##VIDEO ID:mwYd0rnraiw## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e this is the commissioner meeting of November 26th 2024 at 6 pm at the Sussex County administrative Center commissioner meeting room one Spring Street Newton New Jersey can I have a roll call please oh I'm sorry sorry about that December 11th here here a moment of silence and salute to the flag tonight's moment of silence is for Captain Henry Sardina III from the hopong fire department who um is a line of duty death I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all pursuant to the open public meetings act chapter 231 pl1 1975 adequate notice as defined by section 3D of chapter 231 PL 1975 has been made by regular mail and email such notice being submitted on January 7th 2024 from the administra ative center of the county of Sussex located at one Spring Street Newton New Jersey to the following New Jersey heral and the Star Ledger and is also posted on the bulletin board maintained to the administrative Center for Public announcements and has been submitted to the Sussex County Clerk in compliance with set act at this time please mute all electronic devices number five approval of agenda can I get a motion to approve the agenda okay uh commissioner Hayden and a second from commissioner degr any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries number six proclamations certificates and presentations we are recognizing Christine Quinn as a Sussex County Municipal Alliance volunteer of the year and it's going to be presented by commissioner nice Proclamation whereas in every municipality in suss county has the opportunity to participate in the municipal Alliance program providing Substance Abuse Prevention programs for residents of all ages and whereas there are 11 active Municipal alliances representing 22 out of 24 M municipalities in Sage County and whereas the governor's Council on alcoholism and drug abuse has recognized individuals throughout the state of New Jersey for their commitment to the success of the municipal Alliance program through their voluntary efforts and whereas the Sussex County Department of Health and Human Services the county Alliance steering subcommittee Cass the local advisory Council on alcoholism and drug abuse have recognized Christine Quinn the of the sparta Municipal Alliance as the 2024 County Municipal Alliance volunteer of the Year Ms Quinn brought the alliance together in Sparta and is always inviting new members from all sectors and including new representatives from each of the schools in the district through her careful planning Miss Quinn has bridged the gap between the Township Police Department and School District encouraging everyone to take part in decisions on programming for the new trends in drug prevention now therefore be it resolved that the susus County Board of County Commissioners recognizes Christine Quinn as the 2024 Sussex County Municipal Alliance volunteer of the Year by order of the board of County Commissioners congratulations thank you few words oh go ahead thank you thank you Christine can we get a picture with you you I would like Tok all of you Alliance is something that's very very important to not just me I appreciate of it to across all demographics in our town I want to point out that Lisa has been integral in helping us it is very problematic if you if you guys are not familiar with the forms that are required by the state of New Jersey um I'm pretty sure you all are at this point um it is it's it's just very it's a lot of work Lisa has worked heartlessly with Marie moal from our Police Department in really getting Sparta on track and through your support and Lisa's support we have expanded our alliance to include we have four high schools in Sparta so we have poop John we have Veritas we have Sparta Township Schools um we have we have four different schools and then we also have a lot of different private schools at the elementary level and Middle School levels as well so working with Lisa with the township staff with the municipal staff and our schools we have now encompassed ACC and I don't leave out um Tech either vot Tech as well so we have created one common Alliance and also the funding that we've gotten from the opid settlement fund has allowed us to really um take our programming to a whole new level and now all the things we've been talking about doing for years wondering how we're going to pay for them we were able to do it and not just for a small sector of Sparta but to the Lisa's Point our programming crosses all demographics we took our allance in a little bit of a different direction so I also want to thank Lisa for her patience and for her open mind because we have been hitting her with all kinds of stuff over the past two years and she always is first in line to say yeah we should do that we took our alliance in a little bit of a direction when it comes to messaging so instead of um continuing with this don't do this don't do this don't do this don't do this we changed our tagline to be live your best life so what we're doing is focusing on bringing people to things that we hope will help them avoid other things that are bad for them and we've carried that through across everything you know um I would say Cradle to grave so everything from preschool all the way to our seniors who are also battling different issues interactions that maybe they didn't so I want to thank all of you um Ron I know we've had some conversations about funding and whatnot as well so thank you and also no Alliance stands on its own the commitment of our membership has been inspiring and I want to thank every one of the members of the sparta Alliance because without them we have nothing so thank you all so much it's an honor [Applause] you okay number seven public hearing final adoption ordinance 24 -09 at our regular meeting held on November 26th 2024 we introduced for first reading the following ordinance which was advertised in the New Jersey Herald issue of November 29th 2024 together with a notice of public hearing stating it would be held at this meeting at 6m Capital ordinance providing for various improvements to roads and bridges in and for the county of Sussex state of New Jersey and appropriating 6,550 2,455 therefore 6,552 455 from Grants received or expected to be received from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to pay for the cost thereof can I get a motion that the public hearing be opened okay and deputy director Carney and commissioner Hayden was that you okay any discussion uh all in favor I oppose abstain okay is anyone present to be heard regarding this ordinance okay being none can I get a motion that the public hearing be closed moved commissioner Hayden and a second by commissioner degr any discussion all in favor I oppos abstain the motion uh can I get a motion that this ordinance be finally adopted okay commissioner shik and a second was commissioner degr okay and any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries can I get a motion that the resolution be finally adopted and authorize the clerk to advertise this resolution as finally adopted and also post same on the bulletin board in the lobby of the county administrative Center okay commissioner shik in a second second okay commissioner Hayden any discussion roll call please yes yes yes director yes 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 the microphone and state your name municipality and agenda topic for the record can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment so move okay commissioner Hayden a second commissioner degu any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain the floor is open for public comment okay none can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment okay commissioner second deg and commissioner Hayden any discussion all in favor I oppos abstain number nine commissioner comments we will start with commissioner Hayden nothing at this time no okay uh commissioner she thank you director so I've um had a number of interviews with uh some of the members uh and employees at suss County Community College there seems to be seems to have been a shake up in uh personnel there and um you know just working together with everyone there to try to get to the bottom of what's going on uh there secondly I'd like to to thank um Ron uh I was at a event for commissioner the Groot and one of the municipalities Council people asked me to address a hazardous condition on one of our County roads in in monteu and I reached out to Ron and within 48 Hours it was taking care of so Ron I want to thank you on behalf of myself and the councilman thank you very much from mon How We R thank you and uh that's it for me okay uh commissioner to group uh from our last meeting I announced the launch of our minicipal and public survey for our Farmland preservation Plan update thus far the public survey has been highly successful uh with 117 responses collected in just six days uh it's been really great we we've heard from nearly every municipality in the county with Wantage leading the way at 38 response uh to maintain this momentum the L conserv SE encourages continued promotion of the survey uh through various ways of communication on the other hand uh the municipal survey has been limited uh has seen limited engagement uh with only a handful of responses looking at you lafette in Frankford uh to help us out um but this is targeted toward Mayors council members admins planners from various you know municipalities uh it's a busy time of year for the towns as they wrap up Loose Ends before the start of 2025 however I think we could do better and I'll ask you know everyone on the board once again to just help out reaching out to their network of elected officials see if we can get more Mayors council members admins Engineers uh to answer and respond to the survey uh but both surveys are going to be remain open until the end of January so we got some time to improve those numbers uh within the division of Health the office of mosquito control has successful had a successful spotted Lantern fly program for 2024 as they distributed over 500 reusable spotted Lantern Circle traps to help control uh infestations experiened across the county uh traps are still available if re residents would like to pick up their two free traps for the 2025 season please contact the office of mosquito control at 97394 5225 for more information additionally a women's health screening clinic will be held next Thursday December 19th 2024 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the public Office of Public Health nursing 2011 wheatsworth Road Hamburg to schedule an appointment call the Office of Public Health nursing at 97357 n570 extension 1275 last but certainly not least I intended uh the Lake Mohawk Country Club's annual Tree Lighting Event uh it was a delight to see Council uh sporta Council elects Mark Scott and Margie Murphy who had the honor of bringing holiday cheer as Mr and Mrs Claus uh it was really nice time I mean great you know crowd um so wishing everyone a joyful start to the holiday season that's all thank you okay deputy director cardi thank you director uh the department of engineering planning continues I'm sorry to expand uh the use of the department asset management system as an example this year the division of Public Works and the office of bridge and traffic safety used the system to manage a 132 service request perform performed 3,210 asset inspections and generate 3,622 work quars of which 3,39 have been closed the system is also used by the division of planning for a number of tasks including the annual preserved Farm inspection program which includes compliance inspections of 185 preserved farms uh DPT uh DPW crw DPW crws responded to a second winter weather event of season all eight District DPW garages were activated on Tuesday December 3rd the crews continue the transition from Summer work to winter work one highlight of the summer work uh includ an inspection of 4,17 stormw inlets cleaning of 810 inlets repair of 391 inlets Capital project highlights councilwoman Quinn isn't here to hear this but the Bridge q6 Project on Main Street has been reopened to full service contractor completed all work necessary to reopen the roadway the traffic earlier this week in Main Street was reopened Tuesday a few small items or works such as staining and concrete finishing will be completed in the spring once the weather improves similarly work at Bridge d18 on Fenwick Road mayor um which is being completed by the couny inhouse bridge crew is on hold until the spring uh planning as a reminder division of planning is actively working on updates to CSUS County comprehensive Farmland preservation plan and development of a new local highway safety plan both of these planning documents will be used to guide the county when considering future allocation of resources public input is extremely important is an extremely important component in development of both plans uh you're encouraged uh any interested people and groups to review the information and participate on the online surveys currently being conducted as part as the plan development process as Jack said earlier uh information on both of these plans include the links to online surveys can be found on the cesy County website additionally this uh display posters have been placed in the county offices which include QR codes that directly access online information and surveys Su County vision of planning can also be reached by telephone at 973 579 0500 to answer questions and discuss the plans opts Crews Traffic Safety Crews have completed the annual nighttime sign retro reflectivity inspections 7,980 signs which represent approximately a half of the system were inspected at night over the last six weeks the signs that failed inspection will be replaced in coming weeks so busy busy um from the county clerk's office he just wanted to give us an update as you're aware the fiscal year from the county runs from December 1st 23 through November 30th to 24 uh he's pleased to report revenue of the clerk's office is up $253,400 and a revenue from the month of November 24 is $ 38,7 180 more than that of November of 23 so I did speak to the clerk he he just seems to think or he knows I shouldn't even say it seems to think there's not as many houses um being sold as the expense of the houses they they're just higher higher costs and I don't know if that's just the market or just we got some rich people moving in here I'm not I'm not real sure um moving forward we will continue to efficiently process documents prepare for elections and serve the public the overall 24 budget for the county clerk's office was approximately $1,460 th000 factoring a total of 24 payment of 2,645 71889 County of Sussex has received approximately 1,185 71889 additional Revenue property alert systems uh November we had 18 to date 1359 uh Daniel's law uh November was 23 and today is 73 next week we'll have the total this year has been pretty good for that property alert service I know they've been doing some seminars and whatnot from the clerk's office to get people signed up uh for both the property alert and Daniel's law so I will try to remember to get that from the clerk's office how uh many people uh signed up this year alone and that's uh that's all I have at the moment thank you okay speaking of the clerk's office um they have been hosting a stuff the Box fundraiser well uh food drive for those in need and the Commissioners we all decided to bring in food tonight so that we could help stuff the box I know hay commissioner Hayden has some over there and we put ours all over there so we'll put it all together and then we'll put it in the box after the meeting um division of Senior Services hosts a presentation at El Lou child's Library um it's free and the library is located at 21 Sparta Road in Stan Hope on Tuesday December 7th from 11: a.m. to 12:00 p.m. join the senior services staff to learn about the programs and services available to Sussex County seniors please contact the division of senior services at 97357 n555 extension 1135 to register or obtain additional information division of Health Medical reserves Corps there is a resolution on the agenda this evening authorizing the division of Health to submit a Medical Reserve corp's operational readiness award application in the amount of $10,000 for training recruitment efforts and program supports the funding if awarded will enhance the Sussex County division of Health Medical Reserve Corps units capabilities to respond in the event of an emergency such as natural disasters including wildfires hurricanes blizzards and floods as well as other emergencies affecting Public Health the Medical Reserve Corp consists of volunteers who are committed to supporting public health and making their own communities safer and healthier Division of Community and youth services Vape detection systems there is a resolution on the agenda this evening authorizing the Division of Community and youth services to utilize $ 9,955 in opioid settlement funds to purchase Vape sensors for Sussex County middle and high schools this initiative will assist School administration to identify occurrences enforce anti vaping polic policies assist in prevention efforts and overall deter vaping incidents especially in bathrooms in their schools Local Schools Express great interest in this intervention due to the accessibility of Vapes the prevailance and opportunity to use elicit drugs in Vapes and the high rates of vaping in young people especially students yeah it's crazy how bad that's gotten you know yes yep and even if they tell the students that these sensors are in there hopefully that'll make them realize they're going to get in trouble um I attended a zoom last week with the representatives from uh legislative district 24 Senator space assembly men Mike Fantasia Mike Fantasia Mike and ganore and assemblywoman John Fantasia hopefully they're not listening I'll never live that one down and it was good to hear all the Mayors I think there might have been like don't 30 I was going to say like 34 people on that call which I think was a really good turnout um for Zoom uh during the day and it was good to hear everybody's uh communication with them and ideas and concerns um I also attended the Branchville fire department Christmas light parade it was their first annual one and um it was extremely successful it was very cold so I had to ride in a car because I just couldn't take the cold but uh they were out there it was really really really good job by Branchville and I look forward to next year uh last week I came in Ron asked me to come in so that we sign sign off the paperwork on taking over the Dennis Library so that's a done deal now the county now owns the Dennis Library so that's done after all that um and then last night I spoke and gave a county update to the young Republicans and it was nice to see young people interested in County government and that's all I have okay number 10 there is no consent agenda number 11 approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of November 26 2024 can I get a motion to approve the minutes okay deputy director Carney and commissioner deg grp any discussion all in favor I I oppose abstain motion carries there is no new ordinance number 13 there are no appointments or resignations number 14 resolutions okay we have resolutions uh a through QQ can I get a motion to adopt the resolutions a through QQ deputy director Carney in a second okay commissioner shik any discussion roll call please director carne yes commissioner yes commissioner Hayden yes commissioner yes director space yes number 15 Awards of contract change order bids the board of County commissioners of 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 resolutions is and will further the public interest can I get a motion to adopt resolutions a through say move okay Deputy D and commissioner degr any discussion roll call please deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes commissioner shik yes director space yes uh Financial can I get a res can I get a motion to pay bills list a for December 11th 2024 deputy director Carney and then second commissioner shik roll call please any discussion roll call please deputy director Carney yes commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes commissioner shik yes director space yes uh B payment of bills list b December 11th can I get a motion to pay bills list B car and commissioner Hayden any discussion roll call please deputy director Carney yes commissioner deg grp yes commissioner Hayden yes commissioner shik yes director space abstain number 17 Personnel uh we have a Personnel agenda of uh December 11th 2024 can I get a motion to approve the Personnel agenda so move okay commissioner de and a second commissioner shik any discussion roll call please deputy director Carney yes commissioner de grp yes commissioner Hayden yes commissioner shik yes director space yes number 18 administrative report thank you commissioner director real quick uh something to add on to on commissioner carne's comments about the asset management program that I'd like the Commissioners to know and law law enforce ex law enforcement people would appreciate as well a lot of times we get claims when people have accidents at our intersections and they say hey I can't see that I couldn't see that stop sign and our guys go out on an annual basis and they review du to illumination of those signs and when they make a claim against us we have that piece of of Maintenance requirements that's in that system that says on by the way this sign was repaired two months ago and it meets all the standards of the do illumination standards and it keeps us out of a lot of claims that people will have against the county every time they get an accident that Asset Management has proven itself well worthly of all those types of issues so it's has a lot of different things that it does but on those types of cases it's nice to be able to put that at work order when it was done when it's repaired and the picture it was taken when it was put back into the standard illumination so it's a phenomenal system it has a lot of far-reaching advantages for the county to have my only other thing is my next comments is kind of futuristic it's about the next meeting we will have three resolutions on for the next meeting that will complete all the encumbrance of all the arpa funding that the Count's had the entire 27 million point something three will be cumt to the penny and that will that I say that with a breath of excitement and congratulations I know I wasn't here when that all started I had department meetings this past week and I congratulated them all because that's the largest volume of projects and dollars that's been distributed in the county in the 20 years I've ever been dealing with it and to have everybody competing for funding and competing for for projects and all that that was going on heads off to very hands to the to the Commissioners for keeping everybody settled prioritizing making sure we stayed on Focus the department heads doing the same thing and we all came together and got all those projects done and well got them all encumbered and I say that with a breath of now the work comes we got all the money encumbered next year we get real busy because we have a lot of work that we got to get completed it's a lot going on but thanks to everyone for that and we'll look forward to next year so that's all I have good County Council okay number 20 unfinished business I forgot about that to get our as as possible okay new business Serv so motion to approve I couldn't hear what you just said like I'm going to remember that whole thing can I see that I was gonna say that's that's a lot to to for me to like try to comprehend there uh can I get a motion for the authorization for the county of Sussex to submit the area plan Grant agreement with the NJ Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services in the amount of 1,710 285 for the period of January 1st 2025 to December 31st 2025 for the delivery of social nutritional services for older persons under the older Americans act can I get a motion okay deputy director Carney and commissioner schik any discussion roll call please yes yes yes yes yes okay I I was never gonna be able to remember that sorry L okay uh next up in new business uh we have drafted a resolution about the drones I mean everybody's been following this I'm sure if you live in anywhere in New Jersey which obviously all of us in this room live in New Jersey um I was definitely a doubter and then last week my husband said I'm going to go outside and look for a drone and lo and behold we saw one over our house so we've been looking we've seen them twice so you know he went down today along with senator steinhart County Council for a briefing and they really didn't get many answers uh Doug's also going to say a few words but um we came up with a resolution and I want to read it and then see if uh the board wants to pass it resolution in support of immediate transparency by the state of New Jersey and federal authorities regarding drone activity throughout Sussex County and the state of New Jersey whereas over the past several weeks there have been reports of unidentified drones seen throughout Sussex County as well as surrounding communities over residential homes commercial businesses military and other secure areas of infrastructure and whereas despite the convening of state and federal legislative sessions to discuss the Drone activity local leaders have received no meaningful answers to ease the residents of not just Sussex County but all of New Jersey that there is no Public Safety threat at this time and whereas answers such as there is no known credible threat and we are still working toward to identify is not acceptable it is reckless and most importantly is outright dangerous and whereas President Joseph Biden as the commander-in-chief for the United States of America and Governor Phil Murphy as the commander-in-chief for the state of New Jersey have an obligation to the citizens of this country and this state respectively to be transparent and provide a stronger response from the appropriate authorities to assure Public Safety now therefore be it resolved that the board of County commissioners of the county of Sussex demand a stronger federal and state response on behalf of the residents of Sussex County and the state of New Jersey to ensure the safety of all and be it further resolved that certified copies of this resolution be forwarded to President Joe Biden the White House 1600 Pennsylvania AV Northwest Washington DC 2,500 secretary Alejandro mayorcas Secretary of Homeland Security MS 0525 Department of Homeland Security uh 2707 Martin Luther King Jr a headquarters 935 Pennsylvania a Northwest Washington D.C 20535-0001 secretary Lloyd Austin II Secretary of Defense Department of Defense 1,000 defense pentagon Washington DC 20301 1000 Nelson 1 Delgado Nelson I Del acting special agent in charge FBI Newark office Claremont tower 11 Center Place Newark New Jersey 07102 governor Phil Murphy the State House PO Box 001 Trenton New Jersey 08625 Lori R Doran director of New Jersey office of Homeland Security and preparedness PO Box 091 Trenton New Jersey 08625 Colonel Patrick Callahan New Jersey State Police head quarters PO Box 7068 West Trenton New Jersey 08628 senator Cory Booker 71 senan Hart Senate office building Washington DC uh Senator Andy Kim representative Josh gimer uh representative Tom Kane Jr and uh Senator Parker space assemblywoman Don fantasian and assemblyman Mike and ganore um can I get a motion to approve this resolution I will make that motion okay deputy director Carney makes a motion in a second okay uh commissioner Hayden any discussion I have a discussion I just want to add to it uh I have I talked to somebody woman Fantasia uh briefly before I got here today she put a tweet out I'm not on Twitter but um she asked me if I can read this I will read it as quick as possible there is a lot here I think it's important to know uh that our legislators including senator are doing what they can to you know to figure out to get to the bottom of what's going on you know I'm not a conspiracy theorist whatsoever um but and I haven't seen these drones but I've heard many people have I know Ron himself uh director has uh as well and it's just crazy and the information that they got is even crazier because they're not getting any information um so I'm just going to read some of this stuff and I I will go as qu quick as I can but I think it's important for everybody to know whether you're here or on mind uh what what our legislators are up against um so this is Dawn uh Fantasia's visit to New Jersey State Police Headquarters number one we know nothing period to state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading and I informed all officials of that sentiment two State authorities including and New Jersey State Police are Shackled with what they are able to do any interception or takedown of any uas is under the strict jurisdiction of the federal government three at this point I believe military intervention is the only path forward there will be no answers in the absence of proactivity four the US Coast Guard seems to be the most likely to intervene based upon our briefing but even that component was shrouded in mystery so here is her summary overview of the issue first sightings reported on 11:18 with sightings occurring every night since then from thust till thust until 11: p.m. 6 or seven hours frequency reports range from four to 180 sightings per night description large drones up to six foot in diameter operate in a coordinated manner lights are turned off making them difficult to detect appear to avoid detection by traditional methods helicopters radio frequencies Etc uh not identifies hobby drones related to DHS investigation response agencies that are involved FBI designated as lead Agency for investigations New Jersey State Police coordinates with the FBI and follows up federal involvement f AA made night flights legal in 23 but require oper operators to maintain line of sight which is not being observed in these cases lack of federal legislation existing bills on drone regulation remain stalled in Congress three detection challenges the Jersey State Police deployed helicopters over RAR and Bay but could not detect drones even with infrared cameras current radio frequencies do not pick up drone signals Colonel Callahan expressed concerns about potential danger leading to a Hal and helicopter deployments four training and preparedness inperson counter unmanned aircraft systems or uas train starts in Mammoth County in January will expand Statewide the uas dashboard is being developed for tracking and managing drone sightings some of the key concerns uh unknown Origins as everybody figures where they coming from capabilities drones maintain flight for extended six or seven hours and over distances of 15 miles raising questions about their technology and intent so I'll end it there you guys all understand the point again who's here and online and the Commissioners it's a it's a big deal uh I think our our privacy is being invaded how we can't do anything about it and I I honestly just because I am who I am I told uh assembly woman Fantasia I was going to shoot one down and she said it was a big mistake I even joked joked with douge steinhardt in the back room since he's such a good shot that he could take one down easy but you know at six foot we don't don't even know if they're man man or woman uh driven so that would probably be a problem so I I regret saying that but uh it's just it's it's it's crazy and I I know Senator steinhardt um could add a little bit to that before we we go any further I'll try yeah thank you for the opportunity to do that and and I'll try to keep it I'll try to keep it brief uh but also try to to fill in some blanks uh from Dawn's very thorough uh assessment of what happened let me let me first start with uh the conversations that led to the to the uh briefing today were really born out of conversations that I had with Senator space uh leading into the weekend uh he and I were going back and forth with drones sightings that were being reported to him up here in Sussex County and he and I were comparing notes with reports that were taking place in Warren County um and and candidly Senator space suggested that we should reach out to the governor and request uh uh a hearing it just happened to be that I was with my chief of staff at the time so I had the ability to to to to make that Outreach and and uh we sent a letter to the governor as he responded and set up the meeting to today so thanks to Senator Bas for for making that recommendation it's kind of how we landed where we landed today no pun intended um uh so you know the the the meeting today uh was was not classified by any stretch of the imagination uh in fact Senator Singleton when leaving and a reporter asked them if how he could summarize the meeting he said they could have just as easily emailed everybody and saved them the the trip to to Trenton so and I think that was a fair assessment um you heard uh uh commissioner Carney kind of outlined who was there uh it was the Federal Department of Homeland Security the New Jersey office of Homeland Security and preparedness uh in the uh Colonel of the New Jersey State Police I will give Colonel Callahan and his Troopers props I think they are doing everything they can with the limited resources and The Limited Authority that they have to do anything uh because as you'll hear when I'm when I'm done uh the the sole Authority for dealing with this problem seems to rest with the federal government uh and even if uh the colonel wanted to try to engage like physically try to remove one of these drones they don't have the authority to do that so uh it's somewhat problematic for them they're doing the best they can with the resources that they have um it started with uh the um woman from the office of Homeland Security and preparedness telling us repeating the same tagline that we've heard from the beginning which is that there is no threat and then 80 minutes of them describing to us all the things that they know and don't know about these drones uh which cause any logical and reasonable person to conclude that no one can say with a straight face whether there is a threat or there isn't um you heard uh Chris cover a bunch of them they can't track them they don't they range in size from one feet to 10 foot in diameter um they they know they're capable of carrying a payload but they don't know that they are because they can't see them they don't produce a signal you heard Chris referenced that that the issue with a signal is normally when you launch a drone it sends a signal to a satellite and balances back to the Drone that's how they track them um these don't do that uh so they they they're unable to track them they think largely because they're probably pre-programmed they they have a pre-programmed flight plan so they they part they run their flight plan and they come back so there's no reason to send a signal back and forth once they're in their air so they don't have the ability to track them um I I I will say that the the the federal uh office of Homeland Security did say that they are tracking air flights so when these things first started being reported you can cut me off anytime you want on November on November 18th when they did start it to be reporting they were few and far between this has gained traction everybody that walks outside and sees a light this sky is reporting a drone uh or some drone activity and I will say I would encourage all of you to keep doing that and it's important that you do and I'll tell you why uh they are tracking the FAA and the federal government are tracking all of these reports so that they can try to figure out what and because they can track plane flights they know where an airplane goes where it takes off where it travels where it lands so they're trying to line up airplane flights with reports of drones and a lot of these they are saying now are you know air airplanes that are being or helicopters or small prop planes that are reported that are that are they can track to an airplane flight because they can track that but they have plenty of others that they can't so it's important to know also some of the reason why there's no rust to judgment and listen I was one of the first to shout it this morning you know if you don't know uh they're not and they're not our assets shoot one down collect the pieces and let's find out who we're dealing with but you know by the same token they don't want to shoot down something with some family flying around taking pictures of Christmas lights so um there there are some concern on on that front but they are tracking flights so it's extremely important that we share information as we get it um the colonel uh did indicate as as Chris said that they have tried they sent two Troopers up at a time in a helicopter I have tried to engage with these things when they try to engage with them they simply turn their lights off and disappear we're not able to track them follow them know where they're coming from or going to uh and that's problematic but that's also part of the reason why they feel that they may likely be coming from offshore uh there they did admit that the Coast Guard has been engaged and that was the one piece of this whole thing that remained somewhat classified they would not tell us for what purpose or to what extent uh but that would suggest that there's some off Coast activity uh by the federal government to to try to look into these things um but what was abundantly clear when what it was done is they can't say who it is they can't say what it is they can't say what it's for uh and therefore I would argue that they can't say with a straight face uh that it is not any that doesn't pose um a threat um I think it begs two questions first if there are assets if they are American Military or American government assets and the FBI has said they're not their drones uh we know that they're not the New Jersey State Police drones because they're not going to run around and chase their own uh and the Department of Homeland Security has said that they're not their drones but nobody has been able to tell us that they're not something from the American Military from uh the Secret Service or from more anywhere else uh so you know there there is the possibility that they're American asset which begs the question that I think you know the Biden Administration owes the American people an explanation and we need to have that discussion uh but on the other side of the coin if they are not um and it quite frankly seems to be more the case that they are not uh then I think we need to be talking about why we're not acting and and and I did I was a little aggressive this morning and said you know that we should we should try to take one out uh so that we could figure out what we're dealing with I told you some of the concerns about you know the problems with that um the last thing that became abundantly clear is the New Jersey State Police would love to do more they're just not able to um there is uh what's called it's paa not the paa that some of us might think but it's uh it's the preventing uh emerging threats act it was adopted in 2018 to deal with drone technology it's part of the the Federal Aviation association's reorganization act and there was a a federal uh Aviation Association reorganization Act of 2024 that is not finished being passed yet uh but that that Peta uh is what allows uh the federal government to engage drones to either disable them to destroy them uh to dis dismantle them uh and actually that that authorization for that expires believe it or not on December 20th uh so um the federal government does need to act and it does need to act quickly uh patrones aren't new uh these things have been around forever it is shocking to me that it is you know December of 2024 and there's the possibility that there are you know foreign assets floating around in our skies and we don't have the ability to find them know where they're coming from know where they're going to or know what they're doing uh all of us should be calling on our our representative to reach out to our federal representatives and for the federal government to step up and do more uh so The Parting comment that I would leave you with is what I started all of us should be reporting what we see in real time on a regular basis so that we can continue to collect information and it can be processed um but as dawn let off we don't know a hell of a lot more that we do this afternoon than when we got there and that should be disconcerting to everybody uh but I think we can all be do our best job to be vigilant uh and be and be good citizens and Report what we see and hopefully this thing moves but that's kind of where we are today I'm happy to answer your questions Commissioners if you guys have any thank you so much anyone have any questions senator steinhart who stepped out of his County counc us tonight yeah let me say that too do not uh you know it's a it's a federal crime do not do not shoot them yourself besides you know the risk of creating s of other problems but we should none of us should be taking that into our own our own hands uh suly woman Fantasia was there Senator space was there I was there I would say about a third of the legislature showed up today um but that was that was all of it and everybody was engaged in asking questions so director second by commissioner discussion deputy director Carney commissioner degr yes commissioner Hayden yes commissioner shik yes director space yes uh just one more new business real quick sorry um I'm kind of talking to the board and really anybody here it really doesn't matter we have a couple positions open at the college at sus County um if you guys know anybody let's if we can get our resumés in for those people I know we already have some in right now for the trustees the trustees Board of Trustees I'm sorry uh at the college if you know anybody let them know get those resumes in as quick as possible it would be nice to appoint somebody going into we're not going to be able to do it next week but uh him yeah get that out for the our first meeting in January that'd be great so anybody out there looking for a job throw your resume out non volun job why' you have to say that all right that's all okay okay any other new business 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 and state your name and municipality for the record can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment some commissioner Hayden and commissioner deg a second any discussion all in favor I oppose abstain the floor is open easy one today okay can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment and return to regular business so moved commissioner Hayden second commissioner degr any discussion all favor I oppos abstain number 23 reminders please check the County's website at www.sex nj. us for meeting schedules we have our last meeting of the year is next Wednesday the 18th the 18th yeah at 6 PM uh number 24 there is no executive session uh number 25 adjournment can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting okay deputy director Carney and a commissioner shik any discussion all in favor I I oppose abstain 652 well I added 10 minutes to Mee sorry yeah I think be okay that's