##VIDEO ID:JjWqunJw_TQ## I gota like to call the meeting to order please Johanna will you read the statement of compliance the notice requirements of the open public meeting act for this meeting have been satisfied a copy of the annual meeting notice was sent to the Atlantic City Press Star Ledger posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building the municipal website and filed in the office of the municipal clerk please turn off all electronic devices please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance attention Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation indivis andice Johanna please take the role mayor Collins here commissioner blumber I am here commissioner horn here is there a motion for the approval of the October 1st 2024 regular and workshop Capital meeting minutes motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg yes commissioner horn yes all right we will now open up to public comment please step forward to the microphone state your name and address look I wor my Jama crazy4 nor Avenue marget all right so listen I don't really want to be here tonight but I'm here so let me get this done all right public bathrooms you're wrecked okay we have an average of 1.1 million homes I think we're average is over two million now okay a flashing sign on Amhurst Avenue that says no public urination is not appropriate anymore for our community okay you got to figure it out people do two things they eat and they pick I no longer come to work because I can't take the ridiculous that I'm faced with every day can't find a place to park try use your bathroom can't finally got here found a place to park I use your bathroom that is not what the rest of my life is to be about okay I'm at a point where I've been through the battles of life I just want to enjoy what I created because what I've created for your community is a family fun store where people come and enjoy and sing and dance and tell good and bad Tales I created a Vibe for your community that after 30 years I think people you know they kind of like it I don't have a lot of time left okay I want to enjoy my time I don't want the problems of your community taking up my mental real estate now when I tell you I no longer like to come to work I'm being really truthful because everything that walks in my door is is negative not about negative energy okay I've had negative energy I knew how to turn it okay now all my energy is positive and that's what I want the rest of my life to be positive energy now I've worked with you and I've given you assessments that are accurate okay not I might just this Jamaican me crazy woman but you know I was a trauma nurse in a big city hospital my brain is still good okay so you know the summer was a disaster to me because the energy was bad so where are we here's a couple hundred signatures for a trolley okay I told you plainly that we can't fix the problem we have to get a tourniquet okay and stop the bleeding okay you cannot buy back the real estate that you no longer own okay you're in the people moving business you got to move the people around the community to be able to use the resources that we have all invested our money and our passion and our hearts into can we have to move them now now I don't know if you're aware of this but we had an accident in front of our store and the only thing that stopped that poor woman of confusion from killing a whole lot of people was the tent that sat outside the barrel stopped her and you can ask the Police Department fire dep Mar all of everyone that attended that event there's a lot of confusion on your roadways they clustered okay when you do that to people you still have a senior population present you're confusing them and this is the stuff okay this stuff we're saying so we got to fix it it's not that hard and the money is there to do it okay we spoke about bathrooms and placements okay public urination on Amhurst Avenue and everywhere else I live right close to that I see people tucking into my driveway doing it it's not appropriate okay you need several bathrooms not one at the firehouse that I recommended hey you guys got to figure it out okay these are minor things that you could put a tourniquet to and stop the piss off of the population okay just by giving them what's necessary in their activities of daily living okay that's moving around and being able to use a bathroom and that's what I got thank you Ross as I've told you before we're they're all we share your concerns and we have active discussions I've had two different conversations this week alone on the transportation around town and you know we talk about the the bathrooms and and how to handle that on a regular basis within every Department because it affects that's right it fects the whole community and I could take five minutes and figure it out for you because I already have okay now as far as the trolleys Go I mean there are petitions here okay there are several hundred you want me to get several thousand I could do that too okay but we're not going to get jitneys because your community no longer deserves jitneys you're better than that you have to look the part of what you say you are now okay and and that's a beautiful trolley which is a money maker because that guy from Ocean City who's no longer on this board he'll tell you about the millions Ocean City made okay so it's not that hard to figure out you know I I just want to go back to work and enjoy what I want but I can't listen to the nonsense anymore so I need to know because I want to stop right here you guys have gotten enough of my energy I don't want to give you anymore hello appreciate it thank you Ross so I hope to hear something soon from somebody maybe calling me and say hey Ross we got it together because that trolley can be bought electric so you can really just be environmentally right okay and just move people it's all you got to do is move people give them a place of Peace thank you appreciate your time Sher Lillian Feld 7809 Wellington Avenue I have a question about the building department Code Department um you know with the microplastic ordinance or contractor construction debris ordinance whatever you want to call it you know I would always call Jimmy send him an email and he would go to the site and he would talk to people and he would just get them straight like I just really like to know what the new procedure is going to be who do I call do I just call the code Department 8221 974 and just say hey I have a problem and then they assign it like I I need to know what the new procedure is sure M blumberg do you want to discuss uh uh the idea is you've got a good idea yes I would call that General number and register your complaint and it'll be handled okay so you know Jimmy was involved in the early on you know discussions with this and I think he was really great at educating people and he had the Flyers he had his his his pitch down like my concern is if they assign it to someone are they as up to speed on like why this is really important and what they're saying to the contractors and having the brochures with them like I hear what you're saying but I want to know that it's that the Baton is going to get passed appropriately well it really wasn't Jimmy's job to do what it is that you're asking him to do he only did it because he did anything he could to help people there's there is a Code Enforcement uh officer in the department John Vada if you register the complaint John can go out and uh look into things for him John V correct okay and then um okay does he ever come to these meetings John no he doesn't but you can certainly go meet him I certainly will I I know where that office is you know where that department is go I do I've applied for many they'll be happy to help you okay I just want to be sure there's there's happy to help consistency here and that and and hopefully Jimmy will be back very soon and on another note there have been other T Longport Venter made it an ordinance where we have it as a resolution is there any thought consideration to converting that into an ordinance and there are other townships they are all embracing this it's going up the coast we have Surf Rider organization we have Beyond Plastics we have clean ocean action that are all like taking this on because they see it's really important Margate sees it as a resolution any chance hope that we might make it in ordinance I think we're still listening to you know you'll see on the agenda today the um appointment of temporary subcode official who also is employed in the same position in ventner had some dialogue Dino Dino yes yeah had some dialogue with him and other people in ventner and you know certainly tracking the the progress okay and a final thing speaking about the environment Beach clean up that's coming this weekend um they're placing the roof on Island House Benson Avenue on the beach there is roof foam all over the place I picked up samples I have it someone called me because they know like I like to see these things and he sent me pictures apparently when they were placing that roof all this roof foam stuff was blowing all over the place um one during Beach cleanup I know no one from Public Works is here but they started Grandville and a lot of people don't end up on Benson but there's a lot of that there but also someone from code needs to go and talk to that contractor and see why the stuff is blowing all over the beach but so I think just like commissioner blumberg said if you if you have that information you can reach out to John you know now that you provided it to us we can pass that along okay and I can follow up with Anthony Edge as well regarding the beach cleanup but you know I know you have relationship with him if you want to mention it to him I will men benion yes I will and John B thank you great thank you Sher uh Kathy heitsman 22 South Adams Avenue um in morg obviously I just want to piggy back on what R said now I am fortunate in that I just live a block and a half from here and that's one of the reasons why I bought so that I could walk everywhere and I have but I know two specific instances one of which is the fellow Jeff who's usually with me here he lives right here they are urinating in the trees behind waa that's great place and he lives right there he sees that and an incident occurred at um two cents plane so what RZ is saying is everywhere at two cents plane kids came in and said do you have a bathroom we can use do you have a bathroom we can use and they said no sorry well and you see all the signs no public they went out to dump the trash here's this person urinating because the lights they had the sensor light and this person is urinated right in her back so we've the I I think I hate these Porta poty things but we have do something as I said I'm fortunate because I live so nearby I don't have to worry about like leave the beach to go to the bed or whatever but the our our people that are supporting our businesses can't do that unless you're eating and and that's not really fair because businesses like Raz like um the surf shop all these places they they don't need to have to have that work thank you thank you Kathy Alexander 974 veter Avenue back to the zoom Where Do We Stand what's happening anything I mean I brought this up in the beginning of the summer I mean people have left people are leaving people it's gone what's do we have a plan do you have a plan do you have any information so no no further updates from our last discussion um you know as as I spoke you know a couple months back got the information for from ventner we have yet to contract a company to look and give a quote here um the on the agenda today um is the hiring of a new ba and I've encouraged all of our department heads to bring up items that we want to discuss uh once that position is filled and one of those is your concern so that's you know one of them on my list is your concern and it's going to be something that we we address in upcoming weeks but this is really a very important thing and this was brought up three months ago and there's there's no movement there's no it's it's a lot more complicated than just uh you know putting a video and saying we're on so it's and again I think and I could say this in relation to to raz's uh comments as well uh things move slower in government it's something that I've uh had a challenge dealing with from coming from the private sector into the public sector you want to get things done it's not that quickly I mean I call Ed and text him all the time where are we at with this where we I mean it just takes it's a long process by the time you come up with plans go out to bid you know determine um what one determine the financial aspect and how much we're willing to spend on certain things whether the bids come in under that threshold or not so it is a it's a long tedious process and um you you know there's there's thousands of things on our plate that we deal with on a regular basis and and this is one of them and we're going to continue to look at it where are you at this point I mean do you have companies that you're working with you have bids out there yet you have no bid we have no again no further communication than than what I had discussed previously so there's no Communications that of with any companies no we've so we've we've you're not moving along we have not made contact with any company to install a system or do anything like that no but why I mean now forget it I mean this the season's over and people are gone so now I'm pushing towards obviously next next season but it just seems like you're not doing anything you have no answers to say like we have contacted something's in place nothing's in place we have not no but why all the all the tax people are begging for this I mean we we we need all our tax we we deserve this we deserve to know what's going on when we're not here or when we're here and can't attend the meetings I mean I think that's so unfair we record our meetings we publish them but we can't speak in in the meeting you can speak you can call me seven days a week and I will answer one can but I'm saying I say this to everybody I I I sat at City Hall with uh another Resident for hours with these with the meetings that's what we want we we're taxpayers we want to be included we want to know what's going on I mean have time we don't know what's going on even when we attend the meeting the information at the meetings is is public and and we share it and if you want um you know everybody's concerned about what's going on there's no better path than go directly to me if you if you have questions concerns and you want they don't know what's going on they don't know what's going on in the meetings they they can listen to the meetings they are public meetings everything they can go on the website and listen to the recorded meetings and find out what's going on so it does seem that you are are not really interested in getting this Zoom done it's not about not being interested well it's three months and you have not even you don't have any answer or anything forward people have been asking since commissioner blumberg was elected 17 years ago they've been asking about this but you've had it in place at one time then there something happened and you took it down because somebody exposed no that so the the meetings were live there was live audio feed there was a zoom bomb as they call it I I know and the live audio feed was was taken down but there was no there was no change in how they're they're broadcast and published online well that even now that's not even an excuse anymore because it's so updated everybody that doesn't even happen anymore that was a couple months that was it just happened last year yeah yeah but there you know there's so many things today I mean I'm on a zoom with courts I was on with for 14 different courtrooms and everybody there there's different ways to do it I mean that doesn't even happen but that's here or there I mean we need to get this done I think it's you're you you should have an obligation to the taxpayers to get this done for us and and have an answer push it do something have an answer this is three months I'm standing here and you're saying you don't even you haven't even spoke to anybody that's ridiculous that's so unfair and but you have your gasoline station going because that's what you want you got that going you got this whatever is needed for you guys you have that going but we can't get zoom and you don't have an answer you won't even spoken to anybody it's ridiculous it's so unfair again you want transparency we we our meetings are public you're more than welcome to to have any conversation with any one of us we W zo happy to meet you we W Zoom okay thank you appreciate okay another question I have for you is um the noise ordinance for uh the time zone for tequila what's going to happen with that next summer so what time are they going to go on you are we going to have another I live next door are we going to have another crazy nights there that we have like on Amherst are they gonna have what time are they goingon to shut the music down so again we've uh we've discussed this I know commissioner horn and chief Henson have have talked about about the revision of the ordinances and bringing you Roger in in on these discussions and I think I had said the same thing to you in in my email response that they're the plan is to look at all of those ordinances and clear clean them up and clear them up so that they're uh very easy to understand because I think there is some some gray area now that we can't have the problem that we have on Amherst it's a residential area there I mean it's a very small Corner you're going to have the same thing people are going to be hanging out on that street it's a very small sidewalk people are going to be paying all over they're going to be drinking all over there's no parking again and where are they going to go on the street it's going to go right down Monroe that music is going to be blasting down Monroe those poor people it's it it's just bizarre what goes on you have to you have to really prepare yourself for next year because you're GNA have the same crap that you have going on Amherst and you know what what was going on down there you were there you went in the middle of the night you saw what was going on we cannot have that happen yeah and iare again the chief I know it's a nightmare for you but the chief and I have spoken and I know we've spoken with commissioner horn the idea is to get in front of it I think we were all kind of shocked shocked last summer we wer we weren't prepared for what what it was I don't think anyone was including the the owners I'm sure you w um and the intention is to get in front of it so we don't have a repeat of last summer okay I appreciate it thanks thank you herbos 108 Adams Avenue I have a question what is the final resolution of any on the unit at the end of market going in the long Port that had a zoning permit for six units and they wound up with 12 could you give me an update on the stat that Scott do you have any update on that it's in court right now it's in court so the city is still demanding that they remove the other six units PT right now and we have outside Council perhaps going to pursue them in Superior as well as municip but in the meantime there were 12 units in the place he says there's not and how many water bills are there six or six but there's 12 units six qu bills six electric meters I think the city needs to push on that it's a biased treatment or a favorable treatment so far for the person who built the Building compared in court right now okay we have them in court about this issue very issue will be coming up a resolution soon it's up to the courts thank you thanks sir also you introduce yourself again because yes L Alexander 9704 vetner Avenue um his stop or um by Leo that he has a stop order um that is correct on the corner his he has had multiple um um Court hearings that have been cancelled I know of I know of three why does it keep being postponed is there a reason for that I know it's different than the one that's going on with the Ocean City with the whole apartment it's totally different it's been postponed a number of times based on inspections I know there have been additional violations his lawyer has gotten the postponements uh that's really all I can say about that but he they've gotten postponements but now I believe on the end of this month I think it's it not sure the exact date the court date he got the court date is now another one Municipal Court but there's also probably going to be one okay and the other one is still with the Ocean City the the 12 units we brought in outside Council to pursue that if it has to go to Superior Court okay but I did I okay I don't want to say any that I mean that's it I mean yeah it's up to their hand their hands now we yeah we may all be end up being Witnesses I may end up being a witness building department so we brought in outside coun that's really all I can say okay I hope they do their job that's great okay thank you thank you is there a motion to close public comment motion I have will second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg yes commissioner horn yes all right we will now open up public comment on resolutions on today's agenda if anyone has any comment on anything on today's agenda please step forward to the microphone is there a motion to close public comment on resolutions motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg yes commissioner horn yes johannah will you proceed please may have a motion for the introduction of ordinance number 21 of 2024 ordinance amending ordinance number 2024 fixing the salaries and compensation of certain officers and employees of the city of Margate City Atlanta County New Jersey motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumber yes commissioner horn yes may I have a motion for resolution number 232 2024 authorizing payment of claims motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg yes commissioner horn yes may I have a motion for the consent agenda which consists of resolution number 233 2024 through resolution number 243 2024 motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg yes commissioner horn yes okay and the real quick joh um so I just wanted to uh welcome and congratulate Pat Moran as uh you know we just approved his his hiring as our new business administrator so if anyone did did not meet Pat in in between those sessions um and I think it's important to let everybody know it was a very competitive process we had about 20 applicants apply for this position uh two rounds of uh uh of us narrowing it down to the point where originally we narrowed it down to eight and then we ended up uh selecting four for in-person interviews um again Pat brings a very qualified resume and uh we're happy to have you on board and look forward to starting next week so great thank you Pat okay and resolution 244 2024 has been pulled from the agenda johannah I would ask that we keep that on please I think we still have things to discuss go you keep that okay we may have a motion for resolu resolution number 244 2024 motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg no commissioner horn yes okay at this time we will be going into closed session I'm going to ask the public to leave you are welcome to come back when we're finished so you have to leave we're coming out of closed session may I have a motion to come out of closed session motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumber yes commissioner horn close session now we've been discussing the process by which U promotions or modifications of existing contracts occur including job titles and salar and I think result new incom Municipal administrator deal with a part of this and try to open up a line of commun issues all right thank you is there a motion to adjourn motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg yes commissioner horn yes thank you everybody --------- ##VIDEO ID:y8qiFqCtOM4## like to call the meeting to order please Johanna will you read the statement of compliance the notice requirements of the open public meeting act for this meeting have been satisfied a copy of the annual meeting notice was sent to the Atlantic City Press Star Ledger posted on the bulon board the municipal building the municipal website and filed in the office of the municipal clerk please turn off all cell phones please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance flag United States Johanna please take the role mayor Collins here commissioner blumberg I am here commissioner horn here good afternoon everybody we will begin um with our best practices survey with Lisa please thank you mayor good afternoon everyone as you know um this annual best practices inventory survey is due to be completed by every municipality on an annual basis and if you score under um a certain level then they withhold a portion of the St that was allotted to the city um this year's survey there were 69 questions of which 17 were unscored that they use um for an analytical purposes going forward um we needed a minimum score of 35 in order to receive our full final payment of state aid which is just over 38,000 annually our state aid payment for the energy receipts tax um was just under 774 th000 so um we scored high enough to receive the final payment um I sent each of you uh a copy of the survey to review if you have any questions or if there's any other or if there's any comments you want to add to any of the responses uh it has not been submitted yet it's due by October 25th and myself and the city clerk need to submit um and certify the results of the survey so some of the areas that it included basically were ethics Personnel um affordable housing most of the affordable housing were unscored um transparency Financial admin um budgeting and and the like so you know some of them were repeat questions from last year others were not um there are two things that we did have no responses to which I think think we could easily address um one of which has to do with cyber security and passwords for City Computers where you know they're asking do we use that tofa the two- Factor um authorization so and I know that ocean computer had spoken with me about that in the past but you know that would need to be implemented um and other one um that I think we could easily do is they're asking for copies of all current labor agreements and um individual contracts to be posted on the city website but other than that um I think that we do a very good job when it comes to best practices and what's required and being in compliance but I guess there's always room for improvement does anyone have any questions or comments or I do actually Lisa one of those items was the pay ordinance Scott and I get together sending that we haven't enforced it anyway because it can't supersede what the state requirements are but we need to get it off I agree with that that that doesn't belong there course state law now has superseded okay there a question I would all right that's fine I'm going to have to review the response for that one but I agree it should be done and we can add a I believe we could add a common end to that answer saying you know it's perspective and then we'll be doing it um all right great thank you Lisa Ed we'll now go forward with our engineering report please thank you mayor good evening everyone starting off as always with our judging project we continue to follow up with d we're now going on about five months since we submitted our update updated survey information we follow up almost weekly um so I think we're going to have to um maybe turn up the pressure a little bit um maybe request a meeting um something to try to get the ball moving again um so we will follow up in that Fashion on item v which is related to the dredging we did make some progress since the last meeting we did get our deliverable from the Stockton Coastal research uh Center which we'll be submitting the D to respond to some of the comments we got on The Shelter Island alternate um dredge site or dredge disposal site uh so we'll continue to go down that path um and who knows maybe that'll eventually catch up with where we are in our drudging permit but um continue to work on both on both items um we do have some updates on some of our capital projects the 2023 Road program has been advertised for bids we do have a bid opening um we actually have several B bid openings on October 31st Halloween uh so that is out to bid Washington Avenue street skate project we do have our uh we finally have our traffic data and Analysis complete so we're just now um making some revisions to the plans before we meet with the steering committee again um so that we can then move forward with final design so we we are close to getting that project into final engineering no update on the Amhurst Avenue Pump Station project that is a Green Acres um coordination item that will be a little longer lead time the two sigm projects areed tentatively scheduled for advertisement for bids by the end of this month uh so those projects will be out to bid soon thow Avenue is out to bid also with a bid opening on October 31st so we'll be receiving bids for both of those Road and utility projects for consideration of award the 2024 Kirby gutter program uh if Feld survey is complete we are putting the plans and specs together and we expect that to also go out to bid by the endend of the month so we'll have a lot of um bid activity this month which is good um the building office Improvement project even though we don't have it noted here we're getting very close for that project to go out the b as well next uh couple items are the next two uh road projects that are currently in the design phase that's the next phase of Winchester Avenue as well as the 2024 Road program so those are in design the lead service line replacement project those plans are being put together we've also been um working with Jim Rella on just some information that the ibank requires as part of this process so that um is moving along as is the new Public Works building we have completed our field survey work the base plans are also complete we are in the design phase we're working with our architect we do have a schematic design and I think we'll have an updated schematic sometime the next couple weeks uh so we'll keep that project moving and it is on schedule um no update on item o which is just our ongoing storm water compliance the LaCrosse wall project we have uh reached out and Sol quotes we expect to have all the quotes back in hand this week um and then we can review those and make a recommendation on how to proceed that award item Q is Marshall and Huntington uh we did a small traffic study there to see how we might be be able to improve that intersection we also have completed that analysis so we'll be sending over a recommendation letter probably by the end of the week um no update on item R which is just some compliance work we're assisting the public works department with the environmental review um for Block 207 Lots one and six um is is in progress we did uh meet with the um representatives for the owner of that site uh for Exxon and got some additional information um so we continue to to work on our review of the environmental status of that site turning to page uh no update on item T which is our list of pending Grant applications and then our construction Pro list you can see um is down to about six projects but we will have quite a few going into construction over the next month or so um the only updates here would be that our Winchester Avenue project is in construction it's going well um the basketball court project um anticipates construction beginning in the spring the um well n Redevelopment project is is beginning construction this week and then the last item on the list here is Winchester water main reconfiguration we have a contractor Arthur Henry for that project we're just waiting on some materials before we start construction that's my great thank you Ed um now i' like to invite Rich Tolson uh chairman of the citizens Advisory Board to just give an update earlier than I thought I would good evening everyone thank you Mr Mayor and Commissioners for the opportunity to both serve and present this year end report as all of you are aware on March August on August 17th of 2023 the Margate City commissioners passed a resolution creating the Margate citizens advisory committee the committee consists of nine members three appointed by each commissioner the committee has met monthly except for the month of August mayor Collins and commissioner horn had have attended meetings over the course of the first year additionally Roger McLaren from the building department has attended a meeting and briefed as on zoning orience throughout town in August in be on behalf of the committee I was fortunate enough to meet with Chief Hinson and share some of the um issues that have been brought to our attention the committee produced a handout that includes our mission as well as bios of each member it also includes our email address that exist on the city website we have distributed them at City Hall the library thanks to my partner Steve who's gotten them out all over places of worship as well is most recently at the Fall Fest we also had a video produced in conjunction with the city regarding the installation of the bike racks throughout Town we've also interacted with sustainable Margate and the Margate Business Association issues that have been identified throughout the community density density and surprisingly enough density parking both residential and Commercial along with identifying signage dredging of the bay that was mentioned earlier here tonight potential benefits of es skate park and youth activities especially in the summer along with the use a study requested analysis of the use of the recreation fields and what we might be able to do with them traffic including speeding parking at Corners I won't mention the next one because I know it's off the table noise issues around the nearer commercial establishments as all of you are well aware of these are all concerns that have been brought to our attention throughout the community both face Toof face one-on-one phone calls and through our email on the city website speaking of the emails some of the concerns um off day whitering of Lawns noise as mentioned before uh the bike racks were um other locations were suggested and leaks in the street that are being addressed obviously by Public Works after one main break these have all been forwarded to the Commissioners and I responded to each in my role as chair I along with other members of the committee have participated in early meetings involving Washington Avenue and the master plan we continue to do Outreach to the residents as to be aware of their concerns this coming year we will continue to help identify the issues of concerns to the residents share them with the Commissioners and offer suggestions on Solutions we are proud of the efforts we have helped accomplished including bike racks throughout town to help alleviate traffic our recommendations on Parking Solutions and our efforts to increase resident participation in addressing the issues to that end we hope to establish a website for the committee for greater exposure we also it has also been brought to our attention that the city should reestablish the newsletter of which we could be a part of in closing we believe the mayor and the commissioner Commissioners have been forthright with us in his vision and their vision for the future of Margate and how to address the issues we have identified we will continue to be a conduit of issues and potential Solutions between the residents of this great City and its leadership on behalf of all the members of the committee we are grateful for the opportunity to serve I don't know if you any questions not necessary if you don't want any questions no thank you Rich thanks very much I I do just want to say thank you to to you and uh all the committee members I know some some other ones are present here today as well Inu the other members that are here our great secretary and keeps very precise yes so thank you again I you know I have found that it's been productive attending the meetings and and having dialogue with the members um you know Roger and chief Hinson have participated I at the last meeting I encouraged uh the committee to reach out to other department heads and um you know Express their vision and and some of the things they're hearing with them so um if anyone's interested in participating in those meetings you know we'll get access to the to the schedule and see if you can make any of those meeting times but I think it'd be very helpful um I found found it very helpful again you you hear from the people you know in the community the people you see the emails we get and the calls we get but when you hear from a collective group like this who's reaching out to uh an extended group it's it's been very helpful so thank you again all right we will now move to our department head reports I will begin with the public works report as Pat power was unable to attend um so we have a few updates we have a beach cleanup this Saturday from 9: to 12: at Granville Avenue Beach everyone is invited to attend and participate um with that um just a notice and we're going to be pushing this out on our website I think Jesse already put it on the website we're going to do some social media outreach on hydrant flushing um October 28th through November 1st um so uh you know we're also going to have a phone blast directed to to Residents so they're aware of that uh meter program up date so Phase 1 through three um we are 84% complete that um you know I know uh Dennis who's in the audience there there was some confusion as to to what that means because there's many homes that have not had this this done um we we anticipate about five or six phases so phases one through three being 80 over 80% complete really equates to about 40% of the entire city and um you know the section back towards towards Tai school um as as Dennis was asking about that um is towards the end of the phase so we're probably looking at at least a year to 18 months before before that area um is addressed and um the Public Works Hurricane Relief donation Drive uh neted three pickup trucks worth of items and um just very appreciative of all the residents and and people that that donated for that so with that I will pass it on to Scott couple things mayor and Commissioners we had U um a resolution on tonight authorizing the engagement of Pat Moran as our new Municipal administrator I'd urge you to vote for it we we've worked out the terms I believe he's still undergoing his vetting process that should be done by the end of this week um and if you approve the resolution tonight I presume he can start sometime next week maybe even Monday we'll see I've sent to you a copy of a uh draft of a shared services agreement with Longport to extend our Municipal Court sharing it's for a two-year term it's actually one year lawn Court would have the option to bail out to get out of the agreement for a second year if they so choose it is I believe it's worked extremely well with us maintaining our municipal court system here and also having long ports here I think it's worked out well for our police for our residents and those unfortunate people who get tickets and have to go to Municipal Court as well but so that's going to be on for your next agenda to adopt um and if you have any questions certainly course ask me um I think that's about it Eddie did touch on our meeting with the Exxon people I did talk to you lawyers the lawyer today for Exxon and by the way that other lawyer name Craig cuber which of course I remembered that night as I lay in bed but he was in charge of their environmental he was a great guy and she knew him she knew him well she did start out with there why she couldn't remember at the meeting but they're working on the detail Exon be fully responsible for everything that's what's been represented at any contamination there so Margate Margate buys that property the agreement will be exons 100% responsible so that's where we're going hopefully we'll be able to settle for the end of the year that's it all right that's what I have thank you Scott Roger thank you mayor and Commissioners great to be back four weeks off and my T went away amazing uh plan of we meeting is next Thursday there were three cases on originally scheduled for six but we're down to three now and as you said I enjoyed meeting with with Chon and the uh marate citizens advisory committee I think was very beneficial to them and to me TOA understand issues and I think a lot of things we have coming down to play in regard to the master plan will address a lot of these issues uh nothing will be perfect but I think a lot of things will be resolved uh some year-end contracts are coming to an end and we'll have to Reid those as landscap joral other items working on that with the next couple weeks the uh flight conference is in Atlantic City in two weeks as well actually um it's funny how the state schedules a stor water management class the same day as the damage prevention conference the same people does sense but the league of municipalities is in November and that's always beneficial to employees C and Educational Services pretty much it for now thank you thank you Roger Andrew thank you mayor uh pretty busy in the recreation department right now as you know our Recreation soccer program is going on we have over 200 soccer players playing between kindergarten and eighth grade uh we just started a new speed agility class for our third through eighth graders that filled up pretty quickly um our travel basketball trials are coming up soon so we should have that going in the next couple of weeks uh we have a Halloween theme cooking class coming up very soon so again pretty we're currently working on getting an order together for beach tags for the holidays with holiday tags and our tags for next year down at the Pavilion they have a lunch in cards at Josie Kelly coming up next week uh they also have Veterans Day lunch November 4th at 11: a.m which I invite all may and commissioner Commissioners to come down to that's one of the best events of the year it's at 11: a.m. uh the ti leadership Club comes down and helps serve food to the veterans uh some of the veterans stand up and speak about their experiences and it's uh it's really a great day every year um and then we have also pavilian on October 30th we have a bus going to New York City to see Great Gatsby on Broadway um so that that's filled as well so L going on great thank you Andrew Chief Hinson thank you mayor uh Commissioners uh for just a couple announcements first of all there's going to be a lot of traffic diversions you can see the sign's probably over town the Atlantic City Marathon will be coming through on Sunday um like I said we have probably close to 200 temporary signs all throughout Town advising the residents of the path of the marathon it's posted on our website there's the no parking zones that's going to take effect Saturday night at midnight goes to about 3 o'clock on Sunday again there's a a lot of traffic a lot of foot traffic throughout town that day so just be aware there might be some delays and there's going to be a lot of no parking around town second I wanted to remind everybody that on Friday October 25th from 6: to8 the police department will be working with the schools and the Margate Education Association for the Haunted Hallway and the Trunk or Treat it's a really good event uh we do it in conjunction they do a boo fest earlier in the day from 4: to 6 and leads into Trunk or Treat from 6:00 to 8 it's a really good Community event there was a lot of fun had last year I know uh yourself and commissioner horn um came out last year and was actually a very nice event that's why we're we're working with it again just want to let everybody know that the bike racks that were spoken about by by RIT from the citizens Advisory board we're going to start removing them as it gets colder they're used less and less so we'll remove them store them hopefully we'll meet over the winter maybe find some more spaces to put those bike racks they worked out very well with the stanions around them they were little they were more high visibility and and I thought they really worked well so maybe we'll locate some more places around town and put some more around town my last tidbit is with recent incidents in neighboring towns and throughout uh the township I'm going to implore to people please lock your cars at night there are motor vehicle thefts lots of times most of the time it's because the keys are left in the vehicles so I always say if it's 8 o'clock nine o'clock whatever time you go to bed go through a checklist make sure your cars are locked make sure your front door is locked however you want to do it but that will prevent a lot of the uh motor vehicle thefts and motor vehicle burglaries we have during the year that's all I have thank you Chief I just want to follow up with the Boo Fest uh last year they had a dunk tank and chief Adams participated maybe we can get him out there again and uh if anyone else is interested in participating they're looking for for volunteers Scott I know your grandkids would love to dunk you so all right Lisa hello again uh few things to catch you up on um first I want to mention Roger when you're working on your bid packages for next year we're going to while you were out um we joined a co-op for the sodium hydrochloride I believe it is or Hydro something um yeah because of the bed and I think we need to go out to bid with that because we are uh purchasing an excess of the limit and also I'm going to recommend that you look at um going out to bid for the portable toilets perhaps maybe we can realize some savings there we haven't exceeded the bid threshold I know we changed companies because one was high but I think maybe it's worth taking a look at I could go over it with you you know tomorrow or next week if you want um okay you know for our upcoming Bond sale for our General Obligations it was scheduled for to be held on October 22nd however there was an issue with the ad not being placed on time due to the um holidays there was an extra holiday they were unaware of so we're still set to close on November 7th but rather than the 22nd the sale will be held the following week on the 29th so everything is in place there and everything is in alignment um I forwarded you all I believe a copy of our recent credit rating in regards to the 2024 bonds I know at last meeting I discussed we were having a rating call between all our financial team with standard and Poes Global and I was hopeful um and felt pretty confident they were going to bump us up to triaa but um they held us at doublea plus which is an excellent rating nonetheless however the two reasons really prohibiting us from moving up to triaa are actually beyond our control because one was because we're located in Atlanta County and because of the economy in Atlanta County and the other one is because of the state pension obligation which we have always met our pension obligation even when Governor uh Whitman gave municipalities the option to foro their pension payment continue to make it so you know we're kind of being penalized for those two things but we still have a very strong credit rating um I did ask the financial advisor to do an analysis because Avalon achieved a uh AAA rating and they're in Cap May County so again you know if they're going to hold the county and the the state pension against us you know I want to see what else they're doing that we're not doing although Avalon of course is larger much higher values believe it or not but um I had sent them a recent market analysis which I was hoping would improve it because now the average residential home per sale I believe is like $1.1 million which is astounding and um we're in a good financial position we've implemented a lot of good fiscal policies we have a good Surplus um so you know doing everything right in regards to finances but those were the reasons for that and I did forward it also to Johanna for her to post it on the city website as well um received notice today as you know we had an auction a few weeks ago and um I got notice from gov deals the auction house that they released just over $45,000 Chief Hinson told me one of the other items not included in that just actually sold today so we'll be receiving approximately another $5,000 and all that money gets held in reserve to be put towards future purchases of equipment which helps out tremendously um I just wanted to give acknowledgement to Jim Mangan our tax assessor and his team as you know um our ratables have continued to grow year after year and for this year it's over 61 million dollar or billion dollars um no excuse me 61 million in added assessments which is pretty significant less than last year but still doing well just the same um was notified from the acua going to meet with them on November 18th to discuss the 2025 budget for them so if anyone is interested in attending I can um send you the information but it'll be on the 18th ordinarily it's me and the business the administrator so if I assume he'll be here by then so mark your calendar November 18th 11 a.m. um Dave Elliot in my office you know he was appointed to be the fund commissioner when we joined the southern Coastal hip for our health insurance he attended their meeting that was held on September 23d and at that meeting uh they introduced the 2025 budget as you know our premiums are held until through June because we didn't join until July first um their budget increase is 12% less than the state but it's 12% so I've asked him to contact you know the hiff and to verify is that going to be 12% across the board or are they going to you know look at each Town's you know ratio and experience and allocate a portion aort proportionately to um in conjunction with their experience so hopefully you know because we're new and hopefully we will have good experience this year um so but nonetheless it will be less than what we would have incurred had we remained under state health benefits um that's all I have unless you have questions I have one question Lisa about that that Co-op stord I believe it was yes okay I look that last year was actually 33% higher yes I know but we had no choice because we were over the bid threshold so we had to do something all right thank you Lisa Chief Adams thank you mayor Commissioners uh first off welcome back Rogers it's good to see you here back at the table um table's filling up again so it's kind of nice to see that um couple things quick uh we're wrapping up fire prevention week it was uh we had a strong performance in all our different schools and activities and places we have one preschool visit tomorrow at the firehouse um the message this year was smoke alarms make them work for you and that kind of speaks for itself um please just make sure you have working smoke detectors in your home make sure you know what they sound like make sure you check them regularly and as recommended you know smoke detectors are 10 years in replace so we can assist you if you need it so contact the fire department if you need any assistance to echo on the talking about fire hydrant flushing it'll be from 8:30 to 3:30 p.m. starting October 28th and just one thing to add to that is if your water is discolored from running you know from the the testing just run your water for five minutes at One Tap location until it runs clear if you have any problems or questions the information is posted on the website the contact number for Public Works just call them and reach out to them and we will be doing two phone blasts one on the 26th and one on the morning of the 28th to give that information out as well um the fire department will be working in coordination with public works during that testing and shortly thereafter to do some of our flow testing for our hydrants to try and help lower our ISO able to uses we to to do the actual flow Tes and try to get as much done every time the Hy flushing that in a four or five period we can have all of our Hy blow tested which will give us more points on our ISO rating could lower our rating a right now we're like this close to being a two which helps our you know residents with their fire Insurance that's about all I have thank you thank you Chief Johanna I just would like to remind everyone that no November 5th is election day in case they haven't turned on a television and District 3 and District Four will be voting at the municipal building as they used to not at Tai school and that's all I have great thank you we will now open up to I have two questions first before we open um for one for Ed and one for Scott first for Ed uh what do we what do we need to do to get moving on on the design and Engineering for the uh bike Lanes on Atlantic are are you do you need a a PO or a contract or so I think the plan is that we're going to kind of do the next design for the next phase of the Atlantic Avenue Road Project along with the design of the bike lanes and hopes that we can have an overlap there so that if we do get this grant like we talked about for the next phas of caving on Atlantic Avenue we can work that into you know so that way we're not painting it twice so right um so that that's more or less in progress and and so what do we think the timing is of that Grant I because I don't want to you know wait for that and then not be ready to paint right so the so the timing of that Rog we would expect to honestly like day okay typically so we're still good then not not to worry yeah typically he October November okay yep right as long as we're ready before Memorial Day next year that's as we said was a little bit hectic when we painted it the weekend before Memorial day last year so I would appreciate if we could make sure that project was done we'll do it two weeks before but again so the goal is to have the the balance of the city done before that date correct all right good good good uh my second question goes to the solicitor I if you could just explain to me the timeline of the purchase for the gas station and um are we are we gonna pay so you said we you thought we would settle by the end of the year so we pay what does that H is Exxon obligated to do something in some kind of time frame that we're not waiting for five years now we have an agreement this site to be remediated drafted we met with exxon's Representatives about five or six of us mayor was there eded was there we did over Remington and ver there is an agreement there will be a timeline what we'd like them to do is tear the building down at their cost uh and then dig out and remove any contaminated soil or if they found any additional tanks and do that this we're trying to get it this year we want that done and U to that end as for settling our contract says we settled by the end of the year and indeed I just as we were talking I was got an email and Frank Brenan the attorney for for Taylor he wanted to know if we could set that timing up for settlement but then leted Bud Taylor have a few weeks to shut down his business and get his things out afterwards and I I really don't see a problem with that that's pretty common with commercial transactions we buying commercial properties huh well we're still under due diligence which means we have to accept the Exon agreement as to how they intend to deal with the site so we still in fact as I extended it today that due diligence ran out November 5th we had the option to get one more 30 just as a protective I did it for one more month he's acknowledged it and so we are we're moving along with that we're I hope to settle before the end of the year and I think our bonding is done right we'll have the funding available so so so again just so I understand my my question is if they tear down the building and they uh you know do their whatever they their testing in the site and there's contamination there we not it there is there is okay so what what are we talking about is there a risk that we could own that site and not be able to do anything there for five years no because that that risk is not there you could still Park on top of we're not building a building we're using it as a parking so so okay but the idea is that we want that I think the idea is that we want that to be a park as well ideally like to have it partially Park some maybe some trees or Landscaping maybe benches the I don't have the agreement back from Exxon I can't pinpoint the exact time that they will uh Implement their work I don't have a scope of Works yet but that's still coming we still theoretically could get out of the agreement and by if we were not satisfied with what Exxon presents to us right okay again my only fear is that we pay him the money yeah and then we can't do anything there for years because I know how remediation things go and that's one of our biggest fears too and that was something we really spent a lot of time on talking with the Exxon Representatives their environmental consultant their engineer and with Eddie's help I I I think we'll be okay can you add anything to that picture Ed no I I would just say generally you know that what you're the concern that you're raising Mor is exactly the main has been the main topic of discussion I would only just hesitate to give any precise answers because it's still under negotiation there's back and forth happening and all that but that is I think that's the only scenario that the city would really accept okay good thank you and I just want to add we did I did specifically ask the question about the time and uh Exon representative said within four to8 weeks from when we told them we needed them on the site they would be able to get there so um so all of these things obviously are still negotiating when closing is when the building when we take possession um when any of the remediation e efforts would take place but we are backing down from um the anticipated date where we want to open that Park and parking lot uh to get to the date we need got it I don't again I don't mean to be negative and I am a glass half full guy but they promised to clean up the vald spill and uh you know how that went all right nothing further commissioner that's all I have all right we will now open up to public comment anyone has any comment for any items discussed during this meeting please step forward to the microphone state your name and address hi Sher lilan Feld I'm at 7809 Wellington Avenue morgate uh not to be a dead horse about this parking lot commissioner blumberg brings up a good point I'm kind of like what like from the real estate transactions I'm familiar with doing I'm a commercial real estate agent and residential why you closing before it's cleaned up like normally the seller cleans it up and then you close is there a reason for the end of the year does that have to do with the bonds and how you're financing it like why are you going to close and then and then wait for them to clean it because then the incentives gone and I'm assuming then there'll be money in escrow as well I can answer yeah they have done most of their cleanup okay and oil tank removal there are 19 monitoring Wells at that site okay one of the reasons they have not 100% cleaned it off is because the building is still there there are two oil tanks or fuel tanks that are under that building which they have not had the ability to pull out without tearing down the building and they couldn't really do that if Taylor was still operating his business there so instead it was a system of monitoring which could go on for many many years from now that that contamination would so slowly denigrate and go down help me out if I go wrong here any so but now with the city buying it we want them to tear down the building so in other words Bud will close his business they'll tear it down instead of having to wait for many many years to have that contamination remain in Margate remain at that site presumably over time possibly even spread we'll have it removed that's that's what the game thing so the building's going to come down before or after you close it's going to come down after we close so then the question and we put him out of business he's out of business yeah but why why don't they take that's the reason why because he would be out of business doesn't want to go out of business unless he sold it I okay got it got that okay got it and are they putting money in escrow not Taylor we have a SE agreement with Exxon I mean Exxon yeah well they they have a we will have a firm contract with Exxon to do look I don't have to tell you because I know you consult a lot with real estate contracts and you fair amount probably yes I know I refer to you sometimes if not I'll give you a call um no but you know you always tell people like don't assum the risk let let them take care of it okay fair enough I don't want to labor this I just it was I'm was just curious like why you're closing ahead of all that and I think commissioner blumberg was curious about that too like the incentive um I do have a question on item X Ed always knows I always have questions for him um it says reconstruction of Winchester Avenue I drive by there all the time like what is actually going on there I see it looks like there's infr structure going on there like Ed what what what is that reconstruction so so typically when we do our road reconstruction projects we'll look at all the utilities that in the ground and we'll upgrade whatever needs to be upgraded before we pay the street so there's utility work in addition to the road work and that's what you see right now ility okay and then um just in general you know I always say this about all of your Capital Improvement projects and Ed and I have talked about this that whenever possible that you consider green infrastructure Alternatives we live on an island where um there's not great drainage not a lot of PR space and um so I I just always like to remind you of that because somehow it could get forgotten when you're going out to bids and that's it okay thank you Sher thanks I we'll say we discuss it at every one of our meetings so we do and you say we don't sher's gonna come and remind us that we do here I am thank you Sherry any more public comment L Alexander 9704 veter Avenue bringing up the subject again about the zoom um I started beginning of the summer and here we are again don't have an answer do you have any so Lena this is only comments on things discussed that Workshop oh so I have to bring this back on Thursday you can just wait till the regular commission meeting okay in public comment thank you all right is there a motion to close public comment motion oh we have another it's out that I think unless it's in relation to the bathrooms at the fields which uh it Wass yeah so that would wait for the next meeting as well Ros no in about 15 20 minutes probably all right is there a motion to close public comment motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg yes commissioner horn yes is there a motion to adjourn motion second mayor Collins yes commissioner blumberg yes commissioner horn yes all right we'll take a two-minute break before we move into the next meeting