e all right good evening Willingboro thank you for joining us tonight for our second meeting of the month uh at this time we're going to begin our meeting uh with a call to order roll call councilwoman Rebecca Peron present councilwoman Samantha Whitfield present councilwoman Dr Tiffany worthy present Deputy Mayor Nathaniel Anderson present and mayor K McIntosh for the record the mayor is traveling she's in Washington DC at a mayor's conference that's why she's not in attendance this evening at this time we will have the prayer good evening good evening good evening again can you hear me now yeah amen let's pause dear Lord we come to you this evening thank you God for one more day day a beautiful day the weather was not as nice as it was last week God but we're just glad to be here God we thank you God for one more day to breathe your air to eat your food to share amongst one another and to come here this evening for business we're here for the business of Willingboro Township God so we've come to pray for this agenda that's before us God it has been prepared it has been published and now it's been disseminated God and we pray as we go through this God you'll give us receptive hearts and Minds that we might hear from you God so God speak so your H your your your children are listening God so speak through our our councel mayor in her absence a deputy mayor bless them God bless our Township manager and staff and just be a a good meeting God we don't have to agree on everything God but let's not be disagreeable we pray God as we look at things and things are voted God that when things don't go our way God that that you'll be there God to help us to understand God that uh we can still get business done by the majority that rules so bless our meeting bless our time and just thank you so much for loving us so we thank you God for your word that said we are to trust in you and lean not on our own understanding God allow us to acknowledge you God we love you so father God your word also says do not worry about anything but pray about everything so even in these things we are praying God that you will be with us guide us and direct us at the end of the day God you will be glorified and Honor by the efforts so God we know that you are able and we're praying my tonight that you're willing willing to help us get the job done here in Willingboro at this time in the name that's above every name we pray let the people of God say amen amen amen thank you I'd like to thank Reverend Dr Danny e scotton Senor senior pastor Alpha Baptist for the prayer at this time we'll have the flag salute please stand for the flag salute I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and Justice may we please have the compliance statement in compliance with the open public meetings act this is to announce that adequate notice of this meeting was provided in the following manner Advanced written notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board in the municipal complex and was mailed to Burlington County Times the Intelligencer and The Courier Advanced written notice of this meeting was filed with the Township Clerk the clerk is directed to enter into the minutes of this meeting this Public Announcement Deputy Mayor thank you um are there any proclamations for this evening no there are not right thank you at this time we'll have the manager Municipal updates good evening council members and members of the public um my Municipal update was very thorough when we last uh met and really not too much has been going on uh with Willingboro just the execution of things that have already been in process so tonight we are going to uh do our budget presentation for the municipality for 2024 um it will be not overly substantial but it'll be a little bit of time so I'm going to ask uh I'm going to share my screen now so members of the public and can see as we talk about our 2024 Municipal budget can everyone in the house hear me okay good okay thank you so this is our 2024 um Municipal budget introduction C Sean uh yes sir so they're saying that they can see nothing on the screen so let's and it's not it's not showing up on the monitor in the courtroom or no not on the monitors gotcha is that better is it visible no I could actually see it on my end um oh we we can't see it on this end there you go right can you share your screen Mr Harris okay let me so I've been kicked out of Zoom let me um not coming up so my zoom isn't coming up Sean I can actually still see you as a panelist um can you share my screen let me see okay here we go I'm sorry there we go okay there we go all right [Music] ready sorry about the technical difficulty so as I was saying this is our 2024 uh budget introduction our budget preparation actually starts back in in November of of the preceding year where during the month of November the municipal managers required um or the department heads are required to submit their request for Appropriations for the ensuing budget year and to appear for a public hearing um which is held during that month uh we did Gather in public session before the governing body and all of the directors did come and present their budget requests for 2024 um not withstanding um Public Law 1950 in any budget year for which the dates are extended P pursuant to um actions by the division of local government services uh we are required by law to present our budget to the council within 16 days prior to any extension for the record that extension date in 2024 was April the 30th so we are well in advance of the uh statutory deadline to present our budget to the governing body uh again step one for our budget request our process begins with Department requests which were presented in November uh 2023 as required by State Statute uh Willingboro does not have a budget officer however our CFO and auditor who is a registered Municipal accountant reviews all of our budget documents and uh forms accordingly and they also uh help manage the municipal budget during the year so we are going to get into our 2024 budget presentation the timeline that we are looking for as today are the ordinarily the the introduction statutory date is February 10th we are uh introducing on March the 29th um as we proceed through the budget calendar we will be required to have a public Hearing in TW in no less than 28 days that public hearing is going to be held on April the 16th prior 10 days prior to that public hearing uh the advertisement of the public hearing and the uh summary of the budget needs needs to be published in the newspaper that needs to happen by April the 6th um and then if all goes well on April the 16th uh we propose to adopt our our budget and again the revised uh statutory date for Budget adoption is April the 30th and again we will be um well in line with meaning the that obligation if at that time of the public hearing there any amendments that are required if if they're required by the director of of division of local government government services those uh amendments can be made prior to the time of holding the public hearing on the budget without any additional public advertising if the the governing body also has the ability to amend the budget during or after the public hearing and all at that time all of the Amendments made would have to be read in full and U have to be submitted to to the director of local government services for uh approval before we can move on to adoption there were certain criteria for amending the budget um except for provided in subsection e of this section no amendment by the governing body shall be effective until the taxpayers of and all of persons having an interest there in shall have been granted a public hearing so that requires us to have a public hearing on any of the on the eligible budget requirements there are three criterias that would require a public hearing the first one if there is a new item of appropriation in the amount of 1% over the total Appropriations uh as stated in the approved budget if there is an increase or a decrease in any item or appropriation by more than 10% or if there is an increase to be raised by taxes by more than 5% % unless it is included as an emergency temporary appropriation only so if one of those three criteriums are met we would be required to have a public hearing on any amendments to the budget um however the governing body can satisfy the publication requirements um if there is uh a summary a summary of the the of the Amendments and the location telephone number office hours of the of the principal municipal or county building where copies of the amendments are available um to be procured at no cost so if you want to come in and pick up a copy we just have to make it known where copies are available and again amendments to the budgets that are required by the director after certification of state aid uh amounts may be made again without public advertising or public hearing so this year's budget reflects a uh 1% decrease in the tax rate from last year's budget our total uh revenues and Appropriations for 2024 are proposed to be for in Appropriations um there are some contributing factors that enabled us to get a penny decrease in the budget this year uh one of them is our fund balance um the township has been very uh well fly managed over the past several years so we have a uh a healthy savings account which is called the our fund balance um another factor that contribut to the one penny decrease in this year's tax rate is the increased receipt from delinquent taxes persons that have in the past been a little behind in paying their taxes have been aggressively pursued and those revenues collected and our collection rate has increased um although very slightly to 96.67% you'll see in another slide where you'll see the actual percentage from from last year is only like 04 but that 04 percentage equals 1,20,000 so even a slight increase in our collection uh uh yields uh really big results some increases in our statutory costs were some of our challenges this year again our PRS which is our Public Employees Retirement System contributions uh we saw a 2% increase from last year um going up to 1 milon2 58,800 um this year because of Health Care uh increases and changes uh we are projecting a 2% increase in our trash collection our current trash collection expires on May 31st 2024 and um depending on the actions of the governing body at at that time we are projecting at least a 2% increase in our trash collection we are projecting a 2% increase in our trans our trash disposal um based on what was expended since 2020 those are what we call the Tipping fees at the County Dump um those rates are adjusted every uh few years and uh we project they'll be a 2% increase in those costs based on what has trended over the last few years and there are some uh a substantial replenishment of our unemployment insurance reserves so those were the challenges that uh we faced while putting together our 2024 budget I mentioned our Revenue anticipated Revenue uh is at 49 mil 271,000 what is revenue revenue is the taxes that we collect there are the fees that we charge for services and um and permits and um and penalties fines that that that we receive that's what makes up our Revenue sources um in our budget there are really only two categories that we operate under one of them being salary and wages and in 2024 our proposed budget reflects increase in salary and wages due to contractual agreements and uh there are some ongoing uh contract negotiations uh but in 2023 we were able to settle uh eight Union contracts um and I believe we still have two outstanding um that have been uh in play for a few years the other category is operating expenses operating expenses encompasses all of the re all of the dollars that go out in our our budget our Appropriations so in 2024 our proposed budget reflects again in a decrease in operating expenses for the various departments um despite this decrease departments will still be able to operate at the maximum and provide the services and the best quality of life for residents and all taxpayers of the municipality when I first came into Willingboro um and we observed you know some of the U the operating expenses that have been appropriated there were several millions of dollars in excess that were just lapsed into fund balance because uh they were not utilized um my first year here we kind of let it ride but then last year we were able to decrease that by $7 million and um but even so our directors have been very uh efficient in their oper ations so we were able to still lapse about $3 million this year in our ow expenses I had a conversation with our directors we all agreed or concurred that they felt that their departments operated very efficiently in 2023 they were able to do all of the programming that they needed to do in 2023 so we collectively agreed to keep our spending are spending in 2024 to match the dollars amount with some slight increases in certain areas that were actually spent in 2023 so because of because of the agreements and and the consensus with my team uh we were able to offset some of those increases and then allow us to rece or realize a 1% in decreases in taxes for 2024 so the cost per average household in Willingboro based on the uh Municipal tax rate rate uh only based on the municipal tax rate only will go from uh 200 or $ 28565 down to $2,830 182 and that is a 25.76 cents decrease and then these are some of the the individual costs um per household if you look at the the far right cost are the f far right column uh you will see the total dollar uh amount appropriated to each of these different line items or categories for example if you look at salary and wages General government uh $56.79 uh would be contributed from each household to contribute to our salary and wages for General uh for General government services um you can look down any one of those particular categories but you see the total salary wages each household contributes $1,159 196 to salary and wages um in willing Barrow our the next category bunch of categories are the operating expenses and um and you see again based on the different categories how much each household is contributing to those uh particular categories so also in our operating budget we have to take into consideration of our Capital needs um the related or the anticipated related authorization for this year is going to be up to $4 million and of that we would be required to put down 5% as a down payment so that would be an inclusion in our budget of 200,000 for Capital Improvements water Capital Improvements those are the big costs that we expend to uh maintain our infrastructure our streets and Roads uh sidewalks um things like that those are the the accounts that we use to fund our storm water infrastructure work and um and the utilization of of we also utilize outstanding capital from prior years to also cover some of those expenditures um our CFO really dug into what I would call prear Capital um to cover the funding for a lot of projects that need to happen in Willingboro so for an example um last week we had a sidewalk cave in on Penny Packer drive and because there was an additional $40,000 in Prior Capital we were able to utilize that money to repair or to repair we're going to it hasn't been done yet to repair so we are not incurring new debt or additional cost and because we have been very diligent in in ex utilizing all of those prior capital accounts that haven't been utilized for one reason or another or maybe there was just some revenues that were left um because the project wasn't um wasn't as expensive as it was projected to be um we have been reappropriate that and that too has helped us to uh keep some of our costs down while still investing in willing Barrow's infrastructure so here is an example of our fund balance over the last couple of years you can look at the blue columns those represent uh the increases to our fund balance you will see in 2019 it was just about $7 million and in 20123 we are just about $18 million so Willingboro is is in a very uh Good Financial uh position to meet all of its um Financial requirements and as you can see along with that the amounts of money that have been contributed from our Capital our our fund balance to appropriate to the subsequent budgets has also been very stable and um up and down and fluctuating to the right is a a a chart reflecting our collection rates and you can see in 2019 where collection rate was 95.7 6 uh in 2021 it took a slight increase to 96.71 um but you will see also in 2021 where there was a slight decrease in the amount of monies that were taken out of the the fund balance and appropriated back into the tax base as our collection rates go up and down it enables us to utilize more of not rely as much on our Capital reserves to fund our our our budget so the tax rates are calculated based on the following there were three areas in which your Municipal Taxes are made up of there is the municipal rate which is uh completely controlled by the municipal government your mayoring and Council are the ones who uh control your Municipal tax rate there is the district schools tax rate that are controlled by the school districts and the county tax rate which is controlled by the county the only thing this governing body has control over is the municipal tax rate and they're working very hard to make sure that that Municipal tax rate is being held stable or is going down um if the other areas they tax rates go up um in excess of what the municipal tax rate is doing then you will you may see an increase in your tax bills um but it is not due to the activities of this governing body it is the activities of other entities of which they have over which they have no control um this council is very diligent making sure um that that uh the fiscal spending here in willing Barrow is um top Notch and again just to show you over the past five years if you look at 2020 the tax rate in in 2020 was uh 1.78 to there was a flat tax in 2021 so again it was 1782 there was a slight decrease in 2023 and it was 1.78 or sorry 2022 uh it held flat again in 2023 and then our proposed 2024 tax rate is 1758 so again as you can see uh the the fiscally responsible decisions um made through the past uh five years are really starting to show um INF fruition by uh decreased taxes so what is your T what what do your tax dollars do for you um they fund your fire your EMS and Police Services they fund your infrastructure they fund your public works and just general operations of the municipality and just as I stated before all of the uh salary and wages and operating expenses are primarily funded through tax dollars so uh that is my presentation for this evening and I will entertain any questions that the governing body may have or uh as the deputy May dictates from the public I want to begin by saying thank you very much to your due diligence those of your directors the CFO on a great job and keeping us very stable um financially fit with the fund balance and just kudos to your whole team thank you to be fair for the community um at this time if there are any questions you know I would be more than happy to allow you to ask them at this time because it is the budget it is your dollars being spent so if there are any questions can you please come to the mic please state your name address and you'll have two minutes Nancy Burton I live at 35 beach. Lane you know we all our streets on Martins Beach are no parking zones streets are too narrow have been forever there's an ordinance there's a Zone code zone for it uh our no parking signs have been knocked down throughout the years plowing snow whatever but they've never been put back up so we always have issues when people parking and the traffic you just can't get by them and nothing you know every time you call and say somebody's parking in the street they the police say say well it's the street you're not allowed to stop people from parking in the street well there is an ordinance about it and there is a no parking area every one of our streets are less than 20 feet wide they barely have enough two cars to go down them all right I appreciate you bringing the concerns to us uh the manager I saw has written that down and we will be on top of it but the questions at this time will pertain strictly towards the budget presentation it's okay it's okay are there any other questions from in-house regarding the budget presentation Sean do we have any online uh none at this moment all right seeing none questions regarding the budget uh those comments are closed thank you again Mr Harris for the uh great presentation keeping us you know with the decrease and just keep up the good work you and your team thank you at this time can you move forward with the uh ordinances and resolutions so items being presented to you this evening uh the first one is ordinance number 202 24-4 and uh just for explanation some of these items are related to the budget introduction and have to be done prior to the formal introduction of the budget so that's why we are taking care of them them now the first one is an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget Appropriations limit and to establish a cap Bank um where the local government cap law provides that in the preparation of the annual budget a municipality has to limit its increase up to 2 and a half% unless authorized by ordinance to increase it to 3 and a half% over the previous year's final Appropriations subject to uh certain exceptions um that permits a municipality when authorized by ordinance to appropriate the difference between the amount of its actual fit final Appropriations and the 32% percentage rate as an exception to its final Appropriations in either of the next two budget subsequent budget years so it is actually creating about a 1% cap bank that we could utilize over the ne one of the next two budget years if required to kind of uh offset some of the expenditures if there were was a need to uh my understanding is that we have passed this ordinance every year but has never really been utilized is that correct Miss UIA um which is a good thing but I do know that that our bonding Council they for some reason like to see these ordinances uh approved in the municipalities I I guess like a backup I don't know so we go ahead and uh we uh put these ordinances uh this ordinance before you for consideration next would be resolution number 2024 79 that is a resolution awarding a contract for the 2023 contract repair project um we are going to be repairing a large amount of sidewalks in Willingboro in 2023 um historically we have kind of hit some here kind of hit some there throughout the years but we are going to uh just dig in and do large segments of sidewalks all throughout the community uh so we received six bid for this project that range from 175,000 um to I don't see the other or two I don't see the other the high bid anyway but I know the low bid was 175 392 the low bidder was uh gentleman by the name of Charles mandino who has done uh prior work in Willingboro and has done very nice work for us here in the community and many of his projects have come in under budget uh unfortunately he asked to withdraw his uh bid because he Mis mistakenly overlooked a section in the bid document which caused his bid to be substantially low which means if if a bid is more than 20% below the medium the median of all of the bids received um there is some concern about that that vendor's ability to maybe fulfill that contract um Mr marandino his uh percentage was at 28% so uh it was questioned he did realize his mistake and um he did ask if his bid could be withdraw uh one of the other biders um lanberg construction they were disqualified because they submitted their bid proposal on the 2021 bid sheets so um that left us with the next lowest bidder being think pavers hardscaping LLC in the amount not to exed [Music] $216,700 in Willingboro 2023 resolution number 2024-the an application to the New Jersey clean energy program Community energy planning Grant uh the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has created a community energy plan grant program for municipalities to develop a community energy plan to meet the goals of the state's energy master plan it is a $10,000 grant that will help willing Barrow um develop a plan for the future and make investments into renewable energy and um and to work towards a better environment for all residents by using uh the state's energy master plan so we're going to ask that you authorize the submission of this Grant application so we could possibly receive that $10,000 Grant resolution number 2024-the uh the township of willing Baro to award the Energy savings uh plan contract to Schneider Electric um this was an an adjustment from a previous uh resolution um Schneider Electric is the organization that did the uh municipalities EIP program um under resolution number 223-1747 um but we did not formally give the contract to Schneider although we uh approved the funding in the bond ordinance in which Snider was named the contract but we are required by law to give them a contract by resolution so this is just to um make an adjustment to that that slight error resolution number 2024-25 for Willing bur who desires to further our public interest by obtaining funding in the amount of 1, 344,000 to include a grant from the state in the amount of $75,000 in addition to a possible a match of 59494 for from the township to apply for the the Jake law playground of funding Grant through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection um so we're going to ask that you authorize the submission of that Grant application to the njde resolution number 202 24-8 3 is a resolution approving a change order number one for the fiscal year 2022 Municipal aid program uh that covered the Bradford uh Blueberry Lane project um we entered into a contract like I said earlier with Charles marandino for the construction of the uh work at Bradberry and Bradford and Blueberry Lane uh there had been changes in uh asbt quantities resulting in a cost reduction associated with that above name project the original contract price was $267,600 88 to a revised contract price of $192 and it says 86 $192,800 in the resolution but the actual amount is [Music] $192,800 resolution number 2024-the company but they are the thirdparty Building Services for uh EMS the emergency uh Medical Services um we are required to well we utilize a third billing service uh for to collect reimbursements from insurance companies for our EMS services um we do go out to bid for them and this uh company Farnsworth and Samy felter is that like okay right so they came in at the lowest percentage rate at 3.89% so we're asking um that you award a contract to them um not to exceed 38,000 a year for total of two years for a total contract Award of 76,000 resolution number 20248 is a resolution authorizing the award of contract for repairs to an Elgen Whirlwind sweeper I had presented this to the governing body before um when we were moving money around in our Capital uh prior Capital to uh make Appropriations for this um we are asking that you just award the contract for repairs to Eldin World Wind sweepers in the amount of 4 $3,875 to gr Turk equipment company um they're the ones who have the sweeper or in the in the process of repairing it and we hope to have that back and on the road um in the next couple of weeks to meet our spring season for our have our second street sweeper here in willing Barrow resolution number agreement with uh schaer systems International uh Inc um a contract to participate in the hgac Cooperative contract number RC rc01 d01 um this is a contract to purchase um our our green trash cards that we utilize for trash collection um we're going to buy several hundred of them at a total cost of $ 29,7 one96 uh we do purchase a large quantity of these trash cans every year or so and our supply is low so we need to uh replenish resolution number 20248 is a resolution approving a change order for the installation and repayment agreement with pscg in conjunction with the Energy savings Improvement plan the esip uh during the installation of LED lighting here at the municipal complex it was discovered that there was an incompatibility uh between the sensors and the light switches that required the installation of new light switches in some of the offices um and some of the censors as well Donal energy was able to include the cost into the project into the EIP project um so the township could receive the incentives under the energy Savings Program however uh these changes would um increase the customer share of the incentive um by $586 n56 so essentially we're going to see that Less in the projected savings to cover the additional expenses that were related to including these switches and sensors into this particular complex so uh we're going going to ask that you just approve which essentially is a change order to um that program resolution number 20 24-8 is a resolution of the township to establish a not to exceed amount for the our Oprah attorney um uh this resolution is appointing uh Florio peruchi stanart Capelli Tipton L LC as the Oprah attorneys for Willingboro Township for the year of 2024 and is establishing a not to exceed amount of $115,000 um for them to provide those Services during the this fiscal year resolution number 2024-the amount for a substitute conflict prosecutor uh that um award is going to go to kg mg Law Group LLP they will serve as a substitute conflict prosecutor for 20124 and establishing a not to exceed amount of $5,000 for those Services resolution number 20 24-9 is a resolution authorizing the approval of vouchers for payment and the ratification uh for the March Bill list number two resolution 2020 4- 91 is a resolution authorizing an extension of a fair and open contract for grounds maintenance services for Willingboro Township pursuant to resolution 2022 d172 a contract was awarded for ground maintenance services uh to be received here at the municipal complex the parking lot the library and the firehouse we did use a fair and open process and did award a $ 38,1 15 contract to CPW Management Services LLC from pton it was a 2-year contract with the option to extend for one additional year upon approval of the governing body the uh the total cost for the additional year would equate to $22,000 uh making uh the contract this year $4,139 and we felt it was in the best interest of the municipality to extend that contract for another term um at the rates stated resolution 2024-25 work that was required particularly related to the fire heat sensors and the ceilings and um the emergency lighting in there um so it did um increase that contract amount um by $6,800 and we are asking that the governing body approve um that change order increasing the contract from $3 37,50 to 43,000 $850 for the two bathrooms that are being remodeled here in the municipal complex the next resolution that I have I don't have a number so I'm going to just presume um Madame clerk that it will just be in sequence with number 92 but is a resolution of the governing body um certifying compliance with the United States equal employment opportunity commissions uh um NSA 48 4-5 requires that the governing body of each Municipal certify that uh they use hiring practices that comply with the United States equal employment uh opportunity commission's enforcement or enforcement guidance on the consideration of arrest and conviction records and employment decisions under title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so before we can submit our annual budget to the division of local Service uh government services uh there needs to be a certification by the governing body that we are in compliance with that there is a a formal sheet that all of you will need to to sign off and I will leave that with uh Madam um so she has it at at her convenience I don't if you don't have it already I'm not sure okay uh the next resolution is um a resolution for deferred school taxes and whereas regulations Pro provide for the deferral of not more than 50% of the annual Levy when the school taxes are raised uh for a school year and have not been uh requisitioned uh by the the school district so essentially when we defer school taxes we know that the school year goes from uh usually September of one year one budget year into um June of a subsequent budget year and this just allows us to not include um the 2024 or the 202's portion of school taxes into the 2024 budget so we're deferring that portion until 2025 and then it will be included in the 2025 budget to be paid out to the school districts at that time when they request the money and then uh the next resolution is the introduction of the uh Municipal budget um whereas the budget has been presented uh before the township Council uh on March the 19th at a public meeting the annual budget as introduced reflects total revenues in the amount of 49 m271 th000 and total Appropriations in the amount of 49 M2 71,000 and the six-year capital budget as introduced reflects current year of$ million and not the next over the next 5 years 13, 963 736 that would be the total uh so we are asking that the uh budget for um 2024 uh be introduced um today and we can move through the budget introduction process resolution number 2024-the seasonal prep and maintenance of six baseball fields we had put this contract out to bid um a little earlier in 2024 um our qpa did receive um three bids um that range from $13,500 to $282,450 there was quite a spread um there were some issues with um the lowest bidder and I I really don't want to get into uh much too much detail but we are asking that this contract be awarded to RJM landscaping and design LLC of Branchburg New Jersey in the amount of $145,000 the next resolution is a resolution author authorizing an increase to the to exceed amount for penon associates for the provisions of Engineering Services to a Willingboro Township um under resolution 2024-25 uh they were given a not to exceed amount in uh in the amount of 30500 ,000 um we are moving forward with our 2023 uh Municipal Road program which we had received a three over $3 million of funding with the from the the state I Bank um the bidding came in very favorably for that project um so we EXT we decided to go to a phase two of that project to include 10 additional streets to be um redone here in Willingboro um penon uh has or feels that they don't need additional Monies to oversee the contract and um the the contract management however there were just some additional costs in the design and Engineering phase so we're asking for an additional 0,000 U be added to their not to exceed amount to cover the additional monies for the design and Engineering phase related to the 2024 road project and I think that was all of the items I have boards and commissions are you do appointing boards and commissions okay okay so that those are all the items that I had to present to the governing body for their consideration this evening thank you all right at this time we're going to open up public comments for any comments uh related to the resolutions that the manager just spoke about and you will have two minutes all right is there anyone online Sean that would like to speak uh not at this moment all right then public comments on the resolution agenda is now closed at this time we will address the ordinance is there a motion to introduce ordinance 202 24-4 so moved second ordinance [Music] 2024-25 moved just mov it back she read the title I apologize you supposed to do the roll call okay sorry about that roll call councilwoman Peron yes councilwoman Whitfield yes councilwoman Dr worthy yes and Deputy Mayor Anderson yes ordinance properly introduced wanted to move on yeah that's what I'm all right so looking at the resolutions I'm going to check with my Council colleagues if they have any concerns any ordinances they would like to see pulled I'm good okay Council on foron I'm good all good here okay um I would like to pull 204-8234 98 uh the boards and commissions so that we can input those names so what I'm asking for is to get a motion on a consent gender for 2024 through 79 through 81 so that's 20 2479 through 81 and then 202 2483 through 202 2497 second councilwoman Peron yes councilwoman Whitfield yes councilwoman Dr Worthy yes and Deputy Mayor Anderson yes so now I would like [Music] to vote on the consent agenda I need a motion I make a motion to approve the consent agenda as read second oh second councilwoman Peron yes yes councilwoman Whitfield yes councilwoman Dr worthy yes and Deputy Mayor Anderson yes the resolution [Music] 2024-25 change in the dollar amount you made a motion motion I was asking for I make a motion to um amend the dollar amount for resolution 2024 d82 to reflect the $2 change second confident councilwoman Peron yes councilwoman Whitfield yes councilwoman Dr worthy yes and Deputy Mayor Anderson yes all right so for resolution [Music] uh requesting a seat on the economic development committee as well as the environmental commission and then we also received another notice from Mr Titus L welcome asking to be placed on the Willingboro Municipal Alliance at this time I make we also have another you have yeah there's also three submissions for the ethical standards board that would be Stephanie knock Kim Brantley and Maddie mallerie these three names were submitted okay so and as it Rel as it relates to the Ethics Committee we do not have a board in place at the current we do have a board and that's why they've submitted their names to be on the board so Council one pro just one second let me get through these two right here and then we can we can no it's all together it's we're not we're not going to vote on it separately okay and I'm to again point of order point of order the board exists it's 34-7 ethical Standards Board established members terms compensations and hearings and it says and reads as follows there is hereby establish the Willingboro Township ethical standards board consisting of six members who are residents of the township at least two of whom shall be public members the members of the board shall be appointed by the township Council the members shall be chosen by virtue of their own consistent reputation and for the integrity and their knowledge of local government Affairs no more than three members of the board shall be of the same political party and it there's further information as I read before so we cannot continue to ignore the residents of Willingboro who had by the way one person submitted their name back in January on the 6th another person submitted their name on March 7th the ethical boards consist in order to govern and police the Council of unethical standards and behaviors and to make sure that we're policing the police so I know that you may not be in favor of appointing these three individuals who are indeed taxpayers and they just so happen to be I'm not sure if they're political party they did not add it here however the point is they are and have applied and therefore they shall be and will be included in this vote are you finished Council I am done for now okay so as we stated at previous Council meetings that board is on our books but we are still in discussion as it relates to having a local ethics commission okay to continue because as it states anything ethical goes to the state board so we're trying to look at it fiscally and financially as it relates to these residents and any other concerns so right now while we're in discussion with legal that's not a board to uh for us to place anyone at the current time and for the record we have no issues with any of the residents who apply it's just a matter of what are we going to do how are we going to move forward with that particular board and it is in discussion with legal so until we prepared to move forward with a yay or nay I cannot and will not address it at this meeting again um sir respectfully U Deputy Mayor I did contact the ethics board it has been confirmed willing point of order if willing B has not established an Ethics board then yes any complaints would R byoun absolutely not point of order we are not include all of the names that I've mentioned kimley definely no I'm not we're not approving unfortunately sir the answer again ma'am respectfully the board does exist if the board did not exist if the board did not exist and I want to address to our the attorney you mentioned the attorney and Deputy so um yes I would like the attorney to speak to this point the board already exists the only time you need to discuss a board is if you want to create the board we don't need to create the board because it already exists and if we did not have an Ethics board then yes if there's any complaints that are taking place within the township then you must go higher up to the ethical board now how many council members on this board please move over to no no we're not we're not we're not we're not really we're not we're not we're not we're not not okay so notice who does not want to have an Ethics board notice how quickly we're moving past this and notice how quiet everyone else is on the board on the council approval of minutes please is there a motion to approve the minutes January 2nd minutes January the 19th 2024 my apologies maret February the 6 2024 Miss Maggie I'm sorry Excuse Me Miss Maggie were you able to review the ethical board standards Miss Maggie my question is to you were you able to review the ethical standards roll call please miss Maggie councilwoman my question is to miss Maggie continue please this board did you review it Miss Maggie yes counc did did you review the ethical dep mayor mayor Miss Maggie yes did you review the ethical standards board commission that we currently have Miss Maggie are there any Miss Maggie are there anyal clerk updates Miss Maggie not at this time deput did you review the ethical standards board Miss Maggie all right so now we're going to approach unfinished business at this unfinished business ethical standards board at this time you can ask your question Miss Maggie did you review the ethical standards board councilwoman Peron I did review your code section one of the additional questions that I would have um is what the regards of public member means under that code um as you had noted in subsection 7 there is a requirement for no more than three members of a political party to be part of it that would be information that would be needed to assess it moving forward um in the interim of not having a fully formed board the matters for ethical review would go to local Finance board they do retain jurisdiction while there is not a a board formed the board exists this is the board and in order for it to form they have to apply did you review the applicants that actually filled out this form so here will be one applicant so we have to get to six right so if three people have applied already and the objective is to prevent them from applying how can you establish a board how can you have members on the board because if you read code 34-7 that means it already exists we're not creating the board correct we're not creating the board it exists already it's a code in our code book correct 34-7 there is a provision for a board my understanding is it is not formed I have not reviewed the applications or been asked to review and this is unacceptable because I've already I sent it to you I emailed you the code the Township Code I emailed it to you I said here's the link on our Township page here's the code it reads 34-7 and I didn't read all of it but I read the first paragraph So it it already exist we're not creating a new board if we were creating a new board back to Deputy mayor's point then we'd have to discuss if we want the board what is it going to consist of however this took place in history already that's why it's a part of our code and what I have an issue with is again ethical standards that you want to ignore our codes and we if we're asking the people to follow our codes and byby our rules regulations then we should do the same and if this board already exists which it does then how dare you deny a resident from applying and if we did not have the board that already exists then it is that then and at that only time that we go above to the um the board of election we don't have to do that because we already have an existing just as you just read 34-7 so I'm not asking to create the board why it's one of our codes is that correct is it one of our codes respectfully that was not my state my statement was that I had not reviewed the applications I had not been sent the applications I do not know it's right here they're right here it's a piece of paper name their address that's it it's not a formal like resume just like the boards that for all the other positions so it's not an application necessarily and I you know so it's just a piece of paper what I asked you to do was to read the code as our solicitor I'm expecting that you are hired here to make sure that no matter if we agree or not that you stay neutral and you speak to to the laws whether Miss whether mayor Deputy Mayor likes what I'm saying or not or whether councilman Worthy is not going to speak up it does not matter I'm expecting for you to be the neutral person and to speak to the laws and that is it if this law already exists which it does 34-7 exist already so where is the discussion to create there is no discussion I did not say to create okay it it's matter of whether or not it is fully formed it is not fully formed with six members at this point that was my how do we get for how do we get members on the board what should we do right here yes do we do disagree do you disagree this is how it's done yes you would have applications and appointments here's one here's one appointment so now the person has applied now we vote councilman worthy are you an objection to a resident applying to the ethics board my question is to you Council P we've I've asked I'm asking you a direct question do you have an issue with people that live here applying to the ethics board because three people have already applied we've already disced do you have an issue with the three people we already know councilman Anderson Deputy Mayor Anderson has an issue with it my question is to you a no response is you have an issue we have two members that have an issue with ethics I wonder why I wonder why okay so therefore our solicitor has confirmed the code does exist and therefore applicants can apply and right now we have three we need three more Republicans or Independents please apply okay so I'm not going to allow councilman Anderson to continue I'm already done okay thank you for being done any more any more unfinished business okay seeing none anything for new business all right seeing there's new business at this time we're going to open up public comments uh you have four minutes anybody inhouse wishes to come to the mic hi folks ladies and gentlemen my name is Maria Boyer I live at 29 Beachnut Lane and that's in um Martin's Creek can you pass these over I know I have to be quick just going to tell you what we're uh my neighbors and I are here for um it's the increased traffic and speeding along Beachnut Lane since the opening at Troy and Beach Lane we have no more closure there used to be closed for 40 years the back two pages are two articles from from 1978 when it was closed and Council approved it with no ordinance with no State the state said we they didn't have to be involved and it was closed for emergency Vehicles only and uh rubber um those foam things they're rubber where the trucks could go in and out but it wasn't open to traffic until 2020 when um your contractor you mentioned him today uh The Pump Station had been approved uh the sa safety director approved it with no concrete curbs Lamberg construction and when that was done I guess the utility trucks they opened that tooy and that's back in 20 20 there was originally the poles the flexible poles and then there was this permanent structure well it was gone and now what we have is increased traffic it's 17 feet wide in front of my house it's 24 feet on Tiffany Lane it's 16 feet at the um pumping station and that's a hairpin curv another hairpin curve is also noted in the article the second article after it was approved and that's when you come out of Troy Troy Lane and then it's a dead end we have a one way in and a one way out on JFK Boulevard I have pictures here people disregarding coming in the one way the wrong way going out the wrong way you know you have to have eyes in back of your head and now with so much new traffic in the morning with school in the afternoon with school rush hour traffic now we have when it was only us you cannot have a truck and a car go nothing bigger than an F-150 you stay behind the trash people and the recycles you don't go around them you don't go up on people's Lawns I had car Rush up on my lawn in my neighbor up on my launch in my driveway to make a U-turn I was coming down the street I stopped them now if my grandson and I were out there playing ball one of us would have got killed I can't walk my six-month-old granddaughter in a stroller we have no sidewalks you stay close to the edge and people are blowing their horns now my neighbors are going to speak um I have some pictures you're welcome to look at them uh curbs are destroyed some of the street some of the guy going the wrong way um we really need before any of those accidents start again that were in 78 you can have these um I have my neighbors here to speak their individual conflicts what do happen I thank you for your time thank hi we are J Cassandra Hunter we live at 39 Beachnut Lane our home is the home that actually intersects with Troy Lane so we get cars up on our lawn coming out of Troy Lane I can't tell you how many times our mailbox has been destroyed knocked over um we've had cars up on our lawn and again if we had our grandchildren out there something you know someone could get hurt we also live at the blind curve coming down Beach Nut Lane we can no longer back in our driveway because we've been almost T-boned a few times by speeding cars so when we used to could do that and feel safe we can no longer do that because it's a blind curve and they're speeding well my wife covered anything but it's just it's just a lot of traffic since the Box has been gone I don't care if it's a permanent structure um doesn't go back but something needs to happen yes and um pardon me you know scared me got a little anxiety here like my wife said not only that the mailbox have been knocked down the lawn has been Tor it's it's no room for large vehicles to come down TR Lane and to make we have track the trailers that actually they looking at GPS and they're trying to come down try Lane and make a left or right on Beach Nut and they can't fit so what they do they knock down our mailbox they tear up the um the lawn and then when you make the left off of Troy there is nowhere to go it's a dead end now they're trying to back down and they're tearing up the neighbor's property and my neighbor to my right 41 Beachnut Lane has a horseshoe driveway you have people literally coming on this man property trying to go around his horseshoe driveway so what a we're newcomers to the neighborhood so we've been here since 2016 2018 okay so we're relatively new and What attracted us to this property was the comfort and and the low traffic traffic that comes through there and everything so it was a diamond in a rough but now it's just a rough okay just because of the removal of the flower box but it's really dangerous I have beautiful granddaughters and I wouldn't want them to be out there play and someone come through there um and hurt my grandchildren and not only that when you're coming out of Troy Lane it look like it can continue I don't want nobody inside my bedroom is right there and at any moment I'm just expecting a car to come speeding down there in the dark and land up in my bedroom so it's a serious concern I wish I'm I'm not here to demand anything but I just want you to hear the neighbors cries and just try to have a little understanding of what's going on down here Beach n Lane because the opening the removal and when they was out there removing the flower box I was told they was coming back to put it back in at the time they was removing it but was that removed 20 2020 2020 okay and they said they was coming to put it back but it's wide open and it's a major problem and before anybody else get hurt we ask for something try to do something I don't know if it's the flower box I don't know if it's sponge pose whatever we can get done there we appreciate it if y'all take it in consideration and keep our children our dogs and H and our homes in mind thank you thank you thank you thank you very much um it's I appreciate you coming in because unless we hear your voices sometimes we just don't know so we don't look at it as you're complaining you're look it's being informative to us so now it allows us to take into consideration what's being said from each of you each of your views this way we can assess it get with the manager and see what can be done so we do appreciate it so whatever you have to say feel free to come to these meetings to discuss with the council hi I'm Sher Lynn I'm at 19 Beach Nut Lane I'm on the hair pin turn uh I was walking just the other day and I had two cars coming at me uh I'm guessing from the high school they were some kids two cars trying to race side by side on that road and nearly took me out um had to jump up on there's no sidewalk so I was on the grass and I went up speaking to one of my other neighbors and we actually stood and counted within 20 minutes there were 20 cars coming down our stre Street I guess from the high school through our development I mean they're just flying through there um it's dangerous we I've been there since 97 1997 it was always closed off it was nice and quiet all of us neighbors get along great we have you know peace and quiet back there and now it's just it's Mayhem every day people driving like maniacs blowing the horns uh UPS drivers FedEx dri and I mean they're taking that turn on that corner it's really scary when I'm trying to back out of my driveway CU I'm on that bend so I'm right by the uh the pump the pump house where the water shed is over there so that's my story who's next thank you thank you John Burton at 35 Beachnut I know uh I kind of just like to reinforce what the hunter said uh we need help and I and I gather you now are informed and can make a uh response for us the traffic has been terrible but it's um I'm not quite sure of the the theme but the traffic light theme with the trash uh in town the big Billboards you know not throwing the trash so aside from the safety the trash uh we've lost our Corner we're on one of the other Corners um it's my my wife grew up there and the one act the one motor motorcycle accident happened right on my my front wall you know the border wall so these things were happening cuz motorcycles could slip through there before you know but now it's two cars and it's really the traffic is really bad the trash um and it is not safe to walk on the streets and a lot of the residents from Twin Hills walk along there and then back around the high school you know just just on leisurely strolls or exercise it is not safe for them and um I guess that's it appreciate your help Ginger Ms I live at seven Catal but it's a piece of property where my art is Beachnut and Catalpa I have people coming down the street driving through my front yard yard to get to the other Street um they are actually drug trafficking in my front yard they will come from Troy park on the corner of Beachnut run from Catal across deal drugs right in my front yard that never happened and also like from all the traffic my curb is destroyed if you seen pictures of my curb that they actually said they were going to replace the curbs um I'm thinking it was like in 2020 they never they did the streets but they never did the curbs so now that the traffic's worse they're just tearing it up because the trucks don't have room when they go up on my curb because my fence like I said I am on both streets it's an angle when the trucks go up on my curb they rip my entire curb out into the middle of the road and now that it's open it's worse because it's constant you can't get a trash truck down there somebody's in the street or somebody's coming the opposite direction thank you hi my name is John Anning I live at 27 Beachnut Lane I've lived there for over 20 years um up until 2020 when the uh flower boxes on Trey Lane we we have very little problems um I noticed at the beginning of this uh uh meeting that we're talking about taxes uh my taxes are about $116,000 a year so I think we're making our fair share of tax contribution to this Township and um you know the people drive through there don't live in that neighborhood so they don't seem to have a care about throwing trash out there and and driving way over the speed limit so um with the rest of my neighbors here I believe that the P willing should take a look at this and take some appropriate action thank you thank you John um my name is Rich alsar 15 Beach Nightline been there since like 1990 or so um I'm at the other end of the street and when you come in off of JFK it's one way in it's clearly marked at that point but when you're leaving Beachnut to go back to JFK you have to Veer to the right there used to be an arrow painted in the street when they repaved the street they never put the arrow back in the street there's also only a single small one way sign at that point I seen the UPS guys and the FedEx guys going down the wrong way at JFK and Beachnut it's narrow there it's a blind turn I've seen cars almost head on each other because of that and the speeding and everything else going on there too just adds to it but uh see if we can do something with that too all right thank you very much rich anym normally we don't but because of the scenario here I will go ahead and allow it really important because I just want you to just keep in mind that when these large vehicles and trucks come and then they trying to back out they have hit the power lines and the plastic casing that covers part of line they have cracked it and broke it so that could become a very serious tragedy if they because those are electrical power lines and their vehicles is too high to be trying to back back up into our properties because of the lines all right thank you do we have anyone from the audience for public comments all right at this time uh Sean who do we have online we have buer Williams good evening Council mayor Deputy Mayor oh mayor is not there counil and Township manager citizens everyone good evening um I just have oh eight botony Circle my daughter just reminded me I just have um one question please um I know that um many Township employees complained about their insurance lack thereof of coverage and how they're suffering my girlfriend for instance she couldn't wait for the new insurance to kick in in in um August I think and she had to have serious surgery which she's recuperating right now but a lot of bills have accumulated and I want to know is this new insurance going to cover any any of the undue expenses that occurred on this meeting the ochre insurance that they now have um my heart goes out to her and to all the people who complained about you know the insurance um inadequately covering their illnesses and I would like to know is there any stipulation where they could get some help from this insurance um before the new one which it has more comprehensive coverage sets in thank you you so much and I wait to hear the answer you're welcome and God bless you everyone thank you you're welcome Sean do we have anyone else uh yes Anna Kon hello good evening I I appreciate the opportunity to speak this is Anna Pano cotton from 29 Noland Lane I am here speaking on behalf of the Willingboro public library and I just want to remind folks that we are here we're your Township Library we are committed to serving the public and we're grateful for the partnership with the Township in order to continue to bring services to the community um if you haven't spent some time on our website or haven't uh had a chance to visit our Facebook page recently I encourage you to check out some of our programs we have uh a number of resources we've got in-person workshops available we have also uh we have also virtual workshops we've got Dungeons and Dragons we've got Story Time For Tots we have um and we have uh we have a Parkinson's group and we have an everything kind of running spanning the gamut of resources available for our community members and so I just want to take a moment to remind you that you can visit us at uh willingboro.nj um that this resource is available for the community and uh that's all I'll share for this evening thank you all very much I appreciate the time and wish you all a good evening thank you Anna Sean who else do we have I think I saw Shirley Dorth good evening everyone okay uh thank you for this opportunity you know to speak to the township leaders and the residents of wenber uh I want to take this opportunity to invite the entire Community to come out to our church to worship with us us on Good Friday uh my church is Parkway Baptist Church we are very active a uh organization in town and I just want to take this time to invite all of you as to come out to worship with us as we are coming up on the end of this Lenton season our Good Friday service will be held on March 29th at 6: pm and the church the name of the church again is Parkway Baptist Church and is located at the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and pip Pacer driveway and um before I forget I live at Newport Lane thank you for listening to me and I hope to see some of you out worshiping with us for our Good Friday service thanks again and have a good evening thank you Miss Dorth Sean do we have anyone else yes Torino Williams thank you Serena Williams 8 bne Circle good evening Deputy Mayor Anderson councilwoman Dr Tiffany worthy councilwoman Rebecca Peron deput um excuse me Mr Harris and I'm sorry I forgot her name um Township Clerk and Community residents I want to say once again um happy women's appreciation month to all the women dedicated women of our Township thank you so much for your hard work and service making our Township the good place that it is I also wanted to inform you that next Monday will be purple day in honor of epilepsy I am one of millions of people who lives with epilepsy and if you don't already know how to give first aid to um people who have epilepsy I would encourage you to go online to educate yourself please um and then if possible wear purple in honor of the many people that have epilepsy um in addition to that I wanted to also um invite you to um our church willing bar 7th Adventist Church located at 2011 Veterans Parkway we worship on Saturdays at 9:30 and 11 at um St Paul United Methodist Church we're having a special um mental health day on April the 20th I'll announce it again but just um I know how bus busy everyone gets so in case you don't in case um you have plans by that time our next council meeting I wanted to share this with you now our health talks are Tuesdays at 7 to 8:00 pm the meeting ID is 871 0209 5223 and the pass code is Adventist capital A DV n t i s t next week um we'll have a a guest speaker who's a nutritionist in honor of national nutrition month for the month of March he'll be our they will be our guest speaker so please if you can join us um let's see and I think that is it thank you so much may God richly bless you thank you Miss Williams you're welcome Deputy Mayor Anderson thank you Sean do we have anyone else uh yes Russell and Johnny Waller hello um good evening everyone this is uh Russell and Joanie Waller good evening uh six Troy Lane we are the small street that everyone is talking about I'll between Beachnut and um Tiffany uh Lane we I had something that I wanted to specifically read um however we are um concerned because there's so much traffic coming through we've been resident since 1996 the planter was up there and everything that everyone is saying is absolutely correct we're seeing an increased amount of traffic yeah uh last week we almost saw um someone get T-Bone be CAU was there are no stop signs the planter was up there um High School traffic is coming through morning midday evening an excessive amount um as everyone else said that they have grandchildren we have grandchildren as well and um our concern is that someone is going to get seriously hit um by a car because um it's you know no one is considering considerate of anybody else and um it's do you have anything because I I there was something I wanted to say as well this is Russell Waller um I it's my wife Joanie was just speaking uh can you hear me yes yes okay um we just wanted to just to um mention like everyone else that this particular area uh has become very uh dangerous uh as far as travel because is a it is a kind of a EAS easy way to get into the high school sometimes and what happens uh it just makes the traffic volume really really uh high and so at that rate uh it becomes much more dangerous and so uh just we just would like some help some attention on that and and in the past we have written a um our neighbors did do a a petition it's been several years because we could see this happening um in the making so we did um ask for um some help earlier in the past but um I know that they were saying that the township trucks have to come through but um we have seen very little of those and then the ones as um Johnny was saying uh we've seen some several of them try not necessarily wanting to but they've taken looks like they're going to take some power lines down or and even the FedEx trucks come through and the Amazon trucks they all come through speeding so if you could possibly consider please please please putting the planter back I think all of us and even our neighbors on Tiffany that um are right in front of Troy they would be con um more than happy more than happy and it'll make it much safer also yes thank you thank thank you Mr Mr Waller Sean do we have anyone else uh not at this time one second all right with no one else online um I'm going to end the online for now one quick question we will get to that in a few minutes all right with no other public comments public comments is now closed so I'm going to ask the I'm going ask the township manager to address the questions uh that he can address uh particularly pertaining to the Martin Beach situation this is the beach nut Lane right it's in Martin's beach yes so Mr tun was just reminding me that we had had a conversation about this um my early arrivals into willing Barrow and um I just commented back to him that we will have a discussion about it tomorrow uh I will uh be down on Beachnut Lane and Troy Lane tomorrow to actually put eyes on the the situation because I'm not really familiar I don't know why there was a planter box there and why it was removed so I would have to do the history um but we will look at it and see what are some viable options to uh to alleviate the the the the issues that the residents are suffering there okay okay thank you so much Mr Harris a as you heard the township manager is going to go out physically put eyes on the situation make an assessment and see what the viable options are all right so once again you know what we can promise as a council is that you are being heard the manager will get back to you and let's see what we can work on collectively that makes sense for both you the residents and us the township um one comment regarding this issue um with my review of the photographs the the sidewalk That was supposed to be there is demolished and damaged isn't that the um Township's responsibility for the sidewalk to replace any broken um materials on the curb sidewalks belong to willing bro yes so I did some of those the some of the photos that saw that something that definitely um you know I would recommend not going up by yourself but maybe bringing the township no I saw like concrete curve right and that's what I'm speaking of that needs to be the that should be better properly prepar like it looks sloppy it looks it looks right so that's what I'm speaking of that you saw the you saw the photos right Miss I didn't look at the photos but I will be I will be there tomorrow morning to look at it physically so that's I'm speaking about that area and it needs you know okay and then already all right thank you yes thank you Deputy Mayor um Mr Harris when you go tomorrow I was wondering if you take um Public Safety with you um if someone from the police department Fir and EMS would be available to go I do remember when the Planters were removed in 2020 um the township manager at the time um had gone to visit and had received complaints about firing EMS not being able to access that part of the community um and that information was relay back to the council we weren't anticipating all the concerns that came later but what was presented at the time was that the fire trucks could not access um Martin speach for 42 years thank you so that's the information that was brought to us and then based on that um Public Safety Emergency Management everybody they came together and made that decision but um so Mr Harris if you take you know uh Coalition with you as you take pictures and evaluate based on the size of the vehicles we have today day versus the size of the vehicles 40 years ago we certainly want to make sure that um the resident's property isn't um damaged we do want them to be safe um but if you could just keep that in mind during your visit um tomorrow okay so I have our fire chief here Chief Bernett we have our public safety director uh Captain Ian bucks we have our inspections uh Mr tons and we have representatives from DPW and I'm going to convene you all at Beach whatever Beach Nut Lane at 9:00 in the morning and we will look at this tomorrow thank you Mr Harris and then how will the residents of martins's beach be informed so that was their concern is once um you take a look and the Coalition descends upon the space how how can you know how will that communication so we will come back and uh share our findings with the governing body and let you know what what our recommendations are and proposals are and if you are in agreement with that we will move forward with them with those and then we will notify the residents as well okay I just want them to know what you know whatever those recommendations are so that we're we stay open um would you like their email addresses or phone numbers or something before we leave tonight um just to open it up so I have um I have pretty much the addresses um I'll slip my card in your mailboxes so you'll have an a way to get in touch with me directly or or Mr Lowry's card thank you Mr Harris I appreciate that all right and for the resident at 21 Beachnut was that Maria or was that a Lori the name your first Maria okay so I just want to say Maria Mr Mr Hunter Sherry that's John Burton I got a jean I got another John and I Know Rich we heard we heard you um thank you for coming out thank you for addressing us and we will be in contact with you to work on this resolve thank you so next on my list uh Miss buer Williams she just pretty much called to give us an update uh she had asked a question regarding the uh uh uh employee and the Assurance would you like to answer that so I really can't answer too much about uh an employees insurance and in healthc care I I don't even know the employee we're relating to um but if she wants to instruct her friend whoever uh it is to contact uh my office then we can see if we can help her any [Music] further okay and Miss Anna Cotton just uh was uh giving us information regarding the public library Miss Shirley Dilworth uh invited us out to Good Friday over at Parkway Baptist on March 29th at 6 p.m. uh Miss Terina Williams uh was telling us about an event that they're going to have on 420 which she'll bring back some updates and to remind us that Monday 3:25 was purple day in honor of epilepsy and I believe that's all that I have do you guys have anything that I didn't cover all right so at this time I'm going to see if there are any Council comments I have a comment um so my comments relating to the ethical standards board um again um as far as I'm concerned we have Township codes we hold responsible that we enforce the laws and therefore we too should follow the laws and to miss Maggie our solicitor you said that you were confused by the sentence that said says 34-7 there is hereby established Willingboro Township Council ethical standards board consisting of six members who are residents of the township at least two of whom shall be public members that public members what that means is we have people who work for the township and also live in the township so the council cannot just appoint people of the employees to be on this board the reason the board exists is to create Fair Ness and to make sure that we are enforcing proper ethical behavior on the council's level as well as the supervisor level as well as the people that live here that they are being respected and treated equally and fairly now I know it's not something that most people want to follow ethics but what I'm expecting from you miss Maggie is that by our next meeting and I sent you the email again I emailed you our codes your your responsibility is not to vote with councel your responsibility and why we're paying you to be here is to enforce the law and to help guide us understand the law and from what the law that I just read is very clear it's not something that I'm confused about and again I've already contacted the ethics board and they explained to me if you don't have one then yes you can come to us we have one and if you don't have one you can create one we don't need to create one because we have one but it's not going to be acceptable from the sitting council members councilman worthy Deputy Mayor Nat Anderson which you're not going to continue to do is ignore the applicants it's still not four minutes and you can keep looking at the clock it's not four minutes yet people have applied three people from this Township have applied and they deserve the right to be appointed to this to this position and if you have any objections to it then speak so your objection to the that you're trying to figure out what ethics is you're trying to figure out if you want to create it that's a confused statement because no one's asked you Deputy Mayor to create the ethics board why not because here it is 34-7 a whereby established the Willingboro Township Council ethics board consists of six three people have applied Deputy Mayor three people okay so you can perform unethical Behavior anywhere else but here I'm G to hold you to it I'm going to hold you to our standards the township code book same to you uh councilman worthy I know you're City you're very quiet right now because you don't want any governance of Ethics do you do you but guess what it's not going to be allowed okay and I'm hoping that the rest of the community my email is R Peron woing bro NJ . goov if you are interested in applying please submit your citizen leadership application okay and any one of you are eligible to apply we just need six we currently have three okay and I'm expecting that just no different than you elected me to this seat I'm expecting you to help me help the council and the people who we've hired here to behave ethically so that concludes my statement thank you for your comments councilwoman Peron yes Dr worthy thank you Deputy Mayor I wanted to give a congratulations to the Willingboro Panthers Recreation cheerleaders who traveled to Atlanta Georgia and secured a first and second place win for some of the girls it was their first time getting to Atlanta and being able to travel to represent our community so um shout out to all of those cheerleaders who are doing wonderful things young girls in the community um with their families traveling it's beautiful um to see the successes of willing burrow no matter how hard we may want to focus on negativity or bringing one another down we just won't do that Willingboro high school cheerleaders were in Greensboro North Carolina they secured some victories down there um so exciting times for Willingboro so that's our high school and our Recreation division also I wanted to highlight that Senator Singleton is having um a program on March 27th to address Mental Health for female veterans and it's an event that will be held at the burrow epicenter in willing burrow right in East Ridge Plaza it's a free event and registration is required there will be lunch there um there will be several panelists there to focus on Mental Health in women as we celebrate women's history month so I'm excited about the wonderful things that are happening in willing borrow my email address is T worthy Willingboro nj.gov if you have questions or concern concerns um if you have challenges in the community I am excited and more than willing to help to uh to help you to navigate willing borrow also remember we have the willing borrow Connect app you can download that app you're able to share different concerns issues keep up with different events happening in the community um and you can also register for the Willingboro Wednesday weeklys that come out each week to share all the wonderful things that are happening in our beautiful Community thank you deputy mayor all right councilwoman Whitfield do you have any comments thank you Deputy Mayor um I wanted to thank all the residents for coming out this week um thank you to the residents of Martin Martin's beach for um Coming and bringing your concerns and I'm confident that the township manager will do as he says and um you know assess the situation and come up with strategies um how we can improve that situation there I also o did want to um just make the community and the residents that are on tonight um about two events that are coming up one on April 20th our by anual Clean Community spring cleanup um that will take place at 9: in the morning in front of JFK and it is a wonderful opportunity for residents to come together and help ensure our community is clean and beautiful for the spring and summer season as the weather gets warmer and then also on April 27th um we have our volunteer Fair um coming up different organizations in the municipality will be hosting tables and looking for volunteers and all of the different organizations that help our community be great um and Catering to different stakeholders in the community so we look forward to um folks coming and being present there as well um that is all I have tonight Deputy Mayor and thank you so much all right thank you councilwoman Whitfield uh I would like to just thank everyone for coming out voicing your concerns and sir I apologize if he was a little nervous I'm just going to take it as if he was f as if it was your first time and nothing else all right um this week on uh Monday myself and mayor Macintosh had the um opportunity attend the US Conference of Mayors uh where they had given us some information on the upcoming legislative actions as well as President Biden's proposed uh budget for 20205 I have shared that with the council colleagues I will make sure uh you get a a copy as well Mr manager uh congratulations again to Mr Harris and his team for doing an outstanding job on the budget you know just keep up the good work um we appreciate everything that you've done since you you've been here as far as it relates to the budget being responsible making sure the Departments are running um efficiently and spending less at the same time so just thank you very much for that all right and for the council colleagues uh there was an email sent out this evening regarding some upcoming dates to conduct interviews for the clerk candidate so the email is a little confusing so just for clarification we put out several dates we need to select three dates uh each candidate which was three candidates will have 45 minutes so we're looking to submit three dates to the deputy clerk so that we can begin that interview process all right that's it for Council comments uh the next order of business is I would like to make a motion for executive session you're making motion I made the motion okay second councilwoman Peron um yes councilwoman Whitfield yes councilwoman Dr worthy yes and Deputy Mayor Anderson yes and the solicitor will provide a statement there will be executive session tonight for matters falling under njsa 10412 B subsection seven and8 for matters involving contracts and Personnel all right so thank you very much um at this time I would like to ask Sean if he can send an executive link to councilwoman Whitfield for executive all right we may come out to vote on something we may not um you can feel free to hang around if not you can always replay the zoom all right thank you guys for coming out have a great evening and we will come back after executive e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e [Music] all right can I get a motion to come out of executive session is she on okay councilwoman Pon councilwoman Whitfield yes councilwoman Dr worthy yes and Deputy Mayor Anderson yes all right we're coming out executive session there was nothing to vote on so at this time I'd like to make a motion for adjournment we are now my apologies she second it you made a motion and council with Phil second so we just need a fav oh yeah oh wait all in favor I I I I'm sorry we are now adjourned it is 9:26 pm.