hello and welcome to Woodbridge is the best town around my name is John McCormick I'm the mayor of this great town and we here today for the always Pleasant task of celebrating Autism Awareness Month in Woodbridge April 2024 it's something we've been doing for how many years hag it's a long time about 12 years now a long time so uh it's it's uh accompanied by a flag raising but it's pouring rain out and so we're going to just take a bunch of pictures in here um I'm going to call up Sue bordon from the uh Woodbridge Board of Education she's a member there for several years and she not only represents everybody in town on the board but especially uh the special needs population of Woodbridge Township including those with autism and other kinds of other kinds of issues so I'm going to ask Sue to come up here as I read this plaque proc I should say not plaque can't afford plaques we have to do procs you know it's this is a $1.99 plaques are like $35 whereas autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability affecting brain development and children which disrupts their ability to communicate and interact with others and which impacts the social learning and behavioral skills of those so affected and whereas the Autism Society of America is the nation's oldest leading Grassroots autism organization with the goal to further increase awareness about autism signs symptoms and opportunities through information and referrals events printable and digital resources and Community Partnerships with businesses and organizations dedicated to building inclusive experiences Emily that's a very long sentence and whereas the Woodbridge Township parents organization program for the advancement of children's education poak and Pace along with teachers professional staff parents and students from Matthew jgo school 28 and throughout Woodbridge Township been concert with national state and local organizations and associations dedicated to the public awareness of autism provide training courses support groups disability awareness events and social events as part of a school and Community Based Outreach to raise awareness of the needs of families parenting autistic children Emily that's even twice as long whereas the Woodbridge Township poak and Pace organizations in concert with the Autism Society of America celebrate Autism Awareness Month via the sixth annual pound signs celebrate differences campaign designated to build a better awareness of the signs symptoms and realities of autism and with the annual autism acceptance month flag raising which symbolizes a commitment to educate and inform the community about the impacts of autism and the efforts and of families of patients experiencing autism now therefore I John McCormack mayor of the township of Woodbridge and con with the Town Council to hereby present this proclamation to the Woodbridge Township parents organization program for the advancement of children's education poac and pace and celebrate the month of April 2024 his autism acceptance month so let me present this proclamation to Sue and ask you to say a few words about the whole event as the parent of somebody who's part of Poa and Pace lovely Emily right in front who just invited me to her softball game and I can't wait to go what position you play right yeah you know what I played when I was a kid I played left out just like pop um thank you mayor I appreciate um every year having this event uh it means a lot to us to be recognized throughout the township more than just the flag raising um the fields that you've built the fields that the the kids the um Level Playing Fields that we have that allow our kids to um you know get out there and play soccer and baseball and some of the parks that we have that are accessible to all of our kids not just some of them um we've appreciated those for as long as we've lived here uh Woodbridge has been a great place to raise my daughter um she's come so far with the support of the town and and the school district which is why I got involved in the school district I was a pace parent when since she was three um got involved with um poak uh parents of autistic children we do walks for them each year in support of them because they support us so much it's just a great um great organization two great organizations I'm very fortunate to be a part of um being on the school board affords me a little bit more um time to to do those things and and reach uh many different families and inform them of what uh opportunities there are for kids with um disabilities at all in our district um po as much as poak is parents of autistic children because we are partners with them they invite all of our students to be part of their uh free days out and their um their s uh I want to say sermons their um uh trainings that they have um so poa.net is a great uh resource and Woodbridge is a great town to live in for any kid and it's got to be we got to be one of the only CS with the Board of Ed that have one of their nine members of a as a parent of a special needs kid that doesn't seem like it should be that popular um it it should be it should be it doesn't seem like it is that popular it's not and and I I've talked to like other board members um when we go to school boards and go to some of the uh events that we go to and there's not a lot of representation in other districts and I appreciate the opportunity to be able to be that that that uh voice for our kids and I was talking to John art who just today is has moved to New Hampshire he was involved in so many things like the veterans Alliance he was involved in Young Marines but at the first Passion he had with special needs kids and I remember back in the 90s when he was working for the town as direct director and I was the CFO and he kind of helped start buddy ball and we started it with bowling and then it became baseball then it became softball then it became basketball and soccer ultimately hockey so buddy ball U Stars program Stars program is new newer and great Sharon does a great job y uh uh rid program mayor Max mayor Max Cafe best restaurant in Woodbridge best ever uh the Our House program once people hit 21 so what what town has more of these things than any than than Woodbridge does no town no town has what what we have and when I tell people that oh yeah we have that I'm like no you don't not like we have it and the support that we have um is is second to none and we appreciate it um you know you mentioned buddy ball Emily started buddy Ball when she was for and um and she's now a coach so she's moved up and she's she she takes her job very seriously she has a whistle and everything and um but she she's great with the kids and she she does she's great because she she knows where they came from or where she came from and where they are and she understands you know more their thought process than I could ever even after raising her so pretty incredible having a coach that lived the life and walked the walk yep and I'm very proud to say that she's also a member of the Woodbridge High School softball team she's she's on the JV and um you know I appreciate their their inclusion and their um the way that they've been inclusive with her and and um training her and and it's great she's she's getting better every day and I think they recognize that I think every one of us up here has well we all did watch her grow up that's true we've all know her known her since she was three what do you now 16 16 my heartbreaking when did that happen couple months ago speaking of who's up here now let me new the people to the far left is councilman of large Greg ficara next to him is councilwoman of large Lis Beth De Jesus next to her first W councilwoman Sharon mcol of covering Woodbridge and sewor next to her is councilman of large and current council president Kyle Anderson next to him is our 19th district assemblyman and the state of New Jersey speaker of the general assembly for the fourth time state record Craig Coughlin so before asking you guys to speak we have Lena Suarez Angelino coming up uh I'm asking her to come up and say a few words about uh just the whole issue and what it means to have you know a supportive town and and people like Sue on the board come on up and say a few words thank you so much mayor for the opportunity to speak I wasn't expecting to so this will be very impromptu um but my name is Suarez Angelino I am a social worker uh by trade and by training and I actually started Central Jersey special needs Community because I wanted to find a lot more resources that are local to our town um unfortunately our son does have to go out of district for school just because of Mobility concerns Matthew Joo wasn't able to accommodate him at the time um so we're continuing to kind of explore what what we can do in District and being able to really really connect but but the point of my group and what I want to do with the group and the vision that I have is combining not only parents and caregivers but also the providers that are local to us and really understanding and getting familiar with the with the families that they want to use their services but then also allowing for opportunity for sponsorships allowing for opportunity so that it becomes a lot more affordable for us you know we're facing a lot of insurance battles I would have never dreamed that insurance wouldn't cover medical diapers for us you know but they don't so it's like learning a lot of those things right going through some of those Insurance denials and it can be very frustrating very isolating I'm sure Sue is very much aware of that and any other special needs parent and so really creating that community of again combining that bridge of providers and parents and caregivers so I invite you all to join and be a part of that I'm so excited to be able to meet Sue tonight and you know again just be a part of part of this and you know I'm blessed to have our son Zach and he's really opening up my eyes to what it means to be a not only a child with special needs but also child with Mobility um delays and Mobility impairments too because 75 pounds every day I'm I have to go to CrossFit it's a non non-negotiable now because we're deadlifting and and squatting heavy every day so thank you so much everyone I appreciate it thank you I forgot to mention that Su as the vice president of the Woodbridge Board of Education we also have the president of the board with us Dan Harris a longtime advocate for the program you want to say a few words Dan I just like car I surprised her as yeah yeah got always be ready folks be ready uh well thanks mayor and nice job Sue and you know appreciate you sharing your your story with us um what came to mind while you were speaking is is bit of a shout out something I'm known for on the board and that's to the 20 plus Employers in the State uh excuse me in Wood's Township that uh support our rise students as the mayor addressed we have 18 to 21 year old student special needs students who are nearing aging out and so District we're responsible for educating those students uh for Workforce skills as well as well as independent living skills and then in addition of that six hours a week we have students go to mayor's ma Cafe I know some I believe work for the township of Woodbridge you're you're rise employer Patrick Works Patrick petrol works in the community center there's people work for florist they work for Home Depot right right Joan's Fabrics uh Pizza Hut the school board yes the school district so we have 20 plus of those employers and really just a big thank you to those employers for giving our students or special needs students opportuni so mayor just want to thank you for doing this every year on behalf of the students thank you thank you as I said we have our assembly speaker here who's a great advocate for special needs uh children and adults in Trenton ladies and gentlemen Craig Coughlin good evening everyone pleasure to be here with everybody on this rainy day another reason I really love John mccor because he's smart enough to keep us fall out of the rain uh but but the truth of the matters it's good to be together and to to celebrate really to celebrate the Woodbridge Community and Woodbridge Township for all that it does for people of special needs I'm I'm so lucky to live in a town uh where where we embrace the notion of having the special needs programs and and look for new and better ways to to find it oftentimes when we're looking for the mayor is looking for support um from the state for a special project it it has to do uh with something for special needs and I uh have had the chance to eat at at mayor Max Cafe where I met Kenny who's sitting in the first row I got to know him there and now I see him at Mass pretty much every week together um and I've known Emily for a long time it's it's fun to be here it's special to be here and we ought to be as Woodbridge residents incredibly proud of the leadership of the mayor and the council and the Board of Education uh and our commitment to making sure that we're inclusive uh and that we make life special for everybody thanks everybody for being here appreciate it our current council president Kyle Anderson would like to say a few words um but uh I I want to thank everyone for being here today uh in particular the parents of uh poak and uh the students that are part of that program and uh in particular uh Sue Sue is a very good friend of mine we've had very long conversations about um inclusive being an inclusive Society here in Woodbridge and I know how important it was for both her and Emily for Emily to make the baseball team uh the softball team congratulations and um uh you know I I happened to be very good friends with with Patrick so Patrick uh discovered my phone number and he calls me regularly uh I pick them up for baseball games all the away games I'm taking them oh yeah and I have such a good relationship with um you know that Community um I happen to be on the board for Educational Services Commission of New Jersey uh so we spend a lot of time um thinking about our our students of uh uh special need and we like to think of them as as the abilities that they have rather than disabilities and what can we get them to do more of and how can we prepare them for life and uh similar to the um similar to The Rise program they have a future foundations program where uh they have uh group uh training uh training for group setting and U how life will be like after because that is while that graduation is one of the happiest days is probably one of the most anxious days for a lot of parents as far as what what do we do from here um but what a what it is what it means to be um a parent or a family member of an autistic person here in Woodbridge is that you're going to get the support that you need and that we're going to um we're we have a a a group here and we have uh that Embraces our community and that we look at this as something that um these are all a part of our uh everyone's a part of our community and we want to make sure that everyone's um uh life here in Woodbridge is made easier and that our families um know that they have someone to come to so thank you very much for being here and let's raise that flat all right anybody else want to say anything Gregor Le Beth Le Beth come on up um while is Autism Awareness Month I just want to also acknowledge the teachers and the par professor in the school district because they are with the kids each and every day and they are very um they form relationships with the parents so I just want to acknowledge them for the work that they do and I also want to give a shout out um to school 28 because in the last couple of weeks I've been having parents address me in different stations how happy that they are with the school and how much their kids have improved so it's just a testament to the work that the board of education does and especially in that school so I just want both of you to know that they are doing what they're supposed to be doing and parents appreciate everything that they're done with that being said you know um I had the blessing to be able to start working after I stayed home for so many years as a par professional um with prek and then moved on and I have since moved on but I um got to say that it's again a partnership between the parents and the school it's so important but we bridge I feel like we are a town apart from all the other towns for the services that we provide for the community that we have and the work that the parents and the teachers and the government all of us come together to be able to provide all the services that we do so I just want to um give a special shout out to the teachers and the par Professionals in the schools that are working with the kids each and every day thank you Sharon good here goes Sharon moli hi everybody I want to reiterate what Liz says my daughter actually is a par professional and she works with the children the preschool children and she comes home and tells me a lot of the stories that they do that school Matthew Joo school does so much they have a Halloween parade they do all stuff for Christmas and those children in that school participate in everything and they love every single event that happens there and I just think it's great how the teachers work with them and they're everyone is treated equally regardless of what your ability or disability is so it's really great that we have those programs in town to treat everybody exactly the same way and it is it is a good job for the teachers to work well with the children and the children do make a special bond with the teachers because they they love them when they see them they run up to them they hug them and it's great so I appreciate everything that the town does for that program and um just thank you very much and I love mayor Max you've served me many times there too thank you good all right I think I really think being a special ed teacher is one of the toughest jobs in the the whole school district the patience you have to have and the level of understanding that you have to have of what these kids are going it's just amazing the jobs they do are tremendous all right now we're going to raise the flag I'm not going to raise it on the flag poll Kenny we're going to do it inside if you don't mind so I need Kenny I need Erica I need Dylan and I need Emily all rise for the uh plure to the flag so we can open the meeting I pled to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible liberty and justice for all if we'd all remain standing um there was a little boy in our neighboring town of sville um that experienced an untimely death and I'd like you to all keep him in your thoughts and prayers and his family thank you requirements of the open public meeting will have been satisfied concerning this meeting the The Star Ledger published a notice on October 6 2023 it was posted on the municipal bulletin board should be so noted in the minutes of this meeting councilman Bower councilwoman Deus councilman ficara councilwoman mlla here councilwoman man councilman Patel councilman small Council vice president Spiller here and president Anderson here can I get a mo a motion that the minutes be approved as presented from March 19th motion second any questions or comments from Council all in favor I I opposed eyes have it beginning with second reading ordinances this evening take letter a first which is an amendment to chapter 7 which is the traffic section of our general ordinances and this is with regards to setting a parking time limit on Oak Tree Road can I get a motion that this ordinance be taken up on second and third reading and the public hearing be open motion second any questions or comments from councel all in favor I I oppose eyes have it the public hearing is now open on letter a letter A only hear no comment from the public can I get a motion that the public hearing be closed the ordinance be adopted and submitted to the mayor for approval as required by law motion second any questions or comments from councel all in favor I I opposed eyes have it letter B is an ordinance approving the traffic signal that has been installed at Inman and Delaware Avenue and Colonia I get a motion that this ordinance be taken up on second and third reading and the public hearing be open motion second any question or comments from Council all in favor I I I opposed eyes have it the public hearing is now open on letter b letter B only he no comment from the public can I get a motion that the public hearing be closed the ordinance be adopted and submitted to the mayor for approval as required by law motion second any questions or comments from Council all in favor I I I opposed eyes have it you have first reading ordinances listed as c d and e can I get a motion that these three ordinance be passed first reading published in the home distribute on April 5th 2024 with notice of public hearing to be held on April 16th 2024 at 6 p.m motion second any questions or comments from Council all favor I I opposed eyes have it and Mr President you have 22 resolutions listed if I can get a motion by consent to approve 1 through 22 motion second any questions or comments all in favor I I opposed eyes have it thank you sir so we will now go into our portion of the meeting where we will entertain public comments uh When approaching the microphone please state your name in what section of the township or state you live in uh you will have a one-time opportunity to speak up to 5 minutes if you would uh the microphone is uh back in the uh cordinate area all videotaping must be done in that same area of the room we just ask that you please be respectful of each other other please make sure that there are no signs blocking the walkways or the aisles um the public session allows for 5 minutes the five- minute time frame includes remarks by the speaker and any response or interaction by the council or Administration while this is a strict five minute time frame by the council uh uh the speaker will allow you to complete a sentence and as you're getting into your one minute Mark I'll give you a one minute warning okay uh do we have any speakers uh wishing to speak toight March Petro Woodbridge even though I'm of course want a TNR program in Woodbridge I we ran into a huge huge problem in a location in Woodbridge I can name the location if you want me to we TNR 12 cats a little old lady was feeding them she passed on the cats had no one someone reached out for help with TNR 12 we took several of them into our rescue found them homes they're fine five were left two weeks ago tomorrow they disappeared they're completely tanard have their shots vaccinated they have a feeder in the colony where are the cats who do I those to don't isn't there an ordinance in the township that says a TNR cat is protected to stay in the colony if they have a feeder cats just disappeared po just like that check with our legal on that uh we do have a few ordinances with um our um feral cats um but I don't know about any of them being protected um if they went missing um well they didn't go missing cats just don't disappear it's a colony they just don't disappear they're doing construction there so I get it the cats could have ran and hit but not for two weeks they're going to come back they have SE either they haven't been seen I've looked all over for them for days now now we're not aware of any any ordinance at this time uh about protection for uh TNR cats so if there's a colony of TNR cats anyone just say for example exterminator could come we have them removed and where do they go we don't check on those colonies regularly that's uh not a part of our policy to go in and um I understand that but I'm telling you the cats are missing they're just gone and who do you go to what do you do is there any reports you know what's is I did call the police I want to speak to neilo officer to see what if an investigation could be Don I want to know where these cats are we did a lot of Medical on the cats and like I said they're all vaccinated healthy and they're gone who do you go to what do you do well there as I said there is no policy on a difference between a TNR cat or a feral cat um that is not TNR there's no difference in the policy on how we would handle that there okay so what's the policy there there is no policy that's what I've just been saying so they're not protected we don't have a policy for TNR cats we don't have a policy for uh any cats that are living in a colony we don't have a policy on that okay so how about so what should I do what can be done this is this is an issue because it's going to happen again somewhere else so what can be done but these are these are not cats that you've um established that you own them no it's a TNR compy okay so as I said we don't have a policy on that would you consider a policy on that that would have to be something that we would take up as a council to to think there's a lot of colonies yeah right now we don't have a policy on that and you can consider that the council a policy it would be something that we would have to dis discuss but we if we don't have a policy on uh TNR cat or just a a feral cat in our community um I don't know if we're going to put together a policy for a TNR cat specifically uh these are five Cs it's not just one C we just disappear okay thank you okay all there any other comments this evening from the public no other comments from yes hello my name is Judy uh I live in the Meno Park Terror section of Woodbridge I just want to briefly give you my little journey um I became acquainted with with feroc cats uh the first one literally fell out of the motor of my daughter's car um we picked it up and it was the arm was crushed we had to rush it to the vet it lost its arm and of course we went up keeping it um and then another daughter brought home four babies that were stranded in parking lot um we had a bottle feed them for them to survive my experiences have found cats in my yard on my back porch um they've been in apartment buildings they're all over they multiply like crazy um the TNR program is so important because without it they can't begin to be helped the the fact that there's so many multiplying the program really helps to keep that in Bay to stop the multiplication of them it also to me the one of the most important things is the fact that they get vetted they get vaccinated they're free from disease they get um perhaps they could wind up in or rabies now I also have dogs that go in and out of my yard and I have a little group now that a little mommy cat showed up in my y three babies in the past fall and I was lucky enough that this program helped me with them or by now there might be 15 of them cuz three girls would have had more babies but when my dogs go out in my yard I don't have to be afraid of them getting a disease or getting sick cuz these cats are healthy because they've been cared for so I just want to stress how important this TNR program really is and it needs to be helped so they can continue the work that they do um there's just so many cats all over and I did bring a little board with my photos if anybody should want to look at it I'll take thank you for your time thank you for your comments appreciate it a are there any other comments this evening from the public good evening Allen roads Fords New Jersey I thought I'd start out by showing you some pictures of some animals that we previously saved and Tor in our community and to show you this was lucky I'm going to give them to you at the end but this is lucky we trapped him his front porw was pulled off somehow we have no idea what happened to him but this is lucky now in a house in a forer home had we not got him what would happen to him in the streets the shelter could never ever provide this kind of money that it would have took to take care of him and get him rehabed and into a home so this is just lucky story okay um this was a kid that was born outside with his with his siblings and this is the mom and his siblings they were all outside this is them inside a house in a crate all adopted now mama was returned once she was done weing her babies fixed so she could not do this again um this is one of the kittens we found in the street okay lost his I but he's now in forc the home sorry over there okay these are all Woodbridge cats this is what's walking around in the street without a program Thomas our Thomas when I picked him up in the this is what I found very bad shape this is Thomas today in his home the shelter does not have people that will socialize and Rehab cast they do not have the money for this either this is why this program needs to be separate from the shelter the shelter has enough on its hands just trying to pick up cats and dogs off the street and find them their um homes this is just a cat with a sore that we just had to get convenia done on them and keep them in for a few days this was midnight Midnight was beat up because milk had fight outside this is midnight when I released them all healthy done he'll never have fights again cuz he has no reason to go out looking girl packs and fighting over them and these are just some of the friendly cats that were on the street that are being dumped now just friendly cats in our streets being dumped that I found homes for that they fixed found homes for them they're just friendly little animals living out there come right up to you you don't even have to travel and this is the unfortunate thing of kittens being born outside dead dead the straight not I don't know how much more I could say about how important it would be to have this program but I just not need to know is the town willing to work with a TNR abeny group to help shape ordinance coordinate fundraising and work with animal control and existing re rescues trackers and Colony caretakers in Woodbridge as you're saying there's nothing on the books right now to work with the caretakers who managing these colonies and taking care of c one minute okay real quick is a Township is there a Township employee that can help that's experienced that could do some training on TNR the way I look at it there's four options in TNR in Woodbridge do nothing which I don't think we want to do that we could do Mass trapping and and try and relocate all these cats there's nowhere to relocate them we could do Mass trapping and kill them all I don't think anyone wants to do that either or we can provide GNR thank you very much for listening are there any other comments this evening any other comments yes um ja uh very very well done but again uh those animals those cats or those dogs they did just move to woodb they were brought here and the reason is because a lot of people we should CH check out they have a license for cat or a dog I you have a license for a cat but do for a dog uh I understand up in the country if you have an animal that's registered and the following year you do renew the license it would have to report what happened to that animal it is a cat or a dog or a cow or a horse what you want to call it it's should be accountable I believe lot of those animals cats and dogs are people move to town and all of a sudden either landlord or somebody did not tell you cannot have a cat or a dog and they were a bandit let it go outside I think those people are the ones who are responsible for most of that inconvenience all those things where we got with this town over here but again uh when you have a stray cats we have a straight dogs coyotes in Wood which we got them to uh what people don't realize that that they do some good of course maybe take care the rodents but again they kill a lot of bir words a lot of things that kind of shouldn't be killed because it's by Nature they already take care of it but again it's a big town I see those people over here they're very concerned which they should be is very nice of them should be some kind of effort made keep take on it I was watching documentary one time about the cats straight cats I think I said it before maybe uh how people are proud of the skunks in the town and the biggest curiosity was what happened all those skunks in the town and they find out there was a homeless May bu s Francisco he was following a cat and a skunk going to one place and he followed them they went to the house where people were feeding feral cats and then the witness said that skunks and cats don't fight they just eat together and this is another problem that we got in this town in most of communities because those animals attct the other animals in on and on if you look at her being a farm boy so speaking the cats dogs the prey to the fox the fox are prey to coyotes to go on and on the Chain it was to from the of course it goes bad and good but again something should be done because it's kind of a s when you see those animals being neglected abused and some kind of effort by anybody that takes the leadership like ma over there somebody like that would be put in charge some that when a mayor uh is a community Big Town we have to do something not just to protect those poor animals but to again to protect environment because it's a kind of a Sade even see if I went to Wood Park Sunday and the jimy ran over the squirrel and it was kind of a wow you know he don't want not to be abused and killed unnecessary but I want to congratulate those people over here that have put such effort of their time and I I appreciate something has to be done and I think you should appreciate what they try to put into it but please do something uh for good a community for health of the community uh as a matter of fact if you just see about it you never know what disease could be brought not just to the other animals but to the people you know you can go and you can go about you know all kinds of stuff that's bird flu and could be brought because all animals and they don't know they just are you know they're not humans so they don't know what they eat how they take care them themselves if they want a disease the one brid do the other and uh for Border health so of speaking I think we should do something about it make sure it's not a over bonded of those senos you never going to stop it all the way but we will probably put some uh protection and uh bring it down because it said like I said last B how was it the KB we were feeding 52 kids I believe because people left left the Bandit so thank you for being here I expect all the people here to together but I think it's a great thing that something has to be done but please let's do something with it uh just two more things different subject you only have 20 seconds Sir uh May who owns the curtains in case in uh every 150 street is the building owned by the township or it's owned by the developer number one number two now know we talk about a spring is coming and we talk about the casby park is it is a approve it or not we'll we'll try and answer your first question thank you uh mayor I okay thank you are there any other comments from the public this evening here are no other hi my name is Linda from uh Island wasn't planning on speaking tonight but I just want to give my support to TNR because I believe TNR is the only thing that's going to solve this problem humans caused it these cats at one time belonged to somebody somebody dumped them bad humans didn't we being irresponsible so let the good humans do the right thing and TNR them it's the only way to solve it as Arlene had stated an option was to kill which nobody wants to do and also does not work killing does not bin out the herb the only way to stop it is to TNR in all types of animals in all types of wildli so I'm going to ask you if you have a heart please consider TNR I don't understand why the township would not I'll even throw that question out to you is why would Township not want TNR now the mayor I believe was very involved in getting the animal shelter in sear years ago so if you were involved in that I think you would have the heart to want to be involved in TNR because I think you an animal person deep down so that's my thoughts that I just I don't see any reason why we wouldn't do TNR it's the only answer cuz they'll just keep multiplying until something gets done and that's all I have to say thank you thank you any other comments from the public here another comments can I get a motion that the public comment portion be closed motion second any questions or comments I I Mr Mitch yes sir just want to um address some of the the questions first of all I want to thank you all for the last few meetings that you've come in um to uh attempt to educate us on um the T our programs that you are part of and um I know that I've reached out to some of you individually um and I appreciate the information that you've uh provided us it uh we as a as a council we took time to sit down with our Administration our health department to find out more about our program and how it serves our community um so why we do provide assistance for TNR assistance okay um so so far this year Woodbridge animal uh control has provided uh TNR assistance to 21 feral cats okay and have taken in one uh litter of of kittens um this was at no cost to the residents um 10 of the 21 TNR um cats were funded by the W Woodbridge animal group and 11 were funded by the township we've searched around uh around Central Jersey and and other parts of New Jersey can't find any municipalities that actually have a budget line item for a TNR program there there are no other programs that we're able to go and evaluate and say all right this is a town that's doing something that we're not doing there are no other towns all right that are doing this um and we don't know uh while we all support the program that you're doing right now um we support it we understand that this is a um in your view that we're as a town we may have limitations and we're not doing enough but we uh after meeting with our health department we're comfortable with the program uh that we we offer um I know that there are times when some of you have made comments about uh weights and time we're doing this for Woodbridge residents okay uh we're not doing this for people from out of town to come in uh one to tell us how to run our our health department and two also to um bring cats from outside of the community we know that there are colonies here in in Woodbridge Township where those where there are cats as you have mentioned all right we're not in denial of that um but uh based on the information that we were provided from our health department we're comfortable with the the program itself right now it looks as though it'll probably TNR about a 100 for the year and I know that's probably a fraction of what you see uh and but we don't we don't know of any other municipalities that are doing this that are doing this program uh they're supporting like what we're doing we want to support the efforts that you have uh we um don't necessarily uh um uh find that this is a uh a problem that is out of control um and just the same as there are people here that are very passionate about this issue uh there are residents that also call us regularly that complain about cats being fed in their neighborhood and um cats coming in and um you know doing doing their business on their lawn and uh we get just as many complaints uh about that as well so that's been our uh position for the last several years and at this time that looks as though that's going to be our position going forward so I just wanted to let you know that while we looked at the pro we look at the uh issue that you're talking about um we're comfortable with the approach that our health department has been taking and uh and we want to to um continue to support organizations and uh that that come in that uh want to do uh more than what the township is doing we're not we're not going to discourage that at all uh I'll also um ask if the mayor has any comments I just want to answer the question that was asked which is the developer owns the land where the avanel Performing Arts Center and curtains restaurant are and the township owns the physical structure thank you council president thank you all right if we'll move into our agenda yeah uh my agenda is in order I will'll move over to uh Council vice president uh phip thank you council president hon item number 16 Greenway family Success Center they're having two events coming up um youth savings Workshop setting goals uh join Greenway family Success Center and Chase for a workshop on setting goals on learning how to save this program is for youth ages 10 to 18 that is on Thursday April 11th 5:30 to 6:30 uh the center is located 105 Broadway Avenue AV now uh to register you can call 732 7341 1569 dinner will be provided and they're also having a prenatal yoga yoga class Monday April 15th from 12:00 to 2 uh it also includes a parfait bar and a mental Wellness session uh you can save your seat by calling 732 72415 69 uh the rest of my agenda is in order uh I just want to thank all the residents that came out again um each one of us I sitting up on this de sat with the health department Animal Control um I thought your words were very eloquently put council president Anderson thank you God Bless America thank you uh Council M car thank you council president I just have a few items that are on my agenda mostly events for the Woodbridge Community Center they have an open house on April 23rd from 6: 800 p.m. and you can experience a lot of the activities there for free again that's an open house at the community center on April 23rd from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. uh they do have a stay strong sculp and tone class and this is a program will combine physical activity and wellness to support the cancer survivors and their families this is Tuesday um 10 to 11 and uh it runs through the month of April you can contact the community Center moving into my item 2A during youth month Acacia Youth Center this uh Sunday is supporting a watch of the women's NCAA championships um and that that is a registration is required but it's open to all youth in the town not just in this side of town there's also an open house uh coming up in April April 10th at The Acacia Center April 16th at the Highland Grove and a April 24th at Evergreen that's 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. and this is open to grades K to 8 uh these are all activities around town for our youth and then uh once again on a youth there's a uh Magic cooking show I can't imagine what that's like but that's again for our youth and it's also for the family at The Acacia Youth Center in Port Reading on the 23rd at 6 p.m. so these are all great activities going on in our town and then just an update on a very popular annual event uh director Brew organizes every year is our big wheels day that was cancelled that or is cancelled because of the weather and it is moved to this Friday which is April the 5th 11: to 2 p.m. it's in the Woodward Center parking lot over by the old Sears Wing uh there's trucks there's rigs fire trucks police cars Emergency Management it's an exciting day where uh chter can actually climb up into these vehicles and experience what it's like to be in a big truck so it's kind of fun and uh when you consider the miserable weather we're having we're all looking for a little fun so that's all I have I'll leave it on a fun note all right uh councilwoman deers thank you council president I just have two items on my agenda the baron Art Center is hosting the wood count 44th annual senior citizens exhibition senior art show exhibit dat April 18 to the 25th at the b art center join us for as artist reception and ceremony on the closing dat will be Thursday April 25th from 6: to 8:00 p.m. again the senior Arch show will be the dates are April 18th to 25th and the reception will be from 6: to 8 on that day for more information call bonard center at 73263 4413 the gallery on Main has an open house coming up on Saturday April 20th from 12 to 4 meet and of gallery on Main on Main Street the artist and enjoy Li questions item number 10 the library fre public library book on Monday April 8th at 1 p.m. the main library will post a program about skin cancer prevention and detection and on Tuesday April 9th at 2 p.m. the main library will offer an informational session and understanding boing the library also offers a new series of free computer skills program every month then you can look online at library or call 732 63444 that is all that I have council president thank you so much Council woman M call thank you council president my agenda is in order I have one announcement regarding Earth B on April the 20th log on to the township website for all the details about this event it's a very exciting event we plant trees and the schools get involved come out and learn more about uh everything on Earth Day that's all I have thank you council president thank you Mr Mitch thank you Mr President my agenda is in order thank you Mr Sim okay I I have two items on my agenda council president I have a tax andur overpayment have 100 disabled V thank you council president thank you director hubman nothing toight thank you council president thank you Director D nothing this evening thank you director brw thank you council president I have one item is proposal from col's engineering for intersection improvements at uh Fort Avenue Bar bride at SCH 25 thank you very much nothing to see don't we have a health yeah we're got to go right we go right into the health okay so we're uh we have a uh joint meeting with our health department uh we're going to get a report from uh director pachowski thank you council president just a a brief report our agenda's in order just a few item updates uh fittingly uh one having to do with item number three our Animal Control animal shelter rapes Clinic specifically uh the first of three uh annual clinics we was held on February 13th we had a total of 95 animals 93 dogs and two cats despite inclement weather uh anyone who may have missed that day our next Clinic is Tuesday May 14th from 400 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the health center um so uh these clinics are free to our residents who maintain current dog and cat licenses item number nine Public Health Grants uh as previously reported at the budget meeting and some other opportunities a health department applied for two rounds of Public Health infrastructure grants totaling $1.3 million we are happy to report that through those grants our Health Center building out has brand new doors windows floors security cameras and an entrance security system all in place uh was well well used um item number 10 are Health mobile uh again since putting it into operation when we received it last July we have provided Health screenings to 2,230 persons to date and 635 persons screen for two 2024 year to date those screenings include glucose blood pressure cholesterol heart rate and oxygen level results of these screenings are provided right on the spot the healthmobile monthly schedule can be viewed by visiting the township website or our health department Facebook page it is also announced weekly through the mayor's C- bread Clause that is all I have to report this evening for Council thank you very much director bowon thank you very much for that report and thank you for the work that you're doing over at the health department thank you for your support good motion second all in favor I