good evening this is a meeting of the tinon Falls per Council being held February 6th 2024 this meeting is hereby called to order would the clerk please read the open public meeting statement pursuant to section five of the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by posting on the bulletin board at Burrow Hall and by notification to the Asbury Park Press the Newark Star Ledger and the new coaster at least 48 hours prior to the meeting and filing with the clerk all on December 19th 2023 thank you may I ask the clerk to call the role Miss Buckley here Dr doberan here Mr menelli here Mr Nessie here Mrs clay here at this time I'd like to invite everyone to join me in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance I to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty Justice for All uh there is one set of meeting minutes for approval may I have a motion to approve the January 2nd 20124 pre-organization meeting minutes motion may I have a second second may I have a roll call please miss Buckley yes Dr Dober yes Mr menelli yes Mr Nessie yes Mrs clay yes uh next we will move on to reports I'd like to start with our B engineer Mr nef uh just real quick reminder that the contractor at Sycamore softball fields uh is started mobilizing their equipment and materials out there so just be aware if you're out at the park everything should be safe and operational but just be aware of the construction activity that's going to be taking place out there that's it thank you Mr NE Mr palen our CFO thank you council president I have no report tonight thank you thank you Mr tankor business administrator thank you council president good evening everyone I just wanted to uh commend the police department they had uh operation lunch break where they were collecting food uh which was very successful that was on on January 29th as part of our Outreach efforts uh last week they had an event with Alex man and for those of you that don't know who Alex man is he's he's a man that suffers from um autism and he goes to police departments Countrywide to spread awareness um two police officers and how to deal with persons that do have autism so that was last week it was a very successful event as well um March 6 2024 they have jumped with a cop as part of their Community engagement coming up and from the January 31st uh Captain Kyle Pearson retired so we want to congratulate him on his retirement and wish him best in his future endeavors and from the recreation department we just have the daughter's dance which is March 10th at 2:30 and finally I just want to commend a DPW men and women for their response to the uh most recent storms to include the the last two snow storms thank you thank you Mr terao Mr starky our director of law uh yes there are two items on the agenda I wanted to uh speak about tonight uh the first is resolution 23-30 and this is a resolution that's going to create an advisory committee to determine a report on progress in managing the odors from the mammoth County reclamation center what this committee will be is it will consist of two uh members of the burrow Council that will be council president clay and councilman manganelli it will be three residents of who live in the affected area um those residents have not yet been uh chosen but that will be up to um uh councilwoman clay and Council Manelli to uh select people who are living there are interested in being involved and to report back to the Council on that um what the this committee is going to do is it's going to meet with um County officials uh officials from Waste Management who operate the landfill and representatives of the County Health Department the representatives of those organizations um have already agreed to meet with the committee to uh give them information what's going on to answer questions um and the committee will then monitor the progress Waste Management said there's a 90-day plan to address the order issue um they'll stay on top of that make sure that it's being complied with um and they'll report back to um the council and to members of the public with their determinations whether this you know waste management is doing what they're supposed to be doing or not and what what we can do to uh to deal with that so that committee is just being formed uh subject to the council's approval uh tonight and then they'll be um off and running the second issue I wanted to comment on is there is ordinance on for tonight um it is on for first reading is ordinance number 2024 d uh 1510 um that ordinance is really Rec codifying part of the burrow code to properly list the properties in town that are subject to title 39 jurisdiction what that means is there are a lot of properties usually they're shopping centers um there are uh um residential communities that have private roadways that are not owned by the town by the burrow uh but they are subject to police jurisdiction police patrolling by virtue of this ordinance title 39 jurisdiction means the police can go in there they can Patrol they can write tickets they can do things which ordinarily they can't do on private property in the absence of an emergency um but this um authorized them to do it and it lists in the ordinance all the properties in town where they can do that so it's important there was a list before it's kind of hodg Podge it wasn't complete we didn't have everything in one section so it's sort of just Rec codifying put it all in one section so so everybody knows and importantly the police know where they're authorized to to go uh the last thing I want to report on is the status of the EMS that was discussed at the last meeting um I think if anyone's here at the last meeting knows that the county um has uh started up uh as of yesterday a paid EMS division uh that's run by the county it's paid for by the county uh taxpayers uh and they are starting off in titf Falls and um two other towns that are nearby um they are going to work with our volunteers uh what's going to happen is the county is going to uh have primary um response time when usually during the day when the volunteers can't cover it volunteers to the extent they have Crews on will be primary um during nights that the volunteers select those will usually be nighttime uh duties the county will be a backup for them during that time frame frame um County will always be a backup in the event of uh the volunteers can't cover or there's some kind of mass um you know larger Casualty that requires multiple responses um we are um in the process of setting forth an agreement it's going to be a short agreement with the county just probably a couple pages to outline uh what I just said what the County's um role is going to be um but the county has assured us that whatever the needs of tint Falls are for EMS they will um uh be in a position to cover but they also want to work with the the volunteer uh EMS squads to make sure that um as much as they want um volunteers want the county would like to have that uh happen as well so that is the status of as I said the county started yesterday yesterday morning um so you'll see probably some of them rigs coming around with County EMS on it and that's where the they covering uh titf Falls during uh during the daytime um that is my report thank you Mr Mr star Miss Hutchinson our clerk I have no report this evening thank you thank you Miss Hutchinson uh moving on to council reports uh councilwoman Buck yes thank you council president clay uh I just have a quick question on the just on the uh the County EMS where are they um operating out of our EMS buildings or where do they service from or or is it different places right now they're operating both out of their uh cator field and out of EMS south location um and I know they're in the process of negotiating for the um convol uh Firehouse um I think that's not yet up and running but I think they anticipate that'll be up and running soon okay thank you uh just for my report um so uh as far as the environmental commission and green team we have some members here this evening who'll be speaking later um so the environmental commission um and green team held a meeting uh their last meeting on January 25th prior to that we had uh received an email from sustainable Jersey as you may recall uh titf Falls was awarded bronze certification for the first time this past November as well as rookie of the year which was quite prestigious there are only two towns who got that in all of New Jersey um so they sent us an email basically sustainable Jersey offers grants every year and so this is a prime opportunity for us to apply for a grant um and their email sort of indicated that they favor towns who have just received certification and and ones like ours the grants like most grants have to be used for a specific purpose this grant is uh duly funded by PSG and sustainable Jersey and the environmental commission wants to apply for the maximum which is $20,000 to be used towards what we call an a natural resource inventory otherwise known as an environmental resource inventory the team will talk a little bit more about it um the reason we bring it now is because the initial Grant applications actually du on Friday this is a very short window um so what it is if if if you got if people aren't familiar is um it's a document that becomes an addendum to the master plan that can be utilized by all the boards and commissions that really lays out factually all of the natural resources we have in our town um it does cost some money because there's usually some Consultants that are needed to be involved um part of the process is putting together sort of a draft budget which includes in kind donations um so the reason they're going to bring it tonight is because eventually by March 15th they'll need like a resolution of support from the council um to proceed with the Grant application um and then so should we be awarded the Grant application it would be utilized to produce this ER NRI um so I'll let the the team talk more about it thank you thank you councilwoman Buckley uh Dr do Bren yes uh thank you uh the tin FS Library Association Board of Trustees met this past uh Thursday night February 1st uh and of course many of the trustees are here tonight as well uh the Board of Trustees and um they're making plans basically for moving forward once the construction phase of the library building is complete and that should be complete by the end of February if I'm not mistaken Tom that's what we're hoping for great we certainly hope for it uh so this year uh the successful fashion show we'll be taking a break uh it was very successful and I know uh Ellen's here tonight so she may want to speak on that but um as far as the music festival that will be occurring this coming August and uh I don't know that we have a specific date but it's forthcoming so you'll be hearing about that um there's a lot of work that has to be done on preparing the libraryies opening and I have to say that the Board of Trustees being there this Thursday night they're very uh diligent hard working and I know they're going to get this thing completed so that we can have this opening this spring so we're looking forward to that and I'll keep you posted as well as the Board of Trustees so thank you Mr President thank you Dr Newman that's exciting news yes very uh moving on uh Mr Manelli uh yes council president is this an appropriate time for for me to elaborate on what Mr stalky has addressed in terms of the El yes of course okay let me elaborate a little on this get rid of the stain committee is what I wanted to call it but we we renamed it that's true L Phil monitoring committee uh I'm not going to answer any questions about it until we finish the we establish the committee but the purpose of it is to monitor what wmi is doing how complaints are being handled how they're being adjudicated but the objective is to get rid of the stink and it can be done it can be done there are organizations that do it we just got to find the right one uh we've already have two residents have agreed to join the Department of Health has agreed to join a representative from wmi has agreed to join so we got the right people in place uh I haven't organized the timetable on when it will start I hope it starts soon it'll be a monthly meeting and principally to monitor the progress that wmi is making at this point I'd like to table any further discussion on the stink until this committee is established thank you thank you councilman man Lane uh councilman messie thank you council president uh yes I have a few things uh last Wednesday planning board listened to two applications uh the first application approved by the board was for a medical and Professional Building uh located along Newman Springs Road on an underdeveloped lot uh three residents who boarded the property attended the meeting and asked several great questions uh that were all answered by the applicant ultimately having no objection to the applicant's project uh the second application uh approved by the board included the development of a wine outlet store located in the uncle jpp's parking lot where the Sonic has been demolished um moving on to chickens uh keeping backyard chickens class provided by Mammoth County Parks is scheduled from for 10:00 a.m. to 12: on Saturday March 2nd at uh Long Street Farm in Homedale you must register to attend the registration is open to anyone regardless of residency but the county did not promote the class so you have to kind of fish around on the website to register on Mammoth County parks.com and that concludes my report thank you so much um uh in terms of my report um I wanted to uh report out on the Board of Education meeting of January 25th um January was actually Port of head member recognition month um so I'd like to extend our thanks to our K8 board members along with our Mammoth regional board members Mr Cohen uh our mammoth board president happens to be here this evening um in addition uh I got to um to view a wonderful presentation on social emotional learning that was done uh with the guidance counselor uh of swimming River Miss buck and the special education supervisor Mrs waler uh two teachers Mr ano and miss prad and some of amazing kids from Swimming River School uh so that was an outstanding meeting uh anytime you get to see kids at a board of bed meeting it's really a good night um I would also like to extend my congratulations to Captain Pi on his retirement and in addition I'd like to share that uh we have established a date uh for our annual community day it will be October 5th with the ring date of October 6th and that concludes my report okay um moving on to ordinances for introduction there is one ordinance on for introduction this evening I'd like to remind the public that when the ordinance is introduced there is no public discussion the public discussion for the following ordinance will take place when it is up for final consideration with that may I ask the clerk to read the title of the ordinance 20 24-1 1510 an ordinance amending chapter 7 part three of the burough code to delete and replace the list of private properties subject to title 39 jurisdiction in the buau the public hearing will be held on February 20th 2024 or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached on the agenda thank you may I have a motion to approve the introduction of this ordinance so moved thank you may I have a second second and may I have a roll call please miss Buckley yes Dr Dolan yes Mr menelli yes Mr Nessie yes Mrs clay yes uh at this time there is one ordinance for final consideration we will hold a public hearing with comments being limited to 3 minutes comments may only pertain to this ordinance may I ask the clerk to read the title of the ordinance 20 24-1 159 an ordinance setting salaries for department heads statutory employees mayor and counsel thank you I have a motion to open the public discussion on this ordinance motion thank you thank you all in favor I I is there anyone from the public that would like to comment please remember to state your name and address for the record okay uh may I have a motion to close the public hearing motion second okay all favor I I are there any council members that would like to comment on this ordinance may I have a motion for adoption motion second thank you may have a roll call Miss Buckley yes Dr Doan yes Mr menelli yes Mr Nessie yes Mrs clay yes uh moving on to public discussion uh may I have a motion to open the public discussion motion second thank you all in favor I this is the time the public May comment on any topic of their choice please state your name and address for the record and limit your comments to 3 minutes at this time i' would like to ask the clerk if any public comments were submitted prior to this meeting via email there were none uh thank you okay public comments hello my name is Andrew Thon from 44 Austin Street uh I did come here to speak about the reclamation center I understand that uh you've asked to table that till the committee has been uh created uh so I understand I may not receive answers at this time but I do feel responsible uh to issue my concerns and and what we're going through as a family with this dump so my wife and I moved here in 2021 because of the town that this this town is the one thing that we had of concern when we came here was of course the landfill gas we were comforted with the information that we researched to think that that was addressed and was not going to be an issue within our time as we created a family here uh we did get married last year we had not experienced any issues with this and now that it is time for us to come and create a family and start to have kids we're now looking at a situation where the landfill gas is back and affecting us on a regular basis uh we came to the meeting uh on 126 or6 excuse me uh with the expectation and the hope that we would be comforted that the problems that were in place were going to be resolved and that um the health of our family was not going to be in Jeopardy when we left the meeting we had more concerns than when we walked into the meeting uh at no point during that meeting did Waste Management address the specific gases that we were inhaling uh they did not um reflect how much of it we were inhaling and most importantly they did not uh implement or indicate the health impact of those gases that we were inhaling both those that contain an odor and the odorless gases that would go along with the odor gases that we can smell uh we were given the opportunity to report uh to the D uh that was what we were told as a uh citizen we could do to make a difference we have done that twice since uh the 116 meeting and I can tell you that the response that we received was frankly insulting um the first time that we asked they called my wife back they got her name completely wrong and when she wasn't sure who it was who was calling because they got her name wrong they closed the investigation on the spot the second time was last week we called at 11:00 because this thing had become so strong outside that it had infiltrated and completely ex completely overwhelmed our house we continued to call and and everyone that they asked us to call through the night a representative came out at 1:00 a.m. in the morning we stayed up we made sure we were doing our part when they came to our doorstep they told us they smelled nothing and that we we just needed to go go to bed and deal with it they told us it was it was insulting I mean to think that we we stayed up in the middle of the night to try to make a difference or try to do what we were told to do and there was no measurable analysis there was simply someone saying their subject their subjective opinion that they couldn't smell anything and then it was closed the biggest concern we have here is we don't know the health impacts of this and so we have to go every day trying to figure out what our next step is I'm not comfortable bringing our new child into this world in a town where I don't know what I'm inhaling and so we need answers on that and I we need answers from this committee that not only are they doing what they say they they're going to do but that is it is effective as well because the improvements that they made in 2018 have not to me demonstrated any improvements to the conditions the charts that they presented last last meeting with the rainfall indicated that we have simply not experienc rainfall near the levels that would lead to this gas being an issue so I have no confidence that the improvements they made during the last go around with this have actually made change and rather I feel that we've simply gotten lucky with rainfall levels we need that confidence that they're going to take action but also that that action is going to be effective and between now and then and in the future we need to know what the impact is on our health because we don't have that right now thank you for your time thank you um I I just wanted to Sir we've you've just explained why this committee is being formed it is the first time in the 10 years that I'm sitting on this Council that the council is taking an active participation in getting this resolved and we will get it resolved I wish I could flick a switch and the St go away but it isn't going to happen that way it's going to take a lot of Investigation but we will get result I promise you that I appreciate that thank you um thank you councilman mention um Mr thst I also wanted to add that um he agree that we need more and we are also as Mr binelli stated also not satisfied with um what has not transpired and that's the reason that we're moving forward uh with this committee um we we hear you loud and clear I appreciate that and I'm glad to see that this committee is going forward and I just want to reiterate it's it's more than just that things are that what the actions they say are need to be be done get done they need to be effective they need to fix any health concerns and all that information needs to be communicated to us and I think there also needs to be an open-ended side of this that if we you know go through this committee and we see what they do and it's it's not fixing it well enough then uh we need the confidence of citizens from the town that other actions will be taken to move away from waste management into alternative Solutions when available thank you thanks thank you good evening Ellen Goldberg 90 Glenwood Drive probably all have it memorized by now um so uh couple things first of all I am the newly appointed uh environmental commission chairperson I have been a resident here for 35 years this month I have volunteered in many capacities in this town from the time my children went to school uh PTA p TSA I've been on the environmental commission for 20 years um I ran for mayor two years ago um obviously very very invested in the town of tinon Falls very committed to this town so um before I begin I want to say it's my pleasure to address all of you and thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak about this so our proposal from the environmental commission is that we want to create this environmental resource inventory report our purpose uh is to share our hopes and plans with you um have any of you heard of an ER before tonight okay um so sometimes it's called as uh as councilwoman Buckley said uh natur natural resource inventory basically it's the same thing um we are asking tin and Falls to move forward with this because we currently do not have this report the last one that was done was in 1975 and the report is not in existence um no one seems to be able to know where it is and it would be outdated anyway we are as was previously stated applying for a sustainable Jersey grant for $20,000 um for us to accomplish this goal we are also applying for an additional $2,000 Grant we are here to ask the support of the council and our efforts so that we can discuss what work needs to be done um I will skip what an ER is because councilman Buckley councilwoman Buckley already told us um the data is specifically designed by an environmental and Technical expert for our town in addition to factual information the data will be contextualized so it tells us what is important about the data that view think about when you go to the doctor and you get your blood work done you need the doctor to explain the important parts of the data the ER would do that further the ER would be shaped to our priorities the input from tin andf Fall's Bureau board members council members and government officials and also the town people we are planning Community engagement events to bring the public into the process the public would be invited to share what they might want to know about their town or any concerns that they might have both tinon Falls burough people and tinon Falls residents would also be invited to collaborate on the evaluation of the ER before it's completed this will give us a chance to determine any clarifications that might be needed any explanatory narratives that might be added and any additional areas of concern that may not have been included the final ER would be finished a finished publication of many pages possibly around 200 based on what other towns have this ER would be of extraordinary value as it would be a comprehensive look at our town giving us both foresight and depth of field by the various forms of data in addition it would also serve us as we become very familiar with it and consistently use it for reference possible applications would be used in land use planning site plan review determination of zoning regulations and Municipal ordinances the ER can also be used as an indicator of sensitive areas that need protection the ER can be used to educate tinon Falls residents about their community and natural resources the ER can be used to get ahead of problems thereby saving many dollars by avoiding future problems and mitigation costs so some of the financial investment of creating an AR comes right back to us the ER can be a tool for making decisions about the placement of infrastructure roads sewers schools etc for example Long Branch is using their new 2023 ER GIS base maps to meet the new ms4 certification requirement for sewers forther sewers the difficulty of being an effective environmental commission is that we really need to look ahead if we're going to be an effective commission we need to see the problems and the possibilities so that we can advise the buau council well for any environmental concerns the ER would assist in staying ahead of Whatever May Come Along Without ordinances tin andf could become a target for developers or for County or state level changes that are beyond our control we need to look ahead to know which ordinances are needed and that would be better done with an ER without a comprehension view comprehensive view of our town providing excellent advice to our boards and government on environmental issues becomes pretty impossible once a proposal is submitted the opportunity to create protections for tin and Falls is over we have to be able to look ahead and the ER gives us that potential even if environmental Commissioners go another step to get an updated copy of a map or chart or whatever having the set of burrowed data that an ER provides is invaluable this is probably especially true in our town because it borders and incorporates such a variety of land areas titin and Falls is becoming much more complex as the environmental commissioner we need to have a broad perspective of our town we need to see ahead and need to do that today for example we know ordinances need to be in place before Builder plans are submitted we need to be proactive not reactive if other towns are spending money to create Eris so they can make strong protective ordinances against our plans any plans that might put the wellness of their town at risk then we better do it too otherwise we will not have the structure and support we need need when new things come up if additional warehouses are proposed or new Transportation routes are being planned we need to be ready otherwise we're an easy target lastly I think we need to ask how much we love our town and if we are really ready and willing to work to keep it as great as it is are we comfortable with giving us the environmental Commissioners nothing in the way of support as we become aware of requests for change rather than having a tool specifically designed to provide information on virtually any course of action that will impact the health and well-being of community residents thank you thank you good evening good evening uh I'm Barbara Colberg I'm at 21 Cedar Place um I have lived here for 28 years it's my pleasure to be here tonight uh with all of you on the council and to address the barel council thank you for the opportunity uh the master plan has a fabulous vision statement in the land use planning section which describes our town in the near future and I quote it is the year 2030 and the burough of Titan Falls has matured into a desirable and fiscally stable municipality the burrow is reaping the benefits of sound land use decisions made earlier the burrow now has a sense of place in identity enhanced by the Redevelopment of the fort MTH site as a vibr mixed use development with commercial residential entertainment and public uses in a traditional Main Street setting neighborhoods have been linked through an open space Network environmentally sensitive stream corridors have been preserved the Southwest quadrant of the burrow has been built out with modern attractive industrial and office parks and Manufacturing uses that have complied with the Burrow's performance and design standards the burrow has fully satisfied its affordable housing obligation and Market market rate housing continues to appreciate many of the heavy industrial users have relocated to targeted area to the south of Route 18 North of Earl this has allowed several areas around Route 18 to be comprehensively comprehensively replanned as a retail Center wow this vision statement has many moving parts and lots of plans for change all of them will involve environmental concerns I was talking to a council person in a nearby Town who commented on how risky it is to have so much going on without an ER this Titan Falls vision statement has components that don't necessarily work easily together we need to make careful decisions along the way to make our vision a reality Titan Falls needs an ER to be able to look ahead and make those sound land use decisions as stated in the master plan Vision our state government recommend recommends having an ER instead of doing things reactively New Jersey legis legislation New Jersey uh I'm sorry njsa law 40 colon 55d states it is the right and responsibility of the environmental commission to have research done to analyze the town's natural resources when I look at our master plan I don't see a lot of scientific data I see a lot of descriptive passages about humans are currently using the land hit and Falls would greatly benefit from the inclusion of an ERI into the master plan it should be noted that the New Jersey State Office of planning and advoc advocacy will not certify any master plan without it having an ER the state is very clear on their opinion of the value of an ER the ER and Grant application are new adventures for us we are very excited about it and there are many reasons why we should do it right now beyond the basic reason that we don't have one and we need one sustainable Jersey evaluated Titan Falls to be rookie of the year we are in very good standing with sustainable Jersey and so it's a good time to apply for a grant we would not have been able to do this in the past we currently have some extraordinary skills on the environmental commission these people have already agreed to use their skills to help accomplish the task of creating an ERI a GIS specialist Tatiana Pinos an environmental engineer Steve Surman these commitments were made with the agreement that we would hire an ER environmental consultant who would lead who would be the lead on the work we have been researching Consultants Services used by nearby towns to do their Eris I have personally communicated with Deborah katzer who has her own business online and has done many Eris in our area including Ocean Township completed in 2019 and how Township completed in 2021 we are here today to openly discuss our hopes and plans with burrow Council our main hope is that you will align with us and support this effort to create an ER for the health and well-being of Titan Falls and its residents cost is a very important part of our conversation tonight so we'll address that now we would like to ask for matching funds from the burrow Council which we expect to be $22,000 we will contract with an environmental specialist for a specific amount we know we can do this because we've talked to EC people in other towns that stayed within their budget we on the environmental commission agree with anjac the association of New Jersey environmental Commissioners and the state of New Jersey on the importance of having an ER for the well-being of our town the other side of this discussion is that if we don't have an ER then the risk is higher of making Environmental bad decisions those potentially bad choices will not allow us to realize the dream of the titin and Falls master plan many other nearby towns are getting grants and barel support and creating or updating their Eris uh for example eent Town burrow has an ER which was completed in 2013 as I said Ocean Township did theirs in 2019 Colts Neck was just awarded by sustainable Jersey a grant and they are in process of doing it how Township completed in 2021 Long Branch completed in 2023 little silver completed in 2020 and that is not a comprehensive list but that gives us an idea of what's happening around us many other nearby towns are getting grants if they and completing their Eris if they do that they can put into place the ordinances needed to protect their towns for example while we don't and then we leave ourselves open as a target for warehouse sprawl and other development that could really leave Titan Falls as a corridor of Despair as an environmental commission member as a member of the Titan Falls Community we say not on our watch thank you thank you I have some questions yes uh so this CRI your commission is going to be primarily involved with the planning board and the Zoning Board of adjustment I mean when you get into areas like fossil fuel and stuff like that as well I'm not sure what you mean fossil fuel and stuff like that well I mean if you're talking about the environment and it's a very controversial subject relative to what fossil fuel is doing to our environment are you going to get involved in stuff like that I think that air quality is part of the ER the answer is yes targeting fossil f yes you will okay I think now tell me about this $22,000 what is that for it is to create an ER where we have no start we have nothing to build on now that's not grant money that's money you're asking from the council we're asking for uh tint and Falls to match the grant money that we hope to receive so so if we receive the $22,000 and the tin Falls uh burrow can match that then we can hire the company that's going to be able to perform this comprehensive service that could take a year um okay so I understand if you receive the grant you're asking the council to match that correct okay thank you that's all I have you're welcome uh council president if I can have your permission I have someone who couldn't make the meeting tonight but she texted me a very short um could I read it for her on on her behalf what yes okay yes thanks you can sit oh you just have to give us the person's name and address going to so it's Laura Smith stains 204 River Edge Road Council Members I regret that I am unable to attend the meeting tonight due to a family emergency but I wanted to offer my support for an ER NRI in tinon Falls as I'm sure the environmental commission explained this is a valuable land use planning tool such a study will help us to identify environmentally sensitive lands for protection within our beautiful Town further in such an instance as the swimming River Redevelopment where we might have a neighboring town with an interest in developing along our border it could be used to prevent or minimize such development our environmental resources should guide any future development in tinon Falls because once they're gone they're gone I urge you to support this request thank you thank you uh any other public comment yes hi Mitch Colberg uh 21 Cedar Place uh yeah know it was my wife speaking so maybe this won't come across as the most impartial uh thing ever but the truth is I know she's been working on this a lot I I haven't been deeply involved in it but I was impressed with everything thing they said and uh and it sounds like a it sounds like a really worthwhile Endeavor and you know 20 $22,000 is not nothing but when you consider the town of Titan Falls and and getting this kind of data especially when you look at the fact sounds like the fact that other towns around us are doing it and finding it valuable it's it seems like a worthwhile thing and so just going to cast my vote to support that thank you very much thanks J con 76 Maywood run um as you know I've been the chairman of the environmental commission for the past 35 years until the last meeting when I handed Bon over to Ellen uh we've been asking for one of these Eris for a long time we've needed it um and I'm not 100% sure but I about 90% sure that the $22,000 is is not necessarily cash it can be in kind so if there's people that can do you know volunteers whatever it comes in other forms like other grants have been you've had in the you know on other for other places also um Mr manginelli for your committee on the uh the dump I'm not volunteering to be a member of the committee no but I'm curious you said 23 ,000 or whatever the number was 20 whatever the number they're asking about uh but I am volunteering for if you want to pick my brain for the things that we have done over the last 35 40 years from uh meetings many meetings with the county landfill people uh years ago we haven't done it recently uh as you well know uh but we used to meet with them uh at least once a quarter either here well actually it was the building before this building was built um or at our meetings or we went to their meetings and had land you know tours and we met at the landfill um so if you have any questions on History you know true history of what's going on uh you know how to reach me I appreciate it John thank you okay thank you thanks any other public comment okay uh hearing no further comments may I have a motion to close the public discussion so moved and may I have a second second all in favor hi hi uh does any member of council have anything to add I I do council president thank you um two two things uh first I forgot to mention during my report I wanted to um thank the Department of Public Works and administration um Girl Scout Troop reached out wanting to create a little Library um in one of the public school Park areas um and DPW stepping up as they have for the other little libraries in town and it's going to be created in Sycamore Park uh somewhere so they're going to coordinate with the Girl Scouts so I thought that was great um obviously when it gets to be opened we'll do a little ribbon cutting ceremony so I want to say thank you for that which I forgot um and then secondarily um just with regards to the ER NRI um I think someone mentioned some of the cost is in kind um I I think that number that you guys are proposing is an approximation because for the purposes of the grant you need to propose a budget right so that can include like they said in kind for example there's a GIS specialist on the environmental commission what would her Services be worth right and that gets put into the budget not necessarily cash that needs to be spent so um I know we don't need to do a resolution of support now um but um they have share with me some of the other completed Eris so you can just see factually what it is right in other towns so there's no no mystery about what it is it's just you know factual and I'm sure they have many examples from the town so I'm sure they'll be be happy to provide that if any council member would like to look through those thank you thank you okay um at this time we're going to move on to the consent agenda before we do I would like to ask councilman Nessie to please read a resolution listed on our Council agenda resolution R 24-23 thank you council president yes this is a resolution declaring February as Black History Month in the bur of tinon Falls February 2024 whereas in 1915 Dr Carter Goodwood and Woodson noted scholar and Son of former slaves who founded the association of the study of African-American life in history initiated black history week February 12th 1926 which was celebrated for many years by African-Americans in the United States and whereas President Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976 calling upon the public to seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected and whereas since 1976 every president has adopted the month of February as Black History Month as an annual celebration of African-American achievements and roles in the US history and whereas Black History Month is a time to reflect on the burdens of uh racial Prejudice and explore understand and appreciate the identities and cultures across and within the African despa and whereas the burough of titin Falls recognizes the injustices that African-Americans have endured and commend the African-American Community for the continuous pursuit of overcoming those injustices and changing the course and nature of history and whereas we honor the prominent leaders and activists who have paved the way for equality and justice calling our Burrow's attention to the continued need to battle racism and to build an equitable Society therefore be resolve that the burough of ton Falls declares February 2024 as Black History Month and honors the contributions and sacrifices made in building pride in black history and educating all Americans as well as many achievements and contributions made by African-Americans to our economic cultural spiritual and political development and therefore be it further resolved that we join other organizations throughout the state of New Jersey and this country to use this occasion to raise awareness of hardships African-Americans have endured celebrate the Milestones that have been achieved and continue the unrelenting P pursuit of equally equality and justice for all thank you thank you so much councilman Nessie we will now continue with the consent agenda are there any items any member of council would like removed to be voted on separately okay uh hearing none may have a motion to approve the consent agenda motion second may I have a roll call please miss Buckley yes Dr Dober yes Mr menelli yes Mr Nessie yes Mrs clay yes this concludes today's business may I have a motion to adjourn motion second all in favor I I this meeting is now returned time 8:22