##VIDEO ID:vHfoatGQKis## meeting of October 23rd 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at the Sussex County administrative Center commissioner meeting room one Spring Street Newton New Jersey can I have a roll call please commissioner Hayden here commissioner shik here director space here uh deputy director Carney here the group here moment of silence and salute to the flag I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all public statement pursu to the open public meetings act chapter 231 pl1 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 January 7th 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 leer and is also posted on the bulletin board maintained in the min ministrative 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 so move second uh commissioner shik and commissioner deu any discussion all in favor I oppos abstain motion carries number six Proclamation certificates and presentations we have a proclamation that's going to be presented on November 3rd the salute to military veterans to be read at the veterans parade on November 3rd at the Sussex County fairgrounds and then we have a proclamation recognizing the angel donor to the Sussex County food pantry and I would like to call up Carol Nock or you can sit Carol till till I'm done reading if you want whereas the delivery of Public Assistance and Social Services to eligible individuals and families to alleviate human suffering and to maximize individual potential in a competent and compassionate manner is the mission of the division of Social Services for the county of Sussex and whereas in 2014 the county of Sussex began receiving an extraordinary amount of food donated by an anonymous Angel to provide to those struggling with food insecurities in Sussex County and whereas for the past 10 years on average the Sussex County food pantry receives approximately $110,000 worth of food each week from the angel donor to feed those in need many of whom are children and the elderly and whereas in addition to becoming a food hub for more than 25 pantries throughout Sussex County the incredible donations received by the angel donor are also used to provide weekend meals for schoolage children and teens in schools throughout Sussex County and snacks to an after school program and whereas the angel has made it possible to have served approximately 159,000 people since 2015 whereas when more Americans step forward to serve it renews our sense of community and strengthens our democracy now therefore be it resolved that the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners hereby recognizes and greatly appreciates the enormous amount of care that the angel has provided to the individuals children and families of Sussex County and to acknowledge that without the Angel's donations of food the Sussex County food pantry would not have been able to provide the assistance they have been able to for the past 10 years by order of the board of County Commissioners thank you thank you we appreciate all you have done to help with the angel donor thank you I can say a few words we love you too because I always have to I'm sorry so I'm Carol no and um you know there's been a food pantry always in our social services and as far as I'm aware every Social Service Agency in New Jersey has a food pantry you have to people come in the door um they have nothing to eat they haven't eaten for a few days um and I'll tell you a little story when I first started a man came in his wife had been very very sick and she died and he was in with his six-year-old daughter and um he was working but not not earning a lot and just couldn't make end me and as they were taking application for medical benefits the little girl kept tugging on his shirt and um M said what she's like Daddy please can we go eat after this and they hadn't eaten for two days thank goodness at that time we had food in the pantry for them and this is not an unusual case um see people that have had top executive jobs that can't get another job go through everything wind up in the food pantry most people in food pantry are working and they just can't make in me they're doing you know parttime jobs that they have to put together but um so then the recession had I had no idea right after I started and we had no food and worked there 37 years the first time ever we had no food in there we actually did have a jar of cocktail onions and I was really upset about it and so the staff started bringing in food and someone down the street started to bring in food come you know give us food from one of the restaurants that were like bagels and things and from there um you know we were lucky we contacted the radio station and the radio station knew how bad it was they came out they looked they saw and they've been doing stuff at the bus ever since and a second food drive force ever and then we need volunteers because we couldn't keep up with ourselves with our staff and so I mean listen to this this is amazing we had the police involved in two different food drives we had people coming in we had donations from um Sussex what old whatever Mall out there to help us people just wanted to help and um then this Angel found us and I think it was still lot of pray for something goodness he did because we still couldn't keep up with the food and when he found us he and his wife they just wanted to feed people period nothing else and we had volunteers and the amazing thing about the volunteers is they just wanted to feed people so it was like a perfect match and since then that food pantry has grown not just for all the things you said but it gives seniors a place to go and to do what they love to do so the seniors are in there mostly seniors are in there there's all these different groups that come in different days students are in there um including uh intellectually challenged students go in and they pack bags and it's just wonderful it's it's a full community um it's full community service this pantry and you know I sort of expect nothing less because in Sussex County it's a farming community and it's built on people helping people and that's all we try to do and so many of the community are so generous because it's people helping people so I just wanted to take a minute to thank the Commissioners thank you Jill Chris um Earl and Jack uh very very much for your support of the food pantry it's nice to see people who understand how credal is to feed people and that's all that food pantry wants to do so thank you very much and thank you for the thank you thank you to everything that you've done for the food pantry and your connection to the angel donor and we just can't thank them enough and I'm glad that I was able to make contact with them and um I hope they know how appreciated they are by not only this you know the majority of the board but also the residents of Sussex County thank you very very much again will you get a picture get a picture oh we need signatures pict we want we want to get a picture but we're going to we're going to get the signatures first com session number seven public hearing we have none number eight public session from the floor this public session is for those wishing to make a comment of 3 minutes or less regarding an agenda item please line up at the microphone and state your name municipality and agenda topic for the record can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment okay commissioner Hayden and a second from commissioner degu any discussion all in favor I oppose abstain motion carries the floor is open for agenda topics only John Snider Sanderson Township I just have a question about 14U rejection of bids received for purchase of an emergency medical storage pob bar Lafayette pob bar um we're rejecting the bid because it came over budget so we're going to redo the going out to get a bid on Friday um there's five reasons you can reject bids and one of them is if it comes over your predicted budget Okay so going to redo thank you anyone else okay can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment okay commissioner degr and commissioner shik any discussion all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries okay nine Commissioners comments uh commissioner Hayden okay well I'll start on Pro because obviously you all out there I've been beat up for it I've been accused the food pcker will go away because of me none of that was true I just asked some questions repeatedly got beat up got censured for things got censored for things I didn't do facts were used that were incorrect so how did we get here fall of 2023 I was alerted by a private individual who had two counties employees come forward with problems relating to the food pantry I thought it was Employee issue I didn't think much of it we were in the middle of budget hearings so I asked for the records on hand I got roughly three years worth of receipts once I added them up it was apparent there was a problem what was the problem well the receipts I had added up to roughly 415k and according to the donations and the IRS filings we should have about 900 so I asked a couple of questions I said I'd bring it up in a meeting that we would get it out of our hands that's all I was looking to do turn it into a 501c3 that's important I'll explain that why later but that it wasn't done I was beat up that meeting was told they didn't keep records had things read that we opra that were Incorrect and yet nobody cares about where the 500,000 is I mean does anybody care where the money is I've been accused of not can you show us facts like show us the documents that you have sure they were in our building I mean I'll give them to you I'll give you copies I have no problem doing that and it's the first time anybody asked why didn't we ask a while ago that would have been a goodidea idea you're not usually here I've been here more than I've been not so and you can still pick up the phone and say Bill we want them that that's a laming excuse that said 500,000 is missing now if it wasn't somebody could have proved it easily of the 122 receipts I had looked at 44 were delivered to a resident in monacell nobody can explain that now some said the donor used the same card whatever I'll explain why that's a problem later in a minute so the argument the donor mixed up something with private deliveries is out the windows Parable food was delivered up to that address why one of the other problems we had with this was that we never had records to receive any of this going in or out nothing you would think a government entity would keep records where did it all go we don't even know where the money went would have been easy to put to bed because all the receipts I have had numbers on them how many of you here have ever returned something and used your credit card to return it right same cards are used on all these purchases they could have done a runoff given me the numbers and simply put it to bed then they didn't the same shopright value cards used on all these receipts that could have easily been run report because anybody that's got a shopright card knows it was yet not done so all I asked was where's the money imagine if we had 500,000 extra how many more people we could have fed right I mean how many more people tell you we're going to have 500,000 less not my fault not my fault 100% now the other thing is you can spin it that way I had brought up turning it into a 501 uh C3 earlier like all the other counties do we're the only one that doesn't do this um and why is that important Burlington County did this and they got a million dollar Grant this year that's more than the 3 years that I had added up million dollars imagine how many people we could have fed with a million dollars nobody wanted to do that as a matter of fact the volunteers were brought into Ron's office and he asked them would you take it over as a 501c3 get out of County's hands I was more than willing to have the um us provide deliveries people and they said no they don't want them why why wouldn't you want to do that get the grants available get more food I mean we just celebrated all the good it does imagine if we had another million dollars all the good it could have done but they didn't want to do that and you have to ask why so so you can guarantee that we do a 501c3 will get a million dollars get you at least 500,000 probably and how come like the other organizations Benny's Bodega project self-sufficiency maybe they didn't apply for the grants I don't know you have to ask them but Burlington just got a million so it's out there wouldn't you want to at least try wouldn't you want to try why don't you try being a commissioner and and go to things you know I can't help it okay sorry so anyway as far as the federal investigation anybody that doesn't believe there is one talk to me and my lawyer I've been questioned several times my lawyer's been present during all of them he will tell you what was gone on I know somebody in this room who knows what a federal investigation is like and I'm sure he could tell you how long it takes that's why I did not stand up doesn't seem like anybody cares about the 500,000 was it 500,000 in money we don't know what it was so if I go if I go to shop right and I use my debit card and I purchase food and then I donate it to the food pantry and then I donate some of it to the food pantry and I bring the rest home to me then you know I shouldn't do that I should have a separate debit card and only the problem is she's using the foundation card for bringing it home that's a nonprofit organization so that that's a huge problem on her not me um same card and and if that is the case mathematically if if you're good at statistics you want a paper trail on every donation so you donate a can everybody else keeps it okay so if I donate a can of corn to the food pantry so then when we have our stuff the bus we need to say okay uh Jill space g gave you know two boxes of macaron cheese four boxes of spaghetti and so that we have someone that'll keep track of everything so then you'll know at the end of the year exactly what I gave we're supposed to keep track of it in and out we don't keep track of what you do as a commissioner because you don't do anything okay so I you miss you at the last planning board meeting show to that either we we'll talk about the planning board in a minute too but anyway if anybody wants to see some of these receipts I have the shop right number I have the card numbers I have everything that could have been used to track this down it's all here on these receipts I I have 140 122 of these receipts I'm not sure what the track of them explain to me again I'm a little lost we're tracking down how we're going to lose our food donors that somebody gave us a half a million dollars for the last 15 years and they some some of their food to their house no no well if they sent some of the food and it was part of what we were supposed to receive yeah that's a problem everybody accuses me and I wanting to feed the needy no one's accusing you oh I've heard it before or that's not yeah well just like you accuse people of things you put on Facebook you wanted to ruin a commissioner's life no I don't want to ruin anybody's life put it out there I've been accused of doing things in this building that I know people people have done in other buildings put it out there well again I'm just a little confused on what you're getting what I'm getting at is we should had a proper accounting hold on the point is you know was did you who got rid of the Angel donor I'm going to go with with your uh investigation we're we're not here to be investigators that's that is not our job right we're elected officials we're not investigators you if you brought anything more to the table than just this chaos and I would say okay I get it and let me tell you when you brought this up I told you don't do it that night give me the information let me see let me understand it and I will have your back you can't tell me I didn't say that because it was right here where I said it but then you had everybody come up that knew about it and come at me with with the the other facts don't oh how did those people know we were going to talk about it that night okay again you and your facts are they facts usually not with you but anyway again what what have you done for the food pantry if you want against it all you're not anywhere to be found when it comes to help with these food lives like I have been I am a complete Outsider you just said not the majority come on guys you guys don't want me here I know that anyway bring something to the table attend things I was kind of hoping we would look into this figure it out and get more food for the needy but again it doesn't seem like exactly what we want to do is get food for the needy okay do you have anything have you been anywhere do you want to report on anything that your to thank you okay I'm going to move to commissioner sheik please I have to remember to push the green button uh so I had a um an eye openening experience at the Farmland preservation meeting and um You Know Jack is very heavily involved in it but I had received an invitation to attend it and my goodness I had no idea what the state puts you through for Farmland preservation and um I look forward to going to the next one um I know that I'm not the liais on and Jack is but Jack you my hats off to you the work that you're doing with them um yesterday we were at the uh county college board meeting and they announced that they hired someone to fill the CFO vice president position um without letting us know who they were interviewing or without asking us if we had any input um and they decided on a budget without asking us about a number of things so I very much look forward to our meeting on Monday with the budget committee regarding the college um outside of that um that's all I have to rep report for today so uh as commissioner shik mentioned uh and thank you commissioner shik for attending uh the county a development board uh because they held the public meeting for Farmland preservation update right so we're updating our Farmland preservation plan uh and it was honestly fantastic to see the strong Community uh support uh I think we had 40 or more people attend like throughout the public um reflecting not only the interest but the Deep commitment uh for preservation all throughout susex County uh preserving a rural Heritage um during the discussion I did emphasize the importance of setting realistic achievable goals uh for preservation plan uh for instance uh our plan hasn't been updated since 2008 the 10year goal was 255,000 Acres so 2008 2018 we're in 2024 and we're still at 19,000 500 and change um and there's various factors for that of course but you know I really just wanted to stress to the lanc servy the organization uh in cooperation with us who's creating this uh you know to set attainable attainable targets within a reasonable time frame right um I also highlighted the critical role municipalities play and shaping their preservation efforts uh for example looking at the top five municipalities throughout the county uh my hometown of wage leads with 6,936 Acres followed by Hampton Township with 16 uh 46 Acres Lafayette with 1632 Acres of preserved Farmland followed by Frankfurt and green not too far behind uh understanding each Town's Direction on whether they want to be aggressive in preserving or cautious in preserving will only enhance uh our efforts in creating the best possible plan possible in my opinion so I mentioned that uh this Outreach to municipalities Engineers mayor council um business administrators as well as planners uh will continue and start at our next public meeting on Tuesday November 12th at 9:00 a.m. which will be held on Zoom um in summary it was a productive meeting with outstanding public participation and I'll just leave you to remember that while it's nice to preserve Farmland across our wonderful County uh we must also ensure we're supporting helping and preserving the farmers who work the land uh because if there are no Farmers there's no Farms to preserve right so makes sense uh moving along the Muson River council meeting took place last Tuesday I attended the most notable news was that the highlands Council uh is planning to update their own open space and Recreation plan uh this update will guide on how the council will allocate funding for future projects that will be a part of it um so you know something for us maybe to explore uh possible funding Avenue for different initiatives and whatnot uh like commissioner shik spoke uh we both attended a community college trustee meeting um additionally speaking of sus County Community College uh their Foundation held their funding their future event uh director space and I attended uh wonderful event heavily attended want to extend my thanks to Stan Kula and everyone involved for organizing a fantastic event which directly benefits Sussex County students at Sussex County Community College uh lastly yesterday I had the honor of pre presenting a proclamation recognizing October as domestic violence awareness month at Daisy's annual Candlelight vigil uh it was a powerful evening listening to the stories of De domestic violence survivors and celebrating their courage and resilience for standing up uh domestic violence affects people of all ages incomes locations backgrounds so making awareness and support uh is really vital for everyone in that situation knowing that someone's there uh that's the report deputy director Carney thank you I'll start with department of engineering and planning DPW drainage repair project DPW completed replacement of a failed corated Metal Storm water pipe located at upper Northshore County Route 636 work including replacement of the failed metal pipe with a new hdp pipe and station of pipe outfall uh dpd Crews M remain focused on a number of operation tasks in PR in preparation for the quickly approaching winter season over next month the DPW expects do complete patching of this stress County routes complete storm water system maintenance identified as part of the 2024 Inlet inspection program assuring annual compliance with the New Jersey storm water discharge permit this work to date has included the cleaning of 787 inlets and repair of 335 inlets and a DPW will be completing the final R roadway buffer mowing along the 620 Lane miles of County routes uh Capital project highlights the department of engineering planning three bridges project and active of construction continue to take advantage of this year's warm and dry weather the the cont contractor on q6 Main Street and Sparta anticipates completely concrete footing pores this week and plans to set the preast rigid frame next week the contractor on the bridge d38 project in County Route 519 Frankfurt poured the concrete deck last week and is working on pouring concrete pylons and setting the Metal Bridge railing this week so let's move it touch based on the problem that we're having over there in Sparta probably not when is it not problem the bridge in Sparta is a little little longer than we're than we uh anticipated um at Bridge d18 Project on Fenwick Road in Frankford the County's in-house Bridge crew has finished excavation and install forms for the new bridge footings the office of bridge and traffic safety crew will pour concrete footings as soon as the rebar installation is complete on the roadside Department the department recently accepted accept the bids for the 202 for CES County resurfacing program the department is in the process of revie reviewing bids with the office of purchasing and anticipates a recommendation being made to the commission board to award the contract on our second meeting in November this project will include a repaving of 25.3 miles of County Roots at an estimated total project cost of 8.7 million work is anticipated to start as soon as the weather permits in Spring of 25 uh planning 13th annual suset County Harvest and Honey Garlic Festival was held on Saturday hope you all were there I was not I was out of the country uh the event included 70 vendors and experien a constant flow of visitors entering the event all day assess the County division of planning manages all advanced planning in day of coordination for the annual event based upon the constant flow Vis observe during the day the division expects this year's event could very likely go down the books as the most successful event to date kudos to them uh long line restriping program the 24 sets County Longline restriping program has been completed the program included the restriping of 100 miles of County routs the fin final billing invoice is pending but has been will has been and will be very close to the $740,000 project estimate and good for them I don't really have much from the clerk's office just that uh two years ago they started the property alert system I usually read those numbers at our meetings I don't have an upt date one at the moment um and as for what I've done besides went on vacation was uh Jill and I started our budget hearings um so we met with prosecutor Senior Services admin our clerk um that went rather well I think for the most part you know everybody has their asks in life their wants their needs so obviously as a board we'll all weigh them out and figure what we could do for the county to keep that tax burn down that is all I have thank you going last I mimic what everyone else said says so uh along with Jack with the Sussex County College funding their future event was very good thank you Stan coola for a great event and then I attended the 19th annual Awards luncheon for the Sussex County Economic Development partnership congratulations to all who won um and I want to say it's a privilege and an honor to sit in this chair you know uh with Chris last week we had our meetings um with the surrogate prosecutor purchasing senior services and County administ ation tomorrow we have our next set of meetings uh and we will also be Jack will also be joining me next week on Monday Tuesday or Wednesday and Earl one of those days I have no idea so next week is a busy week here um getting all these budget meetings in um Earl and I met last week with the college and Sussex County Public Safety Training Academy um the college is is an eye opener but Earl and I have a lot lot lot of work to do on that along with the administration here uh that's an interesting one but um we'll be having a lot of discussions about that so uh but again it's an honor to sit through all these meetings division of Senior Services 24th annual salute to military veterans Senior Services will host the 24th annual salute to military veterans event in the Richards Building at the Sussex County Fairgrounds located on Plains Road in Augusta on Sunday November 3rd 2024 at 1 1 p.m. highlights of the day will include a parade a prisoner of war p and missing in action Mia ceremony and a 21 gun salute in addition to the reading of essays written by local students the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners will present all veterans and attendance with a commemorative pin and recognition of their service for additional information about this event please call the division of senior services at 97357 n555 extension2 21 and thank you Lorraine hence for all that you do and your department does for the seniors and the veterans uh division of Senior Services hosts a presentation at Sussex wage Library the division of Senior Services is hosting a free presentation at the Sussex wage library located at 69 County Route 639 in wage on Tuesday November 12th 2024 from 12:30 to 1:30 and Saturday November 23rd from 11:00 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 973 579 0555 senior Farmers Market nutrition program just a reminder for those who participated in the senior Farmers Market nutrition program this year this benefit must be Redeemed by November 30th 20124 please contact senior services at 579 97357 N5 555 to obtain additional information and that is all I have on that okay number 10 approval of consent agenda uh can I get a motion to adopt the consent agenda okay commissioner Carney and a second from commissioner shik uh any discussion discussing that yeah now I guess I Target address poliy that's your assumption it said do I agree the addess policy kind of is a good idea uh if there was a problem with me somebody should pull me aside if that's why it is but if we're doing this the reason is so we look professional up here correct yes okay so that anybody sitting up here should look professional does that apply to every meeting that goes on up here I think it it should we do have a dress code for meetings don't we have a dress code already for regular meetings not for regular meetings we have for employees and we have um this is the proposed one for the well this one's for the commissioner we I get where you're going with it I'm cool with it trust me I don't have problem the only thing change I think I asked was that I I included that right because my foot was broken into some as for the sneakers I mean uh I would then say then though it should extend to the planning board the MERS of the planning board I 100% agree but we should do a different one for the planning board well I'll I'll be on board with this if we can put those verbiage in there that where the planning board has to do to I mean let's let's not pick and choose let's do it across the board so it looks like we're doing it not singling a person yeah but this one's the commissioner I think we can do one for planning board because they don't have to dress in business attire yeah yep okay I'm good with it then okay any other discussion I just wanted to ask uh I think what I heard in our last meeting that you wanted it to be commensurate with any activity that we perform as a commissioner I don't think that needs to be because yeah it couldn't be because I mean I got pict him in dirty jeans because he ran from the farm how is he going to run from the farm and go to the event I mean I'm understanding that here's what I was told here's what I was told by people that read it that I ride with they're taking on is you don't like the working man that was their take well we all know that's not true husband dressed in working a uniform like every day I get it I'm just telling you what I was told yeah well that's an assumption no there's a lot of assumptions that's exactly that's why I think we should do it do it across the board planning board as well this was for this is business attire and my opinion of business attire and other people's is different my opinion of business attire would be a suit and a tie with dress pants and dress shoes that's business attire to me everyone wish I get a shirt that would shut around my neck not going to make people dress that way for a planning board meeting or a Farmland preservation meeting so we're voting on this one for the commissioner meetings yeah and the only thing I would have to say is uh you know we're Commissioners we're paid to be here right like let's act appropriately let's dress appropriately I have no problem you know be like that planning board you know they're volunteers that's a whole other conversation that we could have at another time but I'm fully in support of having a dress code for this commissioner board for these types of meetings I agree I I agree I just want to say something I thought the board and all our boards not just the planing board all our boards that we attend should you know you should dress appropriately I don't like dressing up at all I think everybody knows that but I you respect the office you respect the place that you're in just as you know dress appropriately when you go to your sports games and all that other stuff so don't assume Bill you're assuming but I'm just going off what he wrote he came up with it someplace s you assume that it's starving you which in my eyes it's not it's not all it's for future purposes but no one should have to go and tell you that you should be addess a program you shouldn't know that I've always wore polar shirts which are no different really than what you have can't even work walk in on the state house floor without a suit and tie oh I get that but we're not the state house floor I mean he he couldn't get on the state house floor the way he is right I would be dressed like this no I know and I wouldn't either if I was going there you know a cut off shirt or your college shirt with my Chain's hanging out either I do that because I know better you know Chain's hanging out because I ride a bike I don't want to lose the wallet yeah okay I ride a bike too I chain like that no I know I saw the bike you ride my husband rides a bike and he wears a suit on the bike all right so are we gonna vote on this yes uh can I get a roll call please commissioner Hayden yes commissioner sh yes director space yes deputy director Carney yes commissioner yes okay number 11 approval of minut uh can I get a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting of October 9th 2024 deputy director Carney and a second from commissioner degr uh all in favor I opposed abstain abstain motion carries number 12 there's no ordinances number 13 appointments Andor resignations we have a an appointment of Jennifer Buckaloo to the board of education of the Sussex County Technical School for a year term said term to begin on November 1st 2024 and expire on October 31st 2028 can I get a motion to adopt resolution a so mov okay commissioner shik in a second second uh deputy director Carney any discussion I just would like to say I just want to say to to uh Jennifer thank you for all you've done so far for the Sussex Tech School um being an advocate on behalf of the school the students and attending the the meetings and being a voice so I don't think any of us knew you before that and uh you know that's that's what we need is someone on the board you know that will will do good by the school so you sure you want it still yeah she's probably scared it won't be like this board I'd also like yes I'd also like to thank Jennifer for volunteering to do this and putting her application in uh she is the epitome of someone who saw something wrong stepped up said something got involved and is actively engaging others to do the same and I think you're sending a terrific example and I for one I'm very happy that you've put your hat in the ring to do this Meo thank you thank you thank you roll call please commissioner Hayden yeah yes commissioner sh yes director space yes deputy director Carney commissioner de okay number 14 resolutions okay can I get a motion to adopt the resolutions a through U okay deputy director Carney with a second from commissioner Hayden any discussion roll call please commissioner Hayden yes commissioner sh yes director speed yes deputy director carne yes commissioner the grp yes Awards of contract change orders bids the board of County commissioners of the county of Sussex has reviewed the award of contract change order bids consisting of various proposed resolutions and determined that adoption of the said resolutions is in and will further the public interest can I get a motion to adopt the resolutions a through J okay commissioner Hayden and a second from commissioner degr any discussion roll call please commissioner yes commissioner sh yes director space yes deputy director Carney yesion yes 16 Financial can I get a motion to pay the bills list of October 23rd 2024 right uh commissioner shik and a second from commissioner deg roll call please commissioner Hayden yes commissioner shik yes director space yes deputy director Carney yesion yes okay number 17 there's no personnel number 18 administrative report uh thank you commissioner uh now real quick tonight uh we're continuing on with our uh negotiations with all three PBA units and that's that's going well thank to all of the Commissioners for your support and understanding of how we do the budgets and and listening to the department heads and giving them the opportunity to to tell their story about what they do uh that it's very important to do to them and just lastly uh have the privilege of being with a lot of distinct people on Friday at project Sal sufficiency that kicks off the Christmas toy toy uh story and toy giving uh process for project s efficiency so that's always a a warm felt event to to go to every year so that's coming up on Friday all right that's it that's good County Council um so we'll do that in new business yes okay okay thank Ron for paying the AC Bill you're very welcome it's a little chilly question so next week so we still can probably close by the end of the year right I think so I mean the only the only thing that could screw it up would be like something that comes up in due diligence we're not aware of any sight conditions and we actually had a we have a provision written into the I added into the contract some language that they represent that they're not aware of any sight conditions we still have to do our inherit a SL condition but that would be the only thing that would mess it up okay any unfinished business okay new business um can I get a motion for the authorization of the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners to approve and execute the purchase and sale agreement for the purchase of property and building located at 15 Trinity Street in the town of Newton also known as block 9.01 lot 14 for $1 million if I may it just it's in the text it's not the title but it's obviously subject to the appraisal coming back it's got to match up to a price so it's in the text just right or better sounds good correct okay can I get a motion please okay deputy director Carney and a second from commissioner Hayden can I get a roll call any discussion can I get a roll call please commissioner yes commissioner sh yes director SP yes deputy director Carney yesion the yes great okay uh 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 okay commissioner shik with a second from I couldn't hear who that was oh commissioner to grou any discussion all in favor I oppose abstain the floor is open Kathy Brennan Hampton Township um I'm here for the same reason as I usually come to meetings and I question as someone who calls himself a truth teller how are we supposed to believe this person when he himself is accused of Stolen Valor which is a really serious offense um I feel that this person has managed to turn the commissioner meetings basically into like a clown show and um what specifically I would like to know this person is doing and making accomplishments that will help the county um there doesn't seem to be anything much going on from what I can see um all I can see is that there are accusations being made that don't seem to have any validity and um where is the supposed proof where are all these supposed people who supposed question these finances of the food pantry and I just see it as a diffusion to take attention away from being called out for your own issues and I think it's a really bad thing as I've said many times for the county and for the whole commissioner board I think that it takes away from the things that you need to do that and that you may want to do for the county that will actually help people I mean at this point what is how is it helping people to go after the food pantry with like I said which nothing has been verified that there is any problem I only see it as a detriment that when people are in such need that it be questioned and I really think it's really terrible thing that's happening and I'm very disappointed that it's happening thank you thank you Alan Henderson Lafayette Township first of all I'm going to say I disagree with your dress code entirely I think you guys are representing the people out in public as well as you are sitting here I can tell you as a law enforcement we went our uniform or you went dressed shirt and a tie I'm not saying everything needs a shirt and tie but you're representing everybody behind me in the entire County so I do disagree with your policy on only pertaining to here second thing I'm going to poke the fire again on the food pantry since it's all started I volunteered there every Thursday I'll say I missed a handful of times being there if you follow the receipts and yes I have seen the receipts and follow the directions on Google Earth it takes you to a two or three million doll home every Thursday we unload I can't tell you how many packages of peanut butter ramen noodles canned corn canned green beans anybody in a two or three million doll home is not getting ramen noodles I know I wouldn't I'd have a Chef cooking him for me so when you go to the food pantry I think you need to really know what's going on and follow the directions to the place where they're being delivered or so-called being but you don't care about the discrepancy in money I didn't say that well that's all I'm care about and I believe this is only public comment thank you hi hello um Julia Allen bym Township um I wasn't going to speak um but I was at a meeting we we um formed a an advisory committee at SES Tech with the parents and the Board of Education and when I was at the meeting like I think it was a week and a half two weeks ago I had asked Mr MLA what do we need to fully reinstate the theater program he told me another teacher's salary so I said well like an art teacher I actually emailed you miss commissioner and chick so you both have something in your email for me so I don't know if you had your budget meeting with them yet not yet okay I don't know if that's been put into their budget but I'm asking if that's something that we can look at if we can hire possibly maybe an art teacher coming out of college that might take a lesser salary so we can reinstate the program fully as my understanding from Mr M it's going to be sunset it out with the current students which I think is really a huge in um not only to the school but to the county I don't know if you know that um the mayor of Sparta is trying to bring Production Services here and I feel as one of the places they going to look for that Talent is the school I really hope that we could um find a way to try and save this program my daughter is graduating out of it I have like there's no need for me to want to save this program except for that it's amazing and the teacher amazing and they're putting on their own show from the shop called the Curious Savage the kids are running it from behind the scenes all the way to acting November 15th 16th come out and see it 700 p.m. on the 15th 2 p.m. on the 16th my daughter's the lead thank you I don't know where she gets it from John Snider Sanderson I didn't hear anybody mention early voting starts on Saturday do that yes someone mention I didn't a Saturday Sunday when the yeah I'm not sure the quite details did the clerk present three locations I believe yep the locations are the Cochran house the Cochran Plaza susex swanage library and I believe is it the Louise child yes and the two par is having that early voting event at 1 o00 in Lafayette at the firehouse okay thank you thank you anyone else okay can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment and return to regular business some second commissioner second discussion all in favor motion carries 23 reminders Che count www.j us can I motion to adjourn the meeting so moved okay uh commissioner shik with a second from commissioner Hayden all in favor I oppose Main