Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the co-star, the official newspaper of the Burough Belmar and the Esbury Park Press. And notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board and the municipal website. Take call. Councilwoman Donovan >> here. Counciloman Kenny
>> here. Mayor Becca Fusco >> here. >> Councilman Delasio >> here. >> Council >> here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America, to the reps,
one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Please remain standing for a moment of silence for our troops, their families, first responders, and also Carol Lawrence. Thank you.
Councilwoman Kenny, Council President Kenny is going to read a proclamation on behalf of Pride Month. >> Okay. Proclamation recognizing June 2026 as Pride Month. Whereas the mayor and council of the burough of Belmar
recognizes and proclaims the month of June 2026 as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer LGBTQ pride month throughout the burough of Belmar. Whereas the Burough of Belmar joins the county of Mammoth to observe Pride Month with Pride flag raising ceremony to
honor the history of the LGBTQ liberation m movement and to support the rights of all citizens to experience equality and freedom from discrimination. And whereas the rainbow flag is widely recognized as a symbol of pride, inclusion, and support for social
movements that advocate for LGBTQ plus people in society. And whereas all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, LGBTQ plus individuals have an immeasurable impact to the cultural, civic, and economic successes of our country. And whereas
the Burough of Belmar is committed to support visibility, dignity, and equality for LGBTQ people in our diverse community, while society at large increasingly supports LGBTQ plus equality, it is essential to acknowledge that the need for education and
awareness remains vital to undiscrimination and prejudice. And whereas this nation was founded on the principle that every individual has infinite dignity and worth and the mayor and council call upon the people of Belmar to embrace this principle and work to eliminate prejudice everywhere
it exists. Whereas the celebration pride month influences awareness and provides support and advocacy for Mammoth County's LGBTQ plus community and is an opportunity to take action and engage in dialogue to strengthen alliances, build ex build acceptance and advance equal
rights. Now therefore, be it resolved, the mayor and council, the burrow of Belmar hereby proclaims the month month of June 2026 as pride month in support of the LGBTQ plus community. Be it further resolved that the rainbow flag will be raised during the month of June,
recognizing all LGBTQ plus residents whose influential and lasting contributions to our neighborhoods make the Burough of Belar a vibrant community in which to live, work, and visit. June 9th, 2026. >> Thank you.
Uh let's move on to workshop discussion. There any uh workshop issues? Uh just want to give an update. Um, last week we heard a presentation from our LSRP on the 12th Avenue project and there were a lot of questions from the council uh
some public comment on it. So, I did some researching with them uh this week. Um, the first thing uh we found some price adjustments in their bid uh cuz I was questioning some of the construction costs. Their bid did come down to $575,000
versus $770. So, that's one thing for the council to consider. Um, in addition, I started looking into grants with the D. Uh, an HDSRP grant is from the D, which is for remediation on sites like this. Um, they said we would
qualify. I linked them with Millennium. Uh, Millennium is working with the D right now. Millennium is our grant writer. Um, so we could be eligible. It's an application process. It does take about 6 months, but depending on what
there's a higher percentage in what we can get in a grant, if we determine the end use, for example, if we determine it's going to be public service, we could get a 75% construction grant. And this is retroactive, including the money we've already spent. Um, this is now
some answers I got from the D. um it would be 50% if we used affordable housing or if we decide to not choose the end use and just see what happens with the property with the cleanup it could be 25%. Um so this is something that we're continuing to work on. I think it was a pretty important update
to give to the public um and that you know I would you understand this was a project that needs to happen in the summer because of the water table. Uh but you know, the initial cost of it was almost $800,000 was quite a bit to swallow to give up this year. But if we're going to budget for something like
this next year, let's queue in these grants and um hopefully get up to 75% funding for it. >> Thank you. Um >> I just have a question and this might be uh for Mr. Miguel, who's not here, but
um was there an issue with the contract that would have disqualified us for a lot of grants with the way we like closed the amount like the amount of time to do due diligence? I thought there was an issue there that precluded us from qualifying for grants. >> I can't answer the question because I
don't know what the grant is requiring in terms of the uh you know the what happened in the past, but um it's something to look into. I mean, obviously, um, our grant consultants will tell us if there's any any, uh,
barriers or any, uh, things that we need to get to before they can, uh, give us the grant. But I'm sure they'll they'll let us know. And if there is, we can we can go back and look at that and see what's going on. >> Thank you. >> But that's a great savings. I mean, if we can if we can do that, we've done so
many other things with grants and it would be great to be able to do that also. >> Absolutely. And you did, Mike, like you said, it could potentially be retroactive and some of the $300,000 that we have already spent in cleaning up this area >> from the D itself. Uh retroactive costs are eligible for reimbursement, but
there is no guarantee in funding. So you're you're more, you know, likely more more likely and it's a rolling grant uh funding. Uh so it you're more likely to get the um the current project, but yes, to go back and get the initial 300,000 would be would be
obviously key to and really reducing the cost on that overall. >> That's great. Good work, Mike. That was great. >> I mean, I think in in light of that, obviously the council probably should be looking at the the the use aspect of it because that will that will impact on
how much money you will get in terms of percentage. So, you know, like you said, uh if it's a public, it'll be a 75% reimbursement. It's affordable housing a 50% and I think you said if it was some other 25 with just nothing, whatever the future is.
>> So, I mean that that's a I guess a future agenda item that you guys can work on uh to try to, you know, either with the public input or whatever to try to figure out what the use of that property uh would best serve the community. >> Yeah. being that it's probably a
six-month answer. Um, getting that start, it that is the start is determining, you know, what end us we want to commit to. Now, the public service is is it's a broad, you know, it's a broad range of things. It just has to be used municipally. Um, parking,
uh, EMS, two things that come up. Is that property going to work for that? I don't know. Um, you know, um, affordable housing, affordable housing would be, I guess, >> my ideas. >> Yeah. Okay. >> So, everybody s so public comment and uh council input is key in the next few
weeks uh to to get this application started. >> Any other uh items for workshop? >> I have a workshop item. Um, I've been I've been in contact and uh with both some of the administrative staff here in
in the in the building and some of the um DPW and it seemed they're they're both working without a contract right now. Uh they're very concerned about it. We've been paying a labor attorney by my calculations somewhere around uh up to
about $20,000 at this point with no real progress. not asking for an answer tonight, but what I'm saying is that we might need to um re-evaluate our relationship with that labor attorney um if we're not going to be able to make some progress. The the people deserve
the contract and I'd like to see that happen. So, that's something we do need to consider moving forward. >> If I could just make a comment on that, as you know, uh negotiations for labor contracts are a multi there's two sides.
So each side has to be available to be able to have the uh negotiation. And I think if we uh if we look back and we can tell you this uh there hasn't been some negotiations recently because of
some delays on the labor side. Uh and uh so the amount of time that it's taking is really something that's a function of how both sides can meet. Okay. Obviously, the labor attorney doesn't get paid unless he's at at had a a labor
session. So, um I think we were all in the uh in the um in the in the area where we want to get these things done as quickly as possible, but uh some of the delay has been mostly due to the the
labor side. I don't know if Mr. Kane can fill us in. He's been closely involved with that since day one. >> Yeah. One one of the one of the union reps had some family medical issues and it delayed a little bit, but uh we're meeting with both of them tomorrow
again. They're both scheduled one to 101 tomorrow. >> Any other workshop issues? If not, we'll move on to petitions. Did we have any petitions? >> Mayor, I did not receive any petitions.
>> Okay. Approval of minutes. May 26th minutes. >> I have a motion to approve the May 26th minutes. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Donovan. >> Yes. >> Council McKini. >> Yes. >> Councilman Delasio. >> Yes. >> Council member Moroni.
>> Yes. >> Mayor Busesco. >> Yes. >> Report. Reports of council. Councilwoman Donovan. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, the Harbor Commission is supporting efforts to make it a better environment for the residents and the slip holders. It's
been really gratifying to work with the group to see exactly what we can do with the time and funding that we have. So, we're looking at replacing two of the older stumps in the parking lot and addressing ID do. And I want to just thank our staff over there. They have been absolutely invaluable. Um, the
environmental commission is um looking to do a community survey on noise pollution and leaf blowers. So, I will continue to update you on that and that will go out probably on social and uh through the environmental commission website. The website's also where you should be able to find a copy of our uh
clean a community energy plan. Um and we are still looking for public comments on that. And finally, patchwork for wildlife is seeking yards to evaluate and work. This is a wonderful program that looks for yards that are doing um sustainable landscaping practices using um
any any so if you if it's yourself, it's your neighbor, whoever you want, you can nominate someone and they'll be recognized. Um and that's a program that's in quite pleasant, Red Bank here in Belmar and in Lake Ko. And finally, we're wrapping up our Army Corps of Engineer grant. That's a really exciting
um place to be right now. So when we are completed with that, we will have three distinct plans from the Army Corps of Engineer to present to the public, get your input and decide which way to move forward. Um and finally, uh the softball field broke ground today. So we are
moving forward with that. It's very very exciting. So uh that will be done. The the big work which is resizing and putting in the new um clay will be this week. We're really hoping, we're gathering um uh
pricing out right now the dugouts. We're hoping that can start um this month as well. So, thank you. >> Uh thank you, Council President Kenny. >> Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Uh recreation, the oldtime basketball uh baseball game is this Saturday, the 13th at 11:00 a.m.
on Memorial Field. The teams are the Mammoth Furnace versus the Hoboken 9. Uh Friday night concert series this week is the Friday night concert is curbside pickups. Uh it's a folk orchestra and it starts at 6 p.m. Summer tennis lessons are ending along with the kids running
club. So check out the website for when there will be finishing up and the Luckenville Orchestra will be performing every Monday night this summer starting July 6th in Taylor Pavilion. Shows start at 700 p.m. Um some couple things around the schools. Everybody's wrapping up the
school year. Belar Elementary has their PTA PTO color run this Thursday, June 11th at 3 p.m. at the field. The eighth grade dance is June 17th at 6 p.m. 8ighth grade graduation is 600 p.m. on the 18th. The last day of school for
Belar Elementary is June 23rd. And St. Rose High School is their last day of school was today. They have finals until Monday. So the next couple days, last day of finals and last day of school is Monday. Same with St. Rose Grammar School. Last day of school is Monday, June 15th. Uh Sha Tree Commission and
the Environmental Commission are doing a combined meeting this Thursday, the 11th, at 6:30 in the library. All are welcome. And Belar Elementary School wanted us to know one more thing. They will be doing a summer food service program, which is um any child under 18
years old can get free lunches from 11 to 11:30 a.m. this summer from July 6th through August 6th. And that is all I have. >> Uh thank you, Councilman Delasio. >> Thank you. Um also, we brought up the EVP tournament. We haven't had a uh
meeting since and that I thought that went went well. It wasn't any issue on on uh the burrow end. Hope the DPW and the police worked out. Um it looked like a really nice crowd. Uh some fun uh that was a fun event. Um the uh lifeguards
are going into Belmar uh elementary school tomorrow. One or two lifeguards. I know my niece is one of them to give some more ocean safety presentation and tips and talk about lifeguarding and the junior guard program. Um planning board it. We did not have our meeting uh between the last two meetings. We do
have a meeting scheduled for the 15th at 7 p.m. We will continue looking at the canopy ordinances and other um items. We do not have any um anything on the agenda yet. any uh presentations. The Harbor Commission is um Miss Donovan
already spoke about our next meeting is next Tuesday at 6 p.m. the 16th. >> Okay. Thank you, Councilman Veron. Uh just a reminder that on Thursday the 18th, the the library will be handling handling their um annual Junth
celebration at Taylor Pavilion and the ADA committee will be meeting next week, probably on Wednesday, to uh set up the uh anti-bullying campaign uh that's going to be uh in conjunction with the
recreation department. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh last night I attended the um library board meeting and uh two things to report. If you haven't noticed, the library has been repainted and there are new front doors
and that kind of completes uh the renovation of the library. back I forget number of months ago they got all new windows which uh which were quite a a project to do because they wanted to keep it in the same style and and place
as the original windows. So um the library is looking good. Uh, the other thing they're starting to to think about, and it's it's a new concept that maybe some of you have heard of or not heard of, but there's a concept called the library of things. And it goes
basically, you know, how we we have a library and it gives out books. Well, there are some libraries who give out things, things that people might need uh for a host of different things. for example, uh you might need a uh
a drill, you know, to to do some work and you don't have a drill and you really don't need to go buy one because you're just going to do this one thing. So, you you can go to the library and borrow a drill. Or it could be uh you know, like a 50 earned coffee pot. you
know, you're having a party and you're not going to go out and buy a 50-year coffee pot for one party. But if the library has it, you can go in and and borrow the grill. Apparently, the Redbank Public Library has been doing this for a while and they have a lot of
experience in in handling this and it kind of works out, you know, pretty well. Obviously, there are there are a lot of steps uh that need to be taken in terms of, you know, making sure that the items that you're giving out are are not, you know, hazardous or dangerous or
whatever. But, uh, and keeping track of who has it and, you know, if it comes back, if it's damaged, if it's not damaged, and so on. But, I think it's a it's a step in the right direction. It could be anything. It could be like uh like games, you know, if you're having a party in your yard and you want to have
the uh the bean bag game, you know, and you're not going to go out and buy one, if the library has it, you can borrow it. So, they're working on that and I I think it's I think it's a great concept, you know, within reason because
many of us don't need uh to go out and buy things for a one use or a two-use uh operation or event or something that we're doing. So, they're going to be working on that more and they'll have more detail uh for us in the future, but it it's something that I think would uh
would benefit the burrow and and the residents. >> I love that you brought that up because there was a great article in the New York Times, I think like a year ago about it and I brought up the environmental commission and it was highlighting one that was in Maine, I want to say, and they had everything from like a KitchenAid mixer, which I
just feel bad for the person who's trying not to drop that on their toe. I've seen that crack a floor. Um to you know like electronic leaf lovers if you want to try those out to even lower cost items like board games. I think it's really interesting especially when you
start thinking about just buying and accumulating less stuff. So kudos to the library. I love that. When I was part of the ADA commission, we had talked about this very thing for things that you might need in your like, you know,
handicap world, perhaps a walker or crutches or, you know, things that you might need in, you know, for for mobility, wheelchair, you know, things like that that you might need only temporarily. And we were discussing this very idea. So, I think this is a great
idea. I think our challenge was just in the library's challenge really is storage, right? So, I think that was the only thing that we were really having to the Does Bradley have something like this? >> I'm not sure if if they do. They only
mentioned um Red Bank, I believe. >> Uh but there there I think Red Bank is the only one in Mammoth County, but apparently they're around the country. They have a bunch of these things. And it's it's really um it's it's only limited by your imagination because you
know yeah they're they're envisioning maybe you know needing like a a 10 by 20 um shed to to to put the things because there's really no room in the library but it's in the very very you know beginning stages of this. >> And then I wonder would they accept donations?
>> Well that's the other thing. It depends on, you know, like I have a feeling if it's like an electronic thing, I would have to say probably not because they want to make sure that the devices work, you know, but if it's like I don't know, you know, like I have an extra rake or I
have an extra, you know, pole thing that can cut branches or whatever, you know, obviously you can see if it works or not. You know, it's not a problem. And I have half of my garage is like that. So I could probably fill fill up, you know, half of the 10 by 20.
>> Get a lot of donations from our members in town. >> Yeah. I mean, they'll get to the point where I think they you'll hear more about it and uh and I'm sure they'll accept certain things from individuals. Anything else? No. Okay, let's move on to the public
session for the resolutions on the agenda. This will be the public session for all of the resolutions. So, um, if you have a comment you'd like to make, please step up to the mic. I will remind people there's a comment section and we
limit comments to 5 minutes. >> Can I have a motion to close? >> Hold on. Public. >> Yes. This is the public session of the for the resolutions. >> Yes. G Premier Fork Avenue. Um I have a comment or two about uh resolution
2026-120. Um this is a resolution uh to take it. Anyway, >> this is a resolution u to hire contractor that does a lot of work in Belmar. In fact, I think they have a lot
of institutional knowledge. Uh, and this is to replace the uh 60inch check valve on the Lake Ko pipe. And u not too familiar with the 60in one, but on the A
Street pipe, we have a 48 in one. Uh, and if my memory serves me correct, with the A Street pipe, uh, we had a a 50-year uh, guarantee warranty on it. And uh from what I hear, I I guess the
public works has has said that u you know these don't last that long. U so a bit concerned about that. I don't have any problem with the contract here. But this is storm water.
We have a water utility. We have a sewer utility. We don't have a storm water utility. Now that's back to the rain tax. Perhaps we should start working on a
storm water utility. Um the benefits there are the reduction in the uh water and sewer bill that we get from the municipality. Right now when we sell somebody a gallon
of water, we charge them to dispose of two gallons of water. is to that that's all storm water one way or the other that's finding its way into these sewer lines. Um the benefit of a storm water
utility would be uh moving that over to the tax column and away from the uh bills that we get every four months or so. Um, I I guess I would like to see the mayor and council moving forward uh
to see whether they can establish a a storm water utility. Uh, I did look up uh actually the city of New Brunswick and there are other towns. I heard that uh Cranford more recently uh adopted a
storm water utility and I I would ask the mayor and council to the board of m excuse me the league of municipalities uh supposedly tracks these sort of ordinances that towns are trying are
either working on or have adopted. Uh I I looked at the U New Brunswick uh primarily because Ruckers Ruckers is located in New Brunswick along with Johnson and Johnson and some
big companies. But this is where the brain trust is located. uh leers has become that the the think tank for climate change and uh from what I've read so far um it seems to be very comprehensive and may very well be made
to suit for the Pearl Belmont. Um other than that, like I said, I have no problem with the u with the contract. Uh it's just that I think that this going forward should be
moved over to a storm water utility. Also having a storm water utility would help in perhaps with recovering some of the cost of these maintenance items like from Spring Lake or Lake Ko. you had a
stormwater utility where the water shed leads to Belmar, then you you would have the opportunity somewhat one way or the other to collect money from the other people that are benefiting from it.
>> Thank I think it's a great idea. Perhaps the council can take a look at that uh and see if it's something that they may want to recommend for us here in Belmar. Yeah, I I think by the way on as far as the seniors are concerned, uh we would
perhaps be able to cut the uh sewage disposal uh charge by about 50% if we had switched this over so that the people that are already locked into taxes would would be a lot more stable
than just increasing those costs. >> Definitely something that's worth looking into. Thank you for your comments. >> Yeah. Can I make one more comment on >> uh Sure. >> Yeah. This has to do with excuse me
2026-121. Uh this is adopting a what's it called? A >> program energy. >> Now I've looked all over the place. I can't find the plan. >> I'd have to uh defer to uh
>> our clerk. >> I will check right now, but I believe it's also posted on the Baltimore Environmental Commission's website. I did check and actually I left a comment on the environmental commission website but I could not find a copy of the draft
plan or >> but if if it's not there we'll make sure that it shows up there and we'll let you know at the next >> any resolution until the opportunity to take a look at the
>> that's up to the council >> it it says It's okay. You're right. There's a place for it, but it's the plan itself is not posted. You're correct. At least on this is it on the burough website. >> Okay. >> We were sent to us in the email, not on the plan.
>> I I believe we should table this if it wasn't posted. >> The only question I have is is there any um time regarding the uh it's a grant. I don't know. Uh if we know that that's uh time bound or not, >> we don't know.
>> Yeah, we can uh >> research as we speak. See, the resolution does say u it was submitted to the bureau. It doesn't say anything about
um the bureau posting it. Actually, it doesn't even mention the environmental commission. >> I'm reading this. I don't think the grant is an issue because it says the grant was awarded in the amount of 10,000 to do I assume the New Jersey
clean energy uh uh plan. the do we have a consensus that we should I just ask a quick question on that resolution specifically if we're going to table it which I agree with um how are we going to manage that is there
going to be a commission like the harbor commission or something to make sure that that's being handled properly that's a lot there's a whole lot of different moving parts on that program um and being in the energy industry myself. I don't know that it should be
left up to just, you know, we shouldn't have a plan to how we're going to implement that. >> Well, in general, the environmental commission is the one who has worked on it and put together and they would be working with to come up with the plan on
how to implement it with you know so um you know and we always of course welcome everyone to come and and join us and we welcome your contributions as well. I I if we if we're going to uh table this, I assume we need a motion to take
this out of the consent agenda and then we can uh move to uh to table it. >> I'll make the motion. >> Let's do it after finish public session.
>> Yeah, we'll finish our public session and then we'll we'll do that. Would anyone else like to make a comment on the resolutions? >> If not, let's >> resolution submitting the plan. So, this
is not a we can take not just to make it public for on the website. >> It was presented though publicly just so that's clear. Yes. >> Motion to close the public session. I'll make the motion.
>> Second. >> Favor. >> Okay. Can I have a motion to um Well, let me just clarify before we get into that. Um resolutions uh 117, 118, 119, and then 124, 125, and 126. We
pulled out to make a separate consent agenda. So, we'll have two. Um consent agenda number one. Can I have a motion to amend to remove and table resolution 2026121? Motion
>> second. >> Councilman Donovan, >> yes. >> Counciloman Kenny, >> yes. >> Councilman Delasio, >> yes. >> Councilman Moroni, >> yes. >> Mayor Magusco, >> yes. >> And then can I have a motion to adopt consent agenda number one as amended?
>> I'll make a motion. Second. Counciloman Donovan. >> Yes. >> Counciloman Kenny, >> yes. >> Councilman Delasio, >> yes. >> Councilman >> yes. >> Mayor Becca Fusco, >> yes. >> Okay. Uh, next we have uh consent agenda
number two. Um, that like as I said, that was resolutions 117 through 119 and then 124 through 126. Do we have a motion to adopt consent agenda number two? Can I ask a quick question about that before we do this? Just to make sure that we're
not um doing anything incorrect. I had spoken to the burough attorney beforehand. Um are we okay to vote on this if there were campaign contributions made but not in this calendar year?
>> Yes, that's that's our interpretation of the audience. Yeah, fair enough. Yes. Can I have a motion to adopt consent agenda number two? Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Donovan. >> Yes.
>> Councilman Kenny, >> yes. >> Councilman Delasio, >> Epstein. >> Councilman Moroni, >> yes. >> Mayor Benco, >> yes. >> And then we have three more resolutions. Uh first one is resolution 2026113
resolution authorizing payment of bills. Do we have a motion to adopt this resolution? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Okay. I have a comment on this resolution please. Um in in the bills we have um quite a
list from our engineers RV. Uh in January there was discussion on who we were going to hire and bring in as our consulting engineers. Um, three of the five of us up here voted no on RVE. And the reason is because we're getting
charged $225 an hour for an engineer or $220 an hour for a project manager when the competitors were $155 an hour. Um, for that reason, uh, I will not be voting yes on the payment of these bills.
>> Any other comments? I would just like to I I appreciate that and I think that's worth considering, but I also want to point out that um when we don't pay our bills, our credit rating suffers.
So, I think that is important to pay our bills from that reason. I think we could have a longer discussion of about whether or not what we should be doing with our professionals, but I don't think not paying our bills is the way to handle it. I I was actually expecting that specific bill to be brought out and not the list of bills. So, I do say I'm
not going to hold back a vote on all bills, but I do contest that. And I know we talked about rates in January. I thought they were going to be adjusted uh to meet and they they have not been. So, that's why I asked um them to be separated. Just just to clear the record, the um in
January it was determined that the appointments that I made as mayor are four-year appointments and could not be changed. All right? So, that's that's the first point I want to make. The second point I want to make is in general, um you when you're comparing
the services of professionals, you have you have to make sure you're comparing apples to apples. you know, it's not it's not always that the cheapest is the best. And I think, you know, we would be going down a wrong path if that's the if
that's the criteria for selecting professionals moving forward. Okay? If we're only going to pick people who have the lowest rates, I think I think you're you're doing a disservice to to yourself and also to to the burrow
because there are other factors that go into picking a a professional. Now, I know Mr. Delasio, you're a contractor and I'm sure you go through that same process when you're picking subcontractors. I mean, I'm sure you're not going to pick the cheapest
electrician if you're suspect, you know, or if you're not, you know, you've heard through the vine, well, he doesn't really do the best work, but it passes, but whatever. So, I mean, there is a there is a quality aspect to that, and you also have to look at the, you know, the work that's being done and the
expertise. So, you're not it's very hard on a professional level to to compare. Now, if we were buying automobiles, for example, then I would say, well, then then you're right. You know, we're going to go to the firm that gives us the cheapest automobile because they're
they're basically identical. So, it's just a it's just a point that I'm trying to make moving forward that, you know, it's more than price that that um that you need to look at. So, um you know, I understand your objection. It's
perfectly fine, right? But uh just moving forward, I'd like the public to know that, you know, cheaper is not always better. Okay? I I live by that because I'm not the cheapest contractor in the world and I don't negotiate that way. I'm also a professional engineer so
I see the service and I understand it and the rates are high and we have three competitors who are very well known in Mammoth County and do an excellent job. So it wasn't a cheap not good engineer or other firm in other in these other
ways. So it was not how I was basing my decision. Just >> you're entitled to your opinion and I respect that. >> Can we move forward? >> Uh Councilman Donovan, >> yes. >> Councilman Kenny, >> yes. >> Councilman Delasio, >> yes. >> Councilman Moroni,
>> yes. Mayor McFusco. >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh, next is resolution 2026128, resolution authorizing the issuance of a club license to the Belmar Fishing Club. Do we have a motion to offer this resolution?
>> Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Donovan. >> Yes. >> Council Kenny, >> up to date. >> Councilman Delasio, >> yes. >> Councilman >> yes. Mayor Buckusco. >> Yes.
>> And last one is resolution 2026129 resolution of the burough of Belmar regarding the position of burough administrator. Do you have a motion to offer this resolution? >> I'll make the motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Donovan. >> Yes.
>> Councilman Kenny, >> yes. >> Councilman Delasio, >> yes. >> Councilman >> yes. >> Mayor Mcusco, >> yes. Next we have our ordinances. First one is 202611, an ordinance amending and supplementing
chapter 25 uniform construction code fees. Do we have a motion to offer this ordinance for first reading and introduction? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Donovan. >> Yes. >> Councilman McKenna. >> Yes. >> Councilman Delasio.
>> Epstein. >> Councilman >> Yes. >> Mayor Bfesco. >> Yes. >> Okay. And next one is ordinance 202612. This is an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 29 of the burough
code entitled water sewer utility department to be a motion to offer for first reading and an introduction. >> I'll make the motion second. >> Second um like to have a discussion on this one question on it. So just to so everyone understands this is about
tapping and retapping your water man. So in and I'm as I'm getting through this. So it turns out that right now the owner owns your water main all the way to the main in the street. So your water service from the water man to the street including the curb stop is
residentowned. Um I guess that has presented a problem for some emergency services in replacing that main and then issuing the homeowners a bill. Um it's very common as a contractor and up and down the shore that the owners are
responsible for that main in you know in the street all the way to the street and if you have to redo your main you have to pay for the road opening the paving the all the way to the your service all the way to the main and a new curb stop or water meter pit. Um, so I guess I'd
like to know where where the conflict is coming from and why we're going back to burrow owned uh section. >> If you if you bear with me, I I want to put up on the screen so the public can understand what we're we're looking at the documents that I sent to the council
>> because it it it might be a little confusing to everyone. So I know. I'm trying to get it. Okay. This is not what I was looking for. This is um Okay. That's good. What I what I sent to
the council was this uh this document. And what we're doing here is I'm comparing the 2003 version of the of 29-2.4 which is under the applications section of the of the uh water utility
ordinance. And it talks about the old ordinance says you know the the the water sewer service taps are to be made by the water sewer utility department where possible or it's authorized agents in every case as per the schedule
according to the size of the tap and I highlighted schedule because I'm going to come back to that later and then it says if it is determined by the water sewers superintendent or borrow engineer that an outside contract contractor should be hired. The applicant will be
responsible for all charges. And the third part of that ordinance says it is expressly understood that the burrow shall be the owner of the service from the city main to the curb line as well as the curb stops, valves, curb boxes, and roadway boxes which are to be used
by the water sewer utility department for turning on or shutting off the water supply. Okay, that ordinance from 2003 was uh modified in in 2020 and it was
modified in in a number of ways. Um one way in the first paragraph they changed its authorized agents to a licensed professional plumber dy licensed in the state of New Jersey. It still refers to as per the schedule. You'll note that
the second paragraph of 23 has been taken out. So there's nothing in the new ordinance that says, you know, if if the superintendent or engineers says an outside contractor should be hired, the applicant will be responsible for the charges. So that's not in the current
ordinance. Then it goes to say that well, it's understood that the homeowner shall be the owner of the service for from the burrow to the curb stop and valves, boxes, etc., etc. um to be used by the water sewer utility
for turning on or shutting off the water supply. And then uh the other part of the ordinance that was changed, it talks about what the homeowner has to do before they can open up a roadway uh to the curb
line and they have to post a bond. Now, these these ordinances are were covering a situation where there is not an emergency. In other words, if I'm a homeowner and I want to repair my water
line and I want to repair it out to the main, you know, under the under the old version, it said, you know, obviously I have to get permission to do that. Uh, and I might have to hire an outside contractor and I might have to pay for that even though the burrow owns it.
Under the new version, it says that that I own it and you know and then I have to go through these steps uh in order to get it to get that fixed, which is which is fine. Okay. The problem occurs when there's a uh an event that happens, an
emergency, when that line between the curb stop and the main breaks. Okay. Now, before I get further, I'm just going to go down to the other. You remember up here it says as per the schedule. Both versions say that in every case charges as per the schedule
according to the size of the tap. Well, now if you go down to 29-7, this is the section that talks about rates and service charges. And it clearly says here services requiring excavations not exceeding 35 linear
feet. And this is an ordinance from 2018. And it lists what the charge will be for different uh diameters of pipe. So one inch pipe on a bum 2 minutes service 2400 on a concrete service 2500
1 and a half uh 2800 on concrete 2900. I'm not going to go through them all because you can certainly read this but this is a what so this is this is an existing part of the ordinance. Um, and then they talk about the the sewer mains
also. And then they have 297-8 which talks about whether or not what they what we have to do if it's more than 35 ft. And it it tells the homeowner what what you have to pay for that. And then there's another 7.10 that talks about an excavating and a trenching charge. Okay.
So these are this this is the first area of conflict here because what typically happens when when a um when when a break occurs is that the the burrow will send uh you know the contractor that we've
contracted with to fix the line without contacting the property owner without providing a a you know a proposal to the property owner without letting the property owner bring their own plumber in to fix it. And you know, it's uh it's
something that wasn't foreseen when they did the original when they did the modification, but it it causes a a really a problem for for the property owners cuz right now we have two uh bills that property owners
have received for over $20,000 to repair each to repair to a service line that went from the main to the curb in front of their property. Okay. And uh
a number of things that I I find unfair about this. Number one, it none of our ordinances state here that the utility has the right to repair my service line. I mean, the town, the burrow gave it to me and now they're saying, "Well, when
it breaks, we're going to fix it and then we're going to charge you." But nowhere in the ordinances say that they can do that. But being a lawyer, I can argue, well, you know, they have a right to to say, well, we don't want the water to be wasted, so we're protecting an
asset, so we're going to go and fix it so we're not leaking water all over the place. So, they they may have an obligation to to repair it, but there's nothing that states that the contractor's bill to repair that that the that the DPW or the or the utility
has hired. Nothing says that I as a property owner have to pay that bill. Okay. Um and as I said, you know, we have two two property owners with over $20,000 bills. And this could happen to
any of us as homeowners. Um and the third thing is even if they were to charge us, we have an ordinance, you know, that says that we need to refer to the schedule when when something like
that happens. And the schedule 297.7 says as I come down here it says that you know this is what I'm supposed to be charged if it's a you know if it's a 1 in $2,400. So why am I being charged the
rate of the of the contractor that did the work? Um, so you know, I think we we we're not being fair to the property owners here because number one, we the the burrow since I believe day one in
terms of having a centralized water service, the burrow has always owned the the lines from the main to the curb. And that is probably the the vast number of uh towns in Mammoth County follow that
practice. In fact, if you're if you get the same advertisements that I get in the mail from American Water and they want to sell you insurance and they have a little diagram on there and they typically say, you know, this is the responsibility of the burrow and they have the main going to the curb and then
they said, this is your responsibility and if that line breaks, you know, you're going to have to pay and you're going to need insurance. So I I think the standard is that we you know the burrow owns the line or the water utility owns the line from the curb to
the main and as I said that was like that from the initiation of the water service till 2020. Okay. Um what why do I think it was changed and this is just my own opinion. The pipes are getting older. It's costing the town
more money. And this was a neat way to shift the cost of that those repairs to property owners. All right. Unfairly in my estimation. Um and I think that the
the the utility needs to be put back in charge and responsible for those lines because number one, they've always been responsible for it. Number two, I don't have a way to to, you know, control what happens to that line. If I'm on a street
where there are trucks going by, like Main Street, you know, my lines are getting more wear and tear than somebody was living on in La Terrace, you know, so when that line breaks, you know, I'm responsible for it. You know, if the town doesn't fix the road there and there all kinds of potholes there and,
you know, trucks and buses are going by and slamming down on the road and the line breaks, that's my problem. It's not the burrow's problem. So I I I think the you know the only fair thing here is for the bureau to take back the
responsibility for the water service lines and uh and I think this is the way to do it. Uh and you know obviously this is just the first reading. It will come up if if it's passed it'll come up for a second reading at which the public will have an opportunity to weigh in on the
uh on this issue. And if it does pass, I urge members of the public to come to the next meeting and and you know, voice your opinion. The question is going to arise invariably, well, you know, how much is it going to cost the town to do this? Well, you know what I say to that,
who can bear the cost more? Can the water utility bear it or can you as a homeowner bear it? Right? Can you afford a $5,000 bill next month or a $10,000 bill next month from because a line
broke in the street? I I think if you you're being honest, the the utility is in a better position to absorb those costs than the individual homeowners. So, this is my this is my push to get that done. you know, I only have one
more meeting left and I want to uh I want to finally, you know, this is my final thing to do on behalf of the residents and I think, you know, I think the council should do u what was the practice since before 2020 and uh so I
would urge the council to vote this and let's get it to the next session and we'll and we'll see if it if it passes on the second reading. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Um, I think the timing on this is a little odd considering we just had such an enormous
increase for the water sewer utility. Um, I'm worried about the water sewer utility. I'm worried about its solveny. Um, and this is a very thorough reading of the ordinance, but it doesn't provide any type of estimate or report on on what it could cost the water sewer
utility to go forward. It seems like it very well could be the right thing to do, but I don't feel prepared at this point to make this vote uh without any type of financial report.
>> I I would second that and say the utility was just in trouble. We just heard that from our CFO and raising the rates and uh it puts a lot of more more weight on the utility to maintain lines
and you know even uh two weeks ago Billy you were at my house I was having a issue with my water right uh sorry Cory was there and and I said oh wow I might have to replace my line I might have to go all the way into the street and I was I called Mark Wzac and and said this is what we might be doing and uh it turned
out I didn't need a new fine, but unfortunately it's an emergency. Get get the insurance. Uh be protected. Um it's common in many towns in Mammoth County. Um so I I towns I work in, I always have to pay to go to the street and the
customer owns it. But anyway, um I think it's a it's a long uh something to discuss and maybe get some better uh better status of our water utility budget and then consider this uh to help the residents.
>> Well, that's a good point. Does homeowners insurance cover that? >> Some do, some don't. >> I guess my other thought was that there this is one way that's presented of addressing it. We could also address the rates that we are charging or how we
apply them rather than take back full ownership at this juncture. >> I don't think um there have been many lines broken in the past. I mean I don't know Billy you you know from breaks in the street. I mean how many would you say a year or or
>> It all depends on the winter. Most of the breaks are in the winter time due to uh freezing um the ground freezing but it's all given year it's it's air I couldn't I couldn't guess off top head >> but it would it would be easy to pull a
report and see >> I I got something from from our CFO and it averaged since 2019 the was zero cost to the to the homeowners because there was no there was no um this is for
emergencies I'm talking about uh and Then in uh from going on it kind of ratcheted up and it averages about $70,000 a year I think that homeowners are paying for for these utilities. But I want to make the point regardless the
the water utility number one is uh two things have to be fixed. Number one is as someone pointed out at one of the meter at one of the meetings, we have meters that are not being fixed and they're not being read properly. And the
burrow is losing money every every quarter because those meters are not being read and utilizing the and and the amount of money the amount of water that they're using. That just came to my attention and that is just not
acceptable. Okay. the the the water utility should be going out as a top priority and fixing every meter that is not recording accurately. Okay? I don't care how much money they have to spend on overtime. Anything they spend
will come back 10 times in the in the amount of revenue that we'll get from our water utility. The second thing is we have I'm not finished. I'm not finished. Second thing is that we have started our project in lining the the sewer lines
that are going to the the sewage authority and there will be a savings in that and I and I the last thing is I think it's a very weak excuse to say that we have to see about the health the financial health of the water utility.
People sitting out here have a financial stake in things. And when they are given a bill, who are they going to go to to to pay that bill, right? When a senior citizen gets a bill for even $5,000 and says, "Oh, we have
to pay that bill." The town has to pay it anyway if they can't pay it. And then we have to go after the person. So, we're not really saving anything. We're just we're just pushing off the collection of that debt for that person to some other mechanism. You know, maybe
eventually it'll be put on their tax bill, you know, or there'll be a lean put on their property. Okay? But my point of view is that this was never an issue in Belg, right? It was never an issue. And you know, and and we're going to face it again, too. There's another
part of this that's not fair, and that is they just paved Fifth Avenue. Correct. All the water lines from the sewer from the main to the to the curb were replaced at no cost to the homeowners.
Okay. How's that? Is that And now we have a lead line uh uh project that the state is asking that the burrow has to replace all the lead lines in the in the uh in the town. All right. That has to be done
by the burrow at a cost to the burrow. Okay, we don't know exactly if it's going to be partially reimbursed by the homeowners or not, but right there the, you know, a lot of these lines will be replaced over time because the state has
mandated that these lead lines have to be fixed. So, on the one hand, you're going to have people in the burrow getting lead getting their their lines fixed at no cost. And on the other hand, you're going to have people who happen to be on a on a on a street or whatever
or a bad winter and their their service line breaks and now they're going to have to pay for it. You know, so that's another fairness issue that we have to deal with. You know, some people are getting it done at no cost and other people now in an emergency have to pay.
And you know, I don't mind paying, but I didn't negotiate those rates with the contractor. You know, that was done at public bid. That was done because our water utility doesn't dig holes anymore. We have a contractor that does that. You know, if we were like the old days,
three or four guys from the water utility would come out with a with a backhoe and and a jackhammer and they would dig up the line and fix it themselves. But, you know, we we went through a contract now and we have to pay that contractor's rates. And those rates are being forced on you as a
property owner without any way of saying I think that's too high or let me get my own guy in to do this. All right. So, you know, that's my view. And you know, to take it one step further, if I own the line and I want the and I don't want to use that person, then the burrow
should be able to shut off my water until I get three quotes from plumbers that I want to use, right? But no, they they won't because they said, "Well, it's leaking." You know, well, you know what? Put a valve in and shut my water off. Maybe I don't want to fix it this week. Maybe I don't want to fix it this
month. You know, maybe I'm going on vacation for for 6 months and I don't care if there's water in my house. Just shut it off and I'll fix it when I come back. But we don't have that option because what happens is as soon as it leaks, the contract is called, it gets
fixed, and we get the bill and that's it. So, I I think I belvered this as much as I possibly can. Um I I think it's, you know, if if if the council doesn't pass it, the council doesn't pass it. But I have to try as a final
step to do something else for the members of the public that I think is is closely unfair and I think it needs to be remedied. I think, you know, it's it's something that is is a positive for
the residents and I think it's a shame if the if if we can't do that and fix this problem. Regarding the meters, I I did have meetings with our DPW after that first person came up and said about commenting
about meters. We are checking meters. They are reading meters every quarter and if the meter cannot be read, they are knocking on doors. So you made a statement that almost sounds like our DPW is not doing their job about reading meters and I think that was unfair. So I just want to put out there that we are
working on everything we can uncover with meters that are not working or not or not being read properly and we are proactive on that. We're not sitting and waiting on meters that are not being read. Nothing yet. That's all I had to comment on. How many meters are not being are not operating correctly? The
last list I looked at was 500. I don't believe I don't believe it's that high. I believe it's in the mid200s. >> 200. There you go. 200 meters that are not being read properly. And it's probably 300. We did a report. We we have it uh and and it's just been
allowed to lag on lag on. All right. And uh you know it's it's something that should be it should be zero to be perfectly honest with you. It should be zero. But, you know, things happen, you know, maybe 10, 50 or whatever. But, you
know, we can't use that as an excuse. I'm not saying that DVW is not doing a good job, but there are priorities that have to be done. And when you're in a situation where you have a a a unit or or a utility that can bring in revenue,
that should be the top priority. Okay? That should be the top priority. ask for overtime, you know, and say, "We'll go out and and do this on overtime because the overtime that we pay will come back tenfold with the with the correct amount of of water usage." Cuz the other
problem is once they're fixed, then the homeowner gets a bill for like $3,000. And they're like, "Oh, I didn't know I used all this water." Well, yeah. You know, and it's technically the water meter is not broken. is the electronic piece that's on the top that reads the meter cuz those little dials are still
going on every time you use the water. It's just that nobody's, you know, got it all gotten down into the meter, taken the electronic thing off and looked at the looked at the meter and said, "Oh, yeah, these are the numbers." Now, we don't do that until after we fix it. And then we send you a bill for an enormous
amount of money saying, "Oh, you used this money. You used this while the meter was broken." So, there's a lot that needs to be fixed. And and I only say that because I think there's revenue sitting there that can be utilized and it it's the fair thing to do.
I guess we need to take a vote. >> Councilman Donovan, >> can we vote to table this? >> I won't agree to table it. No. Why would we table it? What? What's the reason? >> Cuz you don't want to vote no. Excuse me, mayor.
>> Why do you want to table it? >> Because I would like time to review it and then vote on that another time. >> I'm against tableing it. >> Okay. >> No. Councilman Kenny. I'm going to vote yes.
Councilman Delasio. >> No. >> Councilman Baron. >> No. >> Mayor McFusco. >> Yes. Next, we have the public session. If anyone would like to comment, make a comment. Please remember to state your name and address first.
>> Suzanne, Fifth Avenue. I have to talk about this with the again going back to water that you just wanted to not table because I live across the street from you and I had to replace my line and I had to pay $5,000 and when you paved the
street in 24 years I had no problem with my sewer line and then all of a sudden it was backed up. I had to pay another thousand. You may remember Mr. came because I was asking, can the town split it with me? I went through so many
emails and no one got back to me. And you're right, I don't have to be a senior citizen, but I could have two kids in college and $5,000 is a lot of money. $1,000 is a lot of money. So, if you don't have a solution for this, you
should be suggesting for people to get the insurance for the American water. And I will tell you why. I have it for my father who's 94 years old. They encourage it in the senior citizen building in Saraveal. And guess what?
Guess how much it is. It's about $15 a month. His water line broke and they paid for it. American water. Thank you. >> Any other comments? >> Not on water. >> Oh, this is open. This is an open uh
it's not about water >> open. >> Hi. >> Hi. >> Amy and Adam 1703 River Road. We're back to talk about River Road safety. If anybody drove past 35, you saw that my house doesn't have a hole in it anymore.
Um Oh, thank you. It's actually looking really nice, your house. I I look at it all the time now. >> Thank you. >> I'm missing the 1703 on plywood, though. I keep driving right past it. >> I know. I know. I know. I should have saved that. Um, so what we actually did is we went and had a discussion with the
DOT. They were actually great. We got through with uh Assemblyman Ben Keane's office. Um, Kate, her his joint chief of staff was great. So, she set up a meeting and it was a Zoom meeting, nothing big. Um, but they did give us
the next step here, which goes to the burrow. So what they say has to happen is you guys through the bureau of the council people you guys would submit to the DOT a request for a safety
inspection where they would do like a speed inspection safety um pedestrians paving resigning lining those kinds of things. The DOT was nice enough to send
us um sample verbiage and we took it upon ourselves to write you all a lovely letter. If you would like to use it, it is all written there for you and we can submit it to the mayor for sure. It does have to be signed by him. If you look at
this signature on the back, it does say mayor. So, it does have to come from the burrow. So, we are here respectfully asking that you would submit this on behalf of the residents on River Road and 35.
>> Absolutely. You can give it to Business Administrator Kane and we'll we'll uh take a look at and I'll sign it. >> Perfect. >> Great work, Amy. I know that takes a lot to get through all that. I have a couple questions though real fast if you could. >> Now, is this like a long-term study? Is it something that happens for several
weeks or do they give you an idea about >> They didn't they didn't. So, I'm not sure what it would look like. So, you know, hopefully when you guys submit, they'll get back to you and say, "Hey, you know, we could definitely do this." I mean, we definitely want the survey,
but at this point, we would be happy if again, we talked to the police if they and they I think they have to um you guys have to petition the DOT also just to get like a speed sign like this is your speed, restrict your speed. Of course, we would love to get, you know,
more police on 35 because I mean, summer traffic already started. It's crazy. People are speeding. The noise is crazy. There's definitely more people walking on the street. So, you know, and again, we say we we still walk every morning.
Um, and it's dark. Um, we have also spoken to JCPNL DOT put in a request on our behalf to have those lights that we specified are still out. So, of course, their answer is, well, underground
wires, things are old, blah, blah, blah. So, it's only been like a couple of weeks and I'm ready to go back to JCPNL. My husband's like, give them time. Give them time. Give them time. We love that you are on this. Honestly, this is >> Listen, I'm on top of it. It's crazy. >> Yeah, cuz because I do know, isn't isn't
Isn't the railroad crossing also DOT and we've been waiting for how long? For I mean, be patient, be vigilant. They are not They don't move fast. >> Yeah, I know. >> So, this is a great start, but I just I I hate that they just take so long to
>> so so long. And we would just hate to see like I mean we already saw a tragedy um on Monday, Memorial Day, you know, like we don't need to see that again. It's crazy. >> If uh I'm just anyone up here would love to join any Zoom calls you get on DT. So
send an email out to us say, "Hey, can anyone jump on this? This is the date." And I'm sure someone would it would help if you get on another call back with Do. So just always reach out, please. >> Absolutely. I I attach my business card. So, whoever forward obviously it's going to be the mayor. So, if somebody could
just email me, I left my card, my email, my cell phone. If somebody could just let us know, hey, we submitted it and then maybe in a couple weeks, obviously, we will follow up with the DOT and then if we can schedule another meeting, we'll get as many council people on as possible. That would be great. >> Love it. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. Linda Shares for that. I want to thank the council for all the hard work you guys go through. But you're all working and I look at this that we're in need of
a solution. And I'd like to propose since here tonight we talked about three different issues that require studies. The 12th Avenue bu building, the storm utility, and the water utility that we
set up. But something similar to Rutgers um a what was it? Well, essentially a brain trust, talent trust and we have it be composed of residents in town because we
have such a wealth of knowledge that's being underutilized and we can make it nonpartisan. So it would sustain the test of time when we transition from one administration to the next because as a
long-term resident, I'm tired of hearing the it's not invented here. So if we had studies going on with people from the the the burrow, they'd be able to share that knowledge year after year until
death do they part. But I think it would solve a lot of problems and help because you guys all have a lot important jobs and I just don't see how they could possibly do all these studies that we've talked about just here tonight.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. Definitely look into it. >> Thank you, Mayor Sandy Caputo, Surf Avenue. I'm going to talk about beach safety. And I've talked about this in public session in front of mayors Dowy, Mayor
McGovern, and Mayor Walsifer. And I I didn't want you to leave office without having to hear it from me. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. Sorry you had to wait this long. >> Me, too. Um,
football playing on the beach on a crowded beach is dangerous. It's not just the football that can hit someone. It's the 200 lb guy running not watching where he's going that could trample
I'm sorry that could trample an old woman with osteoporosis sitting on the beach. And I got to tell you that's me. Um Howard Roland did not allow football playing on the beach ever. Anyone that was on this beach 30, 40 years ago,
there were no footballs flying. And we have an ordinance against it also. It's still on the books. I'm asking all of you to go to one of our crowded beaches on the weekend, uh 9th, 10th, 16th, 18th, and watch this
for a while. and you you can see it and see for yourself if you think the rules have to change. Lifeguards used to enforce this. Um but the rules just it's just been slipping away.
Thank you. >> Thank you. I think that's something we can bring up with the chief in terms of the you know guys set a patrol one up there to kind of maintain. We don't want the lifeguards doing that cuz they're focused on looking at the water. But we'll we'll definitely uh take your
suggestion and and look into that. >> My name is Jim, excuse me, Arena Court. I'd like to talk about the skate park if I may. I guess all you guys are for the skate park. Is that correct or
>> Well, can I say this? We had a skate park and it went into disrepair. Just like we had pickle ball courts, you know, five years ago, the number one spot in southern Monmouth County to play pickle ball was McCle Park. Since then,
Lake Como, Spring Lake Heights, Spring Lake, Wall, Neptune have all built new pickle ball courts. We have done absolutely nothing. And the pickle ball courts, which were once number one, are
in total disrepair. No replace anymore. We have uh basketball courts over there. Used to be the pride of Belmont. We used to be the summer league. If anybody can remember the summer league playing there was big time basketball courts that all
fell into disrepair. We had a skate park that fell into disrepair. We're not maintaining what we have. We have a water tower. This is the third time I've been here about the water tower. The water tower is an absolute disgrace. and nobody does anything. We
don't maintain what we have. Why are we spending a million dollars to get something new? Why don't we start maintaining what we have? Skate park. Kids don't even use skate parks anymore. Why is it Well, okay. Well, let me ask you this. Well, let me
ask you this. Why is it that Lake Ko and all these other towns are building pickle ball courts, which is the fastest growing sport in the United States, and nobody else is building a skate park? Why don't we have pickle ball courts? We used to be number one in southern Mammoth County for pickle ball. Now we're number zero because we don't have
three courts that are unusable. It's a disgrace. And now you want to build Let me ask you this. We have 6,000 800 6,000 residents. How many of those 6,000 residents answer this honestly are going
to use that state park when it's built? We don't ask questions directly to the to the council people. You could ask me. >> The thing I want to point I'm not going to answer your question, but I'm going to point out to you that the pickle the uh the skate park is being funded
through donations. There's not one penny of >> No money. >> No. >> Well, we're looking for grant money. >> Looking for grant money? >> No. The grant money. Why don't you pay the water? >> Well, let me let me let me address that, too, because you say nothing's being done. We we did a comprehensive
water utility capital plan and in that capital plan there are a number of things that are planned to be done and one of those things is the painting of the water tower. Okay. So there are things being done. >> What is that? Uh, I don't know off the
top of my head, but I want you to know that that painting of that water tower is probably going to cost over a million dollars because of the um because of the repairs and everything else. >> Great. And next year it's going to cost more than >> Well, we have to plan. We We don't have
>> I've been living across the street from 10 years. The day I moved in, I looked out and said, "This is a disgrace." That was 10 years ago. Since then, people have come uh rang my bell running for town council and I always say here's my
number one issue and everyone said >> the issue is there are things being done that you don't see like there are there are pumps that have >> I don't see a word there's a lot being done but I would say the demand for a skate
park is on such a low priority in this town we got I could name you 15 things that should be done before we build the skate park. If all those if we paint the water tower, if we fix the pickle ball, if we uh >> Well, I just want to tell you, I don't
mean to interrupt, but the basketball courts are going to be completed when >> in June this week >> because we have a league that's coming in to to play. So, that is being done. >> Correct me if I'm wrong. Aren't the pickle ball courts relatively new? We
took a tennis court away to make three pickle ball courts. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. How long ago was that? >> Paved over the tennis tennis courts. >> Okay. >> And now it's all coming up because it was done on the cheap. >> You know, I always say >> I always say I'm speaking here like you said to him.
>> So if you go to Lake Ho, it's a real tiny community. They're beautiful, beautiful pickle ball courts. Spring Lake has beautiful pickle courts. Wall has beautiful every every town around here. Pickle ball fun. is the fastest growing sport in East.
5 years ago, if you went to McCclary Park at 8:00 a.m., there would be, and I'll bet you this number is correct, 60 people playing open pit. Where are the 60 uh skateboarders going to be? >> There are well more than 60.
>> Yeah. Well, I don't believe >> I don't believe it. And I'm curious as to who's behind this skateboard. I know there's a couple of skateboard. >> Well, I'm the liazison to that that that committee and I can tell you there are a lot of passionate people about skating. >> I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what
I'll do. How about you and I we go and ring the bell Steve Bellmore at random 50 houses and we ask them, do we want a skateboard park or do we want to fix some of the stuff that's broken? And if you are correct, which maybe you will
be, but I don't think so. But if you're correct, then I'll I'll go away. I don't think we're getting anywhere. >> Just like pickle ball recreation. >> All right. So, your point is your points are very well taken. >> I heard that before. >> They are. >> You said that the last time I was
you have to >> Nothing happens. Nothing happens. Nothing happens. >> I can say something. I will. If you want to keep talking, that's fine. >> All I'm saying is before we go out and build new projects, spend a million dollars. Okay. And plus,
let me ask you this. What does that say we do build for the skate park? What about the increased liability on the town? Who's going to pay for that? >> Did you hear me say before that the town is not building the skate park? >> Yeah. And did you hear me ask what about the liability? >> That all has to be done through whoever
is operating the skate park. >> We'll see about that. >> You either can you either can believe me or you don't believe me. >> But I don't believe you because the last time you told me you're going to paint the the water tap. >> I just told you it's on the schedule. That's what you told me last time. But it's done
>> because the schedule goes years. >> You don't have to tell me. I look at it every day. >> You know how much I mean we have the how the capital plan for the water utility is how many millions dollars off the top of your head? 20 20 million 25 million.
>> Let me ask you one question. >> Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. I'm trying to be polite. So you can you let me talk and then you talk and I talk and you talk. Okay. All right. So now I'm talking. Okay. >> Okay. Let's then now Jim's going to talk. Okay. How
>> So we planned out a 10-year plan of water man replacements, addressing um pump replacements, water tower painting, lead service line replacements um over a 10-year period. That's more than $20 million. It's it's
>> okay. So the town is not able to do everything in one year because we cannot raise $20 million to do it all. If we could, it would be done. >> Okay. So, that's the answer to your question. Everything is on a schedule to
be done. All right. The more you want it done quicker, then we have to borrow more money and it's going to cost us more money. And that's not what the taxpayers want. >> Okay? >> All I know is this. If you look around other towns, not they don't have water
tower that looks like ours. They don't have pickle ball courts that look like ours. They don't have uh basketball courts that look like ours. The the DPW, the 13th Avenue, it's an eyesore. Can we get a grant and replace the windows? I
mean, this town when you compare it to all the surrounding towns is a disgrace. It's a disgrace. Look at just look at the water. >> Okay. You're you're almost at your five minutes. >> Okay. >> Good luck to you. >> Okay. Thank you so much for your
comments. Anyone else? >> Oops, sorry. Taking down the chair. Hi, I'm Maria Monuro, 1246 Pine Tree Way. Go skate park. Um, I'm excited for the skate park. I know that Councilwoman uh
Kenny has worked hard as have many of our Belmar and local residents um in that initiative. I also want to thank the burrow so much for replacing the um sign, the electric sign uh at the marina
at 35. Um it looks so vivid. You can read um the advertisements. It's going to be great for our local businesses and to get out the word of what's going on in Belmar. So, thank you so much for that. Thank you, mayor, um for your
leadership on the library board. The library looks amazing and the facade now has its you know its shell um its membrane if you will all um nice and protected. We know with the Belmar
Housing Authority um that the facade became has become quite an emergency um and is very costly to fix once it is broken. So thank you for that. Um, I want to thank uh Councilwoman uh Caitlyn
Donovan for her groundbreaking with this softball field um that our youth are going to use for years and years to come. Um, and I just want to thank you all for your hard work in making sure that we're able to get things done and improved in Belmar because I see the
improvements and I know how hard it is. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Angela Feifer, Fifth Avenue. Okay. Um I'm gonna save my pickle ball comment to the end. So my first because
I because I do have comments about that. Um the grant money that you spoke about for 12th Avenue, is that a matching grant? >> No, those were well, we were applying for them, but they were not matching. >> Great. So that would be money that we would not have to match. And also, you
mentioned that depending on the use of the property, uh, I've been out of the loop for a while, so I'm not Do we know what we're doing with that property? No. >> No, we don't. >> When we when we bought the property, did we know what we were going to do with
it? The >> property was originally slated to be used for the EMS slash fire slash whatever else could be fit in there, but the two main things were the EMS and the and the fire. Yes. >> Is that off the table?
>> Well, nothing is planned at this point. >> Nothing is off the table. No. >> So, we we don't know. Okay. >> If it were up to me, I would build another library there and and and have a you know, and have a nice uh conference room and a senior center and all that stuff, but it's not up to me. So,
priorities. >> I figured I would just put that in. >> No, I get that. And if we can get grant money that's not matching, that's, you know, that's amazing. >> There's always expenses. So let's let's let let's let let us not forget with grants because there there's there's there's engineering things that have to
be done. So grants are not totally free but it's it's it's always best if we don't have to match. >> I'll point out um that I think this is an issue that gets charged really quickly. People have strong opinions about 12th Avenue. Um but what is
obvious is that the circumstances under which it were bought are different than they are now because we have fewer towns in our EMS for instance. Um Union Fire Station is now available for use as well. So I think quite possibly the best path forward is to have some type of town hall or
conversation where we're putting all ideas on the table and then going forward thoughtfully. >> Right. That's why I was wondering if it was still if it was still possibility. And then just quickly on pickle ball, I am a pickle ball player. Okay, we played every day in Belmar. We We were there.
Okay, there are over 300 people on our Belmar Team Reach site and mayor, you we we've sat down. I I mean, I have a petition with hundreds of signatures that we're just kind of sitting with. Uh we're willing to put time in. We're
willing to put money in those lines that were painted on the other tennis court. We paid for the paint. We did it ourselves. Guess what? Nobody's playing in Belmar anymore. Send it to me. We'll talk. >> We're all playing at Bel with us. We're We're playing in Spring Lake and
Belmar's missing out because after pickle ball, we'd hang out. We'd get together and now we're not in Belmar anymore. None of us are playing at Belmore anymore. The courts are in total disrepair. So, we really appreciate Yeah. >> I think it's another grant option that
we have mccclary park. Would any of our uh environmental grants be be able to put towards us? environmental wouldn't do pickle ball. You'd have to go maybe open space or something like that. But um yeah uh but that being said um if you're going to talk about mccclary environmental commission is starting to put together a plan for mccclary where
we're really interested in addressing that. I think pickle ball courts are a great idea. I think we should spruce those up. >> It brings the whole community. >> Absolutely. >> It really does. We were there every morning Monday through Friday. Plus we were there Tuesday. I didn't play at night but they do Tuesday nights. They do Thursday nights. We're all hanging
out together. We're in Belmar together. And we should have a little trolley that brings people there. >> Sorry. >> That was not making I swear that was not light at your expense. It's more an ongoing joke with everyone about how much I love trolley. >> Cuz now that the summer's in the weather's getting better, everybody's
saying, "Well, what are we going to do? We're What do you mean we're not playing at Belmar anymore?" And we we can't. It's dangerous. One of the courts is is taped off. >> Yeah. >> So, and it's a shame because the tennis courts are empty for the most part. and
we would be there and we would be playing for hours and now we can't. And it's a re it's a loss for us, but guess what? We'll find someplace to play. It's a loss for this community. It really is. I I would like to see us doing more fundraising for recreation in general so
that we can address those issues. I feel like I've learned a lot from the softball fundraising and tapping into where the community wants those money spent is just the best way forward. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. We have someone in the back. Why don't
we let this gentleman go first? You already spoke, so let's right after him. >> Thanks. >> Hi, Greg Mlin in the 14th in Ocean. I just >> 14th in Ocean. >> That's okay. >> I just wanted to say thank you very much
to the mayor and the council for raising that flag up there. Uh the pride flag. Um it's very important. >> Thank you very much. You're welcome. Uh I would guess I would have liked to seen the entire council there but not his work and things like that. I just wanted
to say one thing. Gay pride was not didn't come from a need to celebrate being gay but the right to exist without persecution. So instead of wondering why there isn't a straight pride movement, be thankful that you don't need one. Again, thank
you very much. Thank you. May I just want to respond to what you said. Um, lifeguards always did it patrolled for this type of thing because they're the ones that are there right there. Um, and nobody was drowning. They blow the whistle and just like
everything else, lifeguard blows the whistle and points. You don't even have to speak English to know you're doing something you shouldn't be doing. So >> that's something that the chief will have to take up with the chief lifeguard so they can work out what the what the right protocol is when that when that
happens. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other comments? >> Okay. >> I have a motion to close the public session and adjourn the meeting. >> Motion. >> All in favor? I