##VIDEO ID:Kg61UtclWO0## e e I think she didn't even get her graduate Di e anything e e thank you e e e e e executive and then all right good evening everybody we had executive session prior to this so we're just going to go through some formality up front um may I have a motion to come out of executive session so moved second seconded okay roll call please committee woman in hand here committee P yes Comm woman pain here this is I'm sorry we're just coming out of executive okay yes yes sorry Deputy Mayor Chelli yes mayor bring yes all right so the time was 7:33 okay um all right so good evening everybody thank you for being here and welcome to the township committee meeting of September 10th 2024 uh for those of you mentioned we just came out of executive session uh please all uh join me in uh saluting the flaged to the flag of the United States of America and to the for stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay approval minutes may I have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of July 16th 2024 motion to approve a second y second second roll call please Comm hand so I have a question or comment about the minutes okay so on the minutes of from the July meeting page 28 there was a a statement which I disagree with I think it was a an an opinion statement that was included in the minutes so can that be retracted from the minutes as they were usually a summary of the recording I mean usually what we what we do is we we give them to you ahead of time and then you would let us know we would take it out before the vote um but we just we just got them right on Friday right so I had a question so I'm asking normally you would ask us on Monday or um before before we get to this point but um this is a question for Bill Mr can we we don't we don't add it at this point we would unless all T committee members or three to amend the minutes then you would just vote as as they are and she would vote done okay but if if all of them agree to that Amendment or three of you agree to that Amendment then the minutes would be amended based whatever motion you made so it's really helpful because the procedure of the fact that if I would have told you yesterday it would have been changed because they would have a chance to review it then before the vote right not guarante Chang I was going to say that has never been communicated so that's helpful to know um so CU any other resolutions we would normally discuss here on the deis you can have question you can reach out the reason we give you the packet ahead of time is that if you have questions for any of us or any of the Departments that you can ask them before we get to this to this point what is um I have to bring it up so okay one of those July um this is July I believe is page 28 28 has a graph and it talks about the ordained probably not that page be nice I will search that part yeah could just say this take out yeah yeah sure I don't care or she can just vote no and everyone else can vote Yes it's as long as we have enough to we can amend I me them yeah it's up to you guys gosh um it was oh in this I'm sorry page four oh no no hold on sorry it's on the top right hand corner of the page oh no it is it is page 28 it's the last paragraph before um introductions of new ordinances okay what's the statement you want to strike the whole thing um I would like to strike the um the word inconsistent from that first sentence I apologize where are we on page 2 page 28 um last paragraph before introduction of new ordinances I'll approve that or second that I guess I just want the word inconsistent removed as that is a matter of opinion and has no proof Source well this basically the minutes or what's been stated on the day is correct so whether it's an opinion or not this is basically it wasn't a direct quote it's not in the line of a direct quote it's a summary of His of his comments but I mean then we right so I don't think opinion necessarily plays a role uh I think these are usually pretty factual they can include opinions too it's what is stated at the meeting what stated at the meeting it's not it's not a it's not a opinion versus fact it's what the what was said on the day is that that would be correct right um You can express an opinion and that opinion could be totally wrong but it doesn't mean it doesn't go into the m because it was stated as part of the meeting thank you so go ahead and make the motion I I think you were about to call roll we already we already had a we have a motion made the motion second and I second it yes so now we have to have a a roll vote okay I mean for one word it's fine committee woman hand I will vote no on July I would vote Yes on August we're only July 1 so you're V hold on hold on hold on hold on she made a motion to strike a word to strike that word you seconded it so this vote now is on the motion that you made and she seconded then I would I would like you yes to that yes okay for the motion keep okay along you said yes Comm in the pon no yes commit woman pain yes deput mayor Chelli this is weather to okay straight okay mayor bring no okay all right so now we got to vote on now we need a motion a roll call for the meeting minutes as is did we have a motion and a second for that I think we had one already a motion please for this part of it please a motion for the minutes yep so moved okay second please I gave the motion he seconded he second cool okay one hand no to July yes to August we're only doing one at a time to July can in the pon yes commit woman pay yes dep May tarelli yes mayor B yes may have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of August 13th 2024 so moved second commit woman hand yes commit P yes committee woman pay yes Deputy Mayor tarelli yes mayor Bing abstain I was on vacation okay all right so now reports from committee leaz On's receipt of reports petitions or Communications we will start with committee woman hand all right thank you mayor from the health department so this is interesting um I know several folks have um wellwater they the health department is sponsoring a wellwater testing event on October 5th from 9: to noon so any Resident having wanting their wellwater tested um for a reduced price which is always good um can come by for a discounted test kit represent resentatives from ran Headwaters and the health department will be on hand to answer questions if you need anything contact the health department and their number should be up there yep 52 5652 is the the last four digits from the W Department um please join the recreational department for a movie night under the stars at singly they are playing um Wonka which is going to be very exciting it looks like it's on 7:30 and um registration will be in the E news coming out tomorrow additionally this is great um for those of you that may have extra Halloween costumes around the house the recreation department is holding a costume exchange so please drop off gently used costumes to the parks and wreck department Monday September 23rd through Thursday the 26th um and then you can pick up a new to you costume on Friday the 27th or Saturday the 28th from the social services department they held their annual back to-school distribution for the can food pantry families the event was a huge success thank you to everyone um who donated much appreciated hillsbor residents 60 and over can call social services um at inding in 3880 to register for a free yoga class um it's very good for the joints and flexibility as we age um the theme is welcome fall and will take place on Tuesday the 17th at 11:00 and September is hunger action month so today actually September 10th is hunger awareness day working together we can Combat p poverty excuse me inequality and Injustice in our community and please remember the Hillsboro can is here to help applications available online and do donations may be dropped off at the bins outside the health department door anytime thank you for your generosity back to you mayor all right committee man leani thank you mayor hello everybody happy September uh thank you for coming to the meeting um so one of the things that are coming up obviously in the near future is uh voting so did you know that inperson voting early voting is done with the same type of machines used on Election Day early votes help reduce the time spent standing on Election Day and make it easier for the for those working uh people to vote early ballots are not provisional ballots and all early votes are counted first on Election Day early voting for 2024 general election will take place at the municipal building right here from Saturday October 26th 2024 through Sunday November 3rd 2024 so I'll give you those dates again Saturday October 26 2024 through Sunday November 3rd at 2024 early voting hours are Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 6: p.m. please see the mayor's E news and Hillsboro Township website for more information on early voting in the 2024 general election so as we know it's going to be a presidential election which usually brings larger crowds the newer machines because of the Technologies takes a little longer than the old one so uh be please be prepared if you're going to come to vote on Election Day allow your extra time for the lines but I would highly recommend the early voting it is seamless and uh I usually do it takes 12 seconds honestly it's so fast so I uh I highly recommend it registration is down for the Scarecrow Festival which is now uh September 17th to participate in the fourth annual scarecrow Festival this event is open to all residents Youth and adult organizations and local businesses is a great opportunity to promote your business for free spread awareness of your organization or just enjoy a fun handon activity with your friends and family plus you could win a very cool trophy presented by the mayor uh see res see res res registration information for tomorrow's E news or the township website or social media and I have to say the last few years the scarecrows have been pretty impressive so you got to bring your aame there these are these aren't like my scarecrows growing up like two two things of corn and an arm you're GNA you're gonna have to bring it but we we encourage you to participate it's a fun event and uh we it really dresses up the front of our building building so thank you for all those who participate from the tax accessor the township offers tax deductions to Veterans seniors and disabled persons who qualify financially to learn about more of these deductions please visit the tax assessor web page or call Tax Assessor's office at 908 369 8077 for information on the senior freeze program visit the NJ Division of Taxation website or call 1 1800 882 6597 that's 1 1800 882 6597 and we are upon uh an awareness month that is that is very sombering but as equally important it's National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month September as we said is is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in the United States an initiative intended to help her raise awareness that prevention is possible through treatment uh is effective and also people who helped them recover um please see the Hillsboro Township website for more information about National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month uh and I'll just say that this has been going on for I don't know how many years Anthony that we've been doing this and uh it's uh it's sombering but it's important information to to be part of because the life that you save may be one of your own loved ones it's it's a it's a sad uh pandemic uh or epidemic that goes on in our in our country and it's as equally important as anything we do here mayor that's all I got thank you sir uh committee woman pay sure good evening everybody uh first off we have the fire district ribbon cutting committeeman leani committee woman Han and myself were honored to enjoy the grand opening of the fire district building located on East Mountain Avenue this building sat vacant for several years after servicing the township as an EMT headquarters through repurposing and revitalizing this beautiful building it is once again making our community safer we look forward to many years of great use of this location for our firefighters for the police we have New Jersey safe passing law which was enacted on March 1st 2022 the law provides clear rules of the road for all motorists when interacting with people on foot bicycles Scooters or otherwise not in a car this law aims to prevent the near misses injuries and deaths that can occur when motorists pass cyclists pedestrians and other vulnerable Road users Chief Mike McMahon is pleased to announce that an effort to enhance the response of to mental health calls the police department has begun a regionalized approach to responding to those in Mental Health crisis partnering with Branchburg Manville Montgomery uh and Montgomery police departments and Bridgeway Behavioral Health Services the Hillsboro Township Police Department has agreed to participate in the arrive together program which stands for alternative responses to reduce instances of violence and escalation please see the Hillsboro Township website and the mayor's E news for more information on those programs domestic violence awareness month was first recognized in 1981 to connect battered women Advocates across the country the 1994 violence act um sorry violence against women's act combined new Provisions that hold offenders accountable and provide programs and services for victims more information about domestic violence awareness month will be available on the township website and the mayor's e newss finally for veterans not finally I have two more I'm sorry I shouldn't have said finally veterans the third quarterly veteran information session will be held this Saturday um September 14th 10:00 a.m. till noon at the senior activity rooms uh we have a Somerset County Department of the Aging representative coming to Be our guest speaker this time and the annual ceremony to honor uh p and Mia um veterans or servicemen and women will take place on Friday September 20th at 9:00 a.m. in the garden of Honor whether they're permitting um otherwise it'll be inside in the senior room um and finally Hillsboro schools on behalf of the Board of Education Mike vuli in superintendent of schools would like to welcome students and staff back to school as always the teachers have done a phenomenal job preparing for their students and the maint uh and the maintenance and custodial staff have worked tirelessly to prepare buildings and um grounds students this year is your year to shine Embrace challenges explore your passions and never hesitate to ask for help parents thank you for your partnership and your child's education and School staff is here to support you and every step of the way that's all mayor thank you committee woman all right so Deputy Mayor chiarelli thank you mayor uh on August 18th the uh Township committee helped celebrate the 78th Indian independence day at padar grocery store uh with the the uh Hillsboro Maharaja club uh it was interesting event they're like our little brother little sister little sibling um their 78th year uh we got to sing well we sang our national anthem they sang both which was the Indian uh group sang both which was was pretty impressive uh padar is actually the largest Indian grocery store in New Jersey uh so it's something that I don't think everybody knows so it's a really impressive facility and um you know we had a a really good turnout and um you know there were members of the uh Administration varar was there as well so um that was a great event um I and uh uh to the next event which is a little different was the uh dog the AVM dog park dog Splashdown day we um the committee women Payne and I attended I don't know how many dogs they had they were out there for uh most of the morning the wreck department and it was fun just all the dogs seemed to get along and committee women pay managed to get the group together to the little dog whispering to get everybody into a into a photo so um and there we are with our with our yeah there there we are with our dogs on the on the right so that was a fun event I had to Corral the people to Corral the dogs just FYI but it worked yes it was who you coralled who you right yeah so um all right the engineering department uh psng has informed the township that tree vegetation maintenance along with power lines and transmission lines will be conducted through the next few months the trimming of trees along the power lines is necessary to provide safe proper adequate and reliable electric service to Consumers throughout the area Hillsboro residents should be aware that because of the height of the electric transmission towers ps's contractor hkl and McCoy will be handling this maint from a helicopter so we'll probably hear on social media you know why are there helicopters uh this time it'll be for for uh triming trees um Public Works the public works department is continuing its prep pavement preservation program that's an alliteration if everybody wants to know um with Basin repairs and crack ceiling on numerous roads throughout the town they're confident that they'll be completing all the necessary items and have fixed in time to ensure a quality drainage system for the newly resurfaced treat resurfaced and treated roadways the first step which is shown up on the screen in this road preservation process began on Ana Drive uh we actually have a video of it well we saw a video of it these are some pictures um in the neighborhood of of Ana Drive once the stone that's been placed has settled into the oil Emulsion this is a new technology for our town uh The Next Step called micro sealing will be applied over this chipstone to deliver a well sealed Road and help preserve this pavement for another 5 to 10 years uh this final step is scheduled for August u s sorry September 19th residents have been notified of the work by both sign signage and door hangers uh most of this information on this application you can find at the asphalt paving systems website that's the contractor who's doing this and um click on the pavement preservation link so this is a new effort for DPW because it's really maintenance it's not it it's kind of a quasi Capital Improvement maintenance uh project so um we're excited to see how this how it turns out we've seen how it turns out but we're excited to see it uh in in in process and in progress for us in town here um some more tree news jcpnl Foresters will begin a proactive intense tree cutting event on Zion Road for many of the remaining dead trees that are in danger of falling on the power lines or onto the road uh to take down as many of of the standing dead trees as possible they will they will drop them safely to the ground and leave them on the property to save time so they've notified the individual property owners that they're going to be doing this uh our DPW crew will be available to provide limited assistance while they're in the area so this is a in response to some comments about jcpnl you know we always have problems with high wind events on the mountain and uh so jcpnl is going to go and cut down a lot of the the dead trees uh and hopefully make make uh the power more reliable in that area so we appreciate that so both PSG and jcpnl are going to be be doing this activity now um lastly from sustainability sustainable Hillsboro is proud to announce that the township has been recognized as a bronze level recipient of the safe routes to school program wise and the New Jersey Department of Transportation support the safe routes to school program which acknowledges schools and municipalities for making it safer for their students to walk and Bike to School the township was recognized for yearly crossing guard training and the first ever Township bike safety event and see more you can see more information on the township website and the mayor's e newss and I think we're all you know everybody's got a little statement about school coming back so there's a bit of a buzz in town with uh the school back in session and we look forward to continuing the ways we support the school system um one of the projects we have is is sharing the work to um and the cost between the new tennis and pickle ball Courts at Amsterdam and um you me personally uh have been engaged with the robo Raiders program over the past two years and I'm looking forward to their next season uh and that amazingly starts in the Middle School they've got like a a JV team and varsity team so we're looking forward to that this year too and that's all I have to report mayor thank you Deputy Mayor I have two visitors here and have a third one down there sorry about that my family's in the crowd tonight and baby's here with me so I have Christian up here my seven-year-old Grace and my 2-year-old and Robbie I think is there's an iPad down there sitting next to Mom so I think he's he's playing a phone so um again thank you everybody for being here tonight I hope you don't mind the children being up here um I really do appreciate everyone being here so I'll get through my notes pretty quickly so we can get to the proclamations because that's a big part for the people in the crowd here so first senior chapter b um I had the opportunity to not only sit with senior chapter a recently but senior chapter B we'll probably talk about a the next time we have our next meeting but senior chapter B um we had we had the great great chance to sit down and sit with the senior there's two different chapters in Hillsboro Township and there's a and b and this these groups they get together they spend time together and um I had the opportunity to share some of the road updates that's very important to the senior citizens the safety updates um some of the enhancements of the police department there are very happy to hear that and then at the end uh some of the ladies there asked if we could bring some of the police officers in and sweet and sing Sweet Caroline with them so we brought in a couple of the police officers and they played some music and we had a really good time so that was a really good opportunity to engage with them there uh little Library dedication is the next one so um these are all Girl Scouts who have uh if you go to the library the uh the the little park here my guys go to the I guess what would we call that the uh the the wood We call we call the Wood Park the Wood Park um there's a little library book area that they had updated painted Made Beautiful made a nice store for it and we wanted to uh to to Really commend them for doing that so I brought them in the mayor's office and they're all mayor for for a little while so they're very happy about that so it was a really great opportunity for them and uh for me as well um next Eagle Court Eagle court of honor so myself and Deputy Mayor chiarelli had the opportunity the privilege to um attend and preside uh partially over the eagle scout uh court of honor which is a big deal for any Boy Scout you make up to the eagle scout level it's a very high level and we're just very proud of those young men and we do the same for the Girl Scouts and um this is just was a great opportunity to to to um to honor these young men uh next is allamerican Assisted Living uh yep so we had uh a number of my myself we have Mr F Mr Ferrara we had deput uh we have uh committee woman pay I don't think Johnny weren't there right for that one no um uh and we had the the chance to uh visit a networking event um from with some local uh uh local businesses and also have the opportunity to speak to some of the seniors there and the staff at the uh assisted living community center um just for those that that that don't know Hillsboro Township has a pretty large senior population and we have some very very good um uh senior assisted living facilities here in Hillsboro very proud of that and we work very closely with them next is uh turn the town teal and I think tonight we may be having a little more of a conversation about that I'll leave that because we're going to have a proclamation about that um uh uh and and the the opportunity there to uh to just uh create awareness um for diseases and and areas that are incredibly important and um things that impact people at a pretty significant level uh this is just a very uh simple way to do so and we just really appreciate all of the engagement we have with them and the every year uh honoring um uh the that this group that does so much great work uh next is the new uh Road information page I'm incredibly excited about this page it's just a simple web page but originally it was a 206 update page but we're doing so much road projects this year 4 and a half million this year 9 a half million plus over the next uh four or five years or so um this gives us the opport to put it all in one spot so whenever I make a video or something new comes out we're going to put it on this page so you can always go to the same page to get the most up-to-date information so you're not searching Facebook and other places for it this is we're in the digital age we have to start to communicate this way and I think 80% of people that look at anything look at their phones anyway so it's really good way to to communicate with people um also quick Road update with regards to Falcon Road as well too um Falcon Road will be done very soon in the next before I go to Sage and next few weeks uh about a week Plus or so they had to dig a little bit deeper than originally anticipated because the road is pretty old so they had wanted to make sure they checked in with us if that was okay and the answer is absolutely let's have a longer more a bit more sustainable road so it's taking a little bit longer but I'm very happy it's very very close to finishing and we're going to have a beautiful road with a uh with a really nice sidewalk on the one side so that's that's that's great news and just thank you everybody for working so hard on that uh last I had the opportunity on Friday I received a phone call um from uh Sage blanks go back to Sage please if you don't mind Sage blanks uh Sage blanks is an 18-year-old young man who um originally uh mother uh uh believe mother and father mother at least was from South Playfield and this was in a a a um in I believe in tapin 2 South Playfield and um this young man has a PCT with his cousin um then when they are little boys that if one of them went into the military the other one would and uh sage has decided to go into the military through the Buddy program with his cousin and they're going to be in the Marine Corps and they just they uh went off to basic training I think it was Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning and um the parents asked if there was something that we could do for him and we did a nice little video and put it out to the town to honor him Sage wanted to uh take a good turn for his he spoke about this openly in public he said he wanted to take a a positive turn in his life and make some great memories and make sure that you know he was a good example for his future children so it's just a great young man and I wanted to honor him for doing that and I think it's just a great thing to do so it's the little things that we could do here to help people really make a positive impact in the world so with that with that being said let's get down and do some proclamations I think we're set for that yes so uh mayor at this time we'd like to bring up uh Andrew Shipley uh for certificate of special Congressional recognition uh to Mayor bring uh for the ask the mayor video series bring your family let's just pause for a second well hello Hillsboro mayor Brit here well hello Hillsboro Township well hello Hillsboro welcome to another installment of ask the mayor well hello Hillsboro Township it says mayor bring I hope well hello Hillsboro Township mayor bring here well hello Hillsboro Township mayor bring here well hello Hillsboro Township mayor bring here hello Hillsboro Township residents mayor breing here continue to do these videos because I think you really deserve to know what's going on and I think me explaining it to you will help you understand certain components that you may not have understood in the past our first question comes from Ruth and Carolyn and it's a very very good one it's one that's been on my mind as well so the question today comes in from Daniel so thank you Daniel for your question I thought today was a good day to send out a a follow-up message with regards to our alert system The Code Red Alert System wanted to jump right into this one because I'm getting this question a lot when will Falcon Road be completed as I get more information I promise you you will know we have purchased 402 Acres which is where do my tax dollars go when I I told you that I would continuously give you updates with regards to 206 because um but I just wanted to talk a little bit today about the municipal budget an update for you on 206 and so first let's talk about what a master plan is uh here's an update for you with regards to some of the major road projects that are happening because the more questions you ask the more information and I can get out to thank you for all of your questions keep them coming in I really do appreciate it keep the questions coming in thank you so much for watching this video I'll chat with you very soon as always have a great day and enjoy the weather have a great rest of your day thank you all [Music] bye e e e e we got it we got it all right sorry about that no that's okay no I I I won't I I won't say too much again but I just first of all thank you again um for this incredibly humbled by it um and I started this this um ask the mayor series as just an opportunity to make sure everybody knows what's going on the facts as they are and I think you all deserve to know what's going on when it when it happens uh in the world that we're living in now and I said this earlier before we got the mic but the uh transparency is a challenge right now uh throughout the world and I think uh there's so much information coming out as it's hard to decipher what's what and just my my perspective is if I just tell you exactly what's going on when it happens give you the facts even right from emails from the state or from the do I read it right off or memorize it and share it with you you know exactly what's going on so um I really do appreciate the recognition I've been working incredibly hard at this and I appreciate all the support of the committee members as well too uh in the township and um expect videos to continue to happen hopefully we change the game for the future uh this is something that I think needs to happen uh from now on and I think other towns should pick up on this too because the residents deserve to know what's going on so thank you very much I really appreciate it want to take a picture stay here boys Grays smile you can hold it [Music] next get say cheese again what about mommy Mommy come here [Music] one more one more cheeks we need another thank you very much I [Applause] think okay so ovarian cancer awareness month please I I said I would this is turn the town teal this is the official for these guys y That's you're welcome go by all means go ahead I'll give this to you she turn so as they're handing out the um handing out the uh the teal ribbons that you see out in the front um this September and every September is ovarian cancer awareness month and we call attention to a disease that affects women across our country uh our our County our state and our country it's incredibly important that we um as a society make sure we create awareness for these diseases and make sure people understand where they can go get help and this group is doing a wonderful job a phenomenal job of um of uh of causing this awareness so it is also this this this month is an honor to host that those who we have lost show support for women who bravely carry on the fight and take action to lessen the tragic toll ovarian cancer takes on families across the country the American Cancer Society estimates that 12,740 American women are projected to lose their lives to ovarian cancer just this year women who are middle-aged or older who have a family member history of ovarian breast cancer or have had certain cancers in the past are at increased risk of developing ovarian cancer the best defense against ovar ovarian cancer is early detection and we hope that we cause an early detection um awareness by by by by these proclamations now therefore be a Proclaim that we the May and the hills Pro Township committee do hereby recognize September 2024 as ovarian cancer awareness month and call upon citizens government agencies organizations Healthcare Providers and research institutions to raise OV uh to raise ovarian cancer awareness and continue helping women live longer healthier lives and urge women to talk to their Healthcare Providers to learn more about this disease thank you very much and um I'll turn it over to the group here to to share some thoughts and and the words i''d like to share thank you thank you so much for uh supporting so we're volunteers from turn to town tail it's my husband and I but the whole group oh the photo's not up but anyway the photo that was there is a whole big group that comes out you go okay and um and it's um I lost my mom to the disease so the symptoms are very vague bloating feeling full Fast there's a number of other symptoms um www.town.org you can get all the information um but I just want to say thank you again I don't want to take up too much time no you can Ian this is incredibly important that you speak to it and I think you know this awareness hopefully it saves at least one life because somebody now might be aware of it and knows what the symptoms are so I appreciate it you know anything we do with any cause because all causes are important so you just doing one thing for one person and that goes to another person so I know that we do it here and in my hometown of bethl Pennsylvania so and the the woman who started it is Gail mcneel she she started it she had ovarian cancer un fortunately passed away a number of years ago and so her F family carries it on and it started out really really small and now it's like all over the country really like so many towns do it so when people ask if you see them and they oh what are these teal ribbons for ovarian cancer awareness and we've met tons of people along the way uh of the number of towns that we do it in and the the effect of just that one person so this cause whatever cause you're doing know that you are making a difference so thank you for helping us make the difference God bless you guys for doing that thanks than you picture picture thank [Applause] you all right Mr Max come on up Max Chen here you go buddy all right he has a shirt on too I think right jersey skills USA all right so here we go Max Chen is a junior at the Academy for health and medical Sciences achieved the first place gold medal in the skills USA Health knowledge bow National and state competitions big round of applause for this young man you're going to be a doctor aren't you I think you are all right hopefully one day we'll talk about that uh Max participated in the skills USA championships Health knowledge Bowl for the last two years achieving a silver medal in the National and gold in the State uh 2023 Health knowledge Bowl competitions he also assisted in achieving the gold chapter of Distinction for Somerset County vocational and Technical High School Max is on the student council as a member of the Hillsboro High School swim team and on the National Honor Society Max Chen also participates in Connect for cancer math Madness and scholarship creation clubs he volunteers at the Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick man you're going be you're an impressive young guy good for you that's great now therefore be Proclaim that we the mayor and the hillsb township committee commend Max Chen for achieving first place gold medals in both the national and state competitions of the you of the skills USA Health knowledge bowl and we wish him the best of luck in all of his future endeavors congratulations and I told them when I saw them in the mayor's office they're going to have to learn a little public speaking so let's let's I'm shorter than you so problem no I'm good there you go uh good evening everyone um my name is Max um and just a little bit about myself I go to the academy for Health Medical Sciences as um mayor Brit mentioned um and I registered for health knowledge bow in my sophomore year after hearing about Tri outs and I thought I was really passionate about uh the the whole medical field and I thought that it was just a perfect uh competition for me so along with my other two teammates that are sitting um over there we were able to achieve a gold medal and it was truly an honor to um represent New Jersey and this town at the national level and I think that was just a really big privilege for me and I also want to thank my advisers as well as my teammates for planning and executing such um an amazing Victory and I just think that um I hope to go next year and I really look forward to the same event and thank you mayor bring and the township committee for acknowledging our achievement congratulations take a [Applause] picture parents here come on absolutely you kidding me yeah I do wish they had telephone books I'd get on one [Applause] you nervous that you got to speak now because he did a good job so you got to get ready all right Vian right over here bud over here all right Vian AER is a junior at the Academy for health and medical Sciences achieve a first place gold medal and the health knowledge bow National and and state competitions congratulations good job vihon participated in the skills USA championships Health go uh knowledge Bowl for the last two years he also attained a gold medal in the health knowledge Bowl 2023 state competition and a silver medal in the health knowledge Bowl 2023 national competition vihan is a member of the Hillsboro High School Marching Band winning state championship team in 2023 uh and was a skills USA local officer he also volunteers as great at Grace healthc care services a hospital hospice service and at the New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome man good for you man good for you congratulations on all that now therefore be proclaimed that we the mayor and the Hillsboro Township committee commend vhan a for achieving first place gold medals in both the national and state competitions of the health knowledge bowl and we wish him the absolute best of luck in all his future endeavors congratulations what do you want to do when you grow up here we go kid okay so yeah um I'm vihan I'm a junior at the Academy for health and medical Sciences yeah and uh yeah I just wanted to thank the mayor and the Township community for um setting this uh setting this like event up like setting the proclamations up it really like means a lot to me and my teammates to be our hard work to be recognized so yeah I would just like to thank you for all stay here stay here stay here yeah parents too yeah come on up yeah let's do you and I first and we'll get Mom and Dad let scle this way yeah I know where to go I know where she's going to tell me to go Mom and Dad okay you guys you guys go around your son and I'll Stand wherever makes sense the artist is coming in the mathematician artist that wins you oh one more one more this is the official one the official iPhone picture [Applause] vant ruy is a senior at the Academy for health and medical Sciences achieved the first place gold medal in the skills USA Health knowledge Bowl National and state champ uh National and state competitions he has been a member of the skills USA team and has competed for two years Von is Von is achieved also achieved a second place silver medal in the 2023 skills USA Health knowledge B Nationals and a first place gold medal and a 2023 state competition congratulations we got some doctors up here he volunteers at the internal medicine clinic community teaching as a as a Hindi USA uh student teacher Von is also engaged in 200 hours of shadowing at Northwestern medicine I think we have our future uh yeah come back to Hillsboro all right cuz we're going to be down doctors and nurses in the future we're going need you guys now therefore be Proclaim that we the mayor of the Hillsboro Township committee command Von ruy for achieving first place gold medals in both National and state competitions of the skills USA Health knowledge bowl and we wish him the absolute best of luck in his future endeavors congratulations [Applause] man uh hello everybody my name is Von and I would first like to thank the mayor and the township for giving me this Proclamation and I'm very happy that our hard work and our experiences have been like uh like shown here and awarded for and I'm very thankful for the fulfilling experience that I've gotten from Health knowledgeable and competing at such a high level with my teammates and I would like to thank my advisers and previous teammates from former years as well thank you very much and all of you who get these Awards put this on your resume right it's good all right Mom and Dad you guys goe and [Applause] S all right two more kabia sha [Applause] hello all right here you go kabia is a senior at the Academy for health and medical Sciences she achieved the silver medal in the skills USA American Spirit national competition held in Atlanta Georgia she was also awarded the presidential volunteer award congratulations on cavia assisted in the planning of veterans day and proud to be in American Events educated youths at the MLK youth center for the benefits of Career and Technical education at Somerset Vocational Technical High School and held a supply drive for veterans fantastic cavia volunteers at Foothill Acres Dr Owens Lab at the University of Virginia Hillsboro uh jei and Dr Patel's office you going to be a doctor you want to be you want to be good move back to Hillsboro it's good now therefore be proclaimed that we and the mayor and Hillsboro Township committee commend kavia sha for achieving a silver medal and the USA and the skills USA American Spirit national competition and we wish her the absolute best of luck in her future endeavors congratulations say something um I just want to say thank you to the mayor and to the township for awarding me this and to my teammates and my advisers but it was a great experience going for Nationals and I hope to go this year and I hope that my future teammates do well as well thank you yeah Mom done oh little guy how old have you been seven seven all right I got one of those I get it all right [Applause] two us okay you're take time congratulations okay one more be tree VI [Applause] oh come on up yeah absolutely absolutely you threw me off there I thought the child was coming come on in closer guys here you go why don't you hold that for be TRV is a freshman at the University of Maryland graduate uh and graduate of the academy for health and medical Sciences achieved the first PL gold medal in the skills USA quiz Bowl National and and state champion uh competitions ver was the treasurer and vice vice president for the somerset vocational and Technical High School skills USA board and has a seal of of biliteracy in Spanish ver was also a member of the Hispanic Honor Society at Somerset vocational and Technical High School and a member of the Hillsboro High School JB tennis team he also volunteered at GG's Playhouse as a math tutor for three years it's that's a big deal good job that's great that's great now therefore be proclaimed that we the mayor in the Hillsboro Township committee commend Vier trii for achieving first place gold medals in both the national and state competitions of the skills USA quiz bowl and we wish him uh the best of luck in all of his future endeavors would you like to speak on behalf of of him yeah go ahead share your proudness go ahead yeah thank you mayor thank you Township uh committee yeah we're very proud of here uh he did do the skills us competition for three years uh they won Gold all three years so the last one was as a senior so so that's great and uh since he's not here uh we just accepting this uh what are his future plans well he's uh right now majoring in computer science and looking into also doing a dual major in business finance good for him got a new CFO coming that's good good stuff congratulations congratulations okay excuse probably I responded late my daughter's Shea ruri probably it's because we were not sure I responded come on up yep come on up come on up no the whole family come on up yep that's fine that's fine come on up whole family come on all right so we just read the same one all right so do me a favor state your name right and and and and what's what your awards were and what you won okay sure um I'm Sheena rori I'm a freshman at St Hall University and the competition that I was in was community service um we went in 2023 as well as 2024 and we got um bronze at Nationals 2023 and then we got um silver this year what are your future plans um I want to be a lawyer I'm still not sure what type yet but I'm currently um a diplomacy major and I'm on track to go to seaten Hall law school I'm a three three plus3 program we have some pretty smart people on the crowd right now congratulations letc want can I can I steal your we're take a picture you right the whole Max is up and we're we'll get you an official one okay yeah y I think the timing the timing maybe just crossed up right Dad for reaching out over here hold that up come on up yep Family come on up come on come on let's make a big deal out of it I'm very very very proud of you this is fantastic we have doctors we have CFOs we have lawyers we have everyone who wants to move back to Hillsboro right moms and dads let's get it let's make it happen that's right we're getting 206 back on track get back home there we go come on come on come on yeah yeah you guys get in I'll just be that guy on the side there you go here we go here we go can go the no okay all right all right congratulations we'll give that back [Applause] to congratulations now are you you have to go back into Seatle and you're back tomorrow tonight yeah I'll go you're driving be safe befe congratulations hey Max thanks for being a big good guy yeah team picture and then yeah yeah then we'll close out the proclamations come on up real quick let's do a quick picture and then we'll we'll let you guys go and we'll finish out our meeting yeah what's up one more official one good stuff congratulations congratulations to everybody all right okay okay everybody so this concludes our proclamations congratulations to everybody and your parents parents you deserve a congratulations too big time and thank you for joining us this evening we're going to take a two-minute pause and get back into our regular meeting thank you e e e e e e e e e e new employees are now all the new employees here at Hillsboro Township under res resolution number two for our Hillsboro Recreation programs and all our programs and we're thankful for all our volunteers and also our coaches um so welcome aboard thank you any comments from the floor okay roll call please can me one hand yes commit the pon uh all right comme woman P abstain Deputy mayari yes mayor Bry yes okay may I have a motion to approve consent agenda items number one and then 3 through 24 actually I have questions first well we we get to the comment yeah yeah so moved second okay comments on the Das commit more all right so question on and I was really I thought Alicia would be here because um Gretchen was on the uh thing but for numbers 10 and 11 so audit straightforward number 10 question on on 10 and 11 though because it's the audit and then the corrective action so two questions on the first one as far as the monthly um bank reconciliations for the current fund were not being performed and now they need to be performed great my question is around root cause why why were monthly reconciliations for the fund not being done do we know why time and delay I don't think they weren't be done they weren't being done timely I the report they were done late so instead of every at the end of every month so the prior uh CFO was uh a little behind we'll put it that way and and the new staff has now reconciled per the request to do them on time and is there any sort of so I would think from a root cause that's an individual error is there any sort of other control besides you know Alicia doing them on time when the past CFO wasn't is there any other control mechanism to make sure it doesn't happen again uh the auditor would bring that up okay that's on an annual basis uh well they're they're monitoring throughout the year too okay all right and then um on the second one I and Sean I'm hoping you can answer this as the financial Lea on so it said some employees were not enrolled in the dcrp the defined contribution retirement program and then the recommendation is that um the determination be made if certain Municipal Employees are required to be enrolled a couple questions here was there a specific class of employee that was not participating or that was not in that we need to have evaluated so to my understanding it was uh some new staff that was hired in the uh in the office that had realized if they had to be certified to be in the classes um which the order again brought up that they are taking corrective action to make sure those who need to be enrolled are enrolled okay and so do we think so it sounds like it wasn't a long-standing problem it was a current problem like corre more recent issue and um do we know if there is a financial impact because if they weren't participating um and then obviously there needs to be a contribution from the township as well as from the employee do we I don't know how many employees we're talking about but do we think that there's a financial impact that we should think about um I mean obviously it has to be done but just needing to understand that as far as I understand there's no significant financial impact to the township so it would be helpful to understand how many employees we think are yeah we we can we can get that number but I believe it was a a current year which would have been budgeted anyway so um we can that exact number for you um but I think um as I had mentioned in the email earlier that uh this is pretty much standard practice with with the orders they'll come up with with some items and by the time they come up with them they're already being corrected um so the corrective act action plan is here as soon as these were brought up we already addressed them made sure they were corrected um so same same as the first my last question will be root cause so it's great you know we have a finding we remediate fabulous but it's a matter of the root cause was this an individual error a process error a system error just needing to understand that because you want to fix that Gap so that it doesn't happen again yeah so it's root cause that's a good good good good point so I can tell you doing this for quite a while when the Auditors do bring something up the corrective action's not there you don't want this you don't want to see this problem come up again so not only is it corrective action taken uh care of but we're making sure we put controls in place so it doesn't happen again and that's what we're doing so so we'll get you the numbers if so to answer your immediate question um I don't recall this being in last year's corrective action plan um or the year prior so again I think this has to do with uh new hirings and and uh and the new CFO uh making sure that people that need to be included are are included that's good because repeat audit findings would be a whole another thing that we would want to discuss so it sounds like that's not the case this was not no all right that satisfies um those are those are my only two questions on 10 and 11 um and that was it mayor I just uh had one just on consent number uh one uh with with the with Gretchen from um our uh finance department she's already a been a part-time employee and the finance committee uh and the committee in general had approved uh after um June that we can move that position to fulltime so Gretchen has done outstanding job in the time that she's been there and we did float the job um externally as well and she ended up being the number one candidate so um we've already brought her to a prior meeting and welcomed our board but we'll welcome her to her full-time job um so we're super happy um that she can now be a full-time employee and has the experience in the department so great thanks any other comments from the days mayor I just like to um bring attention to a great asset that was brought to the edbc uh the mayor knows him well because he obviously was in his Jam but Don Gom who is a former professional musician who owns a music business in town has joined the edbc and his uh knowledge and diversity of knowing that side of the industry is I think a great um ition to our edbc uh and he has uh come in with uh a lot of uh ideas and ways to help the township grow both musically and everything that they offer so I couldn't agree more just excited to have him on the team he's a great guy if for anyone that doesn't know that's listening he was the drum of the Fuji back in the 90s and still does um concerts with white all right so um May uh any comments from the floor regards to one through one and then 3 through 24 not seeing any roll call please can one hand yes Comm Le yes pay yes Deputy Mayor Chelli yes mayor B yes public hearings none introducing introduction of new ordinances none uh claims list may I have a motion to approve claims list 202 24-12 so moved a second please a second comments from the deis comments from the floor roll call please committee woman hand yes Comm yes committee woman pay yes mayor T yes mayor BR yes new business I don't see any public comments for matters not on the agenda Miss break please read the statement regarding public comment the township committee welcomes input from the public please state your name and address and please spell your name for the record you will be given one three minute allotment for your comments please understand that this public forum is not structured as a question and answer session comments are to be addressed to the mayor again please keep your comments to three minutes thank you any comments may I have I don't see any okay so may I have a motion to adjourn the meeting motion to adjourn a second second roll call committee woman hand yes Committee in the pony it's early all right yes committee woman pain yes Deputy Mayor trelli yes mayor bring yes it is 8:46 p.m. have a great night all right good