Adding a notice of this meeting has been provided to the co-star the official newspaper of the burrow bart and the park press and notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board of the municipal building. Councilman McDonald here. Council here. Mayor
here. Counciloman Romero here. Councilman Le here. Please stand for the flag to the flag of the United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for a moment of silence for our troops, their families, the first responders, and for the Pastor Justin Sul and his family.
Thank you. Are there any items for workshop tonight? Yes. May I circulated to everyone a copy of our flood insurance coverage assessment. Um last one we did was in September
2019. It's been revised um as of April. Um Christine Bell, who's our flood plan administrator, sent this. is part of our 5-year CRS renewal process that the council received this and acknowledge at a meeting that they've received it and reviewed it.
Okay. Thank you. I'm just curious people like can you give us like a like a overview? Does this mean that we are going to have to carry mandatory flood insurance for homes that don't have currently have to carry flood insurance or do you know
what this means? I think it's the same as the 2019. It hasn't been changed I think since changed since 2019. No, it's been very minimal change. Um FEMA's had some turnover in their office and we haven't really received any guidance back from them. So, we're just
readopting the same thing. Any other questions? Uh other items for workshop. If not, let's move on to petitions. Mayor did not receive any petitions.
Approval of minutes. Can I have a motion to approve the July 8th meeting minutes? Motion. Second. Donovan. Yes. Councilman. Yes. Mayor Bafesco. Yes. Councilman Rondiro. Yes. Councilman Lewis.
Yes. Hey. Reports of Coun reports of council of Councilwoman Donovan. Um at the Harbor Commission, we're continuing to listen to the concerns of our Marina community about the ongoing bridge project. Uh we were very
heartened to see the announcement from DOT about the delay that the bridge will be open in August and closed again uh in October and we continue to hope and work towards finding creative and straightforward solutions to um the
issues that it causes when it's closed uh for the entire community. Um likewise with tourism commission. So um it becomes it continues to be an ongoing concern that we're trying to address. Is that it? Thank you. Oh, sorry. And the Belar Women's Club uh is having a
fundraiser at uh you can use it on your apps at JM Gives. Um or you can go to the uh Jersey Mike's here in town and use uh and let them know that you would like a donation to the women's club. Thank you. On
Wednesday. Hey, Councilwoman Donovan. I mean Kim, thank you. Uh okay, so recreation and soccer signups are still happening for the fall. So sign your hits up for fall soccer. This Friday concert at 6 p.m. is Joe and the Highland Express. So come
out and see the bands in the plaza this Friday. Uh Shade Tree Commission on the at the meeting that they had last week. The commission met with the newly appointed arborist Bill Brash who is pretty well known expert in the field of trees. Mr. Brash offered advice to the commission and is helping with issues of
increased risk risk of uh bad trees in the burrow. The commission is also working with the bureau's planning review technical sorry planning board technical review committee and is weighing on um trees for the vanilla landscape plans which are the repetti
project. They're already putting their landscape architecture plans in place. So that's good that they work together with our commission shared agreement on what's safe and appropriate to plan. Um, the skate park committee will be selling snacks and t-shirts tomorrow night at Movies on the Beach, which I believe is
The Incredibles, but I'm not 100% sure. That happens at around 8:45 at night. And that's all I have. Thank you, Council President Rondro. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, the Belmar Library will be closing early um tomorrow at 5:00 PM to get ready for their outdoor
concert with the Black Ties. Um, so please come join us on the lawn at 6 PM for a great show. bring your lawn chairs. Uh, additionally, the Beach Music Rock Kids Band will be um performing this Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. at Circle of Friends Cafe at
1709 Main Street in Lake Ko. So, if you can come out to support them, that'd be great. Um, I did speak to Belar Housing Authority Director Paul DeSantis today. I was told that August 1st will be the first opportunity the public will be able to access a new tenant application.
um on August 1st. It will also be available online at the Belmer Housing Authority website and also copies will be given to us here at Burough Hall to to give out. Uh the BHA is currently waiting on HUD to approve their environmental impact report that's been
completed to move up to the next step of receiving the grant money for the facade repair. Um, additionally, they are waiting until the end of August to find out if the weatherization engineer agency can provide an in-house training uh that may cut the cost of the work
needed to fix weatherization issues with the windows in the apartments. Um, after we had a resident fall in the building, there were some concerns um with this resident about police being able to gain access into her apartment. Um, I did
find out that the Belmar Police Department does have full access um to the VHA building. Um, however, there's not a master key um to enter individual apartments. So, I've discussed this with both Mr. Dantis and Chief Scott. I'm hoping that they are able to make that
happen. Uh, lastly, I just wanted to extend my condolences to the family and friends of Justin Soil. His mother, Colleen, and his sister Aaron are both employees of the burrow. Um so many of his family members are rooted in Belmar and this around this community um and
have dedicated themselves to Belmar um and making it such a beautiful place to live. Uh Councilwoman Donovan, Councilwoman Leves and I have our kids growing up with his two boys um and our hearts are with them, his family and
friends and will be missed. Thanks, Councilwoman Levis. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, I'd like to start by congratulating our very own April Claudio on achieving the rank of master municipal clerk. Uh, I also want to give a shout out to
our junior lifeguards and their director Nichollet Contella for running a really successful junior lifeguard tournament uh last week. That was really fun. The kids had a blast. Um, and if you can't get enough, there is another tournament tomorrow, uh, the USLA Mid-Atlantic Regionals in Seagar, starting at 1000
a.m. So, if you want to see Belmar Junior Lifeguards do it again, head on down to the beach and see, but also come to Belar. That's all I have. Okay. Thank you once again. and one of the council people have lost have stolen my report about congratulating April for
uh master of municipal clerk but you know you can't do that too much so you get a second congratulation thank you um the only other thing I'll point out is uh I think maybe for the first time last night we had a planning board meeting and out of our suggestion they actually had a video representation of of a lot
of the um of the diagrams and things typically when you go to a planning board meeting, you know, they have the big charts and they're down there and and no one can really see them. So, we had recommended at the TDRC meeting that the um they might want to utilize our
services to to put some of that up on the uh on the screen. And I think it was very effective. There weren't hardly any members of the public there, but I think all in all it was it was a good thing and something that we might want to, you know, suggest to future developers when
they come in, especially if they have a lot of charts and pictures and things like that. But it it worked out very well. That's all I have. I guess next we're on to the uh the public session on the resolutions only. Uh I'm going to keep track of the five
minutes. I I have my little screen up here. And I could be obnoxious and just hold it up here like this. But I think I'll just keep it at my keep it on my side here. And it if you get close, I'll just like kind of raise it up and you'll see that your time is running out. Okay. So, um, does anyone have any comments on
the resolutions that are on the agenda? Not can I have a motion to close the public session? I'll make my motion. Second. All in favor? I I And I have a motion to approve the resolutions as listed on the consent
agenda. I'll make the motion. Second. Counciloman Donovan. Yes. Counciloman McKenna. Yes. Mayor Fusco. Yes. Counciloman Romano. Yes. Councilman Le. Yes. Okay. Uh, next we have second reading and public hearing on bonded
bond ordinance 202515 providing for various capital improvements and acquisitions. This is open for public hearing. If anyone would like to comment on the ordinance, please step forward. See, can I have a motion to close the public hearing?
Motion. Second. All in favor? I. and a motion to adopt ordinance 202515. Can I make a motion? Second. Council Donovan. Yes. Councilwoman Kenny, yes.
Mayor Becca Fio, yes. Council Rando, yes. Councilman Le, yes. Uh, next is second reading and public hearing on ordinance 202516. This is a bond ordinance providing for various water, sewer, utility improvements. This is open for public
hearing. Anyone would like to comment on the ordinance. Can I have a motion to close the public hearing? Motion. Second. All in favor. And a motion to adopt ordinance 202516.
Motion. Second. Counciloman Donovan. Yes. Counciloman Kenny. Yes. Mayor Musco. Yes. Counciloman Rodero. Yes. Councilman Le. Yes. Uh, next is second reading and public
hearing on ordinance 202517 and uh, ordinance providing for a special emergency appropriation of 125,000 for repairs to the marina hock. This is open for public comment. If anyone would like to speak, please step forward, state your name and address.
So, what happens at what happens at a day? This was in conjunction with work that we were already doing at the marina. And since we had the um the people there with the barge, uh there were certain docks that had to be had to be repaired
at the same time. And this is an emergency. It's an emergency in the sense that we needed to allocate the money. Yeah, it's an appropriation emergency. Okay. Right. All right. Thank you.
Any other comments? Can I have a motion to close the public hearing? I'll make a motion. Second. All in favor? And can I have a motion to adopt ordinance 202517? Motion. Second.
Councilman Donovan, yes. Council McKenna, yes. Mayor Becca Pesco, yes. Councilman Randero, yes. Councilman Le, yes. Uh, next is second reading and public hearing on ordinance 202518. It's a capital ordinance providing for
the repair of real property located within the burrow of Belmar. This is open for public comment if anyone would like to speak on it. Eugene Kameth Kramer 4th Avenue. Uh this is good. Uh I'm assuming this is the uh the senior
building. Delmare Housing Authority over the year, correct? Six $676,000. That that may sound like a lot of money, but gee, that's a six story building, isn't it? Um I guess what I guess what my question
is have we ex and of course this I understand is just for the facade and um there's also weatherization work and and so on that has to be has to be done. Have we exhausted
uh all opportunities for uh getting additional funds for the work over there? Um you know, I hate to see those people go through another winter with the wind blowing through that place. Um I got a feeling it's going to take a
little bit more than just a little bit of talk. If I may, the the burrow really has no role in the oversight of the of the Delmare Housing Authority in terms of uh listing what needs to be done and all
that. That's all involved with the Belmore Housing Authority board. The reason why we have this on here is because of the fact that the money has to go through the burrow to the Belmore Housing Authority. So, we're not involved in the in the, you know, making
a a plan of what needs to be fixed and what doesn't need to be fixed and so on. This was an error that they made at in HUD where they put our name as Belmar Municipality instead of Belmar Housing Authority. So, had they done it correctly, we wouldn't even be seeing
this because all of that money would be going directly to to the uh to the housing authority. But because of um uh consulting with our auditors, they said, you know, we needed to do this to actually have a capital ordinance and
then we will be transferring them the money to the to the Belmore Housing Authority and we'll be finished with it. I think I'm correct, right, Mr. Payne? Jeff. Yes, exactly. Mayor, um what happens the BHA is a subreient of this this federal
uh HUD grant. Uh, and as the mayor said, instead of it saying Belmar Housing Authority, it came through to the burrow of Belmar. If we would have changed the name, they would have had to re resend this grant and start all over, which
would have been in the next cycle and there's a good chance they wouldn't have received it at all. So, instead of doing that, all we did was make them a subreient. They're handling all the work and everything. Just that the money comes from from HUD to us directly to them. That's the only thing.
Okay. In other words, it's like a pass through. Correct. Okay. Passing it through to the municipality. We'll certainly you know pass through your comments to the to the to the housing authority to uh you know to address the things that you just mentioned that they would need to look
at. Sure. Go ahead. Mr. Kramer, you're absolutely right. um $676,000 is not going to cut it. Um I'll have to say when when we first put in for the grant, that was um pretty a pretty good
estimate at the time for what was needed with what the cost of supplies and labor were at that time. Um so this has been years now and unfortunately we have more it's more repair to do. Um and we're going to get as much done in the worst
area as as possible first with the facade. Um but we do have more emergency funding coming um from HUD. Uh and it this is a something that we all could be asking um Congressman Smith and um
anyone you know at state and federal level um to advocate for more money for our Belmar Housing Authority um building because it does need it. It's in it's in desperate need of prepare. Thank you.
Okay. Very good. Actually, the reason I one of the reasons I was bringing this up is uh the burl now has a grant consultant, right, to advise u grant money available for different
types of projects in town here. Um I'm wondering whether they had taken a look at at that building there. I'm not talking about taking over uh you know administration. They got their own organization. Uh that's for sure. U but
um is there is there any way that u u perhaps by even just using our consultants u to make the housing authority at least aware that there is uh available funding? Uh I I I just just as a long
shot years ago when I was on the environmental commission uh we did we had surveyed all the buildings within town trying to find candidates for uh for solar and um I don't recall whether
that was up on the list but it was on the list. I mean, you have a six-story building that uh I'm sure in the summertime on uh the side of the building that faces uh 8th Avenue, uh
those people are probably frying in there during the summer, but then in the winter they're freezing. Um I I guess what I what perhaps and this is to help them out. just this doesn't help the
municipality other than the fact that we know that the seniors are being well taken care of. But um I I I just wanted to find out whether there was any opportunity to perhaps u take a look at that and see whether they may be unaware
of u of programs that may improve the uh the efficiency of the building or the sustainability of it. And I know that there still is money available in the state of New Jersey for that type of of weatherization and so forth.
I I don't I don't know what their ability is to to search through the grants and I don't know if our um consultant has Yeah, they they're really for the burrow itself, but I would imagine that the director must get some information on on
grants because they obviously are getting grants. Yeah, we we've brought a few uh things to his attention, a few grants to his attention. Actually, one of several members of the audience have have brought some opportunities of possible funding. Um and so it does go
through the director and and um the board of commissioners. I think that you know if if you do find something or if we are you know we have talked to um our consultants at Millennium I have asked them is there any if you see anything
please let me know um it wouldn't be them looking for it would be you know me or me passing it on to to someone else to see if you know if it's okay but it does need to be approved fully um by by their board. I will say that I believe
that the federal tax incentives uh for solar have been wiped out in the last federal budget. So, but we'll we'll you know, I think what Marie was saying to if we come across if our consultant, you know, knows of any, he he'll let us know and then we will
have to pass that on to the to the uh the housing authority and the commissioners. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. So, does this mean the money's here and the work will start? I don't know exactly if the money is
here. I know that they were still waiting at at some point for um HUD to approve their environmental impact study. So, I don't know whether we actually have that. April, do you know whether we we received anything yet?
Okay. I don't think we have. They're in full control. Yeah. Do they have a a contract or they have to go out to bid? They do have to go out to bid. All right. So, so the bid hasn't been put out. Bid has not been put out. What exactly is the environmental
impact? Is is it just siding that they're trying to put up on the building? So, I think they have to just make sure that there's nothing that needs to be remediated, that everything seems a-ok. Okay. It's it's just um kind of a check the box situation and and it's done.
That part's done. It's done. Yeah, it's done. Not pass what they need. Any other comments? I have a motion to close the public hearing. I'll make the motion. Second. All in favor? I have a motion to adopt ordinance
202518. Motion. Yes. Council McKenna. Yes. Mayor Bafesco. Yes. Counciloman Roinero. Yes. Councilman Levis. Yes. All right. Now we're on to the regular public session. If anyone would like to speak, please remember to state your
name and address. First Avenue. I know I speak to the mayor, but this is really for Dr. Kenny. As our own as our lone Republican on the board, I assume you have voted for this president. And I need you to help me understand how this president is opposed to the starvation and killing of human beings and the begging for food in God. And as are the
Belmar Republicans, proud of the president's human trafficking to the third world countries under the cover of ICE. And can you please tell me what I should say to the Belarians that stand to lose health benefits and food assistance? Also, as your president speaks of dismantling FEMA, the agency
that helps with storm recovery, and we watch the deadly flooding and the poor response and preparedness, what should we say Marians going forward? and your president has blocked the funding for school ESL afterare and summer programs. What can I say to the school children
and the staff that are going to be affected by this? So questions those are federal issues. This is a Belmar municipal meeting. Those matters aren't directly in front of us. So the
statement is made. I don't think there's any need for an answer. Thank you. Thank you. Get up and speak. Okay. Hi, I'm Missy. I live in the senior
building. Okay. I want to tell you what happened on July 4th. I fell in my apartment at night around 10:00. And uh for those of you who don't know, I had bilateral hip replacements, knee
replacements, and echofusions. So I couldn't get up off the floor. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get the phone. I called the superintendent of our building. No answer. And then I called the police
immediately and they were at the building within two minutes. Uh, the problem was they could not get in my apartment because they had no master key. It took them about eight minutes to
get Mike to come up to open the door. They were wonderful. They got me up off the floor, put me into a bed chair, put ice packs on my legs, uh, gave me water bottle,
my normal TV control. just want to make sure I was okay. They're very concerned and caring. I want everybody to know that's the way the police operate. They're wonderful and I'm very very grateful for that.
Now, I want to point out a couple of things. The fact that I had to wait eight minutes for the someone to get into my apartment, it was very concerning. Suppose someone's having a heart attack,
a stroke, a severe reaction to medication. That's way too long. Every second counts. We know that. Okay. Now, there is a solution to this. It's called Mr. Kramer mentioned at the
last council me called the knock box and the Goodwill Fire Department has it. And what you do is you put the master key in the knock box and it has a special access code. That knock box can
place right at the uh office in front of the office bu uh room at our building. So the police will have access immediately getting right into the apartment. Okay. Um,
I also want to point out Maria and S mention the tenant have fallen at our last housing authority meeting July 7th and Paul just like
blew it all. I said followed up with cheap Scott. Here he is three weeks later. We're still waiting. That's wrong. That amount of time lapse is wrong. Something I mean it could happen
any time. Someone go through something very serious at our building and Paul is liable for any injuries to our tiffs. I don't understand why there's no sense of
well-being to the ternafety. uh this has to be addressed immediately. Can't wait for the next double housing authority meeting in August. The time span too long. I also want to point out I heard though one of the reasons they
they don't want a back key because some tenants feel it's invasion of their privacy. I don't know where that's coming from. I personally would be grateful
to have that um after the knock box of your building. So please kind of open and start looking at everybody's apartment. I can guarantee you that if your patient of privacy and I hope you
can follow up with this is extremely important. Thank you. I have a question. Counciloman Maldiniro, is there a master key for all the rooms in the warehouse? There is. Um Paul Deantis has one and
and while Mike the superintendent, I don't know about Paul, but Mike the superintendent does have one. Um but he's not always available. Um so I think that it really does make in my opinion is it really does make sense to have access um to the apartments. Chief Scott
did tell me though, she said, "Listen, if there's an emergency, we'll we'll get in. We'll break in." Um, but if if that's, you know, if this is something that the tenants want, I personally think it's an excellent idea. Yeah.
And I thank uh Mrs. Manley for coming up and advocating um for this for her and other residents. Yes. Thanks, Mrs. Manley, for for coming to the meeting and making us more aware. It doesn't sound like a a very high cost item, this this lock box, but I I do
think um the commissioners need to need to uh you know, put their stamp of approval on that. I don't think we could just go and put a put a lock box on another building that we don't own. I mean, they they're the ones who need to make the decision that yes, we're going
to do this and uh and then take speedy action in order to do it. So, um, could we as a council write a letter in support of this idea? We could. I mean, obviously, I mean, I I spoke to Paul today. I
certainly can write a letter to uh the Yeah, I think that would be great. even even an email I think saying you know we discussed it at the meeting and the entire council was is you know in favor of the the housing authority reaching out to the fire department to purchase
one of these things and put it in as soon as possible I feel like I'm missing something is there any reason why the master key can't just live at the police department itself so if I could answer that just real quick as to what uh what was said
before, some of the residents might not want us to have access to their apartment. So, there's a fine line between emergencies and the uh constitutionally protected property that you may rent. That would be like me
saying, "Why doesn't everybody on the on the board give us a key to their house in case there's an emergency?" That's where there's a fine line. There is a Knox box at the Belar Housing Authority. There is one there. the fire department has access to it. It is on the outside
of the building. So, uh I've been in contact with the fire department about our responses there. And if we needed to call out a fire truck so they can unlock that so we can get into an apartment, we're setting
up a protocol with uh Chief Scott. I was speaking to her before regarding this. So, okay. Very good. Thanks. Yep. Sandy Capoto Surf Avenue um by Knox Knockbox Knox Box we're talking about
what the real estate agents use is that what we're No, okay. So it so it's similar. So what happens is in each one of the fire apparatuses along with the fire chief truck is a is a
master set of keys that is locked. In order for that to be unlocked, a signal is sent via the radio from the police headquarters to unlock that box. So that way you can unlock the knots box. So it's a series to get it done.
Okay. Thank you. That is to protect Yes. Okay. the individual individual buildings from just a fire department member just taking the keys and unlocking any any anybody that has a doc box. So, it has to be unlocked by the police department for the fire department and then they can enter the
building. Okay. Thank you for that explanation. I wasn't sure. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other comments? Go ahead. Sorry. I know we have to go into exact,
but uh just to to um just to to add to Councilman Donovan's comment about the bridge in our call uh with the DOT and in my communications with the commissioner's office. They what they did is they reinforced the concrete on
the broken side on the north leaf of the bridge um with the idea that by reinforcing the concrete they're hoping that the the mechanics of it can still operate. The problem is it's a very very
uh heavily used drawbridge uh one one of the busiest in the state because of the marina traffic. So, the thing is the mechanics of the bridge are what need to be replaced. Um, and and the part is being manufactured in Florida as we
speak and it's being expedited. They couldn't put a date on it because they don't know when the actual delivery date of this piece is going to be. So, what they're doing by reinforcing the concrete, they think that they're going to be able to hopefully operate this bridge as they normally do. However,
there's no guarantees that the mechanics of this thing may go at some point. Um, they're hoping that they can get through until in the fall, late in the fall, when they can close it and and and fully fix the bridge. Uh, but for right now, they've listened to the mayor and
council of Belmar and Avon, the businesses and the residents, they and they came up with an idea to try to get it get it keep it open for the summer. However, they wanted to emphasize that there's no guarantees that this is going to work until the fall. So, they I I
just want to put that on record just to to make sure everybody knows that. So, is that the fix that's going to happen in August, this reinforcement of the concrete? They're in the process of doing that. So, so mid August they're hoping that that concrete's all in place and it's going to be enough support to handle,
you know, the opening and closing of the the old mechanics, but but the but the mechanical the mechanisms are would have to be replaced. Okay. So, just to be clear, they're not going to have the parts by August. Correct. Correct. Mayor, can I just jump in?
Sure. Are we on the vote for 22518? No, we're on public session. We didn't we we took that vote. Okay. I'm sorry. That was it for me. That's it. Okay. Did we close the public session? Okay. Let's close the public session.
Can I have a motion to close the public session? Motion. Second. All in favor? I next we have a resolution authorizing executive session whereas it has been determined by the burough council that it is necessary to discuss the following
specific matter at its regular meeting in the absence of the public which is pending litigation. Whereas the open public meetings act permits the burough council to exclude the public from that portion of a public meeting during which such matters are discussed. Now therefore be it resolved that the
burough council shall recess into a private executive session from which the public shall be excluded to discuss the above reference matters that the scope of the enforced executive session shall be limited to the above matters. that those matters discussed in executive
session shall remain confidential until such time as the need for confidentiality no longer exists. That minutes of the closed session shall be taken and kept free from public review until such time that the need for confidentiality no longer exists and that the regular meeting shall resume
after the private executive session at which time the council may take action in reference to the topic discussed. We have a motion to offer this resolution. Motion second. Councilman Donovan, yes. Council, yes. Mayor Bio,
yes. Council Rando, yes. Council Lemon, yes.