7M this meeting of the Willingboro Township council is called according to the provisions of the open public meetings ACT public laws 1975 chapter 231 adequate notice has been provided by transmitting the notice of this meeting to the Burlington County Times by posting it on the township website and by filing it in the office of the unival clerk on January 3rd 202 4 this agenda is complete to the extent known formal actions will be taken ready for the roll call council member Peron present council member Whitfield present council member Dr worthy present Deputy Mayor Anderson present mayor McIntosh present next we will have our prayer by our chaplain or Captain lorri Witherspoon of the the 77th sustainment Brigade the United States Army Reserve mic good evening everyone let us pray I ask you to pray along in your faith tradition as I pray in mine dear Lord thank you for bringing us together today in a spirit of unity we come to you today seeking your guidance your wisdom and support as we conduct this council meeting father help us to engage in meaningful discussion Lord allow us to grow closer as a grp group so that we may nurture the bonds of this willing B community may we honor one another by keeping an open mind and a bridled tongue father may we voice Our Truth and listen to each other with an element of tenderness in our hearts and lastly may we discern your will and unite one another in a fruitful outcome and Lord while there are many Faith Traditions represented under the sound of my voice I chaplain lri e Witherspoon close this period of invocation and prayer in the mighty name of Jesus let us all say amen amen thank you Captain Witherspoon let us stand for the flag salute pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all we will now have our Black History Month Proclamation yeah we did councilwoman Dr Worthy thank you Madame mayor Office of the mayor Township of Willingboro Black History Month Proclamation whereas National African-American history month is an occasion to ReDiscover the enduring stories of African-Americans and the gifts of Freedom purpose and opportunity they have bestowed on future Generations it is a time to commemorate the countless contributions of African-Americans many of who live through and surmounted the scorge of segregation racial prejudice and discrimination to enrich every fiber of American Life many diverse ethnic and racial groups have all played a vital and positive integral part and contributed to the promulgation of America's unique social cultural scientific spiritual political and economic development and whereas the origins of Black History Month can be traced to The Scholar Carter G Woodson who in 1929 conceived a yearly celebration to help rectify the omission of African-Americans from history books Dr Carter G Woodson was was an American historian author journalist and the founder of the association for the study of africanamerican life and history he was one of the first Scholars to study the history of African diaspora today the observance of black history month or national African-American history month throughout the United States stands as a testament to the success of Woodson's project and an example of how we can work together to teach and appreciate such history and whereas the theme of black history mon 2024 African-American and the Arts while we celebrate the accomplishments of African-Americans throughout the year this month we will specifically and intentionally celebrate their bravery and sacrifice on this long road to justice as well as appreciate their contributions in the Arts now therefore I K T Macintosh mayor of the township of Willingboro do hereby along with the township Council Proclaim February as Black History Month in in 2024 thank you so much Dr worthy moving on Mr Harris you may start your Municipal updates please good evening uh mayor and governing body members residents of Willingboro Township just have a few updates of things that been happening since um our last report I did give the council a full formal report uh from our operations as of January of last year uh our finance department has been working uh attentively with the township Auditors and uh Department directors to finalize the 2023 um financials and generate financial statements for the township operations in 2023 um the department has been working assiduously with the Auditors to prepare the annual financial statement and the annual debt statement uh which is a statuto due um by January 31st of each year um the net debt valuation percentage that is allowable for municipalities is 3 and a half% and our annual debt statement is complete and the municipality reported 1.73% net debt valuation expressed as a percentage which means uh Willingboro Township is well below the statutory limits for debt uh the Comm the the municipality is currently working on a a a temporary budget and we anticipate the budget for 2024 will be ready for introduction uh in March for the month of January um there was 1,459 38784 um which 1.2 of that was tax revenue um a monthly allotment was allocated to the Willingboro Board of Education in the amount of 3,273 $775 and some change and the first quarter taxes in the amount of $2,381 was sent to the county some happenings in our Police Department controls are patrols are continuing to enforce several ordinance violations throughout the month the police department's Focus has been on the shopping centers throughout the municipality and the parking in front of our schools residents are reminded to review ordinance 33567 in reference to stopping or standing which is prohibited during certain hours specifically as it relates to parking in front of the schools the police department is still continuing to give out the free Club steering wheels um they have some left over which were given out last year in response to a uh Facebook challenge challenging people to go and steal specifically K or Hyundai so if you are a Willingboro resident or work in Willingboro you can uh make contact with the Township Police Department and um receive a club style steering wheel lock on Monday January 15th officer quarter puaro and officer Wilcock did attend the MLK luncheon um honoring the veterans at The Fosters military Lodge on Charleston Road in willing Barrow unfortunately willing Baro did record its first or a murder um in its police records in January when a 60-year-old resident in Willingboro was charged with fatally stabbing uh his wife inside their home in the H Hawthorne Park section of the township however there was a report of a stabbing that happened in Willingboro I believe yesterday which was erroneous uh the victim was reported to have been stabbed in Trenton and then returned home to willing burrow where uh his family did reach out and get police assistance and medical assistance and the Trenton Police Department is now investigating um that that crime last year Captain bucks came before the governing body and presented you with some uh statistics regarding crime uh heing willing Barrow um it was a a very good presentation reflecting how Tri crime is trending down and uh he will be coming back to the council hopefully in March to uh give you an update as to where we are uh at this time in 2024 from our EMS Department there are still 20 slots for the free community CPR AED class um we that class was offered to 100 residents to get their certification free of charge 80 have taken advantage of that and there are two 20 spots left so if anyone is interested in getting their CPR AED certification please connect with the Willingboro fire department and the classes will be scheduled uh we want to thank Girl Scout Troop number 26 26492 um who donated Girl Scout cookies to the fire department to show their appreciation uh for the hard work that they do and the fire department does appreciate Their donation and for the first time uh in EMS history the billing revenue for Willing Boro came in at over $85,000 in the month of January which is reflective of the amount of hard work that our EMS and fire department are doing to serve our residents our Department of Public Works has been busy they are still working diligently to take care of the streets and rad in willing Barrow and provide service to our residents I will remind everyone that the DPW Yard is open for public access to come in and dump Recycling and brush um I'm sorry bulk trash items on Thursdays from 10: to 4:00 p.m. Fridays from 10: to 2:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. the department is will be going through the township on this Thursday to do a light inventory as we are seeing numerous street lights out throughout the municipality we need to get them cataloged and reported to PSC and so they can be repaired DPW did collect 27 loads of leaves as of January 16th totaling 625 yards and 135 Christmas trees they are still out collecting leaves so if residents still have some leaves to be put out they still have the opportunity for them to be collected last year um Mr Lowry was good to submit an application to the New Jersey office of the Secretary of higher education to participate in the New Jersey career accelerator internship grant program uh we were I believe we applied for Grant in internship grants for nine of our departments and we were approved to hire one uh as a clean neighborhood program Aid and we will receive uh grant funding in the amount of $4,000 to cover uh their salaries for uh the summertime so I thank Mr G Mr L for taking that initiative and we look forward to who our first internship will be in 2024 our inspections department is continuing to be uh busy there are 432 inspections completed in uh between January 1st and January 18th and the revenue collected during that time period was 37 ,40 uh there are a lot of projects that are still um going on or will be going on in willing Barrow we're beginning to be uh our multi- road project which is the segment four roadways which are the 12 worth streets in Willingboro um that project had been bid the bids were received on January 24th the results came back very favorably for the township and we are looking to award that contract on the 20th of February and we're looking to uh start a spring 2024 construction FY 2024 contract repairs the bids are due tomorrow and depending on how they come in we may uh be ready to award that contract as well on February 2024 the FY 2022 multilocation storm watert repairs that's going to be on Hon Clubhouse Windsor and Buckingham Buckingham and birkshire those bids were also received on January 24th uh penon has made its recommendation to award that contract to think pavers in the amount of $442,900 and we are looking to award that contract as well on February 20th uh also for a spring 2024 construction we are almost done with the storm water pipe replacement at babbit on babbit as well um if that price comes in as hoped uh we will will have the funding in place to make those repairs required at no additional debt to the township as we did restructure that that ordinance um to cover those anticipated expenses the country club community pool that bid document for the repairs of the broken uh drain pipe were advertised on February 4th we are having a pre-bid conference on February the 13th uh open uh the bids will be opened on March 5th and our goal for the pool is to be repaired and opened by Memorial Day uh we are also working on the penny Packer pool as well and we hope to have those specs prepared uh to fix a a drain pipe and a leak there as well again hoping to have that completed and done by a memorial day uh opening back in October of 2023 we did receive a an additional grant for repairs on Marshall Lane in the amount of $47,476 uh our engineer will be submitting those plans to the NJ doot and upon their approval we will go out be ready to go out to bid for that project as well and we hope to have that advertised um for uh spring 2024 construction pscg is continuing uh continuing to work and move forward with their gas line Replacements they have submitted about 150 Street opening permits with the township and has uh secured funding from the the BPU to continue uh with this project moving forward our esip project is moving along they have replaced almost all of the lighting uh inside the complex and converted over to LED and they are now uh moving on to other areas they have replaced the HVAC units at the JFK and the complex and we are working with the project engineer from Schneider Electric to make sure everything had been installed uh to standard and is working uh we will we will not pay them anything until we get sign offs from Schneider engineer that everything is as it should be and functioning properly um just so you know we did experience some leaking in some of the new units that were installed um here and uh we are looking at getting that taken care of and just in finality last but not least the JFK K theater project is also moving along um there has been some additional leaks that were discovered over the theater that we need to look at and make repairs before we go in and finish the interior um constructions so I know the um seating Fabrics have been picked out and selected and that project is moving along um smoothly and those are all the the additional informations that I'm reporting to you this evening oh okay thank you Mr Harris does council have any comments or questions for Mr Harris concerning Municipal update um Mr Harris um can you give us an update or a status for the RFQ for our Sports field the RFQ for the sports field was advertised on Thursday of last week and that is due back when was that D back you remember I'm not sure the return date but it was published and put out last week the 23rd yeah it wasn't too far away okay and also can you update the community on the activities um for this month yes Miss Jackson are you available for that good evening councel and members of the community so um in recognition of Black History Month our Willingboro public library has a series of um activities and Exhibits going on celebrating the 115th year anniversary of the NAACP there will be a Founders Day reception on Saturday February 17th from 12: to 2 light Refreshments will be served also we want to highlight that there is a Black History Month reading contest going on all all month a freedom quilt going all month we have blackout poetry going on all month as well as ambition the poet one man show of poetry and music that will be going on on Saturday February 24th at 3M and then at the Kennedy Center we will have our open mic night which will feature um music poetry and spoken word and our guest uh speaker or presenter will be edua Simmons so that'll be on February 16th at 700 p.m. and then on February 22nd we are having Black History Month movie night at the Kennedy Center and that um is free emission more information regarding the um the movie title for that and all month there will be a soft opening of art display beginning in the kedy center uh Art Gallery so please take advantage of that opportunity to check out that that concludes the programs okay thank you Jackson anything else from Council all right Mr Harris you can move on to the explanation of the ordinances and resolutions uh so the business being presented for you this evening for your consideration is uh ordinance number 2024-25 7 titled pedaling and soliciting articles two of the township of willing boro's P Municipal Code um This was um putting in a no knock ordinance in place um allowing residents to register to be on a no knock list which would be required to um be adhered to by anyone who uh applies for a a solicitor's permit that if anyone has registered and exhibit a no knock emblem on their their property um they would be in violation of a barrel code so that's ordinance number 2024 D1 ordinance number 2024 D2 is an introduction of of an ordinance to amend the code of the township of Willingboro specifically chapter 272 entitled duties and responsibilities of owners and Operator by adding a new article entitled outdoor placement um this ordinance is designed to uh restrict the time that property owners are allowed to have certain items outside of the dwelling or other enclosed structures for no longer than 48 hours um being located visibly from the street or sidewalk or adjacent to the property that would be things like appliances bedding bottles recyclables cardboard um Furniture things like that um um if anyone has those prop those items out for longer than 48 hours um they would receive a notice of violation from the inspections department and then they would be uh awarded a very finite period of time to Abate those situations we're not trying to you know get on people's cases but we're trying to keep the Aesthetics of willing burrow um Pleasant by not having a lot of excess stuff just lingering around people's properties uh for days and days even before collection ordinance number 2024-the to a new statutory requirement that requires um a a lead inspector to inspect every single family and multi or multiple rental dwelling located within the township for lead B based P lead based paint hazards um that's through a visual assessment or a swiping sampling um our inspections department had sent out I believe it was four inspectors who not only got their inspector certifications um but also their licenses through a grant that was provided to the township um and now they're going to put it to good work for our benefit resolution number 20 24-30 is a resolution entering into agreement with Delta Dental of New Jersey for dental Envision plan coverage for employees and retirees we are also we are already in a contract with Delta Dental for the provision of these Services um but the resolution last year was only to pay them through our 2023 so this resolution is just authorizing payments to Delta Dental of New Jersey to provide these services for the 2024 coverage period resolution number 2 24-31 is a resolution entering agreement with Performance Health for medical and prescription drug plan coverage that is the same scenario um we did the resolutions to to authorize the payments through 2023 we are already in a contract with these um services so this resolution is just authorizing payments to Performance Health to provide those uh medical and prescription D drug plan coverages for the township employees and retirees for the 2024 coverage period resolution number 2024-25 um we were contracted with Bowman for not to exceed 88,000 for the the provision of their services but they um did expend an additional $1,500 in auditing the esip documents and there was an additional $2500 that was spent to do some additional auditing and some Recreation invoices and items so that is the total of uh $4,000 which we need to increase them not to exceed amount by resolution number 20 24-33 is a resolution authorizing transfers between 2023 budget appropriation reserves um statute provides that all unexpended balances carry forward at the close of the fiscal year are available until lapsed um sometimes there are some online items that are short and um the statute provides that we can transfer um balances between accounts to cover shortages in line items um during the periods of November and December of the year and then through March of the subsequent year so these are just transfers to cover some line item shortages from the 2023 budget resolution number 20243 4 is a resolution authorizing the approval of vouchers for payment and ratification resolution number 20 24-35 is a resolution to approve uh author or authorizing the township to place Municipal charges on certain properties for failing to address address Property Maintenance violations this is pretty standard resolution number defer some of those expenses incurred by municipality onto the um tax sale uh obliges resolution number 2024-25 is a resolution to cancel taxes for 2023 for exempt properties um including disabled veterans um this is a pretty standard uh resolution um that is approved after veterans receive certain um certifications from the state which exempts them from certain property taxes uh to date we have 402 resident or veteran residents um that are receiving um this exemption for an approximated amount of $1.4 million a year resolution number 2024 38 uh is a resolution authorizing the overpayment of taxes those are taxes that are due to or due back to Residents because they were duplicate payments or they there may have been payments um um that that we were not entitled to maybe for a sale or some other sort of of transaction uh resolution number [Music] with the ordinances yeah I apologize it is now Public public comment for agenda items only public comment for agenda items only is now open you have two minutes please state your name and address for the record public comment for agenda items only is now open host is there anyone online uh yes mayor Sarah Holly good afternoon Council Sarah Holly I reside at nine tyoga Lane been there for close to 50 years my first question uh pertains to the re uh the resolution uh regarding properties not being maintained by the resident does this include all the residents or just some of the residents are there any exemption and then I have another question is that going to be answered now or should I ask my second question you can continue with your question and we'll answer all of them at one time and my my second question is if there is a renter in a home that's not maintained how is that handled is there a code of occupany for all homes in town and if so uh I would need to know the steps on the process with that please and that ends my questions thank you Miss Holly is there anyone else online for public comment uh not at this time on at this time right thank you public comment for agenda items is now closed Mr Harris can you just address Miss Holly's um questions and concerns so I will defer U the answers to those questions to Mr tunl who is the director of our inspections department good evening Council Lial public as well speaking the microphone please how about that better all right so to try to answer Miss Holly's question first of all if it is a rental property we would first confirm that the property has a certificate of occupany that's number one second if there are violations of that property those violations are sent directly to the owner of the property not to the tenant but to the owner of the property depending on what the issue is if the notices go unresolved within this prescribed amount of time then the summons will be issued to the owner of the property as well uh once the summons is issued there obviously will be a court date established and if anything could not be resolved prior to the court date it would be resolved right here in the courtroom with the judge as well as our prosecutor also her one of her concerns was also um will the be equal treatment of all residents certainly I mean um the actual issue on the uh docket today are leans for properties specifically for those who have violated uh or needed to have a resolution uh but yes all properties should be treated in equal fashion thank you Mr tun all right Mr haris you may move on to the ordinances ordinance number 2024-25 7 pedaling and uh soliciting articles two of the township of Willingboro municipal code is there a motion to open the public hearing for ordinance 2024 D1 so moved second moved by councilwoman Peron seconded by Dr worthy any discussion roll call please I'm sor sorry I Council perone thank you Mr Harris um my question is relating to the actual resident so um I know that there's a we have this process for um a solicitor to obtain um we'll call it documentations and permits in order to solicit however if somebody is just knocking on a person's door is there some sort of symbol or sticker on the person's door for that individual to know that's my that's where my question is going okay so we'll hold your question so let's move through the motion and then we'll address that in the in the public comment we can do that so the motion was to open the public hearing on ordinance number 2024 was moved by council member Peron seconded by Dr worthy you ready for the call the roll call yes please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes and mayor McIntosh yes okay so now the question by uh councilwoman Peron is if there were someone who were just knocking on the door um would they be in violation of the no knock ordinance no knocking on the door and trying to sell something to um basically what is the identifier for that residence where the person would know not to knock on this door and to go and get a permit is there some sort of symbol or yes upon registration um there will be a sticker that will be in issued to the resident they could place on their door identifying that this is a no knock property okay and then they would be in violation of the ordinance okay that list would be given to anyone who comes into the clerk's office and registers for a solicitor per or caners permit but understanding that there there are some activities that are exempt under those types of law right and I did read that so now um as far as like safety mechanism so if somebody's knocking in the door anyway even though the sign says not to what should the resident do in order to you know the resident should always call the police department someone is knocking on their door and they're uncomfortable with opening the door okay all right that that's all my questions that I have thank you so were there any other comments from the public for the is there a motion to close the public hearing on ordinance number 202 24-1 so moved second moved by councilwoman Whitfield seconded by Dr worthy roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes and we are going to have the final reading on ordinance number 202 24-1 in ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 257 pedaling and soliciting articles 2 of the township of Willingboro municipal code is there a motion to adopt ordinance 20241 yes second mve by councilman Whitfield seconded by Deputy Mayor Anderson Roll Call any conversation discussion no any discussion on apologize roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes and mayor m J yes ordinance number 2024 D1 has been finally adopted this ordinance will go into effect 20 days after the notice of adoption is published according to law next for your consideration is ordinance number 2024-25 entitled duties and responsibilities of owner and Operator by adding a new article entitled outdoor placement is there a motion to introduce ordinance 2024 D2 go moved second moved by Deputy Mayor Anderson seconded by Dr worthy any discussion roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes ordinance number 20 24-2 has been properly introduced there will be a public hearing final reading and possible adop to be held on February 20th 2024 after the not notice of hearing is published in accordance with law thank you next for your consideration is ordinance number 2024-the of the township of willing Barrow specifically chapter 280 entitled rental property by adding a new article entitled lead based Hazard inspection requirements for rental dwellings that's a twist is there a motion to introduce ordinance 2024-the seconded by councilwoman Whitfield any discussion roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes ordinance number 202 24-3 has been properly introduced public hearing final reading and possible adoption will be held on February 20th 2024 after the notice of hearing is published in accordance with the law thank you Council um are there any resolutions you would like to pull out for further discussion U resolution 2024 D31 31 okay any other resolutions okay I make a I make a motion for a consent agenda for Resolutions 20 24-30 and resolution 20 24-32 through resolution 2024 d38 so all right moved by mayor McIntosh seconded by Dr worthy roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes and uh mayor McIntosh yes I make a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved I moved it oh second I'm sorry second moved by mayor McIntosh seconded by Deputy Mayor Anderson roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes and mayor Macintosh yes and the consent agenda has been adopted thank you and then we have to go over 202 24-31 so for your consideration is resolution number 2024-the drug plan coverage for employees and retirees for 2024 any discussion yes so per for purpose motion oh I'm oh yes need a second second moved by Dr worthy seconded by councilwoman Whitfield any discussion yes Deputy Mayor so for purposes of this resolution I just want to bring some clarity to it it's my understanding that this is not a contract we already did a contract with them up until August of 2024 is that correct Mr Harris that is correct so what this is is for the payment so as long as the employees are in this program even if they decide to move out of the program at some given date but up until that point we have to secure these payments is that correct that is correct and that's just what this is for just the payments so from January 1 till whenever any changes are made if changes are made that's what the coverage is just for clarification corre correct that is correct okay I just wanted to make sure any further discussions all right roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes resolution number 202 24-31 has been adopted okay we go for Treasures report is there a motion to accepting approve the treasures report so moved second moved by Dr worthy second to by councilwoman Whitfield any discussion roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes and mayor McIntosh yes and the treasures report has been accepted all right there no minutes for tonight and there's no Municipal Clerk's update moving on to unfinished business is there any unfinish business all right so for unfinished business I want to go back and revisit the conversations that we had on December 6 regard regarding the current uh benefits carriers and the conversations of possibly going back to the state we we had a presentation by the president and members of the askme Union on December 6 and it was expressed through a letter that was read by the president that their wish was to go back to the state plan as well as the letter indicated two other unions were also interested in going back to the state plan so once that came to us as Council um what we requested was to have all three representatives from those unions come before us to express their uh same sentiments as to you know them warning to go back we want to make sure that the representation is heard by Council that we are fully aware of what's Happening we had the opportunity to hear some of the stories and for me as just one individual personally when when we say something is going to be equal or greater to that's what the expectation is from the stories I've been hearing the employees have been acting as administrators for their own policies fighting to get what they didn't have to fight for in the past as well as becoming sales agents for this carrier by bringing on business to see if their positions would be accepted into this program so just right there some of these stories some of the pain um personally for me it it doesn't appear to be greater than or equal to but we want to hear from the representatives who represent the employees and that's what we you know we've asked to happen tonight uh based on what we hear you know Council will then you know make a decision on if this is the best thing for the employees but we want to hear from the representatives this way that the uh message is coming coming to us is clear and precise with the understanding that if it's decided that you go back that you have full understanding of what you're going back to so if the state let's say had 10 five 10 participants at that time but you decide to go back and there's only five that there's clear understanding if there's any increases by going back that there's full understanding of what you're going back to so we just want to make sure that that message is brought forth by you to us so that we know there's clear understanding all the way around thank you thank you Deputy Mayor so you want to open this up now yes okay any Representatives would like to come up and speak was the insurance I didn't see the insurance were they here the insurance represent they're online oh they Insurance representes are online I'm GNA have them speak you heard me n okay that's fine you want me them to go first I'm gonna have the insurance representative speak first and they're online I'm GNA have the insurance representative speak first May if I before they go uh Sean if you could promote Kathleen Dio and then um Dave mobus while he's doing that I'll just get started so um last year we transitioned our health care um in 2023 the State Health Benefit Plan increased 23% um thank you Miss Jackson um in response to that um and at the request of the employee the township began working to find an alternate solution uh to ease the financial impact and not only the financial impact but also find a solution that would give the township more discretion over our health care more personalized Healthcare specific to Willingboro residents and not a conglomerate of municipalities in New Jersey um in doing so we connected with the broker USI to assist us with going to the open market I'm the big five Edna United Healthcare Horizon Signa AER Health all declined to quote because of the lack of claims data that was provided by the state health benefits plan um that's strategic that's a strategic move by the state health benefit plan because they don't want you to leave um because of that increase many municipalities in New Jersey actually left the State Health Benefit Plan um last year and went to self-funded models um Edna um actually provided us a verbal um most all of those declined to give us quotes um Ed the gave us a verbal um quote for 50% that was 50% higher than the current plan that we were on at that time um Horizon also provided an uncompetitive quote which was 10% higher than the current plan at that time um our next option was a self-funded reference-based pricing um program that allowed us to maintain our current level of benefit um at 15% uh below our current rate um which is of course the third party administrator Performance Health um through per perance Health we guaranteed the same level of benefit as previously in the State Health Benefit Plan admittedly um our transition has been less than Stellar um we haven't been without administrative hurdles and I emphasize administrative hurdles um we recognize um each concern of our employees we take those very seriously um and at each moment after every instance that was brought to our attention U myself personally Mr Harris we conveyed those um concerns to our Representatives with USI and Performance Health um immediately um understanding those concerns we contined working with our partners at USI to find Solutions um to that end um a lot of the concerns at the beginning was that there was a lack of a network um and that the employees didn't have the ability to go on to a website like they did um in previous with Horizon to go find a listed doctors and that's I think that's what um the deputy mayor was referencing when he brought up sales agents and bringing business on to perform itself um not necessarily accurate um in terms of what the process is um when you nominate your doctor you're not necessarily bringing business to Performance Health you're creating a single case agreement between the employee the individual employee um the doctor and the um the uh Township because we are in fact the insurance character because we're self-funded it um on January 1st this year um we connected with USI and we were able to provide a network option uh multiplan uh phcs uh which is a practitioner only network uh which would allow employees to access thousands of doctors with many Specialties um many whom are in this area uh to be frank Performance Health wasn't uh planed to be our last stop um or part of our long-term plan um as a self-funded entity um as previously stated the State Health Benefit Plan prevented us from capturing our full picture of claims data um and using that history to go to the open market um again as a self-funded entity we have easy access to that information to use it to the best in the best way that best fits uh willing barel and our employees here um recognizing those challenges recognizing the challenges that our employees are facing um that the concerns that they have in terms of nominating doctor in terms of the administrative challenges that they have had um we are working with Performance Health excuse me we're working with USI to go back out into the Open Market in April using the six months of claims data that we've uh gotten from April excuse me from August uh to now um coupled with the information that we did The Limited information that we did get from the state health benefit plan to go back out to the open market to see if we can get more quotes um new quotes from those big carriers to see what those options are and because it's best it's really in our best interest not to go back into the state health benefit plan because there are so many municipalities uh that are leaving that plan um because of the increasing rates so a lot of the municipalities that are still in the State Health Benefit Plan State Health Benefit Plan are municipalities who don't have good claims um history and because they don't have those uh good claims history they are driving the rates up uh so in 2023 we saw a 23% increase um in uh in premiums um in 2024 they went up another 9% um so um if it's the mayor's will of the council I can have Dave and Kathleen speak a little more about uh what that process looks like going back out to the state excuse me what that process looks like going back out to the market um to see what those options will be and what that and how that's a benefit to us here in willing bro all right thank you yes please have them come on Sean if you could have uh Dave mobus promoted and Kathleen as well they'll be able to speak more about uh our future plans sorry can you hear yes okay thank you uh good evening Madame mayor and Council uh Administration and members of the community I appreciate the uh opportunity to speak to you tonight I um I think Gary did a a very good job Mr Lowry did a very good job of explaining uh the situation and I'd be happy to add some more information and answer questions that you all may have we also have on the line Kathleen Dio uh Kathleen is our lead account manager uh for Willingboro Township and uh I am the account lead um at USI so um as Gary St stated you know our objective uh was very clear um the town was interested in seeing what the Alternatives were to uh move away from the state um and and we came up with an alternative that um we felt would be very very effective because uh for one thing substantial savings so the you know 15.8% de increase from current not considering the uh avoidance of the 9% increase uh that we got on January of 2024 so you know this the the the savings is actually more substantial and it's guaranteed savings um so what happens uh with this plan annually is there's a calculation that's done of the claims and there is in addition to The Upfront savings there's a a return of surplus these are characteristics of uh self-funded plans and are the type of characteristics that are attracting towns and schools uh to move away from the state plan which we all know the premiums have just been going up at a rate that is unmanageable so the intention was to find an alternative outside the state uh as Gary mentioned Mr Lowry mentioned we um uh did not get a uh a lot of responses from the uh you know the the the mainstream carriers the reason that we did not get the responses was because the claims data that we get from the state is always very old um and you know an underwriter for an insurance company wants the most current information uh the claims data does not include any details of high claimants which is which is the one thing that Insurance Underwriters want to focus on when they're establishing rates for a plan so the the challenge was that we really didn't have a lot of interested parties uh providing us with quotes So strategically and this is a strategy that many municipalities are using is you go to a thirdparty administrator in this case that company is Performance Health we have a stoploss carrier that you know protects us from high claims both on an Aggregate and a specific basis okay and that um you know we were able to get very competitive rates using some alternative underwriting methods that stop-loss carriers are are adopting more and more readily now um and so we the end result was this plan with Performance Health they guaranteed the benefits to be equal to or better than I am confident that they are meeting that requirement um I uh totally hear what you're saying Deputy Mayor I understand your concerns and we are we are 100% listening to your concerns and we are fully aware and taking all of the necessary actions to uh alleviate the problems that have occurred but they are matching the benefits uh exactly to the specifications of the benefits from the state health benefits plan that's where we are telling you it's guaranteed equal to or better than so um there has been some challenges um I I think that our team has been very responsive in resolving problems that have been brought to our attention um and uh adding this uh Network option on January 1st I think will make the plan run uh significantly smoother going forward okay and so you know uh what we're what we're now able to do okay is because we have very comprehensive claim data which we can marry with the older data that we got from the state we can go out to the marketplace well in advance of the August renewal and and we will we will get quotations from carriers directly such as Etna siga United amera Health uh even Blue Cross we we'll get all those carriers uh to look at your group with good underwriting information and we hope to get competitive quotes we will also look at uh health insurance funds which are another very very effective way to uh uh participate in your good claims experience okay so it's a it's a form of self-funding um but you're bundled with a number of other uh towns in your region so uh we are basically looking at all possibilities including going back to the state but I would suggest to you that that would be as a last resort um uh as Mr Lowry pointed out the pricing in that plan is escalating too significantly and too many towns are pulling out leaving a less desirable risk pool uh behind which is you know you know compounding the problem uh so so our objective is to be able to get you more Alternatives this year than we were able to get last year for sure and um and and share with the administration all of the options that are out there uh we will certainly continue to require the benefits be equal to or better than we will look to provide Network options um we see a lot of towns using Etna uh and siga as some of the bigname networks that lend themselves to self-funded plans um which is you know again a good strategy um but uh I I I I don't want to I I tend to ramble I could go on all night I uh I think we covered the I think I think Mr Lowry did a really great job of covering the the situation and uh Kathleen and I would just like to be uh available as long as needed to answer questions okay thank you are any questions from Council uh yes so I do appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to address Council to give us an understanding of where everything stands from your side for me personally as one member of this Council until this issue came to council there was no proactive measures taken by yourself or the administration here to keep Council up to date as to what was happening we were under the impression that everything was just fine and everything was working until employees started to complain for me it's great that there's a savings but when it comes to our employees which are the heartbeat of this community I'm not concerned about a savings when we hear employees scared to go to the doctor because they're not sure if they're going to be covered it's concerning once again savings is great you know but in this situation with the situations the the conversations that we've heard as a council about our employees my concern is not the savings it's their Health them being able to go to a doctor to feel comfortable so even if it is at a greater cost it's what makes them comfortable if they're willing to take on that ex extra cost you know this is a choice that the unions will discuss tonight but I'm not going to risk someone's health and them being afraid literally afraid based on the testimonies that we heard in December which was heart-wrenching and I I I appreciate you trying to take the extra steps but I think those steps should have been taken before it was brought to council so right now I just don't think it's genuine that these steps are now being taken and that's just me speaking as an individual on this Council so I'm prepared to hear what the unions have to say uh in regards to this matter thank you thank you all right we can have representatives from the union please good evening Madam mayor council Township manager Clerk and his team fellow residents good evening evening I am George Brown and I'm honored to stand before you as the president of asme local 327 representing our dedicated membership with me tonight are members of my executive board and committed individuals from our membership body since our last meeting we've diligently gathered information conducted surveys and assessed the current plan against the state health benefits plan despite promised Savings of $360,000 returning to the State Health Benefit plan at a cost of approximately 2.6 million proves financially prudent when considering the additional cost in administrative burden on our members the PS supplement overwhelmingly rejected by our membership highlights the satisfaction and concerns within our Workforce extending Beyond M cost implications we scrutinized the current plan's additional cost associated with the rejected supplement the USI insurance brok Services Actuarial services and catastrophic event Insurance revealing a more burdensome position for the township the only viable solution supported by our extensive research and membership feedback is a return to the state health benefits plan the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield po plan within the state health benefits plan offer unparalleled benefits emphasizing the the necessity of a swift return for the health safety and Welfare of our Workforce a grave concern surfaced during the December 19th council meeting the unfortunate disclosure of sensitive medical information by management during a healthc care discussion which is a clear violation of privacy and a dangerous precedent the current plan structure allowing management access to personal health details puts the township at risk of violating hippo privacy laws this practice is unacceptable and must cease immediately our members have considered promised savings but structural flaws of individual Contracting with there being no affiliate networks creates undue difficulty that significantly undercuts the notion that this plan is equal to or even more importantly better which is in violation of article 27.3 other provisions of the CNA and applicable law in the risk of privacy breaches our away any Financial benefit the risk reward ratio is too significant risking timely care for a meager Township Savings of $4 per pay per employee of all surveys received by our local the membership majority was overwhelmingly in favor of a return to the CATE health benefits plan despite the higher premium and more importantly there was not one survey not one that supports staying with the current plan the focus of our advocacy is solely for the change in the medical insurance plan the Del the dental and vision care currently meet the needs of the membership Local Union representatives from the firefighters fire officers fop and Public Works unions and our beloved retirees strong Stanley with us in support of a return to the state health benefits plan their voice must be carried forward as apprehension caution or perceived conflict May hinder necessary individual Expressions we cannot afford another misstep with the health care plan the only rational decision is a return to the CATE health benefits plan dependable and accessible healthc care coverage cannot be sacrificed for any purpose going forward in the words of mar Luther King Jr whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly the Peace of Mind security and reliable Health Care sought by our Workforce directly impacts the well-being of our entire Community I urge this Council to listen to the resounding voice of our membership and the workforce consider the facts and act in the best interest of our community rest in peace to Miss Kim khaw taken from us far too soon what your legacy lives on thank you for your time may you all have a great evening so the question that I'm going to have is all the unions identified here are they represented tonight yes we have app P here we have fire can they please come forward we would just like to hear statements from these reps as well for those unions good evening Scott Cox from the New Jersey fop labor counil at this time unfortunately I cannot give a statement because we're currently in labor action with the township at the advice of uh our attorneys we just cannot speak on that however we are here is all I can say okay uh Gregory Swanson vice president Bron accting professional far firefighters and we are also scheduled for arbitration hearing on February 29th and we're unable to make a statement at this time thank you everybody finished y okay thank you thank you you you say something yeah please I mean please whatever you have to say speak now it's just is um you know as a union board member um and as an employee but you know we I firsthand hear a lot of employees um me and the president of asme Union um on a if not a daily basis a weekly basis for sure complain about the health care plan here um that we have to deal with um but I'm not going to speak about them because I can't speak about a lot of people indirectly but I'll speak about myself myself with the St State Health Plan I had two Primary Health Care people uh providers um one that I've had since I was probably 12 years old um my whole entire family goes there it's a local practice and I've been very happy with them then I was fortunate to find um a medical provider um a black woman that was really um we were we were Reviving she was going to help me with a lot of Health Care issues that I have we had plans to get me back on track on some things um I lost both providers um back in July I um n get to did all the nomination stuff to see if I um if either one of them would sign on to the healthcare till this date I've heard nothing I have inquired a couple of times directly to Performance Health um was told that they would get back to me nothing but I'm not the only person I know who's had that experience um I don't I would I'll speak for myself but I think a number of us all feel like we don't know when we go to the to the to our providers whether or not we're going to get care we don't know I know I hold my breath every time I go because I don't know if they're going to accept it every time I go even the ones that are accepting it they look at your card look at you and I'm like oh Lord please let them accept this insurance because we don't know if we're going to be able to be seen it's embarrassing you know you almost got to sell the insurance every time you go oh they're going to pay the bill they're going to pay the bill we're self-insured it it's just embarrassing it's embarrassing for me it's embarrassing for a lot of people we want to go to the doctors we work hard here for the for the township we want to go to the doctors and we want to get health care we're willing to pay we're willing to pay we want to get service just want to say something because I've been going to pen medicine for over 30 years to date they're not accepting the insurance when I go I use my credit card my reimbursements are not coming back as I paid I have the receipts and everything I'm not getting full payment so it's very frustrating again like lorine says you're afraid to go there are things happening but but you're using up so much of money you're not getting back the reimbursement on time and when you do get it back it's not the full amount that was paid anybody else also one other thing if you try to reach Performance Health you don't get them when you do get them they leave a message for you you have to call them back you have to call back you send claims in you have to call to find out what's happening never had to do that explanation of benefits it doesn't come you have to ask for it and then when the explanation of benefits come in it's very cryptic it's not clear it doesn't resemble what an explanation of benefits look like hi Patty Conrad how are you guys just wanted to let you know that nobody thinks that our Administration is like nefariously trying to make our health insurance harm I'm sure everybody wants to save a buck but these are the things these are really big problems you sell this insurance and they're like yeah we're going to try it then they don't get paid for 160 days and then you know what they say we're not taking your insurance anymore because you know why they don't pay it because they they said this is what they said to me because we don't have to pay it so now if I said that as an employee well I don't I don't have to do that I would assume that I would get in trouble for saying I don't have to do that so our he we have employees that aren't going to the doctor because they're scared my employees are like I'm not I'm waiting so I can have my prescriptions for a certain amount of time it's it's a little disturbing and it's kind of heart-wrenching because they used to call our insurance the Unicorn insurance so great just a little disheartened right now thank you oh and I like to add that my last sickness I kept being prompted by my supervisor go to the doctor go to the doctor I went to Urgent Care my last sickness not the last one the one before that Urgent Care shwed me away they did not accept their insurance so the last time I got sick I just I just did home care I just take care of myself I just found whatever I can find in my own cupboards to make me feel better because when you're sick you want to get help you don't want to be turned away sick so I just didn't go to the doctor I just got through it hi de TR I just want to say I don't have the insurance okay but I stand up for all employees I'm on Executive Board and I've hearing all the stories too and it's just really sad to hear that somebody said they had to go open a credit card to pay what they had to pay one went to the doctors they had to put out $200 for their daughter and they didn't have it they don't have that kind of money right up front in order to get surfice okay so I hope that when the opportunity comes for the fop and the firefighters that they can talk to y'all that you do talk to them to see if they're on the same page that we're on so we can do something better for our employees thank you for listening thank you very much yes and um and as I stated in my in my statement please do take note of the presence of fop and and and fire okay as as they may be apprehensive due to their um conflicts all right i' like just thank everyone for speaking up coming to represent your cases and listening to the provider they didn't deny anything that you said they said there was hiccups there was this there was that but until we put pressure on the situation is when they decided to step up for me as one it's too late as I said said before you are our most valuable resource and I'm not going to put a dollar amount on you like we did with the trash contract okay I'm not going to make that mistake so me as one individual I can't support that to me you guys are everything uh based on the document that Mr Brown read it does state that the local unions fire fire officers fop and Public Works stand behind this statement understanding they can't speak to it because of their situations so with that um those are my comments any Council colleagues have comments councilwoman Peron yeah um thank you for coming out this evening it was helpful to hear um more direct um individual um issues that you were experiencing and um from in summary what I'm observing is that number one of course we all know this we're a municipal and not a health insurance company and what happened was um by adopting this this program our employees had to become insurance agents and searching for doctors and getting the best plan instead of doing the job that they were hired to do according to their skill set so for me um the the testimonies that were were received this evening um from the insurance perform Health Care is unacceptable um I find that the additional information that was received by um some of the representatives from the union about not being reimbursed the full amount or not being reimbursed on time um uh Burning Bridges with the current physics trust um all of these Avenues are not just um small mistakes they're big business mistakes and as far as I'm concerned this um this situation should end today and we should take every Avenue we can to go to find our way back to the State Insurance whether they think it's a good idea or not and I did hear from the town Township manager's um office um of your um disagreement with that idea but as you heard from the employees today and from the direct um business uh professionals from Performance Health this this healthc care is not working and I don't think we need to belabor it any further I think what we need to do is begin to discuss what are the actions what date where our attorneys to fill out whatever needs to take place to go back to the state health insurance that's all I have thank you councilwoman Peron any other comment go ahead Dr worthy thank you Madame mayor I want to say thank you to the employees for coming out and for sharing your experiences for bravely speaking up and speaking out to represent um what's best for you um I do support returning to the State Health Benefit Plan I appreciate the work that the Administration has done to help um save some uh funds I understand the plan in terms of the phased approach um that they were trying to do to to be able to ultimately provide you know uh Etna get more claims uh data I understand the process I understand uh the systematic approach it's just that when you add the human element back in it's just not working the way that we thought that it would and so um given all that the the employees do for the municipality I can't even begin to imag the psychological the lack of psychological safety and the fear going to the doctor it's already hard enough um in a black and brown Community predominantly to muster up enough courage to go to the doctor in the first place when you don't want to go and then you get there and you're afraid that you'll be rejected and um I can say that when we supported the administration's um diligence that they had done um it definitely was with the the best um best thinking in mind and thinking that we really were doing a good thing um we were not trying to do something to undermine you or to make you feel less valued as employees we thought we were making the best decision at the time with the information that we had at the time um and I don't believe the administration was trying to do something to undermine either because they live in the in that health plan but thank you I really appreciate you all coming out employees don't speak out much at Council meetings so to organize and to come out um I certainly appreciate hearing the testimonies thank you Madame mayor thank you Dr Worthy but councilwoman I'm sorry councilwoman Whitfield um I also want to thank all of the employees um and representatives that came out tonight from the unions um it does mean a lot and your voices are definitely heard um I too support going back to the state health insurance plan um as you know was said previously you know we wanted to provide something that was different um with the information that we were given um but it's just not working out how um it was intended and we want you to have a good experience with health insurance um we know the work that you do and we can't continue to function as a municipality without you so um we want you to feel safe and covered as well so thank you all for coming out tonight thank you Council councilwoman Whitfield um I I do second the sentiments of the rest of my Council colleagues um so I don't want to belabor to point um is there a motion on the on the I'd like to make a motion that the township of Willingboro goes back to the State Health Benefit Plan second moved by counc Deputy Mayor Anderson seconded by councilwoman Fon any further discussion roll call please council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes the motion has passed all right Madame mayor yes question so Mr Harris with this decision what is the process and how long will it take to go back under the umbrella of the state health plan we will have to pass a formal resolution which we will prepare for the meeting next week um that resolution has to be submitted to the state I'm sorry two weeks um has to be submitted to the state health benefits plan I believe they need 60 days um and then we will go through the re-enrollment process and at your direction Mr Mr crook or maybe Maggie is reviewing our contract I'm Miss mchu I'm sorry please forgive me um are reviewing our contracts with um performance Heth and USI and Delta Dental and and all of those and we'll see what the the terms of the Agreements are so we will have a full you know full understanding of what needs to be done by the next meeting in two weeks I believe so yes okay thank you very much right and and to add just add to that just you know also trying to get a date that we will be back with that understanding yeah just just some type of a window ballpark window just so it's just not open it's not lingering but we have an idea and with that being said on the resolution that we passed 20 2431 with this decision being made they will only get what partial payment for the months that they're being used I don't know that's what we will have to review through the through the contractual agreements okay so yeah if you can just get back to us on that based on that resolution now that we've made this decision thank you thank you thank you everyone for coming out and speaking up it is always needed and necessary so we do appreciate that is there anything else for unfinished business I'm we still have some boards and commissions to um fulfill so I'm going to attempt to go through this as easy as possible so I'm going to make a motion yeah there's um councilwoman Whitfield did email out the latest list um I just went through it to um just try to fill in the recent um leadership forms that were submitted it and so to make this easy I just rather read all the names all right so and I make a motion to appoint the following members of our boards and commissions we'll start with economic development um for a one-year term these are it' be resident Ney hacket resident Edgar de ala resident Lamar leard resident Patricia Lindsay Harvey and Resident Merill Adams for Route 130 corridor it's another one-year term resident Edgar de ala resident Lamar leard and Resident Marcus King for the will Willingboro Municipal Alliance on drug and substance abuse that's an off of one-year term resident Cynthia Edwards and Resident Alice Macintosh green year Green Team a one-year term resident Joan tresky um for environmental commission that's a three-year term ter member two for Patricia Lindsay Harvey which the term will expire December 31st 2026 and Zoning Board which is a four-year term member seven Marcus King which will expire December 31st 2027 I second the motion of the I second the nominations as read any other discussion or any additions Madame mayor will you um you're doing all of them that are listed right yes okay did you say um javal fell up for parade I think we did her already I thought we did I think we did it too but I an event yes parades an event are there any other ones um and then we got you said um Alice you said this one right Alice Macintosh for municipal said that one and then the kley for the ethics standard's no ethical standards board it's not even a board yeah we don't we don't have an ethic standards is there anyone else for parades and com parades and events from that list um no I don't see them okay yeah we did them already right yeah I think we did jaella too we did jell jll so we did okay just for the purpose it can we we can can we back can I amend i' retract my second okay and I retract my no I'm still in my motion right okay so I would like to also add um javel pH for the parade EV for the parade and events as a resident I second the motion for the nominations as read to include the javel Phillips thank you roll call please yes yes yes yes yes thank you and if anyone is online um you may come into the the township to get your oath of office um between the hours of uh 9 to 5: um just come to the clerk's office for your oath of office Monday through Friday swearing in huh is that Monday through Friday Monday through Friday yes all right anything else for unfinished business anything for new business I one go ahead thank you Madame mayor um I wanted to bring up under new business um for council's consideration if we'd be open to doing um a council Retreat or working session where we can continue to look at the um initiatives for 2024 some of the changes we're looking to make um where we are with the Strategic plan um we have legal working on a number of different things we have economic development and all sorts of things that we're looking at I know that sometimes with the constraints of a regular uh council meeting we're unable to look um holistically at the year and thought that it would be beneficial to be able to have a working session or a retreat to be able to really look at uh the 2024 in its entirety I fully agree with that I'm in support of that I'm in support as well okay but Dr worthy would you be willing to take that task on to um just securing um our Retreat and seeing you know the options that we have if it's yes if council's okay with that I'm I'm fine with taking the lead on it coordinating um and helping put together an agenda um sure thanks everybody okay with that y okay anything else for for new business okay moving on to public comment public comment is now open you have four minutes please state your name and address for the record public comment is now open you know I had my grand daughter who was born in October at my house Kia Alexander which Street I live on Plum Tree Lane I've been a resident of Willingboro for 37 years okay thank you uhhuh and uh she came to my house and stayed for the weekend and I went to the stove to prepare some oatmeal for her and it dawned on me that I was using water that hadn't gotten any update on that the last letter I got about the water in Willingboro you could not boil out this PF whatever C and I was in a rush to get here and didn't bring those letters with me and I thought to myself I haven't gotten anything from the Township in regard to what's going on with that however I did get something about my bill being late and if it got to a certain point they would put an actual lean on my property for the water bill being uh late or not paid and I thought to myself now here I have been for 35 5 years living 37 in a Township that I have may have been being poisoned not necessarily and do not take this personally by anybody sitting there but by a group of people that were allowed to come in supposedly to make the water safe and has put a chemical in the water that can't even be boiled out and now someone had the adity to tell me if I don't pay you'd put a lean on my property for a water bill that's no that's the number one egregious thing that was really bothering me and secondly I've heard nothing in regard to I did see that there was something being erected some kind of building to take note about this water situation haven't gotten an update in the mail about that at either and I'm really bothered by that I'm 69 years old when I moved to Willingboro I was 32 I've lost my husband at cancer I've lost my daughter-in-law here in wooding Boro to cancer I don't know how widespread this is and then I said to myself some time ago without getting emotional about this that I needed some help with that water bill because I had a pipe that cost me $110,000 that broke in my yard flooded my whole first floor and I've been putting my house back together so I really haven't had the money to really go up and pay for this water that has been poisoning me that I am now being told that if I don't pay it someone would had audacity to put a lean on my property and I just want someone here to help me with that because there's a 211 and I went to the water company and they gave me a piece of per paper they said they can help you with that well guess what we don't have a grant the same people that poisoned this water doesn't didn't even have doesn't have the decency to even help us get a grant to pay for the polluted water there's no Grant so when you go to this 211 number or uh you call and they say well sorry Willingboro we don't have a grant we can't help you are you aware of that are you aware that that that there's um help out here for water bills but it doesn't pertain to the township of Willingboro are you aware of that anybody there no question oh okay all right so no there is no Grant so I said well why wouldn't someone in the water commit at least go to these people who poisoned us and said you got to help our people with this water bill because you helped poison them and I need to know how long this PFC has been floating around in this water in this Township for how long and how are these people that came and put this chemical in it it was supposedly making it safe where are they in this whole Willingboro Fiasco and Mount Laurel because it's not just us where are we in this conversation about this poisoned water I need answers to that I need a name where I can go and actually talk to somebody in the water commit your time is up oh really after 37 years and being afraid I'm being tossed away you're not being tossed away you're not it's okay but I wanted y'all to hear me tonight and I'm glad you're here okay but I need y'all to really pay attention to that because it's something not it's Insidious it's not right again as a resident of willber I just I can't anyone else for public comment we have anyone online uh yes mayor yes mayor Maddie mallerie mallerie good evening mie mallerie of Hudson Place and um I do have some issues but I'm going in a different direction tonight uh because I was deeply affected by the deaths of the three young soldiers Sergeant uh Rivers Mett and Sanders because for me it's a flashback of the Vietnam War in which my husband and many of his friends who were commissioned at South Carolina State University were shipped out to Vietnam to serve this country and I know the feeling of those families that are suffering with this loss uh one of the things that my husband said to me all the time was that what he feared most about being in Vietnam was being killed while they were sleeping in their bunkers so my deepest sympathy goes out to these families and of course we lost many friends uh my husband was a medic and luckily he survived Vietnam physically but we know that mentally it took a toll on all of our Young Veterans um the other thing that with that being said I do have some concerns and um I will say that we can all get along here in Willingboro if we follow the suggest questions of Lee and do the right thing the other thing that um I want to ask is why don't we have an Ethics commission um I think that it's very important that this is something that we consider for the township so that there are certain uh guidelines that we should follow in order to make Willingboro a better place to live and with that I'm finished for this evening thank you miss mallerie all right bua Williams good evening mayor deputy mayor council manager and everyone thanks for this opportunity to share with you few things that's on my mind first of all um I appreciate um Mr Harris singling out the two wonderful officers that came to our um Martin Luther King uh third annual luncheon the um I must say that willing has some outstanding police officers and whenever we have something that benefits the community they're there to support so I want to say thank you officers thank you Mr Harris thank you councel um likewise whenever we're doing the Willing 7th Adventist Church is doing something for the community we always have some representation so thank you very much we're looking forward for to that same support as we um we have [Music] our terena it's the 24th 24th of February Martin Luther King Day of Service and it promises to be very special wonderful music surprises lunching and so on so I hope everybody within the sound of my voice will show up at 21 Veterans Parkway um the church St Paul's is our host church and that's where you'll find us on the 24th which is a Saturday from 11 am to 2m. also I appreciate the representation of the people who are suffering the inadequate um insur health insurance and I so appreciate our our Council the mayor the deputy mayor the council members stepping up and saying we have got to reverse this Fiasco of insurance because it's not right for our community to work so hard and you know when it's time they're sick they're not getting the coverage you know this is not Russia this is you know a democracy so I thank everyone thank Mr har are going forward now to initiate the paperwork so um our community can get the proper Insurance praise God um I discovered something this week where I try to pay my taxes online and it seems as if instead of facilitating my being able to pay easily they're leving a hefty fine so if Mr Harris um would investigate why is there such a penalty I can understand if I was using my credit card but I you know it's to be deducted from my bank account so it shouldn't be such a levy fine Levy at me especially being a senior they should make it easier for me to pay my taxes so I wish um something will be done for about that um I appreciate the the um the veterans who work so hard for or democracy and you know they're able to get um some sort of special uh exempt exemption where they they don't have to pay their taxes because they have some def deficit and I appreciate what the township is doing for them they deserve it anything that you're doing to help the veterans I think they well deserved it so praise God for that and I think that's it for me thank you very much Council and everyone may God continue to bless you as you work continue to work hard for our community thank you Miss Williams you're welcome deput um mayor minint all right Kim Brantley good evening can you hear me yes okay good evening uh good evening to everyone um first of all I just like to say that uh I'm I'm very happy to see that uh the employees of Willingboro are are getting their U opportunity to go back to what's going to be good for them and their families with the health care situation um I'm glad to see that that's something that we were as a Township able to resolve and fix because it was very much needed for them um second of all uh two or three meetings ago I had made reference to accountability for the people who do um run the township which is Council and I had made mention to uh reestablishing the Ethics Committee as a matter of fact today I put an application in uh like Miss maie said I believe that we all should be held uh to a certain standard particularly our leaders so I don't know uh I mean it's not like I mentioned this before there was any I mentioned this before there was any type of legal problems Within Personnel in the township uh and uh it kind of went over without being addressed I mean the the uh solicitor did make mention that we would have to do this that and the other but I had never got any um feedback on that but like I said I did put an application in I think it's a needed commission it's been on the books it's just not active uh secondly I would like to say that um I appreciate everybody who do recognize our veterans in this community uh and this is to whoever wants to answer a couple meetings ago I asked when we were doing the U budget if there was going to be a budget um allocation for a DAV or a service representative in the community because like I express right now um if a veteran or or family member had a problem I'm not talking about going down to Woodland Road or calling up to Newark uh according to our website in our mission statement we have a Department of Veterans Affairs right here in Willingboro and this being a veteran based Community I think that people should be able to go right into an office speak to a service representative get their uh application filed whether it's a spouse of a veteran a child for a veteran under chapter 38 for college education or what have you and we don't have that and I asked Mr Harris was that going to be in the budget he said that they were looking at it and last but not least uh at the end of the last meeting you know by the Township Clerk or the ex Clerk or the clerk who is now uh training someone uh after being uh asked questions by I believe it was Miss Holly then out of the blue jump all over me for filing open requests just trying to get information that that I think that as a resident I'm entitled to I am a resident of willenburg and to be a attacked online in front of the township meeting I thought was very inappropriate uh no one from Council or or or or or the manager nobody stopped it nobody said anything there was no apologies so I'm a senior citizen and I'm a veteran and and I just thought it was wrong to be attacked because she was being asked questions by other people and with that being said you know I only as time's up Mr Brantley yeah I I I know it's up but uh just know that we have a right to Oprah information for this Township you know your time is up please thank you all right Terina Williams thank you Terina Williams 8 bney Circle good evening mayor McIntosh Deputy Mayor Anderson councilwoman Pon councilwoman Whitfield and councilwoman Dr Tiffany worthy Township manager Harris and residents of the Community First I want to say thank you to miss Tanya Jackson for the Weekly Newsletter they're very informative and something to look forward to each week because willing bar is a a beautiful Community that's actively doing something if it's not one Department it's another and it's really good to stay informed and be able to pass the word on to someone especially when they're new to the community one of the first things that I say is I encourage you to sign up for the Willing borrow newsletter I want to say thank you for the the township workers who shared their unfortunate situation and at least we can say this day February 6 we know that we'll be moving forward in the right direction may God richly bless you and thank you so much for continuing to put that smile on in spite of the hurt that you were um experiencing inside you're truly resilient and as we honor our ancestors during Black History Month and onward we truly can say we have some really dedicated workers right here in willing barl Township God bless bless you on Tuesdays our church willing bar 7 Adventist Church has a health talk I inform everyone that on the 1 and third unfortunately we cannot make it but because we're here but I want to inform the community that there's Health talks from 7 11 p.m. 8:00 p.m. on our Church's Zoom the zoom meeting ID is 871 0209 5223 and the passcode is Adventist capital a dve n t i s t for the most part they're centered around the different awareness months like for example um February is American Heart month so on the 27th of this month um our health Ministry director will be who's a nurse practitioner tamy fashu she'll be having it on heart failure prevention next week's we'll be our family family week we'll be having a series on um for families as well as um people who are married because not necessarily when you're married you have children so it's geared towards that from 700 P.M to 8:00 pm all are welcome and invited um my mom announced the Black History Month um day that we'll be having on Saturday February 24th it'll be um please join us as we celebrate our history I love all the different events that Miss Jackson announced and as we know our Township is rich in history so February is one of the months that I look forward to each year thank you so much for your time and dedicated service and let us continue to live love and serve I really appreciated the chaplain's um prayer and I truly believe that it was answered this has been a wonderful meeting May God richly bless you individually your family and the whole Township of willing thank you for your time thank you Miss Williams you're welcome you're welcome Shirley d good evening all Shirley Dorth 36 Newport Lane uh I just have a few things that I'm concerned about uh first of all I do want to thank Mr Harris and the Council the leadership of the council for implementing that clean Community campaign it's been going on for a while it uh seemed like it got off to a very good Foo in uh but I don't know it seemed like something has happened uh because the township is not looking very good right about now I drive van Sky Parkway okay um multiple times during the day and along van skyver Parkway the trash the debris okay food wrappers and things of that nature I mean it is just awful uh the it it's just too much trash on the ground there's even okay uh trees broken down trees they in people's backyard seem like uh they have been cut up but not picked up there are large branches of Evergreen okay in the backyard Al uh this is outside of uh the resident's fence I don't know who's responsible for picking that up but it certainly doesn't certainly doesn't it seem like I'm getting an echo so I certainly hope you're hearing me yes we can hear you there's a little Echo but we can hear you all right thank you okay and uh in addition to the trash that I mentioned okay there's also the fender of an automobile okay or a truck okay on the grass okay it is right at Hampshire Lane and uh van Sky Parkway you know uh these things really they U Break My Heart it saddens me when I ride around town and I see the the kind of debris okay that is um okay on the grass on the ground I'm a 52y year resident of this community and I really have not seen the community looking a quite as bad and as unkempt as it is right now uh the other thing that I'm concerned about I was happy to hear that there are ordinances pertaining to you know the Aesthetics of pro prop because as I ride around the township and I believe you can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe we do have an ordinance pertaining to the storage of trash and recyclable containers that they should be stored okay at the rear of the property but there are so many people who continue to store their prop their uh containers right in front of their garage right along the uh the side of the house where it is visible you know from the road but you know if the department of inspection is not going to monitor this this I don't think people are going to respond to it the ones who are who are going to respond positively to the ordinance they are already doing that but the people who continue to violate this ordinance they're not going to change their behavior until something is like a fine is levied against them and uh so I hope the department of in inspections will consider doing something about it thank you so much for the time and have a good evening everyone thank you Miss Delworth uh Sarah Holly good afternoon Council can you hear me yes great before I get get to the meat of my comments tonight I do want to thank councilman Anderson for saying you're not going to make another mistake and put a dollar amount on the employees health benefits as was done with the trash collection so that's a nice philosophy to have to the woman who spoke about her water bill I just want her to know that there's going to be a lot of leans against properties in Willingboro for not paying their water bill can't imagine she got a lean because just this past week there was a posting on Facebook which I responded to about the water bill and their lean okay and and also to the lady since Council paid $119,000 to replace a senior's roof they should help you pay your water bill so maybe you should go up to the municipal Bill and fill out an application ask Mr Brantley have a code of eth you're breaking up a little bit for five seconds yes stop my time please stop the time stop the time I'm calculating the time I'm calculating the time I'm not going to stop you just go ahead no you my time should go back some because you've used up some of my time it is Miss Holly yeah okay so don't cut me off like you did Mr Brantley all right oh and uh as it relates to Willingboro willing bur does have a code of ethics which is chapter 34 of willing boro's administrative code we just need to follow the code and also I forgot to thank councilwoman Whitfield and her crew for cleaning up broo Park recently which I had to indicated to her that I would do back in September so thank you councilwoman Whitfield and now at the council meeting last week I asked three questions the first one was is the council reducing the salary of an employee who spent three years in the position of Township Clerk a position which has qu which uh has qualification set forth by the state of New Jersey which the employee did not meet that was my first question second question why and or what additional amount is the employees compensated to train an employee for a position that according to new uh New Jersey reg regulations did not meet the qualifications and my third question was has the same employee met the qualifications for the new assignment of the register of Vital Statistics New jurge and here's the statute New Jersey 47 semicolon 1 A-5 e provides that immediate access ordinarily should be granted to budgets bills vouchers contract including Collective negotiation agreements and individual Employment contract and public employees salary and overtime time so therefore the answers that I the questions that I asked last week should have been answered no I understand the public is not entitled to the employees evaluation but the answer to the questions asked should have been provided through the mayor to the manager not an employee that does not even reside in ' 08046 and as far as being petty and messy it's a little Discerning that that members of this Council will use those adjectives especially since you are expected to be the stewards of our tax dollars and K uh Miss mayor Madame mayor I expected more from you especially so I am still awaiting answers to the questions that I ask according to New Jersey 47 semicolon 1 A-5 e through e uh is this individual still allowed to adjust her work schedule in a fashion that became known less uh L year as uh in leaving early those are my comments for tonight so I will await answers to their questions as the New Jersey statutes um stipulate thank you and have a great night thank you Miss Holly anyone else for public comment William W 44 Lane first I'm going to uh present to you well especially to the uh lady who came up earlier about the water there's the uh Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority and they provide the for the town and uh I will read a statement from the website and also first I'll read a statement from the website concerning the water willing bro has taken the temporary measure of removing uh that drinking water source I.E well number five exceeding the P MCL from use on November 30th 2021 until permanent actions have been taken to deliver water from this source that is below MCL we are currently supplying our customers with water from our three treatment plants which service the remaining five wells in our system well six in the combined treatment plant for Wells 9 10 and 11 respectively these three treatment plants produce water that is below the P MCL updates will continue to be provided on our website every three months at www. w.info expect these updates to be posted on or about March 8th 2024 and there's also monthly meeting similar to the council meeting that the MUA holds oh thank you I problem uh that the MUA holds and the next one will be February 21st at 6 pm and their virtual meeting so if you go to the website you can uh log on to there I didn't cover EV uh all the questions but there is what I will say is that there are uh things going on in the background to uh compensate for the going after the source of the P I believe uh one of the sources may be 3M and that is something that is being looked into as we speak but we could talk after the meeting uh for more information uh also concerning uh just just two things and this is more as a resident um you know I had to shout out to my neighbor who's been cleaning up up in vance skyver uh and you know because I see him out there in the morning uh and also maybe the idea of a key to the city uh in lie or maybe with a proclamation and that concludes my comments thank you Mr Weston is there any other anyone else online for public comment okay public comment is now closed um we'll start off with the water um there is a Water Commission that we have but first I do just want to address um that no one in Willingboro is poisoning the water we have a um water source that comes from the ground and what's been happening because of all of the development and um chemical as as the commissioner said 3M and uh chemical companies it leeches into the ground and did um infiltrate anybody's water system who is has groundwater Willingboro operates off of groundwater um so um the state just recently just recently um lowered the limit of Posas what you were talking about the pasas um so we were always within those that range and then they lowered it and we had to shut a well down so we did so the municip um the Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority did shut that well down they closed it and they're now building um a well five um building that uh space to accommodate um taking the peas out so at this point the water is still um under the level of pasos um and I wish I had another commissioner on to just clarify um that the drinking water is within am I correct commissioner is within the range so and the D had to send out we um the Department of Environmental protection made the c um The Authority send out um that letter so you know I just wanted there are things being done and even we need clarification to your point on grants to help our residents um pay this bill um but I'm going to have you go over to um the Willing Willingboro Municipal Authority they handled a water um system and Mr Weston if you can give the young okay she is on okay I'll have her on in a minute um but the township and the willber authority is doing everything they can to make sure that they have safe drinking water um but in terms of having some help paying the bills um somebody will talk to you about that and also I think they started implementing leans as opposed to Turning people's water off they will not turn people's water off at this time so if it becomes um too high I think a lean and I don't know what time what time period would that be that they would place a lean on your home but they will not so they they got out the um they got out out of the the uh plan that they were going to turn water off in order to make sure residents are with are not without water so that is the purpose of the leans and that is a shift from um you know time before um before the pandemic they would just come and shut the water off but now they keep the water on even if the bills not paid and in L so they um add a lean to the home so that is new but it's it's done to keep the water running in everyone's home and I'm going to have we have our commissioner president um from the W mua online so I'm just gonna have her speak to you also um just to let you know what's going on Miss Pat are you on Miss Pat Lindsey Harvey yes good evening um even um you're you you are very much correct our well 5A exceeded the state limit in November and we shut that well down immediately so from that point until now no one is getting any water from that particular well all our other Wells are below the the state standard unfortunately the state um mandated that we send out a letter that really scared our residents half to death um with some inaccurate information it said that our entire system uh was contaminated it's a cookie color letter that everybody who has P has to send out we weren't allowed to uh contradict them uh we weren't allowed to tell the residents that that was not the case we have been in a constant fight with the de ever since that day and we continue to stay in that fight um The Well 5A uh remediation system um is almost completed um as soon as it is we will let the residents know that it's that that well will be back online um it will be taking the posos out of the water but our water is safe to drink okay thank you Miss Harvey thank you we will have some um you can talk to the other commissioner will Westing just to get your contact information and make sure you know we um answer your questions further thank you Miss mallerie um she brought up the ethics commission um board you you speak to uh yes so as to the question on the ethics commission there is a section under chapter 34 of the Township Code addressing that as was correctly stated by Miss Holly thank you and is a there is a state local Finance board that um one can also go to if there is any um allegations that they would like to file um Miss buer Williams she would like to know um the pen the penalty or sirch charge for paying taxes and and I think she said a debit card is that uh yeah I don't know what SE charge is but it is not uncommon to be charged a convenience fee to utilize online payment mechanisms um by credit card providers by law they cannot charge um um certain fees so the way the state and other Municipal entities get around it they charge what is called a convenience fee to utilize online services so I believe that's what Miss Williams is is referring to okay right total bill right to do okay okay and that come and that's not really started with us that's from the company right everywhere okay all right thank you um Mr Brantley also bought up um the Ethics Committee um and also um some concern that um he was brought into a conversation by an employee um during public comment um last I'm sorry the Veterans Affair can Mr Harris can you answer about the Veterans Affair Affairs first so he did ask if that was being considered for uh 2024 budget and like I said then and saying now that's something that's being discussed and um and hasn't been finalized yet okay thank you um also um we answered about the Ethics Committee go ahead can I just add to the ethics um yes go ahead so it's it's a little bit confusing I just wanted to um I'm on our um Township website for Willingboro where our codes are so we have um 30 34-9 adoption of code of ethics so it says here I'm not going to read the entire thing but just some of the most importent things for right now it says within 90 days after the appointment of the Willingboro Township Council ethics Standards Board which I'm going to pause there is different from the finance ethics board that we have in New Jersey so the Willingboro Township ethical standards board the board shall uh prate a resolution of a code of ethics for all officers and employees serving the township I'm going to pause there for a second because this is where people of it's supposed to be a collabor I don't have my jersey law book here either but it speaks to this board is supposed to be a collaboration of employees and citizens of Willingboro and they have different um duties and so forth but um because I'm and I'm saying it because Mr Bentley spoke but he also put in an application for and um to be on this board so he didn't do anything incorrectly and I know that he was some some I'm not sure if you stated or the attorney for him to go to the ethics Court to find out what to do they're going to redirect him back here because it says here what to do underneath 34-9 no different than the other boards that we have um mua parade and events a citizen literally applies and um are appointed there is more involved and just for time sake I'm not going to read the entire thing but we Willingboro already has one it's called the Willingboro Township ethical standards it's just that we don't have anybody on there um that's all I wanted to say about that and then La actually in closing just on the same topic um I think it's important that we put on our website because we're supposed to um boards and commission now that's under 16-3 directory of authorities boards and commission the Township Clerk shall compile and maintain a directory of all local authorities boards and commissions such directory shall be made available upon request from the Township Clerk and posted on the township website and the bulletin of the board and officials notices of the of the municipal building and there's more here but what I'm I'm reading that to to say I'm on the township website and some of the Committees that we just pointed people to is not on there there's only finance board mua and really that's it I know we've also created other boards and commission with the youth that needs to be up here this way any citizen can see what vacancies what do we have um and so forth I just wanted to add that to the discussion all right do you have any comment about the ethics um I would have to look into the actual setup of the status of your ethics board there is something within your code allowing for it um as far as there are also County ethics boards and as stated by yourself mayor and councilwoman Peron the local Finance boards um the local Finance boards do a review of the local government ethics law that applies to every member of a governing body and um certain local employees as well right and that's a little bit just so you know um Madame mayor if you go to the finance local eth ethics board it's more involved and that's more like criminal charges type of things like that we're talking about small things like Mr Brentley spoke about how he was his name was brought up by an employee little things that we can take care of here I think is what he was alluding to but um and then we have County if it's bigger issues but we're talking about small things but I think you should look into it um um through our solicitor um and if you want to look it up on our website it is um 39- sorry 34-9 and it's a whole it's it's a lot of information there for you to read yeah thank you thank you Council okay okay and back to um Mr Brantley um also concerning uh the employee the employee does have a an um right to speak and defend their name um just the way that you know other residents come up and they have things to say um an employee does have a right to say um use public comment for their for their purposes so um there's nothing for Council to say in defense of it but um that's what public comment is and it does allow for employees to say you know on their own recognizance um Miss Dorth um she did give kudos for the clean Community again um but had some concerns about extra debris trees um that are outside of people's um property that are cut trees um she did say uh containers are um Refuge containers are visible and I think our ordinance does say you can't put them in the front of the house so they shouldn't be visible um so her concern was code enforcement um enforcing you know our ordinances um and then she also mentioned um I think it was a car on Hampshire and van skyver so um I thank Miss Dorth for her sharing her comments and I don't necessarily uh disagree with some of the points that she was making about the Aesthetics of willing Barrow in some areas at this point of time um you know we did come through a period of a couple of of Storms and some snow days and um yeah there are some areas that are looking a little rough but our Department of Public Works are aware of this and they are working very diligently to um take care of those situations so uh just please give us a a little more time and Grace and I assure you that willing burrow will return to its aesthetically pleasing State and condition that it normally or usually is um and Mr tunin and I just had this conversation just two days ago about trash cans and things in front of people's homes so these are things that are going to be addressed um a little more diligently um in the community thank you and U Miss Holly also had the three questions concerning um our registar um not sure how to answer that at this moment so miss Holly made a reference to um njsa 47 colon 1A which is in reference to the open public records act which she is absolutely correct she has the right to submit an open request requesting um government documents the o a proper oper request does not cover requests for information questions therefore documents and it is not my belief that the governing body has an obligation to provide information in response to a question unless they choose to do so as a requirement of the open public records act so if Miss Holly would like to submit her request in writing then we would have a statutory requirement to sub respond to her requests for public documents within the statutory period but again does not does not apply to questions am I incorrect in anything that I stated Miss solicitor no Mr Aris that would be an accurate reflection of Oprah and that it is a request for documents not a request for information and I guess her concern was are we required to answer that um she did make a statement that um as a taxpayer you know she would like those answers uh so over requests can be made in different formats if you would like to um consider it as an oper request at this time based on the statement and the reference to the statutory provision could be logged um and responded to in accordance with the Timeline under Oprah okay thank you um also um Miss H made reference to her disappointment in me and that she expected more I'm not quite sure what that means but um in terms of petty and all that that wasn't necessarily towards Miss Holly but I still stand by my statement of uh last week that we do need to do better as a Township making sure we look out for one another and be good neighbors um as best as we can you know I don't have a problem with anyone requesting information or wanting to know as a taxpayer they everyone does have that right but I hope that it's done in the spirit of gaining resolution versus attacks and again I'm not saying that directly to miss Holly but I do stand by my statement last um last yeah it was last week um that as a Township we do have more pressing issues and if we do not get along and we don't come together then um we're we're weaker so I do stand by that but in no in no way was it an attack back towards Miss Holly directly um is there anything else that we that I missed is there anything that I missed for public comment okay moving on to council comments anyone have anything for Council comment just want to thank everyone for coming out want to thank the employees for allowing their voices to be heard coming out standing unified standing together and being able to see resolve thank you thank you Deputy Mayor councilwoman Whitfield um I just wanted to again thank all of the employees and members of the asme union for coming out um as well as the police and fire unions um I'm glad we are able to come to some resolution on that um also please stay up to date and I look forward to seeing you all at some of the Black History Month um events this month uh thank you and have a good night thank you councilman Whitfield anyone else for public comment Dr worthy thank you Madame mayor um thank you again to the unions and to the employees coming out to voice their concerns and to my colleagues for us being able to find resolution um on a lighter note tonight I want wanted to congratulate um a young lady named Indigo Pascal she um teaches in Willingboro school district and she has a dance and step team getting better every day where she mentors young girls um ages 9 to 13 and um she had put together a dance team uh last year and they performed and she said you know what I think I want to do more and so she created her own company getting better every day um she created her mission and her business plan and she found a place to practice and she got these girls together and taught them how to step and how to dance and she said um I want us to be able to compete I want to go to a competition and the team was so newly formed she was a little concerned but she was very confident in the skills that she had and I am so proud to report that willing Burl youth were represented at the Mercer County Community College on Saturday they competed against other teams teams that had been nationally recognized all the teams they competed against were high school age youth these Middle School girls won first place at their very first competition so I am excited you know will and bro youth are doing amazing things our educators are doing amazing things um I was able to see the competition myself and I look forward to getting more information together to present to the mayor for consideration for a proclamation uh for Indigo Pascal and her girls they were they literally are girls like they they were absolutely amazing and so when people talk about what's happening in willing Barrow we have some wonderful things that are happening you listen to a council meeting you can get a little frustrated because you hear a lot of nonsense but when you get out in the community and you're out with the youth and you're out with parents that are supporting these youth taking them to practices waiting in their cars as they're watching the girls practice um it has been it's been amazing to watch them just grow and so uh while the business of will is very important and we have a lot of work to be done I have to always take a moment to take a step back to appreciate the good and to appreciate the the Splendor and the wonderful things in willing bar because the undercurrent sometimes if you're not careful it will pull you under because some people have an agenda and it is not a good one but I am encouraged by our young people and Miss Indigo Pascal is 25 years old she has found her purpose she's working in purpose and I'm incredibly proud proud of her and her team thank you madam mayor thank you Council you have anything okay thank you um I'm to piggy off of back piggy back off of Dr worthy there are many great things and you you do have to step back um and I didn't share this last time but it was good when it snowed to see all the people on that Hill for me that brings back Milk Creek Park Hill was packed for two days when it was snowing it was very I mean in every when it was families out and to me that's what reminds me of willing bur and it was just it was refreshing to see because it is easy to get bogged down into the negativity or the people who have negative concerns all the time um but to see people laughing and enjoying Willingboro along with our recreational um offense you see it all the time the smiles the joy and you know again there's business that that needs to be handled there are real complaints there are real problems so I don't discourage anyone from bringing those issues up to us because our residents are our eyes and our ears but sometimes as Dr worthy just said you got to step back and smell the roses so I hope each of us continue to do that along with bring up you know whatever issues or whatever concerns you see um throughout the township but you know just take a step back sometimes and look at the positive things appreciate you and have a great night do have executive session so moved second move by councilwoman Whitfield seconded by Deputy M Anderson uh roll call please statement we need a statement I'm sorry contract contract yeah yep um yeah so you are entering into an executive session for matters discussing contracts um as an exemption to the open public meetings act yes yes yes yes yes I do not anticipate action to be taken tonight Madame mayor yes do you do we need do you think we may need to extend how long do you think we will be in on that issue yeah we got 30 minutes so I mean if we need to I guess come back to extend we can yeah okay yeah if we if we need to come back out to extend we can yeah we should be wrap it up I need a motion to come out of executive session so move second moved by Deputy Mayor Anderson seconded by councilwoman Woodfield roll call please yes yes yes yes yes all right I need a motion for adjournment so moved second moved by Dr worthy seconded by Deputy Mayor Anderson all in favor say I I what time is it it's 10:08 thank you very much everyone good night [Music] everyone