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Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=9Q-wFKsMFCQ

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Good evening. Welcome to the Bedminister Township Committee. This is our regularly scheduled July 6, 2026 meeting. Recognize that we full attendance by the Bedminister Township Committee here in person.

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Committeewoman Fernandez, Committee Moreski, Committeeman Hickey, and attending remote by Zoom. still down on the uh disabled list. Committeeman Bill Rosen. Ms. Ray, may we please have the open

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public meetings act statement? >> Uh yes, mayor. Adequate notice of this meeting of the township committee was sent to the Courier News Somerville, Bernersville News, Whippony, and to all subscribers and post on the township of Beavenster's official website at www.beminsterj.gov

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and at the Township Municipal Building on January 6, 2026. >> Great. Thank you. Please join me in standing for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation

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under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This is the time of the meeting that we open up the uh microphone and Zoom session for public comment. Any member of the public wishing to make a

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statement, ask a question, now is your opportunity to do so. As we've been saying, you are not um entitled to a discourse or dialogue with the township committee unless any member of the committee chooses to engage. You're not guaranteed of getting an answer. And

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you're certainly not guaranteed of getting an answer. You're going to >> my mic. Come on up. Come up to the microphone. Name and street. We don't need your full address.

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>> Good evening, guys. Um, my name's >> I like your tie. Thank you very much. I want to make sure the camera just turn around real briefly so the cameras see the American No, that's not the camera. >> Turn all the way. There we go. Your American flag today.

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>> Thank you. Uh so tell before I get start first I want to uh give a shout out to our our guys from the Department of Public Works. Uh we got on our street we had a big huge issue with >> Neon Street. Excuse me. >> Neon Street. Oh, I'm sorry. Steve

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Versavi and uh Autumn Rich Road. >> Thank you, Mr. Versavi. >> So, we had a a massive problem with this lighting system in our neighborhood and uh the guys came out um took a little while, but they did a very professional

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job um and had a great attitude. So, and they did it in like some really nasty hot weather. So, and again, as usual, they did a fantastic job. So, I want to just make sure everybody knows, you know, when you when you do a good job, you need to be recognized. All right.

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So, um, tell you what, last time I was here, I I spoke about the, uh, New Jersey Farmland Assessment Act, and actually spoke with, um, our friend, uh, Jack Curtis, and I think Mayor, you said you know, Jack, um, maybe from a

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previous life or something, but, uh, he basically wanted me to bring this along, uh, to basically see if, uh, just to drop it off. It's a letter he sent and he's looking he's part of the farmland oversight committee now and he's collecting data. He doesn't need

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people's names or anything like that. He just wants to understand what the the balance is between people in certain towns that have um farmland assessment um tax schedules or whatever and ones that don't. So, I'll leave this with you

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guys, but uh the reason I'm here is this and the more I think about it is this. The information about, you know, how many wealthy people in Bedminster benefit from the New Jersey Farm Assessment Act is going to come out. It's probably going to come out sooner than a lot of people uh would like it

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to. So, I think it behooves Bedminster to get ahead of this. Um and I think the town should implement some changes to the way we work with and promote the farmland assessment benefit. So, I got four ideas that I'd like to just go over and just leave them with you guys. Um,

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but for starters, this morning I went to the tax assessors um page on on our township's uh website and underneath Jack Kerwin or Ed Kerwin's name um there's three items that you can click

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on. One is the uh the mission statement of the tax assessor's office. Two is the taxpayers's bill of right. three is um a PDF for how to fill out the formland assessment application, but the number

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one item right underneath uh um Ed's name is the PDF to fill out the farmland assessment. And so it's like we're advertising to people, this is our priority. Come to Bedminster so our middle class

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can pay for your real estate taxes. So my recommendation is take that item either move it to the very bottom because I think the mission statement and the bill of rights for the for the the residents is a bit more important and or just take it off of there alto

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together put a miscellaneous or other category with other things I think that are important and put it there. So we basically kind of sent a message out that we're not proposing everybody sign up for it because not for nothing was in a meeting earlier this year and person I

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just met said, "Oh yeah, I'm signing up for that." He goes, "I'd be crazy not to. It was as if, you know, of course I'm going to sign up. There's no downside to it. I'm just going to take advantage of the situation." Okay, so that's number one. Um, also I think uh

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on that website or on that tax assessor's page, there should be a message stating that going forward all applications for the farmland assessment preferential tax treatment will be thoroughly investigated and scrutinized to ensure properties are are actively devoted to farming, agriculture or

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horicultural use and will be subject to denial and in some cases increased fines for misrepresenting information on their application. So all this information I just read off that I I'm asking put on the site. It's all in the Farmland Assessment Act. So it's not like we're

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making this up special for Bedminster. No, this is stuff if anybody wants to read that act, god forbid. Um that's all there. Okay. So we're giving people a heads up to basically say, are you sure you want to do this? Have you really thought this through? Are you are you

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trying to cheat a little bit or not? Okay. So that that's that piece. And I think would be appropriate for number three for all new farmland assessment applicants to get a phone call from the town's tax assessor enlightening them about the new and improved compliance

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investigations that the town is implementing and also explain the new higher fines. This gives the folks an idea that there's a new sheriff in town. The way it might have been way back when is not the way it's going to be going forward. We have over 330 farmers in

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Bedminster if you can believe that. We don't need anymore. Okay. So, uh also just um this is from Jack Curtis. He said, "I've talked to a lot of of tax assessors in other towns and he said the tax assessors tell me that the

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the people that sign up for the Farmland Assessment Act, they fall into three categories. one there are the outright fraudsters cheaters there are the people that are the semi- cheaters and then there are the real farmers he set up in mento he goes to the Texas sensor said

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there's actually four people that are real farmers and they have 158 farmers there so um what I think we want to do is this um it's a tough one so every 3 years people have to have their their

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property assessed and and basically an investigation is done of some sort. I don't know what it is, but um this year um we have over 330 farmers. There's going to be 110 investigations done. What I think we ought to do is

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this. Ask Ed Cerwin, our tax assessor, to sharpen his pencil and deny at least 10 of these applicants for good cause. Now, I can't imagine that's going to be really that tough a job. Um you know, a difficult task. So, you know, maybe we start with a couple billionaires that

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are low risk and work up or down from there. But I think the point is that we want to put stake in the ground and deliver that message that we're standing up for the for the mass middle class residents that we have living in Bedminster. And you know, you're on

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notice. You could be denied. You could be fined. Okay. Now, you know what? I I've said this before and and um if there's any going to be one town that's going to be able to pull this off and and step over the line and say, "Guess what? We're going to make some

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serious changes." Unfortunately for you guys, it's Bedminster. And and the reason is this. Um, and I know it sounds like uh um just blowing smoke, but not for nothing a couple years ago when the the folks got a little spirited that

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were hanging outside of the the the uh Bedminster Library, you guys shut them down real quick. There was no, you know, no. And I realized being that there was another person that lived just down the road on Lamington Road could have made a real big stink about this, but you guys

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didn't care. It was what was right and you guys did the right thing. So, um, that the other thing is this and this is this is really important and people kind of forget about this. The town is really wellrun, okay? You guys do a fantastic job for the residents and I think it's

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low risk and that people know what kind of great job you guys do and I don't think there's and that's why people vote for you. Okay. And and Robin, I know the department that you run from the meetings I've been at, you do a ton of work and and a lot of stuff gets done that and from the last meeting, I think

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I was here 60 days ago, there are just a lot of towns that are just so poorly run, it's not even funny, you know, and so I think for for those reasons, that's why this is the right town to do it. And the other thing that I learned the last time I was here, we have a 10 acre

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minimum to build on. So the idea that we'd be open for to sprawl or something like that, that's kind of minimized if you're going to do it a 10 acre, you know, minimum on property. So that's what I have for today. I appreciate you guys giving me the chance to talk. Thank

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you, Mr. Ravin. >> We are still in public comment. Any other comments, questions? Robin, anything from >> the Zoom session? >> I'm not seeing any. Um, hands raised,

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mayor. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you again, Mr. Ravi, and thank you for wearing your American flag tie. Very patriotic and very timely. Uh, we have one set of meeting minutes to review and approve. That's the June 15th attention committee

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regular meeting. Any comments or questions about the meeting minutes that have not otherwise been provided to Miss Ray? Seeing none, take a motion to approve the June 15, 2026 minutes.

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>> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I. Thank you. >> Okay. Permits and raffles. We have one, two, three, four on for tonight. We're going to take uh

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hold the one for Oxbow. >> Now I call treat that separately. Let's go through. First is the social fair permit to benefit the Sumis Family Foundation, Inc. on August 31, 2026 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Fitler's

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Country Club. Um, let's let's just take that by itself. Uh, any questions or comments regarding the social fair permit to benefit the Sumis Family Foundation? Nope. Take a motion to approve.

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So, so moved. Second. All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. >> Then next is a fireworks permit for a display scheduled for July 18, 2026 at approximately 9:30 p.m. at Trump National. Mr. Totten, I want to uh come

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up and give uh just a summary of the display. 9:30. How what the duration is? >> Good evening. >> Good evening. And and your name and title, please. >> I'm sorry. Rob Tottton, director of

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security, golf national golf club administer. >> Thank Mr. Ton. So, um this is a regular display going off at excuse me 9:30. Uh what's the duration? >> Uh between 9 and 11 minutes.

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>> 911. And in our application, it's been reviewed and signed off by uh fire and police. >> We have um Chief Bernardo on the line, but I do have Mario Ruse's our fire officials report that everything in the

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packet is approved. >> Okay. Any questions, comments for Mr. Totten about the display? >> Just same question as always. Neighbors have been notified. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Okay. Fire law firm. They sent out a letter.

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>> Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Perfect. >> And if there's no further questions or comments, take a motion to approve the fireworks uh permit for July 18 at Trump National Dash. >> So moved. Second. >> All in favor? >> I.

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>> Thank you. Thank you, Bill. >> And then we'll go to D, the special use permit for Fiddler's El Country Club. >> Thanks, Rob. Thank you. to renew an existing special use permit for the continued use of a temporary office

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trailer on the property through 2027. Any comments or questions regarding the use of a temporary office trailer at filler cell. >> Do we know when in 2027?

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We usually run it through the year through the end of the year or through the >> December 31st of 2027. Very good. >> Okay. If there's no further questions or comments, take a motion to approve the special use permit for the temporary office. >> So moved.

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>> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I >> I. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And next is special use permit for Oxbow Club to permit the Women's Association of Morstone Medical Center

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to conduct the mansion in May tour event during May 2027. So, um, for those who don't know, the formerly known Atlanta property, uh, was

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purchased and is now owned by the Oxbow Club, uh, which if you drove by, you might see a few acres of corn being planted there. So, it's good to see uh, that there's some agricultural activity out there. And what's perhaps more

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interesting is the plans to renovate the manor house and actually put it into productive use. Uh that may be down the road. But um what I think is interesting and I think is a uh benefit for Bedminster is that

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the manor house um this slated to be featured for mansion in May. I think it's been a long time since Mansion May has been in Bedminster. Uh so this is uh kind of exciting and I believe we have a

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representative from Oxbow Club here to present the uh the application. >> I do. I'm Ken Donovan from Fiddler's Elbow. Uh it's the same family that owns Oxbow Farm. I have um a handout. Ron's going to be putting it up on screen. Would the handout be helpful to you?

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>> Sure. >> Sure. That'd be great. You like a nice piece of paper? >> You should be able to share. >> Okay. I'm old. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Thank you, sir.

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>> Thank you so much. That's great. Thank you. >> So, uh, our family acquired, uh, the former Lana Loel about a year ago, almost exactly a year ago at an auction. If you're not familiar with the property, it had been, um, pretty much

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abandoned for 20 20 years. uh the land use board of Bedminster will be seeing an application in the next month or so uh for what we want to do there which is kind of laid out on what I just handed to you. Um soon after our acquisition uh

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we were contacted by Marstown Memorial Hospital asking if we'd be interested in hosting uh Mansion in May for 2027. mansion in May is their largest fundraiser um outside of a capital campaign uh that they do. They raise

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about $2 million for each mansion and it's uh specific to a project that they want, not a parking deck. It's something medically driven. So, it's been nurses education. The last one was a proton therapy uh for men's health. I'm still

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waiting to hear what this year's is, but um it will be something specific. Um the the property is uh terrific for mansion in May. First, it's in Bedminster and uh second uh it's a it

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will be ultimately uh with the approval of the land use board a commercial property. So there's nobody living in it. It makes it very easy for the mansion in May to operate. Um you don't have to work around um people who are actually in bedrooms and in kitchens.

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Um, it is slated for next May, the 27th. The way it works with Mansion in May, they lease the property from us for a dollar. That starts January 1st, 2027. Um, designers bid on um, which is the

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way they describe it, which is not very accurate. Uh, different rooms. There about 42 designers who come in to design rooms or landscaping around the property. Um they need all of that time leading up to May to get that done. Mansion and May

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makes its money because they sell tickets uh to many people. They estimate 25,000 people show up for the month. They have some private functions beforehand which they also charge for. They can make more money.

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The event itself starts May 1st, ends at the end of May and then they have about a month. So the lease goes to the end of June with us um where they have to take out what is not going to stay behind uh from these designs. Sometimes instead of

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uh uh they might have a room that they've designed that we don't want at the end u that we don't want to buy uh or maybe they haven't been able to sell to one of the 25,000 people have come through for the month and they need to then take it away. So they need that

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much time to kind of break down at the end of at the end of the mansion in May. So about 30 days. After that time um based on an approval from the land use board, we plan on continuing our

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construction. So we need to uh provide mansion in May with u taped and spackled walls basically with the utilities behind it before January start before they they start their lease in January. Um it doesn't need uh it needs

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electricity, doesn't need plumbing. Um uh they use uh portagons, the nice portagons. Um after mansion and Maya is gone, we will continue with our construction and u make it into uh what's proposed is an

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eight room uh bre bed and breakfast. Um there is also uh there's an existing horse barn on the property. If you haven't, if you're not familiar with it, it's about a 22,000 foot horse barn. Um, we're going to uh drop that, raise that,

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um, because mother nature's going to get to it before we do if we don't. Uh, it's in really, really rough shape. There were three for reference sake, roughly the same size. The other two, Mother Nature took care of. We're going to uh be building uh a second event space

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there. Again, subject to the approval. What we're asking in the special use permit is to be able to build a barn uh subject to the same, you know, building uh regulations that we would otherwise have to apply for um to have that barn

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ready for the mansion in May so that they can go there at the end of their tour, box lunch. They put in their bids. The attendees put in their bids for project for the couch or the or the whatever

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they see that they like in these rooms. Um if you refer to the map here, uh it's it may make a little bit more sense, at least I hope. Um the blue lines would would show the uh the routing, the

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logistics. So the the rightmost or the northernmost driveway would be the entrance. Uh that that's the driveway that goes to the manor house. The orange dot that uh is at the top of that driveway is the drop off point uh

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for uh people entering. And I should have said beforehand, no parking on site for the guests. They they're going to park at uh Rarent Valley College and be busted. So, they come in the main driveway, uh, drop at the first dot. Um,

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the bus will then continue across the property and then out the leftmost driveway. It'll stop where the second dot is, which is where we have the proposed um, new barn. Um, if people decide they don't want to stop for lunch

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or um to buy anything, they can stay on the bus and go back to Ron Valley, but it gives them uh an opportunity to uh relax afterward. Um the I think that's it on on mansion in May

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unless I'm forgetting something on um the rest of the property uh app propo of uh comments before uh is uh is actually uh the easement for it is owned by uh the county agriculture board. So

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we're not applying for any any kind of agricultural uh tax abatement. Uh it's we don't own it. So we have nothing to apply for. We own the land but we don't own any rights to it except for agriculture which what is

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what we plant between the native flower wildflower areas. Um we have what we call chickenville. Uh it's probably the fowl grazing area. uh bulk crops, live petting, you know, kind of a petting zoo, the I call it the cute animals and

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then a sheep pasture. Um so it will be very much a uh trying to bring it back to the way it was. Um except no horses. Um so we're asking for Okay, great. So uh

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January 1 is the turnover to Morristown Medical to the women's association and at that point the manor house will be ready for the designers to implement. So

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they will be >> so you have work going on at the property at the matter house now and hopefully during that time you're uh the event barn is also well certainly by May 2027

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in shape to house the concessions whether it's it's as you said the box launch or purchasing any of the designer items inside the correct turn to township committee. I mean, I don't I did not know much about mansions

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in May. I've seen it advertised for years. Burnsville News has always reported on it. Um, so I certainly was aware of it. Didn't know that it was 25,000 people. I think that's remarkable. Um, have have you been

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>> No, but I know a lot of people who have. >> It's always a good event for them. heard you ask around. I didn't realize the enormity of the uh of the crowds and and the orchestration to put it all together. It's it's really

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sounds like the women's association at the hospital um has this down pat. Um I think this is um tremendous for Bedminster. Uh and as uh someone who worked for about two years getting the farmland preservation easements in place

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it property um it's great to see it being returned to an agricultural farmland. >> Yes. >> Um especially in conjunction with what will be u commercial venture. So, uh,

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>> tremendous. I'm looking forward I'm looking forward to this. Uh, but but certainly, you know, it's an application. So, let's, uh, let's hear questions, comments from township committee. >> You want to go first? Yes. >> Okay. So, thank you for the thorough explanation. Um, because I was unaware

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how Madison may also worked, you know, so that was really great. I just want to clarify that this special use permit is to tear down the barn, right, and build a new carriage house or barn space, right? That's what this permit is for.

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And the permit is made to um you know, design the house. It is not for um anything additional. Is that is that correct? It it's if I'm understanding the question, it's not for

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>> building permits if that's what we will be making another applicate or making an application for that following. >> It's just the mansions in May >> to be able to do that. Okay. It's >> I just wanted to clarify that >> the mansion mansion and maze use and the

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ability to build the um the barn not not the how you describe this not the building permit for the barn but the fact that we would be building a barn without plumbing in it because ultimately there will be plumbing in it. It's going to be a barn with

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electricity. >> Right. I was just clarifying that. So y otherwise it looks great. >> Right. So that in no way uh do our temporary use permits subvert the um the jurisdiction of the zoning board or the planning board, >> but rather since this is a large scale

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event, uh that's not necessarily consistent with zoning uh just as we do with other large scale events that come in through temporary use permits. Uh so this actually permits the mansions in

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May event itself >> the property >> uh and allows Exactly. It allows them to use the property to uh bring people in, sell them food. Um and and certainly the structures that are there and that will

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be built subject to the approval of the planning board allows them to put into use for the mansions in May uh event. >> Great. Well, then that's great. That sounds great. So, how much rehab do you have to do on the house that's going to

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be the mansion in May? because I thought a lot of those houses weren't kept up very well >> because a year isn't a lot of time. >> Yeah. And and uh what we're now calling OPO would fall into that category. It um so uh there has been demo done. We have

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to put Humpty Dumpty back together again which is basically what's behind the walls. So electricity, plumbing and sprinkler uh and then drywall. The advantage is no decorating. From our perspective, the advantage is we don't have to do any decorating. So, it's uh

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hanging drywall, taped, spackled, and then the designers come in and they do their thing. >> The outside of the house is fine. >> It's >> pretty much >> it's actually kind of remarkable. The the um the moldings on the inside are

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from the house is 100 years old this year. It's original uh and it's in terrific shape. the bricks on the outside. Um, when Williamsburg, Virginia was built, the living museum, the Rockefeller family put up the money to

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build out uh, Williamsburg. And apparently they had a brick factory and it's the same brick factory that provided the bricks for this house. So there's hardly any pointing needed, hardly any spalling of the bricks. It's in it's in incredible shape for

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something that had been abandoned basically for 20 years, right? >> So for us it's >> it's not quite just cosmetic, but it's minor construction. >> Okay, that's good to hear. >> Yeah. So we're they would it's going to be a nice project.

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>> That's all they got. >> This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase a signature property, maybe the signature property in Bedminster. I mean, long before I ever lived in Bedminister, I knew what Label was. You saw that white fence. You knew that property. It was spectacular. As the

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mayor mentioned, you know, it's it's been sad to see it go into decay for the past 20 years, right? The barns falling in and everything. What an opportunity now to build the property back up to what it was. Thanks. >> And and to showcase Bed Messer. So, very supportive. Thank you. So, one of the u

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and and really following up on Rene's questions and comments is that uh unlike a lot of other uh special use permits that we uh that we get involved in, uh there is some work that needs to be done on the structures to accommodate the

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mansions made to accommodate the crowd to deal with the parking um and to that to that extent you know I think we're need to really uh have both our engineer and our construction official uh engaged

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on a lot of these elements. Um so my recommendation is that uh building in two conditions. One is uh that we establish an escrow for the professional fees and staff. Um we'll leave that to

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Paul Ferrero to work out uh directly can with you or with with Ron. uh and also to have and I'm going to propose perhaps monthly meetings uh between your crew

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and Paul and Vinnie uh so that a we keep each other honest knowing of that January 1, 2027 turnover and make sure everything is in place and and I know

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how busy our construction office is to some extent it keeps both of us honest uh and keeps us focused on hitting that deadline for you and for women's association >> and to the extent it's helpful um you my

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wife and I have been doing charity work for a lot of years like many of you and you know what it's like and you get into the committees and committees operate you know the horse and the camel analogy right [laughter] I have never seen

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an organization like Mansion and May um the committees the subcommittees the sub subcommittees and they want to be able to engage with the township whether it's um you know safety whether it's uh logistics they want to have an open

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dialogue so um if it's okay uh not necessarily in a in a formal setting but wh just a phone call uh I have a meeting with them tomorrow um and uh they want to be engaged in the process to uh it it's not it's not just the volunteer

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group they represent the hospital so the security comes from the hospital the legal comes from the hospital I mean it's it's a >> it's a real life thing um and we're lucky I mean this is a a really great opportunity so it's going to be pretty cool >> great

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>> um so with that with the two conditions I've put out an escro to be established by Portro uh for the township professionals and staff and for scheduling if do you think monthly meetings is

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good or do you want more than that? >> Uh and and certainly the mentions in May the women's association would be um certainly great to have that >> they can tag along. I think they just want to make sure that they have something on January 1st. So to the extent that it's getting done, it's

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getting done. >> So you're in charge of getting everything ready. They're in charge of [snorts] fitting out the property itself. >> Correct. Okay. And a lot of what they have to fit out, they're not going to do the kitchen, for example. That would take a lot of time. Ours is a commercial kitchen. They don't have any interest in that.

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>> Um, and the the landscaping happens in the spring. So, there's a there's a sequence to what they do. I would prefer maybe more than once a month. >> Okay. >> Um, like every couple weeks if that's okay. >> Okay. Twice a month. Well, we're doing

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live twice a month. >> There you go. So, we already have a platform in place. We'll take LI. >> Matt Willigan got to you quickly. Okay. >> Okay. So, twice monthly meetings. Ask for it to be

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established by Paul. Take a motion to approve the special temporary use permit for Oxbow. >> So moved. >> Second. All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. Thank you. You're out in time

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to uh >> go USA. Go USA. Or you could stay here and watch the rest of the meeting. >> Go USA. [laughter] >> Well done. >> Smart choice. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Ron, you didn't get a chance to talk. What's uh what's wrong?

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[laughter] >> One real quick. Real quick. Oh, 10. Has Mansions in May formally announced Oxbow Loel as the mansions may for 2027?

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>> We didn't want to get ahead of the committee. So, um, Oxbow has a press release in the CAM. Uh, Mansion May has their press release in the CAM and that's part of the reason we're meeting tomorrow. >> Okay. Do you want to tell Pat Robinson that it's secret and that she shouldn't

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tell? [laughter] And if it's only >> you can't, unless you plan on doing it tonight, you'll see it go out tomorrow. If you have a card, I'll make sure you get the press release >> or if I have a card. That would be a bad thing, right?

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>> It's not at a public meeting. And so, you know, it's I'm going to scoop it tonight. >> Okay. But this but the release itself, if you send me your email, I'll make sure that you get the release. >> All right. >> There you go. Anything? We got it. We got her a scoop. Cool.

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>> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. That's all. >> Thank you. >> Monthly report discussions by subcommittee chair. We'll start with

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committeeman Rosen. >> You're muted. Bill, >> how about now? >> Perfect. >> Okay. On the rec side, uh, Camp Bedminster opened last week and everything is going well. Um, Fall Fest

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preparations are commencing shortly, um, which it has a date of October 10th. And on the fire department side, um, they Jason and his crew had quite a

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night uh, last Thursday night. Seven calls. Um, one of them was a uh two vehicle fire in Timberbrook, which they quickly brought under control, which could have spread to become a structure fire. And then they also had an incident

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on the roof at the Plugamin in on Friday night. It again brought that under control very quickly. And all of this happening uh in the hottest temperatures in decades. So kudos to uh Jason and his crew for being out there and doing their

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always um amazing job. >> Hey, thank you. Committeewoman Fernandez. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um so DPW has been working on the setup and breakdown of the 250th event that took place. Um they

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also were working on the storm cleanup [laughter] which looks like a war zone in certain parts of town. Mine street my um is one of them. and uh you know just working on cleaning

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up the roads, grooming the ball fields, cutting the grass, grading the dirt roads, the lighting up in Autumn Ridge, which one of our neighbors mentioned, and thank them for lining the soccer fields and working on the police cars and the DPW equipment.

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>> That's all. >> Thank you, Committee Moresi. >> Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. I want to do a quick shout out to the EC, the Environmental Commission, who did their second um styrofoam recycling event on the 27th. I want to

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first start by thanking Jason and his crew at DPW, especially Raone who spent the day packing up styrofoam and helping guide cars. Um, and want to thank Commissioner Whit Parker who picked up

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the stuff on Monday and drove it down to uh the site in um Middle Sex County and then commissioners Deb Tageri, Bart Bowman, and Sue Wagner, they showed up with Dawn March to uh actually take out the

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styrofoam out of everybody's cars, put it into clear plastic bags, and uh load it into the garage for the time being. But a um very special shout out to Liz and Steven first who unfortunately couldn't stay at the event. they had someplace they had to be, but they came

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over early in the morning before I left for the farmers market and they took everybody's Dunkin' Donut order and got them coffee and donuts and everything. Um, so their support is uh was so totally um appreciated.

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They had, I want to say, 21 bags of styrofoam that they got this time and several people had said, "You keep doing this, we'll keep bringing you more styrofoam." So, they're going to EC is going to start to work with uh maybe other local towns and DPW to get this on

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a more regular basis cuz the two times we've done it so far have just been fantastic and people have been so excited to have it. So, we'll get everybody together and see what we can do. Uh let's see. >> I know I'll just say it again. I know I said this the first time uh after they

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ran the styrofoam recycling. I was a doubter. I did not believe that you would get um the participation uh that you got the first time and I was a doubter the second time [laughter] thinking okay

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they did it once they got 27 >> doubting it 27 bags >> and um when I saw the pictures from Dawn about uh the amount of folks that showed up and the amount of styrofoam that was collected uh just as you said kudos and congratulations to them um and special

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thanks to Liz first because I think that was really her push for it. But >> he did the majority of the the uh research >> but the EP jump on board and uh just just great. >> Yep. >> See the styrofoam recycled rather than clogging up our landfills.

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>> Exactly. >> Well done. >> Exactly. So I just have a little bit to add about um the uh JVH event on Saturday because I was only there for a little bit. Um, I walked with Aaron and the horse bringing the Declaration of Independence down

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River Road. >> That was Molly. >> Oh, Molly. Sorry. >> No, no. Well, it was Aaron. Aaron was riding Molly a little bit. >> Was identified as Molly Pitcher character. >> So, we walked down River Road Park. River Road River Road um with the horse

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and brought it down and uh that that seemed well received with Aaron riding up and carrying the the uh the declaration, but we had to turn around and bring the horse back. So, it was a very warm day, but uh it looked like it was well attended, but I will leave it

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to you and Robin and Colin to fill in the extra pieces. um farmers market in the morning seemed not as well attended because it was so beastly hot, but that's always it's always a good event over there every morning anyway. So, >> thank you many Hickeyi.

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>> Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everybody. Uh just a quick update. Board of Ed, I attended the Bedminister Tatchup School 8th grade graduation a few weeks ago. >> It was a small graduating class, but they had a ton of enthusiasm. It's just

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it's it's just great to see the kids that come out of that little school. They're just an ex exceptional group of students each and every year. It was fun to watch them graduate and get ready for high school. So, just want to recognize them all. So, congratulations. That's all I have. >> Okay, great. Uh real quick, well, we do

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have a land use board presentation. Uh well, we have full hearing. Uh there's two applications up. One is the signage associated with the approved KRE project and then the second is actually

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expansion of um the pool facilities for Fiddler's Elbow that's on this Thursday. Uh farmers market. So from the last two weekends which I believe would bring us

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uh from our last uh TC meeting. So this turning to Colin who was our designated clicker. Uh this [snorts] uh Saturday is the 100 degree day. We had 1197. >> Yep.

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>> 1197. So you thought that it was >> it was a little bit lighter than our prior weeks this year. Uh but that's mainly because our prior weeks have been crazy with the amount of people

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>> coming through. Uh but for 1197 I would say a vast majority of them showed up uh between 8:30 and about 9:30 at Hillary >> dur during another time. 1197 would have been an amazing number.

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>> Amazing number. But it's it's crazy how uh that's happened >> every year >> and people were actually took advantage. Not that it was cool at [clears throat] 9:00 or 9:30 in the morning, but it certainly uh was cooler than uh 11:00,

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12:00 to 1:00. Um and uh you know, I'm going to leave it to Robin to talk a little bit about the America 250 event, but I just want to give a special shout out. um to Rob and Ray

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and to Jason. So, uh Friday night as the storm was coming through, uh Robin sends a text, "Tents are destroyed. Tents are down. I'm driving down 287 from Morristown. I

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come off the the ramp, avoid a tree that had fallen down, swing by, and sure enough, u all the tents are down and most of them have trees or parts of trees sitting on top of them. Uh we have an email or a text

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change uh that evening about what we're going to do, what's going to happen. I think the line we used was the show must go on. So, you know, we're not canceling the uh 250 celebration uh out there that

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morning uh getting ready for the farmers market. I swing on by and there Jason is hard at work. Jason Randolph was hard at work. That was 7:30. I know Jason was already out there when the storm hit

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all night >> celebrating his anniversary. That's the dedication we have from our DPW director. Uh he was out there that night. He was out there the following morning. Um tents were destroyed.

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Go back to the farmers market and um start migrating over to the JBH for the celebration. And um by noon all the tents were back up and

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fully functioning as if nothing ever happened. The tents were ripped. The legs were bent. [clears throat] They were gone. I don't Jason, I still not sure how you put them all back together.

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Um but it was remarkable. And on behalf of Ben, Mr. township and for all who participated and enjoyed the event. Thank you for everything that you did that day. Tremendous. Fantastic. And and to uh the rest of the DPW team for

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putting uh for rescuing really rescuing the event. Um >> so thank you guys. The event itself was fantastic just from the organization and you know

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I said thank you to Robin. Also want to give a special shout out to uh JBH chair uh Derek Anderson. um to let's see who else >> Steve >> to Wendy Hickey to former mayor Steve

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Parker who were both on the committee to uh Julie Sweta >> Jill Jill and Jill uh from uh Peep Gladstone who arranged for the Pops Orchestra uh which was great. They were

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great. They were awesome. were great. Uh Norm Penny, the vice chair of JBH, I was talking to Norm um said they had never had so many new people go through the Jacob's Vander House. They were doing tours on the half

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hour, constant traffic through there. Um he at one point turned to one of the crowds and said, "Who had who's been here before? Only one person raised her." And the room was packed. >> That's great. So people had never been

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there. They either were aware of it or and never gone or weren't aware of it and that was their first time. Um you know Colin and I were were and also thank you to Colin who sort of MCED the event. Um and

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you know by my estimation I think they're about um over 200 between two and 300. >> Yeah. >> We had 36 something go through the house tour just alone. >> Okay. Okay. So, wrong. >> So, it's you didn't bring your clicker. >> So, it's by, you know, maybe in the 400s.

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>> I think we're closer to about 500 in total. If you look at the day, people coming in and out. Wow. >> That is >> that's fabulous. >> So, that was great. Um, the food, uh, you guys, uh, the JBH, uh, team was out

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there grilling hamburgers and hot dogs and beer and wine and iced tea and water, >> cider >> and cider. Uh so the beer was uh I believe donated by uh DH by Delicious Heights and the cider donated from Burnt

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Mills. So we thank them for their uh participation. >> Yeah, they did a sponsorship DH financial sponsorship just to be clear. >> And um for those who were on the emails leading up to the event, there was a lot of stress,

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[laughter] a lot of stress by the organizers. Uh, but it came off and in the 100 degree heat to get 500 people out there. >> That is amazing. >> Tremendous.

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>> Tremendous. >> And the day after a storm where Yeah. trees falling and people had no power. People had no power. Yeah. >> It's amazing. >> Colin, you had him at free ice cream. >> That's true. >> Oh, Robin. Robin arranged for the free ice cream. So, that was that was

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>> very popular. Yes. popular with everybody of all ages. >> Uh so just a you know once again a terrific event and um you know well organized and wellrun >> and a lot of that organization we owe to Ron the Ray.

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>> Absolutely. So uh it was great to see everyone uh between Bedminster and Peac mentioned to me like this is a great first year event. I can't wait until you guys do it again next year. >> Do it.

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>> Next year. >> The 251st. [laughter] >> I'm looking at Jason to see what sort of reaction I get. >> He's running out that door. >> He's going away in his anniversary next year. [laughter] >> Oh god. >> So that's what what I I mean I really little bit of a deviation from our

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subcommittee report, >> but I wanted to uh you know make special mention of that. And with that, Robin, we'll turn to the administrator's report. Uh yes, mayor. So just a couple updates on grants. Um uh Dererick and I both assisted the Far Hills Baptist Fire

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Department and Pisville Fire to apply for the um assistance for firefighters grant. We worked on the narratives and the financials for them. So that was submitted. Fingers crossed. Um I also submitted an application to Somersa County Cultural and Heritage Commission

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uh for an emergency grant for the JVH group and we were awarded that $50,000. It's on the agenda tonight for consideration. Well, actually, it's a contract. And then, um, we had a Somerset Hills public safety meeting back on June 18th. Um, we had a precon

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meeting for Autumn Ridge, Gate House, Drummers Log, and Pestal Paving. Um, that was back on July 1st with construction expected to start the third week in July. And um also at the end of June, Elliot, myself, and Neil met with

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our new uh website provider, Aptigy, to start the ball rolling for a new website, new design, new look. Um we have a follow-up meeting tomorrow. It's probably 8 to 10 weeks for the total roll out and migration of all of our information. And then um we had uh real

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quick on that. Do we have a liaison from township committee on the roll out of the website? >> We do. Colin, [laughter] >> you're silly. >> Colin. Yeah. >> Yep. >> It's funny. That's one of the first projects we took on when I joined the committee.

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>> That's right. 2017. >> You and I. >> Yes. Exactly. That was you, Robin, and Judy. Yes. Yes. >> We need a major league refresh. >> Yes. Um, and then we just, if you want to talk about the cooling center that we

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actually opened up on Saturday, um, came in, unlocked the building, everything was happening. He's at the field. When are you coming down? I'm like, I'm at the cooling center. [laughter] So, but we got it all worked out. And, um, that was Saturday and we had five people on Saturday and yesterday we had, um, 10

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people and five dogs when I was here. >> Five dogs. Wow. >> Yeah. >> Good. So, and so for those who don't know, that was um you know, the decision- making and that was done uh literally as I was going back and forth from uh the JBH to the farmers market.

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Uh the consulting with Colin trying to get the library, we couldn't get the library. Library was closed. So, um Robin offered up the uh this room right here. made some phone calls and in about

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five minutes it was up on the website. It was up on the alerts. It was out on the telephone. Um then we're on the phone with Brian Wild, uh our OEM director, making sure that everyone was aware and that the cooling center here

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was properly snapped to accommodate that. So once again, um >> crazy day, >> crazy day. a lot going on. >> But uh yeah, if we needed a cooling center on that was the day to have it.

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>> Yeah. And people really just needed to like charge their phones and the poor dogs were dying in the heat and they just needed a >> refresh, you know, so it worked out well. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you,

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>> Chief Bernardo. Uh update on community policing. >> Hey, good evening. Uh, no updates tonight, mayor. >> Okay, thank you. We have no introduction of ordinances tonight. We have no public hearing of

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ordinances. A consent agenda. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight items. These are items of a routine nature. Any member of the township committee may pull one, some, or all of them offer individual

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consideration. If you want to do so, now is your time to do so. >> Seeing no uh township committee including any offer in visual consideration, I will take a motion to approve the items on the consent agenda.

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>> So move. >> Second. >> Okay. Uh Committeeman Rosen is my first and uh Committee Moreski is second. And roll call vote, please. Committee Hickey, >> I. >> Committeewoman Moreski, >> I. Committeewoman Fernandez. >> Hi, >> Committeeman Rosen.

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>> I >> and Mayor Jacobs. >> I. >> Thank you. >> We have two resolutions for individual consideration. The first is resolution 2026127. This resolution authorizes the acceptance of credit card and electronic funds transfer payments for the payment

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of certain township services and related fees and the charging of transaction fees. Miss Ray, you want to walk us through this? >> Uh, yes, Mayor. There's been a a request from residents and contractors to be able to move into the credit card world

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for paying municipal fees and we are making that plunge and this uh resolution um identifies that certain uh township services and related fees and um will be charged and the user will pay

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uh the transaction fees. So there'll be no cost to the township. >> Okay. So this is something that we've talked about in prior years. Um one of the things that was always hold back was both the techn excuse me the technology but also the idea of um could we uh we

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would have if the way we was had worked before is that if we did a credit card or other um electronic transactions that the fee would be absorbed by the municipality. So essentially we'd be um

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supporting and all the other applicants would essentially be paying uh to subsidize those uh those conveniences. Um this would allow us to actually charge the transaction fee back to

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whoever is using it. Is there uh a set transaction fee or does it differ by >> It differs by credit card. Um but I will tell you we really wanted to wait until this whole process was vetted by the division of um community affair and since they laid out a you know roadmap

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for us now is the time >> to move forward. >> Okay. I think this is a certainly a great convenience. Um any questions, comments from the township committee. >> Everybody else is charging fees on credit cards. So it's not like we're the outlier. It's we're just part of normal business anymore.

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>> So I think that's okay. Are our um residents can be asked for to give a tip at the uh >> that's [laughter] spin around the council at the front desk. >> That's illegal. >> Thank God. [laughter]

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>> If there's no further questions or comments, take a motion to approve resolution 2026127. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. Committee Hickey. >> I. >> Committeewoman Moresty. Hi, >> Committeewoman Fernandez. >> Hi,

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>> Committeeman Rosen. >> I >> and Mayor Jacobs >> I. >> Thank you. >> And the next resolution is resolution 2026128. This resolution authorizes an award of contract to auto agent data solutions

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LLC doing business as municipe LLC LLC providing technology and services to allow customers to pay certain municipal fees through the use of credit cards at zero cost to the township. This is a companion resolution I presume.

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>> That's correct. So this is the actual vendor that we're going to be working with which was is broadly accepted by um most of our different workings. We have community pass, we have spatial data logic, we have different platforms that our different departments use and

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municipate seems to work well with most of them. >> Great. So on uh resolution 127 allows us to actually um uh take the credit cards and this resolution 128 authorizes the for the contract to the uh vendor. Any

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questions or comments regarding the resolution? Seeing none, take a motion to approve resolution 2027128. >> So moved. >> Second. Okay. Committeeman Rosen as first and rename Committee Moreski as the second.

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Roll call vote, please. Committeeman Hickeyi, >> I. >> Committeewoman Moreski, >> I. >> Committeewoman Fernandez, >> I. >> Committeeman Rosen, >> I. >> And Mayor Jacobs, >> I. >> Thank you. >> And I'll take a motion to approve the billless pending review of individual invoices and purchase orders.

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>> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. Roll call again, please. Committeeman Hickeyi, >> I. Committeewoman Moreski. >> Hi. >> Committeewoman Fernandez. Hi. >> Committeeman Rosen. >> I. >> And Mayor Jacobs. >> Hi. >> Thank you.

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>> Matters for new business. Any member of the township committee want to put any item or agenda on new business. Soccer game will have just started. [laughter] >> Um, so we will go to old business. And

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you know what's first under old business? Let me guess. >> Take a guess. Come on. >> Hard to imagine. >> Yes, that's right. >> That's right. >> Guess Hickeyi, I I believe we have some utility updates >> and you know, we had a few storms over

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the weekend, just just in case you didn't notice. Uh, all things considered, Bedminister fared pretty well versus our neighboring towns. We did unfortunately lose power in the Courtland neighborhood as well as some homes in western Bedminster and north of Lamington Road. We had a total of 266

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customers in Bedminister who were impacted, but about twothirds of those were fully restored by late yesterday afternoon. Again, many thanks to uh Robin and Bedminister PD for opening up the the cooling center on both Saturday and Sunday. Many thanks to Jason and DPW

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for tree clearing late night on Friday and early into Saturday morning when he was not so intense. When you see a >> driving to the farmers market Saturday morning and I see DPW trucks going by with snow plows.

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>> Wow. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Good point. >> In 100 degree day when you see DPW trucks with snow plows, they're not plowing snow. >> No, they're not. >> Yeah. >> No. Tremend tremendous job, Jason, by you and your crew. Um, mayor, you

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mentioned uh our OEM coordinator was on top of things immediately. Also want to recognize Laura Hullbro, who's the HOA president over in Courtland. She's like a dead mother over there. You know, she was knocking on doors, checking in on folks, calling me, let me know what was going on over there. It was nice coordination. You know, you and I were

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in constant contact with these folks as well as our JCPNL leazison. I think BM minister really did a good job in helping address our residents immediate needs and also made sure things got moving along in JCNL. One one of the uh things I want to put out there is and

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I'm going to get to the the tree clearing later, but um >> Courtland, >> yeah, >> the loss of energy, the loss of electricity uh at Courtland uh that was transforming related

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>> I believe so, but we haven't gotten the after action report yet. So once we hear and that's why I asked Bob, give us the update when you know >> because the lines I mean it's >> the line should the line should switch >> right? >> Um they're the lines leading into

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Courtland are underground and those are the same mains that would serve other communities. Um so the working theory is that it would there was a surge as >> and and other areas were going off and the transformer

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>> the residents heard an explosion. So, it just it all adds up. But until we get a real report back, we'll we'll confirm and I'll report back next time. But, you know, we were very fortunate. It was just limited to that one neighborhood. >> Yeah. Other other towns um in surrounding towns were um they're still

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>> Yeah. >> in in really bad situation. >> And you know, one of the things that we have talked many times um in this forum about is tree clearing. and we've been

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um promoting tree clearing. We love We love our trees. We love our trees. We love our vegetation, not near our power lines, >> right? >> And so we encourage property owners to coordinate um and and cooperate with

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JCPNL when they're performing tree clearing. And for all our property owners, if you see a tree that is near a power line, call JCPNL. >> Yep. >> They'll they'll take it down. >> Yeah.

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>> Because the tree clearing um will save you. It will save your neighbors. Um and to some extent um you know, we remain at the whims of um the other municipalities where these lines move through. We can

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be aggressive here in Bedminster, but if a line is coming up down 206 from uh PG or Chester and that's that's coming to us. >> Exactly. Right. >> So I will say, you know, Burnsville um had significant

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um loss of power >> and you know, they they've been reticent to um go after the trees. >> Right. Right. Trees and wires don't mix. But I also have to believe that a lot of the infrastructure investment that's been made over the last few years, particularly in the hills, as well as in

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the lines leading into the hills and elsewhere, really helped avoid a much more widespread outage. So, I think we're very fortunate. >> But that's not all. >> Oh, there's more. >> There's more utilities. >> Okay, fill me in. uh

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fiber optimum >> uh your recent discussions >> not with optimum >> not with optimum with >> with Comcast. Yes. >> So >> I mean it's already out there. I mean they've been communicating directly with

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the HOAs. >> Yeah. I mean look it's it's it's a work in progress trying to figure out a way to get Comcast to do an overbuild in the hills. Most cable providers shy away from those type of investments, particularly in an overbuild case where you're overbuilding over an existing

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provider. Uh but we think we may have convinced them to go ahead and make that investment. Uh given the density of the hills, the demographics of the hills, it would be it would be a great place to go build a fiber network. So the mayor and I have been working with Comcast representatives and uh we're hoping to

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bring some more good news over the course of the next couple months. would give our residents choice and choice always leads leads to price competitiveness and I think that's another thing residents need both better service and service at a better rate so let's see how that goes >> yeah and this is uh picking up from

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discussions that we had had a number of years ago but as uh folks um cycle through uh there's a new group and um Hickeyi will be dealing directly with them and trying to see if we can make uh

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make fetch happen. >> Yes, exactly. >> Okay. >> Um Somers said Hills health public safety committee as Mr. mentioned we did have a very brief uh discussion on um with the public safety committee. Uh we talked

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about the event that um Chief Bernardo gave the recognition about the situation of breakin EPAC Gladstone with support from Bedminster PD and talked about breakins

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and what we're seeing uh across the Somerset Hills and and so generally uh crime seems to be well in uh well in hand and um we will come back to Somerset Hills public safety committee

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uh meetings in September. >> Um with that we may brief comment. What >> you do you have a brief comment? >> I do. >> Bring it on. Attorney Bolardo. >> What may have been at first you had an elected official from Alaska observing your meeting remotely tonight. She's not

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there anymore but uh see how we run meetings in Bedminister New Jersey and she was duly impressed with both the governing body and our township. You're right. >> Wow. >> Nice. >> Very cool. >> Also serves on my HOA,

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Florida. >> She's very well traveled. >> I was about to tell you got frequent flyer miles of that or a lot of mileage on her car. >> All right. Well, thank you for that, John. Uh we'll go through tangent committee comments.

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Who to start with? Start with Committeeman Rosen. Thank you, mayor. And um just some more um echoing of good sentiments. Um obviously uh much to my chagrin, I wasn't able to attend uh the 250 celebration, but kudos

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to Robin, the JVH uh committee, historic preservation, and everybody else involved. Um kudos to Jason and his crew for the emergency work Friday night and Saturday. And I heard Larry's rendition

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of the uh Declaration of Independence would have made the founding fathers uh quite proud. And I just want to um expand a little bit more on the work um that the fire department has been doing uh lately. Um, again, we are blessed

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with an army of volunteers throughout Bedminster, but our first responders, I've um come to discover over the past few months, uh, working with them, uh, they are a breed amongst themselves, their dedication, training is just

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outstanding and we are very fortunate to have a highly trained uh, crew and Jason does a great job with them and they all are remarkable individuals and again we are very lucky to have them um in our

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community and one thing during my uh convolescence um I've become a soccer fan I have no idea what I'm watching a game where time is up to the discretion of the refs leaves a lot uh to be

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desired but it has been exciting go us >> and I'll say huzzah to that again That's it. >> Okay. >> Um, thank you, Mayor. I just agree with everything Bill said. Um, I am very

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impressed. There's 500 people out to celebrate the 250th. Um, especially on 100 degree day after a storm. So, that's amazing. That's such a great event. Uh I also had the honor to attend this year's high school graduation at Bernard's High School uh representing Bedminister

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Township Committee and to celebrate such an important milestone for our graduating seniors and their families. So I just want to say congratulations to the class of 2026 on all your hard work, perseverance, and accomplishments and wishing each of them continued success,

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happiness, and confidence as they begin this new chapter. >> Great. Thank you, Committeeman Hickey. Thank you, Mayor. Just again to echo my colleague sentiments, the American 250 committee did an amazing job. You mentioned being a doubter about the styrofoam. I said to my wife on Friday

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night, there's no way it's going to be 100°. If three people show up, you should be excited. And you and I walk up the field from the farmers market and see these people everywhere on blankets in chairs. The band, I was >> pleasantly surprised. And that just is

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kudos against all the hard work, Robin, of you, your committee, the team. They did a tremendous job. Even though Jason wouldn't wear trioint hat, you did amazing work is worth >> I did for a minute. Yes. >> You put a hat on. >> Rob my head. >> Yes. Yeah. Even Even when he didn't get

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to do that. So, >> but no, just congratulations. Job well done and thank you as always. That's got >> All right, Mittiwoman Moresi. As always, I echo my uh fellow committee person's feeling

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toward the weekend and our fighter fighters and our DPW and of course Robin and Neil if anybody wants to throw his name in because he was bouncing back and forth between JVH and Farmers Market. [laughter]

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>> I have a personal message. I wasn't gonna cry, but I guess I am. So, I'm gonna try and just read this. so I don't muck it up. Good evening, friends, neighbors, 28, and fellow committee members.

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Tonight, I feel a mixture of gratitude, humility, and a touch of sadness. A little bit more than that. It's with a very heavy heart that I am announcing my decision to withdraw from my position on the township committee effective July

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31st. This decision comes as my husband and I are preparing to relocate sorry to another part of the country. We are excited for the new opportunities ahead. But leaving this community and especially this role is truly

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bittersweet. Serving on this committee has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my p public life. It has been an honor to work alongside [gasps] such dedicated individuals. All of them are committed to the well-being of our

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community. I want to thank my fellow committee members for their collaboration, our township staff for their tireless work, and most importantly, the residents who have trusted me to represent them. Your voices, concerns, and ideas have shaped

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every decision I've made here. I'm proud of what we've accomplished together. from keeping our local taxes low and expanding community programs to fostering a spirit of cooperation that I hope will continue long after my departure. Though I will be soon living

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in a different part of the country, this township has always held a special place in my heart. I will carry crap. Sorry, almost done. I will carry with me the lessons, friendships, and sense of community that I have found here. Thank

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you all for allowing me the privilege to serve. And that's it. Thank you. >> I'm still Thank you. Thank >> So you're still with us through the end

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of the month. So >> one more time [laughter] you're we the plan is on uh July 20th. Um [sighs and gasps] Robin, you'll have stack of tissues, [laughter]

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tissues. Um, and we will uh we will do our best to uh keep you in tears through that entire meeting. >> So, >> okay. >> Okay. with that and uh we will I'm sure

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we'll have some folks coming out in uh in public comment to uh to give the remarks. So, thank you for your service. >> I am so blessed to have been here. >> Certainly go into it a little more detail at our next meeting. Um July has

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been so far extremely eventful. Uh and thank you to all of our professionals and our staff. [clears throat] It's been a great July. Let's keep it going. >> And with that at 8:17, I'll take a

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motion to >> take us out. Renee, >> I'm not adjourning. No, I want to stay here. >> So moved. >> Beckus. >> All in favor? >> I I thank you and good night. >> Good night,

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>> John. Thank you for keeping the seat warm. >> [laughter] >> I'm signing your bills right back. >> Okay. >> Good night, y'all. >> Good night. And um I get my um my first question of the day tomorrow with my

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consult is how the hell did it retire when I haven't done anything for it to retire? So, >> it makes no sense that I have a retar. Uh, I have