##VIDEO ID:21ju4e9LBI4## than all right again I want to remind everybody that all Workshop Council meetings will be audio video tape they'll be shown in the township of ocean Community cable channel channel 22 on Verizon FiOS and channel 77 on table Vision roll call please mayor naani here Deputy Mayor fiser here council member Cher here kapan here uh the notice requirements of the open public meetings act for this meeting I'm been satisfying a copy of the annual notice was sent to the Asbury Park Press and the coast are posted in town hall and following the office of the municipal clerk on January 3rd 2025 uh first item for discussion we have a resolution to appoint the attorney to fill the unexpired term of Matthew good do we have that resolution um handy thank you so do I have a motion to approve I you've got uh do I have motion to approve an agreement with Kevin starky from The Firm of starky Kelly canel conningham turnback and yown for Township legal services and tax appeals at a cost not to exceed $75,000 as well as a retainer in the amount of 18,000 for the attendance at meetings and other items as set forth in the agreement for the period January 1st 2025 through June 30th 2025 do I have any motion I'll make a motion second I'll second can I have a roll call a chair I'm going to read a little bit of a statement you guys know I'm against this so um bear with me for 60 years the township of ocean has prided ourselves on being a nonpartisan town our commitment has always been to hire appoint professionals based solely on their skills experience and ability to do the job not based on political party affiliation the this approach is consistently followed by Mayors starting with Joe p and incl cluding Bill Lin and Chris siliana who to name a few made hiring recommendations without regard to political connections they understood that the best person organization or for firm for the job has always was always the priority regardless of political political background during my 10 years serving on the Ocean Township Council I collaborated with many colleagues to ensure that we hired or appointed local highly skilled professionals preferably those with ties to Ocean Township this approach led to a selection of top Engineers attorneys and accountants along with legal positions including the township attorney prosecutor and judge who have all performed admirably we took immense pride in having industry recognized professionals representing us and we believe that these decisions served our community well however I am deeply concerned about the direction mayor napolitani is taking to replace the position of Township attorney Matt good most recently Township ocean attorney of the firm Arbus mayback and good was approved by the New Jersey legislature on December the 19th and recently assigned as a judge in the Superior Court Family Division of MTH County Mr good and Mr Arbus prior to him were dedicated attorneys who served Ocean Township well and who either lived in or attended School in Ocean Township I wish Mr Good much success in his new role as the on the bench the township still has a contract with Arbus Mayra and good allowing Mr arbis to remain in the position that he has spilled for over a decade yet May Tan's recent decision to hire Kevin starky in The Firm of starky Kelly canelli Cunningham turn Beck and yanon I think I'm saying that right I apologize if un not of th River for his critical position goes against the nonpartisan practice that has served Ocean Township so well not only does Mr starky not reside in Ocean Township or Mammoth County but his firm is not based in either Ocean Township or even Mammoth County Mr starky is also the founder of a Grassroots Coalition a superpac political action committee created to boost the re-election effort of Senator gopel he is entitled to have started and run the pack but his blatant political affiliation alone should disqualify Mr star from consideration for the key role of attorney in our nonpartisan Town even more troubling is the way that the mayor has managed this process rather than engage in an open procedure with interviews mayor napolitani introduced Mr starky to me via a text as Matt Goods future replacement without any formal consultation or discussion with the council this raises serious concerns about transparency and fairness in the selection process additionally it is important to note that Mr starky has also received an ad admonition reprimand from the disciplinary Review Board of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for failing to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and for neglecting to protect the client's interest upon termination of the representation is this the kind of individual we want representing Ocean Township would you want a doctor who has been disciplined by the medical board to operate on you heck would you want a mechanic who is less than a a a rating for The Bu Business Bureau working on your car I urge the mayor Deputy Mayor and councilwoman to consider whether this is truly the best course for our town we have long pride prided ourselves on a nonpartisan approach where professionalism and integrity matter far more than political connections there are many qualified local attorneys who would be eager to take the role of Township attorney for ocean we deserve to continue the nonpartisan tradition and place the well-being of our community first not the need to satisfy a political payback I vote no I'm sorry Fisher I'm a yes Kaplan yes na T um not that I'm surprised but disappointed in uh councilman a chair and and the comments that he made in regard to the incoming attorney the fact that you threw my name in that little statement of yours and made it look like it was a unilateral decision it was more of a hey you need to meet somebody and discuss it your choice not to call the attorney back yesterday was your choice everybody met excuse me I'm voting you spoke we spoke you spoke we did speak excuse me you spoke you get the fact right excuse me you made your statement now I'll make mine but we did speak again you made your statement I will now make mine got it off the cuff you had no problem in 2015 getting support from the senator nor did you have any problem in 2023 either it's funny how you want it to go one way all the time and we met Saturday to discuss this because you wanted to negotiate no didn't want to negotiate hold on I'm again Rob I didn't interrup you get the facts right okay mine is factual excuse me no actually yours isn't factual totally factual so with that being said disappointed but not surprised in your conduct which is absolutely horrific that you would do it and not have it discussion with the gentleman prior to your vote I did to let him know you weren't supporting him which you did not I like therefore I vote Yes welcome aboard Kevin and you may at this point Kevin answer anything that was thrown in that statement by councilman aera thank you man I want to thank all the council for appointing me I've committed to do as I've done with many other towns of represent the best job I can um I I and I don't want to get in dispute with members of the council but I did I know you want to get the facts right I want to get the facts right too um so I just want to give you a little bit of my background um because I think you question a little bit about my qualifications um I graduated from uh Georgetown law school graduated um near the top of my class I was on law review there um after that I clerked for uh justice Dan oarn who was in Red Bank for the New Jersey Supreme Court which is a prestigious clerkship to have I worked for a few years in New York and then came to New Jersey um I've represented um clients on both the private side and the public side I've had literally thousands of clients I I countless uh clients I've worked in probably at least a couple dozen municipalities as general counsel uh special Council labor councel um I think you could contact anyone in any one of those municipalities Democrat Republican independent non-affiliated uh and every single person I represented I believe would speak well of well of me um I pride myself on on giving good service to clients um you mentioned that I don't reside in M County that's factually incorrect I do reside in M County I live in real I've lived there for 15 years I stand correct um and you talked about a a pack I do I do run a pack it's it's not correct to say it was formed to elect Senator gopal it has nothing to do with senator gopal It Is by law an independent expenditure committee it's a federal ferally regulated uh political action committee um it cannot be affiliated with any partisan campaigns um and I've got a number of contributions I'm happy to um disclose that that's all disclosed easy anybody to look on federal website I've actually got more contributions from Republicans than I have from Democrats which I think is a testament to people viewing me as not a partisan individual um right now I'm I've been General Council to tit and Falls um nonpartisan Community um they Pride themselves on acting without partisanship but I'll note that the mayor there is Republican three of the council members are Republican uh one's a Democrat and one's an independent it doesn't matter to me frankly from my personal view I think partisanship on the local level is is um sort of ridiculous it doesn't help get things done you fill the potholes response your constituents you manage your budget it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat Republican or independent and that's the way I do my practice I don't I don't care what partisan ship of people I represent is I I give them all the same treatment um you mentioned an Ethics charge out of the thousands of clients I had one who was unhappy it happens and uh because of that I got the lowest level and admonition which is essentially the committee saying don't do what you did again which was I got into a fight with a client which I should not have done um but um you know over a 34e career uh with unblemished except for that one I I think you should look at the entirety of what I've done um and despite the 3 to1 vote I'm going to pledge to serve all of you uh equally and as well as I can and again I thank you for the appointment thank you Kevin um Greg project updates okay uh first one 23 Road program as we discussed last we that's going to be on hold until the spring when the weather warms up uh 24 program we got authorized to go so we're proceeding with the uh the work on that one uh kepwell project the asbest inspection quotes and the demo the demolition quotes are due tomorrow for that project um whale Pond crossing the we're waiting for additional funding to get a flood Hazard area permit for the first Crossing second crossing that's waiting funding for the entire project that's the second large Crossing that goes across the popular Brook on whale Pond uh next one is Lollipop pond dredging I'm sorry I skipped over fireman's Pond um fireman's Pond we just they're going to be submitting probably tomorrow the fish lowering permits or the lake Ling permits for the Fish and Wild Lake that is the last thing we have to do to get the permits the judge that P um incredible yeah it's taken a while amazing yeah uh so that that were in pretty good shape and we weren't really planning on dredging that till the spring so it's been kind of perfect timing the other ones the next one lollipop Pond waiting for authorization and we I talked to the D we can use the um funding for the dredging portion we can pay for the uh soil testing and the Wetland stuff the funding can pay for those whereas the bridge design we we had the bridge funding that we've got has to pay for the bridge we cannot we can only Pi 5% of the engineering off of that funding so essentially it was kind of a different thing and most of the time when we get State funding like the ttf project you only get a 5% reimbursement for engineering on the lollipop p dring because most of that is all engineering for the soil testing and lab testing that are letting us use the part of the grand all the grand M to pay for posted that testing which is the Lion Share of the bill which is nice to find out so that one we're soon as we get authorization Rick's working out the budget numbers we can start on that uh Terrace Pond we're continuing on we're just getting things straightened up we're kind of focused on Firs Terrace Pond is right behind it the testing is all done the plans are pretty much done all we have to do there is just get all the final plans buttoned up and do the fish the lake lowering permits for that one and we can submit that one for uh permits so that one we weren't planning on drudging until I think the spring of 26 so that one CU lollipop was going to be next year they're going to do fireman then we're going to do lollipops then we're going to do Terrace Pond and then Snell's Pond and Snow's Pond we're still waiting for those last four people so they're like a Never Never Land it's it's they there's no contact with them at all it's amazing we sent them four or five letters I know Eric AG been trying to get a hold he has been trying to get a hold it's just it's we'll keep trying but it's it's kind of frustrating uh next project 1515 Logan we're done with this project the D sent me an email on Monday saying that they just need everything in one file because they file everything digitally they had things in pieces from us as they requested and we filed it they're asking us to send them one digital file which we're putting that all together and we'll submit to them by the end of the week so what does that mean that once it we're good we're pretty much done well there's going to be a permit fee associated with but yeah that's they're getting to the point when I start talking about how much their fees is that's let me know what they supposed to be done so yeah that one should be coming fairly soon and I think we talked um in our projects meeting about where we probably going to have some kind I don't know going to be a committee or how we're going to do that but we want to get a couple people together talk about how we want to put that out the bid mostly from my point of view engineering because remember we only got the preliminary approval on that because I didn't want to get final approval cuz we didn't know how any developers were going to take it as a final approved project having to build all Lots at once we're going to give them the option we can get final approval for the project in a matter of a month it's just a matter of fining the map but we wanted to leave that open and the only other thing we have to do is the soil erosion permit because that was going to be a function if they want to build it all or in pieces and we didn't want to get the wrong permit because if you get the whole thing it's just a much larger fee if they want to build two or three lots at a time but that's another thing it's like a a 30-day permit maybe 60-day Max but that can all be gotten once we know who the bidder is we can proceed and once we know what they want we can proceed with those plans so that one's in pretty good shape ready to go but I think it's a good idea we get together and figure out how we want to advertise this for bids because it's just from my point of view I want to be able to tell everybody what the status of the project is with respect to where the approvals are and what we're asking them to provide us with so but we're we're in good shape with that one now uh next item is the bimbler traffic area I have a being scheduled for Monday 11: 11:00 a.m. with the committee down there I guess it's a committee it's more of a group I guess but just to talk about we're going to make that one we're going to suggest making that one way bimbler one way in I'm sorry one way out one way out locking the in traffic after we come with that decision I'll send a nice letter to the county to let them know and we have the love that yeah we have the belief understanding that they're in favor of that or we're not sure and that's why the committee okay we're not sure either way they kind of came up with that first and then when they got a lot of resistance from everybody that that's when they went to the stop signs at every intersection which was you know not a good idea either I don't think just aggravates everybody in that case so I think this will probably satisfy because we get the traffic from coming in that's 99% of the problem right they had a bunch of ideas they just wanted to be part of the process um so I think if you meet with them it'll be great so I think we'll be fine and I'll report back next meeting what the decision about all that was uh the trail bike trail pedestrian Trail on rolled road is done we're submitting getting the paperwork I'll submit that for final payment to dot looks nice yeah that that came out very nice is that gate so I I was there I don't last weekend I think I ran through there is that gate always open now now it is only 5T wide so a car can't go through it but a bike and a pedestrian can just ride through that pretty easily okay yeah that was we talked it over with the Emergency Management people and they don't they don't have a problem with at all it looks like it's in that position that's why I asked I wasn't sure that's that's the problem but yeah everybody will get used to that uh the DPW facility on Cindy Lane we're waiting I think that'll probably be summer time when we get the uh Wetland stuff worked out on that piece of property then we can figure out how we're going to move forward uh next one's Kramer Court Bridge um that's pretty much done I'm still waiting for an answer from Blue Acres on the sidewalk that leads up to the bridge but we are working the final thing we have to do there is put the lighting on so you're going to do that yeah we kind of figured out the lighting won't last all night so we're probably just for safety reasons even though you know how many people really cross the thing at 4:00 in the morning but I think it's really a safety thing for the police to be able to see the bridge and make sure nobody is out there so we will end up putting those lights in we'll try to keep them low it'll be half a foot candle Max across the bridge so be not really strongly lit um next one is the stream cleaning uh the second portion of the project that was this the distance between uh mom Roo and whale pond that's kind of on hold until we do our test pattern on Holly Terrace Holly Terrace was the piece just it's Washington and Holly Terrace as you come to the West there was one piece of property we own there's a a stream quarter easement up except for one property we're trying to reach out to them one property owner and I sent that to you today hope do you know her I sent you the phone number oh did you okay great thanks I appreciate that so once we get that we got the new machine in now it's operational so we're going to try to go in there with burrow forces and clean that piece of the stream out if that works then we're going to catapult over between Mammoth and whale Pond and clean that section out with our machine because it's much smaller easier to maneuver there we're going to cause much less destruction than most contractors would do so that that's in good shape as long as that works and we don't cause a problem winter time is perfect time we cu the ground's kind of frozen so it should work out pretty nicely as long as she says yes I don't know why you wouldn't it's just exactly yeah uh the next grudging is the uh the the piece that we're doing from um in Joe play aart from whale pound West to the back side of the ocean common property that we got the bid in we awarded it I'm walking that tomorrow with him and he's starting that dagging portion next week so that's going to get us most UN poopular book East of 35 that'll get all of it except for the piece through um between whale Pond and M so we'll be in really good shape if that happens we can get through there Steve's going to see if our equipment can handle that right at some point yeah it's just a matter I'm sure it can handle it's just a matter of you know the people that operate have to get used to you know maneuvering through trees because we can't take trees down obviously and then Greg we talked about a phased approach obviously we're way ahead of what we ever thought we were going to do I thought going to take us 5 years to do the pop Brook and we're going to have well most of it done in a Year beautiful and if that works out with our machinery and we can get that done this spring and we'll have all the poer brook east of 35 done in one year what's next then well next thing there's some small areas and it's really a function to how well this machine works with the DPW because there's some small fingers of streams that I want to fix like through the golf course it's part of the you know it's offshoot of the popet brook but there's a a flat area in there that I want to do because there's a lot of flooding occurs in that that on the homes around that area a couple areas like that but then I want to jump up to the uh whale Pond rook and dnag that Stream So then we'll have the two major stream corridors once we get those done and I I would expect even more success up there because it's easier access once we get that done if we get that done in a year's time then I'm I'm going to spend the next couple years just doing these little finger pieces that you know are nuisance to localized areas that really don't you know get quite the attention that we get when everybody floods but those that's what we'll work on next okay okay um any other thing I have on here we're waiting for funding we you know we're going to put that additional piping system in on runion to offshoot all the flooding in Washington and Holly Terrace area cuz what happens is a lot of piping comes into that Brook and then it comes to open pip open ditch and it just can't handle it so we're going to put a relief uh section of pipe down runion to Washington and I just haven't worked out the details how I'm going to dovetail that into that piping down there I may just let it bubble up but I got to look at the Hydraulics but that'll probably be most likely be part of the road program for the 24 rad program which we're currently designing I'll probably add that into that just so it gets done cuz we kind of promised that near Ro we would be looking into that so that'll be that'll probably be done in the in the in the fall once we get the bids in the summer time and the last thing I have on my list and I haven't had a whole lot of success and I've been trying to get I haven't really tried too hard to get whole late I'm trying to get hold of the this is the lady at that was at last council meeting at 11 Sheridan and I went over we looked at it and we don't there's flooding in on the corner of Sheron and Roselle but based on the address on the opposite corner of her and I really didn't see anybody that was work there was a person that was working to the north of her that all that the topography would just run to the street so we're going to have to get more involved that probably knock on her door and have a discussion with her exactly what's happening there because there there is a pool that was started it's there was no work going on for the last couple weeks when I've been looking at it just to the north of her but like I say that topography appears to run straight to the streets so I don't know why that would be flooding her but I will reach out to her in person try to meet with her that's all I have thanks great any uh questions we'll start with Rob nope I'm good thank you very very thorough got nothing I'm good thanks came out unscathed Dr fish so uh 1515 we're wa but once we get the go we going to demo that and get that out well we kind of yeah the demo will take I think what I would suggest we kind of always talking about demoing that when we know who the bidder is kind of thing just to make sure we once the bids are in and we accept the bid then I would demo the Bing okay because with the changing laws of the D and stormm water and coverage and all that once you take that billing down at 9 months go 9 12 months go by it's like it's an open field anymore and I just don't want to risk that because it would they would set us back tremendously fair enough because there's a lot of coverage on that a lot yeah some people were asking what's going on there so yeah it's get it's getting closer now it's ep's been a lot of fun but they're just extremely all right thanks Greg appreciate it uh Dave any so mayor thank you um yes sir tonight I got one for for this session I've got one for Clos session it's a legal real estate matter but tonight um I need to request from the council a special meeting uh as the Court's fourth round administrative director is now requiring binding resolution uh to be submitted along with the full uh declaratory judgment filing both the DJ filing and the resolution will need to be submitted and posted on the Township's website within 48 Hours of when the resolution is adopted this is all in that new fourth round information that was just signed and we have till January 31st which is the final date to do this otherwise we lose our immunity which we do not want to lose so therefore um we do it on the 23rd will we have it just do it at the work session 22nd that's getting canc got it's got to be a formal formal council meeting it resol 23 do we we're canceling it no I'm canceling that that's have two people I think so we can do the 30th or the 27th no they're now the only one we can handle this come here if everybody's comfortable if everybody's comfortable passing the resolution we don't need the the planning consults but they're available the 23rd and the 28th if you want them to come to the meeting and also suggest that we could do it virtually if necessary well we have the 23rd already scheduled which we did not cancel yet we could do it during the work session at 5:00 get the get it all we do we have Rob's not away the 23rd of January they're going away in February correct however respectfully after Jesse thank you said said that we were canceling it I did plan something El if I got to cancel it I got to cancel it it's work related but that's if if we're going to keep it just let me know I could say you you don't necessar every town in the state is under the same requirement by the 31st you don't have to have the planner at the the planner just got to give you backup to support the resolution so if that helps with your flexibility can can we do it CU we're going to have a meeting on the 30th can we do it on the thir is that cutting it too close is too close okay that's fine just asking that's that was part of plan sweating it out so we're going to have a Clos session on the 27th to go through all the interview interviews take action that that works for me I mean it's better for me if it's we can that and then executive session it's fine what day are we interviewing the 27th 7th what time do you want to start well we can talk about that after we get some of the do you want to do it on the 26 you're not having a planner come we do on the 27th one we do the interviews we could come do action and then I mean it's not that's not going to take all right no that's it that you're in and out you do have to have a public portion you're done right start at 5: like we normally do and then go right into interviews okay there's not a dining board meeting that night is there there is but we're going to be up we're going to be oh okay and it's for we can be you can do it right here yeah but we're doing the inter uses this for but we're going to do the interview in your manager's conference room but we could go downstairs real quick at 5:00 do the meeting and come right back up cuz they're not here at 5: there you go yeah okay and then start our interviews 5:30 okay all right so it's going to be 5 on the G just let them know you won't be at the plan 2 right 2 27 yeah okay I just got to look the point on all the documents will come to me I'll get them to you Jesse and you can push them out to the uh is there any it is what it is I mean yeah right now we're looking at an unmet need plus the current need 217 which in my opinion is not bad but I mean there's no we're passing it period I mean you don't have to that if you don't if you don't pass it you open yourself up to build with remedy suit you lose your immunity all kinds of problems worth F right if it was like 2,000 something like that then we might want to take a look or something you know where we putting that at yeah want to know what rumson's going to do yeah I'm watching that closely too that's one of my and hell hell lost a lawsuit yeah I saw a lot back in the day with the remedies and they people lost out so kind of work so we're good with 5:00 on the I'll let the plans know they're not required but like I said as soon as I get everything I'll send it to the clerk and the push it out to you the other meeting will do :00 on the 30th just you need the appointment y yeah is that a regular council meeting no we got toip okay th right yeah we have to schedule two special meetings the 27th and 30th week yeah got stuff to do oh yes answer and that's it I'm done man okay tomor absolutely yeah can I resolution on the agenda resolution the Civil Rights policy equal opportunity can't remember yes everybody has to sign a affid davit that we thank you very much I like to do too I like to always have an original a clerk a little crazy that way does it matter blue no yeah uh we went around the horn for questions for Greg let's go uh any comments anybody wants to make questions in go around with Rob we're good on that I did that for Greg oh you just said I always go around no you just said Greg no I sent any questions for Greg now we're going around comments so Dave we talked about jcpnl and the amount of outages they've had great thank and did you notice there was a town in North Jersey that is suing them for a million not yes saying exactly what we discussed that they have not provided the service that they're supposed to they're not investing in the infrastructure and my phone I brought my case but I forgot my phone oh oh that's um the county of ocean has threatened County thank you County I said up north my bad Yes sounds they haven't come through it yet but they they announced last meeting we want to do this what do you think I think that if the county of ocean does it it's I think we should wait and see if they do it if they do it it's easier to jump on board than for you to take the lead exactly I'm a lawyer I'm all for litigation you know so but we we were T I mean it's we were we were discussing how often they've gone out and the fact and and I don't know if I told you this or I thought of it after we talked that if I guess public you were concerned that if we did have them fix things they'd have to raise rates M well they wouldn't just raise ocean rates keep me honest they'd have to go and raise the whole state so wouldn't we benefit if that were the case well now that other people are taking traction and yeah forgive me for my ignorance CU I'm not a lawyer but can't we join that case if necessary y That's why I mean I think the ter it's a county it's County doing it they have a lot more resources than than you do if they're going to jump in and go after them you know the facts are a little different there it's it's largely focused on the um huge increase in population in Lakewood that the infrastructure is not being built up to support and that's but it's Lakewood surrounding towns is having problems as a result of it similar issue though that the infrastructure is not being you know um taken care of so um my suggestion would be let's wait and see if they follow through it it might just I mean yeah yeah thank you that's all I have I'll do a Google track it is one of the complaints we get very often yeah my my office too A lot of people call CU houres happened and you know we don't control it but we call our jcpnl rep and they say it's sometimes a hole down and up yeah sure but if it's their equipment yeah the light is out yeah yeah okay that's all dat no I'm good thank you okay Dave I'm good thanks I'm good too quick uh session motion to go on a close session so move second second all in favor okay I want to remind everybody that all Township Council meetings will be audio and video taped they'll be shown on the township devotions Community cable channel channel 22 on Verizon FES and channel 77 on cable vision can I have a roll call please mayapa County here Deputy Mayor fiser here council members at chera here and Kine here can everyone please stand as we pledge allegiance and we will be doing a silent prayer for all of the residents in affected in the state of California that are you know battling this Raging Fire out there we pray for them we hope that they're safe and we pray to God that they put these fires out so I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please reun standing you may be seated notice requirements of the open public meetings act for this meeting have been satisfied and a copy of the annual notice was sent to the Asbury Park Press and the coaster posted in town hall and filed in the offices to the municipal clerk on January 3rd 2025 there are two emergency exits to my right that'll take you to the front of the building and one to my left that'll take you to the rear all cell phones must be turned off if you have to make a call kindly step outside make your call out there I'm going to start off with Council comments and I'm going to start down at the end with Dr Dave Deputy Mayor fiser thank you mayor I uh as some of you have probably heard by now councilwoman Kelly uh Terry has resigned as of January 1 and I just want to take a moment to thank Kelly for her service to the township uh she's an incredible person she's one of the toughest people I've ever met we are going to miss her probably what I'm going to miss the most are her emails um her lexicon is somewhere between Wordle in the New York Times crossword puzzles but I'm going to miss her and Kelly we thank you for everything you did here um one of the things that Kelly was always uh obviously you know big for was you know honoring her daughter may as Legacy as a council I'd like to you know affirm that we will continue that honor and if we can grow that honor that would be great too thank you Kelly thank you Dr Dave councilwoman kapan just echoing as I usually do Dave's comments because he chose his seat um just really um so appreciative to Kelly she was a mentor when I first came on the council and I hope that she'll continue to be um even if it's an in in an informal way uh going forward and wishing Kelly the best of luck uh I also want to welcome our new Township Attorney Kevin starky and uh thank you thank you councilwoman uh councilman and chair I'll EO both of their comments regarding Kelly um the council is uh certainly uh less fortunate not to have her on she's been a tremendous asset um but family comes first and health comes first as well so um thank you Kelly for all your years of ser or years of service uh one other thing Mr Mayor uh the greater Ocean Township Chamber of Commerce scholarships are out you can go to the website gocc.org uh scholarships are due probably in about a month but all the details are there uh we gave out over $5,000 in scholarships last year so hopefully the uh uh residents and uh others students in the area that are interested can apply and we'll certainly be happy to give out some more money this year thank you Mr Mayor thank you uh Dave thank you mayor um just want to also send best wishes to Kelly and a welcome aboard to Kevin and I also want to just pay respect and homage to The Life and Legacy of our late former President Jimmy Carter on this day of morning thank you thank you Dave and Kevin you have anything you want to say before I make a few words say a few words uh I just wanted thank thank thanks to the mayor and Council for your appointment your vote of confidence in me and and my firm uh I just like to acknowledge my my love partner Scott canel is sitting the audence as well and I know he appreciates the appointment and we uh we will serve uh the township well um any any question you ever have please please call either me or Scott thank you Kevin and uh yeah I mean Kelly is was a tremendous asset to this Council um not only did she serve with me but she's been a personal friend of mine since our two children met when Maya was battling uh pediatric cancer that's how we became close our my son was her little boyfriend and uh he used to sit with her in the hospital I I watched this kid really grow up and uh when I saw what a young man he came I mean look I didn't want to kick him in the tail a few times but I always blame his good manners and the way he acts due to Maya and what he learned from her and the strong personality that Kelly has which flowed into the council and Dave you're a th% correct about the emails and the way that you can join me is we'll get on the m and Terry foundation and you can get like four or five emails a day Kelly you know how I am and then she would say to me well Johnny didn't even read them I said I said I couldn't keep up um great great person great family uh you know the uran family have been involved in in uh the municipality for many many years so tremendous asset going to totally miss her and uh you know we wish her well and we hope she has a speedy recovery uh Dave thank you for mentioning the former president jimmmy car um I had a you know obviously uh would have said the same thing that you did uh you know Life and Legacy of our former president and humanitarian that he was and what he did in his role as the former president was just absolutely amazing in what he did you know for Humanity and things of that nature so I'm uh you know saddened but you know I got to tell you 100 that's pretty good I would sign on right now for that but you know to the Carter family to extend our you know well wishes um so now uh we're going to skip the eagle scout ceremony Joey had something pop up um I just sent a message to his dad back that we would be more than happy to add this to the agenda in February um Joey's got some heck of a background and I honestly really think he needs to be honored so Joey hopefully will be here in February if he doesn't have a prior commitment uh young college boy they have lots of stuff going on uh so now we have our public questions and resolutions on vouchers I'm going to read the statement on the consent agenda and then our attorney's going to make a statement as well all matters listed under the consent agenda are considered routine by the township Council will be enacted by one Motion in the form listed below there will be no separate discussion of these items if discussion is desired on any item that item will be considered separately the purpose of the public portion is to solely ask questions to understand and resolutions that appear on the agenda and it's not an occasion for a public hearing on an ordinance all questions not related to an agenda item should be asked during the public comments portion at the conclusion of the meeting I'm going to let Kevin make a quick brief statement and then we will start the public portion of the resolutions uh thank you mayor um as part of my um ramp up to be the township attorney I reviewed the some of the meetings on video prior to tonight um and one thing I noticed uh is that there was some inconsistency in the application of the rules for public comment um the rules were adopted back in uh 2019 resolution 19-27 um and they state that um for comments on resolutions vouchers and ordinances public comment shall be limited to 3 minutes per person um likewise for uh public comment in the general section comments are limited to 5 minutes per person and I saw that there was some inconsistent inconsistency and how that was applied so it's uh my recommendation that um the council abide by the rules that have been previously established and that the public comment be limited to as it is in the resolution to 3 minutes per person on resolution vouchers and ordinances and five minutes per person on um any matter on the on the general topic of discussion um so I'll just um you know Case by case that comes up I'll point out if need be so uh that's all I had to say about that mayor thank you and before we um go into the uh into the resolutions 25- uh 17 there's a I believe a spelling mistake you got Sewer Authority Township devotion Sewer Authority um that is Dave Miller uh he's being reappointed to his position and Rob goling to the planning board uh effective January 9th 2025 expiring June 30th 2025 okay those are the that's the correction um so any public questions and comments on the consent agenda please step up to the microphone state your name and address for the record hold on one second with Jesse get back up okay good evening Peter yunan 610 deal Road resolution six on sustainable Jersey land use Pledge and adopting that just turn to that page there's reference to creating walkable communities and to preserving open space and that these subjects would be taken up to include in the next master plan revision and reexamination report so my question is when would the next reexamination and revision of the master plan uh occur just the question on the one res or any other ones I I do have some other questions okay go ahead because we have five minutes so I just want to make sure you get the questions out three minutes resolution 18 my second question uh this is in reference to the contract for pedestrian uh improvements uh is there more detail available uh as to the scope of work uh for The Pedestrian improvements and the I think it refers to uh just some as built conditions that must have occurred that were added is there a a map or a plan or a description of The Pedestrian improvements available that's my second question my third question is on resolution 20 uh which is uh investigating the Orchard Plaza uh block and lot for redevelopment and uh I guess condemnation uh uh is there a timeline uh for that report okay thank you Peter um reexamination I'm going to send that over to my manager uh just to um Enlighten Peter on that one do you have information on that or is that a environmental commission off the top mayor we should get it from uh Colleen and the boards but as you know we just did the the land use plan so I don't think the actual one is due for another 10 years but the re-exam I think is every year or every 3 years so we'd have to get to determination but the next reexamination is probably in a year or three years somewhere in there it's uh it's in the uh Municipal land use law uh prescribed by Statute I just don't recall what it is right now if I can just say I said that and that's not done by this body the reexamination I done by the planning board planning board so that really we may not know up here that's a question that probably is better posed to them thank you uh and Dave the scope of work on uh deal Road the increase uh you got a information on that as well no I think that would be in a full change order which they probably could come in into the municipal clerk's office appointment get that information I have I have that folder okay with the map yeah exactly and as for 21 that's a legal matter I'm going to throw that over to the attorney yeah I I um first of all as to the timeline once again that's this is really authorizing the planning board to do it so I think it's a better question posed to them um I've also recommended the the uh governing body here not make any comment further comment aside from what's in the resolution um because there's um still an investigation to be had so it's not appropriate for them to com at this time thank you K any other questions resolutions see here none do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda second I'll second roll call aera yes fiser yes Kaplan yes naani yes yes uh consent agenda passes individual action vouchers in the amount of 4, 28562 do I have a motion so moved second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes cap yes na yes vouchers pass ordinances up for adoption ordinance 2489 which is ordinance amending chapter 12 traffic of the revised General ordinances of the township of ocean 196 5 establishing a speed limit on a portion of Roosevelt Avenue someone please open public discussion on ordinance 2489 i' like to make a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance 2489 second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes Kap yes Nani yes anyone wishing to be heard on ordinance 2489 please step up to the microphone state your name and address for the record it's uh Peter deal road again what is the c my questions are what is the current speed limit on Rosevelt Avenue and what is the proposed speed limit on Roosevelt avenue any other questions Peter on that one that's it just the speed limit okay uh it's going to go to 25 miles an hour both ways so I don't have the current speed limit here I only have the proposed one should the ordinance pass I believe it's 35 mil hour thank you doc anyone else wishing to be heard seeing hear none do I have a motion to close public comment on ordinance 2489 like to make a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 2489 second second roll call the Cher yes Fisher yes Kap yes nean yes action on ordinance 24 489 like to move to adopt ordinance 2489 and publish according to law second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes kapan yes app County yes ordinance 2489 passes um ordinance 2490 and ordinance amending and supplementing chapter uh 16 of the revised General ordinances of the township of ocean 1965 entitled parks and playgrounds section 16- 5.2 program fees okay and someone please open public discussion on ordinance 2490 i' like to make a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance 2490 second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes Kaplan yes nean yes anyone wishing to be heard on ordinance 2490 please step up to the microphone state your name and address for the record uh Jackie wiel uh 610 Dale Road uh can you just explain just go into a little detail on it any other questions RIS playground any other questions no okay um it's just an increase per uh per participant non-residents from $150 to $300 for for what I'm sorry for a two-e recreation program which would be at the pool is it I would have to discuss that with a Rec director so if anyone wants to par participate in a recreation program there's a fe is what you're saying it could be applied to the pool or we're not sure yet what do you mean applied to the pool it's forther for a summer Recreation twoe session oh okay but you're not no because I thought it had I know there's a fee for the pool it doesn't include okay thank okay thank you anyone wishing to be heard on ordinance 2490 senior none do I have a motion to close public discussion on ordinance 2490 like to make a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 2490 second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes taplan yes NE yes uh action on ordinance 2490 i' like to move to adopt ordinance 2490 and publish according to law second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes Kaplan yes NE yes ordinance 2490 passes ordinance 2491 which is an ordinance amending chapter 4 of the revised General ordinances of the township motion 1965 entitled swimming pools section 14-10 point3 membership someone please open discussion on ordinance 2491 I'd like to make a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance 2491 second second roll call aera yes bisher yes tap yes nean yes anyone wishing to be heard on ordinance 2491 please step up to the microphone state your name and address for the record Senor none do I have a motion to close public discussion on ordinance 24 91 I'd like to make a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 2491 second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes Kaplan yes Ney yes action on ordinance 2491 like to move to adopt ordinance 2491 and publish according to law second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes TL yes yes ordinance 2491 passes ordinance 2492 which is an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 21 the comprehensive Land Development ordinance section 21-9 affordable housing development fees someone please open public discussion on ordinance 2492 like to make a motion to open the public hearing on ordinance 2492 second second roll call aera yes fer yes Kaplan yes NE count yes anyone wishing to be heard on ordinance 2492 please step up to the microphone state your name and address for the record uh Peter Yin 161 deal Road uh these fees are this an increase of any fees that are being paid today or is this new fees that were never being paid Dave new fees CU this now um creates the developers of new single family detached dwelling units built on an infill lot as part of a minor subdivision shall pay a development fee before they they didn't not so this is now having them pay so in the process of going to the planning board for subdivisions and making your applications those fees would apply there that did not apply before correct for a new single family detached dwelling units thank you anyone else wishing to be heard seeing here none do I have a motion to close public discussion on ordinance 249 92 i' like to make make a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 2492 second second roll call aera yes fer yes Kap NE yes and action on ordinance 2492 I'd like to move to adopt ordinance 2492 and publish according to law second second roll call aera yes Fisher yes Kaplan yes n county yes uh ordinance 2492 passes and we have introduction to ordinance 1 1 which is ordinance 2493 which is an ordinance amending and supplementing ordinance 2343 entitled an ordinance amending the revised General ordinances of the township votion 1965 relating to Personnel policies practices and procedures article 3 employment section 3-28 continuing education procedures someone please introduce ordinance 2493 I'd like to move to introduce introduce ordinance 2493 second second roll call aera yes Bishop yes Kaplan n county yes that ordinance will have its public hearing on our at our next meeting which is February 13th um before I have public comments um real quick just wanted to let people know that we will not be having the discussion in regard or actually not the discussion but the presentation on the town hall on January 23rd due to the recent resignation of Kelly Terry uh we need time to put a new council person in and um at that point then we'll be able to schedule that meeting we hope by the last week of February um public comment portion again five minutes the may I make a point I know I'm not part of the body but I want to make a point of order and make sure did we amend 25-1 resolution to appoint the township attorney oh I forgot about that you're correct no no we didn't have to we didn't have to you did okay yeah we uh what we said inside was uh the new tatp attorney is going to send a letter to the clerk stating that he is declining that and uh that will stay with our Uh current attorney actually current attorney thank you very much he was appointed prior Mary if you're watching you're okay uh public comic portion again step up to the microphone state your name and address for the record you do have five minutes uh Peter Yan 610 deal Road uh regarding uh what was mentioned about the three and five minute rule for public uh questions and comments uh I I guess my comment would be uh 3 minutes didn't really afford me uh time for more than three questions and I think you presented uh a lot tonight so I still had some more questions is there any kind of uh ability to ask for more time any other questions I think the it's a comment okay uh so my comment would be I I think I would like to be able to ask uh considering the context if you're introducing a lot of things I really thought that the reason for limiting the amount of time any one person has is if you have a large crowd at a planning board it's quasi legal I understand all of that like like tonight uh I see you know very few residents uh is there any you know why wouldn't I feel a little bit more kind of being able to work with you to say I would like to have some more time because I wanted to ask actually about the temporary budget but I you know my 3 minutes was over so my comment is it's not enough time it's never enough time I respect everybody's time if there are a lot of people in here in the room and we're going on for an hour I certainly would not want to prevent anybody else from coming up so my comment is I really like you uh to think about what you can do beyond the letter of the law like I can go back and look at the history of public comment the reason for it how it's applied I feel personally the way it's applied it's insufficient time for me that's my comment on that uh I I also wanted to to comment on the temporary budget uh I went down to town hall today uh I so I could download the budget for I guess 2025 from the town website uh which I'll do and uh I guess I can't ask a question at this this point uh but my comment was really on the budget uh I think in the past uh you've done a really good job of bringing somebody up here and having like a sort of presentation of budget to Residents and we really you know benefit from that so my comment would be to encourage you throughout the year as you have maybe things that come up like you go to a temporary budget from the budget that was previously discussed to to maybe think about quarterly uh inviting us either here or bringing up or if something had be done at the Town Hall to have a more regular involvement with you on the budget that's my other comment and uh I yield back in minute and a half thank you Peter for your comments we will uh take both of those under advisement anyone else wishing to be heard Jackie I want address please 610 deal Road uh I wanted to ask again and maybe this is a question for um manager Brown uh in terms of the open space tax since the last meeting I guess it was last meeting I attended and they said there isn't any more open space um will that will that tax be removed from what's being taken from us now will there be a resending of that tax since there is no longer open space well there's no more open space to purchase but there there's open space to maintain and then to your second part of your question is the fact that um the the council and probably by referendum you would have to um go back out and then remove it so that's not an action that I can do as the manager that would have to be by this body and by referendum of that would be voted on by the town when we voted it was to purchase um on developed to purchase open space that could be used for recreation passive Recreation and such but it was not to be used on existing recreation parks it was to purchase undeveloped space to preserve it as undeveloped space for possible Recreation would it be additional Recreation but if we're not purchasing new additional land where did the budget for maintenance on the parks and holiday lights and flags and all these other things that that that fund has been used on recently what budget did that come out of before we actually had the resolution for an open space tax I can't answer that because I when I got here this the tax was in place so well I just think we're paying an additional tax now that we all believed was to preserve and purchase was really to purchase space for recreation can I comment yes please I you've been made this comment a couple of times and we've sent you emails stating what the resolution was so you can't keep saying well I respect you you can't keep saying the resolution was only for the purchase of land it was not it clearly was not so respectfully you got to stop saying that because it's not true having said that that's what we were all led to believe but if you read the ordinance or the referendum it clearly sorry we may have passed an ordinance to create the referendum but it it clearly did not say that I would suggest Maybe see the manager tomorrow or the clerk she's got a copy of the actual um what was voted on so I think I guess we the majority of us understood it was for the purchase of open space to be used for recreation that was the interpretation many of us believed it was for because otherwise why would we have a new we were taking care of our Parks before that so why would we need a new resolution for that well if if I may if you look at Oakhurst Park firing field you look at waya you look at w Massi you look at Jo p park all new playgrounds in all of the facilities in the last 3 years so that money came from that open space TX so you you made new parks in the existing open space playground playgrounds not new upgrade UPG upgraded them all as an example so while it wasn't we didn't purchase any land we improved the parks that we had which was the purpose of the referendum to begin with and if I may make one other comment yes the manager is right we can't without a referendum resend the cost of the current fee but we could look at it could okay didn't say we would would but it doesn't have to be all or nothing no it's just the people should be aware there you know you're you're very aware because you this is what you do every day for many of the public when we went in and voted for it it was presented in such a way at the time we were losing the 32 acres and the point was we you know we're going to put this resolution if you want more land and we have this Kitty to purchase more land and that's really was top of Mind within the small print was and and there'll be Recreation but we all assumed as not being members of the council that that meant that open space could be used for recreation not that we would use it for the existing Recreation we did purchase open space we purchased six acres and kept well yeah I remember we did that we still have to m maintain these Parks and Recreation but at this point we're I would suggest maybe you go in with the clerk she'll give you a copy of what you what we all voted on yeah okay it's pretty PL I think the intention was that so anyway I was wondering where we going to get that tax back but I guess not mayor can I make one comment too yes sir we still have open space available we can p it's the town's not sold out we can use that money to purchase existing lands hence the kepwell property so it's not like there's not any land left we can purchase land if it's available to the township for sale and that would be great but we were told the last meeting there is no more open space I think that that was misunderstood that's why I'm trying to clear this up and that whole idea is that we have this fund to preserve land so if somebody's got a nice chunk of land and it's the right deal and it comes to the township sure we can Preserve that land well and that's what happened at kepwell so to preserve it correct yeah we're not sold out no no I think that was misunderstood we're not there every you know if it's for sale and it it's the right deal for the township and it makes sense we'll look at it and to that point last meeting we had someone come to the meeting and ask about a walking trail I looked into that walking trail to if we could purchase it but it is a former oil and gas petroleum site so the town will not be looking into that because there going to be a um D um mitigation and everything to come with that and we don't need that but we're more people know and it's for sale we will look at it but right now we we no one's come to us so to to councilman Fischer's Point somebody has to come to us like they came catwell came and said here's all this land the council took advantage and B purchased it thank you Dave anyone else wish should be heard Dennis we have other seats up to say that Dennis I never liked the front when I was in school either some comp question going for I know they're going be about the I think that descrition whater were getting on the list of six properties for inst that the property couldn't have an oil proper had toer a certain property could be developed without too much expense Mak access hold on Dennis hold on the bosses here hold on the [Music] salute if uh the idea I think an awful lot of people have no idea of why certain properties were picked and why other properties were not and for that an example is every time I talk to somebody about the new town hall they said why don't they put it on Logan Road at the old school well I've been fortunate enough to find out some reasons why that is not appropriate uh for as a a candidate for the building if that reasoning was made available to the people in the town we could probably avoid a lot of repetitive questions and if that reasoning were put on the uh say a little dialogue or a little uh what do you call them cheat notes on on the town website before the next meeting before you make a presentation about the this is what the is the status of the the building on P Park the white building that when you go into the maintenance area is completely inappropriate for such and such a region we're not going to use the school on Logan Road because there's a potential to develop it uh and might be up for sale that type of idea I think you could avoid a lot of repetitive questions that's my three cents thank you Dennis inflation um Dennis great Point um that was something that I'll tell you we you know obviously we can add that to the presentation as to why certain properties were not and it can be added to the comprehensive discussion that we have so I appreciate those comments thank you well I mean I think we're trying to put everything together so I'll talk to the manager about you know potentially messaging out okay thank you that's what's important of the presentation yep that's why we're doing the presentation so we can get the input thank you anyone else wishing to be heard see here or none do I have a motion to adjourn so moved second second all in favor I any opposed meeting is adjourned thank you for coming happy New Year everyone