##VIDEO ID:C2tdJBIGq5U## added notice of this meeting of the Lawrence Township Council being held on Tuesday December 17th 20124 has been provided through the posting of the annual meeting schedule of stad count in accordance with Section 133 of the open public meetings act said notice was forwarded to The Trentonian the times and the Princeton packet on December 11 2023 I would just like um to make just two brief statements um this past last week we um lost another member of our community um Helen Bine Holmes who was one of the first directors of our senior center and elect long resident of Long's Township also want to take a moment of silence this evening for the members the survivors of the Wisconsin shooting and those that were lost if we could just take a moment thank you and now if we could have a inspiration may we carry out our work at this meeting in a just honorable and sincere manner always bearing in mind our duties and can continuing to keep Warren a wonderful community in which to live I pledge aliance 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 thank you mad you call the here Mr Kaki here miss Perry had an emergency she can't be with us this evening and Mr Ryan he's unable to be with us as well uh mayor Barber here try see at this time um I I have been informed that Gregory Whitehead uh and um Kirk Kenny who were supposed to be here are unable to attend I think Kirk um has an issue he couldn't get back to the state in time okay um he's out of state and so we're unable to do that um I want to wish uh Kirk a wonderful retirement he served this community well he was his part of a public works division that is second to none and he is going to be greatly Miss and we wish him well okay um and mayor if you don't mind I would like to um ask I see the chief of police is here the interum chief Kevin writing is here if we could have them come up during uh special proclamations um just I think the chief had a few words to express because this will be his last uh meeting uh before his retirement on January 1st and I know that you have been all over the Drone situation and um it would be good to get a law enforcement perspective on that situation as well is that okay to do that yes so we'll make that adjustment to the agenda okay with that being said this brings us to our first opportunity for public participation did I miss something this is this is the moment for special oh okay sorry like that thank you that [Laughter] was Dr sit so first of all uh thank you for allowing me to come up mayor council manager Tanya Mr SCC um as everyone knows I announced my retirement for January the 1 um it's been an honor to serve the department and the community um and uh you know everybody over the past two and a half years um I never thought I'd leave after two and a half years of being Chief I love this job it's the best job I've had um but apparently there's something else for me to do now um but I want to thank publicly Mr nowinsky for giving me the opportunity and appointing me to uh be the chief of lead the department as well as councel uh current and past for your support in all that I did and allowing me to run the police department as a collective unit I think together we made Lawrence stronger and and safer and better for the residents so um we've accomplished a lot I'm proud of what you know we've done together and and uh yall look back on it i' also like to thank the residents the the community our clergy our our um you know the businesses the township organizations Our Community Partners everybody that has participated in the police department and contributed to this success and really building the community up to uh to what it it is today uh so thank thank you I've served this town since I was 16 years old as a volunteer fireman I started um and you know I was uh I learned at the first a squad under Marie tago Perry back there and you know here I am 33 years later um you know retiring as a chief of police so it's a it's a pretty cool experience for me and you know I'm I'm really proud of it so the department is being left in good hands with Kevin Kevin for those of you don't know him he's a Township resident grew up in Lawrence his father was a retired detective here his father was a fire chief here Kevin's been here 23 years um definitely in a very good position to carry on the success of the police department so uh congratulations to Kevin and and again you know I know that he'll do very well um I could go on and on for about thanking everybody and I'm I'm humbled by the support that I got from the community uh you know it's a very intimidating job to take as the chief of police you know this town it's 22 square miles 60 police officers which we're going to talk about in a minute and you know it's intimidating and you know to step into it and get the kind of community support and support from our town leaders and and the clergy and houses of worship in the school district and everybody it is uh it's quite humbling so thank you um on to the drones um I put a press release out on Friday and fortunately I guess and unfortunately I don't really have much more information since Friday since I put the uh the press release out I've sat on a couple calls with County state and federal uh officials and they just are not releasing any more information if they have it it's not being tripled down to to our level um so just to touch on some of the highlights again uh you know if a drone does go down it should be considered evidence uh Don't Go Near it we don't know what's on it so it could be considered uh you know EV stay away from it we'll call the fire department and we have a plan in place uh to to address such a situation the 911 system is not intended for mere drone sightings okay it's been uh asked by our federal and state agencies that only 911 calls get placed if you see the drones around critical infrastructures uh the power generating plants or something like that if you just merely see the Drone flying around the FBI has a telephone number and also an email address that you can upload pictures report sightings where they are and that information is in the press release it's on our uh social media page it's also on the township website and it's I think Dan Alexander from 1015 called or something as well uh so unfortunately I don't have much more information I just listened to a call today I spoke to the C Mercer County OEM uh and they just don't have any any more information at this point about the drill if um if I could add uh similar to to Chief Longo I have also attended meetings on the state level with the state police FBI house Homeland Security and the FAA and the governor's office um we had a meeting I guess last week and in addition to that we uh I've since had a call with the White House um with regards to their take on it and other information I could share with you is that they said the FAA has just to give you an idea a million registered drones um in the country and the number of tips that the FBI has received uh to date the number I have uh I guess a couple of these was 5,357 tips that have come in with regards to the drones many of them are lawfully um operating one of the Dynamics that is happening is with the existing drones there are persons or indiv ual who are also putting up their drums to look at the other DRS which is creating additional um traffic in the air so to speak but they currently fall within the 400 feet in the air um recently one of the Dynamics is that drones have been allowed to fly at night with light with lights which is a a new um you know opportunity for both um persons that are just interested in um recreational drones and then also um there's the potential that there are businesses that are also us DRS but just to reiterate what Chief Longo has said you know if you see one there are phone numbers and information where you can call um you should not go near them and um you know but you know pretty much it isn't known as of yet other than that there appears to be no um threat to Residents with regards to them it's just something that is being investigated so it's at the highest level and here at the local level we're doing our part excellent and then there was just one more as my last uh parting pitch the council since I won't be presenting the 2025 budget um so as I stated two budgets ago the police department would um so we're at 60 police officers that's what we're authorized to have in the police department uh and I said two years ago that I didn't expect to be at any point within that year to be at a full compliment of officers uh here we are two and a half year late two and a half years later and we still have not reached at any point since I've been Chief our full compliment of officers um so we're down to 56 officers right now we have three that are out on long-term suspensions uh another one that that is out and another officer that is out and we have a officer who's going to be deployed long-term military deployment for a minimum of one year uh during the first quarter of 2025 and we also have uh three retirements coming what happens is in our Patrol Division we have the all uniformed officers that you see out in the police uh in the community in the police cars uh that's the meat and potatoes of our police department and that is the pool of officers that we uh take from to fill some key positions such as detectives our evidence and property officers um and for promotions the sergeant lieutenant and stuff like that so when we pull those officers out of that Patrol Division it lowers the number obviously of officers in there in that unit uh and it creates overtime and fatigue to the officers so uh I had put in the 25 budget for two officers to increase the department to 62 um but I would almost highly suggest taking a look at adding three if it's feasible to the Department to bring the department up to 63 uh like I said in the two and a half years we've done our best we just cannot get for circumstances outside of my control or the manager's control we just cannot get to that number of 60 and that's what we need to run the police department effectively so as my paron gift uh to you guys I just wanted to throw that out there one more time mayor may may I have a comment with regard to I'm I'm going to tell you we we've discussed this already uh this was a situation that um arose over the last um week or so where we were we're down one and I'm going to include it in the budget recommendation I'm going to include three police officers in the budget recommendation as well as three fire um and the tough decisions are for you guys to decide but I'll give you all the justifications for it um uh the chief and I have spent a lot of time together discussing these issues along with our CFO Peter peratus and like I've said many times public it's all about Public Safety I think that's your primary responsibility is to ensure Community safety and um this is a situation where we have an opportunity um to add another police officer I think we should it you know it adds to the budget but I think it's well Justified and um and I take uh Chief Longo's recommendations is seriously because he's not somebody that comes in and asks and asks and asks and sees what sees what he can get he you know he makes the pitch when he thinks he has justification for it and if you don't mind me just saying one thing Chief I just want to say it's been a pleasure working with you over these past two years more than two years um I will tell you candidly you've exceeded my expectations um um you have been a source a confidant to me you become a friend as well and I appreciate that you leave this Police Department better than when you when you started and that's really the barometer for anybody that's leading a department to do that and so you could retire knowing that you've given all to the department and left it in a really good position and I think Kevin ready was going to do an amazing job going for forward and we appreciate you sticking around until your retirement and you don't you didn't have to you could have taken your days and said see you later but you didn't to to provide a better trans transition for us and I appreciate that and we're all deeply indebted to you for that thank and on behalf of Peter kirus Debbie Monroe um and Jack Oakley you know you were a part of our team you came in as the new the new kid on the Block and you got right in there and uh you are a part of our team and you bid into the team concept because that's what it's all about we are stronger together than we are as individuals so I appreciate that Kevin I hope you hear that thank you I would also like to extend to you um my gratitude you have been tremendous I've gotten to work with you this past year but I know what a what a tremendous Community person you are and how much you care about marence and I am so thankful for having had the opportunity to work with you and and to see you serve your community so proudly um I also have a a little note here from one of the partners that you do tremendous work with and that is uh Unity um they sent a little um email and I just want to read what what they shared they said um uh good afternoon Chief with sadness and gratitude I say thank you I truly appreciate all you did for our team I have said to my colleagues many times I wish we could clone to I mean this you have been most responsive and supportive Chief in the entire County it means the world take care and best wishes in your future Endeavor happy holidays to you and your family veronda and Kendrick response team's coordinator for Unity formerly wom's space thank you so much thank [Applause] you good thank you I appreciate say anything no you can't leave first I want to thank you for the 15 years I served on this Council I was always able to talk to you as you were working your way up the structure I know you brought the well your dad brought the car be the bar I saw your house be built I couldn't believe it how fast it went up you know was right across the street at K beas I would see it all right uh the family live down there at first I didn't know who you were until Joe KY started telling me who you who you were then I started to you know talk to you and you helped a lot you changed this Township you changed the police department to make it better than what it was and I know Kevin's gonna got some big footsteps to follow Kevin but I know you'll be able to handle it but for the years I I've been here I can't thank you enough you always support me when I had problems you was always there and I can't like I said I can't thank you enough I don't want to see you leave but I understand why so congratulations on your retirement and obviously throw snowballs I wasn't gonna say anything but Mr said something so can't left out I just want to say uh from the bottom of my heart um what you do for the police department and also just the police department in general you make us all very proud because you care about Lawrence Township you you do the best for town you deescalate where possible you do all the right things and I it's been repeated over and over again you helped me out when I was married we had a difficult bias situation and the police department helped solve it almost immediately so I appreciate that but I also appreciate even more something that I hope Mr eding will continue as as Chief is that you were always a really straight shooter about just like tonight what the department needs and the reasons why you need her and I appreciate that as as one of five who sits up here we have to make some difficult decisions we don't have an endless supply of money from the township residents and so we have to make those decisions about what's most important and what's the most effective for Public Safety so I appreciate that you have always been open and and forthright about what you need what you see and how you can get there in a cretive place so thank you I appreciate it and lastly before I I walk my success we we've done this has been a good run um and it's because of the men and women that work over there in our support staff you have some great officers over here um every one of them I I can't say every chief of police could stand in front of their community and look them in the eye and look at their elected officials and say that unanimously the department is bought into and cares about the community um we have something different here so it will continue it's a great spot the they a great department and the the officers over there are just outstanding so that's the reason we're so successful thank you [Music] right yeah yes just get your name um your address and you can hi good evening my name this panel eight can Oak dry for the last Almost 26 years um thank you um I know some of you not all you I just wanted to make a very brief uh teaser if you will um I'm here actually uh with uh two hats uh a professional hat and a resident hat having been deeply involved in sustainable energy for the last 253 years uh and working as a senior vice president at a firm Gable Associates which has done work body we came up with a really Innovative um Community solar project that serves low modern income it's very Innovative we've worked on it for five years uh it requires very little Council Resources by Design we work with a lot of public entities the bottom line of the program which is running in a couple of places in New Jersey is it gives lawrenville Township the ability to help this low and moderate income population by realizing savings on electricity bills upwards of 30 35% that's what we've seen in the market because of a very unique design we came up with working with our friends at the Board of Public Utilities working with a lot of stakeholders it's not like anything you have encountered before I promise you that your neighbor in Princeton is working with us and pursuing this as well again by Design because we gble to work with public entities for as long as we've been around um so we know you guys do not have a lot in the way extra resources extra Manpower you got to make sure the stuff you absolutely need to do works and works well and so we designed this very purposely to be of a very low threshold for your involvement you're not not involved but um what I'm requesting is the ability to do a PO presentation sometime in early 2025 I promise you you will be interested um and um given what's coming in the energy markets and we know that costs are going to be increasing it's kind of a a a really efficient way to get economic benefits to the folks that need it the most are other Public Assistance programs like Li Heap require sort of an optin approach where people have to sign up this has an opt out design uh reviewed by rapay all the lawyers and you know te crossed eyes dotted um but it it it really is a very Innovative Nation Leal design so I hope you'll give me the opportunity to explain it to you more fully and be able to bring these benefits to the ones in our community that needed the most interestingly enough is as we've learned as we were developing this when I was first talking to Kevin about it and Brenda I said do you have your arms around your LMI community in other words do you know who they are where they live it's fascinating to me that most municipalities don't have that information this program actually will give you that information which I thought might be a good thing for a municipality to have so thanks happy thank you you the [Music] hello everyone Thomas Lilia 15 East darl Lane um I thought I would come up tonight and talk about um I about the last meeting where um a few of the residents of Cherry Tree Lane were voicing their concerns about delivery trucks from Trenton block um blocking the uh blocking their street and making it um you know more unsafe for them to on um now the thing is that I even though I live in a different neighborhood um I ask that you can uh that you all consider a looking into a resolution that better ensures the safety of the residents of Cherry Tree Lane because I even though I don't live on that street I am I consider myself privileged to have lived in a neighborhood that has plenty of side walks and Roads that actually do have you know proper medians to direct traffic um and I have always you know I only got my first car just a few years ago and before then I was for transportation whether it be going to work or going to school I was mostly walking from point A to point B in my neighborhood so I absolutely understand the importance of having safe walkways for PE uh for people to Traverse on and I think that it would be great to look into making Cherry Tree Lane safer for its uh residents thank you and happy holidays thank you thank you thank you thank you k k in Gainesboro Road um I didn't expect Chris to be here but I wanted to say something about him I've known Chris I've been resident here for 35 years now I think with this the seventh uh chief that we've had since then I I knew Chris back when he was a dispatcher and Mer keny M ICU when I was um Through The Years became friends with him especially with a young son going through what he went through and uh Chris never had a problem calling me as a patrolman as a sergeant um what he's done as a chief here and I have friends with Danny as friends with Mark over the last two and a half years far out SE exceeds any of the Chiefs in the past um one bringing back the uh the citizens Police Academy it's only the third one we had I was in number to but to bring that in to be part of the community and let the people understand what it the decisions a police officer has to make and I only did that after I turned down a police officer position in 1997 I wanted to see what they went through the decisions they had to make and we even went to the Trenton police and did a draw down exercise of what it was and it was and I'm pretty decent with Firearms but knowing that somebody pull out a wallet and somebody that didn't know draws at that Split Second it's a wallet so those split decisions these police officers make but what Chris has done in the last two and a half years and got this these team to believe in him I have not seen that in a chief since you know Danny first started and um what he's done with this team and bringing this team up to bring in you know uh the new Chief coming in is it's just amazing what he's done for us in the township and I thank you as a friend and and as a resident now one other thing I just wanted to bring up is what I posted in the lawence Township community piece the other day um I didn't want to bring this up a few months ago but it's about transparency and how this New Town Council states that we want to be transparent yet when it was asked for the Town Council to have a council um group to study versus a mayor this is a Town Council it was voted three to two to be a mayor's task force then the next comment was can we put verbiage into this to be a a cross-section of the full Township and that I think the verbage was that goes without saying well it did go to without saying because the cross-section that's represented is not across the township transparency is not there especially the transparency of not allowing somebody the only person in that went for the wck position was denied a position the only available position nobody else went for it yet you turned down and I'm not a fan of that person I really not but he's done a lot for this Township and Recreation and even started before me and for what reason there's no transparency there's no answers and one other thing back to the FAA and the the the government stating that there's so many up there every uas drone that's been manufactured over the last five years has to have a digital signal signal that can be tracked most of these ones that are being cannot be tracked so um it's not a saying of it's mostly public drones and stuff like that it's not because they're building them even if with lights everything has to be tracked and registered through the FAA and these ones that are out there are not being tracked so thank you good evening uh my name is Ed Rosa I live at 66 West long drive right behind the pl here um I'm here on behalf of all the residents of long anres uh several years ago actually 2019 you help support us with a resolution supporting our efforts for the wall and um currently were're the closest that we have ever been um through the help of sh turn um who's been wonderful with uh with our cause and um the next move is to speak with the new commissioner of do and she suggested that we get an updated resolution a current resolution that you still support our cause um we did have a member of our community email you guys yesterday so but we wanted to publicly uh ask for your support again and uh um also what is the process of getting that resolution out can I um have an answer with how long it would take because we're supposed to have a meeting with the commissioner and um it would be great if when we had the meeting with uh Senator uh Turner that we have the most recent resolution mayor I I participated in those meetings with Senator and Jim municial engineer and I will tell you we support it completely I'm not speaking on behalf of the governing body but I I you I have in the past with regard to this the process of a resolution is is basically some some council member just has to um request that a resolution of support be on the agenda and then a vote is taken so there's not a lot of magic to it um and I will not speak for for you guys at all but it's it's something that's been we've been battling for a long time they've done studies where uh it came back from the New Jersey do that it was not justified that cost was not going to positively impact the number of people according to their equations but that is now shifted uh because of the available funding and so um we're at this pocket of time where if if there is support we should show it now um because because we have uh captive ears yeah yes and and also this is our our last meeting of the year so it would require for us to me and come as a body to pass the resolution so I think I did oh I'm sorry I think I did provide you a copy that we had before yes and I we passed it on to Senator Turner and she suggested that you get little so we have one that I found I was gonna say mayor as as the mayor at the time when we pass the last one and i' met with the residents of long Acres back in 2019 um and heard the the the traffic noise um I'd be more than willing to to work with the clerk and and put it up at our next meeting um if you could we meet at the first and third Tuesday of January so just let the clerk or the mayor what time you need to find we'll make sure it's on the agenda all right yeah because I know that there's communication between Senator Turner and the commissioner on getting a meeting we don't know if it's going going to be in January or February but I didn't know if you needed the process of like two meetings and all of that no resolutions only take one take two all right appreciate that all right thank you happy holidays what I didn't realize mayor um is that um we there was noise cancelling asphalt used for 295 at that location but um the replacement of of and the repair brought back the old style asphalt which the noise level amps up completely so so there was a there was a time when it was reduced but um for whatever reason the new roadways are making it a louder situation uh Sylvia KZ 1547 Ohio Avenue I just would like to thank um uh Chief Longo for doing a wonderful job and um we had an opport I had an opportunity to speak to him uh last week and express our gratitude and um all the appreciation for bringing all the especially diversity to the uh Department uh and um I want to it is 7 approximately 708 Mr nnsky and I will agree with you that we do need more 708 we've done this once at another meeting so that's why I did that so I will agree with you and I hope that it is consider bringing more officers for the incoming Chief who I also had an opportunity to meet and he's um he made my husband and I feel so much better about a new Chief coming in um with the excitement and the the happiness of being a resident of of the Lawrence Township and we appreciate both of their of work and we look forward to seeing what he can do for the township and happy holidays thank you thank you than Jim cek another president of seven East Airline s East Airline um just also want to add my congratulations to Chief Longo's uh good move good move for him and bad for us but a couple times that i' had to approach him I I got the rapid response was most helpful I what I had to comment about I'm not it's not really directly to the to the township but talking about Trent Waterworks I'm sure everybody who's serviced by Trent Waterworks has gotten the two latest things the regular things that we get to tell us there's absolutely no problem but we're required to tell you that everything's fine and one of them was because they had somebody who hadn't done the testing he was supposed to for I think a year before they G got got got and the other one is the standard one that they have to put out every year until they complete everything which it sounds like it's going to be forever and they um I've gone and I've seen a number of people here that went to the meetings that they have fairly frequently down at the senior center the last one a few months ago uh councilman Boba and manager winsky were both there and the same man makes the presentation and he seems knowledgeable and very sincere and but what he talks about I forget what the astronomical amount of money they need to do everything that's required to get stop these things coming all the time and to get them up to and I don't how it ever got that far behind I mean it couldn't be all Tony maxal must go back a lot further than that I don't know but but the more the more significant was that a couple weeks ago on New Jersey Spotlight news with Rana Benz vanoi uh I heard that the company that they contracted with to replace the lead pipes in Newark and this was Newark that was talking on this program um is fraudulent number one nobody seems to know why this company was which is supposedly not uh qualified was but more than that they falsified these things apparently there's and then they went on to say that the same companies contracted to go ahead in Trenton which is going to I guess eventually I would think Contra effect impact the water people who are using that that water in all the surrounding townships that are uh so that's what I wanted to just mention if I didn't whether we uh it's whether it's pertinent for us to to bring that up because the person the activist from Trenton who was on there was very critical of the mayor who I had previously thought well of but it it seems as though he's preoccupied more recently with all the problems that they have with their police department and people are there at the council meetings I guess I haven't realized yet that they might get be getting paying for what P Replacements that aren't happening uh so I wondered whether we wanted to put our two cents in thank you thank you very thank you and happy holidays to everybody mayor you have a comment with regards to was he said um I just want to remind um the community that um the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection through the New Jersey attorney general's office had filed a lawsuit against tread water work couple years ago um and they have uh that lawsuit is was joined by Lawrence Township ying and Hamilton to Advocate on behalf of our Township customers um that law lawsuit is still ongoing because we're trying to work navigate through all the things that Trent Waterworks is required to do under a consent order that was overseen by the court as well as um negotiated and regulated by the uh New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection um any work that's going to be done by the the facility is is directly under the oversight of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection so what happened in Newark um will not happen here in this town or in the city of Trenton with regard to Trenton Waterworks because they're under strict uh guidelines with regard to their lead replacement so we're on it in terms of advocating on behalf of our Township customers um they've got a lot of work to do but there's been Decades of not investing in their infrastructure that they're trying to catch up on now which is going to cost yeah when you go to those meetings you can see whatever it is a significant amount of money but um you know I I will not advocate for Trent Water Works I will advocate for this town our customers and the fact that we have are involved in the in the lawsuit and we want to seat at the table moving forward on how they regulate and do their things as a facility thanks okay see no see you no additional public participation I'm cleansing public participation at this time thank you Chief longa [Applause] yeah moving on um to review and revisions on the agenda councelor about mayor if I may um because of our sort of skeleton crew today I think it's only appropriate to table 8A the regular meeting minutes of August 20th as well is 10A the introduction of ordinance 2480 d24 uh amending the municipal code for the deputy municipal clerk position to would it be all right to table that to our next meeting does that make sense yes to the first January all right um so I'll I'll stop right there and make that motion then I have one more to to to make as well do I have a second mad you call the Please Mr Bob yes Mr Kaki yes mayor yes all right mayor and then I also uh make a motion to remove 18 H3 which was authorizing a Clos session of council um seeing as we don't need one and then replacing H3 with resolution 40924 Garden State Municipal joint Insurance Fund joint trust agreement and resolution to rejoin um I understand that that starts January 1st so we need to do it before January 1 yes so that's the motion I'll make is to add that to our agenda do I have a second second okay mad if you call the RO Please Mr Bob yes Mr Kaki yes mayor pmer yes that brings us now to the awarding and do a rejection of bids uh mayor I'll make a motion to move 9A number 404 authorizing a contract to techno Pro electrical LLC for traffic signal maintenance 2025 second second mad the Please Mr Bob yes Mr Kaki yes mayor farmer [Music] yes 11 see anything there okay it to the manager report um I I have anything to report um other than I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas um and happy New Year um I made one observation I was I don't know if you if you've gone down Route One where the site of the former Sleepy Hollow Hotel out of nowhere this new hotel just kind of all came together with the um with the they have the Landscaping pretty much much done it it looks wonderful yeah um and it's a really good addition um to that area and helps our town as well so and then the left hand turn from 206 onto lawrenville Pennington Road is working well except muscle memory is causing still people to take the and then figure out that they could have made the director I love that turn okay thank you um attorney attorney report yes mayor uh nothing really uh since we've taken off the ordinance I don't have anything special but of course merry Christmas happy New Year happy holidays to all our residents and look forward to another productive year next year thank you thank you Adam CL here I have no report I just want to say happy holidays to everyone and I'll see you in the new year God willing any unfinished business new business I have some new business okay I have three items if that's all right mayor first I just want to say um I was looking over some of the minutes of our advisory committees and I noticed uh some of the committee meeting meeting committee meeting minutes apologies I hav F C are being submitted with the committee itself to not meet due with the required Quorum at that date um it's my understanding that if corum's not met at a count at a committee meeting that it's not official meeting correct correct so I just wanted to remind council members as Liaisons to sort of take a look at all of our committees and make sure that we're all following Corum rules absolutely all right and then second um last uh last meeting I asked in the spirit of unity um if you could share with me mayor um the membership of your task force on the community center before it was made public you say that you take it under advisement and then I found out from a resident the next day that it was published in the Lawrence Ledger without a courtesy email to any member of the council um before the oh I I didn't see that um it was it was in there with all the it didn't have actual names but it had all their sort of affiliations and it was it it was disappointing to me because it reminded me of a section of the uh the falconer act entitled Municipal County should act as a body administrative service to be performed to the manager committee and commissions and I'll just read this because I think it's pertinent to this this situation you do that yeah um if you know in the ordinance or the resolution that we passed it says that a member of council can attend the meetings oh yeah I understand I understand it's the intention of this article that the municipal Council shall act in all matters all matters as a body and it is contrary to the spirit of the article for any of its members to seek individual individually to influence the official acts of the municipal manager any other officer or for the council or its members the director requests the appointment of any person to or his removal from office to interfere in any way with performance of such officers as duties it goes on to say nothing hearing shall prevent the municipal Council Municipal Council from appointing committees or commissions of its own members or of citizens to conduct investigations into the conduct of any office department and it goes on what I'm what I'm wondering is you know my reading this and I'm not looking for an answer tonight so I can give you an answer but but I like to ask for some clarification concerning a task force and its membership when this section clearly states Municipal Council shall act in all matters as a body and I I understand none of us Mr Knack and myself and others the majority of this council did not appoint any of these members um but you voted on the the ACT creating a mayor's Council but we didn't appoint anyone to that right we created a body but we didn't much much like the recreation a legal act which I ran cast Council in which all of you voted and you were made aware prior to the creation of the mayor's task force I understand that but I I would I would think that that would be similar to say you yes you did both mayor I I just I have one more thing to say but before we leave this one I just like to say in that case would it would it be out of order for Mr Kaki to just appoint someone to the recreation committee that's I believe itday um I don't believe it's the same law this is a different all right and then I just wanted to make sure because last year was a little strange um about whether Mr cek is coming back in 2025 because last year Mr Mr Kaki Mr Powers and myself the majority of the governing body at the moment at that time had no idea that the former Township attorney wasn't going to be renewed for this year there's no bidding process request for qualifications we put out there's no list of candidates no resumés were provided to do you have someone in mind not satisfied with our Council I'm just saying that last year the process was such last year was last year I speak to that I will say that this year at our January reorganization you stated we'll get you more information at our next meeting later that meeting you said this this Choice was discussed within Council you mentioned I do not contct as a body and we follow the rules and the laws of that are governed by this Township nothing was done out of order or outside of the law I would just like to to to end with at that meeting you said absolutely we will be absolutely an inclusive Council of all five members you have my word on that and I will hold you to that thank you [Music] absolutely thank you that's all all right that brings us to the next portion of our meeting public participation 3 minutes CN n have any resolutions this to rund do you want to introduce us I will move uh 18 D1 and two and H1 through 3 and the block and two those are the only ones on the agenda okay thank you very much do we have a second second Mr Rob I think you removed the H3 earlier I replaced it with uh the other one number 40924 the CH just so it's clear y call please Mr B yes Mr Kaki yes may F yes special items Professional Services agreements no than no um unting H gr pardon did you already did that yes I move D D1 and two H1 through3 thank you very much Council initiative delay reports counc reps no not at this moment written communication who received a letter from Senator Turner I'll just read that entering the record dear mayor Hendrick farmer I was pleased to receive notice that Lawrence toship has been awarded $62,000 through the New Jersey FY 2025 Municipal Aid plant for roadway preservation it is my understanding that the award is to be used to fund the Gordon group Capital infrastructure Improvement project I am pleased that our community will benefit from this investment and improvements to enhance roadway infrastructure and safety it is my sincere hope that the near future will provide additional funding opportunities for Lawrence Township to continue its great work with our residents again congratulations if I can be of any assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact my office sincerely surely K tener Turner Senator 15th District all right well I want to thank his Council for a first year it has been a tremendous honor and pleasure pleas to serve with all four of you Council thank you for your comments appreciate that you make me a better Council woman and also for um coun Kaki and also for um Township manager nowinsky you have been a tremendous teacher I've learned so much about our great town this first year councilman uh I'm bring up here thank Mr has been an honor you've done our town a tremendous service and Madam clerk thank you for all that you do for all of us on a regular basis we appreciate the tremendous effort and commitment and sacrifice that I know you make on behalf of all of council I want to thank you for all your work and I want to thank the public thank you for your participation in democracy in making us a stronger town and as we know from our chief Longo a state for town as well we all do this together it's very important work and I appreciate and I have to share the gentleman that you spoke today your compassion for your neighbor just really noticed thank you for that that means a lot means a lot to me yeah and with that I just want that means a lot to me too yeah that was very touching so I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas happy holidays and great and prosperous New Year see you in January thank you may can I just say can I just say something real quick my life this year turned over well I guess I could many know me anyway