CH I am present Deputy Mayor buti here mayor Clark here all right let's have a salute to our flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all first item up is the approval of our minutes uh the minutes that are up for approval are J July for 18th 20123 the special meeting minutes the regular meeting minutes uh dated August 8th August 22nd and September 12th 2023 may I have a motion to approve uh these minutes I'll make a motion that we approve the special meeting minutes of July 18th regular meeting minutes of August 8th August 22nd and September 12th 2023 may I have a second I will second that all in favor I I except for July 18th I was not there so I'll stain okay noted that uh councilman Herzberg is abstaining from July 18th 2023 due to absence he motion carries we are now may I have a motion um sorry may I have the manager's report thing May good evening mayor council Sparta residents please be advised that Sparta's rabies clinic will be held on Saturday January 27th at the Public Works garage located at 15 prices Lane dogs are scheduled from 1: to 300M and cats are scheduled 3: to 4: p.m. B of residents were emailed or mailed renewal forms and can can bring them to renew their pet licenses Andor register new pets at the event personal checks as payment is preferred and cash will be accepted however no large bills please Our Community Development Department for the year 2023 the construction building department issued 1,950 permits and performed 5,597 inspections across all technicals to assist in field safety while out on inspections IT director Mike Dempsey worked with the construction off official Mike Wallace by equipping the inspectors with a hands-free bracket to hold their phone or iPad in keeping up with the Staffing in this department I am pleased to announce that Laura magarino has acquired her technical assistant to construction official license we have also hired a full-time plumbing inspector who will start next Monday this inspector will be filling a recent vacancy in this title we have hired a part-time in-house assistant engineer Mr Ralph Kio to work with the township engineer ER Cory Stoner and assist him with some of the day-to-day business and coordination of projects with all Township departments in our planning and zoning department our part-time code enforcement officer Mr Andy coio has been promoted to a full-time position we've also hired an assistant Risha Franklin to assist our land use administrator Dory Fox she comes with experience and certificates in zoning code enforcement and Technical assistant to the construction official the additional employee and upgraded hour should prove for a productive 2024 in these departments in our utilities department the water utility department would like to remind everyone to check your meters by making sure they are in heated locations to protect them from the freezing during the cold temperatures residents are also reminded to keep fire hydrants clear or snow if you have one on your property public works department on January 9th we experienced the state of emergency for wintry weather resulting in trees down localized flooding and the need to treat roads and higher elevations since January 1st the public works department has performed winter winter road maintenance uh for four events Parks and Recreation Department to preschool registration begins on February 15th as a reminder the winter carnival is scheduled for Saturday February 10th from 1: to 4:00 p.m. at the Sparta Middle School more detailed information can be found on the Township's website under Parks and Recreation due to inclimate weather this month's Council connect session was cancelled the next session is scheduled for Thursday February 15 6:00 to 7:30 at the sparta Library schedule and details can be found on the Sparta website homepage Chief mccarrick will now read his portion of the manager's report this concludes my report thank you mayor council and sparter residents thank you manager Z thank you mayor thank you Council our traffic Bureau during the winter months is taking the opportunity to continue our traffic studies um and assess the areas that which may need Improvement such as crosswalks appropriate signage and so on where Improvement is needed our traffic Bureau will contact the appropriate Authority uh whether it's County state or uh DPW uh in order to vocalize our concerns and work together in making these improvements I want to remind everybody that we do have a uh on our website a link uh for our SharePoint uh if you have any kind of traffic complaints such as any kind of signage issues uh parking issues or any kind of traffic complaints that you may feel be uh appropriate for us to investigate um we are also testing a radar sign display right now we have it uh posted on Sparta Avenue um and what that radar sign does is it will record uh speed or display a speed and also has the ability to record um as we have uh in the past with our other unit so it could record fastest speed lowest speed and given average of a time period um so we're looking to possibly purchase two of those but we want to test it out to see how it works first this displays uh your speed um and it lights up when you're going uh over the speed limit as I spoke about last meeting we lost a colleague and a friend uh retired Chief Brett Alam from Hardon I just wanted to touch on his services and uh you know explain to the public how amazing it was to see police officers from all over the state some from across the nation come um and and give him a proper send off um what was most amazing to me um and this is why I really wanted to talk about is the impact that this individual had on the community and especially um you know our uh our youth like I said he was very heavily involved with dare Back in the Day lead and just as a police officer and a role model in his community going in and out of the schools um the services were in Vernon um procession follow through on rout 94 and when we took a turn on Route 23 I quickly realized that we were most likely going to be going past the harston uh police department which we did um he went around the police department and it was a great thing to say um but what I didn't expect coming up was uh approaching the school the harston township middle middle school every student in that school was outside at the road giving him a proper send off and uh my lieutenant uh was with me and you know that's uh a very emotional aspect for us to see the impact that he had on those those students so um we're going to miss him he was given a proper send off and uh hopefully we don't have to do that again with anybody soon so if I could call officer B up here I wanted to touch on a incident that that our uh Department had dealt with a few uh about a week you go all so as I often talk about our rule as police officers you don't know what you're going to come into at the beginning of shift a lot of times you come in you get dressed you're going out to a motor vehicle crash going out to a traffic complaint domestic violence call a neighbor dispute a medical call you have no clue um it's often you know you go through your night and you deal with it you do reports on it and you really don't bring home that information to your family um because it's just not the proper thing to do and it's not something that really can do you don't always want to tell your family about some of the things you have to do every time so a story that I wanted to share with everybody is something that is an unforgettable event in one's life as a parent and as a police officer and a young police officer to say the least and uh officer B um he uh he brought this attention uh to the department in the township and when I first first heard about it from my officers and the first thing I wanted to do was tell my wife about this it's such a great event I could share something you know that's going on at work and and have a nice moment so on January 15th about 8:50 p.m. our uh dispatch received a 911 call from a woman or actually from her husband who was uh with driving his wife to the hospital and she was actively in labor on the side of 15 in their vehicle at the time this occurred uh the squad was having their dinner early so they could prepare theel for the heaviest parts of the storm to come so uh they quickly went action and less than three minutes officer B was on scene with the vehicle and he uh he made contact with parents Tyler and Stephanie officer B did observations and he observed the baby's head was crowning and wanted to make sure that the enil board was not wrapped around the neck um you know the proper way what we're taught um he did uh very important so after confirming everything appear normal um seconds later I would say probably about less than 15 seconds later officer B was holding a brand new uh baby girl Millie that was brought into the squad so uh once she was birthed uh she looked healthy began crying uh officers uh Finley officer Brown uh detective quido and Sergeant Fraser arrived on scene time is snow so on the side of rout 15 South dark there's no lights in that area snow um traffic and I'm I'm kind of setting the point there's probably you know five police cars now and a lot of times and I've been to people in the past uh you drive down R 15 or wherever hey look at all those cops there's something crazy going on I thisy it's not only as you see sometimes they helping uh somebody who's broke down but regardless uh at this very instant uh a newborn child was brought to this world in our offic assistant so uh I'm very proud of alata his quick response his quick actions and uh just a little bit of a backstory about alra is uh he went to William Patterson uh where he started studying for nursing um before he was hired by the sheriff's department um spent about two years with count sh department and he was uh then uh we sto him over from the sheriff's department of us for about two years he also interned with us uh while he was in school uh he's um born and raised in Sparta uh again we're very proud of him um I want to thank um Sergeant Frasier Guido officer Finley um and officer Brown as well as our dispatchers with three dispatchers working that night uh Sharon right reei Scott feeble and Kendall deris and I listen to the tapes I review all the video and everything to see you know always number one is there anything that we can do for improvement and exactly what was done and uh listening to the dispatchers take the call um keeping the the father calm as possible while Mom's screaming in the background her telling her partner get those guys going right now another dispatcher calling for uh the ambulance Squad I also want to thank the ambulance squad for coming out too um so I I a lot it takes a team uh it was teamwork that night um we'll continue to have teamwork in the future and to you young man don't forget this moment it's one of the greatest moments that anybody could possibly possibly have in their life I'm proud of you [Applause] congratulations thank great work oh yeah officer B thank you and chief mccarrick thank you to all uh from dispatch to the EMS I mean as you said um it took a team and um you were the right person at the right time I bet your nursing background probably was like when am I going to use that um and so you probably didn't have deliver a baby on your bingo card that night but uh you know as I as I tell Chief mccarrick all the time that the thing that separates uh police work a lot of the times from you know a lot of what we do is I kind of know what's going to happen on my day um I may get a paper cut that may probably the worst thing that happens to me that day um but y'all never know what you're going to roll up on and that probably moment when you get out of the car till you go there is probably a moment of uncertainty of fear that requires a tremendous amount of courage and um I think on behalf of everyone in Sparta thank you and thanks to all your entire staff and team that make it possible cuz I know that you were there but you couldn't have done it without the teamwork that you have and and also the great leadership of Chief mccarrick so thank you thank you I appreciate it thank you i' like to make sure we congratulate the parents as well I think they deserve a shout out yeah thank and I assume Millie's doing just fine yeah she's doing great okay you know someone suggested to me um reading the story that um you see you know a lot of makeshift markers on the sides of the roads where there was a fatal accident uh it's always a reminder and somebody said what should we put a marker on that side of the road that we had a somebody born at that spot that would be great than thank you that concludes my report thank you Chief thank you thank you may I have a uh motion to approve the manager's report I move that we accept the manager's report may I have a second second all in favor I I can I ask a quick followup on the the report so um Chief I just wanted to you you talked about crosswalks and all the work that you guys are still doing and I we I appreciate that and that would also include um all the requests that we made before so I know you guys are also looking at that intersection on Sparta Avenue The Pedestrian crosswalk and all that so that I'm assuming is all that as signs that are posted out there for crosswalk signs um it does need some work on the uh painting of the channelization for the actual crosswalk um I'm not sure if that road is slated to be paved soon I know there was some work done a year maybe two years prior where they paved one side this is State Route 181 um but I'm assuming if they do resurface it that it will be uh repainted but we did put a uh request into the state saying that it does need to be painted and uh we're just looking at everything right now so beautiful thank you so much welcome appreciate it hey anyone else have questions for uh okay we're now uh open to the public uh for items not on the agenda but before we get to that uh we do have you'll notice in the packet uh resolution 95 which is an uh enabling resolution uh for a Green Acres application to be sub commed to the njd uh for renovations to the Station Park playground and so I would like um you know if we have Mr Stoner here we have uh you know manager to Zep here um and we also have uh our fabulous uh you know head of recreation Jee Monteiro and so I think probably at the time if we could you know uh any you know tell us about what this application is for and then what what are the improvements we're seeking at the station Park and and why we're seeking them Sor hello everyone uh thanks for having having us up here it's hard to follow that out very nice by the way um this is a u public hearing a brief public hearing on a Grant application it's a New Jersey Green Acres Green Acres application um that uh has to do with actually with the uh um creating a playground um according to with Jak law would it be an all-inclusive playground um the uh the Grant application is due um I think in February in February and one of the requirements is that we public notice and we have a public hearing uh we provided I provided a copy of a a handout to everybody which shows the location that this playground will be located at Station Park um it take the place of what's Kids Castle yeah it'll take the place of the kids castle playground um I believe the timing of this is fairly decent because we were this is a playground that's a need of some rehab and Renovations and um this project would be quite costly but it mostly be can if we if the town is granted the uh does obtain a grant can cover most of the cost and in the portion that the township would receive would be less than what it would be for us to redo the the ground in a conventional me method and manner um uh if you like like I stated if it's going to take the look at this map that has in front of it in front of you there shows a basic a location map and a little bit of a blowup of the proposed playground improvements and then it includes a a some renderings that were obtained from um benay for recreation which provided the town with uh cost estimates uh this is a project that's going to cost in a just shy of $700,000 which three4 of that those funds would be covered by a grant uh you know from New Jersey through the New Jersey Green Acres um Jean I think it's you should probably take over what sure Jake's law means and and what this playground will do so Jake's law was developed um in past by because there was a 2-year-old two and a half-year-old boy from down the Cherry Hill area who couldn't use all the equipment at the playground uh after he passed from a heart condition they um ended up you know fighting for at least in every County if not municipality to have playgrounds which were handy accessible to all disabilities all ages um in order to do that um and part of the the grant gives you what you have to do to make your playground like this um what because it's so costly the minimum you can ask for in a grant is 500,000 that's the minimum they'll accept so uh and the reason why these playgrounds are so expensive is because because in order to make it accessible to Walkers and wheelchairs you need to have that poured in place playground surface that's more than half the cost of the the equipment is maybe 3/4 of that and some the other stuff for the amenities the fencing that kind of stuff but that port in place is very expensive um and we also know that uh the bigger that is the the more it is so we we actually are shortening up Kids Castle a bit so that um we're going to get all the elements in you have to have some elements for kids that have senty so they're kind of off to the side a little bit they're different kinds of pieces the renderings you have here in the pictures these are not the exact pieces we're putting in but this is the kind of equipment that we're looking at um in order to get the grant we just had to have you know an idea of what this kind of equipment costs so um Kids Castle definitely needs to be renovated as do all of our playgrounds we're going to put that right now if we did Just Kids Castle without doing a playground like this which it would be a shame to let these monies go CU it would probably cost us over 300 if we were just going to do without the Grant and putting wood carpet down not even putting this so we're taking advantage of a grant that's going to give us more than we could have got before so that's why and we picked this this because this is our most popular playground and where most people go and would we be required to uh meet Jake's law standard even if we decided to do it on our own without the grant or no they're they're requiring that for the grant MH but we have some pieces that are accessible in there but know without having that port in place you you know it's very hard to get a wheelchair or a walker or anything like that there one thing I learned it's not always for the children who are I keep forgetting this I apologize thanks Dan um it's not always for the children who are utilizing the playground equipment but sometimes it's for the parents the grandparents or you other individuals that take the children to play here also so they need room to move around so it's just not the you know the equipment itself it is the you know the the surface is a big deal and having an ADA access to the playground um is um is all part of this and um once the application is submitted what's the timeline that you think that you'll hear yay or nay whether we got the the grant or not I believe they're awarding the grants by July July August and they expect the playgrounds to be built in 202 five okay so that you you have you know once you get the money um then you have a certain deadline by which you have to actually appropriate the money and build the playground right otherwise you lose the money otherwise you lose the money and you know we got a Yan's work once that's done to pick the the appropriate pieces for the our community and that kind of stuff that takes a bit of time okay quick question for director mon Marano um I've heard anecdotally that the basketball area that was formerly the skate park there um does not get a lot of use is that a accurate statement No okay good that's I I don't believe that's accurate I in fact I mentioned at one point maybe converting half of it to pickle ball just like what I end I got a lot of please don't do that the kids even in the winter there were Winters here obv except for the last week are not always as cold and kids are out there all the time that's good to know okay thank you it is I think I asked you that question last week yes you did don't say that okay I was just wondering if there was you know if it weren't If This Were opportunity for expansion we don't have the lights on all winter so people might think that they're not really being used but on the weekends and stuff they're being used okay EXC and with the high school right there after school if the kids are not doing winter sports that's where they are thank you I have a question and uh first of all I want to fully encourage us meeting Jake law is wonderful we can do it sooner than later that's that's wonderful um and upgrading the the playgrounds what is the probability of us receiving the full Grant amount is it would you say well their minimum that they're going to award is 500,000 okay so if we're going to get the grant we'll have enough money we'll have enough money to do what we need to do okay with our 25% portion right yeah so I I saw in the in the um resolution and in the wording it says that if in the event the state's funds are are L but I think you just have to put that wording in but I'm told 500,000 is the least they're going so I only ask I said look do it within that range so I knew what we would be appropriating yeah it says that it says that we are certifying that we have the balance of the funding needed to complete the project the state doesn't come through so I was just a little worried about is there a chance we might be on the hook for 5 six 700k that we haven't yeah I think there are bigger communities and this that was written based on their template um but there are some like really big counties and stuff that are going for7 800,000 so their minimum is 5,000 $500,000 and so um I think that's written for those another aspect of those grants typically in Green Acres it's a reimbursable grant so which means you would have to outlay the funds and it being reimbursed so that's okay I what my suggestion would be on this is once we get all the information in place to put a capital ordinance in place um it would be a partially funded at the point so once we establish what the total cost of the playground would be we will put that funding in place I I probably have to use a down payment out of capital but again in the long run that will be replaced as well but it's it's better to have the funding in hand to make the payments on a timely manner than and sometime what I've seen with the state they will catch up so we will get the Green Acres funding or whatever the funding source is coming from but at that point you know then we would just reimburse ourselves and I'm not to simplify if we apply we have all the boxes checked we we'll get the grant is that correct no I don't think that's correct I hope okay we were're we're really hoping we're strongly working with this I think we're in the fewer communities right now doing this so we're hoping so this just really came about so we're hoping yeah okay it just the council knows the Millennium Karen Spicer from the the grant writer for the town she she's a doing the application Gan and I are providing the uh U the support information uh from the from the plans and uh documents and cost estimates um you've also received uh letters of support yes we have um we had gone out we we have several coming in uh some emails and and we had get a template of a letter so we do have several of those within a week we we probably have more than 10 which we we just put it out on Friday do you have some with you some blanks I didn't uh the blanks no they're um on our website okay you can download the blank we sent it to people and um they could just call her office I can get anybody a blank that they need and a lot of working with these state grants as well is presentation number one and timeliness they they want to see so like by the time we're applying for this Grant and everything else they want to see that we're ready to put a shovel in the ground yeah we have done all of and needs the the faster we can move it along and they can close this grant out the better it is for them the better it is for us one advantage we have this is we're upgrading an existing playground which the playground itself is it's getting to be in poor shape it's in need of repair and also this is going back in the same location you know so environmentally it's a it's a it's a good location we're not disturbing uh uh new environmentally sensitive areas it's it's outside any and buffer areas um and again um any disturbance inside buff air it's it's it's already Disturbed you know so that that's the key and and when you're talking about you know being ready um the permits are not required for this because it's a more of a maintenance type of situation of an existing facility so we're not going to be delayed for six to 9 to nine months waiting for a d permit good I can tell you from experience of having been an 8-year-old child uh that spent some time a couple years in a wheelchair and crutches not able to follow my friends uh in some places this would be really nice to have yeah and where we're putting it is the best location cuz Kids Castle you got the the parking lot right it's all flat right into where we're going a lot of our other playgrounds are a little harder to get to so this is really a great location yeah and I think just to uh to pick pick up on the probability Point raised by um councilman blue medy my understanding is uh the the funding from this it came through a $100 million allocation that Governor Murphy made to improve open space and to update uh parks and so you know we're applying for a grant where 100 million has been set aside and so we're 500 you know 600,000 or whatever of that 100 million so and I think I think it was very wise um to keep it with you know just above the the minimum threshold because you know you come in with a $3 million application they may be like you're shooting for the moon and the star what are you doing it might get rejected out of hand but right um I think that was a very wise thing to do thank you um and then I guess that we would have to fin break ground by 2025 or get it completed by 202 like what are yall looking at um it's you know once you shovels in the ground I think we can do both I think you know we'd be able to break we're going to um dismantle ourselves we're we're taking the old one out ourselves in house so that'll save us some time in uh actually save some time so we'll be able to get that done you know with our own staff and then from there that the prep work isn't that bad and we'll we'll have the by then by time we're pulling everything out we'll have the equipment ordered uh I'm hoping to Ben shers All State contracts and stuff that we'll be able to you know get the stuff pretty quickly great that's a that's that's a good note the uh benay for the reason we have the price of quotes from them they have the U escnj um State contract so we can speed up the bidding process and uh procedure wise because they it it is done through the co-op at a Cooperative so we'll get the best price and we'll be able to do it fairly efficient I think I believe they've done at least uh two or three of these all-inclusives in New Jersey already we know what we're doing fantastic um any other questions from Council if not I'll uh if is there any member of the public that has questions um for Mr stone or or Mrs montoir or any of us and again state your name and uh address thank you good evening Kathy Evan Cowen just a couple questions please um what age R age ranges are considered for the equipment there'll be um two you'll have the the the preschool to 5 and then the 5 to 12 so it'll be yep got it um are there any shade areas being proposed for the yes we're we're adding a pavilion to the area and if you look the type of equipment uh they all come with it actually by Jake's law I believe 25 to 30% have to be shade covered so the coverings will be right over the equipment great um is the basketball area being considered for accessibility I know you talked about Jake's law being you know mostly for accessibility or entirely for accessibility we talked about the um the basketball area as well is that of any um interest to continue that accessibility into that space because I don't know that it's easy to get up there no it's not it's not easy to get up there um those courts are not accessible right now but by standards I mean we can look into that uh I the courts down um in the middle of town at unman and Memorial are accessible um how long are we expecting it to take to build uh we're hoping to be done at by the end of 2025 but the project lengthen itself would start to finish that I I can't honestly give you a I don't know okay I don't know how long they and the reason for that question is because as you mentioned it's a really highly used park right so if we were to dismantle it and then have it sit that would be you know unfortunate because then where would everybody go I hear you yeah well they can go over to the mini Park and then they could start seeing some of the other playgrounds that we need to upgrade and support us in that please sure along those same lines um Can the equipment be in house and be here before we dismantle it that way we know for sure we have it as opposed to like a back order to delay the project yeah I mean we will definitely time it out so that it'll be the least amount of time I I would not anticipate pulling something completely out before knowing we're ready to go Um can it be scheduled for off peak months if there is such a thing for Station Park it all depends on the availability of the equipment I mean if off peak would be like now and if we're dealing with snow and that kind of stuff no you wouldn't be able to to put the equipment in so we just for consideration yeah yeah no definitely um are there any water features proposed not there no okay final question um are there any restroom facilities uh proposed right now we have um Portage on that's not very maybe maybe in my opinion not very um accessible um it could that also be considered for accessibility purposes for Jake SL it could for the future for for there I mean I will and I will be definitely putting a a handicapped accessible Porter joh there uh I agree that's not the best I in my plans in my head I would love to have uh permanent bathrooms in all of the parks which you know that Park is extremely hard because Station Park is huge we do have some permanent bathrooms but they're not super close right and I the reason I no absolutely but that's one of the reasons why we um paved that path from the pond all the way over so that people could be able to get there with with the Wheelchairs and Walkers and stuff too instead of walking on station on Station Road awesome thank you oh you welcome any other questions um related to this park proposal okay um then we'll close uh any other questions for items not or public comment for items not on the agenda that you would like to address from the public right seeing none we'll move on thank you thank you thank you thank you guys Deputy Mayor would you please read the expenditures for January 9th 2024 yep I make a motion that we approve the expenditures for January 9th 2024 totaling 366 , 43921 may I have a second I will second it may I have uh all in favor say I I I motion carries the January 9th 2024 expenditures have been approved Deputy Mayor would you please read the expenditures for January 23rd 2024 I make a motion that we approve the expenditures for January 23rd 2024 total toing 6, 53,3 3081 may I have a second I will second that um all those in favor say I I I I uh the expenditures for January 23rd 2024 have been approved we now are moving to the introduction of an ordinance um roxan could you please read uh it's ordinance 241 uh you can find it in uh your packet amending chapter 2 Administration article 9 committees boards commissions section 2-39 environmental Commission of the revised General ordinances of the township of Sparta may I have a motion to introduce Bond ordinance 2401 I'll make a motion to introduce ordinance 2401 uh may I have a second I will second that uh may I have a roll call vote councilman Herzberg yes councilwoman Quinn yes councilman cherell yes Deputy Mayor buetti yes mayor Clark yes the ordinance has been introduced um if we could um I think uh councilman bla you understand what the purpose of this ordinance was to I think expand the membership on our environmental commission I just want to let the public know what this ordinance is about we'll have a hearing later but I just feel like it's important that they know what it's for yeah sure u a few months ago actually in September uh there was an ordinance that expanded the environmental commission uh not only by adding two regular members but also by adding a student liaison to the environmental commission from one of the high schools serving Sparta Township all this is doing is um defining the term that the student liaison would serve serve it wasn't clear in the original or original ordinance and what it is it's no longer than one year but the term of membership is going to be defined as uh starting September 1st running through August 31st so that's what this ordinance is essentially modifying okay thank you very much we have no hearing on ordinance uh I now open it to the public to speak about any of the resolutions so again if you come to the mic you're speaking only about the resolutions uh that you'll see in the agenda 91 through 9913 do we have any member of the public wishing to be heard on these resolutions see uh no one I would like to uh if we could uh carve out the the following um which would be resolutions 95 9697 9 10 11 12 and 13 and then so what I would ask is a motion to approve resolutions 1- 4 and 8-9 so may I have a motion to approve resolutions 1- 4 8-9 I'll make a motion we approve resolutions 9-1 to 9-4 9-8 and 9-9 May a second I will second that I may I have a u all those in favor say I I I so resolutions uh 91 through 94 and 98 through 99 have been approved uh we're next up is resolution uh 95 which is the uh resolution that we just were uh presented with about the um the state uh asking for a green Green Acres application to fund the updates to uh the Station Park playground to meet Jake's law uh may I have a motion to approve resolution 95 so moved may I have a second second uh all those in favor say I I I uh resolution 95 uh has passed next up is resolution 96 which is for the acceptance of curb repairs for various Street projects uh may I have a motion to approve resolution 95 uh 96 yes make a motion we approve resolution 9-6 uh may I have a second I will second that and uh all those in favor say I I I I 96 carries but before we move I I I Mr zeep could you just tell us what this is for and what the the curb repairs are yeah so uh when we did the uh curb repair project over uh in lellan farms it's Timber line and Coventry and Bramley uh we uh that was a a capital Improvement project um Town engineer Corey Stoner and I uh got together and as you know Corey just came on not too long ago as our engineer and uh he suggested the practice of opening these projects with the resolution which we had done previously and he suggested that we also close the project with the resolution um and I thought that was a great idea so you'll see that when we do capital projects in the future uh we will close the projects like these two resolutions for the curb Improvement are made uh it does several things it ensures that uh uh all all the guarantees uh that we're expecting for the project uh are are done that that the vendor has uh uh provided certified payroll if it's required uh and it also uh is a starting point for any warranties that may have been specked out in in the project itself so um I thought it was a a great idea that we uh implement this this practice of opening and closing our capital projects with resolutions um it really book ends it real well and uh I give the credit to Corey he's not here but he deserves the credit for it yeah thank you as I tell people a lot that there's a lot of nuts and bolts uh that come with uh running a town and uh it's projects like these about fixing your curbs and your roads um are really the the the bulk of the work that goes into it and so I think it's important that we recognize when these improvements to our town are done and so that moves me to the next uh resolution which is resolution for the acceptance of the 2023 Road Improvement part program part two so may I have a motion to approve resolution 97 no move may I have a second second and all those in favor say I I I and again I'll turn it back back over to Mr Zep to tell us uh what this road Improvement program is it it's the exact same concept that I was just speaking about uh and now Corey's uh back in so I he can get the credit for that uh basically it gives us a way to bookend the project when we open with with the resolution and we close with the resolution uh it has a lot of benefits to make sure that the project is is closed properly and um all the boxes are checked uh for payment and all and this uh like I said it's a good way also to signify the starting of any warranties uh that that were possibly speced out in the project and that's what this resolution's for this is for the paving side of the project the previous one was for the curb work this is the paving side and I'll be honest with you I was very pleased the way the project came out uh it work it worked pretty well we didn't have any major issues the timeline worked out well though we were late in the season but um I I was very happy with the way the the whole thing concluded thank you very much uh for that explanation uh next up is resolution 910 a resolution to authorize the Land Conservancy of New Jersey to prepare an update to the Township's open space and Recreation plan and I apologize I'd always forget the proper way to do this but I do have a question on it but do I need to make the motion first before we get to the questions actually according to Robert's Rules the motion has to be on the table before it can be commented on so typically you would uh make a motion and second it then you would allow to comment the vote I'll make a motion that we approve resolution 9-10 and may I have a second I will second that okay um so resolution uh 910 uh Mr Zep or Mr Stoner um my understanding of this resolution is is not the approval of an actual open space plan it's simply to have a resolution to look into getting an actual Consulting about having an open space plan is that right um actually no okay this is a the the execution of a professional service agreement with the L cons servy to prepare the open space plan got you okay they prepared a proposal um back before the uh you know before the end of last year we reviewed the proposal we went through um the grant process with the highlands Council the Highland Council agreed to a they approved a 20 000 Grant you know for the preparation of that plan $155,000 would go toward um the uh the uh the uh compensating land conserv as part of their agreement and $5,000 would be for the town to cover any legal or engineering fees that be related to the preparation of the plan and Adoption of the plan all right so it's it's to pay for the work necessary to come up with the plan is that right that's correct okay and whatever plan that we come up with will the public have an opportunity to to weigh in on that yes the open space plan is a element of your master plan so the same kind of process you go for your master plan there'll be a public hearing uh um uh public hearing process uh notices things of that nature um before adoption um but it'll be adopted by um since it's an element of the master plan to go be adopted by the uh planning board but I believe the environmental commission is going to take the the lead to for the um uh working with the open space u um consultant when theep operation of the plan thank you do any other members of council have questions uh regarding yes resolution 910 so what's the benefit of having an outside group like this rather than our own professionals that understand the town and know the town a little better well the uh the one just they're more familiar with the preparation of this type of plan um they theyve this individual consult I've seen wide ranges and prices and and uh for such a plan I've seen that this consultant plan it's normally done in a very professional manner um they they know the ways of when it comes to getting you know what to put into plan for future grant opportunities that's a biggest one of the biggest things for your master plan um open space plan is to set you up for grants in the future for Trails uh you know acquisition of lands things of that nature so they're they're they're skilled and professional in that manner uh uh in the preparation of these plans we did put in the additional $5,000 um one mostly for myself and in my office to work with them on the preparation of the plan um you know to help them review help the guide uh a little bit but the uh uh it's up for them to go through the you know the $15,000 is for them to actually repair all the documents to go into the plan and working directly with the environmental commission um I believe when you say why do you go with them I think just because they're you know they're very familiar with the process I think they'll give the town a good product go so I have a question yes ma'am just so I'm clear on this the land conservat conserv of New Jersey is this a is this the the um nonprofit organization that is at a mville in botin is that who this is I'm not sure not is this a 501c3 organization or is this a professional business business not to say they're not professional but no disrespect is this um because when I when I look up the land conserv of New Jersey which it says here it says um they preserve Land and Water Resources conserve open space um and Inspire individuals and communities and it goes on and on but then it also says that it's a 501c3 I I'm not aware of you know how they're set up U I do know that they work um uh for multiple towns I've seen them work where they work with you know work with designated open space um committees on the on the AC acquisition of land uh they they work with them acquiring Green Green Acres funds you know County funds things of that nature so yeah I I'm familiar with them on that side that they do their work but I'm not sure if they're how they're set up uh business-wise or Corporation wise that's why I'm just trying to get clarification of who this is okay that's all I can right back okay yeah I can add to that a little bit so they they're they're a nonprofit Land Trust organization uh they are based in botin um they have done over 100 open space and Recreation plans including for 10 towns in Sussex County including the 2016 Sussex County plan and they've done Lafayette Andover Township Byam haacon and just this past year 2023 they did Vernon um they've done freelin heisen so they they do have some experience with Northwest New Jersey so who brought this here the environmental commission yeah this this came from the environmental commission so is this coming out of the budget of the environmental commission there is no fee so the great the environmental commission and the township applied for a grant from the highlands Council so we received um not only as Cory said the 15,000 to cover the nonprofit but also 5,000 extra for our own professionals to that's correct chime in okay and um just before we vote on this just for clarification as well so this is coming from a a a private 501c3 organization I understand that's worked with different municipalities so that's fine but just to set the boundaries and the ground rules when this report comes back it's going to come back be reviewed and it is not automatically going to be accept that it's going to be reviewed by it's coming into where the environmental commission the the council the the planning board where's it going well the Environ environmental commission my understanding is going to lead the effort and you know the preparation of the plan um when I state that they'll lead you know this organization will prepare the plan prepare the draft the review of environmental commission they don't have to go in front of the planning board you know for for review and approval before it's adopted and basically if if this plan or whatever is not in place by the time in the budget at which time we actually get the authorization that we will get the Grant and the funding we would have to do a chapter 159 and add it into the budget before any of that money could be spent you have gotten a notice so we have to have the notice have the notice of the grant award we got that for the for the full 20,000 they originally they did a grant award for 15 and then we got it the uh confirmation that they increase that number to 20,000 right and at that point if if there's any part of that that would have to be self-funded again we'd have to raise that as well in in in the budget so at what point does that report get to council Tom can I ask a question when it comes to the when it comes to the master plan process what what point does it get reviewed by the council itself well it's going to go to the planning board it's a planning board's document right they might do they send it over to the council for any any any point the microphone I I don't know at what point in that process it would come to the council okay well the uh that can be a specific request that' be coming to the council they could have a joint meeting with the council in the uh Recreation commit committee things of that nature you know they could be I would like to have a presentation with someone explaining and walking us through their findings whatever they may be so that we have a clear understanding of what is being presented and also just to be clear our professionals are working with this organization on this task yes yes yes okay so we are involved in the process why is the Environmental commission running it they typically do open space plans are typically shephered by the environmental commissions even though then they go over to the planning board to become part of the master plan that being said though it doesn't mean that the report is taken 100% And just shoved into the master plan it's then we all look at it the planning board will go through it there's public input both during this process right Cory I believe and also during the master plan process there's there'll be a public hearing on on the plan itself yeah typically it's run because it's like I say it's an element of the master plan it uh have to be approved and adopted by the planning board typically environmental commission kind of leaves the effort if you don't have an open space commission open space committee there would be nothing that would preclude the council from requesting and having a presentation of the the to the council yeah so I think that needs to be part of whatever this referendum is to be sure that it's being reviewed and presented so that by the organization so that people can understand and the council can understand exactly what the findings mean it sounds like we have layers of accountability already built into the process that will enable uh the affected U stakeholders so to say to the planning board which will have its own public sessions about it um and then my understanding is that if the m whatever master plan eventually the planning board comes up with I would think that Town Council would have to approve the master plan so that's an additional layer of accountability on the plan itself because it has to get through the planning board and then it has to get through us right am I right about that we just because the planning board approves the master plan doesn't mean we necessarily simply we can but I think that we would have input yeah I I don't I I I do not recall the the uh the technical approval that that would or would not be required by the uh the township Council uh because the responsibility would be with the planning board okay so so if I hear you but to go back to the specific question as to um the responsiveness of the uh the land con the New Jersey land conservation report uh there's nothing that precludes the council from Simply Having them report back to the council uh on their ultimate uh findings and recommendations I think that there's a lot of feedback in this there there's public input the the group that's going to be involved in this is going to be not just the environmental commission not just the planning board it's going to have others involved too so I think it's built into the process and they they've done this lots of times um I mean if it matters I worked with the same group in other towns that are represented you know either reviewing a report or providing information backup information about whether that be Trails uh Trails or Recreation items in a town I've worked with them several times before and um I thought they did a decent job and thank you in fact I I I would just note that the resolution itself 9-10 does note that their role would be mapping um and developing the report but also meeting attendance so if indeed the township wanted them to attend and present at a meeting that would be a part of uh the resolution that you were literally adopting this evening yeah so myself being the leison from the council to the environmental commission I'll make sure that the the council is um informed uh at the time when the when the report is ready for a review thank you one last note too just for the public is this the current plan that we have my understanding is from 1996 is 28 years old I believe so it's we are due for a new one um and I understand also that when this is completed it's good for a 10-year period for eligibility for Green Acres matching funds for certain projects I think Corey you alluded to that before i' agree that the plan that you have is has a number of years to it the a few years ago they did a review of open space properties and there's a property list and a mapping that went with it but it really wasn't an open space plan they did a uh review of all the properties in town which that information we're obviously going to share um but the um it wasn't a full plan your plan is quite old um it does uh help you for funding you know down the roadway with you know we talked tonight about Green Acres funds for you know the park improvements um you get down down the road to Green Acres um you know for grants for Trails uh is always a key item um it does help you if you have an open space and Recreation plan established and um you can state that you're your your proposal is in conformance with the current plan so that's why it's always a good idea to have I don't think it binds you in into the acquisition of land things it just it's meant to inventory and try to set the goals and objectives of the town so the key component I'm not in disagreement I don't want to give the wrong idea I'm not in disagreement with having this done I just wanted to clarify that our professionals are going to be involved every step of the way because I don't want to turn something this important just over to a nonprofit that's going to generate a report you know um unbridled so I want to just I feel better knowing that our professionals will be involved and that Dan has said he'll keep us in the loop with regard to developments and the report so I think from my side that I I plan to be involved and if it's you know desired I'll I'll attend the the environmental commission at least for the kickoff meeting and then uh and U make sure I'm I'm involved thank you thank you thanks yeah may we have a vote on resolution uh 910 coun herur yes councilman Quinn yes councilman Sherell yes Deputy Mayor buetti yes mayor Clark yes next up may I have a motion uh to approve resolution 9911 which is uh of the township Council of the township of Sparta authorizing the award of a contract for Professional Services with a Township COA consulted I'll make a motion to approve resolution 9-11 may I have a second I will second it okay before we go to the vote um Mr Zep or you know Mr Stoner um what is the what will be the role of the township COA consultant what's the purpose of this resolution COA consultant um basically uh is a third party A administrative agency that ensures that the township is doing right by its COA uh obligations and they also administer um a lot of the responsibilities of uh the affordable housing when it comes to the sales of of affordable housing uh houses and when it comes to the rentals of the units that uh have been designated uh also by deed um as a as a a COA restricted or affordable housing uh we have several here and so having the third party agency uh CG p& uh as in this resolution uh they handle a lot of those details for us and what will happen if I could just complement what the uh the tent manager is saying they will work with us if indeed they determine that a uh a purchase sale transaction is not in compliance with our affordable housing plan or if the leasing of units within an affordable housing building uh is not in compliance um you know they will refer that back to our office and we'll take legal action to bring about compliance and also if I may just to make the council aware of where the funding comes from this program is basically it isn't a trust fund and as the Township or as we issue cosos for houses new houses being built the contractor or the owner has to pay back a portion of those uh the assessed value of the property that comes into the co into the co account and it's a dedicated trust trust fund just for Kaa is this also the organization ation that handles Co requests so when units become available and the applications come in yes they also are the Clearing House correct yes so when we have X amount of Co units that are available in a particular location this is the partner that will go out look through all the applications verify the validity of the applicants and then ultimately select the people that are going to receive the units as well correct and this is a firm that has been used not only here but in other towns for a good number of years years and and they're very reputable and my understanding too is that the the COA is is sort of in a state of uh imminent flux uh because there is a bill pending uh and it's threat to change that and and would the consultant uh advise us here are the changes to the law here's you know what we need to be aware of is that they're on top of it I've had several conversations with them okay um any other questions from members of council and may I have a vote on resolution 911 councilman Herzberg yes councilwoman Quinn yes councilman shirell yes Deputy Mayor blumetti yes mayor Clark yes next up is resolution of the township of Sparta establishing a procedure for public comment before the township Council it's resolution 912 may I have a motion to approve resolution 912 I move that we approve resolution 9-12 may I have a second second uh before we go to a vote um my view of this I stated when we did this back in September um I think this is uh ill advised um we did it initially um and as a way to streamline our meetings um I I think that the meetings that we've had since September uh We've continued to only have about a handful of people uh in the audience uh to speak on public comment so it wouldn't have been necessary to limit it in that way I also think that um what it does it puts the focus on the clock and looking at the clock and not listening to the members of the public who uh elected us and this is their opportunity really to have uh a comment period that we can take uh in put into and then use that as our basis for some of the decisions that we make so I think that um I too want to streamline these meetings but I feel like the onus to streamline the meeting should not be put upon the public by limiting them it should be put upon us to figure out a way to streamline it and so it's my view that I think that there's stuff that Council can do um to uh get our meetings to move faster part of it will be a requirement of us to speak to one another on a regular basis not in violation of any opma but to uh try to figure out uh how we can um you know get our meetings uh and understand what we're voting on before we vote on them and so I think there's a way there that you know put the onus on Council to do it as opposed to putting the onus on the public now all that being said um I think as a compromise provision what I would recommend and it's something that I believe the planning board uh and the the not this one but the previous one in 2022 did is they simply allocate a total amount of time for each public comment period And so what that does is it doesn't restrict the particular speaker to an amount of time but effectively it does that because what you have is pressure because if you have 10 people and you know you only have 30 minutes then people generally are respectful of that and will limit their time because they know they want to make room for other speakers and so what my recommendation would be is to amend this uh to allocate for each public period time 30 minutes uh to each public comment period uh and after that time is allocated it can be you know if someone wants to speak for five minutes they can if someone wants to speak for one minute uh they'll be able to but I think that's a way that we can get the the public comment and also I found problematic is when there's questions asked and then that re response and that eats up the 3 minutes and so I felt and the the administration of it was also cumbersome and uh problematic and really was inefficient and so um I I would uh would would vote no on this as currently drafted um but I'll hear from other people I'd like to share a thought thought or two and um I don't I don't sure all the mayor um comments I sure some of them though and I I would not be in favor of three minutes um I think it was good in spirit I think we always said that we would look at it again um I think it it did help I'm not sure the 3 minutes was long enough though in a lot of cases um right now we haven't seen a problem in quite some time uh I so I would like to just continue this conversation up here about whether five minutes is POS a possibility if we have perhaps a a bulk time for each public comment session like 30 minutes like the mayor mentioned or that we don't proceed right now and we we hold off until an issue becomes apparent again I but I I would not be I think three minutes for sure is seems to me unnecessary at this point um like there others think um I can offer comments U first of all um one one suggestion was to limit to a block have a a time box of time uh that option was suggested and our legal council had advised against that as being um imp proper uh because um one person could get up and speak for 59 minutes and you've now effectively limited everybody else's time for that um secondly um as I've I've often U said to my family members you everything is fine until it's not and so uh we we can't pick and choose when we can apply the rule and when we can't um if there if there's a a sparse attendance like today and we have plenty of time to entertain a conversation or question and answer period maybe we can accommodate that um if there is a topic that um Garners a lot of attention and there's 50 or 60 people in the room all of which which want to speak and have a qu their own question and answer session we obviously cannot accommodate that uh you cannot limit somebody's time on topic a but allow unlimited time for topic B that's just not uh that's not fair and that's that wouldn't be viewed fair by um any system um so um I I suggest um as I mentioned before um you know this is this is us conducting um public business buiness uh or Council business in public um this isn't a question and answer period or period for um um interviews or or or whatnot um we offer many opportunities to engage with us you can engage with us after the meeting uh we started a council session uh meet the council session at the library once a month where if you can have a long conversation with us then we're there for two hours um we have by email we're very accessible but um to for someone to hold the floor for 20 minutes half an hour 45 minutes I've seen almost an hour it's just not fair to the people that work here it's not fair to the other members of the audience who also want their time at the microphone and so uh it it makes sense for us to limit it across everybody and again uh we can't pick and choose how we apply it sometimes we apply it sometimes we don't um and I and I I also believe that we make ourselves available um as a counil to the public um very well that's my comment anyone else at this time maybe what we need to do is discuss it a little further amongst Council um maybe we pull it table it talk about it a little oh I don't know I'm just saying um you know I see personally I agree with with the points that Dan was saying as well as some of the points that Neil had maybe a good compromise is we say 30 minutes you know for each open session we put a block like it's it worked on the planning Bo it didn't work on the planning board yeah unfortunately all the nobody cared that the other people were going to talk for three minutes or two minutes or five minutes they talked however long they wanted Ian we saw people get up and talk for 20 minutes half an hour but the courts have frowned upon that that block time because of that reason that it can lead to arbitrary and capricious limitations upon one person as opposed to another person I mean if if there are going to be limitations put in place the essentially the the the decisions seem to say they certainly must be publicized in advance number one and number two they cannot be arbitrarily and capriciously enforced uh against members of the public so you would want to try to find some if you're going to put limitations some limitations that can be evenly um employed with members uh of the public the time limit the currently at for example the Board of Ed meetings that's 3 minutes correct that's correct is that that correct okay I understanding that's also I have some experience in hopac on Council and that's also the case hakon council at least it was when I'm just saying and just for my own purposes just to confirm um it is three minutes and we can't you're saying we can't do the block so that would be off the table up the block of time is that would be my recommendation I must think the case is directly on point and prohibited a particular block but uh you know in terms of the um the commentary in in Court decisions it seems to uh dissuade yeah discourage blocks well I value your opinion as always so we will take you know personally I will look away from that as an option but no case has been decided that no I I can't think of going directly on point but I I think that we should not let the exception Drive the rule the exception has been meetings that go overlength due to public comment those have been the exception of I can count probably two in the last year where we had a substantial amount of people here to justify that maybe we should have a limit since that we have not and so we're allowing two instances out of 20 you know 26 meetings to drop drive a rule for all 26 meetings and I to me that just seems um backwards I think that uh the standard uh you know experience should drive the rule and the standard experience has been that there's insufficient amount of people in the room to which um and the people who are here obviously have taken a significant amount of time and effort to be here and I would like to give them the opportunity to speak and so that's what drives me to say I don't think think this is necessary um and when we do have a meeting that is uh well attended and that require a long comment period uh to me uh I will say I bought the ticket I'll take the ride meaning that's the you know that's the price that we pay uh for putting our name on the ballot and saying that we represent you is that you we have to listen to you and sometimes it may be inconvenient it may take a long time but that's what we signed up to do so let's do it but that's all I have on that so I'm just going to say to those comments Neil I have to just say I don't think that it's fair to say at all that because the resolution follows pre-existing guidelines in different um you know in different agencies and different organizations in town things that we've had here before I don't think that it is fair to sit and say well we don't want to hear you know to make it seem like if we agree with this we don't want to hear from people or we're not we don't want to be bothered or we don't want to take the time it's actually that's absolutely not it whatsoever you know if you have been in meetings over the years what we see is people get up and speak for 40 minutes and then everyone else leaves so people don't stay till the end they don't hear the liaison reports they don't hear the good things they don't stick around because people monopolize the time it gets too late and to Dan's Point as well you can't just arbitrarily have it you unfortunately the rules say you have to have it or you don't but I just am going to challenge the spin I appreciate um you know I I spend a large part of of we all do of our time with residents answering questions going to emails taking phone calls you know spending our time on these committees coming to the meetings meeting with people outside of here the council connect initiative and whatnot and I I just want to set for the record that anyone that agrees with limiting this is not saying they want to limit it because they don't want to hear from people or they don't want to fulfill their responsibility and I just think the inference is not fair so I want to get that out there um I'll suggest two things real quick one is I don't agree with the characterization this only happened twice in the past year I can probably off the top of my head think of 789 meetings that went till at least 11:00 10:30 or 11 o'cl or later was that due to the public comment period or due to the method by which we were uh deliberating ordinances and resolutions are you able to allocate the and and to specify the reason that it went overlength was because of the public comment period and not do to other agenda items I think both were a factor um and and secondly there are people that were not elected that are also have to be in the room for till 10:30 11 11:30 12 um that did that didn't sign up for this so to say um I just wanted I'm I'm mindful of their time as well I would like to add too that you maybe what I'm hearing is maybe we consider it still maybe we make it five minutes um there are three mandatory open public segments right there's number four open to the public there's the resolutions and there's the one at the end of the meeting if there's an ordinance there's a separate public session for that too so there's three to four perhaps more if we have a special speaker each ordinance too for each ordinance there's one so perhaps you know someone would like to speak you know we're talking the at least 15 minutes perhaps 20 25 minutes for that person to participate in the meeting you know maybe speaking for five minutes on one topic is is a reasonable balance to to to try out so we have a motion to approve and second it so the motion's on the table being discussed um I would be amendable to relaxing this to five minutes if if someone were to make a motion to um amend the resolution to up it to five minutes so I move that we amend the resolution to five minutes I will second that okay so we have a a motion to amend uh resolution uh 9 get it exactly right 12 912 uh to allocate five minutes as opposed to 3 minutes so again the motion on the table is to amend resolution uh 911 to allocate five minutes 912 912 sorry and so may I have we have a f Motion in a second do we need a what do we need uh we need discussion if not then we can to vote no I think we've had enough discussion uh can we have a roll call vote got five more minutes to discuss yes councilwoman Quinn yes councilman Sherell yes Deputy Mayor buetti yes mayor Clark no motion uh to Abend passes um do we now need a motion to approve 9 uh 12 as amended so may I have a motion to approve 912 as amended amend as amended I will move that we approve resolution 9-12 as amended may I have a second a second uh may I have a roll call vote councilman Herzberg yes councilwoman Quinn yes councilman cherell yes Deputy Mayor blumetti yes mayor Clark no uh resolution 912 as amended has passed uh we now move to resolution 913 is a resolution authorizing the displaying of commemorative flag on Township own flag polls Pan African flag uh for in February and my understanding this is for uh Black History Month with Falls in February so may I have a motion to approve resolution 9913 I move that we approve resolution 913 may I have a second I'll second it may I have a roll call vote councilman Herzberg abstained councilman Quinn abstained councilman Shero yes Deputy Mayor BL yes mayor Clark yes uh resolution 9113 passes can I have an explanation for resolution 9-9 pleaseing me to give the I'm talking to anyone yeah well well it's a Professional Services it's to retain uh special counsel with regard to the pending litigation involving the Zoning Board of adjustment is this at additional cost to the taxpayer yes didn't we already approve $60,000 for this lawsuit is this additional on top of that did 100,000 and part of that this Sam had advised me that we can also use that 100,000 for this lawsuit as well but now went up to 200,000 plus the original no they're using the original 100,000 the original 100,000 that we had encumbered for litigation will also be used for this new litigation this is because there's a conflict on the existing zoning board attorney right this is another attorney just for that litigation okay thank you D correct yes it doesn't matter it it's it's still Council for that lawsuit it's additional Council that laws it's specific to the lawsuit that is identified in the resolution okay all right and it he's saying it is is an additional cost and am I right that this is not a resolution to allocate any additional cost it's the resolution to appoint uh conflict Council because unfortunately our zoning board attorney as we have it is conflicted out of that that's correct it does not allocate any additional costs however you know it's specifically is a Professional Services agreement to Appo counil in light of the conflict got it so this no what they said is there was already $100,000 E mark that will be using they'll be using that so they're they're proving that that money can be utilized for this attorney let's hope we don't need any more than that okay all right moving on on reports all right we're up to the liaison reports um I will go uh first uh we are having our Revolution 250 meeting uh this Thursday um after a little Hiatus uh due to the holidays and uh we uh like I said we have a very good um you know group of folks historians archaeologists and we will be discussing at this meeting uh what exactly we want to do to celebrate uh the 250th anniversary of our country but in particular with the as Sparta spin to it and so that's and we'll be uh discussing that and there's like I said also that what will come up is there are grant money uh for some of this and we have someone on uh the committee who uh is uh familiar with it and they'll update us on that so that's the Rev 250 um and I don't have any other councila on reports I'll I'll leave the recreation uh to my able councilwoman Quinn and the school board to my able colleague danello so that's all for me any other counil Lea on reports I'll go next real quick um so as you mentioned the revolution NJ committee meets on Thursday um because of that I'm conflicted and we'll we I would like to attend the revolution on j250 committee uh and that will make me miss the next environmental commission meeting which is on Thursday uh at the same time um and uh we did have uh we did have representatives from the council and the board of Board of Education meet on Monday um discuss next steps on a couple of issues and um I I'll probably sh be able to share more at a later time and I'll allow councilman Herzberg to discuss the business development committee and that's all for me sure we were snowed out twice it's great yeah so I guess it's my turn it's your turn it's my turn okay with regard to the salute 07871 we are going to be closing the orders for 2024 for HomeTown hero banners if anyone is interested in placing your order for a banner um please do so by February 15th after which time we're going to be closing the website Jenny maybe we could talk after or during the week because I'd really love to get it out to everybody with the link with that deadline we close the orders the 15th we Vanessa and I will be getting together um March 1st then uh she'll start working to collect everything we'll go through and we do this in this timeline because we want to try to get all of the new HomeTown hero banners on Jim's lovely new uh frames that he has and we want to try to do that uh Before Memorial Day so that's that's what drives the timeline uh so that's salute 07871 the seniors uh senior advisory committee did meet on the 7 19th the wreck meeting was also canceled due to snow so it's not just business development just so you know um the health department there's been a lot going on there updates can be found on Our Town Council website in addition we're in the middle of reviewing reports that just came in as well so um there is some stuff going on there also you'll find some information on our website about these recent respiratory illnesses that have been creeping up all around us so if you wanted to learn more information about that you could take a look at the health corner on our website with regard to the municipal Alliance I did promised at the last meeting that I would go through a list of what we agreed to fund for 2024 and I didn't have the paper with me at the last meeting so I'm going to just take a minute and go through those things that we had agreed to fund in 2024 so um the food insecurities the food pantry we did uh approve the three-year commit of $3,000 per year plus um the application cost for up to three applications through Millennium strategies uh police report and funding of of the programming that they are doing in this area um speakers in the schools so we're going to be working on getting that together the Girl Scout leaders there's a group of Girl Scouts that came to the alliance and asked for our support in attending a peer leadership seminar so we agreed and our supporting that a program called social media its effects on our students and our community the marketing campaign we're going to be working with the county as well additional aligned support trauma outdoor classrooms proactive programming support specifically to our our veterans additional support to our seniors for their events meaning senior citizens and activities um messaging for special needs students continuing existing programming for Girls on the Run aligned mental health and wellness Unified sports and our senior citizen programs anti-vaping programs for speakers and marketing looking at mental health first aid and also the addition of additional Recreation programs we I talked about those last time that we're working on through the rec advisory committee in partnership with the municipal Alliance the funding that I'm referring to here as I mentioned before comes from three three separate funding sources so it is coming from the opioid settlements it's also coming from our Municipal Alliance and the township money is in the alliance account as well in addition to this we did uh have lengthy discussions about a um a form of rooc programs in the schools it's statistically proven be proven to be great I know you were working on this as well so you and I were talking after the last meeting and we're excited about that 10 kids already signed up and identifi teacher who volunteered to to run it so we're We're Off to the Races perfect so that's a great story um that is we have a lot of next steps here as well but you can tell that our alliance is extremely extremely busy and we are working really hard with our partners not only in town like Chief mccarrick like councilman Herzberg and and a lot of different entities we're working with the with the county as well we are very excited about the programming and the opport unties that we have now to really make a difference in the lives of people across all demographics in our community and we're ready to hit the ground running right Chief absolutely um and the other thing I wanted to talk about um with and I guess I'll bring it up now in the leaon reports is in my role as an executive board member of the New Jersey League of municipalities as well as my role on the leadership team with the csex county League of municipalities this issue of universal pre K kind of keeps coming up um and it does have some as many advantages as it it has has the potential to have some unintended consequences as well mainly in in the form of impacts to local business owners and as well as access to care for um for our parents so I had a conversation with councilman Herzberg since he's representing the BDC and we're going to be talking about this I've requested more information from this the state as well and obviously it makes sense for us to get in the room with um the board president as well as um Dr Beck and I mean this conversation all we've heard for the last couple years is how overcrowded the schools are and now we're shoving more kids in there well then I think the program also the the so looking at the the deployment and again it's sort of not there yet it's a 5-year plan but it also encroaches into the private business Community oh absolutely and it it's having already reper questions on local businesses that have been established for many many years providing care to children so we want to make sure that in Sparta Township we have a good understanding and we have the mechanisms in place to that point right because you know there wasn't that there was a need for it people stepped up they provided that service they provided that need yep and you know yeah it's a it's a it's going to be an interesting situation and it's still Lottery as far as I understand right so it's not for everybody the state is yeah this my understanding and again I'm waiting for I'm waiting for more information because I did reach out to the president of the league to see if we can have a powow of some kind to get more credible information about this because a lot of business owners are struggling with not having all these answers so a lot of decisions are being made in a very quick period of time without a really good solid understanding of the program the consequences the benefits and whatnot sounds like everything else our state rules out so uh I just wanted to bring that up and and when you were talking about BD see I wanted to make sure that we we brought that forward also I'm assuming um someone's going to be given a liaison report about the the planning board so I I did attend the meeting virtually the planning board meeting virtually last week the application in the former space of um Captiva the application that was approved that was being discussed I was very interested in seeing what that was going to look like nothing was decided there but one of the things that I wanted to ask uh our manager and also our attorney is this organiz this building you know one of the things that we talked about at least the first time this came around in Captiva is we're really trying to retain Spartans we're trying to keep Spartans here we're trying to you know we've been talking about retaining our seniors providing alternate forms of housing so that they don't have to leave in their later years we talked about how do we keep our young kids that can't afford to buy a house or maintain and whatnot um so I don't know how this is possible or if this is possible but if this application or upon approval or if it is going to be at some point in an effort to stay with the spirit of keeping and safeguarding our Spartans what what are our what are the how would we move forward with possibly asking the owners of this building before it is advertise to the whole world to maybe give Sparta residence or advertise in Sparta and give them a head start of like 30 to 45 days before it goes everywhere so that people in Sparta that are already here or thinking of staying here or our seniors would have that information before a landslide of applications would come in is that something that could be asked well can I just ask also that we just talk about this philosophically because it is an active ongoing application yeah thank you it's a great question though but yeah yeah yeah just from a policy perspective and in terms of proceeding with uh uh policies and practices that would achieve some of your the goals that you have it is unfortunate Ely a very complicated uh uh answer uh and it's very fact specific I would say we'd be in a position to uh uh address the senior population uh more readily than just PARTA residence and it it ties into our affordable housing plan okay and and unfortunately um you know all projects one the project has has applied for developing new uh policies or regulations after those applications have gone in are are certainly very problematic so it really would best be addressed uh in our affordable housing plan okay so hypothetically speaking of course I get it hypothetically speaking I just it's more of a marketing thing to me and important for us to retain our Spartans than it is to you know I have no problem with anyone coming here from anywhere but the the a lot of the concerns we're hearing from our residents namely our seniors and our younger population and we have kids that go to college and come back and they can't buy a house here they but they could rent something you know we're losing all those people and so I'm not asking for an earmark I'm not asking for anything of that nature just Grace and um maybe you know hypothetically agreement to let us Market it or someone Market it here just giving us a head start and and certainly it's I think it's a good intention I think the developers would be concerned about allegations of discrimination unless they were uh limitations that were supported by by state law or some State like a housing right that's what you're saying like in I think when you have a population that's 95% uh White and you you know I'm not I'm not saying that's the purpose that's not your purpose I'm we always talk in here about mitigating risk um what I would my my caution would be that if you do something like that um someone as probably frivolous as it may be can make an allegation or well that's coded for you would just want people in here who look like the people who are already here and I don't think that's true I don't think that's councilwoman's Quinn's intent at all but um having done some work and and in employment discrimination um that doesn't mean those allegations can't be made and uh having looked over you know you know the EOC and we had to do that for our preparation for this meeting today and so so I got up to speed again on disperate impact and disperate treatment and um an allegation an advertisement like that is uh could have a disperate impact in that it would exclude people who uh don't reside in in the town and that would could be people who don't fit the demographic profile of that I think that would be wrong I don't think that was councilwoman Quinn's intent my concern is that something like that putting aside the issue of whether we could even have the the authority to allow to require a developer to do that I think that's I would never yeah and I just want to clarify I would never make it a requirement yeah and yeah never I just wanted to look at what the options were hypothetically if something like that would how if it would be allowed in how we have the answer the majority of discussions we were having is how do we keep young people how do we keep people here schools were losing population and these were the kind of things we were talking about and you know there's no perspective on on how quickly we could end up back in that situation thank you Tom that concludes my oh my liais on reports okay okay you're up yeah so uh good say way perhaps so I'll just give a quick update on the planning board uh the reorganization meeting was last Thursday the 17th uh the board selected its uh chairperson a vice chairperson also the professionals uh the appointments or reappointments of the professionals welcomed in and swore in our new members one was not in attendance but the other one was and also all the reappointed members were uh welcomed and sworn in also the Committees uh subcommittees which there are four or five actually uh are underway uh the site plan waiver subcommittee doesn't stop that's been ongoing anyway um the master plan subcommittee Pak ordinance reviews other ones are um planning their ongoing meeting schedules for the year and also uh as the councilwoman mentioned the uh the meeting then transitioned into a uh continuation of the hearing for fles hold fles Holdings which is the property up uh behind Burger King uh so that's just a quick summary of what's happening with the planning board and we're looking forward to uh full and busy year all right any other um Council updates anything you forgot to add okay do we have any new business um I will start um the I am have spoken with um a producer and director of a film that was shot uh in part in Sparta part in Newton um he reached out to me and um he they have they filmed uh the title of the movie is called Emerald ties um it is a drama uh that they film using Sparta actors and and and people from Sussex County um they're in post-production right now meaning they've they've shot everything and now they're you know editing and getting the sound and Etc but um and when I spoke to him he was very uh encouraging about he wants to do more in Sparta so uh and and and in Sussex County generally and so I've uh I've raised this uh had the sparta chamber today I spoke with Tammy horsefield um but what this um highlights to me is the need for uh Film Production permitting that a lot of towns like Red Bank and Jersey City do and and so this isn't just hey let's have the government put up roadblocks for people no this is a way that one you can encourage it two you actually know that there's filming going on in your town um because uh sometimes if they do require um you know set asides or police presence or something um they have to let us know that and then you know monies can be set aside so I think that it really highlighted for me one it was a great positive news but also the necessity of of getting on the table uh a film per permitting ordinance and so I think in in the in the weeks and and months to come I hope that we will we'll get one out there and then we will work with um all the various constituencies to to encourage people uh to you know share with the world uh all the wonderful you know amenities that that Sussex County has and so they can see for themselves that we are unlike um a lot of other towns in this country and um and so Hollywood seems to think so and so let's let's let's move on that so that's my my new business um mayor Clark If I build build on up for for a minute on that same topic and you and I have spoken about that and I've spoken about that with councilman hbur as well um getting Sparta sort of film ready uh having attended a seminar and have have some contacts uh from towns that have gone through this process and part of this process is not just getting the structure in place for for fees and and and expenses and whatnot but it's also um creating a list of assets of your town that future production crews could look at so if you're if you're a if you're a producer and you want to produce a movie and there's a scene in here where someone drops a kid off at a middle school you're like okay I got to shoot some scene is there any place close by that has a really cool looking middle school that I can get my crew there um and and you get on you can distribute these assets of your Township to uh the appropriate parties that will you you'll be on on on on lists where they can um have inventories of things where they can film and so um getting that ready is probably um we just you know councilman harzburg and I discussed is is their role to play for the business development committee I don't know uh is it a separate committee um but that that work should be done as part of what you just discussed and and well more to come on that that's all I have for that great and uh other new business I have is there is a um Rowing Club in Sparta um they had a recent fundraiser to see uh boys in the boat um and they've they are um there is a a rowing team at Sparta and they are I was pleased to learn they're also uh looking into opening uh rowing up to what they call Masters which is a code for old people but they Define old people as 26 and over so um you're kidding yeah so so I I think it's a it's it's an amazing Sport and I think it's it's great uh that they'll they're going to open this up not only to um the kids but the old the old heads so I look forward to seeing them develop in the future but that's all the new business that I have so we'll just go around the horn and see who else has new business I can offer a couple things um one we talked about the Film Production um um also like to say that the CFO is really rocking the facial hair so I think that's um that's coming along well um also want to mention the ambulance Squad installation dinner was a few nights ago and that was always a nice event and and uh it just reinforces the fact that we have a a first class uh rescue Squad there that uh we should all be proud of as Spartans um and then finally this is more like old business um speaking of old I think the chair that I'm sitting on is probably about as old as I am and there's pieces of it all over my suit and um and it's that's all I'll have to say about that it's free get this man a new chair we asked Santa and that didn't happen either well maybe he wasn't good last year so he get the new chair I don't know that's equivalent of coal I throwing it out there I can go next I echo three points we just heard the beard love it uh the chairs yeah they're falling apart and also I also had the pleasure of attending the sparta ambulance and uh we're just impressed and Blown Away by the the sacrifice that they make and the dedication and the commitment um and their importance to our community that's all I have new business you're going to be shocked but I have some um so I want to Echo the sentiments about the ambulance Squad it was a great night it was an honor to be there I had the privilege of swearing in the new members so I would like to um really congratulate Max Marino the new Captain Ben Wright first lieutenant Alexander ciglia second Lieutenant Aubrey kums Sergeant Brad Erikson trustee and Allison Wright trustee so I'd really like to just uh recognize the leadership team for the ambulance squad for 2024 and we are unbelievably lucky um this organization is amazing something else I want to share is that arleene Kain was in attendance she was recognized for 45 years of service and if you think that that is impressive as impressive as that is is that is Tom holx was there being recognized for 55 years 55 years uh Cliff CAC also right from downstairs was recognized for 10 and it went on and on I mean I could go through the entire but the reason why I bring this up is because this is what sets our ambulance Squad apart it is such a family um all of our EMS has it's such a family and we are so incredibly lucky to have the commitment and the fortitude and the experience and the knowledge that we have servicing this community so um I just wanted to bring that up also want to just bring up that the sparta Township Public Schools will be hosting their security Summit there's information out there um I received it this morning and and sent it out to all members of the municipal Alliance um I Know Chief you received it as well obviously but that's coming up and so if anyone is interested in that I just want to make everyone aware also with regard to um funding uh in my other roles outside of the council that I hold I mentioned earlier I've been having some discussions with some different entities and leaders around the county in the state and there um I did reach out to the manager because some of the projects that we are looking at uh around shared services there is uh potentially a lot of money available to help us start those up and I'm really excited about some of them I will give more information as we get closer to really validating that these can be used but shared services are a big deal we do them here our dispatchers our Police Department Department um our court our Animal Control I the list goes on and on so I mean I think this is an area where we um have served as been our have proven ourselves to be really good partners and it's a good time for us to start looking at additional shared services as we head into sort of Uncertain times where we maybe can work with other municipalities as well so I'm excited about that and we'll have more conversations once we learn a little bit more and that's it for me new business okay we are now at the uh public comment period um my understanding is having now passed the resolution uh I think it would be the five minute rule is now in effect we wait is there some notification period that we have to we can wait until we notice the adoption of resolution got it okay so at the next meeting um this is your last night so don't speak for three hours Kath I should be up here for three hours because I W okay Kathy eowen um as a member of the public that's up here a lot I just want to say thank you for extending the period and considering it um generally speaking the public is not up here giving diet tribes but when they do to me it's a canary in the coal mine because generally speaking people don't come up here just to you know perform right we're up here telling you something that you probably should be paying attention to if we're all in here in mass and talking about something and wanting all to speak so just to start with that since you brought it up all right so that's not my question for tonight my question tonight is about um I'd like to ask about the ordinance that was proposed to amend the pced Zone in the summer months in 2023 and want our planning board subcommittee spent time and effort to research and craft a proposal that they presented to this body and if I recall correctly the owner of most of that land in that zone um was objecting to the changes can the council comment on any actions that were taken since and any actions that are expected to be taken in the future and when I can start my understanding is uh the planning board um had offered and was accepted um an opportunity for the family that you referenced that owned three of those lots to come in and do a concept review I believe it was in October you might have been there so they did that meeting uh at the end of the meeting the uh resident asked for uh more time and was encouraged to perhaps come back again in the future when they fleshed out their strategy some more or if they had something else to share so there was an agreement in place that they would go back and then come back to the planning board again and share more information um that hasn't happened yet and now that we're in a new year uh planning board will be reaching out to them to see if they still would like to participate if they have a concept they want to share uh all this will be done in public session it won't be there's they're not intending subcommittee meetings it's just done in regular planning board meetings so uh you should be hearing more soon on where that went with the concept review okay will the ordinance that was proposed be revived do we think it's hard for me to answer that myself yeah I I would personally I would I would think probably yes uh I can't speak for the council or for full planning board I'm a little bit confused because the planning board went and did all that work that subcommittee came presented here and then it just kind of went away because a resident spoke up and said I don't like this and you know we're talking about public comment that was made during a public comment that was one individual or one family and here we have a stoppage of a a proposal of an ordinance that's kind of just died it's strange to me yeah it could seem strange I get I get that it was paused so it doesn't mean it went away it was paused um there was no commitment that it would be changed or W or would not be changed based on those other meetings that we just talked about um so it was paused doesn't mean it went away it will have to be addressed or talked about again I would expect soon if I remember correctly there were a lot of people here that night against that against what I'm sorry against that ordinance not sure I think there was a lot of people that got up with the microphone that were against it I don't think most of them understood it but there was an article in the paper telling people to come and yell at the microphone a lot of people came and showed up and did just that I remember if I recall there were there was a lot of discussion that night I don't know that it was against I think it was both for and against I think the important distinction Kathy because you're right it sort of came here and then kind of went back to planning but I think the important thing for every everyone understand is there seems to be a common misconception out there that that ordinance is held up by this Council so that ordinance is not in fact being held up by this council at all the next steps that we talked about in that meeting was that the planning board was taking it back they were going to have a conversation with the owner and if you remember that night I was the one very adamant to say I don't want this going on forever so let's set 10 days let's agree you know 10 days whatever but this body is not going to move forward with that ordinance until such time because the the the next steps were that the planning board was going to talk to the property owner and if there were any changes that needed to be made or anything that was agreed to to be change to bring it back so that ordinance is not waiting for us to take action that ordinance is waiting for the results of whatever that conversation will be the results could be two things we're not making any changes to it we want the C to relook at it the way it is we've had these conversations they've yielded no changes that's scenario one scenario 2 we had this conversation and we came up with these modifications now please look at this but it is not with us right now it is pending we are waiting to hear back from the planning board after they meet and and come up with whatever it is they're going to do whatever scenario it's going to be but it is not being held up here I remember discussion it was more of a favor hey we want to hear your concept I don't know if favor is the right word but there was an ordinance proposed by the planning board and brought here that said hey can we introduce this and there was no decision to introduce it or it was introduced and it was paused the reason why it was paused was because the the property owner in question came here with his lawyer and basically said we weren't even consulted about this um and we said and agreed have a conversation let's take a minute meet with the property owner have some more discussion so that they clearly understand what's going on um they claimed I believe at the time I don't want to misspeak so if I'm wrong someone correct me but I believe they claimed they had never even been notified about the ordinance so at that time it was me I think so I'll take the the onus of it that said let's take a minute have a meeting discuss and then come back to us but come back to us with either we're not making any changes this is what we want you to look at or here's a revised version of it so we're not going to take we're not in a position to take any action until we get some kind of feedback from the council perspective the ordinance was tabled is that right I think it was me I think I'd have to go back and I do believe we it was Ted and sent back to the planning board but I think that you know not to speak for you uh if the implication is the the purpose of the tabling was simply to bring back the the the prior resolution so that has the same force and effect that's not what's happening here um it's not so let's just go back to the original ordinance that ordinance will be changed at some point there other we don't know that we don't it it may or may not but it you know that that was the purpose of the pced change but the the the the implication is is should not be that it's the intent of anyone to just simply um allow the the the pre-existing ordinance to say the planning board did do a ton of work with that um I'll also say without um there are other Alternatives available to the owner of that property um to to receive its fair value um that is also being looked into and so for that process to play out um we are taking the benefit of that time so that's another reason as well there's two other variables here one is that um planning board is made up of a finite number of Citizen volunteers that have a lot of work to do and um they only have so much through put they only meet you know twice a month um so there's only so much capacity for work that they do so we're um they're in deference to their schedule even more reason because that work was done with a subcommittee by a group of people and then right I'd love to see that you know be realized in some way and it seems not being it's paused and and secondly the legislative calendar has ended and so we're in a new legislative calendar it would have to be reintroduced as a new ordinance is my understanding um but as as Council as Deputy Mayor bled said um that they're aware of it and worked and actively working on it and the council as as councilwoman Quinn said we're waiting for the to land back on our desk yeah so it's on the planning board's agenda to address now um as you recall there was an agreement uh from the land owner that they would there would no be no new application that came in during the time when this was uh this these discussions were happening from October onward and U after that first meeting that was extended so until when that was going to be my followup question do we know if that's still in place my understanding it's still in place I don't know if there's an end date yeah but um the planning board will do something with this either they will decide and the resident will come back in or the resident will choose maybe not to come back in for a conversation and the planning board will either just keep the path that had in the fall and say Here's the ordinance we'd like this to be discussed and introduced and then we'll have a conversation here or perhaps it will be modified or so there'll be action yeah it's not just didn't disappear well it hasn't been spoken about in a while so I figured i' raise it and ask the question here good thank you yeah good question thanks any other member of the public wishing to be heard Jenny Derek's Jenny derk's tap into Sparta um couple of things uh oh um Chris the and Josh the issue with the universal prek the intention and it's even in the rules that have been prolongated out of the count of the State Board of Ed is to have local providers continue to provide and have the funding flow through the town and go to the local providers that's been the model that's been in effect in some of our other towns in the commun in the county um Newton has been doing it for almost five years now where they use the money there are whole specifications within the code for facilities within the Board of Ed um the State Board of Ed rules about what those facilities can look like and what the funding can pay for and everything so there are mechanisms clearly the intent is clearly in the state's funding to support local providers there's no way to your point Josh they can be fit crammed into the schools that we already have my concern just like you know I've talked about with the Farms is the state comes in and says oh we're going to help you but here's what you have to do and it seems to cost end up costing more money than it helps anyone anytime the state's involved I I I can't speak to that I'm just saying that that that there are it is implied in the law it's not just implied it's it's outlined so Jenny thank you for that first of all um and the there are issues outside of the the guidelines and the dictate and how it's the effect it's going to have here right and a lot of people are asking a lot of questions about what are those question because it is uh third party a lot of it is third party it's not through the school right now the plan is five years who's in a lottery who's not um there's there's different things that have been identified as questions for people that are in these companies like okay if the state comes in they're saying I can only now make this amount a year or they're saying and the issue is the business owners are frustrated because they're not getting their questions answered um you know and that there's also controls around obviously because it's public schools curriculum and what whatnot which is the you know the reason I'm talking to Josh about it is from business perspective you know a lot of these these um this program as well as everyone can imagine and again Andover does it Newton does it like there's a you know there's a lot of municipalities around that have done it but that's not here either and a lot of the problem is you have private owners of daycares and parents that need that daycare that are taking their parents either in town for these services or out of town for these Services these Services now with the state are going to require that only kids from Sparta for example would be able to go to these classes in Sparta so it's a lot to digest I'm getting questions from parents there's websites yes there's looking to pick a fight I'm just trying to give you whatever information I'm trying to help you but you asked me what they are so I'm trying to answer what you said also there are businesses there are preschools and and providers that have been able to keep the doors open because of this funding so that's another thing to think about um the qu the Pana African flag did somebody request that flag yes I did you did um and I donated the flag donated the flag and you also selected which flag would represent we we typically like these The Columns of the building and the colors of the Pan African flag during black history months and so that seemed like appropriate Choice okay thank you any other member of the public wishing to be heard don't be shy bth if you want so keep please I have an easy question I'm Beth brck nor Shore can we get an update on short-term rentals soon policiy yeah that uh so you know that back on I'm not offended yeah we we are um that that is something that we have uh prioritized um as you know it's it's it's it's it's a naughty thorny kind of issue um and so uh it is something I think it is the the sentiment of of probably most of the council that this needs to get done um and and get done this term so um you know we'll be looking to that and we're trying to prioritize is you know we have a lot of various projects going on in the town uh as I like tell Jim all the time he's drinking out of a fire hose um uh but we want to make sure that what we put on his plate um doesn't drown him and also doesn't take away from more pressing projects and so I think that that's sort of what we're trying to come to shore with but yet you will um have every hope and intention to have a short-term rental ordinance that that public can digest this this legislative term you guys have a lot going on I just know like Christine you guys were talking before about like you know housing and keeping people here and stuff like that so I just want to I know it all kind of ties in or as part of the equation so that's what kind of made me think of it today yeah it's definitely something that we will look at and the effect that um the having a a proliferation of short-term rentals on our ability to have long-term leases is something that we will will look at because I I I I do share councilwoman Quinn's concern about availability of Housing and rental to uh Sparta residents particularly our our senior population and so the effect that uh short-term rentals would have on crowding out um you know the availability of long-term rental is something I think that we have to to look at um and and will be a factor that goes into our ordinance at least it will be for me um so okay thank but and I trust that you will ride her on us if we don't have one so cuz that's yes you that's what you're good at Beth and we love you for traffic I'm not shortterm R out of your elements watch it that's all I got Josh I'm sorry I didn't mean to call you out it just kind of fell out I'm sorry I anyone else if not I'd like a uh motion to second I think we have to adjourn first right no I think no we wouldn't adjourn we would actually make a motion to go into exec oh got it got it y okay thank you I didn't know if know if we had to the public park got it um you know um I'm new on the on on the job so I apologize um I make a motion that we go into executive session I move that we go to Executive session what are you talking about how long will you be there and will there be action taken afterwards I'm talking about litigation uh and legal advice and the council will not be taking any action when they come out of executive session it's a continuation sorry it's a continuation of the discussion that we had those are the things that you need to let the public know thank you thank you we take like a break we take a quick break before we go in yeah we have a second and all in favor say I we are now in executive session but we'll take a oh second he okay okay okay all right thanks yeah I I gave you the book come on I'm hold on page five out of the 300 that's on 299 Tom H year servicing speak 55 years of service chair years that's that's always what question not okay great job you know yeah thank you so thank you yeah I see yeah yeah he probably fit the the suit pretty well too right he actually awesome yeah yeah wow father used to be Church yeah and um he said he actually had to wear the pillow yeah make it work there you go facial hair though that's the important part kids can't pull yeah that's that's great figured I'm not fire chief anymore so I don't have to I don't have to so the knock talking water that's ex seeing right now they took it off wouldn't take the bus because they so always he's he's pretty sharp he's I what I'm whenever you get into stff it's this how much of a sap a resource of you data know give them all the data they want so they can run and L