e e e e for [Music] oh e e [Music] oh turned on no it's me oh there we go okay uh mayor Pia is um on Zoom tonight he's traveling for business he's out uh out of town um so Megan can you read the statement of presiding officer please yes in compliance with the open public meetings Act of New Jersey adquate notice of this meeting specifically the time date and public call information were included in the meeting that was electronically sent to the echo set allmore is Daily Record and posted on the township website the agenda and public handouts for this meeting can be viewed online at www. lill nj.gov a public comment period will be held in the order it is listed on the meeting agenda I'll rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Megan will you please take the role committe man dorsy committee man ray present committee man verza present Deputy Mayor lavender present mayor Pia present okay all right um first on the schedule tonight um we' like to uh welcome uh Sophia squado who has earned the uh Gold Award in Girl Scouts it's the highest award in Girl Scouts um I'm going to ask Sophia come up to the microphone I'm gonna join you over there okay how you doing today good how are you so first thing I wanted to ask you was so in order to earn the Gold Award you have to do a project right what was your project so my project was it was a combination of things so I know that I wanted to help the Pediatric cancer community and so what I organized was a 5k for Pediatric or a 3K sorry for Pediatric cancer um and before the 3K which was um like Co like dunk cancer cuz people dunk the basketball into a Mini Hoop for every lap um I collected a bunch of different supplies and toys like hand sanitizers and um stress balls and fidgets and coloring books and stuff like that for care packages which were connected um collected at the event also and then the following Tuesday um a bunch of younger girl scouts joined me and we put them together into care packages to send to five different hospitals um for Pediatric cancer Warriors oh great what hospitals were those um so there were hospitals in Ohio if actually I do have the actual names if you want the actual names um Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati Ohio cure for the kids foundation in Las Vegas Nevada University of Iowa Steed family Children's Hospital in Iowa City Iowa Children's National Hospital in Washington DC and map Child and Family Life University of South Alabama hospital Peds oncology in Mobile Alabama so that's that's amazing so this project didn't just benefit you know like the immediate area you what you did had to reach across the country the children in hospitals really from coast to coast right yeah so the Girl Scouts really um want to put an emphasis on your National and Global Link so I made sure that I had my national link by reaching five different states which was my my goal um and originally I wanted to send 125 care packages but I ended up setting um sending 149 which was awesome and that's all thanks to the community support and then my Global Link was that I added you know the withg grace initiative local nonprofit for Pediatric cancer um AR's over there um on their website I added like a how to plan and organize an event and it was published to the website so that way people all over the country and all over the world can organize stuff like this and hopefully benefit any community that they want so so how many hours did you put into this like for the planning and the execution Etc and and what kind of help did you get from you know other girl scouts friends and parents so you're supposed to do 100 hours that's supposed to be the total project I think I ended with like 110 or something like that um so yeah it was definitely a lot of work but I couldn't have done it without the support from my family um who's with me right now my dad's on a work trip so he's listening in Brothers yeah um and I couldn't have done it also with the support from my school uh Watchung Hills that since the moment I came to librera over the summer and I was like this is what I want to do he was like green light like you got it like you can plan it out we'll help you we'll support you however you want um so I really want to thank watch Young Hills um and also just family and friends and supporters because I wouldn't have been able to send um as many care packages as I did without the donation and the support from the community um that was really amazing I was really impressed I we had we were opening Amazon packages left and right like that guy was probably exhausted from going up our lawn dropping off all those care packages probably broke a sweat but yeah I just want to thank oh that's terrific now now you're in Watchung Hills are you a junior or a senior I'm a senior okay and where do you plan on going to school I'm going to go to Moravian University in Bethlehem Moravian in Bethlehem and what do you planning on studying um I'm going to study Health Sciences on the pre-occupational therapy track and I'll also be playing basketball terrific well we have a proclamation that is very impressive um I mean it just gives me goosebumps think of the work you're doing that's tremendous so let me read this Proclamation says whereas the Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA earned by senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts and only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award and Sophia squado has earned the prestigious Gold Award through her work supporting pediatric cancer Warriors by Banky children feel less alone and Sophia set a goal to send out 125 care packages to Pediatric cancer Warriors in five hospitals in different states and in addition to sending out the care packages she organized the 3K dunk cancer event at wung Hills Regional High School and whereas during the 3K dunk cancer event participants ran a 3K around the school and dunked cancer for every lap they completed by dunking a basketball in into a Mini Hoop and whereas participants of the 3K dunk cancer Kent were also encouraged to make inspirational cards at the card station that were sent along to the with the care packages and Sophia exceeded her goal and sent out 149 care packages to cancer Warriors and whereas the care packages were split evenly and sent out the Pediatric cancer wars in the following hospital we we name those hospitals again um and now let it be proclaimed by the deputy mayor and Township Committee of the township and most also mayor Pia is extremely proud of you I know he's listening he's probably going to say something in a second but um by the deputy mayor and the township Committee of lill in the county of moris state of New Jersey and on behalf of the residents of L Hill Township on May 8th 2024 that Sophia squado be hereby recognized and congratulated for her Gold Award congratulations thank you [Applause] [Music] one two three so Scott W everybody's sitting back down Sophia this is guy I'm in San Francisco I really sorry I could not be there for this special night but um congratulations on well deserved and uh and good luck at College okay thanks Guy okay all right well now on to um the business part of our meeting uh next is ordinance 539-2446 of the township of long hill County of moris approving the application for a long-term tax exemption and authorizing the ex execution of a financial agreement with 1449 Valley Road urban renewal LLC Jack can you um uh kind of weigh in on this and just remind us what this is about remind the public yes certainly mayor uh as you know Lansbury Meadow started out as a Township project uh over the years we got tax credits so there was a a limited partnership created and then It reversed it back to the township and several years ago the township turned it over to uh the Board of Trustees of lsbury now in order to uh make needed improvements and upgrades to the facility uh they need to borrow money again so they're going to do that through tax credits um and as part of the tax credit uh this authorizes a pilot agreement with lsbury which provides that they don't pay any taxes but that's been the case since the project was first built 30 years ago they've never paid taxes and they've contributed more than the number of units there to our affordable housing obligations over the years in fact I think there were 12 or 14 credits we got for the third round and there's still 32 carryover credits but in any event we hired outside Council Matt Jessup uh to handle this on behalf of the township uh he looked into it and he's satisfied that the limited partnership which consists of the lsbury board plus an investor will never make a profit on the facility itself uh so that's why this particular pilot provides for no payment in L of taxes it's a zero pilot uh and it goes on for 30 years but during that time the uh facility is going to be income restricted and we still count toward our affordable housing obligations okay so this is status quo yes um just continues their taxfree status I'll say um they Prov provide a benefit not only affordable housing for people that need it but also that acrs back to the town in terms of our commitment to u fair share that that that's correct okay um any comments from the dice okay so at this point I will open public hearing if anyone in the courtroom would like to comment on this ordinance okay see none um Megan is there anybody online that would like to comment if anybody on Zoom would like to make a public comment please raise your hand now I don't see anyone Deputy Mayor okay so I will close the public hearing can I have a motion to approve ordinance 539-2446 Deputy Mayor lavender yes and mayor Perera has no voting rights okay all right next uh consent agenda resolutions uh would anyone like to pull a resolution to discuss or abstain from okay then can I have a motion to approve resolutions 24138 through 24-14 6 so moved second committee mandori yes committee man Ry yes committee man bza yes Deputy Mayor lavender yes mayor pia has no voting privileges okay all right next let's go to Liaison reports Vic I'll start down at your end um would you please give the recck report all right let's go the vide tape yes let's get to the slides all right the recck report for Wednesday May 8th is as follows the nicer weather is bringing us lots more activity and Recreation on Monday and Tuesday of this week hcon returned to work on the parking lot and the pickle ball court at Myersville at Myersville ball field we hope to have the court open for play beginning next week more information is on our website and how you can reserve the court and the rules for the court and while you're there remember to think responsibly I [Laughter] now upcoming Red Cross class Red Cross CPR and AED class on Friday 5:10 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. there is still room in the class but register now on community pass we will not be hosting another class until the fall $32 per person per class and it's a 2-year certificate the process of filling out I'm sorry the process of filling available positions in Longhill Recreation is ongoing for updates on the hiring process please check the employment and Parks and Recreation tab on our website applicants should make sure they are frequently checking their emails as well registration started for summer camps at Sterling lake on 41 on 41 remember to register by 5:31 learn to swim lessons return to Sterly Lake this summer make sure to go online and fill out our no cost survey on community pass our swim instructors Will Group everyone according to their abilities and contact everyone to schedule the lessons mark your calendars for our annual Memorial Day parade and observance to be held on Monday May 27 7th at 9:30 a.m. local community groups looking to join in the parade please contact the Parks and Recreation Department mark your calendars for the spring Sterling lake dance to be held on Friday June 7th at 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. weather dependent L Hill students in grades 5 through 7 $5 entrance fee at the gate be sure to fill out the permission slip on the website and bring it to you with you to the dance while you'll have those Calenders out make sure to mark down the dates of our dog days of summer concerts hopefully something for everyone's tastes we start off on June 21st the first day of summer with parrot Beach a Jimmy Buffett tribute band at Sterling lake at 700 p.m. and please remember all concerts are free all right interested in volunteering in the community and having some fun while doing it please consider joining the recreation advisory committee please contact us in Recreation if you're interested in joining us and that concludes my Rec liaison report good any other reports Pig um let me just check on my phone here because I believe I've got some beautification of updates how you're doing that Brendan do you have anything from the fire department uh nothing from the fire department but um I do have some stuff from hbac oh go ahead Don Richardson uh the chairman of the planning board is going to be uh at the June 5th meeting uh to talk about the master plan and uh on the 15th of this month uh the uh historic preservation trust fund review board will be at the schoolhouse and that's in connection with the the $44,000 grant that uh we applied for to uh stem some of the water infiltration issues at this at from the foundations in the schoolhouse so they'll be there from 2: to 3: and uh the chairman of hpac has requested I'm I'm pretty sure we all saw in our our email uh that we be there just to show our support for the uh project and H Pik great and this will be so don Don's going to be visiting uh hpac on behalf of the planning board and we've gone through this now with environmental and shade Tre already so they they continue to kind of walk this around to the other um to the other committees yep okay great excellent Vic all right beautification electrical wraps are still on schedule to be installed uh this June the rain barrels and compost sales were are over and we're both very successful the veteran batters are going to go up on main air Avenue uh this coming week and there are some projects uh exciting projects for Turtle Back Park uh to beautify that area so we're excited about that are those surprises or do you there surprises maybe maybe a fountain maybe uh some lighting or gazebos in the work in the future but we're getting started we're working on it and uh we'll see some changes soon talk to us about these wraps so now these wraps I think were they designed by people in town or kids what they yes some of them were were were uh photos submitted by local residents um some of them were stock photos at the uh that were provided to us but a lot of them are are uh pictures that were sent to us by local residents if I remember correctly right so the the art work on these utility boxes are going to be the handiwork of people in town correct I I think all but one yep okay Brendan I'm sorry were you going to say something oh no I was just going to ask uh turtle turtle Park uh Turtle Rock Park Park is are we going to have a clock there anytime soon oh working on it along with along with the the train station there too but that's not beautification but we're working on it okay all right anything else open space anything you got uh things are starting to really get cooking with open space also um we're working with our Township engineer Joe Vu uh to find out exactly what uh we could get uh you know what what will fit what type of Park uh what type of um ball fields will fit across the street and on uh other properties going down Valley Road we want to make sure that we coordinate what the community needs um and because we can't put all everything in one spot so we have to coordinate them along that cor Corridor um and the ball is definitely rolling uh some some exciting things coming on great you you're doing good work on all this stuff I I you have a passion for beautifying the town I enjoy it and then and uh we have a new chair to the um to open space committee and he is cooking with gas what's his name Tom Jones Tom Jones there we go okay all right um so on behalf of guy I'm going to give the first aid Squad update um the whoops the squad is helping support national nurses week this week and uh the squad currently has four members who are nurses and are responding to calls and several now are in nursing school and over the years many nurses started their Medical Careers on the First Aid Long Hill Squad the first aid The Long Hill first aid Squad uh the week of May 19th through 25th is National EMS week and we will thank all the squad volunteers for their dedication in April they responded to 52911 calls so that's um National Nur nures week this week you know my mother is a nurse you know that yeah nurses are very important okay um Matt what do you have let's see from the Board of Health they're doing a skin cancer screening at Fellowship Village it's over in Basking Ridge or Liberty Corner Tuesday July 23rd from 1: to 5:00 p.m. uh the screen includes a full body check for early detection of skin cancer including melanoma it's completely confidential by board certified dermatologist um there's an appointment required um registration begins on June 3rd for the July 23rd event um I know everybody's taking their pencils out to write down this number 90824 2520 um if you want the skin cre if you want to make an appointment for the free skin creening whatever that too and it's it's any adult over 18 um and um is that a skin cleaning or a skin screening screening both offering all S Services over there right through the hose you're going through so it's the skin cancer screening uh July 23rd 1 to 5 and that's that's it from the Board of Health I'm meeting with the seniors on Wednesday so seniors I'll be there if you have bring your questions hopefully we have answers for you that's Wednesday morning a regular monthly meeting and just from even on to DPW remind everybody to recycle which reminded me when Vic talks about composting um we do there's a composting bins down there so please they basically they'll take any item that's biodegradable down there bones uh banana peels things like that and we still also recycle cooking oil so cooking oil or grease uh it's recyclable down there along with many other things and obviously the styrofoam I saw them I was very happy the other day I was coming home and I saw them hauling a full dump truck load of the big styrofoam bag from town hall down to the DPW so thank you residents for really embracing these programs great anything else that's it sir all right um so I'm going to read um something here on the police department and um this this is with regard to accreditation and uh uh an assessment that's going to happen at the end of this month and um Megan I think this um should probably go up on the website um and we have another meeting before this occurs so we'll talk about it next meeting as well but um what this is uh called accreditation um so a team of assessors from the New Jersey state associations of chief of police uh on Thursday May 30th will examine all aspects of the LGH Hill Township Police Department's policies procedures managements operations and support services um is going to be administered by the New Jersey State Association of chiefs of police and the accreditation program requires agencies to comply with best practice standards in five basic areas the administrative function the personal fun Personnel function operations function investigative function and the arrest detainee function quote verification by the team that the Longhill Township Police Department meets the commission's best practices standards is part of a voluntary process to achieve accreditation a highly prized recognition of law enforcement profession Prof Excellence accreditation results in Greater accountability within the agency reduced risk and liability exposure stronger defense against civil lawsuits increased Community advocacy and more confidence in the agency's ability to operate efficiently and to respond to community needs so here's the money part of this anybody in the public wishing to offer comments about the lill Township's Police Department's ability to comply with the standards for accreditation will be given the opportunity to comment either by writing or by phone contact information will be posted on the police department website so um as mayor pizeria had had mentioned earlier this year um when uh Mike peoples uh came on board along with Shan Brown um guy made a commitment that we would get uh accreditation back before the end of the year um and you know I'm happy to say that it looks like we're well above schedule on that um and so this will be a major Milestone on May 30th this month um you know hopefully everything goes well I fully expect that it will um but this is standard operating procedure that the public is allowed to uh comment so go to the police website this will be up there we'll have one more meeting before this occurs so we'll have an opportunity to mention again but um I'll editorial I I think this is incredible news absolutely incredible news so we can't thank the department enough for getting this done um our lieutenants uh chambrell mareski uh Sergeant um calsky uh I know is specializing in this and of course Mike peoples and Shan Brown so thank you um everybody there all right administrators report Randy is on Zoom today Randy you very comfortable I I am very comfortable it's it's a nice day today um so I I really don't have a a report I just want to say uh even while I'm um on vacation I'm I'm working eagerly uh with um the deputy mayor and getting uh the budget finalized and uh for a budget uh presentation uh hopefully on at the next meeting on May 22nd I believe that is uh so uh look forward to seeing everybody then and you're you're feeling good that we're getting that number down where we were the last time right absolutely we we've been working for a week um I I think we're we're going to get it uh to where the mayor had talked about um uh two weeks ago um so I I I'm pretty confident that uh the uh taxpayers will be happy with the the budget that we present good all right anything else uh that's it Deputy Mayor all right and it just um again I you're taking a well-deserved vacation and um you didn't have to log in tonight but thank you I mean your commitment to the town is um is really incredible so thanks I I think it was important that I did so uh thank you very much and uh I I I will enjoy the vacation once we're done tonight so okay all right very good all right um now next discussion items um I see open space on here but that's you huh that's you um talked about separating it uh yeah without guy here I don't think we we're we're not going to have a fruitful conversation so let's hold that till next time okay all right um thank you though um new business old business Brendan how's the fire truck doing uh it's it's coming along we're uh thanks to Randy we uh the insurance adjusters were out at the at the at the dealer and so it should be back within the next couple of weeks they're actually they're waiting for a part to come in from uh the uh rosenow in in in Minnesota and did you guys get the um uh get the little bump out the fir House made yet not yet it's it's h scheduled to be uh in front of the planning board ah okay so they have to got it thank you yeah okay great soe all right um okay any announcements thank you you're welcome I've got nothing any announcements down there no nothing here nothing here okay um well that said um we'll open the meeting to the public if anybody would like to make remarks and statements pertaining to any matter comments and remarks please limit the three minutes please state your name and address um people are fighting to come up to the mic we have a big crowd here gentlemen sir in the blue shirt we pick you good evening how's everybody doing tonight how are you doing well I have I've had some medical issues in my family that's been taking a lot of my time Charles orowitz sorry I couldn't attend the last meeting in person Charles orowitz Heritage Road Millington no need to take any notes I will not be asking any questions because my questions never get answered several meetings ago I inquired about the cost for the demolition of the Everly property but to no avail I couldn't get any of the answers after a series of opah requests and I need to thank Randy while he's on vacation for his directives so I could get the proper wording for opah request to determine the cost of the demolition I determined that the demolition contract was awarded to Armstrong Incorporated for a cost of $ 39,821 there was another bid that was the lowest bid submitted by SNL Contractors LLC at a cost of 37,000 $579 we would have had a potential Savings of the taxpayer of $2,296 here's a rhetorical question why does Longhill Township not award contracts to the lowest bidder but I believe it was payback time it was payback time because Frank liberado who owns and operates SNL contractors ran against two of you in the campaign such Behavior such vindictive Behavior unprofessional behavior and possibly illegal behavior is unacceptable to the lill taxpayer this could become very costly in addition to the losing the $2,296 there could be some future litigation against this Township on how this contract was awarded I believe based upon these actions this cultural transformation established last year by then mayor Lavender is not working a couple other rhetorical questions well wait a second I don't need any responses a couple other rhetorical why did the current Township engineer Mark estimate the parking lot in pickle ball court at 100,000 and we received a bid for 233,000 then the engineer allowed asphalt paving to continue in November after I had an email written about the paving experience on November 6th and indicated you don't pave Asphalt in the cold weather because there are seaming problems guess what the contractor was fixing in the seams today then you want to hire the engineer but after the acquiring firm Ferraro engineer rejected Mark as an acceptable candidate to the new organization thank God East Bruns a c Mark away from Long Hill Township's offer next rhetorical question what Longhill assets are going to deteriorate next after the wastewater treatment F facility and the three firet trucks a police department Building B storm waterer management C Sterling lake D caner Park turfield e all the above my answer is e you can answer it all yourselves thank you for all your time and professionalism and you didn't have to take notes God bless lill Township well thank you Randy do you want to answer any of those Molotov cocktails thrown your way I had some answers that I myself thank mrtz for his comments okay thank you Randy oh okay thank you Randy you're a gentleman all right anybody else in the courtroom none then let's go online Cathy o would like to speak go ahead please hi Kathy o Millington hello I'd like to take Q from Chuck rewitz and I will making a statement as as opposed to asking any questions and I ask that you do not interrupt I expect this to take well under 3 minutes first I would like to address the current state of the budget it was announced at the last meeting that we would see a 5% increase it seemed and I understand that that's not the final budget but it does seem that it was being attributed to inflation but the towns around us are subject to the same inflationary pressures yet last year Warren saw a decrease in its tax rate this 5% increase is without any capital outlay for necessary projects such as moving our police station out of the flood plane or any flood mitigation projects as you I'm sure well I wasn't in town at the time but I'm sure many of you recall um that the flood wall that I I believe you're still uh uh planning to push through uh came with it its own price tag for the township uh we sold the sewer in 2019 I believe it was and one of the arguments was that it would stabilize our taxes yet we have continued to see the same tax increases each year as we did before the sewer sale and now we might be hit with a very large one there is also the matter of the 2 million doll Surplus from the sewer sale uh you may recall that our sewer rates were raised the year before the sale to pay for a new filtration system one that was never installed by the township and is only now being in stall by New Jersey American Water um this was a a big concern that was raised by members of the township committee about the quality of the water going into the river when we had high water events but this appears to have been happening over and over again uh even after uh the sewer system was transferred to New Jersey America water but I digress because the township created a Sewer Authority prior prior to that sewer sale uh the tax increase uh cannot be you cannot use that $2 million to uh PL plug the hole in your in your budget that Surplus needs to be returned to the Sewer users lastly I don't know if you read the news but the New Jersey Supreme Court just declared and I quote chief justice rabner quote survivors of discrimination retaliation and harassment now have a legal right to tell their story a right that cannot be taken away by a settlement agreement end quote that would seem to mean that the hundreds of thousands that this Township committee spent to keep Chief Naga from speaking plus more attorney fees may have been for not thank you does that go for both sides good question yeah it does go for both sides if it goes for both sides it's exciting that's right now guy are you out there there he he can't uh no it doesn't all right thank you Kathy appreciate it well actually I don't but thank you anyway sorry Scotty you there oh yeah hey guy hey how are you so I'll respond briefly to a couple whatever those comments were one uh no one said the budget was going up 5% Randy presented what was uh an inclusive number I'm you and I have met with Randy since and I'm quite confident we'll get that numbered down to 1.6 1.7% as I pointed out in the past uh nearly 63% of property taxes go to the public schools 24% goes actually less than 24% it's closer to 23% goes to the municipal budget if you go back 35 years uh those numbers were 55% for public schools and 29% for uh the municipal budget so what that means in rough terms if you take the tax of about 435 million today we spend $35 millionar more in real dollars on schulls at about $2.5 million less on Municipal services so what I can say is uh I cannot speak to the school budget anybody who wants to understand how School budgets are derived need to attend school board meetings but what I can say about the municipal budget it is a remarkable achievement that we have been at 1.6% for the last 15 years and that is with only 8% of our tax levy coming from uh business ratables um as far as uh the silver well I I don't think I have to go down that path again uh the reality is this uh from a financial perspective that's probably the best thing this town ever did uh you know I pushed that uh from the beginning and I stand by what I just said that was a remarkable thing and over the next 50 years it will well not even over the next 50 years over the next 20 years it save uh rate payers a minimum of 30 or 35 million so anybody doesn't understand that I'd be happy to go over that math with them and that includes the person that just spoke and as far as our last comment I would say anybody who wants to go down at again I was very patient over those 18 months in doing what I thought was right for the town I will not tolerate any slanderous comments made about me or anybody on the township committee going forward so anybody who wants to speak in that way uh feel free but I will handle it legally back to you Scott thanks scy yeah I I agree those kind of comments are nothing but antagonistic they do nothing to move this town forward and it and and it's it's it's like playing golden oldies from the past I mean let's focus on and Ain golden so let's let's let's move things forward um all right so public comment public comment yes Deputy Mayor if you will I just want to add something to uh the mayor's comments uh the township never created a sore Authority we had a sore utility and we've had a s utility thank you uh for quite some time right I appreciate it now anybody can get to the mic and freedom of speech means that they can make stuff up too and it just bugs the hell out of me all right did I just say that it's true um public comment is closed all right anything else from the Das any other uh announcements can I have a motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor I I e