##VIDEO ID:DgVkjanyFS8## testing one two testing one two should I you're only going to read the first top the other things are going to be done as the meeting is going on oh just the beuty part okay good evening everyone I would like to call the October 15th 2024 Hamilton Township council meeting to order this meeting is being held with the benefit of public notice as required by the open public meetings act Madam clerk will you please call the role Mr Papo here miss Phillips here Mr whan here Mr Carabelli here Mr Ty is absent um ladies and gentlemen can we please uh stand for the salute of the flag and remain standing for the invocation to the flag of the United States of America the for it stands one nation God indivisible liy and justice for [Music] all dear God thank you for all of the beauty that you put on display during these fall months you are our creator and our source of Hope give us the wisdom and the generosity to impact positively and improve the lives of our family friends and Community let us pray for those experiencing loss especially es those suffering through these two most recent hurricanes as always bless this Township and may we as a government represent the best interest of our community we ask all these things in your name amen amen before we move into the agenda this evening I just wanted to um provide an update on um an amendment to our agenda um amended to award for this was an amendment to award for Design Services and Construction Services was removed and will be done at a later date no it was not removed we changed the title to remove Construction Services and just leave Design Services and amend the contract total amount okay thank you madam clerk for that and the adjustment was from uh contract amount was from $ 24,70215 9 93,6 55 this is for uh ordin uh resolution number 24- 379 on your agenda would you like me to read the title on of that no Madam clerk you think we're good um can I please have a motion on the amendments to the agenda Some Mo second roll call Madam clerk Mr Papo yes M Phillips yes wh yes Mr car yes so we uh have director uh Kathy Fitzgerald of uh health and Recreation Senior Services um Kathy uh can you just give us an update on how things are moving for forward over at the senior center if you wouldn't provide just a a brief update but before you do that I want to put her on the spot a little bit more than that man she's got a binder does she have a binder you're not reading the whole binder right I do she's always prepared she's always prepared give the give the binder to Chris let her hang on with yes so come on up come on up if you wouldn't mind so I just wanted to read this Proclamation um on your behalf um because of your heroic efforts a life was saved uh over at the senior center so I just wanted to um read this to you whereas on Tuesday September 24th 2024 members of the senior center gathered for lunch in the main dining hall lunch was served and conversations went on as usual suddenly a table of seniors noticed their friend had begun to choke and was slowly falling to the floor and whereas director Kathleen Fitzgerald reverted to her professional training as a registered nurse after being being alerted by Senior Center staff of the situation Kathy grabbed the facility's automated external defibrillator a entered the dining room and began the first aid assessment of the senior center member Kathy observed that the individual was nonresponsive and had no pulse Kathy immediately began with AED instruction without success she then started CPR until the individual was observed to be breathing slight and had regained a a shallow pulse shortly thereafter par paramedics arrived on the scene stabilized the individual and transported them to a local hospital and whereas due to Kathy's Swift calm and professional actions the individual's life was saved bringing a sense of relief and gratitude to the entire senior center community a week after the incident Senior Center staff confirmed with the individ ual spouse that they were in good health and further further solidifying the positive impact of Kathy's actions whereas the township of Hamilton and the witnesses of this incident hold Kathy Fitzgerald in high esteem for her heroic efforts her bravery in the face of a life-threatening situation has inspired us all and we are proud to have such a courageous individual serving our residents now therefore be a jointly resolved by the Mayor Jeffrey s Martin and the Hamilton Township Council recognize the Valiant actions of Kathleen M Fitzgerald director of Health Recreation and Senior veteran services and commend her for setting a fine example what it means to be a model Citizen and public servant congratulations and thank you so much there to support me I and I also want to say that this gentleman came in this past week had lunch and I was it was tou so in all my years I had to experience that that I was very grateful and uh appreciate than you offer this today great job kid thank you [Applause] you see that days is this far enough what that's Kathy now what about that uh update noing you're welcome you're to yeah if you feel free to leave if you guys want to I mean get out no I'm joking I'm joking you don't have to get out oh well like there's only going to be four people left believe me see you later have a good evening see you wait report ear no it's actually thanks Chris thanks for playing [Laughter] along council president next for your consideration uh discussion number two was a 2023 best practices inventory online platform okay Kathy you would you like to give us an update on this I'll give you a quick update on this this is the annual best practices checklist that's required that we file with the state and it's a series of different practices and questions that they ask when it ranges from Financial to our housing to our um you know a whole bunch of different areas that they ask about our policies and practices um you have to score a minimum amount in order to retain your state aid if you fall below that score then you can risk uh losing some of the state aid that we get um uh on an annual basis we did uh you have to score a 35 this year and our score came out to 53 so as usual we do very well on this inventory there's uh the nice thing about this inventory is that if there are questions where we answered no and there's a few um they can provide us with some goals and things to to look at for the future um to see if there's this is something that we want to start uh implementing or changing for whatever reason that um we weren't able to say yes to it but other than that uh most of this the scored area uh we do pretty well on and we have some good practices and some you know especially our our financial practices are pretty solid so um the requirement is that we just have this discussion at a council meeting and um and then it's filed by the CFO the clerk and the administrator's office we do it in conjunction we all sign off on it and then file it with the state Kathy anything of concern uh there's nothing in there that that jumped out at me um that said that this is something that keeps repeating and and in fact if anything this is probably the best score that we've had because we do work on these things um periodically as the as they come up okay so that's great great news thank you for that report any questions for uh Kathy okay just a motion on two discussion items please yes may I please have a motion second roll call Mr Papo yes M Phillips yes Mr wh yes Mr carabell yes m 40 next is the executive session item resolution 24396 enabling the Hamilton Township Council to enter into the executive session regarding pending litigation negotiations Mr President I make a motion to go into executive session I'll second Mr Papo yes Miss Phillips yes Mr wh yes Mr carabell yes so folks we'll be just uh in the other room for a short moment and we'll return uh shortly after we'll make sure we move quickly thank you [Music] my and Friday get notifications Shar that I had to on I had to go Friday I had to go work morning tell my so this time I to St Ahad of that and out October 7th at 1:00 and I received a zoom link a few days before Friday piur I don't know for number they don't me this is so messed up and so then the director and she responded that parents arment with the dependence only if you wish to attend here the link and I was like I won't get because maybe feel out [Music] you give me the ticket number CU I can't find anything under either the names below my name [Music] [Music] and I finally she says3 that's not a fine that's a [Music] and I same and wasn't but Liv in house own brother7 [Music] [Music] serly is the second [Music] time I'm so so that's get a second like what am I going to do I I we just have to go in the the [Music] [Music] RO I know right he's such a [Music] [Music] she was stand but he got SC [Music] that it's like [Music] very [Music] but you [Music] know home and she never to go home $3,000 later I my [Music] [Music] know I out [Music] of come on and if I can get the walk most of the time [Music] [Music] [Music] you know all [Music] [Music] [Music] 15 no well the cats are everyone cats [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] they they just me he was this happened [Music] [Music] togia [Music] you been train the doctor return she according to [Music] I would right back and [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] need [Music] I don't remember you um [Music] I forone contact my Ser there's my neighborh should not be there much longer judge ridiculous over yeah hopefully signs are to deter this Behavior you know I don't come that you know thank you to [Music] people record so of record we are you could follow [Music] office sepr and can online reest and have to probably we I don't know if the shelter [Music] off somebody now animal go out and get the and hopefully they follow up and [Music] [Music] sorry guys I got what you say I know wa okay move to a Jour I have October 3 um Anthony yeah I'm going over Steiner so yeah any are we on the record yet okay [Music] this is you ready yeah yeah yeah it's C now so we have motion to rec can I please have a yes motion to reconvene can I have a motion to reconvene uh as the council I'll make a motion n sorry Nancy second second Nancy we call Madam clerk Mr Papo yes M Phillips yes Mr yes Mr yes uh next we have for your consideration the minutes of the August 20 2024 regular council meeting any questions from my Council colle minutes have a motion I'll make a motion to approve the August 20th 2024 regular meeting minutes I'll second that roll call Madam clerk Mr Papo yes M Philip yes Mr W yes Mr parabell yes uh next for your consideration uh we have proclamations we have the recognizing November 8 2024 as firefighter Brian D Sutton senior day we have uh several joint proclamations recognizing various Awareness eth Month week observances in the months of October and November we have blindness awareness um the theme is children love your eyes promoting the importance of prioritizing children's Eye Health we have breast cancer awareness the theme no one should face breast cancer alone uh we have imagine the day without water which is October 17th 2024 the theme is my drop in the bucket is uh next is the national First Responders day which is October 28th 2024 uh Red Ribbon Week uh which is October 23rd through the 31st the theme is life is a movie film drug free and last is the um for the month of November B bicycle and pedestrian safety month 2024 for your and then I'm sorry last but not least is the receipt of documentation from the Seward Johnson T Inc csja to memorialize an agreement to replace the sculpture confirming predictions which is located out front of the health building at 2100 Greenwood Avenue with the sculpture sharing the headlines any questions or comments from my Council colleagues no C can I get a motion to approve all uh Communications C1 through C3 I'll make a motion to approve uh C1 through C3 thank you have a second second we call Madam clerk Mr yes M Mr yes Mr car yes next we have consent agenda items ca1 through ca27 thank you madam clerk just a quick summary of some of the items that are up for this evening we have an appointment uh Ryan young to the mayor's Commission on persons in Special Needs uh for consideration we also have a grant um for uh the police department bulletproof vest Grant uh we also have an agreement andou with um bark Institute in support of their fundraiser we're going to promote um their fundraiser to benefit our animal shelter and its programs uh it's a dinner and comedy show down in South Jersey um in addition to that we're going uh we have on the agenda um a rejection of the bids for the East State Street wall this is the project uh that we demolish some of the homes there that uh were this was the fire and were unsafe and so we um are in the process of we're going to have to reject the bids because one of the uh the bid that the sole bid that came in came in 630 per higher than the original construction estimate um so we're going to go out to bid once again um in addition to that we have uh some WPC Water Pollution Control uh measures that are on the docket this evening uh we also have um two motorcycles for Hamilton Police Department replacing the 2012 um motorcycles that we have uh we also have several refunds and uh fire permit refunds and real EST estate overpayments that you'll see on the uh Council um consent agenda uh we also our final one is ca27 this is a 5-year contract that's up for consideration with LNS golf Enterprises uh to uh be our uh third party at the um and oversee the management and oversight at the Golf Center um any questions from my Council colleagues regarding the agenda this evening the consent agenda no question are they is is um yeah that contract with LNS golf are they taking over or they just going to overse so they're going to bring their own people in so um BAS on what I saw and Kathy you can uh assist me um it's a it's a contract where they would manage and oversee the facility uh they would also provide us with a $50,000 payment 2% increase uh during the term of that 5 years uh they're going to make um I forget the dollar amount but improvements to the facility 50,000 is it 50,000 yes okay so 50,000 um was that an addition to the 50,000 or was that that's correct that's in addition yeah Capital Improvements um and go ahead take it away if there's anything I was just gon to add that was all exactly right so they are going to be running the Golf Center Program uh for the township under this agreement under this contract um the only other thing that's alongside of that is that we have our maintenance Crews that still handle the maintenance of the grounds there the um the driving range and such right they'll be cutting that they'll be still doing those things in season just like they would any of our Parks right so our maintenance will take care of that but as far as the running and the employees will work for l l be Town employ they're not going to be Township employees that's correct okay that's I just want to make sure they're going to bring a lot to community they're going to do uh Outreach programs we're going to do uh programs for vets programs for uh inner city kids that maybe don't uh have the ability to get out there they're going to run programs out there so they're going to bring a lot to the community and uh finally take over um this facility and bring it up to where I say it looks like a lot of upgrades too to like the mini golf and some automated it's going to be a good thing yeah very good any questions other questions regarding it any questions from the public regarding just the consent agenda items ca1 through ca27 yes [Music] Janice J Clinic 432 Trinity Avenue Cornell Heights what we got the air conditioner on oh it's kicking in I thought you starting to fall asleep so we turn oh oh yeah right uh on C ca2 is this providing Bard proof vests for every officer at $115,000 or are they that expensive for just a few of them this is this is a um they're they're fairly expensive I know these vest so 15,000 this is a grant yeah this is a grant the federal government pays for the vests they take the old vests and they donate them to uh either overseas or other things like that they use the kar on armor vehicles overseas stuff like that for our troops or for people we're sending them to they all every vest is paid for by Grant it's a 5e light from the vest oh W every 5 years officer gets newest oh really wow but but P how many many vests do you know how many vests this is going to actually cover how I don't know if it it says it specifically it depends on the replacement but it it it is on a replacement program so this is probably I'm going to say maybe five yeah that's I was think because they run I think around that um around 3,000 a piece yeah I was trying to see if it actually set it here probably cycle them in and out you know like a new guy gets a new we just hired some new police officers they right so they won't get a best for 5 years that's correct so but they have them all on schedule and they're what they have the expiration date you know for each one of them and don't allow it to go past that that fiveyear Mark oh one things one learns okay I had no idea that they had an expiration date okay thank you thank you jenes any other questions seeing none can I have a motion uh council president I'll make a motion to move on consent agenda items ca1 through ca27 I'll second that motion roll call Madam clerk Mr PaPeRo yes M Phillips yes Mr wh yes Mr Carabelli yes pass is 4 Z next for your consideration we have ordinance 1 24-32 this is an ordinance at the S of Hamilton in the county of Mercer New Jersey providing for various Capital Improvements and related expenses in and for the township appropriating 6,489 1850 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $ 6,165 357 in general approvement bonds or notes of the township to finance a sa this is second reading in public hearing this got delayed slightly because of uh you you obviously had to have a quorum and we didn't have our October uh first uh week of uh first Tuesday of the uh first week in October we didn't have that meeting scheduled uh so it that's why it's been delayed but this is the uh capital budget for uh 2024 so can I uh any questions first all no um I open it up to the public uh any questions regarding 24-32 seeing n could have a seeing none council president move to CL close the public uh portion and move on ordinance uh 24032 on second reading a second motion roll call clerk mrar yes M Phillips yes Mr R yes Mr Ty oh sorry wrong notes Mr Carell yes zero ordinance 24035 is an ordinance establishing the code of the township of Pon New Jersey part two general legislation chapter 160 commercial filming and or still photography permits this second reading in public hearing I just want to uh commend the uh Township for moving forward with this uh measure this will make us uh it promotes Our Town makes us more accessible to the possibility of filming here in mer in in Hamilton Township um I also wanted to just thank uh Fred and his team I know Kate Kane had a lot to do with this uh the deputy director over there uh in Economic Development um but a good measure so I'm excited to see this move forward any other questions no any other questions from the public regarding this measure seeing none can I have a motion Mr President I will close the public comment portion and move ordinance to 24035 on second read I'll second roll call Madam clerk Mr yes M PHS yes Mr W Mr Carabelli yes score zero ordinance 3 24-36 is an ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the township of pamilton New Jersey part three land use legislation chapter 550 Land Development article 3 District regulations Section 55074 for R15 r10 R7 and R5 single family residential districts this this is the one that they were the the original one cor without the additional amendments from the planning board corre that they've suggested so we we'll have to come back you can you can do one or two things so you can you can just adopt this as is which is the original one and then we have to go back to First reading to amend it again or because it's the what's here is not amended to add with with the new the new uh uh zoning areas thought we could amend it and reopen it for public H I think it's it's substantives and so you can't do that on second reading if you're going to amend it you have to then do a first read I understand what you're saying so if we had the Amendments ready for tonight you could have done a first reading tonight for the amended one without pushing this one through the second I know the amended one is is written I have I have I have the amended the other amended version yes I do so what we could do is we could do the amended version as first reading and not act on on the one that's the second writing right now so so you're saying recommend the bring the the amend version up under first reading tonight and then we'll prove it on second reading next correct we don't have to send it back to the planning board because this should we do we table this and then just move the amended version or just just reject it reject V right voted down that's what I was going to say okay okay I'm sorry um where were we Madam clerk public comment public comment any comments from public sorry see all right I um council president I moved to close the public portion and and make a motion rejecting ordinance number 3 24-36 okay I get a second second roll call Madam clerk Mr paparo yes yes to reject yes okay sorry just was to reject just just make sure we're clear Miss Phillips yes to reject Mr whing yes U Mr Carabelli yes next we have ordinance 4 24-36 this is an ordinance amending supplementing the goat of the township of Hamilton New Jersey chapter 485 vehicles and traffic Article 2 parking section 485-1943 Tindle Avenue by ordinance 07-30 and 342 Schiller Avenue by ordinance 14080 this is our yes I'm sorry speak yes sorry okay okay okay any comments from uh my Council colleagues no no sir any from the public seeing none I'll make the motion uh to close the public comment portion and move ordinance for 24037 on second reading on second roll call Mr Papo yes M PHS yes Mr Mr Carelli yes SC zero ordinance 5 24-38 is an ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the township of Hamilton New Jersey chapter 485 vehicles of traffic Article 2 parking section 45-19 handicap parking establishing spaces for 19 East Franklin Street 129 East Franklin Street 252 Lafayette Avenue 2011 Park Lane and 58 a St for any questions no any questions from the public seeing none uh council president I'll make a motion to Mo on ordinance 524-3858 2167 lot 1251 on the tax map of the C of peton so just some background on this um the owner of this parcel is looking to donate the Seven Acres that exist right it's a wooded property that sits right on white hor mercyville Road in Cyprus um and uh it's at the corner right there and is adjacent to the Society Hill um at the Hamilton Condo Association detention basin um the property from what I recall um is majority of is Wetlands I think 90 80% 85 90% of its Wetlands so um this will be a property most likely most of it if not all will remain as open space at that intersection right there so any questions for my Council colleagues on this measure how many acres is that 7.02 to be precise thank you yeah any members uh from the public wish to speak seeing none council president I move uh we close the public portion and move on ordinance number 620 or-39 on second reading can I have a second I'll second oh good Miss Phillips yes on the motion Mr Papo yes Miss Phillips yes Mr whan yes Mr Carabelli yeses 4 Z ordinance 7 24-0 4 Z is in ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the township of Hamilton New Jersey chapter 485 vehicles and traffic article 3 traffic regulations Section 48520 through streets and section 48522 multiway stop intersections from uh my notes here and Kathy correct me if I'm wrong this is just placing a stop sign at Schiller and West Park um I believe that's what this does a study was conducted in that area uh this is this all to move forward with a stop sign there um any questions from my Council colleagues seeing none any questions from the public okay a close the public comment portion uh and move coordinance 7 24040 on second reading thank you second thank you roll motion Mr yes Miss Phillips Mr wh yes Mr Carell 4 ordinance 8 24041 is an ordinance amending and in the of the C of Hamilton New Jersey part 3 land use legislation chap 550 Land Development article 3 District regulations Section 550-7869 um to specific for um I have five specific um four four specific locations within the township of Hamilton um one would be on Quaker Bridge Road between young and uh Quaker Bridge Plaza uh another site was on Sloan Avenue between Quakerbridge and Route 295 um another site is um on well both actually the two remaining ones are on Yardville Robinsville Road and Route 1 30 so um it just expands to those it doesn't increase the number that we can actually have we said an ordinance um regarding how many establishments we can have within the township it's just allowing for those particular sites those four sites to offer the opportunity for them to have that type of establishment there um any questions from Council sir any questions from the public okay seeing none council president I move to close the public comment and move on ordinance 82 24-410 4 I was an ordinance of the township of Hamilton in the county and Mercer New Jersey providing for the acquisition of computers and or laptops Department of in from the Department of information and Technology end of life cycle project fully funded by Capital Improvement Fund in the amount of $50,000 this is first reading and introduction have a motion yep council president I move on first reading and introduction ordinance number 12442 have a second second roll call Mr pero yes Miss Phillips yes Mr wh yes Mr Carabelli yes yes 4 Z ordinance 24- 043 is an ordinance of the tent of Hamilton and County of Mercer um New Jersey providing for improvements to Township's water wastewater treatment system in and for the township appropriating 5 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of 5 million in sewer utility bonds or notes of the township to finance s first reading and introduction once again can I have a motion this is on first reading I'll make a motion to introduce on first reading ordinance 2 24- 043 have a second I second roll call Mr paparo yes Miss Phillips yes Mr wh yes Mr car value yes is 40 ordinance 3 24044 is an ordinance authorizing the township P to enter into an agreement with the acquisition of 1755 Roberts Avenue can I have a motion on first reading I make the motion uh to move ordinance 34044 first reading C second I'll second roll call Mr phoh yes Miss Phillips yes Mr wh yes Mr caravelli yes 4 Z Now the amend amend ordinance will be ordinance 44045 ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the township of Hamilton New Jersey part 3 landri legislation chapter 550 Land Development article 3 District district regulations Section 55074 for R15 r10 R7 R5 and r25 and rrc for the I'm sorry RR 25 single family residential districts including the r r c rural research Conservation District first reading and introduction have motion on first reading I'll make a motion on first reading introduction of ordinance number 4 24-4 give a second second roll call Mr Papo yes M Phillips yes Mr wh yes Mr parabell yes pass 4 Z [Music] [Applause] thank you so first up on uh our sign in sheet this evening this is under public comment uh we have Ellen I want kyot Coyote coyote like the animal okay um nice to see you thank you um hi everyone I got four minutes right yes okay um I think I sent you all some um documents and photos late last night okay um so I have to go into all why this is a dangerous situation and needs resolution some way I just really need your help because I'm out of options um I just wondering what it's going to take to make this illegal dumping stop and why is it continuing and who's going to do something about it I was friends with the sanchezes for some 22 plus years I mentioned three times nicely to stop dumping but he brushes me off so I started with the individual directly I try to handle this um in the correct manner with the proper authorities but the illegal has dumping has not only continued but gotten so much worse I wish I didn't have to concern myself with the illegal dumping that has been going on for years and years I don't like conflict so I planted five trees to hide a lot of this mess unfortunately it doesn't deal with the the brush problem and the fire hazard and the mosquitoes and the public health issues um I lost three trees I replanted two um I have several health issues three severe and in fact I have to have a double masectomy soon just to let you know how important this is to me and how much how upsetting it is um this is the last thing I needed to conserve myself with but I have no choice because mainly the firehouse and the mosquitoes uh this is is I've called the police six months ago so it's been going on though a year before that cuz I called hamstat and they kept saying I had a catch them at it though I so I kept trying and trying and I just thought let me have the police come out at least like document it and I figured they would admit to it and they did um however is gotten so out of control um that this is the first time I had contact in 29 years with the police and to me the police in action is unconscionable since when do criminals get to decide when to comply with the law or not there's been no consequences for the legal actions um they should um R this Eagle dumping through their property they put it there um okay I put that um because of the topography changes as of March this past year I have these giant mosquito ponds like 15 by 15 that have developed and smaller ones behind 20 ft behind my property which never existed before and many tributaries because there was two Creeks now they branched off so it's like a swamp land back there um now I learned this past year of dry lightning which can happen um without dry lighting happens with lightning and thunder and doesn't necessarily rain so this can set the brush on fire but also one of the individuals who's been doing 95 90% of the dumping um he actually caused a fire by jumping either bar Barbe barbecue coals or fire pit ashes on there and I happen to notice it when the Flames were 2 feet high and by 5x5 and I went down to his house house at 12:30 in the morning said you might want to call the fire department but he came out with kneehigh boots stomping it all out and it didn't realize cuz I'm so naive and trusting why he didn't want to call the fire department cuz then they'd see this mess he slowly created um and aesthetically 7 out of 12 months of the year we have to look at this landfill it's disgusting and hazardous I can't safely walk back there anymore it's criminal and 28 number 28 he has got Lumber with nails I also help well I'll get to that when I saw on click six fix they were closing the case I had to write how wrong this all was then while one detective came out tried to dissuade me from pursuing this any further in fact to drop it the other detective went up to 24 who was out back and followed them back and tried to start a fight when the cops wanted to leave after I shut down number 24 with the truth he turned heel and walked back saying crazy take your meds he did the same thing when he squatted Township property behind number three with a humongous Garden he kept saying the guy was crazy and it took months and months and months a long time for the woman and the gentleman who have since passed away to get Public Works to make make him stop with this illegal Garden um after the police encounter with the detectives I kind of felt like the police would sabotage my case and it seems they did they wouldn't allow Public Works to go through number 24's property or engage with him and I don't understand why um Public Works finally showed up on August 3rd 3 and a half months after the first police interaction but everything was told had to be taken through my property and I don't know why and I don't know why Public Works wasn't allowed to discuss with me why that was so I already put in two Lawns go ahead can can I uh just pause you right there sure um that's 4 minutes but I will have you back up for another two oh okay I'm sorry um just I just want to let everyone yeah sure what's the address of the fenders or mine of of Where The Dumping is going on it's going on between number three five and 7even senica and next year it'll be behind my house number nine I'm going I'll for you all those emails yeah the dumpers are on number 24 and 28 shie R Corner what can I question the pictures that you sent us there's there's pictures I think it was in August like August 3rd yeah there's so many I go back I know of dumpsters there that are loaded dumpsters you got pictures of dumpsters a pickup truck yeah oh those were when Public Works came out August 3rd and I H them for 3 hours said well at least you're here I'm not worried about the concrete Starting Fire but might as well clean up this dunk pack here that's with wait yeah that was what public works and I did for three hours on Saturday and then another hour they came back so nonetheless it looks like these pictures here right is that a pickup Chuck or the Public's works department it's a rollof I guess so yeah so it looks like there's another rollof back here so this was cleaned up and now it's repeated no the that was just concrete and other materials I refused to let them take the illegal dumping from a brush because I felt like why again damage my property so much when they're responsible for it it should be taken through their property and there's no nobody has there's no reason for them to stop once Public Works would take all their brush through my property what's not to keep them dumping and dumping and dumping right thank you so so coyote uh so it's it's the neighbors that are dumping in the wooded area that sits uh it's contiguous to an L-shaped yeah okay so it's and yeah they take it like two houses behind their house and don't have to look at it but the rest of us have to look at it look at it okay okay well we um this is the first you're hearing this right it is the first so CU I I wasn't on the emails but I appreciate that you'd send them over we can take a look at it I can tell you didn't see them when I saw your face yeah we were like I'm I'm familiar with the area in question I I grew up in that in that neck of the woods so uh I'll probably take a little stroll through the woods and sure anytime a little I don't I I don't need anybody to walk me through it but well gated except for his property yeah but I still could get through the I don't have to go on his property I could just want to visually see it so I'm sorry you really can't without going through someone's property yeah how about through the woods senica uh no no there's all pro they're all vened in properties okay well then maybe I'll call you okay cool um and my other question was is there dumping that's currently there oh yeah okay it's accelerated since April you should see it now okay well I appreciate you bringing this to our attention uh by email but also coming in because reinforces own that proper do we own that proper prop sunet Park okay yeah Park mhm Okay so Township owned property that's being dumped on is that it okay what's the offender what's his what's his house number his house number number 24 and he got number 28 to help participate in the last two years over the four years he lived there have you seen them personally you've seen them I saw them once um my next door neighbor did two and he yelled at them and he just kept ignoring them and walk away in fact the mosquito control people have told him every year for the past four years you got to he con back there he has no shed so he has all his materials back there and they create mosquito breeding grounds in just his containers and he just ignes them so but the containers are on that person's property they're behind number three so they're on somebody other some other property not Township property it is all Township property they're just behind those houses they're behind the houses of senica Lane all right yeah I have so many pictures curious to why control wouldn't contact the township say I'm I'm curious as to why something like mosquito control wouldn't contact the township and say it's your property you can't have those things back there it's it's breeding mosquitoes I don't know it's considered I don't know we call Mercer County uh mosquito control right so and Mercer County we deal with them all the time so all right I'm just trying to get a picture of I don't know what's you know what's going on so all right those will be helpful and we can follow up on all of it including C click fix and okay say like mon I only have like half a page later if you'd like me to step down I could and come back I I generally have the idea what's going we have the idea what's going on let's um how much you have like a minute left just let me have you come back up how about that Mr and then we'll we'll get you for the second round sure thanks anyone wishing to make uh public comment this evening yes Lisa step right up Lisa Williams good evening um sorry to bring this up again I'll apologize in advance councilman Valen um I raised issues about the website last meeting and you guys wanted answers and I was so thinking we were going to get them when I saw the agenda but no have you guys gotten any response on the situation with animals not having bios I mean they all now have pictures but you know I did my homework today 15 cats on the website 10 have no bio so 2/3 of our cats they have a picture now no bios one cat's been there since November of 23 no bio 45 dogs on the website uh 10 are listed below as an there's 10 that have like the strike whole thing's been taken down but they say not yet available for adoption one of them is likely to be put down uh due to health issues so anyway um so of the 44 on the website um excluding twister I was told that the vet recommends youth in Asia for him um there's still nine listed that don't have bios Rocky's been there since May May of 2024 Lucy has been there since May of 2024 no bio Darcy July no bio Georgia if you follow the shelter or bark Institute on social media Georgia was at board and train trained adopted returned within 24 hours for being too exuberant happy to see her adopters she's on our website with no bio we have got to know something about that dog so if somebody's looking at petf finder and they see Georgia they don't get any information unless they've been following bark Institute uh twister is a he's still circling apparently sassy uh some e a i r s they came in September 24th not yet available for adoption no biyo we've got three Shih Tzu mixes that came in September October no bio yet I mean shito are easy to place can we please get them to the vet evaluate quickly everybody wants little dogs um we have two rabbits that have been intake dates for July of 2024 no bias um so has anybody responded from the shelter to you guys Lisa I'll just say I'll just say this much councilman wh's been in a good mood all meeting now you're going to set them all I know I'm sorry bad day today too so sorry Mr I'm not the Big B I I I know you agree with me we we've asked for answers and I I think you might get some some of your answers uh your resp resp to some of your questions but I think it's still ongoing but I I'll let our administrator give you the latest it is still ongo not be on each animal that you just mentioned but it's going to be on a lot of so it is ongoing still and I I got I went over all of the issues that you and Steve I think raised last time and some of the the repeat ones especially that have come and so um while I don't have any specific answer answers for you tonight because I did want to share them with councel prior to tonight and I apologize for not getting those completed but it's because these things are still being worked on and worked out because we want to make sure that we're addressing it in in ways that we may not have done in the past and trying to to bring that up to speed um some of it is dependent upon Staffing that we're again working on we're getting in um new staff there we have uh a new part-time position that is starting we're also trying to hire people that have uh multiple skills so that if they come in as an attendant but they also can do the evaluations they're doing those um the biggest issue that I started talking with them about and we don't have um it mapped out yet but I want to be able to have more people be certified to do the evaluations inhouse right now we have one person that does the evaluations and that's what puts some of these off sometimes for months because if it's not an ideal day to do the evaluation the dog or or cat may be having a difficult day or week and and it's I think both of you have brought this up before that it's unfortunate because because if they're having a bad day that time and they can't get back to them to evaluate them from another week they've already then what's happened to them in the week where they haven't had any social contact other than the attendant that may be caring for them for that 15 minutes minimum a day which again they're trying to meet that and meeting that but that's at a bare minimum and I think we all know that that's not ideal for any animal um to just be at the bare minimum so so these are things we're still working on and even that the certification doesn't happen overnight but it can be done fairly quickly um and I want to be able to identify current staff that can do that um we also you know Danielle who is the um the coordinator and supervisor there um at the animal shelter she does a lot of everything and so we're starting to get her to be able to help train others that can take on some of the things that she does exclusively and that it it's just with the amount of animals that they have in there in their care you know no one person can do everything in there and so um and she's been very Cooperative on that and starting to you know let's get bios in right that they don't all have to be written you know by by one person um and we're hoping again to really connect with the volunteers the current ones get more Volunteers in and have them take on um a larger role um than they've been allowed to in the past because I think that that's going to be important and key to giving the best and most well-rounded care for the animals that we do have in there so I don't have a specific answers for you at this point but um you know the promise that we are working on these things and you know I'm committed to making sure that we make some changes over there I think we all agreed right we've had a lot of really good changes since 2019 where I think we were at a little bit of a low there to say the least um but we can't rest on those Laurels forever and I think we have to continue to kind of move forward and make it you know the best that we possibly can and as specifically you know we don't see anything changing with the numbers of animals that were were at capacity and we don't see that changing anytime soon and and again I just want to emphasize the fact that you know you understand we're we're hearing your complaints yeah I know let me let me finish we're hearing what you're saying okay and obviously it it boiled over with me last last meeting because not that I'm tired of hearing it I'm just tired of not hearing that we got a correct corrective action right so and I think the rest of the council feels the same way and that's why it was brought up that we want answers I and I know the business administration Kathy as she just instead we are working towards that we are working to get that part-time person in there we're getting trying to get more people to do evaluation so we can get these dogs up on the website with the information or any other animals there the cats the rabbits the parakeet whatever we want to get it taken care of so people like you could feel comfortable that the shelter is operating it in in an efficient way right we're looking for efficiency and we all are looking for it too and hopefully maybe we'll have some more concrete information at our next meeting and I will try and stay on top of it too you know and that we're you know prepared with some more answers by the next meeting thank you I just ask for I know maybe if you're not as involved with challenging sad shelter dogs as I have been in the past or Steve still lives through put yourself in these animal shoes and think about what is it like to sit in a cage in a kennel with no human interaction for long periods of time it's like social isolation and this is probably a little too much information but it hit me bad when my father my steps sister had um Power attorney and I had no say was put in a nursing home in a private room in a place that I didn't think was great I had no say and I spent at least one day every single weekend it wasn't close by either sitting in his room and he was bedridden and it hit me what it's like for a shelter animal to sit in the kennel waiting for someone to come in and say something to them waiting for someone to pass a kennel and give them a biscuit cuz my dad's laid in the bed and had to wait for someone to come in and let him get dressed let him cuz he was paralyzed on one side so that's probably a little too much personal information but it hit me bad what is it like for someone human or animal to be confined and not be able to get out and go for a walk and not be able to have somebody pay attention to them and that is what these animals live with and and I think I I I think Lisa that anybody that has had an animal themselves understands that maybe we should have a requirement for the people that purchase these animals maybe they should be evaluated before they purchase it because could you imagine right how these dogs end up there anyway whether it was through the epidemic where people felt longly they had to go out and buy a dog now you have the dem's gone and the easy solution is let me drop it off at the shelter so you get overridden with people I mean I I've seen videos in the city of Trenton where they pull up and they put the dog over the fence and drop it over the fence I mean what what's being done to them I totally agree and if people can be identified they should be chared it's a shame um so I totally get it um I appreciate the someone is that you guys are working towards fixing this but before every meeting I pull up the website on my phone click on every single one do my homework write them down like I'm getting kind of tired of being the nudge sorry so I'm glad you brought it up just hold don't go anywhere okay what she what what Lisa brought up is what I think everybody learns from people like Steve the dog being in the cage is not helping the situation it's hurting the situation I understand that people are busy in their office you play good cop I'll play bad cop I'm busy too but if I have a job to do I do job if I have to stay a little late I stay a little late because you know what it's my job okay the fact of the matter is I learned something from Steve and and some of the other volunteers right because they put themselves out there and the stuff that they've proved right we've seen having the dog in there longer is making the dog worse and all it's do is contributing to making another unadoptable dog I can appreciate everybody being busy I can appreciate every everybody saying I want to go home however you're hired to do a job do the damn job I do my job I work 16 hours a day most days if they don't want to do the job find somebody else that will thank you I've had enough we've been here for 5 years talking about this it either gets done or get moving and and and you know what now I'm now I'm fired up but sorry you know I I I think back when I became a councilman the first interaction I had with this was with Steve and it bothers me that that Steve You' think we'd be trying to utilize Steve more because I still remember dread who being Steve renamed pety because who wants to adopt a dog named dread right totally so you rename the dog and Steve invited me over to go to the run the kennel run and I was you know here's this pit bull in there and he looked a little aggressive and uh you know he's going you're going to come in I'm going I'll don't dig so right I'm a little nervous I'm not afraid dogs but you know he's in there for a reason you know and I eventually worked my way in there with his guidance because he knew what he was doing and I've seen pictures of him with with that dog in particular and others where he takes him to the park and they're sitting side by side I'm going how's he do it right but he sits there and he spends the time with these dogs and they can be some dogs can be rehabilitated we all know that you know this is a cause of abuse that's why they're the shape that they're in and like Pat said councilman paparo said that they need to be walked they need to get out of the cage I know I'd be a little I'm a little crazy as it is at times but I can imagine if I was cooped up in a in a room all day long and nobody paying attention to me or or or taking care of me i' I'd be a little aggressive too um so again we talk about this and we we've expressed ourselves with the administration of how we feel and we we want to get some answers okay so sit back down but just as an example of your situation with Dread named pety um Doug is at the shelter he's a very large dog he's a little energetic and he's right by the gate when you walk in and so the day that I stopped in and walked by he's barking and carrying on and I looked at him I'm like Doug what's your problem and he stops it's like oh you know my name like he immediately stopped when I used his name and acknowledged him and just so you know if you follow Facebook and the Hamilton rest um Hamilton lost and found pet group The Cover picture of a mixed breed and a beagle those are two dogs that I adopted from the shelter and under the current scenarios those two would not have made it out so the mix breed I adopted her named her Roxy and she's recently come up in my Facebook page and back then there was an aggressive dog sign that dog never got anyone she growled you know what that's how she woke me up every morning too growling that she never wanton she growled but she probably would have never made it out under the current scenario because she growled the Beagle if you tried to take something from her food yeah she was going to nip you same thing she probably would have never made it out they lived out their lives as Senior Dogs and passed away due to health issues so I just think we need to think about the animals and put ourselves in the animals position and what their life is like to be confined and speed this stuff up thank you Lis thank you anyone else wishing to speak Steve you got talk about the cats or theb had enough rabbits for a little while uh Steve C Wolfpack Road um thanks chy I I appreciate the words I don't know where to start at this point cuz I really only had two simple questions until a minute ago just do the two question noo too late I got fired up too um I do want to bring up one of the things Lisa brought out um the assessments the time but one of the things that seems to be overlooked or misunderstood still is the certification required to do an assessment and all this other stuff there's two assess well the assessment should be ongoing right the dog comes in you give a physical assessment you get an assessment on can the dog be safely handled under what circumstances or at what skill level that's why all the volunteers have a color code all the dogs get a color code but we're waiting until they get a full behavioral assessment and are determined to be adoptable if they're not determined to be adoptable volunteers don't get to handle them anyway which means they'll never be adoptable cuz they're just going to sit in that freaking cage what we need to speed this along is an initial assessment that says hey you know this dog can be safely handled I don't need to know he's live with a cat or rabbit if he likes other dogs cuz we're not allowed to introduce dogs anyway can I take the dog out for a walk the dog she didn't want to keep talking about because he's apparently on a list to be uiz for his health issues has been there 6 weeks the dog is Skin and Bones nobody can take him out yet when they clean the kennels and I get there Saturday morning they clean the inside the dogs get locked outside there's no bed it's just concrete this dog cannot lay down for the two hours or whatever it takes for that inside to dry he can't lay down because he has no meat on his bones it hurts so he stands there but he's old and weak and thin until the point he starts to wobble like he wants to fall over the one day we did give him a soft bed he he definitely laid down in it but we can't give them that because the bed needs to be sanitized and he can't go in and lay down cuz it's locked and I can't even take him out the let him lay in the grass or bring him a new bed every week the last weeks of this dog's life is going to be standing in that concrete cage with nothing even when the his kennel is open he can only lay inside he can't even lay outside and enjoy the cool weather all it takes is somebody say yeah he can be safely handled the dog's 13 years old he's probably 30 lb underweight you going tell me I can't handle this dog that no volunteer here can just come and sit with him that's the last 2 months of this dog life we've got dogs there for 5 6 months they can't come out I can't take the dog out just cuz they haven't had an assessment now if the dog's dangerous you'd have known it by now um but now these dogs are sitting there five or 6 months nothing we can't even put them up for adoption they're not labeled adoptable and then that entire time like I said assessments for that should be ongoing they can't be cuz all I get to do is walk by hand out a treat for this dog and keep walking that's that's what's holding us up here we can't we don't need a certified people we don't need Geniuses and thanks for the words chy but I've never rehabilitated a dog in my life well I yeah the point is I know you're saying you know what I meant what I do is I take away the perception Taco just got adopted finally and taco was a problem because somebody decided he was a problem dog and he was only a problem dog cuz he got sick sitting in that shelter for8 months with nobody taking him out till the stress got him spinning around he hurt his feet from spinning around in his own piles of he lost 20 lbs now he's on a prescription diet but nobody could take him out all he did was take him out and let him rest Steve that's it that's what we need okay thank you Steve thanks I appreciate anyone anyone else wish a comment yes your two minutes yep I'm right back up uh so I just wanted to add these eal legal dumpers have not only stopped their illegal dumping but they have intensified it and I was wondering why the Hamilton Fleet have failed to do a simple job issue warnings fines if they don't remove what they dump more fines for continuing illegal conduct fines for having Public Works clean it up our legitimate concerns have been continually dismissed and in favor of letting these two do whatever they want on Hamilton Township property I don't know why this is these Woods are the number one reason I move there plus my house is a screened in for so that most of the year I can enjoy nature and Wildlife all this has been ruined in the stress and hard work to remove as much BR brush as possible to not add fuel to the fire negatively affects my already compromised Health the illegal dumpers seem to have all the rights and are free to do as they please what about the of us we we just supposed to continue to put up with this horrible and dangerous mess it interferes with our quality of life and safety um thank you very much and because over the years at least the last eight years natural debris has fallen from trees and everything and I've removed that myself put it to the curb so that when God forbid that stuff starts to create a fire it doesn't sweep my end and keep going so I know I just like somebody Public Works to get the authorization to come in there go through their property cuz they're the closest to it and remove it thank you very much thank you thank you okay anybody else now we're up to council comments oh who wants to go first who wants to go first I have no comments I just want to say thank you for everybody for coming out we don't we don't get the oh oh Steve I didn't know if you're okay come on back up I'm sorry I'm sorry Council p I didn't know I didn't know not even for you for c m no I you got two more minutes you're wasting time the uh emergency generator for the shelter I know it's been delivered the space is cleared it's marked out but it's been sitting there for a couple months is there a a timetable when it will actually be installed right with public works on that because they're they're doing that project but will be done before winter I'm hoping yeah I think that's the the plan but I again I don't know how they schedule that and I would have to check with the director just to see okay my other question is uh I believe I emailed everybody up here except the the lawyer um there is an issue or a hamstat request uh for a probably living conditions but it was centered around a dog and a mention of children in the home I meant said you guys all need know asking you know in situations like that is there or could there be some sort of program for cross reporting I mean we ended up sending out an ACO to check on a a dog living conditions where two children were mentioned and nothing seemed to have been done with the children I don't know the actual conditions or what it was or that either the dog or children were in danger but it seemed to be something that was easily overlooked and I'm hoping maybe we could correct that before something happens that is one of the things that I talked to uh director Fitzgerald about so and I believe again she's going to add something like that into the protocol for acos uh when they make calls I mean obviously they're not qualified necessarily to make a determination on something but if they suspect some type of neglect or whatever they they have a duty like any other human right to to report that of sorts and so they can bring that back and whether it's a health department issue or it's something that has to go further to you know a state agency or something like that we can we can add protol and also in the reverse if there's somebody go out for issues for children and they happen to see pets in the home to yes do that okay thank you very much thank you st thank you anyone else wishing to comment yes you're from 1640 East St St thank oh sorry yes thank you so there's a de Tre for last 18 months we are requesting to remove the dead tree on the sidewalk if the branches are falling on pedestrians there when they're walking it's been 18 months we are requesting and whenever we request we get like unbelievable like U they come and yell at us on it happened on August 21st to we made a request and they came and yell at us I don't know why and they want to clean us the public street where the public the roadways are they want us to clean that they send us a violation there's a guy who's selling merchandise every day on the sidewalk in front of our building so so this is I'm sorry just a just a narrow down this is 1640 and and you're looking and and to remove a a tree tree in in front of your property no sir it's in the sidewalk it's it's in the Hamilton Township property if it is my my property I would have removed it by now okay it's on Hamilton sounds like it's in the right of way so it may be that the adjacent property it's all Township property it's it's a by the creek everything is Township property uh adjacent to that it's all Township property 1640 you said and the guy the guy sells every day in front of our store right on the sidewalk in front and then we tell him to leave he he fights with us and then we stop telling him we call the police police police don't know that the rules of the Hamilton Township so they don't they don't do much and he throws trash everywhere and we get violations notice saying that why are you not cleaning the public sidewalk so so if I'm facing your uh the laundry B right it's to the right correct yes yes okay that tree right there yeah the big tree yep I see it mhm is there not dead in this picture but I guess no it is dead it is completely dead you're saying in the picture in the picture that I'm looking at yeah I see we can have a tree crew grow out and and they make an assessment okay and if you Google it 4 months back you can see see everything is rad 3 4 months back I send you picture tomorrow morning I have and it's right along is it closer to the uh the the creek there I guess Clos to the creek yes okay now all the creek property is yours oh y there were a couple of on my property I we got it removed I think I see the tree now okay yep okay thank you for bringing that to our attention because it fell on I know what happened it was part of the tree removal program which was stopped yeah okay by another official so I don't know that there's plans to continue to remove it there was a whole series of trees that were scheduled to be removed in that area and um and I believe that that program was put on hold for now until we can come up with a replacement solution but I'll I'll follow up on it with our with our tree okay and yeah one more thing is we when we got the property last year March so we we we we had to work on the side on the on this um siding and roofing so we remove the sign so we put back the sign I don't know I don't know what city is going to say but I just didn't know what the rules are we went and asked nobody gives us any information on that whatever you did it had to be permitted work so I'm sure it was already permitted we removed it and we put it back the same thing I'm sure they'll they'll handle it however they should I went and called people nobody responded back to me so I just want to bring up your notice that if they send a violation I will bring it up to you sir is this the tree that's on the street CB yeah by the there are two this one this one yes and then there's another one to excuse Sor this one sorry I saw I saw which one yeah the other one yeah yeah you yeah I got you thank [Music] you it's the one okay thank you so much thank you and we have your we have his contact information right yes okay okay anyone else wish need a comment all right okay councilman pero this time you can go no you not going to keep anybody here any longer than thank you for everybody being here uh thank you for the information that you bring to us uh to help us you can't see everything the only way we uh find out is if you tell us so we appreciate you coming in uh hopefully we get everything rectified hopefully we get your problem rectified also and get the um be nice to get a little description on the uh at the animal sh it's been a long time coming and yes it's about time so I want to thank everybody I guess next time we see everybody is November 12th is that right m election day so hopefully everybody uh work one step closer to Thanksgiving hopefully everybody enjoys their time with their families and uh see you next month okay well not to overemphasize what Pat just said but thank you for coming out like you said uh you know you come and you bring us information sometimes it's a big town we don't know everything that's going on and uh you know I think uh tonight the Highlight tonight was the fact that we had one of our um you know director of person um health and Public Safety I don't how you say health and Public Safety but Kathy Fitzgerald was honored um tonight for her heroic efforts uh you know anybody that's faced in a situation like that always says I could do this or I could do that and try but to actually jump in and save somebody's life the way she did and that that was trained to do was was pretty impressive so you know that that that was the best part of the evening but also seeing some of the familiar faces that we always say it's always good to see us and be safe and enjoy the October Fest coming up I think it's this weekend weend yeah the October Fest at vet Port should be nice be beautiful weather so go out and have some fun that's all I got all right um not to repeat what my colleagues have stated but again also thank you to everyone who came out tonight and it was great to be able to honor Kathy um for her life-saving efforts I wasn't actually I wasn't aware um Janice or Leisa I was actually looking at the agenda thinking the same thing that you were um but thank you again for bringing these items to our attention we'll definitely follow up with them and hopefully we'll see you at October Fest um that's all I have thanks thank you councilwoman now I'm going to irritate uh chudy a little bit more I have a really long concluding remarks he wants to get to the Yankees game tonight to see the Yankees no seriously in all seriousness I want to thank everyone for coming out um so it was a good discussion uh obviously um welld deserved uh uh Proclamation this evening to Kathy and uh her team uh for for them being here to support her was U really a beautiful moment um thank you for your comments this evening regarding the uh animal shelter and for all the comments that were made this evening regarding various issues throughout the town um it helps Ellen to reinforce what you said by coming out and I know it takes time out of your day but uh uh we'll get on that and respond to some of your comments that you made and some of the emails that you had sent thank you all we'll see you on the 12th you guys stop picking on me just cuz I'm a senior person I'm a senior doesn't mean you can take shots at me like that I've got feeling