##VIDEO ID:Kw6hvnWFOA4## e e e e PL flag of the United States America for it stands one nation under God indivisible withy and justice for all roll call Mr Schiff here Mr Franco I am here and Mr Cabrera I am here in compliance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 the notice requirements have been satisfied as to the time place and date of holding said meeting by posting notice on the bulletin board here in burrow Hall and by mailing and emailing SE to the herald of Kate May County on October 4th 2023 and the Press of Atlantic City on December 13th 2023 in the event of an emergency your emergency exit is the way you came in our front left your back right or just by the American flag our front right your front left um couple quick announcements I want to do a quick uh sound check Brian how we making out there with the sound we're all good this meeting is being shown live here today on the buroughs Facebook and YouTube channel if you want to call in and ask a question or make a public comment all we need is your name uh you're going to dial the access code 888 363 4734 and when prompted you're going to enter the access code 969 9020 followed by the pound or the hashtag if you watch the recorded version of this meeting and you have a question or comment you wouldd like to make you're more than welcome to phone our clerk at 69729 8040 or you can email her at clerk at wallwood crest.org Madam clerk I believe we have an introduction for an ordinance yes sir it is ordinance number 1436 and it reads as follows an ordinance to amend section 59-3 of the code of the burough of Wild Crest known as the salary ordinance fixing and determining salaries and compensations of the burough of Wildwood Crest and providing in for the raising of the amounts thereof by taxation and for the time and method of payment motions that ordinance number 1436 be passed on first reading advertised according to law be brought up for second final reading in public hearing on September 4th 2024 at 9:30 a.m. I'll second that it has been moved and seconded that ordinance number 1436 be passed on first reading adverti according to law we brought up for second and final reading in public hearing on September 4th 2024 at 9:30 a.m. roll call Mr shiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes next we have the resolutions the first is authorizing waving all fees required by application to lunch with Lynch Inc for a one mile foot race on September 7th 2024 from 5: to 9:00 p.m. on the bike path I'll motion that I'll second it has been moved and seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes next is authorizing increase of contract in the amount of 23,000 to Star Septic LLC for portable toilets contract I'll motion that I will second it's been moved and seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr shiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes next is authorizing the Bure of Wildwood Crest to establish an insurance Review Committee I'll motion it second it's been moved and seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco yes yes Mr Caba yes next is authorizing waving off fees required by application to the Ukrainian Congress committee Inc on o August 24th 2024 from 1:30 to 2: p.m. on the beach between crocus and Aster roads I'll motion that R second it's been moved and seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco Mr Caba yes next is authorizing refund of property taxes or utilities over payment made payable that should be KH H and J venture LLC motion second it's been moved and seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr shiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes next is authorizing cancellation and refund of taxes for a totally disabled veteran motion that I will second it's been moved and seconded that the foregoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr cabara yes next is authorizing Award of Professional Services contract to Concord engineering for construction manag agement and professional Engineering Services for a rooftop air handling unit replacement at Crest Pier at the not exceed sum of $1,160 I'll motion it I second is been moved and seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes next is revising the authorization for participation in alternate route appointments for police officers I'll motion I second it's been moved and seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr shiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes next is authorizing expenditure to purchase tasers and software for the police department under State contract in the amount of $ 39,2 n590 over 5 years I'll motion it I'll second it's been moved and seconded that the foregoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes L you can't get one of them next is authorizing Amendment to the 2024 Municipal budget to account for additional funding for from the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority for the 2024 Urban Enterprise Zone Program Grant I'll motion I'll second it's been moved in seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes lastly authorizing a Board of Professional Services contract with Scott Taylor of Taylor Design Group Inc for final design phase fee Services Task tasks 2.0 to 2.3 and 3.0 for the New Jersey Avenue streetscape at the not to exceed sum of of $3,775 I'll motion I second it's been moved and seconded that the forgoing resolution be adopted roll call Mr shiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes motion that all bills properly authorized as submitted be paid I'll second it it's been moved and seconded that all bills properly authorized as submitted be paid roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes motion at all reports received from the court administrator Chief Financial Officer tax collector chief of Poli police supervisor for the recreation department construction official emergency services coordinator for the EMS and Wild Crest Volunteer Fire Company chief for the month ending July 31st 2024 be accepted as presented I'll second it it's been moved and seconded that all reports received from the court administrator Chief Financial Officer tax collector chief of police supervisor for the recreation department construction official emergency services coordinator for the EMS and the wildest Volunteer Fire Company chief for the month end July 31st 2024 be accepted as presented roll call Mr shiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr cab yes motion that all minutes from commission's meeting dated July 25th 2024 and August 7th 2024 be approved as presented I'll second it it's been moved and seconded that all minutes from the commission meetings dated July 25th and August 7th 2024 be approved as presented roll call Mr Schiff yes Mr Franco yes Mr Caba yes thanks CH you're welcome thank you okay we're just going to we're going to change up the reports just a little bit here we're going to start with our engineer Mr deasio you want to kick it off thank you I have two updates for uh the Burrow under capital projects the first one is the beach Patrol headquarters project that project is near completion we're in the closeout phase we had a walk through with the construction office and we're very close to a certificate of occupancy the second project update is for the Bayside bulkhead replacement and flood mitigation project we continue to have robust interest in the project numerous bids have picked up are asking questions there's a lot of interest in that project that bid opening is scheduled for next Wednesday and if we have a responsible bidder that's within budget we will be in position to potentially award a contract the first meeting of September and last item uh for update under Grant applications the New Jersey I bank is a uh revolving state funded program that pays for water and sewer Improvement projects that also incl roadway improvements as well we've had initial conversations with the uh New Jersey ibank we call njib and we were uh pleasantly surprised to hear that the bur is eligible for a $2 million principal forgiveness Grant on a project that's related to sanitary sewer replacement as well as roadway improvements as a restoration to that sewer we have a pre-planning application meeting on September 5th at 1:45 p.m. my uh anticipation and hope is that it'll be a good conversation we'll be eligible for those funds and uh put you in position to consider a project good job that is my report govern anybody any questions for Mr deasio none for me thanks Mark Mark on the uh New Jersey I bank I fire not M we actually had that under uh we had that on for discussion I think you and Francine did a presentation you were on a webinar so that was something this is a kind of a followup to that so I think after that maybe after that September 5th we need to probably identify based on priority between Public Works and your master plan that you did way back in 2018 or 19 kind of merging them all together and and I think one of the candidates for consideration is Park Boulevard that runs um I guess perpendicular to the project that hopefully we're going to do which is the street ends and if that becomes part of the iank project that gives us an opportunity to potentially raise the roadways on Park Boulevard as well to help your your base side replacement project with flood mitigation so that's been designed so that in the future if we do get funding and we do touch Park Boulevard we can raise Park Boulevard so hopefully you might have a project right behind it and we can tie it all together gotcha okay uh public any questions of our engineer he has to he has to leave so ask now if you have anything for our engineer on his report or anything in general that requires an engineer hearing none anybody on the conference line for our engineer Mr Blasio you are excused thank you mayor you're welcome okay um moving right along uh we're going to move right to the public safety report Mr so we're going to start with him what about Connie Mr con we're gonna we're gonna Mr CS has a meeting he has a meeting again I all over the place with governing body administrator my monthly report for July Chief me do yours you got yours got it okay to do it come up here do it together [Music] um oh boy yeah so anyway for EMS report for July uh file life has taken off uh We've uh been offered uh to do some organizations as well as uh many of the conduit associations uh request our agency to present this program so it's been very well uh received and we're grateful to the public for their interest uh our agency did uh present to ladies of the nights oo which uh Madam clerk read it last month's meeting uh we were able to purchase an adult-sized training mannequin a full-size adult mannequin uh this purchase was due to a very generous and Anonymous donor uh that we were you know again can't say about but we're grateful for them and their family for what they did uh and we purchased in infant restraint system called a neomate due to the change in regulation in regards to Children car seats and uh stretchers and our transportation in the state of New Jersey we have to do it that way uh I'll start 165 calls of service 67 were transports 32 were refusals 42 uh were between fire standbys uh and Co rescue calls orc me elevator calls 16 uh were either medical recalled or no calls for Action uh and that is all I have for the report turn it over to my partner here crime Chief Cortez okay every uh I'm new at this so you have to forgive me all right at for the month of July we had a total of 52 calls I got you you got me all right good which included four fires including cooking rubbish mulch vehicles um we had rescue and EMF which included motor vehicle accidents medical assists elevator entract Ms and water rescues we had 11 of those hazardous conditions electrical hazards uh gas leaks seven service calls which were assist Police Department for public assist we had five of those good intent calls smoke scares odor of smoke investigations with no incident we had one false alarm and false calls we had 23 of those and severe weather disas which was a lightning strike for a total of 52 runs for the month of July we're currently at 267 total for the year and what we're in the process of doing is trying to get volunteers if you notice there's signs all over the burrow uh we're in desperate need of volunteers just like everybody else is so we're starting a program and we're trying to get it underway and the sooner the better and that's all I have that's all okay great job sir thank you thank you gentlemen stop pulling those B arms uh let's see how about we go to Chief Lloyd evening governing body public administrator CFO clerk um I'm going to go over some highlights from my July report to the commissioner Public Safety um in the month of July the police department responded to 3,238 calls for service 243 of those required more than one officer um we had 389 criminal investigations we had 625 service calls which include alarms citizen assists fires medical assist School related activities and utility complaints we conducted 763 motor vehicle stops which was actually 40% around 40% over our 536 in uh 2023 we issued 147 motor vehicle summonses responded to 28 motor vehicle accidents um we conducted 488 property checks we did 177 hours of training and for the month of July we had 43 arrests uh which was around 75% over our 25 in 2023 uh 40 adult arrests three Juvenile and 90 uis so that'll be my report unless somebody has questions none for me thank no thanks Chief thanks Chief all right finishing up the public safety reports we're going to go with lieutenant Murphy hey good evening everyone uh my name is Bick Murphy um I'm a North sector Lieutenant uh on the beach in W Crest um those are hard reports to follow up with so um going to change some of Chief's bullets and try to chronologically do some things and talk about the end of the summer at the very end um we did have uh just recently our 103d which is hard to believe annual lifeguard ball and award ceremony uh at the Iconia on August 12th it was a great event uh some of our folks couldn't make it because uh South jerseys were the same night so a few of those guys decided to stay with the program went out of town and competed well for us that night uh the junior lifeguard and Futures programs have ended uh we had a total of 187 registrant between those two programs a majority of those obviously in the junior lifeguard uh program and the last class was held at Mor's water park where they partake in the water slides and activities there pizza pictures t-shirts and it culminates in a very good uh Community effort on the part of um our kids to take care of that program we're very proud of them uh we had another successful season uh racing this summer the men and women on the beach Patrol competed in 16 out of town races and they represented our city very well and we actually had comments from other beaches on how they conduct themselves uh throughout these U contests so we're happy to have uh that type of uh reputation here in South Jersey we'll have two boats oh we this is older we had two boats entered in the around the island row which was just on uh Tuesday yesterday and both of them uh fared in the top 10 uh however some of you know our Olympian Joe Malloy he was actually in the race with someone from Wildwood and they finished in the top of the heat uh as far as ahead of our guys so it's pretty neat to see Joe back in the boat after so many years um okay on to the most important part our emergency response teams will be on the available on the weekend ends of September 14th 15th and September 2122 and that's from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and reminding people that that is not a guarded program that is a response program due to a limited number of Staff only six beaches will be protected by lifeguards the four days after Labor Day which is Tuesday September 3rd to Friday September 6th um those beaches that will be guarded are lavender Coline Primrose Nashville Syracuse and Trenton and because we spread our chairs out fairly wide we encourage people that are coming to the beach not to swim exactly between the chairs but as close to the chairs as possibly can afford them um because if we can't see you we can't help you all right so we like to put that reminder out there um let's see if he has anything else here now if you have if you have any questions um please call our Beast Patrol for questions concerns anything coming up here especially as we move on into the end of the uh season and that number number is 609 522 3825 um I'm happy to answer any questions or something that I didn't cover you might be curious about if there are any some okay very good thanks I'm here thank you for your time appreciate thanks thanks sir appreciate it okay that wraps up the public safety reports we're going to move right to the administrator's report thank you sir I'll keep it brief um our right now the beach and dun Construction for Inlet to Kate May Inlet Dune and Beach project which is an Army Corps project uh the mayor and uh Mark Deasia our engineer and I will be meeting with representatives of Coastal Engineering and the Army Corps tomorrow via teams to discuss the impact of this project on our fishing pier we are attempting to get a what's called a lur credit um for the impact that this Dune will have on that fishing pier so we're going to be meeting tomorrow on that and I will report back on that um Mark has completed his surveying work work um so the acquisition phase and the um easement phase of that project has um we're proceeding through it really well and we should be wrapping that up shortly New Jersey Avenue planning work is ongoing in advance of the County's roadway project the tailor Design Group was awarded a Professional Services contract this evening to to complete the final drawings um that Triad will be using in an informational piece that we'll be putting out on that project this project is expected um to commence in 2025 with some sewer improvements and go into 2026 and Beyond it's a county roadway project that will take um a few years Sunset Lake Channel dredging um I did get a phone call from Scott Douglas last week he will be retiring shortly so he has asked for a transitional meeting in the next week or so to ensure that there's a smooth transition and so that we can meet the new uh representative from do who will be taking over the project and I will keep everybody posted on that especially commissioner Franko um cfer applications we have satisfied all the information requests from d for our ADR um meeting which was a few months ago our um updates are requested by our attorney weekly or bi-weekly and um we still don't have any information or outcome on that Mark reported on the Bayside bulkhead um project Washington Avenue flood mitigation we are still waiting on word from FEMA to see if we are successful in our application to FEMA for the um flood mitigation project there the small cities Ada project from 2023 is the bathrooms here 2024 we have been approved for Crest Pier bathrooms um we are still awaiting the final drawings from um Mr mccl he did have a gentleman here last week the MEP guy and they did a a last minute recognizance so I think we're going to be seeing those plans shortly cman County Road Safety plan um the draft plan is on their website um we also in conjunction with the County's plan we are doing our own um application to the federal government for a safe streets for all um Grant it's a planning and implementation study for $200,000 um our match is approximately 40 so we did um get a copy of the Draft application today from Colliers I did send that out to the governing body um via email today for everybody to look at before it's finalized I also send it to the um chief of police and um Ralph grai from public safety for review the middle Thor Fair bridge I'm happy to report is now open um I wanted to thank lower Township and the county they worked very hard to make sure that that bridge um got open it was um I think a lot of stress and anxiety and it looked like it was going to be a long-term closure it turned out that they were able to make some repairs that are temporary um until a new motor does arrive but that br will go up and down it is anticipated that it will take a little longer for it to go up and go down about three times longer than normal but as long as it's going up and down I think we're all happy so I think that was a great result but we did have contingency plans in place I knew there were a lot of comments from the public about what plans there were and we were working closely alongside of lower to make sure that the public safety um was addressed that's all I have okay Bonnie any questions for Connie thank you Connie I'm good public any questions for Connie conference line anybody okay moving right along what brings us to correspondent so I received an email um a couple weeks ago uh from a neighbor of our property when I say our property it's at 5900 New Jersey Avenue so that is on the corner of crocus in New Jersey it was purchased um I'm going to say five years ago or so uh with the idea of potentially that becoming a parking lot so it it sits as it exists now as a as a vacant home uh Public Works has been keeping up with the the the the grass and to the best they can to the outside of the house itself if you read the email uh it basically suggests that the house is starting to show at sence aware um the question really becomes is what is the Burrow's intentions of what to do with it um we haven't made any decision so I so I did advise this this uh individual that we would uh put on the agenda for a discussion sure we'll have an answer but um as it stands right now the bur owns it we're doing our best to maintain it uh we could certainly demolish the building and just put a u an empty lot there or we could keep it as is um there there hasn't been any final determination in terms of whether or not the burrow will need that area as a as a parking lot cuz we really need the lot next to it it in order for that to happen so there also exists the possibility that the burrow may have another alternate use for that or potentially putting on the market and selling it if if necessary so um I did promise uh this individual we put on the agenda keep it in front of us uh we don't have any answers right now but I think in the meantime I think we just Public Works will just do the best they can to to keep it looking as pristine as we can um if anybody sees anything it needs attention just let um the department know questions you want put that on Old business yes yep okay uh discussion items under new business uh first one police composition possible ordinance Amendment uh I'm going to certainly ask uh Chief and commissioner shiff to to fill in the blanks I I I'll do my best to overview it uh so as of right now we have in front of us uh a draft ordinance um from both of our legal attorneys that talks about some of the things that have been requested so um the issue of of of this amendment is the inability or the difficulty in getting seasonal uh class two officers so class twos are the ones that actually go to the the police academy and they can come out and they would actually be a part of our of our Patrol uh Patrol teams uh in the bur with the in the police department the problem is is is that a lot of times that their college kids they have to go back to school or they leave and find other work whatever they have whatever have you after the burrow has already paid them to go to the academy and learn the burrow and all the training involved and then we won't get them back then for the for the following year so the idea uh proposed by Chief Lloyd and chief correct me if I'm wrong is is hey the money that we're spending on currently seven seasonal officers why don't we invest that in three full-time officers so that we can have you know folks uh officers that know the burrow that have made this a career that in essence we sending uh spending um the same amount of money as we would on the class twos uh at the same time we can uh ask the police to do some additional duties some of we had talked about code and some police camps and so forth um so that's kind of what's in front of us right now um it's on for discussion so for two reasons just to make sure that the governing body is is all uh uh aware of the ordinance we have both of our attorneys here if there's any questions that we need to address we certainly have Chief Lloyd and and commissioner shiff to fill in the blanks and certainly the public because this is a this is a major change for The Bu right so the burough and and most municipalities have always used Class twos to fill that summertime void um we're in essence doing away with that replacing it with full-time staff the scheduling I had I did ask the question and chief lloy was gracious enough to provide me with a copy of a schedule and has assured assured me that you know hey we're we're going to we're going to overtime is not going to be more potentially could be less and through the and I and the term is a power schedule could be used to use year round staff to fill the void of the seven officers that we potentially wouldn't have that would be here for seon did I cover that right yes sir all right yeah sure no that was good thank you so um there's multiple levels to the issues that we're having with the the class 2 police officers it's it's not only the the the number of people that are applying which is it's not unique to Waba Crest that we're not we're the only ones not getting applications for Class 2 police officers it's countywide it's Statewide um I just had conversations with multiple Atlanta County uh police Chiefs um just the other day on Tuesday it's it's it's everywhere I've I've been discussing this with Chiefs through throughout the state for several several years now um and I've been back and forth with the governing body about the the struggles that we're having um the the number of applicants has reduced significantly we used to get hundreds of applications now we're lucky if we get 15 applications not only that but the cost the hourly rate for class twos has gone up more in the past four years than it did in the previous 20 so what we're looking at now is paying a seasonal police officer more money than we're paying some of our full-time police officers that we have out on the on the street just to get bodies into the building and that's not helping us in any way um and I've had conversations with commissioner shiff that I don't think it's appropriate or right to pay class two police officers more than we're paying our full-time staff uh those are people that have committed to work for us and the burrow for for year round for a career and now we're going to bring people in just because we need to fill fill spots and we're going to pay them more than we're paying a full-time police officer it just doesn't seem right to me and I'm I'm not willing to go that route um but we're looking at rates of 23 to 25 20 who knows where I mean just a few years ago it was 18 now we're up to 20 uh uh Class 2 is being paid $25 an hour in certain jurisdictions um so so that's a struggle that that's not something that can be sustained it's the looking forward this program and it's not only my thought but it's the thought of many police Chiefs who have actually taken uh my proposal and and proposed it to their governing bodies and are working on getting more full-time police officers this is a non-sustainable program and I don't think that we're going to be seeing Class 2 police officers uh at least as many as we used to I don't I don't know what certain uh agencies that used to hire 40 are doing I know a lot of them that used to hire 40 we're lucky to get 13 this year and what's happening now is there overworking their full-time staff trying to cover shifts and that that can be a problem to the to the municipality because you you now have overworked police officers out on the street who aren't getting enough sleep because they're working uh they're working seven days a week 12h hour shifts uh that if you overwork your staff and then you put them out on on the street that I mean you you can talk about all kinds of different things that could happen to somebody who's overworked and and and is not getting enough sleep um and the fact that they're dealing with sometimes hostile and and U violent situations I mean are they making the right decision or they there's a lot of factors that come into this um so what I propose to the governing body um is suspending the class two program taking that money that we use for that program and hiring three new uh full-time police officers what that'll do is that money that every year now we have been paying and it it would go right out the door when with those class two officers in August um Mid August which doesn't help us for our shoulder Seasons or September and October season where we we have a lot of special events that that money is walking out the door with them and that's gone that's gone forever right every dime that we spend on these full-time police offic off is now an investment into the future of not only this police department but but also the future Safety and Security of this burrow um so what I ask of the governing body is to take that money hire those full-time uh police officers and I did uh explain to the mayor how um we would utilize those uh full-time police officers the full-time police officers go to a 22- we uh uh police academy the the season officers go to a 9we abbreviated Academy so these full-time police officers are a lot more trained um they're going to know our town because they're going to be working here and they're going to be able to handle that call volume that it took s to 10 S2s to handle those full-time police officers are going to be able to handle that the class twos that we have that graduate the police AC Academy the week before Fourth of July weekend and then come in we now have our field training officers and our supervisors working harder to make sure that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing because they they have no idea what they're doing they they just come out of came out of the police academy and now we're putting them on the street for Fourth of July weekend it's very taxing on our field training officers it's very taxing on our supervisors our supervisors are spending a lot of time in this building rather than out on the street supervising our our officers because they're having to review reports or uh correct reports or show our class 2 police officers how to do certain things and it's taking people off the street we're doing this having those full-time police officers we're going to take a lot of that time that we spent every single year training these new officers we're going to take that out of the equation and now our police officers are going to be out on the street doing what they're supposed to be doing and I'm not saying that the class 2 police officers were never uh I was a Class 2 police officer um they worked for us for a while but we're in a very different situation than we were 20 years ago 20 years ago the class twos they they did traffic posts they did um we used to have parades every weekend we were out there doing traffic posts for parades and Class 2 police officers in Wildwood Crest are answering all all calls for service they're going to domestic incidents they're going to um calls where there's weapons they're going to everything right they're not just walking the boardwalk like they do in in other jurisdictions they're answering all the calls we want highly trained dedicated law enforcement professional patrolling our streets and protecting us and that's what we're going to get with this with this plan we're not going to get the 18 19 20 year old kids who have zero life experience that went to a 9we abbreviated training academy and they're now put out on the street with a gun and a badge we're not going to get that we're going to get full-time highly trained professional police officers G Body any questions for the chief we had we had the number that we spent on the class 2os this year I don't know off the top of my head was a 7070 in the budget but includes the other ones too okay I think uh if I could if I'm going to don't quote me on this but if I I remember asking this question we were that was one of my questions I I think it was 50,000 and the three fulltime would come in at 135 ballp all right off the top of my head so actually and then so so we had we had we had vetted this at length at no actually so um so listen I don't I think there's a there's a there's as you put the numbers together it's it's it's it's there is some it's not a lot of dollars in terms of the annual there's some Legacy cost involved in full disclosure that you know that you would have I never said there wasn't there I just I just want the public to know um but I do listen I think there's a couple things we need to look at here right so we have we have employee housing issues you know so you get seasonal officers they they're they're looking for placees that there's nowhere for them to stay so if you're at least if you're here year round you know you have somewhere in K May County generally a place to live um I think it's safe to say in today's climate nationally police officers are under a lot of scrutiny there's a lot of training every time you turn around there's just you know there's all that so I I can see the benefit of having experienced officers um I think that someone that knows our Resort you know when someone says hey go to sweep R sweeper Road you know exactly where it's at because you're up and down the streets all day long all year all all year long and I think there's some other things duties such as code as we talked about that I think we can ask the officers to help us manage in the bur so as our town blossoms additional duties come up laws change everything all that's changing so I I I I don't when I first heard it I got to be honest and I I think everyone not like this is not good and then I think the ask was originally higher and we finally got it down to a number I think that we can that we can live with and and and give it a shot that's that's my opinion um and I I think that um if you've lost the sense of Safety and Security in in a resort town or any town you've just lost your Resort you just lost your community and I do not want to see that happen in this community so and 100% agree and and I I just want to Echo something you said the the margin for error is Raisor thin we're definitely under the microscope um there's cameras everywhere it only takes one incident to become national news and and we don't want that of our burrow and I think with our full-time professional highly trained police officers we there's less of a chance of that happening yeah doing nothing is not an option here in this case no sir we and we have we have to plan for next year already I guess the time is here so um as I mentioned when I start when we started this um we have a draft ordinance so I would ask the governing body and and our and our professionals and our attorneys to to take a look at it just's get back to uh Mr blay with any uh comments or revisions and Mr gunis I know Mr gunas had submitted some commissioner frankco commissioner Shi you have anything else that uh add now's the time but if hearing none and baring no any issues I I think we would potentially be looking to introduce this at the next governing body or next meeting next meeting in September correct on that there I'm fine with it yeah y public comments okay so all right thank you Chief 12 put thank you okay uh next item under new business is junior fire fighter so I I'll do my best to overview this one so we have uh through our Volunteer Fire group and chief Cortez is here uh we have um a new program that I think he referenced in his remarks to the governing body which is one of the new programs is to is to get uh a junior firefighter program uh started in the in the in the fire company and um that requires um this governing body to uh pass a resolution because we basically would provide the uh the insurance coverage for that program as we do the volunteers as it exists now um there was a there was a some rules and regulations that were shared I know that solicitor gunis and Mr ctiy was working on that is there any update on that anything that we need to be aware of or any any further discussion that we need at this level or any presentation or details that we want to go over no mayor we we've had our I think our last um back and forth I'm going to they've made some additional changes at my request I need to review that I don't see any reason why it would not be on on for the next meeting we're very very close it's just Minor Details In the rules and regulations okay the only thing I have to add is if everything's good I would love to see this happen sooner than later because we need volunteers and this is just a start of trying to get them and when they do apply and they are accepted into our organization uh we we eliminated anybody below 16 years of age so what our goal is from 16 18 is a junior firefighter program at 17 they can go to fire academy and become firefighter one classified which means when they turn 18 they're already qualified they come right into the company we need volunteers to keep the community safe as we do now we still need more people coming in so that's why I ask that we do this sooner than later we have a we have two so far two so yeah as a matter of fact I I spoke last night with the uh Chief Connie Johnson who runs the academy and I told him what our situation was I we're waiting for this resolution and he offered to save the two spots for our guys and as soon as it's passed they can go and make up the classes that they missed okay good all right anybody else have any questions it's a new brand for me Joe so we spoke about this last week 100% behind it so thank you as long as uh checks out with Ron I'm I'm good with it I I'm the same good good okay all right so I safe to assum uh next meeting we'll have a resolution on okay all right uh next under old business I'm sorry new business street lights uh yeah so I brought this up there uh last meeting so I'm I'm trying to wrap my head around some some things with with this um because I'm I'm there's emails flying back and forth so I guess I need the Chiefs on this one if you don't mind Chief um because I got a I had a list back in an old list from 2023 that I think indicated I could be reading it wrong but we had 68 lights out um so I don't know who if you see a light out do you report it to atany electric or do you report it to the police department because that's where I'm getting I think a little bit I think the public is getting a little so if somebody reports it to the police department we enter it into the application online for Atlantic City Electric it's it actually shows you a map of well it shows you a map of that you can pull up uh anywhere but it's on Google Earth um but it it shows you each light that's been reported and what the status is so the status is updated by Atlantic City Electric we entered into that portal okay um they do it right on their MDT they just click the light they say that whatever the problem is whether it's the the pole is cracked or the light is flickering or the light is totally out um they enter that uh and then it's time stamped with a date um the location and that goes right to Atlantic City Electric and Atlantic City Electric updates that when they replace the light and they put it back in working order once it's replaced so that list that I had from last year mhm the current list that I just got from you last week I'm reading 21 were out so it went from 68 to 21 I think that's what I'm reading correctly and but I'm not sure if that's from just you guys were atany electric itself that's where I'm getting confused on I don't know if that's entirely an accurate list I'm not sure I so I got a list from you saying that it was 21 out yes but Alan electric I don't know if if Joe Smith reported one to Alan electric so I don't know if that's an accurate list or not I don't know if that makes so what what happened is we went around uh that and and identified every single one that was out made a list for the governing body so they could take a look at it but we also entered it into the application if it was already entered then we didn't have to enter got it okay and then I uh through Connie and the mayor um we spoke to uh um Rony town and I had some communication back with uh back and forth with her and they worked uh extremely hard and got quite a bit done in a very short period of time they did that was wow it was magical they did so um but no that was just my concern I didn't know how what the process was um because I it it seemed to change so my thought was I don't know if we can revisit that and put something out for the public maybe through Brian or through or the police department to actually tell the public hey if you see a light out this is the process that you do because I think it's a little bit gray I mean they've been historically reported to the police department and it's it's not like I mean we don't have a problem going out to to make sure that the light is out uh there could be other problems if if the lights's out too um that we might be able to identify by responding out there but if the public does want to just enter it into the application they can do that online uh that you I don't remember the exact uh name of the app but if you type in on their app and there's just type in city electric street light out and it comes right up the P yeah but you can go right on the map and pulls it right up and gives you everything got to have the P well so on the map if if you look at the map you zoom in you can look and it and when you click on that light it actually pulls up the last year so so let's let's summarize what what I think commissioner Franco just brought up so there's different ways right so you see a street light so residents can certainly go online to do it I've I know that they've contacted the police I know they've contacted the clerk's office before I know that the Public Works has got involved in report so it's kind of like everybody's got their hands in and I think that that was my I think what you're saying is what can we streamline this process in terms of hey can we just get everybody if it's going if you're going to call it into the municipality who should it go to and then who can get it into Atlantic SE electric and Report because there's a lot of people don't have an app don't have to take the time they just say hey they're going to call burall because that's what we do he we're here to serve the public so question is who would do it number one and I guess once it's reported should there be a followup as to hey let's just take a look at what Atlantic City Electric has in their database is being open and which has been closed we can kind of keep our finger on the pulse of is progress happening uh with with when when things getting reported so I I nominate the police department we're working at night when people typically identify that a light is out and if you call the police department anytime uh any time of the day we're going to respond so I mean call in the clerk's office or or call in public works when it's nice and sunny and bright out it's kind of tough for them to identify what light is exactly out whereas if we're working in the middle of the night we'll be able to tell and we can just enter it in and we can follow up on it Chief can we can we and commissioner can we anoint the police department as the official street light department internally in the burrow can can we do we have to put that in the ordinance I don't think we we could put that in the ordinance too since it's out there if if that would be okay with everybody I think think that's a problem okay so that's we do it already and we're happy to do it so all right so anybody gets a street light complaint we're going to direct it to the police department so they can get it squared away I did to add to that I did speak to Ronnie town quickly about it and just said okay so what happens when we report it it doesn't get fixed she said if you follow if you don't see it get fixed within two weeks that should trigger like you to follow up with us because we don't have guys that drive around at night they don't have any that drive around and look for outages um and sometimes they'll send a repairment out and they'll try to fix it and as the chief said it's not because it's the bulb it's something else so they think they fixed it but it's daylight like that night it doesn't come back on but they think they fixed it so two weeks could come by go by and that light's not fixed but they don't know it they think they fixed it so it's important for us to follow up I know it's an onus on us but in a twoe time frame it probably should be fixed if it's not a followup is good because they'll come back out and reassess the situation I kind of got a little bit of Guidance with that um they don't keep an active roster other than on their website it the software that they use that shows you the Red Dot that's a street light out and when you click on it like the chief said the poll number comes up where it is in its status um but they don't have like an active list that we could go off of I did ask for that they don't have that um and they definitely don't have people driving around looking for street light outages they leave that up to us and the taxpayers to report those types of things so we used to keep a running list also but we never were notified by Atlantic City Electric when something was it's reped repaired so but now we can just go at and see what and they may think it's repaired but it may not be because it could be underground or some other issues so they said if you see that it's not being fixed please follow up with us and we'll do our best to get out there and prioritize it all right so we just created an internal street light department can we have yourself number Chief all right any more discussion on that Mr no mayor thank you Chief as well I appreciate that okay all right we're going to move on the old business um rental occupancy issues I know that uh Mr is working on uh with our with our department heads on potential Mr may excuse please I have yes go ahead Jo thank you for coming Joe Joe you did a great job tonight thanks everybody Welcome all right uh so ryal aeny issues uh solicitor gunis is working with our various department heads to to craft some revisions to our ordinance to tighten up the uh the aeny issues that uh were raised at the previous meeting uh lightning detection I believe there was a quote that everyone should be weighing uh weighing in on at some point uh we would need to make a decision for budgetary purposes towards uh towards later in this fall artificial grass uh planning Board review so uh so the planning board uh as far as the artificial grass has um no interest in changing the the current uh ordinance however they are planning on looking at the uh the landscape uh Landscaping uh ordinance and lock coverage and and all that I know that uh that's something that the subcommittee is going to be working on anything on that there no that we meet uh excuse end of September on that all right uh U fiveyear plan so uh Triad and uh Steve Buie from uh from the city of Wildwood are working on that we gave them um our ideas based on our last meeting uh 250th birthday committee we're just looking for volunteers to uh appoint to a committee if you if anyone has any interest please let Madame clerk know interest right uh West Municipal app uh that is a a budgetary item and a and a uh something that we're working on for 2025 uh old tourism building use same thing 2025 Historical Museum at the rescue building also 2025 proposed amendment to chapter 79 time limit parking Mr gunis is working on that I think right all right waiting for updated total list of spots and times gotcha OT by the way I will say that the revisions that were done on New Jersey Avenue cleaned up the uh the parking issues that we had so that's that's that was actually uh it worked out order by the way may what's that the signs have been ordered good all right uh concession agreement Hotel Zone and beach chairs that was uh that's on hold traffic calming uh constant reported on that in her report with respect to uh to some Grant monies for some some for some traffic calming equipment some of that's on in Park Boulevard and what was the other location I'm sorry I have the application right here so second so a majority of this um speed control uh study would be done for Park Boulevard between cresy and New Jersey as part of the project comprehensive assessments of specific problem areas including the addition of rectangular rapid flashing beacons um that would be located at Sweet Brier and park and ocean and Myrtle would be the two that would be funded through this project um if we are funded um and then a bike lane to calm traffic along Park Boulevard and striping is also part of this um to coincide with the study and it's all itemized on the second sheet and tells you exactly which each thing would cost cool all right thank you that was good thank you uh Back Beach excavation we're just waiting for the uh the the Army Corps we'll know a little bit more about that actually when our meeting tomorrow we can ask about that in uh on our teams meeting dring uh Connie had already reported on that there's going to be a Changing of the Guard at the do New Jersey Avenue infrastructure pre- County I did speak with Mr DeBlasio earlier about this so this is something that we had uh we actually started it in 2020 and now it's now it's becoming closer to U closer to reality because the County's advised us that they're going to start the project 2026 so we have to get our infrastructure worked on so there are some budgetary things that we need to work out with uh Francine Public Works roof we met on site with Mr shear and also the uh the co-op um manufacturer um and our engineer uh Zar engineering to review that project uh so that project is is potentially aimed to start towards the after Labor Day towards the end of that week or potentially the following week so uh roof will be uh will be addressed at Public Works and at the same time as I mentioned before the roof at the pickle ball courts and also the uh basketball courts at the crest Pier for the above the restrooms will also be um made uh consistent with the rest of the blue roofs in in the burrow Bayside outfalls and capacity as we mentioned I think is it August 28th is the bid opening for that project correct um Washington stue Colony mentioned is uh is um uh waiting to hear back from uh Mr R on on our Grant application with FEMA all right governing body anything under the old business you want to add that you want to comment on add to I'm fine mayor I am also thank you all right um going to go to PO public comments we'll start with anybody here in the audience just need your name and come on up to the podium hi I'm Mike Marino and uh I'd like to talk about the um you know the idea doing nothing's not an option I think it's great that we're looking at this but I think we need to look at some cost and I'd like to understand cost better when I do the math uh the seasonal class twos we give up seven we get three full-time that doesn't make sense to me there's a big difference there you when you start to include benefits and things like that so I have some questions you know um what rank are these new guys coming in um um is it the only problem here at the that's driving us is is that that's why we're hiring these guys because it has to do with the seasonal 2 is just not working out there's no no other thing and these are probably um just regular cops that are coming here the the new three full-time is that true as far as I'm aware okay so what I would like to know is what is the cost per employee uh and you're saying three is going to be hired and when I ask that question you know there's a lot that goes into with recruiting there's more material that could be an interview process on boarding training there's a lot there there's pre-screening there's travel expenses signing bonuses are we taking all that into consideration when we go out with this we need to know who's going to pay for this and how much it's going to cost so that's my concern just to be clear so a new employee might require a computer or a vehicle or maintenance we got that covered we're going to add that in um same thing gun uniform holster vest other items to outfit in office they're personal will they be in the quote or the estimate we don't want to come in short cash or having them pass it on or go out and get a bond um you know they're my questions um typical benefits there's 40% of a salary so if you hire a police officer at 100,000 and I'm just making a number up to make the math easy 40% is going to be benefits right so now it's 140 we need to know that and we need to account for that along with it depends on what we give them right so if we give them things like Medical Dental disability and pension that goes along with the 40 now when they retire if they're getting a pension medical comes into play a lot of times are we going to pay for their medical I don't know how it works today we don't and and that's fine because medical does not sit in a retirement account and you pull it out later some companies go back and do away with medical because it's a cost every year that that is not there and saved like a pension would be so that's another concern of mine um so I want to say we need to understand the need and the cost per employee before we discuss an ordinance Amendment we got to know what we're spending okay and uh it's a short-term and long-term Bill we're picking up and how's it going to be paid is it a bond is it a grant or is it taxpayers we have to be upfront with taxpayers if they're going to be expected to any up here okay I would suggest we table the topic and get some answers before we start saying I approve I approve I approve the ordinance is good I think we need to do some study investigation to know what we're getting involved with if you want to respond to that that's fine and it my uh my interest is only the the the residents and are we doing the right thing we hear you okay y any questions not for me okay anybody else uh so I think most of the questions regarding finances and a lot of things that you had asked have already been uh discussed and so forth so I I think probably the best thing to do cuz I know Francine's probably ill prepared to talk about that tonight is probably if I if I could make a suggestion is for Mike and Francine to talk about that' be great Francine's numbers and you can go over that and then you can develop develop uh want to get more information some of the things that you just brought up may not be issues and some of them may still remain so and then we can talk about the next time thing the other thing Mike would be nice if some of the questions you were talking about materials and that can go right to the chief okay I have I can give all this to can you email it to me that way I'll disseminate it please yep I can answer most of that right now if you'd like me to sure sure you want to come up or sure you have a list so the the hiring and and recruiting we do that every year when we hire class twos all year uh we train them from December until uh July every single year um the we're not purchasing any new vehicles or anything for these police officers they're coming in at the rank of police officer they're going to be uh recruits while they're in the police academy but they're going to come in as police officers okay so they're going to be at the the lowest uh step on the the wage guide for the contract um yeah the the hiring and recruitment we do it every year uh for our class twos we go to all the colleges ran Stockton uh ACCC uh we spend hours and hours and hours interviewing we send them to uh to uh psychological exams this is a recurring cost every year so it's not just the salary we're also talking about each recruit gets 5,000 rounds of ammunition for the police academy we have to gu uh get them uniforms for the summertime that they wear for two months and then they give them back to us uh we have to um pay them while they're in the police academy a lot of them start the police Academy in December and they're in the police academy until um April May and then we're working them as a sleo officer we're doing this every year it's not just the salaries I do understand that there there are Legacy costs and uh we've been talking about this since February of last year uh we I think we've we've identified all the the questions and I I'm I'm pretty sure I've answered all the questions with the governing body which is why they were willing to bring that up in public discussion tonight um is there anything that I missed no I guess my point was somebody these are additional cost you're not seeing today I think so and they're on top of what you're doing I think what you need to explain Chief is that there is a savings because we're not doing this for class 2's anymore so we're not recruiting class 2 recruiting right now I have detectives uh doing uh background investigations every single year on on multiple uh class two officers even the ones that aren't hired they're still doing background investigations trying to identify those that we want to hire we're doing interviews every single year we're going to the job fairs up at Rowan at Stockton at ACCC we're we're uh doing all kinds of advertisement to try to get these recruits or these applicants in every single year and like I said then then when we do hire them we have to uh we have to train them which means um we have to purchase Duty belts every year we have to purchase holsters every year or holsters break we try to recycle a lot of it but a lot of it breaks in the uniforms everybody has different body structure and when they get their uniform it's their uniform when they return it to us sometimes we can reuse them sometimes we can't uh so we're that's that's going to be a cost savings because we're not purchasing brand new stuff for officers that work here for two months my concern again is just hearing this and I'm I'm wondering what the costs are and are there additional I have no visibility to those things it's great that I think you do them you know but I was thinking okay now you got to on board somebody does that take time away from them doing their job there are some costs right you're going to train them they're going to be new sure and I'm just thinking a cost in my head you know I don't know if you have a signing bonus we don't have that and the other costs are really more when we have the twos coming in it's three occurring Yep this way we have it it's a one and done mhm bring I'm just throwing these things out there let let me just put it to you this way $150,000 A50 what's that I'm sorry $150,000 a year every single year goes out the door in August when those officers leave okay we're spending less for our full-time police officers yes that number is going to increase but we're also going to have retirements things change there's there's always uh moving parts to that but that investment is now into the future of the public safety of this okay good answers what what's your better return on investment you're asking me what I think you should do no I know what I should do which is why I I'm just try and understand your question okay yeah I think that so so if I may between Francine Chief and Mr Marino if you guys could schedule a meeting and get go out you can certainly just spend all the spreadsheets and go over the costs and then if there's additional questions from there then we can talk about them at the next at the next meeting I think it should start with Francine because most of them it's all money yep yeah I think you pretty much answered all the other questions it will not be paid out of a bond ordinance um and it will not be a break just so that you know that as well so could it be an increase to taxpayers it would be it would fall in within the budget of the police department because it's salaries and wages or or other expense okay just to answer those questions but yes I have done an anal on it so I'd be more than happy to sit down with you and we can go over that one on one so for for next year the the cost of what we would be spending on class two officers would cover the the new officers that we were so I'm not asking for more in in in my budget to bring in these full-time police officers for next year I over that it's sometimes I'm a visual person so I all right good thank you thank you sir yep all right anybody else public comment anybody on the conference line have any public comment okay that brings us to uh commissioner's comments we'll start whoever wants to go first I'm fine for nightm thank you I am also thank you wow all right well I want to thank everybody for coming out for the meeting here tonight surprised this um I can start we're we're in we're in the uh we're in the home stretches to uh Labor Day so I know everybody's getting to the point of the Year where the Summer's wearing on them and just want to thank our staff for keeping up the good work um two more weeks to go and uh and I appreciate appreciate all of you and I appreciate all you for coming out to the meeting and I want to re Echo what Connie said um with the you know the the county Bridge Commission and Kate May County and Kevin lair in particular and uh and uh engineering at the county they uh was originally going to be a long time they got it down to a very short period of time so instead of 3 months to 6 months it's now it was 3 days so that's all can I clear up a rumor sure that I heard I heard that both of you were working on that engine we were we were in hard hats Connie was handing me the wrenches and I was ratting on him so it's all good good job that was really impressive all right J thank you everybody we have motion to adjourn motion motion