Mr Harris it is now 6: PM we can begin this special meeting of the of the Willingboro Township council is called according to the provisions of the open public meetings ACT public law 1975 chapter 231 adequate notice has been provided by transmitting the notice of this meeting to the Burlington County Times by posting it in the township on the Township's website and by filing it in the office of the municipal clerk on Thursday January 25th 24 2024 this agenda is complete to the extent known formal action will be taken we'll have a roll call council member Peron council member Whitfield president council member Dr worthy Deputy Mayor Anderson present mayor McIntosh present and for the record Mr Harris um councilwoman Peron did call in she will be running a little late okay thank you so if you're ready we can stand for the flag salute okay I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay before we get started we're going to have a moment of silence for one of our own um Sergeant William Jerome Rivers who was a member of our Willingboro community and a dedicated serviceman um Sergeant R Sergeant Rivers was one of the three United States service members tragically killed in a drone attack on in Jordan on Sunday so can we just take a moment of silence for our fellow member of this community thank you and we also have um a little plaque for our former deputy mayor for the service that she's done over the last couple of years and we just wanted to present her a plaque and tell her we're very grateful for the work she has done thank you thank you so much thank you councilwoman with B thank you it's beautiful it fits her right yeah all right moving on um to a manager Municipal update Mr Harris you may begin so um we pretty much having the hearings for the the different grant opportunities right okay so this evening we are going to be uh entertaining public hearings for um some green acre Grant applications that we're looking to implement uh to improve some of our uh infrastructure and our our Parks and Recreations um facilities we have with us miss Dion Balden who is the director of or the acting director of our recreation department and Mr Kendall Brunson uh who works with conjunction in conjunction with her to uh make a presentation uh regarding some of the things that we are looking to do with recreation in our parks in 2024 through the utilization of funding from Green Acres Miss Balden okay would you be able to hear me take around the side there you go okay good evening mayor deputy mayor council um Mr Harris and the Willingboro Community as Mr Harris has stated um I'm Deion Balden the act and director of um our recreation and parks department and I have with me my team member um Mr Kendall Brunson and Mr Brunson is very instrumental when it comes to doing these grants um I believe in giving credit where credit it is due for his 10e time that he has been with um the municipal he has um kind of acquired maybe about $3 million in Grants um for the time that he has been here so he works very tirelessly effortlessly and um I rely on him a lot for this so I definitely just wanted to give him credit before we begin what we're looking to um seek council's approval for is that we are applying for three separate grants all of these grants are due February the 7th they're very extensive grants they have different requirements we haven't had to have a public hearing with grants that we've had in the past um and so um this grant required a public hearing and it also required us to have surveys that um we had to send out like to the community so we did um Survey Monkey we did um Meetup I think we did in-person grants and also um posted on our Facebook page so we received over um a thousand responses with regards to um the grants that we are seeking um most of the feedback was definitely favorable for both projects one being the Jake Place playground and the other one being the pickle ball courts um in mil Creek Park so um we're going to kind of take each one um separately just so we can um what what we did is we kind of went through the responses that we did receive from the community so that in our presentation we can also Tred to cover some of the the concerns that the community did have but again I will say that we had overwhelming response for both of the projects the first one that we're um want to discuss is the Jake Place playground that funding um range is 500,000 to 750,000 we are applying for 750,000 for that particular Grant we have worked closely with penon um for all three of the grants um so it's it's basically two projects but one of the projects once we get to the pickle ball courts it requires two separate um grant fundings for that project and we'll explain more when we get there um so we received the layout the scope of work and also um the equipment cost and everything for the digs Place playground and that figure came to I say 1,179 1,179 th000 for that particular project so we are applying for $750,000 for that Grant the um Grant portion that will be covered um let me see 750 and so the max of the grant is $750,000 the state will cover 75% of the overall cost of the project of that 1,179 um, which equates to 8 $84 $84,200 I'm sorry and so there's a difference between what the 75% would be as opposed to what we would be getting for the grant makes sense right so the difference of that is $134,200 and we also have to cover our 25% Grant match portion which would be 294,000 $50 so when we take the difference of what we wouldn't receive from the Grant and then our match the total um Capital that we would be looking for would be $429 um, now with the Jake Place playground we had um looked at mil mil Creek Park section D so we already have a playground um system that's already there we know that it has been um brought up with regards to Bro par um what some residents do not know is that we had already um started looking at putting a playground in broo park we understood that the community didn't have an inclusive playground so that's one of the things that we have identified I know councilwoman on withfield that's something that you had also talked about as well so we already um had applied for a grant in 21 which we received in 22 and then last year we were able to um get the final pieces of that playround ground so that playground will be installed in bro Park this spring so the community will have an inclusive playground it's not a jake Place playground but we identified that we did need to have an inclusive playground in town so that's where that's going in bro park with the size of the Jakes Place playground and everything that comes along with it when you're talking about um shade structures and bces you you kind of you need a bigger footprint than what bro Park would actually offer so we feel that um having the playground placed in mil Creek Park in section D would be the best place we know that um when you have a jake Place playground because there are um those playgrounds in Delan and Sherry Hill right and Mount Laurel um it does bring a lot of traffic to the community so we know that we would have to look at parking right where that location is we have Kimble park that's like kind of like right next to it where that whole grassland is by um what used to be the old bridges building right there that can be a conversation with regards to looking for additional parking as well as restrooms we understand that that is something else that would be required in that area as well um so that we'd be able to accommodate everybody um there was also discussion or I guess um questions with regards to possibly having a spray park within that playground that's nothing that we um were looking to to do we would love to have the the spray part working and Penny Packer which we're actually working on that as well for that and then we also you know had discussions before with Hawthorne with maybe making that into something else so we weren't um we did not include a spray Park section with water within this um actual playground um section um is there anything else you want to add with regards to that that's it okay people also mentioned about um noise sound and also um structures for people to see sit in um separate areas um several of the Jake Place areas they're they're off the main main roads so and also main Parks so um the noise it's natural for a park but also the um there for separate shade structures for places that they can rest or relax and also for parents just to let the let the children be children so um several of those particular structure will be included as well exactly and then we're talking about an inclusive um playground I know that um some of the responses was um just kind of referring to autistic children but when you're talking about inclusive it's also you know wheelchair accessible Walker accessible and again with the noise because of the fact that we are create or um will be installing the park in bro if the noise is actually a concern in mil Creek Park then now we do have another inclusive location that we will have um at uh the Bro Park location as well um i g to say I think that might be it and something else comes back up too Mr O'Brien would you be able to bring up the concept plan for Jake's place for the residents uh yes ma'am give me one moment okay so one of the requirements and I think um Council Mr Harris may have sent this to you in an email with regards to the um the concept plan and basically that's just showing the map of the location um intersecting you know streets um the measurements and everything like that so you would have an idea as to the footprint of the particular area so that's one of the requirements um with regards to the public hearing as well and then also uh okay next slide will actually show the community the map for those who are online you can kind of see the layout of where the playground would be and then any intersecting streets um within the community and if you go up Mr O'Brien to the environmental impact assessment I want to say page two the second page so after the yes okay and it goes to the next page one of the things that we just have to um make known is the environmental impact analysis of proposed action and again this is um documentation that was put together for us by penon and its affected resources are limited to existing playground and grass areas being converted to rubber surface playground area improvements are in areas already cleared with no additional clearing requirement as a longtime existing park over 30 years the to topography and soil conditions will require no change to existing conditions the project will be accomplished without losing the natural setting of existing existing plants and trees while providing providing public access to Safe affordable and healthy ways to experience and appreciate the outdoors so that's one of the requirements that we just need to let the community know as well as um any mitigating measures and according to our document from penon we do not anticipate any mitigation relative to the proposed improvements um I want to say I think that was it for the Jakes place um and I guess we can kind of do the presentation and then save questions for after that's fine or you want to ask questions regards to that one now okay questions okay that's so questions I okay all right so that's that's that's basically the wrap up for Jake's Place make sure [Music] um one of the other items that did come up with regards to Jake place because it's in the park I know that that has been concerned with um the maintenance of the area so I have spoken um with the acting director for DPW so that we can make sure that we are maintaining the area um again if we're going to have a lot of volume that's going to be coming into the area we want to make sure that we are um maintaining it however that that looks like and we are also um uh going to have the fencing around the area as well so that it can kind of be enclosed and speaking with the um Captain bucks from the the police department we're going to try to have additional conversations because we know that the quads and and all of that inside the park that was also a concern so I do want the residents to know that we did hear you know the concerns and internally we're going to be addressing you know these issues because again we believe that the Jake Place playground would be a definite asset for um the community you know for our community at large and you know and individuals kind of coming in so this is something that we want to have in the community and be able to to maintain as well the so we're going to save the the question so we can go on to the other grants or you want to okay what regards to Jake okay understood to the other one okay that's fine okay thank you first I want to say thank you um Miss Balden and Mr Brunson for the um Grant application and for looking into this for Willing borrow I was curious about the matching I know that sometimes we can do in kind or something with um the time and salaries of of uh employees versus having to pay like hard cash and I was wondering if for the matching is there an opportunity to decrease the amount of capital that we have to put up and um and use some ink kind services or something like that to offset it and I'll let Mr Brunson an um answer that and I believe when I was looking at the the application it it looked like it needed to be um a cash match um either from capital or it had to be a loan right or some additional Grant or something yeah from a funding source okay thank you that's other question can you just describe what the um the shade shelter would look like give us an idea um go ahead okay very various shade shelters and um okay with a playground okay shade shelters usually are like a we'll say four fourze Ed um cloth cloth kind type of structure usually standing about approximately 8T tall um and various like backing and also um various benches um even maybe a water fountain or something or even like even a software pad for a resting area but they'll approximately like and it could be various colors so you can choose the colors that would go along with it or approxim 8 feet tall and then we're looking maybe around four different structures but could be varing varing sizes so you have your rectangles also you might have your triangle shapes and then you can just you can use the you can cont to them various ways just to make an appealing thank you mayor thank you for your presentation um I'm very excited to um see this application come before us um I've you know been talking with you all about accessibility within the community and um this is a very good opportunity I think for us to increase accessibility in our space in our play spaces for the Youth in our community um one of the questions that I do have um is the surface and I know you mentioned the environmental impact um but I was wondering if there was any um research or any looking into the storm water the effect on our storm water and the run off on the playground um yeah okay so most playgrounds especially the um accessible playgrounds now port and plate surfaces which are actually por surfaces as a POS to having to create a drain there will be naturally a drain there but the water itself will dissipate um along the surface and permeate out with per okay so it's a permeable surface and it'll go right into the ground as awesome and that's the same surface that we'll have at the bral park as well great that was all I have that's it for Cel so we will open the public hearing for the application to fund the Jake law playground being submitted to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection through the Green Acres Program is there a motion to open the public hearing so moved second moved by councilman Anderson second and by councilwoman worthy all in favor I the public hearing for the Jake law playground is open anyone interested in speaking on this subject please identify yourself and state your name and address for the record good evening piny Harvey Hadley Lan um I was glad to hear that the area is going to be enclosed because it was a a couple residents who have autistic children who were afraid because their children just run that that you know there's a street there so my question is um you mentioned that the shade areas are made of cloth how do they stand up to bad weather especially wind and um bad storms there's somebody online waiting to speak should we do all of them we'll do all of them and then we all right so I see Callin listener ending in 7297 good evening Council uh Jack W and Mack I'm very happy to hear that we have presentation on the playgrounds um and my question even though it's a little trouble I'm having a little trouble hearing some of the people so I'm not sure I understood this correctly are we talking about four four playgrounds two are what you're calling um inclusive and to regular is that how we're um what we're talking about in this uh you know um yeah application for uh the state for the grants and um how would that affect that if we're talking about it for like Penny Packer and hawthor um does that impact on the school district at all or has the uh Township taken over those two particular playgrounds thank you very much and I don't know if I gave my address at 70 Maple work line Sorry Miss Mac all right I did see Stephen's iPad good evening one and all uh uh thank you for having me Stephen Craig 65 Belmont Lane um I'm glad to see that a park like this is coming to the township potentially uh I think it's a great idea um I would ask that you employ uh and speak to some of the parents of autistic children maybe you guys take a ride and go and see uh what a park looks like um I personally can tell you I don't think this park should be at mil Creek um as the parent of an autistic child um these children and and every autistic child is a little different but some of these kids react different to loud noises and I know they said that they plan on doing something about the uh dirt bikes and the quads in the park but we've been dealing with that for years and I just don't have a lot of uh confidence that that's going to be dealt with um at this point my son being 12 years old he still requires a quiet space at times you know where he needs to be able to go to and I just don't have um confidence that this park is going to be quiet enough on top of that we have other parks in the township why are we not uh considering using one of the other parks that go underused I think would be a great idea like broo Park would be a great location to put a park like this you know it's easy accessible there's plenty of parking and that Park basically goes unused you know there's not a lot going on over there we have the Jazz Fest in the park and there's tournaments and just about everything goes on in mil Creek Park why are we not even we should at least consider it you know I mean that's that's just my opinion on it you know um but it's something to think about you know um last but not least sending my condolences to the township on the loss of Sergeant rivers and the other two soldiers that we lost in that uh terrorist attack all right peace and God bless thank you Mr Craig and let the record flow that council member Peron arrived at 6:25 p.m. post was there anyone else for P for the public hearing uh not at this time mayor thank you so is there a motion to close the public hearing so moved second move by councilman Anderson seconded by councilwoman worthy uh council member Peron close the public hearing yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes the Council of the public hearing for the Jake's law playground is officially closed and next uh Miss oh I'm sorry I'll let Mr Brunson um speak to the shade structure because we've had several I think that's the same type of shade structures like we have at the the pool so um the shade structures themselves um they are they have yeah they have they have about approximately 100 um 100 mile per hour wind capacity and they're usually made by um a um alloy steel and they're usually they're either for the for the park themselves or the playground they'll actually be um they'll actually be into the ground so they'll be Footers into the ground um that will allow for the um for um the wind to not Prevail over the structure itself and I believe Miss Mack had a question I think she was asking if it was several different playgrounds so it's just one playground that would actually be in the um area d section of mil Creek Park we did reference um another playround but that's the one that's going to be completed in the spring in bro Park um but that's not a jake Place playground and then um I believe Mr Stephen Craig um I know it was some concern with regards to the noise um but the the playground that we are going to have in bro Park is also an inclusive playground as well and um when we're talking about inclusive we mean just in inclusive for all children in the community to be able to utilize the playgrounds excuse me but when you're having an accessible um inclusive playground it allows for um uh in individuals with disabilities to also be able to utilize the the playground so whether in your wheelchair or a walker but it's not just the noise but if the noise is an issue in mil Creek Park again we'll have an inclusive playground with the port in place um surface as well as the different sensory toy and and um Mar grounds and everything that's accessible for all children so that's another alternative um that we did want to indicate early on so you're not um married to having to use the playground in mil Creek Park you do have options in the community before that playground is even going to be um installed actually said okay all right so now we're going to go on to one of Mr brunson's um favorite areas we're going to be talking about the pickle ball court um so there's two different grants that we are applying for what regards to the the pickle ball courts one is an urban Parks Grant and one is the park development plan now with the urban the urban Parks grants um based on um I guess different criteria within the grant our community Falls in line with being able to apply for the urban Parks um Grant that Grant is um $500,000 there is no match that we have it's 100% Grant funded of 5 $500,000 so we don't have to worry about a match for that particular Grant now the pars development Grant um we have to apply for that Grant as if we didn't receive the urban Parks Grant so we're going to have two different grants in I'm sorry Council Deputy you me okay all right so what we have to do is we have to apply for two separate streams of grant funding so we would apply for the urban Parks Grant and hopes that we would get the $500,000 the project cost $800 and 20,000 I want to be accurate sorry one second the overall calls for um the pickle ball courts is $8 uh $220,000 so if we receive $820,000 so if we receive the urban Parks Grant $500,000 of that would automatically um come off we don't have to worry about having um a matching for that particular Grant in the event that we did not receive that Grant is the reason why that we have to apply for the parks development Grant and that would be for the whole project and and then we would have um $615,000 that would be covered by the Grant and then our cash our cash match for that would be $25,000 to equal that $820,000 okay now if we were to receive the $500,000 from the Urban Park Grant then all we have to do is worry about what would be left over for the difference from the 820 taking off the 500,000 which would be $320,000 so then at that point our 25,000 our 25% contribution would be $880,000 you good okay all right now when we looked at the the pickle ball courts and and I I kind of want to um take a a step back with regards to um pickle ball we've introduced pickle ball to the community in 2016 so we kind of was a little bit ahead of some of the surrounding communities because we introduced it we've had several tournaments within our building right now we have classes we have lessons I'm not exactly sure if Willam Burl High has the classes but we do know that they have a pickle ball class for Jim at BCIT so you know pickle ball is is moving there was um some discussion when we were talking about being able to use the um tennis courts to convert them over the ones that are a cotton um but it was very clear when we attended um the grant q&as that they had that we need to own the property they do not want us to um use anybody else's property because you do not know what can happen going forward so they they frown upon it they pretty much kind of discourage it um with regards to having um using other property that's not owned by the township I should say so when we kind of looked at that and um also with proximity to hous in and all of that we think that it would be better suited for the pickle ball courts to go where we already have our tennis courts and then we can kind of run it the same way we have people that rent out the tennis courts we have um tournaments that are out there you know for USA so we can kind of run a lot of things on the pickle ball courts and the be how what we call it our Racket and R rack and paddle sport right rack and it all in the the same area and so again we know that there may be um a concern with regards to um parking we know we have the futur house that's there there's grassland that's there so there a lot of things that we can explore so that we can make sure that we' be able to accommodate everything that's there um Mr O'Brien would you be able to bring up the concept plan for the pickle ball courts please okay so this shows where we would be looking to have the the pickle ball courts so it would be kind of right in front of is that one through four courts right okay so when you're looking at the tennis court Pavilion you want me to change and it's also on the board for the community right here it's right here for the community so they can actually um see it right here so um when you're facing the tennis Pavilion we have courts one through four here and then um five through um eight over there and so right in front of Courts one through four is where we were proposing to have the um the pickle par courts there go ahead you want to add um during that we also um we would remove the wall that's there um there's two walls at the tennis courts hitting walls and the the handball walls and they're they're actually minimally used we may use them for lessons here and there but um they're not used often and so we would actually remove that those that that particular structure to accommodate those Sports and we were looking for you know that the outside structure for the pickle ball courts because we know that that's something that has been raised from some community members with regards to having it and usually when um pickle ball goes outside usually in like April or May then there's nowhere for the residents to actually play they will kind of utili try to utilize the court at Fairmount Park but they're not in the best condition and then we don't put tape in lines on the tennis courts because our tennis courts need to be a certain way because again we have tournaments the us so we kind of have different guidelines so we believe that this would be able to fill the need for um the pickle ball Community as well I think that's over you want I add add something as well um as we as everybody might have heard pickle ball is defin the fastest growing sport in America we're seeing it on TV we're seeing it everywhere right now um it's actually um a multigen general age sport generational age sport U many people think it's for people 50 and over but actually the average um individual playing now is between 25 and 35 um we definitely see pickle ball on um ESPN and other sports networks the number one player in the world for a female is 16 years old the number one male player is 22 so it's definitely um you know a growing Sport and that's it's a sport for all ages and also um it crosses the I would say the um the cultural barrier as well so it definitely um is definitely it's definitely growing and also when we look at tennis um we look at pickle ball courts um so our tennis facility U milre Park it's an award-winning facility and many people are trans transferring from tennis to pickle ball like I did myself um but also many um facilities of our size we there's no facility of our size in this area for tennis or pickle ball that potentially um you go to Mercer County Mercer County Veterans Park they are actually doing the same thing we're trying to do here and um trans um migrating into pickle ball as well to better served residents and also to give other um activity base and also brings also more um visitorship to the park because of course mil Creek Park is 100 acres plus so those people that come to play pickle ball or play tennis they're going to walk the trails they're going to check out the other areas of the park so it's definitely mil park has an a regional fi so um will be a regional facility so real quick before um you begin and I just want to say you know we kind of looked at this grant because you can have different options of one to apply for and I know that um when we're kind of looking at the surveys it did come up again with regards to like the turf field and and the track um but we are applying for another Grant through the state that's due at the end of February um that we're looking to apply that funding as well to the um the the football field and and the track project so just so individuals know we we understand the the need for all of the the programs we know that there was another group that was applying for grant funding to try to assist with um the turf field and and track as well so we do have another grant that we're going to be applying for again once we kind of close these three and Mr Brunson will be working on that one because that's at the the end of February as well and that Grant is $100,000 and um also with with a match so we're looking to try to apply that to um the turfield track project so we're constantly moving to try to you know help everybody out okay well um excellent job on getting the grants I definitely um appreciate your hard work in doing that and um the concept with the um autistic Park thank you for doing that I I just have one question about the pickle ball um I'm going to use uh councilman wordy screen the gray area that's the drive is that the drive where the cars are that Gray Road is that the road where where the cars drive yeah okay and then the yellow box can they um turn it counterclockwise and zoom in it oh yeah they you can make it make it um land landscape I'm trying to see yeah can you rotate it can zoom in are you there oh I'm sorry so that's for Zoom uh hold on one second you see the yell box on the board that so the question was can you rotate at 90 degrees and zoom in so the side I'm trying to see what side is this tole wall going to be as as comparable comparable to the driveway so it's in the part that would Clos to the grass that would be closer to on the hill so not where the drive here is the to go in okay the Pavilion here and it would be on this Rass side right so if you're facing the back side as you're facing from the road it's going to be to the left side yeah okay so it wouldn't interfere with the road like if somebody's bouncing balls it's not that it's on opposite side okay all right thank you any other questions from Council yes um thank you again for your work um one question and I can't exactly tell here but is this a fenced in area as well yes okay yes just like the tennis court to a Fen and just for clarification it's behind we're not uprooting our tennis courts we're keeping it tennis courts okay right and um also I know um pickle ball is becoming you know huge and I'm sure people will want to visit our facilities what are we going to do in terms of managing our facilities in terms of management bookings and things of that nature yes so um we're actually going to um manage the pickleball course the same way we manage the tennis facility so we the course we've been managing now over 30 years and um so we do allow we have membership we do memberships we have lessons we also um we hire Court attendants and um we also have a tennis coordinator during the summer so um we would actually use our staff that we use for the tennis program to um to work the tennis program the pickle ball program also as far as um lessons as well we would also um incorporate um certified tennis pickleball instructors and also we also look to um do as we do USAA tournaments for tennis we also be doing USPA tournaments for pickle ball as well so the management would definitely be the same or similar to what we do with the tennis cours okay we currently have um pickle ball instructors that are certified that work with us now any other questions okay so we're going to open the public hearing for the application to the Urban Park Initiative Program Grant and Parks development Grant being submitted through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program is there a motion to open the public hearing so move second moved by councilwoman Whitfield seconded by counc woman worthy all in favor I I anyone wishing to speak to this public to this uh item please identify yourself all right Martin kn uh good evening um good evening everyone actually uh I am very happy to hear uh things are going into the park um I've been uh aboard of the park for the last 37 years and when West Hampton built all of their fields I say the activity in the park has definitely decreased I would say guest would be about 75% you know uh it there not a lot of activity anymore um and I I really feel like this would help the other aspect of it is that I believe there's a baseball field out there in the corner uh between C and D or used to be um there's an area there too that could be utilized so I just don't want you to forget that if possible thank you please State your address for the record please I'm Wane and willber I don't like to give my exact address thanks thank you is there anyone else online for the public hearing uh not at this time mayor thank you so is there a motion to close the public King so mooved second moved by councilwoman Whitfield seconded by Deputy Mayor Anderson council member Peron yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes and the public hearing for the parks development initiative and uh is closed thank you just I just want to make sure that I'm going to be U compliant and do what I did for the um Jake Place playground I just want to read the environmental section I don't want it to be a problem um the en environmental impact analysis of proposed action uh with regards to the pickle ball courts affected resources are limited to existing handball courts and grass areas being converted to six pickle ball courts improvements are are in areas already cleared with no additional clearing required as a longtime existing park over 30 years the topograph graphy and soil conditions will require no change to existing conditions the project will be accomplished without losing the natural setting of existing plants and trees while providing public access to Safe affordable and healthy ways to experience and appreciate the outdoors and if there are any mitigating measures according to our documents we do not not anticipate any mitigation relative to the proposed improvements just want that to be on record thank you so uh next on the agenda would be public comments uh but I just we just had the the hearing so um if you want to go through the just the resolutions that are pertaining through okay so the resolutions pertaining to the public hearings would be resolution 2024-the the township of Willingboro to apply for the Jake law playground funding Grant through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program resolution number 22 24-23 is a resolution authorizing the township of Willingboro to apply for the urban Parks Initiative Program Grant through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program and resolution number 2024-the Boro to apply for the traditional or the parks development uh Green Acres Grant through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection uh through the Green Acres Program uh there is another resolution number 202 24-27 which is a resolution for the township Council of Willingboro uh providing for appointments to Willingboro Municipal UT municipal Utility Authority that's supposed to read and then at the request of the governing body resolution number 202 24-28 has been withdrawn from consideration thank you Mr Harris we will open up the floor for public comment for agenda items only public comment for agenda items only you have two minutes please state your name and address for the record public comment for agenda items is now open post anyone online uh not at this moment mayor thank you yeah yeah I want to thank the board the council uh for listening concerning uh the pickle ball cart um I hope I live to see it it happened thank you you wel please state your name and address for the record thank you very much thank you thank you Miss Miller all right public comment for agenda items only only is now closed Mr Harris so first for your consideration will be resolution number 2024-the so moved second moved by councilwoman Peron second by councilwoman worthy any further discussion roll call please councilwoman Peron yes council member uh council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes resolution number 202 24-9 has been approved by unanimous consent or unanimous vote next is resolution 2024 d23 is there a motion to approve the resolution so move second move by councilwoman worthy seconded by councilwoman Whitfield 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 and resolution 2024 d202 23 has been approved by unanimous vote next for your consideration is resolution number 2024 d2020 202 24-24 is there a motion to approve that resolution so moveed second moved by councilwoman worthy second and by Council Whitfield 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 resolution number 202 24-24 has been approved by unanimous vote resolution number 4 2024 d27 is there a motion to approve that resolution we need to do nominations nominations oh I'm sorry no problem yes so that resolution is [Music] to uh providing for the appointments to the Willingboro Municipal Utility Authority are there any nominations for that appointment I'd like to nominate Daris Holly I nominate the alio digs um I'll nominate um Webster Evans are there any other nominations is there a motion to close the nominations so moveed second council member [Music] Peron this is a motion to close nomination yes yes council member Whitfield yes council member uh Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes mayor McIntosh yes and the consideration now is to appoint members by nomination to uh the municipal Utility Authority um council member Peron Daris Holly council member Whitfield di alio digs council member Dr worthy the alio digs Deputy Mayor Anderson Daris Holly mayor McIntosh y alio digs the alio digs has been appointed to the Willingboro municipal Utility Authority by majority of votes 3-2 thank you um now diio digs was alternate too so now that he's been moved up to a full member um there's a vacancy for alternate two I'll nominate Darvis Holly for alternate 2 I nominate Kimberly Davis for alternate two I'll nominate Jack Jennings alternate 2 are there any other nominations is there a motion to close nominations noov second council member Peron Darvis Holly this is a closed denom oh yes sir yes council member Whitfield yes council member Dr worthy yes Deputy Mayor Anderson yes and mayor McIntosh yes and now we will vote for the vacancy as the alternate number two I believe yes for the Willingboro Municipal Utility Authority by nomination council member Peron yes Daris Holly council member Whitfield Kimberly Davis council member Dr worthy Kimberly Davis Deputy Mayor Anderson Jacqueline Jennings mayor McIntosh Kimberly Davis Kimberly Davis has been appointed to the vacant and alternate number two to the Willingboro Municipal Utility Authority by a majority vote okay uh there is no report from the treasurer for you to approve okay so at this time we can proceed with public comment public comment yep public comment we will now have 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 anyone online host uh yes Sarah Hol good evening Council I reside at nine tyo Lane that's willing bur of course let me tell you about the rumor in town and before you Define rumor for me let me tell you that when there's a rumor circulating in Willingboro it's 98.9% factual the rumor that is circulating in the rumor that is is uh circulating is that council is paying the former Township Clerk $110,000 to train the newly appointed clerk for the for a civil service position which doc which Civil Service documents said that said employee was not qualified for the position anyway after the stand in the position for three years the clerk was making $95,000 the township manager has appointed so the rumor says the same clerk to a position uh in the Department of Vital Statistics with a top salary of $70,000 and on top of that she was given a $20,000 per year stiping for the last two years which is uh $440,000 in addition to the $95,000 that she was making three questions is this Council reducing that said employment salary by the $225,000 to compensate for the new position that she's in which has a $70,000 top salary range and why pay an unqualified employee according to civil service to train a newly appointed person to a uh to the position the former clerk was not qualified to hold according to civil service the vital certi uh position is a civil service position which the employee has not been certified in that position by Civil Service are we going to have a repeat of the person spending three years in a position without the proper certification and I don't want to hear that it's a personal issue blah blah blah blah blah I my question is my tax dollars and how my tax do are being misused and now to Mr Garcia which in my opinion you ran out uh what exactly happened and again I know I'm going to hear a Personnel issue blah blah blah blah blah but I do believe that something happened uh which is the reason why Mr Garcia went back to his former position in Trenton and that's all I have for tonight you know what I've rearranged my schedule so I will be on Zoom meetings Council meetings now until forever so good night councel thank you Miss holing any other public comment Lee hello this is Lee Cole 59 Buckeye Lane I don't think they can hear I don't think you can hear me I don't know what's going on we can hear you can hear you oh okay okay thank you uh I don't know what the U procedure is for this but I would like uh the council to to consider or investigate putting speed bumps on Buckeye Lane um people yes there are children on the street now and and they ride from one end of the street to the other end at exorbitant rates of speed and I just I don't know what the procedure is is but I just like you to take a look at it thank you very much thank you Mr H all right bu Williams good evening mayor councel Deputy Mayor good evening everyone um congratulations to our mayor for her third term and for Deputy Mayor and of course congratulations to her councel as well um we had our third annual Martin Luther King Day of Service with um emphasis on affirming our veterans and it was very successful I want to let our manager know Mr Harris how much we appreciated his his attending his he was well prepared and um one thing he mentioned was the deployment of our soldiers and to find out that this next council meeting we have regrets that um some of our soldiers lives were lost we want to let the um the families know that we care and um want to send our condolences and if there's anything that the Willing B 7c Aven church can do we are here for our veterans and um also we want to thank Congressman Kim for sending his representative from his office he was unable to attend the Martin Luther King Day of Service but he sent his representative I think his name is Mr th and I'm Lo Lov with Nam my daughter I guess will mention it um I want to thank the the mayor deputy mayor council because they have always attended and supported our Initiative for our community so Al though they weren't able to come out this time want to let them know that we see them and we appreciate them and again thanks to Mr Harris um we had I'm going drawing a blank but I want to let um the other participants know um how much we appreciate their service and I'm certainly drawing a blank I'm sorry oh um on the 24th of February we know that February is um black history months the Willing Bor 7th Day Adventist churches air mark that day to Showcase black history months so anybody here you're all invited to come on out as we celebrate Black History um months but we're doing that in one the 24th you're welcome to come in and um celebrate with us God bless you I know I'm missing something important but I can't think of what it is so God bless you everyone as you continue to do this great work for the Willing Bor community and did I say my address my address is my address is number eight botony Circle for your event that you just spoke about 24th on the 24th of February at um 2011 Veterans Parkway um St Paul's is our host church so we worship at St Paul's on every Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m. okay and also we always serve a wonderful lunch after service so you're welcome anybody interested you're always welcome God bless you thank you Miss Williams and um Council councilman just um celebrated happy birth Happy Birthday to to Mayor Miss Williams your time is up thank you you're welcome sorry all right Stephanie M hi my name is Stephanie meredi from 39 Harvard clean and I was troubled by the news articles about the deputy mayor and I wanted to know um what is the procedure when someone is facing um any type of criminal charges from the uh City Council uh since we are a Safe Harbor City um and the mayor only thing we elect is the um the city council members and then the board elects the mayor I'm not sure what is the procedure um and if the deputy mayor um can continue on in his current position pending his uh charges okay okay thank you all questions will be answered um after we close public comment okay thank you thank you all right Terina Williams thank you good evening everyone terena Williams 8 botney Circle first want to congratulate mayor MacIntosh and Deputy Mayor Anderson councilwoman worthy to for being reelected thank you for your dedicated service and I just love how um all of you work harmoniously you have your differences of opinion but all of you serve your community our community love and compassion I greatly appreciate your dedicated service in addition to extending my congratulations I want to extend my condolences to everyone morning the unfortunate loss of Miss krena I was I just learned about that recently and um want to extend condolences to everyone who's mourning her loss she is gone but she will never be forgotten and extend and in a continuation of that I extend my condolences to the fam of um our late um Sergeant Rivers I'm still hurting from that because when one hurts we all hurt and alongside the other two soldiers family we're truly indebted to our veterans so may God Rich richly bless and comfort everyone Ming their loss I want to extend um my appreciation to our veterans of our Township we had a great time honoring them as we in remembrance of Dr King's um day our third annual MLK Day of Service thanks again to for the council um always extending their um their support um at our first one we had mayor McIntosh our second one we had our Deputy Mayor um Whitfield and of course I mentioning your name I want to extend appreciation for your term serving as our Deputy Mayor you worked you you and Ma MC mayor Macintosh were a dynamic de which I'm sure we also in continuation will work with um Deputy Mayor Anderson and Macintosh because all of you truly have a a a strong will to um to serve our community with love and compassion like our church willing bar SDA Church speaking of our church we want to um extend special thanks to Mr town and my mom mentioned he came in place of um Congressman Kim thank you so much Township manager Mr Harris for coming we greatly appreciate the support and um always there's always a representative from the township and the veterans really really appreciated that in addition to Mr Harris we had two police officers thank you so much for always supporting our events and um the food bank of South Jersey gave a wonderful Health talk and showed their support by being bags of food for our veterans we can never pay back our veterans enough for all their time and service and sacrifice so thank you so much to the military Lodge where we vot where we hosted the events and we are just so excited that we'll be a the Foster military Lodge where we hosted our event thank you so much Mr Pender and every single person who was in attendance and of course the church family who made the delicious food that we're greatly appreciative of speaking of Health talk I just remember that Tuesday nights are our health talk I wanted to share that with the council and our community we have them every Tuesday at 7 um on our Church's Zoom um my mom already mentioned the black history month but prior to the black history um event on the 24th starting on the 10th will be our Christian home and marriage series on the 10th will be the actual day our pastor Pastor Banner will be our speaker lunch will be provided and then from the 11th through the 17th will be um a special um series on Zoom at 7 pm and then a special um on our Church's Zoom William four minutes is up okay thank you mayor McIntosh thank you everyone God bless thank you Miss Williams you're welcome all right Sharon Anderson good evening everyone uh Sharon Anderson um belur Lane in wboro and I um want to send condolences to the family and friends of Sergeant William Jerome Rivers I know that there are people here in town who were friends of his growing up and I'm sure that every one of them is feeling this loss but I also wanted to remind us that we have people among us who are reservists who have family who are in the reserves we have children of reservist living here in Willingboro and we would do well to love and support them because while they may not have lost a family member in blood they've lost a family member in service um I'm wondering if among the events that Recreation considers for the year that maybe we should do something that raises up um our families who are supporting their service members who live here in Willingboro um we have a high concentration um because of the proximity to for dicks um and so to the extent we could support them I think that'd be a great thing thank you thank you Miss Anderson all right rev BB hello Brenda bigon Township employee I just want to set the record straight so y'all won't have to councel and make things a little clear um I do not have my certification but I could do the township clerk job for three years without the certification that's for your edification Miss Harley also I am qualified for Vital Statistics I do have a certification um I currently have a salary came into the township with a salary of $80,000 plus as the administrative assistant three so you're not giving me too much so your taxpaying dollars will continue to pay me as an administrative three regist or what other employee uh title that I may hold just want to set the record straight if you're going to have facts and want to know by civil Serv Pur get the facts and get your facts right and anytime you want to know about Brenda biggen please feel free to come to the township and talk to me I have no problem telling you the truth about me but the lies out in the street and the rumors as you so call them come and get the truth from me Mr Brantley you can file as many opras as you want on Brenda Brien as many as you want keep the lies coming God bless you all thank you councel thank you Miss Blum is there anyone else for public comment all right public comment is now closed um there's a couple of things Miss Mr Harris um Mr Cole um concerning speed bumps on Buckey Lane yeah we can look at the uh installation of speed bumps on on Buck is I have a conversation with Captain bucks and we'll we'll start that process okay I'm just going and there a certain process we have to go through um just to determine if speed bumps are needed well first we will do some type of study and determine you know the amount of traffic that goes by and what the the average speeds are um and then if the council wants to move forward we would have the engineer look at the street and decide how many and where are the appropriate locations for this B bumps to um to be placed and then we can uh consider that for a capital budget in 2024 and move forward okay Madam May yes ask the manager question I know we started a project where we were doing an assessment of the community because there were a number of streets this can just be added this is not like it's something new because we started the assessment plan that's correct and if at the next meeting if you just give us an update as to those streets and you know where we are because I know there were a list of streets and we we were looking to do them in some type of order based on the need yes so but in conjunction with that um pscg has been working through Willingboro Township and they're going to be replacing a lot of their gas main lines in the township so the streets that we were looking at and considering would take place um after but I had have to see if Buck ey Lane is one of their one of their consider consider streets under consideration okay thanks also just to add to that conversation I know there um was a request for um speed bumps but um there are a number of other speed calming measures um that may be more suitable for some of our small lawyer residential streets like Buckeye um and just to provide option as we go through the process of investigating correct thank you thank you council with all right um moving on and I'm sorry I didn't get the name I think it's um Miss Stephanie M M yes um certainly mayor yes um as far as any matter with the deputy mayor's investigation it's an ongoing investigation we are in a society where it is innocent until proven guilty at this time there is no procedure to take place thank you thank you m muu um I think um moving on to miss Anderson um I think Miss Anderson brings up a great point in making sure that we do support our families you know that have um loved ones in the militarian reserve um I'm not sure what that looks like for us right now but that's something that we can um start looking into as a council to make sure we provide some service or some um support to our families that um as Miss Anderson said they haven't suffered the loss of a loved one at this time but you know there are some deficiencies maybe and some support needed for families that have their loved ones overseas or in reserve so um I just want to make sure that stays on our radar um was there any was there anyone anything else that need to be addressed okay moving on to council comments does any Council have any comments for today sure I just want to thank everyone for coming out I want to thank Dion and kindall for the presentation bringing Clarity uh to the projects um and all the work that is being done through the Recreation Department through the parks and being inclusive thank you thank you Deputy Mayor C woman worthy thank you Madame mayor um I too want to thank the public for coming out um still sending love and prayers and thoughts to the recreation department and the Willen Boro Community about um Kim Kim kensaw who had a beautiful service um yesterday um also send in um prayers and still figuring out what more will do as a municipality for sergeant Rivers um family and friends that are here in our community with us I want to congratulate um retired chief Master Sergeant Serina flag Briggs who was installed as the president of the National Association of black military women um the first chapter of New Jersey was uh in was done Saturday in our Willingboro Library um so being able to support those military women active reserve component it's wonderful to support the the veterans and those who continue to serve um and thank you Madame mayor for your words and coming out to support that event um and providing a resolution to so many wh women that were um present um there were 15 members installed and they're looking to continue to grow in willing borrow and to serve our military Community here um and that concludes my comments thank you Madame mayor thank you Dr L okay um yeah I just want to um just to express uh my continued sympathy to uh the three lives that were lost um my sympathy goes out to their families um and also you know their fellow soldiers as well um and just echoing um councilman worthy um my heart still and sadden of our loss of Smith Kimberly sha um she was truly um a remarkable person um she had a huge heart and just a love for people period um so she will be greatly missed and um I just wanted just to express that um further and I again I thank um Miss Deion Balden and um Kendall for your efforts in getting the grants together um in assisting Us in uh building our community I know it's not an easy task so I know there a lot of work that's going to be coming about that but your um your your efforts and work does not go unnoticed so um job well done uh thank you mayor um I also wanted to just thank everyone for coming out and also um we have quite a few people online so I'm glad to see the increase participation in our Democratic process and um Municipal process as we begin the new year and starting off strong um thank you to the recreation department Miss Balden and Mr Brunson um for all of your hard work work um it's um not easy work and especially um when you're grieving it can be even more difficult so thank you um for staying strong and committed to the community um my heart goes out to both the rivers family and the khaw family um it's it's never easy losing someone and and both were important members of our community so um my uh prayers go to those families and I'm praying for their strength and continued um uh peace uh as they go through this difficult time um I also want to remind the community to um stay involved stay engaged if you have not done so already make sure you download the Willingboro Connect app um sign up and turn on notification so that you can be up to date with all of the things that are going on around town we have a jamack schedule um with the recreation department and other departments around uh the municipality especially for black history month so um we I look forward to seeing you all at some of those events and that is all I have thank you coun Circle back to okay just real quick I forgot to mention I just wanted to congratulate um Miss Kimberly Davis on her newly appointed position to the MUA I did serve on the school board with her so I'm looking forward to what she'll do there so just want to say congratulations to her and speaking of the boards and commissions um if you need to get sworn in um please see our Deputy clerk who can you can come into the building um between 9 and 5 to be sworn in to your position um or you can do it at your board meeting um speaking of the W mua um our water they have their first meeting on uh Thursday February 1 your reorg February 1 what time is Pat I'm sorry at 6: PM um that is our water utility um Authority so if you have any questions about our water the safety and the Integrity of our water please attend that meeting it's on Zoom also um there are still plenty of positions open on the board for boards and commissions to serve um our community um please look online to see the list I'm sorry I I just don't have it in front of me but there are plenty um opportunities for each and every one of us to contribute and make this uh Township a lot better I think we're do we're going in the right direction and there's a lot of great things happening that we are all excited about so you know we need we still need our residents expertise and their their their knowledge to make you know the dream work so um I encourage people who are online or anyone who wants to be more involved in the community to check out online it's the citizen leadership forums um please look at that and see where you can fit in um also you know as we've been hearing you know for this last week we've suffered some tremendous loss and you know we we suffer losses throughout the year you know people suffer different losses so I just encourage everyone to be a little bit more tender with each other you know sometime this pettiness is not going to work in our favor I don't care people might think this is fun it's not we have real business to take care of in Willingboro so this pettiness and this trying to get back at people is ridiculous and there's really no room for it now people can indulge but it's no room for it and so I just say we just have to be a little bit more tender we are a community and community means coming together and finding common ground so I just encourage each of us you know people are hurting in different ways just to be a little bit more tender with each other and you know we can have arguments and disagreements that's you know in healthy t attention but you know this backbiting there's really no room for it and we have real problems you know externally so it's in our best interest to come together and create a stronger Fabric in this community and that's all I have to say for tonight everyone have a wonderful wonderful evening good night do we have anybody want executive session okay all right so but we'll save it for next me all right move second move by councilwoman worthy seconded by councilwoman Whitfield all in favor I thank you so much thank you yeah just I I'm