hi Chris send to me I'll call you tomorrow first thing yeah I'm not sure theed I talked to Jen already did yeah she caught me on the way out but we'll comp good evening I hereby announce that pursu to section five of the open public meetings act that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the notice which was sent to the Asbury Park Press the Two River times and posted on the Bolton board in township hall and filed in the township Clerk's Office on January 3rd 2024 mayor and preva dudo here Mr Foster here miss L Mountain here Mr lucarelli here Mr Romano here mayor you have a quorum thank you Wendy if everyone will please stand for the national anthem of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indice so our first order of business will be swearing in officer Brendan Bernard you want to come on up good evening mayor committee members administrator and everyone in attendance I'm here before you this evening to introduce our newest member of the police department Brendan Bernard Brendan is 19yearold he graduated Mammoth County Police Academy on May 21st 2024 last week Brendan's father is also a home D officer Lieutenant Billy B William Bernard who is currently the commander of our detective Bureau bill was appointed to the department in 2002 prior to that he was employed by the mammoth County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Bernard has also been our canine Handler for the department and a member of the county Moser it's Z Mammoth County Emergency Response Team and assists with Department training Brendan is following in his Father's Footsteps becoming a Homedale police officer Brendan lives at home with his mother Susan and his older brother Brian he is a lifelong resident of Hal New Jersey and graduated how high school Brendan likes to hang out with friends go to the gym and enjoys baseball it is my pleasure to introduce Brendan Bernard so he could be formally sworn in this [Applause] evening first of all who said he likes to hang that's not hanging out support of the United States support of United States will to the governments established the government established in the united states in the United States and in this St and in this St under the authority of people I will fath perform per all the duties of my [Applause] got got 30 seconds of training [Applause] congratulations last all right Wendy moving on to the approval of minutes the approval for the minutes of the May 14th executive and public sessions which were forwarded to the township committee for review prior to this uh meeting motion a motion to approve motion second Mr Foster yes Miss lamountain yes Mr lucarelli yes Mr Romano yes mayor and prudo yes the minutes were successfully passed thank you thank you Wendy moving on to public comment for agenda items only Ralph Blumenthal 41 Stony book wrote just a couple of questions with regard to the agenda as it appears on the township website it was I know it was a holiday weekend and it did get posted Friday I think somebody tried to update it today but the update is identical to the one that's already posted so it's a little strange so it I it's not identical because on the top of the other one it said May 14th that was the incorrect date so I just went up and fixed it to May 28th this afternoon because the other piece of it is uh there are three ordinance is listed for introduction and only one of them is present uh 20 2411 is there on pages 40 to 43 and the other two which are the ones that I wanted to look at and I knew the one with regard to revisions to development checklist is one that impacts the planning board and Zoning Board and I was I know work's been going on about that was looking forward and they are not present does somebody have those and can we see them sir we we do have them uh they were held off the agenda because right before the holiday weekend uh one of the professionals who was directly involved with drafting them wanted to have an opportunity to to look at a few components uh it was cleared late this afternoon so um we are going to be able to introduce by title which is legally permissible and the ordinances will be available as soon as tomorrow morning for everyone to look at you know it'll go through the usual process go over to the planning board you know second reading here um and just to elaborate if you're interested 202 I guess that should be 20242 is really an update to the escros um and the fees it's pretty straightforward and 13 updates the uh checklist which we have is which dates back to the 1990s and is uh in need of update you mentioned the board it's also the zoning board add some input to that yes but we have not seen any of the drafts that came out of the work that was going on by the profession gotcha yeah I think you know this will get introduced it'll get sent over to the boards you know I think if there's any comments it would be good for us to get those Incorporated and you know once this is adopted I think it'll be a big plus to the landu sports I mean it's been a long time coming absolutely thank you any other public comment for agenda items seeing none moving on to the going to say moving on to the consent agenda I think we already have a motion to approve consent for Resolutions 2024 130 through 2024 136 do do we have a motion Mr Foster yes Miss L Mountain yes Mr lucarelli yes Mr Romano yes mayor and preva dudo yes okay resolutions 2024 130 through 2024 130 6 have been successfully passed next is Introduction of ordinance 20241 this ordinance of the township of hll amending the previously approved ordinance creating the Bay Shore sewage Authority through parallel ordinances adopted by the bur of Union Beach and the townships of Haslet and Homedale pursuing to the provisions of the new sewage Authority law the motion is to adopt on first reading published in the Asbury Park Press and set the public hearing for June 11th 2024 do we have a motion to adopt motion second Mr Foster yes m l Mountain yes Mr lucarelli yes Mr Romano yes mayor and preva dudo yes okay ordinance 20241 will be set for public hearing the next ordinance for introduction is 20242 which is an ordinance addressing Planning and Development fees this this motion is to adopt on first reading publishing the as Park Press and set the public hearing for June 11th 2024 moved second Mr Foster yes Miss L Mountain yes Mr lucarelli yes Mr Romano yes mayor and preva dudo yes okay ordinance 20242 will be set for public hearing for June 11th 2024 the next ordinance for introduction is ordinance 20243 which is an ordinance approving revisions to development checklists this motion is to adopt on first reading published in the Asbury Park Press and set the public hearing for June 11th 2024 motion to adopt second I think it was yeah you jumped ahead so I'll I'll I'll make the motion Kim second it Mr Foster yes Miss L Mountain yes Mr lucarelli yes Mr Romano yes mayor and preva dudo yes okay ordinance 202 413 will be set for public hearing for June 11 2024 all right we don't have any hearings on audiances on ordinances this evening so moving on to the administrator uh thank you mayor uh just a couple of announcements uh we are moving forward and have posted for uh several positions within the township uh director of infrastructure and operations as well as a zoning officer both of those positions are will be vacated due to uh pending retirements additionally uh with the adoption of the budget uh recently we are moving forward on uh higher ing police officer uh so that police officer position has also been posted uh and in our next meeting we will uh June will be our month for addressing our Capital needs and I anticipate that our first meeting in June uh we'll be introducing or have ready for introduction the capital ordinance for our general Capital purchases and improvements thank you sir Mr engineer uh no report at this time Mr Mayor thank you moving on to the committee Mr Romano do you want to kick us off all right starting with the library Wednesday movies continue and the book club continues to grow we are at 14 active participants the chess club is regularly seeing 20 players a week the brill building sound with Jimmy Scalia event Drew 10 enthusiastic music lovers the hell Heritage committee worked with the hell library to create an Asian-American and Pacific Islanders educational display on June 13th the library will host the first hell speaker series event with Don TOA p HD this event already has 27 people registered children's story times on Wednesdays and Thursdays see an average of 40 to 50 people in attendance the summer reading program runs from June 1st through August 15th and patrons can earn rewards for reading check out the mammoth County Library website for more information on the board of EDS the teacher appreci we teacher appreciation week started this past week the district celebrated teacher appreciation week we are pleased to report the success of our reent recent Teacher Appreciation Week celebration special thanks to the efforts of our school-based parent organization which Grace graceful graciously organized and hosted appreciation luncheons we were able to honor our dedicated educ Educators in a meaningful way uh at the end of April the first annual District Arts showcase was held at the hell Public Library at B works the event was standing room only and featured incredible artwork for our K through 12th grade students the event was enhanced by the playing of the middle school band and guests were treated to food that was skillfully prepared by our Middle School culinary students but also had the unique opportunity to pen heartfelt fan mail to The Talented artists fostering a sense of connection and appreciation the event was truly a tribute to the creative Excellence of our hell students on May 3rd the district's special services department hosted its second annual transition fair at Bell Works make marking a significant milestone in supporting adult Learners as they navigate their Journey out of the school the event witnessed impressive participation with representatives from 15 districts and schools and over 150 students showcasing a CommunityWide commitment to facilitating successful student transitioning and planning events like these prepare the district's students and parents for the next steps in their journey and strengthen Community ties making it a noteworthy achievement in supporting our adult Learners a reminder that the board will also hold a public meeting in person on Wednesday May 29th at the high school media center at 7 pm. the meetings will also be accessible via zoom and the link will be posted to The District web page from the hell Heritage committee uh May is Asian-American Heritage Month the hell Heritage committee invited four Asian groups to to setup display at the Homedale Library please stop by the library to visit the beautiful cultur cultural displays from China India Korea and Taiwan the Greek festival the 2024 Bayshore Greek Fest will take place at cissus T the theotaku taking the knee on that one Orthodox Church in Homedale from June 6th to June 9th Greek music dances games and Greek food and pastries will be offered at the 4-day festival the home Heritage committee encourages residents to attend this annual event the hell Heritage committee is planning a hell Heritage Day event to celebrate cultural diversity in hell with performances food posters crafts and games any hell residents who would like to volunteer for this cultural celebration event please contact the hell Heritage committee atom Del Heritage gmail.com thank you Joe M Mountain thank you mayor uh nothing new to report from Community Development Department M the hell Green Team uh has followed up with the township regarding opportunities for free energy technical assistance from Sustainable New Jersey their next meeting will take place June 3 and at that meeting they will be sharing what they learned at the summit and they'll begin to choose actions for the sustainable Jersey recertification process public public input is always invited and appreciated the Green Team would also like to extend a thank you for the opportunity to present to the township committee and share with the public all the great things they've been working on so thank you from the Green Team thank you mayor thanks Kim Mr Luca Ry thank you mayor Homedale Police Department electric bikes have become very popular and frequently being operated on a roadways ebikes can fall into one of three categories based upon speed what type of assistance from the motor provides every electric bike is required to come with a classification sticker located somewhere in the frame of the bicycle although an ebike May display a particular classification Riders and manufacturers are able to make modifications to access the speed limit in various ways in addition on many websites such as Amazon and Walmart you can find numerous electric bikes all without classifications and top speeds well over the listed 20 M hour the reason for this is because it is not illegal for these companies to sell these types of bicycles these bicycles can be used on their private property the issue is that the buyers in the area are unaware of these regul regulations for electric bicycles often sometimes the parent who is the buyer purchases the bike for a child and does not know these regulations and laws this leads to what we are currently seeing which is Ju ises on electric bikes traveling at high speeds throughout the town for more information on ebikes and regulations regarding them visit the Home Police Department Instagram and Facebook pages The Goal Zero initiative a homeo officers taking part in the enforcement will be patrolling Highway 34 patrolman minoski will be expanding the scope of the patrol to include Mammoth County Shore towns the intent of this high visibility campaign is to to confront the Staggering rise and traffic death seen in New Jersey traffic safety culture and driving behaviors need to change to keep people alive on New Jersey roadways law enforcement agencies in Mammoth County are dedicated to lowering these numbers numbers and keeping our roadway safe as of today New Jersey is up to 244 deaths in 2024 that's a 21% increase over the same time frame last year 25 of these deaths have occurred in Mammoth County last week members of The Hell Fire Department conducted a rope rescue drill with the police department in 2020 the hell fire department and Hell Police Department formed a joint staffed and trained tactical Rescue Team the team is trained to rescue people in remote wooded areas within the township using specialized equipment the Homedale fire department's annual fund Drive mailing is in process uh and is in progress um please keep an eye for the mailer and consider donating Homedale first aid Squad hits 300 630 calls for service already this year where fully volunteered organization that responds to Medical emergencies 24 hours a day every day the squad does not build for its services these donations of residents are what funds the operating expenses and we appreciate the generosity we receive from our fund Drive each year the first a the first aid squads Cadet program continues to thrive we held a playground emergencies training at philps Park on Tuesday May 7th with scenarios stimulating real responses that were encountered on the playground and Park equipment in the past we'll be holding our search and rescue drill in the coming weeks please don't be alarmed if you see us out in the park or wooded areas around town with flashlights we are training for future EMS providers to work alongside our active members the squad would also like to congratulate s several of our cadets for completing their 240h hour long EMS program through the winter spring season while still maintaining their High School course loads and other obligations the squad would also like to recognize the 11 me volunteers who have completed their EMT cours workk and passed the National Registry of emergency medical technician certification exam over the past few months they now take on their new role as members of the Homedale first aid Squad with as fully certified EMTs congratulations uh the first a squad would also like to congratulate no that's duplicated sorry uh Public Works um the township will be holding a tire recycling event at our home at our Department of Public Works on Saturday June 15 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 1 p.m. residents may bring up to four unwanted tires per household this service is open to hll residents only and tires from businesses will not be accepted a reminder that there is a that there's only one large item drop off event in June which will be June 8th at Bell works that's all I have for you this evening mayor is that thank you that's it all right Mr Foster thanks DJ thank you mayor uh just a couple updates the department of recreation The Swim Club had an incredible opening weekend had two fully packed days on Saturday and Sunday with very positive comments from both returning members and new members unfortunately yesterday was obviously a bit of a wash out memberships are still available for the season residents can contact the recreation department for more information the veterans committee uh hell veterans committee held its first round table event earlier this month at Bell Works Mammoth County Clerk Christine hanlin was the guest speaker and provided information for our veterans about the many services available to them by the county we had probably about to 10 new members uh new veteran members which was great uh to see some new faces we kind of encourage them to see if they could reach out and get any others involved so hoping to continue to grow that the township recently updated the veterans Monument wall at Phillips Park engraving the names of Hell veterans from the Revolutionary War World War II the Vietnam War and the Middle East conflicts special thanks to the daughters of the Revolution Who provided us with 10 additional names of Revolutionary War soldiers from hell veterans or family members of veterans can contact the recreation department to have their name added to the monument and just as a reminder next Sunday June 9th the Middletown chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will be hosting grave marker dedication ceremonies at two ceremonies Lo excuse me two cemeteries located in Homedale 1 p.m. is the door set burial ground and 2:15 is the smok burial ground members of the public are invited to attend and then just uh to comments Joe just with your board of education very sorry to learn that uh principal M Cota will be leaving our district he's an incredible asset I was certainly looking forward to uh my kids going through there with him at the helm wish him the best of luck down in mquan where uh he's he lives locally down there and then D just on that Demetri you as well on that 11 new EMT things amazing awesome work they got a a lot of synergy going on and very thankful to have uh you guys pushing that so that's it for me thank you mayor thank you Brian so a few things here uh we held our annual Memorial Day ceremony yesterday at Town Hall we had representatives from hell's various Civ Civic organizations on hand to lay Memorial raths at the township Flag Staff we were also honored to be joined by Veterans of each of the military branches who assisted us with raising the flags for their service branch and thank you to the home Del Boy Scouts our local Civic organizations the department of recreation and Department of Public Works for helping to make this a special commemoration I also want to thank veteran of the Year Lenny Sasso for his moving reading of I am the flag the economic development committee ad hoc committee will be actually making their recommendation their first what I call the first- round recommendation on the Vonage property June 11th um there were some vacations booked in so folks couldn't make it this evening um that recommendation will include uh all the types of potential uses for property such as that listed in sort of stack order rank order of most preferable to least preferable along with a number of criteria and considerations related to each and how each one you know could be a creative or dilutive to our town both from a cultural perspective infrastructure environment etc etc um the township received notification of receiving a $58,000 well $ 57,8 in grant funding from the New Jersey clean communities Council this program funds a variety of activities including volunteer cleanups of public space bases cleanups of storm water systems educational Outreach campaigns and the purchase of trash receptacles recycling bins and anti littering signs uh few other things I just want to sort of emphasize and follow up on one um Jay are we still on tap for the June 1st delivery of the storm water report from Colliers engineering do we know we are I've heard no no uh there's been no update uh or uh extension of that date okay perfect thank you um I do want to emphasize committ Minelli's point about the ebikes kids are getting hurt getting hit by cars they're tumbling over I implore anybody listing there's not a ton of people in the room to please go to the hell police department social media and and web pages um and read about the rules and regulations I have two kids you know and I'm all over them now about these things I mean they're they're just they're just far more dangerous than I think we anticipated and kids are getting hurt um the pickle ball volleyball and tennis courts are the building of those is underway at the Swim and Tennis Club I expect a mid to late summer launch of that Jay is that uh still where we're at we are still on on track for a midsummer perfect and um Joe just a couple of things as we now have an actual budget assigned to the library if we can ask whoever is responsible these days for the the library charity um what their what they've contributed over the past several years and what the annual spend is this way we know what where the sort of line of demarcation is if you will so if they can get an accounting of that that'd be great and what they plan to purchase this year as well um I think that would be helpful to us in our planning and what we're trying to do yeah and we have reached out to them with some questions already and we are trying to plan an event for end of year but it's been mostly crickets to this point okay so we'll we'll keep trying but I just want to make sure that we have again a clear path on what we're trying to do there uh one other item I want to I want to hit on and I'm not going to belabor it but it's a point of frustration for me um and you know typically I ignore things like this but uh I just found it disingenuous so there's note that went around town regarding the Vonage property um it had some inaccuracies inaccuracies in it uh it included what I consider to be accusations um it was clearly meant to incite people again I found it disingenuous uh if not reprehensible um you know this governing body is operating with absolute transparency we have an ad hoc Committee of seven members not including an additional member from our finance committee not including myself where I sit in to honestly and objectively look at you know what we can do with that vage property what's again accretive to the town um and for someone to sort of capitalize on that to try to court controversy to try to create friction where there is none um you know an activist group trying to take advantage of a situation like that I think is again reprehensible and I'm disappointed um I I don't think it's in the public interest I think if anything it's it's against the values that we and hell are trying to promote and trying to uh emphasize as we go forward um so I I think uh you know what I would implore is for people to understand that there are good residents good people trying to do the best they can to make a det DET mination as to what benefits our town um and understand that just because you weren't selected doesn't mean uh you are not valued or not considered that said there are 177,000 residents in this town and everybody has an opinion and everybody's opinion is valid and should be considered no one more so than any other whether you're part of an activist group or not um so this governing body will not be bullied will not be swayed we will not take the bait on someone trying to court controversy for their own you know interests um we will continue to operate with absolute transparency we'll continue to work only in the best interest of our town and that includes taking into consideration all of our residents and we'll continue to honor the oath we've taken to serve the public interest we're working tirelessly to serve everybody despite their backgrounds and perspectives inclusive of their back backgrounds and perspectives and that is absolute irrefutable fact and I think to this point the record shows it starting with committee men and former mayor Lucarelli's tenure last year the situation as it relates to Vonage is moving at a deliberate Pace it's moving at a pace that is commensurate with the gravity of the situation right we are not inclined to mess this up we are going to do the best we can to make sure we do the right thing for the town um and to make sure that its impact is considered on on all avenues um so I'm I'm disappointed people try to capitalize on a situation and Court controversy where none exists um you know I I I think we should be past that as a town at this point in time um we're easy to find come to a meeting and ask the questions and we'll give you the answers we have when we have information we will absolutely share it with you June 11th will be the first report from the ad hoc committee it'll be I think a very wellth thought out very objective view of the types of uses for these types of property these days and what the committee thinks is again a creative or not a creative to our town and I don't mean just monetarily I don't mean the economics of it I mean culturally aesthetically right all of those things so um you know one if you're going to send a note like that I'd say get it right they didn't um two you know I think anything that is even close to an accusation I think should be rethought um and uh three you know I would just say you know trust the process understand that we're all acting in the best interest of the town here and as Things become more concrete as things move forward and recommendations are put in play more things will be made public for public consumption and everybody will be involved in the process but to try to incite controversy and try to get people riled up I think is just a reprehensible act at this point in time so I had to get that off my chest and I'll let it go now we can move on to public comment May Wendy you want to do your thing in accordance with the open public meetings act this is a public comment period for for public comment on any governmental issue of public concern in accordance with resolution 20227 public commenters are asked to raise their hand and wait to be recognized by the mayor before coming forward and making public comments commenters are asked to State their full names and addresses before commenting public commenters are limited to one comment not to exceed 3 minutes comment should be directed to the mayor in the township committee and if appropriate the mayor may direct and recognize a staff employee or professional to respond to comments either at this meeting or in writing after this meeting thank you Wendy ma'am in the back hi my name is Dina skolos and I live at 4 to Maria Court um I sent you um all an email some of you an email but I just thought it would be good to read this um on record can you hear me okay okay in March I joined the hell citizens police academy and I want to share my experience with you unsure of what to expect I was delighted to learn far more than I imagin the first class introduced me to the police station and an impressive array of equipment the Homedale Police Department possesses living in Homedale since the first grade in 1995 I never realized how much this town has to offer over the eight weeks my eyes were open to the extensive knowledge and training our officers receive I was particularly impressed by the specializations many officers hold ranging from members of the mammoth County SWAT team to expertise in drug identification and can9 unit work feeling incredibly unfortunate to live in a community with such highly trained professionals I now feel even safer throughout the academy various officers from the Department presented on crucial topics they created presentations brought in samples and provided Hands-On training making it one of the most rewarding experiences I've had the officers went above and beyond to answer our questions and always stayed enthusiastic for the final session we even visited the Stars building where Mammoth County police officers train there we got to experience the the 360° virtual simulation which truly highlighted the quick thinking and adaptability required of police officers it is wonderful to know that we have our own dispatch team who are there 247 to answer calls this makes asking for help much more efficient and I hope we always keep this in hell we also had the privilege to tour the first aid and fire station and I was blown away by the equipment they have recently purchased hell has some of the top of the line first aid equipment many residents do not even realize that these departments are staffed by volunteers and funded primarily by donations I am deeply impressed by the hedal police department and their expertise their daily dedication goes above and beyond and I'm grateful they offer this insightful 8-week program to Residents I would highly recommend the citizens Police Academy to anyone in town H's First Responders deserve our deepest appreciation their dedication and expertise are invaluable assets I hope we can explore new avenues to educate Homedale residents on all that our police department does by showcasing the impressive equipment resources and knowledge our First Responders possess we can foster a deeper understanding of their vital role I also hope our town continues to put funding into these programs and develops creative ways to inform the public about all they do thank you for providing me with this opportunity thank thank you so much for that that was wonderful really app very much Mrs Blumenthal hi there was Jenny Blumenthal 41 Stony Brook Road one of the person was it Kim that wor or is it Brian that worries about school activities um I was very saddened to see in the T times this week the passing of some person that number of you people dealt with a whole lot Jay damaras died and know that you probably had his coaching as you went through our high school system so he's a real he was a real Sterling character for many of our kids and we should be glad that we had him around what we did now thank you for that I didn't know that yeah thank you for that yeah Jay was just a uh true gentleman um he was there when I was in in in school he was the athletic director and and and taught half the kids uh driving um he did that on that was his side hustle he was like one of the first to do that and you know he was there from the be from the Inception of the of the school so my brother who graduated in uh 77 you know also had Jay was the at the time I think he was the football coach at the time also uh but uh yeah Jay was a a tremendous guy I got to see him I don't know if anyone got to see him last year he was at the at the game they had like uh Dr White was there the 50th Anniversary Jay was there I got a chance to say hi and uh and say hi to him I think the2 yeah yeah he looked and he looked good he looked good but uh yeah this uh Jay was a fantastic man thanks for bringing mentioning that thank you for that anybody else in the audience going once oh Mr yala you know I can't help myself uh J and L8 ladwood drive it's a quick question it's an old question but it still needs attention and it maybe it goes to Jay but um hell Road remains an atrocious road to drive on daily and I see people trying to navigate it the one lane that was half paved after they build that development I hope going back to my why are we doing these things whenever we do a development and a road is displaced the Builder should repave the whole Lane not half the lane so Jay my question to you is do we even an update when our county is going to repave hell road because if you go in Colt neck their big byways look beautiful right now and if not can we formally approach them and say what's going on why is Hell Road falling apart and no one's doing anything about it they did repair that one part you were talking New Jersey natural gas which was sinking but the whole Road requires a lot of navigating to drive on do we have any idea Jay yeah I don't have any um specific date on the status of Homedale Road and where that falls on the County's list I can check with them and provide an answer yeah I I I thank you please any of you if you don't navigate it a lot please do it's really bad thank you thank you anybody else going once going twice sold motion to adjourn