow along with Chris on that um memo that he gave you earlier I'm just doing an opening statement all right and uh we're going to make this as short tonight as we can um without being repetitive um i' just like to thank you all it's a pleasure for us to be here this evening to give our report as the um Health Department to the Township Board of Health um our Hamilton Township division of health is dedicated to the maintaining of the health and well-being of all of our residents and Visitors by means of prevention health promotion and education to keep us up to date on the accomplishments of our division of Health we invite our board members as well as our residents to take a moment to visit our Township website and read the Township's Health annual report in addition our animal shelter and Adoption Center posts monthly statistics on our shelter web page this evening we will provide you with a public health update of our goals and objectives as well as the accomplishments of our department our health department continues to provide the state mandated services and our animal shelter continues to provide the best quality of care to our animals that live in our shelter and I again am proud to say that we do have undoubtedly the best health department and I am very proud of them as you always know we have proven repetitively that we especially during the last four years our commitment providing the 10 of Public Health essential services including protecting and promoting of all residents in Hamilton our health department staff are true leaders in their areas of expertise and we can be confident that they will continue to protect and promote the health of our residents in our community and with that I'd like to bring forth our health officer Chris Helwig for his report thank you thank you Kathy Chris thank you for being here this evening good evening Board of Health uh members and residents under the direction of director fritzgerald the division of Health continues to promote healthful behaviors to protect the well-being of those who work live and play in Hamilton in accordance with the public health practice standards of performance for local Boards of Health this includes our animal shelter where our number one priority Remains the care and safety of the animals at the shelter I'm happy to report to the board that the division continues to meet its ongoing Public Health obligations this year will be the year of accreditation for the division of Health this is a multidisiplinary multi-year long process that we are now entering the Final Phase I'm pleased to have with me our health educator Veronica Eisman she has been instrumental in getting the division to this point and I will now turn it over to miss Eisenman to provide a brief overview hi Veronica hello good evening thank you for having me today my name is Veronica and I'm the health educator and accreditation coordinator for the division of Health today I'll be providing you with a brief update on the divisions accreditation efforts in October of 2023 we submitted our application for initial accreditation with the public health accreditation board also known as Fab Fab has a guide called the standards and measures which acts like a rubric outlining the requirements each document we provide must meet to show that we have fully demonstrated the measures there are 77 separate measures in which we will submit documentation for our deadline to collect and submit all the documentation is October of 2024 currently we are working toward collecting documentation to submit for each of the measures overall the documents we submit show that we are providing the fundamental Public Health Services to the community some examples of the documentation include showing evidence of Staff trainings in the respective areas how the division promotes public Public Health as a career choice our emergency and Non-Emergency communication plans and examples of our health education and Outreach activities within the community some of the larger projects I've been working on recently include finalizing our Workforce Development plan and our quality improvement and Performance Management plan the division is currently using a web-based performance management system designed for public health it's called bmsg I've been working to build out this system and train staff on how to use it so the division can streamline data collection and efficiently track our activities in real time the accreditation process has been a collaborative effort led by the division of health staff our team has been able to work together to ensure the measures are met and along the way we have improved our teamwork communication and overall efficiency grant funding has also been available to help support the costs for accreditation the division is dedicated to the accreditation process and appreciates your continued support thank you I'm extremely proud of the work Miss Eisman and the rest of the staff at the division of Health have put into this process it's truly a team effort accreditation is not something that can be dictated down the chain and to be successful we really need the Buy in of all levels of staff and this is something I'm happy to report that we have as I'm sure most are aware or have first experience with we are right in the smack of the middle of respiratory virus season thankfully vaccines we have the vaccines we have are effective if you still have not received your annual flu shot or updated covid-19 vaccination it's not too late while the divisions mask vaccination clinics have mostly wrapped up for the season we still have vaccine available should anyone be interested residents can simply contact our Public Health nursing staff to make an appointment it's important for uh parents of young children aged 6 to 59 months and enrolled in preschool or daycare to remember that as as of December 31st their children need their annual flu shot to stay within School our Public Health nurses are out in the field now conducting immunization audits of all of our schools dayc carees and preschools to ensure compliance with the state's immunization code in um our environmental inspector has once again completed all required inspections in 2023 this includes retail food recreational bathing Lead Animal facilities youth camps massage body art and Public Health nuisances new for 2024 we have launched our gov pilot online license renewal and payment modules for our retail food establishments and temporary mobile food establishments and as a reminder to Residents who are interested in reviewing in establishments latest inspection score they can search through our online database that is available online at Hamilton nj.com Environmental Health at the animal shelter our staff are busy ensuring that all animals in the Township's care have a healthy and safe environment living environment each month we post an update uh for year-to-date statistics for the shelter on our website but it's important to remember that 7 days a week including holidays staff are at the shelter making sure the animals have food water a clean habitat and medication as needed just a bare minimum of care takes 15 minutes per animal as of today our current census is 40 dogs um we have 30 runs which means we have 40 uh four dogs in crates 46 cats and five uh other animals four rabbits and one feret for a total of 91 animals at the shelter based on the current shelter sta uh statistics uh that is 22.75 hours each day of Staff time just for the basic care of animals at the shelter this does not include the time needed to take dogs for walks socialize animals or conduct behavioral assessments for example nor does it take take into account the time it takes to work with potential adopters or other administrative tasks throughout 2023 the average number the daily number of dogs at the shelter was 38.4 obviously we don't have 04 dogs but the moral is that we have more dogs on a daily basis than we have runs this means that we're consistently have been over capacity only 94 out of the 365 days last year the shelter had less than 36 dogs the lowest number number of dogs that the shelter housed in 2023 was 30 and that only lasted for 5 days last year was very challenging not only for the Hamilton Township Animal Shelter but also for shelters and rescue organizations across the country who have consistently been overc capacity for weeks or months and struggle to find homes for the animals in their care even in this difficult environment we've been able to maintain our no kill shelter status and have had a live release rate of 96.4% in 2023 16 of our 18 uh youth in ASAS were due to medical reasons and only two were based on aggression the shelter continues to surpass The Benchmark of 90% Liber release rate and still and is still considered a no kill shelter where no animal is euthanized because of space or time limits we've had a total intake of 525 animals this year leading to 310 adoptions 51 uh pets that were returned to their owners and 18 animals were transferred to rescue and 18 animals were humanely euthanized in 2023 our acos responded to 92% of requests for after hour response from the police department and the division continues to seek an agreement with the city of Triton for redundant backup coverage for animal control in the event T of personnel are unavailable to some uh the agreement has been sent to the city but has yet uh not been executed the 2024 dog licensing cycle is now in progress and all dog owners in Hamilton should log on to our gov pilot module to apply for their 2024 license which is our perfor method or visit the shelter in person to apply in order to renew your dog's license the rabies vaccine must be valid through at least November 1st of 24 and the shelter hosts free rabies clinics at the McManaman Building located on Skol AV uh residents can pre-register for the arabus clinic which um are held monthly for the first couple months in the beginning of the year um and this saves time for residents as all they have to do is show up all their information is pre uh pre-filled out and uh they can quickly um get in and get out um at the rabies clinic um we do uh ask that all residents do take advantage of whether they get the free rabies our free Rab's clinic or through their vet as whether or not your pet is an indoor pet or outdoor pet it is extremely important for them to be vaccinated and protected against rabies as always all of our shelters monthly statistics including intakes adoptions and other metrics are found online at hamilton.com animal shelter going back to 2020 thank you again for allowing me to give you a brief overview of the hard work and dedicate the dedicated team that the division has completed since the last Board of Health meeting and we are now in the process of completing our 2023 annual report for the division of health and I will transmit a copy to the board as as soon as it's been presented to the administration I'm available for any questions the board might have and thank you Chris I I just uh and this may be answered Veronica or Chris um just as it pertains to going back to the uh the accreditation so this has been an ongoing process over the last several years correct that we've been uh compiling this information and with this accreditation um when when would we hear back from is it the state of New Jersey uh um Department of Health is where is this accreditation actually uh so the the accreditation body is um Fab or the public health accreditation board okay I see that U which is a national nonprofit that is funded from you know Federal and other nonprofit dollars and also the fees that um that cost go the accreditation costs go into uh and that benchmarks us across the board through for all Health departments so whether that is state local or tribal um they are the accreditation body across the board so um verica might have a better timeline but our um we have to have everything submitted by October of 24 so all of our documents would go into an online system and then after that there is uh an X number of days timeline where they will um review all those documents and then provide feedback so either they'll accept the documents or they might have some questions uh and we might have to provide follow-up documentation there where do we stand uh in comparison to other towns or municipalities um in this accreditation process are other are you aware of other towns that are going for it are other towns already accreditated uh just if you could give so here in Mercer um uh Princeton is the only fully accredited Health Department um and the State Health Department is also accredited uh locally um Camden would be the next and then I think Mammoth Regional Health commission and Montgomery health department and and then up north it's Bloomfield so there's only a handful in the state that are actually um accredited there's a number that are moving through the process um I don't really have a great handle on where folks are but I believe we're on the the the front end of that um and kind of leading the pack on accreditation besides the um I guess the uh recognition that it brings are there any benefits uh as well as the recognition yeah I think the the biggest benefit really is going to be you know the documentation the efficiency and really just like the the even decision- making from the ground up at the health department um so it's really just making sure all of our duction a row we are benchmarked against you know Health departments throughout different sizes throughout the country and it demonstrates that we're show we're actually do the work that you know Health departments really should be and making sure that you know we live in a healthful you know environment but also the fact that we're being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and we're working as efficiently as possible and we have the data to to back that up well thank you for both your efforts in this in this uh in this cause and I look forward to further updates uh when you get a little bit further along uh with this process but we think that we're going to be submitting sometime in this summer we have to you know I'm not to you know blow up Veronica spot but you know she can't get married until you know until we do this so get this done go ahead so our our goal is really is September but our deadline is so we have once we have did the application for the initial um uh accreditation you have a year to submit everything so our clock started October of 23 so now we have until October of 24 but our goal is September of 24 to make sure that everything is submitted okay do you know the turnaround time once you've submitted all the required and it's okay if you don't I mean it's a an offthe cuff question um so once you submit they review all the documents and then I believe it's 30 to 45 days if they have any questions or they need any updated information um so there's that time frame and then the next steps from there is they would do what's called a site visit so we'd actually have representatives from fab coming to the health department and kind of watching us in action uh to ensure that all the documents that we submitted were actually following those policies and you know being the great health department that we are um and then after the site visit that's when the decision will be made um whether we're accredited and then we maintain that status for 5 years and then after 5 years we submit for re accreditation which is is um still submitting documents but we have done all the leg work with the accreditation process so it's less cumbersome once you're accredited thank you thank you very nice yeah a question Chris um the shelter is obviously overcrowded yes is there anything else that we can do um to get some of the dogs either seen I know they're being put up on online and stuff like that is there any other way that we can help try and get them some of the more dogs adopted yeah so we are working with um you know the you know folks in the mayor's office and their team to revamp our website internally and then also making sure that um the animals are posted faster on social media and then also on pep point and making sure that those um the photos are at least are are fresher and we're getting on a schedule this year that's one you know a couple tasks that we're trying to implement in the in the new year and and we've started that process um really I guess the biggest ask is you know whether it's from you know the board Council the administration members of the public is really you know um if they have connections they have people interested in trying to get you know um you know animals out we that's what our biggest goal is is trying to get them in front and we're you know we're open to new ideas um and and going from there but um we do have a a plan that the you know that Kathy and I are you know yes far submitting as far as budget so we're hopeful to you know talk through that um you know at Future meetings and seeing where you know what we can do to you know improve our um you know resources at the shelter to get more animals Heth if there's anything you can do please us um I'm good so Chris um I can 22.75 hours each day to provide the minimum level of care to each animal when we're at maximum capacity uh yeah so that is that would be the actual for today so as based on today's num based to and we've been chronically over uh yes over over our over our limit over our not our limmit but our uh space yeah capacity thank you that was the word I was looking for so I continue to be concerned about the man hours um and the uh Staffing levels and the ability to do more than just uh provide the minimum level of care by the way I appreciate the professionalism I appreciate um the level of care that is being given um but I'm concerned that you know dogs aren't being taken for a walk um and I think in the budget upcoming budget we got to we got to look at this and see really look at the man-hours needed to provide not just the minimum level of care but to make sure that dogs are being taken for walks right and um you know acos can respond to calls you know so um another area of concern is things seem to have installed with Trenton with the shared services agreement uh are there any other alternative Avenues to get additional AAL coverage for for the township uh that we perhaps we should start exploring them if there are um yeah like uh like I said we are you know we submitted a proposal to the administration um and we're looking forward to reviewing that uh during budget hearing now one other thing I know that you've increased the partnership with rescue organizations and and I appreciate that uh we were able to place I know the number was in here somewhere um is is there anything we can do to continue to build on the success that you've had there you know I you know and the rescue are just as kind of overwhelmed as as you know the rest of the shelters and and and are so but again if anybody has connections you know we def we one success that we had you know this year was you know we did have um one dog who had uh severe medical um related um costs associated with it in between you know um our you know Animal Advocates in the community they were able to link us up with um a they fundraised on our behalf which we very much appreciate uh and they were also able to link with a rescue and pull those dogs and I think I pull that dog and place it into a Foster and it was just you know it was a good story and hopefully that dog is uh uh Finds Its forever home as well but I think our biggest ask is if there are connections or uh and I know that that changes on a daily basis but I think if there's an open somebody here is like oh this rescue can pull a dog letting us know me Danielle Kathy and then you know making that linkage and I think just continuously trying to get more more um dogs out into the shelter which then frees up space um because we really at this point you know being chronically full means we can't take owner surrenders we can only we're only really taking in Strays at this point unless it's like you know a dire safekeep situation and uh and we're helping out a resident but um without empty runs or empty kennels you know we can't we can't take owner surrenders because there's no space for it so it's um so which is unfortunate last point I just want to thank you and Kathy and the whole team for all the work you're doing toward the certification um to me one of the benefits of that is every resident of this Township can be confident that we have a health department that is uh pursuing best practices pursuing constant Improvement in how they provide services uh to our uh residents and the fact that out of 500 what 565 municipalities I think there are roughly in the state of New Jersey we're one of less than 10 to achieve this level of Excellence I I want to commend the whole team for the work being done there thank you very good any other questions from no our board any questions from the public regarding the Board of Health see none can I have a motion to adjourn as the Board of Health and reconvene as the township Council I'll make the motion I'll second on the motion Mr paparo yes Mr wh yes Mr Ty yes Mr carabell yes thank you all three of you thank you uh Chris Kathy and Veronica um for that report this evening and uh we'll see you in a I guess budget season all right thank you so much thank you okay thank you safe track travels tonight yes yes everyone else as well thank you okay Madam clerk that brings us to um minutes for your consideration I have four sets of minutes from 2023 uh regular council meeting minutes of October 3rd October 17th November 21st and December 5th thank council president I move uh minutes M1 through M4 second roll call Mam cler Mr Poo yes Mr wh yes yes yes okay that brings us now to Communications communication C1 is a joint Commendation commemorating Martin Luther King Jr day Monday January 15 2024 living the dream it starts with me spreading hope courage and unity commemorating commemorating Martin Luther King Jr day Monday January 15th 2024 living the dream it starts with me spreading hope courage and unity whereas the com commemoration of the Martin Luther King Jr holiday affirms The Life and Legacy of Dr King a man who brought hope and healing to America through his tireless promotion of the values of Courage truth justice compassion dignity humility and whereas this celebration honors the contributions of of America's greatest champion of racial Justice and equality a leader who not only dreamed of a society blind to color but who led an historic movement that achieved extraordinary reforms to make such a society a reality now therefore be it jointly resolved by Mayor Jeffrey s Martin and the Council of the township of Hamilton in the county of Mercer and state of New Jersey that by celebrating Martin Luther King junor day we are granted the opportunity to reflect on Dr King's great dream of a multi-racial Nation United in the virtues of justice peace and Reconciliation and be it further resolved that by honoring Martin Luther King we acknowledge the values of equality tolerance and interracial sister and Brotherhood that Dr King so passionately expressed in his great dream for America and be it further resolved that the of Hamilton hereby continue to recognize those leaders and citizens who exemplify the vibrant Spirit esposed by Dr King through their personal commitments to serve their fellow man in furtherance of Dr King's dream and hope of a Nation where all citizens enjoy the equal protection of the law and share an equal opportunity for life liberty and the pursuit of happiness thank you councilman peraro and uh I just want to add uh while we're on that note I was able to uh attend on Wednesday with the mayor the uh Faith Baptist Church puts on a beautiful uh uh presentation um the Steiner jazz band was there they do a great job along with um three recipients of scholarship Awards who uh two were from Steiner and one was from um Trenton Catholic Preparatory Academy uh just couldn't be more um um more accepting and gracious but also they they deserved it uh they were three uh really um with some longlisted uh resume um of um extracurricular activity and events that they were involved with so it was it was really a great event uh kicked off by the keyot by the assembly woman uh tenel McCoy so just want to thank you councilman prepar for reading that um and can I have uh we can do these on one Motion One motion let's do that and so for your consideration we have item C2 joint accommodation recognizing January as radon action month okay so this Proclamation whereas according to the center of Disease Control radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is the second leading cause of lung cancer and whereas prolonged exposure to radon has the potential to kill as many as 500 people in New Jersey annually and one in 15 homes Nationwide have high levels of radon and whereas FL families who reside in homes with elevated radon levels are at risk of developing serious health problems and any home could have high Ron levels even when neighboring homes do not and whereas the only way to know if your home is unsafe has unsafe levels of raidon is by testing which can be done with great ease and relatively low expense to the homeowner with the cost of reducing radon concent ation being comparable to home repair and whereas Hamilton Township partners with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the United States environmental um Protection Agency to collaborate during the month of January to promote the needed for radon testing in an effort to protect the lives of our residents and now therefore be it jointly resolved by the Mayor Jeffrey s Martin and the Hamilton Township Council recognizing the month of January 24 as radon action month thank you councilman will next is communication C3 this is for the Girl Scouts of central south southern New Jersey requesting permission to conduct cookie sales at various approved GES and locations to be conducted January 11th retro through March uh 2024 I already bought my cookies I wanted the stop so council president I move uh Communications C1 through C3 can I have a second second roll call Madam clerk Mr paparo yes Mr wellan yes Mr Ty yes Mr Carabelli yes uh resolution 2 24- 064 is a resolution authorizing an amendment to resolution number 23-5 of Hamilton Township Mercer County state of New Jersey supporting blazing brown sugar llc's application to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission for class 5 cannabis retail and dispensary license and this is just cleaning up um it incorrectly identified the applicant before as blazing brown sugar sugar LLC um as Buzz buzzed buds um and now this is going to um that solely blazing brown sugar LLC sugar LLC will be applying to the CRC for the license um and the uh Buzz buds only be the operator correct so just wanted to make that that yeah ex any questions from uh Council no questions from uh the public regarding this resolution seeing none C motion I'm going to understand okay yeah council president I move on resolution 22464 a second motion on the motion Mr paparo yes Mr whan yes yes Mr Ty I'm going to abstain due to my work with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Mr caral yes 401 okay that brings us now to our consent agenda I'm just going to give a quick and brief summary of some of the agenda items that we have listed uh here this evening we have reappointments of our ba uh annual reappointments uh from our ba our health director uh Kathy Fitzgerald our Public Works director uh Municipal attorney engineer our wonderful Municipal attorney I'll say that uh engineer our water pollution control and economic development and Community Development uh to their respective position now I feel like I got to say wonderful to Kathy so sorry Kathy oh fabulous I'll change it up um you also find Council assignments uh to committees and boards for 2024 so get to work guys and then other appointments from Township residents to zoning Ed uh Economic Development advisory commission there's been two appointments uh that we have in one for each of those um two boards uh then we have resolution ca6 which is an application for for um reimbursement or Grant application $1.15 million uh is an application for this is the kzer property 2367 ker road which sits across from nearby the rec recreation facility on or Veterans Park uh right near the Hibernians uh the property that we purchased and now we're looking to get uh Grant reimbursement for that purchase from Mercer County um and and we're going and and also the state but this one's only solely for Mercer County correct only 40 yeah this is only for 40% this is the one um yeah5 but we are you're right councilman well we are going after that funding as well uh we also have several refunds and several Professional Service um um uh entities that are listed for specific Professional Services whether they're engineering architectural services um that are on our agenda this evening so that's my quick synopsis of what's on this evening um do we have any questions from our Council uh council president I'm going to need to abstain from ca45 again uh due to overlap with my work with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority yes yes and and M M's councilman and Madame clerk uh ca39 number 24-44 uh that's when we're um appointing the law firm of Gerald J Muller PC for affordable housing his firm name has changed since the bid was submitted he now has a partner so the the law firm's name is Mueller and Bailey B i l l i e comma PC okay um it is just a typographical issue so it can still go on tonight go for tonight we will change the the language tomorrow and thank you thank you for that clarification okay do we need to make a motion to recognize that edit we can just as as amended on the record CH minor change it's the same Law Firm it's the same lawyer it's just his associate now is a named partner mhm [Applause] okay any other questions concerns regarding the consent agenda any uh comments from the public regarding the consent agenda yes [Music] Davis so me I know that it's always for tall people Jan ganic 432 trity Avenue Corel Heights first of all congratulations ladies make sure you vote Yes for those two they're very good make sure you do that and uh ca15 where are these sculptures going to be because I would like to see what they are I think they're already there um then this is just an annual agreement uh with the grounds of sculpture for these um particular pieces you know where they are are they changing the ones on clock the road or are they they're not changing any of them oh so everything staying the same but they're just adding these two no we're it's a it's a renewal renewal of oh they're already there oh okay cu the lunch break one a lot of a lot of what we're doing tonight is a renewal of of existing agreements and existing appointments Oh I thought they were noes okay it's our our first real business of the year so we're we're going through a lot of these uh contracts tonight that's why the consent agenda is so big yeah it was okay thank you thank you any other questions from the public seeing none uh Mr President I will make a motion to move consent agenda items CA 1 through CA 57 I believe can I have a second second roll call Madam CL study on the motion Mr PaPeRo yes oh Mr whan Yes except CA 10 I have to abstain Mr Ty Yes except for ca45 which I'm abstaining from uh Mr Caravel yes resolution passed with the uh voice extensions the amendment yes okay that brings us now to ordinances ordinance 124001 is an ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the township of pamilton New Jersey chapter 485 vehicles in traffic Article 2 parking section 4859 handicap parking this is repealing spaces established at 19 Edward Court space located on Carl Su drive by ordinance number 18-49 and 2336 South Clinton Avenue space located on ligher street by ordinance number 04022 this is first reading and introduction council president I move ordinance 24-1 on first reading I'll second the motion can roll call on the motion Mr PaPeRo yes Mr whan yes Mr yes Mr harab yes ordinance 2 24-2 is amending and supplementing the code of the township of fam in New Jersey chapter 485 vehicles and traffic Article 2 parking Section 485-1961 chinnick Street 524 East how excuse me Hal with the space to be located on berken Street 71 Lafayette Avenue 2300 Liberty Street with a space located on Charlotte Avenue and 31 mlen Avenue and 110a work Avenue this is first reading and introduction Mr President uh make the motion to um introduce ordinance 2242 on first reading thank you roll call Madam CL on the motion Mr paparo yes Mr whan yes Mr Ty yes Mr carabell yes 4 Z ordinance 3 24-3 this is a resolution amending and supplementing the code of the township of Hamilton New Jersey part two general legislation chapter 468 coling first reading and introduction council president I'll move on ordinance number 3243 I'll second motion roll call M clerk on the motion Mr paparo yes Mr wh yes Mr Ty yes Mr carelly [Music] yes okay now that brings us some comments from the public thank you mam CL first up we have uh James wal W Mr Walters hey how you doing good evening everyone good evening congratulations on your elections and reappointments James Walters SP box 8935 Hamilton New Jersey first I'm a friend of law enforcement of many law enforcement officers who are my friends I'm also an Adjunct professor of Criminal Justice teaching a lot of law forcement officers professionals Chief Executives so on and so forth as a former Sergeant with the Hamilton Township Police Department in merer County New Jersey I violently fought a police officer under my supervision because he used his knees to pin the neck and back of a female Hospital patient we 100% unequivocably and positively without a doubt knew she was in the throws of a mental health crisis which is why I ordered him to stop multiple times but he refused I reported the incident to my lieutenant because I was injured during the fight with the officer and I felt the officer's use of deadly force was not necessary in typical US versus them mentality the lieutenant told me he agreed that the officer should have used his knees to pin the neck of the female Hospital patient to the ground despite knowing the female was in the throws of a mental health crisis Lieutenant's training command experience led him to believe and say I was wrong for stopping the officer he later doubled down on his belief and told investigators he was confused as to why I Sergeant Walters former obviously retired even intervened the Lieutenant's Authority powerful and unchecked allowed him to retire with no discipline the police officer under my supervision used his hand to slam the patient's head into the ground the police officer then placed his knee on the back of the patient's neck and shoulder blade I asked him to stop and he did not I tapped him on his leg and advised him to stop but he did not I reissued my order for him to stop so that the patient could breathe but he refused I then grabbed his leg and began to pull it off the patient's neck while screaming take it off take it off take it off he refused A Litany of orders to remove his knees and then looked me in the eyes and said I got this sge after seeing the patient Signs of Life lost I had no choice and was forced to fight the police officer to ensure he did not kill the patient before I was injured I had been a law enforcement officer for for almost a quarter of the century and I had been a New Jersey certified EMT emergency medical technician for almost 20 years I believe the police officer was insubordinate for ignoring my orders he was in violation of Hamilton Township Police Department standard operating procedures he was in der elction of Duty for continuing the need in next strangulation Chokehold he was in violation of New Jersey use of force policies in New Jersey attorney general guidelines his use of force was inconsistent with agency policy and also in violation of the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice Additionally the force likely violated Title 18 section 242 deprivation of rights under color of law the same federal civil rights statute that officer Derek Javin was indicted for in the murder of George Floyd I'm seeking assistance for the line of duty injury but most importantly we must do a better job at ensuring police encounters with persons in a mental crisis do not have fatal outcomes thank you thank you thank you m thank you you're welcome anyone else wishing to make comment from the public yes Lisa good evening Lisa Williams Brer Lane um my questions are related to the shelter but they're more budgetary so I didn't want to raise them during the health uh Board of Health meeting on Friday there was a situation that I needed to call Animal Control at lunchtime time and needed a rapid response I was walking my dog very large dog pounced on its gate popped it open and came after us so I learned the shortfalls of the shelter phone system I called the phone number and the policy the 3550 number and I got voicemail and when you have a very large dog coming at you and your dog the last thing you want to get is voicemail but I left the voicemail and then had to call the police to get a response so I reached out today to talk to Danielle because I was curious if that line has the ability to roll over to someone else you know that's the animal control line and you know if you're calling to report an expired squirrel in the street it's okay to leave a message but if you're calling because a very large dog is now pounced on a gate popped it open is coming after you and your dog it's not good to get voicemail I learned that our system is an old analog system they only have two lines and it works just like our old call waiting systems in our homes where if they're on the phone they get a beat but you go to voicemail so I'm here to ask if we can upgrade our shelter phone system sooner rather than later because for things like what I experienced on Friday there should be a response ASAP um the I don't know who got the Animal control officer whether the voicemail got quickly forward it to ACO or the police but he did respond pretty quickly um and secured the dog who I'm not going to get into many more details about this but can we please what is the status of updating so so you left a voicemail left a voicemail and then it and then it went over to the uh police no I made a second phone call so I'm out on the street on my cell phone trying to Now dial a second phone number so what was the second phone the second phone number to the police department police department yeah I had to make two calls okay so I just think that if our policy is you call 89355 for animal related we need someone to be able to answer it there're only two lines with a lot of people working there so if you're calling for licensing adoptions maybe something that's says like if this is an emergency please hit a certain number or something like long voicemail if this is an animal emergency please call the police but by that point I'm not sure who's going to get my answer first CU you know how busy dispatch is so I've now waited for that I we really need another live person right to another live person that's there so we just recently became aware of of this issue and I think we've already had it go out there because we want to make sure that we that boun us to someone else right we're not going to wait I think sometime this year we have it scheduled to redo all the whole phone system throughout the township um and so we we want to try to do this sooner rather than later no that seems reasonable yeah yeah I mean animal animal emergencies as a public right safety scenario can we move that the shelter the top of the list please so I I don't know the status on it yet but I do know it has been out there already so I I want to before I say what any of it is I don't know apprciate and I don't even know if they can because the system might be that old that they may not be able to do that so then we have to look at other options but we're we are aware of it and we do want to resolve it now before it gets any worse thank well more more importantly were the owners notified so that they could prevent that from possibly happening again the owners were not home so this is a dog that doesn't like my dog and I cannot avoid that property given the layout of the neighborhood if I wish to get to the Firehouse or say in gardens or whatever so the dog sees my dog and it either swats or pounces on the gate if it's in the house it swats a certain window if it's on the other side of the house it jumps at the fence I yell last name your dog is loose no response I don't see any cars but you don't see my car either it's always in the garage that there was a car coming down the street that hit its horn because that car was why we were waiting the to cross the street so that got between us to give us some distance the Amazon guy helped out with his truck and talking to the dog from the truck and getting between the dog and I so I could get some distance to get back home at lunchtime on a Friday on a beautiful day I walk my dog okay so down Animal Control did respond and I passed them in the road so I brought my dog home and then grabbed my purse in my car and went for a drive to be able to keep an eye on the dog cuz honestly my second concern was I can't put my dog in my yard with this dog loose and there is a child who walks her dog after school and I didn't want her to encounter this dog loose that's not fair to anyone I know my time is up but they were not home okay and Animal Control got permission to go in the yard cuz when he got there the dog was in the house like and then I'm standing there I'm like well it's right there how's it getting out of the house the door was open that is my understanding so I'll come back cuz I have a Public Works building question Lisa is it is it a it's a fenced in property I'm sorry what is the property fenced in the backyard is fenced in but the F the gate was not adequate to prevent the dog from popping it open and getting out the gate was closed I saw the do chain link gate without a maybe need it's a vinyl fence okay you and I can talk offline I can fill you in no it's a v fence it's a very long shock you have all seen it on a video I'll leave it at that you have an email from me from September you have seen the dog what kind I it's that dog right um thank you L I'll come back I have a public any other questions from the [Music] public so first I really hate public speaking but good evening everybody just your name and address you yes your name just name okay my name so I am Christy Mason I'm a longtime resident um first I wanted to address so I'm super excited to hear about what the Department of Health is doing in all of their Endeavors it's going to be a great opportunity for Hamilton as a nurse can you put the mic to your your really love do I have to you're doing fine I'm excited about the Endeavors of the Department of Health um and I thank you all for your time this evening I would like to address what Sergeant Walter is brought up as a uh longtime nurse I'm sorry retired retired particularly a nurse who works in mental health um I would encourage the council to look into Crisis Intervention training CIT there's a symposium that goes around the state of New Jersey training officers on Crisis Intervention dealing with mental health there's also an arriv together initiative from Capital Health that would help we have Partnerships one okay okay thank you um and happy to offer my assistance because I do work in mental health so um that leads me to my final point which is I am here as a representative of Chuck's Towing one of your local Towers I'm interested in finding out what the amendments are to ordinance 24-3 or how we can get a hold of that once after the first reading introduction the ordinance is posted on the website okay so it hasn't we don't give it out prior in the event there changes okay and so then there will be an opportunity to read and then comment yes okay when can we second reading which is our next council meeting okay um you'll have an opportunity to come and we also will have an opportunity to comment on that on that ordinance excellent when can we anticipate seeing it posted should be posted tomorrow right tomorrow yeah okay yes that's it thank you for your time ice pending on yeah okay thank you all thank you CHR anyone else yes M go J I feel you John it's CL 4:32 trity Avenue Cornell he uh the last meeting we had in December I did not realize that it was The Changing of the Guard or I would have said something so I just want to say now what I was going to say chedy did a very good job as president I liked how you kind of let it run over sometimes when people were talking which was great I mean at the school board I feel if they could have a hatch to open it up soon as your 4 minutes is up they'd hit it and down you're gone but um you did a good job on that and the other thing I really liked is how you explained the agenda all the time you did at least half of them or two-thirds of them explained what they were because how they're written and what they mean are two different ball games so greatly appreciated that for those of us who are not too sharp too sharp in the drawer here you know the knives are not too sharp but you know so I greatly appreciate that okay you did a very good job though thanks and uh I would and and then the Nottingham Ballroom when they said anybody else wanted to speak I was tempted because I always speak at the council meetings but I figured there too many people there and I didn't know it was going to be a regular meeting so but uh otherwise I would have said it then uh a girl from one of my fellow ushers at church got the calendar and her whole middle section is missing and I thought there would be one maybe on the desk when you came in how do you get another calendar her calendar went from April to August somebody had ripped out the middle section when how when she got it even though it was delivered by mail so how do you get another there might be someone we leave here tonight at the reception desk there's there wasn't yeah cuz I looked at that's provide me the information um if anyone calls the call center the call center will mail them out oh really if you give me the information I will pass that a along oh okay well I don't know her address or anything oh you can call the office tomorrow okay and then then they'll just mail it out to her mail it out okay very good okay and then um the same person also had a question which I had they go down this way all the time but I've noticed it when I've gone through the light at Walmart nodding hamway if you're coming from here to make a leftand turn there's no leftand turn arrow and it's always backed up I mean that place is hopping 24/7 and so shouldn't there be like a leftand turn light there you're talking about the the turn that takes you into the Walmart into the Walmart coming from here and you're going to Walmart you got to make a left right it does back up there it does and I mean and there should be like a left hand turn light I think oh there's left hand turn that's County Road correct you're recommending a leftand turn light yeah like they put the arrow left hand turn I'll find out before the other guys can go I'll find out and then the other one which I also noticed too at Five Points when you're coming down from you're passing the firehouse mercyville firehouse and you're coming to the Five Points you want to go to L sro's Church okay and as you're coming to make the left that light has gotten shorter to make the left not too many cars are getting through anymore I mean you wait a long time to make the left and then all of you want you're coming down in the firehouse and you go past Bill's Tavern and that for some reason that's a lot shorter than it used to be that's a right first and then making the left so uh Jan just so get I'm trying to figure in my head so it's it's it's if you're coming from here going to Five Points and be after the ls turn off no going the other way you're coming from Hamilton Square you're coming from Hamilton Square is on the right s is on the right hand side right yeah left but you're making the left to go around to O is on the right I mean so you know which direction you're going cuz there's five different directions you can go oh oh add five points add Five Points the light at Five Points so you come to the light and you want to make the left and you're heading towards Lady of Sorrows M and that has shortened it that left- hand turn yeah it's not as long as it used to be that is cuz that gets backed up too and then all of a and of course people take they just Rec I know they recalibrated those them because they were crazy before that because the other coming from Edinburg was so I'm I I've been on Edinburg and I'm making that left onto um White Horse Mercerville Road and there's been times I'm like three cars back I'm queuing three cars back and I I can't make that left that's how quick it is so that you know I and that's a busy intersection what you say I heard from my daughter every day that we messed up it is a quicker late no I know I've noticed that as well I mean I could ask I'll ask that question they did sit there for the longest time but then when it's your turn to go it's like yep you blink you miss it yeah you got it especially when the guy in front of you is going oh did the light turn green oh yeah I got to go that's cuz he's on his phone yeah calling Mom complaining about not being a I'm late because okay that's it thank you you're welcome J any other questions from the public Lisa what you say have problem Lisa Williams Brer link when the new municipal building is built will the Public Works office staff move there and free up that building no no I was hoping we could free up that and have like a lower shelter and an upper shelter and move cats and small animals and Licensing into the Public Works building because the shelter is I mean I went through to renew my license um my dog license last week and those poor people are like practically tripping over each other to try to help whoever's in the lobby the parking lot is not sufficient customers come there's nowhere to park you have find a place on the street so I was hoping that the plan was to move Public Works office people to the new building freeing that up is it a possibility everybody may be the thought of it they're among the only uh employees that aren't moving into the new building I think hamstat I think that's it hamad's moving in's moving in Recreation and then Recreation is coming out of the temporary um trailer and into the Golf Center where hamst was oh and uh the Health Department's going to consolidate department is also coming with we have a nice New clinic this building and the health center and then consolidating one of the um getting rid of the recreation trailer out on Cru Lisa but your timing is impeccable cuz you can actually go to the Monday January 22nd um if you're available at the the senior center I was going to make this announcement at the end they're having a public hearing for the new Municipal Building um at on Cypress Lane so from 6 to8 hopefully I can attend I plan to attend the last one but that was a dog issue I had to wait for animal control this one they're going to give out a little you know there's going to be some good information provided at that meeting so all right thank you all right you're welcome thank you James Walters the only thing I did not mention which I usually mention is thank you again for your service and good luck in the new year thank you all right thank you thank you thank you Happy New Year I any other questions from the public seeing none any uh any Council comments happy New Year get home uh be careful getting home safe it's uh going to be slippery out there tomorrow's going to be worse good first meeting thank you y yep very good first meeting and uh like Pat said uh thank you for coming out tonight even though the weather is in Clement but we know that our certain few individuals will always be here like the post office right but now we appreciate you coming and be very careful going home tonight that the roads are getting slick and so the walkways I I see we got uh troop 90 991 is it1 and you're doing your I guess um for your um merit badges or good good for you uh citizenship in the community and um and Communications bch fantastic hope you uh enjoyed tonight that's all I have yeah thanks uh yeah welcome to the scouts I I made a comment to one of my colleagues I said oh are the Girl Scouts here I realized these are the scouts and that's a sign of the times and it's a sign of progress right uh that we have Scouts so welcome and uh thank you for joining us thank you for your endurance sitting through our entire meeting nice job I know it's not always the most exciting thing uh just for you guys for your information when we have ordinances on first reading we don't debate them we only debate ordinances on second reading when everyone has had a chance to take a look at the ordinance and come back and tell us what they think so that's why we kind of sped through that tonight uh otherwise one last comment is I'd like to say thank you to councilman whan uh for your leadership last year uh and congratulations and welcome to our new council president our returning council president carabell thank you all uh for attending this evening I appreciate the participation um and and uh I I said this last last meeting but I always am appreciative of uh councilman well and and his leadership last year so um glad to have the scouts here with us uh this evening and um our next meeting is February 2nd 6th 6th I'm sorry February 6th and uh just as a reminder um next Monday the 22nd once again there's the public hearing for the new Municipal complex uh which will take place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. over on Cypress lane at the uh Senior Center thank you all for coming out this evening meeting adjourned hey you got that man