##VIDEO ID:VecLLIaf2rA## [Music] recording adequate notice of this meeting has importance with the open public meetings act pursuant to the public laws 1975 said notice was advertised in the Asbury Park Press and the beacon and was posted on the bulletin please rise for the to the flag I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice if you will indulge me in for a minute here Mark can I have you to stand up for a minute please I want to be able to read it loud enough so this is presented to Mark dof and sincere appreciation of his dedication of years service of on the Lacy Township committee they name all the years on here but for me it's over 20 years you've been here Mark and we appreciate your help along with myself advice things you've said to me you know hated me along the way as they say um and I appreciate you and I'm I'm we're sorry you're going but we understand that it's time it's time for you to move on and do bigger and better things so congratulations to you I'd like to open up the floor to the deputy mayor first to have something to say if you thank you mayor um when I first met Mark I was uh I guess I was really impressed Mark is uh always struck me as a a strong man that to me that that stuff matters he's a he was a a great mayor uh to were in Sandy was unprecedented destruction and he's given me good advice over the years I'm here a little bit more than half the time that he has been here um so I appreciate it when he talked to me and again I think he's a strong man I I I respect and admire that I think that's the best compliment one man could give another man and I appreciate appreciate serving with you thank you Pete thank you appreciate that Mr Kennis thank you mayor yes this being our last night meeting of 2024 it's also Mark's last uh last official meeting even there's one more on the calendar and I want to thank Mark for uh all the time they contributed to Lacy Township in different capacities Mark has now served the township committee for over or the township for over 20 years starting with the zoning board before eventually serving as an elected official I always found that Mark wanted all the information before reaching a conclusion and in particular I always valued his ability to recall pertinent information when the committee was being questioned or criticized he played good de he played good defense so I I again just want to thank Mark for his contributions for the town from the township and the time that he put in to make Lacy Township a better place to live thank you thank you state Mr McDonald thank you um I have had the privilege of knowing Mark for over 20 years uh he served with me on the board of adjustment and then coming up here um and Mark and I we get along sometimes but but we one of the things Mark and I have agreed on is that we always have respected each other's opinion um and and that's a good thing because we've always reached a compromise sometimes sometimes we just two strong-headed men just not just not agreeing but one of the things I all I will miss with Mark not being here is his advice but I will always treasure our Saturday mornings sitting next to each other whispering to each other and having those guys and they're going what are they talking about what are they talking about and 90% of the time we weren't talking about anything no talking about something like that but and I you know when Mark called me in January and he said he wasn't going to run first thing I said can I talk you out of it cuz he is very valuable up here and he said nope and I said okay I won't even try and I had an I had a feeling on this and I know why Mark is retiring because he wants to do more camping he wants to dot after his grandchild yes okay and he just wants more time and if you have if you ever question the amount of time it takes that this job takes talk to Mark right now because he will tell you it's unbelievable the amount of energy and effort it takes to do this job this is the easy part yeah this is the easy part coming to these meetings is the easy part but Mark I wish you nothing but the best of luck and best of health thank you Mr cones would you thank you I appreciate the chair recognizing me um among the elected officials that are here today um Mark will join uh the happiest group of elected officials a fraternity of those that held public office and for someone who has held office for as long as Mark you know um I get it and it's almost like going in the boat the two happiest days of your life is the day you buy it and the day you get they sell it um and I and I was telling a story in the back room that another coun member from another town had asked me after I decided that I was not going to seek reelection that if I had any regrets in not doing so after 30 some odd years in public office and I said no I really don't certainly you miss some some people that you work with but um you know you know when it's time but I said I don't know whether you have grandchildren or not but I I draw the analogy it's like having grandchildren I can see my grandchildren pretty much whenever I want and I see them in short periods of time and so that when they're done they go back to their mom and dad and I have no more responsibility for them and it makes for the greatest relationship and I said when you leave public office you can still go to the social Affairs you can still go to the political events and whatnot but when you go you're not going to leave with a long list of things to do that people have given you so leaving public office is like being a happy grandparent and Mark I've been proud to serve in public office with you um and I'm proud that you're joining fraternity of former elected officials particularly those from here from lazy T thank you Mark we've been together a long time um we get very passionate about our opinions on different things at time but at the end of the day we always do respect each other and I've enjoyed working with him and he was always a big supporter of um different um departments in the township and always supported the employees and always did like the full picture before he made a decision and one thing that Mark has always said and I do remember that and I repeat it often to other employees one of his mottos is don't tell me why we can't but show me how we can and that is something that I do repeat and utilize quite a bit um with with uh my fellow employees there so I appreciate everything you've done thanks thank you thank very happy for you mark you're you're going to have fun with your family and enjoy them and that's the biggest thing you know my turn that yes of course thank you very much so going to be smart man and and thank the first person well listen how how do we start this over 20 years why do I do this um well and and people say Mark um how do you know you're doing the right thing well I it has to pass us the lipus test and the litmus test and of course unfortunately my wife is not here tonight she had something she had to do is it has to pass the Tammy test and and what's the Tammy test the Tammy test is started from my first meeting and I went home and was discussing the you know the events and what we discussed and I knew if I couldn't explain it to my wife and in a believable fashion it it wasn't going to fly um there there's another test so so I always respected strong women um and I'm going to I'm going to direct it to the woman to the left of me um Veronica and I of of all the elected officials that I've served with we discuss things on a regular basis um and as as Mr McDonald said if you think serving up here is two meetings a month that's not what it is it's diving into deep into the deep end and understanding and Veronica is right um sometimes we will disagree all of us you know sometimes people say well you all all vote the same huh believe me if you think we all vote the same and are of the same mind um you're you're you're you're mistaken so so now I'm going to jump 20 years ago 20 years ago I sat up here and I sat all the way in the other ring because I was a new guy and I sat up here with John Parker Brian Reed Gary Quinn uh and Helen delar Cruz and I sat up here and I said wow do I deserve to be up here uh I was so proud to be up there and I can tell you I'm so proud to be up here now the the ability to to exchange ideas and discuss the going on with people like this with people like Chris Connor and before him Lauren Sager before him her uh George Gilmore and the people I've gotten to meet um our assemblyman our governor um people from from the federal government traveling to Washington traveling to Trenton it it's truly an honor and I have enjoyed it so much um in my sometimes adversarial yeah I am but it only comes from my passion for this Township and how much I love it uh I'm adversarial with my family sometimes if someone criticizes this Township you could be sure I'm going to tell them why I think this Township is great uh and so so interesting story my wife myself and my children went to a a dinner at Ocean County votek at the Atlantis it was a demonstration and the nice thing I I enjoy this it's kind of like going on a cruise sometimes I enjoy going out and talking to people when I travel I talk to people from all over the country and I try and get their take on what's going on in the nation and it's just so happens we were sitting with an older couple and they weren't a couple they were a brother and a sister and it turns out they lived in Lacy for 20 years and had no clue who I was um and and you know I was I was you know well what do you think of lacy and they told me how much they loved it um and we discuss you know some of the the development things like that that you know it it goes with the territory anyone move from another part of the state or another state knows this is what's happening um but you know again I I I meet people on a daily basis from all over we are the Envy of Ocean County L Township but by far the Envy of Ocean County um I can't think and I talk to people as I get older I'm at that age you know you know anyone who talks about moving where you going to move to you can't give me a place they would rather be than Lacy Township so uh I want to thank everybody here I want to thank the residents of Le Township the other interesting part that happens is what are you going to do in your retirement you know my my time in Lacy Township was not defined 20 years ago when I was elected and it's not going to be defined by now I'm I'm still going to be involved um don't know what I'll do but I'll I'll still defend Lacy Township I'll still love it and um I guess that's about all I have thank you very much all of you thank you for this wonderful plaque thank you to the res town [Applause] [Music] move it get out [Laughter] of adequate notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with the open public meeting act pursuant to the public war of 1975 said notice was advertised in the Asbury Park Press in the beacon and was posted on the bulton board showing the time and place of the meeting please rise for the Sol flag in a moment of Silence I pled ALG to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all second reading of ordinance 202 24-26 setting salaries for non-bargaining employees ordinance of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey amending an ordinance entitled an ordinance of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey of fixing and determining the salaries wages and compensation of officers employees and members of the governing body of the township this is the salary ordinance for all non-bargaining um employees for 2024 and 20125 this is second reading open the floor to public comment seeing I make a motion to close second all in favor I motion on the ordinance second Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennis yes Mr doff yes Deputy Mayor KIRO abstain mayor Juliano yes resolution 2024-25 authorizing a transfer of of Appropriations resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing a transfer of Appropriations in accordance with the provisions of njsa 4A colum 4- 58 this is um normal procedure for the end of the year where we transfer money from um from certain accounts that had shortfalls to um or ones that had over over into those that had shortfalls move it second Mr Kennis yes Mr McDonald yes Mr dof yes Deputy Mayor CA yes mayor Julian yes resolution 2024-25 awarding a contract for the purchase of a whip of the wibit pieces resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey awarding a contract to commercial recreation Specialists for the P purchase of additional pieces for the inflatable water sports park for the township of lacy oh I'm sorry no that's okay this is for um just a couple additional Whit pieces as approved in the 2024 budget move it second Mr McDonald yes Mr kis yes Mr dof yes Deputy Mayor KIRO yes mayor Julian yes resolution 2024-25 awarding a contract to Nick Lex construction for cdbg housing rehabilitation program resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean Stadium New Jersey awarding a contract to Nick Lex Construction LLC under the terms and conditions of the Community Development block grant to provide a housing rehabilitation program this is a county um project so uh it will count towards our affordable housing credits um and then the county reimburses us once the project is complete moving second Mr McDonald yes Mr Kenne yes mrov yes Deputy Mayor KIRO yes mayor Juliano yes resolution 2024 d325 authorizing an interlocal service agreement with the county sheriff's department for the child restraint program Grant resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing the execution of an interlocal service agreement with the county of ocean for the child restraint program Grant this is an annual grant that we do to have um a number of our officers trained as child passenger safety technicians move it second Deputy Mayor KIRO yes Mr McDonald yes Mr kenis yes Mr D yes mayor juli yes resolution 2024 326 authorizing the refund of deposits resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing the refund of deposits held for the use of Municipal facilities move second Mr McDonald yes Mr Kennis yes Mr diov yes Deputy Mayor KIRO yes mayor Julian yes resolution 2024-25 authorizing the payment of Township bills resolution of the township of lacy County of ocean state of New Jersey authorizing the payment of Township bills this is in the amount of 8,920 56.93 move second Mr McDonald yes Mr kenis yes Mr dof yes Deputy Mayor KIRO yes mayor Juliana yes Amy I I'll obstain on t35 resolution 2024 327 authorizing the payment of Township bills I'm sorry please apologize I'm trying to write notes Here monthly reports for the month of October the municipal court office collected receipts the amount of 9,575 187 for the month of November the municipal clerk's office collected receipts in the amount of $595 126 for the month of November Road opening permit there was no Road opening permits um recycling commodity was in the amount of ,2 and that is all for the month of November motion to accept the reports is read move second all fa motion to approve Township Township meeting minutes from November 26 2024 move second Mr McDonald yes Mr kenet yes Mr diov Deputy Mayor KIRO yes mayor julo yes motion to approve executive session minute meeting excuse me meeting minutes from November 26 2024 move it second Donald yes Mr Kennis yes Mr dof abstain Deputy Mayor KIRO yes mayor Julian yes okay comments from the committee Deputy Mayor can I have you first please thank you mayor appreciate you and uh the work you've been doing and advocating for us going to these meetings about the drones I'm sure you'll present a wonderful report um so thank you for that um I just wanted to uh along with merry Christmas I wanted to to report to our residents yesterday I was fortunate enough to go down to Atlantic City um I'm always looking for Revenue sources and ways to support our businesses uh so it was the state tourism conference uh film Ready New Jersey was down there they're looking for uh locations that are diverse I can't think of uh more diverse locations than place with a Parkway and Farms Beach locations barnegate Bay uh so opportunities abound I did speak with the uh state director of Tourism and Business Development Jeff Vasser um so it was good to to see him and I was with our our board down there as well from Ocean County so I'm always going to try to advocate for our businesses an additional opportunities for us for revenue streams to help people with the tax bite um so looking forward to that uh in Earnest as uh I engage some of our uh colleagues up here and people in Trenton too and if again if we can get in line and and can advocate for us and and and bring some dollars our way I always say you see dollars flying up and down the Parkway right over our shoulders all the time they get spent in Seaside Heights they get spent everywhere else they get spent in Atlantic City they get spent in Long Beach Island I want some of those dollars here so uh that is going to be something I'm going to enjoy working on and that'll conclude my report mayor thank you thank you Mr D so as I won't be here January 1st um I want to thank mayor Juliano for the fantastic job you did this year um anyone very uh Peggy Sue mayor Juliano anytime was one of the hardest working Mayors I've seen since I've been here and as as I said before and as Mr McDonald said um I don't think people realize how much time and effort it takes and it's not just present it's in your mind also I know Peggy loves this town um she deserves to be here and she she did a great job and I want to thank you for the job you did again thank you all I want to say Merry Christmas Happy Holidays happy Hanukkah happy K Quanza happy New Year good night Elvis has left the building the building is k please thank you mayor if uh just want to thank anybody everybody that helped out in the parade or and attended the parade uh the weather turn turned out great um just thank the Elks for for they're the ones that actually uh put it together and and coordinate all of it so um want to thank the Elks thank the police the DPW and uh like I said anybody that participated in the parade so those are my comments thank you Mr McDonald uh yeah I want to reiterate what commit M Ken said about the parade want to thank everybody who helped with that tomorrow the reefs come in um and uh Saturday 12:00 over at good luck Cemetery we do have a slight hiccup in the fact that we cannot be parking at Murray Grove so we've arranged for buses to be picked up at the high school we will bus you over and bus you back I think it starts at 12:00 anybody know what time the bus is 11:30ish the buses will pick you up at um quter to 12 qu qu qu to 12 okay so I wasn't sure of that so everyone come out with that that's always a big big um event that's attended and I just want to wish everybody a happy holiday that's all I have thank you I'm just going to start with I just want to thank everybody that was involved in the parade it the weather was perfect the the attendance was fabulous there was a lot of people there to watch it was you know really a beautiful day it really turned out very very well on a on the note of the um Cemetery our wreaths are arriving tomorrow um they'll be escorted into town by our wonderful Police Department we will store them overnight and then on Saturday morning we will take them and lay them there is 400 wreaths being put out fantastic program that Jennifer and her daughter and a whole group of people have put together a Jennifer IO I'm sorry I should have said the last name um you it just makes you so proud we're so proud of what they've done and what they've brought to our town it's a it's a good thing um I would like to let you know that I went to a meeting yesterday with the mayors of New Jersey there are 533 of us there was approximately 220 something of us there um it was on the drones we were asked to come to this meeting by the governor um if you've seen it I was very frustrated afterwards the governor did not show up a B the information we got was very simple they don't know how they're getting here they don't know how they're leaving and they don't know what they're doing so we left very disappointed very frustrated very aggravated very upset I urge you out there to send endless emails to your congressmen to your senators just keep sending them to the governor we have to we have a right to know what is going on and stop treating us like I'm stupid they can tell me where my phone is when I lose it but they can't tell me what those things are doing up there and that's frustrating to me okay and uh hopefully you didn't see my bad attitude on Fox News because I I let the other I was very upset that he wasn't there and um he should have been there but anyway that was my uh trip yesterday I I had the honor of going with the mayor fromy Township him and I both went up we saw a whole lot of um mayors that we know from the county so it was good support from Ocean County Alone um and it's it was very disappointing but that's all I have on that and if I get more information I will let you know that my chief of police today had a uh what's the word I'm sorry a briefing that it was a you know yeah um our chief had the same information given to him nothing so it's not like we're not knowing something they're not knowing something it's nobody's giving us anything okay and no disrespect it was the state police who handled it and H in security of New Jersey that he handled it and they had not um a lot of good things were brought up in in the meeting though from other Mayors so that was that was wonderful to hear other Mayors about what they thought should be done one of my suggestions was to call a state of emergency because with that then federal government can step in and and it we forcing their hand basically to step in so but who am I will mayor but anyway on that thank you Mark wishing you nothing nothing but the best out there enjoy that grandbaby and the children and your family and you and everybody involved okay I now open up the floor to the public who would like to speak come on up s Laura shlick s c h e t e l i c h um I just have three quick questions um to uh Mr cello regarding our um the last uh meeting I was here at the exchange that we had regarding um the um the need for a uh vegetation meeting with experts you know it was brought up again and I know there is something going on and you know I've been kind of briefed a little bit on what's going on but you had said if the experts show up then they'll just say not to cut anything down I believe that that's my my opinion so but if the experts are saying that don't you think that there's a reason why they're saying that i' I've pledged I'm not going to escalate it anymore I think this has been given more airtime than our entire Lacy Township budget uh and so I think that's an egregious misuse and misappropriation of everyone here and everyone with an earshot of my voice um using too much of their money on this the fact that that Grass Grows and and those fragm myties grow back every year is proof Pro positive that what you say is not true the word you used like hack destroy breakdown it grows back so quickly and so so thoroughly that there is no way for a turtle to transverse those pipes so I'm not going to I'm not going to get down into the quote unquote the weeds with you anymore I said my piece I'm the coastal monitoring manager for the county I know of that which I speak I know I believe that that's a very healthy ecosystem we are not going to endanger anything by cutting some grass we are not going to on the other side of the walkway we're not going to subject our houses to erosion so it grows back every year and that's all I'm going to do it's not there during the stormy season you know winter storms will blow up and if I been down there when the the walkway has been covered in seaweed in the winter time because there's nothing to keep it from coming up okay uh the other is you had um mentioned uh that um that it's thriving mhm when I saw it on July 23rd it absolutely was July 23rd right before it was cut it was beautiful and it was thriving if you would meet me down there tomorrow you'd see that the only part of that park that's thriving let me finish is at the ends where the two houses have not mowed otherwise you won't find a bird or anything up in that the rest of that Park along the walkway and you had uh I'm going to read it because I took a screenshot of it from the uh Southern Ocean Times article um I just want to find out what your thoughts are on this uh this is you speaking uh the the um reporter um Mr Kuro uh he added that as an employee of the Ocean County Health Department he had concerned concerns about the dangers of mosquitoes carrying the westnile virus and argued that reducing their habitat would force them elsewhere I'm just curious where else I don't speak for the Ocean County Health Department I don't I'm I'm going to answer your question there a number of times over the over the years the State Department of Environmental Protection has warned against pooling water and to keep the yards clean and manicured further so that's that's the public health and D part of it I'll close my comments with this this committee EV virtually every two weeks that we meet during the summer we find some people in our town for not keeping up with their property $117 $243 whatever the case may be that comes from a report from our so if there's folks down there that refuse to cut anything why should any of the others then pay any fine that we Levy there has to be a uniformity to to things we've had this debate the committee made a decision it's with in the scope of a d permit and we're just going to we're going to go forward we don't hate the environment we've I've done weddings down there I love that place I went there with my daughter when she was smaller and I will continue to go there and I did meet with folks down there in July for over two hours and they were nice to me well it's winter time too Michelle I mean you know stuff dies my lawn's dead stuff dieses would be absolutely have you ever seen them but it comes back it does come back because you're back here they're not there right now and it's beautiful I feel bad taking up up all everyone's time I really so when you say when you um the mosquitoes are in the low-lying pools of water correct okay well when you cut down all those grasses and all those native plants on either side of the driveway you're creating a low-lying pool of water if the grasses and the plants were still there there wouldn't be that water The Roots would be soaking them up once you cut them down and we get a good rain you're you're providing a low-lying pool of water for them a famous basketball coach once said you and I may have to dis agree to disagree agreeably I'm going to be respectful of you facts you're you're creating low-lying pools of water I appreciate your time thank you anyone else would like to speak come on up please you got to raise your hand so I mean unless we're going to be closing the floor and waiting good evening good evening Linda Miller forkit River um wanted to say to you mark that um I really liked a couple of your comments one was um gain knowledge about our nation I'm sorry excuse me I'm can't hear you gaining you you said you like to know and gain information about our nation yes you say that I I don't believe so but I do like to gain gain knowledge about our nation and and speaking and I speak to our congressmen you know especially when I was mayor as as a mayor we we represent the township and so in in all all aspects so we talk to our congressman and happens to be Congressman Smith or in time Senator so I do gain knowledge about our nation that's good I like it the other comment is I like the one about you like strong women yes oh okay I thought you said you you didn't like some of my you like some of my comments oh I'm sorry I'm getting all like my oh I I you know what I do I I've got a wife two daughter and now granddaughter and they and they are my moral compass because I mean do do I ever want to disappoint them you know I just just don't ever want to disappoint them and my my Italian mother-in-law too which um and the other one that you lovely those three comments I thought were very nice good good okay now this is why I'm here first of all I'd like to say I would always like the time to be later 7:00 um I a motion you make it 8:00 table itable table it till January okay so at a previous meeting I requested that we open with the Lord's Prayer and the pledge of allegience it was approved and I prayed aloud following meeting um it was not on the agenda Veronica apologized for forgetting it and at the last meeting I questioned why it was once again not on the agenda um I was told it may offend someone and um the moment of silence is an opportunity for personal prayer I'm not quoting you Mr Connor it was kind of like that I'm not exactly sure what you said but that was the reason that it was yeah it wasn't that it would offend anybody it was the fact that it gives anybody an opportunity to pray in their own way by recognizing there may be a variety of religions and faiths so that everyone can take that opportunity additionally in addition to the moment of silence it gives an individual like myself who wishes to give deeper personal thoughts as to maybe a personal issue or some other issue I look at the police officer in the back of the room and I have a family of police officers and I always every day say a prayer for them particularly this time of year when there's a lot of people out on the road and they're out there in the midnight shift and there's people drinking there's so many things that can come In Harm's Way with a police officer and so if I said the Lord's Prayer I wouldn't be able to include all of that stuff as well so okay all righty um so in 2024 the US Supreme Court ruled that starting a local government meeting with prayer does not violate The Establishment Clause of the US Constitution I'm asking once again for public prayer at this meeting um the SE the Supreme Court upheld prayer at public meetings it affirmed that the Town of Greece New York the freedom to open meetings was with uncensored prayer um and that was town of Grace New York versus Galloway 2014 it was revised this October in 2024 um if you want to know more about this um you can look online at um a dfle g. the alliance for defending freedom and um so I know there's a moment of silence and that's wonderful um uh but I would like to like prayer before the meeting and then if you need to add to the prayer you can do that in a moment of silence anybody responding to that I think the response has been given from the governing body that it has considered the Supreme Court's most recent decision which has always been the law of the land in the United States that a public meeting can start with the with the prayer um it's been practiced by the legislature it's practiced by some bodies but most include simply a silent moment of silence and again it's to respect other religions other faiths and other thoughts that people might have during that time and so the governing body has been brief they understand that the Supreme Court only allows it it doesn't mandate it and it only says that you can so I can it says that a governing body may start a meeting with a prayer does it say the Lord's Prayer it just says it may started with a prayer again not to belabor the point it's pretty simplistic that in order to respect everyone's view they the governing body has elected notwithstanding the Sue Court's opinion that it was going to begin every meeting as it has since time in Memorial to do with a moment of Sil prayer and I think that's considerate of other people as well well it's not considerate of what I would like that well that may be you can say the and many other people because our country is like uh really needing God coming back to God now because it's all about thank you thank you agree anyone else from the audience that would like to speak come on up just I just want to say thank you Merry Christmas good luck God bless enjoy your retirement thank you for everything you've done your service and ma'am can I just have your name for the record I'm sorry everybody knows I'm sorry she's still new she doesn't I think I came up here once since she's been here so we'll give her a break thank you B so that's bless to the police officer and yes I do say prayers every day for them same appreciate that I just I just want to say something to Mark can we have his name too I'm mol m a c i o l e k want me spell that again slow I got it I got it I go slow she can hear quick and speak quick well Mark congratulations much I retired a couple years ago my daughter blessed me with a grandson congratulations good luck you're going to love it it's the best I love it thank everybody she Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all see next year we got to we're praying for you know prosperity in Lacy Township in 2025 amen thank you anyone else that would like yes sir come on up you have to address me as Sir bob L Lacy Township first I want to make a correction Mrs mayor okay you said you came from you were at the meeting felt like a small mayor from a small town yes well you're a great mayor and you probably and you come from the one of the greatest towns in this state true absolutely so I just wanted to make that correction also thank you for being such a great mayor to this town they've really been blessed to have you uh serve them this year I just want to say something quick Mr dof Mr Laray we've been around a long time long time Bob and even though I haven't been on that side of the dis we've agreed sometimes disagreed absolutely and like everybody else has said respect each other but there is some things we have in common passion passion and love for this town is what gave me the decision this year when I was asked to try to fill the seat that he sits in and all I can say Mark your time your dedication what you have done for this town behind the scenes that people don't see there's no words I could really say how much uh we appreciate it and you kind of made me a little nervous tonight because I kind of agreed with everything you said SC and I got to sit in that seat next month so I know it's going to be a hard seat to Phil I'm looking forward to it but you're going to enjoy the your time with the grandkids being retired uh maybe I need my head examine because I'm doing the opposite I'm retired with the grandkids I'm fing his seat so and the only other thing is one thing you really said that bangs home for me is yes we do respect strong women not only am I married to one we also know there's another one in town but with that said whistle but with that said I want to thank not only everybody sitting up there for the job he did this year but also I've learned a lot sitting back here in the audience for the past year uh listening to different viewpoints too but with that Merry Christmas happy holidays to everybody and enjoy thank you thank you come on up Mr Bender he usually is the closer I don't know if there's anybody else Parry Bender you know somewhere in Lacy Township got to wish the man luck way back in 2003 he and I ran against each other first time I ran for office first time you ran for office too wasn't it yeah yeah it's been a lot of years lot of years lot of years maybe I'll you'll be sitting out here with me some days I'm I'm it all depends it all depends you know I just wanted to wish you a lot of luck happy holidays to everybody uh good evening uh mayor Juliano and members of the township committee Veronica Etc um and to the people out in TV Land and the Lacy citizens um I want to reiterate that bring up about the moment of silence can't say the Lord's Prayer your little the amount of time I tried to do it tonight there's not enough time to be able to do it so if you're going to go around that route I think you're going to have to give us more time I think problem can do that um because you know you never know how long to you know it's that kind of thing it says moment a I am I did but that's what I'm saying I do say it to myself it's funny I you know if you want to hear the way I do it will takes a lot longer exactly so I'm just saying just so you know for those of us Mr bidnick you know why I can say so quick because I had to say it 30 times after confession all right I just wanted to mention today that um it was announced that the nativity scene actually in our capital building it's the first time in the history of the United States that it has been placed in the capital building and the reason why I'm bringing this up is there's a lack of morality that's been going on in our country ising have to not touch this it's going in and out like crazy the wire must be sliced or something inside it's got to be tight you mean don't touch it okay very good thank you okay thanks so I'll have to look at a new wire the reason I brought this up is because there's since the 1960s the United States and our culture has really gone through a major transition of progressive liberalism which has really we've lost God a is allowed to be spoken in our schools um you know even in our our meetings the lack of that ability and I blame all of this on the crime we have in our country the drugs the the theft that goes on um in our society the the way people treat one another with no respect or caring without I don't care what your belief is you have to have something a greater power of some sort that you have to look up to that you're accountable to because without that there's no meaning it's dark and it's very ugly place to be so with that said you know I'm very much in favor I don't want to offend anybody in their religion or anything like that but we need to get back to where we once were I agree we really do it's very very important especially for our young people and the Next Generation so moving on to other things at the last meeting during a very Lively discussion that I had with the township committee uh there was U an a gentleman who was here from The Paradise Point I was thinking about this after the meeting and this has nothing particularly to do with that topic but it's a suggestion for our Township administrator I would not like it if I was sitting up here and I was a Township Committee Member and I got blindsided out of meeting because I wasn't informed of something that's been going on for quite a while that residents or residents are having a problem with my suggestion is for yourself so you're never put in a position where after a meeting Township committee members can say to you if this guy's been talking about this for two years and why is this the first time we're hearing about it my suggestion is with all these things that come up and talking to your uh department heads this is just my personal recommendation that you gather a list of things that are coming up and once a month you supply it to the members of our Township committee so that when something like that happens you're not you're aware and and you're I'll give you 100% on what you're saying but I want you to know that is the first time in the two and a half years that I'm here that there was something brought up that I was not aware of and honestly she feeds us endless right endless emails endless conversations honestly that I'm not I'm not questioning that I mean we just we were you're right and we're not going to deny it what usually happens is is again so again it all started with Public Works he called Public Works looking for a remedy Public Works explained to him Casey explained it to him and everything else didn't like their answer he came to me right did the same thing explained the same thing told us we didn't know what we were talking about we weren't experts so I said to him if he didn't like the situation escalated to the township committee so we did but if I happens all the time I know but I'm just saying for everyone's protection if I was in your job I would not want to be put in positions like that so I'm just giving you a preemptive like and this and I would talk to all of your department heads because there's probably things that you're not even aware of that could turn into a bigger thing long R and that you know you want to be able to know what's going on so this is just a recommendation that I have okay so then um Mr Kennis at the last meeting in our Lively discussion you basically said you guys are doing a c or a C+ and I have to say as a taxpayer who's playing a A+ taxes mediocrity is just not a word that is in my vocabulary I was teasing I said I think we do I think we do an a job but most other people probably would not say that right I've said it many T many times I think we do a great job at the budget I do well I think you were referencing a whole slew of things there but the whole point of the matter is is that I would never even if it was true that we were only a c or a C+ I would never make the statement like that at a public meeting to the constituents because a lot of people wrote about this online and they said c or C+ I'm paying A+ in taxes don't do that no good I don't do social media so I wouldn't know well but we do that's how we get the information out to people and I actually cut and paste these things from these meetings and they are on social media so when you speak and you say things like that people are seeing it all over the town just so you're aware okay now uh wreaths Across America is this weekend and um I encourage everyone who can to participate in that I will be up at the Veteran Cemetery in wown because my mother and father are both buried there and Carol middledorf his parents are also there we're both going up to place the wreaths on our own parents grave but I encourage people to remember these individuals they served our country they fought for our freedoms and it's important to remember their service and honor them and on that point I'd like to wish the entier township committee and our citizens in our town a very merry safe Christmas and a Happy New Year and Mr Dy off congratulations on your retirement but you know what maybe you can come and join us on this and now and see what it's like you know what I've actually had people say Mark now you can go behind and you can really speak your mind yeah exactly imagine that Mr B see that's the reason why I don't run because I don't want to be filtered you understand you get it thank you very much you're welcome thank you is there anybody else that would like to speak from the audience okay I want to just uh make sure that you know we have another meeting it's on the 23rd uh it'll be at 9:00 in the morning um we're doing it you know we have to technically have another meeting so it'll be at 9:00 on in the morning on the 23rd but next week on Tuesday is our first budget meeting and that's at 6 o' in case anybody wants to come here next Tuesday the 17th come be here for the budget meeting at 6 o' and then we're back here on January 1st at 12 noon 12 noon on January 1 okay well thank you if I don't see you motion to close the floor second all favor have a great holiday of you motion toj mer Christmas motion to adjourn move it second thank you for