he good evening everyone welcome to the January 18th 2024 meeting of the special improvement district uh explore Milburn Short Hills I will be serving as secretary this evening in absence of Tracy cat LaVine uh who is recovering from surgery and we wish her a speedy recovery um and I will go through all of the administrative items until we appoint a chair uh as you all know um Michael pario did not come back after his term ended last year so we'll have to reappoint a chair later on I'll read the sunshine compliance notice the time date location and agenda of this meeting to the extent known was provided at least 48 hours prior to the commencement of the meeting in the following manner pursuant to the provisions of njsa 1046 open public meetings act notice was published posted in town hall and on the Township's website by notification of newspapers on December 19th 2023 of the schedule for 2024 and providing notice to the Township Clerk I'll read the submission statement the purpose of a special improvement district is to promote grow and support local businesses Property Owners residents and visitors mil mil Milburn Township Sid ordinance designates a new District Management corporation whose mission is to encourage the economic cultural and social Vitality of Milburn Township through increased marketing and visibility improved and renewed infrastructure and local business development and engagement we could also the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible and jce for all also if we could have a moment of silence uh Albert Jacob was the owner of the sonoko uh on Short Hills uh on Short Hills Avenue unfortunately he passed away on December 27th of last year um so we did send a letter of condolence to his family on behalf of the bid um but uh just if we could have a moment of silence please thank you I'll do a roll call um but why don't we do introductions first since we have um at least one new member this evening so we'll start with Miss Clark and I will then do a formal roll call hello I'm Alexa Clark I am co-owner of taste buddy on Milburn [Music] Avenue Ben Stoler uh representing the township committee and stepen Wier my wife and I own Splurge Bakery over on Main Street Richard waserman serving as mayor's representative and uh and uh I guess I guess co-founder along with Jackie good evening everyone Jackie Benjamin lieberberg serving in the Resident elect chair thank you Timothy Hoffman the assistant business administrator representing the township Administration Ryan Cooper councel to explore mour shorts Amanda Dean marketing director of explore Milburn shills Steve gillo executive director of explore Milburn shills welcome to 2024 everyone um so tonight Tracy cats LaVine could not be here she's recovering from surgery as I mentioned and Ashley Schulz unfortunately has covid so he is not joining joining us either um with that we have to perform the reorganization of the board um we're going to start with the oath of Allegiance so I'm going to pass this out and then Mr Cooper will administer it to everyone do we stand or sit for [Music] this um great and would you like me to administer this oath to uh you everyone yeah that'd be that'd be great um so uh I'll ask so let me introduce myself again I know I know many of you but some of you I've met for the first time so welcome councilman Zer welcome congratulations welcome all to the the new board members um my name is Ryan cooper cooper LLC in Council to explore Milburn short H so I will administer the oath uh of office to all of the members of the Board of Trustees and so I will ask that you would all stand up at this moment okay I ask you to raise your right hand please and uh state after me and I'll try and break this up so I state your name Liber do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constition of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same and 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 I do further solemnly swear I do further swear that I will faithfully impartially and justly that I will Faithfully impartially andly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of of the office of Milbourne Short Hills business organization Inc Board of Trustees mbour Hills business organization Inc Board of Trustees according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God thank you congrat ulations you can all sit down and you've all been sworn in if you could just sign them and then pass them down I believe you have to authorize them great so please pass them to Mr Cooper the next item of business is the conflict of interest and compensation policy so this is something that we do every year I'm going to pass out copies and then there's a separate signature page as well um and so you will keep the copy of the document and then you will return the signature page to me and this is the same document that we provided to all of you last year so keep the larger stapled one return the one page to me and while you're all doing that I'm going to also pass out our board member responsibilities document it's a short two-page document that describes the obligations of the members of the board we also uh did this last year in our reward as well and that is for you to keep no position thank you trustee right and give this back to the conflict of interest comes to me okay and then keep the packet the board responsibilities document what's what's today 18 we're we're almost done with paperwork sir all right next we have election of officers so um as you all recall we have uh three officers um and Ben just so that you know you are a voting member of the board the township committee liaison is a voting member uh we have two non voting Richard as the mayor's designate and Tim as the business administrators designate so everybody else has a vote um as well as the two members that are are absent tonight okay um we gotta get you on boarded here you know we gotta know all the rules okay so election of officers um so we have a Treasurer a secretary and a chair um this year we we have a ated chair position um but we do have two individuals Tracy who is the current Secretary and Steven who is the current Treasurer who would like to return in those roles um and then we also need to take action to find a chair so uh why don't we do the secretary and Treasurer first Stephen I assume you will accept the nomination once again yes I do and Tracy has confirmed such via email um and so are there any other nominations for those glorious positions of Treasurer and Secretary of the bid board they are great positions they are glorious hearing no others uh can we do a roll I'm sorry I just want to be clear if you just State the motion for the record sure um would someone make a motion to approve both I would I would like to make a motion to approve uh the uh re re uh assignment of Tracy cats LaVine as secretary and Stephen Wier as treasurer of exploring mbour Short Hills for the calendar year 2024 is there a second all right the motion lber second Clark um roll call vote Alexa Clark yes Tracy catline abscent Jackie Benjamin liberg yes Ben Stoler can I ask a question yes can I abstain because I don't know the people you absolutely can so I'll abstain okay Mr Schultz is not here and Mr Winer uh yes I assume I can vote you can vote for your yes you can vote for yourself you can vote for yourself right terrific uh now we need to have someone make a motion the motion just for the record the motion carries the motion carries uh three yes no Nos and one abstention uh all right we need another motion to appoint a chair uh and naming that individual um Ryan am I am I okay to make a motion yeah you can you can make and it'll be a nomination you can nominate a person for the chair sure that's okay and you can do so yes so with that being said I'd like to nominate my good friend uh Jackie lieberberg uh to be chair um as a longtime member uh she's intricately involved U with all that goes on with the bid she's a tireless worker and uh and a great friend I you mean to say that about Stephen I mean I'm just saying you know so I'd like to make a motion that she become the next chair do I have a second I wholeheartedly second the motion I've very much enjoyed working with Jackie and look forward to in the coming year okay um all right sorry just is there any you have to call for any is there any other nominations hearing none we'll take a roll call vote Alexa Clark yes Jackie lieberberg yes Ben Stoler and Steven weiner yes motion carries three yes no no one exstension okay very good now we are on to committee assignments this should be pretty easy yes Mr Cooper so at this time uh chair Pro I would ask that um truste Leber take the chair and congratulations big shoes to fill Michael did a great job so Madam chair would you mind if I continue no please do sir okay very so we have four standing committees the marketing and branding committee events and planning business advocacy and bylaws and governance um Amanda staffs the marketing and events I staff business advocacy bylaws and governance um Tracy has asked to come back in her role um on both marketing and branding as well as events and planning um Lex has been on that as well um so we are great with two members ideally three if we can have it um so would you like to continue in your role okay um and then do we have anybody else that would like to join either the marketing committee or the events committee okay and you're going to be exempt because you managed to say that you have six other committees you serve on then so you do not have to join any subcommittees out of difference to your schedule please don't feel obligated um business advocacy um we have Ashley Jackie and Richard however uh since Michael left the board we do need to fill a seat on the governance committee so my suggestion was that Ashley and Richard would remain on business advocacy and then Stephen and Jackie would be the members of the bylaws and governance committee and then everyone is accounted for sounds good so I'll just read those off for the record marketing and branding is Tracy and Alexa events and planning Tracy and Alexa um uh events yes events and planning business advocacy Ashley and Richard uh bylaws and governance Stephen and Jackie okay very good and then I'm just going to pass out the meeting schedule for next year um there was a one minor change since our December meeting um so you'll actually notice on here um May 18th is going to be founding day and the Centennial of Taylor park it was a couple weeks earlier if I remember um so we changed that date so just update your calendars here um but our meeting schedule is the same our meeting schedule the same so what you'll see here folks is it's broken down by month um the board meeting is listed in the second column the only one that deviates from the 6:30 start is our annual meeting in October which we always do at 5:30 the advisory committee which none of you serve on but you are welcome to attend um that's going to be in January April September and November and then the events themselves Restaurant Week founding day girls night out Etc um those are listed in the uh the far right column so just circle your calendars and certainly if anyone has any questions feel free to reach out and this is of course available on our website and we will send you plenty of email Emil updates as we always all right I'll do the minutes since it's also Tracy's job okay and then I think I'm gonna stop talking really appreciate Tracy yeah really appreciate it right um okay so we have three sets of closed session minutes um so that would be the minutes from the September 12 2023 meeting the November 16th 2023 and the December 14th 2023 um to my recollection the only member that was absent um was Lex in the December meeting and obviously Ben was not appointed at that time so just um to clarify because this comes up frequently and um the ultimate vote is um one for the decision of the the individual trustee but not being present is not a bar to voting to approve the minutes if you believe those minutes to be an accurate reflection uh of the um uh of what took place at the meeting okay so I know many uh people often abstain and again decisions up to the individ individual board member I just wanted to communicate that it's not a legal requirement um so with that said um you do the one by one oh so no well my advice would be a motion either um a motion to approve all four or serial motions to approve them individually whatever is the board's pleasure one of you can make a motion to do whatever Mr grer suggests yeah I'll make a motion to approve the minutes for the uh Milbourne Short Hills business organization close session September 12th the close session on Thursday the 16th as well as the minutes for the uh executive session minutes on Thursday December 14th as well as the so the four as well as the minutes for the Milbourne Short Hills uh board meeting on Thursday December 14th at 6:30 so that's for we are we are voting on the minutes for four different distinct meetings okay I move that motion second Alexa Clark Tracy catline absent Jackie lieberberg yes yes Ben Stoler Ashley Schultz is absent and Steven weiner yes very good so that motion carries three yes no no and one abstention all right I am done we have a special presentation is Mary Lima on the call very good um oh also just so uh before we get into it did anybody not get a copy of their annual report you you did not I know Ben not one yeah you should have gotten okay um and then also does anybody need a new board member pin they get lost I I believe I do full disclosure you have one all right I have five so that's you you want to pass those okay cool all right so while Amanda's doing that I just want to share we're very excited to have started a partnership with a new lifestyle magazine called Milburn Short Hills Magazine um they are publishing their first edition uh imminently um it was supposed to come out and print today so we'll get some hard copies very soon we do have a digital copy that we're going to show uh they are new to Milburn Short Hills they approached us uh explore uh probably in in the late fall about getting involved in and profiling local businesses um they are very very business business Centric they have done um some really great features on some local businesses as well as explore um has a two-page write up in each one uh which is the around town selection um and so we profile events and new businesses that open Etc um it's a very highly professionally run magazine it's part of a network of of a bunch of others and Mary can speak to uh the full breadth of that but we're very excited um and we look forward to a great year of month Publications coming out um so I think it's going to be a terrific magazine to work with and uh we're thrilled that they gave us the opportunity to take the lead on this so uh if you could promote Mary we can welcome her to the col she's promoted hi can you hear me barely can you speak up or we'll okay can you hear is this better that is better you want to turn your camera on oh is my camera not on that's not good that better can you see me nope not yet well that's not good should be here I didn't even realize I wasn't all right view let's see if we could just do view because the name is across the screen camera's off yeah the camera's off Mary I know I'm trying to yeah to it's right here oh goodness pressure what the heck right hold on thought we were all good to go here um well don't worry about it why why don't you okay so anyway I'm very honored to be uh you we are honored actually to be launching this new milir and Short Hills Magazine with the January issue just days away in people's mailboxes our company um Wayne Scott media has been a leading publisher as Steve mentioned in the state for more than 30 years and just last year we ventured into the targeted Town magazine space we're not the only ones we know that um our first magazine debuted in in Spring Lake this past April since then we've also started magazines in Manasquan tenly one in Austin Texas and you know our hope is to have 30 magazines in our town portfolio by the end of the year um we also uh you know we we also uh publish Bergen magazine Morrison Essex magazine new um New Jersey Home magazine um but I I definitely wanted to thank Steve and explore milour Short Hills most of all for being you know so gracious to Tom Flannery who is the group publisher and myself in sharing information about the town and coming up alongside us you know in this launch we are super happy to be partnering with explor Milburn Short Hills and we are confident that the magazine is going to definitely provide great exposure for your organization every month um like Steve said you will be supplying content about new business openings events taking place I didn't realize you guys were going to have a girls night out so I'm very excited about that coming up um can you hear me there okay great um Steve um and I just wanted to uh to mention that the the department is actually going to be called around town and uh we think it will be a real win-win for both of our organizations so um I'm here to answer any questions I I have a question is this is this publication Jackie Benjamin lieberberg chair um is this publication going to be distributed to every household in Milbourne and short virtually all households it's 3500 residences that will be it will be reaching on a monthly basis and we have a website we will be offering the the magazine digitally we will um you know we have social media and um email blast that kind of thing so um but but the nice thing about it is we're we're really the way the reason why um I think this might be a little bit different than some that are um perhaps you know in reaching mail boxes currently is that we are going to Champion local editorial and we are um really hot to trot to feature people um and that's going to be a big part of this magazine um and of course partnering with local businesses for sure does that answer your question yeah this is Ben Stoler Town council member how will you determine the 3,500 residences from the 6300 or so residents in town it's um yeah individual households it's a it's it's a mixture don't just want to do it you know by um by household income Ben we want to we want to also do it by age groups so we want we want a nice M mix I mean ideally how many how many would you ideally want us to go to well I I just would like to understand how you are Distributing it it's by income if it's by age group if it's by political affiliation what what what is the algorithm that you're Distributing it by exactly um it's it's it's trying to hit both um not only household income because obviously a lot of our our advertisers want to reach a high household income which is great but we also want to reach young families so it's it I would say it's a mix if that if that answers your question you know it's it's it's not just by income Mary this is Steve would you mind taking us through a couple of the highlights and we have the digital copy up I don't know if you can see it on your shared screen but we have it up for the audience I can indeed so um the um cover is of course Emily pisy who has um the new Gallery in I'm just trying to move this is this not moving okay I can I flip it or no you can't but Tim Tim here can so just tell them what you want go ahead go ahead yeah so um we I think that this first issue which you know has been in the works um for a couple of months um is a great representation of of the thrust of editorial that we would like to um to feature um obviously we're going to you know we can we're only as good as um as our advertisers advertising Partners as well in fact as far as advertising Partners go we are looking for you know we're looking for basically business sponsorships if you will so we are really looking for folks to commit to us on a monthly basis so they um are in the magazine um you know regularly and um that support from the businesses obvious obviously is crucial and will will help us be the um you know the high level product that we you know that we aspire to um you know the photography is important as as you know and we have a great photographer we have great writers as as I started um you know in the beginning to to talk about the history of Wayne and Scott we have a lot of Firepower which I think is one of our um you know a real strong suits and um you the one thing about it is that I I don't actually live here I did actually I I did have a brother who I have a brother who who lived here formerly um many you some years ago in the early 2000s so I have spent many um you know a family holiday in Short Hills and I have friends here and I've been um you know I've been working of course with h Wayne Scott media for for many years and I um know a lot of the um you know the folks the business owners in the town like for example Ashley Schultz is somebody I've worked with in the past and um many of the business owners so I'm pretty comfortable you know being in being in the town and and I'm very very excited to delve a little bit deeper um what do you guys think does it look I feel I feel like I'm a little bit a drift here without having my uh profile here I'm not so it's a it's a monthly publication correct it is okay so it's it's ambitious to to um you know to capture the kind of editorial that we we we want um you know the the again the thing that is going to differenti iate us is is the you know championing local editorial that families and residents will want to read and not want you know and not be moved to throw throw it out um so that's why we feel as though if we can keep the caliber of the editorial super super high I think we have a a real opportunity to buoy the businesses and you know be a voice for the community be a connector in some sorts I I have a question is there is there a range of pricing in terms of what you ask for the businesses that want to advertise with you absolutely absolutely um again as I said I I worked you know with some of the other magazines so for example Morris Morris and essic magazine and that um you know that goes to 30,000 so the the basic price point for you know for a for a full pay page runs around almost $3,000 for this we are um we are asking um you know and and we have a um you know a tiered a tiered rate sheet and basically for um you know for two years you know if you if you came on for a two-year commitment um you know the fee would be um 1495 uh yeah I'm sorry um 1350 1345 and um but you know basically it runs around a lot of the folks are some of the folks are are committing to to the 12 month and the and also the two-year we also have a 36 and that you know would be a little bit lower and if they want if uh if businesses are interested do they contact you directly we have your your contact yes yes contact in the publication I'm in the publication um I am uh you know around town setting up meetings uh we just aligned oursel with the book housee so they are going to have a department as well Steve I don't know if we let you know that so we're excited about that um but there's um you know we're working with a lot of the real estate folks we're working with a lot of the Interior Design folks um you know the home Home Improvement folks and uh you know we we have a couple of um a couple of categories which I think we shouldn't be too too hard to you know convince folks to join us and that would be you know Financial wealth advising um you know a dentist in town um so so we're we're looking for you know we we're still on the hunt for some categories and and it's a great you know a great time to align with us because we're really fle you know we're flexible we're willing to um you know to jump through hoops for folks and um we're excited she have special pricing her explore members we haven't discussed that yeah may I mention it or not why not I'm just wondering are you going to uh initiate some special pricing for members of explore that are in within our parameters of our business districts um isn't everybody isn't isn't everybody in the I mean aren we no is this like is this a subset you're talking about that I don't know about yes oh okay and what would and and is Steve can Steve could review with you that offline but there is I but I do believe that part of the worth of value of the organization is to uh present our businesses with um some ideas and some um marketing initiatives that may be compelling to grow their businesses so if in fact um there's a special opportunity that can be extended to them as you launch your inaugural issues I think that would be a um a compelling uh strategy for for you and for us so just putting it out there absolutely I look forward to talking to Steve about that for sure go in the yellow highlighter thank you thank you Mary so very much it's been a pleasure working with you guys and we're looking forward to the hard copies to come hard copies for sure all right thanks all all right good night good night good night I also assume she's G to put some in uh you know I mean obviously town it's like all the local places that would be interested in it's free right so we want to get this out as as much as possible you know like a stack in certain yeah stack in Splurge Bakery a stack in taste buddy right a stack in town hall um I think um yeah we we get deliveries of that just like we do when we get a promotion New Jersey yeah um and perhaps maybe at some point she can have a presentation to you know business the business owners that may be interested in hearing a little bit more about about this publication once once we get some traction maybe not now or February but once we see how it's received and what the content is um I think it's really important if we can um diversify the editorial content if she asks us for our opinion not just us but um maybe she needs an intern um but I'm just mentioning that it it it could be a opportunity for for expansion that's all because we all know that we're lacking in in print media so to speak yes so okay enough said treasurer's report I'm sorry Steve did you want did you want to continue is there anything else treasur report Mr Wier yes thank you new chair thank you chairperson um yes so M mad chair sorry teas I know I'm teasing you got to have a sense of you um yeah first uh wrapping up last year in your materials there is a as of December 31 uh kind of our budget and our final report uh the balance in our bank as of December 31 was $ 36,7 even um we did very well um in terms of um you know rounding out the year having carrying forward that balance um we are expecting approximately 55,000 or is it exactly $55,000 from the town in mid-February 55,000 slight change but yes yeah yeah yeah I think it's not exact but uh so we'll be seeing that as income and then of course as everyone remembers we're dependent on the receipt of of uh when taxes are paids but as you can see in the last year summary we did achieve 100% uh collection of the special assessment which is terrific I it may be the first time we got 100% I think it's always been a few percentages off as I recall but that was great um rest of the numbers again are in your packet we also have that check fraud incident finally very good news uh we recovered in full amount has been deposited Steve what was the final check amount that it was $88,000 even yes that's right on a check that was originally written for $450 exactly yeah it was stolen out of the mail then we went from the fraud process reported it yeah just for and and it took a few months to recover fully but we did it was quite some time we made a police report Etc um but then the bank handled it and we received a check in full for the the amount that was stolen yep so good news we cross that off our list right out of uh sorry Milbourne post office what you think office um so budget refresher also including materials attachment 5B is in Baker excuse me is is just the uh 24 2024 budget which you've seen several times now it's been presented um you'll see a lot of Grants our proposed bottom line income which includes new grant money is $295,900 our initial our public hearing and adoption by the township committee uh then January 12th the final draft of the Sid rooll was presented by the tax assessor I presume today the notice of hearing of the Sid assessment was published it's as of to the DAT so and I believe the envelopes were actually mailed uh to all the assessed properties yesterday oh great so ahead of the January 23rd date which is nice uh and then just two more February 6 we have the role uh public hearing and consideration of approval by the township committee uh for the budget and then of course as I mentioned $55,000 we get that payment um in mid mid-February that's what we've been doing since we were formed uh to to help with uh the expenses until the assessments start uh being received so any questions I just want to clarify um the Sid roll process um because it's not something that you guys ever get involved in it's it's something that I do with the tax assessor um and so every year the tax assessor prints an Excel sheet with every single property in the S um there's a breakout as to what percentage of commercial use is on that property we only assess the commercial portion um and then it breaks down on the commercial assess value versus the percentage that gets us to the $24,000 assessment so I go through that um I compare it to the year prior make sure that no properties are missing make sure that there's any changes to those properties um that that's uh dealt with and then of course if new properties potentially come on the role um that's dealt with as well and so um what the township committee will be asked to approve is that list uh certainly the public has the opportunity to come and contest if they feel like their property has been uh miscalculated um so there's always the possibility that someone will say no my property isn't really 100% commercial actually 50% commercial um that hasn't happened in the past but that is the The public's uh right to do should should there be an error but um I've gone through this with the tax assessor um we both feel like the role is correct and it'll be presented um on February 6 the township and then that role is what is then actually collected from the the property owners any questions on the technical aspect of it okay oh I did want to talk about one specific item so in your packets it's attachment 5c it's right behind the 2024 budget so this year um we really wanted to concentrate on grant funding as well as free services that are available um and so last year I went through probably about 250 potential programs uh through the New Jersey Council of Grant makers and I isolated down about 40 or so that we would be eligible for as an improvement district um what you see on attachment 5c there's the submitted and pending um and so I've been connecting with njedda NJ Transit Lisk njdca as well as some Traditional Bank funders Columbia Bank TD citizens and so they're all in various stages um but I did want to um just highlight um we had a great meeting with Lisk yesterday which is a national not for-profit that uh funds a variety of improvements and we actually talked about creative plac making um to try to help engage um not only the Chinese and Indian communities that have cre have have now um become substantial in the population but also um with the uh development of affordable housing in the town uh we want to certainly make sure that we're creating um accessible spaces in public spaces as well so um Lisk has some uh some great tools for that as well as um some potential funding there but all of this isn't play um there's a couple of others in the further discussion category um there's a couple of different programs where um they're not available yet until February or March so we'll be checking on those and then um we went through about a dozen or so where we're ineligible whether it's based on geography or um some of them don't allow you to apply if you have a funding source like a tax assessment um and then uh so so just went through about 40 of these I think we made great Headway and we've had bunch of meetings over the last two weeks so we're getting a lot of traction on that um and and that is it for this report but this will be an ongoing report that we'll include in the uh budget each month so you'll see as we make progress whether we receive funding or we receive some type of uh training or or other type of program that's just a free service so there's no questions but I'm happy to answer well um Steve do you want to just highlight the website program for our storefronts because I I still I still can't get over it I still and and as somebody that works do you mind if I get to that later in my report CU that's in there I just don't want you to miss that I willon miss it I promise I even have the pizza party list of all the businesses that have received free websites in town yeah so I promise you I won't visit we're up to Mr Stoler yes Township committee report Mr Stoler is there anything you want to mention from the township committee as the liaison to this board that we should be aware of no we uh had our second Township committee I went through a few points from discussions that Mr gorillo and I had prior working on uh mentioned uh some work uh you know for the flooding that we had our potential flooding but luckily we're spared uh some sandbagging uh I was in the back with them with taste buddy as well and tanos and such and I'm just knock on wood happy that we were able to avoid a disaster down town and I guess we have snow on the way tomorrow so I guess my 12-year-old keeps checking in with me see if the school's canc early dismissal what's that early dismissal oh really okay I haven't seen it yet so she kep early dismissal and happy to be here too thank you thank you very much uh Mr Hoffman business administrative report ESS two Street conversion public meeting you want to tell us a little bit about that please sure good evening everybody so there will be a public meeting for the ess6 street two-way conversion either in early to mid February once we have a concrete date we that will be broadly advertised um just have a couple other updates to share uh that will that may impact the business community in one way or another uh PSG will be continuing to do more work throughout town but we'll be conducting overnight work at the corner of Spring Street and Milburn Avenue in about two weeks um that work will be done between 8 be done between 8:00 pm and 8 6:00 a.m. um as PS tying in the gas gas Mains again that will be communicated further when we know specifics um there will also be some service work done overnight at the corner of Milburn AV and Main Street over a three-day work per uh three-day period that work timeline is still to be determined but again that will also be shared once that is known um other than that the uh Township committee is uh going to have a second reading of a developmental development regulations and zoning ordinance update uh on the February 6 meeting um so there'll be the public hearing for that but that's all I've got this evening have a quick question um if I could you know in connection with the gas lines and all the work do you know over the winter are they able to them when they're done like redo the streets because they're really those potholes and the temporary fillers are really kind of in my neighborhood in Glenwood where we live but even in the commercial streets I'm just seeing where they work there's temporary you know filling but then they're settling very quickly and they're it's not so I was just wondering if when they're it's becoming that I think you know you could get a flat tire on something so I just didn't know if the plan once they're finished with all the pipe work are they then going to come in and I don't know if you can do it in cold weather in the winter or what the plan is for that I can follow up on that but to my knowledge I believe that's going to be happening but I don't want to say for certain but I can get back to you on that okay thank you I just recognize Alex McDonald on the overnight so if any of you have tried to get through at Spring and Milburn there are three separate construction projects going on in that intersection um so we have Verizon doing overhead work we have the gas work and then we have um various Services going into the former Wells Fargo site um which is is almost complete so three separate Crews doing three separate projects all at once um we've been liasing with the businesses um when there's going to be street closures um but it got to the point where Alex and I felt that it was no longer feasible to have those three crews working at the same time Alex uh reached out to psng and asked them if they can move to nightwork um and so they agreed to and we think it's going to be a real great benefit to the businesses that are over there um and so Alex really stepped up to the plate on that and hopefully that's going to alleviate a lot of the issues now that uh because the Verizon work is is mainly overhead um and so there's not a huge disruption but when you put all three together it's a little challenging but he deserves Kudos on that do we have an ETA for Wells Fargo so uh occupancy or do we I I wouldn't be confident saying anything about occupancy but um they they have I mean if you've driven by um it is the facades are all in the commercial space is all in um it it looks really really good and they're putting in curbing side walks um and so it's it's moving along quite well um you hopefully the spring yeah hopefully I don't know if I'd say spring but summer maybe summer and um we do have they've been a very good crew to work with um I work with the construction manager uh quite a bit there they communicated to the businesses when there's going to be closures uh police presence has been good in terms of traffic management so um overall that's been a very good partnership between the developer and the township great yeah thank you Mr Cooper any any remarks I have no report to the C okay moving along Miss Dean 2024 Restaurant Week okay um I will skip around um all right restaurant week so uh this will be our second year and it's March 17th to March 23 um that's the bi-week of the paper mill Playhouse so it helps bring people in um we're having a kickoff meeting next Wednesday the 24th uh at Opportunity project I think a lot of you remember we partnered with them last year they um provide services for people with brain injuries and so we're partnering with them again and they're actually going to host us next week uh we're combining that with our first advisory committee meeting and so the focus is going to be Restaurant Week um and uh at this point I've got see I have at least 18 people that are going to attend I think we're going to get closer to 25 so it'll be really good um with opportunity project just a brief overview of how we're going to collaborate this year um besides promoting their services um last year it worked out well they were able to get volunteer opportunities for some of their members um like hostessing and things like that um uh there's going to be there were donations last year to opportunity projects so we'll encourage that with the business Community a new initiative they're doing is they're going to be putting out uh to people that um agree to it you know those kind of coin collection boxes at Wawa or whatever so they're going to put those out with participating businesses to try and generate um awareness awareness and and donations and um we're also going to work with uh restaurants and eateries to have Flyers about opportunity project put in the to go and and delivery bags um so all of that is kind of underway um and then just see uh the the themes I'm recommending for this year and we're g discuss it at the advisory committee meeting is to have it be much more experience focused so an example would be having like an opera singer someone you know sing a song or two every half hour during dinner or have a dinner in a movie where you have like a Roman Holiday up on the wall while you're eating that kind of thing so I've been looking into a lot of different options to recommend to restaurants um to to make it a unique experience um I'm also recommending um as far as what's offered flights uh prefix and tastings and then we will be announcing uh sponsorship opportunities in the next uh week or so um but so far there's a lot of enthusiasm for it we're really excited I don't if anyone has any questions at this point I have just a couple how many how many participants do you know that we had last year we had about 30 last year great yeah okay so um what I'm trying to do is just tighten it up and and get feedback as to how we can improve our processes um and uh make sure try and also improve we're bringing people into eat but to those connections with the rest of the shops and services crin shops that kind of thing so that's what the other reason we wanted to have this with the advisory committee because it's such a combination of different businesses in town um yeah anything else uh and you'll be you'll be pushing out all that that information to that Master list of on Explorer with what 3,35 oh yeah yeah yeah and once I just I want to get some concrete information uh from this meeting and then I'll be sending out a save the date great yeah and then are you going to be using those influencers again yeah okay yeah that was that that was very valuable I was gonna ask you they were she well I spent some time speaking I can't remember her name though J eats she's great choose right no she was terrific I mean we may hire her at Splurge but but it feels like we had really good success we're actually planning on hiring her to do a social media tutorial yeah for businesses um she's and she's local she actually works in Short Hills her day job an Instagram influencer um yeah we're just working out the details for for that which I'll report on probably at the next meeting um the the thing that I really want to get out of this meeting as well is some of the restaurants expressed that we didn't really equally represent everyone with the influencers so I just want to make sure that we're really um cognizant of that this year that everyone's getting a little love from that so um so those are the kinds of things that we want to tweak I think I think there was a challenge you know all the influencers want to go to certain places right right because they're those are the locations they think are going to get them the most views so we have to curate them a bit and say not everybody can go to the standard you know we have to switch things up so we'll have to crack the whip a little bit harder this year yeah but I I think it last year that was our big success for the week was the uh social media attention so we're going to build on that um okay did you pull up the PDF so all right so the Metropolitan um which is owned by Garden communities and actually Garden communities has their headquarters on Mars turnpike so they're in the S uh we've been working with them I think it's since the summer and um it's just been a phenomenal partnership with them so I had put out kind of a preview of opportunities in the fall and then we got busy with the holidays so I just sent this out again um this I don't know if you can click through this um Tim but I'll briefly say so the opportunities that we have discussed that uh they're open to doing is allowing us to put um promotional uh like coupons and things like that in the welcome bags for the new residents uh promotional items uh you know whether that's so this would you know be an example here you can go to the next one so um you know a jar opener or matches or something like that um you know businesses are welcome to produce and have included um they've offered that uh it has to be pre-approved but they will promote businesses in their leasing office so if it's mattresses mattresses or some other things that you would need moving in um they are welcome to do that they they're welcome to that opportunity um also uh what's the next uh they can do um popups and set up tables in the lobbies whether it's giving out samples or promotions of your you know say you have a fitness place or something like that um they are open to that as well and um special services so if it's a special dry cleaning pickup drop off whatever that is um they will uh promote those as well and also if people want to do uh you know like large gifts or perishable gifts they've agreed to um give those out to the residents in batches so say they get about 25 movements then they'll go in and give those to people if that's what um some of the business businesses submit um so the deadline to let us know you want to participate is February 1 and then um we're working on getting these things together because they have to go in the bags for uh April 1 movements um so it's it's really been awesome um I've been getting a great response um from the businesses so far we're going to keep reminding everyone every week um and do some followup but uh yeah that's the big one and then I also asked them if they we want to do this upper Milburn AV day um in August and I asked if they'd like to collaborate and they were you know immediately yes they're just figuring out how but they are glad to partner with us um so it's just it's just been great I think this is a relationship that's going to continue and we're all going to benefit from it um any questions yeah Amanda the slides you just showed as different ideas for engagement has that that go out by email or do you have paper oh that those idea okay perfect we're going to be repeating those that's only creative to like get people thinking about how and another question do you not I mean just are we competing with Springfield and or are they just solely responding and supporting I have I don't know if you've heard anything from Springfield they haven't mentioned Springfield to me at all yes Springfield uh well their directorship is uh is in flux they just hired a new director okay um so there's some on boarding there but I think we are definitely ahead of the curve well and and and our proximity they're facing Short Hills and so they're going to be walking to all of the businesses that exist and the businesses that are coming in so I think the people that they're bringing to that area of town are going to really help grow the Avenue are we are we also GNA give them this goodie bag in an Explorer bag that says explore M welcomes the Metro or something welcome and then and then use that as a template hopefully for well Faro and as as all these um new uh residents come in with it's an opportunity to to to replicate this as we move forward along the calendar yes so this is going to be the first I want to maybe pilot of it um what we've asked is people that want to submit coupons they need to be a 5 by seven or smaller we're going to have an explore envelope all of those are going to go in and it's a welcome from explore so then we just drop that in those bags um and then we're also going to do a um a small version of the business directory to go in there as well great because they had expressed interest in that people are new to town you know they can flip through that sort of thing so we'll you know we'll see how it goes and um and then we can open it up to other projects like you said right I think that's great you've been reaching out to the businesses what what through email yeah we've just really started pushing it now um and I'm going to do some social soci media posts and also just some follow-ups um especially with the businesses on upper mbour a that area because this it's in such close proximity so but so far we've been getting participation from from throughout the the C seem like a great opportunity yeah I was gonna say the same thing is that for those businesses for you know face buddy taninos Enzo uh Lobster sha all those guys that have seemed to be maybe lost a little bit I mean what a great opportunity to OPP open your doors and invite them in I mean uh you know this is where that really starts to shine um so as much as you can do with those businesses to engage I think it's a great opportunity for those folks I'm sure you're gonna be over there they already emailed meing out everything I think this is the day that upper Milburn Avenue's waited for you know ever since they decided to go forward with that plant so um amand has been working on this for six months and U you know has built a great rapport with the Metropolitan and I think we're first in the door I I doubt that even Springfield has uh even considered doing this so and where explor is the liaison for the city so they don't want 500 businesses coming at them so that's where we're able to funnel things in provide it to them it and provide an exceptional um comprehensive service if you will and The Bagel Pantry as well are they part of explor oh MZ over there is fantastic every single business on that on upper Milburn Avenue is within the S except except for the side where the garden the the actual Metropolitan is yeah both sides are well that's great news so please keep us we're really excited I me this is why we're here so one question about so I happen to live in Glenwood and that light that the light that's right by the main entr Bol and and you know it's not timed correctly even now because there you can get backups and I know we may not be in charge of like the timing but I hope that you said move in starts March one they've already had movements bulk of them are going to start happening go into sdl the uh the portal sdl and put that report in there the more reports that go in okay the more oh ESS County get it to ESS County okay okay thank you so yeah any questions or comments no that's just great maybe maybe maybe at some point yeah we can look at what this goodie bag kind of looks like at meeting you just want a free goodie bag bring us all a goodie bag so what I what I think you should do and and you know coming from a business background as we all do is I would like to see a kpi a performance index that says you know here's what was done here's the money that was spent and if we can some type of tracking or some type of feedback or some type of uh you know measurement of how successful this roll out was was you know for everyone for OS for Taste buddies for Enzo for uh the Lobster Shack everyone and you know how many of these coupons were used how many were you know how many well that that would probably be easy because how many how many were produced how many were distributed and how many did you get back good coupons 20% off whatever the coupons are you're going to be able to track them good idea and see and actually see the power of explore and that it's really bringing value because there's GNA be what the Metropolitan how many residences um I have 120 277 units total toal it's 77 town right Jeff remember email yeah I I would make it a requirement not a requirement I would ask the vendors who are participating to track it and then you could have a good a good business case you can make a you know a nice business case out of it and kind of tip your hat hang your hat on it now it doesn't work maybe an easy collection like I don't know if our website we could have a little thing to report so Splurge I don't know we L monthly at some point we could just let you know hey we got 15 of these coupons back or used or something just for data collection yeah as Amanda said this is a litmus test for the other developments that are going to come online so um we certainly I think can have good Lessons Learned because nobody knows this is unprecedented right right right um and so yeah but what is good is you're captive audience too you're right there it's captive and we can fix our mistakes or improve you know with the future sites that and and I'd be getting the coupons from U the Box Car too I mean because a lot of people walking up that that hill to the to the I'm sorry oh that's an easy walk yeah what quarter mile scooter I I also think they're gonna have a shuttle Jitney a shuttle to the train station um great okay well we'll we'll wait enthusias ically for all information related to the Metropolitan okay I'm I'm going to did you have anything else I'm sorry I'll have stuff after you you want founding day sure so we had our kickoff founding day meeting on uh this past Wednesday and I think with not only the cultural engagement members but the other Community Partners including art advisory uh Board of Ed um uh uh environmental commission historic commission Friends of the library we really had a very large um turnout and I was very grateful for everyone's participation so what we are doing last year we had h a founding Day celebration in Taylor Park and five years ago we did something that was called M Wheels rolling into Milburn so there it is there it is okay so that was the wheel that the uh Greenwood Gardens what we did five years ago we invited 20 plus Civic organizations to decorate a wheel we had the wheels along Milbourne um sorry along Main Street for several weeks and it was extremely well received uh many thanks to the DPW that had built stanions for these wheels so that they were really operational and could turn it was a big hit uh with children it was a wonderful day and we want to recreate and Elevate that enthusiasm for the town this year in our very own Taylor Park on uh May 18th will be the day Taylor Park is celebrating a 100th birthday it is Iconic it is one of our gyms 100 yeah um we kept telling ourselves it was 150 Nether and I can remember why we thought it was 150 but it's 100 the 167 know somebody said 150 and it got stuck in our head 100 so um so now we've we've expanded um our Outreach we're we're putting the wheels basically into four categories um cultural and Steve I didn't bring my notes cultural engagement they're in that print out I gave you if you have that last page thank you yep so we have historic and Civic those will be blue wheels the environmental wheels will be predominantly green education culture and arts will be white and the community organizations will be either rainbow or a color of choice so we we're moving along we've got 32 on the list so far we're waiting for um today the email went out to the 32 organizations that we earmarked for their participation um we've got 20 Wheels in storage that are going to be refurbished um there's two if anybody wants to look at the library and see it in the action there's two wheels that are inside the Library so Amanda is working very we're we're working very closely with Explorer Ceda um Environmental commission has said that they want to move their Earth Day April 28th and kind of wrap into this day for a variety of activities and um once we get these wheel uh um uh commitments from these organizations then we'll move to the design phase and Michael Cooper is gonna uh assist us with that who did all together now that's in Taylor Park he's also the uh the artist that's working to restore the iconic postcard greetings greetings from uh Milbourne Short Hills and um are you looking at Vicky what do you think I'm looking at Vicki because it's I know that's a project close to her heart and um and she appreciates the progress so um or the restoration I should say so we'll be all that that is all happening um I I uh I would encourage anybody that has the organization I can share the this list with you um if uh to take a look but I think it's going to be an exciting day and what what also I think is wonderful is that uh explorers had a um a very serious commitment to permanent art throughout the town and this go around we're going to be very cognizant about creating the wheels that will be sustainable over longer periods of time they are wooden they were made by the Amish um Craftsman out in uh Lancaster County and working with Michael Cooper we're going to we're going to design them and decorate them so they'll be more sustainable so like other communities had those cows or um so this the mill wheel will be our sort of symbol it's you know what Milburn was founded on so we're working to get these to sort of elevate the project and then distribute them once completed throughout the five districts so it's kind of it's really a joint venture with a a variety of groups um I'm really excited about it and I want you all to mark your calendars for May 18th and if you have any organizations that you know would want to participate um I mentioned a couple town beautification league shade tree um heart J or marum these are paper mill has also taken a a leader they they have a new uh director in marketing Communications he um we we met with him Cody Andress I believe um seems very jazzed about the project so he's um so we're all excited we think this will be great for our businesses um and great for our residents and I hope it'll be a wonderful Sunny spring day I was gonna is there is there a Raine yeah the next day is the rinde the 19th so um let's hope and and and the weekend Falls between mother day and Memorial Day so um just putting it out there okay okay um all right thank you thank you um so as far as uh the I have just a couple other things um the Essex County public art program we uh received a grant again Stephen applied for it for 2024 um the grant uh the money from Essex is split um 3,000 of it is for Staffing and 3,460 is for artist installation and then there's a required match uh by explore um for 2500 for Staffing and 2 200 for installation so the total budget for the Essex County public art program is $1,460 um the potential projects for 2024 one of the main ones is going to be supporting the uh milhe project um as a public art program uh we have one more installation that didn't get done last year it's a at Short Hill station at um styl and K9 a mural there we're going to create plaques to put by all of the public art pieces in town um with you know the dates artists and things like that uh we do have a public art directly directory and trail on our website but it um it's going to be updated and enhanced there's additional public art pieces that need to go there we want work on the experience the user experience and then um I'll be working on additional Grant applications for 2025 and planning for 2025 um the only other thing which Jackie had brought up is that the ongoing maintenance for the Postcard mural um again Michael Cooper who's been a great uh partner for us um gave us a proposal which does everyone have no okay so it's a proposal for 20 24 um for spring and Autumn restoration uh uh recommendations and uh to repair um as needed um and then um to put a recommended clear coat on there um for the year and uh so that's just this is just for one year the um estimate is for $1,350 and so this needs to be approved um by our board is there anything else you want to add to that um yeah so this this money will come out of the Essex County Grant so it's not out of explorers uh budget from the the assessment so um we know that this that the postcard does get beat up um I think it's partly because of the way it was originally installed yeah um but this is minor yet important maintenance um and so this was a discussion we had last year the board had instructed me to go out and solicit from Mr Cooper a proposal um and I feel the the price and given that we have the funding source this year that we should proceed with it so um unless there's any questions I I'd like a formal motion to do so uh I'd like to make the a move forward a motion to uh to for payment to Michael Cooper for the restoration for the continued uh project restoration or maintenance if you will of the postcard greetings from Milbourne Short Hills for the year 2020 24 which will be paid in two installments yeah I'd like to just maybe we can amend that to authorize me to engage in a contract okay we'd like to uh we'd like to make a motion to authorize Steve gillo to engage in a contract with Michael Cooper for the restoration and maintenance of greetings from mbour Short Hills postcard mural may I have a second sir not to exceed amount not to exceed 1350 for the calendar year 2024 may have may I have a second second okay right um roll call or Voice vote Voice vote roll call advise Alexa Clark yes Jackie Benjamin lieberberg yes Ben Stoler yes Steven Wier yes motion carries for nothing thank you you did say that's annual all right that that's like it'll last about a year okay okay can we can reevaluate that at the end next of this year and then and then the amount of the 2024 Essex County public art that seemed to go did that go up from last year to this it went down maybe maybe $900 something like that went down okay okay got it um I think last year something yeah last year I think we were at 7,800 so maybe something yeah maybe went down $1,000 or so okay um it's it's really based on how many applications they get and they only have so much money to spray around but I still think you know that amount of money is really solid that's going to allow us to do um all of the prep work that Jackie described for the mill Wheels um and then some of these other projects so I think we'll have a very robust public art project with the only cost to the bid being the obligation we have for matching funds thank you did you okay oh I just wna we have one more thing the advisory committee yes um so I'm going to just do a brief introduction um so as you guys know we do not appoint our board of directors however we do appoint The Advisory Board um that is a board that is supposed to be approximately 15 people but if we have more people that want to participate we certainly aren't going to turn them away um we have been gradually expanding that board over the last few years and this year uh we have the largest number of people who have expressed interest with 24 um and so we have some holdovers from last year um we have some new people that have either joined late uh in 2023 or expressed interest in joining for 24 and then we also um offered uh this to some of the folks who had applied to be on the board but were ineligible or not selected so wanted to give them an opportunity to serve even though we have a limited number of seats on this board so that's how we get to that 24 number um you guys will have to take formal action to just approve this slate but Amanda is going to talk about some of the expansion and improvements for this year yeah um so I'll be taking the Staffing lead with the advisory committee um the the nice thing about this um is we're going to have residents on this now which I think will be interesting um provide another um Viewpoint uh with us um as far as we we've expanded we now have um Viv infusions um which is above uh the standard they're going to be on the board um Rob from Game Changer Fitness which is a new business on uh moris Turnpike uh he has joined us and then we have um a handful of invitations that are still out that we're hoping will join and they're from um a variety of places in the Sid uh upper Milburn AB um I think it was uh moris turpike and a few others um so we as of today have 17 commitments and the majority of them are going to be at the meeting next week and hopefully we'll have a few more come in um but uh looking to use the advisory committee to have a focus for each one and then kind of a new business section so um we can really utilize everyone's experience and um ideas and and also concerns about things so we're going to start that with restaurant week and then we'll move forward with the other three meetings throughout the year and uh you know this is something that you guys don't necessarily see because it's not something you typically attend but it's a great Board of a really diverse group of people um from a volunteer perspective they give us great feedback on events on promotions we're doing they gave us well Jackie was at the meeting where we talked about Black Friday versus small business Saturday Etc it's a very good sounding board then we also have our girls night out committee which is separate to that so um you know at this point we're looking at probably over 30 something volunteers um and then we had the Key Club helping us with the winter Villages this year and anybody that was there saw that would they came out like an army um so you know it takes time to establish rapport with volunteers uh but we're very very happy with where we are right now um so yeah and also I mean interrup also want to mention that came out of that advisory committee was some of the lighting suggestions and some of the safety requirements that to just safeguarding businesses I think that that information was was appreciated and very valuable um moving forward so thank you I'm sorry to me to no so could I just unless anybody has a comment Stephen do you want to say no oh then um if I could have a motion to approve the uh slate as shown in attachment six sure yeah I I move that the list of candidates and attachment six be approved as members of The Advisory Board I I'll second that all right r roll call vote Alexa Clark yes Jackie lieberberg yes Ben Stoler Patman six he's being he's diligently going through it yes and Steven Winer yes all right very good and as you guys know that list uh changes throughout the year if we have more people that express interest we obviously invite them to participate as well but this is our starting point but I think having 24 on the list to start is all right my report a bunch of stuff to cover um and then I just want to go to an open discussion for two items that I'd like us to talk about um and then potentially refer to Ben to bring back to the township committee so um just some Recaps uh Ben mentioned this earlier January 9th and 10th uh we had a pretty significant uh storm concern er um myself Tim Alex McDonald um the other folks that are involved in a First Response in OEM were on calls constantly um we prepared social media and email blast content starting on Sunday um Amanda and I went and personally checked in on 60 businesses um around the the raway river area that was where we were expecting uh the majority of the concern um Public Works had gone out and cleared out a lot of catch basins um they had trenched out por of the river uh Riverbank and so uh we had them we we personally uh suggested dropping sandbags in the art alley um Public Works brought out two pallets of about 100 sandbags um and so the businesses that were right near um the the art alley got those because I guess it was only a week or two prior um there was another flood event where uh the river got to probably about an inch from breaching um and so Alex and I were very concerned about that specific area uh Lu we didn't have any issues but I can tell you uh from Amanda and I going into these businesses and um I went into basement I was checking for any areas of vulnerability um a lot of folks said we learned our lesson from Ida um you know we listen to you guys when they told us lift your technology out of the basement make sure things are elevated um clean out gutters make sure that storm drains are clear behind the buildings um and so really there was very little to do um which was great you know we we visited these folks and um overall I think everybody learned their lesson and they were prepared quite well so we also distributed the the now 2024 version of our hurricane preparedness kit so we've been doing that since 21 that's available on our website we handed out paper copies we shared that via social media and email um that gives a whole host of things of of ways to prepare the exterior and interior of your business um also to have certain items for Preparation but overall um it was a great great effort by I think everybody involved including the business owners um we've we've essentially calling it a flood document at this point because it's not hurricane season but we're starting to have these issues year round the other thing I really want to thank DPW they um had a self- serve area to make your own sandbags so when we were going around to people um we were telling them about that and while we were making rounds we're already seeing them coming back with their sandbag so they kept that open late since they were here late I think it made a real impact so another example of how this town works together it was it's corny but it was great teamwork uh it really was everybody pulled together on that one um nobody got sandbagged no one was sandbagged during the sandbag experience but um the DPW process of having maybe you could talk about it obviously we didn't we were busy doing other things but um how was it for you as a business owner to go and get the sandbags um because if it was not so great let us know no it was great like when I went went there there was about four other women um packing sandbags I believe they were all residents um and they all helped we all helped each other bring it to their cars it was a great I mean it was hard work did you fill it manually yeah because my understanding and I don't know what was happening that particular day is that the town does have a sandbag filler um and so you it's supposed to get all this stuff done a lot quicker and so um I think the town employed that at least for a portion of the day but it's a good little piece of equipment apparently you didn't get theit of it we just had shovels yeah yeah it was great um Premier creative um so as you guys know one of the central things that we do as an organization is business education programming um that's part of the the grants and the in kind services that I talked about earlier um so Premier creative was the first uh event of the year that was uh back on January 11th in this room and uh Premier is a uh they're located right above the Charles Schwab here in downtown they've been here for about 25 years um and the owner's name JJ Abbott um and he had volunteered his time to come in and talk about Google search results um and so we had 15 people representing 12 businesses we did a lunch and learn and uh it was a great hour hour and 15 minute conversation um Steven's wife attended um we had representation for most of the districts and uh there's couple people that that JJ did end up following up with um who potentially need um some more in-depth services but um it's a great discussion on what search engine optimization is uh we did Hands-On we actually Googled businesses in different ways to find out what actually pops up um depending on what if you use geography if you use the specific name of the business if you use an address and so everybody was able to see uh what their Google search results look like based on variable entries um that leads into we have a session planned for March 7th at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom um you wanted me to talk about the njeda e-commerce program so this is the second time that we're doing that with David sorin from New Frontier a local business owner he's located above the standard um he is one of the dozen or so vendors Statewide who have a contract to provide free website either creation or upgrades um so thus far we we did we've we've talked about this quite a bit and then we did a webinar in the fall where David was able to talk about the program um thus far lrda the standard taste buddy easy print Oxford Jewelers Goldbergs and coffee mill Roasters um have either all uh received a new website or in the process of receiving a new website that is completely free um so we're going to continue to push this I tell people it's crazy if you don't do it um it's free um and the state also will cover your website hosting for two years the cost so um we have um so David soran gonna be speaking about that on March 7th and then we also have a a webinar on February 21st with the njeda which is the entity that funds this program they're going to be talking about small business Capital grants so they have three separate programs that small businesses uh like all here in Milburn are eligible for if you're Ed in rehabbing your your building expanding uh putting in Capital Improvements so they're going to go over those three programs in detail we would we're certainly encouraging some of our businesses to use those State resources um the grants are available the Eda is is willing to work with people so we want to certainly uh host these events um and bring them um bring the that to the Forefront so those are the three education programs we have ongoing um I want to talk a little bit there's an update on liquor license reform I think think at our maybe was our November meeting um we did talk about that there was legislation um that was had been sent to the governor concerning liqu license reform uh he issued a conditional veto sent it back to the Senate wanted some uh other uh changes and uh overall I just want to go through it it's it's not I think from a from a sid perspective um we're disappointed uh with the the final view of the bill and I've spoken to um many of my colleagues as well as uh the downtown New Jersey folks and um I think this bill underperforms what we were looking for but I want to make you guys aware um the first thing it does is it um it allows transfers of liquor licenses between municipalities um the municipality has to be contiguous to the other municipality um however the one challenge is if if Springfield wanted to sell a license that it has and Milburn wanted to buy it we'd have to still come up with the money to cover the cost which could be hundreds of thousands of dollars um and so there's budget issues and there's there's wait the municipality can buy another the mun so Milburn Township would have to buy the liquor license from Springfield and then could sell it to a restaurant but the municipality isn't the holder of the license it's the establishment well but that liquor license has to get to the town somehow right so now Milburn doesn't have any liquor licenses to give it's based on population right so if we wanted to get one let's say Springfield was selling it's all hypothetical let's say Springfield was selling one and they wanted to sell it for $900,000 we could buy it because we're a contiguous town but we'd have to come up with the $900,000 to pay for it and we'd have to obviously it's public money we'd want to ensure that there was someone willing to buy it for that much or more so it's a legitimate challenge I mean it it yes it it creates something new but it's not an ideal option because there's a lot of pearls to but but it but I okay so I'm in Springfield I am China Sky restaurant in uh I know all right I'm making it up Jeff bear with me China Sky restaurant in uh at in in Springfield yeah I would have to sell my license to Springfield or it could be a pocket license um so an un an inactive license which is also part of this um there's going to be but the but the municipality doesn't own the license it's the business that owns the license so you have to right but a business right couldn't sell it to a business in another town right if I could so my understanding um I I um so a couple caveat um familiar with the legislation I have not read the legislation myself but I I haven't uh Ted talking uh to some interested parties um my understanding with respect to the pocket license issue is that a business in one municipality can potentially sell it to another business in a contiguous municipality but that transfer is going to require the approval of the governing bodies both municipalities I think that's one part of it and then there's that second part where the township could buy it yeah no I'm not saying to the exclusion of the first instance that you were describing but the second instance uh there are number of municipalities that have numerous pocket licenses which are licenses are just being held by owners that aren't um otherwise attached to a physical premises my understanding is that they pocket license holders have two years within which to find Arrangements well actually to find the premise otherwise they'll lose their pocket license oh that's good um mall has several of them we'll get to the other the other limitation in in and if I'm stealing your thunder or or interjected just call uh um please uh my understanding is that um however there's also um Windows within which uh there's a maximum so uh if a if a liquor license a pocket license were transferred between two contiguous municipalities uh there're can only be one every two years um and then um so so it's not what so um municipality can't go and acquire three four five six um pocket licenses from ious um municipality the municipality could make money in this it seems like no no again I'm not talking about the there is the municipality purchasing a an unissued license from an adjacent municipality which I think is the first instance the executive director was discussing but at least in the pocket license scenario a municipality can only approve so many licenses per time period so you don't have a a sudden influx of many licenses into a municipality hopefully that helped there's also a a mle provision um and so allows municipalities to issue up to two special consumption licenses within shopping malls of at least 750,000 grow square feet and four um in shopping malls of 1.5 million um so the original hope and actually our former assemblyman now Senator John mcken had introduced a legislation which obviously didn't make it through um which would allow municipalities to essentially duplicate the licenses that are at malls so there's five liquor licenses at the Short Hills mall they would have been able to keep those but then we would have taken those five licenses and been able to use them um for mom and pop businesses all throughout the town um we thought as as the Sid and as the township that that would obviously be a good thing um it didn't make it through as it went through the Senate um instead um essentially what we're going to see is U malls will now have the ability to get more liquor light licenses that they already have um and and and the editorial from from downtown New Jersey as they looked at this is um that uh there's definitely uh some favoritism towards large corporate malls than there is towards small M pop restaurants it still has to be approved by the township does um so it suppos Go normal process but now you the shills Mall could have four more liquor licenses whereas the town cannot have any um so it's it's not it certainly is not in favor of of improvement districts and and uh commercial districts um one thing we that is I think very positive and Mr Cooper alluded to this is the the pocket license I think there's like, 1400 something inactive licenses throughout the state um and so the state is now going to begin a process of cracking down on those um and they're creating what they call a use it or lose it provision for these inactive licenses and the hope is that um throughout the state these licenses will now be put back in circulation so I I certainly would not consider this a success for improvement districts um but it is definitely not a failure either but all things being equal that's better for the township than not you know taking the bid out of it having four more liquor licenses and driving traffic to the mall will inherently Drive traffic to mbour and enhance Milburn Township as a whole yeah I would I would say you know just from from the bids perspective right and that's obviously my job is to um I think we got a it's a win it's not a Triumph right um we certainly would have liked had assembly M mckans bill or or provision made it that would have brought five more liquor licenses to anywhere else in the town um not just the bid but any surrounding parts of it so um but I think anything that can be done in New Jersey to loosen liquor license um liquor license Provisions is a win we've been waiting 25 years for this um and so there's more to come I hope hope um I hope the Murphy Administration continues to take this seriously but um across New Jersey it is going to be an uphill battle to to make it easier and um there is uh some improvements here to breweries as well I was going to ask is there any kind of carve out for beer and wine other than as as a separate I mean that was dis disuss yeah so so the the brewery world so we don't have a Craft brewery here um but one of the challenges that's come up is really through the restaurant Lobby is they've made it very difficult for brew to compete they can't show live sports they can't have more than x amount of trivia nights they can't have more than x amount of live music or food or food um and so this bill loosens a lot of those things but a lot it's I mean it's kind of ironic I I mean really the the law that went into place to allow breweries to really be competitive it's like less than 10 years old and then they made it pretty strict and now they're loosening it again so you've had sort of inaction strictness and now loosening all in the course of probably less than a decade so I'll keep you guys posted as this comes up um quickly on new businesses um Sushi zero uh has opened I know Ben has visited what did you think H food is fantastic presentation's fantastic and did an awesome buildup you don't get to talk about sushi when you come to the TC meetings but you get to talk about where is um the old JJs next to Taylor Park as have you yeah I was there too I felt like I was in a New York Chic uh yeah definitely has a a sophisticated Vibe and the food was really good and I would encourage if you guys remember I guess it was somewhat after Ida um they had closed Le asan yeah um and there was questions from this board like what's going to happen I said they're going to create a one Kitchen Two restaurant concept um and they did the ramen and then a couple of months later they did Sushi zero so the the Dream came to fruition and it's it's a really a beautiful spot they did a great job with it um curious kids is also opening this month um they've been a great partner of ours um that is for uh zero to five year old kids they have a whole bunch of different programs and they've got mommy and me they have it's artistic based yeah it's a great program they have an operation in Jersey City and they're actually I think closing in Jersey City to move here I think either way yeah they've been painting they've been it they're very active they were involved with uh sponsored the winter eagloo they handled the they located it's going to be on Spring Street uh JD Fitness had two locations it's the small gray building right across from the municipal parking lot got it um they have a sign up now and everything um we did have uh one closure as I mentioned the sonoko unfortunate circumstances um and Suburban paint has been sold to Rossy paint um so over on Main Street eight Main Street if I recall um so I've been told that Rosy paint will probably open up um within the next month or so and that's a fairly large Benjamin Moore dealer uh throughout the Northeast Suburban was there forever yeah I I I don't know the specifics I don't know if if the owner retired or sold the business or how the exit strategy work but I know it was in the works for a while uh Rossi is a pretty large company in New Jersey um so I think you know we're losing one paintt store to gain another and it was through a transaction so um that was good um I do want to talk about the Main Street designation um so if you guys remember back in late 2020 early 2021 explore had applied to become a New Jersey Main Street program we were denied the application because it is a requirement that you be a 501c3 nonprofit We had not received the nonprofit status at the time of application the hope was that you know by the time they finished reviewing it that the C3 would come through and we get lucky obviously that didn't happen uh we have had our C3 status since September of 21 um and we've been patiently waiting for the state to release the Main Street program they recently did um and so uh March 15 is the application deadline um I just want to read a little bit about what the mainstream program is and tell you about some of the other communities that are in so it promotes economic development uh for business districts by providing training technical assistance and development of preservation based revitalization initiatives um it strives to support the existing tax to expand the existing tax base increase sales create a positive Community image attract new businesses create jobs and increase investment um it is run through the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs DCA um and when when you are approved as a Main Street Community you are then eligible for both state and federal Grant funds funds for capacity building as well as capital programs um so a lot of the streetscaping and placemaking things we've talked about um we cannot apply to the state or the feds for Main Street money uh because we're not a Main Street Community we if we're accepted we would then be eligible um there are currently 25 designated main streets in New Jersey um I looked at the map today just to confirm the nearby members um Bloomfield Monclair West Orange South Orange Summit Westfield and mouen are all um Main Street communi so they are all eligible for this type of funding um and and mouin actually won um best Main Street in the United States last year there were three winners from Across the Nation um a tou and won that award so um they have they have leveraged that funding um in terrific ways for public art and Capital Improvements so um so that is the plan is to uh apply for that Grant and then hopefully we will receive it and it could open up tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for explore to do a lot of great work Steve yeah just me oh sorry I was gonna I remember it was a pretty significant application process I remember reading a draft years ago have you started dra it's due March 15 yeah there's there's a mandatory information session um the 25th of January so um I'll be attending that and then um I'll start the application we have the application we did in 20 or 21 it's kind of useless now I mean obviously the organization's very different than then um but you know one of the tenants of Main Street is volunteerism and so we were talking about you know how much volunteer engagement we've had um that's a really positive thing that we could talk about um some of the placemaking of public art projects that's going to lend into this cooperation with other groups uh like Ceda Etc so I think I think we're gonna have a very strong application um you know we don't know what's going to happen um but um I think this year we we'll put something together that's really good and hopefully you know we could potentially double our budget you know with Grant funds um and not have to worry about raising an assessment or anything like that so it be a great opportunity um so I'll keep you posted on that um could you just repeat the towns that are that are in our yes Bloomfield Montclair West Orange South Orange Summit Westfield and mouen those are the ones that are sort of in the immediate area so it's interesting so Springfield is not um Livingston is not right so this is this is Cranford is not right chadam is not yeah Madison Madison Madison doesn't even have a bit right correct okay interesting thank you okay um then I don't want to spend too much time on the next two things but you guys know and Ben is obviously new to this but um we put together our annual success tracker that's attachment 7even this is the list of all the things things that Amanda and I intend to do this year so this year we've got 88 different projects events uh meetings whatever it may be um so we spend we start doing this list in August yeah um and then it's listed chronologically um we do have a lot going on um already um but we'll continue to provide this uh each meeting and I'll highlight um but thus far um everything that we've needed to do to kick start some of our uh Business Services programs have already happened and of course um it's light on events now but once we hit March April um then the event season starts um the X means completed the X means completed yes okay um and then um Ben and I had a conversation about key performance indicators and um I think one of the challenges that we have as an organization is things just happen all the time right there's just there's constant phone calls from people needing services and um and I wanted to quantify that and so um I created a document you see an attachment eight and I I I don't know if I'd call this scientific but it's going to be attracting to see what do we do by the end of the year how many times do we get calls for navigating government or requests for space or um you know how many times do we host a professional or how many times do we attend professional development sessions um our social media is obviously key I want to track our growth um how many posts do we do how many followers do we have um how many digital campaigns do we do um events certainly but we want to look at how many businesses participate how many volunteers do we engage how many sponsor how much sponsor Revenue do we get um last year with the winter villages we had such a great um turnout with people visiting Milburn Short Hills for the first time I think the number was 20% of all people had never been here before that's a huge number so we want to track those things um and then of course how many educational classes we offer how many people attend them um so at the end of the year we can start to quantify these things it's not necessarily that we're measuring it against anything it's a question of you know where are there things that we can do maybe not do or how are we spending our resources so um this is going to be something that I'll present on a quarterly basis it'll be broken down by month um and and we take it from there but I think this is a good start in terms of data tracking and Steve you should also include in terms of your time and Amanda's time in terms of supporting the township on things like flood Mitigation Of The Night you're you're running you're running around you know Main Street gold Avenue you know with sandbags you know I think that's pering also to some reflect like your visit you somebody stopped by Splurge both both of you did really appreciate it Julie felt I mean it was very nice and and it made us feel like what you know yes what can we do anything and we already had a whole team emptying our basement and bringing stuff out of it but we should track that engagement because that made or the signs or traffic I mean you know I don't think people realize you know ups and bols you know stuff that that you and Amanda have your hands in yeah a lot of that is also on the success tracker um and so you know I think obviously we go over this at our Workshop meeting in September and then our annual meeting in October but because that's how we figure out our budget and our plan for the next year but um this is a little bit more detailed and and I think it's a good way for us to I mean I've just been tracking parking passes have gone out the that everybody has to get at them I've gotten a dozen phone calls already from businesses who need assistance trying to figure out their way through it so they call me they don't call the tax collector's office they call me okay but they want someone to pick up the phone and answer question constituency service bucket right kind of like an elected official but the same way when when you help get them the parking pass they should be track somehow because that's got value that's we are track yeah how about website metrics do we is that part of the reporting that's in there we don't have a web or like like users social media I explor website like when we put out we have we have upates we need to make it helps inform how whether the site needs to be redesigned or what I wanted to say is is tracking all this is also going to help us with Grant applications having all this information all this data analytics yeah yeah yeah and I think the big proponent of like the Metropolitan roll outs things along those you get so much from those because if you can really really back those coupons and those welcome baskets and that reach to real economic value delivered to the businesses that's a winwin for everyone definitely for you but really for tast budy for lober sh and Fernando and and everybody in that upper MB stretch but much past that all the ways down into into everybody should and a more Pike ande yeah AT&T you move in you want a phone with the local number right so so with that I want to have an open discussion um obviously we have been now as our Township committee liais on and Ben there's there's been a number of times over the last three years where we've had issues that are beyond our scope or we feel um need to be elevated to the TC and so uh we ask that you refer them for discussion so the first one um this is not going to come to shock to anyone but um what we've wanted to do is put together a holiday Decor committee um there are a dozen different groups in town that all have different levels of funding or artistic Vision um we can do a much better job as a community um for Holiday Decor um the township has some lighting probably needs to invest in some more um we do obviously a large event um the chamber did some light this year for the first time which we hope they replicate again um Township unification League does some reads um but I think if the township committee were to organize themselves and say we want to get any group that's interested to put together a plan put together a potential budget um the township can invest in some of the hard infrastructure um if we go into the winter season knowing that certain groups are doing certain things in certain locations um it won't just fall on the back of explore or the back of Public Works or the chamber doing one or two lighting installations so I think it does require the township committee to consider this um Empower Alex to put this committee together of all the different groups and ideally put some budget behind it um so it's not our decision to do any of those things but we talked about it our November and December meetings and I think we're all in agreement um but the formal action should really come from the TC but we're certainly willing to play a leadership role in that as as it's always yeah I mean I can't say personally I've gotten calls from four or five different individuals in town who've been here for years uh they've reached out direct and said you know in terms of beautification holiday lights and having a continuity of of of of decorations uh across the town is very important to them and I'll give you names you just volunteer to take the leadership on it so you're now taking the leaders have to establish the committee first we'll establish committee but I I do agree I mean if you go around the other towns and that come to mind where you have the beautiful lights across the street you have the candy cane candy cane uh light poles Etc and the Beautiful lights done by the Chamber of Commerce in the blue and I guess that became a topic of why were they blue and white Etc ET but just a beautiful layout yeah by the Beautiful by the clock the the the Jewelers clock the stone clock which is beautiful um you know but there should be a continuity have that throughout the town uh I'll certainly take a leadership at the TC role and I'm certain that we can find some money and work with everyone to make that you aspirational goal for for us and for the town to come through and and just so you know what we typically do Amanda can speak to it if necessary but um we do winter plantings um so uh the vast majority of the 40 planters that we maintain we replant in for winter um we obviously have the winter villages we wrap all of the um small what kind of trees are they they're shrubs shrubs they're like a holly the holly bushes we wrap them with Decor um but there's only so much that we can do versus you know if we had a bunch of different groups that all bring great stuff so we want to work as a team there's no real continuity I mean there's snowflakes here there's snowflakes there different sizes different shapes different colors different a one armed Nutcracker somewhere you know it's it's a little rough IG up here snowman down here Etc so to have some continuity throughout the town I think would be good and you know I was a big a big supporter and you know bought a couple of the um the veteran Flags which I thought was a fantastic roll out by the by uh by Daniel Canon and that group too so you know there's a lot of things we can do one thing I want to say is I think this is also something that will be more inclusive because for instance Dali is usually the first or second week of November our lights aren't up yet and that's a holiday that's very much about light so I think when you get the right people in this group this is going to be even even more than just the lighting it's it's going to be more about the community as well and then the second item I wanted to talk about is um and we're really trying to get ahead of this I attended a seminar that was hosted by um the bhe school at Ruckers um talking about ebikes and E Scooters and so actually Alexa had had brought this up um with the Metropolitan with the former Wells Fargo with Annie says we're gonna have a lot of locations that are not ideal to get to walk to Transit and so I think what we need to do is anticipate that there may be an increase in ebikes and E Scooters being used in the town um and so this was a lecture simply about um state law about what types I I didn't know there was actually three types of ebikes based on Motor Vehicle wall um and some of the challenges that other communities have faced um you know we have to look at what is our zoning or or some of our other um our law enforcement codes about riding on sidewalks parking on sidewalks um infrastructure um you know if we're going have people that are biking to and from our transportation hubs certainly we have Short Hill station as as well as Milburn you know can they lock these bikes up safely um same thing with fire department and the building department um there's concerns about storage in buildings about battery charging um these batteries are um inherently fairly safe until the user overcharges them or doesn't store them properly um and so uh and also po potential conflicts with vehicles and pedestrian um because they're bikes but they're also motorized and can go up to 20 mil an hour and so um some of them you're allowed to travel on sidewalks um some of them you allowed to travel in bike Lanes or on bike routes um and so we as a community I think need to be prepared for potential conflicts um and so it's something that I don't think the Sid plays necessarily a regulatory role right at this point but I think with all the new development coming on and the idea that you know the train station is not that close for instance to Wells Fargo I wouldn't be surprised if somebody did have a motorized scooter over there so how do we deal with some of those issues um and so that's something I wanted to at least start a conversation with the TC about make you guys aware um that this is something we're thinking about but also that the bores Center at Ruckers um put on a great webinar and they do have really good resources and so that if it's something that you know you guys want to tackle I yeah I think the TC is abundantly aware of the dangers of the scooters and bikes I mean right now trying to ride I've almost been hit multiple times by teenagers or you know pre-teens on on on bikes flying 30 miles an hour 15 miles an hour which seems like 30 miles an hour fast on a sidewalk on the sidewall right and we don't have the bike Lanes as well and you know it's it's uh Ste know and back in Glenwood and then even in in the Wyoming section and such the sidewalk aren't so great there's dips and there's missing sidewalk pieces and holes that you know it is fairly dangerous as well uh and uh you know I think it is something that we have to look at and uh and understand you know how you roll it out um you know most of the rental what they call the the rental Uber Uber bikes and city bikes City bike and things along those lines and city scooter Etc are are more flat flat lands with nice bike lanes and sidewalks and higher density you know the university areas New York that has the bike lanes and such so we just have to be cognizant that Safety First and U you know so I we are aware of it looking at you know what you do because you know people have been hit in town it's a big it's a big deal to get hit by one hurts there's some interesting things I mean um so there's three classes the first two um if you're 17 years or older you don't have to wear a helmet so that could be a vehicle traveling in the roadway no helmet on the rider any type of vehicle collision could be deadly now and do we have the or what about our local Town ordinance I don't know of anything on the books that speaks we do have something it's possible but is it with helmets that mean if not that would be the place to start probably motor bicycles there is a provision in there Steve did they have like a best practices that handout or you know um I can go and look this was more of an introductory but I can go check if there's a what should do yeah so I think we we take that we can give it to Alex and then we can figure out if we need an ordinance or we need to amend an ordinance of some sort uh or take it to PE app you have you have a Comm yeah peace out PE out so remember all that's a good place to start right so peace out that would be a place to go right that's it for me um okay that's it for you and okay so we have no time for general public com the light's going out yeah okay um public comment uh when invited to speak come to the lecturn state your name speak into the microphone so that your comments can be understood and properly recorded when speaking from a prepared statement please send a copy to Tracy at explor milour hills.org speakers must limit their comments to three minutes those utilizing Zoom or phone will also have the opportunity to speak okay why don't we how many do we have on Zoom do we have any on Zoom we have two people on Zoom okay all right no no hands raised yet okay so why don't Mr Fel why don't you uh start us off um good evening Jeffrey Feld Short Hills resident um some things to look into and I want to update um if you could look at because you're doing a parking look at the parking lots like last 14 the rates are different than it is at the parking deck like if you parking the parking deck you 15 minutes free you don't get it at L 14 that helps an upper Milbourne Avenue also there has been best practices in the state um regulation about businesses providing insurance registration this is the best practice I think we have to do it and I think it's businesses have to know what those requirements are we're about a year two years late if you look at our new Municipal attorney from Livingston that was like one of the first things they did about a year ago just to bring up the update there was mention about a zoning ordinance about what is prohibited uses last night the planning board a majority found it not to be consistent with the master plan I just want to bring you up to date as to that um we heard about the Main Street application we're basically come back like three years what we have and I ask people you if you haven't read what the application was that was pre Steve March I'm making that disclaimer that was done by Ryan um gon I think was your predecessor who wrote it um it ties into the bare properties litigation today the municipal attorney the new Municipal attorney replaced the old Municipal attorney as the defendants attorney in that today so I hope to meet with them so we could talk about the issues unless you resolve this litigation because this goes back to the last Township committee meeting in December the ba and Tara prus admitted on the record that there were substantial there were significant problems in the original ordinance that had to be amended unless you can establish that this entity is complied with the law you're not going to go anywhere in Main Street New Jersey I say this from experience from around 2007 and 2008 when the pr EX isit for a Main Street designation is a valid sit until we resolve this litigation you're going to be shot dead because one of the issues we're talking about the 501c3 and it's an issue that's still going on is whether this municipality committed fraud on the IRS this is a controlled entity because one thing that was mentioned earlier today all the trustees are appointed They're Not Elected by the people that are taxed that's a very substantial problem that whether it's a controlled entity if it's a controlled entity of the municipality you cannot be a 501c3 designated entity these are things to look forward to look into um I told you about the emissions goes back to know State preemption ultrav virus no one's ever received a written opinion whether it's the municipality or the Sid as to the validity of this entity under state law and you are all fiar of public trust I want to remind Mr waserman about what happened in March in April of 2021 when you filed the Main Street application you admonished me and you scolded me because I wrote letters to the state to point this out you took an oath to uphold the state and federal Constitution I have a right of political Street speech you try to respress that and if you try to do it again I will continue to do what I've have done but it's time to get in a room and resolve the validity of this entity these are issues that preexisted before the arrival of these two people and Mr Cooper thank you no hands are raised on no hands raised okay Vicky Powell wasn't gonna speak but I thought of a couple things uh Vicky po um business owner 39 years this year in Milbourne um I want to thank Steve I and Amanda but Steve for the work on the flood because you really you I I messaged you I said should I be worried yes go get sandbags and I told all my neighbors the same thing so I really thank you for all the hard work you guys did because you really gave us a sense of you know calm and you know to and you really helped so I just want to thank you that was um a good job also um I also want to talk about I know the previous mayor and I've had this I had this discussion with her the May the mayor messages that you guys are all going to be doing can you put on the end of them shop local let's support Town um I think it's very important that we drill this into the residents's head um because quite frankly they some of them don't come and support our town I've had this discussion with Steve you know on certain events when they come in here oh I've never been in this store before I've never been down here I think so other surrounding towns they support their business districts by putting it on Facebook uh can the town get a little bit more active in in getting the message out there support the local even put it on the flashing board over here I mean we got a drill in our heads we're the ones that everyone supports the little leagues and all that stuff the all the uh fundraisers everyone let's you know let's reciprocate let's get the message out there support local that should be the theme um so that was one um uh girls night outs first meeting coming up next week we're getting ready to start planning so that's exciting that's exciting buckle up yeah buckle up it's gonna be awes um in regards to the art that Amanda what you were talking about are you going to put QR codes on the on the the things to bring it back to the explore website which I think it would be great that was my that's that was that and thank you for the mural it's a very important piece of artwork in town it was our first piece of artwork in town everyone takes pictures in front of it all the political everything it so it's very important so I'm glad to see that you are taking care of it because it is very important um I would suggest that we talk to people not putting benches against against it because I think that's the problem why it's chipping so much in certain areas so we should keep that that space free that's it thank you congratulations on being the new chair thank you thank you very much Miss erso Perry erso 514 Milburn Avenue Short Hills happy New Year just have a couple questions tonight I'd like to know how many seats were up for appointment in my opinion it looks like it's the same players that have received volunteer interest appointments I've recently heard the word self-serving I'd like to ask each member of this committee have you received any benefits from the Sid on your positions here or a member or member of the community or the um the surrounding Town um surrounding um districts I heard Miss lieberberg State this evening um the publication that was presented for the new magazine that you um that was up for introduction that it was for free clearly the representative had stated during her presentation that they depend on support from the businesses so can the executive director perhaps Explain how and from whom is this free um I'd also like to ask how many members of the committee own commercial property and where is the accountability for the lack of property owners on the representation of this board um the reason why I'm saying is is for the record I'd like this the members to know together with my family we own 10 storefronts and that's why I'm concerned about the the accountability of the Pres of the representation of property owners on this board I'm not only a merchant but I am a property owner and I am a landlord many of our properties are leased at a discounted rate comparison to many other landlords but that's a personal um discretion and decisions and a business decision mostly because we compete with e-commerce which has been a longstanding there are 10 with judgments and tenants that are in the rears however we still must sustain our financial responsibilities whether it's mortgages taxes sewer Sid assessments Solid Waste collections that must be paid in 30 years since the shuttering of saak Fifth Avenue in 1994 it was December 31 it took the Metropol which we've all been waiting for on upper Milbourne Avenue wouldn't you say that Lex we must be excited I'm excited for you um so for upper Milbourne Avenue Morris Avenue and Farley which is one of the districts on upper milour Avenue now it's clear the elephant in the room is it's constantly we're talking about downtown and upper Milburn Avenue I know why the focus is on upper Milburn Avenue and I'm sure you're all adults and you know why upper Milburn Avenue is a number one Focus but you have to remember that there's four other districts besides downtown and there's three other districts besides upper Milbourne Avenue and downtown that have been totally neglected since the groundbreaking in February of 2021 I have to say it's actually embarrassing that members of the TC to former TC members that actually sat on the TC board were invited by garden homes to that ground breaking and do you know that those members not only didn't even respond with the exception of one because I know that for fact however now you are jumping on the opportunity and you are you are you are well be Miss liberg I know I know you're soed that position please R finish up your comments thank you so much but now you want to take advantage of and jump off the opportunity of the Metro poian something that upper Milburn Avenue has been waiting for for 30 years you both as TC members had the opportunity to not only help the businesses on upper mil but you have failed your constituents and you have failed your property owners I'd also like to say in December of 2023 you have 15 seconds thank you ma'am in December of 2023 I put an Oprah in uh and I was responded by Mr Ryan Cooper I simply asked by oah request I wanted a list of events dates location M I'm terribly sorry I'm gon to give you the email so you could review the response that I got from this attorney that this is that it was you have to read it it's just ridiculous and welcome back now the games begin here's your email you might want to make a copy for the entire board and and maybe we can get an exclamation are there any other comments from the public considering had three public comments it's ridiculous comments on thank you okay our next meeting is Thursday February 15 at 6:30 may I have a motion to adjourn we don't we don't address the comments address the comments well I haven't read the comments none of us have read the comments oh I meant the other comments from the pattern here is no no no yes Steve is there anything you'd like to address specifically [Music] um the the only question I suppose um that I want to answer is um Miss erso asked it how is the magazine free I I it was about distribution it's free to receive it's free to receive it's also free to participate in um so there are stories where there's no compensation from the person being featured um you can choose to sponsor an ad um so I the the question I I think she was getting at is how do you receive it it's it's distributed for free that's what we meant by free unless any of the board members have spe specific questions well I just think it it's you know we're doing ourselves a disservice to have you know these open comments remain open for that period of time even with Mr Feld you know if he's talking about the veracity and validity of his case or such and we're changing Municipal attorneys is that something we can do to sit down with him and make sure that he understands what that he gets a audience you know you know it's it's a it's a uh it's an issue not with the Sid but with the municipality Mr let let Mr Cooper no so I'll just Echo that yeah so the the um the S is not a party to the litigations okay but I think it's we can say that here because then there's not like doesn't look like we're hiding something we have transparency so Mr Feld if that's the case then I will try to bridge a meeting with our Municipal attorney who works at the privilege of the TC I just like you to this think part it the answer was filed by the M attorney he did not include the S we'll take care we'll take care of that offline and when Mr Cooper was retained he was told he would not get involved ination and then you know the whole idea the whole idea of shop local I love that idea I think we can look into that I think that is a great idea uh to to to profer and pro you know push that forward girls night out I think we should have a guy night out every night's a guy's night out and then uh uh for Miss erso if she owns 10 stor funds um why is can she be on our list of Volunteers in that 24 make 25 and jump on that list and have some participation um let's open invite to miss arso to jump on that list and participate I I I think I defer to Mr Cooper but uh Miss erso is a litigant against the organization um I think there's some inherent conflicts and let's also remind that uh Mr Feld is the attorney for that litigant and you as a Township Committee Member are defendant in that case um so I think Mr Cooper can speak to we have Property Owners they pay the taxes in this town at the end of the day you know the township committee is elected by the residents to infor to to represent their interest and the property owners of the residents pay the taxes that support everything that goes on on this de so I want to make sure that we shouldn't have have a resident or property owner that unhappy uh without trying to bridge that Gap and make sure that that that that it's being no I I mean I'm sensitive to like your desire that I've sat here since day one I think and we have certain people members of the public who will be angry and present things and it's a NeverEnding you know we'll answer questions maybe the the next meeting and it's a very frustrating our perspective because we try to answer we totally have super efforts to satisfy all districts of the city for example that's been a theme from day one so it's very difficult I totally agree there is quite a bit of History here and and so I'm not sure what else to say other than there history well I'll work through the history we'll try to work I mean it's just from you know as long as I've known you Stephen if there was ever that type of type of try to resolve try to you know if there was that type of angs between you and the township committee or the Sid or something I'd want to resolve just as I want it I don't want to see that type of TS with any Resident or property owner especially of 10 stor fronts as they said that's very I just want to say that that's your sentiment is sorry your your sentiment is very is is spot on and I I you know I think if there was a way to if there was a way to sit down and and you know I I I just don't know if there's a resolution you know because for you know from the beginning um it just doesn't seem doesn't seem like we get anywhere but but I'm but I'm always I'm always uh just for the record I'm always happy to attend the meeting to listen to try and uh I'm always open and I don't speak for anybody else I just want to and I know that and I know that there is litigation yeah and uh so that so there is litigation and maybe Mr Cooper can explain the mediation process because there now is an opportunity to sit down and deal with this um but I just want Ben to be aware um the OS and be properties have instructed the Sid in writing um that we are not allowed to promote their business on social media we are not allowed to promote their properties on our available property site they will not attend our events um and so they've been very very clear that they want nothing to do with us over the last three years I think to editorialize if they were suddenly interested in being part of our advisory committee then I think those other things shouldn't stand either and so as Stephen said history is important here um they they have not been the victims in this they have come to us editorializing they have come to us and told us that we cannot assist them um that was not our choice that was their choice but perhaps you can speak to the litigation mediation process um so I think there's um number of of sep points so there there is litigation um mros the party um the Mr Feld who's present uh this evening is the attorney uh who uh has been litigating that the objective of the litigation is to get rid of the sit right is to destroy the sit it is to um invalidate the ordinance that created this entity so um I think that is certainly a material consideration um important to understand um uh and and but again you know this s is not a party to it um with respect to the membership on an advisory committee without commenting on any particular individual's interest or inclusion or or Omission from that list you know the the composition um of that board is ultimately a credential decision that you as trustees have to make and you have a fiduciary obligation uh as trustees to The Entity um and so um that's a decision for you to individually make and then the collective majority will will end end up uh deciding and there may be differences of opinion on that um but certainly among the credential decisions that go into weighing uh any individual's membership on that board advising you as a board in general as to your fiduciary obligations are to take into account uh any individual participation contribution um uh demeanor uh Etc um in in how they'll carry out their duties as Advisory board members and representatives of the C and I certainly think absolutely material uh to that decision is is whether an individual has the objective of destroying the very organization uh with that they seek to be um a member of The Advisory board or even a member of this Board of Trustees or not um but again while that decision is material um in general again you know it's ultimately credential decision for you as individual trustees to make and then the board is a whole in in a boote so hopefully that has helped frame at least the context can't tell you what to do or how to vote but give you the tools and the parameters within which you should be approaching these decisions sure a lot of words right there lawyers PA by the word for lot of I think that you know from that context of understanding that we are one Community uh and to be successful we have to all operate under that mindset and then this needs to be resolved and we should work as a team together to try to resolve it and I'll leave it at that for now that's good and and Mr Cooper could you just give us a reminder of um we are not party to the litigation um that was the choice of the municipal attorney so um what is your advice in terms of any board members staff Etc having any expart Communications with um the litigant or the litigant attorney um so I would I would advise um Extreme Caution um because again and it goes back and this is again not to you know it is a lot of words but it's it's to give you the framework um in in the context I'm not telling any one of you uh what to do but I need to give you the tools with which to um be knowledgeable so that you can you can exercise your discretion um in a manner that's good for for your your obligations and good for the organization so you know I I would you know advise Extreme Caution um uh because although we're not a party um the Sid is an instrumentality um in in the non term of Art uh manner of speaking of the um municipality uh there is obviously that relationship uh the the other other thing which I would say is important and again I have to speak only in general we'd have to go into a close session and I can talk about specific advice but I would be very cautious um in speaking to any individual who has at least in my uh I think two threeyear tenure as as councel to the board uh has um persistently uh over that period of time you know sought to generate issues uh that that could lead to litigation right so I've seen a lot of threats of litigation a lot of accusations of of inappropriate conduct um uh what what I would say is individuals who are are looking to you know um subject the the board and the subject the Sid to to further legal expense and and um scrutiny um and that scrutin because it um legal expense is just litigation warrantless litigation again with the objective of I think ultimately destroying the CI as an entity I think that's I I believe that's the profess goal but if if others are if I'm mistaken please educate me well I think it's hard to say what our understanding of the profess goal is I think the profess goal should be professionalism Civility and everyone working together to enhance the betterment of the town that should be the professed goal uh I don't know how we can read their mind or they can you know so I wouldn't suggest that we're trying to read their mind I'm just referring to their public statements well right so should refer to also the public statements of the TC will litigate not mediate so so yeah I think if there's anything we can do and and I'll I'll take some I I'll look with the municipal attorney to take some steps forward and just one other question for my own um Mr Feld who is present is the attorney uh for the the uros um to sit down and talk um I would imagine you would oppose that as well since he is the attorney and we are potential Witnesses in a case um no one in this on this board should engage with Mr Feld as he is the attorney that is my that's been my that's my been my recommendation again I could discuss it further I just wanted to clarify for the in close session but um given the repeated threats and other accusations that I found to be un unwarranted and not Vally supported yes that has been my advice threats and and aggressive behavior wait a second the first meeting May I have a motion to adjourn this meeting motion may I have a second second meeting meeting adjourned good night everyone favor oh all in favor I