this is the commissioner meeting of January 20 10th 2024 at 600 p.m. at the Sussex County administrative Center commissioner meeting room one Spring Street Newton New Jersey can I have a roll call please um director space here deputy director Carney here commissioner to group here commissioner Hayden here okay going to ask for a moment of silence and a salute to the flag I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all [Applause] pursuant to the open public meetings act chapter 231 pl1 1975 adequate notice as defined by Section 3 dat of chapter 231 pl1 1975 has been made by regular mail and email such notice being submitted on January 7th 2024 from the administrative center of the county of Sussex located at one Spring Street New in New Jersey to the following New Jersey Herold and the Star Ledger and is also posted on the bulletin board maintained in the administrative Center for Public announcements and has been submitted to the Sussex County Clerk in compliance with said act at this time please mute all electronic devices number five approval of agenda can I get a motion to approve the agenda move and a second second okay uh deputy director Carney and commissioner Hayden second second six proclamations certificates and presentations oh all in favor sorry I like to skip the vote sometimes all in favor all oppos motion carries trying to beat Chris's record time not not going to happen Okay number six Proclamation proclamations certificates and presentations today we are recognizing five Eagle Scouts one of them is here we're recognizing Eagle Scout Avery Frank recognizing Eagle Scout Alysa zitra Eagle Scout Skyler Dugan Eagle Scout Brianna Brady and Eagle Scout Charlotte Pennington and I think Charlotte is here congratulations um go ahead commissioner de grou you can come on up so uh Proclamation for Charlotte Pennington whereas Charlotte Pennington a member of the Boy Scouts of America troop w 15 Sparta susus County New Jersey has earned scouting's highest rank and whereas Charlotte's choice for her Eagle Scout project was personal soccer is Charlotte's life and was injured during her Junior season which sidelined her for the entire season for her Eagle Scout project she held a two-day clinic at the leny Valley Soccer Club that educated parents on injury prevention while the athletes received instruction on the importance of stretching and preparation and whereas the athletes also worked on drills and were provided t-shirts water bottles soccer balls and additional important information now therefore be it resolve that the members of suss County's Board of County Commissioners trust that the Scout Oath and law will continue to reinforce Charlotte's ideals and contribute to her exemplary code of conduct as an adult and be it further resolve that the board of County commissioners of the county of Sussex wishes Charlotte Pennington continued good scouting and success in life by order of the board of County Commissioners congratulations [Applause] congratulations thank you congratulations and you don't have to stay if you don't want to stay for the whole meeting that's up to you guys but congratulations good work okay number seven public hearing there is no public hearing number eight public session from the floor this public session is for those wishing to make a comment of 3 minutes or less regarding an agenda item please line up at the microphone and state your name municipality an agenda topic for the record can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment still second second okay uh Deputy Carney and commissioner degu any discussion all in favor I no oppose motion passed okay floor is open anybody wants to come up agenda topic only okay can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment move second okay commissioner Hayden and commissioner degr any discussion all in favor I I I opposed stain motion carries number nine commissioner comments uh we'll start with commissioner Hayden uh my comments all be new business okay uh good commissioner de group all right I can start so to begin since our last meeting uh on behalf of myself I began the Farmland preservation revitalization tour engaging in traveling to various municipalities addressing Mayors councils open space EG environmental and land use committees um the purpose is really to Advocate educate and provide updates on the recent State legislation impacting uh County Farmland preservation program uh I visited green handovers mayor and Council as well as lafet open space committee last night receiving positive responses um exciting opportunity to really lie ahead with all this and I'll keep you updated along the way uh second I had my first meeting with the Muson River Management Council yes uh a couple days ago uh as the board's Le on uh for those that don't know the muskanon ne Muson Watershed and also the river or within the southern portion of suss County so you're looking at hakon uh Stan hope firum um if you're down in those areas uh the purpose of the muskanon River Management council is to implement the River Management plan which looks to promote the long-term protection of the Muson River uh bringing those involved in River issues together on a regular and ongoing basis um stimulating cooperation and coordination among these organizations and individuals providing a forum for all River interests to discuss and resolve issues and coordinating implementation of the River Management plan so uh really you know great group of people very excited to be a part of it uh moving forward third uh for the division of health so the susus County division of health is offering covid-19 vacations additionally vaccine clinics will be posted on Sussex County's website you find that at www.sex.nj.us804anddate.com count is at a medium activity level nonetheless uh you know wash your hands practice healthy um hygiene practices uh you know be safe it's you know we're in the midst of winter right now right uh for rabies from uh December 1st 2023 through December 31st 2023 there were 47 domestic or wild animal bites reported and investigated six tested uh none of these tested were found positive so that's good news and um in the fall and then with the division or office of mosquito control just want to mention in the fall of 2014 with the help of suss County Clean Community communities the office of mosquito control started a tire cleanup program over the last 10 years this program has been effective an effective way to reduce the threat of disease to susus County residents as well as having a direct impact on protecting susus County's environment uh we now have the available 20203 statistics and I love numbers so I decided to you know bring that before the board and all of you today so in 2020 3 the mosquito staff collected 304 uh 348 tires and since the Inception of the program in 2014 the mosquito staff has collected 4,57 tires in all 24 municipalities so you know doing they're doing a great job uh additionally uh I tore the suss County mua uh a week ago uh gaining valuable insights into their operation they R in a great operation over there and uh commissioner space and I also visited the facility on wheatsworth road uh receiving tours and information about Transit Skyes ride division division of Health division of Central and Shar services so um yeah that's all I have thank you God bless okay deputy director corne all right I I'll be short uh unlike last week um last meeting so since our last meeting uh commissioner director space and myself went to another garage we went to Lafayette garage um we spoke with them those folks for a while uh I think at our last meeting we brought up continue education so so for people who don't know our continu education it it doesn't really hit our on the ground employees as a DPW whatnot it kind of for some reason it just goes for the higher Echelon which which what I'll call it the office people whatnot so since then um we I I spoke with our risk manager uh he seems to think we're going to be able to do it so basically what we're looking for is sometimes our DPW workers don't get an opportunity to learn how to use new equipment um and that's not fair because if a promotion comes up at another garage if uh a certain person at a garage doesn't know that equipment they miss out on that promotion so what we're trying to do is keep it in house number one cuz we we have to give the CWA first rer refusal and that's the right thing to do keep it in house so give them first R refusal have somebody start or or teach after getting a cert certification these class whether it be on the weekend or after work during the summer so on and so forth there's a lot of things that we need to work out but that's coming along good and I haven't even spoke to commissioner director space about this but uh I did talk to Wayne Deets and he thinks it's very very doable now this Not only would this be in house but this would be something that we could do a shared service with with all the municipalities in the county uh and with that being said if you guys have been coming to our meetings we met with the DCA the let's see what was she she's a director of the DCA commissioner of the DCA and director of the dlgs um there's grants out there so not only could we do a Shar service for the community but we could also get some money towards this I think it's good good for the county um our self-employees and then the rest of the municipalities too gives everybody opportunity to continue their education because you know there shouldn't be anybody that doesn't get the opportunity to continue their education so that's something that we're still working on um but I just want to give everybody an update including the Commissioners cuz I haven't done that so that's where we're at um I'm still I I'm working with District 24 uh with Broadband I know uh congressman gimer and even our governor Phil Murphy uh came here I would think about two years ago met at the the chocolate goat and Lafayette saying U you know they're going to they have this money for Broadband I don't know about you but I haven't seen it yet so that's something that I'm going to work on with um District 24 going forward try to get that together uh I I did talk to Rob boy from planet networks he's interested in meeting and hopefully we could actually push some people to spend some of that money if we have it or maybe we don't have it I don't know but we're going to figure that one out um Everybody we're supposed to get some tablets today I guess they weren't done but uh we'll be we'll get them at our next meeting Christina says which is good that eliminate the use of phones at at up at the Das cuz they are very operable um and I think it would be good that way we have all our resolutions right in front of us uh we could take notes and so on and so forth so I think that's good and by the way if everybody noticed we got a new paint job right okay I could have been some some involvement in that with the colors and how it looked out maybe I was maybe I wasn't I just think it looks nice uh and that's all I have does look very nice thank you um I have an update on the lime Crest uh facility in Andover that would be the sister um nursing home of the Andover Subacute which was closed down but lime Crest is still open um they have 111 residents in there right now a conference call was held about the operating status of lime Crest Subacute and Rehabilitation Center yesterday participants of this call included Senator Parker space assembly wi woman Dawn Fantasia myself uh District 24 legislative Representatives New Jersey Department of Health and J do uh and over Township officials and Sussex County Department of Health and Human Services Administration among others State officials initiated this call in regard to the current lime Crest owner and operator having to meet requirements established by the state as well as provide mandatory documentation related to their ability to accept Medicaid funding and current license discussions also took place about the possible transfer of ownership and license of the facility in order to maintain this long-term care facility within Sussex County and specifically within Andover Township New Jersey do officials confirmed that after numerous visits and monitorings of the facility over the past several months they do not have concerns about the current quality of care of the 111 residents hous at lime Crest and that all previous respiratory outbreaks included covid have been concluded they said yesterday they only currently had um one person in the facility with Co the Commissioners and the department administration including the health division will be working with State officials to receive updates over the next several weeks concerning next steps and timelines the safety and well-being of all the residents housed at lime Crest are the utmost concern of the board Division of Community and youth services county of Sussex participates in New Jersey counts 2024 New Jersey's annual point in time pit count of UN sheltered homeless individuals is being conducted Statewide today January 24th 2024 the county will be taking the lead once again on the planning and coordination of this important event in order to capture a Statewide count of homeless families and individuals in our community including where they find shelter what their needs are and what factors contribute to homelessness County staff and volunteers will be outreaching Community Partners human service provider agencies and shelter Loc ations in an attempt to raise awareness and participation in the event the county will also be Distributing donations of backpacks filled with blankets winter clothing emergency weather kits food and Human Service resource guides for homelessness and at risk individuals and families a full Statewide report will be released later this year division of Health the Office of Public Health nursing will be conducting heart health presentations at several locations throughout the county in February to raise awareness about heart health and cardiovascular disease presentations will discuss the general anatomy of the heart the most common diseases related to the heart and preventative measures as well as education on healthy foods that are important to maintain a healthy heart to obtain additional information about these presentations please contact the Office of Public Health nursing at 973 5795 70 and those dates are February 1st February 13th and uh February 1st 10 to 11 at the Newton main library February 13th 10 to 11 at the darthy Henry library and February 13th 1 to2 at the green Municipal Building Division of Senior Services volunteer income tax assistance program VA the volunteer income tax assistance program provided through Norwest cap offers free tax help for low to moderate income individuals and Families including young adults adults senior citizens persons with disabilities and those with limited English vas services will be available at two locations in Sussex County beginning in the first full week of February by appointment only Christ Church Pathways 17th Church Street Newton Tuesdays starting February 6th Sussex County Cultural Center 31 Main Street in Sussex Thursdays starting February 8th 2024 please call 973 78449 extension 292 to schedule an appointment starting January 29th 2024 or schedule an appointment online at Norwest cap.org a senior services caregiver support group meeting will be held virtually by Zoom from 2: to 3:00 p.m. on Friday February 2nd 20124 the group helps to reduce the negative effects of stress and increases the physical and psychological Wellness of the caregiver it also provides information about programs and services available to the caregiver information on how to access these services and provides referrals as necessary please call the division of senior services at 973 579 0555 extension 1288 to obtain additional information or to register to attend these meetings okay that's about all I have now okay and next where we approval of consent agenda there is no approval of consent agenda number 11 approval of minutes approval of minutes from the regular meeting of January 10th 2024 and the reorganization meeting of January 1st 2024 can I get a motion to approve the minutes from the regular meetings move deputy director Carney and uh commissioner degr second okay any discussion all in favor I I any opposed Iain okay motion passed okay ordinances we have no ordinances at this meeting appointments Andor resignations resolution a reappointment of John Finley as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority for a 5-year term to be effective February 1st 2024 and expire January 31st 2028 and resolution B reappointment of Andrea Cula as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority for a 5-year term to be effective February 1st 2024 and expire January 31st 2028 can I get a motion to adopt resolutions a through bov second deputy director Carney and commissioner degu any discussion can we split them so I can abstain on one uh sure yep can uh we will do resolution a uh the reappointment of John Finley um and then I guess I should ask for another motion then right um yeah okay can I get a motion to reappoint John Finley as a member of schuma still moved second okay so I've got a deputy director Carney and commissioner de any discussion can I get a roll call please director space yes uh deputy director Carney yes commissioner deg gr yes commissioner Hayden yes Okay resolution B reappointment of Andrea kakula as member of Board of Commissioners of schuma um can I get a motion okay uh commissioner de gr and deputy director Carney any discussion seeing none can I get a roll call please uh director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner deg grou yes commissioner Hayden obstain okay motion carries okay we have resolutions a through H can I get a motion to adopt resolutions a through 8 Move okay deputy director Carney second and commissioner de grou uh any discussion can I get a roll call please director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes okay number 15 Awards of contract change orders bid uh resolution a authorizing change order number one to the contract between the county of Sussex division of technology and information management and computer design and integration LLC for the purchase of a data center refresh server upgrade in the amount of 23, 2967 the board of County commissioners of the county of Sussex has reviewed the award of contract change orders bid bids consisting of various proposed resolutions and determined that the adoption of the said resolutions is in and will further the public interest can I get a motion to adopt resolution a so move okay uh commissioner Hayden a second second commissioner degr any discussion can I get a roll call please director Steve yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner de grp yes commissioner Hayden yes number 16 Financial uh resolution a payment of bills list January 24th 2024 can I get a motion to pay the bills list still move okay commissioner Hayden in a second commissioner degr any discussion can I get a roll call please director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner de gr yes commissioner Hayden yes okay uh B introduction for first reading resolution authorizing cap to limit County budget appropri appropriation increase in Cy 2024 County budget to 3.5% over the previous year's final Appropriations subject to certain exceptions and to establish an appropriation cap Bank can I get a motion to adopt this resolution on first reading move okay deputy director Carney and a second I'll second okay commissioner Hayden any discussion yes yeah goad you go first I think we should explain to everybody what this is somebody should because this what happens is they think we're going to raise the budget by and last year none of us would make the motion I got it all I is pointing here now this is an annual this happens annually what it does it doesn't raise the taxes it doesn't raise the budget it all it does is preserve 3.6 so if bad stuff happens that we have no foreseeable future to we have money to draw from for an emergent very specific emergent conditions so this allows us that ability to do that it's an annual Statewide every municipality County does it but it's our protection plate if you will if the bad bad stuff happens we can take care of it all right that's long and short of it can I get a roll call please director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes okay 177 Personnel we have none 18 and administrative report real quickly yeah uh hope everybody appreciates the way the room is looking and we're moving on through the rest of the building here don't don't get used to the to the wallpaper that's peeling the second coat of glue off that's going to be gone so all of it will be freshed up and we just freshen a place up to make it look you know professional I do want to update the board though I haven't mentioned this uh since we started we did start the PBA Corrections uh negotiations we had our second meeting this week um it's going very well as as so that all the Commissioners on the same board the corrections unit uh Sunset December 31st of last year meaning their contract was over that does mean though that we still have to meet the contractual obligations of that contract but we're still in negotiations now to go in further also the sheriff's contract ends this year in December so there is a move of foot that we we may have the we're all pretty much on the same page of possibly having an extension of a one-year contract on this PBA contract Corrections in order to have a better negotiations on the two coming up in the next year so that's the strategy right now it's going very well the the group is interacting very well uh we're very close to locking down the budget uh you'll be getting information here real soon about a public meeting on the first on the budget and we're hoping to have the first reading of that very soon in February so we are very proud and uh hands off to to all the department heads the supporter the Commissioners everybody we've really come down to drill that thing down and we're ready to to get it moving cuz I would love to get the capital budget in right behind that because in this room we're going to have microphones and speakers in here so everybody in the back is going to be able to hear so that's all I have for tonight thank you County Council nothing to report nothing um just hold on director please um I just had a question for for Ron number number one um great job for kudos to everybody really with the the budget uh we're in very good shape compared to what we thought we would be at from last year um and it happened very very quickly you know I think the board has a an idea of where we want to be as a whole uh and you guys worked really hard to get it there really without much arguing amongst the Commissioners so kudos to you guys um and then just one more quick question I know the appraisal was done on the jail it's being done on the jail it's still being done so there's little more leg work that that absolutely yeah the the first walkr from the appraiser was done last week yes so he's asked it's been two weeks already two weeks yeah and it's he's asked for additional information we've given them so and we'll really have something here soon and we have to make a decision the board will have to make a decision based on that appraisal how much parking you want to include or not include sell it or lease it there'll be some questions about that the appraiser is very used to doing these things so he had some suggestions that once he gets the market value of that we'll have some decisions you guys will have some decis to make on how we'll dice that up perfect but it's it's it's moving forward good I just want everybody to know and our audience as well if you know anybody wants by a jail boy we're all we're all we're all ears very cheap uh 20 unfinished business okay new business I guess I just had uh one thing with the budget we were talking about uh possibly a 5:00 meeting I don't know if you're available on February 14th before our 6 o' meeting is that um Valentine's Day you celebrate no I don't I'm good I was just that's my excuse not to celebrate anymore there you go so you're so you're busy you can that was the date you know that we're looking at for the first reading and uh you know the introduction and if and if anyone had any other questions to I would say reach out to ELA and we can get it squared away so that this year we can get it done quicker than last year and lot less painful well we are ready for the 14th if you the budget's ready we are ready we are ready very impressive very impressed we're all we were all pleased and the number that bill wanted we we told Ela so I think we're we're going to be good on that so it's impressive that we got there we had meetings happy with that so hopefully we can get would have liked it zero but I don't think that that's not going to happen but let's see if we 1% can get this scheduled for um feary 14th okay so at 5:00 p.m. okay Bill you had new business sorad so I have two things uh the first thing is a resolution that I'd like to propose have you all look at and support uh commissioner show support for having Donald Trump appear on the ballot New Jersey and in support of the Amicus brief supported to the United Supreme States Supreme Court uh because of the Colorado thing um I can read it uh Rob kovic the executive director of the uh Republican party did this and I think it's a good idea uh 177 uh Republicans signed on to this and I can read it real quick whereas Donald J Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States and served as such from 2017 and 2021 and whereas he was unsuccessful in his re-election bid to serve a second term as president of the United States in the election of 2020 and whereas Donald Trump's opponents the Democratic party and various other groups and individuals have made substantial efforts in attempting to prevent him from appearing on the ballot in various States and plan to continue such efforts and whereas any such attempt to prevent Donald J Trump from having ballot access is a blatant attempt to disenfranchise American voters from democratically exercising their choice and deciding who shall serve as their president and is a direct attack on a republic and whereas this matter has been submitted to the United States Supreme Court under a case of trump verse Anderson and is to be heard February 8th 2024 urging the justices to bar stat from determining themselves for whether Donald J Trump is eligible to run for office again and whereas a large number of amicus briefs were submitted to the court in support of Donald J Trump's appeal including one by Republican lawmakers Cruz scalise and 177 of their colleagues and whereas the Republican lawmakers Amicus brief call for the UN US Supreme Court to overrule Colorado Supreme Court decision and to state that Trump is eligible to appear on the ballot in all 50 states and Washington DC in the upcoming primaries and 2024 general election contest should he win the GOP nomination and whereas a large number of Republican lawmakers led by Senator Cruz House Majority Leader Steve scales Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell signed on to such briefs to express their support for Donald day Trump and whereas New Jersey's Congressman Jeff vandrew signed on to the Amicus belief in support Donald Trump's appeal and now there be now there be it resolved by the board of County Commissioners s County joins congressman vandrew and the other 177 lawmakers and expressing support for Republican amics brief on on behalf of Donald a trump thereby allowing him to appear on the ballot in all 50 states okay well I um will put it out there that I was a trump delegate in 2016 um and I still support Trump but I'm I'm going to say let's take these and we'll let County Council look at them and we can bring it back for next time I didn't say I just said I take one yeah yeah just pass we'll take one pass all right the next thing recently uh it had to do with me supposedly being in conflict of interest with possibly supervising a County employee the only County employee that I think I supervised would be Christina possibly I don't even take but if we're going to go down the road of County Employees being supervised by Commissioners he had one in 2021 and 22 that was a confidential assistant that was supposedly supervised and I have the email by the Commissioners received a $30,000 salary everything's highlighted time sheet show no one could verify where she worked yet she worked here in tune of $30,000 and benefits and she had numerous references to tie back to people from $825 um $30,000 is a large sum of money supervised but nobody knows what she did we should look into this because I know that the uh us attorney's office is already looking into the food bank can I keep this yeah that's yours thank you you need another one I can give somebody else another one you want speaking of the food bank did the food from your office ever go back oh it's sitting in there because we could have fed you know 5 families on those bags we could an employee uh LI or volunteer lied and forced an employee to do something saying that dunk steinard said put it here Doug had nothing to do with it and I don't know if that volunteer should have done something like that using the power of our County attorney right but food is food and we just need it to be for the people that need it so just I got some new business to I just want to hit back on uh commissioner Hayden little confused on what you're talking about um so maybe you need to to clarify exactly what you're talking about because obviously it seems like it's directed at me it's not directed at you because I am 825 I know you're proud proud proud of that the rest of us were not on the board and I'm a25 so I don't know what you're alluding to I'm alluding to we had a no show employe were you here by the way were you here when the no show happened no but it's some of the stuff I'm finding oh what what are you finding I forgot that you're a detective on your free time but what are you finding people are coming forward with coming forward okay again like same thing with the food pantry I don't see any proof just what you have to say Okay so show me some proof and then maybe or we have discussion or we hold on a second hold on I'm not done or we can have a discussion like gentlemen and colleagues about what you're talking about I asked that the food pantry be set up as a no no I'm not talking about food pantry at this moment I'm talking about what you're alluding to with a no-show job a no job anybody right on the top I'm the 10e person here I'm the senior senior commissioner as of right now I was here during that time okay so if if you have a question why not you know be an adult and ask if somebody had a question about to me I not done yet and I don't know you're talking anyway about no I do not I think we can add this to our executive session may I recommend can you allow um my office to look at this absolutely I give it to you for that thank you and what is that exactly what exactly is that is that the food paner is this this no show job that we're complaining about that's a no show job this is a personal food paper stuff I give to the US attorney's office um a Personnel matter go under executive session at at this point I have questions of whether this person is an employee or not and may have uh certain protections under the law so at this point if we can just proceed um with other new business until we're able to look into this yes and do we have any other new business I do um so I I've talked about it plenty of times and I know all the Commissioners are aware of the Force main that we need to get done as soon as possible our septic is failing over at the library that fire academy so on and so forth this has been going on before my time this needs to happen ASAP um so Ron actually came up the idea that I really liked was it this the line runs the Force main runs through Frankfurt uh Township on the county road but it runs through Frankfurt uh with that being said in my line of work 825 mind you um we run septic systems through uh towns and we run laterals basically that's just an offshoot of the forest main that people could time into if their septics are bad sometimes towns force them into doing that which I'm not I'm not into uh long story short it could alleviate some of their problems septic systems as you know pretty expensive average households are anywhere from $ 35 to $40,000 a tie in I pric this out is around $5,000 uh then that's filling the tank as well cuz they got to back fill their tank whether it be concrete or close it or stone they got to just close it down so with that being said I went to Frankfurt Township spoke with the mayor and the committee before we go and engineer and I'm looking for you guys approval too this isn't what we're going to do I I need support for this before we go any further um I wanted to go to them first and say hey are you guys interested in possibly uh what it called a sewer Zone Sewer Service Area Sewer Service Area designated as a service they have to designate this area as a SE sewer service area there's around 26 27 houses on there that could benefit from this um and alleviate I'm not going to say here and tell you we're not going to get any money back it would alleviate some of the cost for our for the county so saves us a little bit I think it helps out makes the value of the houses in Frankfurt go up a little bit more um I did talk to some folks on that road their SE septic systems are the the three people I talked to one was 30 one was 40 and the other one didn't know uh how old they were they were all aboard um so what they're going to do and I will stay on it is send out a survey to find out if people are interested and see how old their septics are um that way we kind of got an idea because I don't know what the extensive surveying was done uh the extent of the survey was done um so they might have to go back we might have to spend a little bit money to locate the houses and and the sewers and and stuff rather um to figure out where this is all going to this St B will be would that be like that stretch of 519 uh yes yeah yeah so it it it yes it runs up from the the homestead it cuts left on on and then it'll run up the6 so if you guys are good with that right I want everybody to be on board um I would like to go back and find out what how much existing conditions and what I mean by existing conditions is when a surveyor goes out he locates the road um gets elevations locate the houses property Corners so on and so forth If he if they located the houses and the uh the septics the existing septics I believe that we have the information we need if not we might incur some cost so before we go and do any of that stuff I obviously want to see that frankfurt's on board but before that I need you guys to be on board with it it like I said it'll offset some of the cost and help fill that Force main um to get to where we need to get which is the V go so can I add a little bit to that for the public I mean there a lot of people here that hadn't been hearing about the force me our package plant next to the homestead the count owns it is got more Band-Aids on it than the Newton ambulance that runs down the road it's breaking down we have to either replace it or put something else in was that this is not the county putting in a sewer line because we want to hook up the county buildings to the Sewer we got our package plant that's any day now is going to drop down so it's much more economical to run that Force Man Down hook all our buildings into it all the facilities out there run it down the road and go to Branchville my thought was I came from hakan who had a sewer utility anytime you going to run a sewer line down the road you plan to have everybody else connect to it it only made sense so that's that's what started this this this I don't want the I don't want the public to think we're having to put a s on just because we're build it and they'll come that's not it at all it's build it cuz we got to have it it's going to go in the road one way or the other so this was just try to maybe capitalize on some of the advantages both cost wise and environmental wise for the homes down there I know if it went in front of my house I'd hook up to it cuz setic systems are expensive be cheaper to get it in now yeah so that's that's the that's the no that's the business plan if you if you will the background Yeah so basically if you guys are good with that then you know we can continue I can work with Bill a little bit and say hey where are we at if there is any cost I'll obviously come back to you guys and update what it's going to cost to go back out in there and survey and locate everything that was that was my biggest just concern but just the cost of going back out there and service absolutely yeah I'll find that out it could be done already it really could be done I mean usually what you would do is you locate that road and you'll hit those houses maybe not so much as septics they might have to go back out there but usually that's on state plane meaning like it comes off the satellites you set your GPS up as fast as you can go to that septic and find it you hit the button and you're good right so it shouldn't be that much but either way no matter what it will be I'll come back to you guys and say Hey you know it's 5 Grand 10 grand whatever it may be and we can go from there I just want to let you guys know what I was doing kind of like you did Jack earlier about your going to miss palities I went and met with Frankfurt to see if they were interested if they're not interested conversation I this conversation Happ so it alleviates some of the cost to the county which alleviates some the pay uh to our constituents out there yeah so right are we good bill we're good I'm good yeah I think it's a good idea yeah sounds good perfect thank okay uh number 22 public session from the floor this public session is for those wishing to make General comments of 3 minutes or less on non-agenda topics please line up at the microphone and state your name and municipality for the record can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment second commissioner Hayden and commissioner deg gr any discussion all in favor I I oppose abstain motion passed okay the floor is open anyone wants to come up John Snider from Sandston actually my first question has to do with the agenda the appointments of the people to the municipal yes it says five years but I'm looking at the dates and it looks like four 24 25 26 January 31st so if you're going from February 24 to February of 25 so 25 is year 1 26 is year okay yeah so it's would be 29 29 so that's a good catch thank you retired math teacher right know so do we have to do anything for that now should we change the DAT now and get this done can we amend it while we're here can we're just making a correction after right yeah okay so we don't need to you don't need to this all over question is the elevator why the signs that save four people that's a really good question I was in it one day and it didn't say it and then all a sudden all of a sudden it appeared that sign and nobody knew who put it there well facilities put it there because the mechanism that measures the weight on that is telling the system that makes it go up and down that there's too much weight on it and it's and it's pushing the elevator faster than what it wants to go so if you put more than four people in it you run the risk of the elevator thinking it's going went too fast it shuts down and when that shuts down we get a whole bunch of fireb here trying to get everybody out so it's just a temporary thing it's a very temporary thing though the sensor's been ordered and it should be in any day now so that we'll be back to back to normal but that's what that's about the elevator's fine we just want to limit the number of people on it so it don't think it's going too fast okay thank you you're welcome thank you st anyone else good evening everybody uh my name is Demitri gatanas from still waterer New Jersey uh first of all I want to thank you all for your uh sacrifice and personal time to serve our community really appreciate it um I live at 916 Maple Avenue and I'm stating the address because um um I I live in a community that has uh zero traffic lights and I currently have two traffic lights in front of my house and um it's Disturbed the hell out of me since uh November 9th 2023 and I've been in communication with Mr Bill kopov he's very nice guy uh but he just sent me an email addressing my concerns and telling me that this light will remain there these lights will remain there uh probably 3 or 4 years if not longer and that's very disappointing a couple things you should know about this property is that um there's a spring it's a car spring it's the most powerful car spring in our County it's 5,000 gallons per hour that runs through it and ends up in a pollen scale and now that's potentially disturbed by this whole process um the home that's on the property is a 1791 home it's been there for 200 you know 200 plus years and um uh never had this this view of two traffic lights with a bunch of ply uh Jersey barriers in front of the property all of this was um a knee-jerk reaction because somebody who was apparently inebriated was driving down in early morning hours of October 23rd and ended up in um the Spring Pond um and clearly when you're inebriated you're going to make mistakes when you're driving um that that we have 146 approximately th000 people in this community one family is affected by a person's mistake and I think this knee-jerk reaction could have used a little bit more U like a thorough more thorough U uh process in in in having this done I mean a stop sign would have been more useful than what's going on now so now we have a very dangerous situation we have people literally going through the light because they're disturbed by the fact that it exists we have people with their loud music now in our very rural community sitting at a light waiting for the light to turn we have people beeping horns we have people annoyed that I'm trying to pull out of the driveway I mean it just it's just one thing after another and I just need to remind everybody this is Bobcat alley I mean this is not New York City this is a this is a rural community people move to this community because of this space the space that we have and uh uh the you know the sort of free spirit that that that Still Water exudes and now we have a an urban uh traffic light situation and I just don't get why I went through there two weeks ago so I know exactly where you're talking about I'm like oh here's a traffic light minute sir yeah I just want to just uh I hope and and first of all I mean you guys I know you guys work hard I know there's so many problems in the community that we have to worry about but I know this is some first world problem for me but I think it's greater than that actually I mean it we have a really heavy strong hisorical significance in this community and still work particularly um the dentist library was named after one of the former owners of his home uh uh you know the winter mutes settled in this community I mean we have a huge population of winter mutes throughout the country that started rting St water this is not a way to sort of um like you know treat this this property in my community do we know how long the it's expected to be there Chris do you know no no I don't and to give a time if if Mr copen gave you a time I mean that's that that that's variable with with weather with conditions with funding I gotta be honest with you it might be longer than that like you know he said three or four years maybe hopefully what I mean we have this is a Rural Road Community it's a tempor it's a temporary light it's not well three or four years is a life no no no no I understand and I wasn't I wasn't trying to be wise I wasn't it is a temporary light right we do have a a two generators now operating this thing at around 63 DB our our limit is 65 so it runs just under that limit I mean that I mean I just don't get why that's I mean another words a stop sign is so much easier uh strips uh to slow people down I mean anything but this Ian two traffic lights I mean do we I mean how many I mean I just don't know how else to to to bring this home to you guys good director if it's okay with you I'll speak with um Bill U tomorrow actually I'm to be in the county building I'll speak to Bill and kind of get an idea and I can explain to you guys at least why it's necessary our engineer just so so you know um I forgot your last name Demetri um you know he does a very good job he's very very um he adequate on what he does and he knows the system and he's been here a long time 20 something years 23 years whatever he's been so usually he's got everything right and and when consu call me or or email me I go to him and I say hey you know I I I want to tell you what to do but why is this he always has the answer and it's usually a very good answer but I have no problem looking into it I will suggest possibly if we can do rumble strips and or a stop sign maybe that would work you're telling me that there's a generator there two two generators so I mean I mean they're filling that up with gas g every day um so let me um I will look into that I I emailed you back um yeah I emailed you back to I think we're back and forth I I don't know that I received an email from anybody was that not the one that you emailed him back Mar emailed me back I emailed you back two times I told you to come yeah I told you to come to the meeting nevertheless it doesn't matter I got your I have your email address I'll look into it I'll give you an answer one way or another I can't guarantee it's going to change but at least I can get an answer okay thank you okay thank you thank you anyone else no go ahead like all s in Township um Mr Carney you spoke about the um discharge from septic discharge is this from the health department or from the uh Homestead or um I couldn't quite follow you where the force me's coming from yeah um well I will so we have a lot of BU the county owns a lot of buildings I'll talk about County buildings only because that's what we own so we have the OEM up there we have the library up there we have the fire academy up there uh we we have prosecutors yeah exact mosquitoes and then we have a little garage there as well weights and measures so that's where our County vings are that septic as Ron said previously it's failing it's been package plant it's does one septic serve all of that yes yes everybody dumps into it is that the one that serves the health or excuse me the homestead yes and how that discharges into the poen scale uh that goes we know it I don't know where it discharges you want ium comes a glass of water from the discharge that went into the poen scale that's what I remember I wouldn't do that pardon me I wouldn't do that iink that but anyway so this is now going to go to Branchville yes 206 by uh by the Frankfurt School correct and how much can that take in the future that's just a septic system isn't it no it's a sewer plant it's a sewer plant it's a sewer plant sewer plant but I mean eventually goes into ground there right um um I would imagine so I'm not a sewer plant has discharge absolutely yep and there's does that go to schuma or does it stay right there goes a schuma that goes on to schuma yeah schuma ultimately schuma is going to be ended up getting it it's going through Branch F we're buying we're looking at getting buying Branch fiel's capacity to do that so It ultimately goes to schuma It ultimately goes to scuma by truck by pipe by pipe by pipe yeah so scuma can handle all this just curious about I would imagine I'm not I'm not that's I don't work for schuma um that's more of a schuma question we've been dealing with schuma is throughout this process I mean you know it could be another County expense to enhance you know build buger you know whatever I mean current capacity for the homestead and for the county buildings they have capacity for the the homestead and the county buildings they have capacity for they had to do have capacity for that existing they have the existing capacity for that putting houses on there that's a question we have to answer so that's that's further in the evaluation of if that's what we want to do if they have enough capacity to take it but for the homestead and for the county buildings they have the capacity to take it they Branchville has they schuma ultimately schuma has it schuma has capacity but I mean schuma ultimately sends it somewhere else right I don't know what they do with it you have a schuma uh board member right in the back you want to talk to me he's looking around passes something on the FR they talking about truck trucking I'm not sure what's going on now so I'm just are we going to have increased Trucking or what maybe some answers have some answers on this by the next meeting maybe how it how will ultimately where will end up ultimately thank you anyone else any one else okay can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment second okay uh Deputy Commissioner Carney and commissioner Hayden okay any discussion all in favor I anyone opposed abstain motion passed okay number 23 reminders please check the County's website at www.sex.nj.us804anddate.com closed session not open to the public in accordance with the provisions of njsa 10 4-12 ATC whereas the ma the subject matters about to be discussed may be excluded from the public portion of the meeting by resolution of the board of County Commissioners as an exception to the open public meetings act pursuant to njsa 104-112 Fe and whereas it appears necessary for the board of County Commissioners to discuss such matters in executive session now therefore be it resolved that the board of County commissioners of the County of Sussex in accordance with the provisions of njsa 10 4-12 B and njsa 10 4-13 that the board at this time enter into an executive session from which the public shall be excluded and be it further resolved that the general nature of the subjects to be discussed relate to the following items authorized by njsa 10 4-12 b as designated below number seven matters relating to litigation negotiations and the attorney client privilege uh Homestead and and parking be it further resolved that the that the deliberations conducted in close session may be disclosed to the public upon the determination of the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners or provided by law that the public interest will no longer be served by such confidentiality and be it further resolved that upon completion of the business for which the board has entered into the executive session the board shall reconvene and resume its meeting open to the public and be it further resolved that the that the board may or may not I think it's may not is it yeah the the board expects to not take formal action after returning from executive session except to adjourn the regular meeting can I get a motion to ad to adopt the executive session resolution and enter into executive session I make motion okay commissioner de gr makes the motion can I get a second second second commissioner Hayden any discussion none all in favor I oose abstain motion carries thank you can we get a motion to adjourn from executive session and return to regular business second okay commissioner deputy director Carney and commissioner Hayden any discussion all in favor anyone oppose motion passed yeah I would help okay adjournment can we get a motion to adjourn the meeting okay commissioner director deputy director cor Hayden any discussion no all in favor I motion carries meeting is adjourned at 7:54 regular meeting of January