##VIDEO ID:8m8O6sYCd00## time like I said she spoils us usually uh there's always a usually a goodie bag for the holidays whatever the holiday is she does a little good even good evening I want to welcome you to the 2025 Sparta Township reorganization meeting I want to welcome our Council Danel Chell Dean blumetti and Neil Clark and uh welcome our Council elect Marjorie Murphy and Mark Scott and our Township manager Jim Zep this meeting is called to order notice is going to be given adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the public and to the Press on January 2nd 2025 and compliance with provisions of the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 197 5 this meeting is called to order at 6:03 p.m. I'm going to ask everyone to stand up and do a salute to the flag pledge Al alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the one nation under God indivisible Justice thank you at this time I would like to ask Council elect Mark Scott to meet me here in the front to be sworn in I'm gonna have you stand to my left your left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me I Mark Scott I Mark Scott 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 the state of New Jersey conit constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same bear true faith and aliance to the same and to the governments established in the United States to the government established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people and in this state under the author of the people and that I will faithfully impartially and justly and I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of the office of councilman perform all the duties of the office of councilman according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations need you to uh sign sign your name here and then put your address can you want to say something address no yes okay okay you said you wanted to say something I just wanted to say something thank you for coming tonight and thank for thank you for all your support I just wanted to thank all the residents of Sparta for showing their support from Margie Murphy and myself two years ago the citizens of Sparta overwhelmingly elected Chella bti and Clark the message was stop Paving over Sparta once again in 2024 overwhelmingly the people of Sparta have spoken again the message was stop Paving over Sparta protect our water protect our open space I hope the individuals appointed to the statuto boards tonight and the current members of the planning and zoning boards will take heed to What the residents of Sparta desire the town's people of Sparta recognize professionals guiding us do not represent their Vision they were put in place by administrations prior to this political sea change in Sparta a c change that flipped this entire Town Council in two election Cycles change is needed at the professional level our professionals must be people whom volunteers on the board can rely on for accurate well-balanced information opinion and advice I would cite many instances where that not as that has not been the case over the past several years this must stop our professionals need to be swiftly replaced by lawyers planners Etc that will fulfill their duties professionally keeping the board and council members fully informed and reflecting the desires of the people we have many areas in need of Redevelopment in Sparta in addition to DCA moderate and low-income housing challenges ahead we've got a lot to do let's keep Sparta green protect our water our fresh air and maintain the wonderful Community Sparta is today I hope we can all pull in the same direction to accomplish the will of the great majority of Spartans once again thank you for your support we look forward to being your trusted servants thank you thank you all Council elect Marjorie Murphy would you please join me here congrats thank you sir okay if you could uh place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand I Marjorie Murphy 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 the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people and in this state under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully impartially and justly and I will faithfully parly and justly perform all the duties of the office of councilwoman perform all the duties of the counsil of the office Council woman according to the best of my ability so help me God according to the best of my ability so help me God [Applause] congratulations for is it true that if you come to the first meeting you have to come to all the rest it is at this time I would like Council to take nominations for mayor actually at this time i' like to call a point of order um I am not comfortable conducting business here without an attorney present uh I've received advice that any uh Business Week actually action that we take here uh might not even uh be valid if without uh an attorney present while we're taking it so I'm going to make a motion that we adjourn until such time that an attorney is the present to guide us in our meeting I I ref I disagree Dan we have an attorney I'll second this we have a con I'm going to Second this week let's have a conversation we need some motion so the motion's made and accepted now we can debate the motion yes what what is your we are conducting business without an attorney and I'm not comfortable doing that So the plan is to appoint an attorney once the people who are sworn in as both mayor uh and Deputy Mayor which hasn't been done yet so I think what we should do is continue with the swearing in uh for a mayor and Deputy Mayor and then we intend to move resolution a which is the appointment of an attorney up to the front of the meeting yeah I understand that but an appointment does not give us an attorney we don't have an attorney until we have a signed contract with someone and the appointment process begins the process of negotiating and tendering a contract so um without a contract we don't have an attorney uh and again the the appointment process starts the count the the process of of of negotiating a contract so just the simple appointment of an attorney doesn't give us an attorney so what what is your motion and then we we can vote on it motion is that we adjourn until such time we have an attorney present to guide us okay we have a motion to adjourn until we have such time um so may I have a I'm sorry the the clerk is can I can do a was there question was there was there a contract reviewed yet by it do we have a contract ready to sign I guess um well anyway that contract shouldn't have been ready to sign because we haven't um um anyone yet but anyway we can proceed with the vote we do have a contract uh it's the same format that we follow it is not signed yet um it's very similar to the prior years contracts that we utilize um usually as Council material uh denoted uh we do the appointment uh which authorizes the mayor to then sign off on the contract and then the professional would then sign the contract making it valid so we're saying we we negotiated a contract with someone who wasn't uh didn't have a council's approval um do you know who from the council authorized this we took the P we took the the proposals from all the professionals as we've done in the past and most of these proposals are are duplicative of the prior years uh however it is different this year with the uh uh attorney being different however the proposals are very similar in language and in uh costs right so we we negotiated this contract with a party that hasn't been appointed yet by the council that's what we're saying correct um and this was done without the council's approval um no this this was discussed prior I I I was aware that this was going to happen and we do have these gray areas where we don't have an attorney present right now uh until such time one is appointed um okay I'm not I'll be honest with you I'm not sure how you avoid it um and you'll have a full and fair opportunity to uh vote yes or no on the appointment of the council so you can exercise your prerogative to do so I understand then there is a process by which uh you can select a an attorney or anyone in professional uh without going to RFP and that and and you simply put it up for a vote and that's and and making it transparent and that is what we intend to do tonight okay um I also would site New Jersey public contracts law njsa 40 A- 11-5 which states that the governing body wishes to award a contract with by public bid the resolution must State the supporting reasons for the award and as I read the resolution a there is no reason for the award without an open public bid so I don't see in my understanding that version a or that resolution a is not a valid resolution but without an attorney here I'm I'm not at Liberty to really say that I my my reading of the law is correct and that's one of the reasons why I'm not comfortable proceeding without an attorney anyway the motions made and we can move on do we do we have a motion um I'll take a roll call vote councilman Scott your vote it's a motion to adjourn until such time attorney councilman blumetti abstain councilman chello yes councilwoman Murphy no councilman Clark no so the motion has failed um we can proceed with uh my understanding uh Madam clerk is that we now move to a nomination for mayor and Deputy Mayor so the floor is open for nominations for mayor I nominate Neil Clark for the position of Mayor may have a second please I second it uh all those in favor say I the clerk is aoll call vote uh there's a motion on the floor to appoint Neil Clark as mayor there's been a second uh councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti yes councilman shirell I abstain from conducting vots today because I'm not comfortable conducting business without an attorney present so I will abstain councilwoman Murphy yes councilman uh Clark yes there three there's three yeses um um councilman uh Clark is now mayor Clark [Applause] I take a picture you place your left hand on the Bible place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me I Neil W Clark I Neil W Clark do solemnly swear you 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 the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same I will bear Fair truth and allegiance to the Saints and to the governments established in the United States and the governments established in the United States and to the state under the authority of the people the state under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully impartially and justly and I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of the office of Mayor perform all the duties of the the office of M according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations thank you [Applause] good evening everyone thank you for coming out and I really appreciate and I'm kind of humbled by uh this nomination and to be your mayor again um if you're wondering what this pen is um because I am wearing the council pen but this is uh the pen of my Scottish Clan uh called the MERS and the Gaelic thing that it stands for is I will never forget that's what it means and what I will never forget is three years ago um looking up and there were um four people who were up there who are no longer here and one of them decided not to run three of them did and the voters in an act of boldness and courage and optimism voted for new people and that took a lot of optimism a lot of boldness a lot of courage and I won't forget it and I don't think anyone up here should either because as I said during the the campaign when I ran we are simply a vessel for the will of the people and we cannot forget that and it should not be lost on any of us that we are all probably just one vote away from not being up here anymore and so my hope is that this Council will work together but that we'll also be committed to listening to the people and trying to do the best we can to effectuate their will because that's what they entrusted us to do and so thanks again uh I welcome councilman Scott and councilman Murphy I look forward to working with you I look forward to again working with councilman Bluey and councilman chero and let's have a fantastic year and do what the people want thank you all right so the next up is uh we need to make a a nomination for Deputy Mayor and I will make a motion that Margie Murphy um be nominated as Deputy Mayor I'd better second so may we have a uh roll call vote for Margie Murphy as Deputy Mayor councilman Scott yes councilman ledi yes councilman shirell Iain mayor Clark yes congratulations wa she hey if you could please place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me I Marjorie Murphy Mary to solemnly swear to 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 the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the government established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people and in the state under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and partially and justly and I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of the office of Deputy Mayor perform all the duties of the office of Deputy Mayor according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] just just put your name here I just wanted to thank our our Township of Sparta my family and the longevity that my family has been here and the love in my heart that I have for this town that Mark Scott and I will do and the rest of the council will do the best that we can to keep this beautiful town as it was meant to be the reason our families moved here in the 40s my nephews born here my stepchildren born here and all of our children to come and we will do the best in our hearts and in our willpower to keep it that way with all of your support I thank you very very much congrats again all right tonight we do have a uh bunch of appointments to make and I uh thank everyone for braving this uh very cold night and uh hope hopefully you will be warmed um by the public service that uh a lot of the people who we appoint tonight are doing uh most of these positions almost all of them are volunteer and unpaid and it means these folks are taking time out of their lives away from their families uh to serve their community and for the common good and so I hope just thinking of that uh we you'll be able to brace yourself when the doors open up and you have to now go outside um later on tonight um just as a um point of order we I think we're going to have some changes to the agenda and so I think the best way to handle that is a motion to amend uh the agenda for the following items we will move resolution a to the beginning of the meeting before we do the appointments which is the appointment of an attorney uh next we will uh Delete the um appointment of the film committee as we do not yet have an authorizing ordinance we will do that at our next meeting uh and the Third change to the agenda is for the state plan endorsement um as of now the constituency for that is uh undetermined um understand there's no active business at the moment and so the best thing is to just um not uh deal with that tonight so again it's we're moving resol resolution a first we will not be considering the film committee appointments nor the state plan endorsement appointments so that the motion is to amend the agenda uh for those items so so I'll I'll make a motion that we amend the agenda uh as previously described I just need a second I will second that all those in favor say I I I I'll will abstain okay we have four eyes and one abstention okay as promised we were going to move resolution a to the beginning may I have a motion to appoint uh Township attorney uh and it is the Kennedy's law firm and on and dash so the motion is for resolution a uh the approval of Kennedy's and on and Dash as Township attorney I second that we need a first to have a motion so I'd like to make a motion to nominate Kennedy's law firm and a n Dash to be the Town Council attorney and I will second that motion all those in favor say I um points to discuss for that before we move on to vote Point number one is something I mentioned before that according to New Jersey contract law that the if you award a contract that an open public bid the resolution must State the supporting reasons for the award do we I don't see them listed in the resolution so um if we want to amend the resolution to add the reason I think now's the time to do so we can add the supporting reasons are uh Mr Dash comes from one of the the most one of the largest and most successful law firms not only in the state of New Jersey but also the United States uh Mr Dash is also has a degree in as a municipal lawyer uh he has also represented the town the um Lake Mohawk for the past two years and so he is imminently qualified for this position so just to be clear you're making a motion to add that language that you just talked that you just mentioned those are the supporting reasons if you want to shorten it to given the the competence and skill of uh both the Kennedy's law Kennedy's law firm and Mr Dash those would be the shorthand versions of the reasons so you need to make a motion to amend the resolution with those comments in mind right so a motion to amend the resolution to add the supporting reasons as I articulated on the record uh for Mr Dash and the Kennedy's Law Firm to be the township attorney that I'll make the motion I just need a second I'd second it uh all those in favor say I iing uh so we have four uh eyes and one abstention for the supporting for the amendment and the second point I want to make is that um it states in uh resolution Point number three that prior to becoming a vendor for the township all vendors are required to disclose possible conflicts so that the municipality May assess and prevent potential conflicts was the were these uh conflicts disclosed and submitted to us prior to us submitting the contract or prior to us reviewing the contract uh yes they were all right thank you okay now that the uh the motion has been amended uh I'll make a motion for uh the approval of resolution a uh Kennedy's law firm and on and Dash as Township attorney I second as amended as amended as amended as am we have a second all those in favor say I I I'm obing and a no okay so we have three okay I'm just gonna take a roll May a roll call vot yeah we'll do a roll call councilman Scott yes councilman bledi no councilman Chell I'm abstaining Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes the motion has approved uh at this time I would recommend that uh an and dash come to uh the front and welcome thank you the okay now um with that resolution that's usually out of order but we we we're now going to move to the council appointments um and the first uh Council appointment we have is with our cultural Affairs subcommittee and so um I will make a I move that the following individuals be uh members of the cultural Affairs subcommittee Glenn Allen Neil sourwine Chris Tut Hill Steve hespelt Tiffany Cody Stuart leedman Linda kums Bill Wright Angela kaminska ridzik and the council representative be Daniel tiello so that's the motion may I have a second please I'll second that uh all those in favor say I I I I abstain the cultural Affairs subcommittee has been filled next up uh we have the environmental commission I will uh make a motion to appoint Barbara kosala to the environmental commission and that the council liaison be Margie Murphy a second all those in favor say I I I we have four eyes and one exstension okay next up we have the library board there is a reappointment I move that we appoint Dorene SC to the library board I need a second second I second that all those in favor say I I I I abstain we have four eyes and one exstension and um the Bayer is automatically the ex officio member of the library board next up we have the municipal Alliance and actually this reminds me before I get there um I Chief mccarrick would normally be here uh tonight but he has a colleague uh someone that he came to the academy with uh who is getting uh nominated or installed as the chief of police and so as an act of Brotherhood and fellowship he is there but I see that we have you know our officers here tonight and so um but uh Mr Chief chair uh Chief mccarrick sends his regards and that we'll see him next Tuesday so that remind me with the municipal Alliance so I move that we reappoint the following individuals Jeffrey mccarrick Steve Guido Dr Jane Esposito Jennifer derck Doug Layman and D Don Kumer and the council liaison Mark Scott so I need a second I second that all those in favor say I I I I'll obain uh we have four eyes and one exstension okay mayor mayor there usually also um there's there's two vacancies yeah at this time we don't have U anyone to fill those vacancies so for the chair for the co-chair the council uh representativ a chair and then a co-chair usually like there's two of them oh for the but of the current members do do the current members need to be no it's usually Council someone Council like there's two council members so if one can't be there yeah we just okay uh right now we just have one we can we'll decide at a later date about the second council member that's fine okay next up we have have a planning board and uh we will do this uh by each um specific class as opposed to all together and so um my understanding is the mayor's design is not one it's one I simply designate it's not subject to a motion and and so I will be designating Robert Bleckley uh as my as the mayor's designate for the planning board uh next up we have class three so I will make a motion that we appoint Mark Scott as the class 3 representative on planning board uh may I have a second please I second that uh Madam clerk may have a roll call vote councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti no councilman cherell I will abstain Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes um Mr councilman Scott is now the class three member of the planning board next we have the class four uh I make a motion that Joan Ferman um be nominated as the class 4 uh representative on planning board may I have a second please second Madam clerk may have a roll call vote you have a discussion please on this need discussion okay so um people need to realize that um there is a proposal to move the environmental commission role which historically has always been a class two and the proposal this evening you'll hear in a few minutes is going to be to make miss dumbar our environmental commission member who's required to be on the planning board a class four member alternate and there's a difference between class 4 and a class four alternate um the alternate does not vote unless someone is not there so there's a difference in terms also between the terms of service that's a discrepancy the environmental commission person serves for 3 years and Alternate Ser serve for two the um you know the intention in the way this is written the environmental commission representative is included in the traditional class 4 description all the details all the writeup and responsibilities in the later alternate section it does not talk about that um you know we all of up here have fought for four or five years or more to make the environmental commission have an impact a voice and have it be stronger have it be larger I see some members in the audience if another Council prior to us ever tried to do this you would scream bloody murder that we're moving environmental commission down to an alternate without a vote uh we talked about keeping this a beautiful Town Mark you talked about protecting open space stop Paving over Sparta protect water all of us ran on those vales and now we're saying we're going to put an environmental commission member on the planning board without a regular vote um we've worked hard to give the environmental Commission of voice we stand for open space we stand for responsible development we stand for um taking care of our resources and our quality of life so to put an environmental commission person on as an alternate is not the right move I don't think we stand for that and that's upsetting and I've had I've served for two years it's probably one of the most ridiculous things I've heard in two years that says a lot so it's I think it's appalling if we go with that I propose we move it around leave the environmental commission chair as a regular class 4 alter we could do this easily with the same people getting in we can alter and put Miss Ferman as mayor's design we could put Mr Bleckley as an alternate we still the same composition but we don't degrade and diminish environmental commission role so I would like that to be discussed I would like to add to that uh point that um I don't know if any planning board actions without a voting member of the planning board who was an environmental commission member would even be valid I I don't think Mark and Margie you want on your first night to be known as that one of your first votes is putting environmental commission person without a vote on our planning board which is critical to what we do I I think just to be clear I think there's the issue arose because uh Miss Dunbar um who was our class to on the environmental commission um she was not as a class to unfortunately um that was in uh violation of of our ordinance 18.3 point2 because in order to be a Class 2 uh representative there's other requirements that must be met um and we didn't meet them and so we couldn't have her an environmental commission as class two so that then we had to find a place uh for Miss dumor again we are not saying that no one on the environmental commission can be on the planning board they're still on the planning board um as an alternate um member and they're still on there and they still have a voice um and there's nothing in the uh Municipal land use law that requires that they be a non- alternate member and so due to the configuration um that's we have put um Miss we will be putting Miss Dunbar as alternate to but we're not there yet and so if you'd like to make a motion to um for your proposal we we can certainly entertain that councilman blue M sure I I propose and a class 4 a regular class for member has full voting rights and Miss dumbar can fit there we have an opening there's no valid reason why she shouldn't be there as the environmental commission person my proposal is to put Miss Ferman who's done a good job over the last year as a mayor's designate put Miss Dunbar as the in the open class 4 regular position and in the alternate put the new member who wishes to join the planning board it's a good way most new members join as alternates and they get experience so I don't recall did we have a motion and which was seconded to put uh to nominate Joan Ferman we're going to take what we'll do is we'll take uh councilman blue Med's motion first which is was that motion seconded though I don't know I haven't wasn't it wasn't seconded okay so does the person that made the motion retract it whoever made the motion to appoint Jon firman as the class four person should retract before we vote on another I I will retract it as a matter of order and simply allow U councilman Bluey to have his motion first at which point after that uh determine whether it succeeds or fails um go forward with the motion that I started with motions made motions made I I will second it just to bring it to the vote okay we have a motion uh to have as class for Christine Don bore councilman Scott no councilman blumetti yes councilman shello I will abstain Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark no we have one yes we have two yeses two NOS M and uh one abstention yes okay so that if there's not a majority for that motion excuse me pardon I we are saying that let me just to be clear we're saying that we're going to that Joan Ferman is not going to be put into class 4 the the the motion is to put in Li of um of Joan Ferman to put in uh Christine Dunbar into the class 4 position that's the motion it was just defeated and Joan would be the mayor's design in the class one in the class one yeah and the term length on the class one it's annual it's one year okay but there are there are openings coming up next year as well to move her into a four if that's the intention of the majority of well I think the vote was two yeses two NOS exstension so that the motion fails okay I can I change my vote no no it's yeah it's not it's not necessary the motion fails okay okay then we need a we need a point of legal confirmation here though because there was a discrepancy that talks about the environmental commission chair role yeah being for three years the alternate role is for two years how do we reconcile that there's an inconsistency the spirit of how this was written is and if you read it and even see how it's laid out this Spirit of it is that the environmental commission person is a key role in the planning board and it's listed with the regular class four members down below is when they talk about alternates that the planning board may choose to have so how do you reconcile that okay so the the um law division in 1996 in a decision known as petrick versus the city of Jersey City planning board indicated that firstly this construction of the provision that allows for environmental commission member to sit on the planning board which is njsa 40 colon -1 does not obligate the municipal land use law to require a an environmental commission member to sit on the planning board in that case in fact the planning board took a vote without the uh presence or membership of a environmental commission member there was an objection as to whether or not that vote should stand and the Court ruled that it may stand without the planning board member because section 23 a of the municipal use law does not require a environmental commission member to sit on the planning board although it's permissive as the council is currently considering it it is satisfying both the environmental Commission Section statute as well as the municipal land use law by putting a class 4 class four alternate member as the environmental commission this would be no different respectfully councilman uh as to how the council previously conducted with respect to the class two uh as a environmental commission member and so as far as the terms are considered the terms are going to flow from the uh ultimate appointment which is the first decision and the second decision that will the terms would follow from that and of course U the council May revisit those terms and designations as they come up for vote again Mr Dash can you clarify I believe misspoke you said it's not a requirement for the plan board to have an environmental commission member that is untrue even our ordinance States it if you want to read it so the the court 40-56 D1 and it's in our ordinance maybe that adds more layers on to what the state minimum requires so the so the court in petric versus Jersey City planning board indicated that section 23 of the municipal land use law does not require that a member of the environmental commission serve as a member of the planning board it is permissive it interpreted it to be permissive in a larger framework outside of the plain language of the statute doesn't our ordinance state that it must it shall and must be there it it ordinance it does but the court no I'm not talking about litigating court I'm saying our ordinance wasn't so that the environmental commission member must be on the plan no actually it does not under New Jersey star decisis which is the which is the mechanism for how courts decide preemption a common law decision on this issue this issue the very issue you are raising was raised in this case and the law division in that case ruled in that case that notwithstanding the language of the statute it is viewing it as permissive that was the language I quoted from the case that 40 colon 55 d-23 does not require that a member of the environmental commission serve as a member of the planning board so you're you're positing that all that our our ordinance 18-32 for under the planning board composition is not in compliance with the state regulations and if that's the case do we evaluate this nomination under our own ordinances or under the state's ordinances there are there there will always be instances in which a statute may not be the most articulately drawn as you will find for example with the class one designation the state statute provides that the class one design shall be the mayor or the mayor's design that wasn't the question what was the question the our owned ordinances eight paragraph 18-32 m3.2 state that the environmental commission member must be in the planning board as a class two or class 4 you're you're suggesting that the state regulations state that that's not necessary which one Trump's you're saying that we should be governed by our own ordinances or the state's ordinances we should be governed by how the court has interpreted the ultimate requirements of both statutes the court has decided in this instance the the municipal land use law per its language until this this is a good case today that case stands for the proposition that the environmental commission member is not a requirement but however as the mayor indicated the council is making every attempt to comply with both the state statute and the municipal uh land use law so our own ordinance is incorrect as I indicated there may be instances where it's not the most arly drawn well so when this was designed by our residents who were volunteering to be on a council Like We Are Tonight you're saying they made a mistake and that we've been following this for this long and it doesn't count um this is a spirit of what Sparta wanted on them right I mean sure just so we we are clear um i i m dumbar is being proposed to be on the planning board but as an alternate member and and uh attorney Dash is there any Prohibition in the municipal land use La against a member of the environmental commission being on the planning board as an alternate there's not okay and would we comply with the statute if we put Miss dumbar as an alternate in class 4 would we have effectively a member of the environmental Commission on the planning board yes I think consistent with the the the case that is on point you would be in compliance so we're going to go for the minimum necessary that's good for Sparta I mean we're sustainable bronze we're going for it again this is what we're striving towards I thought so we're going for the minimum necessary we're going to interpret this just how we want to make whatever other ends means just you know just by the end I guess I'm not sure there's other ideas here why we're doing this I don't see why we would prioritize uh the needs of a new member or an alternate over over our environmental commission uh we are focusing on complying with this our both our stat the state statute and the ordinance and we are doing so by uh having uh a member of the environmental Commission on planning board so no mistake about that let me ask a question if we put if we kept the environmental commission member as a a CL a regular class 4 are we violating any statutes or ordinances we are not but it's time to move on uh your motion has failed uh we we will now return to the motion okay just so you know you have to live with this this is a a big decision it doesn't look good for Sparta thank you okay the motion is to um appoint Joan Ferman as the class 4 member of the planning board may I have a second second um Madame clerk may have a roll call vote councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti no councilman cherell I will abstain from conducting business today Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes Joan Ferman is the class 4 representative on the planning board we next have a uh vacancy uh into alternate one and I will make a motion that we move our alternate 2 member Brian Zimmerman into the alternate one position so that's the motion is to move Brian zimon from alternate 2 to alternate one second so discussion let me be clear so not only we putting the environmental commission person as an alternate now that probably won't get the vote we're going to put them second in line so we need two planning board members absent during an application or for development before that person can vote which rarely happens if you want to look at the attendance records we have really dedicated volunteers so I think our alternates right now are wonderful not nothing against them personally but if you're so is that the proposal put them even so 11 members put the environmental commission 11th Mr zimman has indicated he'd like to be up mve to alternate one if you'd like to make a motion to have actually like to call a point of order here I believe the AL the designations of alternates 1 and two are mayor designation only and not voted by the council that's correct okay so there is no vote the mayor simply does it by Fiat okay so the the AL alternate uh would be uh Brian Zimmerman alternate one or two you have to alternate one would be um Brian Zimmerman and Alternate two would be Christine Dunbar and I believe we still have a vacancy for class two yes we do we do have a vacancy for class two and at this time um we will uh that will remain unfilled because there's certain requirements before you can comply with class two um and so I think we will leave that vacancy up until we get applications and to ensure that we can comply with the state statute and our own ordinance um what we here to for had not done so I think we are done with the planning board that right councilman I mean um attorney Dash correct okay next up we have the recre committee uh we have one reappointment um or we have more than one reappointment I will move to reappoint the following individuals an leic Leanne Pitzer Arlene Kaine and Christina Bole and the council representative will be Neil Clark so that's the motion may I have a second second all those in favor say I I stain uh we have four eyes and one exstension for the um Recreation committee next up is the senior advisory committee uh I make a motion that we reappoint the following individuals Maryann dillworth Brian Grace Arlene Kain Christina Weiss and the council representative will be Margie Murphy may I have a second please second all those in favor say I I I will obain we have four eyes and one exstension next we have the zoning board and I believe we there's a total of of three vacancies there uh they are one because to fill the unexpired term of of Mark Scott uh next is I believe um they're not designated but Mr fley is up his term has expired and we also have um we will likely have a vacancy in alternate one so I'd like to make a motion to fill the unexpired term of Mark Scott I'd like to nominate Landon taneri who is a current member of our zoning board uh and he's also on our Trail committee and other he's been a very outstanding member uh of our zoning board so the motion is for Landon tener to fill the unexpired term of Mark Scott may I have a second please I second that all those in favor say I I I'll abstain we have four eyes and one exstension next I'd like to make a motion to appoint Jennifer Paha uh who would take the expired term of of Mr Finley uh she is currently an alternate member of our zoning board if I'm correct so the motion is for Jennifer Paha uh to be on the zoning board to take the vacant term of um the expired term of John fley may I have a second please second all those in favor say I I I I obain four eyes and one exstension next uh because we are moving uh Miss Paha from an alternate position to now a full-fledged member of the zoning board that creates an alternate position um we did get some um interest in this and I will uh make a motion to nominate Mike Steinberg may I have a second a second okay and just so you know Mr Steinberg um came to me with and I looked into his background uh he is a demand manager uh for a large corporation has a lot of experience with Logistics and uh warehousing and other issues that that may become relevant to the zoning board in the months and years to come so I thought he was a um a very good member I've spoken with him I gave his number uh to some of my fellow council members to reach out to them and I don't know if they did or not um so um that I just wanted to let people know who Mr Steinberg is and I think he will be you will find him to be a very um smart and valuable member of the zoning board so we have a first and a second um all those in favor say I I I I'll abstain we have four eyes and one exstension so Mr Steinberg is now in the alternate position alternate one position I believe of the zoning board mayor does that mean means that there's still going to be an alternate to vacancy correct yes there's still a vacancy and we'll have to see if that can get filled and I I see that we have uh our zoning board chairman here who's been very helpful and and and U been very done a great service to this community and I'm sure he can help us uh beat the bushes and find someone so uh next up we have the business development uh committee and I will uh make a motion to appoint the following individuals Patrick mccaran Greg Rosenfeld Brad Carlson William CIO Dean rhau Nicole franor and James malero and the council liaison will be Mark Scott and Dean blumetti may I have a second please I'd like to uh make a motion to amend that that and appoint also Justin caneles as a member of the business development committee okay um so the motion is to amend to add Justin canellis to the business development committee uh in addition to the names that I listed so that's the motion before uh Council I will I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt um can I add another amendment well first we need to vote let's take that Amendment yeah so I will second the the motion to add Justin canel all those in favor say I so Mr motion is as amended um and yes would you like to make a motion to add another individual yes I'd like to nominate Ryan Caruso to be on the business development committee I will second that motion M um uh councilman Scott did Mr Caruso send an application to the township stating that he was interested in being on this committee I don't recall receiving one he will need to do that okay so he'll do that yeah so we will um that motion I will not get a second and uh Mr cruso if you wish to be a member of the business development committee I encourage you to submit your application and we can bring that up at another time so um I will read the names again uh so it's clear uh and we'll include Mr canel so the motion is to appoint the following individuals to the business development committee Patrick mckernin Gregory Rosenfeld Brad Carlson William CIO Dean rhau Nicole franor James malero and Justin caneles uh may I have a second please a second all those in favor say I I I I abstain and one exstension so we have four eyes and one exstension uh for the members of the business development and it was it clear uh Madame clerk that our Council representatives are Mark Scott and Dean blumetti because yes I do have that down okay good next up we have uh various government Liaisons um I will um make a motion um that the following council members will be uh represent will be the government liaison with the county of Sussex uh Mark Scott and Dean bledy do we have a second I'll second that all those in favor say I I I I I'm abing so we have four eyes and one exstension Mark Scott and Dean buedi will be our government Liaisons with the county of Sussex uh I will make a motion to appoint myself as the liaison with the Board of Education may I have a second I'll second that all those in favor say I I I I'm abstaining and so four eyes and one abstention um I do know we sometimes have two um and we'll at probably a later date figure out who if anyone wants to be the second one next um is a government liaison for Lake Mohawk Country Club I make a motion to appoint myself Neil Clark and Margie Murphy as the liaison to Lake Mohawk Country Club may I have a second please second all those in favor say I I I'm abstaining four eyes and one exstension uh Neil Clark and Margie Murphy are the Liaisons to the Lake Mohawk Country Club next we have our revolutionary 250 committee uh I make a motion to appoint the following individuals Elise Cisco Peter Lichfield Maryanne Francisco Ben thev Lyn Lightner Andrew Buchanan and Stuart sortz and the council representative are Neil Clark and Margie Murphy may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor say I I I Iain okay four eyes and one abstention next we have our uh um newly formed Trails committee uh I move that we uh appoint an lepock Brad Carlson Landon teneri Connor Sole and Neil Clark as the council representative to our Trails committee may I have a second please a second and just so folks know we do have some additional people who have attended the meetings who do have an interest but um they have yet to submit their volunteer applications so that committee will will be will be growing and we'll probably add some people in the in the weeks to come and so we have a first and a second um all those in favor say I I I I uh the trails committee has been filled next up we have the sister cities um committee I move that we reappoint Andrew bu Canan Jeff mccar Stella torus Dave David Costa and Xenon crystalo and Council representative Daniel chello for our sister cities committee second all those in favor say I I I I'll abstain four eyes and one exstension for the sister cities committee next uh I will make a mo uh well the appointment by do we need to vote on the town man on the fire marshal since they've been appointed no it's appointed by the town manager okay um what about uh the appointment of our Emergency Management do we have to vote on that you could we vote on that okay so I'll make a motion uh that we appoint Jeffrey mccarrick as our Emergency Management coordinator and Thomas McIntyre Jr as our Deputy Emergency Management coordinator may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor say I I I I abstain and the town manager just me mentions that he that he's appointing uh Town manager appoints the two yeah she just thank you roxan so as part of my authority I'm going to appoint Tom McIntyre Jr as our fire marshal and I'd like to appoint Samir sabba as our assistant Fire Marshal thank you so next we have the appointment of the sparta Health Department uh liaison uh we have uh two vacancy for the liaison I will make a motion to appoint Margie Murphy as the health department liaison second uh second um all those in favor say I I Iain we have four eyes and one exstension if if we find a need that we need another Council EA I know there's two vacancies we can fill that another time and we've already taken care of the Fire Marshals is that right okay yes great right next I have a motion to designate for advertising media print the New Jersey heral daily and Sunday edition the sparta independent and the Star Ledger may I have a second I'll second all those in favor say I I I I'll obain four eyes and one exstension next uh I make a motion to designate as our advertising media for electronic the New Jersey Herald the sparta independent and tap into Sparta may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor say I I I and did you not me I don't think you mentioned the patch yeah the the patch is is not does not have a presence in in Sparta um so we there's no need to to include them okay next is to designate the council meetings uh I make a motion that we designate the council meetings the 2nd and fourth Tuesday of each month at 700 p.m. at the municipal building may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor one question discussion point uh do we need to exclude any dates traditionally if this Falls around a holiday or in advance we sometimes designate if we know in advance usually they're listed in the agenda the meetings of of the agenda uh and anything that has to be uh cancelled has to be done by notice to newspapers okay okay so we have a first and a second uh all those in favor of having the council meetings on the 2 and fourth Tuesday of each month at 11: p.m. in our Municipal Building say I I I four eyes and one abstention next is a designation of our legal depositories I move that we um have Provident Bank and the state of New Jersey Cash management as our legal depositories may I have a second please a second all those in favor say I I I with four eyes and one exstension for the designation of legal depositories next we've uh we are now at the public session um and this is limited to the resolutions and so if you could take a look at the resolutions and and confine your comments to uh the resolutions again just state your name and address for the record Robert AO um Otto 41 Northshore Trails um I just have a question um Mr blumetti council person blumetti brought up something and it concerned me too so environmental as I understand it is advisory only right um so what what we've decided now is that the one person who is primed for having kind of a voice and we understand that all volunteers or all these committees are volunteer committees planning board gets to actually make decisions environmental just makes recommendations so it doesn't really have any teeth right so what we've decided tonight is to take away the one voice barring two people not showing up to a planning board meeting which is Christine Dunbar knocking her down so that uh we effectively don't have a voice that could actually have a vote is that am I understanding that correctly well Mr AO I will um out of respect for both our friendship and um that that's not related to a resolution but I will I think we we've entertained it I think that um we there is a voice okay still on the you know may maybe not in a capacity that would support that other people support but make no mistake about it there is a member of the environmental Commission on the planning board uh that complies with the enabling statutes for both so I think we've been through that you've been through it and and I know you've given me leeway and since I I will be gone in seconds um but I just want to urge you because I think it was made and I I think you know this but the whole composition of this board um of the council changed because of the people having concerns about lay people the planning board zoning board maybe not able to do their due diligence because they're not professionals maybe relying on professionals that weren't acting the best interests of the Town um so I just would feel better if you could take another look at that can you elevate some positions can you restore that voice or could you just look at some creative way to to ensure that we have more checks and balances than we did in the last couple elections because that's what okay thank you okay thank you thank you thank you anyone else wishing to be heard on the resolutions okay see one we will um move to the resolutions as as we normally do when we have this many resolutions uh we try to um include uh some that don't think require uh much discussion and I will attempt to do that and I I will go slowly um so the the motion would be to approve the following resolutions d f G H I J K L M I'd like to carve out M please okay so l n as in Nancy q r s t u u v w x y z a a BB c c d d e e FF g g i i Madam clerk were you able to get all those I can um okay so the motion is to approve uh the resolutions as read may I have a second please I'll second that all those in favor say I I'm abstaining We Still Still AB absorbing okay I'll take some time yeah if you want to take some time I'm happy to read them again if that would be helpful n can you tell me what we're approving here Professional Service resolution these are contracts correct corre these are correct these are contracts um pursuant to the non-fair and open process under the statute can I at this point cut out a a line item or there be you can make a motion to uh carve it out carve it out which which resolution uh and please give the um the alphabetical for it that would be p is in Paul professional service resolution Township planner that that was not included yeah that's already clared out sorry okay all right so what I did is I just listed the ones that would be included together um and and and P was not one of them Mr Mayor I would submit for your consideration if you could carve out AA oh okay thank you so um we had what I will end up doing is probably retracting so it's clear for the clerk um so we want AA added to the car out and we also um want uh which one you wanted uh m m as in Mary is that right councilman tiell yes okay all right so I will uh read these again um so I would I retract the the prior motion and make a motion that we include the following resolutions together d f g h i j k l n is a Nancy Q R S T U V as in Victor w x y z b b c c d d e e e f f g g may I have a second please I will second all those in favor say I mayor I think you had I I I as well oh I I yeah so all those in favor say I say I I I I I I I have abstained still waiting for you Mr Scott yes I I we have four eyes and one exstension uh for the resolutions uh as read so next we will now consider these resolutions separately uh I will make a motion uh to approve resolution b as in boy may I have a second second all those in favor say I I have a quick question or comment um sure according to New Jersey public contracts law njsa 48 col 11-5 States the governing body wishes to award a contract without an open public bid the resolution must State the supporting reasons for the award so I believe we needed to make an amendment a motion to amend the resolution to State the reason and it shouldn't just be accolades about the recipient it should be a reason why we're rewarding it without a open public bid sure the uh I'm the reason supporting the appointment of the uh Murphy or and Orlando uh is the uh the both the need to have a conflict attorney whenever you have uh a Township attorney uh we we've had Conflict attorneys before uh we are Simply Having a different one this time time the Murphy Orlando firm uh has a our uh Municipal attorneys throughout this uh State uh I know that uh Mr Jason Orlando uh is a accomplished litigator in New Jersey he's a graduate of Harvard Law School um so he would also be probably our special litigation Council so those are the reasons supporting it uh they meet the competence and uh requirements and they also have admitted uh that there is no conflict uh including they've submitted paperwork um that they're in compliance with the state of New Jersey's payto playay regulations so th those are the reasons supporting so you making a motion to add that language to the resolution yes that's the motion so may I have a second please I'll second that I think can I ask what is the um rationale for hiring and having on call a new conflict attorney we've never had one before we haven't had one since I've been here at least um we we have had a um conflict attorney um yeah we have yeah we we have they're not used regularly as you said it's very rare but whenever Council does have a conflict we have a back backup yeah and so it was just to Simply make clear that if a conflict does arise it would be the Murphy Orlando firm that would be handling it as opposed to whoever we had before who was the prior believe it was Ed buac Ed buzak yes and is is there a retainer involved with this or is it just a as build as needed as build and I think the raid is consistent with um the prior conflict council is that right Mr ZB yes yeah any other discussion we have to vote on your Amendment still but I think people wanted a discussion so is if if discussion is over then we can go to a vote okay discussion over um all those in favor of approving resolution D we have to vote on the amendment to the resolution motion to amend as read may I have a second a second all those in favor say I I resolution B has been amended now may I have a motion to approve resolution b as amended may have a second second all those in favor say I I resolution B uh resolution b as amended has been approved with four uh eyes and one exstension next is a motion to approve resolution C which is is the affordable housing attorney to appoint Steve Warner uh of the law office of savos sha as the affordable housing attorney for the period of January 1st 2025 through December 31st 2025 uh may I have a second please second so i' like ask a question on this one sure you have a comment two comments um same same condition applies under njsa 41-5 um if we're avoiding the contract without an open public bid you need the resolution has to state the reason and the reason doesn't need to be that we need that U that um service that's already taken under the consideration of the first Warehouse clause and it I don't believe it should be a statement of the accolades of the recipient it should be a reason why we're awarding it without an open public bid um and my next comment is similar to what I did under asked under resolution a is that um they uh States under the third part of the resolution that the the vendors are required to submit a a disclose possible conflicts uh in advance of signing a contract with that person so I'm wondering if that had taken place so I think the resolution needs to be amended with some language to State why the it's being wed without an open public bid and and also uh to affirm that we have received a statement of the possible conflicts from that firm and attorney okay anything else the other I had my comments no mine are we have or at least up until today or December 31st we had an extremely competent experienced um affordable housing attorney who worked on our last few rounds of affordable housing and has been you know Waist Deep or shoulder deep up through at least today or December 31st so my my concern and my question is why the sudden switch with a January 31st affordable housing crucial deadline because the 28th of Fe of January this Council needs to approve a resolution with the new the new plan the new numbers that we're submitting so my my concern and um question is what's the reason why are we doing this now with only a few weeks left and how is that transition going to work something council is saying the same thing I am they we we want to amend the resolution to State the exact reason why we're why we're making this change without an open public bid according to uh NJ contracts laws okay the uh I will make a motion to amend resolution B of the reasons supporting the resolution are that our prior uh Township attorney uh who was handling the affordable housing is no longer the township attorney um and so that created the need to fulfill it with another uh attorney um the Warner form uh Steve Warner uh some folks have familiarity with him uh has handled uh affordable housing issues for over a decade uh he's one of the preeminent land use lawyers in the entire state of New Jersey um and it has it was drawn to his attention about the deadline he has uh more than said he we can comply with it uh third he has submitted any information about the conflict and about any conflict uh to uh that's in accordance with the statute regarding uh conflicts particularly the pay to-play provision so those are the reasons supporting so the motion is to amend resolution C uh to state the purposes as I identified on the record may I have a second please I'll second that all those in favor say I I I I no I abstain no okay we have three eyes and one no and one abstain ition uh resolution C has passed no that we we voted on the amendment Amendment sorry resolu um so easy to forget it so I'll make a motion to approve uh resolution c as amended may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor say I Iain and no so we have three eyes one no and one abstention for resolution c as amended next is uh resolution e and I will make a motion to amend resolution e to substitute Steve Warner for the professional service for the um land use and Redevelopment attorney consultant for the period of January 1st 2025 through December 31st 2025 in accordance with the contract second all those in favor I have a comment on that um Can can I think we need to amend the language to State why the council is is awarding this contract without a public bid and again not to State restate the reason that is in the first whereare has Clause that we know we know we need one and also not to just restate the accolades of the the recipient it should be a reason why we're making this change without a making this award without an open public bid uh for the reasons previously identified and the appointment of Mr Warner as the affordable housing attorney uh those same reasons apply um additional reasons are that Mr Warner also is serves in a similar capacity to variety of townships throughout the state of New Jersey uh in this capacity he's more than competent and qualified uh to do so um and we are exercising our prerogative to change the uh the land use and Redevelopment attorney uh as we can and all the paperwork that he submitted with respect to the affordable housing also applies here he's in complete compliance with the uh pay forplay provisions and any conflict Provisions so those are the reasons um so the I will that's the motion to amend resolution C uh resolution uh e e do I need a second I will second that all those in favor say I I I I'll abstain no so we have three eyes one no and one abstention uh for the motion as amended for the to amend the motion now we have to take up the motion as amended so I make a motion that we approve resolution e as amended I will second that to approve it all those in fa uh I have a question about the financials on this it seems to read that this one does have a retainer uh a monthly fee that this attorney would receive regardless of hours worked is that correct well that that we are simply these are what Mr ke had uh had previously and so uh Mr Warner has is willing to accept the same provisions and terms uh as Mr kean's and so therefore there there was no need to to change that so um that's why the amounts are are what they are that the previous Council when they appointed Mr keing had agreed to those terms is Mr is that I don't put on a spot but do you know how often this attorney is used and I full disclosure I wasn't aware that we were changing I did receive a proposal from Mr Warner for redevelopment in this capacity I wasn't aware or else I would have had the agenda reflect that I do uh concur with the mayor said that he is reflecting I believe the same fee structure as Mr ke had so the financials remained the same um I wasn't aware we were changing out or else I would have had the agenda changed for that okay ju I don't want to put you on a spot off top of your head though do you recall in the last year does this attorney in this capacity provide us Services every month for to to deserve a retainer just a generic question whether or not we're changing or not he he yes uh he he was very uh uh beneficial to me uh in where I I could basically call out to him on any questions that I had that weren't specific and um he also handled uh very specialized issues with homeowners associations and uh uh some some of the odd issues that would come up um and and that's really why because I I I I believe that this wasn't uh this position wasn't always there but there was a need for it in the past few years and it was created uh along with his uh you know duties as a the board adjuster uh attorney okay and this this uh appointment tonight is not affecting the zoning boards attorney it's the same it's removing their current attorney from this role but they're going to retain their own attorney that's what it sounds like that's up to the zoning board yeah that's what I was getting okay yes okay okay we had a u motion to uh accept resolution it was uh sorry um e as amended yes I second all those in favor say I I I I I will abstain from doing business tonight no okay so we have three I and one no and one exstension uh for resolution e as amended okay I think uh it was councilman chello who wanted to move out uh it was resolution m is in Mary is that right um so it it is a yeah I noticed there was a mistake in the original copy I just wanted to see if it was corrected it looked like it has been um yeah that's correct I noticed the same thing councilman looks like it's been corrected uh and do we currently have a person filling this or an entity filling this role I think that's our incumbent I'm not mistaken yet uh yes this is our our our agency basically in the under the affordable housing we have rental for the affordable housing and we also have sales of affordable housing they're the administrative agent they actually track it all for the township and they also make sure we're compliant with the affordable housing laws as the agent Reynolds cgp and okay thank you cgp andh is the name of the firm yeah they're not a firm they're an agency they're a an administrative agency and they they basically act as the caretakers of of uh our duties as a town to to follow all the affordable housing rules when it comes to rentals and sales and keeping track of of the tenants and they also keep the list the roster list of uh applicable attendants who are applying for the housing they're the ones who administrate it all and they underwrite the COA uh proposed tenant is that what you're saying no they don't underwrite that's that's what we're dealing with right now with Mr Warner and our numbers and all that's this is separate they help us follow the the legislation as is written okay any other discussion with respect to resolution M go see none and uh I make a motion that we approve resolution M as in Mary I will second all those in favor say I I I I'll abstain so we have four eyes and one exstension for resolution M as in uh Mary next excuse me uh next is uh resolution uh o uh I would like to make a motion that we table this resolution uh subject to a um discussion among Council uh at a later date with the need uh for this particular position and also um finding out what this consultant did in the previous year uh typically they consult with the business development committee so I don't think there's sufficient information at this time for us to uh rule on that so the motion is to table resolution o to take up at some other time second all those in favor say I I I I'm abstaining so we have four eyes and one exstension for table o and so at a later date we will take up uh resolution o and we will discuss amongst ourselves and with manager Zep uh when that time period arises next is uh resolution p as in Paul and I would uh like to make a motion to amend the term of this contract uh for uh the appointment instead of a one-year term for the term to begin January 1st 2025 and uh to end on March 31 uh February 28th uh 2025 so the motion is to change to amend resolution P such that the term is from January 1st 2025 through February 28th 2025 may I have a second please second I I have a question sure explain the rationale um this is our planner who is I wouldn't say shoulder deep she's probably way on in ground working probably 24/7 on our January 28th or 31st deadline for affordable housing and she's been here for I don't know 3 to 5 years advising the town and the planning board and is uh doing a you know a wonderful solid job um so I'd like to know the reasons for um proposing a shorter term and having to go through this process again a month sure um the one uh the time period would cover uh uh Catherine Shard through the affordable housing deadline of January 28th um and then also a month even after that I think um the the concern for some members of of of council is uh Mr Mart was previously affiliated with Harbor Consultants which is a large consulting firm uh that has a a huge back office they have a lot of U people and now my understanding is she has formed her own LLC um we're not sure what other support staff that she has but I think it's fair to say it doesn't it's not on par with what they had at Harbor Consultants so we would like to see how this goes under her new venture um so that's the the purpose of limiting it and we can always extend it if we're happy uh in February 28th there's no nothing that prevents us from extending it but I think given the change uh in Mr Miss sod's affiliation I think the prudent thing to do is not to have this for a year contract but to see how it goes uh for the next two months so th that's the reasoning I my view of the firm is it's not a large firm it's all it's all relative I guess but they quite a small firm um second these contracts are not um guaranteed through the end of the year these types right I mean they're as needed 30-day notice I'm sure it's written in that way um just seems lot like a lot to go through without knowing there's a need yet we could always do this whenever okay are there any other discussion with respect to the motion to amend uh resolution P for the term to be January 1st 2025 through February 28th 202 5 Okay C none may I have a second please second okay all those in favor say I I I Iain no okay we have three eyes and one exstension uh now I'll make a motion to approve resolution p as amended may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor say I I I I'm abstaining so as amended uh with I'm sorry councilman sheing I mean councilman bledy was that an i or a no it was a yes okay so we have four eyes and one no for resolution p as amended all right all right next I might need the clerk to remind me of the next one we're taking separately HH is the next one HH I thought AA yeah I think it might be AA a I apologize yes AA okay yes so um I I make a motion that we table the designation of the township for endorsement of State applications and forms or who Mr Mayor I think that yeah that was the the resolution where we wanted for the council's consideration to add language to the effect of that the council shall have the shall be afforded the opportunity but not the obligation to uh provide consent with respect to any decisions made by the township manager I'm sorry that every any decision made by the township manager requires the council's consent I think this is respect to I I I I think this is respect to Grant applications um and so I I don't think it had to do I think you're you're referring to uh one that's later which is I believe I I no the language reads Grant applications as well as construction and operation permit applications related to capital projects involving water sewer drainage and roadway improvements this is much much more than grants I what's the reason for wanting to change this seems like it's creating a lot of extra delays and red tape and the council should be focused on policy not Administration well I I think that the um I think that the concern was to have some degree of notice to the council when uh the manager is acting as an agent for uh when he's acting as endorsement for these Grant applications and the construction operation of permit applications relating to capital projects involving water sewer drainage and roadway improvements anytime an application is submitted the council needs to review and approve it no uh that that it's simply a notice provision that we are aware that it's happening not that we have any approval Authority it's simply to require a notice uh of this otherwise we have no idea whether this is happening or not I me I I could think of one example where somebody in the water department needs to put a permit in for some minor project around town and Mr Zep needs to sign that I I don't I don't need to know about that that's not my role it's not our role we're a policy first time I'm hearing of this for what it's worth um I haven't been suggesting otherwise I give the council uh weekly manager reports every Friday I try to highlight all the uh situations that come upon the town that I think would you would find interesting or it would be beneficial you for you to know in in case a resident should ask you about it um I I I agree the running this town is is is is a feat and um trying to uh you you all are very busy people and to add that check back and it'll it'll slow down the process um I I have no problem communicating all the activities that I do and I I I did that with the Friday reports and I and I thought that was very beneficial I've asked for feedback many times on uh areas that we could improve the process um I'm fine if if you you all want to pass this uh but um I I I do take pride in what what I deliver to you folks and I'm I'm a little surprised okay um no I appreciate that that explanation um I I don't think an amendment is necessary after the I think that it what was helpful is to get that explanation on the record um about what this is and so um I don't have any need I think to amend this uh at all I don't know if any of my other fellow council members do if not I would make a motion to approve uh resolution AA as it's found uh in the agenda I'll second all those in favor say I I I I I will obain we have four eyes and one exstension resolution AA is approved okay what was the next carve out Madam clerk uh I don't believe there is another one HH is the last one I think it was I think we do have did we not carve out um you've done n HH HH is the is yes that's that's the last one yeah and we have I well I I we already took care of yeah so I think the HH um I think in the in the past um we had carved this one out such that it is uh consense for S yeah single okay it has been okay it already has been changed okay good all right so I think that change has been um that for anything that's not a single family residential uh there will be a a notice provision um with respect to that so I think it's it's fine as is uh there's no need to amend it and so the motion is to approve resolution HH as it's uh found in the agenda may I have a second please I'll second uh all those in favor say I I I I'll abstain we have four eyes and one exstension for resolution HH Madam clerk are there any other um resolutions that we carved out that I need to that need to be considered no because uh II was the last one but we already included that okay your original okay and so with that I double checking I make a motion to adjourn may I have a second second second all right we are adjourned thank you for everyone uh for