is that a yeah okay I'd like to call this meeting to order please please stand for a salute to the flag pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repic for which it stands one nation under God indivis andice for all okay this meeting is convened in accordance with the provisions of the open public meetings Act of New Jersey let the official minutes reflect that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by publishing a notice in the Asbury Park Press on Friday January 6 2023 the Press of Atlantic City and the Star Ledger and also forwarded to the toms Riv times Toms Riv patch and wobm news on Thursday January 5th 2023 and thereafter posting same on the town hall bulletin board for such notices and filings same with Township Clerk pursuant to a resolution adopted by the the township Council on Tuesday January 3rd 2023 the meeting dates have also been posted on the township web page roll call please councilman Sosi here councilman cop here councilman lamb here councilman quinis here councilman rodri here Council vice president gagan here council president luto here item five are the minutes from the regular meeting on December 5th 2023 move the minutes second a motions made by councilman cop and seconded by councilman quinas counc cop yes councilman quinlisk yes councilman seosi yes councilman lamb need to abstain as an excused absence Council Vice uh councilman rodri yes Council Vice pres president gagan yes council president Lano yes for tonight's honoring resolutions and presentations we have the recognition of Mayor Maurice Mo beill Jr Tom River North High School football 2023 njsi AA group 5 Champions Tom rer North marching Mariners Regional and state champions and Oak Park soccer facility naming presentation by the kopkin family move the honoring resolutions and presentations second all in favor I so we are going to do uh the honoring resolutions presentations um followed by the resolution and then we'll take a brief recess for anyone that would uh like to leave the meeting so Council please join me in the well [Music] all right good evening everybody I'm glad this is a full house um up first we're going to recognize uh mayor Mo Hill uh I'd like to start with uh saying that the mayor is summed up by uh service above self 35 years of service to this country and 20 years of service to this Township um it's not easy being a public figure uh there's a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking and things that go on and uh he has always held him his head up high handled it with dignity and integrity and he's always put the town's residents before himself um I on behalf of the council and as a resident I thank you for your service and um we're going to hear honor you with this um plaque here but first I'd like to ask commissioner Haynes to come up and say a few words [Applause] please uh good good evening everyone um I just want to say a few words about Mo I've known MO ever since he was probably about 15 years old we went to high school together and I can tell you from that day all the way through he has been nothing but dedicating himself not only to the people of Tom zerver but to the people of this nation you know that his his past life what he has done when he the time that he had in the military that he just continued to do that with with the people in the times there residents and I just want to say they're all going to miss you I know you you've done a great job and I know that you are going to you and roow are going to be spending a lot lot of time with your grandchildren and hopefully you're going to be traveling to other areas of Virginia I just want to personally thank you for what you have done for the People of Toms River you have done nothing but get up every day and want to spend to do the best thing you possibly could do for the People of Toms River and nothing less and I just wish want to wish you and your family all the best I also would just like to take this time to wish Kevin Josh and Matt and thank them for the dedication that they have given to this town um for these past few years that you have served uh the people of Tom River I know that you also have dedicated yourselves to the people of Tom River getting up every day doing what you feel is going to be best for the people and I am sure that the people that are coming in to take their place will do the same will go with the same dedication to the people of Tomer and I know on behalf of the Board of Commissioners in in the county of ocean we thank you and we support you for all your future endeavors thank you thank you up night next we'd like to recognize the um Toms River North uh football team um so could I please get the coach up here and um while you're making your way up uh the mayor would like to say something this is a repeat last year Tom was undefeated they were the group five or class five Champions they repeated again this year uh that's a tremendous accomplishment I don't think there's any other school that's done that they were the highest ranked uh Public School both last year and this year and I was I was able to attend the game last year I couldn't go this year but I went with superintendent sitter and I was a walk- on at ruter so uh I told Mike as we're sitting on the side or standing on the sidelines with North I go Mike I was here 55 years ago and I'm in the same damn position on the sideline so I did I was on a team but I was a second team lineman but uh it's a tremendous accomplishment um you guys you had the number one uh Player of the Year twice Micah Ford a number of you and I think mik missed a couple what he missed three games four games four games and he was still selected is the player of the year a number of I talked to a couple of the the gentlemen before uh before the meeting and a number of them are going to be going to D1 schools so you're going to see these kids playing on Saturdays uh and there a bunch of I mean there's some Big Boys on this team and uh and they showed it all year long both this year and this and last year and Coach congratulations wonderful job appr thank all right fellas One Last Time come on up w you [Applause] next no no no no okay all right okay you want okay all right well we're going to continue on the uh High School North um path here as a uh graduate of high school north and I know councilman gagan was a very long time ago uh but uh so we would like to invite uh the toms High School North band directors up please [Applause] on behalf of the the mayor in Township Council we want to um present this with you to you and uh we'd like you to just say a few words about your accomplishments and whoever would like to do um an absolute and total honor to work with these fine kids uh we knew we had something special coming out of the summer uh little did we know that they didn't want to stop uh we had to basically shut them down and said no no the season's over we have to we have to end it now um we be on our wildest dreams I've been teaching for years and I've never never had never dealt with anything like this before you guys work so darn hard what else can we say you deserve every minute of this congratulations all right a lot I just wanted to add uh just a thank you to our staff who worked endless hours helping us with our students uh this would have never happened without them I also want to thank our parents who also this would have not happened without them and uh just one other thing about the win uh first time in our history and in t not to history but in Ocean County History we had an undefeated drum line and Front Ensemble for those who don't know Front Ensemble are all the drum instruments that are too large to March but uh that's the first time in our history and record season record score for us as well so thank you all right so while football team are quite large there's a lot more of us but if students if you want to come up we going to take a picture as well I need those banners yeah yeah just squeeze in as best you can you're going to have to take a knee in the front row as well [Music] h all right where we look it'll be on our Instagram great send it to me all right we can text the V thank [Applause] congratulations thank you all right um we're going to go back yeah um we probably all go back um yeah he's up next I would like to uh bring up Mike kopka and the kopka family all right on behalf of the mayor and Council we'd like to present this oh that's not yours all right then we're not going to do that here's what we're going to do we're gonna you're going to do a presentation for us and um and then we're going to uh have a a resolution right after the resolution is over we'll take a recess and if anybody at that time would like to leave that' be an opportune moment so you can start with the recess Council we'll go back up to the Days please it's hard with this many people all right all right Castle thank you uh for having me here tonight and uh putting this presentation on the agenda uh before I go into that you know I I didn't know we were going to recognize the football team and the band but uh as a Tom D resident and as a teacher in Tom D for about 19 years also as a former division athlete and pro aete and a musician I can appreciate the work and effort it takes to be so successful on the field um so I just want to say you know congratulations you guys once again it's really cool to to see that uh here in the town uh so for those you that don't know me my name is Mike kopka uh as I said I've I've been a resident here uh for 42 years I'm a a teacher at Tom River East for about 19 and I'm here today to um make a proposal to uh change the name of uh the Oak Park complex and and put my late father's name on the soccer part of that complex um and really uh on behalf of myself and my mother and my brother uh I'm here today to really just kind of bring to light some of the things that my father has done for the soccer Community uh not only here in our town but uh across the country and uh and some of the things that we we would like to propose to do and to make improvements to the park uh as a result to that so I do have a a little presentation here uh we'll go through just a couple things first off a little bit about my father he uh he passed passed away about 2 years ago October of 2021 uh pretty suddenly uh and he was uh 65 years old he uh was on the soccer field um coaching until the day he died with my grand with my son his grandson and uh just some of the things that he's done I want to go through about um locally first he's uh was a local soccer coach here since uh 1986 and uh not only did he coach myself he coached my brother um he was involved in the the Tom je Soccer Association and and the Tom Americans which are before the Tom D football club but he was not only a coach but he got involved in the board he was a club treasur um he was a club president for Jersey Shore bokeh and the amount of players he has coached over that span of time uh probably a masses 100 200 play ERS still to this day there are multiple that reached out to myself and my brother to tell us how much of an influence he had on their lives as as players whether they went on to play um at a division one or professional level um as my brother did and or as a coach uh just recently one of his former players was named in New Jersey coach of the year and one of the first things he did was reach out to myself and my brother to tell us how thankful he was that he had my father as a coach um and the influence he had in his his progression as he became a coach um this happens and there's a lot of people that are involved um with club soccer um my father ended up taking a break after my brother became a professional and then my father got back involved in coaching with my son there was a day he was five years old walked off the field I'm pulling my hair out and he's like you know I'm going to be your assistant I like thank God because I need it um and and he was on the soccer field literally a week and a half before he passed away with my with my son his grandson um and that field happens to be Oak Park he spent a lot of time there uh myself my brother and again with my son his grandson um so we thought that my family thought that would be a great spot to start now on the national level my father worked for Major League Soccer he was a third ever employee hired by the league and throughout his time there which was over 25 years in the league he was responsible for helping the sport grow in America the league started with 10 10 teams today they have 29 it's double the expansion he's he's part of the reason that happened he was in the league front office in New York City um he worked down the hall from the commissioner of the league uh he was the director of finance and was responsible for um developing contracts in part to bring some of the bigger players from Europe over that helped expand in the sport players like David Beckham and tiar HRI and David V uh Wayne Rooney our guys that were huge players in Europe and they came over to the United States and my father was uh instrumental and developing their contracts and structuring their contracts to have them come over here on the screen you can see uh a couple different stadiums throughout the league um on the left is Orlando in the middle is uh Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta Georgia where the Falcons and Atlanta United play and the one on the right is in Dallas Texas where the US soccer Hall of Fame is the day that he died that following week the leag p uh Patriot tribute to him across the country by a Moment of Silence in every single um MLS stadium and then all the the TV games that were broadcast um they had a little extra aurb about my father um and again observed a moment of silence so you know he was a very quiet man he didn't try to go out and and not many people knew that he was so instrumental in uh in Major League Soccer uh but again he he was right here in in Tom's River um he he certainly influenced the local soccer Community the national soccer Community um here's a letter from the commissioner of uh MLS uh don Garner and you know there's a quote in the letter simply put the sport of soccer in Tom River and America is better of what Walt did and gave some much s too um and that's coming from the commissioner uh himself another letter from the director of Athletics here and Tom d uh Ted Gillan again incorporating his name to Andy Fielder Park where the game is play combines the essence of the beautiful game with all the attributes and virtues that we would want to gather in our own lives um anyone that that knows my dad or knew him or or knew his contribution to the sport um would say the same things as this here so uh as I said my brother and my family we thought Oak Park would be a great place to um to honor him uh like I said he spent his last days on that field with my son um and looking around the park uh we we did come up with a plan uh to make some improvements to it this is the current setup here there's four Fields as you can see um some old signage some of that is from the Tom D football club uh some is actually from the town that still says do Township on it so um what we we came up with a plan and we have spoke to the board president of Tom D football club uh venudo and he gave us some ideas of what the club might want at the field at the complex to improve it a little bit uh the first is some new signage uh the current setup as you can see uh it's tough to see what the numbers are but uh on the Oak Avenue there's a we would put a new sign like the one in the middle excuse me uh a signage when you approach the fuels from the parking lot and then there's a secondary entrance on Shanks Mill Road in the back that doesn't even have a sign so we would add some signage there as well um along with that just a small memorial plaque with his name on it near the concession stand um something else that we would like to do add some equipment again some of the things that the the the club the Tom football club asked uh for were big Nets behind the goal to prevent the soccer ball from going into the woods um believe it or not that's uh not very pleasant to to to walk into the woods after every shot during a game in the scker bushes so these nets would prevent the soccer balls from going in there um we also came up with a uh plans for all new soccer goals um a chaining fence to separate the fields from Spectators new bleachers um new uh Team benches and then to complete a graa walkway connecting Shanks Mill parking lot to the main Oak Park fields on the bottom um so again we came up with this idea here there's just a an idea of a sign we would put out in front um when we were first trying to develop this this plan uh we had some ideas and we we do have the support of major soccer who's going to help fundraise and donate some of the gear and donate some money uh our Our intention is to do this with little or no cost to the township um maybe just some labor shoveling the gravel or running some electric a little light up sign but uh the plan again is to fundraise for this may blue soccer US soccer and also where my brother works at Orlando City the MLS Club also a to help contribute to these plans um so like I said uh I I personally you know this means a lot to my family obviously um but I I also think it means a lot to the soccer Community here in Tom's river and across the country um so many of the players that my dad had coached still remain in touch with us um the pole bearers at his funeral were all his former players they came back so the influence he's had as I said before is is great and uh I both my my mother my brother my family we think that this would be a great way to uh to honor him and also to make some improvements to the park to update a little bit so um I want to thank you guys for for hearing me that's I know I was talking a lot but that's really about it um I appreciate it thank you item seven is a resolution of the township Council of the township of Toms River New Jersey renaming the Oak Avenue Soccer Complex to the Walter F kopka soccer complex at Oak Park to honor the memory of Walter F kopka I'd like to move that resolution second a motion is made by Council vice president gagan and second by councilman cop Council vice president gagan absolutely I'm honored to do so yes councilman cop yes councilman Sosi yes with pleasure councilman lamb want to thank you for your presentation it was very well laid out and um I look forward to seeing this come to fruition so yes councilman quinlisk absolutely councilman rodri yes council president Lano so every person that I spoke to about uh about this that I know that played soccer uh gave your father the most glowing recommendations and they uh they wanted me to support this and I absolutely do yes congratulations thank you and thank you for your presentation um with that we are going to take a two-minute recess if anyone would like to uh stay I encourage you to it's very exciting if not let's get a picture with him real quick yeah you guys say Merry Christmas [Music] every [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] moving to the consent agenda all matters listed under item consent agenda will be enacted by one Motion in the form listed below there will be no separate discussion of these items if discussion is desired on any item that item will be considered separately does any member of the council have any item they wish discuss separately just roll call and X X-ray please anyone else okay does any member of the public have any item they wish discuss separately art Mr Anderson FF okay okay um with that I will take um a motion to to move the consent agenda with the exception of X and FF so moved second second sorry a motion was made by councilman rodri and seconded by Council vice president gagan councilman rodri yes Council vice president gagan yes councilman Sosi yes councilman cop yes councilman lamb yes councilman quinlisk yes and council president Lanana yes move item X second a motion was made by Council vice president gagan and seconded by councilman cop Council vice president gagan yes councilman cop yes councilman seosi yes councilman lamb you abstain due to my role as a municipal police officer thanks councilman quinis yes councilman G uh rodri yes council president L yes uh Mr Anderson just to the microphone so everybody at home can hear you as well please referring to FF I just want to explanation what the resol resolution is about yes um I'm going to point this to our Township attorney Mr mcguan thank you this is an agreement with the uh engineering entity who's performed various uh research um and prepared various studies regarding the cagi D settlement and the township is joining with sa barate Bay in litigation uh with respect to that matter and we are retaining them to obtain that information and their services for purposes of that litigation so that's what it's for is that good Mr Anderson correct no we're we're exploring various litigation options let's put it that way okay with that I'll take a motion to move item FF please so moved second a motion was made by councilman rodri and second by councilman quinis councilman rodrik yes councilman quinis yes councilman zosi yes councilman cop yes councilman lamb yes Council vice president gagan yes council president Lano yes moving to the bill list move the Bills second a motion was made by councilman cop and seconded by Council vice president gagan councilman cop I to abstain from all bills payable to own a little Associates yes to the balance Council vice president gagan I have one abstention the payment to the board of fire Commissioners District 2 as I'm volunteer firefighter there yes to the balance councilman Sosi yes councilman lamb abstain from all bills payable Sida zarski I need to abstain from Bill number 23-0 6885 payable dasy mcgucken Law Firm need also abstain from uh bill number 23- 0713 5 payable to the barow of Lavalette and Bill number I need to abstain from Bill number 23- 07144 magistrate salaries yes to the balance councilman Quin need to abstain for all bills payable to Tom Fire District number two and remon berck Engineers yes to the balance councilman rodri I have no conflicts I vote Yes council president Lana I have to abstain from p 23- 00224 and yes to the balance elected officials comments councilman lamb thank you chair just want to recognize and thank mayor Mo Hill on his selfless service to this Township for over 20 years and to this nation um and uh you know I want while we've had our disagreements I I think you as the man um have given your life of service and I and I want to recognize that tonight also want to thank the other council members that are won't be joining us next month um however you know why we shared our differences um I also have witnessed the time and effort you put forward and some of the you know the you know why we didn't share the same opinions on on where the direction his Township has has is going or has gone you have given your time and effort accordingly um with that said I also really look forward to Mayor elect Rodrick next month um we're going to be meeting on I believe January 1st for the reorg January 1 January 1st at 3 p.m. um look forward to again serving with mayor rodri mayor elect Rodrick and the three Council members are joining us I have a chance to congratulate him on his um on his excellent uh win in November but I look forward to serving with you next month I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah and that's all I have thank you thank you councilman Quinn Les uh my senent echo uh councilman lamb and I to wish everybody the best I very thankful for the time I had and the education I got from mohill as well as the rest of the council uh I'll be sad to see a lot of it go uh but I hope I still count on all you guys' resources as needed and I wish everybody a happy Christmas and happy New Year thank you thank you and you to D thank you councilman Roder I just want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and uh a belated happy Hanukkah nothing else this even Council vice president gagan okay I'd first like to thank all the residents for the opportunity that was given to me to serve them for the past four years I did not take this position lately I took it as a full-time commitment missing many personal events or adjusting vacation schedules so I could be here to the position I was elected to I was more than happy to assist and help anyone wherever I was able to and that was before during and well after my term I'd like to thank all the department heads out there their staff and all the township employees for what you do every day to make Tom's River Township a great place to live work and vacation in I don't look at this transition as an end for us it's merely moving on to another chapter of life in in the township just as the voters did in 2006 to rename name it do Township Tom over Township something I'm still personally opposed to but I was I was a do Rover so uh to my fellow Council mates Josh and Matt I wish you and your fames well and the friendship that we created will continue mayor Hill I wish you and your wife a happy retirement as well to the incoming mayor and counsel I wish him success and prosperity I heard this in the past so I can't take credit for it but there's no other country like the USA or this Township as far as I'm concerned we have our faults I know it's true but We Stand by the red white and blue people try to destroy us from outside and within but we remain strong loyal and proud and will not give in You author is unknown but God Bless America merry Christmas happy Hanukkah and happy holidays to whatever religion you practice have a safe and happy New Year thank you councilman cop thank you council president as I conclude my four-year term on Council there's there's much to be proud of successfully navigated some very difficult challenges I'd like to express my gratitude to some individuals who have been instrumental in supporting me along this journey first and foremost I want to thank my wife Hillary my daughter Nora my son Warren and my parents your unwavering support reminds me of the importance of serving the community contributing to its growth I extend my appreciation to Mayor Hill a role model of honor and commitment over the past 20 or over the past 20 years he has served this town in the right direction serving both community and its country to council mil Lano and councilman gagan your leadership and passion for serving this community is irreplaceable your accessibility and reasoned guidance has been invaluable in steering Toms River in the right direction and last but not least I want to acknowledge the employees of employees of Toms River Township the success of Toms River boosting a 0% tax increase for multiple years controlled and responsible growth such as the VA Hospital maintaining a well oiled machine to ensure safety and the well-being of a residents is attributed to all of you we couldn't have reached this without your dedication I Ser sincerely thank you for your contributions in closing challenges will always arise do what you know is right and protect those who mean the most to you be a good person and serve your community whenever you can as life is short and tomorrow is never promised thank you have a merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah thank you councilman Sosi is your mic you can see I have a lot written down which I never do I just speak off the top of my head and and always from my heart and um needless to say this is uh really difficult for me this evening and um I would have never gotten involved if it wasn't for our mayor and these three gentlemen to my right here um I only been on Council two years but um I learned so much from them and the leadership from mayor Hill um I never had a boss before in my life except for my wife my my parents my grandparents and my two daughters my son leaves me alone but I was happy to follow the lead from mayor Hill and and I just can't say enough about these three guys and the mayor that I couldn't keep up with them at at the parades the the festivals downtown the the games uh you know the the beach the storms uh the cagi uh meetings um it he was everywhere so I learned a lot and I'm grateful for that um I'm not going to get political tonight but um I'm going to save that for next year but um I I just want to say that um I've been on the planning board the the last 12 years I went through a couple Mayors and it it was a a wonderful experience I started out as a member than board secretary Vice chair and planning board and when I could tell the citizens here that we had some wonderful board members professionals uh you know everyone was a volunteer and we always got the best deal we could for Tom's River and um and I'm going to miss that tremendously because um I'm I'm hanging my hat in too uh uh on the planning board I I just don't want to do it anymore um for obvious reasons and um and and lastly I I love Tom's River it's been so good to me and just to see the kids and the parents here tonight and everything our community is is very very strong so um God bless Thomas River merry Christmas happy Hanukkah to everyone and and and thank you it's a privilege sitting here thank you thank you mayor help oh I don't know thank you council president I want to personally thank the residents of Tom's River for the honor and privilege of serving over the last 20 years two terms as award three councilmen two terms at large in the last four years R want to also thank our wonderful department heads and the dedicated employees that come to work every day it's been a pleasure to have served with you in an honor and it as you provided outstanding service to our residents when the four of us took office and I'm going to use the term we not I when we took office in 2020 we faced a number of obstacles right out of the box Co hit us in March of 2020 we had to deal with shutdowns for two months the ocehan County Board of Taxation mandated a reval which started in 2017 but we wound up having having to complete that mandated re we had a potential suit in September of 2020 after covid broke we had we were also faced with paying a 17.3 million tax appeal to BASF and finally the last draug the BASF and jte natural resource damage settlement which had zero inclusion from Tom uh the council and the council going forward Dan I know you're going to continue the fight we started it tonight by on board with safe bar Bay and I know Dan's on board and his Council will also follow through and wrapped in all this was record inflation but we had a lot of accomplishments that I'm proud of and I know my the four council members who sered with me and were elected with me are are happy with first we had three consecutive years of zero increase the municipal tax rate that was in the face of pandemic shutdowns record inflation Supply costs the budget went up about 1% a year over four years $6 million from 134 million to 140 million and the the amount to be raised by taxation grew by less than half a percent a year over those four years the Township's in a much better financial situation than it was four years ago we've added $10 million in our Township's account balance going forward several of these things were done with the HR department the CFO and our business administrator we Consolidated a number of departments that uh increased efficiencies and reduced costs we had a $2 million reduction in payroll as a result of these efficiencies we negotiated a $2 million Savings in the health plan if you're in the State Health Plan that went up 24% this year I think our costs went up less than 6% we negotiated eight Union contracts in housee saving money and leaving a sustainable rate with a minimum impact on the budget and those contracts carry through till 2024 and 2025 in addition we worked with the Congressional uh delegation and we had a $3 million cancellation of our CDL Community disaster Grant from Sandy they were making us pay it back we were the only town our Congressional Delegation had that voided and we saved $3 million there uh in addition our engineering team negotiated a contracts for the uh the new radio towers we have three radio towers we had to put in into town to improve Communications we had to switch to a different frequency and then all new radios that project was at $15 million and we were able to save a million to a million and a half in negotiations with the with the radio company I also want to thank the Ocean County Commissioners there's a group called the Barrier Island Mayors there are eight eight uh community ities that face the Jersey Shore in the northern part of the county and we got together we petitioned the Commissioners it was going to cost $7 million in beach replenishment that cost may go up and we as a group we approached both the state and the board of freeh Board of Commissioners and I want to thank Miss Haynes and her Commissioners they agreed to pay the cost for all of the towns Tom River's cost was going to be $2 million but bayhead and Mana loan were going to be faced with a million and a half to $1.8 million and their budgets were $6 and8 million so the impact would have been devastating and again the Commissioners thank you for that in addition uh our business administrator came up with an idea we had always done sealed bids for class three Class C liquor license he attended a business administrator's convention out in Chicago and he came back and he had he said said they had they did a live auction for the ones they had so we went checked to make sure that it was number one number one legal with the state it was U and we had a live auction the previous Class C license brought in $700,000 the live auction brought in 1.7 million a million more than the last um than the last C license uh also I want to thank uh Dave Roberts he and I and and this is the only time I'll use the phrase I uh we both worked long and hard on the VA community-based outpa Outpatient Clinic uh there were a number of sites they were looking at we all felt we felt that the best site was on uh Hooper Avenue it's between two large Banks it's going to be neighboring the Ocean County Social Service building which is where the Ocean County Veteran Service Bureau is it made a lot of sense Dave made it happen we've also petitioned our commit our Congressional Delegation to name that in honor of Bud lamel and I think that's going to happen and if it doesn't happen I'm going to protest in uniform in front of their offices um we also accomplished a lot with open space almost 100 acres and in every w we had the Surf Club in ortley Beach we had the boy scap building on 571 we had uh two Parcels on Whitesville and Riverwood we had another 7 acre parcel on Silverton we got a donation of 10 acres next to Holiday City on the brick border we've got four acres on Bachelor and Clifton that we preserve we've got 30 Acres that we partnered with the Town Toms River schools on by Silver Bay school and we've got a commitment from a family farm on the end of Silverton Road that they're going to look into Farmland preservation with the county on about 22 Acres in addition the council passed downtown Redevelopment plan uh which has been talked about for 40 years a lot of discussion pros and cons that's what the planning board is for you have to come to the planning board discuss the issues you have and the planning board is the one who makes the decision on on approving that project we completed as I said the township wide reassessment was ordered by the Ocean County Board of Taxation and the Attorney General of this of the state in New Jersey well no one likes a reassessment and I've learned there are three groups a third goes up a third stays the same and a third goes down so the third that goes up is not happy with you the third that stay the same weren't happy because they feel they should go down and the third that went down or still made because it didn't go down enough so a reassessment is never a winner but if you're in the mayor's seat you're on the council you wear it so again the good news is that when we did the the reevaluation in 2008 there were over 4,000 tax appeals when we did the reeval this time there were only 500 tax appeals and out of those and that's about 1% of the the properties in Tom's river and out of that only 180 were were approved so again it was a fairly even assessment I know there people weren't happy about it but based on the amount of appeals and the amount of successful appeals it was like a 99.6% approval rate on the assessments Municipal tax was cut by a third as a result of the reassessment went from 67 cents to 43 cents we had number of parks the new skate park at Castle Park we had eight lighted pickleball courts number on the Barrier Island uh we had a new dog park we had the Tom's River Field of Dreams opened in 202 2 after 5 years of planning we had major renovations to the trail in Tom's River little Le in addition we responded to a request from the Barrier Island residents uh for first aid protection the bridge opens every half hour so from May until September when that bridge opens on the half hour we St we schedule an EMS Ambulance to be stationed on the Barrier Island from 7 in the morning till 7 at night the bridge only opens on request before and after those hours and our response time was well under the 15 minutes which is the national average in addition the engineering department worked to refurbish Town Hall uh both interior and exterior if anybody looked at Town Hall in 2020 the the facade was uh falling apart that building at the front of that looks magnificent now there was new grass put down put down it spruced up town hall um we you had the doj settlement uh we were able to negotiate with the doj we did not get sued there was a threat of a suit and we had two options negotiate or we're going to sue you and we had two weeks to negotiate we entered into negotiations we were able to keep control of our zoning we went back to the original zoning laws but our neighbors have not been so lucky Jack is now at 3.5 million and climbing uh and how Township had over 10 million we were told by three lawyers in addition a Rel loopa lawyer specialist that we were going to lose the case and it was going to cost between 10 and20 million based on the size of this town in addition to these items that I mentioned there were a number of smaller things that we did I call them the little things we had a request for a change in timing for the arrows turning arrows on Whitesville in 70 and Massachusetts in 70 we had a number of fatalities and it was a high accident rate we made a call to the NJ do commissioner and within three days the light was changed you can now instead of getting two cars through you can get eight cars through there's no queuing up nobody's trying to jump the light and the latest statistics show that there's been no fatalities out there and a dramatic decrease in accidents we've put four electronic scoreboards on the girls softball complex on uh on Bay Avenue North Bay Avenue we had Fields but no scoreboards we were able to put the scoreboards up this year finally the town clock out here that hadn't worked for 16 years is repair it tells time and it's late we've also we started in 2020 on Good Friday with Food Distribution on Friday frays we had five sites we had it at s Elementary Walnut uh East over uh South Toms River Elementary School and the parking lot over on ortley beach on Third Avenue we've now Consolidated that operation to the Presbyterian church every Friday from there's a group that'll get there at 6:37 in the morning and usually we're filling cars till 10 or 10:30 and that's been going on for four years and that's a salute to the people in this community in this Council because it was started by Maria Maroa and Terren turnback and those people are still there Terrence is there every Friday I'm there Friday and there's there's a group here in the audience that here's there that is there every Friday uh we installed the water line on Route 37 for the blue star Garden uh that was a request from the Garden Club we ran the line we worked with violia they helped us out and they have a they have a line toh keep that irrigated and their uh their Garden taken care of I want to also thank Tracy forier who came to me with a problem and a solution very rare when you sit in office she came in she's a special ed teacher she was concerned about U children that have autism that were at our events downtown if they get overstimulated the parents would have to take them home she came up with an idea for a sensitivity trailer which we have at all our events and she came to me and I go okay that sounds good what's the price and she said I'm G to raise money for it and she did she raised $30,000 to buy that trailer and then donated it to the town so I want to salute Tracy as a teacher in our one of our local elementary schools for coming up not only with a problem but a solution that's what we should all be doing you have a problem problem work on a solution and work with the community finally Toys for Tots near and dear to my heart with the Marine Corps Reserve um we have every year for the last four years filled 10 to 12 boxes with toys um and I think that's remarkable finally I started I did not vote for the change of government um I grew up I grew up I was in dental school in Jersey City and I lived in nework both of them have W systems this town's unique you have three high schools while they're tremendous opponents and will fight to the death on the games no matter which team is going forward for the state championship The Whole Town's behind we have the same thing with our little league two little leagues we've sent teams from both little leagues to Williamsport that's remarkable and I did not want to see this team divided north south east west I saw it happened in New York where the central Ward didn't talk to the north Ward same thing in Jersey City so I ran for office I had no political experience I had to join the Republican party I was an independent um but I made myself a promise when I took that job I told Roseanne I said the salary in this job is $88,900 but we're not going to see any of that money the you clear about 78 7900 with all the taxes and everything taken out and I said I'm going to donate that back to the town so I looked around and I'm probably the worst investor in the world but I figured where can I take this money and invest it in a town where it's going to pay dividends we have four high schools $8,000 for high schools it's easy math even I could do that 2,000 per School thousand for a male thousand for a female and I've done that Faithfully for 20 years that's $160,000 that I can contributed to this community and I did it anonymously for years and never told anybody about it but as I leave office unfortunately I will not be able to continue to fund that but for 20 years I'm proud to say I've funded and there are at least 160 students in Tom's that benefited from [Applause] that finally i' I'd like to thank my wife for and my family for the support over 40 years [Applause] over it's not been easy 40 years in a dental practice 35 years in the Navy and the last 20 serving the residents of this great town in Navy terms I tell everybody I'm married way above my PID rate we have a saying that your pay grade may be rear Admiral two stars but the pay grade above you is three stars and she wears three stars my wife daughters and and grandchildren have had to endure some personal attacks and some misinformation over the last few years uh and I'm very aware of the impact it's had on you and Megan and and Elena Katlin Christopher Rob you've all had to deal with it Maddie and uh Drew and um and Ryan I'm aware of the impact it's had on you and I'm deepfully I'm deep L grateful for your un waving support I can't thank you enough as I leave office I want to wish Dan and your counsel the new councel coming in Len UL Mr nerson and Mr Coleman all the best we're handing you the keys to the town and I hope you continue to do what's best for the residents of this town I know you will I think you're really well and I'm I'm looking forward to it I'm a resident of Tom's River I'm not going anywhere my family lives lives here I was born in Jersey I'll die in Jersey thank you thank [Applause] you no started a tradition both Kevin and I received these these actually the reprints of town hall done by a local artist Virginia Pearl who's a very good artist and what we've done in the past is we've framed them and given them to the council members as the leave office and I I talked to Kevin Kevin oh I already got one go I know I got one too guys that don't have so Josh and mat [Applause] come two different frames you get down first J the light one or the and I want to thank them I want to thank them because everything that I mentioned I said was we and it was accomplished with the council's support without the council's support none of what I told you was going to happen and uh I'm very proud it is here and save bar good Bay and I know I know you're on board with going forward with this we're going to fight it's it's a I think it's the worst thing they did to Tom's River that land should Beed Tom's River not to BASF they hit us for $17 million enough is enough and this You're Gonna Want you're gonna have a good fight you're gonna have the support of the town so thank [Applause] you thank you mayor hill now I feel very unprepared for what I'm going to say um well first I'd like to wish uh the incoming Administration um the best of luck I sincerely wish you uh all success um I want to uh thank all the council members that I've worked with that are staying Justin Jim Dave I wish you guys all the best luck as as well as the uh incoming people um I want to thank my running mates and Friends mayor Hill Josh cop and Kevin gagan during our time running and during our time serving here up on the Das uh we've had some really fun times and we've had some really really not so fun times as well uh I've learned a lot in the last four years in fact I like to say I've learned more in the last four years than any person should it's uh it's very eye-opening uh experience to serve uh we walked in the door four years ago with some Monumental issues uh lingering department of justice issue significant budget problem uh and then shortly after we took office Co um this Administration not only got through it but we excelled um I'm proud to have done my part um I'm proud that with mayor Hill and uh Dave Roberts that the VA Clinic is coming to Tom's River without you two it would have never happened um we've taken the first steps in the downtown revitalization project I'm very proud um and I hope that continues um Virginia Haynes is here commissioner Haynes and uh she told me once that open space is a legacy and uh it's always stuck with me and I'm very proud of the fact that we've preserved uh about a 100 acres in Toms River and that is quite a legacy to leave in four years in office I'm very proud of that um also I feel like we're leaving the town in much better Financial shape than we got when we got here um and that is in part a lot to the town's employees so I would like to recognize uh some of the employees that you know have excelled and I I've I've had to work with personally and uh had an honor to work with um Bob jelan and Bob Hudak um with engineering and planning uh you guys go above and beyond you really do spend um a lot of time and effort on improving the township and I appreciate it I want everybody to know that um we were here today celebrating football and we talked about soccer we talked about little league uh softball sports are very important here I I want to recognize also uh parks and wreck and specifically JY and Tate um our Sports fields are second to none um I think that's why Tom's River does so well in all the sports uh plus our our golf course now is is beautiful and it's profitable I think for the first time ever so that's a big accomplishment um the town offers such good Services especially with the seniors um I want to recognize Maria maruka who does a fantastic job and was also mentor to me here on Council um I want to recognize the bid it's kind of like quasi government uh agency Marin is here uh the bid does a great job everything fun you go to that is downtown is uh responsible from the bid and their uh office and a lot of volunteers um if you talk to any elected official around and you ask what's the biggest problems that you have in your Township uh Department of Public Works is usually the biggest culprit in a town that size our Department of Public Works gets no complaints basically I mean it's impressive how well Anthony binola and the guys of Public Works uh do I want to recognize them um it's not just when it snows but it's week in and week out um everything they do they do a fantastic job and as an elected official I appreciate not hearing a lot of residents complaints so I just want to recognize them um code enforcement uh it's not glamorous but is an integral part of the Town it keeps the quality of life um Craig Ambrosia fantastic guy employee does a really good job uh with code enforcement um our Township attorneys Mr Molino and and Greg mcgucken um you've done a really good job of keeping us out of court uh for the most part at least and uh I want to thank you guys for all your advice and everything you've done for us um the finance department this is something near and dear to me it was a I I worked in with the finance division uh Judy tatel is the CFO she's done an amazing job um she put up with me asking her a ton of accounting questions and I want to thank the whole department they've done a really good job Chief little um fantastic with the PD he's keeping the residents safe we were voted one of the safest uh large towns in the state thank you guys thank you to all the PD um the clerk's Department Mr krugli uh Stacy Jackie uh everybody in the clerk's Department Lori um you guys really do make us look better than we are so I appreciate that uh you make our jobs a lot easier that's for sure um the town business administrator L am maruso he's done a fantastic job especially uh contract negotiations and handling uh the ins and outs of the town you don't realize how much the business administrator accomplishes and they don't take credit for it so I just want to recognize him on the way out the door uh I want to thank the residents of Tom's River for giving me this amazing opportunity to serve I want to thank my parents for instilling a good work ethic in me the desire to give back to the community and most of all a strong moral compass uh to follow while doing that uh I want to thank my kids for forgiving my absences and uh allowing me to drag you to events and functions um thank you and most of all I want to thank my wife for sharing me with the town and picking up the slack while I was doing Township business instead of family business um I could not have done it with without you Melissa I love you and it's not just the last four years but always um thank you to my running mates again and mayor Hill and uh thank you all with that I will open up public comment [Applause] please yes yes ma'am state your name and address for the record please yes and you talking to the microphone so everybody at home can hear you okay y thank you yes hi I'm CLA Ling ruds I'm a 37e resident of Tom's River I was from Jersey City originally also and that's I I love it here I've volunteered a number of uh committees and so forth and I found myself as chair of the environmental commission for the past year and uh along with me is Anthony kuchi member of the environmental commission and Sharon quilter kuchi and so you're probably familiar with Sharon Sharon has made appearances with Anthony about the butterfly and and uh uh pollinator Garden that we successfully were able to partner and get that accomplished and we're coming here today because I remember uh as chair in the beginning of this year the first order of business was to assemble a number of volunteers according to statute at seven volunteers that are supposed to be you know the official members and then two alternates we weren't able to fill that second alternate position but we have seven people who show up every month I think there was just one month in July that we didn't show and so anyhow we know that there's a change and we want to first of all thank you mayor Hill uh for your inspiration about the butterfly garden which you did a couple of years ago I believe and Sharon brought that to fruition with you know so many people also Justin lamb who dug and planted along with everyone and Mike Krug Leo thank you so much for your help you were behind the scenes and helped us out at a moment of confusion when we had that heat spell but the reason why we're coming before you today is we know that there's a transition and also there's a transition with the environmental commission the environmental commission's uh duty is to review plans to ensure that uh the you know our Town's water safety water quality all of the environmental issues that parents care about uh are a priority and certainly the seven members that attend and review the plans we have done that for that purpose we have Faithfully since we've gotten our group together uh sent letters to the planning board we have um also contacted the D and so forth at the beginning of this year we had secretarial support and we understand with budgetary concerns that secretarial support we lost when our secretary uh Kim Bower had retired and that was the end of May so we're here tonight to ask you as former members thank you for your support and also for our mayor-elect uh Dan rodri we ask you to please uh be aware that four of the members terms are going to expire as of December 31st of this year and in order to have Quorum you need four members so essentially that really has to become a priority that that you know that that we reappoint or you appoint whoever it is that you want as volunteers on this Commission that's the first thing uh secretarial support we really need it because uh it it creates a dialogue that we have had difficulty in accomplishing since we have not had that secretarial support um we ask that you know mayor elect Rodrick we ask that a town council member ideally would be appointed as our liaison it would make the dialogue much easier I know you're very burdened in in your uh duties however the environmental Commission can be a think tank of sorts and uh a wealth of information as you have seven people in the town who are trying to educate themselves and be familiar with the various grants and funds available to our town so we urge you uh mayor elect rodri to please make that a priority to get that those four positions either reassigned or you know just renewed all right and then let's see okay secretarial support Town Council and also I guess that's about all I have to say but in closing I just want to say thank you gentlemen all of you that were so helpful with with our various activities that we did this year and I'll turn the mic over to Sharon thank you so much the uh butterfly garden really turned out well thank the American Water Company for funding it uh but thank you for help Justin and his wife came out and Dug Dug dirt with us and mayor Hill thank you so much it was nice to be recognized that we were doing some something for the community and i' I heard parents say oh come on let's go look for butterflies and that is an astounding thing to me so we as environmental commission want to continue that Outreach effort to our residents in addition to trying to protect them on on the planning level like is this the right thing to do or not the right thing to do but more important we really have charged ourselves with reaching out to people and letting them know what's available how do you you recycle e cartridges what happens with them where do they go that type of education we need to get to the citizens we need your help to make that happen thank you thank you that's it no uh just uh briefly the environmental commission can be a very powerful voice for Thomas River and if he give us the tools we will be that voice thank you thank you you thank you does any other member of the public wish to be heard yes sir Paul say uh Paul Hol uh 377 Kettle Road Tom's River also the CEO just believe uh it's been great working with you guys um mayor Mill always answers his phone um anytime I need him uh he's always there supporting us um he even even came actually when we had our grand opening he he was went away on vacation he came a week later because he couldn't be there on time which was kind of neat so um I had a lot of fun working with you over the last uh eight years uh it's been great it's been a good time and uh look forward to working with the new regime you know uh we take care of the homeless people so on behalf of the homeless thank you guys thanks [Applause] Paul Dana tal messenger Street um couple things first of all I want to say thank you um your family has been friends of mine for years you're you're like having another father on a Friday bossing us all around and you know what I wouldn't trade it for the world honestly it has been such a pleasure such a pleasure um it is it's the Friday family um Kevin not gonna say a whole lot we've known each other a long time yes I'm miss seeing your face every week or every other week Matt and Josh it has truly been a pleasure I know we've known each other for years Josh new we in that relationship but thank you for what you have all done not only for the town but for myself personally for my family um allowing me to be a part of the zoning board has taught me so much has opened my eyes to so many things and I thank you for allowing me that privilege to do that um this is I know it's not a big thing but thank you for allowing me to be a part of your discussions for downtown and for bringing me in on things when I had questions and answering them for me and being truthful um it's not always easy to tell the truth um most people don't like the truth but you heard what we were saying and regardless you did what you did and is it better or worse that's that's somebody else's opinion um but thank you thank you for hearing us thank you for the seven- hour meetings thank you for showing up to everything and mayor honestly if somebody were to ask me what a mayor is it's you you are a HomeTown hero you we out shaking hands and kissing babies every time you had an opportunity to do so or anytime someone had an a business to open or a parade or a game you are the epitome of what a mayor should be and for that I thank you thank you does any other member of the public wish to be heard yes ma'am good evening my name is BR forsberg and I serve as the executive director for Save Barney G 117 hannes Road Toms River um edin Kowski board Chair say barnegate bay same address we are uh here tonight to say thank you to Mayor Mill for his strong leadership on behalf of every resident in this town and for the natural resources that uh Tom's River is so fortunate to have and the surrounding communities what we share in the health of the river and in barnegate Bay and the Atlantic Ocean and our groundwater and to thank all of you as members of the council for personally standing up to help fight this very bad deal with BASF and so we're proud to stand with you we thank you all for your service and we very much look forward to working with the new Administration unfortunately the pollution that has happened on site there has been ongoing for 70 years years and it's still not cleaned up and it'll probably affect our children and our future for another 30 to 50 years so we are you know very thankful for all of your support your leadership and for our continued working relationship as we move forward we can fight this deal we can win we can win a lot for our community and move forward so thank you very much and I wish you all a happy holiday season and happy New Year happy and healthy in the forward year thank you thank you I'm not really going to add all that much uh to what Britt just said but I I certainly concur with every every word um I think when we had our annual meeting here in August I was pounding my fist on the podium saying about my anger I had for the D and how we needed help to take on to help you everyone everybody in Ocean County in this fight um it's really I'm really pleased to see how you recognize that and and to have you be part of this fight with will be there for you we're thrilled that you're there with us thank you very much Happy Holidays happy holidays any other member of the public wish to be heard yes ma'am Miss how hi Jennifer how um Admiral Avenue um I just want to read a quote real quick and this I'm going to cry because I'm a crier so I I apologize in advance um this is a quote from Martin Luther King um it is time for political leaders across the ideological Spectrum to realize that while partisan partisanship is understandable hyper partisanship is destructive to our country we need more Visionary leaders who will earnestly strive for bipartisanship and finding policy solutions that can move America forward and I've watched you do this over the past years I've watched you work on both sides I've seen you friendly with both sides it's sad to see that um no one reads anything they just go down a column I actually learned in school we had um someone from the state come in and tell us like in the 80s they that's when they started separating into Democrat Republican into your party it wasn't just um alphabetical and people showed up only who knew who to vote for they didn't just show up for a party because they had to actually know who the candidates were and what they were standing on this reminds me of you you have come every Friday when you're in town I know anytime you weren't there you were just were not actually in the state you were gone um there's something to be said about somebody who is at their lowest point of their of their day coming to get free food and for us to say pull up the mayor is going to put the food in your car and they just feel important and they feel special just for that couple seconds that you are putting food in their car for them for the week um you don't get to see that part of it because you're always lifting the heavy bags but people grab their chest they say that's the mayor the mayor's here doing this it means so much to them it means so much to us it's been a long haul we've been doing this for a long time I thank you for always making sure that the garbage gets picked up even when you're not in town they come and they make sure that the garbage gets picked up at food I'm talking about obviously about food distribution um I've seen you haul thousands of turkeys into people's cars in the freezing cold and the rain in the Heat and everything you are always there I see you at school events we had the band and the football team here I worry um councilman lamb when you say when you hear all the things our our town has done how much we've moved forward that it's going to go in a different direction that worries me because I think the T the town has gone in such a a positive direction I worry what the other other direction might be thank you to the three councilmen that are leaving I've seen you everywhere not just during primaries or ction time I've seen you at every parade I've seen you at school events I've seen you downtown just supporting a business you're always available you're always around we the people see you we know who our councilmen are and I thank you for putting the town first I know the time you have taken away from your families um and I thank your families for all their sacrifice also especially um Mr Hill's wife um thank you for all that you've done for the town and uh one more thing mayor Hill well first I have to say Jacob wanted me to remind you that he knows he's your favorite and um I know you're still show up on Fridays because you're a good man and I can't wait for the VA hospital to open I hope you're there cutting that ribbon because it's amazing U my father-in-law has to go to Brick to the VA hospital and I hear of the awful times he has there in the weights and just the the facility itself and every veteran in this town is lucky that you stood up and you worked with um Congressman Kim and and you had no problems working with any Democrat to make sure that the people mattered first the people not the party and I thank you we love you we love you on Fridays and I'm so proud and honor to call you a friend thank you thank [Applause] you any other member of the public wish to be heard yes Paul De Gregorio Goose Creek Road I wanted to come up here tonight and thank councilman Lano councilman gagon councilman cop and mayor Hill for your service to our community over the past four years we heard a lot tonight about the challenges that this town has faced we heard a lot about the accomplishments that have been made um in my mind Tom R is a better place because of your service and I especially want to give a recognition to Mayor Hill who has been serving this community for the past 20 years um and it takes a special type of person to commit all that time in their life to public service and one of the greatest things that I admire about him is that for the entire 16 years as a councilman he never once took a penny of the salary um that goes towards Council people he donated that back to the community in the form of scholarships and I really admire that about you sir thank you so much for your service thank you for serving us thank you Paul yep any other member of the public wish to be heard yes sir good evening great and Floria Matthews 1596 Silverton Road uh we just wanted to thank mayor Hill uh C Milano and mob um from our chance meeting at our driveway yeah U going forward uh but for your efforts for doing preservation of the landscape in the area has encouraged us to go forward with our FL BL preservation for our that's great good Lu and thank you for everything thank you thank you thank [Applause] you any other member of the public wish to be heard yes hi I'm a little short so I'm gonna gra hi um an haml Pasqua steppingstone court and Tom shiver um I just wanted to say thank you to the council and our mayor for their fabulous job that they've done over the last four years um they've done an amazing job I see particularly their passion um the time that they give to to the town and our community and I thank them so much for that um they've been great mentors to the newer council members um Jim and Dav has had wonderful things about you guys always um so we're going to miss seeing you up here and you all deserve some time now with your fames and friends um that you've missed over the last four years and in mayor Hills case over the last 20 years he's done a fabulous job he's volunteered in various capacities um I served with him on the planning board and I learned a lot from him so thank you um and I want to congratulate uh mayor elect rodri um for his upcoming year I wish him the best and your Council teammates to coming in um Leno TL I've actually served on the zoning board with her and she's um I learned a lot from her back then as well so um congrat congratulations to your running meets and I wish you all the best um to Dave and Jim thank you also for your service um and Justin lamb too wishing you a wonderful happy New Year and all the best next year thank you so much thank [Applause] you Anthony kuchi president of the ortley beach Ro taxpayers Association on the behalf of the associations I want to thank Mary Hill for all the years he's shown up at our meetings and helped us um along with uh Mr lamb and Maria marucha I mean you guys really did a lot for us over the years and we really appreciate it you're always there for us when we had the dunes problem uh when the beaches were roaded you brought dirt in you always made sure we were safe and that was was the most important thing to us to make it safe and you guys did it mayor Hill you led the charge for us and we really appreciate that so thank you very much thank you any other member of the public wish to be heard tonight see none I'd like to make a motion to close public comment second okay all in favor I I motion to uh during the meeting I'll second that all in favor thank you everyone thank you Josh is going TW worker