this meeting will come to order under the provisions of njsa 10-46 notice that in time and place of this meeting was given by way of an annual meeting notice to The Star Ledger Courier News and the home news and posted at Burrow Hall start off with a salute to the flag I tucked you under there too tight DG sorry you good yeah I'm close enough I pledge alance to the of the United States of America and to the republ for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay Mr yeah all right F okay I your name I jack the lick to solemnly swear to solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey I will bear true faith and alance to the same that I will bear true Fai and allegiance to the same to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will fairly and that I will fairly partially partially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of May according to the best of my ability help congratulations all right pict it up right thank M better go now congratulations I I Michael swear swear support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I will be share true faith and allegiance to the same and to the government's establish in the United States to the governments established in the United States and in the state and in the state under the authority of the people under under the authority of the and that I will faithfully and I will Faithfully partially and partially justly justly perform all the duties of counsil all the duties of counsil according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me congratul this next I your name I Kevin doie you solemnly swear you solemnly swear I support the Constitution United States but I support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the state of New Jersy and the constitution of the state of New Jersey I will bear true faith and allegiance to the saints that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Saint to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state Under The Authority Under the authority of the people that I will faithfully and that I will Faithfully partially and partially and justly and justly perform all the duties of counsilman perform all the duties of counsilman according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability help me so help me God thank looks like it did it before couple thank you okay Linda take the role okay mayor michek present councilman KS councilman conahan here councilman dinino here councilman Dodie here councilman Quinn here councilman Rex here administrator La Place here and tonight we have attorney Flynn here okay moving on to the list okay we have resolution 1- 12024 the appointment of Christopher M corini of seos schlack corini Warner gesp grck and Fisher PA as the bur attorney for the year 2024 I have a motion moot second okay roll Council M Conan yes councilman Dino yes counsilman Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes and councilman Rex yes okay my firm is very appreciative and thank you all thank you m okay moving on up to the mayor's address I guess that's me all right good evening and welcome I would like to thank the people of middle sex for electing me to represent you I'll do my best I want to thank my running mates Michael conahan and Kevin Dodie we knew what we needed to get done and despite our varied work schedules and commitments we made it happen my sincere Thanks goes out to our campaign team and the burough of middle sex Republican organization there's a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes even in an uncontested election from fundraising to campaign materials to events to reporting you guys were phenomenal in helping Kevin Mike and I able to concentrate on campaigning I'd like to thank our my colleagues on the council and thank you judge catell for taking the time to swear Us in it's always a it's always an honor when you come here more most importantly I like to thank my wife and family I said this before and I'll say it again I'm nothing without them they are the ones that make the most sacrifices as anything I do for the town is at a direct cost in terms of time away from them their willingness to see the big picture and sacrifices made to support me leaves me forever grateful for their love and support I'm starting my 10th year as a part of the middle sex leadership this time as mayor I've seen a lot of things happen in that time and I feel we are on a good path we made excellent progress in a number of ways over the last few years John John Madden listed many of these during his farewell speech at the last meeting and is an impressive list I would like i' like to mention a few highlights we still have a way to go fiscally but we have added to the Surplus and plan to continue on this path however inflation will continue to have an impact on our operating costs as well as financing of capital projects proper budgeting and planning will be key in combating and preventing us taking a step back we will be as fiscally conservative as possible several years ago was a part of a council mtic committee with Kevin Dodie where with then new new Chief Matt G we worked on a long-term plan for the middle sex Police Department this year we reached two of the major milestones we implemented dispatching added supervisory coverage on the road and returned to a full complement of officers we didn't always have the support we needed but a belief in and a commitment to seeing the plan through was key to making it happen our Police Department represents the embodiment of what dedicated professional law enforcement agency is supposed to be they are committed to keeping us safe and I'm proud to have been associated with them for all these years although not popular with many residents we did get through the long overdue revaluation our updated 10-year master plan promotes efficient use of opportunities while enabling enabling us to secure the Lincoln Statue Park as burrow property and to provide adequate housing without the need for more large Apartments despite the successes we still have some significant challenges and some pesky outstanding challenges facing this burrow two of the more public outstanding issues are flooding and Lake kraton these may take years to work through but they are definitely going to remain a priority lesson five of General colen Po's a leadership primer States tra strategy equals execution all the great ideas and Visions in the world are worthless if they can't be implemented rapidly and efficiently the Crux of the lesson is that as a leader you need to have a knowledge of and pay attention to the operational details if a project is going to be completed I mention this as we're going to make some organizational changes in 2024 to help us outline our current status develop short-term and long-term goals and put us in the best position with a defined plan to achieve them to accomplish this we will be moving back to a council mtic committee form of government this will be completed in early February as to make an amendment to the bylaws this move is organized ation Al sound efficient promotes discussion and collaboration and will increase transparency of our burrow operations as a byproduct of this change our main areas will not only be reporting on current activities but also to report on goals and progress towards each during the year over the years I found this to be an effective way to track and encourage progress towards and attaining goals additionally we will be requesting departments commissions and committees on on a scheduled basis to come in and present to the p and present to the council and public on their activities at Council meetings it may seem like a lot of work for all involved but having a firm grasp on where you're trying to get to and more importantly the plan to get there is the way to have the best chance of success I'd like to talk about volunteerism the burrow Council fire department OEM Rescue Squad and many of the Committees and commissions in Middle sex burrow made up of volunteers and these volunteers are the backbone of what makes our burrow tick unfortunately volunteers has taken a bit of a hit in the past few years with some of our key areas being down a significant number of members to the point where their ability to be effective is being challenged maybe it's a matter of people not having enough knowledge that many of these services are volunteers or perhaps a culture that being brought up on door Dash and other services not realizing that these services that are free now will no longer be able able to be sustained without an influx of new members this will happen quickly especially as our old members continue to age out middle sex residents need to take notice of this and get involved I'll be discussing volunteerism and formulating a committee shortly to get moving on this critical matter in a more formalized fashion finally for our residents our dedicated employees and volunteers that we are very grateful for I'd like to wish everyone a happy healthy prosperous New Year in deference to John Madden I try not to be grandol fqu with this address he'll have to look that one up in his The Source thank you very much all right Mike uh thank thank you mayor um great job with that I wanted to start by thanking all the middle sex residents who supported uh supported me back in November which successfully secured my reelection starting uh tonight thanks to the entire middle sex B Republican organization uh especially our Campaign Committee I Know Jack mentioned this um in addition to The Campaign Committee a special thanks to uh Steve Greco Joe denza and and also Mike compes who's uh sick and cannot be here tonight most importantly a big thank you to my family uh for all their continued support uh starting with my wife matalena of almost 25 years and my two beautiful daughters uh Jacqueline who is here tonight and um Megan who couldn't be she's at o olmv she's stuck in CCD class so I wanted to again uh I know the mayor touched on this take a moment to thank John Madden I know he's at another swearing in down in miltown um for all of his years of volunteer service to our burrow especially as a uh five years as a councilman and the last four years as our mayor I want to congratulate my two Ronny mates for this past election Kevin Dodie and Jack mikic Kevin will make an immediate positive impact to our burrow as Jack will also as our new mayor in addition Jack will pick up where John Madden left off and continuing to lead middle sex in the right direction uh we accomplished a lot in 2023 uh we also laid the groundwork for other initiatives and projects some of which will come to fruition this year uh some examples are the emergency erosion repairs behind Heather Lane uh a fully staffed Police Department for the first time in over 10 years uh reinstituting the environmental commission creating an engineered uh master plan of Victor Crow Park and a complete overhaul of both playgrounds in Mountain View Park Plus an outside adult SL senior Fitness Center and much needed brand new bathrooms some projects may take longer and some examples are instituting a solar program which we we we got the conversation started in 2023 working with the scataway to extend William Street West and engage with uh prospective redevelopers uh who specialize in new senior housing we we need more senior housing in 2024 we were uh we need to be on the on the governing body needs to be laser focused on new revenue for the burrow especially me this is where I plan to leverage my 29 almost 30 years of business experience uh to uncover potentially new revenue streams for Middle sex some ideas are completing the public sale very soon probably in the first quarter uh which was initiated uh late last year in 2023 for the former fire headquarters property there are numerous other empty burrow owned properties throughout middle sex there are uh that we will look to sell and public sale similar to the fire headquarters also the Bakin Avenue pumping stage Pro pumping station project which will save us approximately $250,000 per quarter or $1 million um after the first year we currently pay that to the scatter however my number one priority in closing always has been and always will continue to be uh my family my second priority is working and providing for my family which typically consumes UH 60 to 70 hours per week uh whatever time is left after my family and work is spent making middle sex better I look forward to serving all of our residents over the next three years thank you and happy New Year there Mr Jody thank you mayor first of all I'd like to say thank you to my wife for letting me do this one more time you did say one more and this is it and my family putting up with this again because it is a lot of work my and my two running mates that we put the time in during the campaign and really didn't have to but it was good going around this town and seeing it again there's a lot of pocket that when you live here you're in your neighborhood you don't realize what is out there and I'm sure Jack he's told me that I'm was going to be idle and then it was it's been years since I sat here exact I believe it's four years I was encouraged by the party especially Mr Greco to come back and do this again and I appreciate that Joe thank you and Mike who's not here sick they did a fantastic job we didn't have to worry about anything on the administrative side when we were campaigning which is fantastic um as far as what I would like to do is keep the ball rolling like this current Council has make this town better for all of us I have to live here also I need to keep it affordable so I can stay here and serve you just like everybody else in this room I am an open book you need to talk to me I'm the kind of person you call me if I don't answer I will call back anybody in this room that has ever dealt with me knows that if you don't agree with me you can walk up to me and tell me that and we can have a debate about who's right and if you can convince me I'm wrong I'm wrong and I'll be the first person to say that and that's part of serving you I appreciate everybody that supported me during the election that voted for me I know that there was you know a little uh tension there because I did come from the other side but I'm for Middle sex I'm not you know that that's what it's about that's why I want to do this um I could have stayed at home I prefer to be here believe it or not um I I don't know even where to go after that I I just appreciate the support like I said I hope I can live up to the standards of the current Council and you mayor Madden and our current mayor Jack M thank you and happy New Year okay guys um moving on on to the appointments I need a uh a nomination for council president like to nominate U Michel Conan do I have a second second okay uh take the roll okay okay councilman caram yes councilman dinino yes councilman Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes councilman Rex yes congratulations Mike Linda if you would uh read off the fire department officers please okay the 2024 fire officers is Chief Kenneth BTO Deputy fire chief shaan young assistant fire chief Eric showman company number one Lincoln Captain Brian Maddox Lieutenant Jason Frank engine 21 Joseph McCauley assistant engineer 21 Mark rage engineer T25 Brian Oliver and honorary assistant Captain Mor Kachi company number two Beachwood Heights Captain Darren lebein Lieutenant cukus Jr assist engineer 22 Randy rednick assistant engineer Jake R company number three Pierce Captain Steven Bird Lieutenant Bill winlan engineer Chad ulet assistant engineer Sean Kaplan Company Number Four Parker Captain John pesar Lieutenant Jeff Meyer engineer Rob poera and assistant engineer Andy castaldo Jr all these officers were sworn in yesterday on January 1st 2024 do we have to do a motion or anything at this point okay motion to accept motion second uh roll call please counil Conan yes counil dinino yes councilman doie councilman Quinn and councilman Rex yes okay uh Linda you would please uh read off the uh nominations uh not requiring okay Council the mayor's appointments for 20124 that require no confirmation beautification committee georgis Georgio Bobby Vino Recreation committee Steven Greco Michael conahan and Shay Tre commission Jeff Killian okay okay good on number four please I have the mayor's appointments for 2024 that require confirmation the Housing and Community in development is Carol Schroeder the library board is Jim Benson and Dave Oliver swim pool commission is Lee po andle Don Klein Board of Health is Steve Ember John Eller's alternate one and Rich jilia senior is alternate two the cultural and Heritage committee is hardi Shaw Mark Holmes and Mark CR joint lanu board is John Madden class one Mark CR class 4 councilman dinino class three Paul Wasa class 4 stepen Greco class two and Todd nicolay alternate one the parks Improvement committee is Frank Ryan Rich thomasy Christen Bennett and Amry cber is alternate one okay I need a motion motion second you roll call please okay I have cman K I'm sorry councilman Conan yes councilman dinino yes councilman Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes and councilman Rex yes yes okay okay the 2024 Council Lea on appointments please okay the mayor's 2024 Council the A on appointments are Board of Ed mik Conan Board of Health Martin Quinn County swack Transportation Doug Rex Housing and Community Development Doug Rex OEM Kevin Dodie joint Lage board Robert doino Recreation committee Doug Rex shade Tre commission Martin Quinn swim poool commission Doug Rex fire Kevin Dodie Police Court is Kevin Dodie zoning code enforcement is Martin Quinn Recreation is Doug W Public Works recycling buildings and grounds is Bert toino Finance is Michael conahan Administration is Jeremiah corn construction is Martin Quinn Rescue Squad is Kevin Dodie disabled in Senior Services is Jeremiah corns environmental commission is Robert toino the culture and Heritage committees to be determined the film committee is Jeremiah corn and the parks Improvement committee is Michael Conan and Doug bre we don't need a motion correct no okay at this point we're getting up to the point where we would have the appointment know Professional Services before we start that we're going to take a quick five minute recess for family members and uh friends that want to avoid the Christmas rush and get out of here this would now be the time going to start with the appointment of the Professional Services Alinda if you'll take us through okay I have resolution 22 22024 appointment of su Clooney and Company as the bur auditor for the year 2024 have a motion motion second okay R councilman conahan yes councilman dinino yes councilman Dodie yes Council Quinn yes and counil Rex yes just resolution 32024 appointment of colar engineering design as the B engineer for the year 2024 motion second okay councilman conahan yes coun din cman Dodie yes cman Quinn yes and coun Rex yes I have resolution 4 2024 appointment of narian Associates as the environmental engineer for the year 2024 motion second councilman Conan yes councilman dinino yes councilman Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes and councilman Rex yes I have resolution 5 2024 appointment of environmental resolutions as alternate engineer for the year 2024 motion second okay Council M Conan coun Dino yes coun doie yes counc Quinn yes counc Rex yes resolution 6 2024 appointment of Colliers engineering and design as the C4 license operator for the year 2024 motion second councilman conahan yes councilman dinino coun Dodie coun Quinn counil Rex yes resolution 7224 appointment of Dilworth Paxton LLP as a bond attorney for the year 2024 motion second Council MC Conan yes councilman dinino yes counc Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes councilman Rex yes resolution 8 2024 appointment of Michael Kachi Esquire of Kachi Law firm LLC as the bough prosecutor for the year 2024 motion second counsilman conahan yes counil dinina yes coun Dodie yes counsilman Quinn yes counsilman Rex yes resolution 92024 appointment of puie Vic dermit Mastro Murphy as the borrow labor attorney for the year 2024 second councilman Conan yes coun dinino yes coun doie yes coun Quinn yes councilman Rex yes resolution 10 2024 appointment of Ricky planning as a borrow planner for the year 2024 motion second counc Conan yes counil dinino counc M do councilman Quinn councilman Rex yes resolution 11 2024 appointment of sa schlack corini Warner gesp grck and fiser Pa as the Redevelopment attorney attorney for the year 2024 motion second coun Conan yes C din yes coun doie yes C Quinn yes councilman Rex yes resolution 12 2024 appointment of Rothstein Mandel stroll hm and Sani as conflict Redevelopment attorney for the year 2024 motion second coun M Conan yes coun M dinino yes coun mie yes C Quinn C re yes resolution 13 2024 appointment appointment of Marco bonucci of the firm Marco bonucci LLC as a public defender for the year 2024 motion second councilman Conan yes counil dinino yes counsman doie yes coun Quinn yes counsilman Rex yes resolution 14 2024 appointment of King Munch and Collins LLP as the conflict Municipal attorney for the year 2024 motion second Council M Conan yes coun dinino yes councilman Dodie yes coun Quinn coun Rex yes resolution 15 2024 appointment of King Munch and Collins LLP as the environmental attorney for the year 2024 motion second councilman Conan yes Council dinino yes councilman dony yes Council Quinn yes councilman Rex yes resolution 16 2024 appointment of sa schlock corini Warner GES oik and fiser Pa as a tax appeal attorney for the year 2024 motion second Council M Conan yes coun Dino yes counil Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes counc Rex yes resolution 17 2024 appointment of Roberty Spangler as alternate public defender for the year 2024 motion second Council Conan yes Council dinino yes coun doie yes councilman Quinn yes Council Rex yes resolution 18 2024 appointment of Bruno Associates as a grant writer for the for the year 2024 motion second councilman Conan yes counil dinino yes coun doie councilman Quinn yes Council Rex yes and resolution 19 2024 appointment of North American Insurance management Acure LLC as risk manager Risk Management Consultant for the bur of middle middlex for 2024 motion Council K yes councilman dinino yes coun doie counil Quinn Council Rex yes deep breath take a deep breath SL all right ready for the uh consent you good ready good all right okay I have resolution 20 2024 adopting Robert's Rules of Order resolution 21 2024 approval official newspapers for 2024 resolution 22 2024 appointing Michael Le to serve as fund commissioner to the central Jersey joint Insurance Fund for 2024 resolution 23 2024 authorizing the treasur to reinvest funds for 2024 resolution 24 2024 authorizing filing and sett settlement of tax appeals resolution 25 2024 appointing the pcka office officer for 2024 resolution 26 2024 regular meeting dates resolution 27 2024 appointing Kelsey Miker Deputy clerk at an annual salary of 56,000 effective immediately resolution 2128 2024 authorizing the tax collector to charge a fee of $25 per tax sale notice to conduct tax sales when unpaid taxes or any Municipal lean onreal property remain in reers at the close of the fiscal year resolution 29 2024 authorizing the tax collector to collect interest on delinquent taxes resolution 30 2024 canceling small sewer balances resolution 31 2024 approval for reimbursement of the clerk's Department police department and Recreation Department's petty cash fund resolution 32 2024 approval of the middlex bur rescue task force members and medical advisor for 2024 resolution 33 2024 appointing to the local office of emergency management membership effected January 1 202 4 through December 31 2024 resolution 34224 appointing Jack Costa as Municipal Emergency Management coordinator and Lee po andle as Deputy Municipal Emergency Management coordinator effective January 1 2024 through December 31st 2026 resolution 35224 appointing the bur's office of emergency management auxiliary members effected January 1 2024 through December 31 2024 resolution 36 2024 appointing ADP Inc to provide payroll services for 2024 resolution 37224 establishing a cash management plan for the burough of middle SE for the year 2024 resolution 38 2024 approval of fire department drivers for 2024 resolution 39224 a resolution to provide for a temporary budget for payment of claims until the adoption of the 2024 budget resolution 40-22 is endorsing the biocal policy to support the businesses and professional community in Middle sex burough anyone need to pull any of these no no okay motion motion second councilman conahan yes councilman dinino yes councilman Dodie yes councilman Quinn yes and councilman Rex yes want me say at this time and at this time anyone wishing to be sworn in please come to the elect turn and mayor michek will swear you in if anyone wishes to be sworn in no okay no good okay all right I'd like to open the meeting for the public portion motion please motion second all in favor I all right anybody wishing to come up take your name and address all right at this point I'd like to um have a motion to close the public portion motion second right all in favor all right at uh before we adjourn I just want to say uh thank you all for coming um you you do have a a thorough Council team here that is dedicated and we really want to do a good job for you people and that's that's our goal you know and we're going to be organized about it and uh you know we can't say it enough it's it's not just us we like to thank everyone who volunteers especially the burrow employees um you know they're they're kind of like the youngsung her because they're the one that catch all the crap when it goes down the pan sometimes and and it's important to realize that they do do a good job and sometimes it's a matter of us not not providing the guidance that they need or the resources they need to do the job that that sometimes are expected of them uh motion to adjourn motion second all in favor I thank you everybody