we go bro okay the February 12th meeting of the burough miltown bur Council will now come to order will the clerk please read the open public meeting statement adequate notice that this meeting has been provided as required under chapter 231 PL 1975 specifying the time date location and to the extent known the agenda by posting a copy of the notes on the municipal building Municipal website providing a copy to the official newspapers of the burrow and by filing a copy in the office of the Bor clerk in accordance with a certification by the clerk which will be entered into the minutes will the clerk please call the role council president revolinski here councilman Collins here councilman moo here councilman kazansky here councilman Potter here councilman zamb BR here mayor Murray here bur Attorney Peter Veno pres all three burrow Engineers B administrator Fred Carr B clerk Monica Orlando I'm here and Deputy clerk Mary gy please please join me in a moment of silence followed by the salute to the flag I pledge ALG to the flag of the United States of America and to your repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible Li and justice for all all right we have a CME presentation on Albert Avenue Park improvements I'm actually thankful that we have all these uh residents to see the park Improvement so thank you thanks May thank you sir thank you Mr Mayor uh I have with us tonight L lankov who's a project manager with the firm who I think most of you know and we have an engineer in training Alec Rankin tonight so uh we're going to ask Lou and Alec to begin the presentation and get this thing under way for you so without further Ado take it away Lou thank mayor council members so this project um is um basically a bike path project it's being constructed through a grant from the NJ do bike qu program Tom was successful in in acquiring it's a $255,000 grant there's been um it started out as a bike path there's been a number of iterations to the plan um there are some additional improvements that have been suggested by various committees so um we're here to talk to you about the original plan and what these additional improvements might be and the costs associated with those and with that I'm going to turn it over to Alex and he's going to run through the plan um uh the up there sorry Hi everybody uh so to give a quick overview of the proposed improvements that we have currently for the plan um if you want to bring your attention to the page over here so as L said um the burough received a grant for $255,000 for bike path improvements in the Albert Avenue Park um specifically in the area of the Hill Street and Albert Avenue intersection um the initial bike path design was to be started from the intersection of Albert Avenue um and Hill Street at the existing entrance or uh crosswalk um and to run up around Hill Street along the uh tree line of the back of the park and initially to come down um along the first Baseline of the existing softball field uh there was initial comments uh were first the uh first revision where we initially uh added in additional path to go around the existing volleyball court and playground area instead of coming down uh the first Baseline um along with those improvements uh the burough also included um some additions uh to the uh Park itself so as of now the base estimate for the bike path editions that we kind of just laid out were at $259,000 um in the I guess I'll call them the original additions from the township there were um I'm going to list the few additions that they I guess proposed and some quick uh Improvement costs with contingencies that we came up with each of these um thank you so for the first Improvement was bike path entres and crosswalks across Hill Street in Albert Avenue so these are um additional crosswalks and entrances to the bike path um with mid block crosswalks at the Hill Street and I think it's Desmond Avenue intersection along with the Albert and I forget the name of Street down here Royal Court intersection um this includes obviously achal warning surface uh depressed curb ramp and crosswalk and striping uh those the estimated Improvement cost with contingencies for that addition would be around $166,000 uh the next one is the uh parking area Paving so next to the existing restroom facilities uh uh the improvements would include um uh overlaying the existing gravel area there with uh HMA surface course to provide a parking area uh for one utility vehicles or police vehicles or anything that has to access either the restroom facilities or the softball field uh mall at the park uh these improvements costs were approximately or estimated approximately uh $27,000 uh next to build on top of that uh right next to it we have the Softball Field improvements so Softball Field improvements includes a new perpendicular Arch Back Stop um along with uh new proposed team benches and fencing along both the first base and Third Base Line uh these Softball Field improvements were estimated at uh approximately $95,000 the next addition is uh additional path on the first Baseline so with I guess reducing our path along the first Baseline to go around the volleyball courts um to provide access to the bleachers on the first Baseline uh we're providing an 8ft path around the back of the uh back stop uh this uh Improvement is estimated uh to be approximately $122,000 uh finally or not finally the last um or second to last Improvement for uh the first round of additions was pedestrian benches all throughout the park as you can see these they're a little small but the small rectangles along each the bike path um as of now we kind of came up a number of 13 benches throughout the park and those improvements are estimated at approximately $110,000 finally for the first uh first review Edition uh The Spectator bleacher pads and path so um there is existing concrete pads where The Spectator bleaches are but because of the improvements um of the back stop we have to I guess move back some of the that spectator bleaching or bleacher area so we provided a new concrete pad and existing asphalt walkways or proposed asphalt walkways uh for those those improvements are listed approximately uh $122,000 um so obviously these are shown on the plan we review or we received additional comments um for additions in the park as well these ones aren't shown on the plan but we came up with budget budgets for them uh for the council so so for the second additions the first item is bike path entrance lights and security cameras this would be proposing lights at all three entrances as you can see the ones that we showed before um along with possible lighting and security cameras in the north Southwest portion of the park uh this would include four light poles three security cameras along with all the other electrical items like conduit wiring um and connections to existing power sources along Hill Street and Alber Avenue these costs um were estimated at approximately 153 $3,000 uh next addition was conduit Crossings so the first item is for you know proposed Lighting in the park conduit Crossings would be uh something we'd add during the construction of the bike path um in preparation of uh future lighting improvements throughout the park so obviously maybe not just at your entrances but along the path itself the entire route um these would be conduit Crossings every 100 to anticipate again future improvements uh future electrical improvements in the park this uh was estimated at approximately $144,000 uh to include those in the bike path construction uh next item is bike path it or add-ons it's a pretty general term but this includes the insulation of five mile markers along the path uh three bike racks and two bike repair and air pump stations uh along with additional uh path markings one arrows uh just to tell you where you are along the uh path and what direction it should be going in uh these improvements are estimated at $21,000 uh next item is the trash receptacles in the park uh this includes the Furnishing installing of five waste and recycling container sets um throughout the park in in between or next to some of the uh proposed benches uh for five waste recycling container sets we anticipate the furnish installing um to be approximately $25,000 uh next item the additional fencing for ball fields so as you can see the path runs along the back tree line but also very close to the existing softball fields and uh soccer field so to increase uh or just to make sure nobody gets hit by any uh you know flying softballs or soccer balls we're proposing an 8T fence uh to almost come from the Hill Street intersection to the edge of the first based softball field line um along with a gate in the middle to access obviously any of the inside field that might be cut off from this fencing uh those improvements are estimated around $84,000 um next is a concrete pad storage container or concrete pad 4 storage container so this would be proposed right next to the existing restroom facilities it would be a 20x10 concrete pad uh that would be placed there for an existing storage container be put there uh for any storage equipment for the softball fields soccer fields basketball courts and really anything inside the park um finally the last item for this uh Second Edition is the is Albert Avenue speed control and additional crosswalk warnings so we're alerted that Albert Avenue obviously with these updates to the park um because it's a through street at the intersection of Albert Avenue and Hill Street there are cars going be coming through there a little too fast so these improvements include the installation of one speed hump along with additional striping signage to go along with it and the installation of one pair of rectangular rapid flashing beacons for the Albert Avenue H intersection uh these signs be placed at Albert Avenue at the uh proposed crosswalk um and speed hump will vary depending on where along Albert Avenue we feel like it's needed the most um and I believe that's it for the oh sorry cost uh the estimated cost for those improvements were $47,000 for the speed control and additional crosswalk warning so you may have missed a concrete pad too no no the price on the concrete pad storage container oh I apologize um that was going to be or that's estimated at $4,000 What's the total cost the total cost of all uh additions great uh currently that is $620,000 so obviously that could be picking and choosing but that's the all inclusive of including all those additions I just listed off something else we can consider actually if you can find out a cost for the future is actually to extend it all the way around the back which yeah which we spoke about the other day because if we if we do uh apply for some additional monies through the county of the space Grant um we'd like to see that PA continue all the way over towards colal little over 125,000 estimate yes any more question add there's a premium pay for Park typical we've seen prices in park 10 to 20% some of your road it's just one of the things that theyh especially pmic SE prices very high so I guess my question is when does this well you have items we have to pick and choose when do we have to have a final because I know you've already asked for an extension um to use this money so what is our due date well as I understand you are going to delivery over whether you're going to increase your ordinance I think that you tell us when you need to r r okay right now you're running around a little over 700,000 project you need to your ordinance does not have that kind of money your administrator I have had a conversation that you're looking to possibly produce an ordinance maybe your next meeting to increase it to C Only We Ready time you get your Mone place and this includes all the comments that came through I know we went through uh sorry let me turn this back off um I know we went through the uh Recreation advisory committee the DPW committee I think utility threw a couple suggestions in there as well so there in encompasses all of those recommendations and all those asks yes uh anything else I know with the police department we had included the illuminated crosswalks and the speed humps is there anything else that in your review or your professional opinion as you guys were going through U maybe your mind's changed on a thing or two or you thought this should be included or not be included I think the list is comprehensive I think in terms of typical Park work when you have a park project remember the money you got for the walkway was a specific NJ gr it doesn't it's not a park Improvement uh Grant it's a it's an effort to try and like ways and encourage what you're doing now is increases of Department and I can tell you I remember now was not even big enough for a soccer field I go back a long time it was it was a small field and it was actually widen and regr so it's come a long way and it's U something that is a good Improvement I've been keeping numbers here for anyone else who was listening along and might not have had a calculator in hand everything included the additional all the way over to kou of the bike path was 804,000 estimated so subtract the $250,000 grant that we have currently in house from the do for the bike path and you're left with uh another 554 th000 for financing um we did submit a letter of intent to DPW uh director submitted a letter of intent to the county this week uh inquiring about an open space non-matching fund just a grant um basically a handout from the county which is for $500,00 annually so that would based on these estimates uh increase miltown or or leave miltown with about 5 uh $544,000 total left over out of out of our pockets so to speak um we have not applied for that Grant just a letter of intent of we we want to apply just to get on their list um any additional costs uh after that we've got construction Administration costs is that correct we have all the numbers together okay full oh those are full numbers for okay all is that you said all the soft costs involved that's correct okay yeah we roll them all any more questions do we want to you were saying the 804 includes the extension all the 125,000 saying yep okay thank I I was just going to say do does anyone else from you want to open this up to the public at this time for any other comments just while we have CME here cuz I know we have to go to Executive session right I did have one question what about the posts for the Pavilion um because was that supposed to be part of the uh repairs I know I think Ralph had a price for that already for replacing those so that we need to add it into this scope of work as well I think that was around 10,000 or 12,000 you do get a scale you have and perhaps they could take the uh two existing goal uh goalies out the goal posts that are there that are the Nets are destroyed and nobody uses the the full size field anyway it's all small gos okay and this is with all regrading right Mike along along Hill Street cuz there's there's dips over there yeah it's uh trying to save the treat that's again is there an anticipated uh number of removed trees or um approximate number give it a second we're checking that no worries I think we have about uh six six Long Hill Street right yeah there's a a couple near um where that parking area would be paved um there's one near the storm uh sewer extension on the corner are those the big x's and the goal not take treat but we try to yeah so existing on Long Hill Stree you can see we tried to avoid most of the trees you could probably see in the aerial um but as you go towards a back tree line it's also a matter of trying to stay within the tree line but also uh give enough clearance off the bike path so some of them have to be removed just because of their vicinity to the bike path um along with again some might be dependent on some of the additions like the Arch Back Stop I know as of now the existing back stop is pretty small um but with the proposed perpendicular Arch Back stop that one might push back a little bit and I know there's a little gravel area with a few uh some of those might be removed if that addition is uh included okay thank you how uh how did the slope look for the parking area um I know that kind of dips downward towards those field uh would it be to maintain that slope and the water would just run towards the the field or is there um I don't know any sort of trench drain or or something to redirect that flow yeah we're going to have to do some braing over there to okay straighten that out and that's included in the the estimated cost yes they need a small wall I know we were we were kind of thinking that too I know that's one of the things we discussed was perhaps a small retaining wall whether it be 24 in tall maybe a fence at the end of it so a car doesn't just accidentally drive too far this doesn't include any Field improvements right into the soccer field not all right anybody El does any of the residents have um I can't help thinking it and again not my field of expertise but seems a lot for back stoping benches is there an evaluation of what is labor what is material into that even just to roughly yeah we don't have it with us but we certainly get any this the f are high because you usually that's a um it's basic fence with um PDC cating it so it's not like when we were kids it was just regular g f but today especially those curent back steps they fly Co fence and it's done in a way that's less visible like as you take it black but we can certainly get a breakdown if you want but these are actual prices that we're receiv for these typ things it's that's a fairly common back stop so we use the price of contract us for some other job okay I mean with the grant it becomes less of an issue but if it's finan I just think it's just something it's just a number that kind of kind of hit me in the head U additionally the benches that are along the outside as I've been to that Park um and again my limited experience with that Park is more about uh recck soccer and some of those games and all the benches on the outside and those that would wrap around the bike bath um they're not particularly visual points for people to watch any of the ongoing Sports um I know in some of the rec meetings there was some discussion of maybe tables or some type of seating that would give a little more you know intimate or uh closer PR you know to the to that spot but then you run into problems of people taking those all day and taking over the field with them uh but some of that came up just wondering did that still kind of on the table the final placement of all those benches and yeah the intricacies of field design are significant these days but you can have Team benches that you designate for the two teams and they' be on either side of the center line and then you can have spectator Benes they become part of the field now because these things are all considered instructs to the player so when you decide if you want to put those they become part of it it's not hard to do it's just you have to recognize you have a very small field there if you go to the short side of field where you instead of basically play line Long Hill Street and go the opposite direction now those all conflict so you know you have to decide what you could do is go to portes and a little more trouble fing around May for Works guys that's another that's you have portable team portable spect all something those are nomally not very expensive to buy those yourself but you have to remember this clear Z something that you're going to have to recognize that it's an issue playing Team okay thank question about the the lights you mentioned three lights one at each of the crosswalks are those just intended to be telephone poles with a standard street light on there or are we looking at something more architecturally uh pleasing prop standard lighting have around town have Park Lighting in park and we have put those in before those we price it's pretty much the same light you have out front here okay so just to let you know I pulled up one of my emails from last year regarding the capital list and part of it was the support polls for The Pavilions that the mayor brought up so just let you know they had that has a cost of $99,000 um so just an idea and that was in the capital plan for last year and I know we also had garbage cans too um at uh at $10,000 so um when you mention that I just wanted to go back and see was there than so it's actually kind of nice that this you know kind of expanding upon just from a bike path to a full Park Improvement we're starting to also take on some of the other things that we initially budgeted for might not have gotten to yep I agree I'll move closer to the microphone thank you was I okay did any members um want to comment on specifically just the park Improvement um so I know we have a couple Michael though just state your name and address for the record please yeah Michael shakaron uh 19 YN now Avenue uh uh environmental commission uh just a question about the trees that are uh that that would come down with the path Etc it would be nice to know what the caliber of the trees are the species and whether it would make sense for Replacements to be put somewhere that's it thank you okay all right so we're going to go into public comment so now is the time for public comment limited to the resolutions listed on the agenda if if you wish to speak please step up to the microphone say your name and address for the record okay uh seeing no comments this portion of the meeting is closed to the public all right so will the clerk please read resolutions 2465 entering executive session whereas the open public meetings ACT public law 1975 chapter 231 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances and whereas this this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist and whereas the governing body wishes to discuss Personnel matters and whereas minutes will be kept and once a matter involving the confidentiality of the above no longer requires that confidentiality then the minutes can be made public now therefore be resolved by the burrow Council of the burough of miltown County of middlex state of New Jersey that the public be excluded from this meeting okay um we're going to go down the hole for we need a motion in a second motion second cler uh please call roll council president revolinski Hi councilman Collins hi councilman moo hi councilman P nany hi councilman Potter hi councilman Zan BR hi time is 7:30 we're going to go down the hall for a few minutes and we'll be back that's who I T all right we are back in Open session at 801 Will C clerk please call the roll council president rinsky here councilman Collins here councilman pansy here councilman Potter here councilman Z BR here mayor Murray here M Council Mana I didn't say Mana guess I did colins Mana did I skip over you I'm sorry councilman Mana here sorry SE if you away guess I should have another cup of coffee so Monica the item we discussed in the executive session is that on um the consent yes it is thank you all right uh the following minutes on the agenda uh for acceptance January 2nd 2024 reorg meeting January 16th 2024 special meeting January 16th executive session January 22nd 2024 regular meeting are there any comments or Corrections no can I have a motion to accept the meetings at the meeting minutes as tyght second all in favor okay um the department monthly reports have been received and distributed to council once they are accept it they can be found on the burrow website within the meeting documents can I have a motion to accept the file and monthly Department reports motion to accept and file the monthly reports second second all favor I I okay any oppos okay will the clerk please read ordinance 24-1 1530 by title only ordinance to fix and amend salaries and wages for various miltown borrow employees and providing the manner of payment thereof will the council make a motion to Second improve I make a motion that the ordinance be uh I always mess up with the Ordinance one but adopted on second reading no first reading on first reading introduced all right fill in the blanks for me we need a motion to accept it as introduced with a public hearing to be held on February 26 2024 at 700 p.m. so second uh may I have a a rooll call please council president revolinski councilman Comm councilman moo hi councilman nski councilman Potter councilman Zen BR I uh public hearing on this ordinance will take place on February 26 2024 at 7.m council chambers all right public hearing on on second reading ordinance will The Following ordinance be introduced on January 22nd 2024 and advertised according to law if any any member of the public wishes to comment on this ordinance they may do so after the reading will the clerk please read ordinance 24-1 1529 by title ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a c bank will a council please make a motion I move that ordinance 24-1 1529 be adopted on first reading publish second reading sorry uh okay and final reading NV published reporting to [Music] law we need a second second I will now open the public hearing on ordinance 24-15 29 is any no public hearing is now closed will clerk please call the rooll council president rolinski I councilman Collins hi councilman moo hi councilman pansi councilman Potter I councilman Zam Brana I authorizing bill payment will the clerk please read resolution for payment of obligations authorizing the payment of bills claims and statements against the burrow of miltown in a total amount of 3,572 228 you have heard this reading of this resolution what is your pleasure Mr Mayor I make a motion that this bill is we approve this type second uh the uh resolution was approved by councilman Potter second by council president rinsky will the clerk please any questions oh I I just had a question on page seven and I think 18 it says we're paying $66 to remove a refrigerator is that right I'm sorry what page are you on seven that is accurate so for the uh the CFC removal oh I see CFC removal okay yes sir it's not the removal of the refrigerator itself it's the it's a hazardous waste so you got to take it to the dump do all that thanks page 18 I had one question let see maybe it's say the senior senator it had fiber invoice did is it a new fiber connection for the senior center or page 18 472 is $15 $154 but I don't believe so yes was it new not a new connection right it's a senior s main 472 is that with software maintenance I see it's a lot for software so we so I'll dig that PO out and uh okay other than try to guess whether or not I don't think just software maintenance uh it's probably just what the it guys called it could be a lapt computer itself but we'll sort that out and uh tell the council what it is okay thanks I um just like to add also I know councilman Zam bro wanted to look at uh the bills uh this week um or in preparation for this meeting uh as did the mayor and myself and uh what we'd like to do is Institute uh scanning of these bills on a regular basis and have those sent out to all the council members so that they have an opportunity to review and ask questions prior to um just getting the bill list you know the week before the meeting hopefully that helps solve some of the questions that that come up and and council president uh Ren the reason for that is so it's more detailed so we don't have to ask these questions to our to our VA so we still can ask the questions but at least we'll have more information and then this way we're not stuck with one person hasn't if someone else does correct but since that's still in question are we still able to approve this or do we have the whole what what is that does that one thing hold up the uh the bill or not I no no no sir no so we so in the bill list the money's already been obligated and paid uh if not not paid it's just waiting for the council to review it and understand it uh we've already uh what we don't have right now is an explanation of what the money was spent for not that it that not that it did not go through the purchase order requisition was appropriately done I just just don't I just can't specifically say what it was but there's no reason that you can't pull it if you if if you're uncomfortable you can pull that from the bill list will hold that check until later time councilman Collins you yeah that's acceptable you want to pull it or do you want okay no we'll we'll approve it I just want to take a look at see what it is answer okay the r um clerk please call the rooll council president revolinski hi councilman Collins hi councilman moo hi councilman pansy hi councilman Potter I councilman Zen BR I a consent resolution has been prepared for the resolutions listed on the agenda all matters listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine in nature and having been reviewed by burrow Council will be enacted in one motion any items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any council member and if so removed will be treated on a separate matter any items require an expenditure or supported by the certification of funds if any member of the council wants any resolution acted upon individually please give me the resolution by number and it will be pulled from the consent resolution we actually have letters yeah it was letters today only because I wasn't sure if there was going to be action after executive they'll be numbered after the meeting yes so just let me know the letter yeah so Mr mayor and and Monica I'm going to pull uh item J is that it yeah I'd like to pull uh item l so far we have two okay all right will the clerk please read the resolution requested whereas pursuant to the rules of council the council May establish a consent agenda for any regular or special meetings upon certain C certain conditions and whereas each of the following resolutions to be presented before the burrow council at its February 12th 2024 regular meeting appear to have the unanimous approval of all members of the burrow Council resolutions a through I and K and M now therefore be resolved by the bur Council of the bur of miltown that each of the above listed resolutions be approved and adopted by the burrow council with the same legal effect as though each were read in its entirety at the February 12th 2024 regular meeting adopted by separate vote you heard the reading of the consent resolution which your pleasure Mr Mayor make the motion that these resolutions be adopted second motion by councilman Potter look on the trigger second by council president revolinsky uh will the clerk please uh call council president revolinski Hi councilman Collins councilman moo hi councilman panski councilman Potter I councilman Zam Brana I will the clerk read resolution L uh j j j by title Please granting permission to the Midtown 4th of July organization Incorporated to hold the annual 4th of July activities what's a pleasure Council we move that this resolution be adopted second motion made by council president uh rinsky seconded by uh councilman Collins yes so Mr Mayor thank you very much the reason why I pulled it not because I do not want the miltown 4th of July I do but only because I'm on on the executive committee and I'm going to abstain this so that's the only reason why I P it all right uh can we have a role to approve can council president revolinski councilman C councilman moo councilman pansi councilman Potter abstain councilman Zim bran I okay uh clerk please read resolution uh L by title C authorizing Personnel action Municipal Court pleas pleased councel move that this resolution be adopted second um motion made by council president rinsky second by councilman Potter clerk please call the rooll discussion oh discussion uh I just say was this a full-time job we're going two part- timers or uh this is because in the do you want to take so these are two on call part-time clerks that's why their rate is that so for vacancies in the court as a as a council knows we don't we have neither a court administrator or a deputy we're trying to hire a deputy and find a shared services perhaps with a court administrator for the court itself it's being currently run by the middlex county vage um saw the gentleman here works and these are the sort of the on call people that they bring in to take up the slack and do the work when the other people aren't available I see thank you seeing no further comments look clear please call the wrong council president revolinski Hi councilman Collins councilman moo hi councilman pansy councilman Potter hi councilman Zam Brana hi reports from the [Music] officials council president R thank you Mr Mayor uh very brief we uh we did have Personnel committee uh meetings this week on on Tuesday discussed several matters including the ordinance that was uh introduced this evening for fixing the salaries and wages um part of that did did bring up the salaries to be at least minimum wage and bring a couple others up to par um we uh Ford Avenue uh was canceled this this month there was no meeting I know they're still interviewing or going through the resumés for the uh executive director position and last but not least the planning board meeting was also canceled for this month with no applicants to be heard that concludes my report thank you Council mollins thank you Mr Mayor uh miltown electric utility February 12th 2024 a new span of secondary conductors was installed on North Main Street to facilitate a permanent service connection for a dwelling the existing circuit was balanced between better between two existing Transformers in the area department members responded through sparking wires on West fos Avenue and repaired a Service drop cable lineman respond responded to a eight calls for broken street lights six lights were repaired two were replaced with energy efficient LED fixtures one broken electric meter was replaced abandoned Telco cable wires were removed from several poles department members responded to several calls of down wires line clearance was performed on North Main Street Columbia Avenue North Moes Maple Shade road our aggressive line clearance has been resulted in few outages bucket truck number nine delivered hydraulic wait a minute excuse me bucket truck number nine has developed hydraulic problems and is out of service the burrow for diesel generators were inspected in treated by utility department members substation maintenance was performed all filters were changed in the four HVAC units and batteries were checked for DC backup control system various power problems were evaluated throughout the burrow utility department worked with the building department to troubleshoot disputes between throughout the month poll surveys related to Two Poles with structur issues work will be scheduled as soon as markouts are completed and the water utility monitoring of the pump station occurs on regular schedule Church Street Pump Station number one is out for repairs water main brake on Crestwood drrive was repaired in the hydrant valve for hydrant it was repl if anyone has any questions oh excuse me if anyone is isn't signed up to receive notices through the nixel email and text please go to nixle.com to register uh that concludes my report Mr Mayor okay thank you Council so uh as I spoke with uh the Parks from Recreation and some of the other we're still looking to do uh Earth Day the week before uh here day just so we don't conflict with Ruckers and their Ruckers day so on the 20th is when it's expected all it through there'll be cleanups uh there seems to be a some interest in doing a kayaking thing so that may happen that day as well uh but there'll be more forthcoming about that um the rec department had a really good response to their uh presentation of the new theater uh group that they're doing which also seems got a good respond they've immediately got people to sign up but additionally there's a lot more interest in less Sports and some things that are just for other people who aren't Sports oriented um with that uh know the green team we're looking is we have a meeting uh or later this week uh I know uh we're probably going to do that as a zoom but if anyone is interested uh certainly get them notes when that happens beyond that uh some of the other things just to mention uh the the rec Department still has tickets left for the miltown night with the New Jersey Devils uh the game will be on Tuesday April 9th and uh you can purchase them it's a private box you do have to make your way there um the open uh registration is now open for the sports soccer clinics program which begins on March 7th uh there are some also some new exploiting programs for the Theater Arts company and those still have some openings uh and they are also looking for seasonal employment applications for the alberth camp and the burough pool applications are located on the burrow website and uh the applications must be completed online and email to the red FL uh you can use Community pass for any one of those programs the library also has uh a bunch of happenings like they do uh Saturday the 17th at 11: they're crocheting with Sam G Wednesday the 21st uh at 11: a.m. they have a drop in craft we come in they'll make and you're going to learn how to make a craft that day uh story time Thursdays uh 10:30 a.m. uh babes and tots and 11:30 a.m. for all ages Saturday the 24th they have book art for babes sign up is required uh Saturday February 24th at noon what's up with cannabis kind of an interesting thing that I wouldn't have expected that there it says here the latest and get your questions answered by Rob Mahia a cannabis Professor from Stockton University and Monday the 26th at 10:30 there's a heart and health screening there presented by breath and heal uh Monday the February 26th at 6 p.m. there is jeopardy night for teens and adults and the library will be closed on Monday February 19th in honor of president today thank you councilman M councilman banski sure uh this is the DPW report uh street sweeping has taken place and is ongoing to meet the EP regulations the quarterly catch Bas is an outfall pipe cleaning has taken place to meet the D storm water regulations also staff continued to address any potholes that need to be repaired please use the report of concern feature on the barl web page to report any new potholes clean up of bamboo down trees and vegetation at the schendan cabin continues F Tree on Highland Drive was removed installed remaining public parking signs on Main Street and at Michelin field Leaf cleanup continues at the pool 50 fire hydrant markers have been installed throughout the town Leaf cleanup at burough park has been completed um schinman uh area if anyone goes by uh you'll enjoy it uh you'll see that things are happening over there and also at the old DPW please drive by it it looks better every day the guys have been working on it and uh I also have a report from the senior center the update following activities take place each week at the miltown senior center uh the activities are run through the Office of Aging for those 16 over some of the activities include aerobics line dancing aerobics uh chair yoga Billiards uh walk aerobics men's club chorus Spanish Arts crafts Bingo and a monthly visit from the VNA nurse and sweating with the oldies um oh okay um and also I'll I'll also give you the highlights uh lunch and learn on Wednesday February 14th at 1:30 presented by the elere group uh sign up required bus trips to Portuguese fishermen on Tuesday February 13th um depends if it's nose or not I guess uh the the VNA nurse uh will be there on the 20th of February uh Q&A presentations from Monica barl Clerk on February 22nd and the Q&A presentation from Ralph the supervisor DPW on uh February 29th at 1230 and uh for the historic preservation committee first meeting was January 25th via Zoom 2024 officers were appointed uh there'll be two inperson meetings March 28th and sept September 26 the next meeting is February 22nd via Zoom link on the buau website calendar and that concludes thank you councilman py sure councilman Potter thank you Mr Mayor uh regarding Public Safety uh from the Midtown Police Department speeding concerns the police department have stepped up speeding and enforcement throughout the burrow please continue to obey all local speed limits for solicitor permits there are currently no individuals who have been issued solicitor permits by the burrow through the police department each solicitor must pay a fee and go through a criminal background check when in doubt please call the police and do not become a victim of a scam regarding hiring the police department is current accepting applications for crossing guards and Public Safety telecommunicators if interested applications for both positions can be found on the burrow website for more information please contact Lieutenant Carmen D Lorenzo at CD Lorenzo at miltown pd.org finally the miltown police department are very happy to help our community with any problem as a reminder for emergencies and life-threatening situations please dial 911 all non-emergent situations please dial 732 82810 or enter a report of concern on the official burrow website and also with the possibility of a snowstorm coming tomorrow please adhere to the nixel that came out this morning for the miltown fire department there were 25 calls for the month of January and one notably was the warehouse structure fire off Nassau Street in North Brunswick uh we as a mayor and Council want to personally thank all of our fire rescue workers that assisted in that alarming incident which thank goodness resulted in no injuries uh members are needed any candidates interested and join the miltown fire department are encouraged to stop by the firehouse on Monday nights at 6:30 or email join miltown fire at gmail.com for the Midtown Rescue Squad the Midtown Rescue Squad will be accepting applications for their spring onboarding process anyone who is interested in learning more about joining the rescue squad or becoming an EMT should email recruitment at miltown rescue squad. org to learn more applications for the April 2024 submission date need to be submitted by March 10th please feel free to contact the miltown rescue squad for any questions and Mr Mayor regarding the Public Safety Committee the Public Safety Committee met with the miltown fire department on January 22nd miltown Rescue Squad on January 29th and the miltown police department on January 31st discussions included the essential needs for each department and how the Public Safety Committee can assist with those needs finally for the miltown 4th of July with the approval of the resolution this evening the miltown 4th of July committee is happy to have our annual 4th of July celebration once again in miltown on Thursday July 4th please keep an eye out for all upcoming fundraisers and events on our website miltown 4 of july.com and follow us on Facebook Tik Tok and Instagram and that concludes my report thank you Council councilman Zen uh thank you Mr Mayor so I have three short reports uh the first one is from the environmental commission uh the reorg meeting for 2024 was held on January 24th via zoom and a uh new chair and vice chair uh chair Michael shakarian and our vice chair Barbara Wright were chosen for 2024 uh the recording secretary has not been chosen yet uh it's a TBD status and and that will be handled by a combination of myself and Mr sharan until a uh recording secretary is chosen um I was asked to um ask the finance committee or reach out to the finance committee if there is any Det details that um the committee could provide to the finance committee for a budget ask for help in Earth day uh I was also asked to reach out to the finance committee since it's that time of the year budget prep um about what how much money is left from the um schwendeman Grant uh a few years ago um so that we could that could be reported back to the commission at the next meeting and um Mary Ellen schwinderman who attended the meeting did did ask about if there's going to be any sort of um movement towards uh upgrading or or or or that to that property uh by Q3 of this year as um she would actually asked about uh switching artifacts from the schwender uh property on Main Street to that uh uh to the schwend property right now um Board of Health uh reordered meeting was canceled due to a lack of a quorum and our next meeting will be held on February 27th 2024 in Burl Hall at 7:30 :0 my last uh update is about the revitalization committee uh that reorg meeting was held on February 9th via Zoom uh a chair the same chair from last year Andrew Vander was chosen and new committee members were introduced and welcomed uh the next meeting is actually tomorrow February 13th at uh 700 p.m. at 7:30 p.m. which is a new time and will be via zoom and that completes my reports thank you councilman Z BR uh my report is pretty quick and simp simple uh we've actually we had a Personnel committee uh meeting and we discussed the background checks for all new burrow employees being hired so we're going to uh Implement that uh as part of our process for uh the burrow that concludes my report uh reports from any burrow professionals nothing forther no report Mr Mayor I have a couple things uh so in January the clerk's office issued 244 dog licenses and three cat licenses the $5 late fee went into effect February 1st a reminder that the rabies needs to be good through October 31st again not our rule that is the state's rule uh today we sent out letters to owners on file that have not renewed their dog license in a few years I know through Co it kind of fell through the cracks for some people I don't we're not sure if people have moved out of town or if their pet has uh passed away so we did send out a courtesy letter just reminding everyone hey we haven't gotten a licensed uh renewal from you in a while please give us a call and let us know if you've moved or if your pet is deceased or if you forgot and you want to be licensed um I've been getting a few submissions for raffle licenses and just a quick reminder to everybody that when you submit it it needs to be four copies of the application I don't care if most of the application is copied but that last page must be signed by by two members of the organization in ink and notorized that cannot be a copy um and a good idea is to submit at least one month prior to when you plan on holding your raffle or Bingo because the state can be a little slow uh any Resident who's been appointed to a border committee at reorg or after that should be coming to my office to complete an oath of office as well as update personal information I'm trying to create a database of our volunteers uh the 2024 Lewis Bay second the second future Municipal leader scholarship competition application has been posted to the burrow website if you go on to our website under Community then education then scholarship opportunities you will see all the information there it's open to all high school juniors and seniors regardless of where you go to school but you must apply within the municipality that you reside in the deadline to get the submission to our office is March 8th 2024 it's a Friday all submissions come to the clerk's office and then they are forwarded to Mayor and counsel for review at that point they choose a semi-finalist which gets sent to the league of municipalities for consideration uh election date deadlines March 25th is the deadline for anybody who's planning on filing a petition for the primary April 10th is the deadline if you want to change your party affiliation May 14th is a deadline to register to vote May 28th is the deadline to apply for a mail and ballot early voting for the primary election will be May 29th through June 2nd and once have all those locations it'll be posted on the clerk's website June 4th is primary election day and as I always say poll workers are needed you do receive paid training and for that day if you work a full day it's $400 if you are interested in being a poll worker please contact me in the clerk's office 732 828 2100 extension 1119 or you can email me m Orlando mtown bar.com and finally as uh councilman posnanski said I will be at the senior center on Thursday February 22nd at 12:30 for a little Q&A um and that's all that I have mayor thank you all right does any member old business does the me any member of council have any old business to bring forward to council um I have uh I have two quick items uh and then I'd like to actually address U councilman Zan br's comments regarding the environmental commission um the first for all business and I'll shoot this question towards the clerk where are we with uh posting the sale of surplus equipment uh last year I believe it was in October or September we had compiled a list passed resolution to sell those items I know we were still waiting on a couple of VIN numbers or um I have all that um the pictures I'm going through to make sure that it's everything that every side and the inside everything else so uh by the end of this month everything should be posted posted okay uh and the reason I bring that up is cuz today I was uh stopping down to bur Hall and um councilman pansy didn't mention but I know he wanted to was the tremendous work that the DPW crew has been doing over at the old electric substation and uh you didn't but you can I apologize I didn't hear you say um but they're doing the work at the DPW and electric substation if you do drive by or walk by you'll notice things are a lot more clean over there um just taking one step forward to hopefully turning that into a park one day and you know they're also doing I know Gary mentioned it as well the um the work over there at the schwamman cabin um schwamman cabin is a little bit of old business um at this time we did have corresponden going back and forth with the architect um the architect had indicated that prior um when he when he submitted his um proposal proposal thank you um he anticipated there being some architectural floor plans and for him to do a proper report on the condition of the facility uh he did state that he anticipates another 16 hours or or 16 to 20 hours of work to draw out that floor plan I did speak with uh mayor Murray today he indicated that at one point he had drawn up floor plans in AutoCAD which is uh tremendous help so we're going to pass those over to the architect but uh that architect is being paid out of the grant that we received for the property other than his fees which have not been spent yet uh no additional monies had been spent other than a couple of nickels and dimes on materials for treating the wood U the rest of the grant still does remain so there should be around $112,000 if I recall correctly um with the additional hours that would bring the architect's fee to somewhere in the neighborhood of6 to $7,000 to do the assessment report um which would include uh indications of the status of the electric the plumbing the HVAC uh all those nuances of both the cabin and the addition um he did ask that we discuss this I thought it would be a good time to bring it up so we can get all of council's feedback on this um if we are okay with just letting him know that yes that that's okay for the additional hours in order to generate a proper report for the floor plans I I'll just need a a motion in a second because it is expending more money so and that money is would come out of the grant so yeah I mean I can put on the next meeting or if you're doing it now I don't know how you I I think it'd be in our best interest to move forward sooner rather than later um with that so I'll make a motion that we uh acknowledge the additional expenditures of the architect can we call it a not to exceed of 7500 not to exceed 7500 for that report I'll second it 5500 is what it was this another 2000 I'll second again all right so I'm sorry who gave the motion that was me and then second by councilman Collins all right and this is to go from not to exceed of 5,500 to a not to exceed of 7500 just so everybody knows what we're voting on please call the council president revolinski councilman Collins councilman moo councilman posnanski councilman Potter councilman Zen Brana hi is there any more old business yes um I'd like to know if we can revisit the agreement that we had with North BR North Brunswick in regards to the use of our court system it it's been a couple years and they're redoing their building because they've had some other issues and I I'd like to see if we can uh um go over the the agreement at some point it's my understanding that we don't have a formal agreement in place but uh but yeah this has this has been brought up a little bit that we need to do something finally that's been a year and a half yeah with the anticipated further delays going on with there I think it's time to formalize something we're getting a wear and tear in our building and our facility so at least yeah I think it's a fair assessment so council president rinsky who would be in charge that would that be the ba or well I I think the letter would go out from the business from our business administrator to their business administrator stating that we'd like to address this matter and formalize it um and then we'll take the discussions from there um what department would handle that I would I would assume it's somewhere in the realm of DPW and finance um along with the ba since our business administrator is silent I'll take that as he accepts the additional work well first we'll have to find the existing non-existing agreement that start with then we'll go from there yes sir there you go uh more old business no new business does any member of council have any new business to bring before Council uh just just one uh for me and I'm sorry if I was looking down I don't see any other hands come up um there's two items that you had me answer the agenda pardon you me add two items to new business on yes sorry I I have another one that I have on here that uh comes up this one's from last year so anyone who was on Council last year may recall that we had discussions about uh food truck and uh Andor Farm Stand ordinance and if it's uh I believe that at the time the the council members who were up here last year we all in favor of moving forward with something of that um I just want to make sure that we're all still kind of in that uh in that mindset and we can give some direction over to our burrow C or burrow attorney uh to start drafting up an ordinance for this yeah I believe pet Peter we uh we decide to go with one option and you know I I just need to know what it is your you're contemplating if you guys want to try to Maybe by next meeting have some you know idea of what you want to do and how you want to do it um you know parameters like you know one day a week in the afternoon you know from this period to this period in this location I know there's some talk about perhaps doing it in the parking lot at burough Hall on Fridays uh during the periods when uh burough Hall closes uh due to summer hours so but you know certainly you need a location uh and you need to know when you want to do it and if you want to get me some of that information we can then work from there sure thank and then other than that we have the two that are listed here on the uh on the minutes here or the agenda for this evening um a discussion on single-sided parking for JFK Drive between Violet Terrace and Karina Drive um this came about as a suggestion from last year when psng was doing all their work uh we had a couple Accents in that intersection as as many folks know that during school hours it becomes very congested and you really can't drive through the intersection because folks are parking on both the Northbound and southbound side of JFK Drive um and you've got traffic trying to go both ways and when you have vehicles on either side there's enough room for one car to get through so instead of rushing and trying to beat that traffic and get past sorry um we figured it would be safer to have single-sided parking over there um we were going to take some direction from the police department on what side that should be but uh we really contemplated between the hours of say 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. which really happens to be the only time that there's parking on both sides of the road that um create creates some sort of uh Hazard actually I spoke with Chief Johnson about this and his recommendation was as far as the one side have it on the right side as you're going toward I guess the Home Depot having the right side of the Southbound Southbound side because that because then you don't have to worry about people crossing of the street and I mean even though you have the crossing guard there and he also mentioned drop off and pick off hours oh yes I I apologize SCH days yeah so 7 7:30 to 8:30 in the mornings as well as 2:30 and 3:30 in that range in the afternoon and if everyone is uh okay with that on Council we'll just proceed forward uh and hopefully have whether it's a resolution or an introduction of an ordinance for the the next meeting that would be an ordinance ordinance ordinance ordance yeah which I'll get the ordinance introduction statement right by then I promise um Peter if you need any other information yeah I think I I think I what I need to put it together so so so has that been communicated or shared with these with the Board of Education no just wondering no not yet okay and then the last item we have on here was uh discussion that came up initially for the improvements to Albert Avenue Park we were looking at uh doing a bond ordinance for those uh in discussions with our DPW director uh last week he he made me aware of a County open space Grant which apparently does not require matching funds um but that it is in fact just a grant for uh either 500,000 per year or you can do 1.5 million but then you can only use that for three-year term you can't apply for anything the following year uh as we heard from the numbers that were provided to us tonight that kind of fits nicely with the improvements for Albert Avenue so um we Ralph did submit a letter of intent to the county saying that we were discussing it and would like to apply for that grant that should give us a list they should then in turn provide us with some information uh via resolution or what we have to include in the resolution and all the other aspects so we look forward to hearing from them over the next week or so and hopefully by the February 26 meeting and uh that's all we have or I have for business can I um with this parking ordinance do we have to send out notices to the people on that street before we do like how does does that how does you I mean you can but we're not obligated to I don't know there's any obligation when you're creating police restrictions on the street to do that okay do we have to paint the curb lines uh probably not if you're going to just make it you're put signage up but you're not going to paint the curbs cuz you're going to have parking there some of the time right thank you I would say it's actually a good suggestion yeah um so I think one when we do the introduction uh at that point we should probably notify the public we can just do Flyers we don't have to do official certified notification that's all I'm I just need to know what I was sure it's close to my house I'll even deliver them personal yeah I'm and I'm sure the the police will do it too when they're out there okay any more in your business no okay um open to the public the public comment portion of the meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns and comments or comments the council will respect the Public's Time by refraining from any comment until the speaker has finished it should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not too structured as a question and answer session please state your name and address for the record when coming to the Cod uh so I just want to be mindful um you know we have a a large group uh just be respectful of everybody's um uh thoughts in here please I'm very there this my name is Judy scalla 56 South Main Street hello mayor council FAL attorney clerk I come to you I've lived in my house for I'm going on 50 years at one point I lived across three taverns the spirit The Lion The miltown Tavern never a problem lately St Paul's which I was a member of St Paul's for 23 years has started printing out their Hall it is out of control I went to the minister on December 10th and told him that 22:05 in the morning this cannot be it just can't it's it's out of control he said he was sorry and that he would take care of it well then next week it happened continued to happen so I felt so bad cuz I was the member of the church that I had to phone the police because I think at 1:00 in the morning is too much so then I let them um Minister know that it was I that phoned the police because they felt so guilty calling the police on my church and he got a little irate with me and really hurt me with his statement that I'm not going to say the whole statement but more or less that I could keep on calling the police all the neighbors could call the police he's going to rent this Hall and I was really hurt by that and then a few weeks later I received a note from him which I acknowledged and he he more oress apologized for hurting me or it was not his attent so then I said I think I better go to the consist I did speak to the president who was very kind but nothing came about he went through the list of everything that was going to happen and there's more parties more Bands then I talked to two other members cuz nobody could tell me what was the time slot that these parties were being booked everybody um the president of the consist and two other members told me they never saw the contract they did not know but this cannot happen keep on going it's not good for my health I have an illness at Parkinson's and this stress and going on to 10:00 :00 11:00 12:00 it's it's just so out of control and plus I don't even think that area is Zone commercial I know I am I'm commercial and residential on the main but I think where the school is is zoned residential and I really never wanted to ever my life come here and talk to you guys but this has to be solved so I ask you for your help I don't know how this could be resolved I tried very hard to work with members of the church but I'm getting nowhere and for my own health I'm asking you guys for help if I could just step in for a second Mr um so I I know that the code enforcement officer has been aware of the situation um and there's been some investigation into the use of the property and it's my understanding also that a summons is issued for their use um and presently because of that I'm going to advise my mayor and Council not to respond and let that follow through on its course but that's that's currently what's going on okay I thank you and I also want to say a big thank you to your Police Department absolutely if it wasn't for them coming out and telling them to lower the music or cut the music and I really appreciate all their help they're a wonderful Department thank you and I thank you kindly I hope you can help me thanks for coming down evening everybody uh I can respond to all that uh my name is Dave Hastings I live at 60 North Wilson a um I had some remarks prepared and I think I'm just going to stick to it um I just wanted to speak briefly about this issue uh I'm the president of the consist at St Pauls um you know when it first came up it was a noise ordinance issue excuse me um so I spoke to Judy and Rich a number of times and tried to convey to them that uh I we didn't even know about the 10:00 noise ordinance at first but we were really going to make an effort to make people stick to it uh we changed our rental agreement we put signs up um I ended up speaking to uh lieutenant dorenzo and chief Johnson who were both great um particularly the chief uh uh was very supportive he said look you know it is 10:00 we have to respond but you know we're all part of the community here we we want to work together um and I was hoping that would uh help help solve the issue um then I was told that a resident came and questioned the zoning um you know of the building in the back if you're not familiar there's the church in front the parsonage and then behind that's our education building and Social Hall um so I reached out to the zoning official he got back to me a couple days later and said that was he thought it was R six and we were in violation of it um so I tried to get a little more information we spoke to an attorney about it uh he didn't have a lot of information but his estimate was between 15 and 20,000 to apply for the variance not something of that that we can afford or or even want to do um so I then called the zoning officer back I spoke to the township attorney um in an effort to save us a little money if they had any of the original surveys permits uh variances or allowances that were put out when the building was built um I learned some things about uh non-conforming pre-existing use and uh so we were trying to get some answers on that um they both told me that any paperwork like that was in a box somewhere and they weren't going to look for it so we'd have to hire an attorney uh and kind of go from there I also asked if we could have a little time to just kind of investigate this a little bit uh and I was told no um so uh the zoning officer called me uh early last week and wanted to know about the variant I said at this point I think we're just going to have to stop running the hall we don't have the time the money for a variance that we may or may not get or there would be restrictions that um you know would make it not feasible to rent it anyway uh so I sent him a schedule I did ask if we could continue through I think it's the first weekend in March um cuz we had a few parties booked and it's tough to call people last minute they have catering and you know invitations out so could we get uh just a little time to finish those and from then on we would not rent the hall out anymore and then he called me today and said he's issuing the summons um I was just kind of disappointed and a little surprised that the response from the burrow was uh no and just kind of close the door and that was it um and just so there's no misunderstanding uh we're not trying to set up a business we're not trying to run a big business there was bans there one night as I told the mayor the zoning official and the chief of police we made the wrong call on that and it's not going to happen again so we're not looking to be a music venue excuse me uh so I just wanted to make sure there's no no misunderstanding about that um and just real quick St Paul's we just celebrated our 150th anniversary as part of miltown um our mission statement as a church is to bring Jesus's love to the heart of the community and how do you do that I think the first thing you do is be open and welcome to anyone who walks through those doors uh you donate time and space to various groups AA na the Interfaith network of care uh when the Methodist Church dropped the Boy Scout Charter we took over we donate space to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts uh there's a special kids and autism group we're donating space for a fundraiser for lymphoma um we run a small food bank for some local families that struggle every week or two they come pick up a a couple of bags of groceries we have a youth group for young kids um you don't have to be a member of the church any local kids are welcome to come my son has brought some friends uh and a couple of those families ended up joining the church um a number of years ago uh the board decided to make our a tithing church so every month percent of our income goes to a worthy cause uh I know once a year we try and hit the miltown PBA the fire department the rescue squad the American Legion uh We've donated to women's shelters food banks um things like that excuse me I can't kick this call off I've had it for a month um and the unfortunate reality is there's a financial component to all this um if you read and do a little research you'll see churches uh across the country across denominations um are struggling people just don't attend and give the way they did 20 30 40 years ago um and we're hoping running that Hall could make up some of the losses uh that we've had um so we I think we're just going to not rent the hall we don't have the money or I don't think we want to have that fight with the town um or with the residents that are affected we feel bad about that um I do want to just say we're going to continue our work in Midtown um the people here that came with me um and other people at the church I know are going to keep giving their time their energy their money um for all the work we do and just on a personal note uh I'm so proud to be a part of this team and part of this St Paul's family it's uh it's been a blessing in my life and it's been a lot to me and my family thank you Richard Ryan 6 South Main Street Mr mayor council members everybody um everything that's been said so far is absolutely true Judy's comments comments absolutely 100% true I wouldn't say it if it weren't true um the problem that still exists however is that once it was determined if it was determined by mayor and Council that the use is a non-approved accessory use I don't see how a decision can be made to allow it to continue I say that now even though there's an effort clearly uh to change that aggressive use because what's also true is that though there was dialogue between residents and members um about certain steps that would be taken they were not taken and specifically um the initial response we received was that if we were to notify them about the noise issues then they would deal with it only they did not so we found ourselves in a position where I had predicted when I had my conversation with the pastor that that would happen if we had no other recourse so I say that because even though this sounds like good news to me frankly I don't have much faith in the fact that they will adhere to that and though I am somewhat sympathetic to situations where people have put money forward um and there are some constraints in that whether it's the ability to notify Caterers or others um the business of the church should not become a hardship for the neighbors and residents that exist there so essentially we're being asked to continue for a short time or a longer period of time whatever the case may be to absorb that hardship so that the people they rented to don't have to I understand point of view though I disagree with it um so again it goes to the fact that we were told certain steps would be taken notify the pastor it happened over the course of several events on the same weekend and he was tired of the phone calls right away so then we were getting no response no choice but to call the police we were told that steps would be taken that a member of the consist would then assume that role and would in fact be on site for every event at 9:30 to ensure that the noise level began to diminish and that the party would break up to the best of my knowledge that did not happen if it did I would think that those conversations would have taken place with the police department on the many occasions where we had to call them there was some talk about the additional parking that's used behind the school and its aggressive nature and that steps would be taken to ensure that wasn't happening any longer because that backs right up to our properties so I say I don't have much faith that they will follow through because we haven't seen that take place as yet so um it comes down to just a few things for me right can you as a governing body allow the use not for one more event not for four more events or eight for any I don't know if that you have that ability and if advised by um Council then you know I could um look at it differently I don't think that step has been taken I was going to ask originally um for an update this evening um but we've received some information here and so I don't really have to do that but while we consider collectively everything that's on the floor here I want to also point out that I think it's prudent that mayor and counsil and the bur attorney and zoning official take the step to determine whether or not the parking behind that school is even legal because I don't think it is and I'm not even certain that's the property of St Paul's Church I think somebody should look at a survey and make the determination whether it's their property or not somebody needs to convince me that it is because at the moment I happen to think it's Barrel prop property if the barel wanted to enter into an agreement and allow people to park there then that's fine that's their choice um so I have been encouraged uh by the fact that I came here and asked for some help and it has run its course this far I was very encouraged by my conversation with Mr Hastings um and it was a a candid polite conversation I was thankful for that because that's not the reception we first received um so I think there's still many lingering issues that need to be determined before anybody can even say sure go ahead have your next three or four events and we'll call a wrap um I respectfully offer that um if that takes place I would appreciate somebody notifying me and uh in the interm I'll wait to hear thanks for your time uh just to respond to a few things to that um you know first of all that the property is not St Paul's I don't know where that comes from apparently there is no survey because the burrow doesn't have one the zoning officer doesn't have one the town the burough attorney doesn't have one I'd be interested to know if when that comes up if all of a sudden a survey is found I'd just be curious as to that uh we've had conversations with the police department I've spoken to Chief Johnson he actually invited me to his office we sat down and talked about it um there have been and they can get up and tell you themselves for the battle of the bands that was a mistake that we're not doing again the pastor was there and my father was there the other parties Dan vander's been there so there have been people there um if you call the police at 10:01 you know or you call them at 8:30 to tell them you're going to call them at 10:01 you know okay 2 minutes um uh really that's about it and I just it I want to be careful here I I I not happy with the fact that it's being applied that maybe I'm not telling the truth um I sent the zoning offer the schedule for the next couple of weeks I can show it to you we have 12 events not to take up too much of your time but uh we have 12 events through February I'm sorry bear with me one second so we have 12 events booked through March 10th the weekend of the 8th the 9th and 10th are Boy Scouts Boy Scouts and special kids ad Ministry for autism those are all free we donate the space for that weekend okay of those 12 events eight are uh groups that we donate space to whether it's Boy Scouts lymphoma uh a church luncheon autism twice a Boy Scout pack meeting um so this is not bands playing there till 1:00 in the morning every Friday and Saturday night I want to make that clear okay and I don't know if anybody else wanted to comment but uh and I was serious when we're not going to rent the hall anymore I think it would I would appreciate it if we can continue to char of the Boy Scouts and continue to do a Tricky Tray for lymphoma or a Christmas party for a group of kids with autism um I I don't think that's going Beyond without getting into ordinances and zonings and everything else thanks I just want to um do I have to say my name again dy scalla I just want to say when it comes to the property in the back there I don't really think it is the church because when I moved in and my property de and my survey it was if anybody here remembers Ray Kimbers it was part of that property it went in the back and caddy corner and a little piece of my property in the corner you know where you have the cup Scout um truck the TR yes and then it's um Pastor Matt's truck then it's a dumpster that one corner does not belong to the church it it belongs to the to the town so I just wanted to say that and I also wanted to say that in my heart of hearts I never thought Mr Hastings you were lying never you you didn't know I never ever thought that of any of you the only problem I had was because I was Pastor Matt's biggest cheerlead and I think he knows that and he deeply hurt me by his comments and that's all I want to say I don't want to call anybody Liars that's not me so that's all I have to say good night and thank thank you again for listening hang on no go ahead Mr Hastings we'll go back and forth my name is Mike Hastings I'm at 20 Harkin Road been in the town for 12 13 years now I have a lot of good things to say about this town and I'm just going to tell you from the beginning uh we bought a house on Harkens Road Long Ranch there 2012 we didn't move into 2013 because we spent a year redoing that house doing a lot of stuff inside we put a deck on the back and so on had to get is that there's Alan had to get uh some permits to put a roof over the deck uh Allen was very helpful and providing guidance on what we should do to make sure there wasn't enough water run off we build a dig uh put a big hole in there uh at his guidance that was okay with the town we got a permit for that uh everybody I dealt with was just extraordinarily wonderful I mean it really helpful friendly uh willing to help willing to do what was needed to help us welcome into the town uh other things after that uh just seeing the police around town they're always nice friendly helpful so I'll get off that it's a it's a wonderful town we like it and we like the way we we react with people in the town we like a lot of things that go on in the town here this has been fairly stressful and uh and I I must apologize to you guys for some of the noise that was there it was inexcusable in in my mind but it's done we're not going to have real loud bands there anymore or anything like that um what we would like to be able to do regardless of what property is there or if there's a corner of the property that's really the town you know I don't care about any of that stuff I don't think any of us should really care about some of those technicalities uh whether that part of the what we consider part of the church our social home it's a separate building to us it's part of the church has been for decades I guess and we go down there for coffee hour after church we don't have a separate area within the church building itself we can go down to we go down to the Social Hall for our coffee hour after church every Sunday and that I I think is I think the problem with all this is that we are we are looking for a way you know David talked about how much the church is still trying to give to the community not even just our town some of the things are outside of miltown itself uh and it's a struggle we're losing money every year and we've been fairly successful at renting out the Social Hall it's provide some pretty good income uh without that income we're either going to go broke or we're going to cut Way Way Back on expenses and services and things we do um and I I don't think that's good for the town so I just hope I I don't know exactly how it would work I don't know if there are ordinance that needs to be changed zoning things that need to be changed I don't care about the technicalities of it you guys know the technicalities of it I I would hope that all of you collectively would give us some consideration to be able to have some vents there they're not going to create a lot of noise and we shouldn't and we won't but that we could have events there for which we can charge we're only charging a few hundred dos so it's not like we're making a huge amount of money at it I think it's 400 bucks something like that and uh but it's income and we need that so I'm hoping collectively you can find a way that we could have those parties and satisfy our neighbors we will be committed to not having noise there I went there uh last night we had a there was a baby shower bunch of people there for a baby shower I drove down there about 8:40 something like that whatever it was half time to the Super Bowl probably about 8:40 or so so I drove down that little side place right down down to the bottom near where the doors are and uh I couldn't hear anything so I opened the window of my car and I could hear the music they had some music going on inside I closed up the window again I couldn't hear it that was about 8:40 or so I went back about 10 to 10 5 to 10 and uh just to make sure that you know they were closing up they were going to cut the music even though I couldn't hear the music much uh I went over there and uh sure enough about 1 minute before 10 boom that's it they stopped it that was all there was as I drove out there was a police car out there the police had been called I don't know how it could have been that noisy I mean I I drove down at 8:30 8:40 I couldn't hear a thing so I don't know what it was last night I didn't hear anything so I stopped to talk to him and he said yeah it was called so he was just sitting outside on the street and uh I said do you hear much he said not much so I don't know so so honestly I don't know what it was last night uh I didn't hear anything when I went over about 8:40 or so so whether there was something else after that I I don't know but anyway so I just hope that there's collectively a way we can do this we can have some parties there we can commit to keeping it quiet we're all going to we're all going to help on that and hopefully we can find a way to do it thank you thank you I wouldn't normally do this but Dave did I will um I didn't I did not mean to insinuate that you lied to me or to anybody else I'm sorry really seen that I understand that's why I want to address because I'm not certain that we could have that discussion please this way please um the fact is that we received a letter that specifically outlined steps they would take and it's our opinion that those steps weren't followed through on them that's not to say somebody is a liar that's to say I can't trust the situation going forward just just because somebody says we're going to work with you they've not demonstrated yet okay I'm not calling anybody a liar that has shared or cares to share this evening um the facts speak for themselves and when I first came before Council I addressed the issue of um how we recognize some events are different than others but once the other determination was was made um to Mr Hastings other point you guys have to decide that I don't decide that it's you or it's the planning board right um if you make some sort of decision that says they're going to be allowed to do X Y and Z then what's happened thus far uh really isn't the conversation any longer right I thought that it was something that should go before the planning board if they choose not to do that it doesn't change the fact that there's events going on and you have to determine for me I'm sorry whether or not you have that authority to make that decision and I hope you make one soon thank you I just have one last one last thing to say I'm sorry but I really think the whole problem is we we've heard so many stories so many different it's going to be like this it's going to be like that I I don't know am I allowed to hand this to you guys this is um this is my apology from the minister plus what the rules were to be now and none of that came true he said if you want to read it it says from 9:30 they were going to to close down the music that he talked to the police and 10:00 the place was going to clear out none of it none of this has happened and I I'm just tired of it I'm very tired of it and um I tried to work with them because they were my church they were my church family but I don't think they cared about me enough to um help me with this and when Mr Hastings said he didn't hear anything they have to remember it's just not myself or um Mr Ryan that are calling the police it's the surrounding neighbors too and last week I had one of the police officers I asked them to come to my home because I thought well maybe it sounds different outside and once he came came in he went wow it's I should be able to enjoy a show at night in my back family room have my little granddaughter over it is out of control but I'm not going to talk no more and um thank you and good night my name is Barbara Bri I live in 38 Harrison Avenue and I'm changing the subject so um sorry but uh last year um the miltown environmental commission wrote a letter to the uh buau Council about Christopher Street and our concerns about building on Christopher Street and developing Christopher Street because it's a steep slope and there's a lot of trees that would have to be cut down and so since there's new members new mayor and new council members we just wanted to to kind of update the letter and and I'll come come to speak is is that the letter that you had me everybody in their packet okay I gave it I'm just G to read it uh dear mayor and Council in December of last year the miltown environmental commission presented our concerns verbally and in writing regarding the potential development of Christopher Street as you know Christopher Street is a paper street that runs parallel to South Main street directly to the east Christopher Street first appeared on the tax maps during the Michelin era 1909 to 1929 in our burrow we would like to reiterate our concerns at this time and address both new and continuing members of the governing body the environmental commission has had several discussions regarding Christopher Street and environs several members of the commission have visited the area north of Lincoln Avenue and have a good understanding of its natural features and conditions as a commission would like to express our concerns regarding the paving of this street which has been recently proposed and would threaten its current natural status below are the reasons for our apprehensions one the area contains steep slopes which are prone to erosion as a consequence of any disturbance of trees or other vegetation two removal of trees in order to develop the area would lead to water runoff issues for the surrounding homes additional pollutants to our water system and noise pollution for the neighboring area as you know mature trees enhance air and water quality they absorb large amounts of water which they distribute into the air via transpiration and act as carbon sinks three the wooded area is a thriving natural habitat for variety of wild animal species some of the special concerns like Cooper's Hawk and its a stopover for varying migrating birds such as the Cedar waxwing and many small animals make their home home there four as the burough is nearly completely developed and has one of the highest levels of impervious surface in the county 41% according to Rutter's Cooperative Extension in 2014 Christopher Street represents a substantial and important burrow owned Natural Area we strongly recommend that Christopher Street be preserved as open space permanently free from development our town has very limited natural wooded areas and Christopher Street should be prioritized for preservation in this way the area can continue to provide critical environmental benefits such as plan and animal habit animal habitat storm water management improved air and water quality and noise abatement for our town accordingly we urge the governing body to direct our bur professionals attorney planner Etc to investigate the rules regarding paper streets and their protection as open space because I don't know how to if there is a way to retire at paper Street how miltown could do it but it's probably probably possible so thank you for taking our concerns and recommendations regarding this important and time sensitive issue into consideration and that was signed by me Vice chair of the environmental commission I sh your concerns bar but I believe there's some litigation going on in Christoper Street on the building no this my understanding is there's an application pending for the planning board but from a practical perspective if it's a paper Street you have the ability someone the ability to improve the paper Street or alternatively the council can vacate the street but if it vacates the street then it would revert back to whoever whatever property it was created from it so if the burrow Council then wanted to turn it into open space it would probably then need to acquire the property from the people it reverted to and acquired as open space so I mean it would be a multi-step process and there would be cost associated with it at the end of the day for the burrow would we have to go to the state for open space with that at Green Acres if you want it to be Green Acres property it depends on your funding source and and what you want it to be I mean you certainly the burrow has the ability to acquire property for open space it doesn't need to be Green Acres property but if it's going to restrict it and and acquire it with with Green Acres funding then certainly it would be so just for clarity sorry let me come close to the microphone again no problem um just for clarity um just because it's a paper Street doesn't necessarily mean that the burrow owns it well what it means is it was dedicated for a street at some point in the past when someone probably develop the surrounding property it was never opened by having someone improve it to Municipal standards so if someone wanted to open that street at this point they would need to file an application to essentially open the street as part of a development presumably which sounds like we may have pending before our planning for so um you know that that's essentially Where We Are what would we have to do to go for Green Acres funding we have to apply to the state most likely yeah it's I you know I I don't so I had a question as far as a steep slope because I had this question before um was a survey done for the exact uh delineation of the steep slope and and if so was it determined or or drawn up where the steep slope begins and ends all the way through that back piece of the property yeah Mr Mayor they when they came with the plan board application they had an exhibit excuse me that showed the steep slopes on the property in fact one of the things that the board asked them to do was go back and try to adjust where the house was proposed to try to preserve more of the steep slope than they were just than they were with the original plan they haven't come back with that plan yet okay thank you good if I can just jump in as the secretary that we actually are more than likely going to have them restart the whole application process because there's been such a turnover on the planning board including our our uh planning board attorney so we're just waiting to hear back from the applicant and the applicant's attorney but it's probably going to start all from uh square one you're going to start the hearing again mhm okay they're not going to start theor yeah start the hearing and not the application I apologize just so we're yes start the hearing and not the application only because there's just been such a turnover with the planning board so I don't want to take up any more of your time but I just want to close again um I hope that collectively and I mean collectively with everyone I hope collectively we can find a way that we can have some fundraisers in that social hall for the benefit of the church and the benefit of the community uh and not disturb the neighbors we're willing to work with it we want to work with everybody we'll have to figure out how to do it I hope the answer is simply not no you can't do it and that's it I hope we can find a way to be able to do it so I'll just leave it at that again please try to work with us we are going to work with everybody that we can here to try to do it the right way we we didn't do it the right way in the past and many instances we admit that it was not a good situation at sometimes we're going to correct that but with your help we need to correct it in a legal way I guess the legal way would be the right way of putting it uh but we want to do it the right way so let us know what we have to do if we can do something thank you Lee weisenberger 99 JFK Drive uh I'm going to switch subjects a little psng uh with the paving of Main Street heard anything it's going to be in the spring well other than that have we heard anything back contacting the county on curbs they going to get any help assistance or uh well I or uh I know Ralph uh reached out um to the county both regarding what they were what their plans were for Paving Main Street they had uh indicated that pscg had already pulled the permits for Paving Main Street and therefore the county wasn't doing it uh we had reached out to schedule a meeting to review what streets would go curb to curb which would only be the portion that they're required to uh rehabilitate um once they're done with uh all their pipe work all their pipe work is done we're still waiting on that schedule I don't I know an email came in this week and I apologize I don't have that uh that date in front of me but uh we are working to schedule that meeting with them and try and coordinate things with uh with our DPW as well as with the police department to make sure that we can mitigate the disturbance to the residents as much as possible uh Ralph did also reach out regarding the curbs and sidewalks some of the uh depressed or uh detectable warning Services as they call them the the depressions at the um at the intersections for for the ramps of the sidewalk um I don't believe he's gotten final answer out of them in that regard but uh we are looking into how much uh we'll be shooting for this year for the county inter local Paving agreement and uh what we can accomplish with the intersections for the detectable warning surfaces uh and and ramps right that's that's with that but like I said being it's the main thorough Fair between towns and stuff that you know to get some assistance from them to do those curves before or you know guess something y but uh and then I'm going to go back to mil Pond again uh D snagging Mike uh once again that process uh that comes out every year or two to apply for a grant to help that that's correct any idea when that would take place again they don't really uh give a projection when the grant program far as it stops we have not hurt we keep our ears up okay would from the past though has that amount gone up stayed the same basically for the amount of the grant the amount of the grant it was a range if I remember so you know it's um obviously depends on how the state's budget's done and how much they appropriate for the because as we go back in time like I said back in the 70s when that pond was dredged and that was also done loaded Dam I believe two Riders Lane almost probably by the county can't recall before my time well come on they said there has to be a record somewhere of what took place and I think we're at that point again now and I refer to Spotswood like I said where they were going to foot that bill themselves went up the ladder to our gets whatever we want to call them and got additional funding we certainly needed up here I don't know if we've contacted any Representatives yet about additional funding but I think the county should get involved below the damn then too like I said I you know peace meal on this thing it's time time has come to get something done and like I said Spotswood got it they got additional funding and like I said we we just got to start the start the process and be ready okay and and go from there that's it I appreciate it all right uh let's see there's no other comments so we have uh close the public portion close the comment course portion uh of the meeting and with council is there anything further anyone from on the council would like to bring up at this time I I would i' just like to reiterate what um Council Potter said about U thanking the fire and rescue uh people and I I was fortunate to get on to the site at the fire and um what I saw to me was pretty amazing because I i' spoken to a police officer there uh there were he told me at least f 50 to 60 trucks from um towns as far away as barnegate hunon County Mars County um even Washington Township Center truck um and I guess some people thought I was somebody cuz I kept walking and walking and uh police officer actually walked me across I I said it was a councilman in town and he said do you want to see your people and I said yes please and uh I I was fortunate to see them and what I'll say is um they were there from after after 4:00 that day till they didn't get back fire and rescue till after 7:00 a.m. and what I'd say is is to people please please recognize this uh you see police officers uh Rescue Squad members uh fire department members please thank them cuz they're there because you can't be and and there were hundreds of people there there were there were hundreds of um uh First Responders and it's it's pretty amazing to see them as selfless as they were and and I I feel so fortunate I got to see that so and that's thank you yes may Mr Mayor I'm sorry I'd like to thank our Public Works and also the council people who were on there and did the tree trimming for us uh I got an alert from on my ring and it said Albert Avenue the uh Power was out and I'm looking down the street and I don't see any power and then on the ring I found out it was Albert Avenue in U or Albert Street in South River but he came up on my ring and uh I remember when I first moved to miltown and we used used to go out 5 10 times in the summer when the power used to go out on our street and that that's improved a lot and I I just want to thank the people who were involved the DPW and electricity and our Council people that did the tree trimming Cu uh we didn't lose power and that's quite an accomplishment that's it I I I don't know we're going down the line I was kind of waiting I got uh I got two quick uh very quick things number one um I want to thank the people who came here tonight and spoke from both sides um I think you know open communication even though there's a a difference of opinions and different of perspectives uh the open communication that you guys showed and your willingness to work together I think says a lot and it's commendable and I think it's it's one of those things that could be a good lesson for all the residents in town and you know while we're not judge and jury um I was super happy to see that you guys are both willing to uh come together and try and try and resolve the differences uh so I thank you for that um and number two um that was a little little love from me but uh it is Valentine's Day coming up this week February 14th so if you got that special someone spend some time with them show them you love them I'd like to thank our clerk for the little chocolate Hearts mine will be going to my wife don't tell her that you gave it to me nonetheless uh Happy Valentine's Day everybody uh you are not my Valentine councilman don't wor and uh let's not also forget we have President's Day this coming weekend yes recognize that as well thank you okay um that's the council comments I have a few comments and I will be very brief uh I would like to uh thank Laur dun from news2 New Jersey for coming out to miltown and running the Main Street New Jersey Spotlight for for few of of businesses in town um Maria's Pizza these Floral Creations and Rescue by Lacy miltown Diner A&M vacuum and miltown TexMex uh I also learned from d and Al that they do not only sell flower arrangements but they also do fruit baskets uh which was a very nice thing to uh to find out and uh I was I know it was a little earlier but we had uh Miss Julian Ryan from the AFC urgent care that will be opening up on Friday February 23rd 2024 that's where the old coffee bar is um so if I can uh ask the clerk to reach out to uh the police fire uh Chiefs captain from the rescue squad a public work supervisor and superintendent of the schools just to share the grand opening with them and they actually um she was going to um explain everything but they do basically full service from x-rays lacerations um it's a full Med merge they have full uh staff uh that they will have there uh they have another facility in Oldbridge that they actually um that they have currently this is a second uh second uh location that they're that they have and we're going to be doing a ribbon cutting on uh Friday February 23rd at 1 to 3:00 p.m. uh over there so uh they welcome everybody from miltown uh all mayor of Council of course uh so it's going to be a nice uh nice event and it's nice to have a business in miltown where um they do drug testing they do everything uh so that's why I was saying reach out uh let everyone know that um they're full service for us uh I know I go to many merges quite a bit because I do a lot of stupid things so um and Mr Mayor I also have for the Fourth of July have the big scissor and the ribbon that we can use for that as well and if you cut yourself right there we're right there yes so uh my last comment is uh I do want to thank the residents and the uh Church uh I am in a very unique situation because um not only do I know the residence and I know the church I am because I am the scout leader um I'm in a different predicament with that so I had um begged with the burough attorney to make sure that he left me completely out of everything in any kind of uh situation with that because um I'm just in a weird spot so uh I just you know I want everyone to understand that that uh because I do know everyone that in the the situation and I because of the scouts our trailer is in the back there uh I am in a real weird predicament with that so uh I thank everyone for understanding that and I thank Peter for for guiding me with that uh immensely so thank you Peter uh without any further Ado um can I have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn no whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoaa whoa I know we're very excited but we still have our little agenda session at the end of the agenda apologize um next on the agenda we have for discussion for the February 26 20 20 24 meeting um first we have the presentation from miltown Little League uh that was supposed to happen today but they need a little more time so okay we'll have that um next is a second reading ordinance for the salary and wages and then uh the human relations commission hopefully by then we'll know if any members uh will be returning if anybody else needs to be reappointed so that's what's lined up on the agenda so far okay very good now may I have a motion to adjourn second councilman Collins second by uh councilman Potter all in favor thank you