##VIDEO ID:lzWM4rAQhhA## e e e e where Ara what's the matter with G right what a great gr good morning everybody and welcome to the December 27th Township committee meeting of Long Hill Township we are beginning at 8:30 would everybody please rise and join me in a pledge of allegiance iedge of aliance flages Na with liberty and justice for all thank you everyone uh and happy holidays Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah so uh Megan would you please kindly 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 the meeting that was electronically sent to the eoet N Mo's 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 thank you Megan please kindly take roll committee man dorsy committee woman Riker Eline here committee man verza committee man verza presid Deputy Mayor lavender present mayor Pia present okay so item number three on your agenda consent and we have 24- 312 through 319 any resolutions that need to be pulled for further discussion or any recusals hearing none looking for a motion so moved secondy yes committee woman rer Eline yes committeeman verza does not have any voting rights Deputy Mayor lavender yes mayor Pia yes okay so uh item number four committee reports is someone going to do the wreck I got it right here Scott's gonna do it okay all right let's see you're going to tea up slide one there huh all right well it's been a busy time in Recreation at the last Recreation advisory committee uh they discussed raising the fees for permits for some facilities after comparing Long Hills rates to other other towns nearby the recommended new rates are in the agenda for consideration today and it's important to note that we continue to comp all of our that we continue to uh be comparable to all the uh other local ities in terms of town programming the adjustments recommended to our rates primarily involveed commercial renters so if this is people who rent things they'll they'll be affected by the rates commercial renters um our wood Woodland gnome themed playground try saying that is finishing up construction please watch the website for more information on the completion of this new playground at caner Park and we plan to have a lot of gnome fun uh with this in the future during the past weeks we've been wrapping up all our holiday programming uh we helped the North Pole and Sanz eles respond to over 125 children slide two please on December 18th Santa Rudolph and rebel the elf prepared the sleigh and went out to award our winners in the Holiday House business decorating contest so here are the winners best traditional classical uh decorations goes to 18 Deer Run uh the most unique goes to 27 Dogwood Terrace the best dress business goes to James Anthony Hair Design the brightest display 117 Dogwood Terrace high-tech uh 54 Overlook Road best year display 483 Mountain Avenue best theme 679 Heritage Road and by popular vote uh 136 Oaks Road all winners received a beautiful trophy uh a great swag bag filled with lots of goodies from L Hill Township in the Chamber of Commerce uh businesses plus a magical visit visit from the Jolly fellow himself so if you haven't taken out your taken your Holiday Lights tour it's still time to pack the family in the car and head out and take a look be sure to check out the driving list on our website and for those of you who thought about entering and didn't we hope you will reconsider and enter next year slide three please congratulations to the following winning Bakers uh Chen Alan Westerfield fargnoli Irwin and Alysa uh all winners received the special Sherie board from The Parks and Recreation Department for their baking efforts those are great looking cookies slide four adult open play basketball continues Thursday evenings at Central School 7:30 p.m. to 900 p.m. uh pre-registration on community mass is required and the program continues until May 1st Slide Five next up don't forget to enter our photography contest themed a look to the sky entry is free and and uh open until January 15th this next month slide six get your Red Cross training in January first aid is on January 9th uh CPR uh defibrillator is on January 30th see the website for more details and register on community pass slide seven don't forget and listen to that inner OS wait a second that's what I got to read don't forget listen to that inner Oscar of the Grouch inside of all of us and keep our Parks clean and Litter free that come across right yes yeah okay clean up after yourself Ian yourself right okay slide eight we are always looking for new members on the rec advisory committee want to join in on the fund please contact the Parks and Recreation Department for more information and that concludes the rec report thank you so look to the sky are they uh drone pictures encouraged um it doesn't say that they're not so I think by definition silence is consent I think yeah ah Matt are you yes let's see we have for the fire department they've so far the fire departments have answered 215 calls so that's almost one a day or half a 3/4s of a call a day which is a lot um again if you need want to volunteer please reach out to either fire department they're more than happy to accept any and all volunteers um they have the Sterling has both new trucks in service so the new rescue truck that came about a month and a half ago it's fully in service and on January 12th the Sterling fire department will have their uh first ever well not first ever but first in a long time pancake breakfast fundraiser it is from 8:00 a.m. to 12 12:00 p.m. residents and non-residents are all welcome and I the one thing I know about the guys down there is they can cook so it's going to be a good breakfast everybody um and there's also still time in 2024 to make your tax deductible donations to either fire department and guide s steal your thunder but the rescue squad as well um they don't they're not funded 100% by the town so any in all money will be appreciated as to recycling here we go um I noticed the other day a lot of people got gifts there's a lot of Styrofoam floating around so please recycle your styrofoam there's you can drop it off down at DPW during business hours or anytime right at the library there's a collection bin out there I'd used it yesterday a matter of fact the marst toown um Utilities Authority would like to remind everybody um there's a couple tips for recycling going forward it's all the time put a lid on it um if if the items get wet they might not be able to get recycled especially the paper and cardboard so please put a lid on everything have it out by 6:00 a.m. uh the day of the recycling so you can put it out at 550 it doesn't matter if especially if it's raining um be just they're not going to come back and get it so if you're not out by six and they go by they're not going to come back um also around your garbage can area just shovel the snow or make sure there's no ice because the guys are people are jumping on and off the truck or going up and down the street they don't need to slip and fall so that'll help uh prevent workplace injuries and you're getting sued so so clean up the area or at least put some salt down and if you need to have any questions you can go on our website the recycle coach Andor the Mars County recycle coach and also don't forget a lot of cooking's been done we recycle cooking oil so if you have any cooking oil instead of dumping it down the drain and clogging up the system bring it down to the DPW it's recycled and repurposed thank you thanks M great job orbert all right the library update so the first slide is over this holiday period The Long Hill Township Library will close early at 2:00 p.m. on December 31st and remain closed on January 1st as well they will be back to regular hours on January 2nd and in the meantime the Digital Collection is open 24/7 slide two you can find here the library's weekly schedules of programs and events one for kids and one for adults and today at noon there's an online presentation about taverns in Colonial New Jersey you can register for the link through the library's website the library will kick off a daily storytime series for babies Toddlers and preschoolers going through the entire alphabet with stories songs and crafts Monday through Friday at 10:30 a.m. no registration is required the library hosts two off-site silent books clubs bring any book you like and read with other Book Lovers we also host numerous other book clubs for adults teens and kids most are in person though some are on zoom and newcomers are always welcome Slide Five is come make a vision board at the library put together a poster to remind you of your New Year's goals and that is on Saturday the 12th of January we've got a family game night coming up we provide the games and the hot cocoa and you supply the people power super cute January 14th I added the super cute part slide seven look for more information soon about our upcoming puzzle tournament in the meantime stop by and check out our puzzle swap newly moved from the into the library take a puzzle leave a puzzle stay and contribute to our ongoing Community puzzle and the puzzle tournament is January 18th that's it thank you Aubrey uh just quick note and to match point about the fire uh you know more than 200 calls first aid Squad I think they'll come in at about around 750 again uh that's incredible work and what doesn't get noticed of course is you know when you need them and they're there and they always are promptly and safely uh but all the training that goes into that the hours and hours and hours so we appreciate that and I also want to have a special shout out to the young volunteers that are coming into the Sterling Fire Company uh to the Millington fire company and to the first aid Squad and throughout all the volunteer groups but in particular those groups uh your tomorrow's leaders uh the senior leadership of those uh Emergency Services aren't going to be able to do that forever so it is critical that we get those young ones in so a big shout out to them speaking to that can I ask question I know first aid Squad is 16 you can start to volunteer I don't know what the fire department is do you know is it 16 also oh that's great the state lowered it to 14 or no that could be a junior or no it's [Music] 16 okay say that again for 14 for Millington oh okay okay so 14 for Millington 16 for Sterling I think it's 16 16 for first aid it is 16 for first although I know I'll get a shout out from somebody if we get that wrong but again uh those young ones thank you sometimes people don't realize you can start it that young so good that's a very good point thank you uh and we'll do the one announcement St Vincent dep Paul has a blood drive tomorrow 1 to 7 1 to7 walk-ins walk-ins are uh encouraged if you have not already signed up uh anybody wants to come and complain about their uh taxes or Garbage Collection I'll be there at one o'clock and that's good and did you know but donating blood multiple people are served by just one donation did you want to I mean you sound like you're a learned about that I just wanted to say that you just wanted to say that um family members that have had transfusions so I'm thankful for anyone that donates and it does not hurt despite what people think anyway uh so I think that's about up for Randy I don't have too much uh we're just uh finishing up the end of the year uh with all the various reports and and finances um while I wish everybody a Happy New Year and uh looking forward to 2025 thank you Randy great job this year you and Megan and Jack I think Jack is on uh and all the employees uh so thank you and here any announcements that people uh want to bring I know uh Matt brought up a very timely one regarding recycling uh and any other announcements or shout outs that you guys want all right and was that by the way uh Scott was the happy Jolly fellow Vic that showed up who who who was that happy Jolly fellow were referencing Santa Claus it was Santa Claus no Santa Claus it was not specified it was not so it could have been Vic it could have been only one I'm waiting for some uh Choice words there from uh Vic all all right so um at this point I think we will go to item number nine the meeting is open to the public no got a discussion it this one oh I apologize yes I to them you have to say yes or so item number six my bed recreation facility rental fee increase I think that is that part of the Public's packet do they have this no all right so we're going to discuss it now oh I I have a question maybe Randy um so so what's driving the need to raise the fees well obviously costs um everything's uh been increasing our fees have not increased um what they also the recreation um and the recreation committee did a comparison of us to other uh towns around the area um you know a lot of the a lot of these uh well not a lot there's only three fees for residents going up and it's going up by $5 for every 2 hours and $5 for every 4 hours for The Pavilion so it's a125 an hour and 250 an hour for each of the other uh field rentals um there's a lot of things that are remaining the the same um the nonresidential commercial and nonresidential Commercial are increasing a little more than and um the residents obviously because we want to we want to keep it it uh very affordable for our residents um and you know obviously the resident commercial non-resident commercial uh they are making money so when we have vacancies on our Fields uh we obviously like to optimize um the income coming into the town MH and the um what percentage of the income comes from non-resident and Commercial currently you have a ballp part I I do not have that answer um I certainly can get that for the next meeting I mean I I definitely see the why it might be good to raise those rates which rates non-resident and Commercial I think the I'd kind of be inclined to keep resident where it is and the resident one's not going up that much it's $5 right yeah the first the the first one's a turfield it's going up 250 an hour $22.50 an hour uh the next one going up is a grass field at K Park which again is going up $2.50 an hour and the Cano Park pavilion is going up a125 uh an hour mhm how how often is that Pavilion used um I can certainly find out I I do not have that answer I'm just curious we can I mean Lisa can probably provide that she might even be watching so watch your text and may come in although we shouldn't be looking at our phones um Matt what what what what do you think I have no problem with especially because sorry it's only $5 per resident and that's not negligible however in the aggregate eventually The Field's going to need be replaced or repaired and that's the expense gets driven up and even if we want to say sometime do another turf field somewhere me the extra money coming in it's only going to help going forward and as I said it's it's like you said two $250 an hour if somebody wants to rent it's not going to be a deterrent even the non-resident pretty negligible too so I have no problem with it I think that field is funded by and then some it's funded by rental fees that's correct primarily oratory it's not just that it's any anybody and that's what you see in these fees and I should point out we've said it many times but it's worth repeating unlike every town to my knowledge any town that has built a artificial turf field they charge their W programs soccer lacrosse field hockey uh fees Long Hill has never done that and as long as uh we proceed as we have I I have not heard anything from uh Lisa scanland our recor dor um that there is any need to do so so I would point that out Scott I hear what you're saying uh but it's important for the residents to understand uh those uh youth programs out there uh will cross soccer and field hockey do not pay to use those fields uh and that's from my experience uh exceptional I have not found one town that does that so the youth the the recreation uh program programs field hockey lcross oh in the recreation so that's different than resident correct correct yeah so maybe you were thinking we were going to start charging uh uh those those leagues and we do not right so the town leagues use these facilities for free correct that is I think they do pay for the lights which is a nominal fee that's the one thing we did from the beginning what one I appreciate the clear recap that was done by the rec team as well as the price comparison to understand like for like to other towns and Facilities so I found that very helpful I embrace that um so thank you assuming I read it correctly I think it it's um prices haven't been increased or touched since 2011 I'm not sure if assuming I read it correctly but either way I think the resident increases are very minimal so I am okay with these and the other thing I would say is keeping an eye on it year every year and is there a plan maybe over 3 years watching the rates and then to phase in you know if we decide to do additional increases or anything like that just looking at that plan over um a certain period of time Brandy you can speak you can uh speak with Lisa on that is if like most of our Capital uh projects or programs whether it's the fire volunteer etc etc we have a six-year uh Capital plan so you can work with Lisa on that and probably it already exist y for that matter I would say no surprise Lisa did ask uh The Pavilion I no this is not a technical term is used a lot so to answer your question uh and so uh just a couple of other things commercial renters come to us ah so the commercial renters that come to us and this is kind of important to point out you look at the the commercial fees that we are charging in a vacuum doesn't mean much to you they come to us because we're lower than everyone else so that's a good thing in a sense that the fields are being used used uh or rented when it's not being used by uh residents we are collecting fees for that so um I'm sure Lisa put a lot of thought into the numbers that she presented for the nonresident commercial uh so that's good that'll be sure she's I'm sure she's got janitorial fees to to do as well because we've had the problems with the litter over there yep and uh and oh jeez do I have to say this auy is correct I I read things but whenever or just said Lisa said ory is correct I read what you write thank you guys all right that said uh do we have to take a vote or what what do we do here just if you guys just a discussion I think we could move forward and vote now now well so what will happen oh Vic I apologize Vic the Vic and Jack both said that the um audio is a little um that's weird is going in and out a little bit all of us I believe so um I'll have to look into that after the meeting but um if Vic if you wanted to say anything about the recreation facility rental fees he's not coming off mute okay all right uh so um these he can't vote anyway right now if you guys if you guys want to move forward with these rental increases at reorg you guys adopt the fee schedule for 2025 we will incorporate at those into the fee schedule so they will so you don't need a vote this evening uh this morning though all right and one thing that the uh Lisa scallan's recommending that these fees for the facilities do not take uh place until March 17th she already has reservations through the spring fair enough so and this was all um to to let the committee know this was discussed with the uh Recreation advisory committee who uh discussed these fees at their meeting and um this is where it came from looks good it says I think uh the changes take effect March 17 correct right am my bad it shouldn't be surprised that Lisa in fact did provide some data on the surrounding Town fees which are attached to uh to your uh yes uh just some light reading hand to meeting so if anybody wants to see the compar comparables in surrounding towns you can uh but I'm sure as always a lot of thought went into this and I I think we can move forward at real York and Vic did say he was good with the increases thank you Vic okay now announcements any announcements that uh haven't been made rorg is going to be January 8th at 6 PM that is a Wednesday it's a little later than usual but that's because of the calendar Quirk so it'll be January 8th at 6 p.m. in this room um so now item number nine I'll open up the meeting to the public remarks and statements pertaining to any matter if you could kindly please try to limit comments and remarks to 3 minutes it would be appreciated I don't see anyone in the public present and anyone at home there's nobody on Zoom no body on Zoom I know it's a bit early for everybody and maybe a little eggnog okay uh so at that point I'd just like to say merry Christmas happy Hanukkah to everyone uh out there um and uh we can close go into exec with no further action so you're going to approve resolution 24320 which will allow us to adjourn into executive with no further action so moved thank you all all those in favor I make a motion so moved Matt made the motion uh Scott second or vice versa these two over here okay The Muppets to the right all right thank you everybody yep I'm going to do it right now e