##VIDEO ID:i-QHYeCqzE4## the useful life according to bond law for a building is is 30 years um so that's that's how that would go um it's difficult to predict um interest rates for when this would become permanently financed um we've had interest rates over the past four years as low as I think 2.3% under permanent financing and as high as 3.5% under permanent financing but first they would go out as what's called one-year notes and then they would ultimately be converted at a certain point into permanent financing um generally uh on Capital Improvements um they are financed over time per the Bond Law of what you're allowed to finance it for which allows people to pay for it over time since like a bridge you you know you benefit from it over time over time as well um moving on to 02 um and so you you can't estimate what the total cost would be including the interest at this time I I don't I mean I would just say council president I don't know what the exact interest rate will be so but I mean clearly be I mean I we I'd have to run it I don't have it in front of me but at the lowest one we could certainly run that understood sorry U moving on to the try and answer the rest of the questions on 020 these are all part of water quality accountability act uh programs the reason why the numbers are similar is because it's a self-liquidating Authority um some of the items we're going to be doing in this project will be the Applegarth tank um painting and and fixing up and sand blasting um that's the tank up uh on the north on the south end of town by Route 33 at the top of the hill um by Joan Warren way we'll be renovating that like we did the uh tank on half acre road um we'll be doing some improvements to well 21 uh which will be in in coordination with the water quality accountability act we'll be replacing a 1993 jet vac pump truck um that has over 50,000 hours on it and that's a pretty significant price I think that's almost 650,000 for one of those jet fact trucks and the items are listed in General um inside the ordinance there moving on to various Capital Improvements for the township it's kind of a kind of an exhaustive list um I should also mention you asked what the length of that would be so on ordinance 20 the length of those bonds would be 13.04 which is an average bond life of all the items that are included in it as as approved by Bond Council sorry to go back to 20 21 uh the average life would be about 8.6 years on that one and that includes everything from uh an ambulance uh and this is this is in there to different EMS and uh police vehicles um to a variety of DPW equipment um drainage work Municipal improvements guide rails um and as well as in there is a DOT uh mostly dot funded uh local aid grant project that we got uh for to pave links drive over in the uh fors gate area over there as well so uh that hopefully and then 183 sorry as quick as I can here 183 this is a replacement of a 2022 car that was in a accident and was totaled we received $30,000 um from the insurance payment this is a new vehicle I asked the exact same question as well when we went out to bid we wanted to be able to get anything that was on the lot because it's kind of hard to get vehicles at this point so we went out to bid for a 23 or 24 we're able to get the 23 and if this is approved it will be a new vehicle with uh you know less than 20 miles on it or something like that anyone else thank you anyone else wishing to address US Dr prash please come forward your name and address for our records please thank you very much president prakash P from 33 L Drive uh ordinance 08 2024 019 I understand that we are issuing a bond for 1, 397,000 and odd and we have received a grant of 1, 1 million sorry 1, 457,000 from the midx county and 69,000 we are going to use from open saes trust I understand uh James Monro Park is a private privately owned uh foundation so we are going to acquire the indoor facility and do the Improvement that is true no okay then explain to me later so I I'll allow that because want you to get clarification on that I'm full support of this ordinance by the way um what my request is this is a good opportunity we are doing it in the southeast part of the Monroe so this is very good so it is I want to get clarity already I said what we are doing to do already we are planning in master plan to have three Cricket fields in Southside in future two or three years whatever and there is 60 Acres land what I have seen and similar type of request is similar type of state or County um grants we should get then matching to have that not only Cricket fields and surrounding in the that ground we can have a track for the people to walk bicycle track and sound recreation facility and future Recreation Center so I request I'm very proud that you are getting money from uh the middle sex County and funding also issuing a bond to have uh this facility which children will be using so my question is I thought is a private foundation so please uh clarify uh what it is and how we Acquired and all that thanks no James rro Park is a is a Township Park okay so we're not we're not acquiring or anything we're just constructing a facility in the Park yeah because it read the acquisition of James Buro Park no it doesn't say I think might have read an early an earlier version the the ordinance that introduced does not deal with acquisition because that's what I read uh yeah that's what I read on the ordinance okay thank you're welcome you're welcome thank you anyone else yes please three and then four injury name and address for our records Lu Panos 128c lindera Plaza uh 24 019 I too also have questions and I'm actually hoping that you guys table this because to say it's for a baseball facility or not completely it could be for this it could be for that did you ever do any analytics or on what the most upand cominging sport is in especially in Monroe if you didn't do your homework there's going to be another change order down the road because I would asked all these kids here what's what's your favorite sport I guarantee it would have been soccer so I I certainly question spending all this money and why would you do it why would you not hold off have you done any studies on what the most popular sports are on 24183 T TI that's all I have to say on that one um and 192 what oh wait on the 190 on the sports thing I also hear that other towns will be joining this if possible you know maybe their sports teams so they can be paying the town ship to use that facility Well who's getting that money and will if Monroe uses it since they're paying with their tax dollar will they get a discount or get it free so I don't know if you know all those things and I appreciate the answer from the business administrator but I would hope the people voting on that could give an answer to that because this is really a lot of money and I foresee change orders down the road um talking about change orders 19 2 and 193 we have a change order isn't there an old saying you know what do your rfps look like is a saying measure twice and cut once when you put out a bid don't you take in all aspects of it why why is there a change order especially $335,000 $221,000 change order guys get it done the first time get it done right the first time these change orders are killing the taxer thank you oh no wait I'll wait for the answer what what about the 183 the the facility for whatever sport you you think is popular I think it's one one is a car you didn't want the 119 rather sorry sorry councilman I don't want to put you on the spot so if I could 09 01909 I could start on that if oh if he's starting on that I'll start on it then I'll turn it over to turn it over to Mark so obviously as you know we we did the master plan and there was a there's been a longtime request to do some indoor practice facilities particularly near the baseball fields and and then certainly a lot of push to do more stuff in the southern end of the town as you heard um and as you may know we've been trying to advance these projects with grants so the mayor has directed the administration to move all these projects forward as best we can with grants we came before the board on the community garden which is like a $2.4 million playground bathroom project we got $1.2 million from uh from Green Acres grants um which was one of the first times we did that we're looking at pickle ball we'll be moving forward on shortly we got a $65,000 Grant to jumpstart some additional ports over by the senior center and this is an opportunity to get as you mentioned about a $1.45 million Grant to do some indoor uh recreation facility in that area the primary beneficiary would obviously be baseball and softball because there would be batting cages and pitching channels but it could it would always be used by someone within Monroe and would be treated like any uh Municipal uh re uh facility that we use um primarily for our residents um as as we do now for all of our Fields whether it be the turf field the James Monroe park fields and council president I turn over to Mark I don't know if there's anything he wants to add to that yes Mr aimo please thank you our Recreation Center is one of of the best in in the county um this building would be operated under our our uh recreation department and uh similar to how they operate the their other buildings as well um with regard to uh resolution 24 I'm sorry resolution re 2024 192 it's a change order for Road Project it's change order number one and final comes to about 5% of the project what it was was there was additional work on the existing storm pipe and inlets out there so it was additional quantities of the items that we already had and with regard to uh resolution 193 that's a change order for our Police Department it increases the project about 3.8% the bulk of that money was to take down the existing cell tower that was there everyone recalls actually it wasn't even a cell tower it was a radio tower so the bulk of that money was to take that to power down we were getting quotes for it prior to start of this construction uh we received uh I believe two or three quotes and then we got a quote from the contractor for this project his price was the best price and uh and we went with this contractor and that became a change order as opposed to a separate contract to take down the included in the original RFP okay so if you knew the building was it it's going to come down that should have been part of the cost and as far as grants those are nice buzzword however this grant just coming for the county and as we all know our County taxes went up so you can do that buzz word we got a grant we got a grant and I say uh-uh that doesn't fly anymore just do your due diligence beforehand soccer is the upand cominging sport please don't next year God willing I'm back here and I got to see a change order for this project for a change order because we need soccer or we need pickup ball or we need something else that's my opinion thank you for your comments anyone else wishing to address us please come forward now seeing and hearing none I'm going to ask for a motion to close the public comment section motion I motion thank you may I have a second on that second thank you all in favor I any opposed n therefore we close the public comments section and I would like to ask for a motion to close the agenda session please motion thank you second second thank you roll call councilman toiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes meeting is adjourned agenda meeting is adjourned and the time on that is 709 very good we are going to call the regular meeting of the Monroe Township Council to order motion please motion thank you second second roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes now I have a motion to approve the payment of the claims for the run date of August 1st 2024 so moves thank you second second thank you roll call councilman deiro yes councilman Mar yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes pass to approve the minutes of the following meetings as written and presented the June 26th 2024 meetings agenda and regular combined meeting motion please motion approve second second thank you roll call councilman toiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes coun vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you ordinances for second reading 06 2024-25 Monro to acquire a storm sewer management easement over property located at Remington Avenue known as block 13-1 part of lots four and five on the township of Monroe tax map parenthetical on that is Stratford public hearing may I have a motion to open it motion thank you a second on that motion please second thank you all in favor I any opposed no anyone wishing to address the Council on this ordinance only please come forward now giving us your name and address for the record seeing and hearing hear in none I will ask for a motion to close the public hearing on this ordinance motion thank you a second on that second thank you all in favor I any opposed may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 06 20124 d012 please so moved thank you may I have a second on that thank you roll call councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president Zora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you ordinance 062 24-13 the ordinance that Mr vanur you have a motion to make regarding this ordinance please yes your honor with respect to uh 20 24-13 um I would make a motion to have this ordinance withdrawn from our agenda for this evening thank you may I have a second on that motion second thank you we need to take a roll call vote on that council president yes I'm sorry I just want to make it clear that by withdrawing this what you're actually doing is defeating the ordinance so a yes vote would be to defeat the ordinance and I just didn't want anybody to think that it could be withdrawn and then brought back on second reading as the councilman said in this opening statement you're welcome call for the vote please councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes look we alled and everything okay next is ordinance 06 2024-the Township Council repealing chapter 78 of the code of the township of Monroe entitled Personnel policies and procedures may I have a motion to open a public hearing on this please motion thank you a second on that second all in favor I any opposed anyone wishing to address the counil on this ordinance please come forward now sh ar09 Nathaniel street is this the chapter 7 8 that has to do with um employee contributions to healthcare no no that's the salary ordinance the S that's the salary ordinance in the salary ordinance I okay and just I'm sorry I I am unaware of this one can you just briefly give us sure what it is so this chapter um contains all of the personel policies for the township but there is a Personnel policy manual that we have that is a document that is amended frequently during the course of the year we get recommendations from our GIF or recommendations from our attorneys or our Risk Managers so we're constantly and our HR department is constantly updating our Personnel policies in this form of government it doesn't belong in the ordinance because those all of those policies are established by the mayor so we're just taking this ordinance out because it's it's it a it's it's not in keeping with what our personal policies are and B it's the mayor's authority to establish these policies for employees so the entire chapter 78 that has to do with Personnel policies and procedures is gone correct and and there is parallel to this that you don't see here there is a Personnel policy manual that we have that has all the rules and regulations for our employees probably much like the board does Personnel policy manual yes ma'am and that would be uh the public would be able to themselves yes it's a public document our HR department has it sure so all the procedures in 78 are gone as well correct they're all in our polic they're in they're not gone they're in they're in our the manual so a manual just tends to be something that identifies things a polic an ordinance tends to to codify things that's not true okay so our policies are enforcable policies you know we have uh racial discrimination policy uh anti-harassment policy you know much like every employer has uh FMLA policies all of those policies are rules and regulations that are enforcable as to our employees because they're they're actually enacted by uh an executive order by the mayor so they don't need to be done none of them need to be adopted by ordinance so the language in the policies in the ma in the manual are as strong and enforcable as would be in an ordinance in some respects they're stronger because we update them as we go along you know the our joint Insurance Fund for instance every year provides us with a list requires me to certify that our that our policy manual says certain things in it so we update we update those policies and when you update it do you bring it to the council for a vote nothing no that it doesn't have to go to council it's done by the mayor but the council is advised of it so the public isn't aware when these changes come about well they're internal policies as to our employees so you would only be aware if you ask for a copy of our policies these are internal employ employee policies these are not policies that affect the public they're internal employee well everything affects the public of course but you understand what I'm saying it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't change or bind you one way or the other it's the policies that our employees have to and the manual is not the manual then is not a static uh it's not it changes all the time then it does because we have to keep up with the state passes new laws we have to put it in our policy manuals the there's you know we react to uh Court decisions that sometimes change things you understand this CU you you I do I do but sometimes that that sounds like it could be arbitrary no it's far from arbitrary and subjective if one person if one person no offense mayor this I'm just talking about the position if one person can change these things on a regular basis well that's the function of a government that has an executive right who in whose responsibility is all Personnel polic all things Personnel right right all right thank you you're welcome anyone else wishing to address us on this ordinance please come forward now seeing and hearing none I'm asking for a motion to close the public hearing motion second on that please second thank you may I have a motion to adopt ordinance 06 2024-the roll call please councilman toiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you the clerk please read the ordinance for introduction ordinance 08 2024 015 ordinance amending chapter 39 of the code of the Town above Monroe entitled fees may I have a motion to introduce that ordinance please motion thank you a second on that clerk will call the role councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries you ordinance 08 20246 ordinance amending the code of the township of Monroe section 108-72 7 entitled storm water management motion please motion thank you second on that second thank you CL call the rooll councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanora council president Cohen yes motion carries ordinance 08 20247 ordinance of the township of Monro County of middlex and state of New Jersey establishing a midblock crosswalk on Applegarth Road County Route 619 Township of Monroe County of middlex state of New Jersey motion motion second second clerk call the rooll please councilman toiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries ordinance 08 20248 ordinance amending chapter 35 of the code of the township of Monroe entitled drug- free zones motion motion thank you second second clerk will call the rooll councilman Ziro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries ordinance 08 20249 Bond ordinance providing for facility Improvement on township open space property in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middlex New Jersey appropriating 2, 925,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 1,39 $7,600 bonds or notes of the town to to finance part of the cost thereof motion please so moved second on that please second roll call council president I had a few questions on this thank you so um I I read through this and I noticed it's it's um specific the bond is specific to a property which is James Monroe Park does um because we do we did have have some we have we received an email today from a resident in reference to uh the location and there were some questions about um if money is being paid by the taxpayers and then money being paid by the parents or grandparents for the children to play at these facilities who's going to be receiving the money and who's going to be collecting the money would it be collected to the association if it's a baseball softball or another sport um or would be payable to the township and I don't and I know with the master plan uh we talked about southern part of our town with Recreation so if we can obtain this more this uh this grant of like one point I'll call it 1.5 million round it off with 69,000 coming from open space and we're going to match it with another with another Bond um for 30 years taxpayers are paying either way uh why can't we why can't we have this park or this building in a different part of the town why does it have to be in James Monroe Park when James Monroe Park which I did a lot of work over there I built a few of those fields over the years and the rec I also did the um concession stand and and the in the baseball uh building in the beginning uh at the entrance there that came from Concordia when Concordia got built that that ranch was moved from Concordia all the way to jams Road Park uh the little building on the right so trees are going to have to come down I know we're saying open space in order to build this facility trees are going to have to come down we have limited parking there now the the property is surrounded by Wetlands um so there's no really future growth that can be done so my question be why does this have to be why does this Bond have to be specifically to James Monro Park Mr warber do you have a comment regarding that please so this is uh something that you know Monroe baseball has certainly taken the lead on um Monroe softball I believe uh is involved and aware as well um generally when we make enhancements we do them within our existing Parks um obviously as you know when James Monroe Park was built um you know was created in the same circumstance as well um so this will be about an 80 by 90t building um so it won't be quite nearly as as big as the Park itself and this is what um you know the those those wck those programs want we would treat this like we treat any other facility whether it be the soccer turf field whether it be the Avenue K Park um our residents and our residents pretty much exclusively would use it um and that that's basically how it would look how it would move forward um if you have a different location than what B baseball is suggesting you're you're you know you're welcome to to put that out there we we did hear a lot about trying to put stuff on the southern side of the town we did get this proposal um you know from Monroe baseball um and the county did Express an interest in being supportive of it so but I'm sure the council and others would be would be welcome to my suggestion would be it doesn't be land specific because we did talk about acquisition um and I have a copy here it still says acquisition maybe it's an old copy but o overall um when it says open space just for an example some of residents wrote to us some of them already came up made comments about um there are open other open space tracks of land um on Applegarth Road Old Church Road and there's many other Parcels that we can take a $3 million uh expense and put it in a in a in a more strategic place for all our residents um and all for many sports so I would I would make a suggestion that we table this in the sense of the location if we can remove James onroad park for this bond that we're going to be spending uh approximately $15 million uh in the way I read it uh section c 6D $495,000 not to exceed I I assume that's soft cost that is arec yeah that is that is soft cost okay yeah we're gonna have to design it so I would say my my suggestion would be that we don't make it specifically to one property and I would make a motion uh I know we have a motion on the table we have a motion on the table so but that's that was my comment yes thank you Mr as Mo that council president I I would just add you know we've looked at parks throughout the township uh we have concept plans uh through the master plan where we looked at other properties in town and we have conceptual designs of recreation facilities at all those lands I believe there was five or six Parcels that that we had proposed uh through the master plan um I think this is an ideal location for it this is where your baseball facility is it's sort of like our soccer complex uh you don't want to you don't want to start splitting it up this is where they have the tournaments this is this is the ideal location I I would just I disagree um in the sense that we're better off with an allpurpose building than specific baseball or softball as as uh you said before it could be used for many sports and we have nothing on that side of the town so to put $3 million in a baseball location like I said before I built the fields many times over there and I did a lot of work there including the parking lot and it's very it's there's no space for for additional if this is going to be used in the winter that's one thing but if you're going to use it during fall ball or you're going to use it during the spring when when everybody's playing you're not going to have parking so that's that's the part that I would request that we find a different location Madam council president I may add words uh to the discussion again I don't vote on it but however um historically speaking councilman deiro you know thank you for all the work that you've done down in the park um my perspective in regards to the history uh certainly doesn't go back as far as you uh but being president of the baseball league now over 20 years ago this was an ask that was put in over 20 years ago um and it has morphed over the years um baseball has reached out to and they've done it the right way they reached out to the rec department um they've discussed uh they've discussed it at The recre Advisory Board um and you know they came to us in regards to it's not going to be a baseball only facility it is a facility that uh certainly will lean toward heavy toward softball and baseball uh but obviously it's going to be a facility for all recreational uses um and again Mark mentioned about our rec department being a crack uh department they will manage it um so they will manage the usage of it um it is a um James Monroe Park is a park it is an open park for every body uh the fields uh obviously if they're not used for baseball can be used for pickup games it's going to be the same thing like any other type of recreational facility here in Monroe Township um and and and lastly it it is anticipated that it will be used you know 365 days uh a year so it will be you know it's not just the summertime it will be throughout the winter as well and I think that's the essence of of what the building is for so just thank you m appreciate comments thank you anyone else in the council have any comment they want to make the last thing I just wanted to say add on to what our mayor said was we baseball is declining in numbers and we are reaching out to other communities to make baseball a continued Sport AS when I started baseball here as a youngster we we used to go to Jamesburg there was never a Monroe baseball association or team and we had to go to Jamesburg so now we're going to Millstone and we're going to surrounding towns to TR to fulfill uh baseball and continue the sport here in Monro Township that's why the question that I ask is the money that's going to be coming in for this this sport is who's going to be receiving this money is going to go to the township directly is it going to go to the associations of whatever Sports they are and where's the where's the money going to where's the money going to come if if a resident comes from Millstone are they going to pay the township o androe for their child to use this facility Mr warber I mean I I'll try and get more clarification from Mary Lang but my expectation is it would be no different than Monroe soccer Monroe softball Monroe baseball Wolverines Monroe lacrosse some of them have Rec teams some of them have travel teams the priority in wreck is obviously it's all our all our kids travel is generally you know focused on Monroe as well um so I don't think it would really be any different than any of those other programs that have resources and location all you know all across the town like when we did the turf field for for Monro soccer um so ordinance 19 yes okay folks um I'm ordinance we're going to call for a roll call vote on 08202 4019 there is an existing motion on the floor will the clerk please call the rooll councilman deiro no councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries ready yep ordinance 08224 020 Bond ordinance providing for various improvements to the water sewer utility in and by the township of Monroe in the county of middle sex New Jersey appropriating 4,900 $95,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $4,995 th000 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof may I have a motion please so moved thank you may I have a second on that motion second thank you will the clerk call the rooll please councilman toiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen motion carries ordin 08 2024 021 Bond ordinance providing for various Capital Improvements in and by the township of Monro in the county of middlex New Jersey appropriating $ 4,224 400 therefore and authorizing the issuance of3 m5233 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof may I have a motion so moved thank you may I have a second second thank you with the clerk please call the role councilman deiro yes councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries ordinance 08 2024 022 an ordinance authorizing the township of Monroe to acquire a right of way dedication over property at 45 Lower matchaponix Road known as block 68 Lot 4 4129 a 10t wide Street tree easement at 43 45 and 47 lower match to ponx Road known as block 68 Lots 4134 4135 4136 and a conservation easement at 43 45 and 47 Lower matchaponix Road known as block 68 Lots 41 34 4135 4136 on the township of Monroe tax M may I have a motion on that please motion thank you may I have a second second will the clerk call the role please councilman Deo abstain councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries ordinance 08 2024 023 an or an ordinance authorizing the township of Monroe to acquire a 10 foot wide tree easement on 38 Avenue I and 40 Avenue I known as block 123 lots 11.01 and 14.01 on the township of Monroe tax map motion please so moved thank you and a second please second thank you the clerk will call the role councilman deiro yes councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries we move move to the resolutions the consideration under the consent agenda R8 2024-25 through r820 24-14 absenting the following please um also I just want to add we're adding ordin uh resolution R8 2024 195 which will um yes which will delay the tax um maing until August 23rd delay the grace period grace period I apologize um so R8 2024 179 through R8 2024 195 excluding 184 resolution 184 185 and 192 which will be voted on separately very good okay council president I had a question on on the um R r224 d193 yes when you look at the change order you look at the breakdown um the demolition of the tower was 53,000 uh OV excavation the material on the parking lot was 10,200 um and then you look at a lot of the change orders conduit it conduit in wire uh for an electric gate 40,000 to put in conduit in the ground and El and I guess wire uh I don't know what it doesn't give us the length in the change order or the distance uh also um install spare conduit for a tower $3 35,9 23 again it's lack of uh distance of how much footage this is um install conduit to anticipated cameras 36345 again doesn't give us any distance or size of conduit uh or or anything or depth uh relocate gas meter modify the pipe 12,000 lower existing conduit install transfer barrier I mean there's no just the numbers are here as far as uh for dollars and cents but it doesn't specifically say you are requesting further specification around the dollars and cents of the numbers of the items so yeah so um I'm not comfortable with just dollars dollars amounts uh I know you guys say it's 5% of the contract or it's 3% or it's the first change order but the but the change order is not specific specifically enough to to fill in the dollars and cents Mr rimo can you provide the documentation for that please council president uh Al Lio group is the is the project engineer they have provided all this backup documentation for each of these items in detail was quite lengthy um and these were the summarized uh items that they called it um certainly we have that I can provide all that to the to the council it's not a problem also um scrap scrap metals up uh 9 cents a pound which is $180 a ton corre um okay they pay by cash they don't write checks so what where did the scrap metal like was this Tower our Tower who owned a tower um did we get credit for the scrap metal I mean none of that none of that sign this change order well it would not council president again a Lio group uh uh who's handling uh the project engineering uh they have all that backup documentation for this I have also reviewed it as well as what they provided and I concurred with it and and attached my letter to this recommending these change orders as well PE license and you are satisfied with what the documentation was and what it entails for this project yes and as far as somebody requested item these are additional items that came up out there as far as some conduit adding additional conduit but that item you know there's more detail provided to that so I understand what the councilman saying when he's looking at one at the cost the the description is quite short I assure you it's quite ly all exists it is not in does not need to be in the resolution you can certainly look at it sir I again I can provide all that backup documentation I have received all that from the alimo group um but again the description was very short um so when you're just looking at it you know you don't definitely know that all of this documentation is behind it so when will we when will we get that documentation you can get it Prov any other council member who wishes to view that as well certainly that is not a problem okay okay thank you thank you I lost my place so we are taking a motion yes please for the resolutions accepting resolutions R8 2024 179 through R8 2024 195 with the exceptions of resolution 184 185 192 which will be considered separately very good may I have a motion to that effect please so moved thank you a second on that motion please second may I have a a roll call on that councilman toiro no councilman marel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries thank you we will then move to the resolution that was accepted please resolutions removed from the consent agenda is R8 2024 184 185 and 192 motion please so move j thank you may I have a second on that second the clerk C the roll councilman toiro councilman Marquel yes councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzora yes council president Cohen yes motion carries I should put my glasses back to see we'd like to move to our reports please we will begin with Mr weinberg's administrator's report thank you very much council president I'll be uh somewhat brief just a few quick comments uh one just wanted to mention to everyone that the uh shared services agreement for the Community Access channels are back up and running in partnership with the uh Board of Education thanks to Stacy Kyle and all the Board of Ed staff and for that uh shared services agreement and getting it done so that means it's it's up on Verizon and it's up on Comcast it's also up on YouTube but certainly back to the way it was um in terms of being able to watch it on those and having programming on that um just as a reminder because I know Joe mentioned this the last meeting the normal irrigation is back in place I know we had a hiccup during the heat wave in terms of uh a few communities where we provide uh irrigation and had to limit that that is now uh up and running so certainly more than appreciate everyone's patience I know it was difficult um also want to thank the entire team that helped put together the July Force fireworks um certainly not an easy task so special thank you to the W department and all the department ments that contributed a special thanks to Jamesburg and middlex County because it takes a team effort um and I'm glad it was another success um and then finally just a a special thank you to the rec camp and the rec Camp counselors um whether uh it be at Mount sea or Rec Camp um it was a hot July um it's a you know it's a hard job managing kids particularly when you're young and they do such an amazing job so I just wanted to give a special thanks uh to all the counselors who were out uh and doing that all summer so that's my report council president thank you very much Mr ASO it's been thank you council president um again I'll be brief as well um as far as a status report on a couple projects that have moved forward since the last meeting the Applegarth Joan Warren way traffic signal the signal is complete however the uh for a period of time the signal head will will stay covered with a bag and then um after about a month then then the bag is removed it'll go on a flashing signal uh before it's actually turned on these are all requirements from middle sex County and uh NJ do um the 2024 road paving program is is underway we have completed about three roads already with Paving they are working on uh concrete work on um on Forest Park Terrace uh they're Milling out in alal area and uh that that'll continue through the month of August and uh looking to complete that as as soon as we can while we have the uh warm weather that's my report thank you very much like to move to some of the council reports now councilwoman seagull back from vacation you were yes I am thank you council president good evening everyone I have a couple brief um updates I just want to share our historic preservation commission is still having their open houses yesterday was another one at die farm and the guest presentation was on the culture of India uh next week is independent day for India so uh this a South Asian organization Agra seak kandra students and students took the visitors on a journey through India showcasing geography uh the foods of India clothing of India and landmarks throughout India so it was very interesting the students did an amazing job their next openhouse is September 1st and if you are into baseball the annual vintage baseball game is on September 21st so mark your calendars for die farm and something that I learned recently in the spirit of the farmers market that's happening at the library this summer I learned that farmer Al has been farming in Monroe for a 100 years 1924 to 2024 so congratulations to them I know we're so fortunate here in Monroe we have so many amazing farms and all the produce I know my family we've been living off of everything from the farms around here we have uh what we call Friday Farm hopping so we go from Farm to farm and get some of our favorites so I hope people are you know helping our local farms um in Monroe and I happened to be looking at the library website and I saw and I just want to share that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission has a mobile unit I'm not sure if people are aware of that but they are coming to the library on Tuesday August 13th from 9:30 to 3:00 p.m. and I'm just going to read this um they bring their services to you available Services include real ID registration renewal and non-driver ID the mobile unit is wheelchair accessible will be in the library's parking lot and appointments are required so I think this is a great service that we offer and just want to share that everyone and not here just last month as well so this is a second visit yes in a short period of time Y and again we always encourage about how wonderful our library is there's wonderful Services throughout there if you're trying to beat the heat check out their programming there's some great um events coming up so that concludes my report Mr Mark just want to say briefly I just like to say briefly um Council Ben seagull mentioned the library one of the more important things that the library this month is a blood drive on August 29th that um doesn't seem important till you need blood um one other thing I'd like to mention is uh we've heard a a lot about bonding and about spending money at this council meeting and everybody thinks that um we just spend counsel we you taxpayers money um to make this town a great town it costs money um the grants we receive is taxpayers money but it's there so it might as well be spent in Monroe um when you see the soccer fields and you see the new baseball fields it's because um we feel it makes this a better community so we just don't spend money freely it's something that's thought we go by the master plan we go by recommend ation we take in what everybody here is going to say and we try to put it to the best use so I just want to say that we've got um new volleyball courts um we've got other things that go up all the time new Cricket pitch uh courts I don't know if that's what they're called uh and pitches is that what they are I'm sorry um this makes Monroe a great town you know and it is great to come here and criticize oh you're spending money here you're doing this you're doing that but to make this a great town we have to spend the money so people want to live here and fortunately this town is growing and unfortunately this town is growing so it's a double-edged sword I just wanted to say this that's what makes us a great town and we don't just frivolously spend money it's not what we do it's our money we pay taxes and we and our goal is to make make everybody in the town happy whether you're on the North side South Side everywhere so we do take this very seriously it's not just yes yes yes yes um that's what I had to say today I was going to say other things but getting feedback today um this is what hit me okay thank you very much councilman deum thank you um I just wanted to start off by saying tomorrow night's National Night Out maybe um in Thompson Park uh hopefully weather permitting uh it's good I know we got forecast that's not looking good but um 6 to 9 in at Thompson Park the lake area uh there's a lot of there's a car show games food fun and uh come out support our First Responders and also we get to see Allen make some hot dogs so that's always a treat to see uh and you know it's good for our community to come together so that's um National Night Out we also have on Saturday Station 51 uh 75th Anniversary um as a fire commissioner for over 20 years the men and women the families the children and everybody that comes together at at a fire uh scene or fire building is just it's it's Second To None I mean the the volunteers the career and everybody work together it's a great thing that makes Monroe as councilman marle just said a great community and it's 2:00 at Thompson Park they rented the whole park and hopefully the weather will hold hold out they have band three bands coming um I know the the main band is called the Nerds so everybody's uh hopefully coming out and support our local uh Station 51 volunteers um Bentley road we talked about it many times Water and Sewer can we get an update on the situation for residents on Bentley Road not changed is it council president uh if I can and Joe jump in if you need to so I think the improvements as I've mentioned before are tied to um some development that's happening in that area um the requirement of the planning board approval is for I believe water and uh sewer to to come as part of that um I believe that uh project will be moving forward but uh we're sort of at the mercy of of of that project um because we don't want to leave you know anyone behind that's right in front of it and that's really the only way uh to move forward on this at this point council president I think it's pretty much you know that's the same message as from you know before okay so so no nothing concrete no no progress I noticed developer um I brought to your to your attention the same developer and other developers in town um our our chapter 108 Land Development on the website um we we have still on our website we we refer to Monroe Township um it's Utility Authority so if you look on our website I have I have it right here Allan if you need it I have a hard copy uh anything to do with water and sewers still relates to MTM that was 2011 um as one of our residents brought to the attention that there was like uh 12 million it was closer to 48 million surplus uh in 2011 so if this can be corrected in the sense of where it says uh we get the Utility Authority on our website I took this off our website and also um I just I just wanted to say being on the shade tree uh liaison uh we have to collect the money uh and try to uh work with all developers on collecting our funds as they go out and uh and do their job as far as building the project as per plan along with our Township engineer make sure that they're getting paid to do the inspections and escros and along with our clerk's office to make sure the bonds are in place so um I just asked that this would be updated and corrected um as to mtud also I wanted to ask about the funds from the state in reference to to um 405 spots with Gravel Hill Road we talked about receiving approximately $2.5 million from the state did we receive that money yet uh so I think you're confusing two different things so we got um uh I believe uh two different uh we got two different grants from the state um we got uh I believe $2.5 Million last year for the police station and then we got $2.5 million associated with open space base acquisition 2.3 of that 2.5 million as I've explained before is associated with the Barnes uh Farm purchase and 200,000 of that um will be uh moved over to the 405 spots uh Spotswood Gravel Hill Road the county gave us um uh $2 million for the Barnes acquisition to fully fund that along with the state and an additional 1 uh1 million for the 405 uh Spotswood Gravel Hill Road so we have a total of $1.2 million for the Spotswood Gravel Hill Road Site the entire project I believe was 2.3 so we're bonding approximately 1.1 for it so that that's the lay of the land on those two projects we have a grant approval uh I believe from the state for the police building so that I'm sorry for the open space purchases and I believe the ability to draw down from the police uh should be coming down coming shortly for that 2.5 million as well Council thank but did we receive the money from the state what I believe it was 2.5 for open space purchases one would being 405 spots with Gravel Hill and we collect we we bonded 2.4 we paid 2.3 we bonded 2.4 but we were supposed to receive 2.5 from the state for open space did we receive that money right so I'll try and explain it again so we did get $2.5 million Grant from them we are working our way through the DCA process to get uh it put in the sage system and I believe that's been approved and so we can um when we when when we can draw down the 200,000 that would be associated with the 405 Spotswood Gravel Hill Road and then we'll be able to draw down the uh uh 2.3 million once we have a closing on the on the Barnes property um so that's exactly that's exactly where we're at oh thank you um Allan you and I were on a committee for uh buses and transportation and then covid came and uh a lot of lot of you know we don't want to bring up that those days um but are we I know the buses situation are difficult um transportation now and it's unfortunate um a lot of people are not going traveling as much and uh are we are going to have another committee are we going to still have a committee for bus and transportation or is this something that we rely just on like New Jersey Transit and what whoever's left I mean I'll I'll certainly defer to the council and the mayor on that I think everybody sort of recognizes that the commuting world has changed um postco um it's a real challenge we fought really hard to get a lot of buses coming up and down Applegarth Road only to see that all sort of fall apart um we has as many people know we have historically we've had a private carrier joint Arrangement between coach and Academy they jointly uh run the line uh when when New Jersey Transit was created years ago uh New Jersey Transit didn't put bus lines where private carriers already had bus lines so we're kind of stuck with those private carriers New Jersey Transit won't step in um and put them out of business I think the biggest challenge as I shared with you councilman is that a lot of these private carriers are going out of business you see that around the entire State and it's it's not a Monroe thing it's going to be a problem for the entire State and at that point there would be pressure on New Jersey transit to to step in because each you know some of these bus lines serve six to 15 communities along the way and communities aren't really set up to to do regional service so it's more of a Statewide problem than just ours and it's also the result of of less people using it um and uh and and you know and some of the challenges in that case thank you um Walnut Street and prola a um we had a water main break and um I stopped by happened to go past her and I saw our MTD guys working there for two days working on working on that that leak that it's been going on for months um I can't I can and our director was there along with supervision and being in construction most of my life and watching with these guys work together as a team and and also um we just had a repair done with the help of Mark and his team on Schoolhouse Road with an emergency service uh for a uh storm drain you know repair when you put something together like this and you work together uh as councilman marle said before he said listen this is a great Community when you do stuff like that and you don't in interfere uh with the the water service to our residents and you you manage to fix it inhouse we're saving an incredible amount of money especially with 90° plus that these guys are working through the day and night to make sure that everybody's when you turn the spet on it works every time you flush the toilet it makes its way to cille so I got to I got to tell you um it's just hats off to Joe and your team and I please let everybody know at DPW as well uh say thank you again and thank you for fixing at water man as a resident contacted me and and I asked him to reach out to you and you did uh he called me and thanked us as well to to say thank you for Monroe stepping up and and doing that repair um i i attended the Board of Ed at a meeting with our Senate and assembly um finance committee and it was very interesting public wasn't you know it's not a meeting that you you're allowed to ask questions and speak but you can send emails and the chair um who ran the meeting she did a good job and um you know our Representatives basically said uh in a nutshell that we're at our cap for state aid which is is approximately 12 12 something million at our cap when other communities they mentioned uh a community like Hamilton who receives 135 million in state aid uh which two of the representatives that's their hometowns U they brought that up and they and they also said out of the 12 million and change 300,000 was earmarked for full day kindergarten um it's not a lot of money to to put uh the improvements that are needed in the three schools but I I I would think and hopefully maybe we can get the representatives to come here to come to a council meeting where our residents can ask questions and and we can also get answers uh in reference to how how can we um what do we have to do in order to to change uh this this capital state aid because the um Equalization came up and they said there was only two two towns cranberry and our town that does not get Equalization tax so they brought that up and they they also said uh we need your support your ideas to help us get you guys more money so it might be a good idea to invite them here um and uh see see what we can do maybe they can help us uh help the board of ad uh and our residents and our taxpayers um the other thing that I wanted to say about the board Ed the golf range I passed to quite a bit and I wonder why are we spending money on cutting the grass and and maintaining it um and and taking care of that facility I mean there's other things they could be farming it to a farmer and and you know where you don't have to maintain it they could be possibly you know looking at a solar farm uh in reference I know they just put the building they put some money into the building to make it offices I at 3:30 three I saw three cars you know three um workers come out of there and three cars leave so there might be something that we could make a suggestion to help them out in in the sense of maybe they can put that land to use uh 16 Acres of Upland but maybe they can you utilize that land for they won't have to spend money to maintain it uh also I would suggest um on a 2024 that our engineer said we we didn't I didn't receive any nixel as far as what's going on with Paving or concrete work it would probably be a good idea if we could let our residents know uh what's going on it's we did do Michael uh Romero and Michael Court I went down there yesterday after the rain job looked really nice they did a great job we did have a little little hangup on the first day and Mark and I spoke about it um there was some asphalt that got he he said all the way to Route 18 that there was a trail but you know it just might be a good idea for the future if we can let our residents know what's going on with the paving and also the the uh concrete work and another project mounts Mill and Oldbridge Englishtown Road it's a ghost town out there I I haven't seen a contractor there in probably two months um don't know what's going on I know the telephone polls are in the same spot that they were for 40 years so I don't know what's holding up the project but the restoration and everything along the line there's cones barrels all over the place um and and schools coming so the traffic late is not not even not even in place uh there's quite a bit of work that needs to get done and the Winner's coming so I would ask uh maybe we can get our engineer to find out what's going on with that project and update us and push push to get it done I mean it's been a long time since I've seen a contractor out there and the last thing I want to say I attended the planning board meeting I watched the people on the planning board from our secretary uh and people on the board uh look at these screens behind me might be a good idea if we can put two two stands out here with screens that the people on the board can look at so they don't have to keep looking back at at the screens over their head I know I had a lot to do with getting these screens here and I thank you for putting it in the budget and getting it done but it might be a good idea to put two more screens for the P for the board members so they can see what's what's on the board uh but I wanted say it went it was definitely a plus and I want to say thank you for that that's it that's all I have thank you very much Mr vanzura thank you madam president thank you um again uh almost everything I was going to say has already been uh said um National Night Out Tomorrow I believe it's going to be a a game time or a daytime decision so check your sites and uh they'll announce whether it'll go forward or not hopefully the weather will St you know won't be so bad but uh it's not looking promising I guess uh so check and see uh number two uh always great to see this uh police Youth Academy that was here earlier this evening I I think that's one of the great things in our town and what's always good about it is it's it's the youth it's our future it's the kids that are going to be uh moving forward so I I think that's a great thing um I also noticed the the starting on the paving of the roads they were looking pretty good I go by there all the time and looks like they did a pretty good job and funny that you know you mentioned Farmer Owls because in the summertime comes I feel like I live there every Sunday I go over there they have the now I don't I'm not comparing it to the other Farm stands in town which I think are also very very good but uh the farmer Al has both his white and his by corn it's among the sweetest corn that that I've ever had it's delicious um I also want to comment on the uh the Volunteer Fire Company having uh their event on uh Saturday I lived in this town just about five years and it was exactly 1 month before 9/11 August 11th of 2001 on never forget it was one of those days like we had in the last week where it was about 95° and humid and the storm came in around 4:00 lightning struck I heard a sizzling sound and my house got struck by lightning the fire department was there in about 5 minutes and it turns out my dryer had caught fire and they came in there they did the most professional job my kids were home my family was home we had a dog in the house they did everything that they could they got the fire out in probably record time the I'm telling you I heard the sizzle I smelled something I smelled smoke we didn't know where it was coming from I look out my back deck and I look to the right there's literally Flames coming out from where the the dryer vent was but all I know is it was Fire coming out of the house called 911 we get out of there these guys were there they did the most professional job that you could imagine they did I mean listen there was stuff that had to get done with every little thing that was later taken care of by the insurance and stuff but they were there we were able we didn't even have to move out overnight so I have a strong affinity and that was Volunteer Fire Company number one that came and did that so I appreciate them immensely you don't realize it you sometimes take these things for granted but when you need them they're there and we have great fire comp I'm not just going to single them out because we have different fire compan companies in our town and they all do a great job and they're out there when you need them so don't forget about them and I just I have a great appreciation for him it's their 75th anniversary and um especially the volunteers who don't get paid it it just adds a little extra something to it but every contact I've had with them they've been been nothing but professional so I just want to say thank you to them for their service to the town and um other than that uh I don't have a whole lot else I I'm just going to say briefly on you know with the grants with this with the wreck I'm off for all the wreck okay and we've had a lot of Grants recently this is the first one for for baseball softball in a pretty long time so it could just be that this one works out with the amount that they have it doesn't mean because we're accepting this that we're going to ignore cricket and we're going to ignore other things this is a town for I mean this is a our facilities for all the people in our town and and as we know as as things change and there's demand for other things these other things will be considered so um we've done what we can I would not this isn't like that's it there's nothing else here we will continue to move forward our Master plans calling for other things we're going to eventually we will have our cricket fields and things in addition to what we have and uh you guys know I very much support all that stuff cuz I and by the way we happen to have a very good cricket team in our town too which I I know so so guys I wish you the best it's still summertime keep your eyes out for little kids running around not paying attention keep them safe and and thank you for your time my pleasure and before I ask our mayor to please address this again I wanted to just comment that I was told last week that there are folks expecting pickle ball and Cricket to become Olympic sports over the next uh 10 years yes and I see Hands being raised in the audience so Mr Mayor it is a pleasure it is a pleasure as it is a pleasure as always to ask you to share some words with us thank you madam council president thank you for the time and um I I you we've heard the word brief I assure you I I will this will probably be one of the quickest um reports I I I have I do want to officially just say in regards to the National Night Out uh we are on uh watch for a storm so please before you commit to going to Thompson Park uh please check our website Facebook page Instagram all information will be on there please look out uh for that um I also just a quick comment regarding the uh fire um the fire anniversary celebration on Saturday uh this is important for me uh as the son of a volunteer fire fighter who was uh over 45 years uh this is this is an exciting time in Monroe Township to celebrate such a a worthy worthy group of individuals uh and we talk about Public Safety obviously we always have to include our firefighters as well and the parade starts at 12:00 uh at Veterans Park on Avenue K and will Meander its way down to Thompson park for uh for the larger uh Festival uh just two upcoming events of note uh mayor's Wellness uh which is obviously here for to promote exercise and good health for the um for the citizens of Monroe August 20th movement and dance class for adults with special needs and August 28th a meditation class please look online for information in regards to that I believe those two events are going to be held uh at the library um and then um finally uh September 14th of note is our next uh shredding event for paper at our recycling center from 8:00 a.m. to 11:45 so far every event that we've had for uh paper shredding uh has uh has um resulted in a full truck so a lot of people protecting their information which is crucial uh in in these days for um identity theft finally as a reminder the township is now both on Instagram and next door as we certainly continue to enhance uh trying to get information to the residents of Monroe and I promis brief and I am done you delivered brief this good good looks like we're going to move to the public comments minute sir just give me a minute please we're going to move to the public comment section of our meeting I am going to remind everyone I'm delighted to see all of you here why do I sense an issue of particular concern to many of you so just reminders when we open it by motion of the council you are welcome to come and address the council so you have five minutes that's a pretty hard five minutes you have the time to speak and then someone else's turn it is to speak it is our goal we enjoy having people come and address us so certainly everyone is welcome um I am going to ask for a motion to open the public comment section motion may I have a second on that second all in favor I any opposed nay therefore I am going to ask that you come forward I you're going to be out of your seat too fast your name and address for our records please and then your five minutes okay okay thanks I'm sorry for being anxious that's not an apology is not necessary I need it to follow procedure they'll throw me out of the room okay okay uh frankstein Hower 19 Oliver Street been in town since 1985 on Oliver Street so my question is directed to the engineer you D cor me and I to your public comment please go ahead okay so my question is and I appreciate the uh improvements that have just started on Forest Park Terrace so my question is is that going to be inclusive to the project that had been approved last November for oler Street on the extension of the curb line which was they came out marked it and then it was delayed because I was advised by engineering that they were going to look further into the project and possibly extend the curve line on Oliver Street into buio Estates extending down to Applegate and also after that a couple of months after that I brought to your attention the water problem after Heavy Rain on Applegate between Oliver and Baker shortly after that discussion with you I had shown you pictures at a meeting excuse me shortly after that uh they came out and they marked the area but then they nothing reciprocated after that so my question is um the work that's being done on Forest Park are these two projects inclusive of that and if not where are we on those two additional projects that's president uh these this work is not part of the Forest Park terce project Forest Park terce is part of our 2024 road paving project um with regard to the water problem I know I met with our public works department they went out and marked it I'll have to follow up with them to see you know why it wasn't done or or what happened I'm not sure um I'll follow up with them on that as far as any curb extension on Oliver Street there's no plans to do any curb extension on Oliver Street at this time um some of those areas are challenging with the existing homes when you when you get into trying to put in curbing out there um you know there is it is a challenge um but as of right now there's no project plan to put curbing on Oliver Street okay so and the the last thing is about the the uh facility that you want to put at James Monro park for the baseball which is great I'm all for the baseball my only concern is and I've been going down there since there again 1987 when my boys were playing and till today is it's a very cramped area we have five fields in there and I do walk the area all the time when they're there and it is surrounded by wetlands and I'm just concerned about the spacing for the additional building that you want to put in you had asked about possible other locations and what came to mine right away was the area at avue K where the splash park is past the uh splash park you have that all that open area I don't know if it's dedicated or if it's open space you can't touch it but that might be an area that might that you may want to consider for that because like I said the area James Monroe park with the fields there parking is tough we do have tremendous tournaments with people from all over over the state come there to play and I I just don't know how how they're going to be able to fit in that facility which should be state-of-the-art for our Township kids and that was that thank you sir thank you please I see I see hands and people please come forward your name and address for our records sir thank you Council Madam president and my name is anjan karnati I live in lean preservation Drive Southfield estate thank you and I am here to represent you know on behalf of my neighborhood and we are looking for the open space that is ordinance 8 20249 open space improvements right the open space improvements actually we are looking if you could able to do in South Side that will be more useful more of the Indian Community and more of the Asian Community because we don't have almost I moved in 2009 almost 15 years really it is very hard to go to Recreation Center it takes 40 minutes 30 minutes One Way coming back so to make it optimize the utilization of the residents time and if you could able to build South sides because I know anyway you planning this one I don't know how this came in because what is the priority do we need to represent anything to Recreation committee first in order to get the improvements outsides uh I know Council sir said taxpayer money it is not yes no no like that definitely you are going to take our opinions our residents opinion Monro residents opinion based on the priority and based on the importance based on the use of you know our public Monro public public if you could consider South Side that would be great because we could use it our children can use it and future can be useful so just take it into consideration and listen to public whatever the best for Monro Township I know Monro Township is great but make it great more again best of use of more population thank you thank you sir those chairs don't move easily your name and address for our records please sir yeah thank you uh thank you for the opportunity my name is sudhir Mur I live at 271 Morning Glory Drive uh mandro Mana Community I'm here to um express some of our concerns from our community Monro Manor and also uh the surrounding communities about the upcoming uh project the um Distribution Center or the warehouse mro warehouse by uh Butcher Road and DPR Hill the one that is now currently before the planning board that's correct yeah so uh we have some concerns actually about the location of the uh Warehouse or the Distribution Center not necessarily the project itself Council I just want to defer to the council and this these are great questions but uh Township attorney if I can just check with you and check whether or not we can entertain this here because it's an active planning board application with the planning board be the only place where you could give testimony that would be relevant on the record in order order to affect the decision of the planning board so I first I I haven't heard what he has to say yet so i' kind of I'd probably like to hear what he has to say first but I just give I'll just maybe maybe Allan the appropriate thing is that this function right anything you say here doesn't become part of the record before the planning board okay this Council doesn't have any ability to add to the record before the planning board nor do they there's a council representative on the planning board but other than that they really only the only thing the planning board is allowed to consider is what occurs before the planning board and what's presented to the planning board for um as evidence so I I just continue so I I just I just wanted with that Cy that I think that that's the that's the question and that is just just wanted to highlight that that is the important place to have your voice heard on the record that's that's okay folks please please we are trying to make sure that we give you accurate information and that your expectations fall within what the law says it is the planning board who will make the decision on that application that is where that decision gets made it does not get made here here so it isn't so you as far as I think so so I've said what I said I'm sorry ma'am there's only one person only one person at a time about but that having been said I just but I can continue though right I just no of course you may continue be aware we are not the decision maker thank you I really appreciate you're welcome so the concerns really around are about traffic condition and safety um because we understand you know the roads are not going to be widened it's in wetlands area and so forth we have lot of other detail points which we'll share during the uh planning boarding meet planning board meeting but I just want to highlight some no complaint just yeah absolutely uh some environmental concerns uh you know that we have with respect to the location that's chosen the quality of life that'll be impacted because of this project uh the infrastructure strain that it's going to have because we have very narrow roads there um you know there a lot of school buses going back and forth we have more than 3,000 homes in that area that will be impacted actually because of this location and then a lack of public consultation uh we have not been consulted actually for this project at all uh I don't know what the process is but it is predominantly in a residential area that is going to impact Our Lives heavily actually because of the traffic and other safety concerns um yeah so those are the points I just want to put across so that you know we can um you know discuss further you know during the planning board meeting and other forums that are presented to us thank you so much thank you the next person please looks your name and address for our records please claudet kimac 25 with steria court in Monroe place I'm also here about the warehouse but it's just a statement no questions so my name is CLA kimac and I'm here representing my community and neighboring communities to ensure the township council is aware that many Township residents are objecting to the building of the proposed warehouse and office space on Butcher Road and North disb Hill Road by federal business centers while we recognize the decision on the warehouse application lies with the township planning Bo we wanted to ensure this Council was aware of the objections from many residents across many communities in Monroe so a few of us came here tonight to deliver the message can we have a show of hands as to who's here to deliver the message we are concerned over safety traffic pollution increase noise decrease property values and most important the quality and safety of our children's lives who live in that area we started a petition against the building of the warehouse on July 22nd and to date we have over a thousand residents who have signed the petition we continue to grow these numbers every day as we continue to spread the word throughout the town this is this is extremely important matter to us it is so important that we are continuing to hold meetings across communities ensuring we are educating and recruiting as many Township residents as possible in expressing their objections to the warehouse and preferably build a recre recreation facility or Park as for the township planning board many residents attended the July 25th meeting where we had standing room only with residents who were there to object the warehouse being built since the meeting ran long and not everyone was able to speak a second meeting was scheduled for September 26th you can rest assure we will be there to continue voicing our objections loud and clear to the build to object the building of the warehouse in hopes the planning board denies the application thank you for your time you're welcome next person please prakash PAB 33 Dina Drive State Highway development is Destro it is not a development it is a state highway destruction of surroundings look at Route 18 Walmart high density housing no play place for the people to children to play that is going to happen on Route 33 it is a state development highway highway development but I call it Highway development surrounding destruction The Butcher Road is so narrow the trucks cannot turn right or left from Route 33 so they are going to come straight from Exit 8A drive through the appleg and go straight to the Butcher Road so I consider ccil or whatever who are represented on this until those roads are widened the intersection of buer Road and Route 33 is widened and made perfect this will not this shouldn't be even approved it is going to impact the ecology there it's a green land Farmland surrounded by Wetlands is going to destroy the ecosystem surrounding housing and so forth the highway development have next to Highway have commercial area residential area warehouses what warehouses and commercial in residential development I don't even thought of it let us have commercial areas you know malls and all is okay let us have warehouses in separate area that's okay combining and cooking everything together I it is I know it is not a council or state it is coming all the way from the state but I request for the future of our New Jersey stop this state highway and surrounding it is not a development of the highway it is a destructions of the surrounding sorry to hear that thank you madam thank you so Madam president my name is murali nandigama I live in 24 highin Lane mro Township thank you sir I have couple of points to make sure last year I paid $12,900 as my property taxes none of my kids go to high schools or middle schools here they're all colleg goinging kids I love this place I moved into Monroe from Princeton 4 years ago for the greenery and the goodness of this place however this year my my taxes have raised to 13,500 something new assessment no problem we will pay uh for the betterment of the for the township however when in front of my property along with approximately 300 households where we leave there is a warehouse coming I know we will talk to the planning Council but I have a complaint or a disappointment around the process around that discussion we have not received any notification that that was going to be discussed in the planning Council it's a pure happen stance that we received a WhatsApp forward from somebody and we mobilized to come and attend the planning council meeting to put our objections to that plan and some of the members present here in the council have asked highly common sense and sensible questions to that proposal that day thankfully and they haven't received a clear answer they haven't received a reasonable answer I thank the council members who applied common sense to ask questions how can a 60t tall tall container can take a turn from 33 to Butcher Road and I also heard Mr Mayor had a strong position to ban heavy trucks to go on the Apple guard when he was young or in the past I hear I heard that um through Grape Wine in our common chats that he was a proponent of not having large trucks go on the appleg road because there are schools if that is the case The Butcher Road is much smaller it's like less than 1/3 wide compared to the Station Road there is no way a 60t truck can turn and come back from the warehouse through that road we understand it's a highway development region yes they can have anything there but they cannot go through the narrow roads to whatever is the warehouse that they're planning to build we strongly want object we understand this is not the place and we will come in strength and numbers on the 26th to object but I just wanted to mention my disappointment express my disappointment there was no Clarity and openness in communicating such a significant effort is going to be approved by planning Council that day it was a sheer luck dumb luck of the residents there that we get to know about that right as a resident who contributes reasonable amount of money for the we of my Township and for my for my academics of the 56% of the taxes I pay go to the schools I hear I don't have my kids going to schools I repeat but I see so many young children in our area and in the south side of the M Township we don't have a playground we don't have a playground anywhere on the side of our side and if you have 3 million and if some change remains out of that I would humbly request you to buy that property and make it a children's park it's it's it's a landlocked area you know please take it and make it a children it's a beautiful place it's a nice eological system and it's a shame they want to destroy that and put a you know wall and you know break the the waterf flow you know there are many things the council members are more acquainted with it they have seen the detail exceptions they are asking they're asking for a million exceptions to build in that place uh so they don't have an organic plan to build a efficient Warehouse in that place logically speaking we will object I'm not objecting for that here but we are requesting Mr Mayor if truck starts coming from 8A on the Apple that's the only logical way for a 60 foot truck to come into the Butcher Road they cannot take a right turn on the 33 to Butcher Road the signal is there for 14 seconds or 15 seconds a single truck cannot take a turn it will become a traffic nightmare mandro Manor or mro place residents will not have a way to come on to the Butcher Road to exit for our office thank you sir so please consider those things hello my name is ganes musla 283 morning L Drive address thank you sir yes so I also addressing the same concern for the warehouse and uh just trying to put some more points uh I know we'll be coming to the planning board but uh my con my thing is like we should look at cranberry like if I if I drive on 130 right I can see a Zone apply it says a board which says crme re industrial zone so why can't Monro has something which is more only for warehouses like cranberry if you see only one side is residence and one side is all warehouses so as a Township I request that we should also have something like that way it is not it should not be combined with residents uh communities okay so maybe we can update the master plan to do that so that way we have only Warehouse on one side and all the residences on the other side the next uh question I have is on the ordinance uh 08 20249 the improvements to the James MRE Park I know there is a indoor facility for the baseball coming up which is good but I want to know like um uh m v we'll be having Cricket fields and pickle ball quotes I don't know what's the schedule for that like when the pickle ball quotes are coming up I play pickle ball a lot so I've been looking forward for it uh my question was like we have money which is coming up right uh I have coming to a lot of meetings before for the master plan updation when we when we did the public input and all that I know that there is no maybe there's no money for the community center but building like a small Park which like a one mile Loop or a one mile walking Loop or a bicycle Loop it doesn't cost much money we already have place like opposite to perses like on New England Road we can just use that make it like a loop right I I know that there are some improvements which are happening for the um um the community garden we we got some money for that which is good but again the park is not going to be enough because right now I think they have like around 2,000 to 5,000 families if you combine like Monro Manor Gateway everybody so that Park just expanding this community garden will not help we need something where people can actually at least walk okay so that's what I'm saying that we can do small improvements have a plan do something small okay have a plan for the community center when the funds we get we can do that but at least start small and do something as we go okay thank you thank you for your remarks my name is Shri malam I live in 24 vieria Court Monro part of Monro Place Community thank you so much Madame President and honorable council members for giving me this opportunity it is a pleasure so I would like to um say uh something again fellow residents asked for there is no park on South sides that is correct I moved to Monro 4 years ago I I'm I'm not really sure how planning board approved my community or any other community without a playground at all and even they know that there is no public playground also if I if I do some math in my mind we have 90 homes next to me like 50 more homes if I combine couple of communities within within like you know 1/4 Mile there are more than thousand families on behalf of my community I will invite all of you to come to my community any summer day between 6:00 and 9:00 and see where my Community children are playing more than 150 to 200 kids including two of mine plays on the community roads where cars and bikes are traveling if one of you agree that it is fair for those kids to play on road we will not request any park again Madame President that is my argument one and as my fellow resident said we paid at least I paid $12,600 as tax last last year for my surprise 3 days ago I received a letter saying this year tax is I couldn't answer anything or give any justice why I'm paying this much tax plus income tax with no facilities here so our sincere request is to rather than building shopping mall or Warehouse or some commercial our request is to please put a park there and do justice to the kids I'm not asking anything for myself I'm not asking for any adult here I know I am part of small running Community within our group we we run on concrete great pvers because we don't have a park that's okay as an adult I can deal with it but at least for the kids for the future of this Township please do justice and try to build a park rather than coming up with you know a warehouse or shopping mall any other commercial I know I know Community sorry Township get lot of money with these improvements but we are also paying tax right my community is paying $1 million tax if I combine all these thousand families I'm pretty sure they're paying a lot of tax and again we are not sure for what we are paying that much tax imagine last year July 4th this year July 4th to take my kid for you know firecrackers we need to travel like 20 minutes 25 minutes we don't have a park my both of my kids I know there are 150 kids I'm talking but both of my kids genuinely does not have an experience playing on a swing or a slider which which is not fair ma'am which is not fair the only reason we bought homes here for our children if they don't have any facilities I I don't see any reasoning living here I know because of job whatever we are living here but not not to full heart so on behalf of that I would request everyone in this planning board please build us park or do something for those kids if not for adults that will be a great thank you so much for the opportunity thank [Applause] you uh my name is Dennis L I live at 31 Beach Wood Drive I am also part of the same Community um my perspective is actually I live at the house that's going to be the most directly impacted I see the intersection from my bedroom from my bedroom window um I've been living there for four years and I've seen like work from home uh during covid and kind of back to the office now but that's my office space that's my bedroom and I face that intersection on a regular basis I've seen a lot of accidents there the speed limit's I don't know 35 45 but no one follows that cuz it's a straight road people zoom up and down that road um I've seen someone hit a light pole speeding and just have adding that uh the trucks turning in there that's going to add a lot more accidents there um from my perspective I've I was raised um in East Brunswick I've been I've been middle sex County from elementary school Irwin Irwin uh Elementary School um you know both the middle schools that that weird hammerel and Churchill yes yes hammerel Churchill I went to EB High School um College was Ruckers undergrad my masters was also Ruckers I've been in Jersey for a long time you know um I recently moved back to Monro during covid and it's one of the things I've seen as a kid growing up in e bronick in Middle sex was there's a lot more parks and a lot of open space um and my thought on this is maybe it's time to revisit some of these zones the Zoning for the area along 33 I'm sure those were set up a while ago um in the more recent uh past you know we've had a lot of developments built there a lot of residential a lot of tow houses built up and down um Butcher and Applegarth long 33 we have a lot of those toll houses being built long 33 and while I get the understanding of the need to have like an HD development Zone along 33 um we should probably kind of go back and visit the ones that are closer to the residential areas cuz I'm sure those were developed and they're purchased by the companies way before it was a residential impact you know it was really an idea and a plan to kind of enhance build out that area and at this point you know maybe it's time to revisit some of these zoning uh zoning I guess uh however it's called in certain areas where there's a lot more residents now you know I don't have kids um I live in the neighborhood and there's like with my neighbors say there's a lot of kids that are forced to just play in the street cars go from the the Wawa they cut through and just make left and right turns cars zoom up and down Butcher on a constant basis you know there's this one guy who just revs his car every night I don't know where he goes at 9:00 but just revs it and everyone hears it you know um so when you add these trucks in I'm going to be hearing it every day they say like 11 trucks per hour you know um I just you can hear because right now you have the delivery trucks you know they boom boom boom they do the engine stall engine braking it's just a racket it's not going to be safe the kids are going to be you know dodging cars the buses are going to be coming back and forth and it there's already a lot of traffic there you know I go to the office twice a week I work at King of Prussia so I make an hour and a half commute you know two three times a week and I get stuck at that traffic light every morning during our shower and it's already bad as it is I can't imagine how much worse it'll be once you had trucks in there would take like what 15 16 seconds to go from start to left turn and that little runway for the left turn right turn and straight is a very short um amount of space so you have one truck holding up two trucks holding up people are going be lined up all the way down a butcher Butcher so I mean yes so I mean I guess my I wasn't really planning on speaking so I'm kind of rambling but my thought was really just you know maybe from a different perspective is to kind of revisit some of the zoning where there's a lot more residential uh houses communities being built so thank you thank [Applause] you hi everyone uh my name is Shy R I'm from three Beachwood Drive Monro Place very similar to where everybody else is talked about um couple of things first of all I didn't plan to come here and speak and talk about things but you know listening everybody say I also wanted to share the concern because we also know that the planning committee is a place we all have to share this but I hope the council members understand how Disturbed and concerned we are about this development of having a warehouse that we are speaking here in a place to make all the members in the council to be aware of you know what's going on and how we can make everybody aware and point this point in places we all can share and you know make you all aware of this couple of things uh one definitely the uh Warehouse which is coming up it's disturbing and it would impact uh environment it would impact traffic impact how we are living a quiet place which we moved in in first place and second we want to request if we can have a park for kids you know as Shri Khan put up in very nicely our kids are playing in Street and we thought that's how they're going to play and seeing that we're doing development in different areas outside of 33rd on this side on butcher Butcher Road there's no Park we don't have any park our kids don't if they have to go they have to go towards the garden which is there next to um Arbors which is like crossing the road and going there so we have to take them if they have to take them to any park any park we have to drive them there so it's taking time from our plays and going and taking them to that particular place to play and that's not fair for them like you know we have to restrict them we have to car poool we have to plan and take them and kids want to play whenever they want to play especially in summer and so so having some something as close as the warehouse area which can be used for Park would be great for our community on this side of the Butcher Road from 33rd and that's that's a request I want to put forward saying you know that area can be used for betterment of the community rather than destroying our property values and you know other things on that side uh thank you thank you can you get that microphone down oh you're going to stand your name and address please okay so hi my name is Adi vaine and I live in 15 Clover Lane so I mean for the same reason it if in my opinion me and my friends and lots of people kids in my community it would be really really helpful and fun to have a playground cuz there's not much near us we've had this yes field and we have many kids in this community we have different groups and they play right so we if one group comes to play the other group doesn't play and it would be really really really nice to have a playground or Fun Center for all of us to play it would be really considering that a warehouse I understand it's your opinion that a warehouse would be helpful I mean in your opinion but in my opinion I don't think we need the warehouse because first we can get late for school and I've already got many late but um much traffic will be there and it causes many accidents and it's not good so it also yeah I would want a playground and all and a fun center me and my friends and all everyone there the kids will really like it that's all I want to say thank you thank you young lady what grade in School are you in I'm going to fifth grade fifth grade thank you we expect to see you what you can do Mr gungan you're joining us again George gunman five kill Court um I want to thank the administration and the police for the foresight in these programs to uh reduce car theft um unfortunately I've been hearing that there have been quite a few breakthroughs I that's anecdotal I don't know if it's accurate No One included in their reports tonight what's been going on but uh I've heard there been some house home break-ins uh to access Keys the cars that were in the driveway that they wanted and Etc so you know anything that could step that up in know and along those lines jcpnl performance on street lights I mean in number one of the people that was anecdotally telling me about the experience on their street um said it's it's not surprising he's been waiting for six months to a year for jcpnl to get the street lighting fixed and you know the dark Street makes it an easier Target for him or more interesting Target I don't you know I don't quite understand how their minds work but we know more or less and the the format of what people are describe is exactly what the police describe to us in these Community security meetings that just it's sort of like clockwork along the lines that they uh they predict is is happening so the you know the licensed plates for readers are obviously helping but uh we're still having issues apparently and I'm hoping we can find more ways and and maybe do whatever we can to jack up jcpnl not in a particularly appropriate phrase but um influence him you know maybe our assemblyman uh D'Angelo has some juice with them he's you know big in the electricians union um anything we can do to to to help that situation because if they're breaking into homes to get houses it's going to end badly eventually um some of these homes have people with guns uh some of the people who are breaking in have guns it's just frightening to think about how it could play out if if we can't reduce the the the amount of risk that's going on there um another item I wanted to bring up is when I first moved here in the uh the the people at the school board had been there some of them had been there for a while and they remembered and talked about in in their meetings how about the morasco center which is the Performing Arts part of the uh now Middle School which was passed by uh to the which presented to the community as something that was going to be available for Community use over the years the school board and the school administration has forgotten how that happened and trying to use it is like trying to steal their children or something I don't know what the thing is most recently I heard about one of our communities that had booked the morasco center only to have the school cancel their booking because they couldn't conform with the hours that they had this really is a Community facility and the school board has to be a little bit better at making it accessible and cooperating with the community when they want to use it it's you know I appreciate that they manage it and all that sort of thing but it shouldn't be that difficult for parts of our community to access it and if they need to be there beyond what the school likes for hours they have to figure out a way to make it happen it's just not it's just not right and even with our own uh cultural arts program uh they're not they don't treat the morasco center bookings any different from anywhere else and it should be different because it was it was the bond issue for it was passed on the on the pre presentation um that it would be for Community Access so whatever we can do to make that happen the last thing i' wanted to request is if there are plans for this 80 by 90 indoor um um facility Recreation space um I'd like to know where they are where I can see them if they're down in planning or or if they're just a draft if if there's something exists that like what was prepared for uh the Community Gardens uh Park you know whatever is there I'd like to know where I can see it to to look at it and that's all I have this sir thank you anyone else wishing to address us tonight seeing and hearing none I'm going to have a motion please to close the public portion of the meeting please motion thank you may I have a second on that second thank you all in favor I I oppose May I'm going to request a motion to adjourn our meeting please thank you may I may I on that motion and the clerk will call the rooll thank you roll call please councilman deiro yes councilman marel councilwoman seagull yes Council vice president vanzor council president Cohen yes we are adjourned it's 8:53 e