##VIDEO ID:cU_3_t8dDUM## I under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all good afternoon and welcome the December 31st 2024 special meeting of the Jackson Township Council will now come to order councilman barelli uh thank you clerk Moss um I hope everyone enjoyed here here here I'm here sorry we're about to get into comments councilman Bernstein councilman Chisum here Council vice president Sergeant is absent and council president C here as Clerk of this meeting I hereby publicly announc in compliance with the provisions of the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting has been advertised in the manner prescribed by law we continue with opening comments from count uh from Township Council council president ke thank you m good afternoon everyone we are here today for a special meeting to discuss ordinance 33-24 this ordinance is designed to protect the residents of Jackson from the potential negative effects of overdevelopment let me be clear our goal is not to harm anyone or hinder progress in fact we welcome the applicant Adventure Crossings approved MS Center and the proposed hotels as these projects bring valuable economic benefits to our community it's important to note that Adventure Crossings has already been approved for construction of over 500 homes and has submitted plans for an additional 465 Town Homes a submission made prior to the consideration of this ordinance this ordinance however serves as a safeguard for the future it will ensure that should there be any changes to the project moving forward the residents of Jackson are protected as it stands Adventures Crossing current approvals are intact and we continue to welcome the Associated Tax ratables that these developments will bring thank you thank you councilman barelli uh there we go thank you clerk Moss I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas and Hanukkah I wish Jackson Township residents a safe healthy and prosperous new year thank you thank you councilman Bernstein councilman Chisum good afternoon just wanted to say uh hope you all had a great holiday happy New Year to all and uh it's been a pleasure and an honor and I just like to reiterate it's been a great time working for the people of Jackson so I thank you for that privilege and everybody have a great new year God bless you we move on to ordinance 33-24 council president are there any other comments or discussions to be made yes I would like to I started my Council presidency on transparency and I'd like to end it on the year on transparency I'd like to read the resolution of why we're here resolution uh r or 4 28-24 resolution to the township of Council of the township of Jackson is in accordance with NS njsa 40-69 a-36 to override a maril veto of ordinance 33-24 roll call I need a motion please oh so moved second councilman belli uh thank you clerk Moss uh let me reiterate trying to reign in addressing the overdevelopment issue and the increased traffic that comes with it is an issue I committed myself to residents on doing on the township Council we work for them we work for you guys and my continued support of ordinance 33-20 for is following through on that commitment yes thank you councilman Bernstein councilman Chisum I'm looking forward to all of the commercial ratables that uh have been promised to us and uh I enjoy what's currently been built I'm looking forward to the rest of it but again just in case God forbid we've all seen how things have gone a at different times um I think 900 and some odd residential units is very uh generous and if God forbid something was to go wrong we would not want to see another 12 or 1500 homes in that area that roadway is too congested as it is so I'm voting yes thank you and council president C yes thank you we move on to open public comments I need a motion to open the public portion of the meeting for all comments so move second all in favor I I if any member of the public has any comments to make please address the council at their microphone state your name and address clearly for the record you will have five minutes and may only speak once Donnie Adelman 206 willo Drive Jackson New Jersey okay I know the three of you Mr berstein whoever else might be on the phone you're not stupid people I know for a fact you made it this far in life by being intelligent by being wise and living your life experiences so now here it is you have an opportunity to either take a political gain or lose the town $125 million the town can't pay for its own schools and yet here it is Mr Carr now said he's goingon to sue you for $125 million he's going to win that case all because you want to run for mayor you want to continue to be on the board and you're riding off to the sunset so I just think it's a very it's import taste it's a very bad idea to sit there and go back knowing that it's going to cost the town $125 million this is not an maybe this is not a well let's see if we could fight it this is we're going to spend a lot of money in litigation we're going to end up paying a nice Hefty settlement and then Mr card now is gonna end up building his homes anyway you guys didn't approve it we made we went through this last council meeting I got it it was different board members but this is where you let sleeping logs sleeping dogs lie and don't do anything stupid as it is right now this Council has not acted in the town's best interest I've you know I've come here with my own personal issue asking for you guys to get candida to back off and the next day I get retaliation all right I got news for you not only is car now going to give you $125 million lawsuit all right as of next year I got a present for you the present is I'm gonna sue the board I'm going to sue the police department and candido for violating my rights and retaliation and the simple fact is I asked the board for help to quash this and the response was well he didn't get the email so we forwarded to him and lo and behold I get retaliatory tickets the next day I'm not sure why it is that you think that you get to do whatever you want in this town with such omnipotence because a few voters want it the simple fact of the matter is out of this entire town I'd say about 45% of the land that people own is available for them to do whatever they want who are you to tell them what and when they can't do people need homes people don't need make mansions people don't need million dooll homes people need Town Homes apartments places to rent places to live places to start their life and for you to sit here and go take an agreement that we had for 1,600 homes knock it down to 400 and say oh you might give them 900 homes acting as though you're so benevolent this was already done you guys are playing with fire and you're sitting there saying well it's no big deal because as the other people did it so we won't get in trouble all right and not only that your attorneys not uh this young lady here but Mr McGuckin I'd like to know why it's not of conflict of interest him being a state legislator enacting laws that you guys are requesting for as it is he should not be our town counsel he should not be any Town's counsel because of the his legislator status and the fact that all he seems to be doing is giving you guys bad legal advice that keeps on leading to lawsuits we're sick of paying for your mistakes we're sick of paying for the hateful little group of Jackson knites that are sitting here H that has some sort of sway over you for some reason I'd like to know what it is that they have holding over your head maybe I can get and hold it over your head but the simple fact of the matter is what's going on here is disgusting and the fact that no one in this town wants to take accountability I've come here with issues with the about the police the police are running ruot I Mr cardal came here he had an approval well guess what let him build his houses clean the town up stop making more problems for political games you know what no one cares about it because everybody when they ran for Council a few months ago everybody was trying to out Trump each other everybody ran on an overdevelopment platform guess what unless you're gonna sit here and compensate every landowner in this town for their property so you guys could enact whatever laws you want and whatever approvals you want I I think it's time you drop the ax drop the we're doing it for political gain and so we can sit there say we're fighting over development people need places to live and if the people don't like the fact that people want to build well they should move to pennil Tucky because it seems to be that the people that are uh making the loudest complaints seem to be missing a chromosome maybe they have an extra chromosome I'm not really sure but they're not right in the head and the simple fact you can't even say that with a St face well whatever um but fact of the matter is we all know what they're saying and how they're saying it and it shouldn't be that way people have a right to say what they want Express their feelings thank you sir thank you Happy New Year Happy New Year to your dog too hi Deb Jones 722 heis Road um first I'd like to thank councilman Chisum for all the hard work that he's done for town for the town but also I you know I know we're here New Year's Eve all this stuff all these homes I do have to say thank you because our schools are suffering right now I don't know that we can even accommodate that many more homes in Jackson with people but I think we need to start moving into the future maybe a little bit different I've been coming here for how long now I'm tired of hearing people talk about suing tired of hearing people talk about hate a difference of opinion does not mean it's a difference because of who someone is what religion they are what color they are what their financial standing is a difference of opinion is a difference of opinion we have to stop the madness this is embarrassing I've lived in Jackson since I'm in fifth grade I want to be proud of this town again and right now I'm not and if it means that we have to put our foot down and stop things for a little while then we need to stop things for a little while but it has to stop being done because of what side of what fight you're on either it's right or it's wrong those are the only two things and the only thing we need to be worried about is Jackson as a whole not the little parts of it but you guys have a big task you have new regime coming in I think if you all support each other and maybe start making decisions maybe a little more openly than what you've been doing I know you say you want to be upfront and out there it starts by making sure you're accountable to the words that you say and we need to start coming together this town can't handle any more breaking down of it so I hope you guys do have a prosperous 2025 thank you ma'am happy New Year hey Banning from 22 aorn Court back in the day we approved this Adventure Crossing project it included two hotels included a sports and entertainment complex only there was never anything part of this original plan that had residential in included in it I say no to the residential thank thank you sir Happy New Year I just want to qu is this the right time to talk about the problem I'm having you it's open comments that be lighter huh well don't be it no this this is it this is it go ahead thanks thank you sir I want to be inappropriate I want to wish everybody a Happy New Year and I sir sorry your name and address uh Jackson Township we just need your name sir oh my name yeah okay Paul Rivier I'm at 10009 West commodor thank you sir and I wish the people of uh Jackson Township a good 205 it's looking it's looking better and better okay so I'm here because there is a and I don't blame you for this because anybody's allowed to propose anything when they come in to the zoning board or planning board nobody can say you can't do that they can ask for any use variance or uh you know any kind of variance they want uh in in the problem I got with the uh the uh the 6 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. industrial use uh commercial and toxic excavation construction yard uh being placed on a very small 3 Acre Highway commercial uh plot surround sir I'm sorry is that a pending application that you're referencing I what exactly are you referencing is that a pending application before the planning board or Z hear can I come up hear you better sir she's asking if what you're asking is it a pending planning board or zoning board application is it something that has been submitted by you yourself or somebody else in front of another board I'm I'm sorry can I come up yeah come on up I'll speak into the microphone for the benefit of the public as well that's okay what you're referencing is that a current application okay so this govern body cannot comment on any pending applications before excuse me planning or zoning boards your comments would have to be to the planning or zoning board whoever is hearing that at the time of the application okay I'm just talking on General uh planning what's happening at the zoning board so we this board cannot discuss matters that I'm asking to be heard I'm not asking to discuss this board cannot provide comment or hear testimony that could be considered by the planning or zoning board as the specifically what's your name my name is Kelsey mcgucken Anthony oh you are you Gregory's relative yes I am oh that's that's nice that's very good all right so so and if you want to speak in general terms that's fine but we can't hear testimony comments or concerns about specific applications that are pending before the the board okay okay and I'll keep it at a very high level okay thank you thank you sir okay so then at a at a much higher level I'll have to say that all the applicants have to be treated equally I'm sure you'll agree with that and uh your your dad Mr Gregory mccuan had written to Donna jines telling her that her application sir it sounds like you're this is not this is not about this okay well if there was an email regarding a specific application that is exactly what this governing body cannot discuss they cannot discuss a pending application before another board in this is not before the the uh the this is past history so a decision has been made by the planning or zoning board on what you're referring I have to come up again if you don't mind if all right this is past history it's not about this particular site plan okay it's on a high level and what I'm saying is that you have to treat PE applicant SE if you're G to if you're going to make one applicant tow the line and and the issue is in your process in your law the applicant has to have uh a Wetlands delineation as a part of the application okay this is a general thing you can look at the ordin application uh checklist right now other applicants or applicants should be made to tellw that line okay and I it's a red flag when other applicants don't have to do that so that's one point and that's a that's a quality defect in a red flag that we all should look at okay the second thing is when we're hearing a application there's many private meetings that occur and I think it's to to the neighbors benefit to be in invited to those private meetings so it it's much more efficent I to hear what the neighbors have to say at that time before you even get to a hearing to an application hearing this way you can consider what the neighbors feel on their input there's nothing wrong with that so um borrowing that I'm not able to talk about this you're you're you're telling me I I'm not able to talk about this one application if the applic is pending before a planning or Zing saying I'm I'm also not able to talk about it at the zoning board I got some pretty nasty letters from the zoning board attorney and I'm being shut down there too you will be able to discuss it at the public make this okay so I'm saying that there are some red flags going on and you don't want that you really don't and you it's it's very important sir to have the the resonance back that's what you're here for okay wait one second sir sir so I'm I'm going to give you my card if you want to say everything that you want heard and email it to me and I'll forward it to the attorneys and they will have to read and hear your what you want to say so that way you can at least be heard I'm not going to answer you're just gon to email to me exactly but I I want you to have your voice heard so I will forward it to the attorney for you so that you could at least I think it's really nice that you're carrying on the family tradition thank you sir happy New Year okay happy New [Music] Year Roger derekson 10 lauralton Avenue Jackson good afternoon council president Council and residents so I'm a little surprised why I'm here it is the 31st of December um and I did see um based upon the township Clerk's uh posting uh that this was supposed to be a meeting to pay bills I was a little bit late so what bills are paying today the updated agenda is when you first come in over here we went through a resolution um in regards to our ordinance that was passed okay I I'll I'll read that one again but there were there were there's no bills yes that was taken off it was updated at 12 it was updated at 12 o'clock today okay okay fair enough so I heard a discussion about Jackson Crossing which is very interesting so we've had a few Adventure Crossing Adventure Crossing yes thank you so we've had a few years to absorb Adventure Crossing wow it's exciting it's not good for those of you who've ever been to Disney Bush Gardens and you'd like to see how a large development with amusements hotels traffic monitoring traffic progress is made that's where you look if you want to see exactly how not to do it come here wow get the ambulances ready because they're going to be there pulling out people so there's a road from pop from popey's 10 10 steps and you're on the main road wow terrible and now we're talking about homes so I see some different names here I know that's not Gregory mcgucken are you acting as the attorney for for the town today I am the attorney for the township today I know at several meetings I've been there have been several attorneys we have a lot of attorneys here please take your role very seriously I would rather you sat and voted no and the attorneys came in the judges that read our minutes came in and said we're going to overrule you just like they did for our taxes for the school district overrule us who cares let them overrule because at the end of the day you're residents of this town you have to you go to the stores you shop with us you talk to us we don't need to be your friends but we want to be treated professionally as professionals that is the worst Development I've ever seen ever and no one can say it's not I dare someone to I dare someone you still come off out of that Popeyes out of that little area and you have to decide in about two seconds to get on the 195 Parkway which is typically around 75 to 80 miles an hour on that road why couldn't that development been pushed back m a mile half a mile or don't allow it it needed a large Half Mile Road in just like Bush Gardens in Williamsburg again take a trip go on Google look what it looks like it's too late now it's a mess and it's going to get worse so make sure when you have a f member sitting up here they talking about their their family member who was harmed or injured because of the traffic you you'll you'll understand why they're upset so I'm not really sure why I'm here in the 31st but I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about it I got about a minute and a half I think it's important that residents come here not just look at the YouTube that's fantastic but they come they stop their work they come and they B their elected representatives you have our support vote no if it doesn't make sense you guys you leave us wondering you leave us wondering why the vote why the yes votes just leave us wondering and you know what we're wondering about I think you missed it we voted to keep the ordinance in place they our ordinances was vetoed by the mayor and we overturned that veto so you came in late that's what you missed and and what is the final vote going to be for how much we we we stuck with it the ordinance staying in place it was for we all voted yes for yes for what to overturn the mayor's veto of ordinance 33-24 so what will occur nothing we will keep it it's what's been in there is intact is intact okay so what's intact what's what's coming what's being built that you have to see it's we'll have to see it's in the it's not with our board sir we're not planning board we're not zoning board this is Council okay so we created an ordinance and the ordinance was vetoed and we overturned that okay thank you I just want to make sure because I know you came in late but I think you think yeah you were thinking the opposite that's not what happened it's going to be terrible it's bad now we already saw the one image of the traffic backed up because someone was decided they were going to do a turn there this is got to stop thank you sir thank you for your happy happy New Year you you as well Happy New Year no no else for motion to close public no one come forward motion to close close public comments yes yes second thanks motion to close a second please second all in favor I I thank you thank you Happy New Year thank you