##VIDEO ID:d8zPuPtpVd8## e e e e e e e e e e gentlemen welcome to to the agenda and council meeting on this date of November 6th six I knew I was right the first time we welcome all you all please rise to the pledge to the flag I we did it I'm sure we got a order n will the clerk please call the role councilman Charles deiro here councilman Michael marel councilman Ruba P Eagle here let the records show that Council vice president Terence vanzor is absent this evening Council president Miriam Cohen here would you please read the Sunshine Law into the record in accordance with the open public meetings act it is hereby announced and shall be entered into the minutes of this meeting that adequate notice has been provided by the following one posted on the bulletin board within the municipal building on December 29 2023 and remains posted at that location for public inspection two printed in the home News Tribune in the Cranberry press on December 29th 2023 three posted on on the Monro Township website and for sent to those individuals who have requested personal notice in accordance with chapter 3 section 17 of the Monroe Township Code public comment shall be limited to 5 minutes unless further time is granted by the council president thank you Pro only Proclamation this evening is for Genevie spango in honor of her 100th birthday item six there are ordinances second reading with the clerk please read the ordinance ordinance 010 2024 024 ordinance amending Chapter 3 of the code of the township of Monroe County of middlex entitled administration of government specifically section 50 entitled division of police and chapter 79 of the code of the township of Monroe entitled police department rules and regulations specifically section 79-90 point1 entitled specific qualifications the ordinance first reading ordinance 01 2024 025 ordinance authorizing the acceptance of one property on or approximate to Union Hill Road known as block 37 Lot 12 for the widening of the public right of way and the installation of various improvements item eight of the resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda at the November 6th meeting regular meeting it's R 11 2024 d249 through r1224 d2737 limited to the agenda items only please may I have a motion to open the public comment section motion may I have a second on that second all in favor I any opposition anyone wishing to address the council please come forward remembering that there is a five minute limit five minute limit on your time that kind of night George gunkelman 5 killer Court Monroe um in the consent agenda um the first item 249 um for the C FC hcfc I don't know what the acren stand for I you um I believe it's it's hydroc someone want to help me with the official name I'm sorry it's it's the things inside refrigerators and air condition units um that's what it is it's a special type of chemical coolant recovery yeah sorry yeah post fre on yes okay uh the other question I had was um I think also going over here uh the um item 273 resolution authorizing budget uh transfers um uh how big I believe it's what I believe it's aund if I could council president sure this believe it's $140,000 in November and December and in the first three months of the following year we can move money around within our 73.6 million budget so this is just moving around approximately 140,000 where we've used some and use some to to stay within our budget that we adopted okay um what coming out of what and going into what let me just if it can be done shortly yep I'll do it as quick as I can you want me to do at the end so I don't waste your time or uh you want me to do it right now or at the end when doesn't matter we so uh 8500 in public this is transferring two 8,500 in public information salaries 2,000 in the division of assessment salary wages 75,000 in streets and Road salary and wages and 55,000 in buildings and ground salary and wages and we're transferring from uh 80,000 in Recreation salary and wages and 60,000 in Street lighting so those are the transfers thank you you're most welcome anyone else wishing to address the council please come forward now yes please state your name and address for the record and the five minute time limit holds good evening Lucio Panos 128 Candera Plaza mon ra uh ordinance 025 who are we accepting that property from 255 the extension of the contract is it at the same cost and increas in cost um 6 262 please explain exactly the emity and Trust agreement as best you can you can do that very well 266 well yes I'm so glad you're getting a hybrid you know that was very yeah it's about time 271 how old are the old units that are being replaced uh 272 what uh what is the oh the amount of 1,450,000 is noted is that what our portion of it or is that what the County's Grant is and that's all okay if I could please mark do you want to go with 025 first and then I'll jump back in certainly um ordinance 025 that's a RightWay dedication for the adjacent from the adjacent property owner at uh for the development of that site so it's for uh RightWay and Road improvements that they are installing two 255 is at the same price uh uh 262 so this is our annual three-year contract that we can can uh do with uh with any GIF within the within the that's certified within the state this covers um liability workers comp um and a variety of other things and so this is our threee agreement we've been with Garden State Municipal joint Insurance Fund this would be the beginning of our third three-year term in 2025 with them and then uh 2066 as you mentioned is a electric car 271 um this is actually this is moving to a 73% 27% I don't have it in front of me but I can certainly get back to you on how old the rooftop unit is the reason we're looking at it is because it's not energy efficient and significantly enough old to uh you know to qualify for the program because it'll be more energy efficient but I don't have the exact date of when that rooftop unit was put in and 272 are uh their their uh the county uh is putting in 1.45 million and the township would be putting in 1.5 million okay just I on my time is up indulge me on 025 that's very nice of the resident to give that they're just giving it that's awesome council president that was a site plan development out on uh Union Hill Road and uh the developer was required to put in the road improvements and dedicate the roadway okay the developer okay and on really are out of time will it increase the cost for the employees on 262 the insurance uh so so this this is not a cost to the employees this is about a $1.3 million we spend for the township to insure itself so it's not like healthcare insurance it's just our own insurance for liability workers comp Etc there anyone else wishing to come before the council at this time in the agenda session hearing and seeing none I'd like to ask for motion to close public comments motion thank you second on that motion please second thank you all in favor any opposed n motion I'd like to motion to adjourn the agenda meeting please motion thank you a second second thank you roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes council president Cohen yes meeting is adjourned like to call the regular meeting is hereby call to order may I have a motion please motion thank you a second on that thanks roll call councilman toiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes council president Cohen yes may have a motion to approve the payment of claims per the run date of October 31st 2024 please motion thank you second second thank you roll call councilman toiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the following meeting is written and presented October 7th 2024 the agenda and regular combined meeting motion please Mo motion thank you second second roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes council president Cohen yes motion carries ordinance for second reading 01022 4-24 ordinance amending chapter three of the code of the township of Monroe County of middlex entitled administration of government specifically section 50 entitled division of police and chapter 79 of the code of the township of Monroe entitled police department rules and regulations specifically sections 79 through 90 entitled 90.1 excuse me entitled specific qualifications parenthetic to the ordinance reading is an increase from 6 to S lieutenants and updating required qualifications for captain and Lieutenant like to open a public hearing may I have a motion please motion thank you a second on that second all in favor I any opposed anyone wishing to address the Council on this matter please come forward now seeing and hearing none may I have a motion to close the public hearing hearing motion thank you a second on that second all in favor I any opposed may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 010 2024-25 motion please motion second second thank you roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes council president Cohen yes motion carries ordinance for first reading 011 2024-25 ordinance authorizing the acceptance of one property on or approximate to Union Hill Road known as block 37 Lot 12 for the widening of the public right of way and the installation of various improvements motion please motion thank you second second thank you roll call councilman toiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes council president Cohen yes motion carries item six is resol resolutions for consideration under the consent agenda r1120 24-2498 D 273 motion please motion thank you may I have a second on that second thank you roll call please councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes yes councilwoman seagull yes council president Cohen yes motion carries item we now move to reports uh Mr Weinberg thank you council president a a few brief comments one I did want to highlight the uh division of uh uh Community Affairs best practice inventory uh once again we far exceeded the requirement and continue to excel at this program so want to thank the CFO and Kevin for their help putting that together um I'm sure other people will but let me be the first since I'm the first person to get to speak tonight to thank the clerk's office and all the township employees that help make early voting and election day run professionally certainly not an easy task long hours and so hats off to them uh for always doing a great job on that um and finally uh just was mentioned earlier congratulate the mayor and Council on the $1.45 million Grant from the county which is for the proposed indoor uh practice facility at James Monroe Park just wanted to highlight that as well and that is my airport council president thank you Mr rot thank you council president um just a quick update on two projects uh the Oldbridge English toown Road mounts Mills Road intersection improvements and the Applegarth Road Joan Warren Way intersection improvements intersection improvements both those traffic signals are operational and uh fully operating out there now so uh so use caution in the area uh with the new uh traffic patterns thank you thank you um we have our Council reports I will begin with our first board councilman please everybody was not I thought I left it on sorry um I'm just going to hit on two two things um one I I know councilman uh seagull always goes over most of the stuff so I want to take her fire away from her um but I just want to mention that um on the 10th Sunday the 10th uh there's a v Veterans Day celebration at the senior center from 12: to 2 and it's very important that we honor our veterans um so last year was it was wonderful and this year it's going to be more wonderful I just wanted to I just want to announce that and one other thing I wanted to comment on um was the election yesterday I just wanted to say that I hope that uh no matter which side of the aisle you're on um this is the United States of America we have to accept the election and we have to hope that all the candidates whether they're red or blue or green or white or whatever they are that they do the best job to to service everybody in this country it's very important not themselves we got to remember that uh they're elected to serve everybody across the board and I just wanted to put that on record today so congratulations to all the candidates as I said whether they're Democrats Republicans in Independence uh I wish them a lot of luck and I hope I pray that they do the right thing for this country thanks thank you award two councilwoman please good evening thank you council president uh just a couple updates I want to share we had ribbon cutting ceremony for three new businesses in Monroe our own grocery store our first South Asian grocery store mon row um best brains Learning Center which is located in the Stop and Shop shopping center offers enrichment programs for students and children um and glow Medical Aesthetics is a Medical Spa and Wellness Center located off a prospect PL so just want to welcome these new businesses and wish them all the best in their new businesses um October 28th was First Responders day so you know in our community feel like First Responders day is every day so very appreciative of the hard work of our First Responders keeping our community members safe and well every day and October Fest I wanted to just thank the Rec Rec Center I hope people got to enjoy it what an amazing day it was I know everyone works very hard on pulling that event together but I think that was probably the most packed October Fest I've seen but it was a wonderful day um and I also want to mention we had our Township the volle event at the senior center on October 27th 7th showcasing the culture and Heritage of India it was a day of cultural program which featured our Legend singing group a local group here in Monroe um local talent and also our High School South Asian Club did a dance performance we had local vendors exhibits um featured our local Indian restaurants here for food to purchase and we ended our evening with a de lighting um led by mayor Delina so I want to thank everyone for Pulling us together we have a wonderful dwali committee that works year round on building this event um it's comprised of many different organizations South Asian organizations throughout the town and I also want to thank Greg slavich and our DPW and all the other Township Administration departments that really help pull this event together because it's a true collaboration and also we were able to collect through our vendors and restaurants a $650 donation to The Betty Schneider food pantry from our vendors and restaurants so I just wanted the community to be to know that as well and as councilman Marquel alluded to earlier we do have our Veterans Day Celebrations but we also have the remembrance ceremony on Monday morning so I hope those can join us for that as well at 9:00 a.m. and I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving hope you have some nice family time thank you thank you what three councilman Mr dero okay thank you some of the things are going to be there ready said as uh Allan got the first shot at everything about the election I uh I want to Echo that also uh as councilman U marle said it was very um very well said and I want to second that uh on your comment was um We're All in This Together We all work as a team um this mayor and councel uh I'm very proud to be part of because uh whatever the problems are in our community or surrounding community uh we always put our best foot forward and we work together for the community and uh that's what we need to go on from our country our country that we all love and we all appreciate but it was good to see that 69% of the voters of Monroe turned out and um came out and voted and all the pole workers DPW did a great job I noticed the signs within 100 ft they were out our our clerk's office uh did an exceptional job as always with the early voting we had over 11,000 early voting um people come for the for the uh nine days that we had and uh they did they did an exceptional job the the county uh clerk's office and the board of uh election everybody worked together to make this uh happen and and like um councilman marle said we want to congratulate the winners but we also want to congratulate the ones that steep forward to go forward and Try to Make a Better Community for either state federal or local to we just want to say thank you and good luck to to all of us because we're all in this together um I wanted to also mention Veterans Day at EV k at 9:00 that's always a big big uh event that we have for veterans and we respect the families and and our mayor comes there and he always gives us a personal story that he has and it it helps um he speaks from the heart and and for our community and it's something that you need to come and see and and support our veterans uh we should we should do that every day but Veterans Day is an exceptional day that we will definitely do for in respect to all our veterans and families I had a I had a question about Schoolhouse Road railroad tracks there's U there's between the tracks there's always um black top that's blowing out and you kind of as you're going over the tracks it it takes your your car and and throws it to the left or to the right so maybe we could get that U patch before the winter comes it would be beneficial for our uh our our drivers that go up and down Schoolhouse Road in our buses along the way last uh meeting I I brought up Monroe Park Mount smell we did some Paving with um when we were had mayor tamboro here decided to do some Paving in the council and I asked for um what the reimbursement is for that developer so I didn't get anything this month yet but maybe I can get we can get something on the dollar amount and with the builder uh or developers um whoever if it was JSM or lenar whoever the the contractors Builders uh if we can get some kind of dollar amount because I think we're entitled to some money uh and I'd like to see that come back to the uh to taxpayers Mr wber I don't want to interrupt Council councilman maybe Mark could help answer that question if you're okay with that sure okay sorry council president uh with regard to the paving in Mount Mills Road the the Builder was not uh obligated to do the paving fullwith um at the time the mayor uh chose to do that Paving because there was numerous complaints on the conditions of the road as it existed prior to even construction but uh there's no obligation that I'm aware of that the developer is required to pay full with but there when you say full with that's from Curb to curb which there are no curbs out there so but they are responsible for their side of the road for offsite correct that's president again we'll go back and look at it and and see their obligations uh for the road widening and and what they did or didn't do as part of what they were obligated to do but the full width of the road was not their obligation okay but I'm sure that um I'm sure they have an obligation which we call offsite Improvement ments and I'm sure there's some kind of uh we we all know the intersection is their obligation which haven't been done probably for the last seven or eight years it's been sitting there a mess uh the intersection of spots with Englishtown and mounts Mill uh W County Road and it's also a section as ours but uh they're on they're on the obligation for that so just whatever we spent i' just like to see you know the developer also uh give us a schedule when he's going to finish that because he's getting towards the end of the project with his CFOs and bonds and stuff like that so that's why I'm asking those questions but thank you thank you Mark and thank you Alan for that um Street lighting I I brought that up in reference to a lot of lights are out throughout our community and um I just I know we pay the bill regardless if the lights are on or the lights are off uh I got the bill list and I see that jcpnl gets paid um you know based on on the polls so um we still don't know how many are working or how many not working correct council president yes um so the police do a inventory sort of at our request um probably every six months or so and we get those out to jcpnl people call their own in we submit some from time to time as well they fix them sometimes they go out again as I explained to you in our conversation um you know jcpnl and I'll let the mayor add something if he wants has not been a a very responsive regulated agency um in terms of doing a great job of fixing uh their lights in a very timely manner it's a similar thing in all the towns around us that have jcpnl obviously we've reached out to the BPU um and to uh local legislators to try and encourage them to do more um sometimes we hear from them that they are limited in their budget because the rates won't go up um and sometimes they say that the fixes to the street lights are underground wires and a variety of other factors but we continue to push them and sometimes they do get fixed and then unfortunately they go out again so it's a it's honestly been a multi-year effort to continue to push them to fix lights um as they go out Council pres right and and i' just like to add to that if um you do report a light out they they ask you how many times have you reported this this this issue you know because they know they're having a problem and I just and you know I mention it to to you before Alan and also to uh whoever Kevin and whoever the emails I sent I like to send a letter on on as a councilman to uh BPU and also to JC pnl and everybody um along with our Senators and assembly that can help us try to get some answers I mean because maybe all the lights are going to go out through our town and then then we're really going to have problem but uh to get their attention but more and more lights go out than than are getting fixed happy to happy to do that just add one thing Council uh councilman if I could I know Mark was pushing hard to get those traffic lights going and amongst many things one of the things we heard from them and I heard it from them when I was pushing a couple lights that residents have been pushing really hard is that they had so many crews down in in Florida in mutual aid from like two months ago that were still down in Florida cleaning up there which is you know um the response that they gave us for some of the delays related to the traffic lights now I don't do their scheduling so I don't know how true that is but that was the response they gave us that many crews were down in Florida in the whole affected area from the two hurricanes okay thank you um last me last meeting we had U some residents from Bentley road so I gave it some thought from uh last meeting to this meeting maybe some a little bit of relief that we can do is possibly put a 4ton limit on that street and uh so they they were talking about truck traffic coming off of 33 and and you know going through there uh just show something positive uh to our for our residents uh I know they asked for increased enforcement with our local police at the last meeting I don't know if anybody's going to say anything U from the public or if they did say anything from the meetings last meeting to to now to uh our Administration but I just thought uh maybe we take a look at that Bentley Road um and and try to help our residents a Meadow View building is that all winterized and inspected for cuz the Winter's coming does have we have any inspections done on that that building president I'll have to they've done it the previous I believe one or two years so I expect that they're doing it again but I'll have to reconfirm with DPW to make sure that they have okay thank you um 405 spots for Gravel Hill known as garvey's property um Center state did a good job getting getting bid out and getting the work done took a little time again for psng and jcpnl to do the disconnect for the building but the contractor um did a a really good job and I I just wanted to say it came out um he did he whoever the contractor was they did a good job and they're there putting top soil down which is screen top soil and they doing a real nice job and I understand they found two oil tanks uh on the site I um sent an email I'm sorry I sent it late today at around 2:30 but uh I sent an email in reference to um those two oil tanks cost being a big concern and also if it was a leaker if it went to the D um you know if I don't know if that if you have those answers or can you answer those questions sure I think Kevin did respond but I can have him re reiterate his response here but I did see his response Mark unless you wanted to answer it sorry sorry I yeah know I can take it it's fine we're we're getting a uh a proposal and a quote from our contractor on the site to remove the underground storage tanks and um it it it requires construction permits that are going to go through the construction department and get the uh you know approved contractor to remove the tanks and have uh you know whatever lsrp is required from the environmental end uh as far as leaks that'll be determined by by that contractor at that time through the construction Department thank you so the tanks will not get filled like with sand or foam or they were going to be completely removed the tanks will be addressed uh I I don't I don't know how the construction department will approve that at this point uh we're just in a uh proposal process for a quote um and that we have not yet approved or received all right and then the the cost I know we had a phase one done I know we did the tank sweep um I'm not I'm not sure if we're going to get reimbursed from the contractor uh I know one one tank Kevin mentioned was underneath the building so you can't find a tank under the building uh and one was behind the building but I don't know if there's any um that would be our legal department I guess they'll figure they'll figure that out as Kevin called me the other day thank you for that information so we'll we'll keep an eye on on that and and keep the public informed on that thank you uh out in front uh mud did a patch uh on uh Schoolhouse in primeville it's still base coat can we winter time's coming can we get that milled and topped it's right at the intersection right in front of the complex um Prospect planes in Applegarth the um traffic light do we have any updates on where we're going with the county on that council president the latest I have from the county is that they they the plans as I mentioned in previous meetings were revised to into a phase one and phase two where phase one would be the actual intersection improvements of prospect planes and Applegarth up to the railroad tracks on Prospect planes and phase two would be from the railroad tracks heading west to the municipal border uh they had to split it up uh because of the uh um easement requirements from the railroad railroad were delayed um so in an effort to move the project along uh we the the county chose to phase it and that's at the state waiting a approval from the state that's the last that I've received okay but we don't have a Target date on when they're going to start that bidding or construction or completion I I don't have any firm dates yet and I know it was anticipated to be out to bid uh in in the fall of this year so around now but but again at this point it's still waiting for state to approve the uh the phasing change thank you done and I just wanted to say with the October Fest it was a beautiful day we all we were waiting for that day it was spectac spacular day it was it was a probably record crowd uh thank Rec Department DPW our police First Responders all the vendors uh everybody did an exceptional uh uh fun day for a community and I also attended three of the those grand openings as councilwoman seagull said and if if you just shop local think shop local it might cost you a couple more dollars to buy it but it's going to save you money uh in fuel and it's also in time and it also uh it it supports our our local businesses so just concentrate on uh keeping our local businesses going and I just wanted to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving safe and and and a healthy Thanksgiving thank you for the time you're most welcome uh before I ask our mayor to please speak with us um the council has particular relationship with the clerk's office they're the people we go to when we need things and we need things done uh so we're all always very proud of our clerk's office because they do their work and they do it well and I think yesterday as has been not mentioned earlier they worked an 18-hour day uh that's part of their job responsibility but I'm pretty sure they're very tired today and so we are grateful for their hard work all the time and well I don't want to revisit the issue of street lights because it's an issue all over town everyone should be aware that the mayor and some members of the council met with jcpnl officials and our state legislators in a meeting to get them moving on getting the lights fixed I can put that term in quotes So that is an ongoing effort for all of us why and it that might well end my sentence there that it is an ongoing effort for all of us to have jcpnl respond in an apprpriate and timely manner uh Mr Mayor do you have any words you wish to share with us this evening sir I do have words but they are not my words besides the ditto to the clerk's office for the election and ditto for the veterans events I just wanted to make sure that was uh uh on the record um my words are actually uh the words of some second graders U two weeks ago I went to Barkley Brooks School to speak to um Ms Corona's class of second graders um to talk about what I like best about Monroe Township I gave a list of about seven things they were most mostly food places CU I do like to eat um but the students were asked to create an opinion essay and do some research so my friends this is what they came up with Alicia gajor the best place in town is the public library the Monroe library is the best place in town everyone must visit it one reason you should visit it because you can get to pick out American dolls if they have a library card another reason should visit the library is because you get to pick out board games and Tony boxes you can also do pumpkin carving and led lights and Halloween Shadow and show parade lastly you should visit it because you can pick out books that you like and there are over 103,000 books there in conclusion everyone knows that the Monroe library is the best place in town welld deserved Applause Ryan meta Thompson Park is the best place in town everyone must visit it one reason you should visited is because there is a lot of playgrounds courts a pond and a picnic area there is something for everyone exclamation point did you know there are hiking trails another reason you should visit Thompson Park is because there is an easy access to Duncan four boys dominoes and quick check they always say location location location right right lastly you should visit it because you can have lots of fun with your family and friends in Thompson Park Thompson Park is family friendly in conclusion now everyone knows Thompson Park is the best place in Monroe I hope you like it cute and lastly Abby patori the Monroe Township Rec Center is the best place in town everyone must must visit it one reason you should visit it because there is a roller rink it's so fun to skate with your family another reason you should visit the rec center is because you can always go since it's open from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. lastly you should visit it because there are so many activities there such as the October Fest mayor's delina's wellness program and a boot family fun night you must go exclamation point you don't want to miss out on the activities the rec center is the best Happy Thanksgiving everyone thank you we will now move to the public comments section uh I'd like a motion to open public comments please motion thank you a second on thank you all in favor I anyone opposed anyone wishing to address the council please remember that we abide by the following rules and regulations five minutes per speaker no extensions are planned so please come feel free you give us your name and address for our record George gunman 5 Kelly Court Monroe um my question is about when is when are we going to start moving people into the veterans uh low-income housing uh driving by it appears to be uh approaching if not at completion um I haven't heard anything so I'm wondering what's happening sure you have you like me to answer now council president Mr right so uh the update on that is that they are getting close to 85 to 90% done um we don't expect it to open until the uh you know the until next year I don't know whether that's going to be February or March at this point we expect them to begin their marketing over the coming weeks and that'll take place in December I believe January February and March and some of this is timing for some long lead items like elevators and other things that they're waiting on in order to open the building so there are even though it looks done from the outside there are still many things to complete inside by the by Conifer which is the organization that'll be running and operating the uh the housing as they do in other places across the state and the country thank you is is there a date in our contract with them or their contract with us uh completion date I to my memory don't I don't believe there is a specific completion date within the contract um I'll have to check mark I don't know if you know the the answer to that I I don't believe there is either right there's a requirement in our uh there's a requirement in our affordable housing C to to eventually open the facility and they want to open the facility because they can start collecting rents that are associated even with the affordable housing component um so they're eager to open it and uh as soon as it's as soon as it's done it will certainly be opened thank you you're welcome um I want to revisit the street lights I I think it's been said before but I want to emphasize that any continuation of their current practice is is should be unacceptable and not in terms of their Lo approach but they need to replace with LED it's it's an industry standard there isn't anybody that builds anything in our town particularly commercial that doesn't do it I mean everything that comes you know that has a site plan that be comes before the planning board is if you look at the specs and on the thing is LED lighting and the reason for that is it lasts so much longer the real cost is not the light the real cost is sending the truck and the man out there and they know that why they're not doing it that way I don't know they give silly answers like it's subject to availability well the rest of the commercial world has no problem with availability I'm amused that that jcpnl does it just a lousy excuse and the BPU and our legislator should be all over him for it I'm sure Wayne D'Angelo particularly that's his Ballpark and someone needs to put Spurs in them I'm you know it's just unacceptable that they do it the way they do all this repeat stuff is a function of them doing it the same old way and we deserve better everybody deserves better we do I have do I have any time left yes yes okay um I in the consent agenda I didn't bring it up there was earlier I forgot the uh item 261 which is a mechanic truck is that replacing an existing unit it seems like a lot of Overkill you know in the construction World we're very accustomed to these kind of vehicles but that's for companies that work all over the state within the township it would seem uh to be a bit of Overkill when nothing is that far far away from their shop and to have uh a nearly 200,000 vehicle um you know time it's fully equipped um it it's going to be over 200,000 this is empty number so uh it just seems like and the need for uh such an expensive vehicle four-wheel drive you know it's it's in an exaggerated requirement for what we really have and it just seems like you know on larger scale of thing it's it's chump change I realize that but you know I we need to review these things everything being a four-wheel drive and a uh a dual cab and all that sort of stuff there's a lot of Overkill that we're buying and um you know it's taxpayer dollars and so I'm just saying someone should be asking the questions uh we we certainly do and I think it's a great point if I could answer council president if you don't mind so obviously this is because I asked the question too $188,000 you know why is this so essential and I know that we H we have one from 2003 that's 21 years old um it's it's got I think over 100,000 miles and it has probably picked up thousands of our vehicles over those 21 years when they break down whether they be big trucks or little trucks um they're out there we obviously have a mechanic program where we do a lot of stuff inhouse so I guess you know um this is something we've always done it allows us to respond in real time particularly during snowstorms and other emergencies to be able to go out and fix our trucks um the only other alternative and we could certainly take more of a look at it next time would be to spend more money to have other companies contract out every time something breaks down versus this truck being able to go out and manage our whole Fleet which is I think over 240 vehicles and be able to bring it back to the station or fix it Moby with our mechanic so isn't something we've bought for 23 years and according to our DPW director cuz I asked the same thing it's an invaluable resource for getting our our equipment back on the road in real time and it's costeffective versus having third parties constantly pick us up and fix stuff it has a it has on it a crean it has a welding area um an air a auxiliary fuel for adding fuel in case God forbid something happens um let's see uh and I mentioned uh it also has mo mobile air on it and a crane in case a tire blows out so it's been pretty effective for us in being responsive but I appreciate the point of view to ask those question you described it as being a recovery vehicle it's not a recovery vehic that's not what it does it's a it's a mechanics vehicle the crane is for lifting parts and stuff like that but it's not retrieving vehicles and can bring them back to the yard that's not what it does we can fix them out there so we don't have to tow them back I'm sorry I don't want to get into too much of an argument thank you Dr perab prakash P 33 uh daa Drive respective president may members of council and administration uh thank God the election is over and wish and pray the democracy and Republic prevails and everyone the voice of the people have been heard and let the governance understand and move forward okay and that is the request and let us be United in United States and have a differences but let us deal with it in communication in friendly way and polite way okay that's a request thank you thank you mayor Delina and members of plan board for rejecting the warehouse application on Route 33 we residents are very delighted and we appreciate thank you for hosting Diwali celebration in C Center we enjoyed it thank you mayor Rupa seal and the committee I'm here to speak about current zoning and planning on Route 33 and it surrounding Monro Township I already spoke at zoning Bo board meeting and we will continue to talk about it Highway development in Monro Township Route 33 has become Highway and its surrounding destruction in Highway development you should not have residential Warehouse commercial mixed together it's a destruction and bad planning Highway development needs to be planned like Route 130 development by Cranbury Township and Plainsboro where warehouses are in separate zoning far away from residential builders are taking advantage of this highway deel development definition by building high density housing Commercial Warehouse next to State roots and destroying townships in New Jersey this is this has to be stopped we are losing farmlands Wetlands Open Spaces in townships in New Jersey warehouses in or near residential will impact safety of residential using sidewalks children standing for school bus traffic jam air and sound pollution so forth it goes on where the trucks will be parked when the warehouses are closed question with loss of Farmland open lands aact of flooding to Res residential when it continues nowadays sometime rains at rate of 3 in per hour for several hours flooding arus Ross more is a example and many we had surprises so this has to be considered I don't know the government laws but flooding laws are our state government is inputting updating it so that has to be followed and followed beyond that what we request is separate Zoning for warehouses on Route 33 the builders this is a point Builders with their influence in Trenton will widen the Route 33 intersection and app got Butcher Road so that application for warehouse can be granted that is not ex exceptable to Residents so request is amain master plan and ordinances and have a separate Zoning for wouse on Route 33 thank you and uh apart from that the TV pills are going up and I tell you we are getting a lot of span calls and you know I don't have statistics on bur bugies and thefts in our Township whether they are increasing or decreasing I know our police force is there all the time we have put lights and you know cameras and all that but whether it is helping or not or whether we have to get more funding from the state and all we are all together so any comments on that is welcome thank you your name and address please yeah uh last name s Mula s a d a m s t l a address 283 morning L Drive Monro I just made some points it's easier to like talk um so first of all appreciate uh Mano Township planning board to nously rejected the the North D brle Hill Warehouse plan application on November 24th appreciate that I think the township should do more uh since we have the opportunity right now um my suggestion is to update the master plan for the Route 33 Highway development and if possible pass an ordinance to change the zoning so that no Warehouse are warehouses are planned in the residential areas uh take Cranbury and plsb as an example where they have all commercial warehouses which is planned separately no mixing of residence and Commercial we are not against warehouses we are against warehouses in residential areas so I don't know if it's possible don't know the township laws are but if we can keep all the new Ware house applications on hold until the new zoning of the until the new zoning is approved for rout 33 High Development Area it will be helpful so I would request the township should do something because we have the option right now where the uh application has been rejected and we have time to amend our master plan and do anything with that so any comment that will be helpful I Kevin if sure you want that comment on that please oh sorry you want to take my seat or this is a little awkward but my microphone wasn't work um appreciate the comments council president so um I think the um the first step would be and I'd mentioned this to a few other residents you're certainly welcome um is to meet with me uh in the planning and zoning office and we can talk a little bit more about the master plan process and how that works and what the possibilities are for the future townships uh including ours don't want to change uh zones in um you know haphazardly right want to have careful studies that's why most zoning changes happen subsequent to master plan re-examinations and and long careful study and Community uh input um we don't want to be in a challenging situation where we're spot zoning a certain piece of property that um you know we don't want to do this in a way that would be unsuccessful and unhelpful I I get that but uh in the planning board at one of the member was saying that the township zoning hasn't changed the residence residential Community has changed so much much drastically not this BR in the buer area but he hasn't changed so I think right now it's an opportunity for the township to update the master plan and it should be done I mean I will come and meet you but that's how I I feel that should be done yeah and and certainly certainly uh um so townships certainly update their Master plans periodically we we just did a Master Plan update um we did an 18-month process that culminated in 2022 yeah and happy to to sit with you with that and maybe look at some of the other uh amendments that we've done over the last decade or two um and if there's an O obviously we're always looking to the Future for for more of those opportunities but we don't um we don't necessarily amend the master plan that regularly but again I think it'd be beneficial to have that conversation and talk about the process moving forward all right okay I have two more things I mean um yeah so the street light I think I agree with the gentleman I think uh even for my experience calling and getting something fixed for my light in my front of the road I had to call like three times to jcpl and then they come and fix it obviously LED is the way to go right now it just Mercury just goes out dark for like 10 minutes not acceptable during the night time one more comment I want to know on the union Valley to perville right like when we travel from Union Valley to pville there's a single lane from Union Val to pville on Stop and Shop while there is a two lane from pinville to Y Valley which is going to the senior community in the morning right what I have seen like sometime when I try to drop my I mean right now sometime I go to my daughter to to the school like drop her to the school there's lot of traffic at the peral post office uh there's lot of traffic there the tool in I think should be going to the school rather than coming back I mean I don't know if something can be done there but it's going to be a lot of help because in the morning the that lane just backs up until un Valley with like all the school buses so it'll be helpful if Township can do something I I'll try to follow up on that next time thank you so much M off I no mic skills that we we did a very widely based review of when we were working on the master plan where we had three at least three public meetings more than once we had residents that were invited to come see plans and to make comments and people also were participated in a survey the decision was not decisions regarding that before it was brought to the planning board were not done lightly just that everyone knows it was a very thorough examination before it arrived there sir I didn't you still have your same time your name and address for our records please thank you my name is anjan karnati 11 preservation Drive Monro Township thank you council president and councilman and mayor and everybody because I'm talking about the master plan only here because of the you know warehouses mixing and with residential right right now on third can you hear me now we can okay so I'm talking about the master plan the gentleman just now previously asked about the master plan questions and uh why are we mixing and warehouses near residences and you know commercial and everything why don't we do change the master plan I know it is changed little while ago maybe 2 years right ago two years ago master plan has been changed can we do the amendment or not according to the public opinion is it possible I would if I could just ask that I it's a good question and sometimes there's information in terms of residential and this is a little bit complicated but in terms of residential being next to what's called Highway development which can be both commercial and warehouses along the 33 quter and in other places in the town as you may be aware both in round two and in round three of affordable housing um the court intervened to force um residential housing in areas that was previously Highway development um so the areas where this housing is was previously Highway development and the court um people came into court and became what's called interveners which means they raised their hand to the court and said I have Highway development property but if you let me build residential on it I can help the town meet its affordable housing requirement so part of this challenge is the is the court coming in to O to override our zoning in certain areas and we could talk more specifically about this if you want after the meeting um and and creating you know residential areas which people absolutely have the right to live in and enjoy and love the other challenge at the master plan was probably because I went to every one of the meetings and I think our my you know the council heard this as well is literally the the biggest message we got at the master plan for you know that I heard was less residential development particularly for school AG children because you know it's costly for the community and there's been a lot of that so so we had a situation where you know uh things were Highway development and other things were put in next to them and at the same time the pressure of not turning more things into designating it housing um so which is the alternative to development um in terms of uh Highway development which can be commercial or Warehouse the township um and no Township in the entire State can start pointing to land and say it can't be developed because that becomes what's called a taking and you could be spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars um so just I just want to provide a little bit about background happy to talk after the meeting but with those two choices that's sort of how it went through the master Point yes thank you the reason I'm asking this question and if you permit me because you remember this Warehouse which application has been denied by the you know mayor and Council and because of this Warehouse because we worked almost 2,000 families each family has up to three people seven approximately you know 6,000 people or 8,000 people spend lot of time protesting and you know stopping and you can count the number of hours each family maybe you know 10,000 20,000 hours so we spend a lot of time to provide to protect our neighborhood not building the warehouse in front of the residential area like that because we public is coming and why don't we Council can and work with the planning board which is more convenient more really helpful for the public instead of public is coming and forward and protesting to stop the warehouse and application has been denied that is thank you so much and however is there any other chance Builder can build still I mean I'll I'll I'll defer to Mark I can't tell you what a developer is going to do it's still zoned you know highway highway development um it hasn't been memorialized yet there's there's a variety of options I was just trying to explain how we got to where we are and the two competing pressures of the Court stepping into create housing and the majority of the residents in the town not wanting more housing above that which was required by the court yeah I understand that but you to satisfy the public and you know Monro Monro residents you really application has been denied Builder has the right to go to you know somewhere else and get the permission from the court or that still are we you know they can override us I mean I don't know what Mark can jump in anyone can always contest something so I don't want to I mean certainly they could but I don't know because after spending 20,000 of hours from the each you know all the families and we came up to this stage I we don't want to go back again you know I understand I'm just was pointing out the housing versus Warehouse option do you have anything to add I mean other than you know we we haven't gotten word yet what the developer is doing whether he's going to appeal it hasn't been memorialized yet but the application was denied I mean um certainly whatever is permitted in the HD zone is still permitted uh so I'm not sure what what exactly your question is the question is because even though we stopped that app PA his time is up sorry there are other people that want to speak to us you can certainly chat after the meeting with everyone before it ends thank you this is also out somewhat outside anyone else wishing to address us on this issue please come forward now or on other issues that were on the agenda sir please your name and address for our records and again there is a time limit of 5 minutes I'll not even take five minutes um my name is Anil saram 18 lenmore Court Monro Township New Jersey hi my name is Anil saram and I have been a resident of Monro for the past 10 years Monro residents appreciate the growth that brings jobs and tax revenue to benefit our community but such development must align with the town's needs prioritize safety and quality of life I commend the board for denying the application for the warehouse at the same time I question the role of the township planning board and the leaders of our community there seems to be a lack of foresight and vision in their approach to managing monrose growth the overdevelopment of residential areas has already created overcrowded schools negatively impacting the quality of education for the past 8 years now we are facing yet another situation where such decisions are being made without considering the long-term quality of life for residents with the latest expertise available it is reasonable to ask this leadership or the board to revisit and update the master plan to reflect the current situation inaction is not an option I am confident we can all work together to find suitable locations for warehouses as Monro has ample land for development thank you for the opportunity to express my concerns thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address us seeing and hearing none I'm going to entertain a motion to close the public comment section please may I have a second on that second all in favor anyone opposed no I'm going to entertain a motion for adjournment please motion thank you second thank you so much we are adjourned at 7:35 thank you all have a e