##VIDEO ID:brcjFS1drHI## e e e e e e e e [Music] good evening everybody Welcome who whoa whoa hold on okay sorry you're good you're good Megan yep you're good all right good evening everyone welcome to the September 25th 2024 Township of Long Hill Township committee meeting would everybody please rise and join me in a pledge of allegiance I pleas to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all I can please read the statement of presiding officer in compliance with the open public meetings Act of New Jersey adequate notice of this meeting specifically the time date and public call and information were included in meeting that was electronic electronically sent to the eosl and posted on the township website the agenda in public handouts for this meeting can be viewed online at www.long Hill nj.gov a public comment per will be held in the order it is listed on the meeting agenda than you Megan please take Ro committee vendoring here committee woman rker Eline here committeeman verza present Deputy Mayor lavender will not be here tonight mayor Pia president just a quick note on Scott the reason Scott is not here this evening he is right down the road I think at the Prima Vera uh he's being honored by the uh Boy Scouts for good service award for his years of dedication for many organizations uh not his Public Service here but uh Boy Scouts uh in particular but L Le and and a bunch of other things so Scott congratulations uh when you watch this meeting later this evening number four in your agenda ordinance description yes mayor this is a paper street that runs from Vicky's place to Valley Road it apparently has a walkway on it that's a dis repair uh the township is going to vacate that paper Street and if there are any utilities that's underneath they would be reserved but otherwise the pedal of the property would revert to the abiding Property Owners probably and maybe take the a brief moment just to explain that this there are no real ramifications to this it was it's always owned by the abing property owner that's right there's a common misunderstanding as the streets the town does not the township does not own streets it's really more than the nature of an easement it's the right of the public to cross it and the town can vacate that right if in fact there's no longer a public need for it so that that's all we're doing here okay any questions for chat from the committee seeing none I'd like to open up this meeting to the public on this ordinance only at this time yes sir heing impair in the crowd can we speak louder please we're not we're not speaking louder I didn't hear anything Mr Pon said sorry I'll bring my mic closer I'll bring my mic closer thank you sorry about that thank you very much sorry thank you Joe uh next on the anything online anybody online it's okay anybody on Zoom would like to make a public comment regarding ordinance 55224 please raise your hand now I don't see anyone m mayor thank you Megan thank you Au it's a team effort all right uh you haven't even corrected me yet when I say aub's name he got tired of it ordinance 55324 didn't vote you didn't vote vote need vote okay look at he's he's moving today he's moving he's moving we're the ones stopping him hold on oh can we do we do we make a motion yeah somebody make who's going to make the motion I'll make the motion I'll second it Megan committee M dorsy yes committee woman Riker Eline thank you yes committeeman verza yes mayor Pia yes ordinance 553-2423 this this ordinance U makes changes to our code book to reflect changes to the uh Oprah law that was made last year right uh so we've added some additional things to the initial ordinances introduced so I would ask that you amend the ordinance by motion and continue the public hearing on the ordinance as amended until the next meeting understood so what we need is a motion to carry correct okay and and and accept the uh the Amendments the Amendments and there'll be no further publication or notice understood I'll let Megan say that part looking uh there any questions for Jack and if not uh then looking for a motion to one accept the Amendments and two to carry the public hearing to October 9th 20124 so move second committee V dorsy yes committee woman rer in line yep committeeman verza yes mayor Pia yes uh item number five consent agenda resolutions are there any resolutions that need to be pulled for further discussion or uh oh I just have a one any recusals Mike oh I just have a on this 124 251 about whatever what the 120 the last the second and last one over here what what's the why was there a change order for the paving or whatever that's going on over there uh 24251 that was for uh pop popler Drive um there were quantity changes and there were additions and deletions and the net uh change was 12,000 12,000 in change all right uh usually a normal process of any road project where there's going to be additions and deletions um as they as they go along because of uh certain road conditions thank you do we ask any of the questions for any of these now or as we go through them okay so can I sorry new trying to figure it out all right so 24 d241 which is the resignation I believe from one of our Police Department correct correct so um just random question is there what's the process is there an exit interview process just to understand there is and and then will that get reviewed with us um if it does any concerns or issues yeah if there is okay I just want to make sure that that is happening and you know if I would say that for any role in town so we can be aware of any you know areas of opportunity there so that was one question and then 24 d252 the um Award of the contract for Alpha Dog Solutions which I believe is referring to our upcoming website correct correct question um is that still under review and how what is the review process for that the the contract itself or or yeah or the process to understand what do we need and as a newbie on the uh what tech board Tech committee I just want to understand those because that kind ofers to that I just want to understand the process because a website's a big deal and I want to make sure it's serving the right way how is it being evaluated that's all we we evaluated uh several different companies uh and uh came up with Alpha Dog Solutions uh they seem to have um a grasp of for municipal websites uh they have the better graphics than what our current people have um and one of the things we did like that he he actually is working with other municipalities transferring the current information with our old vendor to to his thank you so um once we get this up and running we can uh we can also alter and make uh uh additions and change uh as we go along thank you and when the Wii in the evaluation is that Tech committee and like other pieces within this unfortunately because we didn't have the tech Committee in place for most of this um so it was reviewed uh in house in house and then oh and then how long is the contract for one year one year thank you any other comments questions recusals if not looking for a motion to pass resolution resolutions numbers 24- 235 through 24- 252 so moved second committee man dorsy yes Moman rer Eline yes comman RZA yes mayor Pia yes yes item number six on the agenda Matt what's that oh report sorry that's fine uh first from the Board of Health the Bernard's uh Board of Health be giving flu shots basically once a week every week in October look at Bernard's health.org for the times and places next uh on the eve of breast cancer awareness week or month so don't be spooked by your boo bees um they're running it understanding your risk of breast cancer um seminar at the burnard's library on October 17th from 6:00 to 7:30 uh register by emailing or calling Andrea Huber she our new public self U health inspector and you can find her information on Bernards health.org and please recycle that is it oh one thing about recycling if you have thank you David H for reminding me if you have if you change your own oil if you have used motor oil DPW will take it and then we they will recycle it and use it to heat the building so if you do your own oil work and you have oil please bring it down there and uh they will take it and be more than happy to use it thank you thank you Matt uh you okay yeah yeah yeah okay one second fire away oh what's m I have slides for what group that's why I wasn't sure if it was Megan you're a ninja okay so updates here from the library section is the lill Township Library loves being a community Hub with books ebooks movies and more and residents checked out 10,284 items last month that's exciting I'm one of them and may or may not be overdue but I digress slide number two the library is now open again on Sundays 1 to 5 to celebrate our annual return to Sunday service hours we hosted a Sunday Funday with story times art classes line dances in our first ever Pham party super cute they do a really good job in my opinion and I'm a tough cookie okay the library programs uh and events for this week uh this flyer goes out through our newsletters through the schools Friday flyers and on social medias and all information is also available on the um Library website which is exciting and the library has story times every day at 10:30 a.m. all are welcome to join us for a story and a song uh come in join the challenge to read 1,000 books to your child before kindergarten and this program promotes reading to babies and toddlers bonding between caregivers and children and School Readiness is also promoted so that's exciting and then LGH Hill Township cares with this initiative the library aims to be a convenient place for giving back to the community the library now is a permanent Food donation location for 12 baskets and on Thursday September 26th New Jersey angels will talk about their program supporting Foster Youth and ways we can all help at 6:30 in person and Via Zoom Zoom so they're flexible as well um walking and talking book club this would be good for you and I guy last Friday of each month at 2 pm. this book club always reads very short read inone sitting books reading love and saffron by Kim Fay are and newcomers are welcome maang Club meets in the library on Fridays at 1 pm this group is for experienced players but note that we have a maang instructor coming to teach new players in October I need to pay attention to that because my daughter and I want to do that um community community picnic on Thursday October 3rd 11:30 to 1:30 bring a lunch and meet your neighbors share your heritage and history via the foods you eat for lunch or just chitchat lawn games and story times for kids of all ages welcome to relax with your library friends and then last but not least Cathy and cuchen I don't know if I'm saying that right and I apologize on Friday October 4th from 3:00 to 5: the libraries Twist on this German tradition is we talk books we will provide coffee and cake and we recommend our favorite reads from the summer to all come with a book suggestion no registration is needed and that was it thank you thank right come on now all right are we ready do it I think I need the slides Megan's working on it ah again here we go all right the rec the recreation update for Wednesday September 25th is as follows slide one as the pumpkin spice weather rolls in we have lots of fall events on 96 we hosted our fall Lake dance for the middle school students in grades 6 through 8 we had 150 kids at the beach at Sterling lake dancing the night away many thanks uh I'm sorry any thank you to our Recreation advisory committee and our wonderful chaperons without our chaperons event like this cannot run thank you to the Long Hill C team for providing traffic assistance for us and the L Hill Police Department for sending officers Jeff and David to the event and organizing the kids for a fun limbo contest thank you to Heather Gillis and Dina Kupa for organizing a fall Women's Tennis League following up on the tremendous success after introducing it this past spring the women are playing Mondays and Fridays from 12:00 to 2: at caner Park and also our fall our fall field hockey program is in full swing the teams typically play games on Sunday afternoons and they practice on Mondays and Thursday evenings we are trying to build this program if you have a child who might be interested in learning more about this Sport come by caner Park and check it out you can also contact the Parks and Recreation Department for more information and finally the new playground equipment for caner park has been ordered and we are anticipating a November install updates to follow register now on community pass for upcoming Red Cross first aid and CPR AED classes these classes are possible due to a partnership with our local Long Hill first aid Squad upon successful completion of each class participants will receive a certificate valid for two years each class is $35 the class sizes are limited the first class for first aid is this Thursday 9:26 fall yoga program starts on October 14th and will run Monday and Wednesday mornings at the Millington Schoolhouse register online through Community pass all right you're doing great thank you you're I'm trying basketball is upon us know something about basketball and want to work this summer well make it know something about basketball and want to work this winter get your application in by 101 application is online and easy check out the website for some detailed information travel basketball team try out start on 107 registration for tryouts is due by 9:30 and is free see flyer and the website for dates or tryouts by group open to Long Hill kids in grades 4 through eight adult open play basketball starts on 10:17 pre-registration is necessary and is open now on community pass there is no registration available on site program is on Thursday nights at Central School at 7:30 p.m. Recreation Saturday basketball for grades 1- 8 starts on 1123 registration will be open till mid October moving right along the Halloween parade will be held s Sunday October 20th at 3 P.M sharp at caner Park this is a free event for all Long Hill children we are always so amazed with the creative costumes we see at this event come have some fun with us no pre-registration is necessary and that's always a great event I love going to that event I really do the costumes are amazing the fames have a great time it's a pleasure to be there you generally dress up as a chiropractor I do it's the only time people believe I'm a doctor all right and finally slide eight The Long Hill Recreation advisory committee is always looking for new volunteers we meet on the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. and the committee members help out out at Recreation events think you might have some free time to come have some fun with us if so please contact the Parks and Recreation Department and that concludes my wreck update all right but I have more beautification but there's more beautification he's busy the beautification committee a member of our beautification committee right there all right Chief gallow the uh the wraps around town the utility uh wraps continuing to go up they look great uh I think we're almost done I'm not I'm I'm I mean we may have one or two more to to go we're done for this round we are done all right great um also beautification keep your eyes out on Turtle Rock Park there's going to be some really really cool things uh happening over there there's going to be some nice additions it's going to start to look really nice uh in addition Senator brnik and I are working with New Jersey Transit I know I've been saying it for a long time but these things move slowly don't be surprised if we eventually get a new train station in Sterling to go along with the beautification at uh Turtle Rock Park what about Gillette I don't live in Gillette I'm only kidding I'm only kidding Jette these work too I agree but we're going to start with we're starting with Sterling and we'll see what happens there I do uh often get what about Gillette but I live in Sterling give him give him room let him work it out all right and uh open space we have some great things to report on open space primarily across the street uh Central Park project is moving right along we met this week we are um quite confident that our Township engineer will have uh preliminary site plans done over the next two and a half weeks and within the next month the open space committee should be presenting to the township committee our vision for Central Park so things are moving think I have a question there I don't know if you've had this conversation with the uh with the engineer the concern on a property like that is the envelope that is buildable correct which I think is 8 to 9 Acres somewhere in that area hopefully that hasn't changed since the purchase of that property we'll know over the so Joe is in the process of of obtaining everything that was done in the past so that we don't repay for and reinvent the wheel for all the for all the renderings that we have in the past the footprint may have shrunk somewhat but it does look like we're going to be able to get a utility field a playground maybe an Amphitheater so it it it still does look exciting that's right and for those who don't remember or weren't living in town at the time Township bought the property across the street it's roughly 73 Acres 10 years ago or give or give or take uh the front part of the property which at the time and maybe hopefully still about 8 to nine acres was buildable for things bfield fand stand you know and I know you guys have done a lot of work with with the uh residents just trying to figure out what they might like to see so that property goes back about 70 we'll say 75 Acres just for the ease of map and then it connects for about 40 acres to a a property that's wet all the way behind uh Sterling Hotel and it comes out at Railroad Avenue so what you have are say 135 Acres only eight of which can be uh built on however the rest we have worked with the county uh and the engineer uh and we know we can put certain types of trails in there can we do walking trails and things like that that's awesome we're actually first further along with the trails we already have uh we have already obtained the design grants and I believe are working on the Construction Grants so we're we're actually really cooking with gas across the street I'm and we're really excited to present to the township committee over the next month do you have an estimated time frame or that would be in the presentation to the township committee when yes that would and I realize estimated with like and that's not construction justold make already said that's the design correct it's expensive with wood wood uh types of Trail so then we would have to apply for Grants but there is money available at the county level okay the the design has been completed okay uh and presented to DP DP going back and forth uh quite a bit uh has has approved uh the the design plans Unfortunately they approved it after the deadline for the Construction Grants for the the county so the requirement of Boswell is to uh finish up with if you will the construction documents to so that we can go out to bid with those documents and that is what um the county would require for us to get the grant to be ready to go out and to bid for the uh Trails as the deadline for those uh applications July right June July yeah I want to say July yeah yeah was I actually served as Vice chair on the county open space committee for many years so I think that's roughly right and to be clear that's for the trails only we have we have we we are beginning the process now though for you know the meat potatoes of the project the actual fields and what you're going to see from Valley Road that's great so again we're excited to present it I it's it's long overdue and I believe we're going to make it happen and that concludes all my liaison reports can I jump back to beautific for a minute do you how do you um take like requests or ideas or like do you take requests and ideas and submissions like if there's someone that's not on the committee but there's ideas or thoughts on how to change it like is there a process to go about to submit that AB I I think a a a call to town hall to Colette will always uh will always get it done or anybody on this committee and then we can funnel them to you or to Chief Gallow um okay ex or anybody on the uh uh beautification cuz I love like I think there's probably a lot of ideas out there it this has been a long process so maybe seven or so years ago there was a survey taken and and okay pick that's where I came up with the idea of a a Band Shell Band Stand or I another ball field perhaps a turf or an artificial field there were a lot of there was a lot of support for uh a municipal pool uh so I I I'm saying and that survey was last done when oh 7 years ago I don't know what they would require but I don't know is that a is it reasonable to think we could do another one I'm sure it could be if it's been that long I think we think it's a good idea I think it would be a great idea we're always interested in new ideas bringing fresh ideas to the table and and going back to the open space committee you know I I often talk about Central Park but there are a host of other properties in town that we have our eyes on and once we get this uh the plans approved uh and passed by the township committee we look forward to um making suggestions and getting plans approved for other open space projects throughout the town I love it to do something with them correct to buy more no to do something with what we have we have a we have a decent amount of properties on the Rossy rolls here those who don't knowk nearly 50% of long Township is open space now a good chunk of that of course is the Great Swamp but it's not just that we have open space throughout this town uh long townships 12 square miles to do do the maap right you have nearly six miles or square miles uh in lill Township that is open space which is why we're such a wonderful Community uh surrounded by uh maybe towns that are building out more than we in fact have will will all right so that's that first aid squads still uh uh in their fund raise so please these are they are 100% volunteer um uh if you have it in your heart and means uh please feel free uh to donate to them oh wait I got I've got a late announcement we can put up sure look at this one from the fire report they answered oh I forgot the 159 calls to date that's like 17 a month it's a lot and is this the first one you're doing is this last year first one this is the first annual Halloween costume party Sterling fire department October 26th um adults only you have to be 21 and it's $30 per person um or 35 at the door um they're going to have uh be includes beer wine and appetizers with a costume contest so bring your own cocktails if you want but we'll be seeing that I guess for a another couple meetings beautiful thank you Randy B up okay Public Works report uh for the month of September 2024 uh Public Works put out a ton of asphalt used to fix holes and black top curving they processed four days of Styrofoam uh they assisted with traffic in the uh mil U milling and overlay projects throughout the towns those projects are now complete uh not only with roads but two parking lots that were done also uh Sweet street sweeping and catch Basin repair uh they closed up Sterling lake uh they did mowing along the Township roads uh we got we disposed of 75 yards of street sweeping collections that were uh transported to recycling uh facility um of course we uh always maintain Township owned uh properties and this coming Monday they will be out doing crack sealing on various Township roads so uh be aware of that um so there may be intermittent um Lane changes as they go along doing uh doing crack sealing um and there we did have a change in our website due to public abuse of one of our uh apps we removed the pothole reporting and put up a new um request there is a phone number that you now call to report a whole message unfortunately uh when the public abuses these forms and it takes uh away from time and and money to the taxpayers uh we have to remove these forms and uh do everything by the old uh telephone system so that is now in in place of the pothole uh form so if you do have potholes go to the website call that number uh October 12th is cleanup day uh for the town check the website for more information um I'm work going to be working with uh Sergeant Sutton and the county with regards to the traffic light study uh Northfield and Valley that you guys voted on last meeting um that I was so entertained uh you know so bored at my vacation that I actually tuned in and saw that so we'll be working I just want to get the um work with the county and get the exact exact process so we're not delayed in any any type of way to get that moving along just to give you an idea this is this is not an overnight study this you know if if we started right now and from now to installation of a traffic light could take 3 to four years so this is not an immediate thing um you know the first thing obviously will be the study um and that is um you guys were discussing that is a 50/50 share of cost with the with the county uh as far as the construction of the traffic light I'm not 100% sure with the study but well I think the the county picks up the study but we I'll confirm that and I know that was thank you for following up on that because one part is the study and then you might be getting to this and I'm of course probably jumping in um the other suggestion was in the meantime what can we do right now to maybe mitigate that like is it a you know a a labeled pedestrian crosswalk you know similar to what we have outside of we have done things um we put up uh LED stop signs on both sides of the road okay uh that those are installed we also did some Road markings um stop stop ahead um you know unfortunately we have construction going on on that road so any paint markings that are going to be put down there uh does have have the possibility of being dug up okay so um but we have done Al what else did we do I think we widen the stop line uh itself put a cross and put a crosswalk in so we we have done some some painting on the road and and to help um I have noticed just out here because uh you know paint Fades but with the new Paving and the stop ahead people actually stopping at this stop sign which is a rarity right because most people don't stop there and it is dangerous cuz you have people walking and backing out and everything else so but uh I've seen more people stopping which is a good thing yeah and I would just say like once the construction's done in the meantime while we're waiting for the study and whatever the next steps are in terms of a light or not can we can we like again repaint that absolutely and you know is there opportunity I don't know how much it cost but is and it's allowed but to put those pedestrian you know um signs up and things like that just to toate as much all this was discussed at the TAC committee okay so um we you know one once we have that road completely redone there will be additional paint markings on that road uh so um you know anything we can do to alert drivers that there's a stop on the head is what and and The Pedestrian piece I think the call out from the resident the last meeting was The Pedestrian piece if we can highlight like in New Providence when you drive through it has a flag and I actually think even Gillette School outside of Gillette school I understand it's a school there's like a pedestrian sign so if we can do the same thing there that would be beneficial certainly my limbs um the last thing I have is uh the police 100th anniversary October 5th 11:3 there will be a parade of police vehicles going from uh Mercer Street down Valley to the municipal building um I encourage everybody to come out meet the meet the officers uh meet the management um there's going to be ban food and other events uh located here at the municipal complex if there's uh if if parking becomes too much you can always park at uh the Valley Mall and walk on over grab a cup of coffee actually I think we'll probably have coffee I don't know so uh um come out and and meet your Police Department That's it man that's it and just to follow up on that the loal Township Police Department has been an incredible uh I've lived in town for 30 years and through thick of V they have done an outstanding job we have former uh police chief Mike peoples here we have officer in charge Alexis sh bro I see uh several officers in the back uh one thing I know we are safe in their hands and I want to thank you uh publicly so if you can please come out October 5th 11:00 the parade begins at the police station I believe down Main Avenue and then Works its way here as you said so that's great um now we go into a couple of discussion items which seems to be dominated by woman El you're doing great doing great all right so I had a couple call outs that I'd like to introduce that hopefully we can execute um so I'm going so two of the ideas one is a community engagement committee where the goal there is to improve communication um between Town committee and members of town and vice versa so that there's two-way communication and it's kind of a pro a way of proactively engaging on different ideas or areas of opportunity throughout the town um you know with those that serve also to ensure that all voices are heard I think sometimes um yes the meetings are a great opportunity for that but not everyone either a may be able to make meetings or are not comfortable speaking um in a forum like this so I think it's a it'll be a a more consistent way of getting those voices and that two-way communication so it would be a communication um engagement committee is um The Proposal also one of the goals is to really be inclusive like have it be a comfortable environment where you know people can share their ideas and ask questions to the committee and vice versa so that there is that transparency that two-way collaboration and a way of getting new ideas so it's Community engagement that's one and then the other one is youth leadership um I run a small charity with my daughter and we are adamant about uh encouraging youth leadership and I think it's a real opportunity at the um Township level and hopefully Beyond to engage the youth in our town to help them with leadership skills to help them understand that they can speak up they can make suggestions and impact change in their Town helping them also with decision-making skills and things like that um to really engage the youth um and you know and help them understand that they do have power also help get them interested in in giving back in this way or exploring if they have interest in ultimately going into government or something like that so um it's it's a youth leadership a youth engagement committee um really just emphasizing youth voices um to help Empower them and Inspire them and I think I didn't uh realize the power to share your story or speak up um and ask for change uh until later in life and I'd love to be able to help encourage that with our youth uh in the community so that's the other um committee suggestion that I am putting out there so I'm going to work with Megan correct me if I'm wrong um to navigate what are the best next steps to implement both of those um as we go forward any questions comments concerns no I think that's great thank you you're welcome I think in the past we you and I have heard when we met the several groups uh and I I I I always take exception to the word of lack of transparency and and and I settled on the idea it's a lack of communication or we can communicate better and I know that was one of the things that uh you and I discussed before you actually then well yeah exactly that's one of like the the reasons I chose to serve is to hopefully encourage that both with the town in general as well as um with our children and our youth right I think sometimes we fell back on the idea for example we televised lot we put the link to the to the meetings within 24 hours uh to my knowledge we're one of the only if not the only Town that's still engages uh the public uh virtually and and and allows comment and questions but to your point and I think it's well taken not everybody is comfortable uh with that kind of interaction so this uh and then for example when we met with the uh uh Mom's Club Mom's Club uh one thing I never forgot I I went there with the intention of speaking with them uh never expecting that they were going to come as prepared with ments and questions and very impressive y y and I think there's more of that and again not everybody may feel that it's accessible so I think something like this could really help with that and I think we're going to work out like an organized um almost like not application process but an organized kind of sign up so that you know it is volunteer but wanting to know that you know people have to put that effort in and making sure that we've got um you know we've got it logged that okay yes I want take the step and I want to be able to to meet the goals and form what these goals are for these committees you know to step up and do that and and figure out the easy way um to do that and engage that's great and I appreciate you doing that you I've got more but that's it for now that's what we we'll launch first and then more to come oh yes don't worry all right fee schedule that ja or Megan sorry sorry Megan okay um at the last Township committee meeting you guys had asked me to reach out to some of the surrounding areas regarding what they charge for the construction records clearing certificate um I didn't get a lot of responses and I don't know if that's because a lot of people don't do it or if they just didn't respond to me um but some of them have expedited fees um I'll just read through them Warren Township charges $75 um 150 for expedit Harding charges $250 aonic charges 35 Mountain Lakes charges 35 Bernardsville charges 35 75 expedited bedman charges 45 and then if you're within 6 to 15 days of close it's 90 days 1 to 5 days it's 180 days and what were we proposing you didn't propose anything you asked me to gather some information so it's kind of all over the board you have somebody that's charging 250 and then you have some are Charing 35 so it's it it sounded to be like 50 was the the mean the lower yeah yeah it was like the lower been a while since I was in uh business school the mean me 50 sounded about in the metal yeah mean is the average 35ish yeah I mean you have the outliers of 250 don't D my hair this color is it the goal though to make that department self- sustainable it is at this point in time the has to go of all the right so having said that like would it make sense to do a little cost analysis and see where we are as far as costs whether it's done every year oh cool so then if that's the case where do you where do we need do we need to you know where do you think the costs need to be to maintain you know a happy equilibrium I think this needs to be evaluated uh individually for this service and if if you if we passed an ordinance to do this to H and hopefully um the residents will uh benefit from this to to discover any old outstanding permits that they may have that they need to close out so um you know I I would I would suggest you look at the time and effort it takes for for the Department to do this and uh base your fee on that got it only because there's such a a difference in you say $35 versus $200 you know and and and maybe we'll look you know maybe we again it's your call Randy your your level of expertise based on what you know what our whether we're we're we're running on you know equilibrium or we're losing money what what the amount of time and effort it takes to go into a particular service and you know maybe we need to be on the higher end or maybe we could stay on the lower end okay because I i' I've heard that you know you know some over the years conflicting stories the construction Park department is running at a loss it's running at it's breaking even so you know so let's get the facts oh each year you can have a difference you can one year you can run at a deficit one year you can run out of surplus yes it depends on how much activity and so forth there are in that department for that uh specific Year got it but we'll uh we'll we'll talk with uh the construction official get his input and make a recommendation to you at the next meeting great good question okay so moving on item number nine old new business and and then M so I have a couple of things that probably Dov tail into it so what I'll do is just do it under the go ahead I got one too The Heading of announcements um one thing the LPC uh uh committee met recently and amongst many things one of the things we discussed was the use of long hill alert to na to this point it's always been used for emergency purposes uh there is a way where it can be use for what is considered non-emergency and what we're going to work on is to get Communications out for example uh uh Mountain Avenue I believe is going to be uh shut down for slight period of time from Longo road to Morristown that's not really an emergency but it's important to get it out and what we'll do is rather than inundate residents much like Long Hill alert is now it is an opt in but you must opt in and you can have uh my family gets it all of us get it by email all of us get it by text and I think you could do it to a landline as well I'm not sure but who I my landline is a door stop now and has been for 15 years so but so you will opt in so and if you don't want to get Recreation updates you can you don't have to opt into those if you don't want to get road closure updates you can opt into that we try uh to use social media but I'm not a big fan of social media it's it's onerous for DPW it's onerous for the police department uh frankly it's onerous for the township committee well you'd have to check it to see correct and then and then the time even if you're consistently doing it and then you didn't do it that one time it it looks like oh I didn't know um I think there are 1900 2,000 uh asses or for long alert I I've been convinced for many many years there's been a couple of iterations of compan we use uh but the alert system what what is evolved into today came out of uh Sandy we realized that uh we had no way to communicate with people and so alert has been around in one form or another for 12 years now was Sandy 11 when was Sandy 11 I think but it took us a year to get it in place for 12 years so please when we get that up and running as far as an optin for non emergency uh Rec can use it and that'll be communicated emails we'll do it notific newspaper we'll do that we'll do on Facebook we will and other soci Med we will tell people please sign up please sign up please sign up um uh that aside I did receive uh an update so the Long Hill first aid Squad and I don't know which number year this is it feels like about the 10 Trunk or Treat Trunk or Treat is Saturday October 26 we invite you to join us for a Spooktacular event see I'm stealing from you Vic um it's free entry come in costum Etc we need more people this is the first aid Squad speaking we need more people to come and decorate their trunks uh and dress up it is always a fabulous uh fabulous time so uh please come if you can October 26 did I give a time no I did not 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. where at right behind Town Hall really the library right behind the library okay um Save a Life day September 26th Thursday September 26th that would be tomorrow tomorrow um I'm not going to pretend I know how to say the medical uh word so Naran Naran is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose is Naran is a safe medicine it only reverses overdoses in people with opioids in their system uh distribution locations and times vary but for here Long Hill The Long Hill Police Department 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. again tomorrow 264 Mercer Street uh also in Warren at the library 2: to 4: p.m. uh and that is 42 m M Boulevard warrant free while supplies last no ID required information and materials will be provided carry Naran Save a Life uh one of one other topic that has been around for a number of years uh we've had people come in in the past and ask about uh possible uh displays around certain holidays they could be religious in nature we've always been reluctant to do that uh because of the legal aspect of it um however uh and I I must give a shout out to Yasmin D Giovani and and she had come to us a few meetings back and and asked if we can look into it and so I said I'm not I I've been against it for a number of years but I let's look at let's look into it I think it is something that has evolved over the last 10 years or so uh I reached out to about 25 Mayors uh Lisa scanland reached out to a lot of a lot of her counterparts in other towns and what we discovered is most towns have some process upon which an organization could be religious in nature uh could apply for a uh permit permit y a special event permit or something to that effect I want to be clear we would not use um uh Township money we would not use residents money the responsibility for fundraising for purchasing for installing maintaining and removal would be the organization itself um we kind of settled on Turtle Rock Park it's Central Vic and I think Vic's in the process of beautifying it thank you I don't know if we'll have a clock just yet someday we'll have that clock there uh but I the reason I bring this up is not to make a decision tonight I'll we'll put it on the agenda and Jack correct me from wrong to to pass something like this it would be a simple resolution yeah I think you could actually do it by motion at this point in time and if in the future if needed we could adopt a formal process like some other town but I don't want to jam the committee or the public tonight I want to I agree announce it that we will discuss it in the future I will admit for the longest time I was not in favor of this um I was concerned of of of the the proverbial slippery slope um but I'm now convinced it's a good idea and I think this goes kind of also with some of the other committees we were talking about in terms of community engagement and youth we had also discussed um at one point an idea of a diversity Community A diversity committee which is what some other towns have which would have religious leaders and and things like that all um as part of it which I don't think is a bad idea but I agree with you not to to navigate it um tonight but putting it out there for the community to think about share ideas about um but ultimately we can come to that as we go forward which I think is good and Jack and and to or's point and to your point since it would be a special event license whoever would apply and meet whatever reasonable criteria there are would have access to that area so yes you know my I think it'll be I think it'll work but we'll discuss it next meeting good job um the other thing I just wanted to mention while you were going through some of those other things is um uh we had gotten an email about uh Bernard's Township that there's a suicide prevention training I just wanted to mention it because also September is suicide prevention month if I'm awareness month if I'm remembering correctly um and they have two trainings one is Thursday October 17th from 10: to 12 and then uh Wednesday November 13 from 6:30 to 8:30 uh both one is in person one is via Zoom um and I just wanted to mention that because I think it's a unfortunately um a real thing that a a lot of people have to deal with and I actually thought this training was interesting so we can I can work with the team later to make sure we have a link to that on our website in case anyone is interested in that if that's okay because I think it goes along with some of the announcements that you and Matt made um and I just I actually signed up for it because I think it's interesting and good to know and you never know know unfortunately when you're going to have to access that so I just wanted to mention it because it um I think goes along with some of the announcements and is a good one that might be of interest for some people thank you or I think that was a that is an important announcement and unfortunately especially in our young folks this has been an issue going back longer than I care to remember and uh um you know nobody wants to have a permanent uh solution to a temporary problem but the reality is is it happens and it happens all too often so and I you know don't always know the right things to say and heaven forbid in that situation I want to be prepared thank you so others might too okay uh Vic Matt oh don't forget both fire companies they're in that just like the rescue squad they are in the middle of their fund Drive they are all volunteers they do a great job so please uh when you get the things in the mail please send them back to tax educable donation to both fire companies and remember you can donate any time of year right these are volunteers 100% volunteers uh and you hope you don't need to use them but if you do you want to make sure they have what they everybody on this committee I know I have I've had the first aid Squad thank you we've had the uh the fire companies thank you we've had the police department to our house thank you um they're there and you know while we're sleeping in our beds at 3:00 a.m. if uh Chief G gets a call he's out or if our Police Department gets a call or if our first a squad gets a call they up and they will be there uh almost instantly so thank you all right so I think that's the end of announcements thank you Matt everybody you good I definitely want to drive home please make sure you get the word out to attend the uh 100th anniversary of the police department on October 5th uh at 11:00 right here at uh canther in town hall well starts at the police uh Poli station at the police station please spread the words I had it wrong myself I thought it had started here what ex what let's get it out now starts where and ends up here Matt you want to do it you want me to do it what police station parade actually you know what uh officer in charge would you want to say a couple of words or no about it um essentially it is a police car for would you mind thank you I was well intended SP I think you're going to say it better than we will I was well intended I didn't have the facts straight self here that's okay um essentially it is at 11:00 a.m. it will start with a police car parade um with different specialty vehicles and vehicles from the county that have come to join uh it will proceed down Valley Road to town hall and then uh there will be several speakers at town hall and then a band and food that's great and the ability to view some of the uh vehicles that are here that's exciting thank you so the start time is officially 11:00 11:00 yes starts mercery street is that mercery street is that Eastern Standard Time here perfect 11:00 at Mercer Street then we have a parade and then we'll what time should people let's say you can't get to Mercer Street at 11:00 but you want to come be at Mercer Street it's a vehicle parade it's not a walking parade so it's going to be a vehicle procession okay got it so you'd be able to view everybody coming in down by this location and what time would we anticipate things happening at caner 11 1105 11 yeah I said 11:15 somewhere between 11:15 11:30 Park and everything it might be earlier it might be later all right good okay bottom line go it'll be good thank you and and Vic in case you missed it because you were sincere and you were passionate about your announcement somewhere in there Matt laughed at you and I thought that was a little bit unjust sure I did he knew I was going to Bumble it all right so uh if there are no other announcements item number 11 the meeting is open to the public I'd like to open it up to the folks that are in uh person here before we go to online uh the meeting is open to the public on any topic if you could please limit your uh comments to three minutes out of respect for others that might like to speak Frank why do you always sit so far in the back because then it takes you a while to get up well I figure I'd be curious let everyone else go forward I want that was very respect I didn't want to cut the line good evening uh Frank liberado Heritage Road thank you um just a couple of things uh I know uh went through the meeting went through everything tonight I didn't uh get any updates regarding the police department um you know what I was a couple suggestions I had uh it's it's nice to see the director of Public Safety and the officer in charge here at the meeting uh it would be nice if we could get back to maybe them providing us some updates from their respective roles what's going on uh considering everything that's gone on in the July August and September meeting it'd be nice to have a little clarification on some things CU you know with the letters that have been out there for the prosecutor's office and Oprah requests I think transparency and Clarity is most important and I'm not putting either one of them on the spot I'm just addressing the council saying it would be nice to get a little update on you know role defines uh as far as you know the questions regarding you know resignation you know there's a lot of stuff floating out there in the public not necessarily even on social media just people talking and I think to stay out in front of this and go through the whole meeting and not even pop up I was just a little surprised I mean I can say what like you can probably speak to it but like I know I do also absolutely hear you and everyone that's spoken up about it and I've actually requested other information for us to have actually a special meeting just dedicated to that we're still in the process of what that looks like and working out what that looks like but I totally agree I do agree you need we all need Clarity on all the sides so working towards what that is that's my that's my two cents I want to I want to clarify something just just keep in mind that that uh a lot of what Mr liberado is asking for are Personnel issues and Personnel issues are Personnel issues correct and that wouldn't be I wouldn't suggest that that is public yeah I'm not looking specifically uh Mr bar anything pertaining to specific Personnel I think it's more driven towards the definition of the roles of the people involved and some of the letters that have come down from the prosecutor's office are a little concerning what I read in July and the August letters you know are are uh you know kind of contradictory to certain things or certain uh presentation so I think in the interest of transparency you know just have a a town hall meeting as you will and and say look you know what here's how we're moving forward here's the officer in charge's role here is the director of public safety's role and you know we would like to understand for you know having two heads within the department what is getting accomplished on a weekly or monthly basis to say you know this month you know on the um administrative side you know they're working on budgets uh purchasing equipment so on and on the officer in charge side you know get updates on you know like we used to get motor vehicle stops burglar you know not burglaries but you know what I'm saying crime stats if you will but just to kind of have that open dialogue and connection you know so that um you know I don't have to come up and ask all right so I I I do want to say this one thing first off I agree with you 100% at the last meeting I agree with with you tonight 100% the thing is this we remain in consultation with the prosecutor's office I stand by what I said in the past uh I would say the communications that you have read from the prosecutor's office I might differ on on several uh uh several items within that and that's fair differ as far as not agree with not agree their Viewpoint or not agree with what they put in the letter is not being factual oh okay hm that's a quite a strong statement for example I well I won't go too far I won't listen I'm not looking for you to you know put yourself in a spot but that is quite a strong statement to to state that about proc if I may add i' I've been working with the director and the officer in charge for with monthly uh reports that uh they we've come up with a format and we'll be starting to present them at the at the meetings uh as soon as as soon as the next meeting oh that's great that's great Randy I think that's great I think it'll look for a lot of information that you're asking for yeah once we get the ordinance in place everything will flow from that and I I think a lot of what you have suggested would be a good idea to be presented to the public is to Randy's Point not only already in motion I think well on its way for public consumption uh the part about we remain in consultation with the prosecutor's office that's a fact um and uh we're just trying to iron out a few more details so is it a is it a collaboration where you as the governing body are working together with the prosecutor's office to arrive at a mutually agreed path forward or is it more of you know you guys are on two separate sides of the table and you can't get to the middle who's who's who are the two participants uh the the governing body the committee the council the appropriate Authority and the prosec appropr Authority is direct the peoples to be clear okay so that's but I thought that was part of that resolution that wasn't approved maybe I misunderstood well legally he's the appropriate Authority right yeah he's the appropriate Authority oh okay so regardless of that resolution that was tabled or not the ordinance that was the ordinance rather yes okay yeah he is the appropriate Authority and the public safety director so that's really negotiation between director peoples and the prosecutor's office final town the town it's the town say sorry if I'm I'm getting confused I'm just trying to follow it gets confusing the appropriate Authority thing I think was passed in February of this year just that that aspect okay yeah CU I guess there was some confusion reading the letters from the prosecutes office that and then you know understanding that things got to such a point that the director would resign one resign but then come back into the fold so it's just a lot of confusion so you know just able to set the record I mean obviously he's here so he's working so you know everybody's working so that's no I don't think it's the right I don't think it's in my opin it's not the personel I think not the personel goal is it's the Optics of everything and I think it's Clarity to all of it Clarity to that we owe Clarity to the department we owe Clarity to the community and yes and I'm we're pushing for it sooner versus later right because obviously you know we have two people leading the department you know Co co-leaders if you will and you know hopefully you know a lot of these other things moving forward processes are in place so that they can eventually appoint a chief because I think that's the goal but I just wondering how long we're going to be in uh legal Limbo with trying to resolve this I guess is the real question and you know is is everyone on the committee on the same page as far as trying to move this forward I we haven't really discussed it which is why I asked for a special meeting dedicated to it Oh you mean like an exec meeting you mean or you mean a public meeting I think some of it will be executive and some say yes both so once it's you know like all the factors are taken in what the you know what the plan is and there might not be a plan that's like set in stone right overnight but hey here it s like this is going to take a while here it is no no it won't because I'm impatient I mean I'm just saying you know two years down the road so you know that's the reason if that is the case then is not from my side so like we're trying we're trying to be we're trying we hear you and it needs to be done and well I figure if you're all working together towards a common goal then this should get resolved so that's why I was just curious if all he is collectively or you know unless there's disagreement how about answer that this way moread high level many I would even say most votes on this committee are not unanimous so in this particular case I don't know if the vote would be unanimous but now that we have five voting members uh who can vote on anything to do with the police department whereas uh committee mon Ray at the time was was not had to recuse himself because it made it a little bit harder that's why we ended up with a lot of two two votes in this situation we have five voting members honestly I think we would have discussed something tonight had Scott Lain have been here uh he's not so there's no point of socializing it now we will do it at the October 9th meeting we're close well what the only suggestion I would say is is before mayy you put forth a resolution for the public is just have like in your open discussion items let's see where everybody's position is and where all of you are coming from without discussing anything on a Personnel level I totally get that but just what each of your vision is going forward so that we can move the department forward you know you know that's just I can't speak for or but I can't speak for the four that have been on committee for a long time the high level perspective we were 100% on the same page going back two years so so you guys are still on the edges there's probably going to be uh nuances like any relationship and we'll probably have to try to find a common ground and I think I said at the last meeting um before I make any decisions I need to understand the total picture and the total plan so that's like that's that's my question as a newbie like where are we current state taking into account all the analysis that's been done thus far taking into account what the officer in charge and the director have recommendations because they're living it I don't want to make a decision on a department because I don't live in it so I want to hear from them what the recommendation is and then take into account you know what do we have to do from a prosecutor's standpoint what do we have to do in terms of like you know what is the black and white of the expectations and the things like that evaluate all of that and then put forth what the plan is and the plan might be X for 3 months and then this is what it is long term exactly and that's what we're looking for is like you said we're we're all looking for leadership and guidance as far as where this going because as a taxpayer as a resident you know I support the police department you know 100% even having worked under Bob F and I think that's I think everybody has I just want to make sure everybody's getting behind the department and getting things in the right direction so we get to that end goal everybody's going in different directions you know it becomes bureaucratic yeah and we don't necessarily get to where we need to be the goal is to remove the C committee from at your point and I think you you just said it the dedication uh and the service provided by The Long Hill Township Police Department is exemplary I know many mayors that would not say the same thing I I'm telling you they are exemplary yeah no we have a great Department we owe it to the town owe it to the department that serves to to clarify it sooner versus later so all right I'll be looking for I'm working on it thank two me in a row you and I agreed 100% a little scary it's a full moon right now Joe far Andino 623 Chestnut Street please forgive me but I would rather watch grass grow and paint dry then sit through another one of these meetings I am very sorry but it seems like the whole issue is just to talk about stuff until the public becomes so frustrated that they just leave and don't come back no more what is the issue with the police department you are the Town Council the police department is the police department you're supposed to find somebody who's capable of running the police department and let them run it right now in my viewpoint another layer of bureaucratic nonsense between the Town Council and the police department just makes more trouble that look we're not responsible they're responsible it's like a circular firing squad nobody's responsible why is it that we have to have another layer of bureaucracy when we never had one before never now how long's This Town Incorporated since the 1800s what has transpired that has made it necessary to have another layer between the police department and the Town Council can I ask a clarifying question you're meaning the director role when you say another layer that just I just want to make sure I'm sorry like if I'm being stupid I just want to understand well we never had one before okay that that's what their call out is is that level and I look at which going on with our government in general the Congress was supposed to make make laws and then the president whoever was supposed to sign those into law now everybody just passed the buck we have what my Civics teacher explained was mile cake federalism we're supposed to have layer cake federalism which means you're responsible for your job and the police department's responsible for their job and we don't need another lay to make the marble cake where you're now disassociated with what goes on with the police department okay all of this stuff here and I got to tell you it's very personable for me because I got to move out of this town I can't afford more taxes because we need to put a park across the street when we got a park down there that nobody uses I can't afford to have a dog park when everybody has to build a house on a acre of land okay all of this stuff is just more things that are driving people like me to get the hell out of here can't afford it thank you very much for your time questions I well did I just let go um one I hear you on the things because I actually was spent many days last week at the capital advocating um so I hear you you know on some of the federal things um question for you and hear you on like some of the call outs in is your main call out in terms of the boredom of this meeting mainly result focused on the PD or are there other suggestions that you have for making this meeting better for all I've sat through a meeting on the planning board where they discussed for 40 minutes whether somebody who puts an awning over their back porch becomes part of the structure that they're only allowed to be build 80% of their property on I mean it seems like the whole goal is to talk till people just die of boredom and frustration and leave and don't come back no more I mean the the the food truck issue okay so I hear you so going forward the solu your recommended solution is don't talk as long about certain topics that aren't necessarily relevant to Public Safety just I just want to make sure I'm understanding you properly right well I I happen to be accused of being a very cut and dry guy okay I you my husband rewrote an email for me earlier today cuz I was being way too direct say what you got to say go to the point okay and you know I I try not to be disrespectful abusive but you know enough is enough sat through this whole thing I'm like biting my lip and chewing on the inside of my well I don't want that to happen yeah I know but you know it's it's the good news is frustating for me that's my issue I'm just saying thank you very much thank you thank you Joe next right my new friend Chuck see how long that lasts is too high for me if you want me to shut up just tell me [Music] Shut hold on a minute here Joe was a lot taller than I am Charles are running with smellington similar in the past I've got comments tonight I don't want to have a discussion an interesting first topic is the burrow mendum it was brought up in number of my Oprah request responses that hey they've got a director of Public Safety and we should be like them and this and that so I got a website couldn't find it I wrote an email to the clerk I got it in 20 minutes didn't have to write an open request told him what I was looking for and I got it the interesting thing in this ordinance 11 2024 from the burough of men their appropriate Authority is the Council of the bur of mendum so when you report that oh we need to be like them you can put a spin on it but when you get into details maybe you don't want to bring that one up that's comment one comment two in my opah request I must have read the July 15th in the August 23rd letters from the prosecutor's office to the mayor and maybe I'm reading it between the lines and I read all the emails that I opened then I hear the comments tonight about the prosecutor's office I don't believe this town committee has a working relationship with the prosecutor's office if you read the tone of these two letters in detail and if you haven't read it three or four times please do so but I don't think we have the relationship you think we have and I'll leave it at that and I read the emails back and forth from our attorney not the labor attorney asking this this this and this and it was a very it's not a good relationship believe me when I look at that and that's got to get improved and I don't want a response I don't want you guys to defend it gals I want you to look at it and reread it and establish a relationship with the prosecutor's office that we can work with thank you very much for your time thank you CH thank you anybody else in the courtroom Richard dors longtime resident Sterling uh I just uh want to make one comment or not comment I have a question maybe it's I don't want to be redundant with Frank but uh uh I came to understand several months ago that we did have a civilian employee within the in the police department does administrative work is that correct believe so or Megan or Patty Fano one of the three no I I was the understanding that there were there was a civilian in the within the police department doesn't assist with uh administrative workers that Mar there is someone there okay that was never mentioned in the MRI report nor was Bob ferano was it in there I don't remember seeing it cff wasn't there for the MRI report was it there for okay uh second okay I just wanted to wanted to bring that out that we do have a civilian which I know Bob ferano had in chadam Department was a civilian assistant to the Chief and did administrative work but I didn't know we had that then we hired a Police director and an assistant okay that's the assistant now is a resigned for whatever reasons second of all it seems like we're spending an inordinate amount of time of trying to make the police department topheavy we have a shortage of patrolman I was in law enforcement for 27 years 15 of them was administrative and I was in the process of hiring fire you know IIA everything from you take away from patrolman you don't need supervisors who they supervise we already have somebody mentioned to me six sergeants you have uh a patrol squads of I think four I don't know the true and I don't want to oah things because everything you have to Oprah that's to me the public record would would be how the police department's their uh you their order of uh how many patrolman how many people are where what they're doing uh my thing is I've heard too that we have several I don't know numerous applications for patrolman and the town has approved the hiring of some have we done anything to start that process of hiring uh uh we used to have a simple simple matter of doing it we put out application you have uh two weeks to put your three weeks to put in your application sometimes even had fees for the application because you just get hundreds of them and it was a waste of time to go through all of them uh you then we then relied on the Chiefs of Police Association to give we'd say uh in two weeks the applications end in 3 weeks we will have testing boom boom you'll be at certain place at a certain time if you're interested to to continue forward after that uh two weeks later after the evaluation of the test results you'd have oral interviews by the chiefs of police matter of a week or so youd have 50 candidates zeroed down to 10 that are very good that the police department goes over the town might even look at those applications and say we like these people boom bang and we either have people in the academy within three months from that Pro maybe even shorter time the police Chiefs have been here and offered free services I don't know if anybody's contacted them they asked them for that Assistance or whatever but my concern is we need the patrolman the applications are there are we doing anything uh some somebody told me that we're doing app we're doing background checks how do we do background checks on an application background check doesn't come till after usually the way we did it and other towns that I didn't make this stuff up it wasn't new to chadam Township but once they passed the the uh the written test and chief s test we had the 10 12 or depending how many people we wanted to hire at the time then you do background checks and you find out what are maybe the top half of them then we take them in and then we said start offering positions and finding out if they're the person for this town you have alternate Rule people I don't know how many of them applied you other people go into the academy maybe if you hireing four you'd say Okay alternate route we'll look for two of them and put two in the academy and you have in 3 months you'll have two guys up up and running on a street if you take them from an alternate route that's just my quick quick thing about the hiring but if you don't have patrolman you don't need supervision and we're spending time in an ornament of time time money every time he calls the lawyer he calls the lawyer you call a lawyer we call a labor a toyer labor toy bing bing bing bing bing bing it's all money all and the chief said litigation that's what you're going to see constant litigation and more money get patrolman then we make supervisors and I think you brought it out last meeting who's not that I have anything against Mr peoples I worked with him as a policeman after being a policeman very qualified but he's uh he's who he your opinion was he still needed to supervisor now is it all the committee one person January we said no layers on to departments now do we we have a lay on to the police department or do we not no so there is none does not want to DPW okay now do PE Mr peoples how about this Commander I appreciate you've said I think we have the luxury of the El peoples being here this evening maybe he can speak we're not the appropriate Authority he is yeah well I I I didn't miss I missed that change but I I missed that change somewhere in the in the inro because that kept going back and forth for months it got to be appropriate Authority went back to the administrator we've I never worked under anybody else and and we had a problem like that in chadam Township once and a prosecutor's office and everybody else came in and said appropriate Authority is the township administrator that's what the that's what it was this was several years ago a lot of laws have changed in in a lot of I I I'll agree with that prosecutor this a prosecutor different things but but once the town says the appropriate Authority still had somebody and we always had to work on the administrator and the mayor that was the guy that said it he goes to the administrator he has to have a supervisor in ch that chadam Township which CH that's was many years ago because we fought it too the same thing the chief didn't like the idea that he wasn't in charge anymore and we went right to litigation and and boom we lost that immediately that it went back right to the township administrator Goa okay always I appreciate it but if I but my thing is more the patrolman we don't need to make a top heavy Police Department until we get the patrolman to supervis the span Patrol op Patrol I can go through all the litany that uh Mr peoples knows you study the books and everything else and all the work smarter harder and harder smarter and all that but if you don't have patrolman you don't need supervision all right so call outs are more patrolman well no we know we need them yes I just want to make sure I'm understanding what you're you're highlighting here um that there's that shortage the call out about the background checks being done prior to Applications going to the next applications don't you don't do backup check unless you have maybe four applicants then okay maybe you'll do them but you got I don't know how many applications we have do we know that I further down the line yep that's fair if I could I you know I appreciate you being here how many application I've heard we have numerous we need more Patrol money no we don't need supervision you need to patrolman first I don't agree with you on that oh you need supervision don't for those watching at home would you mind introducing yourself everybody knows you and and and mik people director ofbody knows you as well officer in charge Lieutenant Alexis chamello so to uh I call him Captain because I first met him and he probably doesn't even realize this uh when he was working a road and I was a young patrolman he didn't even know who I was and he that's right and that's where I met you right um so uh I think we go back director remember there are people at home listening so you you probably have microphone oh I'm sorry I'm sorry so I just wanted to recognize uh you know I call him Captain dorsy his uh his years of uh experience so to his point um we had uh uh two resignations of police officers in um the last few months um we uh advertised for the position after given authorization by the township committee uh back in uh may we received a substantial number of applications the majority of the applications were from um non-certified uh officers so we interviewed a mix of non-certified officers and certified officers um we now now our process is we conduct uh interviews at a first stage with two sergeants in this particular time it was a detective uh after that initial screening um the candidates that Advance uh uh uh came before officer in charge chambrell as well as lieutenant mareski and then the final candidates um uh came before me um at that that time uh after the interview with me we began uh background checks now there's a there's a new twist here the law enforcement licensing Act was uh law was passed January 1st uh it went into effect January 1st 2024 uh there are substantial additional requirements on background checks uh that we must comply with in order to ensure candidates are eligible for um law enforcement licensing the completion of their Academy um that's been all uh new to us uh Lieutenant Cham brell as the officer in charge um she has the ultimate responsibility on after a background check is completed um after the post offer medical and psychological exams are completed she needs to certify that that candidate is compliant uh uh with the law just this past week we offered four conditional offers of employment to uh police officer uh candidates those candidates now it's a it's a it's a conditional offer of employment that we must issue before those candidates uh can submit to the psychological and uh medical exam and the drug screening uh once they uh uh P pass those uh three tests were um then were're in a position uh after Lieutenant Chella reviews all the paperwork she will be able to certify to the academy that they're eligible for Academy um participation the the Morris County academy starts January 13th of 2025 um it's uh uh we at this point in time uh we are sending going to send through non-certified officers uh to be uh trained at the Academy however we're still actively hope a lot of people are watching recruiting certified uh officers for um for vac vacancies another new uh component of the pre-employment selection was that the applicants must pass a physical uh Fitness Agility Test to get into the police academy the um Police Academy was experiencing a lot of candidates that weren't prepared for the physical fitness part so the police training commission is now requiring us to run the office of the candidates through a uh a physical uh PT test before they you know come to the academy um so although I I agree with Captain dorsy back in the day um there wasn't quite as much regulations uh and we could move through the process a little um uh faster um you know we've been uh very methodical on our approach uh because this is the first time we're dealing with the law enforcement uh you know licensing act and feel free to to add anything thing that I may invest there's also a couple other variations with cost um there's additional requirements for their medical screening which um May pose a significant cost um additionally those candidates have to be qualified with a pre um PT test because now they have to be 100% compliant when they go through the academy to pass PT you can't pass with some lower and you know pass portions of it has to be 100% so you run the potential of losing a candidate if you don't have them pass now so it take the process takes a little bit longer thank you thank you was that hard was that hard not for me like I said I didn't know I I understood I didn't understand that did the police Li because that's all new to me that's all new to them okay but that wasn't hard that wasn't hard you have candidates they processing they do it in a different process I I mean if you did it to the chief's Association it probably we had the PT way back way you had to pay us the PT before you could you could get into the academy that was always but uh but that wasn't hard it's a transparency that you say we have there it was he explained it so we know where we are so in in whole Essence we could have maybe at least two people in the academy in John four maybe some alternate root people still come along much you explain what you did this past week regarding you can have them on the road in about 3 months we also um contacted all theems and because of the there's just less candidates out there um that are PTC certified that are available a lot of towns are hiring so um the opportunity is different now and some of the outof Town um or outof County uh policey they won't even let you come up there and actually meet with those candidates you have to submit a uh job hosting and then if those those candidates are interested they'll they'll reach out to you so you don't have that opportunity to go and and try to interview them it's only if um in some areas if they want to there a very different Market than what it once was okay next Point into the the the top heavy part I'll get back into that uh as I said the patrolman come we get we need your supervision but uh again when we talked about promoting people here I don't know what the promotion process is here I don't know if you people know but if you use the Chiefs Association first you said there isn't anybody that was qualified to be chief of police so how could you make a captain or a lieutenant if you had no promotional process evaluations things like that and the promotional process though because it's a it's Merit based right like I don't know right or is that because it's a public entity I don't know if it's General everywhere not get to tonight or well my only comment to that would be is that we have we have a promotional uh policy and accreditation compliant promotional policy and I'd be happy to sh it's it's a public record I'd be happy to share it with uh anybody I know I know thought Chief Fano started a whole new process years ago with the six months thing and EV evaluations everything else apparently we hadn't been doing that for years no that's not no the motional policy has been followed well at least on the sergeant and the lieutenant rank okay but then how can we we say we wanted to make a captain or whatever when we haven't had a person qualified to be Chief yet the they have the promotional policy in effect for that I I I I definitely want I want to stay in my Lane that's why directed people is working on this I mean there there there's other promotional processes and the chief's offered a way of doing it but they've had one here for years which I know chief fan over again sorry hav and I discussed that many years ago I didn't understand understand but he usually had used to have a a promotional process of he get in rank for like six months and they valuated by constantly through the six month like could test to that and then then it went then he'd say well and I knew one sergeant that didn't make it through the and he got put back in the was a little bit of a duel duel type thing you know what I'm talking about I I think what you just described is accurate and I think it's still the process it is for the sergeants and lieutenants correct but did but are we still doing that did we we had we couldn't have made a captain them if we didn't have that process for we didn't or that's what we're going to do that's thing that's the only thing I just said they the promotional process I don't know if you people were aware of the promotional process and and uh the thing is is way it's I've worked with many other departments that did it Chief F was one of the very few that did it that way in the whole state not just not just but we've been successful we do so we have a process and I think a while ago yeah so I think overall we hear you and I think that's the overarching theme is the clarity to what's happening got a lot of clarity in 10 minutes you know what commander and I call you Commander because that's how we met uh when you were a commander of the uh the Legion post thank you for that service as well um you're right was that hard no it wasn't and I think what you're seeing here tonight is going to start happening on a regular basis we will to what Joe was saying explain the process to me because I don't oh the process that's control officer do you have a Corporal or it goes to Sergeant Sergeant sergeant Sergeant to Lieutenant yes sir Lieutenant to Captain no right now there is no Captain there's no Captain so we eliminated the captain how about Chief there's no Chief either I'm a patrol officer I start out when I find out that I hit the brick wall dead end when I make Lieutenant why do I want to be in this department the whole idea is to bump up the ladder God willing I go to the FBI I go to Secret Service I go somewhere else up the ladder all this training that I've accumulated over the years in the police department when is the dead end then there's no more in the Dunkey only chases the car till he figes out he's never going to catch you chase it so I think that's part of the overall like Clarity and navigation that's I certainly agree with Mr fandino there needs to be a c i feel old enough thank you very much um there certainly needs to be career paths and I think that's the you know the goal of the stship committee as well as uh you know my goal than very much there has to be a more training I when I when I made lieutenant my boy sent me to every school I wanted to go to so he didn't have to go to these meetings I'd be the guy to go to I don't feel like going to them Chief would say you're going you'll answer you go see the administrator you're more r on that but I us to go to a weekly down to uh do J for uh for courses on on a lot of things well what I what I can say and what's impressed me uh in my short time back is um you have a very well trained uh police department we'd like to do more we have some con uh constraints but you have a very well uh trained Police Department a lot of well educated um officers um we have a good Department we make it better oh I I'll agree with you there everybody I've been rejected with what they doing a lot of them won't talk to you because they know better cops don't talk to just general people we don't trust General people but thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you Commander anybody else in the public I see Al about to jump up or no I don't blame you I'm starving I'm starving what's next anybody online I don't think any so sorry I'm sorry that's a mayor role right does put he does uh it's a mayor role I'm sorry I'm learning Megan is there anybody at home that would like to speak if anybody on Zoom would like to make a public comment please raise your hand now I don't see anyone mayor thank you Meg with that first off thank you to everybody who was here this evening thank you for those who watched at home uh your engagement is always appreciated thank you motion to adjourn are we going to yes we're going to go back into uh exec with no further action we just have one minor motion motion motion to motion to adjourn back into executive second that motion all in favor I good hit the buttons e e [Music]