we are ready T you ready I am ready okay we're good good evening everyone adequate notice of this meeting of the lawr township Council being held on Tuesday February 6 2024 has been provided through the posting of the annual meeting schedule of said Council in accordance with the section 13 of open public meeting set notice is forwarded to the tonian the times and the Princeton packet on December 11 we have now the inspiration we carry out our work at this meeting in ad just honorable and sincere manner always bearing in mind our duties in contining to keep on a wonderful community in which to live I flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all here here here next we have a special Proclamation recogition and presentations mayor uh tonight we have three uh budget related presentations the first being by Keith LaVine our health officer and then James defor our construction official and Nancy Bergen the superintendent of recreation so Keith do you want to come forward good even apiz there is just one slight adjustment to the agenda I believe Mr for the record uh J suer and debie G uh thank you very much for this special Indulgence and good evening mayor Hendrick farmer council members  Ryan and Harry Madam clerk manager nowinsky and Township attorney CPC each year for several years now the friends of colonial Lake Park 501c3 nonprofit organization has presented the council Clerk and administration with complimentary copies of the calendar we print each year the calendar whose Hallmark has become the photographs by extremely talented local photographers of this beautiful Oasis and the Abundant Wildlife as well as the citizenry who come to be compressed and appreciate the beauty of this special place we hope you enjoy it as this year's calendar is a special one that celebrates the Centennial of the creation of the lake and the neighborhood and Parkland that would spring up around it we we offer these calendars which we use as a wink wink nod nod fundraising tool as well as a measure of our undying gratitude in all sincerity for the Township's decision to in essence save the park by stepping in and purchasing with Township County and State open space funding the critical piece of property that had been under threat of development and is now Ann nexted to the park thanks to you all before I step away uh a quick plug that there are four of these for sale I didn't tell she did that for the album that was very poor taste so I don't want the poast so they said but in any event thank you very much again and for all you've done uh for this special place so give you to M for distribution to you all thank you thank you thank you thank you just one quick reminder on Saturday the 10th we are hosting a clean up at the lake one of our several that we [Music] 9:3 good evening May Council so tonight I'm going to provide my um presentation for the um it's easy for me to kind of uh divy it up into different sections because we have different parts of the health department so I'm going to start with our environmental section um we completed for the year 2023 347 initial retail approve inspections in Lawrence with eight of them being reinspected we have 15 complaint investigations for fun restaurants and three summonses um issued for the year 2023 uh the inspectors uh also completed 512 public health and environmental complaint investigations they did seven uh body art establishment inspections 10 youth camp inspections two kennels one one they also performed 111 uh commercial pooling section for the year the inspectors did 217 septic installation inspections they also did um 29 realy transaction septic reviews for uh residents that were selling their homes they completed 19 well inspections in the township moving on to the Animal Control section uh our Animal control officer handled 32 animal bites for the year 34 total quarantined animals that we have to observe um after the bites we had zero R rabies cases thankfully rabies um there is no cure for Ratings so we have a very robust program to kind of uh track and monitor and prevent cases there were 56 summons issued total for the year and 74 deer REM our Animal control officer also partners with our rec department to do um Safety Town where she brings her her dogs in and does an animal safety bit for children we also do sun safety at the uh at the same event our Animal control officer handled 141 total complaints for the year she is [Music] very in our Vital Statistics section um we handled 138 marriage licenses 19 death certificates and uh a total of 194 um copies issued to Residents and law and last but not least in our medical section um we had 28 clinics total for the year 2022 that's both blue and Co clinics um we had a a total of 335 residents served at our Clinic we serve 34 homebound residents and these are residents that are truly homebound um most of which cannot be with that and are very grateful for the service that is provided because we come into home to to give them vaccinations we saw 85 uninsured children in our child health clinic uh these are children that otherwise may not be able to see a doctor or even get into school because they don't have um the proper vaccinations uh in the world worst cases they come from countries that are warant to war T and um you know have suffered traumas so we have a wonderful pediatrician who takes her time uh and serves these children and we have full-time nurse Gina breett who's here and two of our residents that are retired but act as all part-time nurses for D um who are also very wonderful in we get a lot of compliments for our child in this Clinic um we we we've given 225 vaccines to the kids and we've done 36 um lead tasks where we prick the finger of the child and we take a little sample of blood and that goes to the stage for for test a free program run through the state um and in this way we can catch childhood lead poisoning cases before they become a real problem and Lead is uh is still largely out there um with a lot of cases going unnoticed and Lead has permanent lications um directly linked to negative Health outcomes negative IQ um and there's a phenomenon we call the lead to prison pipeline uh because the correlation between lead poisoning and going to prison is so strong uh it's been study on every uh every country in the world and there's a clear correlation so providing these lead tests can help catch lead poison before it gets to be problem we also partnered with Delaware Valley Pediatrics uh to be able to vaccinate their six-month to four-year-old patients who couldn't find vaccines anywhere else we are in the process of trying to um get more co vaccin uh through a state program since our grants had ended so we also perform out of the medical session we perform 30 uh SCH school immunization points for dayc carees in schools which is very important to make sure that all the children are up to date on the vaccinations this helps cut down on um disease spread in the community and as some of you may know we have very Stark increase in diesels which doesn't come around often but when it does it can really uh ravage Community uh we have it seen it in New York Delaware and nowthe in addition to the audits we provide educational material such as hand washing bike safety smoking sensation immunization material and tip material um a lot of our SCH of daycare is consider as a Lifeline when they need information they call us to get it um it's really a great partnership we have with institutions in year 2023 we uh we we tracked monitored en closed 102 um communal disease outbreaks we performed blood pressure screenings at community events that we attend we did about 10 different events in the past year we also created a survey with a QR code uh that we put on the website to Ure that we're Mee the of the community I think the best way to find out those keep that open have them tell what need and and see if we can help provide another program we're very proud of is our Ron test kit program um we stepped up our our efforts to kind of raise awareness to rate on what it is and how it affects people in Lawrence Lawrence has a destination of having low smoker rates which is fantastic but we have high lung cancer rates that's through irly attributable to basements of radon so for those who don't know radon is colorless odorless radioactive gas we are in a section of the state where there are very high rates of radon and it seeps from the rocks in the ground into the basements uh where people unknowingly will breathe it and can can acquire lung cancer over time um it's it's the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers it's the second leading cause of L in the United States so for us it's very important to raise awareness and uh that we did and we are glad to say that we we actually ran out of test kits at the end of uh actually actually about a week ago we ran out of test kits because we had so many residents coming in to get them so we're in the process of acquiring more um thanks to the engineering department who found a grant we are going to get another 175 test kits and provide them free to our community um we we also um we also have the Lawrence alcohol and drug Alliance um of which we we have Partnerships with the schools and different organizations that deal with substance use disorders and uh trying to funnel people into treatment and uh therapy and any way that we can kind of um keep TS on what's going on in the community and find ways to help it um we also distributed over 3500 covid test kits for 2023 and that's a program run through the state um and the county where we acquire food test kits and we provide them to Residents and to institutions that need them such as serve Behavioral Health Center um you know who previously did not have a strong relationship didn't even know we were there and now we partner with them routinely not only to provide clinics but to provide test gifts for people they serve We performed a medical Niche shelter drill early in the year with uh Mercer County uh slackwood fir housee was kind enough to donate their facility for us to do that it was a great exercise um these types of exercises are very important so in the event of a real emergency we kind of have a handle on on how things will operate how things will go um we're also very proud of um a brand new directory that we created which um each of you has a copy of there's over 180 uh different organizational resources in there for people in need of um all different kinds of services there's also some health education information in there as well and I'm happy to take any questions from from the council I do have a [Music] questional just this what you in the township sure yeah so so I mean overall because of uh the co pandemic we have seen um all kinds of rates increase such as teen suicide and mental illness you know when people are locked way you know things happening um you know this is something that I think all communities are suffering from uh we tried to provide all the support needed for residents who call us and are looking for direction um one uh one other thing we're very proud of is we underwrite a podcast with Ryder University the Bron John Moses is the the director of the Brock fantastic person and um we get a student each year who is looking looking to be in broadcasting who will help uh you know find interviews and and do interviews for our show and actually last year um mental Fitness is the name of the podcast we won first place on feedspot.com this is out of um I think 30 different podcasts from around the world and mental Fitness um took number one so we're very proud of that we thank our partnership with Ryder and the B John Moses and his I I just like to say it's been it's been I I came aboard Midway through the pandemic um in May of 2021 it has been complete Joy working with uh the team that we have the health department I've worked for several Health departments throughout my 18e career hands down I think this is the best um so thank you for allowing me to leave this team um and thank you for um letting us start the thank you thank you mayor um I just want to say I I appreciate the report one of the things that I truly appreciate about the public health uh department is the fact that you provide so many services um I know we all pay for it with our tax our taxes but but to have things that impact the community in a positive way such as vaccinating people who children who cannot get vaccinations I think is really important help of our community and just this weekend getting my dog vaccinated for a really well-run um I mean to have to just pull up and my dog gets a little skittish in the car um and to just have it so quick well run and see the familiar faces of of your team members of the health department and others it's just a joy um to have me part of thank you thank you for that compliment Christine has been with us 36 years and she has I can't take much credit for it at all well you allow her to continue so thank you and I just want to say um I'm glad that you stuck with it through the pandemic and you're and you're now thriving so thanks [Music] mayk very I do have a question can you get back to the m uh we're still we're still getting covid positive cases I wanted to find out from you um what level of uh effort or resources are we using to with regard to these positive cases if it's seriously decreased it seems like it's out there you're hearing of positive cases but it seems like more of a way of life versus an alarming situation so if you could just comment on that you said it best it's it's a way of life now I I stress the point that Co is not over um in any country that doesn't have strong infrastructure where Co is allowed to spread freely mutations can happen and it doesn't take much for someone to get on a plane come to America and all of a sudden we have a problem here um I can tell you when the pandemic first started um I was heartbroken uh speaking to families who lost a father and a husband in the same week and that was more than one family I spoke to and you can't console people when when you're dealing with that level of of um loss um so comparing to the beginning of the p now um I'm thankful for where we are now but I stress that it's not over and I think it's important that you know if if rates are high and you're going to be out and about somewhere where you're in crowds you know don't feel ashamed to wear a mask I think a lot of people kind of put their mask down and forget about it we all want to forget about it it is very important for your own health and the health of everyone's family in the community to wear a mask if you need it um I went four years without getting Co I was very proud of that because I would say all it takes wear the mask um and then about three or four weeks ago it got me but the good news is you know and I'm an asmatic um it wasn't as bad as if I would have got it at the beginning of the pic um so you know this is a lovely Community um people are are very compliant and um and it's honor to serve them but always remember they're out and about especially if you have loved ones don't be sh to that and mayor one other comment or question I have Keith I noticed in your operating U expenses for 2024 it's very similar to last year you're not seeking any um additional monies from the budget is that correct that's correct it's actually a little bit lower Pete if you want to there's one there's one part um under miscellaneous contractual services that is $4,700 lower last we budged to um residential transactional tting is that right yes now the cost is B on the purchaser yes that is correct and I can do a little bit on that um the state of New Jersey passed a new lead in rental dwelling units law and it's actually a fantastic law uh Philly had done it some years back and New Jersey kind of modeled off that but what it is you uh you if you own a a PE a dwelling built before 1978 there's a pretty significant chance it's going to have leg um so when these dwellings are rented out that's really mostly where we see lead poisoning cases happen and so this law basically says that you know owners of these dwellings U must come down and first register their dwelling with clerk's office if it's not registered and number two have an inspection done um to ensure that it's lead safe not that there's not lead there there may be lead there but if it's intact it's generally not a problem um and so to come to the health department will be the the correct action and we contract uh with a an outfit called Bill environment um I personally interviewed three different uh contractors bill I I felt was a confident one they seem to uh they they know about lead they know what they're doing and I felt very confident to move forward with a contract them they environment and uh if there's any questions regarding the law um please do call the health department I'd be happy to work with [Music] you and my last comment is is that I'm G to be meeting with Keith on Thursday I think one thing that we could work on a little bit more is improving our Grant gain for for health services and so we're gonna we're going to try and focus on 2024 it's one thing to get the money but you have to have the resources to be able to utilize the money through Serv so there's a sweet spot that we have to kind of try and find I think it's more than what we've had in the past so that's one of the things that I'll be discussing with that thanks Kei good evening Council our staff consist of three CL one parttime five full-time inspectors and two part-time inspectors this year we processed 2635 permit applications performed over 8300 inspection although my two part-time guys just retired they're up there in their 70s so they call qu our staff is keeping up with the workload um I do see a need in the near future the inspectors my senior building inspector he is in his 70s and he is looking to retire soon with civil service sometimes it takes almost a year to hire somebody looking for younger blood myself and not getting any either major change to our operation is a bill that was passed H 573 which really does not affect us too much but um this just a bill that actually gives consumers for construction companies to hire offsite private um inspectors do inspections in case we're not able to get to them within three business days uh we don't have that problem that was actually started from towns that or three weeks out thank goodness we uh we're keeping on top of them so we don't see but the down they did hire down have to reim first cut contractor or the business own for that so I'm hoping not you ever have to go that rout uh we do have new computer software in place which is the DC memoranda for electronic filing we implemented that back in 22 it's been great um I'm not a techie guy but basically if I can use this system anybody can it's important with health myself engineering zoning so everybody has a p in this situation uh we are able to take electronic stuff electronically um from residents right now um pretty soon the residents can go online and see where their application sits where it is by the end of the month we should be able to pay for stuff online and we are looking to fulfill the obligation from DCA to purchase them um playing Witham like big TV screens that we're pretty much trying to go green if anybody's walked downstairs because we are by State law required to keep any application for 10 years and if you went downstairs and saw the boxes and boxes boxes fil you know we're trying to keep up with everything we have a lot of projects going on um if you don't know anybody doesn't know War School been doing their Sports Indoor Sports Complex we've been there since 2020 that is winding down probably during the summertime that project will be complete first Mar squid they give us a lot they have five or six projects going there there project right University um we have a ton of residential stuff so going we have a lot of people that decide to stay in their homes modeling kitchens bathrooms editions pretty amazed we also have um right now I think there's nine single family owned being uh in our office um so so hopefully that go go well umy much all I have for that it's business as usual um keeping up with everything more than that he a hard hard act to follow here answer any questions or mayor I have a couple questions if it may help the council um Jim I you you have attached and I think you all got a copy of this the eye tables I plan I plan tables and that that's something that is g to it's going to change uh the way construction offices within municipalities do business completely right I um believe it or not I still get phone calls we get a lot of architect Med whatever to want to transfer files to us electronically because obviously everything to us and they're like what do you mean you don't have it not yet working on it so that's we do still get phone calls for it and the cables um the ever actually looked meal plan or pretty intense so the plans is actually blow up the plans and make it a lot easier for us to we have byw 20 business days to review an application so it can take a month what we do to speed the process up we split it so when two sets of drawings I look at it electrical look at it then it goes the next so we have five disciplines that actually do reviews this is a this is like make everybody's life a little bit easier less paper you know Less storage Less shreding in 10 years and make our job a lot easier and the only other comment I do have is that um uh just for your knowledge inspectors licensed inspectors in the state of Jersey are few and far between um it's extremely um it's a diminishing profession for whatever reason and um I would like to work with our community Aid to try and do a recruitment um program through our social media to I mean it's a really good uh it's a good job with good benefits and I think more people need to know about it because right now when we have a space to fill it it takes a real long time to find a qualified individual so we're going to be trying to work on um getting this information out to the public and so people who have been a contractor for years may qualify experience-wise they just have to do the steps necessary to become State licensed so it would be wonderful situation for us to be able to hire from within our community for these positions yeah our association going basic push I GCA andeducation to get into some colleges people that have construction fields to try to entice I'm 61 and you hope here a few more years my electrical inspector sub Cod he his early 50s and then my youngest guy is Joe's Electric inspector he's 38 so we he's kid do you think poti a partnership maybe with a go Tech program for younger students is that a direct la yeah I think most and Jim you can correct me if I'm wrong I think most license requirements require years of experience in addition to state certification so that's what they're try to get involved that yeah move it up um the state still working on that I mean it's that's been talked about for like the last three years yeah so that's a possibility yeah they if they implement the programs yeah that would be great I mean it's you know I've been the construction was mechanical contract years so I know and stuff and I Know It Takes a toll in the body so we trying to teach each younger guys don't get any younger I mean you know and yeah you know it's it's a great opportunity [Music] for [Music] yeah Jim could you tell me is the State Licensing requirement for New Jersey comparable to other states it's a little bit different I understand I think Jersey a little more strict I know it's a fiveyear minimum experience program I'm not sure like how Pennsylvania does it um I'm sure it's so similar along the lines but I mean work in Jersey obviously have to have a Jersey license and I don't I don't think they're reciprocal like from state to state either um I know when you get to Florida they use the ICC licensing it's a whole different ball game but our license actually down there does kind of precipitate I don't know the particulars about it but I know building sub M um just retired he he was looking into that and basic say it's some kind reciprocal it's not it's not as stringent for Jersey you answered my next question I was going to ask you if it was reciprocal um I need a little clarification on the data processing Services is that the equipment that is coming yeah dat no data processing is um is a software program f.g that's the program we used and that's all part of being able to take everything electronically so we had to go to the system and that's pretty roughly what it is year so this is really like a startup course going forward no this is an annual course licensing every year but it changed so dramatically from last year yeah we on boarded that last onard it's really just started there was a there was a a law that was passed that is requiring municipalities to convert to a digital uh platform a digital licensing so to get ahead of the curve we've engaged um a company to help us with that process and so this is all a part of the the costs that are involved and in the end once it gets up and going um I think we'll see um a quicker turnaround uh happier residents and business owners who do business with the construction office and less Manpower human res resources needed um to run a Construction office as well so there will be some Eon needs of scale once it gets up run I think so and uh my last question is is this typical across the county yeah yeah we're uh we're on board with everybody else uh hopeall y West Windsor Princeton Hamilton they're all on um they're all electronic too um they have a different program than we do but most of them it's either you know pretty much on board I don't know they're all able to take the other side Electronics submission residents can do it right now but there's a problem with um between the three licensing board between mechanical contractors plers electricians because we all have to have a re seal and so there's this whole security issue with the r seals on the electronic um so that's the three boards have not come together that's another little bit of a hold up with this but if a resident wanted to submit stuff doing work in your own home that's not an issue because that doesn't have to have a press but we're dealing with contractors and dealing with the commercial projects and we just had a mon of meeting two weeks ago and ECA couldn't even tell us when the deadline was they basically said we're not we're not sure because three boards aren't on board with this and they're going back and forth on how they're going to protect the person seal because electronically if that sealer got out somebody else could use it and use their identity and that's the biggest biggest problem right now we're facing thank you for the clarification no problem thank you is there all to ask a question okay um I just want to say I I'm sure you're probably thrilled to be able to zoom in on drawings now with with your aging um so that's great I'm glad that that Council asked a question about data processing Services um I just wanted to sort piggy back on that um typically you know we've always heard on Council that you know the state doesn't like unfunded mandates that Tri down to municipalities and with this sort of new streamline service electronic which I appreciate and understand um was there is there any sort of will we see a benefit will be neutral at some point or is this kind of just a cost of doing business or is it a way that we can sort of um from my from my understanding uh the state still working on it now I can't miss it but last meeting I had basically talking the township we charge a dollar for so many thousands try to recruit I don't know if that's going to be coming into play or not be honest with it I haven't got my final on that but um yeah they some of the smaller towns you know obviously they can't afford they don't do the buying the work that we do um the state actually has programs where they can actually Link in and it's a f it's a flat fig and then they get 20% the state would take 20% so you know thank goodness we're not in that route um so we should be okay um yeah I hope um good luck with finding new inspectors I keep reaching out to the trades because I think you're on the right track and saying yeah we we reached out the local n my end because I'm a former obviously try to get those guys in and they're trying to run programs to bring guys in so hope it works not getting any young thanks man thank you now we'll have our superintend of ber mayor I'm seeing the international sign from people out there in the back that may not be able to hear so if we could just keep our voices raised Nancy big voice the microphone yeah I think you you have to get closer to the microphone mayor counc members Recreation I'm here tonight just to give you an overview of our three our three budgets that we have including in the recreation department we have recre reement special events and Senior Center office on agent thank you for allowing me to do this and give you a overview of this thank you to kevinsky for always supporting us and thank this shows our organizational chart for the three budgets that we do have just have Recreation special events and these are our three budgets that we do have [Music] there you go the recreation department we support various Community programs events and park enhancements this includes Administration needs Park improvements program requirements and Equipment the budget enhances the community for a well wellbe and enjoyment our special events budget allocates funds for equipment rental food food entertainment and misting and items ensuring this ensures well organized and promoted community events our senior center office on eaching budget Sports residents age 60 and over and essential with essential services like socialization events Health Services culture programs it's we also have van transportation and enhances the wellbeing of quality of life for our seniors in Warren Township about the Warren Recreation Department the lawr recreation department is our mission activities of lawr recreation dep which is dedicated to enhance social culture and physical wellbeing of residents uh we include the department includes myself Jeff R and Emily ctland so and we over have over 400 part-time staff members Emily Emily and Jeff contribute significant to our department success through their through their dedication and skills it's also worth mentioning that this year Jeff and Emily both had to plan their [Music] wedding their commitment to the rols and is their show their dedication to serving our community key highlights that we do have for our department activities we're responsible for managing the high school po we have also have Pavilion Rentals field scheduling which is all the field scheduling the athletic fields for VAR Sports organization this incl also includes closure of the fields usually on the Saturday or Sunday for weather conditions and all the scheduling for the field lighting we also are inable coaches and volunteers that we have throughout the township for our programs uh we also and generous Nature Center is also managed under the Warr Recreation Department program we do have a wide variety of programs that we do have throughout the department and special events park improvements Community organizations and the newsletter which is the latest in Lawrence which Emily and Jeff work on weekly we also are in charge of our Facebook page where we try to to make different um we make that active to share updates and information about events overall that our department is committed to making Lawrence better for the the [Music] township these are just some of our Recreation programs that we do have throughout the year so we just have some adult Fitness classes uh nature detectives we do offer several different camps exercise classes we have swim teams youth basketball league uh tennis classes pool membership Community Gardens as well if you see that that's 206 it's always beautiful there there and then we have adult Ball Junior wrestling this also just shows all of the groups that we deal with um on a daily or weekly basis so we deal with either scheduling Fields scheduling helping enhance the parks or the community band which has practice at the senior center and we also deal with Ryder for our fireworks um Recreation advisory and the Patriotic committee as well this is our operating hours most people think that we are here for 8 to 4:30 but we do have several late night hours the pool is open till 9:30 on Saturdays we have the facilities that we say that the the organizations use um we also have the Pavilion Rentals and the Nature Center which the girls cats and boys cats use and other grp do use the senior center is for band practice on Tuesdays evenings and we also have various programs that are at the schools facilities that we have they usually run till 930 or 10 these are some of our accomplishments that we had this year um we have special events we did see a surge in attendance in 2023 we received an award for our for the New Jersey Parks and Recreation Association which that is New Jersey Parks and Recreation Association is is at all the municipalities Recreation departments in New Jersey so we want an award for the 2.22 mile walk on 22222 um so we won that for the Excellence and health office this year we also W the award uh for which we'll get we get in we'll get that award in h February but we won an award for our Barbie movie video I don't B on that but it promoted the township we we also are um we expanded our community engagement through additional activities we participated our participation in summer camps increased about 20% we added some fitness programs move your body program and our Veterans Day program which we had here we sent out invitations for uh or postcards this year and we did we received a lot of feedback we received a lot more that our par day some of the challeng that we face at the recreation department uh we do face CHS along the way and they includ the cost of exploiting cost of equipment and field lining pain aging playground equipment shortage of part-time employees absence of an indoor facility for program execution Transportation cost for Camp busing and a high demand for field U utilization and time management for the various groups that we deal with our goals for our Recreation part is to focus on community engagement facility enhancement technology advancement we Inc we aim to increase participation through effective promotions of our social media cont we [Music] also we also um we're going to we answer participation so we uh we host diverse community events featuring additional food trucks that's what we want to do this year we want to add additional food trucks because that seems to be a popular thing so we can serve up M sausage cupcakes Pizza to cater to everyone's taste additionally we plan to enhance the anmer Nature Center which will include a new parking facility develop in an assistant in the um New parking facility we also we also plan on enhancing the inside of it we are assisting in developing the hero dog park which will end the integration technology for streamline and communication we're looking into possibly getting an app which would be nice to communicate to people okay the LA to sorry for Lawrence Township senior Center darene is a warmly welcome Senior Center for a for seniors age 60 and over it's open Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 4:30 and the center is officially managed by a dedicated team led by L Lal Natasha and ronsky they work very hard and compassionate and different and make every day um very good in creating a welcoming enrichment place for our seniors residents are encouraged to participate in programs and social events forcing a lively Community atmosphere transportation services are available for pickup to the center and it also functions as a County nutrition program providing hot lunches to registered seniors year round the benefits of the community center we have social engagement and Community Building health and wellness programs and cost effective Recreation opport unities for our seniors the senior center also has a lot of Outreach programs that they use Community Partnerships with we have the neighbors helping neighbors donates hat scarf set to sets to home front going to build school students provide technology help for the seniors of the senior center merer County nutrition program serves over 12 served over 12,000 meals in 2023 The Office on Aging arranged exercise taii yoga seniors for for laen Community Center sorry so we also we did the those exercise program at the community center the College of New Jersey and then we also had other merer County adult Protection Service to promote elderly abuse awareness these are also some of the programs that we do at the senior center we have like art classes or even gos and just all umry walking water coloring so a lot of activities that are Center and each month there is a social event that is held at the senior center so these are just some of the other ideas some of the other events that are held there there's a valentine St social there's also in December it's very busy but you can see that these are all of the every month there's some sort of social event that takes place at the senior center the challenges that the senior center is facing is the um it's just IND dire need of upgrades for better experience uh new equipment amenities like a bingo Board Furniture and tables but we are collaborating with the engineering department to explore grants to help fund these improvements for our seniors the goals for this Senior Center and then provide ad education providing talks sessions on important topics uh health and wellness offering food safety series health screening and Senior healthare Recreation programs including Nature Center activities crab buses meat and green tournaments and book clubs B and then there we're going to do a survey to um get the information with the seniors want special events so special events were responsible for recreation is planning coordinating conducting a wide variety of special events we work closely with several departments and volunteers and I just want to thank we have a lot of here I want to thank the the people that I dve crazy while here um we have our Lawrence patriotic committe our Lawrence Recreation Advisory Board some members are here who are always extremely helpful Public Works police OEM health department and the fire departments we'd like to thank them for their continued support at all of these events and these are our events that we do have we have the colonel hm Mar Valentine State candl Light walk which is actually this Friday 6 o'clock starting at 6 o'clock at col we put candles all around the lake and people can have a nice walk and then there's food trucks and music um we do last year we did a Black History Month art and essay contest Lawrence the leprechaun uh we do hide a little statue to Lawrence and we give hints every day and people have to go find him throughout works the egg we did that with the lawr count Police Department Memorial Day Parade independ day fireworks 911 memorial service commun day Halloween house decorating contest Veteran Day tree lighting Holiday House L contest and jingle for joy and the Jolly trolley rides so we do have um the recreation department enhances the lives in LGE Township through physical activity Community bonding and cultural events the special events promotes unity and social with with the senior with each other while the senior center Fosters Community among the elderly together these departments play a vital role in building a vibrant and connective community so I do have now just a quick short video of just our highlights of our 2023 here sorry I'm Recreation so I had AET Canon I [Music] would [Music] [Applause] [Music] w [Music] [Music] Wish R thank you're luy I wish I was you know I wish it was all all that and and just the other piece to start off is that seeing all friends and neighbors just so thank you for that I know that you and your your um group um including Senior Center I see audience thank you also for what the work you do um it's just so great um I do have a couple um not as F questions um but that's okay um how one of the questions I have is that you provide a lot of different events things like that how do you knowing that each of them has cost how do you sort of Benchmark those things in way that so you understand like okay this is really popular this is this is direction oh this is sort of falling off and sort of uh summer camp things like how you sort of cycle through those and how you understand yeah we do a we do a lot of research and we do um you know especially with the seniors they do a lot of they're not afraid to get their opinion so you know they can tell us what they want when they want it so um and then for us we do a lot of research and found what what new what what people what's trending and so we'll look at different uh aspects of we are going to do a survey people see what they want so because we do have we get a lot of input about what people want their parts but as far as programming is where you know we want to find more information about but that's how we just usually you know we build our programs or if there's something that's not working we'll we'll we'll try to fill that in with something that we know work question um one I noticed on the budget that Rec trips and rentals of buildings s Rose dramatically can you speak to that a little bit in terms of uh Recreation trips and building rentals and I don't know if that's just um well we just usually have um our bus trips like what we do is like we we have travel camp and we also have some of our summer camps we took and the busing has gone up since the pandemic has gotten gas prices too so that was one of our expenses that we had it has gone up a lot for for those so we have to weigh that into what we're doing what programs and trips that we're having So yeah thank you um and then I have a question for the manager um uh seeing that the challenges that the recreation and Senior uh Center Office on Aging face um have you have you been in sort of conversation about the status of the senior center in terms of the upgrades needed and and how we will sort of address some of those needs and sort of a so I will tell you that Nancy is in my office more than any other director and she often says what do you think about this and then waits for my response uh no Nancy and I we are in constant communication with regard to it and we do know that the senior center is something that we we need to be focusing on more what I try to do is you know everything to me is a is a process over time to uh uh and to look back and and see that we've taken care of certain aspects of it so to me the the Nature Center is something that we've been very conscious about the last couple years to try and bring that more towards the community use as an asset and so we we we look for Grants and we've been successful in finding grants to improve the parking in the in the interior of it and so I think once now that we have that set we can focus more on the senior center um and so that's kind of our approach we kind of we can't take everything on in one calendar year but we do have like a five-year plan and that's going to be a part of it thank you for that and I just wanted to say also that the iove by dog park dog park it's looking [Music] amazing the grass the grass is has arrived has arrived some taken over we do have two we added two new um last year we had pickle ball cours in Central Park we do have that we do have pickle ball lines in village yeah we do have pickle ball lines but then we do have the the difference between tennis and pickle ball kind of people talking to each other about thank you very much thank you n and mayor the presentations will be available on our website through a link as [Music] well particip any just sing on the she there and skate so NE to video okay well tough tough time to to be the first Speaker after all those speakers um I want to turn about the firehouse the plans for the Consolidated Firehouse meon all right am I good yes all right the plans for the Consolidated Firehouse affect me both as a one Acres resident and as a taxpayer $15 million minimum is not a small sum that's our tax dollars we're talking about here there's plenty of qualitative discussion about the situation amongst the local residents quality of life including traffic noise possible flooding and other things Common Sense alone tells me that this is a bad idea if it makes sense to do this and that's a giant if meaning consolidate all three firehouses there are better locations as I have begun to see Quan quantitative information that also depicts what a bad idea this is as well anyone could hire a consulting company to tell them what they want to hear as as you head down this path which will likely be a dead end you will be wasting taxpayer dollars and grant money getting to this place that money could actually be spent on a viable solution located elsewhere a few specifics at the December Town council meeting where as there was no YouTube Someone stated that the 2020 fire study recommended locating a new Consolidated Firehouse at the municipal building address that is not correct information page 105 of the 171 page study States otherwise number two it was also stated at the same meeting that there was no specific address associated with the Shirley Turner grants page 46 and 14 State otherwise 1252 Lawrence wrote is the address on those pages while I'm not familiar with County politics I very experienced with grants you are not allowed to change anything in a grant if you do that's considered misappropriation of funds did you have permission to change the location if so I would like to see that in writing all of that said what are the next steps so that we can reach closure and move on to something that could actually happen that's it me hi everyone my name is forel Easton and I am here with Bill from the nonprofit Where Angels play to discuss updating the play equipment at Colonial Lake Park Where Angels play donates playground equipment in memory of someone who's lost and they recently did a playground in Hamilton New Jersey called um Joy's Joy's Jo Joy's little angel um at lwood Park in Hamilton in 2012 I lost my daughter Claire at 23 weeks just station and I'm hoping this playground will be a comfort for all those in the community experiencing pregnancy loss at any stage while my family was experienc experiencing this GP we also had a four-year-old who you see running in and out of the doors today um and he was at home who needed us me and my husband to be present um while we were dealing with this gree um so we're hoping that this playground would be um a great healing spot for families in the community um that are experiencing pregnancy loss in a place where they can go and take their other children while they're experiencing this loss um so I'm now going to pass the mic to bill um to discuss the project in detail and what we need from the township thank you Briel mayor council my name is Bill Lavin I'm the founder of Where Angels play foundation and I'm a retired fire captain from the city of Elizabeth New Jersey and then the former State president of the fnba um I'm happy to say U the previous speaker on uh fire locations the firehouses and things that are maybe a little controversial I would have been here in in a different role and give you my opinion on that but I get to speak about other things like maybe addressing the uh the recreation report of having aging playgrounds so we are a triumph over tragedy uh organization has started after 911 after 911 um being across the river and being the president of the organization representing firefighters we wanted to do something in honor of the angels that we lost that day so uh we got our answer a few years later after the H uh Hurricane Katrina in uh Mississippi uh those children had previously sent us cards and letters to support us and uh we after the hurricane hit we saw the very kids that had reached out to us to support us uh had lost their their homes and their uh their school so we uh we decided to raise some money with the firefighters group and uh send to a group called save the children and uh we were invited down to see that the kids didn't have a place to play and needed they needed a place to play so we built three of the first handicap accessible playgrounds in the history of the state of Mississippi and um thought that was a great thing at the time we fast forward to um Hurricane Sandy or super storm Sandy where it hit it hit home here and while we thought we had problems and we were quite frankly feeling sorry for ourselves um a tragedy in Connecticut happened the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting we lost 26 beautiful angels so uh we heard back from the kids from Mississippi they were sending um Christmas gifts to the kids from New Jersey uh paying it forward so I got an idea that maybe we should get back to building playgrounds so it's a long story I know I have limited time but we we wound up building 26 of the the F of of playgrounds for those angels in their personality their favorite color and uh to celebrate not how they left this but rather how they lived so uh those families wanted to pay it forward to other folks who had tragedies uh we are now in the process of building our 65th playground throughout the country we've been in uh Puerto Rico Canada Rwanda uh Africa we build a playground there uh B got a beautiful idea we have about eight projects scheduled for families of you know who have lost through various means but uh she wanted to build a playground here in this this great Community I noticed my brother firefighters I talked to the chief U fmba members who are prepared to assist uh the nice thing about this is we're not asking you for any money we're actually looking to donate this playground uh we're going to need the support of other sponsors but we do have Jersey miks who are going to you know they're going to step up and provide a uh you know the impetus to get this thing rolling um we're hoping maybe the fall but uh I think uh Colonial Lake saw Mr hooker be presentation talking about Colonial lake so that's a possibility there's no pressure no hard cell for you to accept this we're going to build a playground for little Claire and honor all those beautiful tiny Angels um we'd like to build it here if if you like references if you want to see the playground we did in Hamilton we try to under promise and over overd deliver so uh yeah we we're asking that you bless this project once we have a place and we know uh we can build it either here or wherever then in Earnest we go and we start to raise the funds and uh dedicated playground we may need the support of recreation I've talked to Nancy uh Bergen through Zoom she knows about range's play it's a very big story there's a book we wrote about it um uh it's a triumph over tragedy there's so many folks who unfortunately lost little ones and we get to have those little ones continue to bless the neighborhood and and kids play in their honor so um as I said my previous life I would be here arguing over firefighting and where to put put fire trucks and things of that nature and actually Mr Booker used to cover me when I was a little more angrier than I am today but it's my privilege to be here in a in a positive beautiful bless project um looking at the attorney um and some of the questions usually come up as to uh it is a uh approved International uh playground man facturing installation this isn't just a barn raising these are state-of-the-art Ada handicap accessible and what we would ask the town to just like any other Park to accept the gift and bless it and that means to ensure it and to maintain it with the uh sacredness that uh which it's being donated but I do know that uh Riel and Troy and Caleb will keep an eye on it and make sure that if there's anything missing from it through time we'll be able to fix it as a matter of fact one of the most beautiful things about our project is to have the surviving sibling so uh they would run the show Caleb has agreed to be our foreman and he'll boss us around and uh so the organization I should say also is very lean we have one employee that's my daughter she runs everything everybody else volunteer including myself I'll expect you know your great uh firefighters and police officers and everybody's welcome to come and assist us in the in the install so um I don't think it's a heavy lift but again no pressure If you'd like to accept this gift um we we'd like to honor CLA here and uh if there's any questions I'll entertain thank you thank you thank you very much okay [Music] [Music] welome [Music] [Music] good evening go first good evening mayor and councel two of you I know most of you don't my name is Studley bird staff representative for CWA 1032 we represent group of folks uh here that work to the township managers and supervisors so I'm not here to talk about them tonight um we also represent quite a few people in y and the big reason that I'm here today is um I guess about three years ago we began representing people at the UN for sewage and um negotiated a contract there we actually came in another Union had left and U kind of picked up from there um but what we thought was you know quite a good satisfactory contract uh but kind of know usual kind of Labor agreement wages health benefits and U you know gance procedur that kind of thing about a year ago uh we had a member who U was disciplined uh we we second we uh you know went to um the Personnel Committee of Elsa um we couldn't come to an agreement there so we went to um arbitration um which we thought uh you know were quite uh we done that other places I don't know whether we've ever done it here at Lawrence uh I'm not sure maybe once or twice do um and then um in December we got back the decision from that arbitration it was positive to our point of view the arbitrator found for a number of reasons um for us I'm not going to go into those because that's not really the issue that talking about um but the problem is um Al management as just refused to um put that agreement and for um they have really not budged at all and you know we're coming to you particularly since you obviously have a very big part of what happens to Elsa several people Bo simply ask you we think a basic Justice for members there that this arbitration decision be imp yeah it's uh I will tell you I've been doing this work since here it's 1982 uh and this is the first time ever been in this situation uh you know been through aration some of them we've won often enough we've lost and you know we really hated it when we lost and found lots of this reasons why it was wrong but ultimately you know it had to be arbitrated because that what what we had to so we ask your help trying to bring about implementing that award and hi I'm Blair Saxman I'm a lead operator over at Elsa and first thing I want to say is I apologize uh for even bringing this to your attention um what happened u a little more specifically is I had an accident on the plant that resulted in a conc on my part and I didn't report this case is still pending at Elsa didn't report the accident excuse me one second this is a pending case and litigation at Elsa no it's been it's been arbitrated already but it's non-binding all right he want arbitration and Elsa has a non-binding arbitration Council yeah I I don't know if if given this is the first I've heard of this so bear with me but given the nature of it and if if this is going to be uh continued in some form of litigation or whatever it would not be appropriate for us to discuss I would prefer that not Happ that's why well I know you may not but but Elsa Elsa may decide to have certain litigation over it you you you have two board members right here right now on Elsa all right we shouldn't have heard none of this yeah right it's violation and Madam chair I am going to speak because I worked at Al for 25 and a half years and the gentleman over there knows me and you know we we shouldn't have done this all right if we're going to need to take action on this maybe at some point I think we need to go through our legal channels first especially yeah I I think at this point we we do not know enough as to the legality of just what's happening I understand it may be non-binding arbitration this may result in certain litigation I I suggest we know we we take no further action take no further testimony no further comments on this until I'll be happy to make inquiry with the with the general counsel uh for Elsa on that and get back to uh Council possibly an executive session if necessary yes I would say thank you for bringing it to our attention now we know there's something that we need to look into this is no reflection on your case no reflection on uh you know what's happening in terms of the arbitration it just given given the the nature of the uh matter I I think it best to air on the side of caution and and not proceed with further comments at this point I understand I I just want to point out as far as I knew the advisor The Advisory arbitration is correct about that wasn't anything that Elsa couldn't do something about all right I I don't think we should I don't think we should discuss anything resp noton resp no I think we're we concluded that now there is something that has been brought to our attention that Council was not aware of until just now so we will youe diligence and to act properly there any action that we need to OPP that thank you very much yeah I just want to say I wasn't coming here asking for specific action on your because I anticipate this will go through the so thank you for bringing it to our attention you're now thank you [Music] is there any other additional public participation at this time see none move on to riew of the agenda um Madam mayor uh I I have a uh request uh for an add-on resolution uh I think the clerk distributed the resolution earlier um you like I can give you a brief uh summary uh this is a request to modify a consent order in involving uh the uh fair share housing uh development uh that Brandy Wine uh operating partnership and Jas homes has it's this is not anything to do with additional monies not anything to do with uh changing the uh financing it's simply a changing the phasing schedule of the sale of some of the properties the uh uh concept of which has been reviewed by our planner in detail and she has approved the request of the applicant uh it has also been uh reviewed uh by the Mr Gordon the council for the fair share housing center and he has approved the uh request it's really a dominous change in the consent order that would allow certain uh market rate houses to be sold somewhat ahead of schedule I think there's 13 of them to provide additional monies so that the affordable housing units uh can be uh constructed um there is a there's time sensitivity here to get this done that's why I I ask that there be a we you need a motion to to add it to your agenda and then I would ask that uh you consider the resolution to allow me to sign uh this modification of consent order thank you thank you do we have a motion to Mo resolution no to add to the agenda to add to the agenda uh mayor before I make that motion uh I just wanted to ask do we still have a need to go into Clos session for this evening no okay so we can replace 11 with with this all right so I I will then mayor I'll make a motion to to uh to remove a Clos session um from yeah so so I will then add in this as 18 h11 a resolution authorizing authorizing resolution ex cons order for devel second yes yes yes yes they want to v no you know what um I think you could just pull it out for the for the resolutions to vote on it I think it should be pulled out separately and so and concluded so you go into resol yes correct thank you [Music] mayor along awarding or rejection of introduction of ordinances beginning with ordinance number 24624 mayor I'll make a motion to move 10A ordinance number 24622 24 ordinance providing for sidewalk in and by the to Florence in the county of Mercer New Jersey appropriate $1,197 therefore and directing the special assessment of the cost thereof second second I just want to just uh just put on the record that this relates to our sidewalk Improvement program which allows Property Owners to participate in replacing their sidewalks at a lower cost with payments collected over time through added assessments on their property tax bill so this is not an appropriation of uh Township funds it's really uh a matter of instituting the program and the residents who participate will pay over timeon Bob yes Mr Kaki yes yes yes yes uh yeah I have uh just one issue mayor you and I we met um yesterday yes um and we discussed the the possibility of council agreeing to have our Public Safety Committee engaged to um be involved in our study for a Fire EMS facility this is this this committee is made up of Township residents um and many of them have a have a experience in public safety related matters I think mayor you're on the board as well and I think it's a good place for us I we've the cart came before the horse on this so we're trying to um get everybody kind of educated on the process um we have a $725,000 grant um in order to study this situation um and I think a good place for us to start is to imp panel our advisory committee the Public Safety Committee to uh take a look at it they would have the power to be exposed to all of the information the public safety related fire information and maybe come up with a recommendation to council uh so at some point when council is ready we could discuss this in a public form with public participation you know at the various whether at the the various Fire Company Halls uh just so there is a um a more public transparent means to discuss the information that needs to be discussed because as the Director of Public Safety it is absolutely clear to me that this needs to be done the study needs to be done because this community has a situation relating to fire service that we need to address and so we can't kick it down the kick it kick it away from down the road we should really take it headon uh we've got this grant to do this study and I think we should start that process of of going through the information so it's clear to everybody in the community with regard to what we're doing and why we're doing it absolutely manager and um Council our L on and this would give us the opportunity for again that Community engagement participation action which is down the line this is you know the first step having discussion about and I I agree it would be a great opportunity with all the resources we have on the committee now with the experience to really sit down roll up our sleeves and understand what would be best and come back with some recommendations thank you and and not to mention the that it would be a committee that would run reporting to council so the public would have an opportunity to hear um the progress that is being made on the reg um the only thing that I would indicate to you that in the past this this U committee meets four times a year um I think we're probably going to have to revise that and have them meet more often as we have information as the becomes um clear that we could have a substantive discussion with information so I think the next public safety meeting I think we're going to have to schedule sooner rather than later so we can discuss how they're going to move forward with it is that is that all Mr I'm looking at everybody you seem to be all supportive of this can I have a like a roll call of some sort because I don't want you know are we all in agreement IDE so it would be one the council is requesting the Public Safety Committee to become a part of the process of of studying consolidation of a singular Fire EMS facility and and two that they be engaged to meet more often uh to get through this process so we're prepared to go to the public public all educated what we need to so we can have a better back and forth with the public we're all we're all good absolutely those are both very good points and I think can we have a vote I want to vote I know I know it's m report but I just want to add May if we can make sure that those meetings are known so that people come them they're notice mayor just so the record is clear for the benefit public maybe you want to take a a quick vote to make sure everyone's in accord with what's been proposed so it doesn't come up at some later Point as to was it really approved by Council it's not a formal appr approval of an ordinance or resolution just an agreement that M CL you could call he what he said yeah Mr B yes Mr Kaki yes yes Mr Ryan yes may yes okay thank you that's all I have for my report thank you now we'll have our yes thank you uh mayor counsel uh couple things uh I had hoped to have a detailed report on outstanding litigation but uh in discussions with the manager we're we're going to put that off for tonight to a future meeting uh just not been able to to to have everything uh together for tonight and we do have a a more pressing issue uh it's on your agenda really under written Communications from Elsa like Elsa night uh regarding the notice of sewer connection ban do you want me to handle that now mayor yes yeah I'd prefer to do that uh and we obviously have Elsa members here who can correct me if I'm not accurate but apparently the cler our clerk receiv received a letter on her about January 26th U from Elsa indicating uh that the uh New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that issues uh permits uh is looking at Elsa's wastewater treatment facility which discharges Wastewater to the Asen Creek pursuant to a a uh permit issued by D the D requires monthly monitoring and contains fluent limitation in the most recent renewal of ala's permit as in Prior permits D imposed an affluent limitation for n else's existing Tre facilities are incapable of complying with the fluent limitation and as such to in essence take care of that problem there would be a cost somewhere in excess of $18 million plus annual operating expenses which I'm sure are substantial those costs will be borne by the residents of eing Lawrence and Hopewell as served by Elsa and would result obviously in higher sewer services as a result of that Elsa's board owner about January 16th of this year adopted a resolution uh which which you should have a copy of which uh indicates that they have uh legally have attempted to U challenge this authority of the D and they've G up to the even City Appel Division and have not been successful and uh as such uh the authority is notifying the township of Lawrence Y and Hopewell that they shall cease cease the issuance of building permits and condition all other approvals which will require or modify our sewer connection which have not already obtained a valid treatment works approval issued by the D unless such Pro projects qualify for and obtain a store connection ban exemption do not require treatment work approval so this basically stops any new new projects in not just Lawrence but Ewing and hope and I I believe Mr parvis has already put a notice uh on the website in essence that effect I spoke at length last week to bar rank who is the general counsel for he indicated that he was trying to go in this week for a uh um consent order a administrative excuse me administrative consent order to modify this ban and allow Elsa to continue to have hookups uh for for new construction but I as of today today uh I haven't heard back from him there's any any uh success I don't know if the Elsa members were aware of anything I I don't think anything's happened bar Mr rank said he' get back to so this this is a very very substantial legal problem legal issue um you know if anything is already has received uh approval from Elsa then they're okay but any any new projects this this would certainly stop anything that will happen in terms of new construction it's also a problem it's also a problem even for developers who are looking to do any projects uh and are planning to finance them which probably 99% are in that there's always a condition in the commitment letter for financing of Elsa approval so if you know you can't get it you're not going to do you're not going to start the project so this could have very bad effect in and as I say not just Lawrence but Lawrence ying and Powell so I will U keep on top of this in terms of discussions with Mr rank um maybe there'll be some activity this week trying to get a uh administrative consent order he was not very optimistic about that you know we just don't know what you know what's going to happen um that's I think that's it in a nutshell I don't know if Mr Kaki or M Mr Ryan have anything to add to that but that's my understanding of the situation and uh that's basically all the communications I have from Elsa on this we're waiting for the D to get back to us right we're supp I have a meeting either just Thursday or Friday we didn't hear yet but then next Wednesday Thursday is the other two dates we gave them four dates for them to pick a day and for us to sit down with this we haven't heard nothing yet all right well hopefully hopefully one of those dates will occur and maybe there'll be some uh administrative uh ability to have a consent order on this if not the band stays in effect but uh it's certainly a difficult situation for anybody planning to do any type of development construction in Warren town I know that there are um just uh there are some exe exemptions you go on the Elsa website right um and go there uh you can request a packet they'll send you a packet you fill it out send it back to Elsa Elsa will then uh submit it to the D good uh and then go over and back there well that's that's helpful and anybody who's interested should look at the Elsa website to get more information on that um if I could ask the uh either the attorney or the uh or the township manager is is there a possibility of having representatives from Elsa come before this body at some point because from my understanding of the situation this is been brewing for over two years now and to be in a point where we can't build anything new is shocking and also disappointing um I understand the the the desire to not spend 18 plus million dollars on a nitrate treatment plant but if if if the eing Lawrence SE already wants to sort of fight New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on sort of water quality I have a feeling that they're going to not this outcome is more than likely right of of no well yeah it's and so I'm just trying to understand and that's why I love to have representatives from Elsa at some point come in to understand how we got here what options are and even if this body can sort of um have conversations with Elsa about this because it you know it impacts us in a very really significant way I mean we're we just heard from our our building department and now sort of what are they gonna do you know what are they going to do outside of you know small Renovations that don't treatment so I I'm just concerned for for the township well it's up it's up to the council I mean if you want a representative we can certainly certainly ask May there um it's not just ala there's few towns being affected in New Jersey on this yeah and and in terms of you know going going to DP I mean in my my prior capacity in the county County Council I've dealt with DP lot and nothing moves quickly there um and that's not a necessarily pejorative statement it's just the process is very slow maybe it isn't prority student but the process is very slow and you know just getting a meeting is an accomplishment and uh hopefully that will occur quickly but I don't know if there'll be a resolution certainly not that day you know there'll be uh uh hopefully some uh move but uh it's rare that you get anything very quickly done and if I and that's my concern about not Elsa not being proactive in addressing this issue relying on sort of legal means with the that if it if it takes that long we are going to suffer for I don't know how long in terms of our development and Renovations and that's problematic because as we know in the state of New Jersey our taxes are based on on property values and if we can't develop if we can't redevelop that's problematic for the health of our community and just reflect Poly on on the uh service area so I hope that it can get result on uh your question Chris El is responding at our last meeting we heard a firm to do the study to figure out what's wrong here at house what we got to do to correct it we're not looking to spend the 17 million we're looking to do something and meet the requirements from inhouse before we have to go out if we have to go out you're talking it is going to be a major project all right that we're not looking forward to so anything that could be done inhouse is what we're going to be working on the study that's going to take place will take six weeks for the engineer to do it once he does it it will come back to the Elsa board and give us a better guidance on where we think we're at with it what can be done inhouse without the 17 million that you're looking at that's where we're at right now Madame may can I ask a question was this due to a reclassification of the levels or that happened all of a sudden it's been gone on for for a couple years now the D has been at Elsa they're telling us that the AA pink is drinkable water and we're putting into it it is not drinkable water but somewhere in their law when they drew wrote up their law there's an article in saying all uh fresh waterways and waterways are supposed to be considered drinkable water it's us Elsa here and there a another SU Company North Jersey that they're going after they're not going after anybody else where the Asing ties into the delare river we're Downstream of the Filtration plant so it does not draw off on it but yet if you keep going uh further south uh there's a plant down there that dumps in you got factories that dump in they're not after them right now so it's like they picked the area where they want to start and I guess we drew a short straw and they're coming after us but we looked at even it's been about two years we looked at even let's wait and see what happens when the new governor comes in whoever takes over this group that took over is now saying it's law so they're going to answer us they don't want to hear nothing if you get the new governor they could say different but you can't wait right now to the point there's no more wait so are we in agreement as a council that we would like to hear from representative Elsa to come and that before body when appropriate yes ma'am yes yeah I I will keep in touch with Elsa's general counsel and if there's anything of any import to report back this week or next week I'll certainly do that to councel thank um I you all received a copy of the new maap um as you know last year I reported that the county was distri can you hear me now so last year I reported um about the redistribute of uh of our district Lawrence had had 21 districts we now have 20 I received uh yday the new map um which you received a copy of um our nine District 9 10 has now been merged it's only District nine our district 21 will now be district 10 uh that the the uh ping places will remain the same it will be at the same 9 and 10 will be still that I mean um nine will still be at SL fir housee uh district 21 that has turned to 10 will now be still here at the municipal I'm sure would reflect when you get there you get your uming you know your that come out for also on March uh 25th at 4:00 that would be the deadline for nominating that's coming up [Music] if you get any speeches [Music] for and also I would like to thank everyone for all the condolences and just the support you gave unfinished business all right mayor can I make a request yes can we release the department heads and Township employees that are here oh um I know they're olled with what's happening but I I don't think there's any reason for them to stay at this point and everybody's gonna look at each other are you going are you going everybody go you're fine thank you very much [Music] work new business earlier this evening the council met um to interview for the planning board um positions that are currently open and we're just going to announce those individuals who will be serving on the first we have Maria Cony Anette L Carlos Hendrick our Alterna Jonathan kns and that includes all of the board members reappointments and the new members and all excellent Cates really have we have tremendous group of individual yeah yes I think we I think we had we had caucus and we had an extra name so I'm I'm yeah they have to vote on this yeah they're vote on it they should just uh keep moving um if I could make a motion to reappoint Marley and I second yes yes yes yes all right we have now we have oneir and one alter that's that's the partus I'm confused [Music] sorry that and then we yes just have and then just have that to be C we have two remaining spaces right two to fill unexpired two-year term and and is the and [Music] alter mam CL can you confirm that the additional timate has not responded uh which one Mr I say I'll say Mr is Alter expir next uh 12314 so we would have to I think this was a conversation I had with our attorney about sort of there would be a process to that would be needed um to make that seat available yeah yes if IFH for whatever reason uh you wanted to remove him uh under the municipal land use law U it would have to be for cause and it would have to be by councel and he requested could be present for that there's no there's no other really administrative way to do that [Music] can can you just can you just vote on a net lovess for the two two-year term I mean that was your intent so why don't we why don't you just vote on that and now and then we'll be that we'll be down to the one alternate and then you guys have a decision to make is there a second second yes yes yes yes yes and then I think what we'll do finish business there may if I could uh make a motion to reappoint hold to the board second yes yes yes yes yes mayor if I with regard to the table the motion to table is that to a date certain of the next meeting yes table to thank you madam mayor may I make a motion to appoint John Clark to the public uh Safety Committee yes I was impression that had that did that last didn't she wrote it she wrote be clear right so anybody that was already Ved on took off than you for [Music] problem make motion for the senior executive uh committee to reappoint the two incumbents and appoint uh Dickerson I have three openings I'll second that motion Mr yes Mr yes yes yes and that is there is one person that um Public Safety that I think I inadvertently didn't put on the last meeting that was sister I think his name is I put that on this one because we had Miss umer she didn't okay so you have a open also think he was already he's just a u a reappointment so we going to have one vacy on that board for public and that's just a reint Madam mayor may I ask that we table that for the next meeting yes I think have we received any additional interest on any other board no we only received the one application for this senior executive okay this brings us to our second opportunity for public participation minutes we'll move public participation is nowos madam May if I may I'd like to move resolutions 18 A1 through h10 in a block got a second I second mayor point of clarification uh this Mr Bob this your motion would include the mo resolution added on earlier no no that would be H 11 I purposefully left that off thank Mr Bob yes Mr yes yes yes yes mayor I'd like to make a motion to move uh 181 resol authorizing resolution to execute consent order for Brandy wi's developer agreement I second is there questions no Mr Mr B yes yes yes Yesa is Council [Music] initi and we not be having an executive session so have a motion for Madame may like to make a motion for adjournment all in favor I think the mic's been cut off yes thank you let's I want to stay