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the meeting of the Atlanta County Board of Commissioners is called to order in compliance with the open public meetings Act of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of this meeting of the Atlanta County Board of Commissioners was provided in the following manner published in the Press of Atlantic City and mailed to the hamton Gaz and has been posted on the bolts and Boards in
the county office building in Atlantic City The Still Water building in Northfield and the county clerk's office in M landing at this time could we have um a moment of silence for Robert Hamilton from Ma's Landing yeah if we could just uh bow our heads uh Bobby Hamilton for
anybody who knew him was a A 50-year plus a life member of the Maz Landing fire department former Chief member of the dive team up until last week um and uh a member of our EMT uh Rescue Squad in
Hamilton Township just hugely dedicated public servant in Hamilton Township he's Landing he often joked that the township was named after him um or it should be uh he also joked that um all the fire
trucks were dedicated to him because his name was on all of them um but uh passed away suddenly last week and uh uh had Services yesterday they were beautiful and uh just just a huge loss for the uh the community of not only Hamilton
Township but um but our our whole County in terms of all of the uh first responder um and public services that he provided us so um if we could just give a moment of silence sure thank you thank you um we have an
opening prayer yes lead us oh God that we may be leaders of our community and continue to guide us in the decisions we make the service of others amen amen amen all right please face the flag lock it over
again I pledge Obi to the flag of the United States of America all right roll call please chairman commissioner Cory is attending virtually today all right fortino here Burns here
Cory pres G here Kar here Parker pres grizzly here rafo here da here richers have had an opportunity to review the minutes from February 18 2025 I will now entertain a motion to adopt the February 18th minutes as
presented second I move in second and please call the RO fortino Burns yes Cory yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley yes raia yes St yes anyone attending in
person who would like to speak regarding an agenda item or at a public comment please come to the podium speak into the microphone state your name and the town where you reside you will be provided up to three minutes to speak if you are attending virtually and like to speak please raise your hand during the agenda item or public comment at the end I will
call upon your name and request to unmute will be sent please state your name in the town to reside you will be provided up to three minutes to speak and that this time we have an Atlanta County opioid settlement uh presentation by Brian Wilson and shiron Rogers from Atlanta County substance
abuse Services all right good afternoon Mr chairman Commissioners um for those of you who don't know me my name is Brian Wilson I'm the director of Addiction Services and this is shiron Rogers she's our opioid settlement coordinator um so today we were asked to come out and give
you a um overview of the opioid settlement funding um so I'm G to go next slide all right so I like to start off just by kind of painting picture for you um of the opiate epidemic here in Atlanta County and then we'll look at the state um and then look at the the
country as a whole so in this top row I know it's a little hard to see but this is looking at our suspected overdose deps from 2013 through 2023 um this is specifically Atlantic County we're looking at you can see our opioid overdoses more than doubled from
13 moving into 2017 and onward and then we hit an all-time high in 2022 with over 255 uh suspected overdose deaths the next row is our Narcan deployments that's from our First Responders only um our police fire EMTs they weren't required
to start carrying Naran until around 2015 and there was a lot of um obstacles logistical um obstacles around that um those numbers also more than doubled moving into 2017 and onward and again in 2022 we hit an all-time high with a with
a little over um 1,031 Narcan deployments bottom row we're looking at opio opioid prescriptions dispensed um you can see in 2013 we had a little north of 240,000 um and then we had an all-time high in
2015 with a little over 260,000 from 2015 onward our opio prescriptions not only um in Atlantic County but across the state and the nation those numbers have come down tremendously um since that time in 2015 uh because of the
awareness program surrounding it like the opiate awareness and Aran training that we provide here in Atlanta County but also the implementation of the prescription drug monitoring program also known as also known as pdmp um that requires um puts more restrictions on
the doctors and the pharmacies and helps them to monitor those that are receiving um the opioids uh next slide so here we're looking at all 21 counties throughout the state of New Jersey you can see Atlanta County um and this is in 2022 that's where we had our
all-time high we had a little over um 255 suspected overdose deaths that put us at rank three out of the 21 counties throughout the state of New Jersey um but year after year Atlantic County ranks one per capita for the amount of suspected
overdoses um next slide so here we're looking at um two Boeing 73 sens so we're just trying to paint a picture for you to really show you how um impactful this opiate epep epidemic is um so if you know you're Boeing uh 737 we have roughly 145
passengers per plane if you can picture two of them crashing today and no survivors right now picture those two planes fully loaded crashing every day for the next 364 days we still wouldn't get to the amount of people we lost from
opioid related overdose deaths um in 2022 we had over 109,000 overdose deaths throughout the country uh next slide so here we're looking at a timeline with the opioid settlement funding here in Atlantic County um so our first opioid settlement
committee was assembled it was made up of roughly around 30 different key stakeholders throughout Atlanta County we met back in August of 2022 at that meeting we broke down into five subcommittees which was treatment
prevention uh Youth Services support services and criminal justice involved um individuals at the following uh meeting on September 23rd uh those subcommittees presented how they would utilize funds for those
categories um a decision was made to fund two different programs that was the Atlantic care bridge program in Atlantic City which is located in um the Atlantic City Medical Center and the hope one project which was run through the Atlanta County Sheriff's
Department um in August of 2023 we developed the Atlantic County opiate task force to be the decision-making factor of our opiate settlement funding so we have the larger opiate settlement committee which is kind of like the advisory portion of it and then the task force is the decision-making fa factor
of it in December of 2023 we re-evaluated um the allocations we met with the providers the Atlantic Air bridge program and hope one um at which point we realized we needed to do a lot more leg work and really collect data
and find out where the gaps were in the community and what the residents of Atlantic County really would like to see this money utilized for so we came up with this survey it's a short brief survey I believe everybody should have a copy of that um the results from that survey and we're going to go over some
of the results in a moment um after the survey was completed we identified the next steps um and then at our task force meeting in July of this past summer we decided to fund three different categories which we're going to cover in a few minutes
um uh then we updated the opio settlement Committee of our decision on what we were going to be funding this past September and then we put out an RFP process that went live in October and then we came up with a decision in November um and then the money restarted
in the beginning of this year 2025 uh next slide so now we're going to look at some of the results from that survey we had over 550 uh participant participants in that survey um so the first uh question
we're looking at here we're looking at who responded to the the survey um you can see that a little over 36% 182 participants were Atlant County residents followed by Atlanta County residents that were directly affected by um opioid related um
disorder next slide here we're looking at um the most important opio use use issues facing Atlantic County today the number one issue on there was funds for sober living followed by um sorry uh insurance or funding to pay
for treatment followed by Continuum of Care inadequate funding for Health Care programs and resources and employment and job training next slide next question was which of the
following choices do you believe prevents individuals from seeking care or treatment number one answer on there was the financial cost uh number two was the stigma or fear of being judged three was um sober living housing funding two
was I'm sorry number four was Continuum of Care and followed by um the knowledge of services provided throughout the county uh next slide so what are the most critical
barriers facing your organization's ability to provide needed Health Care to your constituents uh the number one thing there was funding uh number two again was uh F finding qualified staff and three was no clear plan or
Direction next slide so if you had to rank the top five actions that would help to improve the delivery of services to uh the residents of Atlanta County what would they be the number one thing there was more funding for sober living housing and services uh
number two was additional Outreach and promotional uh I'm sorry promotion of current services available um three was enhanced access for transportation four was enhanced case management and five was additional drug
and alcohol rehab service centers uh next slide uh in the areas of opioid usage which of the following are the most critical needs those critical needs so we're living funding housing uh number
two was funding did we already do this one did we go backwards okay this so number uh three was uh transportation services to enhance access for treatment and Recovery uh four was employment and um job training
uh and five was uh Detox Services so that's just a small sample of our survey that we put out there um next slide so after we we looked at the results from that survey the task force decided to fund three
different categories those categories are case management treatment and prevention the case management category um we were going to award to one provider one non-biased provider so they didn't have treatment services there um and also a portion of that funding would
be able to be utilized for uh other support services such as server living and transportation um the next was treatment that could be potentially multiple providers and same thing for prevention potential potentially uh funding for multiple providers so next
slide so when we looked at the fund we had we we decided that um 850,000 would sustain us over the next 15 to 20 years um so we decided on that number to fund these three categories so 50% of that funding would go to treatment at
$425,000 uh followed by case management which was 40% at $340,000 25% of that could be utilized for those support services such as sober living and transportation at $85,000 and then prevention at 10 10% or
$85,000 um that will make us sustainable over the next 15 to 20 years and this will be an Ever evolving process um shiron is doing a lot of leg work going out meeting with the providers putting checks in balances in place making sure they're doing what they intend to do
with the funding and and really just meeting the people where they're at making sure we're delivering the services that the uh residents of Atlanta County deserve um next slide um that RFP review process we did receive nine applications we approved
seven of them um on that RFP Review Committee uh we had five Atlantic County Employees it was shiron myself Amber Katana who's our Municipal Alliance coordinator Corey Richie who is the department head next door at Shoreview
Cara Jensen the health officer domic learning uh resident of Atlantic County Dr Devin Blackwell with the New Jersey Department of Education Atlanta County and David little with the Atlanta County prosecutor's office next slide and here
I'm going to turn it over to shiron to go over the different providers that we awarded funding to and the different services that they are providing good evening how are you um again my name is shiron Rogers thank you for having me um this slide that we're
looking at now is the breakdown of the opioid settlement funding um case management was the first category we had nine rfps come through two whom were not awarded any funding
which was Jewish Family Services which was case management and Atlantic prevention resources uh for prevention um and the reasons those two were not awarded any funding Jewish Family Services the Review Committee um decided
that um they focus solely on um and I'm sorry noted that the focus on uh collaborating with Atlanticare which is a treatment and recovery service provider um had potential to cre create
bias so that's why the review um committee decided not to fund them they were looking for a non-bias so they awarded $340,000 to angels in motion for case management agement um we're going to
move forward to prevention um Southern Jersey AIDS Alliance South Jersey AIDS Alliance um they were awarded 85,000 they are doing Naran harm reduction and vending machines throughout the county I actually have a
walkthrough with them on March the 10th to see exactly what it is um how we can help them do what they said they were going to do um I'mma move forward to treatment Atlanticare fqc was awarded
$186,600 they're going to be utilizing $2,960 for detox and 83,7 for IOP which is uh intense Outpatient Treatment another treatment provider uh we actually did a walk
through last week of Atlanticare fqc they have a whole wraparound of service Atlanticare does great work um and I'm excited to actually you know do the work that we're doing with them um Atlanticare jbrc residential they
requested in their RFP $ 31,6 44 they were actually awarded $100,000 um and that was for shortterm Cura was the next provider that we awarded funding to Cura is in
norc we actually did a site visit with cure they showed us um they walked us to each one of their facilities the medical Department um in their residential we did that last week Brian I believe um and they only asked for a
small amount this is the first time that they've ever been awarded any funding they've actually applied for funding before through chapter 51 was never awarded I guess because of where they're located but they in their proposal said that they would treat um three to five
of our Atlantic County Hispanic male residents and they asked for $2,561 52 Cent and they were awarded that this was their first time um Family empowerment which is IOP outp um intensive outpatient they
were awarded $ 58,183 4 Maryville which is a short-term treatment facility they were awarded 59,6 44.94 and the breakdown uh they will be utilizing
$23,988 44 Cent for short-term residential shortterm could mean 3 to five days 7 to 10 days is based on the individual and detox $3 35,6 56.50 next slide
please this is a breakdown of all the services that angels and motions provide they provide so much more we actually did several site visits for them they're local she has a Hub right here on um off of Main Street on glendell Avenue she
provides a a wraparound of service um she has peer Recovery Specialists that work with her she has case managers um the first time she's been able to employ three employees um utilizing this opioid settlement funding she does Street
Outreach quite often which I've attended um several of them and I'll be doing one tomorrow um connection to treatment housing sober living Transportation employment Health Care um actually in the building right here on glendell Avenue she has a provider that works
closely with her if they're uninsured um just can't get to a doctor he actually sees you know her I'm G say consumers um until they can get insured she does clothing toiletries food and she does a whole lot more
that's just we summed it up for you next slide South Jersey AIDS Alliance they were awarded the 85,000 for prevention they do harm reduction they're going to be doing harm reduction vending machines when we do the site
visit on um March the 10th we'll see where they've gotten with that so far n can testing strips for Fentanyl xylidine and benzo diine treatment resource guides information harm reduction education they were actually one of the
only proposal proposals who solely focused on reducing the impact of opioid related overdoses next slide please John Brooks Recovery Center they requested 300 and this is residential
they requested 31,6 $44 the review the RFP uh Review Committee um awarded them 100,000 the reason at that time the decision was was made was because they received um John
Brook's treatment was established and operated already in operation already and the amount requested was above average um for an established program and they and their RFP solely focused on
salary at the time that the decision was made which was 60% along with materials and a whole lot of other things that was in the RFP so they were awarded the $100,000 family empowerment family empowerment um they
requested 425,000 they asked for the whole amount the um RFP Review Committee believe that that it was excessive and that they were awarded 58,000
$133 54 they believe that an additional um IOP intensive outpatient provider would be beneficial for All Pure Inc um again they were awarded to $2,561 52 Cent for short-term
residential Mary and I'm sorry let me go back to that when we went to the site visit in Nork last week they also said they're going to be opening up a uh female residential facility so they said they'll keep us posted on that marville
marville was awarded $ 59,230 44 for shortterm $23,988 44 is will be utilized um for detto I'm sorry that'll be for
short-term residential and for detox 35656 Atlanticare fq UHC they requested in their RFP $186,600 will be for intensive outpatient services along with assessments and
10296 will be for detox and in their RFP they stated that they would service 61 people and that is it for my presentation is there any questions um yeah commission G yeah I have a couple questions um first of all great
presentation I'm really glad that we're making this visible and transparent to our residents especially that the video will be on YouTube for people to to watch this I think we've all gotten questions through the years of the opioid set settlement of like what are you doing right so I think this is such
a great outline of that um sounds like you guys were really thoughtful in terms of where the money would go how it would get used and I think I think you kind of answered one of my questions but just to to make sure I know a number of these vendors we use regularly here at the
county um and for some of these services that we already provide so it sounds like we're kind of enhancing some things that they would normally do for us rather than just shifting newly available funds to pay for what they would normally do for us is that an
accurate assessment kind of like an enhancement yes okay great um I think that's awesome too and I I again appreciate how thoughtful the group was in um you know using funds where we believe it'll make a difference um I was
wondering so it was interesting on the survey feedback and and I I know 500 participants is probably a good number but we have 275,000 residents here like I wish there was more right but um the survey feedback really seemed to hone in
on sober living needs and um transportation support it's interesting that in um the Angels In Motion award only 25% of that or I think it was 85,000 is going to go to those
two things um do we do we see other fund is that is that because we we really can't kind of control a sober living environment or Transportation or just what's the thought process there for yeah so more specific that's a great question Angels
emotion receives other funding through chapter 51 through our Innovations Grant so with those funding they're able to help with the sober living and the transportation and other Support Services here this is really this year 2025 is really like a trial and error
okay it's a really like a test period for all of them it's like a Make It or Break It um those numbers are going to be um flexible moving into next calendar year so if we see that the 85,000 is exhausted by June then we're going to readdress that and
adjust those those amounts okay um sober living has been very um what the word contentious like there's a lot of um stuff that's surrounding that but it does serve a need for those that are are you know maintaining that level of
sobriety yeah um and we've heard it over and over again not just through the survey but through our County comprehensive plan that we do every four years um it was something that was very much at the Forefront that we needed to address um so we thought this was a great way to address it Angels em motion
also is kind of like the hub for this whole yeah opioid settlement they are the case managers they're working very closely with all the other providers that we spoke of and then some yeah um they're great organization yeah they boots on the ground they're meeting people where they're at they're providing them with Farm reduction Nar
can uh the test strips Etc along with all the other basic needs that people that are in active addiction need yeah housing clothing food Etc so yeah and then just two more sorry um so on that note um in terms of the street Outreach
I was just wondering is that partnered and connected with the work that our our County Prosecutors doing in terms of going out there and getting Under the Boardwalk in some cases is that so I know she has worked with costcutter Reynolds um but they are boots on the
ground in hot spots throughout Atlantic County more more specifically Atlantic City and Les bille but they're in Egg Harbor City and they're throughout the county but they are boots on the ground they are meeting people in the alleys in Atlantic City under the board walk you name it they're there um if you go out
and talk to the the the population that is you know impacted by addiction they're going to know who Angel's emotion is that they know that's where they're going for assistance for help for guidance okay and then just in terms of getting info out there I think that's
one of the biggest parts of our job as as elected officials is often just educating people on what services we can we have available as a county or even on the municipal or state level you know what services are available out there and how we can get people connected to
them um and I know we all do that in probably most every conversation we have with a constituent every every day is there anything else that we could be doing to support you all or just again the programs we have here at the count
to help get any special word out um and letting people know what's available yeah so we have a ton of resources um that we can absolutely share with you guys um we have updated the website so there is a portion of the website that is going to that's currently addressing
how we're utilizing the funds with the opiate settlement where the funds have gone we're very much about being very transparent with the community because that's that's really important um you know when this first when this first got off up at of and running um there was a lot of questions from the community um
so it's really it's important to listen to them and then to respond to them so they identified the gaps and we're answering them now with with the the stuff that we've implemented um and Chiron is doing a tremendous job getting out into the community that's one of our
biggest objectives this year in the addiction Service Unit is just to be more present in the community and be out there so we're chiron's tagging along with angels emotion um along with a number of other organizations working on the street and being boots on the ground meeting people where they're at so
they're seeing us out there they're seeing the Atlantic County seal they're seeing that Atlanta county is stepping up and doing what we need to do so I can't wait to see those numbers go down in the next five years and we're headed in the right direction so since 22 we we are we we've
reduced our overdose rates by over a 100 um individuals which is phenomenal so great work thank you again thank you chairman course um any other commissioner questions commissioner bertina thank you just briefly I think the the funding you guys are providing of course is for this
first year of the process is what this is have you guys had the chance and it's probably early anyway to set up criteria on what you want to look at as benchmarks to see that the vendors are providing the services at the end of the year is there some guidelines or some things you have or your or is that just
in motion it's in motion we're trying to develop that we're trying to really be um we're working very closely with the providers to see what they can give us back to see what their you know our idea is to have them come and present to the task force to the opiate settlement committee because we wanted everybody to
be transparent we want the committee and the task force to understand what our providers are doing what they're delivering the numbers of people they're reaching and really the success the Continuum of Care like are they maintaining that uh sustained um sobriety you know it's one thing to put
somebody into treatment and then to discharge them and then forget about them but the really the key Point here where we're going to make a difference is really following them through the the recovery process and that's a long-term process so having that case management
team in place to really hold their hands and coax them and get them to where they need to be is is going to be um going to be key in making a change here we've also implemented a budget tracker and each provider has received the budget
tracker so and it's broke down into quarters but I also am in contact with them since the beginning of the January when they received it so they they call us quite often so we ask questions am I doing it right is am I supposed to put
this on the budget tracker do this go on the county uh on the standard invoice so they've been asking questions and we it's trial and error like he said and we've been trying to just do some checks and balances to make sure that they utilizing implemented that with the
chapter 51 fund because if if we have a provider and August comes around we're more than halfway through the the uh calendar year and we see that that provider hasn't utilized funds we can approach them to see what the issue is try to help them and if there's no uh solving it if they're unable to use
those funds then we can reallocate it so that way we're not sending a dime back to the state yeah we're making sure every penny is utilized and you often bounced that in Lata that group take a look at that I'm sure they're going be look at this as
well yeah great questions um Brian sh sh I apologize if I mispronounced your name in the beginning I usually as a teacher I usually apologize in advance like sorry sorry um just I just have one question I I don't know if I missed it but is there any um mental health
counseling being provided to to some of the um I guess clients so most of the providers the treatment providers are co-occurring which they offer mental health services along with you know
substance abuse Services okay an Ang motion is is working closely with the clients so if they need um something that's more intense for mental health they have the resources to direct them to those services and it's something we are definitely closely monitoring
especially with the youth in the schools right um we know that mental health is a huge issue in the schools along with substance use so we're really monitoring that to see how that unfolds and if we absolutely see a need for this funding to go to the schools we will open that
up in the RF our plan is to open it up in the RFP process fantastic I just followup too and you mentioned when when I guess clients are discharged is there where where do they go it's like all right you know your your money's up good luck um are they told where they can go to continue to receive Assistance or
just moral support so the the goal here with the angels in motion is that they will be working very closely with the with the treatment provider that discharges them and walks them through where they can get uh continued support and services Etc whatever that is right whether it's
writing a a a resume for a job or getting them you know connected with the appropriate um you know whatever it may be support groups naaa Etc and each one of the providers that were awarded funding mville Atlanticare
jbrc each one of those provid ERS they do continuing of care so on day one they meet with the client they see what their need is and they base it off of that whether they need outpatient long-term treatment sober living whatever their
client's need is they do that on day one most of the providers do and then Susan she picks up the pieces from when they get out of treatment yeah yeah okay awesome yeah and remember that again this is like an enhancement of services
that we other services that we provide here already and some of that is mental health services so yeah some I mean fantastic thank you so much and if there are no other comments appreciate everything you're doing thank you thank you very much for all that you're doing
thank you thank you any of the Commissioners have an opportunity I I have the opportunity to have a tour of the facility in Atlantic City the F hqc did I say that right FC um in the late afternoon when a lot of
the um patients are coming in they know that they're there they camp out across the street and um and I was there as they were coming in I said I'll leave I'll leave now I don't mind they said no we want you to see what's going on here where the funding is going we have the
opportunity to a friend of mine is a director over there we all know people over at Atlanta care but thank you for all you do I see where your funding is going and thank you and ditto what you said about fqc they are phenomenal they go above and beyond they're funded
through chapter 51 and through opiate settlement so we're working very closely with them we just took a tour last week actually a whole behind the scenes tour so it's it's good stuff thank you thank you so much thank you so much have a good day you you too thank
you we'll move on to resolutions resolution 120 introduction of the 2025 Atlanta County budget first reading no move and seconded are there any
commissioner comments like to make a couple comments about the budget commissioner rizley we U have been informed right along the way for many meetings about the uh this current budget and talking about each
line item in in great detail and I believe that uh this is a good budget and that Administration has done the about best they can do at this point what we know and it U looks like about a
two% plus reduction in our in our tax rate which is always good we all know the challenges of uh government today the health insurance being out of control and we're under cap and we're
ready to go for a success uccessful budget for 2025 and we've always maintained utilizing only 50% of our Surplus into the next year's budget which has been a staple of this government for
decades it's been a great uh staple this government and that's why this government runs very evenly and consistently over the years and that's the key word I think is consistency Atlanta County budget uh and the way
it's managed over the years been very consistent maintain our doublea bond rating I think that we've done about the best we can do at this time so I certainly would uh encourage
to uh vote an adoption and go forward with the funding for our for our County for this year he thank you commissioner I know the budget committee has had a lot of input lot of meetings on this as well are there any other commissioner
comments commission Cory is he he good no comments all right just do want to forget about you eron appreciate right so this this is a first reading there's no public comment at this time um sarra can you please call the RO bertino yes Burns yes
Cory yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes grizzley yes ruu yes da yes resolution 121 Atlanta County Public Health Agency annual budget notice 2025 first reading
second the second are there any commissioner comments again since this is first reading there be no public comment at this time please call the RO fortino yes Burns yes Cory yes C yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley
yes Ru you yes pleas yes resolution 122 County Library annual budget notice 2025 first reading any commissioner comments again this is a first reading so there's no comment no public comment at this time please call the role I think we have to make a motion oh
sorry I wasn't jumping ahead sorry jumped ahead second we in seconded now are there any commissioner comments and still no public comment at this time since it's the first Reading Please call the RO bertino yes Burns yes
corsey yes C yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley yes rafio yes de yes I saw K's head spin around there as it CAU me um resolution 123 calendar year 2025 resolution authorizing County entity to exceed the
county entity budget request cap Public Law 2015 chapter 249 we've been seconded are there any commissioner comments any comments from the public just call the rooll Batino yes Burns
Cory yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley yes ruio yes de yes resolution 124 resolution to exceed the county budget appropriation limits and to establish a 2025 cap Bank njsa 4A colon
44514 first reading I mov them seconded any commissioner comments none this is the first uh first reading so no public comment at the time please call the role bertino yes Burns yes Cory yes G yes Kar yes Parker Grizzly
yes ruu yes yes resolution one25 resolution adopting the tax levy cap to be applied to the 2025 County budget move second youve been seconded any commissioner comments um Mr chair I think it's just important to note for the public that these are all very
standard steps in the process so um just wanted to highlight that that thank you are there any comments from the public all right please call the RO bertino yes Burns yes
fory yes G yes K yes Parker yes grizley yes ruu yes da yes resolution 126 Grant application and acceptance from the New Jersey State library for the 2025 per capita state Library aid funds amount not to exceed $115,000
second any commissioner comments comments from the public spell the RO Martino yes Burns yes Cory yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley yes RW yes St yes resolution 127 Grant
application and acceptance from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs through the local efficiency achievement program to implement Eagle View and updated geospatial data solution funded amount $300,000 County match $131,700
move and seconded any commissioner comments yes commissioner rley yes uh we also have our County tax administrator here might like to comment sure looks excited I think it's a good thing it is a good thing good afternoon everyone my
name is Terry pgas County tax administrator uh we have applied or we are in the process of applying applying for the leap Grant the leap Grant we're hoping to receive or be awarded would be for uh Eagle View Eagle View is formerly known as pictometry if any of you were
familiar with pictometry it's an aerial imagery program that many many departments can use presently it is predominantly used by every County uh excuse me every Municipal assessor it is
um a way to look at get any uh parcel of land from an aerial view from an oblique view you get all sides of the building and you get property lines as well it's also got numerous measuring tools that they can utilize uh when we originally
started using a program such as this many years ago it was also used by um Emergency Management engineering planning GIS uh police and fire departments we will have unlimited user
ability for this program so that's why we're excited to try to get this Grant and and move forward with the actual 5-year annual flyover which is crucial to any changes that could be occurring
in any of the parcels of land any subdivisions that were created um Etc so that's kind of bit in a nutshell we're really hoping to be awarded this grant so we can continue utilizing this program and you know with some
assistance this time around so it's a 5e as I said annual flyover which is very important to the municipal assessors any questions this would be this is a puzzle piece to the county we what are we supposed to call
it ta don't want us to call it countywide tax assessment it was countywide tax what county based assessing is option there's various things we can call it and there's various ways we can discuss it this that puzzle yes
yeah are good Tim Tim didn't bring this up to us in our shared services committee meeting but what is the savings we we would be looking at by having a leap gr well we're we're requesting $300,000 for a
$431,000 program for a five that's over 5 years what what did did the town's paying for any of this now the uh the Atlanta County Board of Taxation trust fund pays for
it the towns the towns are not nobody has paid anything in the ship well she said every town uses it that I think it's a relevant question so we would be banking the 300,000 instead of it coming out of the trust
fund okay that's what I'm trying to get okay thanks they have to get paid company has to get paid I get it I get it we would typically be paying the $431,000 nut now we correct and now we would only pay 131,000 out of the trust
fund got it what we're hoping that's I'm trying no guarantee that we're going to receive yeah I got it yeah thank you all right Terry thank you any other commissioner comments right any comments from the
public all right please Cal fortino yes Burns yes Cory yes G yes K yes Parker yes rizy yes R yes pleas yes resolution 128 amending resolution number 622 adopted on
November 15 2022 a grant agreement with the Atlantic County Sheriff's Office and the Rowan University School of osteopathic medicine for the crisis Outreach and police engagement program to extend the term date only no additional cost move second second are there any Commission
comments I know our sheriff is here did did you have a comment on this or our healthc care surface good evening everybody sorry this is our Health Service workers and they're utilized throughout the county in crisis
situations they also assist with um believe it or not they're doing everything from taking people to their doctor's appointments to Distributing food when necessary but we have a you know we talk a lot about crisis in this County we talk about the opioid drug
addiction problem we talk about the Homeless Problem really we should be focused on the mental health problem and uh one of our counselors deals directly with that she's an intervention specialist and she's done so with
Atlantic City numerous times intervened in court when we had problems in court mostly in Atlantic City um and they're able to bring the crisis situation down to a level level where they can receive treatment and they can receive the care they need um this has been a key key
Endeavor of uh the Sheriff's Office and the public support has been phenomenal I think it's important to the county and this is utilized by all agencies all police agencies are aware it's Avail we will Avail it to them as we do everything else um if I could just take
one second I want to thank uh the board of commission for um all their input support and I want to thank Mr Del Roso and his staff for all their support as we are in tough times and we have to work together in this County um and I'm
constantly on the phone with Mr Del Russo because I always feel like if I spend a dollar I have to call somebody right so I call them and explain that what we're doing for everything from the county jail to assist them with their problem and their loss of Officer staff
in ospital hital details as well as prosecutor's office uh we staff the hospitals for them as well so I want everybody to understand that this Sheriff's Office is about shared services wherever we're directed we go
and uh Harbor FS as well we we were there quite a bit so I just want to take the opportunity to thank everybody appreciate it if you have any questions I'll stand by thank you Shar for all you do absolutely are there any any other comments from the
public all right please call the all bertino yes Burns yes Cory G yes Kar yes Parker yes grizzley yes rafio yes St yes um resolution 129 Professional Services agree with various nurses and nurse agencies for
the provision of death pronouncements in Atlantic County amount not to exceed $880,000 move second move seconded any commissioner comments any comments from the public just call the role vertino yes Burns Cory
yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes grizzley yes ruu yes St yes resolution 130 Mr chairman uh yes uh commissioner CA thank you for these next two resolutions um I had some concerns about I was thinking
about maybe Bing them uh I reached out to Jerry because my concern was there were Professional Service agreements awarded and it didn't seem like it went through the normal RP bid process so I asked Jerry to um maybe if he can Jerry let's explain to the commissioners
before we discuss these two issues how this funding uh for this Brooks act takes place and why are we're doing these particular ones that way right so just just before Doug May was going to explain to Brooks act the big issue is they they both went through in RP I
think there were seven respondents in uh first one 130 and there were five responding agencies in 131 they both are being Fally funded and for professionals they have a a thing called Brooks act which which we're all
required to uh to follow so Doug you there why you explain that books act sure um so uh as Jerry said these uh both of these projects are federally funded uh through the Federal way
Administration um and since they are Professional Services we do have to follow the Brooks act uh the way the Brooks act works is we put out a RFP uh basically just for their you know
experience and qualifications we then receive all the proposals and we um assemble a committee um in this case we use four reviewers uh they reviewed all of the proposals uh
well split up between the two projects so we had the California Avenue I believe it was actually six um uh proposals uh they all did their own independent evaluations each each of the
four reviewers and then they had a uh a meeting afterwards where they ranked you know they provided the rankings of the uh of the proposals and then they came up with an average ranking for each um each
firm and then at that point you basically have to go with a number one ranked uh firm which in the case of uh resolution 130 was traffic planning and design at uh once you have the number
one ranked firm you then go back to them and ask them for a cost proposal now when you have that cost proposal you actually have to do your own estimate for what you expect it to cost and then when that cost proposal
comes in you compare it to your estimate and you negotiate and get them as close as you can to your um estimate uh if you cannot do that then you go to number two and go through that
process again um in this case we were able to negotiate a fair price uh for California Avenue with traffic planning and design and similar thing happened for uh resolution 131 which is for Ohio Avenue in that
case it was environmental resources Inc um and they were ranked number one and we like I said we went through that same process there and negotiated the almost $91,000 contract for that one
I can is this strictly for Highway funding projects only uh no it's I think for uh most federal projects that use basically engineers and
Architects so it's not something new you've been doing this yes all along yeah yeah just for the federally funded ones okay yep commissioner Parker uh Mr chair through you to Jerry
or to Doug whomever can ask just a question I know we continue to since I've been on the commissioner board we continue to try to have uh when we do these RPS we try to consider Atlantic County
of contractors is there anything in the questioning that ranks these companies that would rank an Atlantic County company over say someone that's outside of our County hold on just before you do that so that
that we have a purchasing agent that would probably want to before Doug goes in so before you say anything look P you're on correct uh yes yes I am did you hear did you hear the question that commissioner
Parker asked yes I did okay would you would you weigh in on that for a minute before Doug respond um federally federally funded projects there is a different ranking system but as far as most of the projects um how they're
funded uh purchasing statutes um we can't limit um contracts to just Atlanta County contracts because the statutes tell us that it has to be an open and fair um we can uh work with
whatever you know we can write our specifications to the best of the ability to the vendor that that provides the best service but um purchasing law basically says that no I can't say that they have to be an Atlantic County
vendor we give extra credit for being Atlantic County vendor in a bid situation we cannot it's a lowest responsible responsive bidder in an RFP situation because of the federal funding there is a ranking system which
engineering um can speak to there is a ranking system but it it still has to be approved by the state the ranking system and we can't say you have to be a local vendor can be one of the options one of
the ranks but it can't be a a big percentage it can it can factor in to give them say a nod over another company so if it's a tie we could we could come back we could say that the Atlanta County vendor is going to get it based
on that as a tie break is that what I heard no no it's it can have a ranking in how they can best serve the county got so it we can't say you have to have uh an Atlanta County presence unless an Atlanta County presence is directly
related to the service that's being provided thank you so Doug why don't you go now you you know following up on that right there there's actually other federal regulations and it's specifically under Federal way that does
not allow us to basically uh say you know we have to be open we even outside the state is the is um what the one regulation does so we basically do not
look at their locality in our ranking system thank you both and Doug one other question when you say that state asked to approve it what is it you're sending to the state to approve your ranking
list yes we do send them the ranking list uh we send them R RFP um I believe that's that's what we send them the the proposals I mean the RFP
that we use to you know solicit the proposals and our ranking of the proposals all right and that goes to who at the state do do local local a Cherry Hill yes
okay are there yeah are there any other uh commissioner questions comments commissioner rley yeah Mr chair there was some uh discussion about the location of this particular company though one number
130 resolution 130 have have we used this company before yes oh why don't you go through like you know the projects that I think you're on one of them now right but you've used them in the past correct yes we've used them uh on a federal project a couple years ago that
was the first I believe the first time we used them it was Ocean Heights section 4 and five which was from Ocean Heights to uh I mean uh English Creek to Maz Landing Summers Point Road and then we're currently using them on Green Bank
uh Road Project thank you any other commissioner questions comments uh Jerry I guess to I just have a I guess a question so I know there were seven rfps for this one and SOG you said that one of the ranking criteria
cannot be their location like or we choose not to do that no we there there's something in uh I believe it's the code of Federal Regulation 600 I forget the exact uh section but it's it's under Federal Highway way that
they've actually made it a little you know they've gone a little beyond what the Brooks act uh States and one of the things is they um they stated that we can't consider a location so my other question though about the location is when I look up this this because I wasn't familiar with
this this company at all um they have five addresses listed in in New Jersey and not one of them is in Glassboro is the one I mean I I went through this with with P she give I can give it to you myself but pmer can go through the address it's 105 Marketplace in glbo
sweet 9 office 3 and the and the resident engineer there is Anthony doery and they have a phone number I mean so you know I guess you are you ever forced to have to call them at all Doug or or does Jerry have to call them
on on any issues has he ever had a problem reaching uh this company no he's he's worked with them uh you know he hasn't had any problems working with them and getting in contact with them okay yeah I was just curious there was
no glassar address or contact information on their website okay did you find the Pam Pennsylvania address uh I I looked in New Jersey because it was glassor I see freeold Lakewood lawrenville running
me they probably do the same thing a lot of companies of state do they have an office somebody can put their head down on they got not there and that's right then that you said that can't be the ranking criteria all right any other
commissioner questions anyone from the public all right sorry got ahead of myself hold on second we need a motion I'm jumping ahead again sorry motion FL motion second Mr Mr chairman hasn't been
read yet for jez okay we jumped away ahead on that one then all right resolution 130 commission B jum resolution 130 Professional Services agreement with traffic planning and Design Incorporated for Inspection Services of California Avenue in the cities of abs and
Pleasantville and a Caro Township at Mount not to exceed $159,300 Senator Palestina yes thank you very much I I would just mention that uh somebody looked for that company at that address today and there is no signage there is no storefront there is no
person and so it led us to question who is the company and so I think that you know from County standpoint $159,000 we should at least know who the company is and I guess there was a contact person but that address that is listed on your resolution as far as we can tell there's
no company there and I apologize for missing the big end of this but Doug did you mention the seven firms that responded to an RFP and how how did you solicit those requests for proposal um the uh the request for proposal went to our fit Express process
okay can can you do you have there the seven companies that responded Senator if you could just address it to me as a chair I'm sorry chairman um do you do you have the information for the seven respon yeah it's uh it it's uh well was traffic
planning and design it was pme Associates it was environmental resolution Inc it was uh greeman Peterson Inc uh Keller Engineers KS
engineers and tnm Associates thank you and chairman did he did we speak about who the evaluation committee was that was the only other question I had is who was actually the evaluation committee that went through the the process yeah I know you said there was a a four member committee um
ask they could tell yeah yeah it was all in-house people uh I know uh John mustow and our uh construction manager Jerry mcre I'm not sure who they use for the uh the other two
um uh reviewers because the Shar on this uh chart that I'm looking at is just reviewer one two and three and four so I would have to find that out thank thank you Doug if we can follow up with through you Mr chairman the future just to get some of the
answers to those questions uh the only other thing I'd like to mention is uh we would like to uh get a little more detail on this issue about not being able to use uh local firms or Atlanta County firms like I said this is a storefront there is nobody there nobody knows where this company is traveling
from to do this inspection and we don't know what the cost is for this company to travel from wherever they're traveling from and so I think that you know we've heard a lot of talking points about it this being the second poorest county in the state everybody's heard that over the last few months we want to
keep being the second poest county in the state keep sending money to grer and Camden County and in this case we don't even know where we're sending it in Ptown Pennsylvania we got to figure out something a little bit better than this so thank you for your time and hopefully after this we'll be able to get some more information I got two
seconds hey Doug yes so Senator wasn't here when you when you said this so what was the estimate that you you guys came up with from the engineering you know before you you discussed it with the uh the number one um ranked uh yeah I would
have to check with John muster but he usually prepares an estimate on what he believes um you know the inspection to cost you know they uh they know uh how long the Project's going to take they uh
consider how many hours they expect the inspector to be on site um how many hours they believe the inh uh or the office people like the resident engineer how many hours they'll use to review submittals shop drawings that type of
thing so you guys all have what the what the plan was 159 we'll give you what the estimate is I'll respond to to these questions and I'll give you what the estim was versus what they negotiated okay so you have an idea so if we're the poorest we
we'll know whether or not the estima was close to the to what was actually negotiated okay well yeah I mean commissioner bertino yeah thank you through you Jerry to through you um I just we got a bridges of roads meeting this week let's get all this information bring it to the bridges of Roads
committee who does the evaluation process who checks all the list all the criteria so we can provide it for the Commissioners uh for for us to get a little more involved and understand the process inter and then the other issue about me you listen the reason why the purchasing Eng and go first it takes it out of engineering engineering has no no
say in typically what they do have a say in is is obviously is meeting the federal requirements so if the state requirements meet the federal requirements that means the state would have to then take a stand to put in their purchasing requirements that we can make a local a local
provider have a uh I guess additional Advantage additional points points that would be a state issue so I would that's why I had uh Pama go first because she's following the state
requirements okay thank you and that so right so but and and Greg Doug mentioned the Brooks act which is a federal legislation right okay I want Bel Mr chairman I'll talk to Jerry offline about about some of those topics I'm just curious was the Construction
contract awarded oh yes okay and what is that amount Doug Doug who got the California Avenue uh construction uh that was our what's that am contract
hold on I'll have to look that up discuss this on Thursday also yeah we like a commissioner B said there is a roads and bridges committee meeting on Thursday we can if you don't get the other information today we can come that on Thursday and get back to
thank you so any other commissioner comments we did move and second it right we're on this one on the public okay so we're on public comments anybody else from the public well I actually do have yes commissioner Parker since we have our state senator here and we're talking
about it would have to go to the state to make the change um Senator Palestina maybe that's something that and I don't know maybe that's something that your office can look into um haven't changed because we would like to as we we've always been we have always since I've been on this
board we have always tried to do as much you know local uh as we could support as much local businesses as many local business as we could and so if the state is keeping us from doing that then maybe that's something that you can look to look at on you're end from the state
side to have changed so that can open up so that we we could maybe give some extra credit for lack of a better term to a local business you know if there's a tie which I stated earlier before you came in the question I asked was if there's a tie could local be a tie
breaker the answer was no so so yeah and I appreciate that you're absolutely right commissioner and we will take look at that that's why I so we'll get some more detail on this process but the thing that is like if one of you were part of the Review Committee like if chair if commissioner bertino were part
of the Review Committee you're going to know that TM tnm and CME and some of these other companies that were mentioned have local offices and then you're going to know that the travel time for some of these local offices is going to be less to inspect California
Avenue in abin so with that list of seven that was mentioned you know right off the top that some of them are have Atlanta County officers have Atlanta County employees and are going to contribute to the Atlanta County economy and I am you know this concerns me even more when it's a storefront we don't
even know where the money is going to go and what restaurants these employees are going to be going to and where you know where this money end is is going to end up and so you know that's what I would say in in looking at the evaluation process locally while maybe it can't be like a a criteria the reviewers know
which uh companies are Lo on which ones are not right again with different funding you know sources look the fund we can have you know obviously different directions and directives on that as well we definitely need State purchasing rules looked at I mean it's it's been a
problem for years for sure all right any other comments from the public call the role Mr chairman thought to table this I know commissioner bertino mentioned that I
don't think it was ever they'll need to at this point we want to get let us get our information back Brooks Act is funding stuff we've been doing for years I know and but I just to familiarize ourselves so I'm clear on it and that's what we'll do in committee I don't want to hold up any projects that are in the works I don't
want to add three more four we I don't want to get into all that for now plus we're not going to be able to change the criteria on the funding anyway I understand okay all right any other commissioner comments all right I guess terara coll bertino yes Burns yes
Cory sh yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley yes ruu yes the uh yes resolution 131 Professional Services agreement with environmental resolutions Incorporated to provide inspection services for Ohio Avenue in the city of
absin amount not to exceed 9,800 9642 move second I move and seconded are there any commissioner comments on 131 any comments from the public I call the role bertino yes Burns yes Cory G yes Kar yes Parker yes
grizley yes ruu yes da yes resolution 132 amending resolution number 690 adopted on December 21st 2021 Professional Services agreement with various Consultants to provide engineering and inspection services for the 2022 Dam and transportation
infrastructure projects to extend the term date only no additional cost second them seconded any commissioner comments any comments from the public all right call the rooll Martino yes Burns yes
Cory G yes Kar yes Parker yes grizzley yes Ru yes St yes resolution 133 amending resolution number 16 adopted on January 16 2024 Professional Services agreement with Adcom engineering limited liability company to conduct a
feasibility study for a centralized Fire EMS dispatch and 911 call center to extend the term day only no additional cost move second Mo have then seconded any commissioner comments commissioner rley I paused I thought you were going to make the
motion for that one well I'm I just like to comment that uh I'm waiting for that report very patiently I'll be glad when we get it out thank you it's like end of July August I guess any other commissioner
comments any comments from the public all right please call the RO bertino yes Burns yes Cory G yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley yes ruio yes St yes resolution 134 competitive contract with Triad
Associates to provide grant writing services for Atlanta County amount not to $100,000 second we have then seconded any commissioner comments any comments from the public right please call the rooll Martino yes Burns Cory C yes Kar yes
Parker grizley yes R yes days yes resolution 135 competitive contract with carrying incorporate and Milton and Betty catch JCC to provide nutrition site management at various locations throughout Atlanta County amount not to exceed 74,000 $241
moved second moved and seconded any commissioner comments any comments from the public Le call the role bertino yes Burns corsey G yes Kar yes Parker grizzley yes VI yes days yes resolution
136 competitive contract with Bywater solutions to provide an integrated Library Software System amount not to exceed $266,400 Mo then seconded any commissioner comments chair do we have anybody on from the library that speak to the software mat
Matt Matt's not here he's not here no but but this is I mean I went through this with the budget subcommittee yesterday you know they've had Cy DX for many many years and you'll see that their bid is almost three times the amount this by ERS n conditions and act
actually conversation with me is he said they they think they think in library that this a better product for that so it's a fiveyear as you know it's a fiveyear contract absolutely they seem pretty excited about the software so it is it runs you know it runs it runs the
library that's actually what this is I mean they have they have the ability you know to do and they had the ability to do if you're near the library they have Wi-Fi so you can actually connect you know from from outside the
library I'm nearly saying that it's oneir the cost this is very unusual for any any of the agencies that we have to change the software in Midstream like this absolutely absolutely and there there's always some you know down on the
ground right there's some frustration with you know user ability and getting on and logging on and all those things so there's some training that has to take place but as you said it's a third of the cost and but they they're they're pretty excited about the F and they think that the software may even not
only being more cost effective but it may be better software all right any other commissioner comments any comments from the public I have please call the role bertino yes Burns yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes
grizzley yes ruio yes St yes resolution 137 change order number two a contract with arak Paving Company Incorporated for the resurfacing of Alo Street and Galloway Township net increase 26,6 n329 second we have then seconded any
commissioner comments bertino Mr chairman through you through Jerry could you got have Doug or you explain the change orders please you right yep I'm here um so uh so we had a couple change
orders or a couple supplementary work items and some extra work on the change order uh extra work was uh construction signs which uh was about $3,000 um we had detectable warning surface that's the if you ever saw well
the handicap ramps you see the red uh part of the handicap ramp with the little domes on it uh that's what a detectable warning surface is that was about $1,500 and then we had an had additional uh concrete
curb uh which was $44,000 under the supplementary work uh we had to uh switch the type of pipe we used um from concrete pipe to ductal iron pipe
which was an increase in about $77,000 and then we exceeded the quantity on on the uh detectable warning Surface by 125% which allowed us to negotiate a uh
a price a new price on that and uh we did that and that was another $1,000 so the total of this change order was um see was roughly 26,000 uh$ 26,6
19329 good thank thank you any other commissioner comments any comments from the public all right please call the roleo yes Burns yes G yes K yes Parker yes rizley
yes Rio yes stast yes resolution 138 sh Services agreement with Bergen County for the housing of Atlanta County juveniles at the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center second moved and seconded any commissioner comments Mr chairman yes commissioner
rley just uh by way of explanation uh the rate is 450 a day and it does not cover medical that's what it isation um any other commissioner comments all right any comments from the public all right please call the rooll
fortino yes Burns yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes grizzley yes Ru yes da yes res resolution 139 amending resolution number 66 adopted on February 4th 2025 a renewal competitive contract with Atlantic prevention resources for a gun
violence prevention program for sixth and seventh grades to correct the total amount amount not to exceed $85,200 mov then seconded any commissioner comments any comments from the public I please call the role vertino yes Burns
yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley yes ruu yes St yes resolution 140 amending resolution number 65 adopted on February 4th 2025 a renewal competitive contract with Jewish Family Services for the provision of a heads case management program net
increase $114,000 second move then seconded any commissioner comments any comments from the public right please call the rooll rotino yes Burns yes G yes Kar yes
Parker yes rizley yes ruio yes St yes resolution 141 alternate method contract with election systems and software for the provision of election day technical support pre-election testing of voting machines and electronic Pole books and licenses and warranties with maintenance
amount not to exceed $587,500 yes resolution 142 EOS contract with EB Employee Solutions limited liability company for health reimbursement account Administration through the use of the difference card and other medical benefit consultant Services amount not to exceed
$600,000 second moved and seconded any commissioner comments any comments from the public all right please call the rooll bertino yes Burns yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes rizley yes Ru yes St yes resolution
143 resolution authorizing the county executive to offer a plan option which includes a self-funded health reimbursement account to be administered through the use of the difference card and other medical consultant Services second May then seconded um any commissioner
comments any comments from the public all right please call the RO bertino abstain Burns yes G yes Kar yes Parker yes grizzley yes R you yes days yes um now on to appointments so detain a
motion to combine and adopt resolutions 144 through 146 move all right moveed then seconded any commissioner comments comments from the public all right please call the role fortino yes
Burns yes G yes Kar yes clker yes rizley yes Rio yes St yes resolution 147 authorizing consent for a roadway solicitation event by Aben VFW Post 9462 at the intersection of New Jersey Avenue
County Route 601 and M Road County Route 651 in the city of Aban on Saturday May 3rd 2025 from 8:00 am to 2m second been seconded any commissioner comments comments from the public all right please call the rooll bertino yes
Burns yes G yes Kern yes Parker yes grizley yes ruu yes St yes all right and that the written part of our agenda um we've received copies of written communication and petitions are there any commissioner comments at this time hearing none any reports of special
Committees of the board commissioner Parker I'm not so sure this is from a committee but I'm going to put it in there anyway this is from the greater uh from the uh great egg Harvard Township Historic Society on
the 2025 speaker series join us for a night of everything Irish Thursday March 6 2025 7 pm at the EHT Community Center uh 5045 English Creek Avenue Egg Harvard
Township and let's see what else there's on there that I can tell you enjoy The Talented Emerald a Academy of Irish Dance dancers and pipe and sandpipers pipes and drums of Atlantic
County bagpipers that was a mouthful whole lot of pipes all right so um come on out and enjoy yourself if that is something that interest you first I want to say the the programs that are put on by the that uh the great
at Harbor Historic Society over at the rec center are fantastic so if you haven't had a chance to go over there there's always some light Refreshments that they serve and you just sit and you learn about local history it's pretty amazing stuff so so commissioner what
was it that date again the date is March 6 is this March 6 okay Thursday March 6 7 PM all right so we'll see you dancing over there I'll be over there doing the bag Piper I have a what's it what do you call it a there you go I have on and you
can't make fun of me think we have have a meeting that day all right is there any um any unfinished business U well I had a uh committee report yeah commission um yeah we did we had a shared services committee meeting uh where we touched base
on um possible leap grant opportunities with regard to the train station and Maze landing and the connection to the bike path as well as you know possible Lighthouse idea um to request funding um I'm not going to hold my
breath but we're going to try um we're going to try so we'll keep you guys posted on that the leap grants are due May 1st um so we are gathering some information quickly uh to give Tim to to kind of put all that stuff together and
then um not a committee report but since commissioner Parker's advertising an event I'll go ahead and put a plug out there after you get your jig on and Irish excitement out of your system you can come celebrate with the Italians at the annual Unico pasta dinner on Sunday
March 23rd from one to I think we're doing 5:00 pm this year in Atlantic City at at uh the hall outside of St Mike's Church all right Mr chair I don't want to PR I just want put I do want to put
this out there I was expecting Kim uh Brown to be here today that she she can't she couldn't be here to but I do want to put this because we I know commissioner rizley has been asking me forever about the 250th uh anniversary of the ction of
Independence coming up next year and so we do have some we did receive some emails you know asking what we were going to do so I just want to ask and put out on the county side are we planning on doing anything are we going to do anything as a
county um to commemorate that occasion we've been having conversations we had conversations so we're at the beginning stage of having conversations with the intention to do something okay that's all I want to put out there I I I just
didn't want uh commissioner Riz to keep pounding me off the Record what are we going to do what are we going to do I don't know something right so we're doing something commissioner rley I I would just say that I think there should be
something in in in connection with uh the Battle of chest on neck as well okay we have that ceremony every year that the S puts on the DAR and uh I think that would be important to tie that into
it move her thought absolutely okay I would would love to see all the municipalities work together and the county advertise you know so they don't hopefully we don't conflict we can get to as many as we can and you know have a celebration that that extends for know several days it's worthwhile of it's
150th anniversary absolutely um all right so any time any other reports of special Committees of the board any un business any new
business rley yes um now that we have our state senator here I'm gonna pick his brain a little bit um should have left where had the chance good all right I understand what I reading from John denardio that
there's going to be a hearing on Juvenile Detention Facility um Senate la Public Safety Committee 10: a.m. on Thursday the 20th is that something that we're going to be represented by someone
in the county Mr pedoro somebody well we have a County prosecutor and uh Curtis still who is our youth service administrator both and I'm not trip anybody else that I I don't know about but those two individuals all right but
bet we should be well represented then great it would be it would be great to see the state adopt some kind of um rate you know standard rate uh per day across the state so I know some of the
contracts we have go as high as 750 a day so and I've seen other ones at 350 so you know rather than having a price gouging it uh certainly would behoove the state to come up with some
kind of number that's levels the field here yeah we we've gotten everybody out of you know we got threatened by Essex that they were going to raise their rate to 750 we we moved everybody out of Essex we have one kid left in Middle sex they're pretty high and we I've asked
them to look at that kid you know you have to look to see whether or not they have gang you relations whether they've committed a crime against somebody else I know there's a lot that goes into it issues right yeah if we can move the kid back we' move the kid back fact we have six kids out right now we have 17 kids
in house get that kid back uh Jerry I know before that meeting was postponed that was one of the agenda items I believe that John tady put out was was talking about you know not coun is not killing other counties with their rates knowing that you're you're stuck
you need to find a home for them Place Another another agenda item was that um kind of I guess do kind of capping the age you know how how to what point are they still considered you to be held in the juvenile facility so okay change have to change the law again
because what they did was any put a crime under 18 if they get caught after after their 18 years of age and they don't have any other crimes they're they're remanded back to the uh the juvenal sing some of the ks you know
like 24 25 same so yeah so that was another agenda hopefully all those will be addressed in the hearing we'll be not hearing something soon but hopefully um sooner than later right any other new business all right ring on um anyone attending in person that would like to
speak now a public comment please come to the podium speak into the microphone state your name in the town you reside if you're attending virtually and would like to make a public comment please raise your hand I will call your name and request to unmute will be sent please state your name and the town you reside you will be provided up to three
minutes to speak good evening Comm commers you guys able to hear me yes uh Alan rhods from Ling New Jersey is it possible to submit uh the speech or the comments for a public record thank you chairman good evening
Commissioners commissioner ruffy congratulations commission Jun Burns you guys look great up there commission par yeah congratulations don't waste your time on us go ahead I know I know actually commissioner um I have a uh a fellow call a teammate here he would like to
also uh Reserve his time for me if that's okay Jim if you could unmute your mic and reserve your time to me appreciate itang wait I'm sorry yeah we give three minutes to speak at this time and we'll entertain any other public
comment after okay all right we'll get into it well thank you for allowing me to address you guys tonight my name is alen rhods as many of you guys know I'm the former head coach of stock University's men's ice hockey team uh now proudly serve as a president of a nonprofit association called the South Jersey ice and Athletics Center
Association our mission is to design build and operate maintain future South Jersey ice and athletic center I come before you this evening to discuss a matter of great importance to our community which is the future of our ice ring which many of you
all well know about uh before I dive into the details I first want to take a moment to sincerely express my empathy for the workingclass families of Atlantic County I understand that in today's economic climate some may view this endeavor as
potentially being insensitive to the financial challenges sure thank you that uh many families may be facing in the county here balancing the cost of living with recreational expenses is no small feat
moreover I recognize that in a world full of pressing concerns the priority of Ice Sports may not rank at the top for everyone however there still is an entire community of people and of families and children who do rely on the
ice rink this entire Community these families and these children I believe also deserve our consideration and our support too we'll cut to the chase I'm here because I need your guys help every once's uh I would like to respectfully request
your support in three critical ways the first I would suggest adopting a resolution of support for the continuation of the operation of the skates Zone ice rink in Atlantic City the second perhaps more controversially
would be a resolution supporting the uh the inclusion of a replacement ice rink within any beter field development plan and advocating for its construction in either Egg Harbor Township or Galloway or any other suitable location in Atlantic County the third would be uh to
explore perhaps the formation of a committee to a county committee to address this issue I think we have a unprecedented opportunity before us the propos 3.4 billion deem Enterprise development plan for Bader field presents a unique
opportunity and chance to integrate a replacement ice rink into this transformative project and if we work together I think we can accomplish this thank you for your consideration and I W look forward to any questions that you may have at this time Mr R thank you for
your comments I have your I will make sure this is shared with the other Commissioners as well so they can all have you know what you intended to say had you been uh given more more time um I I do know so that the dean project though again I'm not completely familiar with it all I know is what I read the
paper and then probably not even half of what's happening with that is a I believe that was Atlantic City estate concern I'm sorry can you ask I believe that was an Atlantic City and EST state project am I correct on that or well you know we you know are missing the absence of our first district commissioner Cory
who we keep in our prayers his family his wife you know and his children um you know my opinion uh perhaps it might be time for the city to owe our community an apology if this project is not going through
what they've put our community Through including myself personally I think we're all deser an apology of course that current Community is not going to be able to uh to to say that but I certainly am in a position to do so what is the future of it nobody knows Sor I don't mean to cut you I just I just
wanted to you know I just again I'm going to share this with the rest of the Commissioners including commissioner Cory on that I just you know want clarification for I guess the public and the rest of the Commissioners present um that that's not something that's currently before the Board of Commissioners that's something that was approved by the Board of Commissioners I
just wanted to try to to clarify that um yeah commissioner rley just one brief question if if it is closed where would you go chairman rley thank you for your question the next closest rink is an hour away either in Tom's River hell bores that's it or the crossing bridge
into Philadelphia there are dozens dozens of families and children who rely on that ice FR it's about an hour that's right thank you sir may I just say one last thing here uh tomorrow at the uh Zone there is a
charity game uh which the proceeds most importantly are going to go go to the benefit of family Jefferson Rivera a former Sergeant in the Atlantic City Police Department these games are always a good time uh a couple years ago there was a fight between the mayor and the
former council president starting lobbies for parking lot there's also fights on the ice always entertaining always entertaining good time most importantly it supports a great cause and a great family so tomorrow Wednesday afternoon starts at 1:30 there's a second game at 3:30
between uh the state PBA hockey team and also the Atlantic County I believe uh guns and hoses firemen and police department so great charity event and uh would be great uh for the public to be aware of it and go out and support a great cause thank you for your time everyone thank you appreciate it that's
been going on for quite a few years guns guns and hoses yeah I know my um as you all know brother-in-law was you know involved in a lot of that um I appreciate your passion you've been at this and you're out there trying to you know keep this in our community uh my
family as you know my sons grew up there you played a lot of ice hockey I think they still are well at least one of them still is the other one's playing ice hockey and Tampa but uh yeah it it takes them from a young age into adulthood so um thank you again for your passion for
this thank you and there's been great support from our second legislative district office I would like to say thank you to our second leg legislative district team who on January 26 2022 after there was a petition that garnered almost 10,000 signatures in a very short time period Senator Palestina took time
out of his evening to come out and to support our community and I know that it made the world a difference to myself and I'm pretty sure from some some documents that I have that it also made a difference to those who have the authority and the ability to make decisions there so thank you it's a team effort um and like I said it's a it's
about a community it's about families it's about our children it's the right thing to do there's a right thing to do here and I hope that we can come together and do the right thing for our children thank you for your efforts and and your comments thank you and like I said again I want make sure that every other commissioner gets this statement
as well and Mr commiss I think um Mr words you you kind of held up some resolutions that you had do you w to give it to our staff that they could scan it and or you could email it whatever um did made a copy for each
okay perfect thank you willing to serve on a committee if that's the way we want to go about this that's fine too I'm always here like I said it's about doing the right thing so thanks and just a draft that does not reflect any views of any
elected official in our County this is me proposing a suggestion these are my words not any elected official yeah and it's difficult for families you talk about an hour away that that's a lot that's a lot because he's you know especially with the the teams you know the youth teams they can't do that they
can't do that it's usually during school time that these uh leagues are going on and it's basically imposs eff to spend two hours just in travel time Mr chair I know you reached out to some of our uh local elected officials as well in our
towns to ask if there was a willingness or there was if there was some land or areas that it could possibly be moved to did you have any success with that well we we established some
communication uh commissioner Parker as you may or may not know I suppose I landed in some hot water with the one of the town's Mayors Who Shall Not Be Named so once it became so politically toxic uh that's when myself
and my family made the decision maybe to perhaps lay low and now it's been two years since perhaps the largest for-profit private real estate trans action in the state of New Jersey is without progress uh and now what now what so we're back at it we're going to
do the right thing for our families I would love to I would think that it would be a smart suggestion to move it to a new municipality move the next ice to a new municipality where Working Families exist um I would love to speak
with any local elected officials who would be welcome to that uh we have people attendant here who might be able to help out but that's as far as that goes so you know um the last thing I'll say is this is in my opinion a nonpartisan
issue this is where we put our politics aside a nonpartisan actor pursuing a bipartisan solution and I understand this is a a heavy lift during these Economic Times I'm not insensitive to that uh but I just can't accept that if we came together that we couldn't do
this I think we can do it but it's going to take all of us Mr thank you again as commission K said thank you for your your passion and uh you know your I guess your drive to kind of bring this to the fruition at some point somehow so thank
you is there any other um public comment Senator Palestina absolutely that was different I just mention out I had a conversation with Congressman vanj in the last couple weeks too so he is also supportive and uh talking about what
could be done so there support all the way up to the federal level Doug did we did I did we get that amount of the Construction contract did I miss it no what happened was I think said why we give him on Thursday we have a meeting we're giving him all the
information so right is that what you and The Bridges bridges of Roads meets this Thursday I asked them I want the whole process how it's done who does the grading who do we want all that information for the Commissioners to share in the committee and then we'll release it to everybody else okay so
Doug I just curious to get a frame of reference on how much the construction was because that usually would give you an idea how much the inspection should be but you can provide that after Thursday that would be appreciated just an update um shelle's
here and uh the conversations on the Atlantic City pilot and the financial situation with Atlantic City continue and I just wanted to be clear with everyone uh last week I met with the office of legislative service services to get some more of the financial information as it relates to the city of
Atlantic City to the payment on Lower taxes to you know the whole picture of what has occurred over the last 10 years interesting to me and I don't think we really need to litigate the history but you recall you know 2015 2016 2017 the
pilot was to save the city from bankruptcy 21 Senator Sweeney right at the end of in lame duck you know changed it to take out internet and sports also adjusted how much each Casino was going to pay uh which happened right at the
last minute so I figured this time let's start the conversations early and let's try to build consensus which which is what we are trying to do the the concern that is expressed from my colleagues and some of the people in Trenton is that
what occurred with the initial pilot was that state had said 10.4% and some of you lived this who were there County said we want 13 and a half percent Governor Christie at the time said okay in there 13 and a half percent but we
want to see what the county can do to assist and I really think that's kind of where we are right now you have seen us build Partnerships and build relationships with Trenton we are working actively with the state Economic
Development Authority with the front office with the office of legislative services and Joe and I were there uh last week you it's interest interesting to me they said can we talk to Atlantic City and can we talk to the crda and I said of course you can talk to the crda
and they responded you know previously we weren't allowed to and I don't know who was you know trying to prevent an open dialogue and open communication but where we are today is that just because and I voted against the 2021 pilot but just because that didn't necessarily
treat County taxpayers Fair there isn't opportunity to redo the pilot and to treat everyone fairly if we all can build consensus with the city with the county with the state there is an opportunity to do that but I really think that all of us as elected
officials really need to think about what a real partnership with the county would mean because that is really the Crux of what we're talking about is the city faces many challenges we have New York Gaming on the horizon we need everyone to step up and we need to
figure out what everyone can do to support this city and so from the county perspective what I will be talking to you about is yes fairness and what the allocation is but also how can the county be a real partner and what can we really do to assist this situation
because that's what my colleagues in Trenton are asking what is the county doing so I just offer that all to you thank you for your service uh we have some time because the pilot doesn't expire until next year um and if we can build consensus we're going to get some great things done I think from a
financial perspective for Atlantic City so just wanted to update you uh that those discussions are ongoing and uh they are going to continue thank you Senator uh commissioner G and then commissioner rley um just just very quickly um you know I don't know if you've seen it Vince but we do have a
document that we prepared and I don't if you remember jar but lays out everything that Atlantic County does with Atlantic City from like a shared services perspective I mean and it was substantial it was a lot do you remember
what document um city I could was the city said we never do anything page so we should we should 1,000% get you that um because if it's I mean number one you should get credit for
that right but yeah is is that a is that a jumping off point for what else are you looking for right I think we do quite a bit but there's always room as part of a negotiation you know to figure it out so so yeah I just throw out one of the discussions and you know it's early on but one of the thoughts like
something like the county gets a certain percentage plus an allocation which goes directly to the Sheriff's Office you know for a sheriff's detail in Pacific Avenue and the board walk to assist those are the kind of things you know forward thinking that we could all partner to help the city that we're kind
of talking about so those are the conversations that need to be had and if you have a document that lays out you know what the county does that would be incredibly helpful because you know it's not just from the state it is from other entities that ask what is the county doing they don't know
negotiations with the as firm we were asked to provide services so we we do me and so you know that we providece citizens was really the intent at the time so we provide the transportation un
delivered meals Cong meals Outreach and and transportation so those are the things that we we provided and that was actually if you if you go into the docum the consent order the original consent order it lays out the services that we right so so there are those
things but what you're talking about is he really thinking out of the box to say you know what else could could occur for example if they wanted additional help in the city you know what other things could we do they would be willing to fund it that's you know that's abolutely would be something that they should
discuss with EXA well they're definitely I mean those discussions are going to happen so one of the things you have seen I'm be curious to see the documents I wasn't in at that point so I didn't see a lot of that you I know Meals on Wheels was talked about but from the city perspective and building a real tourism destination you know which
should be a mecca for the East Coast we gotta think out of the box we got to figure out what can we do to partner on this stuff and you know one of the things that has happened with the financial situation in Atlantic City to avoid bankruptcy was the the diversion of the investment Al alternative taxes
from crda to the city pay down debt that needs to go back so that we have some money there to invest at the crda level and if we can do more things where more money is uh you know is allocated to the county through the pilot and we can get more money back to crda for investment into the city it's going to benefit
everybody and so those are the kind of things that we're looking at sen know one one thing that should happen is is what would attract people into the city I mean let's face it big issue that that's written about all the time is you know the if you go look at the numbers this year by the way
if you go look at the internet gaming and the inperson gaming they almost identical mean that they're catching up so the question is is how do you get more people into the city which would then drive them you know probably to the casino that would be fantastic thing to
to do with your IAT funds I would yeah and I mean gaming you know are we have to support gaming but gaming is not going to be the answer going for answer are going for we've talked about you know Public Safety cleanliness lighting Pacific Avenue needs to be lit up so the county were to say listen we
will take the lead on lighting up Pacific Avenue or something like that and then we figure out you know how do we go get the money for that but those are the kind of things that have to happen to make Atlantic City what it really should be make it clean make it safe make it lit uh and so that's really what we're talking about going forward
so happy to you know talk to you about that and figure out what can be done as we move forward thank you I think commissioner rley yeah I had a thought I I I think it's and and you're right Senator it's important for us to keep an open mind
and all this because it could be very creative and a great Tool uh in the original uh pilot bill I believe there was a provision in there about doing a an analysis of what the casino
properties would in fact be worth and I think we should know that for the other side of the the equation to compare and contrast for the public to understand now if internet gambling is not going to be included in that
assessment and that's that's a bad thing so I would certainly like to see uh I don't know how this is going to occur whether state would do it or the county would pay for it or whoever would pay for this
because obviously assessing a casino is a very unique type of property it's got to be done right and it wasn't done right in the past and some of the problems so it would be great to know uh what the true value is of each
Casino property I think you're absolutely right about that and we need to you know we need to do that Apples to Apples comparison exact I will mention to you another thing that has come up as you know I've got more educated on this the fact that there is a pilot on the Atlantic City casinos the value of those
now there really is no value from a municipal perspective they have been removed because we had the pilot and local education funding is based partially on the wealth of the community and so the fact that you know the office of legislative Services said last week
half of the value has been removed from the tax roles because of the pilot now the local share public education calculation is skewed because it looks like the city is worth F of what it in fact is and so there are a lot of issues
that need to be figured out as we move forward again this is why we're talking about it in March well in advance of the expiration of the pilot because it also goes to extension of the municipal stabilization Recovery Act the diversion
back or the you know back of the iats back to the crda and so there's a lot of financial discussions to be had but that that understanding of what the value of the casinos is worth is critical to the discussion so thank you I appreciate it
everyone thank you very much for that thank you all right any other public comment I'm G make a entertain a motion sorry I'm sorry mine isn't gonna be nearly as exciting Joe bur you st for the second legislative district I
actually just wanted to prep you all and your constituents pass along the messages of two uh big things have been coming into the office recently number one and we were in bringing team today with some seniors talking about it a lot of questions with regards to senior freeze the upcoming ancher for this year and the potential of State New Jersey
property tax relief I just want you guys to be aware that there is a single combined application this year it's called the pas1 that is available on the state treasury website at this time even with not knowing about what's going to go on with the state New Jersey or the time frame for the anchor payments uh
residents are being advised to fill those out present them and provide them back to the treasury at this point if anybody's got any questions please as always direct them back to us but I wanted to make sure that you were all aware so you could pass along to your communities one single application uh because we're getting a lot of seniors who are calling looking for their blue
books and they're not necessarily coming this year so it's going to be that one combin um and then secondly and this seems to be coming as we get Pro uh closer and closer to the May date uh there's a lot of residents who are looking to upgrade their New Jersey driver's licenses to real IDs yeah and
there isn't a single appointment available for three months on the state of New Jersey's website yeah um they are going to start we just uh posted on our social media today for the senator Vince Palina page about uh the state opening up what they're calling a real ID Thursday trying to move as many
locations to host the real ID transactions as possible in addition you're starting to see more mobile units come available we are in the process of scheduling a mobile unit to be positioned at our legislative office hopefully as early as May because that's the most early appointments right around
the same time as the deadline for the ID transfers and just in case you're not familiar the TSA this year they've been putting it off for some period of time but this year they're going to be moving to either a real ID level ID to fly or obviously an equivalent or greater which
would be your passport um so either if you're looking for help on the state level ID feel free to call us if you're looking for help on the federal ID happy to call us as well I'll just direct you to the contct congressman's office so I just want to make sure those were two big questions we've gotten and I swear I
planned to do this before I knew the be here I I I just want to compliment while your boss is in the room you Joe because uh I send so many people to you on anchor number one you help every single
one of them and talk to each of them and make them feel heard and resolve their issue but the multitude of other little stuff we send you all the time you never miss a beat and you are such an asset to
the constituency here and just want to say thank you I appreciate that very much Vince for for hiring Joe because he's a he's amazing he really is yeah know I was I was really G Hest gonna say the same exact thing because I i' I've reached out to Joe numerous times and
he's like immediately with the response gets in touch with the constituent um again tremendous job effort and thank you so much and and everything that's shared on social media the information you shared with us appreciate that because there's so many people that are look like where do I go for information um it seems like there's like a you know
like a dirth of information that's out there especially some of the seniors that you met with in bringing te um so thank you for coming to these meetings updating us on these events and this information and um I'm sure I know I will I'm sure others will share their on their socials and and try to get the word out there to help our mutual constituent so thank you appreciate it
very much thank you all for the time is there anybody line for public comment all right at this time I'll entertain a motion to close public comment is his did he have somebody did you forgot about it just checked we're good right online all right a motion to close public comment
move second seconded all in favor all right any comments for the good of the order good of the order chair yes commissioner got again while we have our Senator here um one I I was actually going to reach out this week uh very tragic situation this week I got
a call uh I think many people know I officiate weddings and I got a call for somebody who was in the hospital um and had gotten a pretty dire diagnosis and had been with his um
his partner woman for over 30 years they had children together they just had never gotten married and his dying wish was to get married and he literally uh it was a very critical situation and um uh he had days
so I called everyone I could think of to try to get a registar to go to the hospital and do a marriage license and start the 72h hour clock uh that you have to wait and um understandably
nobody goes to the hospital or the jail there's a lot of risk with that I can totally understand that um but there needs to be some kind of exceptions uh that the the person was of very sound mind his body was just giving out and uh
and I I I I called several lawyers to figure out is there anything that we could do and it just time ran out and he passed on Friday and so I would love to work with your office to sponsor uh some kind of legislative
change um that would either enable remote uh license uh application for you know a criteria of of scenarios um or would um you know come up with some other some other kind of
option or allow a hospital to have an in-house registry potentially just just some things that cost my mind the 72h hour situation you know we could talk about exceptions for that I understand the need for that but
again it it my heart just broke that I couldn't do anything about it and it's something I would really love to to see if we could Advance some change for you know really um a really sad circumstance certainly so thanks commissioner it's a it is unfortunate um but we'll we'll
figure it out yeah we uh you know we'll Joe's here and you just say great things about him so we'll be going the off legislative Services wasna call to figure it out we usually get a draft back in you know week two weeks at most so we'll certainly discuss it with you and share a draft with you we'll get
some done yeah if any other legal Minds in the room have any ideas I'm looking at all the lawyers in here like um you know open to any thoughts anybody might have thanks chairman right no of course
thank you anything else for the good of the order right motion to adjourn all right all in favor all right meetings adjourned
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