##VIDEO ID:_bDtnOYJFj0## e e e don't I'll change it for you e e e e e okay good evening I'd like to welcome everyone to the September 10th 2024 Oldbridge Township council meeting please rise for a Pledge of Allegiance please remain standing for a moment of silence and for our prayer I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all as customary in this chamber we stand to remember those who are protecting our freedoms both here and abroad for our First Responders for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and of course this week we remember 911 so a moment of silence please our prayer Mr pasky dear Lord bless thy servants in the ministry of public affairs who serve you in this chamber give us quiet minds and hearts that we may hear your voice help us to know when to speak when to be silent give us strength to oppose the wrong and uphold the right grant that we have a good conscience and Soul at peace with thee and with one another amen amen thank you everyone please be seated good evening and I'd like to turn this over now to to Mayor Walker well we'll do the roll call and then we'll yeah that's fine okay go ahead roll call yes [Music] please well our clerk is out today so we have we're kind of pting we're subbing a little bit so all right okay Mr Uli yeah M de Caro here Mr dma here Mr Desai here Mr Garcia here Mr Murphy is absent he said he wouldn't be here thank you Mr bcti here Dr Greenberg belly here president soar here okay thank you very much president okay so now mayor if you'd like to start I forgot she's not here tonight I am so proud to have with us the saywood South baseball team they are the 12u saywood South All-Star team and they won the Cal Ripken Bay Ruth 2024 12u Northern New Jersey state championship [Applause] this is the first time in the history of Oldbridge that the baseball team has won the state championship so we're so proud of them they've had a very busy night they received some awards at minino Park from Senator Henry tonight they had an escorted uh ride here in a bus with the police and I think they're very excited so I just want to thank the coaches for everything you do because without the coaches and the parents the kids would not be able to do this so thank all of you I'd like to um call up uh Brian B tonight please thank you ran does an amazing job he really has the kids at heart and I think I attributed to the new fields at minino because there's such spectacular feels so uh Brian I'd like to present you with this certificate very much and then I'm going to hand it off to you to call up your coaches and the students and did you want to say some words first no I'll keep I they've heard me talk enough I'm just very proud of them they did an amazing job and they deserve all the credit and you know accolades that they're getting for for just really fighting and it it was amazing it was just an amazing experience all right so we'll start with the uh the coaches uh couldn't couldn't have done this without you guys so uh coach Keith santangelo um and actually I I do also I I need to thank everybody here Matt tons and tons of work and effort goes into this and it's not just from us from the coaches from the board it's the town it's the council it's it's everybody um so a huge thank you to everybody that the experience of winning that at minina was amazing Coach Dave [Applause] vono he has not let go of the trophy [Laughter] yet Coach Chris Ward [Applause] all right now the people that you're really here to see yeah uh Patrick [Applause] Burns Mason santangelo Christian [Applause] vono CJ [Applause] Ward Leo pluko Liam [Applause] Cole Robbie Hazel Neil [Applause] Ferrara Colton [Applause] Yus s [Applause] Lombardi Jordan [Applause] livit Ray [Applause] Foley Justin tiso Jackson [Applause] Smith and I think I just saw Matt Silva smile so Matt [Applause] Silva e of course if I would congratulations very nice congratulations what a wonderful wonderful honor that is very nice have a good night good night huh sad feel hor e we're good yeah go ahead good evening tonight I'm with Chief Montagna and we're so proud to have another officer join the Oldbridge Police Department John rber we're continuing to grow our Police Department keep overridge safe Chief Mona take it over sorry thank you there we there we go I got it as chief of police let me Begin by saying that I am extremely proud of the men and women of our department who serve and protect our residents and our community each and every day I am especially honored when given the opportunity opportunity to enhance the department with new police officers tonight is one of those times at this time I would like to take a moment and tell you a little bit about John robo's background John comes to us from Long Hill Police Department where he was an officer for 5 years while with the Long Hill Police Department he served as a patrol officer and a Firearms instructor he's a graduate of the Mercer County Police Academy and holds a Bachelor's of Science degree majoring in criminal justice from Westchester University I'm pleased and I'm pleased to present the newest member of the obge Township Police Department John Robel [Applause] want to call your family up just hold the Bible who's gonna hold the baby Grandma hold the St so John you're going to repeat after me I'll go slow so don't Don't Panic please raise your right hand I state your name I John Robel do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of New Jersey and the constitution of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of my position of all the duties of my position of Oldbridge Township police officer Old Bridge Township police officer to the best of my ability to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God [Applause] congratulations you sirk you we'll take some pictures and then John is badge number 304 304 pretty amazing thank you app [Applause] right I'm for and he can get ready for bed all right yeah congratulations again lots of luck we're very happy to have you here in Oldbridge yeah I'm good I'm gonna just to get First Trust Me okay well have a good evening and thank you again everyone okay I just want to make an announcement before we get into the body in the meeting um ordinances for first reading was listed in F fr1 an ordinance amending chapter 273 of the Township Code entitled lunchwagon mobile just so that everyone knows it has been moved for the next meeting so we will be discussing it excuse me on October 8th okay so I just want to make anyone in the in the audience know that change okay next will be approval of minutes resolution approving the regular combined council meeting minutes of August 13th 2024 do I have a motion okay moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr auli roll call no little than have all the motions and the seconds right so so the record's accurate listen without without Kate tonight we have nine people who want to run the meeting so it'll be a little crazy but we'll get through okay councilman auli yes councilwoman de Carol yes councilman DePalma yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy is absent Council mky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly yes and council president soar yes okay so eight yes one exstension next will be Bill list Mr Garcia hey thank you a bill list as of September 10 2024 accounts payable September 10 2024 24 m898 9654 PV roll August 16 2024 1,263 27054 payroll overtime August 16 2024 $ 41,44 622 payroll August 30 2024 1,1 190,191 39 pay all overtime August 30 2024 40,000 $71.50 57 that finishes my report thank you okay thank you Anna do you have a break down for us of the overtime please yes we did not have um any major upticks in either of the overtime the police overtime for the August 16th payroll was $ 27,2 79 the duck grants 4 thou 4,000 excuse me $4,388 21 the duct etto 3, 485 for a total of 9,199 58 and 2685 men and women hours for the August 30th uh payroll the overtime for police was 22,8 7882 the duck grants $676 33 the duct etto $1,666 24 for a total of $ 4,4 $56.25 and 290 men and women hours thank you okay thank you do I have a motion for the bill list move it second move by Mr pescetti second by Mr dama councilman esuli yes councilwoman Dar Carl yes councilman dama yes councilman Desi yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy is absent Council pcti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes and council president soar yes eight yes abion okay I mean one absent okay next will be public reading uh ordinances for second reading H1 ordinance amending chapter 250 of the code of the township of Oldbridge entitled Old Bridge township Land Development ordinance by amending various sections of the same do I have a motion move it SEC second okay move by Mr pescetti second by Mr assetou and now I'll open it to the public is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard on this ordinance seeing no hands I will close the public portion and I will ask for a roll call please councilman auli yes councilwoman Dar Carl no councilman dama yes councilman Desai no councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy absent councilman pkid yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bella yes and council president soar yes six yes two Nays one abstention or absent it's not an abstention it's an absent absent right absent correct motion passes okay next will be a discussion ordinance and that's ordinance amending chapter 169 entitled festivals Mass Gatherings good even even gentlemen can you it's up at the second page at the top thank you good evening gentlemen and mayor um we're here tonight to do final discussion on this Mass assembly ordinance I know it's been amended few times but as we roll it out we see things that need to be maybe you know tweaked a little bit and so on so we wanted to just make sure that we have an ordinance that works and that fits for everyone so do you have a anything you want to add to us about this tonight I just want thank you it's captain bloda for the record one of the things we uh wanted to change was we're want to have a middle of the road number for officers and uh attendees that's one of the main aspects of why we're up here is common ground for safety and Financial ability of the person holding the event to to be able to afford a reason for the right for the officer so we feel we have a pretty good balance and uh hopefully there's any questions regarding that that's that's the major change we want to be safe and affordable so much for all the time that you gentlemen have spent and mayor trying to you know make this a good fit there is a lot to be considered it's important safety is important and like you said there are times when financially too you try to be reasonable you know so I appreciate all the time that everyone has put into this does any council member have a question no anyone on my right a question okay attorney good okay all right very good thank you mayor do you want to add anything yeah yeah sometimes when something starts out you have to have a trial run see how it goes right yeah and we want to work with the residents as well so right yeah and you want to make it reasonable but you want to be safe as you said so I'm I'm thank you really all of you Aaron Mike everybody Mike thank you so much okay so if everyone has the consensus can we bring this to a first reading all right so I'd like to get a motion motion to to move it to First reading first I know I'm with Kenny tonight first reading a motion to move it to First reading do I have move it okay who second second okay okay move by Dr Greenberg B second by Mrs Carol okay by by um Mr Carol is that correct okay okay councilman auli yes councilwoman de Caro yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy is absent councilman pcti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly yes and council president soar yes it's eight yes one absent that moves it to the first reading now we'll vote on first reading do I have motion okay second okay by Dr Greenberg b i second by Mr was that right Dr yes and councilman ESI second right so now we'll go for first reading councilman auli yes councilwoman Dar Carl yes councilman depalmer yes councilman Desai yes Council Garcia yes councilman Murphy is absent councilman pusti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly yes and council president soar yes so it'll be move moved to First reading which will be at our next meeting which is a second reading I'm sorry excuse me first the October correct okay yes second reading October 8th okay very good thank you very much than you all very much really appreciate next will be our consent agenda I'll ask for a motion in a second and then we'll ask for separations move it okay move by Dr Greenberg Bell second by councilman auli and now separations start from the left I guess um councilman Desi any separation sep no councilwoman Dar Caro no thank you councilman dealma none thank you starting the other side be uh councilman pascetti no separations thank you councilman Garcia none thank you councilman Essa Tuli no thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly no thank you and council president soar no thank you so roll call please on the whole consent agenda loal on the consent agenda councilman esuli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy is absent councilman pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belly yes and council president soar yes eight yes one absent okay thank you next will be report of the T well Township Clerk she's not here this evening uh Township attorney any report just briefly um I just want to reiterate what council had indicated it took a long time to get the um Mass Gathering uh festivals uh ordinance redone actually we working on it since last year uh and involved a lot of um input from uh the police department uh Emergency Services Etc so it was a a chore that was undertaken and well done so on that as to um one other issue there was um just little background on the um oh actually it's not on here okay there was something that was on on the um agenda that was taken off completely in a timely fashion had to do with with liquor licenses but that'll be heard again that'll be heard uh at the October meeting so other than that no okay thank you very much administrative report yes thank you I have a few things for all of you so bear with me 2024 annual ro road replacement program on August 28 202 24 at 1 p.m. bids were received open and read in public for the 2024 annual Road resurfacing contract number 202 24-39 bids from 11 contractors were received with discover Construction LLC being the lowest qualified bidder the project will include Milling resurfacing pavement striping and markings installation of under drains and construction of 88 compliant curb ramps construction is scheduled to begin in Fall of 24 for the dur duration of 90 calendar days visit or.com projects to view the contract plans 2024 commu parking lot restriping on August 208 2024 at 2 p.m bids were received open and read in public for the 2024 commuted parking lot restriping contract number 2024 51 bids from two contractors were received with Dan suy and Sun Incorporated being the lowest qualified bidder the project will include restrip of the Westminster Boulevard and inet drive commuter parking lots restriping is scheduled to begin in Fall of 24 for a duration of one week obit Township will post a work schedule on all social media Outlets to alert our commuters of the lock closures visit orb bridge.com projects to view the contract plans fiscal year 2023 orbridge Township Caper draft in order in in in accordance with the US Department of Housing and Urban developments community development block grant regulations the township of orbridge has prepared its fiscal year 2023 Consolidated annual performance an evaluation report also known as Caper for its Community Development block grant program the public common period for the 2023 Caper will be held on from September 9th 2024 through September 20 through September 24th 2024 citizens have 15 days to review the documents and submit comments resident comments on the plan should be submitted to my office on or before 4:30 p.m. on September 24 2024 a public hearing to share program performance and receive public input on the report has been scheduled for September 16 2024 at 3 p.m. in Conference Room 217 located on the second floor of the administration building visit or.com projects to view the draft 2023 Caper September 11th memorial service or Town Township will hold its September 11th memorial service on Wednesday September 11th at 600 p.m. at the Oldbridge Municipal complex 911 memorial site by the library it will also be live streamed on the Township's YouTube channel orbridge day please join us for orbridge day on Saturday September 2st from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the municipal complex for more information please visit o bridge.com Recreation or call 732 721-5600 extension 4999 Recreation brochure the Parks and Recreation Department's fall 2024 brochure is now available on our website it describes programs offered by the township for children and adults registration for residents will open on Tuesday September 10th at 6 p.m. and for non-residents on Tuesday September 17th at 6 pm to see the full brochure and to register for classes please visit or bridge.com Recreation Bond anticipation note or ban cell on Wednesday August 28 2024 the Department of Finance received four bids for the sale of $16 million of notes consisting of 9 million Bond note Bond anticipation notes and 7 million emergency notes scheduled to mature on September 1125 the winning bid from Jeff's LLC has a net interest cost of 3.19 78% or $500,000 22222 the net interest cost ranged from 3198 3.19 78% to 4.4% Silver linning wins Big at New Jersey Senior Olympics this past weekend several members of our Silver Linings Senior Center Program competed in various Sports at the New Jersey Senior Olympics four of our members me medled in the Billiards category Paul kofer and Joel Khan took home the bronze in their respective age groups Marlene koffer took a took home a silver medal and Deno buenik won the gold in his age group congratulations to all of them and thank you for representing [Applause] orbridge Fall television pickup the public works department will be picking up TV's curbside this October by appointment this special pickup is for TVs only any size any type WS one 2 and three will be picked up on Tuesday October 8th wordss five four five and six will be picked up on Thursday October 10th please visit o.com recycling to make an appointment and for more details orridge Township paper shred event there will be a Township paper shred event on octo Friday October 11th the truck will be in chesek Village from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and then at the municipal complex from 12:00 p.m. to 3 p.m. or until the truck is full please check or.com recycling for more details and I do have one quick thing to add uh today I happen to be by the memor the 9 11 Memorial site looking over to catrell and seeing still lots of cars going in and out of the park I'm very happy to see that even though the splash park has closed the playground is very much active the park is very much active I would like to thank our public works department and our Parks and Recreation Department our um buildings and grounds Foreman Kevin Cole our Parks Foreman John Hughes and their Crews as well as our two directors Casey lenning and Matt Mercurio for overseeing a great season um first season of the splash pack p and uh we can't wait to reopen in next year Memorial Day thank you thank you very much Anna does any council person have a question or a comment for Anna okay seeing no hands I'll take a motion to accept her report move it second moved by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr as satuli councilman auli yes councilwoman Dar Caro yes councilman dma yes councilman Desai yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Murphy is absent councilman pesky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes and council president soar yes 8 yeses okay next will be public comment on any subject matter for a maximum period minutes okay the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments this section is open for any topic or items in the consent agenda in accordance with njsa 10 G 4-2a and the Oldbridge rules of council the council asks the public to limit their comments to three minutes or less any one member of the public shall approach to speak to council at a time the council will respect the Public's Time by refraining from any comments until the speaker has finished with their a lot of time it should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured as a question and answer period if a member of the public has questions they seek answers to an appointment can be made with the corresponding Department's office during regular business hours the Township Clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of our meeting and we do have a timer that we start so when you approach we just ask that you give us your name no need for an address all right we're good thank you is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard this evening please come forward good evening even I'm Scott Landrew um I I'm old enough to remember back in the days when cable was a brand new thing that we had three channels to choose from and it was a luxury to have cable nowadays schools work the World At Large is a necessity in a house no longer a luxury uh we are beholden to Optimum who is every resident I've talked to in my neighborhoods and in town all have problems with the way they conduct their business and the service they provide to the residents uh this is becoming especially burdensome to Residents being so dependent on remote work options school every day uh with the children um we got to have an alternative I reached out to FiOS they tell me that the town is holding up bringing in any kind of additional access to FiOS I've also read on the internet that they are having their issues and trying to offload it on other companies if there's anything that our town is doing to prevent that I would strongly ask that we remove those barriers and provide residents the option to an alternative for a vitally needed resource in the in the neighborhood if it's not tell us and we'll go mobilize on on uh Verizon and whoever else is involved in bringing FiOS in can I make a just quick suggestion if you put it together in an email explaining what you've heard heard and all of that you know and send it to the township then we can you know address it and see what exactly maybe is going on you know because if you're saying again the township has a role in maybe not whatever participating just put it in an email and send it to the business administrator and that will give her an opportunity to review and see you know assess as to what's going on absolutely okay all right great thank you so much you have a good evening yeah sir I currently have files I live in Oldbridge so I don't I don't think it's a Township issue me it may just be a files issue but I personally have files are you down the south side of uh the other side I'm oh I'm on the other side okay I thought you meant I meant an or B in general yeah no no yeah that it doesn't come to our area and they told they told me when I called Verizon that it was held up by the town which can I make a comment that that is not true um I wasn't I didn't think there FiOS came through town many years ago I I happen to live on the side where Kevin Liv said FiOS invested money originally cable had invested in the whole town and put the cable throughout uh so we are kindy at their Mercy FiOS came in and only put in a little portion of the town was very expensive so they stopped and um I heard they're not coming back because there's new technology out there and they're waiting they don't want to invest money in it but the township is not stopping it because we would love to have competition because at least we have choices I I do feel bad that you don't have choices like that but cable put the initial investment in all the cables and I think your best bet if it were me I'd get a group together and go to the public utilities and make a complaint a formal complaint with the public utilities about cable great than thank you that's what I would do yeah do do send it out so that we can you know check it out what your yeah what your concerns yes we could send it to the public if you could send us that in writing it's mayor at Oldbridge decom and did you want to say something'll give thank you yep no no worries okay anyone else would like to speak may I sit down absolutely just uh turn the microphone on so it's recorded just press that button when it turns green you're good to go there you go before I start my remarks I request not to be interrupted I've been an active member of this community for nearly 25 years continuously working towards the Improvement of our community at the previous meeting Anita raised several points Chief among them I think we're getting feedback can we stop the clock I might have to do with uh you're too close to the microphone okay uh Chief among them was people who contact me instead of approaching council at large mayor Representatives award one two5 and six the answer straightforward I act on the questions and deliver results I receive zero financial compensation and yet I work to ensure that my community enjoys the same opportunities as other more privileged Wards my focus has been addressing the issues in my neighborhoods the that may be indifferent to those of you on the council today's pressing issues are the electric costs three years ago our community voted to adopt clean affordable and discounted energy where it was your responsibility to Lo lower lower electric bills and provide clean energy for all re residents the obligation remains unmet residents face 7 $700 month electric bills while you ignore the responsibility that was given to you with various excuses by council member and the transition team transition to clean energy would come with significant cost reductions but it's clear to us that you don't seem to have it as your top priority concerning illegal dumping and the absence of bulk garbage pickup I'd like to commend the outstanding public works department they know I love them they consistently strive to address problematic areas however legal dumping continues unabated behind Club 516 and W 5 I'm sure that Public Works have brought this to the attention of the township Administration though none of the council has spoken up on this illegal dumping mayor and Council you vowed to fix the broken permitting and building departments throughout the more than 14 years in in office despite various complaints by residents and businesses no steps have been taken to fix these departments during your long tenures Anita at the last meeting you overlooked a key point to the Waterfront cleanups the $21 million we going to include the the Republican mayor George Bush in 1983 and rep Republican Council majority decided to pass the substantial expenses onto the Oldbridge residents this was instead of holding the companies entirely responsible for dumping or building the toxic waste wall this Republican Le that Republican leadership chose to burden our taxpayers with the millions of dollars responsibility rests solely on the Albridge Republican politicians by the way community discourse is crucial yet a zoning board Point attempted to ruin a positive event due to her dislike of anything Pride related Anita I do have to say I was thought it was really odd that you remarked about the public parking because you knew I was waiting as a designated driver for my disabled colleague I can put the video on social media if you'd like me to so the community could decide how you behave finally uh Darren I didn't touch you at the pride event I organized please don't flatter yourself however worth noting several of the individuals at the pride event did feel uncomfortable with your repeated touching of them at the event your behavior was intrusive Hands-On and for the record my name is Nina jock it's pronounce it correctly or not at all thank you thank you any other members of the public that would like to speak on you want to go home too I want to go home evening everyone I hope everyone's got doing well I just want to say thank you again for hearing me last time we spoke and those who were able to reach out and speak to me um I do appreciate it I do want to hear from everyone regards to trying to open a dispensary here in Oldbridge uh like I said my name is Michael I do live here I am looking to do this I am looking to bring it to the town I see not just the benefit for the immediate I see the benefit down the road um challenges that we're facing but I can't do it without feedback from the council um I have found it a little bit harder than I thought it would be to have conversations again it's just conversations to understand where everyone's falling um I will put it on the back burner but I do want to say thank you for tomorrow tomorrow is a big day in this town and every town across the US uh myself being a disabled veteran I look forward to being there tomorrow and celebrating such a sad day but celebrating the fact that we have regress and keep going forward so thank you very much good evening council members thanks for the opportunity to address you today I'm a resident of Oldbridge uh here with my neighbors of Wood Haven Community um in the woodh Haven Commons off Texas Road um which I'm sure you're familiar with um I'm here to discuss a pressing issue affecting the safety and well-being of our community recently our neighborhood has experienced a troubling increase in security incidents over the past few months we've been seeing a significant rise these events personally my home was robbed and ransacked um on July 9th um many personal items stolen totally ransacked um and we actually have a a newer incident um where a a teenage girl was attempted to be lured into a man's vehicle which is reported on the record uh you know it was called into the police um with over 100 new homes opening soon in our development um our our safety concerns are growing more urgent um to provide a clearer picture our existing security infrastructure is inadequate out of 15 installed cameras only 11 are operational which is not very many cameras for such a large large community um three cameras are obstructed by trees one is not function functional at all um and the reason I I do know this is because I spent two hours with one of Old Bridge detectives reviewing all the footage to attempt to see who robbed my house um and it's evident that our surveillance system is insufficient to meet the security needs of our expanding Community the woodhen community managed by middle sex management and Atlantic realy is growing rapidly but their security measures have not kept pace with this growth currently there's only one security guard station at the clubhouse until 11:00 p.m. this guard doesn't have access to any cameras not responsible for anything outside the club Clubhouse this Arrangement is insufficient to ensure the safety of our residents and our children especially given the recent uptick in criminal activity we have taken steps as a community to try to um to deal with these issues a large majority of our neighbors have doorbell cameras we have filed police reports for every every incident that we've noticed um and we do report suspicious vehicles in our community um however relying on you know we we do call the Oldbridge Police Department to request patrols but relying on them is not sustainable for for you guys and strains our resource you know your resources therefore we are requesting the following actions to enhance our community security number one press middle sex management to provide 247 on-site security personnel number two increase the number of security cameras and ensure their proper functionality this will improve monit Ing and response to incidents just one more and number three we want to consider a dedicated security staff or Patrol with access to our community's camera system and in conclusion we're just asking for your support in advocating for immediate improvements in to our security and our goal is to ensure a safe environment for all residents especially our children and I thank you for your attention and with your help I'm confident we can address these challeng es thank you very much yes good evening good evening Oldbridge my name is Crystal Cornish and as Emily has stated that is where we all are coming from in concern on this evening um as a member of clergy it is my duty to report to you what goes on in our community I had great concern as Emily has in the past summer that we've had my family and I have moved to Oldbridge for a better life for our children especially for our schools and Mr sadino has an amazing job in what he's done in our school district unfortunately now where we live we have major concern of safety concerns for not only for us but for our children unfortunately what Emily is saying is actually correct middle sex manager and the Atlantic reality does not care about what happens we've called multiple times we've sent emails we've even tried to go to their office they ignore us they tell us I'm sorry you don't have an appointment you have to leave no emails are being answered no one is providing an answer as calling the Oldbridge PD and speaking to one of the detectives that were on the case in C several break-ins he had made me aware to come down to these meetings to talk to you find people to see what more can be done because police presence is needed where we are right now and our fine gentlemen and women are taking care of us however they may be a little short staffed as well so their attention is also somewhere else you know in as big as a community as we are and now with all the new buildings and residence and new public places to go eat or being made um Unfortunately they can only be in certain are areas at certain times so it's very imperative that we have our men and women in blue out on the street for us I lived in a community at one time where they used to come and they used to say hello to everyone in the neighborhood and engage with our children and play basketball as they needed I don't I don't we don't have that here yet as I've seen you know it's very hard to have my children be this worried and concerned and unfortunately our daughters are in college and they come home late they work two jobs they go to school at night and then they come home and every night my husband and I are up late making sure that they walk through the door safely now I have to have cameras inside my home in the back of my balcony at my door and then telling my son don't open the door you have to make sure that you go and reach the speaker and say who is it or if we're not home and you unfortunately we all have to work full-time in order to support where we live so every once in a while my high schooler has to be home and I'm not so making sure that the cameras are working this is not this is not what we believe in in Oldbridge this is not what we we've become and coming to you guys with this concern is what we need thank you thank you thank you anyone else wish to speak seeing No Hands we will close the public portion I think the chief would like to for and address an issue right oh no absolutely thank you guys for uh taking the time to listen to me and uh uh I appreciate the residents coming up and expressing those concerns but they're not accurate um we had one burgo and that development in July uh it was one incident um we also the the luring incident was an adult and she was approached uh by an individual who asked for her number uh with that being said um in 2018 I built this school security program that's uh and it's School uh our children in this Township are extremely important to me um we are an extremely proactive police department and we have have uh our our young officers are out there every single day uh they're in woodh Haven uh we have our detectives Out There Our Anar unit uh you may not see what's going on uh in your streets but um the it was told to me today that someone is on a ring app that is uh spreading misinformation uh about crimes and this development and when we did an audit uh we had one burglar in town one burglary in that development and the one incident she talked about uh there was no other reported incidents to the police department and if they were we would address it uh so I think what needs to happen is if something does happen in your neighborhood uh and I'll be willing to sit down with you guys you can come to my office and we can work uh you know uh and address your concerns but trust me uh our Police Department uh is out there every sing s day in every neighborhood in a Township uh since I became Chief um we have our detectives are now required to go out and Patrol uh our Traffic Unit is in Patrol uh and our anti-crime uh is out there uh we expanded that unit so they are all over town uh matter of fact yesterday I I got a report from our anti-me and it was four pages long uh this past weekend we had 23 arrests in town that's how proactive our officers are um but I really would like you guys to come sit down with me and I'll address all your concerns and I'm sure You' be happy to know that you know we're here and whatever you need and we're good to go so all right up and explaining it's appreciated okay we any other comments motion to close okay next we're g to go to motion Clos yeah okay okay next is up council member comments yeah we just the president closes that so we'll start you'll go alphabetically okay councilman ASI yes um I just want to say congratulations to the new police officer it's really nice to see that uh we're putting more cops on the street which is compliment to all you guys and it's it's something that Public Safety is our number one priority and and thank you to you guys and may God bless him and his family and I want to say congratulations to the 12 you softball team that was unbelievably beautiful they crushed it and I was talking to Kevin right Kevin if you looked at the coach he had tears in his eyes I felt that that's passionate when you love these kids and when you see them win I mean he couldn't even talk it's really nice to see that we have some good news in town and and to celebrate some good stuff so um may God bless his family and um the new officer and and thank you so much appreciate it councilwoman Dar Caro yes thank you um thank you guys for coming out to speak tonight um you know safety is is a huge um it's very important we all need to feel safe in our homes so I appreciate you guys coming out um and I appreciate uh Chief Montag I appreciate you coming up and speaking and um that would be great if you guys could all sit down and and talk about you know your needs and and how you feel and uh the perspective from from you Chief um to help these these residents in Wood Haven um and I'd love to hear you know the followup on how that goes um I I think my question you know I because it's come up um are we at our quota with the amount of officers I know we're hiring I know we hired today um how are we at with our quota of uh what our ordinance is as far as how many police officers we're still working on higher I think we're we're yeah we're fully staffed we had a few retirements and we are yeah but we're fully out Staffing so as soon as somebody retires we try very hard to recruit Chief and um the entire uh police department our captains have been very actively recruiting um John was an example of that today so as soon as somebody goes we we obviously will miss them but we try to replace them as fast as we can so okay thank number one priority yes M safety is our number one priority we're trying to build the police department and the problem is it's a lot of the state rules the police officers hands are tied Unfortunately they arrest people they're right back out on the street that's that's to me is the biggest problem that these criminals have to be held to accountable especially juveniles the repeat offenders they could I think one suspect had robbed a car 16 times after three times you should be tried as an adult I mean I think that's the only way it's going to stop is if you get punished so the laws needs to change and the attorney general has to take a stronger stand on this because this is not just happening in New Jersey this is all of Albridge it's terrible I have cameras inside my house outside my house it's terrible that we have to live like this but until the laws change and I think it's important that everyone should write to the governor and the attorney general and say we're fed up I think that's how we'll get get some um action here because it's not the police officers they just constantly arresting the same people over and over what's that oh you just go online you could call your um State uh well Senator Henry's right here in Oldbridge um and also the governor governor Murphy you can look that up online yes and then you could be in um touch with the chief okay okay so like I said I'm you know I'm happy that you guys you know not happy for the reason that you came out but I'm glad that you did come out and um you'll have some open dialogue with uh the chief and you know because we are all very uh safety is a top priority so um anyway um that's really all I have to say I do want to congratulate um the new officer John Robel um way to go and uh the 12 you saywood South baseball team um it's great that we have champions in our uh in our town and that's it I wanted to welcome uh all the students back to a great year uh and I hope everyone has a a great fall thank you thank you um councilman dealma thank you congrats to our new officer uh Tom maybe we could put him in Wood Haven Drive him around get him used to it uh also congratulations to say with South I know a lot of those coaches personally one of the coaches um played in the same little league as I did played actually with my older brother so congratulations to them um it's a great feat one thing I just want to just touch on this Friday night at the Oldbridge High School football game the student Senate with the Maria Taro Foundation are holding a holiday toy drive to benefit the JFK University Medical Center so anyone who is around right those games get pretty crowded on Friday nights if you are around and you are going to the game please bring if you can an unwrapped toy or gift card to the game all those toys and gift cards will be going towards the JFK University Medical Center I will be there I am planning on bringing a bunch of toys bunch of gift cards as well so I hope to see as many folks come out and with typically get about 3500 4,000 people at a game so if everyone brings one toy we could fill up the box truck that they're having so I'll challenge everybody in the town to see if we can fill that box truck also uh tomorrow is September 11th uh obviously we are having our our event here tomorrow it's one of those weird days for me as and I had family members who were there um I've had friends and good friends parents have have passed away in that uh please keep that date in your in your mind keep those families and those folks that perish in their mind unfortunately I've seen over the past Now 23 years but the I don't want to say the enthusiasm but the recognition of that day and what happened on that day is starting to dwindle let's not make let's make sure that it does not right that day September 11th those morning that morning changed this country profoundly let's make sure that we don't forget it I think about I was talking to somebody yesterday about this similar to D-Day dday seems to be an afterthought to a lot of folks and it shouldn't September 11th should never be an afterthought in what happened in this country so please make sure we keep everybody um that lost someone loved ones friends whatever that may be keep them in your mind tomorrow thank you thank you thank you councilman um councilman Desai short comment good night Oldbridge thank you thank you sir councilman Garcia that was kind of short I'll be a little bit longer I also want to congratulate our first uh our new appointed police officer let's keep him safe hope he has a long career just keep him safe uh also 12 you baseball team it's always nice to win your first championship they'll always remember this like we said earlier the coach was he was really struck by this and it was a great thing so he's he's an emotional guy it's you never forget your first one so let's hope they have more going forward and 911 as you said is tomorrow let's never forget that's so thank you and have a good night thank you councilman councilman uh Murphy is absent councilman pcti no comment thank you thank you sir Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes first of all it was so nice to see several South um little league and I hope they always have a passion for something to focus on something and have a positive direction in your life because this past few weeks I we had in the center of our town in the courtyard the municipal Alliance um memorial service for all those who's passed from um drug overdoses and it's tragic but that hit me hard but then I went to hack saac from Meridian and it was the black poster project and to see all the people that been affected that overdosed on drugs is absolutely heartbreaking after I went to that that night I didn't sleep very well to see personally all those pictures and read the stories and not only about their families and it's terribly tragic that to think that some people weren't drug addicts they took one pill for thinking it was something else and it was Fentanyl and to think in this country that we have drugs flooding into this country not only from the border you say from the south border they're flying them in they're coming in every border planes are ports and people are dying every day so those people are gone but the people they left behind it's really torturous them for them for the rest of their lives children who've lost parents the effect that it has on children it's very profound so when I look at those kids at this point in their life how happy they they are the things that they have achieved I hope there throughout their whole entire life that someone can find one thing that will really capture them instead of doing drugs because no drug is good and everyone can do something but you one person can take it and have the receptors and honestly they can be addicted for life and it's a life of torture so I keep them in my prayers and I want to thank everyone on the municipal Alliance for doing what they're doing I I want to thank hackin sack Meridian for bringing this project forward and for all the volunteers that were there and it is very very important and so I hope everyone thinks about that I remember you know when they say just don't do drugs but it is a simple thing don't do it find something else to do that will get capped you and give you a passion to move forward in life because life is precious and life is very fleeting so with that said also with what Haven all of us are committed to Public Safety our Police Department is committed to Public Safety what I will have to say it is tragic that people come into this town we want a safe town they come into this town from other areas whether it's New York Newark Philadelphia wherever wherever they come from but it I can tell you case after case where these policemen put themsel in a position to do the right thing arrest people send them to the county and they're released what sense does that make and it puts the policemen in a very difficult situation so they are doing their best but these laws have to change they do have to change it makes no sense if you don't correct someone when they're doing a small crime they get away with it it's a big crime and it just is going to go on and on so we are all with you stand with with you we will do what you want what we can for you but I will also tell you you were speaking about security guards in your community whether it's a homeowner association I'm not really that familiar with it we don't have any jurisdiction over that so that you have to go through your homeowners association and it is terrible that everyone has to Polie so you have to think of these could you imagine thinking that when you were growing up that you had to have cameras outside your house and inside your house this is a totally different world we're living in and it doesn't make much sense and I don't know where we're going but I know our Police Department is doing the best and we are committed to you and but as the mayor has said these laws have to change it is just crazy the criminal has more right than a victim that does not make sense wish you all the best thank you thank you council president yeah I'll just finish by saying also with Wood Haven you have a really good ear in our new Chief and his all all the officers I think his biggest thing is communication as you were saying you know how they used to come out and play ball and you know be active in the community and I think that's his goal to have to be to have you know the opportunity to meet people like he said come to my office so that's a big step I really mean at communication is Paramount and he's here and he's is willing to do that as well as his captains and all his staff as far as the HOA is concerned and you know we saying security and all I don't know what the composition of your board is how much is still um the Builder on your board how much is are you all residents on the board you know because the seats change as the the amount of people are in the homes so sometimes your board might have still the majority of the Builder on there I don't know what the composition is so that's something that you have to look into to see if you have the majority to request things as a board so that's something you can look into as well I don't know who's if any of you are on the home board the Home Association board okay so then check on the composition because if the Builder still has control it's a little bit different okay um as far as things going on in in town uh there's a lot now tomorrow night as we said is 911 I don't know if everyone has been to our Memorial it's right there by the library it's it's absolutely beautiful and I mean as the years have gone by naturally it's just become a place where people like to go to reflect so if you have an opportunity if you can't go tomorrow night then please by all means stop there it's just a very it's a very very very pretty place and Oldbridge day you know September 21st for the families please come out that's why we try to do as much as we can to encourage you know everyone in town to get together and provide provide those kind of of events for people so please do and of course congratulations to the new officer we we hope this is as we said we're growing and that's a good thing and the of course the baseball team as well Brian Burns and the coaches the kids that was fantastic so everyone just have a very very good week thank you very much okay we're gonna go thank council president we're gonna go close session yeah at this time um there's a resolution to exclude the public be it resolved by the township Council of the township o that the public shall be excluded from this meeting pursuant to njsa 10 colon 4-13 for matters regarding litigation update versus the township of Oldbridge be it further resolved that this meeting shall not reconvene this evening and the minutes other records of this discussion shall be available to disclose to the public when the need for its exclusion from public no long longer exists as determined by vote of the governing body at a public session I have a motion second who Moved Dr Greenberg Bell and then second it was Mr auli Mr auli so I'm calling for the vote Mr roll call Mr ASI yes Mr Carol yes Mr dama yes Mr Desai yes no is that what you said yes oh Mr Garcia yes Mr Murphy is absent Mr pasini yes Dr Greenberg Bell and president soar yes so moved yes eight yes one absent yep so at this juncture we need to e e e e