##VIDEO ID:_G7RuRtP_XU## 5 and council chambers Sparta Township Municipal Building 65 Main Street Sparta New Jersey the time is 7:21 uh the there was a Town Council session that was opened at 6: and then was adjourned uh the regular meeting is uh was opened at again 7:21 all Council meetings are now live stream and can be viewed at the following link www.youtube.com at spart wp/ streams adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the public and press on January 10th 2025 by delivering to the press and posting on the township website a copy of the notice uh Madam clerk may have a roll call councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti yes councilman Chell I'm present Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark here uh please rise to salute the flag pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we have no minutes this meeting and that will mean we go right into the manager's report uh manager Zep could you please present your report thank you mayor good evening mayor council and Sparta residents happy New Year Happy New Year been here thank you that was weak yeah sorry the free rabies clinic for dogs and cats had to be rescheduled to January 25th due to weather events that occurred and our Public Works facility having to be used for that purpose this past Saturday the clinic starts at 1:00 to 3:00 for dogs and 3:00 to 4:00 for cats our public works department started picking up Christmas trees at curbside on January 2nd the trees must be put out at the curb no later than January 20th at 7:00 a.m. for final pickup our tax collector wanted to remind the public that the 2025 Solid Waste bills were mailed out today and that the bill may be paid in full or can be paid quarterly if you prefer please note there's an increase in the annual fee this year the recreation and parks department are preparing for the winter car Carnival scheduled for Saturday February 1st at the Sparta Middle School starting at 1:00 p.m. winter program activity brochure is now available on the website and at the recreation office registration for winter programs begins tomorrow December 11th not December 11th January 11th the sparta seniors enjoyed the New Year's Eve party held on December 30th with 80 participants in attendance we would like to thank the several members of the Sparta High School Key Club who volunteered at the event Chief mccar will now read his portion of the marer report this concludes my report thank you thank you manager Zep thank you mayor thank you councel uh first I would like to uh welcome on behalf of the police department um you know our newest uh council members councilman Scott excuse me and uh Deputy Mayor Murphy we look forward work to working with you and continue to work with the rest of the council we appreciate your support and uh we're here for uh whatever you need for us thank thank you also like to welcome Mr Dash look forward to working with you also thank you the police department has recently purchased six ice water rescue suits and Equipment kits with this equipment it will allow officers to train and using the equipment and safely perform ice water rescues as you may have seen recently in the media there have been several operations throughout the state with these type of rescues whether it was a human or a domestic animal with the many bodies of water amongst our Township I want to ensure that our officers have uh as many as possible we have with this training to uh perform these proper Rescue Tech techniques some of the burglary concerns recently in Sparta Township during the holiday season our Township has endured several unfortunate residential home burglaries and our officers take these incidents very seriously and understand the effects that they have on the victims in the overall community so some of the things that we are doing as a department um we have obviously active Patrols in the neighborhoods you're going to see our cars out there and we're going to activate and and be very uh active with Motor Vehicle Enforcement and why is that is because people who may think about committing a crime and may deter them from doing so when they see us out there obviously um we have overlapping shifts so we have patrols we have cars on the roads at all times we're meeting with the communities I had a recent meeting last night with a with a community um a lot of members came out and we had some great uh dialogue we're going to be posting as we often do safety tips on our social media and our website so obviously keep keep up on that um keeping up on our equipment and Tech technology uh something that's very important um we want to make sure that we're equipped with the best capabilities to not only deter crime but obviously to investigate crime when it happens we have obviously conducting meaningful and thorough investigations our detective Bureau is uh obviously currently involved with many investigations and they'll continue to do so networking with our law enforcement Partners is ever so important um we make sure that we understand and put our information out there to our partners so that they could see some of the things that we're dealing with and they may have specific trends that they're dealing with too that it could be in connection with our uh cases some of the things the state you see there's enhanced penalties for burglary making a burglary now a from a third degree to a secondary degree crime and if it a home invasion it moves it from a second degree crime now to a first degree crime so even the state is seeing the uh the effects on this and taking action and I would like to encourage anyone out there in our Township if they would like to register with our camera system and there's a link on our website and what that is you put in your information stating that you have cameras we keep track of it we do not have a live feed to your camera but what we could do is if we have some type of crime in the vicinity we look where we may have cameras and we'll be able to contact that person either uh quick quicker rather than getting uh boots on the ground and and and wasting time so uh I encourage everybody to do that and what we encourage residents to do is obviously to be vigilant out there uh you have to know your neighbors um good bad different know who they are um you know what they're driving what car should be there talk to them have good relationships with them if you hear something see something call us immediately don't tell us two days later I saw a suspicious car in my neighborhood and you'll follow up on it obviously we'll take that we we'll take that whatever information we can but um time is very pertinent to give that information to us so we could try to intercept um if you're going away don't post things on social media don't post pictures out in a Ru or something that you're away and let everybody know don't don't come to a a council meeting here in public and say that you're going to be away for for three months and give your address it's uh it's not something that you want to put out there all right um again have your uh your neighbors your friends and family check your house if you're away and then uh we also offer uh a bank of property checks from our Police Department on on our website there's a link you go on uh fill out your information when you're going to be away when you're coming back let us know what vehicle is going to be there basic information and an officer will come check your house uh once per day call volume permitting to ensure that everything is uh okay we get out we check the doors look at the windows make sure things uh seem all in order and alarms put your alarms on check your alarms meet with your alarm company make sure things are up to date a lot of times we've had incidents where people thought they had an alarm they didn't it wasn't going anywhere they weren't paying their bill so you got to make sure that you're up to date on those things and the same thing with cameras check your camera systems make sure that they're they're operating you know if they're hardwired make sure they're working they're downloading um you know if you have trail cameras whatever check the batteries check the storage um if you have subscriptions make sure that they're up the date on payment and everything like that and of course if you have any questions about that stuff uh my email is on the website please contact me uh phase two of our crash report I know I talked about this it is completed it will be posted tomorrow on our website uh the results of the study are from the same uh time period January 1 2021 to June 15 2024 same as the first phase of the study um just to be up and uh upfront with this when comparing the first study the second study we noted a couple different things and I'll explain expl why specifically with phase two of the study when we looked at the actual cause of the crash uh we actually go into the actual report it's called the njtr1 report and some of the reported crashes did not result in an actual njtr1 report from the first study and so some of the things that could happen with that is often times somebody will call up and say hey we we just witness a motor vehicle accident crash uh North Village our officers go out there there's nobody there there's no whoever parties were involved they're gone maybe there was no damage they handled it on their own um but that was reported and it's reported as a motor vehicle accident so it's reported as such in phase one of the study but it doesn't have an actual report so there is no cause which is part of the phase two study other things are a lot of times we border a lot of different towns as you know with our large uh area here um we could get sent to the area of let's say Route 15 north um at the Lafayette border the crash may have occurred in laf yet we respond but we don't actually do the accident because it's not in our jurisdiction it would be State Police so it's still a response uh which is again phase one of the study um other things are that could be motor vehicle incidents as opposed to a motor vehicle crash the difference is uh the amount of damage um there could be no damage we get there it's reported as an accident um but it's actually just an incident and reported as such so I will explain that in a letter on our website on how that works secondly in the second phase of the study um we looked at private property so some crashes a lot of crashes were reported on private properties such as parking lots schools so on and so forth um with the first reporting it was reported as a roadway so let's say if you uh we had an incident uh motor vehicle crash at Sparta High School um in Phase One it reported as West Mountain Road in phase two it reported as the actual private property there so that would be a little bit different so you'll see the numbers all the all the actual numbers of incidents that we have taken are uh accounted for and you could say so in this study you're going to see many different things you're going to see a cause to an accident you're going to see age groups um and you're going to see obviously where they actually occurred so uh the number one cause for a crash in Sparta Township from 2021 January 1 2021 to I think I said June 15th of 24 is falling too closely and that has 465 motor vehicle crashes so the second uh highest cause are animals on the roadway with 346 so quite a bit uh you know you're seeing our area our wooded areas animals coming out deer bear Birds turkeys you know um and then obviously the falling too closely they're usually uh rear end same direction accidents um other top top three fail to yield it right away backing unsafely unsafe speed driver in attention failure to keep right improper parking you're going to see that in a lot of um you know uh parking lots obviously uh private property improper turning and then there's this unknown which would be constitute for hit and runs so if we have a hit and run um it gets marked down as unknown cause there so all this information is going to be on our website tomorrow um and if anybody has any questions they could contact me I would really like to give a shout out to um Sergeant Richard Smith who's our traffic Bureau Sergeant put a lot of time and effort and the officers that worked on this it is a very tedious task to go in and analyze this and I appreciate their uh attention to detail and work there and lastly um last year we did our first yearly report um we are currently working on that now it's going to be detailed just as it was last year and um hoping that uh our team will have this completed sometime in March for the public to view and that concludes my report thank you thank you thank you uh very much Chief mccarrick and and please send our thank you um uh to officer Smith and to all your staff and and you included for putting together uh the phase two of that report I know a lot of work was put into that and uh it's very helpful and informative I think to what uh the council any issues that we may arise we I'm sure that we can refer to that um so thank you for that uh I really appreciate it uh second um you alluded and also thank you for um informing the public of what they can do to protect themselves against theft and burgly particularly when they leave that that I find that uh very helpful um one thing that you see sometimes is uh when there's been um an issue like burgly uh the public will say well what investigation are they actually doing is there a reason why uh it makes prudent police sense not to divulge all the ins and outs of your investigation obvious you know for obvious reasons I shouldn't say obvious but obvious to me when we're conducting an investigation we want to get accurate information in and out so we don't want anything to hamper our investigation if we talk about all the specific details that we're doing um it's going to basically give up and and our our leads um maybe TI people off at what we're doing um and then you know future investigations could be also compromised from that so we we don't give that information out I can assure you 100% that the detectives and our officers that work on these cases are working very very diligently um on on all the investigation not just these current ones so and thank you um and this may be beyond your your expertise and I I apologize for sort of throwing the question at you sort of out of the blue but it kind of occurred to me uh when you identified that following too closely was the number one uh cause of accidents is that right correct okay um do following too closely does that tend to happen more often in uh areas where there's high traffic yes okay so would more traffic theoretically lead to more of these accidents I couldn't could tell me but a specific yes or no on that um from the data it would appear uh so most of crashes um occur in the Northbound section of Route 15 um the time period escapes me but I know it was a heavier time uh during traffic I want to say that 3 four o00 range um you you see the traffic back up at that time I know it does throughout the day too but uh that's when we're seeing the most of it that's where most of these these crashes are occurring okay well thank you very much um unless anyone else has any other questions for quick question thank you Chief I I can't wait to see this this is great great work I'm curious does the data show distracted driving is that part of the reporting and you know texting and all that and yeah so every single crash that's involved here and uh I believe it was uh 2,150 crashes for that time period I believe um we have a cuse for every single one of them and that's what takes so long to actually go into the report and look at the causes that are listed from the officers during the report so you're going to see and the ones that I gave you were like the top 10 okay that were in there distracted driving is one of them um it's a tough thing to prove some people will admit I was on my cell phone I wasn't paying attention I was changing the radio I was uh believe or not yelling at the kids things that it is distracting uh eating distractions dog sitting on your lap obstruction distraction uh things things of that nature okay good thanks appreciate it you're welcome okay with that unless no anyone else has any questions um may I have a motion to accept the manager's report I move to Second all right and we have a second by councilman buti all in favor say I I I it uh manager's report uh has been accepted um now we have our first uh public agenda uh open to the public session uh this is for items that are not on the agenda so if you have an item that you see on the agenda that you want to talk about now is not the time this is for an item that is not on the agenda um before we proceed with that mayor Clark If I may uh it was the opinion of our previous um legal council that the time limit the public time limit uh needs to be renewed every year uh and we uh we have not done that this year so I don't know if that time limit would apply today and if the council wishes to take up that matter yeah I that that's a very good point I think that um at at this time my understanding that the five minute limit was done by resolution and resolutions expire uh at the end of the term and so I think Council would uh someone would have to make a motion to have a uh five minute limit um and then uh and then for 2025 but that would apply starting the next because we wouldn't have had the resolution yet yeah okay so I think to today yeah so today um there is no 5 minute time limit because we have so but I would you know please remember of you we're trying to conduct action we have you know people in the audience so say your peace but um please don't fill a buster thank you not saying you I'm just saying the public yeah go for go ahead have no fear okay so I just wanted to congrat and state your name and address for you want me do I don't do this no no you just State who you are and where you live okay so my name is Christine Dunbar I live at 101 Wagon Wheel Road Sparta New Jersey 07871 um mother's maiden name and social security number let me see I have that somewhere don't please don't say that okay very good so anyway as I began I just want to congratulate the new board and wish you um a Very Good Year thank you so um I would like to respectfully request that the environmental Commission liaz on to the planning board have their vote status restored as soon as it is practically possible the sparta EC is your number one goto for responsible and sustainable development decision making the environmental commission utilizes the latest environmental mapping Technologies such as the highlands Council interactive map and highly recommended and comprehensive Statewide New Jersey conservation blueprint which is recommended by an which is the association of New Jersey environmental Commissions in which Sparta is a recognized and active member this application I'm referring to the New Jersey conservation blueprint um Pro also provides the necessary Regional perspective to determine which Parcels need our protection the most many Sparta environmental commission members are experts working in the field of environmental science and sustainability I'm sure you know this they as residents of Sparta are best able to guide the development of Sparta towards a Greener safer and healthier future that provides a balance and protects our natural resources while as an EC member I do appreciate a voice what we have been given Falls Way short of having an act ual liaison vote so I respectfully ask that to ensure green sustainable and balanced development application decisions that you consider reinstating the EC liaison vote at planning board meetings I know that the open space and Recreation survey and can imagine that the master plan and surveys are both showing us that A Greener preserved rural landscape is what our residents want and do deserve the EC has been and will continue to be helpful in providing the evidence needed for environmentally based decision making on the planning board so the mo more votes from us the better and we will be meeting the needs of residents thank you thank you thank you anyone else wishing to be heard uh on items not on the agenda jny derk's happen to Sparta just a quick question um the Janu with the turn of the year January 1 signaled an end to the unfettered short-term rentals do we have any update on that and how's it going is there going to be I just did a quick look on vbo and Airbnb and saw a whole page of properties available for Sparta so I don't know if there's any kind of um what I guess what I'm asking is there going to be any kind of uh inquiry on that or any kind of enforcement to this to the ordinance that you passed last year I I would think it would be the intent of council to enforce uh that ordinance um I know that I we're not privy to what the you know staff is doing to um the applications and and and and the enforcement of that I don't know if manager Zep that you know well roxan the clerk would be the intake on U permits and stuff and with the new ordinance taking effect January first as Jenny had mentioned uh it's it's coincidental that roxan and I we we discuss stuff like this and it's been relatively quiet as far as permits because we have the 28 day limitation um as far as enforcement goes um well you know I would have to speak to our code enforcement he hasn't brought the topic up to me about uh you know any violations being brought to our attention um as you can imagine it would take quite amount of uh staff resources to proactively go into the social media and and and Survey potential violations uh we haven't gotten to that point um it would require further Council discussion mayor we haven't had any applications either there have been no applications none to date okay I I think that um you know C Council should discuss and and maybe not here but I think that um we we do probably need to we not probably we do need to ensure that you know that the short-term rentals that are being offered in Sparta are uh identifying the time limitation that is allowed under the ordinance which correct me if I'm wrong was uh uh 28 days or more Notre and so that the terms that when they're advertising that should say that the property is only available for a rental for 28 days or more and so we need to and I think we built that into the ordinance about our ability to to investigate that if I'm not mistaken okay thank you yeah yeah yes sir just state your name and um address hi my name is Dr Ernest leov my address is 143 wagville Road naturally in Sparta and I did not attend your meetings over a year which shows that I don't have obsessive compulsive disorder to attend every meeting uh I would like to address a couple issues first of all happy New Year and congratulations with your new term uh new cence uh uh particularly new members I would like to start with a compliments today I had a pleasure to use service of accessor department and I was very impressed how fast and efficient was behavior and performance of accessor usually we hear about uh bureaucrats a lot of bad things and now it was very pleasant disappointment now about Less Pleasant things number one uh as you know we have a beginning epidemy of intestinal flu uh this is a flu which doesn't have vaccine and [Music] most often happen due to poor hygiene General hygiene I would like to address that our public uh uh public restaurants cafe shops they don't use a newest methods of the cleaning they use you know 100 years old brushes and they don't understand that when they use brushes it brings dust in the air which goes to the foot or on the table and this is increasing a public uh dangerousness of the um uh for health of our County I particularly would like to bring a sample our beautiful classical Diner where I'm frequent flyer attendant and uh I addressed to the management that you know you would better buy wireless Dyson vacuum cleaner it's very cheap and it doesn't require to use all this brush and manager told me that he addresses many times to the uh owner but he had hearing problem and that doesn't buy hearing a probably equipment and doesn't react on that the another issue which I would like to share with you again is not for myself it is for public if you go to any restaurant any Cafe shop in our uh Township County you would find so-called sugar substitute this is a very dangerous staff which was found in all medical literature as an cancerogenic stuff uh of course people like something tasty sweet and there is some sweetener which produce in Brazil uh and it's done from natural uh stuff and I ask why you would not change it it's maybe $1 uh more than for 500 packages uh but you would save life of the your clients unfortunately I was not uh Hur in another place I attended and I saw there is some kind of sign in the bathroom PR sorry where is written that please uh Place toilet paper to the basket and I ask owner of the restaurant why is in the basket but not by natural way in the Unitas and she told me because it's old building and we are concerned about quality of the canalization I don't think it should be a defense because the all these papers the uh what is absorbed on the paper when it's become dry goes to the air and goes to restaurant by air flow uh I think that our health department doesn't do of their job uh maybe uh they would not react on the uh modest and uh mild suggestion of the uh semi-retired physician but maybe they would react on the your uh notice Mr Mayor uh now uh I would like to address to police to whom I like very much and last year I addressed the issue that when you drive for on the 181 South from here and you have to make left turn to the spk satrical plaza there is double yellow line according to the uh manual you should not cross it but every driver uh Crossing this uh yellow line and on the one hand they become somehow in the dangerous position on on the another hand maybe they create some kind of guilt feeling about that and the second what I would like address to police uh attention that in the Glen Road Park when you go to the park they have a very uh sharp uh down to rim and when D drivers go up they don't see what is uh on the road when the driver goes down up to last moment they don't see any car is incoming therefore I think it would be not too much to place a mirror size like this sign which would show people uh would inform them that somebody is coming or not I'm trying to be uh short because it's a great uh pleasure and temptation to talk in front of the uh uh of the city uh uh management what I brought last year more than a year maybe 13 months ago I told that there is a deficiency of U mental health facility particularly psychiatrist in our County and I stupid me offer my public free service which translates in qu million dollar if you would hire someone I brought a uh American Medical Association uh blueprint uh road map how to do this but my service is not enough because this type of Clinic requires uh some kind of space some kind of secretary and insurances for this space and I thought that I would convince uh City management that this would be a good idea for [Music] uh citizens of our County in certain months nobody called me nobody asked me what should be done and meanwhile the over 50 percentage of the old people who uh suffered from Co have a complication with mental health and by the way the police also could be interested this idea because I'm sure that certain criminal Behavior could be related to mental health issue at least 20 25 percentage of your clients have mental health disorders maybe more so I try to be short thank you so much for your attention if you have any questions I would be delighted to answer Dr Leo thanks for coming out tonight and we did miss you thank you for coming back um I will add one thing and I believe I mentioned this last time that uh the township does not have a health department we contract with the county um so um I think your offer is very generous and might be favorably viewed if you brought that offer to the county because again we don't we don't play in that space our services are done at the county level so if you if you need a number to to call um I don't have it but if you call our Clerk I'm I'm naming putting you on a spot here the clerk would uh I'm sure can direct you to the right person to call about the health services you know I don't have political experience and I don't have such management skill like you you would agree to help me at least to give me a booster to introduce them they know don't know me I don't know them and whe I would come to them they would think that I'm in personal condition be happy too yeah and we also have a um a professional who is our liaison to the county so although we don't have our own health department we do have someone that we hire and then we can raise that issue that you've raised or the issues that you've ra particularly the one about the restaurant uh with our professional and then he can take it upon himself to um you know if he sees it fit to uh bring that before the the county um and then you know as to your issue about access um as the husband to a psychologist I can tell you I'm very steep in that so that that is an issue and that you know um there's there's things being done at the state level um to improve that access so I I think that you know but just know I'm sure I can you know everyone shares your concern that um the ability to access Mental Health Care is is a critical issue that I think all from the state from the federal level all the way down to the local level people should be concerned about so I appreciate you um you know bringing that to our attention uh but we need to move on um we have a lot of items uh so thank you again uh for being here and uh and also for your uh genuine concern for your fellow Spartans uh that comes through in everything you say uh that you're you're you're concerned about the people you live with and it's citizens like you who care for their fellow men men and women women um that makes this town great so thank you respectable mayor I have to confession to make and I have to use you as your wife as a psychologist I have a guilt complex and I want to reveal my bad thoughts to you I thought that you blocked my idea in order to prevent a competition for your wife's business and don't create a a a additional Mental Health Services here I thought that she told you don't do that we can do this ourself I apologize deeply apologize for my bed s but say that you completely I know all in jazz but you completely misread my wife she has a phrase that calls we should always act through an attitude of abundance which is you know we should share our gifts and our talents with all those and not be proprietary about them so um I rest assured um it had nothing to do with with any you know uh trying to protect she is plenty of business she doesn't need to do anything um to uh to to keep that up frankly I'd wish she'd have less business I'd probably see more of um for my parano okay thank you okay um are there any other members of the public wishing to be heard on items not on on the agenda hi Christy White House 404 e short Trail just giving another plug about representation uh from our environmental commission I know it came up last week at the environmental commission meeting and it's been uh there was a big showing there of people and Margie you addressed that that you know there's a plan to make sure that environmental uh interests are will be represented but until we know what that plan is we're going to be here thank you thank you thank you anyone else wishing to be heard on items not on the agenda right we are now up to the expenditures uh I would just would like since I'm not a frequent flyer I I just would like to um Express concern by some of the people in my neighborhood and this is for the chief this is for the chief um they are concerned a few of the residents in Sparta Commons wish that there was leftand turn signals at the corner of Sparta Avenue and uh 517 you have it on 181 going across but we don't have those leftand turn signals going um onto Sparta Avenue from you know the shoppr area so so I know what you're talking about that's been brought up to the state many of times we're waiting to hear um but we brought it up several times over the past year thank you keep keep bringing it up should say appreciate it we'll keep on it thank you thank you right we are uh now uh anyone else wishing to be heard uh on items not on the agenda okay see that one we are uh now up to the expenditures of we have two tonight uh one for December 24th 2024 and the next one is for January 14th 2025 uh Deputy Mayor Murphy would you please read the expenditures for December 24th 2024 they are 7,299 362 okay um may I have a motion uh to approve the expenditures for de December 24th 2024 have a motion I will second that I just need you to make the a motion to may I have a motion to uh to approve the expenditures for December 24th 2024 of 7,299 362 a motion to approve those this second second okay I'll second y thank you all right all those in favor say I I I the December 24th 2024 uh expenditures have been approved uh Deputy Mayor Murphy would you please read the expenditures for January 14th 2025 uh yes they are 1,233 66623 and may I have a motion to approve the expenditures for January 14 2025 of 1,233 66623 as amended or approved for approval I'll make a motion to approve those and I will second that's fine thank you all right all those in favor say I I I the uh expenditures for January 14th 2025 are approved um tonight we have uh three ordinance for introduction um and just a refresher on introduction uh this is not the time to have uh a hearing on it that will come if the ordinance is passed as to be introduced uh tonight is simply to introduce them and then if it does pass uh usually 2 weeks hence uh there will be a a hearing on it uh so Madam clerk uh could you please read the title of ordinance 251 Township of Sparta ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank all right may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 251 make a motion to introduce 2501 may I have a second please second all right and before we have a roll call vote I'll take it back here just one question um for Mr uh zap uh what is the purpose of this ordinance and have we done it before yes mayor we have done this uh it's fairly common amongst many towns uh the standard appropriation cap for the uh uh budget is 25% um by uh ordinance uh approved by the council we can exceed that or raise that cap to 3 and a half% um the uh uh finance office uh uh Financial Consultant the interm CFO and myself have reviewed uh the needs to uh Implement and take advantage of this uh option of of raising um it up to three and a half it it doesn't mean we'll be going to three and a half however it gives us the option to go uh uh that high if it's necessary for uh our budget for uh this year than thank you any other Council have questions or is this 3 and a half% uh over and above the rate of inflation or just a gross as it's printed in the ordinance they use last year's final appropriation budget and you would have a standard two and a half a percent that you could go to for the following Year's budget by implementing this ordinance you're raising it to 3 and a half% uh and the numbers are putting there and this is based Bas on last year's numbers on the total budget again it doesn't mean we will be using the whole budget in fact you have the ability the bank section in there allows you to carry the the the the difference into the following two years that you could utilize uh that of what you don't uh appropriate so this is not growing government this is just keeping up with the rate of inflation exactly okay thank you all right um Madam clerk may we have have a roll call on ordinance 2501 councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti yes councilman chello yes Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes congratulations Council you have introduced your first ordinance of 2025 uh next up uh Madame clerk could you please read ordinance 2502 an ordinance of the township of Sparta amending chapter 8 of the Township Code entit filming to establish a film committee may I have a motion to introduce ordinance 252 I make a motion to introduce ordinance 252 may I have a second I'll second okay um my councilman or attorney Dash could you tell us the purpose of having this uh ordinance I think I know but I think you should sure explain so the uh Township last year passed an ordinance um enacting uh a provision in its Township Code to allow for a film film ready commission but at that time the actual committee was not enacted as part of the ordinance and so uh it's my understanding that the council desires to formally have a committee that can be established and the proper mechanis to do so if it wasn't done initially is to do so by ordinance and the ordinance you have in front of you is 252 which simply establishes the establishment of the spart Township film committee got got you and am I correct that what uh the ordinance that we passed in 243 uh which was 2413 which had to do with the licensing and fees and the permitting um that remains intact this simply adds to that provision uh the the committee that's correct okay and I I can tell Council that uh this is the model that uh was you is used by um Clinton and I believe man alipin which were pointed to by the New Jersey film commission as sort of model um uh model ordinances dealing with that each of those have within the their licensing and permitting the actual establishment of their committee is that that's right that's correct okay and so that um is the reason for this to to formally establish it uh and then to then put it so that when uh a prospective person who wants to do entertainment production can both pull up the the film committee and also pull up the requirements um for getting permitted in Sparta as those will appear on the ecode is that right that's correct eventually they'll be incorporated all right and so they wouldn't have to do like a a whole search of our ordinances it will show up on the eode correct okay so I have some questions on this I'd like to I do as well ask um I I I appreciate the fact that this is based on to other towns ordinance but to me it's missing a lot of detail still that I think would strengthen it and that are needed um for instance you know I it's it's what's the purpose of this really so it's is essentially a marketing function I know it's to encourage film and entertainment production but how is what does this group do like how was it accomplished like not goals or purpose but I'd like to see like activities and processes um so in other words what is the what is the blocking and tackling what are they actually doing to enable encouraging filment and team production and then I would ask too that we add in there um uh first I guess why is it not part of the business development committee or could it be considered to be part of that um the members ship I have some questions on too it seems that um I was curious what the rationale was for 14 members that seems a little high I was confused a little bit by some of the titles of the roles like first assistant chair second assistant chair um Chief creative Ambassador Chief Ambassador Communications coordinator I kind of get the sense they came from other ordinances other towns used but for me I'd rather see them consistent with every other board and committee that we have here in Sparta and keep it chair and vice chair um It's Like Chief administrator of what I was kind of asking and communicating Communications coordinator for what because I would I'd like to see in here that all Communications need to be Township approved and Township Communications I was a little confused by that and then finally the last two one is a minor one you know what's the meeting Cadence and schedule it's not indicated you know they meeting every second Tuesday or what have you and then next the last one is a biggie I wasn't clear on why we have voting members and non- voting members and what are the voting members really voting on so like what Authority do they have as a advisory committee which I think they should be this is an advisory committee it's not statutory board so I think these going to all be addressed I'm not against this but I just think this is nowhere near ready yet I think we should I propose we rework it sorry I talked a long long while there D I can build on that so I I agree with councilman bledy that there are significant structural problems with this ordinance that in my view cannot be advanced in its current form um the councilman did discuss a couple of these things I'll just hit on them again briefly um ordinance does not describe the scope or the responsibilities of this committee um so I think they need to be included in this ordinance um I again I councilman bledy also mentioned that I don't understand the purpose of having voting members I don't know what they're voting on it's not described here um we don't know what business they conduct if they conduct any business at all so I don't understand what the voting uh has how voting plays into this um uh there Council also mentioned that um there are um certain positions on the board that need certain qualifications um I don't know why these skill sets are needed and what those qualifications are from those applicants so if a future applicant wants to be put in that position uh under what uh skill sets or what objective measures are they judged who having met those skill sets uh I think uh if we going to if we're going to ask that certain people have certain skill sets for the purpose I still don't know but um uh that needs to be spelled out in the ordinance um Council also mentioned that I don't know if this committee will be in public if it will publish minutes that needs to be spelled out I guess the committee could establish their own Cadence of meeting but um I believe they should meet in public uh for reasons that come next uh ordinance 2413 identifies that this film ready committee will have responsibilities for reviewing and responding within 5 days so I did again the scope of the committee is not identified but that seems a very um odd uh thing to put into that first initial ordinance so if there is a 5-day period upon which the film committee has to review and respond to a an application to film in this town um there's a number of things problems with that you know how do you how do you assembly Committee in 5 days and how do you notify the public that there's a public meeting against uh at which time an applicant will be judged by this committee um and well if that's in public does can the applicant attend this meeting and and speak on his or her behalf um having that within five days of the receipt of the um of the of the application by this committee and I don't know who even who receives it um sounds like a very difficult task to meet um if if the committee is going to be reviewing and responding to Applications uh what objective standards do they have to to judge this application by um and that's to me is important because when a business comes before the town to to to establish themselves in the town uh they come before one of our statutory boards it's a serious process there are objective standards against which the application is judged they are outlined at in very great detail in our ordinances the applicant is often represented by attorneys our own professionals are present in these meetings our board members um swear and oath to judge applications impartially against these objective standards the all these all these this rigor that applies to a business that wants to operate in our town doesn't seem to apply here when this this committee will review and respond within five days may or may not be in public and there's no objective standards against which they'll judge the application by I think that could be that is fraught with a lot of problems if if an applicant is rejected by the by the committee and I know the committee doesn't have the final say but if the committee recommends that the application be rejected and if the um clerk the township manager who does have the authority cites that committee's report as justification of that um it could the applicant uh object to that and and and um SE as for not having objective standards against which this thing was applied um that the committee not met men in public I just don't see how an ordinance and and a process like that would stand up if you know because you're talking about people doing business here and um that seems to be a very odd way of of judging whether or not somebody can do business in in town and um I think councilman bled meny also mentioned that uh you know what's the purpose of the of of highlighting this particular uh business type of business now we we don't have uh committees to to attract bakeries to town you know we printing presses you know why would we prom provide a committee to estab to promote one type of business and not all the others and um and as such if we think that all businesses is great in this town and I and I think that that is um that's in general that's a nice aspiration to have this probably should just be part of the business development committee because that's its day job um so I I know that's a lot and I don't expect an answer right now on all these things but I believe all these things must be addressed in this ordinance before uh it can be Advanced and that's all I have to say um I I will I won't entertain all of that uh obviously um but uh I think that for one um a lot of those suggestions that you have made um there's not a single uh film uh statute uh in the state of New Jersey that that does that and so they was obviously a reason for that um and that so that would put us in in complete odds with uh other towns who have successfully done this and so to layer on requirement after requirement uh that no other um you know town has just it doesn't seem to make sense to some of the requirements that you have for a non-statutory board um I mean can you point to a non-s saturator board that has the same you know put in the ordinance establishing that all the sequencing of meetings has requirements for membership I know are you saying that we need to start having requirements for our Trails committee requirements uh for our um uh other non-statutory is that what you're suggesting no just the opposite you know I don't think that we should have any uh types of Standards upon which we judge an applicant other than the applicant wishes to serve the his or community and has maybe some background in it but I don't believe an applicant should be put into a a shoe box of IMA creative consultant I'm so I'm just advocating exactly the opposite well I don't see this as as requiring any type of of qualification but the the point of this is that uh you have people on this committee uh who have experience with the the entertainment industry and how um Productions are done and so that they can uh properly inform uh the the town manager who has complete discretion none of these folks have the authority uh to decide uh yes or no whether entertainment production is allowed they simply are advisory and simply can advise as such and so that you know I think that and that's was spelled out and we explained that when we did uh ordinance 24 uh 13 and I that here yeah and I um well I don't think it needs to because the the statue was self-explanatory if you read 2413 uh it is clear that this uh this that the the decision to allow entertainment production resides with the town manager in consultation with the chief of police and frankly this is how it's done uh all over our nation and uh so I think and all you know as for the purpose um if if anyone has been paying attention um entertainment production is a large business in uh New Jersey so it's not consistent with the B it's also initiative that the state has um has put a lot of effort into and other towns are doing so that that's really the purpose so um you know I I think that there's you know we don't need to reinvent the wheel here um I think other towns um you know you had uh Janice kovat uh who appeared before us uh last year who is the mayor of Clinton uh she's also a board member of the New Jersey Le League of municipalities um and you don't become a board member on the league of municipalities without significant experience uh in Municipal Affairs and uh Clinton uh found it that it was uh sufficient for their purposes to uh have an ordinance it's very similar to this one and so I just think layering on this um frankly just seems more obstructor you know to obstruct um than to do what is an initiative uh by both the state and other other towns uh in New Jersey so with that uh I think we can go ahead unless any other just like to respond real quick to that you said so I just don't understand what would you tell somebody or tell me or what would I tell somebody to ask me what are these 14 people do like I get what the overarching goal is I think that's great what do they I just don't get what they do it doesn't say here what these 14 people are going to get together and do are they marketing are they um handholding to make it easier for them to get into our town are they um at a club I just don't know what they do like honestly being sarcastic I don't know what no I mean part of it is if you know how entertainment production part of their duty is to Simply vet when a someone says I want to film in Sparta they can talk to them and find out what is it that you want to do when do you want to do it what is it going to require um and that they because they have experience in the area can actually speak intelligent L to the person so that we they can properly advise Our Town manager so that that is what they do and as far as Communications no communication uh from this committee will not be uh will obviously be vetted uh by uh you know Mr Zep um and and and so I mean and I don't you know what what those Communications are I don't know you they haven't it hasn't come up and I don't think we need to spell out what the communications would be in the same way we don't spell out what the communications would be for the trails committee for the cultural Affairs committee for any of these other ones so again to layer on requirements that don't exist uh for our other non-statutory boards just for this one it seems that there's an intent to obstruct as opposed to one to uh to try to you know encourage uh something that will put money in the pockets of our local businesses and to follow an initiative uh that our state has put a lot of resources into and that is now close to a billion doll Economic Opportunity I understand Neil what the purposes of the why we why Sparta wants to do this and I'm not saying Communications need to be spelled out here but they need to be approved by the town that's a given right I think we agree on that I wasn't saying that we have to know what the communications are what are they voting on like I still don't know okay last year we had a business development consultant right and they their role and their job was to help potential applicants learn more about our planning office about the forms kind of handh them through the process I thought maybe that's what these folks were going to do but I don't understand why there's 14 and why they're voting you know to answer it now I just that's for my confus they're voting to whether to recommend to uh uh Mr Zep whether we should accept or reject this and Mr Zep is free to say I disagree with you I think we should have it or no I don't think we should it's his call uh along with consultation so that's part of what they are voting on um and so I think and and frankly before uh you know I think our other committees before they decide to advise the Town Council about something I would hope that they would have a consensus among the members about what they are going to advise about and that they don't bring to us something that they they have complete disagreement on and don't have a majority consensus I hope that's the practice and I think that this committee will follow that same practice and I think um you know I I don't wish to engage anymore unless you want to keep going well I I do because there's only three voting members of 14 so I I think consensus would be maybe a good idea but I don't think three is helpful I'm just concerned that they're going to be screening in in a process where we don't need to screen at that level that they help prepare the the applicant or the parties and then bring them into the process and let the regular process work its way out that would be my my preference okay I I don't know of any other committee that doesn't have its purpose spelled out I think the purpose is uh did you miss where it said purpose to establish a Sparta film committee to attract and encourage film and other entertainment production in Sparta Township is that something that you didn't you missed when you read the ordinance or I'm confused when you say there's not a purpose it's actually in the ordinance to attract and encourage so that's the that's their process to attract and encourage film and other entertainment I think your question was its purpose and the purpose is there but Neil Neil seems a little you I just want to express that you know I've financed several of these movie studios in in yoner New York and and there's a real ecosystem that goes with movie studio production you know there's there are you know dry cleaners there's there's catering services there's you know supplies there's hairdressers there's many many Town Town vendors that that will get a boost out of this so to put handcuffs on this to to over regulate this I think is ridiculous and I'd like to make a motion to accept ordinance 2502 well it's an ordinance so we we've already um so now we're just at the point of roll call and so Madam clerk we have a roll call please councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti no councilman cell no Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes 252 is introduced we're now up to uh ordinance 2503 Madam clerk could you please read the title of 253 ordinance authorizing the lease between the township of Sparta and Sparta ecumenical council on senior citizen housing Inc in accordance with the New Jersey local lands and buildings law all right may I have a uh motion uh to introduce ordinance 2503 I'd like to make a motion to introduce ordinance 2503 I will second okay uh any questions from the council before we go to roll call I have a question is there a change in the lease uh agreement um terms no there is not it is um a very Ben official relationship we have with the uh the N Heights community and um the rates have stay Stayed the same uh and this lease has been seever done several times and uh we're on a renewal for another threeyear period thank you thank you no other questions anyone else with questions on 253 before we go to roll call all right seeing none um Madam clerk may I have a roll call vote councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti yes councilman shirell yes Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes 2503 is introduced uh we are now up to the second public comment period um again this is just uh with respect to the resolutions and so if you have a comment with respect to the 21 resolutions uh that are identified in the agenda uh please come up state your name and address for the record okay all right uh SC no one uh we will move to the resolutions uh first as people know we will handle uh the a couple resolutions uh what I say in MA in Mass um the resolutions so I would like to uh move that we approve the following resolutions 9 1 92 93 94 97 98 99 9 10 91 912 913 914 915 916 9917 and 98 so it's a motion to approve uh the following the resolutions that I read as people can tell most of these are dealing with um the contract purchasing organizations Cooperative ones we tend to do this in January am I right uh Mr yes so I just need a second to approve the resolutions that I identified second all those in favor say I I I and just so we're clear I will read those off again if that's okay uh the res the following resolutions have been approved 91 92 93 94 97 98 99 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 9917 and 918 okay next next up we have to do the resolutions that we didn't do uh Al together and so uh may I have a motion to approve resolution 95 I move we approve resolution 9-5 uh may I have a second I'll second it okay um any discussion all those in favor say I I I resolution 95 has passed uh next may I have a motion to approve resolution 96 I make a motion to uh make a motion to approve 96 may I have a second please I will second that all those in favor say I we have a roll call vote please councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti no councilman shirell no Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes resolution 96 has passed uh may I have a a resolution I mean God may I have a motion to approve resolution 9919 can Jim can you tell me about what I'll do and before we can have a discussion on it I first have to we have to I'd like to make a motion to accept resolution 9919 may I have a second please I'll second he uh back to council for discussion okay Mark you can ask a question thank you you'll get used to it all right Jim can you tell me what what this is about sure so last year we uh put an RFB out for Professional Services for um uh the uh overtime work for the water and sewer utility uh and what this is for this is for the water main brakes these are for the fire hydrant repairs these are for uh installation of water lines and repair of of of sewer pipes um and um it's it's a detailed RFP uh the award was made to Bob Verma and Sons and they've actually been a longtime vendor of ours but they uh won the award last year and in the RFP we have the option of extending the contract uh two additional years so we are on the second year to uh exercise our option of extending that uh award and that's what you are uh voting on by resolution tonight any other Council have questions uh about resolution 9919 um I I'll add I think I had a question about the posos uh involvement uh this does not involve uh the posos work uh in any way um when we come to that that project uh it'll most likely bid out on its own okay this is strictly for repairing of anything watermain brakes hydrants whatnot exactly keep the water moving exactly okay any other questions uh from Council okay we've had a first and a second all those in favor say I I I so resolution 9919 has passed uh may I have a resolution I I may have a motion to approve resolution 920 make a motion we approve resolution 920 uh may I have a second I'll second it uh and I will take it back to council for uh discussion just a question uh manager that what is the the purpose of this uh resolution well I understand there is some confusion about this this is actually a standard process that many many towns do um uh in the transfer uh the state allows us uh at the end of the last two months of the year to move monies around now as we were discussing on the prior Council meetings about uh best practices and we also spoke about um auditor recommendations it it would state that they recommend that the council use formal resolution to be transparent on the movement of monies in the budget all right so um as recommended by the interm CFO and my Financial Consultant they put together these transfers uh these are some excess money in the 2024 lines um that uh they chose to move to cover uh other lines that would possibly be extended so you don't want these account lines to be overextended uh and by uh doing these transfers we're able to cover that uh and this is um a usual procedure that that's that's done and uh this illustrates where there the money is coming from and where it's going and am I right that um prior to to the uh audit that we had and the best practices that uh prior uh administrations did do similar transfers they just didn't pass a resolution to do it they just did it that's my understanding okay um and so what we're doing is following the best practice recommendation of uh our auditor is that right right the auditor and the DCA it's a best practice and it's a good thing we we're fixing a lot of good stuff here so got you and and and and the money that is um and before taking money from one department and transferring it to another um what investigation or you know analysis do you do from the Department where the money is being taken from um the CFO or the Financial Consultant that they're working as a team on this uh they'll consult with the that department head of the Departments and we'll make sure that uh you know their costs are covered before we uh U you know transfer monies out of their budget um it's actually something I uh uh speak to the department heads about a lot that you know whenever you're using another Department's account line for whatever the expense is that's appropriate that the department head knows and it's cleared and this is so um you know all the bills are paid appropriately thank you I could just give a little context to just for in case people haven't seen the numbers when you think about we have a $30 million budget what we're talking here is less than 100,000 just shifting between accounts so it's relatively very very tiny that's correct thank you Dean any other discussion among council members on uh this resolution go see none um we had a first and a second all those in favor of uh resolution 920 say I I I resolution 920 has passed may I have a motion to approve resolution 921 make a motion to approve resolution 9-21 may I have a second please second okay and um manager up uh is there a reason why we have two separate uh transfer resolutions as opposed to just combine them into one or yes it it has to do with the time period if you look at the time period the first one said for the last two months November 1st to December 31st this one is for the first 3 months of 2025 uh the the excess monies in 24 are carried over into a reserve account and they are used to pay the unanticipated 24 bills that still come and you still need to pay them but you get to use your 24 excess Monies to pay them and um it's really for uh the unforseen or unanticipated uh uh Appropriations that you need to make and you can do that with the excess monies that you bring over for the first three months okay thank you any other questions from Council on resolution ution 921 okay all those in favor of resolution 921 say I I I right resolution 921 has passed um we are now up to Council liais on uh updates but I will uh make a motion to recess just simply so folks we've been going for a while uh we will take a five minute recess oh I make a motion can I have a sec e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e um not sure this is necessary I'm going to do it but anyway uh I will make a motion that we come back in session and uh recess is enter is over so it's a motion to uh resume may I have a motion to resume may we let's get going may I make a motion to resume may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor say I I all right we are back in session we are now up to the council liaison uh updates and I will start to my far right uh with councilman Cher uh I just thank you I'll just have one update um the uh sister city committee met on January 9th with members of the sparta Institute at that meeting we re reviewed the proposed event schedule set some topics for the academic discussions uh one interesting thing I did um was revealed to us was that uh part of the institute's um uh goal of of having the conference here and what they want to achieve by the conf conference is they are preparing an application uh to recognize Sparta Greece as a UNESCO World cultural heritage site and that's one of the reasons why they want to solicit from other towns named Sparta you know why they're named Sparta and what that means to them and they want us all to GA Gather in one place and so I didn't realize at the time that we were preparing a UNESCO world heritage site application so I think that's very interesting um the committee established a formal meeting schedule in 2025 will meet every third Monday of the month except for January and February which will be the fourth Mondays due to the holiday so our next meeting will be January 28th and that's all I have councilman blti uh none for me thank you all right uh I will go first off uh I attended last uh Wednesday uh the library Board of which the mayor is automatically on there um so they we approve uh the budget for 2025 and um I know Mr Zep will be pleased he probably already knows that they're keeping within their statutory Mill there's no need to increase that uh some townships uh find that they have to do that um that's a particular particularly uh salutory accomplishment in that they face the same kind of you know pension increases other things that we all do but they're able to keep us uh within their statutory Mill so um kudos to David Costa and his staff uh for being able to to do that uh also uh we P they passed resolutions uh you know there's a new minimum wage law in effect and so the library they uh both resolutions passed that Library assistants will be paid uh at least the uh statutory minimum wage uh and existing employees to the extent that they were not at the new minimum wage they will be mov moved up uh to that uh next is uh they the ENT uh they will be switching at the end of the year to a new inter Library loan system um and because their contract is ending uh with their current vendor uh this will allow for a lot more uh access to books and uh at a faster time and and so they're they're working on that but that's another uh very good accomplishment of our library and um as we all know it's it's it's such a huge pillar of our community um and David Costa and his staff do a fantastic job uh next up I had a meeting it seems like three weeks ago but it was actually last night uh the trails committee um we are in the prog uh in the update of um trying to uh pick the most feasible um trails that we could do and and by feasibility that simply means how much do we have to do to to make it happen a lot of these Trails they do exist uh in fact they're advertised on the on the in the county um but a lot of them are are not maintained um uh on you know one stretch of Trail there could be three or four different property uh owners a lot of these are um conservation uh groups or the state and so there'll be efforts made to reach out to them to to to see the feasibility but you know when the time comes um the the trails committee will be able to advise Council on uh on their progress and um and so and also and I will do so now as opposed to under unfinished business but we do we've had member people who have attended who uh now wish to be um part of the trails committee and they've uh provided uh really invaluable service including Doug dyra his survey experience um Christy White House who's a lifetime resident has a lot of experience in environmental issues and also Christine Dunbar and so I would make a motion at this point to appoint Doug dyra Christy White House and Christine dunar to the trails committee and all of them have submitted their applications second all those in favor say I I I so Doug dyra Christie White House and Christine Dunbar are now part of the um uh the trails committee uh the film committee has not met yet uh this week but we will be meeting on Thursday uh Lake Mohawk uh we have not met yet but uh I know count Deputy Mayor Murphy and I uh will be we have I think an email from uh Susan Egan of Lake Mohawk and we need to just pick a mutually convenient time uh to meet uh Board of Ed um I spoke with the Board of Ed president Caitlyn Gagnon um and and they are the Board of Ed themselves are are are going to to get back to us about uh the next available date uh for us to meet uh the Rev 250 uh we are going to meet in uh February and um and so there'll be you know additional items that uh you know start really getting moving on um these you know part of the Rev 250 um but I will point out um this committee is already uh taking action um and that the Boy Scouts um and members of the veterans of foreign war uh number 7248 in Sparta uh which is hel by Pete Lichfield um and thanks to him uh there was a gra gathering at the graveyard at Sparta Presbyterian Church to place flags and markers on the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers and Ladies of Trenton uh that happened in October um and the identification of repair of the gravestones is as part of the Rev 250 um anniversary and so they repaired two of the Ogden family uh stones for Mary and wife uh El Elias Ogden and Sarah wife of Robert Ogden the third uh as folks who've lived here for a while you know the ogens were early settlers in the in the Sparta region and uh ogdenburg is named after uh their family and um and I'll save the rest uh to unfinished a new business and so Deputy Murphy do we have any uh councila on updates yes I went to the environmental commission and uh it was very eye openening and it was it was terrific and some very excellent people people that are on that board are on that committee um what we discussed were the trails and what they're working on the uh Mohawk Avenue School to Sparta High School Trail the Ogden Mill rail um and then the ones that have been abandoned in Sparta that have not been taken care of so they're working on those as well they're um they're very they got me in the whole open space binder I have to read that is that thick but um very very proactive on that and they're they're wanting us to help reach out to get the to reach out to the citizens of Sparta to make sure that everybody is environmentally focused and to know what they're doing and to help help guide and well not help guide but just take part in all the environment that the the tasks that they're taking I'm sure a lot of people don't even know about it um and just to to raise the level of awareness and hope people will follow there is a um uh they talking about the testing of the sheds the water sheds we have five water sheds in Sparta and obviously we're testing with the p to take to move on that um Earth Day which is to be held probably May 3rd and they'd like to move to the Mohawk Avenue School I think this will be the second one and we didn't have it last year and the first one was held out front here so they were uh talking about having that mov to the Mahaw Avenue School which would make a lot more room and a lot more probably participation um and then also uh talking about there's uh a lot of uh people from ruers and especially a somebody that could come talk to uh maybe hold a a lecture in Sparta about the exact plants that we should have here the native plants the uh different growing types that would best benefit the town and benefit our our ground and our our soil so that was very very interesting um in many designs and they're talking about having two different designs uh I said well maybe even at the vankirk Museum they could they could plant one and uh so there that's may maybe a possibility and then discussing with uh lmcc buffer zones and you know how which lmcc does a pretty good job it's like how with the landscapers and what you can and cannot do and cannot put in the soil and how close to Mowing and different things like that so it was very eye openening and I'm sure I've missed something but I will pick up on it next time and there is the farm the survey on Farmland preservation which is on the website so um they've got a lot of things in motion any other leaz on updates besides environmental commission no I have a meeting tomorrow with the senior advisory committee and then the Rev 250 was postponed you so and uh you did remind me something I did leave out about the trails committee um we were very fortunate to have uh a member of the environmental commission and really one of the pillars of the environmental movement in uh Sparta Neil sourwine came to our meeting and informed us that they have some outstanding uh grant money that needs to be spent before February in the amount I believe of $2,000 uh and that the environmental commission has gracious ly uh um you know come to the trails committee and said if you have need for to spend this $2,000 um that please you know we were going to let you do it it it would you know um it would they' looked at and it would comply with their current Grant and the purpose why you want to spend that money is that then that would entitle you to a grant the subsequent year of a higher amount um and for some of these projects we're not we're not there yet with our due diligence but will require some some funding and some grant money to begin with and so we want to have that availability uh for having additional uh grant money and there's um you know we one of the ideas was to uh signage um uh in uh the sparta Glenn there's other there we can find a way to spend that money and and and we'll do so uh promptly but again thank you very much to our environmental commission and particularly Neil sourwine who brought this to our attention uh we're uh very grateful for that um but you reminded me about that so thank you oh good and so councilman that's all I have Scott uh any Le Council liais on updates I have no update on the municipal Alliance and I have no update on the business development the newly constitute reconstituted Business Development uh committee I however uh I'd like to nominate Ryan Caruso to be an addition to the business development committee he's a small business owner in town he's the president of Lake mwk preservation Foundation he's very active in uh volunteering in many organizations in town and he's a very positive resource I hope uh the board or the Town Council will vote him on application and his application is in so I think you said nominate and you know just s to be pedantic about it but will do are you make I think you probably should make a motion I make a motion to nominate Ryan Caruso to the business development commission committee right we'll second that okay all those in favor say I I I um Mr Caruso sorry we couldn't do it last week but uh welcome and and and thank you and thank you for being uh such a you know contributing to your community in so many different ways and we're glad to have you on the business development committee all right and now we are up to uh uh unfinished and new business and this is you know sometimes um this is stuff that you can't really fit into your Council liaison updates but um so one example is last weekend I had the privilege of attending the eagle scout award ceremony uh for Matthew sender witz he is uh based out of the sparta uh Boy Scouts um and he is they had I think close to seven Eagle Scouts uh last year and um Mr syt has his for his Eagle Scout project uh he was at the lady of lake and he uh basically put pavers down for them and it took over 158 hours to do that and um it was a huge uh undertaking uh in addition to the 23 merit badges that he award uh that he got in route to getting an eagle scout um and one thing that you know as I spoke to all the members there uh one thing that they all said was how grateful they are to uh Pete litfield and the VFW uh who have been tremendously helpful in hosting the Eagle Scouts um getting them what they need and what they want um unfortunately that isn't the experience of other Scout Troops in other areas they don't have as much cooperation um from a hosting site as we do so um Mr Lichfield and that VFW should be commended um for that because these these young men provide a tremendous Service uh for their community and we also go on to continue that um Service as they go forward and that's something that when I speak to those I remind them of that that you know this just simply is the the beginning uh of their service to their community and that they have a particular skill set now to continue to give even after this uh wonderful award that they get uh the next uh new business that I would like to address is a letter uh that we got um from a Janette Vander uh group and I'm probably butchering the name and I apologize um and it's addressed to me uh mayor Clark but uh as you as I read it you'll understand that that really this goes to uh the staff and administration of Sparta Township under the leadership of Mr Zep dear mayor Clark I would like to say thank you for your recent efforts to improve pedestrian safety in the area close to the Chelsea the signage is very helpful I am hopeful that these will be acknowledged by the motorists Merry Christmas Janette Vander so um this really is although it's addressed to me uh the people who deserve this credit are you know are officers are um staff or DPW staff uh manager Zep so um job well done and it's recognized for our citizens so thank you it was a collaborative effort with the public works and uh the police department so we we always like the positive news did you say vag grp for the G yeah yes I think those if I'm not mistaken I think they're very a family with very deep roots in susex county that go back many generations familiar with the name okay yeah I don't know if there's also a Van Kirk too which is uh vff specifically another one um also uh there is some uh unfinished uh and and new business um we were made aware of a um an issue with respect to a uh a a Landing board member and the time and duration of their um their tenure there um it came to our attention that they had actually expired um and without being renewed and so um in order to uh and that person is currently a a class 4 uh member and so and and and they were not comp we were not compliant uh with the statute related to to the classification um and the designation of that particular uh member and so it became uh necessary uh to fill that um and so and and we got an an uh an application for membership in the planning board um I know there was some uh concerns about the environmental commission's um uh representation on there and so uh we would uh we have an application by Mr Rob Otto um who has been a member of the environmental commission uh he's also been a intimately involved in various environmental issues he's a trained geologist um with you know a lot of experience and I think he can bring uh a lot of that to bear on the planning board and so um at this point I would make a motion to appoint um Rob Otto as a class for member of the planning board second I would like to make a comment on this now that it's sure okay couple of things I'd like to say one is that I disagree with the position that Mike Sylvester was appointed improperly to the class 4 position it is his own understanding and assertion that he was appointed as a class 4 member and not as the liazon from the zoning board at the time this is going back to January 2022 uh we have a document signed by then mayor Smith which identifies his appointment with a termination date of December 3st 2025 uh the minutes of the meeting at which he was appointed uh to that class four position show that Mr sesty was indeed appointed as a class four member with the termination date of December 31st 2025 those same minutes identify a different person occupying the position of the zoning board Le on and as such I disagree that we have a class 4 opening um I'd like like to add to that I there's a very simple solution and one is if if we're concerned about the representation of the environmental Commission on the planning board uh we could simply use the class two position I I disagree with the assertion last week that the class two was person was similarly and appropriately appointed to that position I think there is room in the in the language to uh suggest that that person could serve environmental commission could serve in that position um and um if if the language uh if there's some some U flexibility in the language we could uh remove some of the conditions of that class two to to simplify the rules to just to say that it could be a member of a governing body and and stripe uh stuck out the um the rather convoluted language of of uh the positioning of different liazon to different boards um that seems to comp U be copied from the state regulations but the state seems to have similar flexibility in its language and doesn't while the state identifi this is pretty much copied from the state but the as a it states here in the positive this the negative is not implied here so that um the negative of the of this um description of a class two member is not specifically stay out here so I don't think it's uh it's necessarily implied that it is um so in some I I disagree that there is a class 4 opening and I think there's a simple solution to providing representation from the environmental Commission on the planning board by reappointing that person to class 2 and that's it um attorney Dash could you uh address some of the the issues identified by uh councilman Chell yes uh well so just to step back the the issue that's being discussed is that the current uh one current class 4 member of the planning board Mike Sylvester term whose purportedly ends at the end of this year was appoint did uh purportedly to the planning board in January of 2022 however at that time he was also serving uh on the zoning board the plain language of the statute says that the class 4 member of the planning board whose term concurrently has terminated on the zoning board uh shall terminate at that same time which would have been at the end of 2022 at that time by operational law and by operational statute Mr Sylvester no longer should have continued on as the class uh four member uh of the planning board and the minutes of the January uh 23 reorganization meeting also reflect discussion by the council an objection that there should be a member uh alazon uh to the planning board from the zoning board thank you okay we have a a comment too on the the the our ordinance is based on the our stat is based on the state statute um and as I look at the state statute it does show flexibility it says the membership shall consist of for convenience in designating the manner of appointment the four following classes and it goes through class one two three and four so um looking at that it does show that there is some flexibility and this is a is guidance at the state level if you look at 40 uh colon was it 56-1 or actually 55 d-23 talks about planning board membership that's for the appointment the term says shall terminate for the class four member in the state statute section 23 class 4 shall terminate yeah but to counc to councilman Shell's point though we could have an easy fix and serve both purposes right and and fill the open class two spot by just modifying our Township ordinance right and remove the restriction on the class two configuration versus planning board environmental commission zoning board board of ed I'm not sure I completely follow the um just one question is that the the definition of class two that's taken from the the uh Municipal land use law is that right correct correct and so um generally are is a Township able to um pass some type of ordinance where they um change what is set forth in the ml so the ml should be the guiding document and so long as the the ordinance is not in violation of the ml uh it may stand but in this case we are interpreting estate stat statute requirement that the ordinance cannot supersede it cannot supersede and render that ordinance contradictory to the township ordinance in this case the narrow issue that the council is considering is the term of a class 4 planning board member which section 23 of the ml provides shall terminate when that individual's term expires on the zoning board thank you for that explanation um so we have a a a first and a second and um to appoint uh Rob Otto uh to the class 4 on the planning board and so all those in favor a roll call vote please okay sure councilman Scott yes councilman bti abstain too much information and questions still councilman shirell um I will also abstain I'm I'm sorry I I misspoke I would like to vote no you you said no correct okay thank you Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes uh and so the motion to appoint uh has three yeses one abstention and one no and that is all the unfinished and new business I have um councilman Chella do you have any unfinished or new business uh I just like to make one um comment under new business uh earlier today we had an executive session uh there was a topic that was discussed which I cannot and will not reveal uh but I I want to mention that I was uncomfortable with the manner in which that topic was discussed and so I left the room for that discussion and would like the clerk to reflect in the minutes of the executive session that I left the room during that discussion thank you and that's all none for me n for me okay so there's no more unfinished or new business we are now at the final um public comment period um so if anyone wishes to be heard uh uh this is sort of a grab bag as I always call it um so if you want to have a public comment Now's the Time to do it jny Derek's tap into Sparta Mr Zep I know you're waiting for me to ask the question how are we doing with the Brownfield we're actually doing Happy New Year by the way right we're we're we're doing well um we have a scheduled um hearing of our proposal on February 15th in front of the D Wetlands Council uh they will hear our proposal of the donation of four Parcels equating to about 70 Acres of um open space from the town to be donated uh giving us the ability to fill in 2.3 Acres of wetlands up at our landfill uh if this is approved by the Wetland Council it will allow us to officially close the landfill and then once we close the landfill then they can reapply for the Brownfield designation um they can uh then move ahead with installation of the solar panels uh and and and The Dominoes start falling down but um as we've said many many many times uh the problem has been that Wetland mitigation um but I think we're getting closer we have a a hearing date um there was a member of the wetlands Council who drove up to visit the site uh she got to look at the Wetland area and she also got a chance to see the four parcels and I understand it was a very positive experience and that uh she'll be going back to the council um with um a good review of of our proposal are the parcels I did opra the lot and blocks of the parcels are they contiguous no okay and are they in neighborhoods are they in I don't believe so okay no um it's there a lot of them are land locked okay all right I'll look forward to getting the when you I know when you've been busy when you get a minute with the oah request for the lots and blocks of the of the four Parcels thank you no problem any other public comment no I do um have a reminder about it some I'll put it under unfinished or new business that uh we did get a memorandum from our Zoning Board of adjustment uh with respect to an update on the kind of an annual report uh is this annual report going to be on uh a website that that uh folks in the public an access I can do that okay sure got you um and I think of the it appears of the 19 applications that they received in 2024 uh all but one of them uh were approved um so I just letting the public know about that and so with that I uh have no other unfinished or new business we have no further public comment um and so so without further Ado I will make a motion to adjourn so may I have a motion to adjourn make a motion to adjourn may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor say I I I all right motion carried the meeting is adjourned thank you everyone for coming out to our