[Music] you guys are Jackie Michelle and Steve number I'm not evening everyone like to call this meeting the order welcome to the bo East toship committee meeting of January 22nd 2024 please rise and join me in a salute to the flag I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with Li and Justice all now we have a roll call please M presid Mr Platt here Deputy Mayor rabbits here mayor here mayor here this meeting is being held in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act do notice this meeting has been published by the clerk in both the CER post and inquire newspapers as well as electronic notice as required by law also the cop a copy of the annual meeting notice has been posted on the bulletin board outside the town clerk's office thank you our first matter this evening is the first reading of an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank pursuant to njs 40a call1 44514 do I have a motion on the first reading of that ordinance so move second I have a motion and a second is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor please signify by saying I I I opposed so carried next is our public comment for Resolutions only if anyone from the public has any a has a comment on any of our resolutions this evening please come forward seeing no one moves to close public portion are you coming up to speak sir on the resolution okay sorry move to close public portion second all those in favor I I opposed the public portion for Resolutions is closed our resolutions this evening are resolution number 54-24 authorizing the cancellation of Appropriations retroactive to December 31 2023 resolution number 55-24 authorizing the award of a contract under a Cooperative pricing agreement for municipal management software through the Bergen County cooperative pricing system number 56-24 authorizing the award of a contract under a Cooperative pricing agreement for the purchase of one excavator through the sourcewell Cooperative pricing system number 5724 authorizing the award of a contract under a Cooperative pricing agreement for the purchase of 120 ton trailer through the sourcewell Cooperative pricing system resolution number 58-24 authorizing the award of a contract under a Cooperative pricing agreement for the purchase of one game time 2bay swing frame with swings through the Education Services Commission of New Jersey Cooperative pricing system Elliot Drive playground resolution number 59-24 supporting the Delaware Valley Regional commission's project for the roadway improvements made to the intersection of White Horse Road County Road 673 and burntmill Road County Road 670 located in the township of warhe County of Candon resolution number 60-24 authorizing release of a performance guarantee and accepting a maintenance guarantee for vhe storage LLC number 6124 authorizing the approval of change order number one for the myota park improvements project resolution number 62-24 authorizing Vorhees Township through the vores to Police Department to participate in the defense Logistics agency law enforcement supportive office 1033 program to enable the war's Township Police Department to request and acquire exess access Department of Defense equipment resolution number 63- 24 amending certain records of the tax assessor number 6424 authorizing a personto person liquor license transfer for Catelli Duo LLC number 65-24 amending resolution number 38-24 to to reflect appointment terms to be 90 days number 6624 appointing Sean Temple to the position of full-time building maintenance worker in the W Township administration department resolution number 6724 approving the hiring of ma Maxima Alberto to the position of police officer in the v Township Police Department number 6824 approving the hiring of Kelsey Brown to the position of police officer in the v's Township Police Department and resolution number 69-20 confirming the recision of the appointment for employment for Wan bosos from the wor Township Police Department do I have a motion for approval of those resolutions motion second I have a motion and a second any discussion hearing none of those those in favor please signify by saying I I opposed so carried I will make a motion to table resolution 70-24 is there a second second all in favor I I opposed I that is tabled there's no need for an executive session this evening next is approval of our minutes of December 27th 2023 our municipal court report for December 2023 our tax collector's report for December 31 2023 our regist report for December 2023 bills for January 8th 2024 and bills for January 22nd 2024 do I have a motion for approval of those motion second motion and a second any discussion hearing none of those in favor please signify by saying I I opposed so carried next section is comments from our committee any comments from our committee this evening it's nice to see people here AR next portion is our public portion for for comments if anyone from the public has any comments please come forward good evening hi uh I'm Tom Kenny I live at 22 Wilderness Drive and uh I have a question about a resolution that was passed back in 2018 I live on 22 Wilderness and there's a I guess it was uh name of the company Pineland LLC they want to develop the property next to the Busby landfill there's a house back there that has been unoccupied for 10 years now maybe at least and there was a resolution passed that it was going to be demolished and it's still there great and I was just wondering what's going on I know I was at the planning board meeting last year with this whole thing going on it's kind of I guess going away for now um but forget it's kind of a you know something on the mind of the residents about if this is developed that's all the chemicals and everything that's R property and so on did the applicant ever was the EPA he's never gotten all these I thought that they tabled they asked us to table and we I'm on the planning board so is Mario we have to be careful what we say because it's a I guess an ongoing application but if you were at that meeting I think we asked them to rerun or pull out mod EPA reporting environmental reporting and they wanted to rely on rather oldd stuff right and I thought I'm jogging my memory I thought that that was they asked for continuance or something the last time they were on the agenda right yes so it's never come back I know there was supposedly documents coming from General Electric they were supposed Tove pres electric and the environmental consultant and everything and we've Pres anything sir how long have you lived there for uh since uh 1986 how long so you've been staring at the empty house for 10 years yeah can can I ask you how how do you feel about that I mean obviously you have questions but what yeah it obviously you know it was being vandalized I think there were kids in there partying having parties I think that's I think that's important for people to hear your concerns because I personally believe that we should have already knocked it down so I just want to make sure that everyone understands yeah she's yeah that's just the development in general there's a lot of concerns with the neighborhood about yeah we have I mean Chris Chris is the township attorney so I don't want to say what I can't yeah so there there's some issues that happened that slowed it down a little bit um between myself and Stephen the administrator we'll certainly look uh back into it and try to get that knocked down as as quick as we can particularly if it's a safety issue right people the plan look back you guys will look back at look at the record to what the planning board asked with what we're refer what I'm referencing and you could get specifics on if you if you look at the minutes and we'll push that to the Forefront okay so that resolution actually preds my time on committee um I think I'm familiar with the property largely due to W mayor and ao's concern about it um that said it sounds like that there may be and I'd ask our solicitor and administrator look into an option whereby the structure itself is demolished in advance of the applicants uh development in any case so maybe that's something that we can look into and the other thing is sometimes no news with development applications and my experience on planning board and Mario I'm sure would second this is sometimes no news is a good news that yeah cuz we haven't heard I mean they'll we'll dig deep for you guys we'll dig through it and yeah I mean the last Plan G meeting I went to and then it was canceled and then the next one was canel because they weren't showing it's not us cancel it yeah no I know right what I understood they weren't delivering what they were supposed to deliver and then I heard the developer to build it because DR Horton wanted to buy the property right they were joint venturing right yeah and I know the one meeting I sat at he turned around too I think the sister to say most and said no way I kind of died from there Stephen could could meet with you after after contact information so that when we get that information I can okay I feel very passionate she's she wanted it knocked down that resolution was done hammer and some sawset you we don't see anything if you do something in the middle I really I really don't think they're going to hear anything from GE uh we work with GE we had the landfill the portion we're allowed on now yeah GE was 100% we don't want to talk to you we don't want anywhere anyone near this property because we're protecting our Deep Pockets and that's what we're doing I don't think they're going to hear anything from GE it's going to let them develop that property and I yeah I I spoke with the in-house counsel actually and she told me the same thing they don't they don't that was that was 20 years ago talking with them I that that was their Mantra and it still is yeah yeah okay all right thank you thank before uh the meeting ends I'm going to come grab you okay okay you can come good evening uh good evening my name is Seth Don coachi I'm a resident of Rural Avenue uh I live at 1024 Rural Avenue um I'm here with uh just about 20 other residents of of our street um I'm here to address I said hello welcome to everybody and uh headwood Court also which is a dead end uh court on Rural Avenue um I'm here to address a uh an ongoing situation that we have with uh harassment speeding um reckless driving uh attempted arson uh assault um the residents from 8 hwi Court uh I imagine many of you know who this is um are a an ongoing uh worsening problem that um at this rate if it continues to get worse something terrible is going to happen um all three drivers in that household uh should I call them by name is that okay here yeah you're entitled to Mara Joshua and Michael Van Hook um they have a a pattern of repeated Behavior Uh it is worsening um what the township prosecutor's office and courts have been doing is not working it is not enough um there are also uh so then this the court um these people have been caught they've been ticketed they've been uh pardon me for a sec uh the Township court has historically I've been on the street for five years while I have been paying attention the Township Court historically takes months to occasionally over a year to prosecute cases and tickets um while this is happening these people lash out we live on this street and we are subject to their retaliation so while a court can sit in the ca while a case can sit in the court for month six months we endure over and over retaliation reckless driving insults horns in the middle of the night they will drive down the street and they will accelerate right at you and swe swerve off at the last minute and this goes on repeatedly not just at me but at all of the people here all of these people are here because they have been subject to this also and I Can Only Imagine if you put a dollar value on every time the township is called and the police come out how many thousands of dollars and the courts I mean how much what does this cost and what will it cost when something terrible happens um you know we all know about it what's been tried is not working um I don't have so this was really bad when we had a case we were told call and file a compl complain yourself you can sign a complaint it went nowhere um the prosecutor was really trying to downplay it she was in my opinion she was very soft she did we had an arson case against her house we had somebody try and set fire to our house it's not it's not here on the case list because she exped but she put it as harassment she put it as harassment so this is this was in 2020 october2 it's my wife Carlin Char Char har and and that was in retaliation for us taking other brother to the har of our which went on for a whole year of delay delay delay this is my uh my example of where things have been and the Township Court isn't curving this Behavior this is where it's going to go again um I mean it's just it's just a matter of time in my opinion and I see this all the time um I have emailed you uh I emailed the chief I have emailed uh with Steven stegi just recently um uh we had a real I didn't have any faith in judge Diamond after having sat through his court the he was just keeping the seat warm he he the the prosecutor said oh we'll have him address them at the at the outcome of the trial it went nowhere he didn't address them he he treated me like I was the person that was in the wrong um I am hopeful that the new judge is made aware of this situation and actually has some teeth to pursue this in a way that has a meaningful result for us um cop okay we actually printed out two copies that you guys can look at of the 20 open cases The Talk so I mean one of the Suns has cases has got 10 tickets last March um the repercussions of some of these tickets that he got last March could potentially suspend his license but it hasn't happened because because I don't know why meanwhile he's gotten tickets in Berlin those have been disposed he's gotten tickets in Atlantic City those have been disposed got tickets in Cherry Hill those have been disposed they always get taken care of within a month within a few weeks at most two months but the Vorhees court is just dragging its feet and uh we have been in touch with uh officer Kavanagh and officer braler they've been fantastic they've been very proactive we're doing all we can we're writing these tickets we need for the court to to do something with I mean that's all they can do they're doing what they can I I believe that they want to help us they say they want to help us but if the Township Court can't take it to the next level then the Township Court isn't protecting the residents and at that point what are we going to do I'm not going to sign a complaint against these people if the Township Court isn't going to back are these all DMV we're just trying to make I can't believe someone has a yeah there these are these are tra this amount of tickets that speaks for itself I don't need to speak anything about these people those pages right there yeah these These are traffic violations I I know you yeah yeah I I'm trying to see what's DMVs open July okay what's your I'm sorry what's your name nice to meet you I'm going to step down for a few no you I I wanted to to mention something to you too while you're there okay but you can stay up to get me here you're you're correct and that these these should have been should have been taken care of a long time ago I understand that well we have a new judge as you may may or may not know judge fabietti unfortunately judge Diamond passed away uh we have a new judge and it's my understanding from the deputy chief who was here this evening that the matters were listed today before judge fabietti um neither neither of the defendants appeared nor that their attorney for whatever reason appear and the judge issued warrants against uh I think $1,000 bond for each deputy chief yes and warrants uh for their arrest uh I I also understand that judge fabietti is listing these matters for a special session on of the afternoon of February 12th to make sure that these things are moved forward because they've it's taken far too long I agree with you 100% I mean I I like to speak freely I have a hard time believing that if any of you lived on our street that this would still be going on I like and I need for I need for you to pretend that you live on our street and say how do the what about these people I mean everybody here pays taxes we've all we have a nice Street people job from miles around to come to our street is very picturesque beautiful except for that what we're talking about the cars racing P I also understand I think Mr stegler can address it that he has already uh spoken this morning with our zoning office about addressing the issue of U auto repair work being done in the home which is illegal thank you you can yeah I I uh on our call on Friday I told you guys that I would I would do that first thing Monday morning so I met with uh our zoning officer um told her to pull all the information that I know uh that we know also included the information thankfully that you guys had Shar with us as well uh that you sent to me and um yeah we'll be revisiting that as well and I I already spoke to her are um about our next options our next steps how do people how do people have driver's licenses with these kind of WAP sheets exactly how are they paying their legal fees how are they continually well it sounds like they're not coming and their lawyer is not coming so they legal stuff the legal Fe stuff not like our issue I I how is some like they're allad fees though for the township that is being missed because they are not being I well I'm looking at all of them too Berlin Magnolia Atlantic City are one thing but the safety of the neighborhood is certainly far more important than that yeah and so just you know I want to say thank you for being here and and certainly you're correct if um I lived on your street and or had a neighbor like you do who is quite less than neighborly um I certainly would be very upset so please know that um we all empathize and sympathize with you um I think that you know a couple of the things obviously you need to stay in communication with our Police Department um it does sound like that there is uh action being taken with our new judge who was as zware newly appointed after judge Diamond's uh illness and and untimely death um Mr s will work with you on some of the code enforcement issues that he talked about and I would also suggest that maybe we look at code enforcement at both the township and county level related to noise and health as well and see if there are other noncriminal enforcement options that we can you know meaning not Police Department side our side of things corre are these all like no point tickets is that how this you know without with with yeah without looking Without You Know Each one a lot of them a lot of them appear that they are either not disposed of yet which would not be points or some of them have been um downgraded to Zer Point tickets in in other just for example like delaying traffic from pton for for 56 that's a no point ticket um 4- 67 obstructing passage that's a no point ticket so those those are typically not tickets that are written um but are downgraded like Ford 97.2 from Atlantic County that's a no point ticket but all of these reckless driving in those are those are Point tickets those are certainly Point tickets and that's that's what's getting there's going to be a special those are still active so like and that and that's all getting Consolidated for this next hearing and two harass and two harass and harass there is more reckless driving that just has not been picked he got ran off the road twice by Van Hook about two weeks ago I was jogging on the left hand side of the road minding my business you know you know jogging towards my house as she was driving behind me coming down Ro AB she raced up to me went into the left side of the road sped up to me ran me off the road as she was honking so I threw out my hands and I cursed you know they slam on their brakes um Seth and um Carrie they caught footage they same on the breaks all three of them came out about to attack me screaming homophobic slurs racial slurs and just about to attack me and they just kept calling home from SS the mom Mara was holding down her son cuz he was about to fight me he spit at me twice um you know that was not caught on the camera because you know was F from and for me just my own business getting run off the road hon that and you know getting a tackle almost the same time and he was telling me to fight him when there's you know all three of them combined is probably 800 lb so that was I'm scared to go out the jog I'm scared to even leave the house because there um about 3 weeks ago we were you know blowing the leaves um doing stuff inside the house she Marsha drove that she lives a house away from us so what she did she turned into the street saw Heather stand in frontside her house um doing lawn work and she just call her names out of nowhere so I asked her I'm like what's going on and she told a Marsha just call me you know names and I was just like you know just leave it I'm going to blow my leaves and next thing you know Mara the older son Josh and some guy she's seen went into the backyard we could see each other across our back backyard and he started clapping his hands and calling me names and I'm like what's going on I was like I'm going to keep blowing my leaves and then I stopped looked at him again and he just started cursing at me Mara started cursing at me and I'm like what is going on here like I'm out of my business and my own backyard she's going to scream that I'm getting scream that and she and I told her I was like I'm going to call the cops and Josh said you can call the cops we're Invincible they won't do anything and I said you know what I'm calling cops regardless and the cops are nice enough to show up and I told him what happened um just as what happened you know the cops talked to got the report in went to their house within 5 minutes were gone so they're pretty much like laughing at the township the police that you know they're Invincible yeah and the fact that you know I can assure you nobody nobody is Invincible it sure seems like this is now has the attention of every everyone on committee um the attention of our administrator our court has had the special session called which is a pretty extraordinary step um to under judge fabietti to you know really put put a stop to this because like you're saying no no one should be experiencing I have a question I have a qu does um deputy chief may know better or one of the lawyers up here does um bail reform is that why so much of this is getting no it's it's it's the problem is municipal court has always been it's it's it's hard to get people to show up to be honest um there's only so many so much they could do is such as issue the bench warrants um they can't physically go track them down and haul them into court um at the municipal court level unfortunately um so it is not common but it does happen that um so someone's invisible with their subsequent offenses on there that that are points tickets cuz there's Rec driving did the point can can can Superior Court can if it get that point yeah if it gets to that point they can also increase the bench warrants and then they could also increase the court cost if they continue um not appearances so there are there are Avenues to take um no but can Camden County can can Superior Court issue a warrant I mean there's a zillion charges on there are um they could um we can we can certainly look into that on on their level I mean I think this is horrifying and that it's horrifying that they they should if there's a way to even elevate it yeah I mean I worry about the safety for myself and all our neighbors like we're all here the kids like they like to ride their bikes play and they race down like 40 40 40 miles on a small residential street they honk at us when we're walking our dogs and they' race like up and down to CAC like they literally from the Colac back to the stop sign they like slam on like gas I'm like why are you just slamming brakes just to go to the stop sign like it makes no sense there's also a big key of this too and I we talked about this on Friday as well um and not to speak ill of somebody who's no longer with us but the judge granted far away too many um delays for their attorney yeah tire marks in front of my house because they like to peel out in front of our house they had one of their friends just house so I'm hopeful with our new judge um that has been brought to the attention of our prosecutor I know the deputy chief um is very very well aware of it um but this the behavior has to stop there's there's really no I'm not aware of Judge ever listing something for a special session so it's already requiring inperson appearances there's no virtual appearan yeah we're absolutely terrified around our neighborhood like we we're afraid to walk like we're we have people not wanting to come out and walk because we're afraid of getting run over and we're the loudest ones who will actually file complaints a lot of people don't want to follow complaint because we're going to get retaliated against because I filed my first complaint against her six years ago and it's still happening and I'm like Target because I'm Asian or because I'm targetting most right now like I'm the one that she targets after when I'm jogging so you know if I were to get hurt like who's going to be liable like and we can certainly look at that those specifics I'm not sure if we were aware of you know that targeting but there can be different and I don't want to speak too much of the specifics just this not the appr setting but in terms of um some additional charges that could perhaps that was we file report since last summer and there was you know that was a racial slur and is times a homophobic slur and that's kind of where I'm getting that's if you could maybe stay after and speak with the solicitor to share your information because that information is not clear to us is already in the record and and that would be important information about what the charges are that could actually like four times and yeah so let if you don't mind because I just don't want to speak about the specifics to potentially Prejudice the case in the public forum but it's certainly information that would likely be important we appreciate it thank you thank you so I I'll he has a job after this meeting and I also get with you after this meeting I we touch base it would uh it would help us if while this is being elevated in the court to this level um I would expect that things will get worse on our street before they get better it would help if the police had I don't know how they do it but if they made all of the officers aware that hey this is probably going down and it's probably going to be a little bit worse in this area um well I know I know they've had and deputy chief you can speak to this direct directed patrols to this point direct patrols out there we have special checks out there we have radar out there um I I hear your frustrations um they know our cars they know we tried to use our unmarked cars um we tried to use other cars they they know who we are but we are out there we are checking but I will pass this um we I already sent an email to everybody in the department so that they know that what happened today in court we're just waiting on the the final after the end of court today um and I'll put out that information and I can have certainly have more checks out there we try our best believe me um our officers would like to see this resol as much as you thank you um sorry uh last Point um who would be so if we have continuing concerns about this is who would be the best point person to email you go but no the police department is your absolutely the the response is immediate with the police department anything related to the garage use for car repair or things related to what's happening in their home that's not affecting your safety directly certainly Mr sck would be the appropriate person for that the harassment running off the road anything that could affect your safy the livelihood or frankly ability to live in peace on your very own Street should go first to the uh um to the police department uh the deputy chief is very much aware of everything going on and she will be sure after tonight's meeting that everyone here is in the loop thank you thank you anybody have anything that needs to be said that I didn't catch I was just I was going to talk I com up if you could just state your name and address Joe uh 1134 Ral I've been on the street for 20 plus years now I wasn't going to say anything but I wanted to back up uh Seth and Andy I won't even walk down hewick if I see cars there because it's just not worth dealing with them anymore and you know I know the police department is well aware because whenever a call goes in not one officer at least two sometimes three come out and I I know they run single cars in I think four different areas so they're well aware and they're doing the best they can but like I said I've been swerved at almost everybody back here has been swerved at yelled at cursed at it it's not just Seth and Andy and I way back when I I remember Carrie we were happen to be walking and before it escalated to this and being in front of a Township meeting Carrie walked over with her her young kids and made an effort to say like a neighborly effort before before police and stuff were and we were we were talking to Seth Seth was getting concerned because Carrie hadn't come back yet Carrie come back and said I think that went well you know I talked to Josh and I said oh you you you don't know them I said I said as soon as that front door closed he was on the phone talking to Mommy and sure enough when Mommy came down the street she stopped in front of the four of us yelled and screamed who do you think you are coming over my house blah blah blah so U I don't want to take up a whole lot of time but I I just want you guys to know that it's not just Andy and Seth it's the whole street you know the front of the street the back of the street I'm I'm fortunate I Live pass head we next to the maintenance yard so I don't have to deal with the constant but right now we have doughnut tracks in I'm going to call it say the township called a sack because the other night after they were out they were racing up and down the street with their lights out doing donuts in the cold of sacks and stuff so uh I I know the police department is whever but I just want to like let it's it's not not just Seth and Carrie it's the whole street and and like Seth said somebody's going to get hurt sooner rather than later and especially after this morning stuff at court and tonight it's going to escalate exactly like Seth said so just wanted to let you guys know that thank you thank you the additional information good evening ladies and gentlemen good evening bud how are you I'm fine I'm Bud LEL 1100 Rural Avenue I have the distinct honor to be the oldest continuing resident on Rural Avenue I think in the township I don't know if that's just guessing but uh I just would like to say a few things um during my La my wife's last months of Life the uh constant driving up and down the street made her life miserable I uh fear for my neighbors walking that street there needs to be something done uh from what I've read and stuff that I've heard the prosecutor doesn't seem to be doing her job perhaps since she works for this Township the township needs to look into it what has she done why hasn't she done her job she's getting paid to do a job do it that's all I have to say thank you thank you bud thank you bu any other public comment this evening seeing no one move to close public portion second all those in favor I oppos the public uh comment is now closed and we have one final matter a uh bit of a congratulatory matter we have a number of people here from Easter and Eastern track team and um we're going to be presenting commendations to the Eastern track team and I i' I'd first just like to read um I'm not going to read the whole whereas Commendation I'm going to read some of it uh Eastern High School's 2023 girls track team is celebrating the South Jersey group four sectional Championship State group for second place finish and new school records and events at the New Balance outdoor Nationals under the leadership of Coach Mike tangerman and assistant coaches Barry Jackson Alex Sherman Nicole meskin and Julie Shanker the members of the 2023 team took home medals in individual and team races whereas Runners and I'm I I I apologize if I if I mispronounced any names Cadence Dumas John A sly Natalie Dumas Zoe Goldberg Tessy o Cay McKenzie James lamaria Tang Beth and jna gter not only won individual and Team Championships but also set new school records in recognition of their unwavering dedication Relentless work ethic and outstanding achievements Eastern High School's 2023 girls track team has exemplified the true Spirit of Excellence setting a standard that will inspire and resonate for years to come now for now therefore the mayor and Township Committee of the township of Wares hereby recognize the 2023 eastern girls track team and coaches on their successful recing record-breaking season signed Michael arag Nona mayor of Wares Township so congratulations come on up we have commendations for let's all go down there congratulations congatulations thank you all right girls yeah some people not here so we'll pictur everyone take four steps this way about the sign day