##VIDEO ID:U9XdFledggI## May yes please meeting of Mayor this is the May Council regular meeting on Wednesday October 2nd 2024 the not requirements provided for in open public meeting that have been satisfied Noti of this meeting was properly given by transmission to the as press and Two River Times um and by posting at the B building with all on January 1st 2024 I listed on the agenda of subject change please stand I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all here here here here first we minut 18 meeting minutes I'll offer second Don seconded second Council yesc yesc May yes motion carries to approve September 1824 meeting we have public hearing [Music] prop4 Joe do you have any comment on that it's for the uh designating um a restricted parking in front of a residence occupied by a person with disabilities I'm sorry sorry to have blown your coverter okay okay seeing no comments we close public portion and I'm looking for a motion I'll offer I'll second council member yes Council melck yes council president chesy yes mayor ban yes motion carries 02 2417 pass on second and final reading next we have resolutions r24 167 approving change order number one for improvements to Lynden Avenue off sidewalk uh this is for uh changes of uh increased cost for police for uh some different quantities that uh we used uh other than what was bit upon and the final thing was finally fixing that terrible uh Lake from the groundwater that used to get onto Shore Drive and be a slippery mess so now that's all fixed and it just the water just gushes right into the uh storm drain I have offer okay I'll second Council M yes council member melck um before I vote change order one we don't expect a change order no the Project's completed for and close out yes council president meski yes mayor bran yes motion carries to adopt resolution r241 167 next we have R 24168 authorizing and directing the burough land use board to investigate whether the property identified on the tax map of the bur as block 84 lot 2.01 constitutes a condemnation Redevelopment area pursuant to the local Redevelopment and Housing law njsa 40a 12 A-1 Etc um to give some background on this back in um how the time go well we've been trying to fix this problem for about 10 years and we decided to work with the property owner uh so that he could um he could fix uh Captain's Coes since then the original property owner sold the property to another property owner who claimed he would fix CES and that has not happened uh the the structure the structure the the bulkhead is just a a real mess and just getting worse every day um our Engineers are preparing a um structural report for us but that's not ready yet soon to be ready so we are taking steps um to uh make this a uh a condemnation Redevelopment area from a area with non- condemnation so this brings eminent domain into the picture uh so that we can finally repair this property uh the next steps after this is our planner would have to send in a proposal we'd have to approve it then she goes back and redoes her plan that comes to us we do an ordinance then that goes to the Lan's board and they review it for consistency with the master plan and then it comes back to us for the second reading of the ordinance so if all of the planets align with that uh it should take us through uh the end of December at our last council meeting to get that done and then once that's done we can uh RFP for a developer to make this happen has the owner been notified about this he will be soon he will be soon and and with the intent that the RFP will be to solicit bids to continue to keep this as a marina is that yes yes awesome perfect thank you Andy does the owner get any notice from this meeting that this is pro procedure has started I don't know what that okay so I should get Francy on that or should you take care of that [Music] okay um okay so with that I will make the offer I will second council member CH yes council member Mel yes Council pres ches yes mayor ban yes motion carries to adopt resolution r241 168 next we have consent agenda mayor would you like me to read the resolutions by title yes please R 24169 authorizing the renewal of a contract with Forerunner Industries for a flood plane management software license R 24170 authorizing the B of Highland to enter into a Cooperative pricing agreement in the P County cooperative pricing system ID number 38pc CP R 24171 directing tax collector to cancel property taxes on block 69 Lot 8 R 24172 authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for a Professional Services conflict attorney R 24173 authorizing the award of a contract to next request for annual renewal of Records request management software license R 24174 authorizing the refund of a certificate of occupancy application fee R 24175 authorizing the refund of a curve cut esope deposit fee r 24176 awarding a fair and open contract for the Portland Road drainage and roadway improvements Project R 24177 authorizing payment of bills R 24178 approving request for waiver of alcohol ban for Community Center rental R2 24179 approving first aid Square um first aid Squad application R 24180 authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for professional construction Administration and inspection services in connection with the Portland Road drainage improvements project all off for the consent agenda I'll second council members yes Council M yes council president sheski yes mayor bran yes motion carries to adopt resolutions r241 169 through r24 1880 next we have other business Hometown Grant opportunity okay this is a quarterly Grant uh for populations that are uh uh towns that are under 50,000 and um it could be done for multiple uses like my bronze statue of Captain huie I'd love to see ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Revolution um but it also has stuff like techn te ology upgrades but everything's brand new um other outdoor spaces the Arts and community centers but we seem to be very Adept at winning all those other grants through other sources um so I was thinking that that would be a really cool way to um to celebrate the 250th anniversary of course we do a lot of public engagement get people's input on it um but this would be for applying for the grant in the next qu not in this quarter so the application for the grant is just to get to secure the funds and then with the Target or do we have to apply with a particular Target not yes you have to we have to exactly we have to basically do what we did with the uh the asset activation Grant yeah where you do a a you explain why you're doing it it's a whole narrative and then you go out and you find out how much it's going to cost and what how much of the funds will be covered and that kind of good stuff great so isn't July of next year 2025 is going to be the celebration yes year we can come get the statue by that time do you think 2026 yeah it's 2026 oh of course yeah yeah so we've got we've got plenty of time we got a year and a half but I wouldn't want to drrive my feet I would get you know I would get Kelsey involved in this um hopefully Kelsey see if how easy or hard it is I haven't clicked on the link of what it looks like to apply uh the act act uh asset activation Grant we did ourselves um but I no one really has the time to uh find an artist as well we would RFP for uh sculptors and then uh I like it I think it would be a cool idea fantastic okay if there's money like we think about a grand stand in a park I don't see why not we could make it part of the application mhm to celebrate L absolutely okay yeah for sure okay 4 q1 so that means it would have to be in by middle of December um of this year for the next quarter perfect Community gather this Bas exactly absolutely um okay so I will I'll help anyway I can okay awesome back to the arch stre yes to show you guys a picture um okay I guess my report um again we're plugging our new uh website address of Haron nj.gov hopefully this Friday we will have a seamless transformation of our emails also being transferred to uh the.gov address uh for hhrs uh there will be a non-binding binding referendum on the ballot on November 5th uh to continue to explore regionalization we had a a good town meeting on Monday uh right here at ver Hall um people are engaged for emergency services calls answered we had the first aid Squad at 25 fire 13 and police 719 code enforcement uh summons were six warnings three reports 22 inspections 22 permits 13 and Oprah 4 for the building department um 74 inspections of those 64 passed nine failed and one was not ready we issued 17 permits um Grants awarded so far this year is up to 287 954 uh buau events uh check the recreation page and also um the highlands nj.com page this Saturday is October Fest and that is um the 5th and the hours are 1 to 7 um the there will be another non-binding refere referendum on the ballot um this November and that meeting is going to be at the cafetorium at hhrs that's going to be on Monday the 7th from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. if you haven't already please share your opinion on the survey uh and there's a link attached to this report which I will circulate again we've had a very a very good response so far with over 245 complete answers um moving on to projects the Lindon Avenue uh job that we did that change order for as uh as we said we had the sidewalk replacement curves and sidewalks from August 10th through um September 9th and then the fence um water witch was completed on September 10th and that is where we uh fix that drainage issue with the groundwater for for sanitary sewer uh tomorrow well September this is supposed to be a September report so September marked the completion of ocean a uh curbs and sidewalks Paving will begin on Central hopefully tomorrow uh so hopefully we can knock out those last three streets and then the county has sent us a letter confirming that they will pave water Witch uh sorry Lyon water witch and Bay uh that two should hopefully happen in uh this month and uh the Portland Road drainage we just uh approved that tonight so we that is now awarded and we can begin planning um other updates of projects that are still we're waiting to award is that we were awarded the M County open space grant for $86,000 for uh to do updates at Frank Hall Park uh so that'll probably be a project for the spring um and also we were awarded the asset activation plant uh activation Grant from the James T Clan plant so that's that's a planning Grant to um to uh see what we can do to update the facility as well as add a Maritime Museum and um a way for uh more residents to actually see what happens inside the plant make it more of like a learning tool um I have no other updates for uh the resiliency plan updates nor is there an update for CRS uh our coordinator is just diligently working with um both residents and businesses uh to build resilient resiliently in town and that's my report oh I did have one question Joe do you have a um an idea as to when that you will be uh ready with the structural report okay excellent thank you and that's really my report so just just two things sure public por one um just want to really emphasize how wonderful it is to hear the the funds have been available for Frank Hall Park I know you've been working so very hard on that I know that the liance club has as well and I know this is going to be a great thing for the town and especially that area Town um so thank you uh for that update um just one question though regarding the paving and the the commitment to Paving I know we're expecting uh sometime this month does that moratorium apply as far as like for Paving as well as digging and so that's true what is the latest possible date in 2024 that that Paving could be complete by so well they're they're telling us that they'll be doing it in October right but like if they but then the moratorium is for 5 years no no no no no no like the you can't do anything until from here till the springtime kind of thing oh that's December 1st December 1 so it has I was going to say they can do whatever they want it's just that we can't do whatever we want fine that's that's that's they've got different rules that's aesome yes definitely perfect thank you very much any other questions no yeah Jonah any questions at all no I'm good you're good excited a lot of good things yes a lot of good things for sure sure is okay I yes if you would read the statement please individuals wishing to address the council shall be recognized by the presiding officer and shall give the name address and group of any they represent although the council encourages public participation and reserves the right through his presiding officer to interminate remarks to and or by any individual not in keeping with the conduct of a proper and efficient meeting if any individual wish refuses to conduct themselves in a proper manner they will be removed from the meeting the council will not during the public portion of this meeting discuss matters in involving employment appointment termination of employment negotiations terms and conditions of employment evaluation of the performance of promotion or discipline of any specific or perspective or current employee there is a 3 minute time limit first [Music] Joseph D 102 Valley Avenue um I'm here about the 14-32 North Street project um a lot has happened in the last year and the last three years as well to get us to this point um essentially we're at the same place where we we started back in 21 um the the property remains remains vulnerable to uh the possible flooding of property damage if we have any significant storms in the near future we haven't had any recently but this time last year we had a couple of deluges there's a lot of water around my house and uh that can be worse in the future if nothing's done to compel Mr quu to repair the Steve slope um I've been informed by my lawyer that the town is not going to be taking enforcing action at this time um so I wondered um it almost feels like an exercise in futility all the things that the town has done in conjunction with me and at my expense and it's not a small amount of money that I've been spending try to get to this point to get some enforcement action out of the the bur um so one of my questions is why is the B not taking enforcement action at this time when I was told that once he was dismissed from the land use port which he was last month that there would be no more of a stay in enforcing the Steep slow coordinates um so I just don't understand where we're at at this point if anybody can enlighten me I would appreciate that Mr B could you explain um I I can't get into detail because I know you're represented by Council and I've had this conversation with Council I'll say in general um what I said to him is that I know the Burrows examin the possibility of enforcing steep slope violations due to the removal of trees a tree removal permit was granted for the the removal of those trees that bars enforcement action of specifically removing the trees um if there are other violations I know the borrow is always open to potential enforcement action on that property and any other property if it's reported and they can review it and take a look but if that is continues to be the specific complaint um there is an ISS let me let me interject the the consequence of taking retre that violated the Deep slow PL put the the tree per to the side per so essentially that tree per did not give him permission to violate this deep slope it gave him permission to take the trees down he didn't have to uproot them and clearcut the whole site that was his decision the fact that the tree permit was not presented to the engineering department so it was essentially issued improperly prior to the trees being taken down we're dealing with a steep slope issue we're not dealing with the tree Perman issue anymore in my in might VI in might and and and then there's there's there's two other part other parts of this where is a right of w which was also destroyed separately and in conjunction with the trees being taken down there's an open trench on that right way it is yet to be filled in he's not going to be allowed to put the sewer line in that's already been determined by the by the Town Council so that has not been repaired um and it seems as if The Authority for this property you know uh is is within the town's jurisdiction to me and um because this is going to go on forever for eternity if something is not done my pocket said don't run as deep as I would like them to if town does nothing between now and the next time he becomes before the land use support then there'll be the excuse he's in TR to land use support him and can't do anything anymore we have a window of opportunity here in my in my to do something um it would be it would be criminal not to do something I don't know what can be done but something needs to be done um to compel the Builder to come forth with a with a plan or whatever it is even if it's a you know give give him a Grace per to come up with a new plan whatever it is otherwise po action will take place at what point do something happen I don't I don't think I'm being unrealistic or I'm not a lawyer and I don't know the LA but in Practical terms none of this really adds up um um if you know if uh the town wants to blame free old soil free old soil wants to blame the town I can't get action out of them either and I'm like I'm like the pin ball on a pin ball machine um it it doesn't do anybody any good for it not to be developed in the proper way nobody gains but my property has been devalued certainly on the resale Market if I wanted to sell my home who's going to buy a house in back in its backyard there's a potential flood which can be easily remedied and mediated if Mr faru would cooperate this steep slope is not even in in question he admits to violating the SLS cuz he's asking for a variance from the land use boort from the steep slope violation he even admitted one of the meaning that he can't stop the water he can't stop the water he's choosing not to stop the water I don't I don't know what else to say or or you know I don't it doesn't do anybody any good for you to see me here like this it doesn't do me any good to be here to to get upset like this but I had thought everyone said get a lawyer everyone said do this do that to this I did all of those things the town even helped me along the process and we got to this point Mr Fara has no intention at least what I've seen or heard or whatever of doing anything he's going to sit on it so where does that leave us I I don't know is there no action that we can take at all just on the slope issue not because the the tree issue I understand we have an approval from the tree commissioner but what about the slope issue they're two separate laws so well the problem is the previous steep slope ordinance had an exception or work that was done removing trees pursuing to a valid tree removal permit so specific to that there is a permit on file and there would be issue attempting to take enforcement action for the removal of those permitted trees if there are other violations of the steep slope ordinance that are occurring the B can certainly enforce those at this point now that the land use matter has been dismissed at least until a new one is file I know he's also mentioned an open trench in the right way certainly there's no bar on uh enforcement if if that constitutes violation that can be enforced as well can you take this information to Mr brunt and Sir formulate a plan for action sure thank you just one comment going back to the true per what made it valid was that the person in charge of giving one permits okay without going through the BR channels it was issued improperly engineering department didn't come into that Ste slly situation until the trees were already down uh that that tree hang on that tree commissioner is no longer with the burrow we have a new tree commissioner and I've made him sit here and listen to the meetings uh so he knows how grave of a situation uh and how how important his duty is to the slope and to the people of the town and he is very mindful of it and will air on the absolute opposite side of and I'd say I'd rather you be pesty and you pester people about it than let something like this ever happen again I mean it's a legal technicality but I'm not sure if it really holds up well like I said he's he's going to work that's for interpretation this this this this this application this tree perent application was not filed properly if you go through the the uh Tree application uh forms and you read through it it was not followed proper procedure so I consider that that tree bur invalid and the judge might Rule otherwi and the last thing that I want to do is to sue the town okay because right now I feel the town has abated its responsibility and enforce his own rules and regulations and and that's the last thing I want to do and I'm not threatening anybody here because that's a big expense to go through all that and then what then what I get out even if I win we're still left Steve slow problem which has not been addressed so I don't look there's a way around it well like I said he's the lawyer is going to attorney is going to work with the with the code enforcer come to the resolution don't know what you come up with I know you spoken but um has anybody heard from Mr farus last month's meeting any information com from from him anything Nancy anything the last couple minutes [Music] so here I wish I wasn't here for this and I appreciate you listening to me and hearing me um let me ask minutes let's say we had a huge St and something terrible does happen something catastrophic does happen where does that leave all of us I mean it's something that's not being being addressed proactively for 3 years now and now I get through all of this and now I I hit a wall again and and it's just I mean you could have I could have been told this 3 years ago that this could have been enforced I was told it couldn't be enforced because it was a high burden of proof that it was a steep slope that isn't even the question everyone knows it's a steep slow oh technicality on the tree permit I I I don't that might be up for interpretation I don't know maybe it's not so that's where we're at okay thank you for your time absolutely okay thank you I motion to adjourn second all in favor I thank you meeting adjourned at 7:34