##VIDEO ID:f_KhWP_q6j4## this is the commissioner meeting of August 21st 2024 at 6:00 pm at the Sussex County administrative Center commissioner meeting room one Spring Street Newton New Jersey can I have a roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney here commissioner de gr yes commissioner Hayden yes okay be before I go on I just want to state that if you notice we have um a new sound system here that was just installed um we paid for this through arpa funds and I just want to let the audience know that there are microphones that could pick up side conversations um this is new to US during our new business we're going to discuss live streaming our meetings um so hopefully you guys can hear us much better now and we have to remember up here to hit our buttons so um it's a learning experience for us to okay uh number three moment moment of silence and salute to the flag iedge Al to the flag United States of America and to the repu for it stands na indivisible andice for all four public statement pursuant to the open public meetings act chapter 231 PL 1975 adequate notice as defined by section 3D of chapter 231 pl1 1975 has been made by regular mail and email such notice being submitted on July 21st 2024 from the administrative center of the county of Sussex located at one Spring Street Newton New Jersey to the following New Jersey Herald Star lger 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 SED act at this time please mute all electronic devices number five approval of agenda can I get a motion to approve the agenda Commission Carney makes a motion and a second commissioner shik any discussion uh roll call uh voice uh it already is if you if you look it's a through we already had done that if you if you read it okay okay so that's discussion okay all in favor I I opposed abstain motion carries number six Proclamation certificates presentations we have none number seven we have no public hearing number eight public session from the floor this public session is for those wishing to make a comment of three minutes or less regarding an agenda item please line up at the microphone state your name municipality and agenda topic for the record can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment okay commissioner Hayden and commissioner deg any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain the floor is open and the countdown will now be on the TV up there and the ones behind us okay I know fancy good evening uh Commissioners my name is Neil Clark as some of you know I'm also the mayor of Sparta New Jersey but tonight I'm is talking as a susex County resident so just to be clear nothing that I say should be attributed to Sparta Town Council Sparta council members or Sparta any uh my capacity as a Sparta council member I'm calling I'm talking to you tonight about the issue of fairness um as you know as government officials it's rare that we can ever get a policy that people are going to agree with right we're always going to have people on one side or the other but the process by which we make those decisions is very important we have to do it fairly and if we can get consensus that it is fair the public will have faith in whatever decision we make and the law talks about how to make a fair decision and that's where the doctrine of conflict law comes in it wants to make sure that we as government officials when we make a decision we we are doing so out of the best interest of the public that there's not some other interest that's weighing in on us and so that's what they talk about about various conflicts of interests and one of them that they talk about is what's called an indirect pecuniary interest and pecuniary is simply fancy word for financial and the Supreme Court of New Jersey has give an example of what that is it's where the employment if your employer could benefit from your decision then that's an interest that the law says is an indirect pecuniary interest and that could infect the independence of judgment and so unfortunately here we have a situation where we have a sitting commissioner who was employed by the operating engineers and the operating engineers have expressed their support for the warehouse one of the items that is up for your consideration tonight and so the law looks at that and they say well let's look at that interest and unfortunately in Sparta we have had to deal with the situation where Sparta residents who simply followed a Facebook page where that Facebook page expressed their opposition to the warehouse that was sufficient to get them disqualified they W employed by SRD they weren't employed by the highlands Coalition and here we have a very more direct interest and so I asked that do the right thing you still will have enough people to vote you'll still have four people to vote you still have enough to have a major majority don't make the unforced error of allowing someone to vote where there's an issue about a conflict of interest and so do the right thing ensure the to the public that the process is fair and don't give the impression that the fix is in thank [Applause] you all good evening but before you start the clock please will there be another opportunity to speak to am okay so this is effectively it evening my name is Anand Dash I'm a resident of spart I speak on behalf of many spart residents who are here with me tonight uh I speaking with respect to the diamond chip Amendment which is uh agenda item p on your agenda tonight when you consider consider this this amendment I will ask that you please be guided by not by your preference not by your policy not by your discretion or judgment but please be guided by the sacred Oaths that each of you took to uphold the rule of law and our laws of the state of New Jersey when we look at those rules of Law and and the laws of our state we find that they require that this amendment be denied in succinctly the reason this amendment should be denied is first and foremost this is a Amendment to the Wastewater quality plan that seeks to protect public health and Public Safety we can all agree regardless of our differences of opinion the public health and safety is the foremost uh interest that we should be safeguarding together and the purpose of this plan is to do just that and what D has said when you propose a Wastewater quality Amendment plan the most significant factor as part of that plan is to determine what is the proper flow from the facility that is going to be generated if we review the long history of this application and my colleague Robert mcbrier is here to help you with that uh we will see this has a long history of the applicants engineer senior engineer Jen ryel using a standard the correct standard to determine flow in 2021 May of 2021 he used the correct standard to come to 10,000 gallons that standard was subsequently used again in January of 2022 he again used the correct standard as required by the njde which is 25 gallons per day per employee he got to 10,000 again in January of 22 most recently in December of 2023 when when the applicant proposed their Amendment revision to the amendment to njd they mistakenly and erroneously used a different standard they used 15 G minut 15 gallons per day per employee we know that standard is incorrect because the applicant's engineer has admitted that it that is the incorrect standard to use and that results in a material deficiency technical deficiency under njd regulations that has a 177,000 gallon per day uh discharge or flow there's a 7,000 gallon difference between the 10,000 and the 177,000 that alone is sufficient based is to deny this application secondly the township of Sparta has not approved this amendment they have decided that they didn't have enough information this bodies and the water quality B's own policies require spart of Township to First approve as a threshold matter before it can consider finally I would ask that this body as in many governments give full faith and credit to Spart a Township that has denied this application please uphold the law thank you thank [Applause] you I have some copies I don't know if you would like uh is this on an agenda topic it's on the warehouse topic yes apologize I only have a few your my name is DAV evening thanks for listening uh I'm here to speak this evening concerning my opposition to the warehouse project in Sparta you may well ask why somebody from Hampton Township here to discuss a project that's going to be located in Sparta Township I've heard this question any number of times from a lot of people why are you concerned when you live so many miles away the truck traffic bringing Goods to the proposed Warehouse is going to leave behind a lot more than the goods they carry each of these trucks will be belching black plumes of diesel exhaust as they labor up and down the steep hills entering and leaving Sparta we've all seen it every morning the flotilla dump trucks carrying away the Germany Flats aquifer is a common sight to anyone who uses Route 15 behind pollution for all of us to deal with what are they depositing in the air we breathe every day well diesel exhaust is a group one carcinogen attached list if you care to just do the whole list there couple other lists pach list uh summarizes just some of the toxins that are in this chlorine chlorobenzene creosol dbal phalate Etho Benzene napthalene nickel pyin that could go on and on there's a entire list of carcinogens SM is a group one car Cogen some would say that these deposits are so small in quantity that makes little difference to the health of our people well let's just look at one of them well the first one is nitrogen oxide that's the creator of the gray green clouds of smok Los Angeles is famous for if we assume a th trucks a day doing a 30 mile round trip from the top of the roote 15 Hills to the truck Depot and back it would leave behind 727 pounds per day that's 265,000 to drift gently to the ground really doesn't matter because if it rains or just gravity takes it there those little Sy particles are going to carry all the toxic pollution that are on list one I urge you to take the actions you can now to stop this project it's a nightmare for Sparta and it's not a very good bargain for the rest of the people of susex County who kind of like the air we breathe now thank you very much can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment okay commissioner shik in a second uh commissioner degu any discussion all in favor I opposed motion carries number nine commissioner comments we'll start with commissioner Hayden don't forget your button you have none okay none okay uh commissioner Shake thank you we have to we have to hit the button now sorry about that uh so I had the uh just the most memorable event uh I was I attended the veterans lunch in um barbecue that we had at the Hamburg fire Pavilion and um for the first time in my life outside of being enlisted I had an opportunity to serve uh our veterans of this this great County and give them thanks and show them my appreciation um it was a terrific event um I'm just so used to seeing you there um Lorraine and her team uh did just an amazing incredible whatever you want to call it it was one of the best events that I've ever been of and it'll surely be a for Everlasting moment in my memory in my heart with suss County um outside of that I I attended the quilts of Honor uh ceremony that we had at the suss County Fairgrounds during the fair um and because of uh vacation time that's about all I had time to do this this month nice I also want to say that uh Lorraine hence is our Deputy Administrator she's filling in for Ron taen tonight and Lorraine has a dual role here in the county she also serves as um the head of senior services and her department does so much for our veterans and we can't thank her thank her and her Department enough uh commissioner DG grou uh to start I'm happy to inform everyone that we had our first meeting for our Farmland preservation plan update um this meeting was with a subcommittee from the Agricultural Development board uh our County engineer uh myself and the Land Conservancy uh this was just the first introductory meeting established uh establishing the direction and schedule of the project uh we are looking at having a public meeting for input on Farmland preservation plan at the October 21st uh County Agricultural Development board meeting uh which will start at 7:30 p.m. I'll remind everyone in September as well um additionally it was discussed to have Outreach to municipalities conducting virtual meetings for convenience and to also include to planners administrators mayor council members uh because participation is really critical um understanding the direction in which a town is headed will be crucial to compromising on preservation goals and how we will end up there uh as mentioned our previous goal had us uh by the year 2018 at 25,000 ACR uh you know currently we're at you know 19,000 around and it's 2024 so so uh participation and communication is really critical and uh we want to you know create a plan that's uh not also uh in a great Direction but an achievable plan that we could actually accomplish uh we do have another meeting in September which uh I'll continue just to provide updates you know the board on uh regarding the Tri County AGR tourism Initiative for County Route 519 I've received uh commitments from six Farms across the county and participating uh to start it was discussed with huan County and Warren County uh to look at um 8 to 10 Farm being included H hon count is actually ahead the game on this just because of their 579 Trail so they're waiting for uh Sussex and Warren to uh pick up um but rest assured uh as the harvest season slows down you know it's a big you know season for the farmers right now uh I'll have an additional you know two the four farms and hopefully next meeting um other than that for the division of Health there will be a child health clinic in adult Health Clinic Tuesday August 27th the child health clinic will be from 10 to 12 and the adult Health Clinic will be from 2: to 4: uh both will be at the Office of Public Health nursing 2011 wheatsworth Road Hamburg uh to make an appointment call the Office of Public Health nursing at 97357 n570 extension 1275 um once again uh thank you to lorine hence for wonderful job at the veterans picnic uh to all the county workers that did an amazing job over at the fairgrounds um Bill truan who uh had a young historian award I was a part of uh you know really eventful August month I would say and that's it commissioner everybody can hear me all right good good all right uh department of engineering and planning Bridge q6 CES County Bridge q6 which carries Main Street Sparta over to walkill River was closed for replacement on Monday August 5th the actual replacement of the bridge is in the Final Phase of multiphase project during the closure a detour is being maintained that routs traffic around the work Zone by way of Town Center Drive and County Route 517 barring unforeseen issues the county expects the bridge will be returned to service before the end of this year construction is being managed by the division of engineering our 2024 resurfacing program the vision of engineering submitted plans specifications and estimates for the 20 24 resurfaces project to the njd do once the county receives the final review and approval by the NJ do the project will be open to public bidding the project includes a repaving of 23 miles of County rots which are estimated cost of $8.6 million the project is funded using approximately 7 million aid from Transportation trust fund ttf with the balance from assessed County Capital fund work includes repaving segments of County routs 5117 519 606 613 617 623 6 28 629 646 650 and 656 got that work could begin as soon as the fall and will extend into next spring and summer the vision of engineering design a project and will be managing the construction project as well long line restriping program the 24 assesses County Longline restriping program is underway program will include the restriping approximately 100 miles of County routs the work is estimated at 740,000 or 7400 mile $7,400 per mile phase one of the project included 80 miles of Road it was completed on July 26 phase two is scheduled to resume Midsummer says the County Office of bridg and safety is managing that project so as you can see we're managing a lot of In-House projects which is always nice to see Bridge go7 C County Bridge go7 carries County Route 519 over branch of bearbrook in Green Township the existing Bridge railing system and headwalls have reached the end of their useful service life in work order for replacement of the rail system was issued to the county Bridge crew during the prayers the bridge was reduced to a signal control two-way signal Lane the in-house construction crew recently completed replacement of the headwall and a rail system and the bridge was returned to full service on Friday August 9th uh tropical tropical storm Debbie arrived in the county this Friday August 9th the storm brought high winds gusting between 35 and 45 miles an hour the high winds resulted in down trees road closures on County Route 517 in Vernon 521 in Hampton and 613 in over Crews from both Public Works and the office of bridge and traffic safety were activated to manage road closures and establish detours as necessary storm also produce rainfalls around the county of about two inches the crews were prepared for more significant impact from the tropical storm fortunately however the storm brought less rain and lower sustained winds than originally forecasted resulting in minimal impacts to the transportation system kudos to our DPW as always Bridge x30 suss County bridge x30 on County Route 6 50 also known as deckertown Turnpike was damaged on Monday August 8th the damage included destruction of a bridge rail system along the southbound lane the office of bridge and traffic safety under the direction of engineering provided an emergency response that included the installation of traffic control Ser devices and signs reducing the bridge to a on lane bridge the division of engineering is evaluating the situation and will be developing a repair plan and planning a kickoff as commissioner degr mentioned earlier meeting was held between division of planning the land conserv of NJ New Jersey and the Cs County a development board beginning of the process that will update to susus County comprehensive Farmland preservation plan and they want to thank you commissioner de Gro for volunteering his time as a member of the working team task with spearheading the effort to update the plan and I in their words I look forward to Jack's updates as process progresses so good job commissioner degr uh I just want to say Kudos again to Lorraine uh Senior Services I feel like we say this all the time I think I even mentioned it on on Facebook what you guys do is just second to none as always even even your crew I don't know if rayan I saw her earlier um Sheila and everybody else who volunteers their time getting there five six hours prior um just they don't need to do that and and and they do and they show up and it just it means a lot to the veterans Earl being our only veteran here um and it's it's an honor to serve of them and get back as much as we can so for their sacrifice they gave us for our freedom so really really nice job um and then the fair so for people who've been coming to our meeting the fair did the opening day at the fair which maybe was the ninth I think the eth was the Friday the 9th maybe was a Saturday the first day of the fair which was Saturday um they did a food drive so if people want to donate a dollar um as they as they paid whatever it may cost to get in the fair which is probably a lot um went to the food pan pantry and uh they accumulated $446 that will go to the food pantry to benefit them that is all I have thank you I have to say that was probably the worst fair weather I remember in my lifetime but uh everybody made the best of it and I still think it was a good time uh 2024 shop rate partners and caring host food drive to benefit Social Services food pantry the shop R of Sussex will be hosting a food drive from 9: to 3: on Saturday September 14th 24 in conjunction with the first partners and caring event at this location shoppr of Sussex will also be holding a passive collection during the week of Sunday September 8th the shopright partners and caring program is a community- based hunger fighting initiative that supports more than 2200 Charities this year the Sussex County Social Services food pantry has been chose chosen as the beneficiary of the collected food donations will help replenish the shelves at the Social Services food pantry to a assist families and individuals in need in addition to supporting local food pantries if anyone is in need of food for themselves or for their family they can stop by the division of Social Services located at 83 Spring Street Newton New Jersey from 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday food or pet donations are accepted during these hours or special Arrangements can be made for after hours donations by calling 973 383-3600 division of Senior Services a senior services care Giver support group meeting will be held virtually by Zoom from 2: to 3: p.m. on Friday September 6 2024 this 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 97357 N5 5 55 extension 1288 to obtain information or to register to attend those meetings and I'm going to cut it brief and that's all I'm GNA have today okay okay number 10 approval of consent agenda there is none number 11 approval of the regular meeting minutes of July 24th 2024 can I get a motion to approve the minutes from the regular meeting of July 24th 2024 okay commissioner carne with a second from commissioner Hayden any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries okay number 12 there is no ordinance number 13 appointments Andor resignations uh there are no resignations but appointments we have a resolution a which is appointment of Caleb or as a general public representative to the Sussex County Agriculture development board for a term of about 3 years years effective immediately and expire on December 31st 2026 and B a resolution to appoint Christopher Cameron to the board of education of the Sussex County Technical School to fulfill the unexpired term of Margaret bonjourno said term to begin immediately and expire on October 31st 2026 can I get a motion to adopt resolutions A and B okay commissioner degr makes a motion a second commissioner shik any discussion roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner degu yes commissioner Hayden yes okay number 14 resolutions we have can I get a motion to adopt resolutions a through O Okay commissioner Carney makes motion and a second okay commissioner Hayden any discussion okay roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner de yes commissioner Hayden yes Okay resolution pay uh should I do the motion be and then then discussion and the attorney okay sounds good okay can I get a motion to adopt resolution pay okay commissioner Carney and a second second okay commissioner shik and now discussion sure so so director and this is in response also to Mayor Clark um but you know I was asked to look at the the issue of whether or not um commissioner Carney has uh an an actual conflict as relates to this this item and uh he does not uh some of the the statements made by mayor Clark some of them are erroneous others are just their unsubstantiated assumptions first of all and I verified with commissioner Carney uh he is not an employee of uh of the international operating the union of operating engineers 825 uh while he may occasionally be a a subcontractor of there some of his jobs are not Union he's not an employeed does not draw a paycheck from them in fact he pays dues to them but uh is not uh a a um an employee of that Union uh that's number one number two uh and I've not work for I not an any I understand that yeah I understand that you do but my my understanding what we discussed is that while you do 825 jobs um you also do non-union jobs correct we're always a union are that's what I thought understood um so that's number one number two uh and even so even if you were on the ex cutive Board of the operating engineers it doesn't change my opinion for this reason um no one has been able to produce for me anything other than support statements by 825 for a project that I haven't seen anything to indicate that they have any interest in other than a hope that it may get built this would not be assuming it went that far would not be the first project uh that uh got approved uh that unions any building trade supported uh that didn't ultimately get built with building traits it happens periodically some of the some of the various um uh work is either done by Union or non-union uh the fact that that a25 or the ibw or the laborers or the comers or any of the other Building Trades May advocate for a project and hes that they get work uh does not mean that that work is necessarily forthcoming uh and I haven't seen or heard anything and no one certainly presented anything to me to suggest that uh either the operating engineers own a stake in this Warehouse if somebody can produce something to the contrary certainly take a look at it or uh that they already have this is a project labor agreement that the ownership has uh that suggests that that it has to be built with union labor or uh that there is even an existing subcontracting agreement to suggest that it will be built with with union labor and specifically with union labor from a25 uh as a result of that I mean any conflict is purely speculative um it's it's a question of personal opinions versus personal interests uh and that's what the people up here get elected to to um to to do is have opinions on topics uh and then to vote on those uh I don't see anything that creates a legal uh conflict of any kind director um that's my personal opinion obviously Mr carne has the ability to to do what he wants um but I don't see any legal impediment to him voting if he chooses to um at this time I'd like to invite um Mr Bob mcbrier up to address our board he's not going to address public he's going to address our board he's the attorney that I had requested last time in the that was why we tabled it um thank youor attorne Count's uh water quality policy advisory committee I've been asked uh briefly to provide somewhat of an overview of where uh we are uh with respect to that process as this board is very well well aware uh Pac was formed uh to among other things review evaluate uh and recommend uh amendments to the County's water quality management finded on a number of plan amendments concerning fa P Board uh currently consists of approximately 19 Representatives uh from your sister municipalities uh and is overseen by the County's uh division of planning and economic development Prof with respect to the pending application director uh and its professionals have satisfied their charge in completing the multi-step plan amendment process that was approved by pack itself conducted three public hearings involving this application uh two for review with the applicant and its professionals uh and one for advisory action uh where ited uh the application was subject to Extended public comment uh and Joint public hearing conducted by the njd schuma has recommended approval of the site specific Amendment and the New Jersey Highlands Council issued a statement of consent finding the applicant application consistent with the regional master plan uh very importantly uh we must note that D itself issued a determination that the proposed amendment is indeed compliant with the applicable regul atory criteria set forth in NJ uh ca7 this evening uh you're considering uh a a limited request a request for a site specific Amendment to the plan uh as provided by statutes uh and rules applicable to Wastewater service areas and wastewater treatment needs that's Focus this action does not serve as a substitute uh for the local Planning and Zoning process nor does it negate any other requirements that need to be satisfied by the applicant such as obtaining applicable permits approvals and certifications required by federal state or Municipal agencies having jurisdiction over the proposed project if approved this evening the request will be forwarded to D for final review and action uh plan amendments are only valid uh upon adoption by uhj and I could say uh with certainly that that njd will have all of the available materials documents and public comments that were received for it final review and consideration so if there are any questions regarding the process of where we are um please let me know but from my perspective the pack is satisfied it's charged and we are at the near end of the administra process board has the option to approve the amendment as proposed disapprove it including legitimate fact-based reasons for such uh or approv with minor changes that are acceptable to both D and applicant thank you director thank you um I just want to like I took some notes I want to thank Mr mcbrier for um taking my phone call the other day um to answer my questions it it was important I just didn't feel that we were ready to vote without a statement from you on behalf of the plan um there's a process in place when adopting an amendment to the County's uh water quality management plan today's vote reflects that the petitioner has satisfied the criteria as outlined an ordinance to be granted a site specific Amendment this is a vote on the process and does not opinion on the merits or drawbacks of this project and after this it it still has to go through D and it still has to go through Sparta Township we are not up here approving a warehouse our opinions on whether Sparta should have a warehouse or not is not in question today um so anyone else I'd like to just pardon me with a cough I was told a couple times I could not vote on items that were 10:32 related because I'm a member and I understood that was also told that I can't uh vote on things that are do related even though I don't while I work for the dot anything we deal with here has nothing to do with my unit but I understand that how if he works does he get the vote when I was told I wasn't in fact I got an Ethics complaint put against thank God my ig's office had the letter that said no we told him he could cover Sussex County just not deal with the county of Sussex on projects I had to have a subordinate do those so how I just want to know like for the public I mean I had an Ethics complaint put against me thank God I had all the paperwork it went away uh how is it that he can if he's employed took donate I mean there seems to be like it's okay for me to get me out of the picture but and no offense Chris I mean I got to ask this question like why did people do that to me but it doesn't apply to you you I would like to address them like you don't you don't abstain on every Personnel thing that we have on CWA employees and you you vote on road things too don't vote on do you'll hear meain you do you vote on CWA or any of our employees that are CWA we don't separate them out okay but the do stuff still I mean I've been told I'm just saying what's what's I don't have an independent recollection of dot stuff and I'm quite sure that there's been other dot projects that we've done we can certainly go back and check specifically the CWA though I think the only time that I recall being issues is when they were contract issues that would directly benefit you uh the the and I come back to what I said about Mr Carney which is if someone wants to come up and them and show me that that the operating engineers are a a contract party to this transaction then I you think the opinion changes the the conflict are you bring up what was brought to me Doug that's all I'm doing the the conflict argument is based purely on someone speculating that that the operating engineers is going to end up being a subcontractor on this project and that it's just so spacious and distant that it's not going to rise to the level of a conflict there's no actual conflict uh then there's not even a potential conflict until somebody can come and demonstrate to me that there's a subcontract in place or that they're an owner of the project other than that we're just purely speculating and I could come up with an argument this as to why all of you guys could not vote on a myriad of items if that becomes the standard but that's not the legal standard Bill uh in your instance as I recall again they were related to bargaining unit and contract issues I don't really have any recollection on anything do related but on the CWA they were very specific items you done okay all right um so uh just my opinion as we all have on the boards um in our resolution and conse consequential resolutions with schuma Pac and the previous commissioner boards that uh you know pass through this resolution uh the problem that I see is in the third and final passage of that specific resolution that we're voting on because I'm not going to talk about a warehouse I'm not going to be talking about administrative things like the um pack lawyer mentioned um it just says in that passage uh be it further resolved that the proposal is supported by the susus county strategic growth plan goals and OB objectives including the expansion of job creation centers concentrating in the development and Manufacturing industrial and warehouse and distribution facilities that are located along Highway corridors with access to rail service and benefit from a lack of residential development and Etc the resolution goes on um from what I've read in our resolutions with the appropriate material and not just one but two agendas I don't see um the support from the Sussex County strategic growth plan um as such because specifically in appendix a labeled labeled plan foundational elements on page 153 under Section called water supply it states in the highlands Province described earlier in this report we made the point that geology of this area is resistant dense Rock these kinds of rock do not function well as a source of water additionally further independent say on page 163 specifically under the section called Highlands water quality it states in conclusion overtime new development in the highlands will severely affect the amount of water being wtcher on from reservoirs and aquifers while at the same time reducing the flow of water in streams and rivers that is vital to Aquatic ecosystems new pavement and impervious Ser uh service cover will also decrease recharge of aquifers and increase runoff into surface water leading to poor groundwater quality and increased incidents of flooding those two sections within our susus County strategic growth plan um is not matching up in my opinion uh if this is what our literal susus County strategic growth plan says about development in the highlands region which Sparta is a part of which this resolution we're about to vote on is based upon um and also specifically affecting you know the associated aquifer uh I don't see how we could vote Yes on a re resolution that says literally uh the proposal is supported by the Strategic County sorry susus County strategic growth plan uh when I see it as it doesn't um so that's really where I'm coming from anyone else no okay so we had a motion by commissioner Carney and a second by commissioner shik roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner de group no commissioner Hayden no okay okay number 15 Awards of contract change orders bids resolutions a through D the board of County Commissioners the county of Sussex has reviewed the award of contract change orders bids consisting of various proposed resolutions and determined that adoption of the said resolution is in and will further the public interest can I get a motion to adopt resolutions a through day commissioner Carney makes a motion and a second second commissioner shik any discussion roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes yes just give I'm just going to give them a minute to leave so that it quiets down okay number 16 financials um a resolution for the payment of bills list a August 14th 2024 can I get a motion to pay bills list a okay commissioner Hayden second commissioner degr any discussion roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes okay B resolution payment that oh oops uh B resolution payment of bills list B August 14th yes sorry sorry okay uh B resolution payment of bills list B August 14th 2024 can I get a motion to pay bills list B okay commissioner shik in a second second uh commissioner Hayden any discussion roll call please commissioner shik yes director space abstain deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes okay uh number 17 Personnel uh Personnel agenda of August 21st 2024 can I get a motion to approve the Personnel agenda Mo okay commissioner Carney in a second commissioner degr any discussion roll call please commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes okay number 18 administrative report Lorraine do you have one I just want to thank everyone for supporting our veterans on Saturday for our veterans picnic it was really nice to see um all of our elected officials come there and support Jill was away so she couldn't be there nor could Patrick but has been there in past years numerous times um it's always good to give back and I just want to thank all of them for coming and showing their support um I appreciate all of the support the board gives us so does our team it's our pleasure I always say I have the best job in the world um and it's truly enjoyable on a county perspective um we're all busy doing our budgets they all need to be submitted by September 3rd um to begin this process to be voted on by April of next year so that's how long it takes so that's where we are Department wise within the county getting that all submitted and ready and working hard so we have a thorough budget for 2025 to keep us strong my report County Council thank you um I don't have anything substantive I just I wanted to if you can indulge me director for one second in response to a comment Commisioner Carney made and I know it was made in justs uh but it's a point I just want to drive home to all five of the Commissioners and those that of you that are left in the audience and that was about liking somebody more look my advice to you guys is has nothing to do with who I like more or who I like less um it has nothing to do with friendships or not uh it is not intended to try to affect a specific result um when you guys ask me an opinion uh it is the best advice I can give you under a particular set of factual circumstances uh indifferent to who's asking quite candidly and is is simply designed to try to protect you guys uh and the board uh and insulate the county uh whenever possible uh it's literally just black and white um and I've been doing this for 30 years uh I've had to tell clients that I really like that they can't do stuff and I've told clients that I can't stand that they can um it just kind of comes with a territory uh but in this particular instance it has nothing to do with with uh personalities or personal relationships I was asked the question and I gave you the best answer that I can under the circumstances just to clarify I didn't anything I know you didn't I know that I just want I got it sor number 20 unfinished business anyone no okay 21 new business we have this great new system here and we paid for it with arpa funds like I said before we're all learning to use our microphones and we've talked in the past about doing live stream so that people can watch us from the comfort of their home but it's not a zoom where they can participate from home they would be able to just watch us live instead of hearing a recording of us the next day so I don't I don't know I don't they had the camera set up back there yeah time yes they do it on YouTube yeah yep and then for some reason it it went away but we must have lost the employee that had the technical ability yeah could be or the the freeholders didn't want it at that point I don't know Co took effect and then zooms and then zooms and then the person that was doing it when we came back we didn't have all of the equipment because Tire right but now that we have this nice equipment um I just uh if anyone has any discussion if how they feel about live streaming excuse me you back yeah you can so now you can hear all right I'm oh nice nice okay um yeah um yeah I'm fully ins support I think that again not a zoom yeah yeah it's really beneficial um especially recordings on YouTube I mean i' sat through it where I'm just looking at you know the faces of us you know on the screen and it's kind of like not engaging so I know for uh my generation and future generations to come I think you know bringing this uh will lead to more engagement and there's pros I don't see any cons so I don't see any cons either so uh just clear is not just live stream live will be questionis nothing they won't we won W see them we won't hear them they will hear us which is a lot of municipalities do it in Sussex County so this way six o'clock on the second and the fourth Wednesday somebody can sit in their bathrobe in their easy chair and watch us so from all over the world so I would like to make a motion to live stream our meetings starting at our September 11th meeting as long as the equipment is working and it's figured out so can I get a second yes second okay uh commissioner degr seconds any discussion we already had it and I think we can do a voice vote all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries we should be live streaming at our next meeting thank you okay number 22 public session from the floor this public session is for those wishing to make General comments of three minutes or less on non-agenda topics please line up at the microphone state your name and municipality for the record okay can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment okay commissioner degr makes motion and a second second commissioner Carney any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain the floor is open wow this is the first good evening Commissioners my name is Barbara Holstein for1 Deerfield Lane montue um I'm coming tonight want to address some of the public allegations that um we failed in our recall attempt against commissioner Hayden there was not a failure there's a thing called statutory laws they're very stiff they're very complicated and we were not able to meet the deadlines according to the statutory laws is not a failure it's simply a reality the other reality is here that I want to just try to read from this so I can stay focused the extent of our mission was to recall was swed by the stiff statutory requirements of the recall process and our mission going forward is to continue our combined effort this is myself uh chairman Jo balaba and our secretary Jean um I always say his name wrong Ronco um to continue um our combined efforts the reg resignation at this point of commissioner William Hayden as a result of learning that his claims of having served as a Navy SEAL been in combat with Navy Seals had been wounded in combat missions while serving and suffers from PTSD from those missions an example of this is the horseback riding incident that was shared publicly on Facebook about a year or so ago Mr Hayden described personally to me in a one-on-one conversation that the PTSD he suffers from his combat related injuries the lights in the ER trigger because of the the the injur IES that he suffered in combat um that the these lights in the trauma room triggered so so so a significant other had to be by his bedside to help him through these traumatic moments of PTSD related to combat inj injury not related to being thrown off a horse um so that in of itself is one story telling me um this information of what he had lived through living through that Memorial um Memorial Day he would always tell me how he lost his comrades in combat missions all of that are lies they were lies to me as a friend they were lies to me as a former friend I want to make clear to people I was friends with Bill Hayden I liked Bill Hayden Bill Hayden that I knew was somebody that I respected he is no longer somebody I respect you are no longer somebody I like because you lied you lie you lied to me and numerous other people who have put it in writing it is not for me to understand why he lied to me and other however it is my right to demand your resignation along with my colleagues elected officials who lie to their friends and family about their non-existent military service and then refuse to answer the numerous calls for your resignation Andor prove a DD214 put it out there put it to rest but you won't just the rightful action is for you to resign because of your failure to provide a DD214 something that every man and woman who served in the military has had thank you very much for your allowance for to speak tonight Kathy Brennan Hampton Township um I'm here of course again tonight for the same reason this issue is not going away it's here it's affecting all of us it's affecting the county and I believe it's affecting the Commissioners um either lack of Desire or dis or not ability to perform much of his duties he he does come to meetings now but basically he doesn't have a whole lot to say about anything you other Commissioners when I hear you speak you talk about things you've done in the community which I very much appreciate and I don't get a whole lot from that and as someone who says they are the asker of questions I wish the asker of questions would now give us some answers that we need this is not a joke you can laugh all you want or you can smirk smile whatever all you want it's not a joke it's a very serious matter and we still don't have a resolution to it and we don't know where this is going to lead down the road this could lead to Legal actions that that may be coming up and obviously more problems with our reputation not only in the county but in the state and um it goes beyond that because I I know that at least uh two members of Congress have called had called for an investigation so this is not going away and obviously you do not intend to resign which is very shameful and thank you for your time hi good evening on onh Sparta just to follow up because I didn't feel like that three minute time period was up yeah sorry so sorry the just to follow up from my earlier comments um you know I spent so long I spent I probably spent 30 hours without exaggeration in preparation for three minutes tonight and I have to say from my heart I'm just disappointed I'm not a politician right I just saw what I witnessed tonight put aside the conflict issue I don't want to focus on that right and and as I said to Doug out of respect for Mr Carney I didn't even want to raise it in public but I I I think it's the wrong decision it doesn't have to be whether they have jobs or not our court judge minkowitz recently disqualified a planning board members they didn't have jobs with the developer they didn't have jobs against anyway but my point is my colleague left Mr mcbrier uh folks the standard is higher it's a higher standard you I spent so long looking at that the D didn't I've spoken to the DP and I recognize this is here say they have told us that the county cannot approve if the standards which they are approving on if you look at the resolution you have your engineer here right ask your engineer let's get it right for the people uh I'm not trying to be adversarial but if you look at how the resolution recites the seven the 10,000 gallons per day they were always at 10,000 gallons in 21 22 right and in 24 they're still at 10,000 gallons how do they still stay at 10,000 gallons when their employee count goes to 555 right the employee count goes from 200 they're at 10,000 it goes to 300 they at 10,000 then it goes to 555 how do they go there folks they change the factor by which they're multiplying the gallan and njd has said that is a material deficiency why didn't we consult our engineer why are we just pushing it through I mean I respect you all our volunteers but you have Prof professionals to advise you this is considered a material technical deficiency I I understand there's people for the warehouse against the warehouse but I'm not asking for politics I'm not I I was just asking in the three minutes for you to uphold the rule of law which is required by your oats I don't know why we got short shrift for that I just expected better I expected a better rigorous analysis politics aside Union aside Mr Corney aside I just expected somebody and my colleague is no longer here but he didn't give Fair consideration he recited the process I have an entire binder I spent the last month going through the process of every minute every meeting of the pack not once did they explain why and even our planner who's not here Autumn Sylvester said the correct standard is 25 gallons and nobody looked at it you can't sleep at night with that type of rigor lack of rigor thank you thank you I just want to say that um I know for a fact that I did my due diligence and I did talk to Mr cop and all um at least two times and that's why he's here if he if we did need him um so this is not like he just showed up and he just happens to be here he was here in case we had questions for him and I know that I have personally had conversations with him and I I know that Mr Carney has because we had them during our agenda meeting and I've been reading things and that's why I had tabled it at the last meeting because I wanted to make sure that I had um what I needed to to vote on this and that it was in compliance and I believe it's in compliance and then it'll go to the D and it still has to go through Sparta so that's that's that's my stance I know you're very passionate and that's fine appr appr I just you know the lawyer and me would like an answer why they're using maybe I'll have an off-record discussion with with uh bill yeah but I just just asked you know I'm not a politician I'm a lawyer and I just I know you did your due diligence right I did yes and I'm I'm sure that the other board members even just by their their com comments you know even though we had our own different separate conversations um spoke I spoke to D and I know it's it would be otherwise hear say and they told me I spoke to the case manager Gabriel Mahone right he's the case manager and I spoke to Maggie uh Maggie who's the responsible she said they should have received the TWA this was an engineering go to the D did you want to comment yeah Mr Dash if you don't want um so first of all you were a gentleman in the hallway when we chatted before the meeting you were gentleman again now so and I lawyer to lawyer I I certainly appreciate that I do want I'm familiar with the the Diamond chip SP of Township planning board decision that you're talking about and the eight members on the Facebook post but I I think they're distinguishable on their face uh and their facts uh for one very Discerning reason and that is those eight board members you know took an oath and and joined a board where they're the ultimate Arbiters of of whether or not an application can form with the Township's zoning and and whether the site plan is consistent with the Township's master plan yet they joined a Facebook group to indicate that they wouldn't be I think that's the the the basis of Judge M's decision couldn't be objective because they joined uh a a um a Facebook uh whatever you want to call it sorry wrong generation Facebook group uh but a Facebook site whatever that's in opposition to the very thing that they were supposed to be to supposed to deliberate and be neutral on and I think that's why that's distinguish from from this situation for all the reasons that I said uh that's number one and then secondly you also have to understand the very limited and the attorney for the pack did a good job of describing at the very limited scope of what um this body was is is tasked with deciding and while I understand where commissioner uh the group was coming from I understand where commissioner Hayden is coming from but you know they're simply voting on whether or not in their personal in their professional opinions their personal opinions whether or not the application is consistent with uh the the County Water qualum Management plan and more specifically whether there were any legitimate fact-based reasons uh to to um deny it uh you heard commissioned to grow raise his issues um and you know we listen to the attorney uh and I if the if the majority of the board was not satisfied they could spell out anything that would have uh dissuaded them from doing that simple task that's how we ended up where we did thank you you're you're very gracious to give me this additional time that I I just last thought Doug it's the our courts have stated that it's not whether I know he had said this earlier whether there's an actual conflict whether there is or is not respectfully with Mr Carney our courts have said is not the standard the standard is whether or not there is the potential for some type of uh bias and if that if there's just that potential whether or not they secure the job we already discussed that so I'm I'm going to move on sorry fair enough thank you very much thank you anyone else I just um am unclear I think we got kind of a little derailed on the conflict but as a public citizen about her drinking water aquafer in which the exactly what we were talking about and judging here we brought to you a fact that this was mathematically Incorrect and and it may have been I'm not trying to call out or discredit anybody's professional work we asked for a relook Mara asked for more information we're waiting on the D we asked for a hearing they gave us that we had 40 devices signed into that Zoom hearing on a Tuesday before lab Memorial Day Weekend people are really concerned and you failed Al just uh late in New Jersey I always come and say the same thing over and over again about Stolen Valor my buddy Mr Hayden and he was my friend too when Barbara had spoken he he was my friend too anyway I do think that uh Stolen Valor has come into light again regarding the uh person that Harris has chosen um uh what's it w w thank you uh he too uh has a different problem but still involves Stolen Valor so um my question here tonight again is he's still sick Aiden is still sick and he's still coughing Co is going around again anyone you're not a doctor I said Co is going around again I'm going to say it a little louder Co is going around again my two cousins were in California all excuse me a party of eight all in California they all got covid they all got on the airplane two days later so Co is going around and around and nobody's paying attention to it I'm actually going to call the health department here and say that at a public meeting anyone who coughs or has a cold or has a problem whether it be sinus lung whatever should wear a mask could you have one lady in the back she's got a mask on maybe she does not want to get extra sick or she's wearing it because she is sick or she's wearing it because she doesn't want to get sick but I'll tell you this I don't want to get sick I'm a cancer survivor and that's anyone who is on a board and you are sick you should be made to wear a mask and I'm going to call the Board of Health here in the county and suggest that thank you thank you I just want to comment one thing um you know that I do believe people do have underlying health conditions that could cause them to cough my husband being one with COPD so I don't normally defend Mr Hayden but on this one I'm GNA have to defend Mr Hayden my husband my husband coughs all the time and I can't get him to go back to the doctor but it's Sim good okay uh anyone else okay can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment and return to regular business okay commissioner Carney and a second with commissioner deg grou any discussion um all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries 23 reminders please check the County's website at www.sex.nj.us804anddate.com to the public in accordance with the Pres provisions of njsa 10 col 4-12 at SEC whereas the subject matter is about to be discussed may be excluded from the public portion of the meeting by resolution of the board of County Commissioners as an except exception to the open public meetings act pursuant to njsa 10 colon 4-12 B 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 provisions of njsa 10 colon 4-12 B and njsa 10 col 4-13 that the board at this time enter into into an executive session from which the public shall be excluded and be it further resolve that the general nature of the subjects to be discussed relate to the following items authorized by njsa 10 colon 4-12 b as designated below number five matters relating to the purchase lease of acquisition of real property or the investment of public funds Provident Bank be it further resolve that the deliberations conducted in Clos session may be disclosed to the public upon the determination of the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners or were 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 board expects not to take formal actually may may may okay change my mind may may take formal action after returning from executive session except to adjourn the regular meeting I get ation the and ex session discuss all in favor can I can I get a motion to adjourn from executive session and return to regular business okay uh commissioner shik and a second from commissioner Hayden all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries um I have another thing I'm going to add can I can I get a motion to authorize the administrator or his or her design to negotiate for purchase of The Provident Bank in Newton move okay a motion by deputy director Carney and a second by commissioner shik a roll call please yes sorry commissioner sh yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner de yes commissioner ha yes okay number 25 adjournment can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting okay commissioner Hayden a second commissioner degu any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries meeting adjourned at 7:34 p.m.