forward there detail present AR of the United States of America to the republ stands one nation indivisible liy and Justice by the dawn so proudly we H at the twi through the or the [Music] RS and The Rock red glare the bombs burst in air gave Pro to the night that our flag there oh does that Star Spangled Banner yet way for the land of the free and the home of the bra order arms right shoulder arms ready to right Face Forward [Music] Mar by Uncle John please please be seated roll call Mr Delia here Mr deell here Mr Bennett here Mr Brown here Mr jurz President mayor Burns here Mr Russo Mr PL here next we're going to move on to our presentations first presentation is the police department year and review presented by Chief gersi good evening mayor and counsel one of my responsibilities as police chief includes reporting to the governing body my office has prepared a 2023 year- end report for each of you to review tonight we managed for results to always improve the quality and effectiveness of our services 2023 was a busy and productive year for the police department we focus on practicing the 21st century police and recommendations we ordered new cars Equipment Technology and made some it upgrades our report shows 59,230 calls for service we ramped up patrols increased radar locations and directed patrols and community policing school security remained a priority as we hired five new SRO we now have a police officer in each of our 11 Schools Police reports increased as we wrote 4,000 reports and investigated over 17 motor vehicle accidents including four fatal motor vehicle crashes we've seen an increase in psychiatric emergencies last year with almost 300 calls for persons in crisis we processed 1100 handgun applications and 121 new permits to carry some officers retired some officers left the profession we retired K9 omac and introduced K9 red we were awarded a record number 15 grants total on over $500,000 last year the Washington Township Sun just reported that the new police department Bomb Pop ice cream truck was a number one news story last year when I became Chief I branded our agency as a progressive Community oriented Police Department we work to balance successful community outreach with traditional police work our Outreach events build relationships with Community our National Night Out was recognized as one of the best in New Jersey cops and Bobbers remains our most popular Outreach event last year's calendar included a firearm safety class cool off with a cop coffees with a cop the junior Police Academy countless lemonade stamp visits Battle of the badges shop of the cop a self-defense class A Hanukkah celebration a veterans barbecue parties at the senior center and many more programs we have a lot of work ahead of us in 2024 we look forward to Bringing additional officers on board two new recruits start at the police academy Monday morning I've budgeted for addition additional patrol cars two motorcycles police officers Officer training funds new equipment traffic safety signs license plate readers a pole bar storage and a pole barn storage facility Police Headquarters as you know was built in 1967 the decision should be made whether or not to upgrade the facility or to build a new facility um to meet current and future police department needs the situation with our jail cell block remains as we have been given a two-year extension by the state of New Jersey new Grant funded opportunities will be aggressively pursued you will see us work relentlessly towards our goal of reducing crime by being proactive our Patrol Bureau is the backbone of our agency and will continue to have a visible presence throughout Town working 247 towards crime suppression efforts together we will keep the residents of this Township safe thank [Applause] you is a joyous occasion for our Police Department for one of our police officers and his family after much anticipation officer Paul kroer is being named the 2023 police officer of the year Paul could you come up please with your partner Ajax this is the third time Paul was nominated for police officer of the year it's a prestigious award and that tells you how much Paul's superiors think of him three times officer kroer was nominated by sergeant hitzelberger and Sergeant Haley in this year's nomination letter sergeants noted that Paul brings a professional and positive attitude to work on a daily basis Paul has an individual knowledge base for police work he's a field training officer and a mentor for young officers he embodies the community caretaking function his approach to the job motivates other police officers Paul was involved in several incidents over the last year that exemplify his carriage and determination he arrested a burglary suspect at a nail salon in town at 3:00 in the morning Paul and his K9 partner assisted with numerous drug arrests and I've been involved in a few incidents involved in Firearms this year Paul's work is proof and of consistent and constant Valor and honor Paul carries himself humbly and goes about his job not for recognition Or Glory but for the good of the residence he serves here in Washington Township Paul received 11 recognition letters from supervisors in 20123 for demonstrating high performance Paul makes our agency proud please join me and congratulating congratulating him yep all right next we're going to recognize Mike and Anna Scott Bill and da skola and Stephanie lanela for their Community tour drives please come [Applause] forward tonight we express our deepest appreciation to Dawn and Bill skola of Salan skola an and Mike Scott of DJ Mike Scott and Stephanie lanela for their outstanding partnership in making The Washing Township Police Department's stua Cruiser toy drive a huge success your generosity and commitment is truly commendable not only did you embrace the spirit of giving but you went above and beyond to fill three of our our of our police trucks with an abundance of toys the toys collected were distributed to local Washing Township families and created lasting memories that will last a lifetime smalla businesses are the backbone to our community and when we see them come together to help local families in need truly exemplifies the true essence of unity and compassion once again a huge thank you to Dawn Bill Anna Scott and Stephanie for their commitment to the Washington ship Police Department stuffer Cruiser tour drive your generosity has brought joy and happiness to our community and we are truly grateful for your kindness Chief would you like to say anything um no thank you every year um we have a community caretaker Mission here in town every year um we have a toy drive to help less fortunate here in Washington we consider ourselves um Guardians of the community several years ago the Scots asked if they could help out with our toy drive and the schull was also we became involved and Mrs L A Lada they didn't just collect toys and drop them off to the police station or buy toys they deliver truckloads and truckloads of toys um thousands and thousands of dollars worth so this is their third year um donating toys to our toy drive we're we're we couldn't be more appreciative of your effort so thank you so much and we also have you just sorry you want come thank thank next we want to recognize Eagle Scout met please come [Applause] forward um I'd like to tell you that um I've been involved in Boy Scouts for more than 15 years and seen many uh Eagle Scouts come before me and help them along the way and uh this is a great accomplishment uh for us it's a great accomplishment for troop 123 to be the first uh woman uh Eagle Scout in Washington Township so it's a big event and it's welld deserved whereas the mayor and M M of the Town Council of Washington Township wish recognize sen meta of scout troop 123 for the achievement the rank of eal scout and whereas son is the first female Scout from Troop 123 to attain the rank of Eagle Scout and become the fourth girl in Gloucester County to become an eagle and the vision of scouting is to prepare eligible youth in America to become responsible participating citizens and leaders who guided by the Scout Oath and law and whereas the rank of Eagle is considered to be a pinnacle of achievement for the first Eagles being recognized in September of 1912 and whereas only 4% of Scouts earned the rank after a lengthy process of being actively involved in troop leadership earning Merit padges planning and completing a community service project and whereas s completed the program with the Scout CB Scout as a member of act 220 and crossed over to Boy Scout Troop 123 in 2019 and received the Boy Scout of America Eagle Scout award on December 12th 2023 from Troop 123 in Washington Township whereas son has earned 60 mer badges including scuba diving shotgun shooting Wilderness survival climbing small boat and has participated in 41 uh camping trips and became a member of the order of Arrow on September 18th of 2022 whereas for her community service project Anda chose to construct an outdoor classroom in one of the courtyards at Bunker Hill Middle School which took 246 hours to complete now therefore be it proclaimed by mayor Burns and the members of the Council of Washington Township do hereby recognize son as a leader within the community and offer congratulations for achieving the rank of eagal scout on the 17th day of January 2024 um again a great accomplishment um you know we're talking about mer badges but there's uh mandatory mer Badges and uh I know she's kind went to the Constitution Center with me we've been on many uh camping trips with her mom or dad and a lot of the uh participants in in the in the room tonight so again congratulations it's a great accomplishment and good [Applause] [Music] luck e next we would like to recognize ad Del Ruff in honor of 45 years of service D please come [Applause] forward it is with great pleasure and honor that we celebrate and acknowledge Adele riff our supervisor of Public Works and the remarkable dedication of a Township employee who has served our community for 45 years Adele has been the heartbeat of our Township dedicating her time energy and passion to ensure the smooth functioning of our local government in many areas from the parks and Department to the Department of Public Works Adele has witnessed the evolution of our community and has had a huge impact on the lives of the people in our Township she has seen employees and administrations come and go but through her steadfast commitment to public service she has become a trusted and respected figure Beyond The Daily responsibilities Adele has been a source of inspiration for colleagues a mentor to those who sought guidance and a friend to many her leadership work ethic and genuine concern for the well-being of our community has set a standard that will be remembered for generations to come as we reflect on these years on these 45 years of service let us express our deepest gratitude Adele you're not only a just an employee you are a Cornerstone of our Township's history and your legacy will endure as a testament to the power of dedication and public service on behalf of myself and Council we thank you for your service stop please think two he feels like hey squish it in squish it in squ it in thank guys next we want to recognize Mrs Colligan and the Green Team regarding recycling at the hille school hang on doesn't matter doesn't matter just face the all right sorry about that thank you um this year we have uh I keep calling my group small But Mighty um I've been the adviser of the green Club since we started it about eight years ago and each year the group takes on a different project um this year one of our members um each year they have to write an essay to me why they think they would want to be in green club and one of our members um felt very passionate about getting recycling in our schools um he noticed that we don't um anyway so that was the project for this year so we reached out to Mr Del barell who very kindly came and spoke to them during one of our meetings before school and asked us to come share our presentation with you this is a very hardworking dedicated bunch and I could talk to talk about them for hours and hours um but I'm going to let them show you okay um we' like to present to you today the herel elementary school green club and we present to you help us recycle who are we chair people Paige and Chen vice president Anastasia and Franklin historians Connor Sarah and Miriam Treasurer Liam members at large Gian and Nola we are all green cloppers recycling is a process where many materials that would otherwise be thrown away can be manufactured into new products this can help reuse materials and cut down on what people throw away students can help by recycling materials that would otherwise be thrown away what are the three Rs and what do they mean what is the meaning of reduce reuse and recycle reduce means to to cut back on the amount of trash we generate or create reuse means to find new ways to use things that otherwise would have been thrown out in the trash recycle means to turn something old and useless like plastic water bottles into something new and useful like glass playground equipment and recycling bins why we why we want recycling for our schools we want recycling for our schools because we don't want dangerous plastic to pollute our planet we want it to be recycled into new things and the environment to be clean and safe why are we here there are approximately 10,000 students and over 1,600 employees in Washington Township Schools if every person just discarded two items that could be recycled every day how much waste would that be 10,000 + 1,600 equal 11,600 people 11,600 people time two like pieces of trash per day equals 23,200 pieces of waste per day 23,200 * 30 = 69 no no 696,000 pieces of trash per month 696,000 * 9 = 6,264 th000 per School per school year that's a lot of waste three facts on why we should recycle Fact one recycling helps to reduce the need for landfills and more costly forms of disposal Fact Two recycling helps the environment and the Animals health Plastics do not break down and cause potential harm to many animals and ecosystems fact three plastic tops a list as the most common items found in the ocean including bags bottles food containers Cutlery wrappers synthetic rope and fishing items where in order for our recycling to be recycled it needs to be picked up by Township w management even if we have a bin in the building it just gets thrown in the trash imagine how much we could improve all our recyclable items go right in the trash that's not responsible once there's a place to collect recyclables for the township then we can have two bins in each pod one in each TCU room class four in the cafeteria one in the main office and one in the nurse's office and one near the fourth grade hallway green Club is happy to teach our students how what is recycle and why should we do it recycle is like the magic trick of turning old stuff into new stuff we collect things like paper glass bottles plastic containers metal cans they go to a place called the materials recovery facility or mrf where they get turned into brand new things imagine your old homework becoming a new book or your old Sony can turning into a new bicycle instead of putting our trash in the oceans that's amazing recycle is important because it keeps our planet clean saves resources and stops all of the piling up in the landfills it's like giving things a fresh start what what when and how what are our next steps how do we go about the township to add no how do we go about getting the township to add schools to the recycling pickup route how do we find out out which schools May recycle how do we get enough bins to provide the schools with a place to put recyclables how long can this process take H how long can this process take and how much might this cost what has green Club done over the years heril sold reusable water bottles they taught the younger kids about recycling we had a collap collection where we collected number five Plastics we had an Earth Day run where parents sponsored their children we had a no waste lunch where students packed their lunch with reusable containers um the green Club passed we were the we got a water bottle fill station we were the second school in Washington Township um is l located near our cafeteria we have sold reusable water bottles to reduce the use of single use plastic water bottles we have a butterfly garden which we care for um we have donated two trees with proceeds of our first Spring Fling Fun Run last year clearly we care perfect Elementary can't do it without you please help our schools [Applause] recycle well that was awesome right you know they often talk about what our future looks like this is our future generation Our Town is in good hands right our County our our our state our nation is a good hands when they actually sent me an email I thought they were trying to get more days off which I thought I could make happen much easier but this was awesome I I'm so proudly part of this we're going to work on making this happen all the council's committed to it mayor's committed to it the town is committed to it so keep up the good efforts this K you're amazing appreciate you appreciate all you do uh and we have a certificate here for you it's for the green Club you guys can hang inside your classroom and and the other councilmen want to come and and be part of the presentation again so they want to see everything you're doing so we're going to make a trip out one day to your school and see everything that's going on appreciate you yeah sure of course so I just I just want you to know like this um this is all them they did all their own research um they did the whole we actually did it on a canva presentation that's why I didn't translate quite right but this is all them this has really not much to do with me this is them so thank you you know J next I'd like to welcome up Lori morelo for an update on senior and Veteran Affairs good evening mayor Burns and council with the 2024 income tax preparation season fast approaching I would like to thank mayor Burns for allowing AARP volunteers to UI utilize I'm sorry the council room as a site location for senior resident and Veteran tax preparation AARP has recently provided me with access to their online program that schedules appointments for tax preparation the a P tax aid program provides free federal and state income tax returns for low to moderate income taxpayers and gears towards assisting seniors and Veterans AARP has been utilizing the council chambers since 2021 and since this site has opened they have assisted an additional 900 taxpayers with their income tax returns last year AARP prepared 154 tax returns here in the council room these returns generated Federal refunds of $62,000 and almost $25,000 in credits to the taxpayer based on an average cost of $200 per return taxpayers saved over $30,000 in return preparation fees tax returns will be prepared here on Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. beginning February 1st and ending on April 15th senior residents and Veterans can call me directly to schedule an appointment and pick up an intake sheet to prepare for their appointment news at the senior center last Thursday during the hot lunch program president Enid braceland and vice president Dominic Bama officially retired after 20 years serving as board members they were each honored with a wonderful plaque thanking them for their valuable contribution ution and dedicated service it was really nice to see so many people from the municipality stop by to wish them well in their retirement thank you mayor council Chief gersick and our municipality employees for celebrating eni and Dominic I will miss each of them as they have been a pleasure to work with and an enormous role they played an enormous role in the success of the senior center the senior members are looking forward to the Valentine's Day event hosted by Chief gersi and the police department members can sign up for the event at the senior center to conclude this evening until next quarter I want to let you know I'm working on additional business sponsorships for the senior hot lunch program wrapping up tax season and appointments and planning future events for our senior residents as well as our veterans as always I'm available daily and thank you for the opportunity to serve the community have a great evening safe travels home thank you Lori keep up the great work you do with the veterans and the seniors thank next we're move on to the bill list and get a motion to approve the bill list for January 17 2024 so moved second vot call Mr J yes Mr deell yes Mr Brown yes Mr Bennett yes Mr jier yes move over to the approval of the regular meeting minutes for December 20th 2023 can I get a motion to approve the the regular meeting minutes for December 20th 2023 motion roll call Mr YZ yes yes Mr Brown yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Delia yes ask move on to the executive meeting minutes for December 20th 2023 can I get a motion to approve the executive meeting minutes for December 20th 2023 motion second roll call Mr YZ yes Mr de yes Mr Brown yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Del yes move on to resolutions following resolutions are by consent agenda and only require a vote for all listed each one must one must be read by title if any member of the council wishes to have one removed and heard separately they need to indicate it prior to the reading the titles do anyone need anything removed and read separately no resolution 48 resolution authorizing refund of tax overpayments resolution 49 resolution cancelling taxes for Raymond Bird totally disabled veteran located at 17 Lansbrook Court effective October 30th 2023 resolution 50 resolution releasing the safety and stabilization Bond storm water management maintenance guarantee for Dollar General for 14 43 Deli Drive LLC and for the Dollar General located at 143 Deli Drive resolution 51 resolution accepting a safety and stabilization bond an engineering inspection escrow from Walmart real estate business trust 3501 Route 42 Turnersville resolution 52 resolution appointing Brian hacking as electrical subcode official for the township of Washington resolution 53 resolution appointing members to the planning board resolution 54 resolution appointing members to the zoning board resolution 55 resolution appointing members to the Municipal Utilities Authority resolution 56 resolution permitting mother's cupboard to utilize space in the Washington Township Municipal Building for community service use can I get a motion to approve resolutions 48 to 56 second roll call Mr JZ yes Mr derella yes Mr Brown yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Delia yes going to move over to Old business new business and reports for start with councilman yoris um just want to remind the public I saw that during the Christmas holidays um we incurred a few fins from om recycling uh please don't put pizza boxes in the recyclables that's trash keep plastic bags out of the recycling uh bins do your best to be conscientious look at these young people here tonight the job they're doing this is where it starts uh recycling because uh not only is it environmental the consciously but it's going to cost you in the pocketbook and part of our job up here is to help save tax pair of dollars as we know everything's going up in cost so our job is to try to save you there but you have to help yourself if you're uh wasting money by throwing things that aren't recyclable on recycling you're cting yourself and your neighbor's money so please keep that in mind thank you thank you councilman erus councilman Bennett um as I always announce it's uh winter time and during the winter of 20 of 24 please help senior shovel snow sidewalks and driveways in your neighborhood please look out for your neighbors so again just like we had a snowstorm uh again it's important that you look out for your neighbors and make sure that you know if they need help with shoveling their snow that you help them out also as usual you need people to slow down okay and uh Pat's doing a great job with the radar and but again people in the town need to understand if the speed limit says 25 they need to do 25 again we you know we want to cut down on accidents and any other type of things that go on with speeding so make sure that you are conscientious about about driving slower thanks thank you counc man councilman Brown yes with the upcoming uh snowstorm that we had or with the snowstorm we had the upcoming snowstorm just to reminder help out Public Works and remove your vehicle from the street uh if you possibly can helps them get the street completely cloud and with salting um if we have another uh reason to send out an everbridge alert regarding the snowstorm and removing of vehicles we certainly do so and a reminder to sign up for the everbridge uh alert system within the township the sign up scan form or scan QR code is up here on the um on the desk table um so you can do that and sign up um to get Township alerts uh from the library there was a board meeting tonight but I was unable to attend but they did ask me to mention that they are having a train talk model train demonstration this Saturday January 20th at 1 pm there's a flyer up on the um table as well so you could get more information about that or visit their website that's it thank you coun brown Council D thank you council president a couple things one is thank you to our Public Works and Chief gersi and and chief dogus for getting us through this this rough weather we've had a couple of weeks here we've had some rough weather so thank you so much to them congratulations officer Paul and Ajax congratulations to Adele she does a phenomenal job I actually get to see her on a daily basis she really works hard congratulations to Mrs Collins and the Green Team what a great presentation like I said if this is the future of our town and our our County our state our nation I think we're in good hands I want to give some people some updates here on Raising Canes people are asking when that's going to be started so we got some dates today they will be breaking ground in Spring and early summer so look forward to that they didn't have a length of the construction how long that was going to take but they did tell they're going to be breaking ground if you see their they're building they just buil built one in defford and around you'll see that they move pretty quickly so that's pretty exciting and the big one that everybody wants to know about is Sprouts when is Sprouts coming well Sprouts will break ground this summer it'll take about 18 months to complete so I know everyone's very excited about that also want to say congratulations to ply bows that opened what a what a turnout that was uh all the council was there mayor was there what a what an awesome concept and TNT Cafe also opened this past week also great concept great T turnout for their open actually the next day they sold out so they've really been doing a great job at TNT Cafe if you haven't been to either one of these places please go there like we keep telling everybody Washington Township is open for business please if you know somebody looking to open a business if you want to open a business come in let's talk about it let's get you open that's it thank you thank you Council D Mr plat thank you Mr Russo yes I just wanted to follow up on Council vice president Del br's comments um thank you so much and congratulations to officer crer to Reed that nomination for office of the year a lot of amazing officers in the police department that do a lot of great things and um to get that nomination is is just such a high regard and respect so congratulations PA awesome job also to Adele 45 years of service I thought 25 was pretty good but you know they're rookie numbers for for me so um congratulations to Adele it's awesome and want to thank Public Works i' kind of been in contact with them since Monday and I know they've been working around the clock tirelessly fighting the road conditions to keep the township thank you thank you Mr Russo Mrs mayor it's been almost a month since council's appointed me as mayor and I think Mother Nature has been testing me ever since over the past two weeks we've had two severe wind and rainstorms and a snowstorm resulting in two days of icy roadways and delayed openings and I hear there's another one coming this weekend as a result the first storm we experiencing the opening of the EOC and the discovery of the need for a new generator for the police department I can report that my Administration has acted swiftly and is in the process of res resolving that issue being able to witness an active EOC in action was truly an eye openening experience our emergency responders acted swiftly and effort effortlessly to ever to every call that came in that night and I'm happy to report that our residents are in great hands during an emergency I already knew this from being a resident um and from my point of view but from seeing it from behind the scenes I can attest that Wasington Township truly has the best public works department they have worked tirelessly over the last week to ensure the safety and well-being of the community and I want them to know that we are immensely grateful the for the invaluable service that they provide I know at times it can be a thankless job but you are appreciated for your hard work and dedication to the community Frank and Brian I commend you on everything you do um thank you to the residents the mayor's um office is open for business and if you you know we've been Fielding calls all week if you have anything just give us a call and we'll be happy to help thank you mayor um I I want to congratulate everybody who was recognized tonight uh all the families from the tour tour drives um our Eagle Scout uh son meta um the Green Team coming up here um for D 45 years I mean she must have started here when she was 6 months old yeah I can't believe she's here 45 years um she does a great job uh one of the pleasures I've had at being up here at council is getting to know the people in our building and work in our town and um we have a lot a lot of good ones and Dell's definitely one of them so Dell great job um hope you're here another 45 years uh you'll be hard to replace uh Chief thank you for your review uh we appreciate everything you do day in and day out um we look forward to working with you uh moving forward and uh got a lot of that stuff fixed that we need to fix fix for you I want to congratulate officer prer um it's a great honor and uh we're honored to have him in our department um also want to mention Public Works I know I'm kind of repeating everybody but going last that's what I have to do um you guys do a phenomenal job uh the streets leaves everything um you know sitting in in the emergency uh management office you get to see things you don't get to see and you guys do a great job with the chief chief doggus um we're very thankful to have you guys so thank you for you guys do um our dog all dogs in Township are required to be registered and vaccinated please stop in the clerk's office to register your dogs for 2024 we'll be holding a free rabies clinic on Saturday March 9th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Public Works garage located at two McClure Drive January is National Blood Donor month and it's also mental Wellness uh month um if you could donate blood there's I know there's a shortage um please sign up donate blood or plasma anything you could do every little bit helps um mental Wellness um I know with Co a lot of people are dealing with it young and old so if you see anybody who needs a little help um take a couple minutes just to offer a helping hand sometimes just saying something nice that somebody can go a long way um next we're going to move on to public participation yes um itd be remiss if I didn't reach out um what a fantastic job our volunteer fire department does you know dating back to Ben Franklin times the backbone of every Community was their fire department and I can't say enough for the job they all did the night we had that huge rainstorm and wind uh being at the Emergency Management Center um every one of them were out they handled uh cars that were turned over they they took care of trees along with our Public Works Department uh power lines with the power company uh they worked around the clock to uh keep our community safe and they do that day in and day out week in and week out month in month out so we'd be remiss if we didn't give a big shout out to them uh and the huge effort they do um for our community so I want to say thank you to all them and our chief thanks thank you C mirus next we're going move on to public participation please follow the public decorum posted which is also has been attached to the public agenda and limit your comments to 5 minutes once you've completed your comments or questions I will then ask if any member of the governing body or their designate wishes to address your questions or comments can I get a motion to open to the public second all in favor I we're now open to the public if anybody wishing to speak please come forward good evening everyone my name is John coslo I am a lifelong resident of Washington Township um I think most of you even know who I am or heard my name one time or another um over the last 12 years I had the opportunity and the 80% pleasure of uh serving in the Washington Township courts first as public defender and then as prose that my term came to an end uh on January 3rd and um I obtained that those positions through meril appointments those uh meril appointments were in your code the code was authorized by the fauler act of the state of New Jersey in that Faulkner act um which Washington Township adopt it uh you have a number of forms of government that that you can choose from and Washington Township chose the mayor council form of government and it has a clear delineation as to the powers allotted to each branch of government much as the United States Constitution um the mayor under the mayor council for of government has broad Powers over the administration um part of those were appointing department heads and employees such as the prosecutor and the public defender now I have no entitlement to this position I never claimed it I don't claim it now but I do question how the council had the ability to take powers from the mayor unilaterally it seems like it's an abreg of and delineation of the powers granted under the fauler act of Jersey um it was United vote done in December of 2023 um and my question and comments to the council and to the residents is how does council and maybe I read it wrong how does council have the right to unilaterally take the powers granted to the mayor and take them for themselves and if it is okay then why don't you just take all the powers because you have one you can do it all um I did send a letter to the mayor questioning this and again I have no ill will jobs come and go this is not my livelihood um matter of fact councilman Del Burell can attest to all of you I sought out my replacement he didn't find me I found him to turn over everything to him to sit down with him to make sure there was a smooth transition for the benefit of the Court he came to my office after I had to find him and thank you for that um and we had a long chat we went over all the hot cases going on in town again it's another transition uh between adults but I do question how the council took the mayor's power under our form of government I think it's something you have to question to yourself maybe you have an answer but I think you owe that answer to the [Music] public not necessarily me but I am the public to so thank you for listening I appreciate your time thank you very much thank you Mr coo thank you for your service as well for the past 12 years um steuart if you want to comment on legal okay thank you Mr Kaza yeah yeah I'm essentially here for the same general issue um have a little different slant on it but let me start out um Steve aluro uh 41 Jones Lane cville um part of Washington Township um been a resident of Washington Township for 57 years probably longer than all of you have lived here combined but um a long time um and again I've served at every level um including um on that Council um where I served um for years where I was the sole Republican with four Democrats and a Democrat mayor and quite frankly they had the ability to do anything they wanted the Democrats at the time and they didn't do what you people did which is try to take the authority of another branch of government I I I think it's totally inappropriate just on a democracy basis just on a general basis for the council to come in and take the power it'd be like taking the president's authority to appoint members of the Supreme Court you know just because um circumstances um worked out that way and let's let's go back to last week when I came here and Stewart was so Keen to point out that this was done as a matter of transparency listen nothing could be further from the truth then this was transparent if if if that's what transparent means then I have the opposite understanding of the meaning of the word transparency there was nothing transparent about this process to start with Stuart every year you were the person that selected the public defender and prosecutor and again I agree with Mr coo the public defender job quite frankly is a pain in the ass that's what it is you don't get paid much and you know I did it because it was vacant at one point then I stayed in it um but the bottom line is again there's no transparency here St again every year you selected the person on behalf of the mayor every year you would contact John and I and say send me a letter and and you'll be the person this year under under all transparency I didn't get a phone call from you Stewart and what you did is is the complete opposite you convinced this Council to pass an ordinance to take the power of selecting the public defender and the prosecutor from the mayor and give it to counsel fine but when did you do it when did you just do it you did it when the mayor stepped down because she had another position in the county and Mr delpia was made acting mayor so now let's do it under the cover of darkness when when our new mayor you know we're going to have a new mayor you're only waiting for the Democrats to give you three names so rather than wait for the new mayor what you do is you immediately put up an ordinance you vote on it two weeks later you vote on again and and here's the best part the best part of all is Mr delpia votes as a councilman I pass the ordinance guess who signs the ordinance in the law the same person he's now the acting mayor and a councilman and listen by state law the acting mayor does have essentially the same Authority as the mayor but I tell you that you don't have the authority to give away the power of the mayor to yourself it's a pure conflict you should never have signed that ordinance after you voted to pass the ordinance then you sign it in the law completely inappropriate completely illegal and I agree with John by the way the whole action violates the for walkner act you can't pass an ordinance that overrides state law and state law gives the power to select these positions to the mayor but these are this is how part of the transparency goes so November 21st first reading you pass the ordinance December 6 you pass the ordinance and it becomes law then Mr delpia signs it into law in December 6 on the same night you pass a resolution to put out for application for public defender and prosecutor so meanwhile the law specifically states that the ordinance that was signed on December 6th does not become a law in Washington Township until December 26th but you're already taking applications before it even becomes an act of law it doesn't go into effect until the 26 you're taking applications on on December 6th 20 days before it goes into effect and and then you ram it through the night that we're here for reorganization on the third by the way there happens to be you know several holidays involved in here so you got Thanksgiving you quick Ram it in then you got Christmas then you got New Year's but this is all part of transparency right steart so what we do is we jam it in across the holidays we get an acting mayor to do it knowing that we got a new mayor coming we ignore all that and we pass a law that takes the authority of the mayor and gives it to Council so what I say to you is that you people should resend this ordinance it's a violation of the forner act and you know what it's going to get you it's going to get you multiple lawsuits and I know steart they got to be filed by Monday it's 45 days from the passing the ordinance um whether I'll file it or whether the mayor will file or somebody will file it somebody should quite frankly I'm tired of being the Bastion of trying to keep this town from doing keep the town doing what right instead of pulling crap like this in the middle of the night and again you happen to poke the bear so you wound up jabbing me I I I couldn't care less I tried to lay low for the last several years but when the council does stuff like this it's it's just beyond ridiculous and then let's talk about some other stuff last week we passed a resolution appointing Mr Platt as solicitor well Mr Brown tell me if I'm right wrong haven't you worked for years with Stuart's wife um at hella where she's the prosecutor and you were the liaison police officer do do you work with her or not all right hold on did she represent you from your divorce it is relevant because it's a conflict of interest you should never vote for Stewart PL when his wife is your attorney he should have told you that and you should not have voted last week and I submit to you tonight that he can't be the solicitor because that vote was illegal because you had no right to vote you have a pure conflict you were represented by steuart's wife who by the way I graduated from law school with in love but she represented you and you can't vote for him and he as your attorney should have told you that before you voted but he don't care because it benefits him it's a conflict Mr Brown P clear and simp simple it's an absolute conflict it's not my opinion it's a legal opinion it's law and Mr plat should tell you that this counil is not political of course it is you just stole the power of the mayor how can you say it's not political it's pure politics C can I say [Music] something I didn't embarrass myself I'm embarrassing you sir you're the one with the conflict not me we're going to have a conversation conflict conversation and and I just want to point out you said that the ordinance was introduced on November 21st mayor didn't step down to November 27th so the previous mayor was still here who sign the it wasn't done in the dark as you stated it was done in the it was not done in the dark then why did you sign the ordinance then I did I sign that one I don't I didn't sign many well you did I'll I'll look did I sign it you did I have a copy of okay then I signed it I mean I I think you should know what you're doing I I I do know you want to come up make make slide comments about comments you people did this you people did that you people did this you did but but our job you were coun to right our job our job is to reflect to the Department of Law to what we could and cannot do you coming up here because a job you you felt you're entitled to you said the mayor appointed but now the Department of Law appointed who appointed this position was it the Department of Law or was it the mayor mayor listen I'll exp let me explain your job for you then you explain my job you can't do your own job why you my job because you don't understand your own job I think your 5 minutes is up sir thank you our went out for all these positions for all these years was not done we corrected a situation that should have been corrected years ago well then why did you take the authority from the mayor we we advised by you were advised by Mr Plant who's trying to take control by the way the same Mr plant that has involved in multiple lawsuits and his deposition was supposed to be taken in the next week but I'm sure that he's going to convin you tonight in close session to settle that lawsuit so they don't take his deposition the judge ordered last week that he has to be deposed him and Mr morir by the way who's representing Washington Township and is also a witness in the same case so when Mr Mor's deposition is taken we're going to pay him and have his own deposition taken I mean wake up point of order I mean if you don't know what you're talking about figure it out point of order Steve sure Mr plat is in the third year of a three-year contract okay this contract does not end until December 31st 2024 so we are not extending it we're simply going forth like we did with the chief the chief is under a contract for the next year but the chief hasn't gotten this in multiple lawsuits the chief isn't currently involved in a lawsuit that's going to cost the town $300 400,000 but that's different Steve than what you said no you can fire him and the mayor can fire him at any time for cause the mayor has the authority with 30 days notice to ask him to step down and I would recommend that she do that one because he tried to take her Authority and give it to councel and two because of the many lawsuits he's got us involved in that's cting is hundreds of thousands of dollars you just settled a case with Mr Perry that was a lawsuit directly involved with Mr Plant we now have the case with Mr Gunther Mr if you're coming up here as an attorney LIC New Jersey speak the truth what is the truth was neither a party are they taking your deposition this week excuse me let me finish go ahead I was neither a party opponent you're involved litigation nor am I party in the other liation I didn't say you were party no no you said my deposition is being taken it is did they did the judge order last Monday to take your deposition well let's yes it's not scheduled but they order judge ordered you they the judge order you to give a deposition Mr this is this isn't across I'm not the one taking my time you guys are putting questions you have five minutes I'm not done how about that 12 minutes into your five minutes sir all right do I get to come back for another five no you get five minutes and after I gave you so that's a transparency then when you don't like what you hear you run away and hide the facts I just told you the facts St the judge order you to be deposed I have a copy of the judge's order you want to see it just said I just told you you just said you agree with Mr Mr C mayoral appointment you said it was the Department of Law appoint listen have you read the ordinance I have and what does it say this the the mayor appoints the the Department of Law what does the ordinance say what did I just say who appoints the position the prosecutor and the public defender before the ordinance change was it the mayor or the Department of Law well it's the mayor because the mayor appoints the Department of Law come on steuart don't jerk me around you know that if the mayor didn't tell you to appoint someone you didn't appoint them not hon I am being honest you're not honest Stuart you're the one that has multiple lawsuits you're the one there are multiple lawsuits did we just serve a Purry did we just serve a prry you just don't know the law I do know the law Steward and I know that you're taking advantage of it because you not appointed I don't care about being appointed I made more money today Stuart than I would make all year in that job see you here for seven years but as soon as you get reint that's right because now you're jerking around the whole process Stewart jerking around you are all right thank you I wouldn't give you to trouble about remove me steart you like comment on anything on that anybody else in the public wishing to speak [Music] you folks mayil I approach s we'll share we okay my name is Michael mcclusky MC c l o ke y 41 Saddle Brook Drive as you individuals know by now I've been this is my third council meeting that I have been attending to discuss the uh issue on Egg Harbor Road it's the open open space and it's block 17711 block 51 what you have in front of you there are four documents document number one is the areial photo of the uh open space in question document number two is the Washington's Township pop plan approved and signed in 1987 as open space document number three loster County document indicating open space and document number four which you individuals didn't have the last time is Washington Township CL plan revision number two dated 8 1876 open space and on document number four you will see the residents that signed to oppose doing away with the open space um I believe at our last meeting uh it was discussed to get those individuals to sign and we do have some of the members of the residents of 41 Saddle Brook that are adjacent to that open space so they did attend and they did sign as you can see posing that it doesn't be sold that it remains open space so I'm down to item number five why is the open space for sale is always deemed open space in Washington Township based on all the above documents that I submitted um I believe that's gives proof that it's open space those days last document number four indicates 8 1876 to present date W mayor from Rome it that's a total of 48 years that it has been open in space and you can see that date on document number four item six Washington Township do their due diligence to investigate Block 17 11 lock 51 Pride to any commitment documents two three and four above indicate open space so therefore based on those documents they should have not in any transaction item seven residents were never informed Washington Township was going to cell block 1711 51 item number eight and the residents were made aware when the contractor came on sight and started removing trees that occurred on July 17th of 2023 item number nine did Washington Township approve the contract to the start the tree removal process on 71723 and if not why did the contractor imense with the site work without authorization item number 10 what is Washington Township's timeline to have the trees replanted the tree trunks removed off site and reconstruct the verm located on a haror road ladies and gentlemen that has been five months since I first came here and that was on August 16th and today is 117 Washington Township ever issued a violation and if so what date item number 11 Friday 11224 contractor was on site removing trees existing trees remain on site you can refer to the photos that I submitted you'll see that as item number 11 that occurred last week um 11 number 11 first page it's all the photos it's the first photo page so the question is why is the contractor out there again doing work when back in July he was told not to he was not authorized to do any work so what why again is he doing more work when he's not authorized number 12 what is Washington Township to resend the assignment this should have never happened block 1711 lot 51 has been Washington Township open space since 868 1876 and the 33187 documents signed and that's one plot Number Two dated 33187 and number four plot plan dated 8876 so what I'm trying to say is ever since that in 7 6 the open space was always open space it hasn't changed to the best of my knowledge and and it should remain open space so at our last meeting I indicated that the township was going to try to Res resend that assignment my question is is it going to be a resend and if so when will it be resin and is there a date attached to that resending the assignment item 14 Washington Township maintain this open space for years prior to Washington Township changing to an Animal Haven and stop cutting them all I've been living in that spot for 34 years when I first moved in I had to pay a premium to um Orleans to get the spot I'm in now because it was open space and also when they sto cutting in the back of the open space the township I went to the Township Public Works and I was I asked the individual and I don't remember who it was I didn't take your name but there was I said was it a state ordinance no was it a County ordinance no Washington Township accepted it as quote an Animal Haven for that for the deer and whatever else is in there because there's a lot of animals that reside in that in that space there that open space item 15 since the township stopped cutting that open space area we the residents took it upon ourself to start cutting and maintaining that that area for the open space and you can see that by the plot plan on document number one the areas that are cleared we we maintain that we meaning the residents item 16 Washington Township again is responsible just send the municipal lean assignment for Block 171 lck 51 the assignment should have never happened what is the timeline for Washington Township to resent any request the open space issue has been going on for months item 18 what do the residents need to do for Block 171 last 51 can remain open space finally mayor councilman Washington Township needs to do the right thing it was always an open space has always been an open space as indicated on the document number four 1976 it's says open space so we the residents would like to have it remain open space thank you thank you Mr moski um so Mr MOS you and I sat down couple weeks the same list if you on your exhib doc number the last page yes area question you say the area of concern that you highlighted so well it says open space area to be seated seated s d and there's other open space are listed on that site planner Subdivision map that they said open space to be dedicated and so what happened as a matter of facts in history was that the Orleans developers who develop C development kept this property in the name this lot if you will it was part of the subdivision plan that was approved in file they kept this property in the name of that entity the do will usually purpose entity for each development that entity uh apparently went out of business sometime in 2013 right FP FPC whatever it was some kind of alphabet and eventually uh it went onto the tax sale list and we have a legal dispute whether or not this was supposed to be an open space set aside for the C development as part of the subdivision approval it's not dedicated like a Green Acres purchase or an open States purchase that is approved by uh by BP or by our open space committee this is part of any land ordinance where there's an open space set aside that's one side of the argument the other side of the argument it was never to be dedicated and it was owned by this company and they were supposed to maintain the property and they went out of business and then it went up for tax the tax assignment was assigned at a public meeting we do everything publicly here and that's when the dispute started because when you assign a tax sale certificate from the municipality that gives the person who gets the assignment the right the right to foreclose upon that assignment to foreclose upon title to get acquir title to the property to my knowledge that has not been done yet so the ownership of that property right now Still Remains with the entity that formerly owned it it is not been Chang as matter fee interest ownership that you've seen the power so we have a little bit of a legal dispute here the person that accepted the taxing assignment claims that he's in to tax assignment you on the other hand claim that they're not and we have this issue of what does it actually mean open space to be seated took the pl the somebody supposed to plant plant grass seeds and let it grow that's according to the definition so that's where we are so that's where we are today and I appreciate you know you've asked very good questions and you've really done a very good research here the last time we spoke about this it has also come to our attention that this property be open space or property owned by that Orleans has many encroachments from surrounding neighbors and council president offered a possible solution to this because if it's going to really be open space all of these encroachments whether they're pools sheds fences decks pieces parts of people's hes they would have to be removed the encroachments would have to be Abad so the issue really bees let's try to work this out between the asame of the tax s certificate and the homeowners because if we pursue this without a resolution then nobody's going to be happy because there's a lot of people that have encroachments there and they're going to have to be moved understood so we ask that you go out speak to your neighbors and see if there's any possible resolution should of bring this to a legal a legal dispute head and going to court and so forth so have you done that and what do you have to report today because the council president offer a way of among the well I myself I cannot speak for the resents but did you clearly understand what Mr IND we can have people come up separately you have to address govern right so to make a long story short legal aspect of it is if it remains open space whatever structure is on that open space now needs to be removed Mr marosy let me add also is that correct setbacks come into place so if you have something built too close to your existing property line even if your pool's Too Close once we take that Pro that that open space back you got to make sure everything's set back properly too so it's not just what's on the property that's designated is open space anything else that's encroaching any setback problems or anything else comes an issue clearly understood okay just want to make sure you it was clear my my own personal I have my pins of survey marks I know where they I know where they put him I have I myself I'll take my structure I'll move it back again I cannot speak for all the individual residents I mclusky will move it back I just want them to know it's all or nothing if it goes back to open space you can't have one person say I can't I don't want to give it back or my pool's too close then it it's dir the fines and everything is going to go whoever's not comp understand that so if you have a fence that goes into the open space you need to take the fence down and move back are you done 397 what's your last name solivan s i okay several questions um to start off this whole situation I mean when this first that happened when he was taking the trees down on the property I went back there well I came up to here first and I talked to the zoning person and said it's open space okay well then why is he back there cutting trees went out there with the zoning man who had no clue that he had purchased this Lan or paid the tax Lan or whatever it may be my question is how does the zoning manager not know this I know he doesn't know every single purchase that goes on how did this get kind of swept under the row because it seems like there was a ton of people who did not want the building that's going up in this property there was way more uh signed petitions signed residents in the surrounding area that did not want that and that still went through hundreds that was sign still went through so not many people were happy the place was beautiful back there before now it looks like a dog behind my house my question to you though is if you're telling me that every people every person that you're saying it's all or nothing you're telling me that fine it's all I'll go out there and move everyone's stuff off their property and they're going to be happy about it because of what's going to go there if we go and do that and then something get swept on the rug again now what because it seems like it's it's a lot of getting away with murder with the individual well listen as far as I'm concerned if there's any encroachments on this property from neor property owners that also don't the zon requirements they should be evated immediately this is not sort of an agreement like you can you can keep the violation I'm not saying viol but if in in space they need to be they need to be removed immediately and if you're violating the zoning code that needs to be addressed as well so to the zoning however the the ultimate goal here tonight was to find out what the residents in the area wanted to do we're finding out that your position is you you'll remove the encroachments correct correct I don't think there were be any Resident that would say they would not do that compared to what's going on at this point but whether we assign a tax certificate or not it doesn't matter they should not encroachments in the first place I don't I don't even know I got a fence put in I they got the perit up here and did whatever in M I don't I don't even know regardless that that's not and I'm not saying that you did I'm just say no we know that there was a survey and we know showing encroachments onto this corre so as result whether these if there was no assign if wasn't even the issue those approachment need to be need to be correct so I can't tell you until we have a deal you can continue on that would be so anybody that has anach needs to move the ma anyway regardless of the outcome of this matter now there was a thought that if if everybody wanted to keep those encroachments and then resolve it with his property owner then there could be a resolution between everybody that's another story that becomes a private property matter once Mr cier AC forclosed on the tax assign but we're seeing here tonight and this is what we want the feedback to the public tell us what you want tell us what you're willing to do and as a result we'll hear you and move forward in that direction so we're hearing hey we don't want to make any deals we want to keep this property open space but but having said that it's pure open space nobody can build it can do anything I agree with that I think that would be great I mean I don't think I don't know if there's any yeah I mean I think everyone's a thumbs up compar to what I me do whatever they for this to remain the way it is the way that like you said you know I got neighbors who spend a ton of money in their backyard to have it you know a nice place to go entertain things like that and then you you know Farms will be put back there it already it's not pleasant to the smell or the sound as it is now it's going to be 100t from your house you know people pay premiums for those lots and now because it backs up the open space and I understand what you're saying just I'm just trying to make so and you know to your it's going to to your benefit because at one point you're probably going to sell your home and if you go to sell your home and try to come out and get a that's going to be problem going to be happen that we had similar situation another area somebody actually built their pool on really Township own open space they had pool so these are the issues that we grapple with these are the important issues that we grapple with so I think we understand your position and sounds like that's a position of many of your neighbors yeah and I agree and for many of my neighbors it's a matter of maybe moving the fence a little bit or moving a shed you know which isn't a big deal you know like you talk about I go to sell my house now I got this deparm in the backyard the value of the house going when I talk tell me it's getting the feedback that that Council I just don't I I like I said I was just concerned about how things went through the first time when he just came out and started obviously he purchased whatever I don't he does correct so you lead right and I agree like I said this you know it was a good view you know you know natural force back there now it's all cut down looks like surface that's besides point mean there's other things you know you put that there there's field Moise back there as soon as you you know something comes in there where they go in my yard in my house I mean there's many concerns that I have just I would rather in the whole development neighborhood remain that way if there's anything we can do like I think most people do whatever they can nothing against him or just I just don't think it's if it's supposed to R away it's going to be a legal issue it's other than that I just you know that's over here just to make you guys aware lot of people thank you Mr Char so St real quick with the that being sold when would the go through well of course it's a municipal tax assignment six months he has to waitting peros tood buy the tax so anytime after months how many months are we now it be ability for us to that St done because I mean I know it was paid by up until when I believe the taxes were paid up to 2013 by Orleans and that was part of the information sorry to keep you waiting that was part of the information we were given was I've seen site plans where you know somebody put something say all right fireplace going here just going there and it never comes to fruition Orleans never followed through making that open space they continue to pay taxes 2013 as a company I'm donating open space I'm donating so I don't have the liability or the cost some reason Orleans continue to pay taxes until 2013 which uh based on your 1976 paperwork I mean that's that's over 40 years they pay taxes for 40 years on property they wanted to give away they didn't do the right thing and I think that's how it got through because if it they would have did the right thing even if we said yes it would have got to the county and the county would have said nope this is recorded and paid and done and that that that's where the confusion came on up here was theill Builder said they were going to do something promised to do something and never followed through how do we fix it and because he owns a tax lean now it gets a little bit more convoluted but you know well thanks I think everyone else need but but that that that's I think how it got to this point was barleans if they would have gave it away they would just stopped paying taxes in 76 to pay taxes for 40 years for something you gave away nobody does that so for some reason they still believe they owned it for whatever reason and once they went defunct and that's how the tax tax sale kicked in because now they became tax uh delinquent and then have kicked in the tax sale 2013 when he went def fun that's when they stopped paying taxes the T yes it was a 10 year 10 year um delinquency that was sold to Mr cardier I'm sorry ma'am hi hi my name is Maria harb I live at 43 Saddle drive my husband we Pur our house in December of 99 and um we actually purchased it with the existing you know fence there and everything our shed or fence so it's there as of when we purchased it number one um we are definitely you know against this and we will definitely do what we need to do to keep it open space my husband in has been the one who maintained that open space for years since they stopped cutting the grass and you know our neighbor Mikey he you know told us he went to the township and was told that you know they decided to stop cutting that grass because it was better for the environment um when we purchased our house we did our due diligence we came here and we said you know is it open space yes it is they showed us plans and different things um and my question is since you know it was open space and in our heads it's open space if it didn't if it became different what is your responsibility to us to tell us you know it is no longer open space I mean hell I would have took the $3,000 $6,000 and purchas it myself you know but we had no idea and we would have purchased it and just kept it as is for all our neighbors and I do recall you know I remember Martino saying when he purchased that land that he was looking to acquire other land and I was like what other land I mean I think it's wrong what he what he did and I think it's wrong if it if it does go through and we will definitely fight it yes yes not that no again what was the intent when that lot was created see what it says in the planar what indic that typically the not want us to pay taxes for 34 4 years dedicated to space that that didn't happen inated everybody that's up here collectively so there is an issue the real intent of that was it supposed to be open space or not that's rhetorical question it's a question the of law may have to answer and we'll have to address that issue I wonder why was the township cutting it at all then why was Township what why was Township cutting the grass at all then I I I really can't explain stuff that happened 20 30 40 years ago I really don't know why I just need we have we have documentation was the intent of the developer when resolution that says anything about we have the plans that were filed with the county quite frankly the county created this lot and block according to their records they created this lot themselves as a tax parel when the development was finally reced after it was approved and the homes were sold off so what responsibility if Martino doesn't own this land at this point you know it looks terrible right now it looks horrible and we can see you know all of his things and he can see all of ours I don't know why he that you know he wouldn't want to do that would want to do that unless he has a definite plan so why is he doing these things then prematurely I can't speak to why he's doing them I can tell you that or his AC not owner he jumped he should have he should have not done anything legally not own legally he had no right to take that so hopefully you know it'll be resolved but what responsibility does he have to put it back to where it was well ultimately have can't predict complely ACC the int set aside was it to be kept for some reason we don't we have is what we've researched which I we've opened the books again as a matter of transparency with Mr mosy we met for an hour with the mayor right there so we're as open as we possibly can be on this and we're hearing tonight get feed well you also mentioned you know there's a six month waiting period yes um so that was August is that said it started in August started in August so um do you mean a six Monon waiting period when the sale goes through I don't understand that and part way the foreclosure process Tak some time as well so my thinking is do I need to get a lawyer tomorrow you're always free to get a lawyer this is this is this is a Township washingon Township issue we the township issued tax Le and now apparently may may may may may Happ in ER maybe so how does that help me in knowing how I need to proceed I'm tell have to I I I I think I've said this a few times already council president had a good idea to get people involved we want to get feedback from the residents so we're getting your feedback and once we get everybody's feedback we will address it I will give them the appropriate legal advice they'll make a decision and we'll go from that and time frame of when we can come back check on updates very soon we we're not going to allow to go past the six minutes is that correct we'll discuss that it's a matter of leg thank you thank you they went out of business in 2013 that's why they stopped paying taxes well I would just recomend we not speculate yes ma'am hiwi 47 Saddle Brook Drive that was actually of my question yeah 4 first I just want to say thank you guys for all your due I'm a public servant I know you guys watch you know we watched that spectacle happen a little bit earlier I know you guys are taking your time and I appreciate that um but with with this situation this is this is really constituents coming in like asking you guys for help in this sit ation um if you drive by that you know we went to the zoning meetings um we spoke um about obviously the buying of the parcel and the changing of different lands um which has never been done in Township before you know and they very clearly said that to us um I will quote my 70-year-old fivey old mother who said what happened to that land it looks like a junkyard um I don't know why this is continuing when I purchased my house I moved there in 2020 right in the middle of Co um you know so if there is anything there I promise you I will move it I got a survey um but if there's something I will th% move it back or need to do whatever I need to do and I think every resident here um would do the same you know speaking with us um every one of us would do that so what I'm saying is if every one of us will do it and there's one of the other ones he needs to be held accountable just like we do okay why is it however many residents who are are here who signed the piece of paper who says we'll do it let's hold everybody accountable that he should be held to that same accountability as well you're refering to thee the tree yes and and again when we talk about the purchasing of the land just like my neighbor said I think every one of us here if we were aware of that would probably have purchased that land um just to protect that when I moved in 2020 that was that was the cell of why I wanted to go to that property so by doing this this is taking I'm telling you and you guys know this I'm sure you're aware of property values I'm not reaching to the choir this is taking thousands of dollars out of our hands by putting that in removing it back it is taking thousands of dollars of your residence by allowing this guy to come in and do that okay there's enough there we were aware that we were buying that on open space I understand that we're arguing semantics right now but we're you guys what we're arguing okay is what we have to deal with every day now the music lasting okay the animal noises the vultures the turkey vultures that are now sitting on top of our houses I was joking it looked like the Jungle Book like cartoon because that's how many turkey vultures we have on our house okay this is providing real impact to the residents of coln okay and we're okay right now we've dealt with what's there but now this is going to come up this comes up to the back of my house you're talking thousands of dollar for us to maintain privacy just simple privacy and let Al on the loss of what it's going to be in our real estate property so I I'm up here just to tell you right now we will move anything that we have to move and the majority of our people will say that as gr thank you Kate thank you we appreciate it my name's Joe hay 45 saddle book drive and I just want to be sure if we everybody goes in and we pull back if we're in violation we get that in writing that he can't purchase the proper one thing actually has nothing to do with the other whether this taxan assignment was made or not should there should not have been an encroachment across a property line an observance of our zoning code for setbacks for structures so that's an issue regardless of this conundrum that we're in tonight about ownership of the open space lot so I cannot tell you that if you don't remove the encroachment you're not going to be penalized and I can't tell you that if you do remove the encroachment that means that he's not going to get the proper that's just not the way that it works can't have an encroachment on somebody else's property without their permission clearly unless you tell me or show me that that Orleans entity gave you permission to encroach uh I we have no such records in our in our records going back these years that those encroachments were illegal and they have to be removed irregardless of the outcome of this legal issue as to whether or not proper this why did it just coming up now that there's violations I mean I'm I'm living in my house 24 years all of my neighbors have have been there multiple years so all of a sudden this this comes up because Martino it it just sorry there's aerous sent to this I cannot speak to what happened before there was an illegal encroachment you did if there was hypothetically anybody built the structure on prop that's not theirs that's an illegal encroachment whether it came up 24 years ago or whether it came up when this tax assignment became an issue or when Mr mosy first B it up to us and and it Stills this all right thanks thank you Mr Sir Anthony cerano 37 s so I just have a couple quick questions so if I understand I'm just trying to understand what you're saying correctly so if in fact one of the owner the occupants of the house there if they have an encroachment on this said Protected Their open space area are you saying that you will now you're expecting that to be removed 100% agree wholeheartedly no problem there but are you saying that if there is an encroachment that you are now going to cess fine from the date of the encroachment or the date that you can prove of the encroachment because I'm having a hard time understanding where you're going with that not listen I'm not sure that I'm not threatening anybody here I'm saying encroachments need to be removed Z ordinances need to be observed sure nobody's going to go back 20 30 years sure you deal with it you really only start the process when you're issued a notice of violation to remove it typically there would be a a a period of time to cure the problem 100% call and say listen I got sh winter time whatever it is you know that's up to the construction code official and the code enforcement official absolutely so in that case I don't suspect that there's going to be any kind of longterm violations going back frankly we don't know well true fair enough I just want a little Clarity on that the second question is is that so um the guy behind us buy That Lean all right so he takes well he takes he purchased the lean right lean yeah he purchased the lean correct he just doesn't own it because he didn't for close on the lean yet corre okay so he purchases the lean so let's just say hypothetically that I wanted to purchase this building who wasn't default that way tax sale and I come in and I purchase this at the tax sale I can't come in this door the day I buy it and do something that is property matter of fact I could be arrested for doing it but yet somehow this guy takes control of this property and in the same day or very near to that comes back in just a mass Exodus of every tree and whatever else he wants to touch and then comes back and claims no no no I don't want to hear it get off my land I own this property so how in fact could this man number one think he owns the property and number two he only bought a lean and if correct me if I'm wrong but there's a right of redemption on the lean and that's what that's six months is wor so you're correct and there are two different issues ownership moving forward but what's happening on the property now corre totally that's the point I'm making not only is he misinformed is thinking he owns it so that's part one which you don't own it right but the second part is he's treating it as if he does own right and that in itself is the biggest issue so these a lot of our neighbors here we're all saying the same thing is that it's one thing to get it back to what it you know to get it keep it from not becoming a a debacle for lack of a better word right um number two being a complete eyesore for anybody and everybody right that is not his plans for that land is is just atrocious no one wants that in their back door right no one wants that right and then on top of that not only is he going to do that but now he's coming in and saying no no no I take I stay claim this is mine I own so how are we a keep it from not doing that number one but number two how the heck we get it back how do we get it back to what it used to live right that's a huge issue this is not this isn't this isn't just whether or not a guy Stakes claim the lane that says it's mine this is way bigger than that this is a guy that says I don't care what anybody says it is mine and you or no one else is going to tell me what I can or cannot do with it somebody's got to put that I mean that's out of control next time it'll be a building a lot of issues what's the penalty for removing trees that I'm you know B what's the replanting going to be like is it going to be rep yeah all kinds of issues and it's certain not an issue that we created and and who again these your all allegation but the pictures for themselves and so at this point we know that there's been some uses of the property as if there was an ownership when probably should yeah there was also and again I don't have the facts in Fr I'll share you know a little bit of the information that I can share prior to the storm the just game ironically enough after that stor these Crews showed back up as if it now provided an easy way to say oh no I was protecting my own these trees came down blah blah blah it also went to the point I think of a of a social post something to the nature of um thank God all these trees missed my house who's willing to come help and holdan them up ironically enough the trees are cut some of them 20 ft in the air and now none of them fell anywhere near your house down these aren't falling trees cut down trees but strategically all right makes sense windy storm siding well I think theeg potentially somebody wanted to do something but it's just interesting the way it because it stopped since you initially were involved stop it then somehow pick right back up again following that windstorm yeah the neighbors actually did um walk back there and the contractor was very direct in saying Martino owns this land this is private property your trespass makes sense all right well I appreciate you guys listening thank you very much thanks appreciate you we appreciate you coming up here thank you in 30 seconds question so if I when I built have my fence put in right I had to come here to get a permit so I know I got a permit so permit was issued defense was put on um did someone come out and inspect that from the township to make sure that I'm not on the property line at it depends if your contractor call for a final inspection okay okay so so that would be on your contractor who pulled the permit would have called for final inspection that the point the final inspection when it came out because I mean there's contractors that go out there and we've had one they put a pool in open space they don't care I know so so so that that would be U okay I I don't know either be honest I was a long time it's not a rity forone come with over the property L that happens a lot unfortunately and so that's where the problem is reses all the time have you ever heard of adverse possession I have that will be our legal seminar for next because that's that there was this defenses and everything were put up without conflict and it's been 20 30 40 years position you want to take I'm just that I mean and one last thing I don't matter the other thing is you know now that this was brought up about our fences sheds were you know he came out to me that day when I was out there asking him to stop problem and he basically the contractor told me you give him a hard time he's going to make sure you have to move everything off your prop you know what I mean so it's it's you know that's you know nobody would have known about it until even with the even with the survey so he comes to make sure that our property our stuff is off his property which he threatened the day I went out thank for S thank you thank you let's close hello Le L chairman of the open space committee uh I want to take you back a little in history about three years ago three of us on the open space committee went around town trying to locate the nice slot where we where we could reforest independently we all vote voted number 1 2 3 4 5 6 just so happens that this lot came out number one in everybody's on we all decided this was the nicest lot that we thought was open space that was available so it would really be ashamed to um to to desecrate the property number two to I believe not only has Martino cardier trans transgressed he's also broken the tree ordinance any individual cannot cut any tree down uh on a property even if he owns it if it's 5 Acres so I I think if nothing else he should at least be cited for cutting down trees and um it would basically we try to so obviously there's multiple issues we have to deal with on top of right well that's one of them my question is what year did you guys determine that was the number one spot for open space about three years ago how come did you guys inquire at all because you guys could have put the lean years ago we walked we walked around it we everybody was if you look at the tax map which we which I have a copy of it says open space so arbitrarily we walked around we drove around we saw a spot on Wilson Road we went to the area behind Winchester basically we looked at we assumed that this was open space that belonged that was so you already assumed it was open space so you guys didn't inquire or F Well because we looked at the map it didn't look very close that's why that's why ask the clarification thank you yes thank you sir thank you Leon appreciate it one more pleas so we all came disc we feel presented it to the council mayor mayor and council members lastly inmation what is the next step what what does does the residents need need to provide issue come in what is the next step for the residence to discuss with Washington I have an idea it's up to council we have foron session we can include this issue because it's litigation on this for next executive session go to close session discuss what our options are I can give the council advice but we can do it at the first I'm fine with that I don't I don't want to let anything linger and you know I just want to make sure whenever we figure out figure out the proper proper way why I came up to ask going what what is the next step and I understand what you just said that's why I as sound like a good next step for you yes now when is the next meeting should I be should we be here at the next meeting or what is I I I I would I would reach out to one of us and get an update prior and see if we can try to figure something out without having to do this here um maybe we can even have a meeting ose talk with about maybe we can meet with the then bring the other guy let's see what we can do to move this forward without have to do it here that way to five or eight minutes we have you know may I make a suggestion how about if we meet with Mr PR to do so again as long as he he bringing food and we're good as long as the Buffalo Bills the Super Bowl we this is this is good I'm in agreement mayor I members thank you I appreciate time I want to thank all the Colt uh coln for coming out tonight I'm your neighbor I live on Selena road so uh I understand what you're saying I want to say that I appreciate Mr cazo and Mr Alo coming up and speaking oh yeah that's fine want to speak can I get a motion to close uh public portion all in favor all right we close the public so I just want you know going forward in the future this kind of open dialogue is is important it's democracy at work I just hope in the future that even the people are here about this issue uh with this land just know that we do work on these things there's a lot of things that are going on we we think about this we work on it I mean Mike has been here multiple times it's not that you're forgotten it's we we literally have to go over things every single day we will work on it we'll sit with you we'll spend the time we'll try to resolve it the best we can uh our our numbers are right here in in the front all of our phone numbers our emails we're not going to forget about you we understand like I said I'm your neighbor but even if I wasn't your neighbor we're all really neighbors right doesn't matter what side of town you live and we're all neighbors so let's try to see if we can come up with resolution council president did have a great idea let's get together let's try to solve this on all these issues anyone who comes up here with any issue and anyone in who comes at any time let's let's work together and try to solve these because that's what being neighborly is all about and that's what Washington Township really is all about that's all I have to say thank you coun yes please comments I receive his I it I tell you that correct ofation violation of of government and the is perfectly legal invest the appointing authority in the C body in this Cas which is the counil which is consistent and it was never AAL appointment wasal appointment never may look at the today it was an appointment for both the prosecut and public defender by director Department whoever that was so just toel those issues with all respect to Mr C just gr on the nature of the Act and the of me now public portion is closed sir this is our public portion I guess I'll see you next week uh secondly with respect to Mr Alo uh the fact that he says it or yells atams doesn't mean it so there's CET no conflict of interest because my wife it's a shame that he would he's so desperate for the issue that he would bring up my wife create basically put out misinformation to the public that there was a conflict when there wasn't she did not represent you and does not represent you in your personal private matter that's number one number two I'm not the responsible party for any kind of lawsuit I have not been named anymore so I'm not sure what he's talking about it your name to the issue and if you recall last week last meeting Mr Al made made a threat and I think the threat deserves some attention to this Council he said because I wasn't appointed I'm going be back here looking at things and commenting on things over and over again because I didn't get AO that's sour grapes it's the height of somebody who is desperate and I think for a professional who doesn't get appointed to come out like that is completely unprofessional he can he T opinions but he's wrong law he's wronging the facts and the louder he yells it as loud as he is that's how long he is on his interpretation of everything and quite frankly he had no such interpretation for the past seven years so it's only when he didn't get re appointed out here telling the public that he was wrong but it's not because he was wrong because he's making more money he's just a resident's concern it's just not honest it's not C you made a decision to make the ordinance in a situation where you have competition for the two positions professionally as you do all positions and you also uh make it a ability for there to be transparency so the residents know and presumably was not dark night this was clearly an ordinance was published it was notifi noticed by the clerk there was a public portion on it and I believe Mr Costo and Mr both applied for the position so that they weren't selected that's a council decision and at this point the matter as far as I'm concerned he's put the bed that's my lead of opinion they they're not they're not Municipal law practitioners and so therefore I would give no wey to be honest really you're out of I don't care I don't care then then the chief will take you out that's okay know how the process works you're I do know how the process works this is a restrictive process come on guys go that you let's act like adults let's act like adults that's right I'll come next meeting don't worry about it we'll be here so I we move on to Executive session resolution 57 no um we're going to move to Executive session uh authorizing exec authorizing executive session regarding Township of Washington vers uh G as well as open space situation can I have a motion to approve resolution 57 Mo all in favor a roll call I'm sorry roll call Mr yes Mr de yes Mr Brown yes Mr Bennett yes Mr yes we'll now enter into executive session it'll take approximately 60 probably an hour and expect to be any action taken when we come back out the right to do so and hour okay thank you going to executive that