great Park Press and the co-star are official newspapers and posted on the bulletin board in the school building Take roll call Councilman Donovan here Councilman Kenny here May Fusco here Council Romero here your counties to the flag of the United
States of America to the [Music] stand and justice for all Please remain standing for a moment of silence for our troops their families first responders and especially for
Donald Zessen who was a member of the Belar Fire Company Thank you Hey we're going to start with workshop Um uh Mayor Council um uh Councilwoman Kenny and I met with the sign ordinance
committee again um today We're hoping to draft up some um amendments to the amendments that the that the planning board gave to us Um and then um we're hoping to get that for first reading maybe by our next meeting
Okay Thank you Uh we're also going to have a a short presentation uh on the uh affordable housing matters that we've been handling over the last year and a half And uh I'm going to introduce uh our attorney
Francancy McMahon and uh Christine Bell probably will say a few words to him Where do you want us to present from Sure easier Yes Okay All right Good evening everybody
I'm Francancy McMadam and McMadam in Scotland in Bowman We serve as redevelopment council to the burrow So we are going to give a brief uh update on the affordable housing and development process that's been um ongoing with the bureau for the past
several years So um how we got here and we've uh been before council several times We prevented presented some other powerpoints summarizing the affordable housing process And as we've presented previously New Jersey municipalities
have a constitutional obligation to provide affordable housing So you often hear it referred to as Mount Laurel but the obligation to provide affordable housing has been deemed to be a constitutional obligation and it's also been um adjudicated before the Supreme
Court and also um the subject of a lot of legislation uh within New Jersey Belmar ignored this uh obligation to provide affordable housing for many years at least the last pen uh past 10 years as the number of units that um uh
the burrow was obligated to provide accumulated So for the third round the bureau had an obligation to provide a certain number of houses and uh affordable units And not only did it not provide those units it was constructing developments that did not include any
affordable units Um back in December of 2022 four redevelopers were engaging with the burrow to construct large mixeduse or or residential projects that did not include any affordable units at
all Despite the ongoing third round obligation to provide affordable units these projects did not include any affordable units By ignoring its affordable housing obligation the bureau was exposed to what's called builder's remedy lawsuits
And these are lawsuits that when a municipality is not in compliance with its affordable housing obligations it does not have immunity or protection from these lawsuits developers are able to file a builder's remedy lawsuit and that allows them to uh develop
particular properties without any restrictions um to the burough zoning or planning requirements They're allowed to build um projects as long as they include 20% affordable um affordable 20% of the overall unit count is affordable
They are not restricted by the zoning requirements of the bureau So essentially the bureau loses control of the planning and zoning over that property The now the burough attorney for the Burough of Belmar had warned the bureau for the past at least 10 years
that these lawsuits were likely on multiple occasions Specifically in a letter dated um February 11th of 2019 the attorney noted that the burrow is willfully deficient in its affordable
housing obligations The attorney goes on to say "I am disturbed that the burrow is lacking in this regard and worried about possible litigation in the future and a builder's remedy lawsuit which would leave the burrow in great jeopardy." So that was back in 2019 and
still the bureau was entertaining projects that did not include any affordable units Uh it's not only builder's remedy lawsuits that the burough would be exposed to uh by being non-compliant with its affordable housing obligations It's also subject to uh litigation from fair share housing
center But these burough uh builder remedy lawsuits have been filed throughout New Jersey You can see the number of municipalities that have been listed including most recently one in Palisades Park This quote from um the attorney for Palisades Park is is as
recent as just within the last few days as they're dealing with settling six separate builders remedy lawsuits By filing a declaratory judgment action a municipality secures temporary immunity from these lawsuits which is exactly what the bureau did in March of 2023 It
filed a builder's remedy law um builder excuse me it filed a a declaratory judgment action to seek temporary immunity from both litigation from builder's remedy lawsuits and also from Fair Share Housing Center Fair Share Housing Center is a nonprofit
organization that um automatically intervenes in all DJ actions to enforce uh compliance with affordable housing obligations of municipalities Now the burrow as I mentioned did file a DJ action and it's once um that DJ
action is resolved uh the bureau will be compliant with its third round affordable housing obligation and it will have immunity from these uh lawsuits The burrow has met its affordable housing obligations through
negotiating with those four developers and redevelopers who were already working uh negotiating projects with the bureau prior to December of 2022 and the bureau negotiated over the past year plus to um get these projects to be
smaller projects for the most part and uh including afford affordable housing oblig affordable housing units Okay So one of the projects use my notes here
Excuse me We're going to have questions after Yeah we're finished Thank you Okay So this is the first project we call it Mark Belt It's located at um River Road 6th Avenue and Main Street Notably the original
project when first presented in 2021 included 131 units with no affordable units at all So um and the height was at six stories at 69 um 69 ft 9 in There
were walkways over River Road connecting buildings and a uh 50 foot height cap within 30 ft of Main Street So the final negotiated project is for 139 units with 17% or 24 units set aside as affordable
housing Um the height has been capped at four stories at 42 in uh 42 feet within 30 ft of Main Street and at five stories uh and 54 ft for the remainder of that triangular block along Main Street And
there's a separate river road building and that's five stories at 60 ft So in comparing the original 2021 project to the final project there was an 8 unit overall increase for 24 affordable units with an overall decrease in
height The next project is the Repetti Russo project which is located on uh Route 35 between 8th and 10th This project was first presented in March of 2020 It included 250 units again without
any affordable housing It was five stories Um there were several iterations of this project including one that was presented in September of 2023 for 444 units at 21 stories Um there was a
project uh and then the final project was at um 198 units with 10% on-site affordable housing units which is 20 units and a 5% payment in L for the 10 units which is 10 which is $2 million
which will be deposited in the burough's affordable housing trust fund The height of this project is kept at four stories So the overall unit count between the March 2020 project and the final project was reduced by 52 units and one story
adding 20 affordable units and a $2 million payment into the builder into the affordable housing trust fund The next project is the segment project at 708 Main Street Initially this project back in 2021 was
at uh 45 unit count with again no affordable units There were several iterations of the project In October of 2023 it went up to 59 units uh 20% affordable units Um and then the final
project was negotiated to be 56 units with an 18% or 10 unit set aside for affordable housing So and the and capped at four stories and 54 ft So while this is an 11 unit increase there is an addition of 10 affordable units um with
a 3-foot increase in the building height But it's important to note that the it does now include the affordable units and then 1610th Avenue when presented There's not much of a difference between this except the except the inclusion of the affordable units When this was first presented in
2022 it included 12 units with no affordable units Um by the final negotiations it remained at the 12 units but then there was a 20% um set aside plus a payment in L as you can see Why don't you ask why are we doing this
Now uh on tonight's agenda there is a first reading of an ordinance which will be modifying the Seapport redevelopment plan to accommodate the four units that you just heard about And uh
it is the first reading Uh the second reading will be at the uh at the next council meeting Uh but the council felt it was important to to do this now Uh because uh uh Councilman Levis and I were at the planning board meeting last
Monday and I got the impression that there were a number of people who may not have seen our prior um uh PowerPoint presentations on this and I felt it was important to to have the public know as
much as you possibly can about uh the affordable housing efforts that we're making So um the council has also agreed that we will allow some questions now uh even though it is a workshop and you will of course at the second meeting
also have an opportunity um to make comments and ask questions So if anyone has a question just feel free to come up to the mic Um just spend a few minutes and uh don't be shy I am a little shy
So um what your name and address Uh Stu Graater My name is Stu Graater I live at 1303 East Street Um I I understood what what you were saying um about you know I guess
disconnect between developers and the town and affordable housing Uh but we've had those three projects that went up over the last several years Is there a way to get affordable housing out of it retroactively It's like I understand a
lot of them are rental units you know There there there were um 12 uh affordable h housing units designated in those uh projects and uh
we are um in the process of getting credit for those 12 But to answer your question directly there's no way to go back and say "Oh we would like you to have you know to contribute more affordable housing." As tenants turn over you can't complain
No we all asked the same question Yeah we all wanted to know that Okay thank you No thank you Sandy Caputo Surf Avenue Um I'm sure a lot of negotiating went into these agreements
Um but the Mediterranean which has 198 units is only going to give us 20 affordable units half of what they really should be
doing They were supposed to do 15% they're going to pay for part of it and it feels like we're not getting enough out of that development I I don't know I'm sure there was a a give and take
but I'm not going to say specifically about the Mediterranean but usually the the negotiations were over typical things like size of of the development um number of affordable housing units uh
the amount of parking all of those were issues that each one of those developments had to be dealt with So uh I believe and you can correct me if I'm wrong I think the idea with the Mediterranean was in order to keep the
size down um the the affordables would be partially essentially paid in units and also in money Now you have to understand too that this is not something that we only had to agree to Fairshare Housing is the one who really
had to agree to this and the $2 million that's going into the affordable housing trust fund will allow us to do to do other things in the future in the affordable housing arena So did I did I plan it pretty accurately I would just
like to add that the $2 million is the bureau is getting credit against its affordable housing unit obligation for that $2 million So it's as if they're getting the credits at for the units in the form of a payment in LI So all right
Thank you I I thought and maybe I didn't hear it right I thought I heard at the planning board that even though that payment will be made the burrow still has to make good on those units They're not really built units and the burrow will have to build
those units The units will have to be built with the $2 million but the burrow is getting credit against its obligation It's not generating an obligation that that project is not creating a deficit It's not generating more units than it's providing It's satisfying the uh
affordable housing unit obligation that it's generating Okay Thank you Something else I heard a couple times that maybe it's not a good idea to have all of these developments started at the same
time to make a mess of this part of town Don't we also think that in about two years they're going to start working on that bridge to make more of a mess of this part of town when they get developed is really a function of um of when they're ready to
get I think at the meeting you heard there are probably a number of different approvals that they need to get along the way and um you know I think we will have and you can correct me if I'm I'm wrong I think we will have some say in when the when the these developments
actually start the concern at the meeting as you know was that they're all going to start at the same time that's not going to happen partly because of the things I just said and partly because practically speaking it just can't be done at the same time It'll be too much of a
disturbance to to the town because that bridge is going to get started in about two years Right We have I don't have any idea in my head as to when these developments might start It might be two years It could be three
years I don't I don't know what what roadblocks they may face as developers in terms of you know getting their units up Thank you Okay And this seems to be Oh that's okay I I heard you
Okay I don't know if there are any more questions Yeah Oh um while we have the attorneys here can can you enumerate for me what we can use the affordable housing trust for
Whoever can answer that Yeah The affordable housing trust fund can be used to construct affordable housing units and also can be used for rehabilitation of units to satisfy both the rehabilitation and the new construction obligations of the burough the the other the other
um unfortunate result of not having the affordable housing in effect earlier you know prior to 2023 is that the the burrow was not able to collect any affordable housing fees for all of the development that went on not only the
development like on Fifth Avenue and on 8th Avenue but even for the uh you know people building new homes and things like that So we we entered the uh 2023 with I think it was in April you can correct me if I'm wrong zero dollars
in our affordable housing trust fund you wouldn't happen to know how much we have right now park remember that number But since since we passed the ordinance back in I don't know exactly when it was
It was sometime after we got court approval and they said we could pass that ordinance Um we have 156,762 Okay Okay So we have 156,000 B park and once once the you know these
developments are are done you know we will get that $2 million from from the uh the Mediterranean and that'll also go into the fund And in the meantime we're still money is still being put into that fund so that um you know it will grow
over time When you say rehabilitation you guys hear me That's better When you say rehabilitation does it have to be specifically of the building or can be of the area surrounding the building or the infrastructure around the building I think it's primarily the building I
think it's limited to the build I think it's limited to the building and um yeah to the mayor's point uh the um funds that are in the uh affordable housing trust fund are subject to approval uh by the court of the housing element fair
share plan which is wrapped into this whole declaratory judgment action So the bureau has not been able to spend um any of the funds that are in that trust fund until the court approves its housing element fair share plan If I may ask one one further question Um because I've heard it floated around that we should
vote this down and take our chances working directly with the developers If that were to happen what are the chances that we are under fair share housing We are not within that fair share housing isn't aware of us and wouldn't sue us
immediately Like is that you are definitely on fair share housing's radar screen We're currently negotiating with them on a settlement And as far as really don't you don't need to speculate too much as to what the lawsuits would look like You you saw we just presented what one of the projects had presented I
think it was 444 units and 21 stories So that was an actual concept plan that was submitted So the builders were ready with very large dense projects And as we said once you lose control of your zoning and fair share housing is encouraging you know a certain number of
affordable units minimum 20% Um it increases the density which leads to increased height Actually I have one more I I was looking at I know there were something like 160 towns within New Jersey that had I don't remember if they
sued They did some type of action Do you know what I'm referring to This is fourth round You're talking about the fourth round So that's their fourth round numbers This all that we're talking about tonight and all these projects the burrow is still since it didn't do anything for a long period of time is still trying to satisfy its
obligations under the third round You have taken some actions which were required under the statute to be in compliance with the fourth round you're meeting all the steps and the milestones under the fourth round but the um litigation that's been recently filed has to do with the numbers that came
from um DCA as far as the affordable housing obligations for each municipality within for the fourth round Mhm Um I I had seen a chart that was listing all of those towns and their attempt at renegotiating those numbers and I thought it was interesting because
some towns successfully did negotiate like a few units down but there were a couple um I know Wall was one of them that got denied alto together because they either tried to go for zero or they really swung for the fences and tried to negotiate like 50 down and just got turned down alto together and I thought that was interesting as a sign that uh
the state is taking this very very seriously Yeah And negotiating My understanding of how the process is going is you're not really what you're negotiating is you're showing evidence that their numbers were not correct that the land that they based their calculations on was either
developed or so in order to adjust those numbers a municipality needs to establish and provide evidence um as to why they should be reducing the numbers It's not like oh we'll we'll we agree to do 36 we want 54 It's not your typical
negotiation You have to have documented evidence to support why you're adjusting your numbers Okay Um come on up I'm D I'm at 70710th Avenue in Denmark And um I'm a little out of the loop I
was in a lot of town meetings um last year but I had a couple what may seem obvious questions but one of them is on the one on the Mediterranean which is the 10th Avenue to 8th Avenue Uh so do I
understand correctly that they instead of meeting the obligation of the 20% they just said we'll give you money There's they're meeting their obligation of 15% Under the third round um there was generally the obligation for rental
units was 15% and for sale is 20% That's generally what the the rules are Fourth round it's pretty much 20% across the board but we're still in the third round We're trying to wrap up the third round When you say this third round and fourth round what does that mean Yeah there are different rounds that should have lasted 10 years for periods of 10 years The
third round just because of a lot of administrative issues within the state has been expanded to at least I think it's 15 years So it's been going ongoing and once um the f the third round is basically ended and the fourth round is
starting in July of 2025 I mean there's already um procedures underway but I think officially it starts in July of 2025 for the fourth round So they're really trying to wrap up municipalities who still haven't satisfied their third round obligation There's different
obligations generated for each round So if a builder has enough money to say we don't want to meet that obligation percentage-wise any builder can come in and say we'll give you more money No instead this was part of uh this as the mayor mentioned this was part of a lot
of negotiating and that's has to be approved by fair share housing They are providing 10% 20 units on site and then they're providing $2 million to the trust fund right And that $2 million counts towards it's not as if they're
not that still counts towards 30 units They're generous So which is their 20% requirement So they're meeting their their requirement or their 15% requirement I'm sorry They're meeting their 15% requirement with 10 on-site units and a payment for 5% And that was what was negotiated in order to keep the
density down Generally speaking it c you have to have about four market rate units to cover the cost of an affordable unit So you you can do the math Okay You increase height you increase density you increase you know all the other things that come along with that Okay
Thank you The other question I had and again I apologize I haven't been to a meeting in the last couple months but the last meetings I was at is this a feta complete All of these are already approved and at the heights that you
showed in your and the dimensions that you showed in your in your presentation Yes we're just waiting for the uh the court's approval on on all of the summits because I know that the meetings se many of the meetings that I went to people were presenting a lot of concerns
about infrastructure about traffic control and traffic patterns and all And I know that there there were issues on the traffic patterns uh reports and all And I I now I understand somehow somebody must have been satisfied with
those because otherwise it wouldn't have been approved right But I don't recall hearing or seeing or reading anything about those things that were brought up by the by your neighbors Um the main concerns that were voiced by quite a few
people in town Um how did they get negotiated I mean what what what was the final was the traffic report for example something that showed that hey this is going to be acceptable because I live on 10th Avenue okay And I see on a Thursday
night in the winter the cars backed up when the train comes to Main Street and that's February So I'm wondering did anybody finish these reports Did anybody report to us on them and I just missed
it or what planning Yeah th those some of those issues will be addressed at the planning board level um as we Excuse me I'm sorry Those were things that were brought up a year and a half to to to all through last year So and they were brought up
here as main concern and many of you had questions about them might recall Let me let me just interject too All of the negotiating that we did was overseen by the court Okay And the court primary focus is on the the structure the
building how many affordable housing units there are And um and pretty much that was it in other words So the court would not the court would not um say "Oh we're going to you know allow 20er units
because there's a traffic study that says there's going to be 10% more traffic." Okay the focus of all of the negotiations was on mostly how many affordable units can we get out of this
and how small can we keep the project and you know and the builders are saying you know we need this and we're saying we need that and fair share housing saying we need that So those are the three elements that really uh went to settling these things the planning board
will have an option to look at these other things but it those are not what I'm saying is those would not be dispositive of whether or not the the uh the project would be approved or not So regardless of what those reports show
exactly doesn't matter Exactly Effect quality of the people who are sitting there doesn't matter Right Thank you Okay Why don't we move on to um you know we're going to have another session at the next meeting Uh and you'll have uh
you know it'll be the second reading You also have an opportunity uh to ask questions but I'd like to get on with the meeting So why don't we What's that Oh Christine was going to say a few a few words about some of the changes that are um
minor changes that are being made to the ordinance per the uh meeting that we had at the planning board about a week ago So Christine Bell from Leona Slovakian Inc I'm the burough planner Um last Monday uh I presented the amendment to
the redevelopment plan um to the planning board uh for their consistency review Um we did make a few minor changes um just really clerical in nature since then Um we updated the concept plan uh for sub area A based on
their input um to show 254 parking spaces Um while we we require a minimum of 252 but the original submitted concept plan had even more parking spaces than that uh
illustrated on it In sub area B we basically just um added a space to split up a paragraph and um to emphasize that exclusions to the height requirements for architectural elements parapits um
mechanical equipment things like that apply to both buildings not just the one building um there was a missing space in the document and that uh concept plan was also updated based on the input from the planning board to remove disclaimer disclaimer language that basically would
allow for deviations from the u plan um as depicted Um overall the planning board did find uh the um amendment to be consistent with the master plan They did have some um concerns that they brought
up uh for the mayor and council to potentially consider um including uh requiring brick pavers for the sidewalks on Main Street across Main Street Um unassigned parking spaces within
um the projects so that uh the spaces could be utilized by the public as well as the residents um a staggering start date to uh reduce the impacts of construction Um that would be set forth in the developers agreements and to
require projects to get outside agency approval such as DOT and D um earlier on in their planning phases Um and their last uh item for consideration was to make sure projects have access to the
necessary utilities and um their use of those utilities don't negatively impact the rest of Milmar Okay Thank you Okay I think we are on to petitions I have not received any petitions
Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the March 11th meeting Motion Motion Second All in favor I Anyone oppose Okay Uh next is reports of council
Counciloman D The Belmore Environmental Committee held a cleanup of the First Avenue uh beach last weekend Uh we'd like to thank the Environmental Commission Belmar Scouts Pack 40 uh and various schools who volunteered and came out to clean up Uh
together we collected 288 pounds of litter and debris off of that beach Um a special thanks to Pack 40 who filled a 5gallon bucket with small plastics including straws bottle caps toothpicks and small toys uh which are among the most harmful to wildlife and fish along
the shoreline Um as our DPW said in an email to me volunteers are the tip of the sword in the fight against litter So um DPW will be going out I believe tomorrow to cut down the fragmiteies on the island and along Silver Lake So we're looking forward to
that And we are in discussions about eggling going into the spring Um tourism we had a successful tourism meeting with participation from the Delhar Lake Cromo Chamber of Commerce Um we spoke directly about plans to circulate traffic during the seafood festival through town in our
own businesses to benefit them and I'm hoping to announce concrete plans soon Um the Harbor Commission we'd like to uh council will be talking about the Harbor Commission And just a reminder again that Saturday April 5th the Belar
Women's Club will be hosting a craft fair down at Taylor Pavilion from 9:33 with over 30 global artisans vendors and delicious food So please come out Okay Councilman Kenny thank you Um Sha Tree Commission we talked about our
Arbor Day celebration which is going to be April 11th for the um kids in school third graders from St Rose Brown School will be at the library on the 11th at 10:00 a.m Belar Elementary School will be planting trees over there at 1:00 p.m Um everyone from the mayor and council
is invited so please come out and celebrate Our Arbor Day actual Arbor Day is actually April 20th Um and new members are welcome at the Shade Tree Commission We're actually have one permanent space and two alternate spaces available So if you want to be part of
the Shade Tree reach out Um recreation tennis lesson signups start April 1st Tennis for boys and girls um and adults cost is $90 for residents $100 for non-residents Running club signups also start April 1st for
boys and girls going sixth through uh 2nd through sixth grade Uh $55 for residents 80 for non-residents The Easter egg hunt is April 12th 11:00 a.m sharp between fourth and 5th at beaches Volunteers are still needed so if you'd
like to volunteer if kids that you know need service hours please have them come contact recreation Um and summer basketball signups are going on now for residents and non-residents And Barry just wanted me to reiterate again that junior guards is at full capacity So
unfortunately we cannot accept any more kids for junior guards So that's recreation And lastly just one quick thing Delmore Elementary School is celebrating um neurodeiversity awareness week April 7th to the 11th There's going
to be school activities fundraisers Um and Friday April 11th is the PTO fundraiser '8s fashion show at Taylor Pavilion So reach out to the school if you'd like to support that fundraiser And that is all I have Thank you Council President
Thank you Mayor Uh the Belmar Public Library would like to invite you this Saturday March 29th at 11:00 a.m for our living history program at Louiswis and Clark Um they'll tell the stories of their journeys and adventures at the core of discovery Um anyone who went to Amelia Heheart two weeks ago that's a
really great program Um we really enjoyed it Library does a wonderful job So please um come out and join us Uh our next Belmar Library Board of Trustees meeting is May 12th at 6 p.m Uh the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
Weatherization Assistance Program met with executive um Belar Housing Authority Director um Paul DeSantis last Monday to tour the building Um we're hoping that we can get some assistance from them to help weatherproof the building and they do have an engineer
coming out to do a further study So that's good news Uh I I talked about the signing ordinance committee Um we had such a good time my family um and I cleaning uh the beach Uh thank you so much to uh the Belmar Environmental
Commission and DPW and everyone who was involved That was a blast Um and uh I wanted to also mention our longtime Belmar resident Harry Tahan who served uh bravely in the army uh as a World War II Battle of the Bulge combat veteran Um
he passed at um age 104 and he used to come out um regularly for our veteran and memorial services here in Belmar Um and so I'm hoping that maybe we can um sponsor a banner a veterans banner for
him this year um for for all of his service Um and also I just want to have my own um condolences for the family and friends of Belmar and Spring Lake Heights firefighter Johnny Zessen um who
passed away suddenly last week Um our hearts are with who knew him Um we're grateful for his heroism Um and the services uh for Johnny are being held tomorrow and Thursday Uh please see the Belmar Volunteer Hook and Ladder
Facebook page for more details Thank you Councilman Levis Thank you Mayor I just want to first thank uh Kendra Thompson for all her hard work doing Belmore Youth Club for the last season Uh that's a thankless chore to watch all of our
kids Um so I just big shout out to her for getting it done It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed it and always wanted to go every week So I really thank her for putting in that that effort Um also regarding VMAR Troop 40 I want to congratulate the uh the latest
uh Eagle Scouts uh of the troop Kai Lis Patrick Ghart and Josh Goodwin uh all made Eagle Scout this year Kyomus being the latest Um just a little background on what they want to do Eagle Scout is a really hard achievement to get in the
Boy Scouts So they essentially have to do a project to to better their community Um Kai's project was he created the beach toy borrow boxes that you'll see on 14th and 9inth beaches here in Belmar Uh Patrick refurbished
the guard house at the Space Exploration Center and Josh uh designed and builtformational signposts for the scientific history exhibits up at InfoAge of Science So congratulations to young those young men for uh really putting in the effort Um it's no small
feat to do it I never made it to Eagle Scout It's hard So congratulations to them And last an update on the marina Um most of the piling work is almost done We've replaced a lot of piles which is really great We haven't had any piles replaced I think in over a decade Um the
fuel dock is a little bit delayed in transit by about two weeks but we're still expecting to have work done before May 1st Um the old fuel dock is gone New one will be coming in and installed as soon as it arrives on site That's all I have mayor Okay Thank you Uh that brings
us to the public session on the resolutions If anyone would like to make a comment on any of the resolutions please step up to the microphone state your name and address Bill Markler 219 Second Avenue Um I just had a question on the surf camp Um what
kind of new constraints or what there's a new bidding process for the for the camp that's been established here for I say 15 20 years I can I can comment on that Yeah that's right Yeah So the the lease expired on
the existing camp so we have to put it out for bid again Okay Um that's really the only Will that be just like a a public bid here or is it go sealed It'll be a sealed It'll be a seal sealed bid It's not going to be a public auction Is there any other further constraints from
what they've had previously The areas that the old lease was not very definitive Let me put it that way Um there was a lot of things that were you know not clear Um so this sort of locks in what what is allowed and what's
not allowed So what has changed Um we clearly defined what the area is going to be Um we clearly defined things that had previously been you know nods and handshakes Um so they're actually defined in the lease Things like having a portable tent or having storage a
storage shed to be able to store equipment and surfboards on site So there's going to be a portable tent or they took that away No there it's permitted in the lease in the language It's there now and the current operators were involved with the at least the new terms of the formation they came up with
So they provided input but we're not allowed to uh write anything directly for them It is still an open bid Okay I I really encourage you because it is such an amazing program for our town to have Everyone that we sell homes to and
neighbors have asked me what can my children do Obviously junior guards is is is at capacity I would do whatever we can to keep summertime surf They've been great I see them involved on the beach with their children It's not just a day camp where
you drop your kid off They're learning you know a lot of safety in surfing Um and and you know um it's a great activity for children Anything we can do to keep kids off phones and off computers So I just wanted to mention I I think they I hope they win the bid
because they've done an amazing job in the past Thank you If I may just make one comment though about the sheds there we're still kind of working that out with D because there have been some regulations about stuff we could put on the beach So and as much as we would love to have storage for everybody
lifeguards summertime surf for whoever our our you know surf camp is um we're still kind of working that out Is that right George We're going to work with our burrow engineer I have Jim Morris taking a look at it but it's my opinion that we're permitted to put temporary structures related to tourism on the
beach provided that they're removable within 24 hours So within those that parameters or those parameters we can commit shifts on the another thing that was changed for safety purposes and from the comments that we had heard from
summertime surf and and those who um have had children in the surf camp is we've created a buffer now of at least 100 ft away from that pier um because it was kept moving north and north and north and it really wasn't that safe to be that close to the pier Yeah I mean
this directly impacts me It's literally at the end of my street and they have done an amazing job and and really you know bringing a great community uh family oriented program to our town I think every single person up here has sent their kids to this You know we
we're we're with you Okay Thank you Nina Buckley as elected officials I assume you represent the whole town and their diverse interests even if you don't share them To this point I'd like to educate you on the culture of surfing in Belmar Shoreline My brothers Joe and John and their friends are part of the
original surfing society in Belmar in the 70s Surfing is a big deal Since the 70s surfing teams at the high school have been created Competitions autism events have come to Belmar and the water rescue team is a direct result of Belmar surfers Another major offshoot is the
creation of the surf camp which is the brainchild of a local with a business plan In 2004 he created surf camp to bring love and surfing and water safety to society as a whole not just us lucky enough to be by the ocean With hard work long hours and his love of surfing he
has become well respected His camp fills every year local families and visitors He employs many locals and some of the students have gone on to professional level crediting the surf camp Belar should be honoring and highlighting him as a successful business story Instead
we're making issues where there need not be any Over the years we have shortened his timeline given him less room to work and made it too difficult for him to continue in the town that he loves Why I live right there It's not a bother I personally feel this is unjust and the way you're treating him is unfair and
biased There's no reason for the camp to go out to bid except to hurt Shawn himself directly None of you seem to understand that surfing is the pulse of Belmar None of you seem to understand how deep the commitment to surfing is Why ruin a man's business I have to ask
why the commercial boat slips in the arena don't go out for bid Oh because a man with three children might lose his business Sean also a man with three children Why does Junior Guard get everything it needs Because the council people have interest in that What about
surfing As I started my brother belonged to the 70s surfing scene and were part of the original water rescue team They had beepers and ran on the beach By attacking Sean you're attacking me my brothers my friends and the legacy on the Belmar coast Surfers lives matter
and surfers vote Thank you for your time Can I repeat that one Any other I am a surfer This is not a comment session It's just not a comment session Remember there's no questions and answers
Any other comments Okay let's move on to ordinances Do I have a motion I have a motion to close the public session Motion Second All in favor I I have a motion to adopt the resolutions
as listed on the consent agenda Make the motion Second Counciloman Donovan Yes Counciloman Kenny Yes Mayor Becca Fusco Yes Counciloman Romero Yes Councilman Lemon Yes Uh next is ordinance
20257 This is an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 19 traffic uh section 12 which is time limits This is to include timerestricted parking on the west side of Main Street between 11th Avenue and 12th Avenue during certain hours Do we have a motion to offer this
ordinance for first reading and introduction I'll make the motion Second Councilman Donovan Yes Council McKini yes Mayor Becca Fusco yes Council Romero yes Councilman Le yes Next is ordinance
20258 This is an ordinance approving and adopting an amendment to the amended redevelopment plan for the Seapport redevelopment area Do we have a motion to offer for first reading and introduction I just want to clarify for the record that uh Miss Bell noted the comments and
concerns that are included in the report from the planning board They are not recommendations and the redevelopment law there's a statutory requirement that recommendations be addressed by the council that these were comments and concerns They were not um um included in the report as recommendations So there
is no required council action And as noted by Miss Bell again for the record that um the planning board did find the uh proposed amendment consistent with the master plan which is what is required under the redevelopment plan Thank you Okay Thank you Thank you
We have a motion to offer for first reading I'll make a motion Second Councilman Donovan Yes Councilman Kenny Yes Mayor Besco Yes Councilman Randero Yes Councilman Lis Yes Okay Now we have
the regular public comment session If you step forward please remember to state your name and address before speaking Hi everybody Uh my name is Ann Keem and I'm the concession stand up on Taylor Pavilion and I think there's like a miscommunication I think you think that
I want out of my lease and I don't One of the issues and I spoke to Mr McGill last week Um there was a couple of things that happened last year regarding my lease which is a legal document and I didn't want this to play out in public
but since we're here um I do want to do this amicably and I do appreciate everything the town has done for me So my lease says that I'm supposed to be open on May 1st There's a discrepancy with the lease because the lease starts
on May 15th I was not able to be opened for Memorial Day weekend Um there was construction that was going on and when I handed in my check over here I said "Do you think we'll be good for Memorial Day?" The person said
"Yes." I knew that it was a race against time and people were working really hard to finish Taylor Pavilion But I was not able to open And believe me if I could have opened on Memorial Day weekend I would have because it's
it's a huge weekend for the Jersey Shore So I didn't really say anything And then um June's rolling around and I have I had my equipment that was delivered before uh Memorial Day weekend and I had
I didn't have sufficient electric I was told by somebody up there uh to use extension cords It's against the law to use extension cords I believe for commercial equipment It's also a fire hazard and
there's also not enough juice in an extension cord It gets diluted to support um support what commercial restaurant equipment needs So I have like three refrigerators three
freezers a stove uh an oven a toaster a coffee grinder a bunch of stuff And believe it or not while I'm really grateful that the town spent $4,000 and that's how I know that you guys know that there wasn't enough electricity up
there Okay I know when I spoke to you Mr McIll you said there was an electrical board and I thought the same thing But what happened was this is what was explained to me that the electrical board yes it was there and it was working but because
of the new additions to the bathrooms the electric wasn't coming through and I did not have Yes there were sockets there but the juice was not going into the sockets and when I plugged it in my stuff didn't work So the DPW was really
nice I told them you know I have to have electric They hired somebody the the electrician that was working on the electric called out sick that day and everybody was scrambling to get me electric and that was really nice So
um then the next thing that happens is Junth That was a great day A lot of business It was one of the best weekends that I had Then I get an email which I didn't see uh for July 4th and it says close down and I'm like I didn't even
see it and then all of a sudden um I have a line down the boardwalk and it was raining and that whole deck is filled with people and the line is down the boardwalk and I'm going through my phone and I see that I have an email
that says you have to close down tonight But luckily somebody saw how jammed I was and they let me stay open which was very nice So this leads me to the third thing which is my lease And in my lease
it says that I am supposed to be a preferred caterer for the Taylor Pavilion I paid $66,000 for that lease And the reason I paid that was because I thought that I
was going to be a preferred caterer Now $66,000 is just the start I had a lot of capex that went into my first year which was my choice and I bid on that and I Mr
Miguel accept that responsibility But I accepted that responsibility with the understanding that I would be a preferred caterer As you know catering is a lot different than pumping out food on the
boardwalk My average cover is about $15 And while I do a lot of volume if I was able to be a preferred caterer for Taylor Pavilion that would have been a huge game changer for my
business The covers on catering are significantly different than they are for Boardwalk Concession Food I still had a decent year but I I would really appreciate it I I I just looked and I've
asked and this is mind-blowing to me because I have asked by signing the lease number one to be granted preferred catering status I sent an email to somebody and I had a conversation with somebody on the
boardwalk and I looked at the Taylor Pavilion website over the weekend and I'm still not on the preferred catering list This is in my
lease It's a legal binding document It's a contract between two parties that I signed and I gave you money for And Mr McIll while I appreciate your offer after I said to you I explained
the situation you said "Well we're going to let you out of the lease but you have to sign something that says that I won't seek damages." I never wanted to seek damages I don't want to sign an
agreement that gets me out of my lease I want to go up to that boardwalk work have my business and look at the ocean and sell French fries and chicken fingers and hot dogs and hamburgers but I also want to be on the
preferred catering list which it says in my lease Now I wrote and just so you know like when I'm up there I don't sell subs okay I don't I I I'm very respectful to that whole thing up there
you know I don't sell subs I don't sell acai bowls If somebody asks me where they can go get a drink or where there's a nice restaurant to eat I send them right across the street I'm trying to be as nice as I possibly can And I would
like the Burrow of Delmare to honor my lease and put me on the preferred catering list okay And possibly give me a credit for all of the business that I lost Now here's where I'm at If I pay
another $66,000 to this town what is going to happen Am I going to get like beat out of the preferred catering list again Like I get it Everybody was stressed out and working
really hard to get Taylor Pavilion up and running And you know maybe I should have been a little more forceful I am laidback and to my own fault you know people have said to me Ann you got to be tough I'm not tough I'm not I just want
to be on that list Okay I don't want this airing out in public I said that to you guys I hate this I really do But a lease is a contract I have $40,000 right now to give this town What I want is to
be on the preferred catering list Why I I had an Oprah request for the other concession stand to find out what their lease was It wasn't because I wanted to get out of my lease I wanted
to create a valuation that was fair for a concession stand that doesn't have a catering component to it So their their lease is like 38,000 then it goes up 4143 for 5 years I know what I signed up
for You know what I signed up for I want what I signed up for So I'm giving if you want to take it tonight I'll give you the $40,000 which is way more than that concession stand is worth And when you put me on the when you put me on the
preferred catering list I'll give you the rest of it And if you find it in your hearts to give me a credit because you beat me out of the month of revenue from the middle of May to the middle of June and you beat me out of uh
the preferred catering list That's on you But I want to thank esteemed members of the council your excellency the mayor Mr McIll Mr Kaine and the DPW And just so you know I I take really good care of
that concession stand I'm paying electric up there for the winter and there's nobody up there because I was told that the concession stand last year the pipes froze and that whole thing there's copper pipes that are front
facing along the ocean I maintain that I make sure the heat is on when there's a cold snap I do it And I I just cannot believe that this is like blown up like this I didn't want this to blow up That's it Thank you for your time God
bless Any further comments Okay Can I have a motion to close I just want to bring up the fact that um it wasn't mentioned but the Belmar Women's Club is has their 2025
scholarship um applications that are on the Belmar website or belar.com Um so any senior that's from Belmar and Lakeo can apply for the scholarship and it's open until May 13th
to apply So they can just go right off belir.com and do their applications Thank you Thank you My daughter will be applying for that scholarship I said one more question So you mentioned that there
it's a sealed bid When I was on the council and the concession stands were awarded It was um like a an auction I'd hate for these guys to miss it for a $100 bid that's sealed where these guys
can see come up with a number and have an auction rather than you know lose it over $100 Is that still a an option to have that I know when we were on the council we did that Can they can they do that rather
than have a sealed bid where you you know over $100 they could lose it Resolution that passed tonight says it's going to be a sealed bid Yeah Correct Okay Simply because that's the way we decided to do it Right Okay I I just thought it would be beneficial for them
to keep that All right Thank you Can we just move on Just Sorry guys I just reiterate that this is going to bid because we are legally obligated to do that but that we're not forcing anybody
out No Right Right No the comment was made or the question was asked why we were going to bid Suggestion was made that it was only to hurt McGrath The truth of the matter is their 10 years are up Um we have to go back to bid
That's just the law He just renew his contract just like you do with the slips in the boat boat Marina But you believe what you want to believe Hi Sharon Russell 11th Avenue Uh I just have a question about one of the I guess resolutions that was passed uh regarding
the parking on in between 11th and 12th Is that on Main Street Is that Yes that's the school It's on Main Street front of the school Okay So for those of us that come twice twice a month do we have to get like a visitor's
pass to park there or No it's only only a time Yeah it's only between 7:30 and 8:30 Yeah it's a time I think it's 10 minutes 15 minutes Yeah it's going to be 10 minutes just in front of the school for drop off and pickups Okay to alleviate
the congestion and double parking and parents Yeah because we read at 8:30 and noon So I got a little nervous Okay Okay Good Um second thing um I just wanted to reiterate about the sailing program I don't think it was mentioned but there is a sailing program for the
kids My daughter was in it years ago So if you have a chance to sign up for that I have nothing to do with it but I have a friend of the Friends of Belmont Harbor That's a great program Yep Yes Um the next thing is um my That's okay My voice is loud
enough Um the dock I know that you're in with the uh the harbor Um I was there yesterday um off of 9inth Avenue Pier There's one dock that's completely tilted I can show you the picture It's It needs to be repaired We're trying to get any ancillary work we can done while
we're here just because the mobilization cost alone to get that barge in the crane out are high So anything else we're looking at doing Great Um couple of other things they have to do with the infrastructure Um street paving The roads are they're really good
I just signed um something this afternoon for the Fifth Avenue Uh but we don't have a date yet as to when they're going to start So schedule of the different streets and the 15th was done Yeah I think we we talked about that before about putting up the uh the
schedule for the for the streets Yeah our engineers completing the road inventory I went over with them yesterday and uh there's a pre-construction meeting on the on the road project on Thursday We will have a a list at least of the more recent ones that are going to be
done start till fall have so much traffic during the summer but yeah it's some roads are really um two things that I know have been uh something that I've been very concerned about are house numbers I know that sounds ridiculous but summer's coming
and a lot of houses do not have numbers on them anywhere and one of the things I had hoped that maybe one of the Eagle Scouts would pick up would be to maybe paint on the curve curbs the house number you know some people don't want it right on their houses but right on the curb in front of their house they
can put the number 1113 you know and so on Only because in the summer I don't know about you but we get a lot of knocks on our house door And it's not us It's not for us It's for like the house next to us or two houses down because there there are no house numbers So they come to our house because we have a house number and
they'll ask "Where is the other house?" And I'm like "2 o'clock in the morning Thanks so much So yeah that's something I would love to have happen And then of course down the road sidewalk repair So thank you You're probably surprised that I'm so
fast I work out of your five minutes Do you know Um a couple basic but number one I'm happy that there's movement Sounds like movement on a senior building and
I'm sure the seniors will appreciate that The uh a question about if if you need an EMS um do you do you dial 911 and deal or or talk to the
police call Delmare police which do you do if you need a vehicle You can do either You can do either dependent who we're a 911 PAP okay Which means if you call 911 you're coming directly to our
Okay So if you dial 911 you're going to get our dispatchers If you call the 1700 line you're going to get our dispatchers Great To send emails right I just wanted to make sure we're dealing with Elmar's Elmar residents You are Um and we had a
program a while back uh on uh helping people to get their sidewalks repaired and then that program stopped It was I thought it was effective but we're not done and I just wanted you to consider
reimplementing that program Uh you remember how it worked The I residents put in but you may have your own ver version but whatever makes the sidewalks safe um that will be
appreciated And this lady here I only know her through working on the board of water She has a tremendous product in which she was offering the town of Bilmore Tremendous and she's
parted a project her pro progress It's not just the food which is delicious It's her and her doing So um I hope you're able to help her Thank you Tom
Thank you Can I have a motion to close the public session Motion Second All in favor I uh next we have resolution 202571 This is 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 contract negotiations 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 foret executive session shall be limited to the above matters that those matters discussed in executive session shall remain confidential confidential until such time as the need for confidentiality no longer exists as determined by the burough attorney and
that minutes of the closed session shall be taken and be kept free from public review until such time that the need for confidentiality no longer exists and that the regular meeting of the burough council shall resume after the private executive session at which time the
burough council may take action in reference to the topic discussed Do we have a motion to offer that resolution for adoption Motion Second