e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e we go good evening welcome to the meeting for May 28th 2024 Township of Springfield County of Union state of New Jersey this noting notice this meeting is being held in accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter 231 inadequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a notice sent to the Star Ledger the local source and posted in the main lobby of the municipal building and on the township website please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led by American Legion Post 228 Vice Commander David Penna and Mark Krauss who's also a member actually Mark Krauss will be leading the Pledge of Allegiance sorry thank you United States God indivisible withy and justice for all please remain standing for a moment of silence for members overseas and at home thank you roll call Mayor Weber here Deputy Mayor laer present committee man capid here committee man schuber here committee man Kaiser Dave and mark thank you guys I know I never get to thank you guys you guys Mark Dave you always run out all the time before we're done before and after yeah that's why we should say the Pledge of allegion at the end of the meeting right yeah benediction oh that's good thank you Mark we we appreciate you guys thank you thank you very much all right um we're going to do proclamations and announcements the spring field first aid Squad celebrates 75 years Saturday June 1st at 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 10 North trivet Avenue there is free admission food Refreshments games and activities will be there um it will be I think we're closing off the street yeah yeah all right so it it'll be on trivet the whole street will be closed it's a great time stop by pride month flag raising Friday May 31st at 4:30 is when when it starts at Chisum Community Center fantastic event please come by look forward to seeing you guys all there the farmers market is open every Monday 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. um been looking forward to that coming back so farmers market every Monday 11: to 6 garbage collection is twice a week now starting this week anybody who had it yesterday or would have had it yesterday like I would have we've missed the day but everybody else will get it two days a week starting um this week today starting today yeah garbage will be collected Monday and Thursday and Tuesdays and Fridays so don't forget Springfield commun Springfield community pool free open house for Springfield residents Saturday June 1st and Sunday June 2nd from 12:00 to 7 Raffles music and prizes all attendees are required to fill out a guest waiver at the.org SLG guest waiver um please stop by there has been a tremendous effort to get this pool to the condition it's in right now I think everybody will be uh remarkably happy with the pool what it has to offer the pool house the the resurfacing of the pool come on by you got nothing to lose Saturday June 1st Sunday June 2nd 12: to 7: both days the pool preseason hours which go from June 1st to June 16th Saturday June 1st to Sunday June 16th weekend's only 12: to 7: after June 16th we will start full-time hours but right now now hours are just Saturday and Sunday 12:00 to 7: primary election day is Tuesday June 4th polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ballot Dropbox is open and located behind Chism Community Center and emptied twice a day by nonpartisan team from the Board of Elections get your uh primary stuff in the calendar for June 2024 for our Springfield Recreation and Community Center is out right now and every single day is filled with something it is it is busier than ever there and there is something for everybody so please look at that calendar if you've got some free time and or you want to meet some people and and hang out great way to do it June 2024 calendar is out okay now we're going to do a proclamation presented to Carol Satchel for National Gun Violence awareness day so I'm going to read this Proclamation and then we're going to take some pictures and everything else whereas every day 120 Americans on average are killed by gun violence and countless others are injured and whereas Americans are 26 times more likely to be murdered by Firearms than people in other developed countries and whereas in New Jersey has 427 gun deaths every year with a rate of 4.8 deaths per 100,000 people a crisis that cost the state 5.3 billion each year of which 68.9 million is paid by taxpayers New Jersey has the fifth lowest gun rate of gun deaths in the United States and whereas gun homicides and assaults are concentrated in cities with more than half of all firearm related gun deaths in the nation occurring in 127 27 cities and whereas cities Across the Nation including in the township of Springfield are working to end the senseless violence with evidence-based Solutions and whereas support for the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens goes both hand inand with keeping guns away from dangerous with from people with dangerous histories and whereas in January 2013 Adia Pendleton was tragically shot and killed at age 15 and on June 7th 2024 to recognize the 27th birthday of hadia pend born June 2nd 1997 people across the United States will recognize gun violence awareness day and we're Orange in tribute to idea and other victims of gun violence and the loved ones of those victims and whereas the township of Springfield renews our commitment to reduce gun violence and pledged to do all we can do to keep our Firearms out of the wrong hands and encourage responsible gun ownership to help keep our community safe now there therefore be it resolved that I Chris Weber mayor on behalf of the township of committee the township of Springfield County of Union New Jersey decare June 2nd 2023 to begun violence Awareness Day in the township of Springfield and encourage members of the community who wish to honor those who have been victimized by gun violence to wear orange on that day and I am going to sign this and where going to put this away Carol let's go on up and take some let me present this to you hello okay this one's working this one's working too okay use the uh this one it it'll it'll work I'd like to present I'd like to present you with this and thank you for all of the efforts that you all do I think I spoke to you all a few years ago last year last year last year and and you know too many people in this world think it has to be either or and and it doesn't have to be it can be both you it's you can be responsible and own one and and and and do all the right things and and and thank you for for stressing that because it's it's it's um I think that's the contentious issue with everybody is is people seem to some people seem to misinterpret it and they think it's all or nothing but it's not and I appreciate you all for doing that for for for putting this work in because it's a lot because these things were are just um like the proclamation says senseless so I'm going to let you we're going to take some photos and I'm going let you say some words please okay [Music] [Music] yeah just no you're free once I do that thank you very much mayor Weber and and Township committee and thank you for your ongoing commitment to making sure that we keep guns safe and we keep um our citizens and and children in particular safe I my daughter goes to Jonathan Dayton and I'll never forget when the rumors were were going around about um the microphone there you go so thank you very much for your support I also wanted to invite everyone um to planfield on June 1st at 9:30 a.m. there will be a rally and a March at the planfield Performing Arts Center and Friday June 7th at 5:00 in Summit on the Village Green um there will be gathering there in support of ending gun violence and making sure people stay safe again thank you very very much have a nice evening thank you thank [Applause] [Music] you [Music] okay [Music] now with that said all proclamations and announcements are completed okay so we're going to move on to our next order of business which is the Springfield Community Partnership uh and budget so uh we're going to have a discussion of the budget but I will make a motion to open up a public hearing second uh all in favor I I so you guys are welcome to come on you guys are up this is this is your turn hopsy for you the Rainbow Connection there we go that's good you do this I'm not helping you jeez Jay I know [Music] jeez we are wire challenged I guess we're good not Captain Mr yeah try try to raise that up to lift it up Mike it'll come up I think we're we're we're good with all the mic we are yep well good afternoon everybody it's been a while since I've seen you all sporadically I've seen you around town but um we're here to discuss uh the Springfield business Improvement District budget I'm assuming you guys uh went over it when we sent you the original one so great um but before I do that I'd like to introduce our newest member our EX itive director Jay Spinelli Jay come on up um since Jay started in February he's been really outstanding to work with he boots on the ground he goes and visit visits all the businesses he's been visiting with the property owners he looks at vacancies um we've been working we probably talk once a day um we we attend ribbon cutting events and again it's really to it's really a breath of fresh air to work with someone like Jay so I'm just going to introduce you really quick to him Jay's going to say a few words hello everyone how are you today I first and foremost want to thank the committee for having us and mayor Weber for having us come out here to present this budget for you today really I am honored to be working within the bid of Springfield and watching what's been done but now moving forward into a new Direction taking this Beyond where we were before working with each and every one of you working with all the businesses working with the administration and every single asset that is in the township of Springfield so I am honored and excited to be a part of it I thank you all I thank Mike Scott Sidell our entire board and especially all the businesses landlords and of course all the residents so thank you very much thank you you thank you so before we we begin the uh the presentation on it um just a few things since me and Jay started in February um we've met with several marketing companies in regards to seeing other ideas um we stayed we gave a six-month um uh contract to mytown marketing who was working with us for the past uh six seven years but we figured let's give him a six-month contract which ends the end of June and then we'll re-evaluate um the new ideas that they come up with and then also we're talking with other marketing companies so we're looking to refresh exactly what we're doing but again going into a whole new other uh Millennium um in regards to the bid uh we we have a web web web design upgrade um we're working with gruskin group uh we had we met with a few other marketing companies in regards to looking at our uh social media our website and uh gruskin was the best um fit for us so they're working on now The Branding of the bid um they're going to be sending out a survey to the residents and the businesses get a feel of what they want what they think we're missing or things that we can really work upon to make uh the businesses and the residents happier in Us in Springfield um also uh like I said we have the executive director we he meets with business owners and Property Owners uh on a consistent basis we have I I think this is the first time where we're really talking to redevelopers uh behind the scenes uh we probably talked to three or four redevelopers that are interested in other sites in Springfield so that we have we're building the list we're seeing what properties are available uh right now we do see that the uh there are three liquor LIC is out there but the problem is with the liquor license is there's no place to put it um there's if you're going to have a liquor license you want a kitchen so the issue is there's no places with kitchens um I we did did reach out to Wine Library in regards to Taco Bell um so we're trying to get down there and see if they're interested in possibly selling uh the location um like I said we're trying to fill the vacancies our vacancy levels at 6% which is really good uh there's not much out there but again we're consistently looking to fill those vacancies which we didn't do before and then uh again we want to be part of the community we want to work with you guys we want to work with the school systems we want to work with the chief of police we want to work with the fire department we want to work with civil uh uh groups we want to get everybody together and see what's going on from their perspective and ways that we can make it better so with that being said I'm going to pass it over to Jay Jay's going to do the uh budget oh yeah the I get to do the boring number thing so please stay with me everyone are there any questions on that so far so before I start I have to say Springfield is a place that is desired every time I see a place empty there's another place that comes in so congrats to all of you for doing that so okay it said it was going to do it when I swipe okay if we take a look at it our bid assessment for the year uh you could see 24 to 23 the bid assestment is $292,500 our interest as we can all tell interest rates are extremely high right now so we're doing a lot better than we did last year can anybody hear me oh there it is so as you can tell we have $88,000 in interest which is which is a lot better than last year and our unexpended funds from last year were $281,800 totaling $582 uh excuse me $582 520 did I say that wrong $582,500 4 are there any questions on that what's your Surplus our Surplus right now I'll show you that at the end is that okay I will answer that thank you m so uh for administrative services for the person standing in front of you this would be my salary as to what it is any questions on this slide no we do have to pay our taxes just like everybody else we do need a CPA we also need to be audited so when we do so it costs us $4,500 a year and then we we also have a program that we've been working on with some committee people and we've been talking about doing and uh Economic Development board which has come across and committee man Harris has been in great conversation with us about that so we did put some money aside to have that conversation and to see where we can go the board has been very willing to work with that and talk to the committee about it as well as with Scott and with Mike so that is money that we have put aside for that any questions on this slide you guys are making this easy okay if you look at office operations we have printing for 500 insurance for 5,000 telephone is 300 office miscellaneous is 4,500 does and subscriptions which are internet Etc things that we have to do to keep our website going which Mike was glad enough to was you know easy enough to explain that we are upgrading that but we do need to pay for that which is500 totaling in $10,800 is your website currently operational it is actually under construction as we speak so it is not operational we are working on that and the application is there is there a page that says you know under construction yes okay it it doesn't like send me to some North Korean like something like that no we again we did have some issues with it so we shut it down and now we are fixing those issues on the back end and then we are going to beautify and we're going to change a lot of things depending on what we get back from those surveys that are going to go out to you the committee to the businesses to the landlords and to the great residents of Springfield any other questions good okay as we go in we have visual improvements that we're working on if I can just first say the maintenance is 18,000 maintenance consists of the flower pots that you see things of that nature anything that has to do with the businesses and helping with beautification in that area okay now if you see the two asteres I have a hard time with that word but I got it uh where it says streetcape 235,000 $367 46 that money was going to be utilized for that but can be alloc ated to other places if necessary when the time comes with board approvement and committee approvement as well so that is something that we can always have a conversation about and that is basically what we're looking at to possibly use later on when you keep going we have debt Services which would be our loan that we are paying off which is $80,000 we also have the asteris asterix's I told you guys I was going to have our time with that Contract Services which is 20,000 okay the 20,000 that we do Contract Services are for the website that is exactly what we're looking at right now so the 20,000 is going to assist us with updating the website our branding our logo the app all these different excuse me Avenues that we feel are the foundation of the bid to help bring in residents and outside residents into the businesses totaling $ 353,000 46 any questions on those yeah yes um somebody said yes in terms of the street scaping yes I know you put an asterisk uh what are next steps in terms of the streetcape like you you've you've budgeted the money you like to say what's next well again um the streetscape idea was mostly on your guys end and we obliged to pay for at the time so every year we've asked that we wanted to do the street scaping what do you what do you guys think should it be done or shouldn't be done and we're really going by your lead yeah we asked to we asked you guys to hold off correct no I I'm aware of that I'm I'm saying you know we're you know new Energy new executive director new J all of that um what are the next like Okay so we've we've we're we're proposing $235,300 what we've done so far we are waiting for some construction to be completed cuz I know we have the goms building we have other buildings that are coming up so we really don't want to touch that area with it we are willing to have any conversation that anyone would like about it we did look at the rest of mountain to doing that I know that was put on hold and we've been told to wait on that one which we agree with by the way the board agrees with that and thinks that it's something that we should have but to answer your initial question we are willing to have any sit down at any time with any conversation about anything with the streetscape so please we're always open to conversations we love that because you know we're stronger together okay okay any other questions on that and the contract Services I assume is your marketing firm that's actually the one that's actually the one we're using now to six months but you're no that I'm going to get into that one next that the 20,000 is actually the one for the website the app the one that we're working to redo our brand and our marketing that's grus right that's correct yes got it yes thank you and just really cool myel marketing is the one that does all the social media the events uh that's that's what my marketing does for us and that's the next slide correct got it okay yes you'll see that next any other questions thank you for asking that commit man none seeing none okay so the next one we're looking at is promotion promotional marking you could see for meeting expenses we have 5,000 e-commerce 25,000 advertising 10,000 marketing programs 60,000 that's the one that you were just asking about by the way the 60,000 and that's six or 12 months that is the actual six no that's the I'm sorry that is the 12 I apologize yes yes I apologize good on that one public events is 7500 music and festivals is 5,000 printing is 7500 a total of that number is totally wrong and I apologize it should be at 120,000 like how I forgot the zero there I'm just trying to save everybody money yes see it's a trick of the eye not even everybody saw that any questions on that one no yeah oh sorry please let's go you got you got a marketing firm at 60,000 that's correct um you've got 10,000 for advertising you've got 25,000 for e-commerce which I assume is what Facebook Instagram correct it's all it's everything we do in that area as well as if we have to do orders online and things of that nature um so I mean to me like on this budget you've got five different ways of saying marketing yeah yeah we've got yeah so there's please but they're all individually separate like I said the marketing with the events and then we have the e-commerce marketing so yes in in a way but they all do they all do something separately yep and and you're currently evaluating whether or not you keep my town there you go you you literally took the word to see if you can spend it more effectively exactly we're looking at all the marketing again what we're working off is something that was for the past 12 years now we're looking to bring in what did you say the newer better J I kind of like just new J you know I mean we haven't decided if you're better yet yeah no we have to figure that out we have to figure that out but but I we are we are working on looking at everything and evaluating it as we utilize and go over so it's all an open conversation got it okay any other questions on this slide okay and our contingency funds that we have are $3,852 58 that's a backup because we all know when we do a project and it's like The Money Pit when they tell us it's 2 weeks it's never two weeks when they tell us it's 2,000 it ends up being 4,000 so we keep a little bit extra just in case we need to and then the final number that we said was $582,500 4 compared to last year's and that completes our budget presentation if there are any other questions I will be more than happy to answer them and if not me Mike can answer them yeah yes who's who's how many board members and who's on the board okay so we have nine board members uh the list I would have to get that to you specifically just because I don't have everybody's first and last name correctly done is that okay may I get that to you that that is that's fine Mike do you know off the top of your head I can you want to do it goike we have uh Ken gruskin Mike Scalera Scott Sidell um bear with me Mike from Nissan Motors I forgot in Ellie Mike ell um we have Kevin vital um God I'm going by the I'm going down the line there's four more and oh actually we're looking to add add one because we just lost one uh let me get the other ones here hold on I will get you that list don't worry okay thank you I'll get to the list I'll get you the list that's not a problem I'll be more than happy to get to that list uh we put the marketing firm in review at the beginning of the year so they have is technically June uh the contract up or that's correct yes the end of June yes so we will be revisiting that very soon and if again if you have recommendations or ideas or thoughts we'd love to hear them sure um so I'm going back to what my first question was you were asking what our contingency has well no your contingency plan or your contingency funds is 13,500 something that's correct or 800 something what I mean what is the real money in the bank that that the that the business improvement district has right now the dollar amount that we have in the bank I would say would actually be well the end number would be the 281,000 I don't have the exact the 281 yeah I wouldn't have the exact number off the top of my head but I can get that for you as well okay got it yep um and in typical years um do you guys use your contingency funds do we use it yeah or do they just get banked okay yes we have used it um from last year I should say I didn't look be on last year but from last year we did um and my final question question was actually never mind so so what what do we have planned for this coming year do we have new events on the horizon so I'm glad you actually we have are we going to continue with the music in the summer what's your plan Jay you're new and I appreciate you and new energy what new energy are we so I'll tell you right now we actually again we are going to keep what we have done but we are looking to do more we did have Rec Department come to us and speak about a pride program that they wanted to do obvious obviously it was a little late in the time so we're going to try and plan for that next year but the plan is to start doing more events as for next year we're going to start plan because we're already in the middle of this year we're already at we're almost in June what we want to do is things up and I'll give you an example even for the Fourth of July we had a conversation this morning on our phone call that we had you know we have the bid meeting every month anybody can get on it even residents anyone who wants to come on and join us we talked about doing t-shirts with the business logos on the back of them to give out to maybe the first 100 to 200 people that came to the fourth July program nice bright colors with the logo on the front of Springfield if the committee wants to get involved in it obviously we can talk about doing that but we really want to do more with advertising the businesses on a constant basis as you know marketing it's not one time hit and everybody remembers you it's one two three and we have to constantly be in everybody's face to help these businesses not just here and we know the Fourth of July brings about 3,000 people they're not all from Springfield so let's get these people that are coming from out of town let's invite them to something that's beautiful great like you guys always do and let's give them a little excuse me a little something that's going to come in so that's just one simple idea but there are many many others that we can get involved in as the time goes on for different seasons you know there's a girl Night Out type of thing which I know you guys did at one point did very well we could always bring that back you could have Cigar nights for gentlemen if you'd like so there's many avenues that we can go and we can actually sit with the committee and of course the board and we'll all figure out events that we can bring back but your question continuing what you're asking it's not just events it's got to be face to face we've got to be going into the businesses I went into the new crepe place which is on Morris Avenue spoke to the owner there okay he's got a little something going on with the landlord it's our job to be there for these businesses to talk to these landlords and find out what the problem is and get it resolved and to bring it to you or to the township Administration which I'd like to thank Linda and everyone in the administration John's not here as well for always being there with us the building department everybody's always there and of course DPW the ones that are always forgotten so with all that having them behind us going into these businesses going into the school system asking them what we can do with them we have a television station that is not being utilized let's let the businesses get involved let's Spotlight some of these businesses let's Spotlight some of these people that are out there let's bring this to the front line so that we can have everybody seeing what's going on in Springfield so we've got a lot of different avenues that we're going to do we just need to get those people involved with us and the community involved as well we look forward to doing as much as possible as quickly as we can but also we want to do it properly you uh you spoke about doing uh surveys yes in a point of contention in the past um is there so I mean are you utilizing one of the firms that you retain for surveys so what like so what's the process to elicit resident input okay so we talking about the survey from gruskin is that what we're talking the grusin cuz we knew we were going to do the other one but we put a hold we put a hold on the one okay so we're talking about the gruskin group the one with gruskin is right at the beginning we're literally just getting the list of questions that we're going to and then we're going to do exactly what we did last time which we got 900 responses the last time it went out we're going to utilize the same exact way which is signage bring it face to face online every which way we can we know that you guys are working on a master plan we're excited to see maybe some of the answers we can kind of share with you as well as again just backing off and letting you guys do what you needed to do there as well love it yeah sorry yeah so it's going to be different from the one we did last year like we mailed it out yeah and six people replied yeah I mean that's kind of what I'm yeah so jtsc when they did it 10 years ago they actually did all the survey and they had all the questions and um it was a 9 Monon survey and that's where we had 900 responses so that's we're going down that line we also us contacted Rec contact jgsc who did it for us to get another like market analysis corre Point yeah correct I got it yeah okay yeah yeah and that and that last one you know again we put that marketing one on hold for the time being because we're going to see what happens you guys we've spoken about that yep any other questions comments uh I have a I have a comment yes please um it's not bad stuff it's actually good stuff I I mean listen there there's no secret that at times we had a little bit of some speed bumps between between all of us all right there is no there is no surprise about that here is what I'm not used to and I and and this is a good problem to have I've been making a list you got fantastic energy going on right now great communication with the township this this guy calls me more than my wife calls me I'm on the phone with him four times a day I I haven't had a I haven't hung up on him yet I haven't had a bad idea thrown my way yet the business reception now you've been grinding it out as long as I've been up here and probably Rich you've been was rich was so you've been you've been ready you you've been kind of like a solo show and what's fantastic is having Jay go to these businesses with you exactly now you have the actual you know director of it being there the businesses are loving the personal attention I've talked to them they've they've communicated with me that's going absolutely fantastic the door-to-door communication fantastic it's not something that I'm used to but you guys are are are you know the the fact that the business is you know again you you were handling a lot by yourself I'm for One Happy the way it's going the the the ideas that you guys have thrown our way so far have been pretty um spectacular I'm excited so thank you yeah the only thing we just ask again is the communication is key what happened last year shouldn't have happened at all right so there was no communication whatsoever and me and Beth were up here and we were talked down to in my opinion however excuse me one second excuse me I'm going to reclaim my time all we're not going to get into this we're not going to get into this we're in a new era I think everybody is happy one was talked down to I think we had some issues up here I think the the leaders of the township committee spoke and was direct about the issues that we had and we now have new leadership and I think we're moving in a right direction so I think that's where we'll end this well I do want to thank Chris and again Harris for really getting involved in it and the communication has been fantastic it's great to work with you guys and it's great to be back up here again and it's great we have great energy with Jay um has re-energized everybody so again with that being said I think uh we're going really going to work out well and the the bottom line is Springfield's going to benefit from it and the resents and it's great it's really great and I really appreciate all you guys help the the energy is contagious and um we're excited about the future with with this and and and one other thing I took a note on real quick 6% vacancy rate that's a fantastic rate that is and I've said this for as long as as I've been up here you got people that will squawk online on social media and just because they don't like the stores that's there or it doesn't fit their their you know their need of of another liquor store or or what what it used to be the fact is a 6% vacancy rate says that we are thriving in in our business area we understand that there needs we're working every day on visual is a nice way to put this yes we're working on visuals but the the stores want to be there yes and and our residents need to give attention to these stores before they go away because that's the only thing that keeps these stores in business agreed agreed mayor and I think I think it's up to us to help do that you know with new ways of videos and bring them out to social media I think those are things that are going to help along as well which we didn't mention but that is something else we're looking to do videos constant social media getting people to talk to us getting people involved with what's going on and not only with just bid getting involved with Recreation getting involved with school programs these are things that are going to allow these businesses to promote themselves to the parents that are in the township and they will then go to these businesses and promote them back so it's got to be one handwash as the other like we're all doing now one handwash is the other the communication is there between us all and we're all just going to make things happen for the township of Springfield sounds good and just to piggyback on what the uh mayor said I I appreciate this this presentation and Mr Spinelli you obviously bring a new light and a new energy uh that that we're looking for um and and I think the mayor is right I think we do have with the 6% vacancy rate you know we're we're a vibrant town and I think what really needs to happen through the work that you're going to do that you're proposing to do people are going to start to see that by unifying all these different entities and all these different stakeholders in town and I think that's a solid point to have with that being said I have a suggestion for um streetscape already and I think Mr Scalera knows where I'm going to go um but the Avenue between South Springfield between I guess what the billboard would be all the way back to the end of the school and Chism um that I think is a sidewalk that has been utilized and I think it's utilized a lot I think it's not appreciated as much between the school and the church traffic and the kids going from Chisum to the center of of of Mountain Avenue I think that needs to be looked at I know there was a hiccup last year about a tree that was too cost it was cost not cost prohibitive to remove it's it's been removed no cost to us with either the county or the state and if you can look into that again as far as your street state that would be appreciated especially is as is as you said you're not going to be paying attention to Mars Avenue just because of construction going on absolutely committing we can definitely do that thank you and Chris that your that's Fair um we'll reevaluate that I think um we looked at it 6 months ago or so and when we saw the cost would be more than if we didn't do the complete project that's why we backed off of that that was that was that was the reason why we backed off but we can Rel look into it again and we have something pending hopefully coming in that whole area yeah I remember you had spoken about a mayor and that's something that we're looking forward to as well look you guys have an area right now between Mountain and Morris and again I I do work in other towns as well but I have to say you have something right now between Mountain and Morris that is very rare which is it's raw it's ready people are looking for it and you can actually build a connection from Morris all the way down to like a place like chaffy with some of the things that we've been talking about and you can make this town that whole Center area with the new buildings and everything coming around will definitely bring life and vibrancy back to Springfield as well absolutely very excited yeah y so Linda do we uh move to approve no we need a public comment public comment okay we well uh thank you gentlemen thank you thank you committee thank you mayor thank you to the administration for all your help as well we're going to again thanks guys thank you we're going to move to public comment if anybody has anything uh regarding the Springfield bid come on oh come on up Scott harit 74 Q drive just a quick question what is the source of their funding does it come from the township budget or do the businesses funded businesses businesses okay that's all yeah and uh any other before I close public comment if anybody has any public comment any or questions concerns all right I'll close public comment uh anybody up here have any questions or concerns no we're all going to all right I need a motion to close public hearing you made a motion you made you made motion sorry all in favor all in favor I I okay move on resolution yep resolution 2024 132 this resolution adopts the 2024 budget for the Springfield Community Partnership I have a motion please I'll make a motion to adopt resolution 2024 d132 second okay committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes committee man capes yes committee man Uber yes mayor Weber yes okay uh we're gonna make thanks guys thank you very much with that we're going [Music] to yeah we're going to go to it uh I need a motion a motion to amend the agenda to for move to Executive session so moved no no no you go I'll make a motion to uh amend the agenda to include a executive session I'll second all in favor I I Okay resolution five 2824 whereas article 6 of the open public meetings act provides that a public body May hold a closed session and whereas the township committee will during this meeting enter into discussion of the following matters attorney client privilege and potential litigation whereas the matters to be discussed in Clos session are to remain in the strictest of confidence by all Township committee members in furtherance of their fiduciary duties to the township now therefore bit resolve matters discussed at this meeting will be released to the public when reasons for discussing and acting upon them in close session no longer accept have a motion motion Huber laer all in favor all in favor I e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e all let's go okay all right let's okay go ahead Chief we are terribly sorry about uh the delay but we had an executive session that we had to handle some stuff we are going to first reading public comment agend public comment on agenda items only if there's any public comment on agenda items only it up please step up all right seeing none we're going to move on we do not have a administrator report this month everybody has gotten their Department um heads monthly report as emailed we have no minutes we're going to move on to new business order ordinances second reading none we're going to go on to new business ordinances first reading first reading for ordinance 20249 this ordinance amends the existing ordinances governing certain employment positions and establishes compensation levels for the position of Forester within the township have a motion you going to make the motion oh I'll I'll make a motion to uh adopt ordinance 20249 as read by Madam clerk with publication in the local Source on June 6th 2024 with a final hearing scheduled for June 25th 2024 second all right discussion nope um the only thing I will say on this first reading is as is talking to DBW anything else we are literally just going in line with what every other Town um has this for our position at and uh this position is actually currently filled with um somebody who's doing a fantastic job call committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes committee man capes committee man hu mayor Weber yes okay consent agenda all right we're going to do resolutions by consent agenda if anybody wants something P please say you want it pulled 2024-25 d134 20 24-135 2024 d136 2024 d137 2024 d138 202 24- 139 2024 d140 2024 d141 and 2024 d42 pull that one please 142 pulled okay I will uh uh approve the following resolutions resolution 2024-25 2024 d141 second committee man Kaiser yes committee man Yuber committeeman capes yes Deputy Mayor laer yes mayor Weber yes Okay resolution 2024 142 this resolution ratifies the settlement of the grievance filed by the PBA honor about January 5th 2024 uh I I'll make the motion I'll second you second the only reason I'm this is I'm planning on OB understanding okay so rich second all right read Linda I read it right now are we oh roll call now oh sorry uh okay Deputy Mayor laer yes committee man Yuber committee man capes abstain committee man Kaiser yes mayor Weber yes thank you motion pass we are now going to go to uh we at payroll yeah I'll uh bills it's time to pay bills I'll make a motion to adopt the payroll and invoices for the period of May 20 uh May 15 2024 through May 28 2024 in the amount of 9,467 1832 and 13 C second committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer committee man capes yes committee man Huber mayor Weber yes and everybody I think has received the April budget uh report the April pool budget report the April revenue report and the April pool revenue report and that has been filed with the clerk accordingly just so with the pool that's a lot of people were very happy sat yeah Saturday I think it opened up and it was there was a nice crowd the other so and and I think there's two dates that uh will be free dates that you announced in the day in the beginning the hopefully that brings more people to the uh uh and more Revenue yep no Saturday ult ultimately the hope is that you love the pool so much that you get a uh uh uh uh yeah a uh a sign up for the summer vote forj no correspondence we have the Westfield ordinance 202 24-11 amends land use uh land use jcpnl public hearing regarding e andc plan filing virtual hearing June 11 2024 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. see website for details and a jcpnl public hearing regarding Ryder 2023 Ryder rrc filing virtual hearing Jun 11 2024 4:30 and 530c website for details now we're going to go on to public comment on any governmental issue if anybody has any public comment on any governmental issue step up and numbers yep and if anybody has any comments up here if anybody wants to close anything out cuz we don't have any public comments coming up anybody anything hey I I'll I'll just say you know uh there's a great honor and a privilege in serving uh the township and and I've always said there's a a role for everybody and and and maybe my role when I was running with Chris was that we we we would like to give back by serving up here but there's countless other ways that people serve our town every single day and some do it through through coaching little league and uh some do it by serving on the on on a number of boards and commissions that we that advises the township others are you know volunteer their time on the first aid Squad and everybody who gives their time and uh energy you know not only are we thankful for uh and and all make our our little Community a better place to live in and in a village but there's also then a responsibility of when you serve up here and everything that you say and do has has consequences and and and are observed uh under the spotlight and and and what you say really does matter and that's honestly the awesome power of this office and and and and and when you serve and volunteer or serve on Council or however you do that's the awesome power of it that that it actually means something and and and does something and and the weight of what you say has a lot and a lot of people look to that and everybody who serves up here and has the privilege of doing it and on any of our boards uh uh I think you're held to a higher standard and and one that has to be not only welcoming to all and understanding of all but making sure that you aren't saying abhorent grotesque uh uh uh uh uh statements and and actions and if you do uh and somebody has other times have done in in in larger offices such as Menendez when I've called out that or or or president Trump when he said outrageous things when I was first up here and I've called out every disgusting thing that I thought is Unbecoming of a public servant and and sometimes and and I won't name names but stuff has been uttered that made people feel uncomfortable and by by a member of a public and I would urge uh uh that individual for the betterment of the the community to to to resign and and make sure that you know we're holding ourselves to a higher standard and that we are showing the the the younger generation what it means uh uh for this service so just uh not to articulate tonight but some disgusting uh language said and I just won't stand for that I'll uh appreciate your comments um I agree that public officials everybody up here who sits here should be held to a higher standard um and I very much mind being held to a lower one and uh appreciate your comments um I didn't last yesterday was the first time in 15 years I think I didn't get to the mity parade and yeah I'm sorry we we my SE my kid's a senior we all went on vacation I I feel bad but I couldn't come back but I do have to thank Jerry and Linda for um an outstanding from what I've heard an outstanding parade as usual a lot of work goes into it um no complaints no compl complaints everybody said it was fantastic they loved it the the I got a lot of positive feedback about the Grand Marshall I was got a lot of positive feedback about it I was just surprised at the people that showed up on the route no because a lot a lot of paray R off yeah and Scotch PLS was called off Westfield was called offi but I was surprised at the amount of people that around Mountain these guys are in the service they are not worried about a little bit of rain or or whatever and um that kind of ties into I just want to say one thing before we go that that ties into what Alex and Harris and and and and Chris and and Rich have have gone into you know Memorial Day um I've told the story I told the story the last time I spoke it over there and and uh I've already outlived My Father by 3 years my father died from agent orange exposure from Vietnam and uh died at 51 years old and um my son my son in 2 he graduated Dayton in 2012 2013 came back and and boy I was going to post pictures online that kid was young and uh at the time you know 18 19 years old he was uh honorary he had just joined the Marine Corps he was up there with um with AJ right and they were there at class of 2013 yeah with with AJ carluchi and he was up there in his in his in his Marine outfit uniform and looking sharp and babyfaced you can say a lot of things you can complain about a lot of stuff uh the flag behind me the the flag behind me gives you the right to you you can you can not like Chris Weber you can think I'm the worst thing in the entire world you can you can think that you know certain programs or certain individuals or certain um initiatives anything worst in the world but that flag behind me gives me the right to say that without being punished in the streets thrown in some kind of damp dark cell I find it very disappointing when people don't acknowledge that that flag is the reason that they're able to express their opinion [Music] or Express their displeasure with something or or even express their their individuality and their right to be a unique human being you're covered under that flag that flag in this country is is what gives you the right to speak your mind and be be who you want to be if anything you should always stand for that flag and and and understand why the United States is the greatest country in the world and why you don't live anywhere else so um thank you to everybody for that and everybody who served we appreciate it more than you know make a motion motion to adjourn motion second all in favor I