adequate notice of this regular meeting was provided to the public press on January 17 2024 and was posted at the municipal building in accordance with the open public meetings act njsa SE 101 semicolon 4-7 thank you please stand with me and join our to the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all roll C please council member bushier here council member D benedetto present council member Higgins here council member Sparta present council president rudo here good evening mayor may we have your comments yes good evening thanks council president uh yesterday we had our annual Easter egg hunt which was a huge success we had about 600 registered children this was a lot of work I know because uh I sat through some of the planning um with the uh committee I also helped put some of those D eggs together hundreds I got stuck doing that one when I walk down there so no good job to the uh to the rec department in the committee so U it was a good turnout uh I want to discuss this new program uh called the vial of Life uh this is initiated by the burn Township Women's Club vile of life is designed to speak for you can't speak for yourself F contains important medical information that you can assist and that can assist emergency Personnel in administer administering the proper medical treatment ments um so like this for an example I just want to so this this was all um I spoke with the fire department the Police Department EMS they've all they're all on board with this so this this sticker here which would go adhere to your door or your front window um and basically what this says here is that the Ser for complete medical information um so this uh we thought about you know well thought about putting having this on magnets but a lot of people have stainless steel and that wouldn't work so you'd have to adhere this uh to your refrigerator door and inside this P inside this packet would be your medical your medical record medical contact information um you know it it would help you know I think this would even helped we had a fire last week and uh the police had to go in and rescue seven seven dogs I think and then they had to try to find out who who the owner was because they weren't home so maybe if this was there that could have came in handy too so it's a great program um and uh so we're in full support of it so we we pushing us out you can receive uh they're free we have them in the lobby here we have them downstairs in the senior center and they're don't then and also the police department too which will go down I think tomorrow the police department will have them so you have so okay so that being said uh you know when I ran for office I was very specific on what my object objective is I have outlined in my website which is under the budget and transparency it states increase transparency in in budgeting by by releasing detailed breakdowns of town expenses to the public allowable by law as of right now I can't release any budget information outside of the public meeting that I have allowed Council to question each department head on their Department budget this was done under my direction which is not required by law I also stated I work closely with all members of the council council members are elected officials voted in by we the people they must and will have a voice during the budget process I have had meetings with Council which is still ongoing this is this is a working budget which means nothing is in stone as of yet all line items in the budget will be questioned challenged and renegotiated when needed I have met with each department head and did just that times have changed and we must adapt to utilize all communication platforms for transparency Vernon taxpayers have been in the dark for a long time and I stated if I was elected as mayor I will bring a spotlight to the Forefront I been very transparent using social media possibly too much at times but I try to give the give you information in real time and I know 98% of the people really appreciate it there is nothing uh there's nothing in there that I said that I'm going to lower taxes that is political BS that nobody can promise there are many issues from the past that Haun us today example the horrible sewer deal that everyone who is connected are paying a very high sewer sewer rates we have had no tax increases in the past few years while we had extremely high Rising costs and almost 10% inflation the last thing I want to do is raise taxes but how long can we keep taking from our fund balance or or should I say savings account leaving leaving me to take action on taxes I have an obligation to the taxpayers and there is to no there is that is not to spend their hard-earned money foolishly especially on pet projects this obligation also forces me to make sure that our residents are still being provided the much needed services that we currently offer today I have been working hard on trying to reduce costs by working with our department heads working with developers on the upcoming projects such as pilot program that's on the agenda tonight working on the sewer and water expansion so we can quickly add new tax rals working with the Board of Ed on shared services working on becoming a business friendly Township so that people want to invest in our town I have only been mayor for two and a half months I need a little bit more time lastly I want to comment the last uh uh the latest on the Outburst about the mayor's salary for the past 12 plus years we have been hearing that the mayor's salary needs to be fixed and months before I took office on the July 10th council meeting meeting the mayor's salary has been discussed it was also talked about on the October 12th right before the election and that it should be fixed but first it should be codified on whether or not it's a part-time or full-time position and should be addressed sometime in February March of 2024 this was dis discussed majority of the current Council in 2023 and they are still present today with this being said I have asked Council to fix fix the problem I have actually asked my staff and councel actually uh that I want to know about any ordinances that have been that were created at of Spike I want to know because these need to be fixed we need to fix the problems of the past that haunt us today so as many of you may know or not know you have to budget for any potential increases this does not mean I've given myself a raise or Council a so I must stress to the public do not listen to people who really have no inside knowledge on what's going on and some of these people are former administrators who should know better but the one question I don't see being asked is whether or not the mayor's position is part-time or full-time and I will probably be the first to say it is more than a full-time job simply because you are on call 247 you were responsible for the well-being services and operations of Township Veron must ask itself do you really want a part-time mayor that's all my comments today thank you mayor I have a motion to open the floor to the public on the current agenda items only move moved by Mr Sparta is there a second second seconded by Mr Higgins all in favor signify by saying I I motion carries is now open for public comment agenda item hello uh Scott Castle from Glenwood um I just have a comment on cap Bank um which I guess is a done deal now but um to me I don't think ever really there was a valid justification that we actually needed it um I know it it ended up going through but um it just seems like a way to spend more money that we don't have if you ask me but my ACT my full comment is on the process that happened with the board during that which was um it was initially uh voted down uh then we had a revote and one of the votes flipped for whatever reason and it and it was approved um and there was a lot of discussion that went on with that and to me that was the most promising part about the whole thing you know I don't expect to agree with everything that the the board does I don't think anybody does but to see that there's an actual discussion that went on a lot of questions were asked uh there were some dissenting votes there were some you know yeses um that's what to me makes This Town Council give have you know for me has a I have a lot more confidence in it um I wanted to thank Mr Higgins and M de de benedetto because they asked a lot of the questions that I had um they brought a lot of things up and they also had the courage to vote no and I think you know everybody else is voting yes it's not easy to do but that's the kind of thing that um you know for me personally I like in the Town Council I I don't think we should agree all the time not everybody should be saying yes you know where it's all Kumbaya all the time so I just wanted to say that I think that was really good that happened uh despite I didn't like the outcome but I think I like the process that went on so that was it thanks thank you is there anyone else wishing to come forward I am an lson again from Glenwood and uh speaking of not always agreeing I expect we're not going to agree on everything I realized that and U nobody agrees on 100% of so that said um I was asked to to to recuse myself from the uh land use hearing uh coming up in reference to this ordinance for the canvas so that frees me I I was going to respect the the uh the request but that frees me to ask a few questions that I really would hope I could get some answers to I've poured over this uh business plan and so forth I have so many questions so um one of which is I'm looking at the schedule here for the income the $5 million projected blah blah blah I don't see taxes to buron on here unless I'm mistaken I don't see us you know they went to all this trouble of preparing I don't see any money for Vernon delineated out in here on the schedule and that 34 page um business plan and so forth I mean we we know the property is or was owned by Mr zetki I don't know if he continues to own it or will own it will he lease it will he be receiving rent you know or is he a Vernon resident or is he a New Jersey resident I think there's a lot of questions that need to be answered and um as far as some of the business practices even as far as the the hiring of reformed I guess convicts for lack of a better word for prisoners to come back to the workforce I can't say I agree with that maybe I'm wrong maybe people think it's a good idea to to hire you know former prisoners to come work in this industry I don't see it being viable here in Vernon I'm sorry so uh you know there's things here that surely sound discriminatory to me uh but you know I look at you know the labor they're looking 25% women 25% um female 25% let me see focused on re-entry Veterans as well as former offendee in need of a job seriously I'm sorry I I I just I think that this really needs it warrants looking further into it so I respect your your your request I won't go to that meeting and and I'll stay away but I seriously I beg of you to read this thing all the way through and and take finer note of all these points on here there's a lot that leads to be desired to be inviting into Vernon thank you thank you and and and you you can still come because there may be other other items on thank just for that there anyone else wishing forward we have anybody yes I have Jessie paladini Mrs paladini yes good evening um what is this about Anne Larson being asked to recuse herself from the lus board meeting why have you asked her to do that who the council didn't Council didn't the council did not ask her to recuse herself no it didn't no I did well oh I have I comment not at all so hey Jesse is Anthony um okay a discussion came up um because I believe uh the owners are coming in front of the land use board um and as you know uh an Lon uh sits on that board and there's been some speaking about the about not in favor of the Cannabis um so under the direct ction of council um they said that it would be best if she can recuse herself from that vote um for the Catabus so it was it was discussed with with the uh the lanu board attorney on that Glenn Keane said that that's shocking I've been on the LEL board for 10 years and I don't know of any reason why a member would have to recuse herself because of an opinion um any land use board member has to has to rule based on the ordinance but okay I won't I won't get into that I've never heard such a thing and I think Glenn ke is very very wrong in that that's my opinion a luse board member does not abgate or relinquish his or her opinion on something but I I won't speak further on that tonight um I just like to know very quickly if possible what is um $700 for Pearl observation I'm sorry Observatory on the bills list they're having Eclipse event right yeah right they're holding the uh solar eclipse event at Maple Grange I believe right yes I believe those are lenses that you can look at the St for taking out of the out of the recreation budget well you know I hear that often that it's taken out of the recreation budget it's taken out of tax dollars where where as many times as I've heard that myself it's either part of the initial charge for you know participation fee and in most cases that's I don't remember where hasn't been uh you know handled like that uh there is a fee so there is a there's a if it's if it's EV I'm thinking about there's a $10 fee right so but my point is Recreation is having a solar viewing event okay once again you know it all comes out of tax dollars the vests the jackets the hats um it all comes out of tax dollars one way or the other um you know my brother told me that caral Indiana closing schools was closing thank you yeah all all along the whole path AC that is perhaps one of the Prime areas for viewing the eclipse absolutely so they they there and people are coming in from all over there are no hotel rooms available and so as far as being a recognized event I guess it is well it is a very very huge event that's for sure um we had the last one in 2017 and this one is supposed to be even more spectacular so okay probably I was going to say chances are most of the times it turns cloudy on solarc well I don't know it just seemed you know like a lot of money I think that um that's all I have for tonight thank you thank you Mrs Pine you're welcome is there anyone else I'm sorry um I had Paul Weber Weber but he's not there anymore but I do have Riverdale Library director I don't I know how to respond either miss or Mister so uh wait a minute who we talking to me Riverdale Library director no sorry him it's his microphone's moving that's him yeah yeah whoever's speaking can we have your name please Mr mcling it's um clack and Natalie got it right um yes uh just uh a quick uh observation I was looking at my first name is Thomas or Tom last name is mry and yeah I live in Burton and I've been looking over the budget for the last 40 years and I started comparing our budget with Sparta's budget and I specifically was looking at the surplus of our budget versus Sparta's budget and the for 2023 not 24 but uh what I noticed was they made $100,000 more on the interest on that Surplus than we did and my question to the CFO is why because I'd like to have that $100,000 back and I'd like you to do something about it this year and that's about it uh other than uh I'll probably be viewing the solar eclipse uh without sunglasses have a good night thank you um I have Paul Weber back Mr Weber hi it's actually Cindy Weber um I just had a question regarding what you said about the salaries and all of uh mayor being part-time or full-time do we have we do have a business administrator and that is under my in my understanding a full-time position um and I believe that's why the mayor was never appointed as a full-time employee because the business administrator takes care of all of that am I correct in assuming that you may be right partially as far you know the the business admin administrator is a full-time position but for the the number of mayors that I've worked with with Mr marada Mr shortway and uh barell and now currently Mr Rossi all have been here all the time so okay and does that justify a raise in salary I don't know where first I'm not going to talk about whether the raises are Justified or not the council only received the budget from the mayor we had our initial discussions and we uh now we have to work on the budget so I I I don't know where the this information of decisions being made and uh being cast in stone and so forth is coming from there nothing okay quite the contrary all right thank you I I was wondering you know where some of that would come in being that we do have a business administrator that is paid to do a lot of the work that the mayor does and I don't believe that any of the other Mayors have received any raises or even you know you know when you go in you knew your job was at $30,000 thank you thank you is there anyone else um I let me just mute I don't have any other hands up anyone else wishing to come before the council any questions if not I'll ask for a motion to close the FL to the public moved moved by Mrs de benedetto is there a second second seconded by Mr Sparta all in favor signify by saying I I I motion carries thank you I have review of the bills list all members have received copies of the bills list I have two questions uh for those of you at home that don't know Dell is not here she's sick so I'm gonna ask these questions of Tina so she can afford them to um the nail tomorrow uh check number 61 396 creative Management Inc for municipal fuel diesel this seems like a very odd company name for fuel for diesel fuel Mr sparter I have the answer okay um so that is the actual uh diesel fuel bid company that we are using bid company y all right and the second one was uh check number 61460 to up and above contractors for snow retention system or 114 did you get an answer on that one yes so that is um it was from one of the the companies that are replacing the rail system on top of the DPW it's up and above that is the one that uh got the lowest bid on the rail system it's on top of the roof of the DPW oh metal roof sloped is that yeah it's like snowbirds yeah that hold the snow back okay thank you well does anyone else have any questions I thought I thought it was stay if we did we the roof over here like but they're not done yet this one here thank you if so we'll move on all members of the council I've received received minutes of our executive session of March 11th 2024 and our regular meeting of March 11 2024 may I have a motion to approve the executive session minutes of March 11th I'll move that moveed by Mr Higgins is there a second second second by Mrs de benedetto uh any additions questions uh deletions okay um may I have a may have a roll call please yes council member bushier yes council member D benedetto yes council member Higgins yes council member storta stain council president Ruda yes motion carries and for the minutes of the regular meeting of March 11 2024 may I have a motion to approve move those moved by Mr spart is there a second second second seconded by Mrs de benedetto um any add additions or deletions questions comments on that if not I'll ask for a roll call vote council member bueri yes council member D benedetto yes council member Higgins yes council member Sparta yes council president rudo yes motion Harries thank you moving to our consent agenda if anyone wishes to have any of these items separated please let me know and I can do that you want them now or as you go through as you wish uh can I have uh 2456 and 2496 first 24 96 92 I'm sorry 96 yeah 56 and 96 56 yeah and uh 2411 please [Applause] 24101 anyse resolution 2498 authorizing a mutual Aid and assistance agement between the county of susex and the township of Vernon 2499 resolution of the township of Vernon in the county of Sussex New Jersey referring a Redevelopment plan for property located in the L Township identified as 151 to 161 Route 94 block 525 Lots 18 and 19 to the land use board pursu to the local Redevelopment Housing law resolution 24-100 resolution of the township of Vernon County of Sussex state of New Jersey authorizing the disposition or Salvage of obsolete equipment in the possession of the township at auction on mun municibid.com resolution 24 102 resolution authorizing the hiring of a grants writer uh writing vendor through the competitive Contracting process and resolution 24103 uh authorizing contracts with certain approved State contract vendors fire fire one for purchase of volunteer fire department turnout gear and bailout systems and resolution 24-104 refund refund overpayment due to the state tax court judgment may I have a motion to place these on the floor move move by Mr Sparta is there a second second seconded by Mrs pieri I have a questions before I move on 24102 perhaps the mayor could give us a little bit of a run through on this I know he's talked to me about it I think it's a great idea question of whether or not you know you know what the cost is on this and so forth the um so we we this is on the hiring of the grants right right so we we've you know we've talked uh a lot of people has always talked about uh uh hiring a grant writer um and one of the discussions we've had with you know we' we've missed some money that's been out there uh unfortunately and and have actually having a discussion with with with the Chief Dan young um there's been a lot of success with with the company that does the grant writing for Sparta um so we had a presentation meeting with with these Grant Riders um which we were extremely uh satisfied with with all the different areas where we can actually pick and choose from they they give you constant updates on you know all the newest grants uh you can either pick and choose say if you want to do a grant yourself um you know that's that's free you you subscribe to to each order which is $400 a month um uh to gain access to this so and then you could either do the do the grant yourself um or you can have them do it for you they will uh before before you you know agree to them doing it they will tell you X you they're uh $150 an hour and it would take say you know 10 hours to complete um and they would do that and there's no they don't take a commission or anything after that it's just your $400 a month um so I mean it's it's a it's a win-win I mean so um and uh again we've got a lot of feedback from you know again from from the chief who's as you know is very very is this a contractual Arrangement um no okay no uh no it's not so we we we can cancel it anytime thank you very much so the motion is on the floor uh I I just have one question about the grant writing one as well um the bid was out August 15th 2023 notice is hereby given by the township of Vern competitive contract in accordance with njsa 40a col 11-4 point1 will be received by the township on August 15 2023 at 11:00 a.m. seems like has this been in our hands no no no so that date is wrong it's incorrect so the the this resolution is to approve for us to go out to bid for Contracting okay so the we did have a discussion with the one company our plan is to put it out there to advertise to get a couple of different bids so then we can decide on what company to go with so the company that we already discussed and had is not our definite company our qpa feels that we should go out to bid so then we will have an actual contract with a company at the best price for the township so when's their bids coming in so this hasn't been put out yet because we have to wait and make sure the resolution will actually be approved okay the resolution's approved I I spoke to Sean today and it will be put out into the paper and and um in the middle of like April or so so this is just a copy of a sample bid that's going to go out so that's why the date isn't correct there at this point so we would be paying the cost for this person to try to get his grants if they're unsuccessful then we can cancel at any time but it'll cost us as they're they're actually performing to do rather than mon pay them if they get grants it's a monthly fee subscription and uh they won't take they won't do a grant unless you know they can they can get it so we would give a recommendation like you know whether we qualify or not not for it before um we go ahead and apply okay yeah there's a lot of ways for grant writers to work some take a piece of the action if they get a grant there's no cost to you yeah they don't other ones are charging for their services no guarantee either Monty subscription yeah see so roll call please for the resolutions review sure council member bueri yes council member D benedetta yes council member Higgins yes council member Sparta yes council president rudo yes please for resolution 24- 56 may have a motion to place that on the floor for discussion move move by Mr spart is there a second second seconded by Mr Higgins this is a resolution Township Council Township amending resolution 2 77 in support of an adult use cannabis retailer license for Castle of greens um discussion on this so apparently this is somebody's been approved for a cannabis license and they're changing the location or the address right right everything else is pretty much yes unchanged yeah so they have to appear before the land use board right which they have not done well and they haven't been approved for a license this was just a resolution of support there's a difference there right there's been no licensing that's correct and we have two resolutions of support out there already and two you know businesses so our our previous ordinance that we just updated allows for two retail establishments that was part of our conversation before if I may um so I just want to clar uh that's correct um there are only two licenses per the ordinance um resolutions of support are just that they're not binding uh you could issue as many as as you'd like uh but they don't guarantee anyone a license or it's just kind of the first step in the process that these applicants have to go through um and from there uh like I said there's no guarantee in uh many towns across the state do more uh letters of or excuse me resolutions of support than licenses they've uh created for their town so you know we have one town that did 10 and they only have five licenses so it's just to kind of get that application process going and then obviously the application will be considered you know window down on other merits as well there just just kind of the first step so question then sure so as as the council as a governing body we can approve as many as a resolution of support that we' like what happens when all of them go to the land use board is it then the land uses board job then to only approve two well yeah so the lard boort would take them into account all of the different you know how it fit into the neighborhood so yeah you can't give out you can't give out more licenses than you so it's their it's their duty to uphold the ordinance well I think it's everyone's duty to uphold the ordinance but this passing a letter of support does not violate the ordinance okay do this approval process hold on one sec um not to my knowledge I believe this is from what I've what I've uh G I believe this is the first step uh in the process they still have to go through the different boards including the L use board to I think just luse board and uh get I think the full Council has to prove it as well down the line to to issue the license great thanks y Mr B yeah does it open us then to any liability issue if um you know we the resolution's approved and they start um paying fees to their attorneys to their engineers and then they don't get their license no that's a risk that they run as an applicant uh as you know same risk that people run when they come in front of the L zoning board L use board and they they don't get their application approved it's a you know just a risk they take on okay is there any other questions maybe a third times a charm we'll see please um we we need a um a motion I'm sorry was did yeah Mr Sparta made the motion oh I I'm sorry y I wrote in the wrong place and who seconded it Mr hi did yeah okay okay council member bueri no council member D benedetto no council member Higgins yes member Sparta yes council president ru yes motion carries resolution 24-96 a resolution accepting bid of Campbell Supply Company corporated for fire apparatus and ambulance repair bid number 2-202 may I have a motion to place this on the floor for discussion move by Mr Sparta is there a second second seconded by Mr Higgins any comments on this or questions uh yeah first of all congratulations not saying Campbell Soup company on that I read it that way a couple of times so um again Dell's not here so I don't know if anybody C hold me anybody down below can answer this question but this is to approve uh Campbell's Supply their hourly rate is 156 as opposed to firefighter 1 at 125 why are we approving a higher number because firefighter one has a minimum of two hours okay so goad so then their 125 would actually be 250 where Campbell doesn't have any minimum hours when they come out they just do their job for whatever and then they leave um where figh fighter one even if they're out for 10 15 minutes they are reques need to be paid for two hours okay that was going to be my followup question is so because it's a little weird it does say um it does say year two minimum hours it doesn't say minimum hours per call so it is per call yes okay and the next question would be then is when they come out to repair something obviously it's multiple times throughout a year what's the average length of their of their repair time because if there're long periods of time the two hours doesn't play into it right but if it does so I can't really answer that because I don't know how long they would be out to come out and on it depends on the repair but I again this goes back to the management software that we spoke about months ago where if you had a management software in place you can call up and see how many times they've been out to fix something how long the repairs have been the cost and everything else but instead said we still are in archaic times here and don't have any software to contract to to track any of our equipment I I think it's absolutely asinine that's all I have thank you anyone else I have the same question about the hours there's no way to find out I can find out for you but I can't give you an answer tonight okay oh I'm sorry you have anything table it is that motion to table it up to you it's been we've talked about this a few times um putting a change in the accounting system so that we could follow this is not going to be something that's going to uh fall within I think the time frame that'll be too long yeah so I you know we're we're going to be holding up something that will probably be needed something that we still need but uh I will of course talk to the mayor about it good roll FL please commission here the Fire Commission to here he uh maybe to shine some little bit no that's not what we were talking about May okay all right the table no was there a motion made no no not a motion to table no I I made the motion to hear to before I have roll call please sure council member bueri yes council member D benedetto yes council member Higgins yes council member Sparta no council president rudo yes motion carries um resolution 24-11 resolution of the township of Vernon County of susic state of New Jersey supporting a future New Jersey Department of Transportation roadway improvements project Route 94 Pleasant Valley Drive to April sorry Maple grain Road may I have a motion to place this on the road uh road on the agenda the floor for consideration thank you move move by m de benedetto uh is there a second second secondly by Mr Sparta uh this is what happens when you start thinking of something while you're doing something uh we had had this discussion on this this is I believe a major state project that have been asked to to move to a uh period of time that would not conflict either with seasonal delays or school delays and uh uh this is this happens to uh be the final impr the final approval of this are there any other questions I just had a question um because I guess Dan young he mentions I read the notes throughout that in P in the past when these projects have been underway he's had to provide police support so who pays for that okay good that was my question thank you actually this is a state they may provide their own and well he mentions here that he had to provide Vernon Police so I think they should pay for it they will okay good okay I just want to make sure that was it thank you you're welcome roll call please council member busher yes council member benetto yes Council member Higgins yes council member Sparta yes president rudo yes thank you public hearing uh ordinance 24-4 an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cat Bank may I have a motion to place this on the the floor for a public hearing moved moved by Mr spart is there a second I'll second it seconded by Mrs bueri uh motion is open to the public for comment on this if you have any questions anyone wishing to come forward how about do we have anybody online I don't have any hands up not may I ask for a motion to close the floor to the public move move by Mr Sparta is there a second second seconded by Mr Higgins all in favor signify by saying I I I iOS motion carries a motion to place the ordinance 24-4 on the floor for consideration uh by the council have a motion moved moved by Mr spart is there a second second second by Mrs bueri uh may I have any questions or comments please no seeing none okay may have a roll call please council member bushier yes council member D benedetto no no council member Higgins no council member Sparta yes council president rudo yes motion cares ordinance 24-6 an ordinance of the township of Vernon County of Sussex New Jersey approving an application for a long-term tax exemption and authorizing the execution of a financial agreement with O'Neal group Vernon one urban renewal LLC may I have a motion to place to open the uh to have this on the floor for a public hearing moved by Mrs the benedetto is there a second second seconded by Mr Higgins all in favor signify by saying I I I motion carries floor is open for public comment on questions on this and this only anyone wishing to come forward see no one coming forward I'm sorry is there anyone on the yes um Thomas mlre Mr mclerie sorry that's a good one uh names mcre and uh yeah first off when you read this uh it's fairly loose and you folks are are going to give uh O'Neal LLC uh 30 years of um tax exemption uh and you're also going to provide them 30 years of sewer uh service fees that are locked into today I'm sorry I didn't catch what you said sewer what Sewer Service fees that's the MUA uh if you read if you read this they're saying Township uh Services mua is one of the township Services you may agree or disagree but you'll get a bunch of lawyers going to court on the anneal s on theal side saying that yes you agreed that you would pay today's fees for 30 years for for the MUA uh and I'd like to see something put into this that excludes sewer service fees from this uh ordinance the second thing I'd like to say is during the shortway administration uh Redevelopment ordinances were capped at five years question is did you resend that ordinance or are we just making them up uh the third thing I'd like to say is this is kind of ridiculous uh obviously none of us well somebody might be here in 30 years who knows uh but I probably won't be here in 30 years but I do say that this is just a load Stone on the tax base for 30 years and it's pretty much uh what Jersey city has found out is you can't do it you just can't do it you cannot have a 30-year Redevelopment fee and expect in the future to have a fair and Equitable tax property tax on the rest of the tax base uh and that tax bases I'm talking here the 92% residential tax base which you probably picking up uh the taxes that this uh LLC is not paying and the problem I always have with llc's is this who are they who are they you know that could be anybody you don't know anyway that's my uh that's my two cents take it or leave it but you got to check your ordinances there's a 5year limit on this thank you thank you anyone else yes I have um Peg Dy Mrs Dy good evening I agree with Tom totally 30 years is an excessive term that I do not believe is to the benefit of anybody except the LLC I also uh I mean it just seems that this entire thing is to their benefit and we're losing big time the whole goal here was to bring Revenue into the town and this is not doing that at all and so I do not see how you could possibly consider it thank you very much thank you anyone else that's you're welcome I don't have any other hands up seeing no one coming can come before the council may I have a motion to close the floor to the public moved second by Mr Sparta sorry Mr Higgins second I'll second Mr Sparta second this is any any member of the council have any comments on this I believe we've all received the briefings from the attorneys from the you know the uh Redevelopment attorney during our uh meetings um they they are both here also council president would you like to address anything that was said like me to happy to certainly so good evening council members Matt Jessup McManaman Scotland and bman you Redevelopment Council as uh you just mentioned for the benefit of excuse me for the benefit of the public who who are listening public who are here uh Mr Jessup represents uh this firm which is a noted Redevelopment firm and uh for the benefit of the public also that once we become involved with a Redevelopment project we are bound by the rules literally the laws governing a Redevelopment Pro which is sanctioned by the state so please please proceed uh sure thank you council president so as you mentioned we are importantly your Redevelopment Council right we represent you we represent the township uh with me tonight also is Brian Morris Brian is with Phoenix advisor Phoenix advisors is your Municipal advisor right we are here to inspect and put together a Redevelopment project to the benefit of the township that meets with your land use goal your financial goals U you your long-term planning Etc so you do have before you um the ordinance tonight that approves a financial agreement that Financial agreement does Grant a tax exemption but let's be clear we are not um granting the property owner a 0% tax bill right in lie of paying conventional taxes and I'll get into why in a minute the developer is going to make contractual payments called annual service charge payments better known ins short as Pilots uh in this particular deal the developer is going to pay a pilot equal to 10% of their annual gross revenue which is all revenue produced by the project not net revenue but gross revenue rent parking fees storage fees pet fees you name it if there's a fee charged that is gross revenue and we do not net out any expenses so this developer under this financial agreement is going to pay an amount equal to10 % of their gross revenues for the first five years 11% of their gross revenues for the next five years 12% of their gross revenues for the next five years and 133% of their annual gross revenues um for the uh for the uh balance after that through the 30-year term the reason we're granting the tax exemption is because Phoenix advisers has validated that without the tax exemption if the the project were to pay the full conventional taxes the project could not financially be built you would the project would remain the land would remain as it stands right now where the township earns $5,000 a year in annual taxes in the first year after this project is complete the pilot Revenue to the township n of the amount going that you have to pay to the county the 5% you have to pay to the county is $155,000 so so you are taking a property that's producing $5,000 in Revenue to the township and converting it into a property that pays $155,000 in revenue and growing to the township um over 30 years that's $9 million in Revenue to the township of which none not one dollar goes to the Board of Education correct that's that's the 9 million net of any amounts that are shared again of the 5% to the county if you could somehow build this project and hypothetically conventionally tax it over that same 30-year period municipality would get $3 million so I think to the point earlier you about this deal with the second um resident about this deal being to the benefit of the developer um and the goal was to bring Revenue into the town I would submit that this deal is to to the benefit of the developer and to the benefit of the municipality right Redevelopment is a partnership we are here to facilitate a project that we want and that they want we don't want the property staying in its current state and collecting $5,000 a year we are boosting that times I can't even figure out how many fold to get it to $155,000 a year and growing every single time let me add something please I think one of the things that you will agree working with a developer that one of the things that developers want is certitude they want to know what their costs are because once they can establish a cost level and that cost level is continual they don't have to worry about any variation and it takes the guesswork out of the project in that particular area am in that right correct so you've identified really there's we always talk about two primary benefits of a pilot to the developer one is making sure the project is financially feasible so that the bank who's providing a loan on 65 to 70 75% of this project cost in this case an $18 million project cost they know that the project is going to be successful enough for them to Grant a loan and make sure they get repaid and at the same time the balance that 30 or 35% that the developer is putting up in cash Equity they're not investing that Equity without some sort of sense that it's a it's a worthwhile investment and they're going to get a healthy but not outlandish return so reason one reason two is stability right you want you control as a developer all you control your operating costs you control how you run your building you control Capital what you don't necessarily control is what not necessarily this governing body but any future governing body will do in terms of taxes so that is typically a large expense item in a pro forma and it's one that is not so ful within the control of the developer Banks don't like that Equity investors don't like that so in addition to turning a project that is financially not viable into one that is and turning a piece of property that is not financially producing money to one that is it is also providing certainty to the developer that's right um finally with respect to the first um resident who spoke just a couple quick things section 4.10 says that the developer is paying all municipal Services they are paying whatever the MUA fee is whenever it is charged at whatever it is in any given year this does not in any way exempt or um lock in a rate or otherwise fix a price at the MUA charges what they charge to a property owner they charge to the property owner this agreement does not diminish that in any way uh the reference to five years in terms of uh Pilots I'm guessing in the past were what we call sort of shortterm or five your tax exemptions this project is in an area in need of Redevelopment which does mean you have the ability to utilize the long-term tax exemption law project by project which again Phoenix advisors um looks at first and advises you on whether it makes sense and things it did and under the long-term tax exemption law you can and we I don't want to say always but virtually always see our at 30 years in order to make the for all the reasons we just talked about all the financial benefits and finally who are they yes this is an LLC we would all expect that I think anybody here doing something similar would do that however the application that the developer filed um with the clerk which is a public document has been available for quite some time that does have a disclosure of ownership so it does show the EV the entities up and who the 52% owners are um of the LLC so all that information has been publicly ailable and remains publicly available today good thank you very much thank you any members of the council have any questions yes just certainly so so one key uh like I said the they the 55 unit building um they have been such a pleasure to work with this is really you know these kinds of incentives and and programs is what can attract uh to our town this project is extremely important because this company is also going to build our main street that is currently half it I believe is under contract already so we are we are super excited we've gotten from uh a lot of people who know their work have been extremely happy with with with how they how they build and just the whole process has been very good with them so um just just wanted to share that thank you what our adviser like would you like to say something uh sure yeah just Echo everything that Matt said I think he did a very thorough um explanation um you I I agree we did our independent analysis of the project we ran through our own independent models uh verified the uh that their financials make sense you know are fair their returns are fair but not excessive um and I think just the point to really uh hit home is over the 30-year period if the site stayed as it is the township would collect about 210,000 in Revenue right now in year one you're projected $155,000 and9 million over the 30 years so I think it's a a slam dunk in terms of financials for the township so happy to answer any other specific questions but I don't need to repeat what Matt said thank you very all the key points thank for 55 and over one two and three bedroom no school age children one bedrooms just all all one bedrooms no school age children no and uh the rents are not uh low and there and I guess their marketing plan is to have seniors who want to stay in the area who sell their home remain here and have an apartment may I have a roll call please uh we need a motion to adopt I'm sorry I thought we had one no that was all off the my apologies okay they have a motion to adopt move mve by Mr spart second second second by Mrs de benedetta rot council member buer yes council member D benedetta yes council member Higgins yes council member Sparta yes yes thank [Music] you may I have a motion to open the floor for public comment moved moved by Mr benedetto is there a second second Mr Higgins all in favor signified by saying I I I carries um please note the can comment on this or any question you wish to for period of five minutes per person thank you John Clark and I live up in Barry Lakes uh I just wanted to comment about the conversation about the hourly rate contractor that you just approved the hourly rate that a technician is on site is a little bit of a mute point you have to also consider where the technicians are being dispatched from whether or not you're paying travel time and whether or not there are truck charges and mileage these are all the things that contractors are now charging in the current market and if you're not considering those you're really at the hourly rate is not having software ourselves to track it if we call up the contractor we've been doing business with they should be able to provide us with the average service call that they performed for us so it's just not the hourly rate on site it's the travel time the mileage the truck charges and how and again how long is the hourly rate these are all purchasing things that need to be looked at by the town to save the tax payers money and to hear a discussion here that goes on that doesn't incorporate those things worries me all right we need to be looking at every dime we spent and we need to twist it and figure out where we're going wrong and where we're going right and to have a conversation like that where we're only talking about the cost of having them on site that concerns me thank you very much thank you anyone else wishing to come forward Scott tassel again from Glenwood hopefully I'm not becoming the thorn in the side of the the Town Council um I just had a couple of quick things U one was on the budget um I think the mayor answered a lot of my questions with his opening comments but um and I had similar questions for the Board of Ed with their budget um I'm looking at it more from the private sector side I man a lot of large projects with budget so I know what the general process is I know on the public side you have a lot of mandated costs that uh you know affect things um and actually I'll add in there I would back up what the mayor said I mean on budgets that I have I have my own Arrow uh billable rate that I'm putting increases in for for the following year I mean that's the reason that you budget is to forecast I'd like to get some of the raises that I actually budget for myself but doesn't know what happen um but I you know my my main question on um the whole the whole budget process is when I get uh proposed final budgets in from all the department heads if we're going over budget um what I'll do then is I'll have a meeting with them say hey we're we're going over x amount of dollars you need to come up with an alternate budget that cuts 2% 3% you know whatever whatever it is um they do that and then we go back and we go over that budget and see what are the ramifications of those cuts and are they feasible sometimes you can make the cuts from the Department sometimes the department is soing you can't do it sometimes you get a little a little leeway in there so I guess to clarify is that what does happen is that what's in process now to kind of go back through right now the budget is in the hand of the council okay we will review the budget working with the mayor and the Chief Financial Officer seeing what we where there can be reductions made and then we will introduce the counil the budget to the public at our meeting on um next meeting and the eth the 8th and that's the that's just simply introducing the budget to the public and we will not take any action on it uh then there is a 28 day waight period that would be the last meeting first meeting in April and that's when we will either approve the budget or reject the budget if the budget is rejected then we start the process over again okay because I mean for me personally I think that find that as much transparency as there is in what's even proposed to be cut even if it doesn't end up being cut it shows that you know there is work behind the scenes to say like hey we are really trying to to do some Cuts here and you know just so I don't come off wrong I mean I'm really happy we've got finally a fiscally responsible mayor and a Town Council that seems to really you know put some stock in the taxpayer side of things rather than you know pet projects and and Friends understand that the past two budgets for the municipal budget have had no increase I I understand that and and it's weird to say but for me I feel better I don't like the B the the uh tax increase proposed four and a half percent like hopefully that's going to come down but I feel that this mayor is you know trying to attack the problem long term he's not trying to look good quickly he's trying to see what is the problem let's pay cash later on let's get to that point where I think in previous years we've been kicking the can down the road eventually that that comes to play and you've gota you've got to make some tough decisions and I I hope that's what's going on um along with that the budget I like the the format that we had I mean I watched the whole budget meeting that was a it was a really long meeting you know I had a need to have a few beers after watching but um I think that uh that format of having like the department heads come in go over their budgets and also answer questions again for me is great because it shows they know what they're talking about they know their own budgets they can answer questions uh they're not just recycling you know last year's budget or the budget before so I think if that format stays I I think that's huge um a question I have on the board of ed budget which I know the town and the mayor have nothing to do with is you know that question is why is it like that is that something that's mandated by the state or by the there're two different budgets handled by two different entities the board of education is governed by title thir title 13 whatever it's it's 16 16 I think it's 16 it's uh it's under a completely different ages State Department of Education and the Department of Education and so it's like a state it's it's all they both come from the state yeah education for the board of education budget is handled one way and Township budgets Municipal budgets are handle another they go fall under the Department of Community Affairs it's a strange because it seems like the town is kind of held hostage to whatever they need but yet that's exactly right have no saying it whatever the whatever the Board of Education requires the township must provide and if the township can't provide it they have the right to go out and borrow pass on the interest cost to the town so it's okay U my last thing is very quick uh it's just a suggestion or request um one thing I find frustrating and it's due to those budgets being separate is that so like if I come to the town uh budget meeting I hear um you know the average household will have an $80 per year raise or you know whatever it is in your taxes then I go to the Board of Ed and they're saying well our proposal is going to raise taxes $90 for the average household for the taxpayers it's just one huge bill that's going up so would it be possible since that the the budgets are are done concurrently it seems like anyway to say okay you know the town is proposing this going to be on townside another $80 but you combine that with the proposed uh Board of Ed budget which is 90 the overall hit for the the taxpayer would be $170 because to me it's it's seeming almost um it's just not fully explained to a lot of people what the actual hit is on the taxes and I know it's not great because you don't control that budget so you hate to to mention it but if they've already got their numbers out there can we not at least give people an idea on what the overall hit is going to be for their for I've always thought that we should put in a dollar bill or a picture of a dollar bill and have it segment that showing what percentage goes where yeah yeah so that was it thanks guys thank you very much chapter 18 chapter 18 thank you I've been away from it me well me not as long as you but it took me a while to remember it anyone else wishing to motion Council evening good evening I'm Heidi L Vernon I just have um a question about um how the state mandates all these items that you have to follow um I understand like there's fire equipment that are usable that is working but the state says oh no you got to get stuff and um what what happens if you say no then you don't you lose funding funding for any Aid funding for the uh for the for the equipment F you know do do they pay for the equipment we get a state aid during you know as part of our our budget but the fact remain but the fact remains it's a law but they tell you how to spend the money that's right yeah liability you know let let me tell you something this it's nice to be a populist and say we're going to say no you know what we we're part of the government and we have to follow the laws well what happens if the government is wrong I mean well I mean come on controlling the town becomes a question of what's wrong you know because we don't follow the law in terms of you know having the appropriate turnout gear the appropriate bailout gear should we go out and ask for Less expensive appropriate you know gear and so forth can't do that I mean we're given spe they're given specifications we follow those specifications the fire department when they put together their bids they have their specifications and certainly we're not going to put our people in Jeopardy by oh no but if the equipment's working fine I mean it could be delayed a year or so because this is this year it's been all of these equip all of these pieces of equipment have limitations in terms of time and use it was never like that in the past I mean decades ago but you know they they would last a while they repair them they fix them it's generally there's a difference to the choir oh difference there's a difference between refurbishing and what can be refurbished there's a difference between what can be what has to be replaced my understanding is something as sensitive as a fire helmet once it's been exposed to a major shock it's got to be replaced oh understandable understandable and my final comment to add to yours is that if the government and especially the government that we have under Biden and if they say you've got to do something you got to skip jump even if it means going off a cliff would you do it you know we're here as a local government the fact that the question of uh governmental aises coming down to our level is very rare we're really here to talk about repairing roads keeping you know keeping uh services available for police keeping services available for fire I really don't think anybody in in in Washington you know really cares about it but but they do I mean when you look at the Secretary of Education and what they are implying to maybe we should get some of the money that they put into some of the bigger cities but you know what we're a republican Township and we can I tell you but I just I just see a lot of people have their eyes wide open and it's it's our government is falling apart and I'm just hoping that as council members you have to think of the Vernon residents and protect them from every one of us keep our residents you know in the Forefront certainly our children appreciate all you do thank you for thank you very much Larson Larson again um speaking of protecting the the taxpayers in the town here I have a thought taken out of the the newspaper pages right now with this situation with squatting and I think that's a great idea maybe we should have a uh an or tightening it up um we got vacant Hotel units we have vacant Lake homes we have campgrounds Airbnb homes we could I think it's a great idea and I've made note of it to pass on to our attorney should we should discuss it and talk to our mayor thank you very much something for the people thank you bringing it to our attention there anyone else on Zoom is there somebody there's three sorry yes uh Peg Dy Mrs is dy hello again um I just wanted to thank the Professionals for giving a thorough explanation on the uh pilot program and I would like to ask if in the future maybe they should be presented to the public before so we they answered my questions very easily and I wouldn't have had to ask them if I'd heard their uh Pres presentation uh the other thing I was wondering um I've tried to pull up minutes on various committee meetings and it seems like minutes have fallen by the wayside lately uh our committee still required to keep minutes and if so when are they going to be posted on the website that's it thank you thank you very much um Jesse padini paladini yes um hi again to answer Sally rinker's question regarding minutes being posted on the town website I know that they um criticized the environmental commission and they specifically criticized the economic development committee now the economic development committee has only met once so they haven't even met a second time to approve their minutes before they could put it on the website as for the environmental commission similarly the environmental commission only met one time and when it was time for them to approve those minutes last week the secretary was absent because she was recuperating from cancer treatment so unfortunately they were not able to appr approve those minutes what a low blow to criticize our volunteers for not having posted minutes when that is not at all the case okay I needed to say that because they're posting all kinds of garbage all over the hate groups about committee meeting minutes um for the edification of the public can you just explain something because I'm a little bit confused about it too I am not opposed to Pilots at all um I don't know about 30 years but that's your job and I'll let you deal with that but you we know that none of the money goes to the Board of Ed but we still have to pay the board of ed for all of the taxes is that not correct can you explain how that works I'm not being I'm asking you know seriously the Board of Ed gets a portion of a resident tax bill right this isn't a tax bill this isn't a tax bill yeah it's not a tax bill it's a payment yes I know that's what I'm sorry I was whether it be 50 60% board you know is for Education yes let me jump in sorry um just just to um so the for ofed budget is a little different than the town budget so as you know the town is rate based so you set the tax rate apply it to the ratables and collect that Revenue the Board of Ed budget is budget based so just throwing numbers out if they say we need $10 million to fund the budget this year that 10 million is spread across the tax base so with or without this project going in they're still collecting $10 million and it's still being spread across the tax BAS so this project or Pilot has no impact on their budget they collect the same amount regardless but it does give us more money to play with yeah oh yeah from right for the tach yep thank you thank you that is that acceptable no that doesn't answer my question um we know that we already know what the pilot does we already know that Bard ofed money has to be paid comes from the tax rate comes from the taxpayers we know the percentage my question was if the entity getting the pilot is giving this all this money up front and um and and it goes directly to the town everybody makes it seem like this is such a great benefit and it is it it very well may be a great benefit but I think people need to realize that we still have to pay the Board of Education regardless every penny that they are due of course not we did the pilot of course no one said we didn't no I I didn't say did I just wanted clarification on that okay yeah this is this is a payment it's it's it's not a rate based uh uh Bill correct correct and as I said I have no problem with it it's it's a could be a very good thing it's just that I don't want people to think that they give all this money to the township and the taxpayers don't have to pay the Board of Ed that's not the case oh not at all okay all right that's all I needed I I I knew that or at least I thought I knew that but I think it's important for um the residents to understand that so you explained it well thank you very much Mr anyone else oh m m Mr mccleery yeah you're getting close on that okay so uh basically I keep trying I think means the horse is out of the barn uh you set standard uh and I've been listening to uh gaslighting from Redevelopment attorneys and planners for a long time now uh originally development starts out on the state level uh as uh a way to improve uh Urban properties that have been contaminated or or run down uh that's how it starts it then gets expanded and currently what we're talking about uh is uh Farmland assessed properties that uh need to be redeveloped and that uh that's a great expansion of uh the initial intent of this act um your fees 2% of that's going to be going to uh the county and I think there's another percentage uh will be going to uh the border ed no nothing bpot no that's what we just that's what the previous discussion was about there is a amount that goes to the county and then right there is an amount that goes to the township out of normally when you have some type of a project and it's you and you base your uh uh the the the project itself on normal tax uh standards okay the way we normally tax uh then they get it the board gets a percentage but this is not being done this way this is a done in a Redevelopment Zone and it's done through a pilot a payment in lie of taxes and that under that basis the board of education does not receive any money from the township okay so uh thank you for that uh I've been listening to that for the last I don't know 30 years uh and um again you ought to check the counties came back and they got 2% of what you're going to get off the pilots uh you may disagree with that talk it over with the county uh your selling here is one two and three bedroom apartments just one bedroom one bedrooms only how many one bedom bedrooms one bedrooms okay I miss you on that one I'm sorry uh I apologize no problem so uh either way as I said I've been gas lit by uh attorneys and planners for a long long time now and it's just a way uh for them them being the llc's to make money uh off of Farmland um but hearkening back to original purpose of the Town centers All the Monies that we've put into this over the last 24 years were now saying yeah we don't need those taxes uh you know you guys are all right um and I've seen this in the past where these 55 restricted uh Apartments 55 years and older restriction uh gets uh later on will be uh amended to be open to everybody because they're not being sold um that will come uh I prophesize that one okay U but again you've set the standard and if I was 55 and plus I damn well start thinking about moving out of town thanks a lot and have a good night thank you is there anyone else I have Brian Lynch Mr Lynch Mr L yes I'm sorry I just got a new computer and I'm checking it out um I want to address something that Anne Larson brought up I was actually sitting here through the whole meeting and ready to say it um we are all watching the news these days and over in Queens New York last week someone was arrested for trying to throw out squatters out of their house because they changed the locker on their house and the squatters uh reported them to the police and the police actually put the homeowner in handcuffs yes I'm aware of it um I I know you're aware of it and I'm concerned because of our community it's like you don't even want to go on vacation because you're afraid of something happening while you're away uh council is there a an a uh an ordinance that can be adopted here to help us as homeowners I as I explained to Mrs Larson I've already uh begun communicating with the attorney on developing an ordinance to protect um our uh owners Property Owners you know the thing we when I saw this I was mad at myself that I hadn't taken a action sooner because uh our Township is is a conglomeration of seasonal Highland Lakes Barry Lakes people live there they go home go back to the city or whatever it's Farmland it's property that has uh many feet of uh space around it so that it can't be watched by your your fellow neighbor that fellow neighbor may be nothing more than a a cow grazing in the pasture something you know so I think it's something that we have to act on and I'm going to ask Mr mench uh to act on this very very quickly I'm concerned also because the Highland Lakes fire department we own our firehouse and if somebody happens to sneak in there and happens to be sleeping in there and we don't find them for a week and a half you know there's sometimes we don't go to the Firehouse for two or three days you know we we you know what would happen if we found somebody in the fir house but I mean as far as legally what are our options and I I'm going to be paying attention to it thank you very much you're quite welcome is there anyone else oh yes um George nanov Mr nanov good evening can you hear me yes I can good even um so I had a uh I apologize I came a little late onto the meeting but I a question regarding the pilot and the development uh I'm assuming Theta drive and where the development is happening is within the sewer area is that correct yes okay so that means that uh with 55 single bedroom units going in that's 55 new rate payers yes whatever the whatever the engineers come up with for that that particular structure yes okay okay because I think that's something that people are missing be uh bearing in mind that uh we're making about $5,000 or so right now and we're going to get a pilot that's going to boost it up to over 100,000 plus sewer Ray payers which can make a big difference in yes our sewer system so uh I want to actually applaud the council and the mayor for doing this uh so thank you very much for finally turning the tide hope this is uh one out of uh many things to come so thank you for approving that yeah um I wanted to just address one other additional thing uh there was a uh individual that made a comment about people posting in hate groups and I W to talk about that for a second I happen to run a Facebook group I'm sure most of you know that Facebook group and the majority of dialogue in that Facebook group uh is cordial it's about town it's about town issues uh I post in there many others Post in there uh including some people in the council right now I think dialogue is key to ensuring that our town moves forward right by talking things out by you know talking about the negative and talking about the positive you gain a better understanding of what affects us as a town and I I I I resent that uh you know there's a couple of groups that are just out out there uh but uh I don't think you should lump all Facebook groups into a uh single narrative that's about hate it's about dialogue there's could there could be some criticism there could be some positives there could be some negatives but it's all about establishing an understanding of how our town Works how the how our education uh how our education uh happens how our sewers uh work and uh figuring out just how to move forward as a town thank that's why I run my group and uh I would in the future I've asked this Council as well as the Board of Ed uh to put in point of orders if uh such things are said and I'm going to keep asking for those point of orders because this should be about Council business uh this shouldn't be uh a platform for somebody to go into a narrative that might fit what they want to say so that's all I have to say thank you very much once again for uh passing your passing the pilot I hope that it's uh something that will uh encourage more development and have a good night I'm very excited about it this is the first one I believe that we've passed and looking forward to to uh bigger and better thank you thank you is there anyone else I don't have any other hands up seeing no one coming forward may I have a motion oh sorry oh I'm sorry good evening everyone how about something light and [Music] fluffy so I'm here to discuss the scenic byway and the signage hopefully for the last time right I'm not here to discredit anyone as has been done to me but to give credit where credit is due and give you my final update in 2010 as mayor I supported the scenic byway and our Council voted a resolution of approval for support for the Historical Society to pursue a Scenic byway through our town I was a member of the historical society and Scenic byway committee and happy to help towards that goal in 2014 the byway designation was received and we now have the eth scenic byway in the state called western highland Scenic byway with additional work and effort by the president of the Historical Society Jessica paladini and historical architect Shan Missour the application to be designated a national Scenic byway was approved in 2021 a management plan was created and adopted in 2018 and that plan shows the location of the 14 byway signs to be installed at Miss Paladin's request I rote around town with a photographer for both sign locations and noteworthy places to uh join in the management plan photographing our town our beautiful locations in town knowing there is essentially no byway without signage and wondering why after nine years we still didn't have them I discussed the subject with the members of our Economic Development Committee in 2023 Miss Suzanne isy a longtime byway Committee Member came to our meeting to give a presentation to the EGC members and it was then that they also realized and agreed that that this would be an important Endeavor to try to get those signs so um as chair I sent a letter to Senator oro's office on August 3rd 2023 on that very same day a letter was sent to the commissioner of New Jersey Department of Transportation from the Senator's office that letter was signed by Senator Oro assemblyman Parker space and assemblyman Hal wz requesting signage for us their immediate attention and the devoted efforts of of Brett Conrads their Deputy Chief of Staff who was my constant contact got it done the six signs were in six signs were installed by New Jersey do on Route 94 in January and I was assured by county commissioner Carney that the remaining the remaining ones will be installed on the county roads sometime in April they wanted to wait for the spring thought so um contrary to the erroneous information stated at a previous council meeting my involvement did not cause excess cost for the county to install them in their right of way the only agency that can install in a right of way is the agency of jurisdiction and most of us know that so after 13 years of my own involvement attending meetings writing letters of support attending dedication and now with the agreement of the 2023 EDC members we found a way to get the signage there was no meddling no deception just work but all credit after the reach out to Senator oro's office goes to Senator Oro and assembly men Parker space and Hell worths Parker now being our new Senator by the way and Brett Conrads their Chief of Staff I firmly believe without their intervention we would still not have those signs so I want to thank you for your time and if I have your permission I'd like to give the clerk some documents if you could have certainly thank you thank you thanks Mary thank you is there anyone else not online okay anyone else wishing to approach the I believe I just want to add comment to Sally ranker what she had said and there's so much fire in the town and so much war going on with them but I was on the economic development committee and uh it was the first time I volunteered and that one year I learned a lot about politics and I was um misled by what Sally ranker said because uh she they had said with the presenter the presenter that the committee for the Historical Society or whoever was doing the the signage uh was dead and nobody was doing anything about it when in fact I heard it wasn't so it's always a he see he said she said so um and when one was presented to do something Sally wanted to do it on her own and we had no participation in that and all of a sudden um explosion of I'm tonight I'm Sor so you're you only get one opportunity session I just wanted to put that out understood there's a lot of misleading comments out there understood but you already had your opportunity and we have to we have to move on excuse me that's why I submitted documents back to all the course okay well this is not you've already spoken please understood the folder thank you may I have a motion to close before motion motion made by Mr spart is there a second second second by Mr Higgins all in favor signify by saying on oos motion carries Council comments Mr yeah I think that some of the events that occurred here tonight particularly with the two gentlemen who standing up and going right now for a big benefit because the back trying to leave I mean the the public really got a great explanation yeah on some questions some of the uh questions from the audience tonight from Tom I won't mispronounce his last name they were good questions and you answered them right up front so I think it's a very clear win-win for the town on what's taking place and you can see the uh the thought that went into it and our previous meeting we had with you so thank you very much thank you gentlem thank you gentlemen Marcy you want to bring Natalie back up Natalie signed off oh she's gone okay sorry no I have nothing Mr sparter uh I just want to thank Mr Castle Cassel Castle uh for his comments that he made at the start of the meeting in regards to the bank cap uh vote last two weeks ago it was and um it's it's funny because I actually reached out to Miss D benad and Mr Higgins the day after and I wanted them to know that I wasn't trying to change their their mind or their Vote or anything I was you know trying to explain my viewpoint as as other people were explaining theirs and the conversation I had with both of them was that was my idea good government and that's how government should work is have those those discussions I don't even call them disagreements they were discussions and the end of the day um you know two people voted differently than I did but we we kept on talking and we respect each other and and that's how it's supposed to work and the respect I think uh up here amongst all the council members uh is something I don't think um has been shared in in quite a long time up here on the dice so I appreciate you noticing uh what went on and coming up and talking about it as well because um it I didn't take it lightly because I I like I like those discussions and um that shows that government's working the way it's supposed to be working and we shouldn't be rubber stamping everything all the time I also want to uh apologize to Mr Lynch because uh over a decade ago there was a pilot program that was in discussion and I had many conversations with him and how I I fought him on on the pilot and it wasn't until Mr Jessup came in last it was July or August I believe he came in and and presented something to us that I fully understood how a pilot program worked and what goes into a pilot program and pilot programs are just not handed out to developers if if a project can work underneath the current tax rate then it goes down without a pilot so um Brian if you're still listening I apologize for taking up all your time a decade ago uh talking about that one project so um other than that that's all have thank you thank you some coffee um I have no comments uh other than to wish you all a happy and blessed Easter and uh Happy solar eclipse and a happy solar and don't do what he said he was going to do you'll hurt your eyes you know so uh thank you very much and may I have a motion toour move move by Mr spart is there a second second second by Mrs de benedetto all in favor signify by saying I I motion carried please [Music] give you know I got a