##VIDEO ID:GKnejahwLtw## e e hope I open the burnard township committee meeting for January 28th 2025 please stand for the flag salute Al to flag of the United States of America to [Music] theice adequate notice of this meeting was posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building one CER Lane Baskin Ridge on the township website and email to the burntown news whippy The Courier News Bridgewater chapen 2.net patch.com and filled with the Township Clerk on December 18th 2024 any motion to go into closed session will be included that the matters discussed as such closed session will be disclosed to the public when such matters are finally determined and there's no further reason to prohibit the the public from disclosure of information relating to such matters no new business will be introduced after 10:30 p.m. public comments will be accepted at all meetings speakers will be limited to 5 minutes all meetings will be adjourned no later than 11:30 p.m. Christie item four filling the township vacancy left by resignation of Gary Balman we have received an email from Bernard's Township Republican Municipal chair Scott Mitzner on January 14th 2025 nominating three nominees to the township committee to fill the vacancy left by Township committeeman Gary Bowman's resignation the nominees are as follows David tank crey Daniel mcabe and Kirsten light may I have a motion to select one of the candidates Madame mayor I move to nominate David tank crey to fill the vacancy on the township committee I second it any discussion uh just that I've known David for a number of years he runs a small business serving the local community and he has dedicated countless volunteer hours to the township notably on the Zoning Board of adjustment David has a wealth of knowledge that this committee and the residents of burnard will benefit anyone else I just want to commend all the candidates for coming forward I think it's wonderful for people to raise their hand and say yes to being part of our Civic engagement so thank you for that and I also want to commend Mr tenr in terms of your already having committed time to the township through the Zoning Board of adjustment so look forward to our vote I'd like to add I want to thank all of the seven Republicans that put their hand up to be considered and grateful for these folks to accept the opportunity for appointment tonight so thank you to each and every one of you I too would like to thank everyone for stepping up it's what we need in Society people to uh step up and want to serve our community but public service is very important to for a society to flourish and and David uh it's just an honor for you to be up here we've known each other a really long time I've asked you to run for a really really long time many phone calls and I'm so happy that you took recently took the phone call and accepted to run and uh really I'm so excited and happy to have you here you're an honorable band and you will serve this community well thank you roll call Christie Miss Acy yes Miss dorte McCarthy yes Mr MCN yes mayor Fields yes motion [Music] carried chrisy B resolution 20250 0116 filling the vacancy on the burnard's township committee left by the resignation of Township committeeman Gary Bellin may I have a motion to insert David cran into resolution 2025 0116 and approve the resolution Madame mayor I move that David T's name be inserted into the resolution 20251 one6 and that it be approved second any discussion roll call Christie Miss AC yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Mr MCN yes mayor Fields yes motion carried C oath of office I see that David tanr is in office and I would like to ask him to come up and invite him in his family uh in front of the uh de here so the clerk can administrate administer the oath of office okay will you be holding the Bible yes welcome thank you okay you're going to raise your right hand left hand on the Bible and repeat after me I state your name I David tankr do Solly swear do solemnly swear that I will support that I will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments and to the governments established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and further and further I do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially and justly impartially and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of Township Committee Member of the office of Township Committee Member according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations [Music] I will now conduct the Roll Call Miss Acy here miss starte McCarthy here Mr MCN here Mr Tedy here mayor Fields here thank you amend the agenda item yes mayor um I'd like to make a motion uh to amend the agenda to add the following Township committee appointments as items 14f through H uh recreation parks and Pathways um newly appointed member David tank crey non voting TC liaison for a one-year term expiring 12312 uh sewage Authority David tanre regular member filling the unexpired term 5 years expiring uh 13127 and uh planning board David tank crey regular member class three uh one-year term expiring 12 3125 second all those in favor I I Chris the executive session none this evening mayor presentations resolution 2025 one20 Muslim Heritage Month celebration January 2025 before we present the resolution would my colleagues like to say something first sure I would like to um so first of all I'm really proud that Bernard's Township is again making this resolution to our Muslim Community uh New Jersey is home to nearly 300,000 American mus Muslims and that represents one of the largest populations of any state in the United States and in Bernard's Township the Vitality of the Islamic Society of Basking rdge is solid evidence of the importance of our Muslim Community I was very pleased to be able to join you this past Sunday at the celebration of Muslim heritage month and it was wonderful to hear the educational impact that the Muslim Community has had including among others in medicine in engineering and in mathematics and also to hear the spiritual readings and the song so you are an essential part of our community as I Look to our present and our future you will continue to be a wonderful contributor and we are so proud of all that's achieved so very proud of this resolution mayor mayor uh I too am proud of that we're doing this resolution celebrating Muslim American Heritage um I'd like to welcome uh Ali chrey and the members of his congregation here um I had the occasion to visit isbr uh last year and uh I was very touched by the hospitality that I received and it was uh such a warm welcome and to meet uh the members of your congregation was really wonderful so I want to thank you again for that and proud to support this resolution I'd also like to add um Dr Shri you've been so generous and welcoming and opening um your mosque to the entire community so to all of the members of the isbr we're very grateful that you're a part of our community um loved in celebrating Ramadan the Crescent lighting and the multiple events throughout the year so we look forward to continuing to work closely with you and are grateful for the opportunity thank you do Dr Shri uh the Islamic Society of um of Basking Ridge um I would like to say tonight we recognize and celebrate Muslim Heritage Month here in New Jersey a designation signed into law this past summer by Governor Murphy Muslim herriage month is an opportunity to honor the rich culture intellectual and societal contribution the mus Muslim Community to our state and to our nation and especially to Bernard's Township for advancements in science Arts education to fostering Interfaith understanding and promoting humanitarian efforts the Muslim Community has played a vital Ro in shaping the diverse fabric of New Jersey and especially Bernards here in Bernard's Township we are proud of the inclusivity mutual respect and the Define of our community acknowledging and celebrating the Heritage and achievements of all groups including our Muslim neighbors strengthening the bonds that unite us and enrich the collective identities we share as we recognize Muslim heritage let us commit ourselves to learning more about the history and traditions of Muslim communities and appreciating the positive impact on our shared World let us all reaffirm our dedication to fostering an inclusive environment where every individual feels respected and valued thank you to everyone who contributes to making basking Bernard Township a weling thriving place for all let us continue to celebrate the diversity and that makes our community so special mayor if I can mus heritage month in New Jersey is a Time dedicated to recognizing and honoring our Muslim friends and neighbors honoring their many cultural historical and societal contributions we as citizens of New Jersey and As Americans are grateful to the Muslim Community for their contributions to medicine Science Education and public service so we thank them and we wish them well as they celebrate this month thank you sorry about that Dave wasn't used to somebody over there sorry my apologies can I have a motion for the resolution so moved second all in favor [Music] I Dr Short would you like me to read the resolution yes please okay then I'll have you say something I'm I'm going to read the resolution whereas Bernard takes great pride in the varied religious cultural traditions of residents and seeks to afford all people the opportunity for better understanding recognizing and appreciating the rich historical cultures and shared principles of Muslim Americans and whereas like so many of the cultures represented in this Township Muslims bring values Traditions that enriched the fabric of burner's Township whereas there are nearly 300,000 Muslims Americans in New Jersey representing one of the largest M Muslim communities in the United States and whereas Muslims continue to contribute to every area of society and where as January has been designated Muslim heritage month in New Jersey to celebrate the cultural heritage achievements contributions Muslims have made and continue to make now therefore be it further resolved that the township of Bernards and our committee does hereby recognize January as Muslim heritage month thank you honorable mayor fields and members of the township committee on behalf of the Islamic Society of basing Ridge it is an honor for me to be here to thank you for showing leadership in times that we are living through your leadership means a lot to our community and the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge is committed to working with every single elected official as well as our neighbors every citizen of Bernard Township it is our goal to be an asset to the community as we said right from the beginning and I am so happy to have you visit many of you have visited and I would like to extend the invitation to everyone else every member of the township committee is invited and I would specifically invite you to participate and I've already got a commitment from the mayor to be with us at our Interfaith Thanksgiving ifar that we will have on March 16th and every member of the township committee is invited and we would welcome that I would also extend the invitation to us members of our Township of the township itself uh you're welcome to come it's an open event and our doors are as I said open for all of the activities that we do at this point if I may request that if I could ask members of the community who have joined us today to be a part of the photo that we may take with you mayor if if we may absolutely thank you so much and not only am I going to come down my colleagues are going to come down absolutely I would love to have every member of the township first of all I would especially want also want to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Tang greedy on on this appointment He's our neighbor he is the closest neighbor to Bas to the Islamic Society Basking Ridge and uh I would love to work with you in every possible way uh that we can uh to be good neighbors and contributors uh to the township uh so at this point if you're ready we canol thank you so members of Islamic Society if you like to join me in the picture I'd love to have you line up right here [Laughter] very good let's take one picture thank you so much I really appreciate you and I have known each other for a long long time long and I'm glad to see you in this position here yes yes this the stage used to be in that part the building has changed wonderful thank you so much again I understand absolutely absolutely absolutely do that for everything you do thank you thank you so much thank you so much Christine any public work session none this evening mayor any correspondence uh we have a letter received from God's Co-op pantry if you'd like me to read it is anyone here from um the pantry okay please do the administrative team of gods Co-op pantry and Basking Ridge would like to extend their deep appreciation to stop and shop and the community overall for their recent townwide food drive held it to benefit the pantry gift cards and food donations total approximately $2,250 in particular we would like to thank and acknowledge the efforts of former Bernards Township mayor and current Bernards Township committee woman Jennifer Acy who led the drive Jim fod and Rea gafar of the Bernards of the Basking Ridge business Alliance brpa the burnard township clerk's office and the Department of Public Works in addition many thanks go to members of the brba and the Bernard Township Library barister Coffee House create Studios Infinity Fitness and the Lions Mall UPS please support these local businesses as they turn support our community since 2011 God's Co-op Pantry has been helping food insecure seniors veterans and members of local community we have grown from Distributing 50 bags of food a month to well over 600 bags each month we currently support around 300 households each month with a total of over 825 family members including children and adults we cannot keep our is open without the dedication of our volunteers the generosity of local churches and Civic or organizations and the many generous donations from individuals and Foundations thank you to each and everyone who continued to assist us in our efforts we remain grateful and recent efforts by our community who rise to the occasion to help others in Need For more information please visit their website at God's Coop Pantry this was received from Sally Speakman chair of God's Co-op pantry I would just like to add that I spoke with Sally um uh somebody was possibly going to come in tonight to uh to read the letter but I said if someone couldn't come in I I thought it was important that um we had the uh the the letter read publicly uh God's Co-op pantry and Bas Gage is important to our community and I made a commitment to Sally that we will continue to help them in any way that we can with future food drives and if there's anything that they need um we certainly are going to be here to help them so I would like to thank them their volunteers and and and the community uh for for um helping in so many ways so okay next public comment comment public sorry guys comments are welcomed during the public comment period during this meeting on any agenda item or other matters over which this Township committee has jurisdiction however if an ordinance is listed for its own public comment hearing on the agenda please hold your comments for that particular public hearing the public comment portion of the agenda is not structured as a question and answer session but offers an opportunity to share your thoughts with the township committee the committee may or may not address these comments during the meeting however all comments are considered to address this body the speaker must come forward to the microphone and state his or her name and address for the record each speaker is limited to 5 minutes the clerk will keep time please promptly yield the floor when the time is called and return to your seat your cooperation and adherence to these Rules of Order will ensure an orderly and respectfully me a respectful meeting I open public comment good evening I'm Marissa schaer my family and I have lived at five Magnolia path for almost 12 years we moved to basking for the town's exceptional special education programs for our youngest son but we've also appreciated living in this safe and be beautiful Community our son Christopher is 20 years old now and enrolled in the postgrad vocational studies program at Ridge High School he has benefited from their job sampling and coaching services and we are grateful to the local businesses that support him and his classmates I attended the meeting here a few weeks ago where residents discussed the proposal for housing and a film studio in the Madisonville Road neighborhood it was encouraging to hear people speak of their desire to support housing for adult individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities but I also understood and sympathized with concerns over the potential development of the Verizon's property I too am a home homeowner and would want to protect my investment and home who here actually wants to see more business traffic and noise come into their neighborhood I understood the opposition to the project but like all New Jersey towns we must comply with State mandates to provide affordable housing the discussion is not if we need to develop housing but where and for whom since we must build let's serve the most needy I believe we have an obligation to provide affordable housing for our many many special needs individuals in this town this is where the they grew up this is their home this is the right thing to do the disabled have always been your neighbors allow them to continue living here as their parents get older and retire on a fixed income please also help them by supporting greater access to Town recreation programs and opportunities for work um I think my son Christopher would like to say a few words just take a minute I don't think so that's someone else hi my name is Christopher schaer and I live at five Magnolia path I go to Rich I school I like to swim play basketball draw dance and listen to music my teachers have helped me to work at the Y shoppr Walgreens the toy store and the food bank but my favorite place to work at as the library Basking Ridge is a great place to live I love my church The Parks the pool and all my favorite restaurants I have a lot of friends here my mom and dad have told me that it is important that everyone can afford to live in a nice house please help to make that happen for me and my friends thank you so I I would like I would like like to address that um so i' like everyone to know that Anna and I uh have beening working together and we have reached out to the state the county and the why and we have requested that they give us resources uh programs job opportunities information and any other opportunities for our special needs families here uh we will gather the information and share we're also working with the uh parks and wreck department and now that Dave is on the parks and wreck um we will be working with the parks and rec uh to find Opportunities uh for the uh adults with special needs and and and some progr programs that we can um we can have um put on the uh schedule hopefully for this year and also um wanted everyone to know that we're meeting with our house um to look for opportunities um for um for group homes in our community if it's not through affordable housing um it certainly will be um a need and if we can provide that aside from affordable housing um we're doing that so we're working on that um on and it's ongoing and we will keep it posted but just want you to know that the last meeting that we had we heard your needs we heard what you what what your requests were and we jumped right on it and we we're starting to work on it so just be a little patient and I've talked to a few of you I thought I had spoke with you over the phone but I spoke with a couple people over the phone about what we're doing and what our initiatives are and how we're moving forward um to help in any way that we can anyone else Sher Nelson 195 Smoke Rise Road um I just wanted to really quickly congratulate Mr tin creedy you're going to be great at this I can't wait um and I wanted just to um say that I reached out to you guys right after the December meeting and throughout the last month I've heard from each of you not Mr tankr yet but I'll get to him um I just really appreciate all of you on your own phone calls emails have offered your support and commitment to helping the special needs adults um on a specifically through the why I know you're helping us get that connection and I know we're going to have a meeting with Parks and Rec with some of the parents so we can really talk about specific needs um to make sure that what programs do get created that they work for the you know Town facilities and for what our kids might be interested in and scheduling so all of you have been great in responding and I just wanted to say thank you and just so you know we are working on the pool also I didn't mention that I was kind of looping that in with Recreation because it's technically Parks and Rec two different boards right with two approvals true true I just want to let know we're also working on that yeah and for anybody who wants to know we're talking about accommodations for pool memberships for these adults so thank you all thank you hi good evening um thank you mayor and the township committee for um for all that you're doing and we really do appreciate you listening to us and um looking into programs for recreation for YMCA for Library um the one thing that I just wanted to um just make sure that we were still kind of considering special needs for for a housing and in particular the affordable housing um I know that we have to have a plan committed to in June and it's my understanding that the number of units dropped from 218 to 171 and that 30% will go to senior citizens 50% will go to families and there is a Delta of 20% that should be considered for special needs housing and I would just like the township committee to commit and allocate that 20% to our special needs Community thank you thank you Excuse Me Miss excuse me can you state your name and address for the record sorry Karen Karen zubba Lake 82 Church Street so I I didn't I just want to address her so what I mentioned was we are working on with affordable housing um we're meeting with our house so right now we don't need the credits for affordable housing it'll go into the next but we're still committed to do that and aside from doing that we're also looking into doing it on its own so somehow we're and and so many of the community members have reached out and and want to help out in any way they can to to make that happen thanks hi I'm Lily IP and I live at 39 Sentinel Drive thank you mayor and all the township committee members for all you are doing for our um population um tonight is Luna New Year Eve and I'm here because this is an important topic for me and my family when the township committee introduced um how burnest Township will address the state mandate um again I would reiterate um Karen that the provisions include um the special needs community in that affordable housing plan um during the public comment on um the December 23rd Township committee meeting I was one of the many residents that spoke about our lived experience many other residents with outlived experiences were in agreement that there was a need for affordable housing for the special needs community and they were willing to offer Solutions and or funding in this area will the township committee follow up with those uh residents that offered help that night um I also wanted to express interest in exploring the Workforce Development space um I was able to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony in Woodbridge New Jersey this Thursday um January 23rd at the newly opened n Nancy Bader drum education center this will be the home of a of a new prevocational skills program called skills up as well as another location of the volunteer action program and they're both run by our house which is based in Murray Hill New Jersey the space was an old parochial school and was renovated by Woodbridge Township during the speeches by the mayor other council members members of the church and the CEO of our house it was clear that was there was a strong bond between all these entities to make this a reality um I would encourage to have such connections within our town because my son already attends the volunteer Action Program in Bridgewater and the staff recognizes his potential he was offered an opportunity to attend the new facility starting in mid February even though this is an excellent opportunity he will need to travel further from home to attend and my daughter who also has autism and developmental disabilities when she aged out of high school in 2015 she was able to be enrolled in the day habilitation program at Mount ay Road here in Basking Ridge um in a program called hope autism Solutions whose by line is program Without Walls and that's also run by our house during the pandemic it was announced that that location was closing effective December 23rd 2020 she wasn't able to return to another location on white Knack Road in Baskin Ridge until February 15 2022 two years after the pandemic um that's because there was a lack of um Staffing and then much to our surprise that Basking Ridge location of Hope autism Solutions announced their closing effective June 30 2023 eventually she was transferred to a Livingston location of Hope autism Solutions on April 17th 2023 even though we're grateful that she has a placement in the program she enjoys now she needs to travel further from home to attend thank you for your attention to this matter and your continued commitment to the needs and well-being of all residents thank you thank you Lily and we did speak for a long time on the phone yes so thank you thank you for that anyone else good evening 140 Spencer Road um I'd like to start by thanking Jennifer Acy Gary Balman and our planner Kendra Lele for the dedication and hard work in preparing the township for our fourth round affordable housing present prospective need numbers and thank you to John Bardo for his work on the resolution before us tonight the DCA has given us a present need obligation of 24 and while we are accepting that number tonight we are reserving the right to adjust I believe work can be done to reduce that number and I want to make sure that the township committee authorizes the work that needs to be completed in order to present A reduced obligation to DCA further and regardless of where that number ends up the taxpayer should know how the present need obligation will be funded the DCA has also given us a prospective need obligation of 218 again thanks to the hard work of those I've mentioned we are seeking modification of the numbers to 171 based on the revised land capacity work presented by our planner but while being thankful for a 47 unit reduction I think the number can be even lower I strongly encourage the TC to investigate participating in the highlands water protection planning act firstly to determine the pris cons Visa future projections afforded future protections afforded the township for conformance and if beneficial commitment to conformance is a way to mitigate overdevelopment caused by the affordable housing mandates that work needs to start now as the process of seeking Highland Council approval is not overnight we only have 5 months to present our plans to the DCA and we need to plan around what the final number is going to be in for the next 10 years again the next 10 years is the most important issue facing us this year in 2025 the plan is due at the end of June a short 5 months away if this isn't the priority of the five people on the dayis I think it absolutely should be I support affordable housing and recognize the need especially for seniors and special needs we should create a plan that addresses the shortfall for those residents and others and but minimizes the overdevelopment to our town if we just use the 171 obligation as it stands and assuming it's accepted by CCA um as a base example without any of the bhus credits 850 total units would need to be built by developers in our town 680 of those would be market rate for the 170 affordable units at 20% it would be even more if they only give us 15% 850 units to further complicate matters 50% of the age units at a minimum need to be for family housing so 85 of the 171 units would potentially add children to the school district and only 51 of the 17 one could be used for senior housing and it gets more complicated than that including the application of bonus credits it's enough to make anyone's head hurt with five months to go I'd like to know where we are with the plans has any scenario planning been done when will you be soliciting feedback from the residents where will these 850 units be located ated further what is the status of Westgate the overlay Zone created at the end of 2023 for the fourth round based on what we know now I suggest Westgate be re-evaluated because what that developer presented for the overlay may not be in line with what is now needed I'm afraid the residents of this town haven't been following this issue and many are in for a rude awakening once the plans are revealed better get ready thank thank you hi I'm Elizabeth bertolini I live at 16 Colonial Drive and I'm here tonight out of deep concern for my neighbors in our community that are going to be adversely affected by the hold placed by President Trump on all obligations and dispersements of all federal financial assistance which includes all federal grants and Loans there was a state placed on that this evening for a week but I would like to address my concerns so that we as a town can be proactive in planning for how we're going to help the most vulnerable I'm concerned about our veterans that live in transitional housing the support for them could be gone What will what will we as a community do to support them I'm concerned about elders and the disabled that are reliant on Meals on Wheels the Meals on Wheels organization is in utter panic because there are seniors that are very reliant on that nourishment I'm concerned about the seniors that live at rid o which is subsidized housing for elders which will also be affected I'm concerned about school children who are receiving free lunches those children need food what will we do as a community to respond if our schools don't receive that do we have emergency Financial funds how can we rally support in our community I'm concerned about the police department whether they have any outstanding grants that may not be fulfilled how it will affect them I'm concerned about Senior Communities and medical care providers whose Medicaid reimbursements may be placed on hold which will affect their bottom line and their ability to continue to provide good care I am especially concerned because I'm a nurse I'm a clinical ethicist and I'm profound concerned about the effects on our public health department and the health of our community already there's a um ban on communication from the CDC and other health organizations so our town Public Health Department who's required to monitor infectious diseases and communicate those no longer has that ability there are bird flu outbreaks in neighboring states we need to be concerned I'm concerned about their ability to sustain the vaccination clinics that are utilized by many families and children in our town and I'm concerned about the healthc care screening clinics that are offered through our Public Health Department I believe all of these are highly important and that we need to be proactive in thinking how we will respond as a community in this dire circumstance to make sure that we are protecting the most vulnerable among us thank you thank [Applause] you John Crane 39 Decker Street uh glad to see a lot of public comment tonight uh like to welcome Dr chandre to my neighborhood at West Oak Street been there for over 100 10 years the cranes and uh he's also a neighbor of Mayor right down the street so w welcome to the neighborhood uh I think a lot of people don't remember you but you're a mayor of this Township too so that says a lot about years yep a long time that that says a lot about the diversity and the and the people that we attract so thank you for coming to the town even though you've been here for a long time it's a good start um I have the same uh feels like uh uh the environmental commission uh reunion night tonight Dave was my uh uh chair at the environmental commission Debbie whip also they also survived John Crane being on the environmental commission uh the uh the new uh planning board chair also was a uh member of the environment commission and also want the path of Dave going through the uh Board of adjustment I'm still there so I don't know I'm doing wrong but um uh as the mayor said what took you so long Dave so uh it's been a long time coming uh uh you're like the insurance company we're in good hands with you I have a lot a lot of respect known you for at least 10 years seen you go through different management leadership uh you're Vice chair of the arms see uh V uh Vice chair of the uh Board of adjustment put a lot of dedication in a fine person um and I think that's about it thank you thank [Applause] you good evening Nancy Dandrea three Vander Drive first I'd like to congratulate David T greedy our kids played soccer together about 15 plus years ago for a few years so I've known you for a while great soccer dad and uh congratulations again I'd like to congratulate also the ISB and Ali I've known you for many years now um it's wonderful that we are celebrating Muslim Heritage Month celebration in asking Rich it's been a long time all right um and I I appreciate the speech that you gave um you use the words diversity you use the words inclusion uh I think you threw in equity so Dei was said and um I think you all know where I'm going with this one so I I really hope that we keep the Dei here in Basking Ridge and I I I am very worried about the country uh Beth um Elizabeth Beth uh mentioned a few things and from her aspect being that she's a nurse but we need to keep an eye out on our own we need to make sure that we are solid our diversity is extremely important in our town we need to respect everyone I don't care what the rest of the nation is doing this is New Jersey I think we are the most diverse or the second most diverse in the country and we're definitely one of the densest populations so politically we diff we we have differences I get it okay but I think you all want to have a solid town by doing that you have to sometimes say no to What's happen happening at the national level and I know for you you have a you're on a national level so you have to really think what is best for our town even if it goes against your political views okay so that's what I'm bringing forward here thank you again for recogniz them recognizing uh recognizing I'm sorry I'm going have cold Muslim Heritage Month celebration thank you for listening to us and congratulations and that's it thank you have a good night thank [Applause] you anyone else uh my name is Muhammad Ali Shri 177 West Oak Street B Township hearing the comments prompts me to say two things today one that now that we have our mosque facility being used by our community I would like to extend the invitation to all organizations that are working to help others whether they are people with disabilities or children with autism we have identified five families in our community that have children with and we have met a few times to figure out how could we make their life better in our own facility as well as working with other organizations so my request to all the organizations that are working in that area is to please include us in your discussions we would like to benefit from your experience and knowledge and sometimes resources may be needed to to join us and to the extent that we can participate I would like to offer the facility itself for any organization that doesn't have a place to meet and they need a meeting room please call us we'll be happy to host any of the groups that are helping others to come and work with us I also wanted to acknowledge the pantry appeal and and the thank you from the pantry because Islamic Society of Basking Ridge is a part of the community that supports that work and I think that is so important uh in addition we talked about the veterans and uh Islamic Society of basing Ridge has had a program for several years of having our volunteers and many of those are actually present here brother Naz Bor is here who has been part of that service that twice a year we serve a hot meal to the homeless veterans in building 53 at the VA so if there are other programs that people are doing working with veterans please include us in those discussions we would like like to participate and work in any way that we can that's all I just wanted to say that there is so much that we can all do together and we are grateful that we now have by the grace of God a facility that can be uh of help to others I I want to say I appreciate that because we do from time to time do get phone calls from organizations that don't have a meeting place so I want to say thank you and uh for extending that offer and all the offers may you remember it helps us when we worked on the community center the berus community center for which I had the honor of being the chairman of The Advisory board that created that that was one of the main reason why we needed a community center because there was no place to meet library was full churches were full we didn't have space to the you know uh Girl Scouts could meet or the Boy Scouts or different groups that wanted to have activities so we are saying that uh by the grace of God we now have a facility and it will be available to all nonprofit organization without charge that's great thank you thank you very [Applause] much rardin Riverside Drive Mr tank grey congratulations hope you have a helmet um for the consent agenda if you could pulled number two 2025 0106 as regards to um a Shar agreement for um uh the speed sign also pull number 20 20250 0132 for bidding for crossing guard Services can you repeat the first one sure which one as number two number two 0106 okay okay um concerning last month I had no opinion one way or other regarding to was going on there was didn't hear enough but I think something like that should have been brought out much sooner than the end of December we have these little things on here says Public Work session now I know and I've researched it we haven't had a public work session since September 9th 2021 and I don't know why we couldn't had one for that to explain what's going on now I know we've had big presentations for the Quarry when they wanted to develop in there and people were going crazy about that then there was the developing of possibility construction across from Lions Hospital on Valley Road versus Mountain View and we chose Mountain View that was another big um meeting this was going to be a big thing and we should have just talked about a little bit it's not our it's not coming out of our pockets whoever's going to do what they're going to do but we you know we're going to change the Zoning for for them that's what they wanted we should have known about that sooner we may have wanted it or we not want it we'll never know it came too quick the planning board certainly wouldn't have enough time to go over it so I think we should look into that in fact um last time we did this in 2021 that was for additional street lights for Van vanor road which was not done because they didn't want to spend the money for that every year $22,000 for the lights $40 a year for more electricity but if we look at number two um resolution for um the authorizing shared services agreement we're going to be picking up the money for a speed sign and the the cost and maintenance of the sign for forever no matter where you put that sign Maple Avenue is a long road and there's no reason to have one line sign sitting there not moving anywhere and I eventually people look at and they're going to go through the speed they want anyway if that was the case we should have a speed sign like that posted on Lion's Road right by Quincy people going doing 50 m hour better or maybe we should have a street sign on Mount Arie r i mean we could have these signs over the place but it comes down to is what I've said before is the enforcements and until people see cars getting pulled over they don't know if for speeding or what until you have the enforcement and people see it they're going to do what they're going to do and we know the we know what road what street um towns that you can't speed through we know when we go through Manville on Main Street we know that speed limit drops down critically and people are getting snagged all the time they don't have no flashing signs seeing what the speed limit is it's an enforcement we hired two new uh police officers in additional to the uh regular um table of the regular amount of men we had we have two more now so it shouldn't be like well we don't have enough guys going to the um bidding for crossing guards well you're going to do what you're going to do with that I disagree with it um $115,000 to pay a company to do that I don't think it's good money and coming to um the part about damn it first time in years thank you very much Tod before you Todd before you step back I do want to address the cresting guard issue because it is it it is I'm not going to pull it but it it's a very unfortunate position that we're put in and I'm gonna have I'm gonna have Pat address it now uh so mayor uh what we have going on is through the last four years we've not only had attrition but due to the change in the uh scheduling for school this past year we had nine posts that were dropped when that happens our priority is to make sure the crossing guards are put in these posts this third party company will provide that in addition to not having nine police officers be off the road and and Manning these posts so while we tried um everything we could including increasing the rate we still had difficulties in getting uh the posts filled as well as having resiliency as to when people are all sick or can't do the uh can't be there that day so it puts enormous pressure on our Police Department who then have to fill those positions this third party yes they they charge you know they're going to pay uh the individuals the same rate there's a markup for it and they are going to provide uh some redundancy if uh some of the crossing guards are off that day thereby uh alleviating the need for our police officers to not be on the road so I appreciate it we would tried like hell to keep it in house but sometimes um we just can't find a way to do it so okay thank you thanks Todd anyone else seeing none I'm going to close public comment staff comments Township committee comments and board and Lea reports uh Pat um thank you mayor um just wanted to welcome some new Personnel Maryann Toby Dickinson at the libr Library uh we have a Gregory imp and a jro matuna uh building inspector and electrical inspector uh these are pum uh they don't add to the Head Cal is just to provide again a little bit more redundancy in the workforce when people are out that's all I Christie I just want to say welcome to committee m t crey I look forward to working with you thank you Mr Bardo same here welcome commit with as well thank Jen I'd like to um address some of the comments that some of the residents made um as well as some prepared remarks um so miss berini um you mentioned about the Om I'm not I'm not going to profess to understand all the details related to that but I can share that um an organization reached out and was very concerned as well um and I contacted our congressman's office to get clarity um and provided that to her so there particular issues of particular programs perhaps the same could be done uh to either of any of our elected officials at the federal level because it is very concerning and those programs and services are very much needed but by a very diverse population so I hope that's something of help and if you need any assistance on that any of us could help you with that um Miss Deandrea you mentioned um about diversity so um we started Fabrica Bernards in 2021 so regardless of whatever happens in Washington Washington DC it's not my concern it's not my care um the fabric of Bernards is about diversity and inclusion here within Bernard's Township and it is alive and well um I wasn't going to announce our first program but if you forced me to do it um the Bernard Chinese American Association is going to be hosting their event on March the 1st so there'll be more to come on that um everyone in our community regardless of race Heritage Creed uh sexual orientation everyone is included and her and valued so um and please any suggestions let us know um Mr edstein about the the comment about resolution towards the end of the year my naivity on the timing of that it was just unfortunate timing nothing Sinister um around that I do say that um my naivity was the fact that we had done something exactly the same in December of 2023 in fact we added an extra meeting at the end of December to do exactly an overlay Zone with a referral to the planning board and then coming back to the township committee on December the 28th so that is my mistake my naivity around that because we did it once before didn't see that there was any difference so my other comments um some updates to share um on January the 7th it was a true honor and a privilege to tour um a group home that's being developed in our community with our house um and I had that opportunity with some of the PEC leadership we are very lucky to have them as a member within our community on January the 12th it was a privilege to attend a brick event in the Hills uh committee woman onor Dy McCarthy was there as well um and we enjoyed the fashion show amongst other things um on January the 20th um we were very uh wonderfully hosted by for the chief's New Year's dinner um thank you to Mr cave for also helping to host as well as Chief Hiner from the Baskin bridge fire company enjoyed spending time with all of the fire companies and the EMS leadership as well as the many dedicated volunteers you know our fire and EMS is all volunteer we have such a wonderful community and again um Anna was joined me with as a part of that event the last few Sundays have been very busy the Bernards Township parks and recreation Ski and Board Club is having a successful inaugural year we've had three exciting trips January the 5th the 12th and the 26th our final trip of the season is this coming Sunday February the 2nd all is going well we're busy with our three buses and it is all possible because amazing dedicated volunteers from a Board of Health perspective a gentle reminder that we have dog and cat license renewals that are due January the 31st so um couple quick things affordable housing I want to thank the affordable housing subcommittee Pat Monaco Tom Timco Dave shly John Bardo Kendra Ley Gary Balman and I also participated for the work that we did last year that enable us to adopt the binding resolution tonight I'm especially impressed by the effort by staff and professionals they put through in Thoroughly reviewing the methodology and the data behind the dca's proposed number of 218 ultimately presenting a lower revised number notably over 200 municipalities have accepted the dca's figures highlighting the importance of our independent analysis this resolution is just the first step in the process required this year with the final approved plan due by June the 30th there's still a lot of work to be done to further reduce our present and prospective need obligations I appreciate my colleagues ongoing efforts to explore the mechanisms to achieve this as over development is a key concern for our community we must consider every available tool and to address this issue effectively given the complexity of affordable housing transparency and education are critical I remain committ committed to sharing information including references to resources like Kendra Le's uh June 24th excuse me June of 2024 presentations and updates that I post on my Facebook page and lastly I look forward to hearing from my colleagues on their affordable housing thoughts and plans for the following items one the affordable housing education plan including timing for our residents in 2025 two when the planning board will receive an update to ensure they have the time and information needed to adopt the amended housing element and fair share plan by June the 30th and three what is the process for informing our residents about the final strategy and important next steps including where State mandated units will be located over the next five months want to speak about briefly the special needs Community want to reaffirm our support look forward to all the commitments made by all the folks here on the de as well as in the audience on December the 23rd and I look forward to tangible and impactful actions and last but not least property taxes and the need for economic development the taxes paid to Bernard's Township are paid for by commercial and residential taxpayers going back to 1989 the commercial portion of our taxes were 23% today it's approximately 10% equating to a loss of 133% what does that mean to us as residential taxpayers it means that we've been paying extra to make up for the loss of commercial taxes if we estimate the impact to property taxpaying residents for illustration let's just use the average assess value in 2024 of $785,000 there's approximately a $2,000 burden per year this means that for the average $758,000 home homeowners are paying an extra $2,000 because we've lost commercial taxpayers this needs to be addressed and as we have awareness of this situation we must try to lessen the burden on all of our residential taxpayers cutting cost is not the solution to this imbalanced problem the solution is to attract commercial businesses to existing commercial locations that are vacant or underutilized this is a topic that I'm continuing to explore and remain committed to address for each of our taxpaying residents I'd love to hear from our community regarding the types of businesses they'd like to see within our Township thank youna thank you mayor so I too would like to address a couple of the things that were shared during the public comment uh first uh the folks that spoke about the community of adults with intellectual and developmental needs um as mayor uh Fields shared we have been having conversations I've been on the board of the greater Somerset County YMCA for more than 10 years and within the wide there have always been a focus on programs and in conversations in the past two weeks it's become more apparent the cliff that young adults go through when they age out of the school system and age out of program so we are very committed to continuing to focus on that and hope to engage many of you in that conversation it's a critical need for us and I really appreciate all of those that came forward and talked about it have communicated to us and just continue to reinforce that um I myself have been involved with our house for a long time as a a donor to a very good friend who's been involved with our house and with uh the Hope autism Solutions so I can appreciate uh the impact that this has on the family and the individual so again just wanted to share that commitment uh secondly around the turbulence in the system it's a new Administration you know things are they're shaking a tree um I think that we've I heard from a lot of non-government organizations today that I've worked with so you know we'll see how things fall out but differently here in our community we are going to continue to care for our own I think the issues that were raised are critical we want to make sure people don't have food insecurity we want to ensure that veterans and others uh who rely on subsidies are are engaged and that we understand their needs so thank you for raising those concerns and hopefully uh this will continue to progress to a positive outcome but again is there's a lot of turbulence right now and then thirdly uh the issue around diversity equity and inclusion our narrative at Bernard's Township has always been one of inclusion and respect I think that's demonstrated tonight with the resolution that we made to the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge for Muslim heritage month and I think I share that belief with my colleagues that we are committed to that it's a value and that um it's something that we will continue and not erase from how we how we operate up here we want to feel that people feel respected and included in our community and it's a welcoming community so from there I'm just going to quickly share a couple of things in the consent agenda there are two reports that were submitted one from the Shad tree commission and and one from the environmental commission these are annual reports they're comprehensive and they were written by the chair with contributions from the members providing highlights of the accomplishments throughout the year um I've been serving now on these as liais on to the police department along with Deputy Mayor MCN I'll defer to him for a report about a meeting with Bonnie Bray but we did have recently a community outreach uh effort with coffee with a cup at the stone bean coffee shop at dayway meow Farms this is a great way for you to come and meet our officers and to share your concerns and thoughts and and what you think matters so please join us we'll be having another one in a few months time and then I also had as the liaison to the office of emergency management uh we had a committee meeting chaired by Ryan Wallace um as well as Corporal Mike yo um in the role of that I also had Outreach meetings with the municipal Lia on for jcpl American water and psng um I was glad the power didn't go out last we storm but in that new role I'll be working for our residents um representing our Township committee uh to ensure that we continue to get all that we can from those utilities and also met with the intergovernmental Affairs uh representative from the governor's office to make that introduction and again we'll be working with closely with them on any issues that come up and then also as J shared um I ALS so went to the Basking Ridge Indian Community sanran Festival which was just a wonderful display of our culture and then lastly um closing on sort of a warm note the Basking bridge fire company's New Year's dinner I was delighted to reunite with the newly appointed Chief Greg heiner who went to high school with my daughter at Ridge High School so it's just great to see that um he's raisen to be a leader now in our Basking Ridge Fire Company I you also the Workman we also know Greg Hiner well uh but just great to see him in this new leadership role and that's it thank you mayor thank you Dave would you like to say something yes I would and of course I have no reports to give and uh eagerly looking forward to my assignments and getting to work but if you'll indulge me I like to just give a few thank you of course course well first and foremost as always I thank God for this opportunity to serve this great Township I thank my wife Kelly for her love and support unfortunately she was out of town this evening at a conference for the whole week so she could not be here my daughter Chelsea she was studying abroad and could not be here thank you to my son Thomas for returning home and he participated in this evening's um festivities to all my friends and supporters who are here this evening thank you um I thank Gary Balman for his service to this committee special thank you to former Republican chairwoman Leslie Workman who gave me my start in politics all those years ago thank you lesie uh the zoning board chairwoman janas and my zoning board colleagues it was an honor to serve with them for the past seven years to my fellow RMC members who chose me um it was truly humbling the way they did that I thank them and I want to recognize U Republican chairman Mitzner for his leadership and his guidance through this complicated process to Mayor fields and my new colleagues up on the deis I thank all of you for selecting me in the show of unity and support to this Township and um finally I just want to say to all the citizens of the township you know I always fight for you and I always put you first thank you very much thank you Deputy Mayor it's tough act to follow there but I have a few updates um particularly as it relates to police and Public Safety matters uh I do want to thank uh the leadership at the B Bray school for their engagement with um uh myself uh committee woman Anna dwarte McCarthy and the burners Township Police Department for a number of weeks we've been engaging with the school in Safety and Security matters and I applaud them for the commitments they've made so far on these issues and the and the things that they will be doing in the near future uh as security matters I'm not at Liberty to get uh too specific at this time but I will continue to provide updates and specificity where appropriate in the future um some months ago the residents uh in the vicinity of Peach Tree Road in Homestead Village advised of uh renewed concerns about traffic in their neighborhood which is near the Cedar Hill School uh according to most of them it's been um exacerbated by certain changes in in busing patterns uh related to the schools um and those traffic concerns were particularly pronounced at school drop off in pickup times uh a n among the ideas brought to our attention was the notion of painting a do not block the Box uh marking at a particular intersection I'm pleased to report Department of Public Works will be proceeding with that work in the spring once the weather permits um second to help improve safety in that area will be assigning an additional crossing guard uh during uh pick up and drop off times and our police department will continue to maintain a presence during relevant times as appropriate to help improve safety and a traffic issues in the area uh finally Municipal staff will continue to engage with the school district about steps that can be taken on school property to further alleviate issues and I'll report out any combined uh concrete steps we will take in cooperation with the district uh when appropriate um a brief word about drones uh as virtually everyone here knows beginning in mid November last year area residents began seeing drones of Unknown Origin flying over our region including burnard's Township uh we on the township committee got plenty of inquiries and as I explained uh it's a small Club of people who know what these are and none of us are in it um but uh neither members of this body nor the police department were given any uh Insight information about their purpose or ar uh earlier today a spokesman at the white house uh stated publicly that the drones that were flying over New Jersey were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and other various reasons therefore the Federal government has advised that the drones were not foreign in origin origin or for that matter from Beyond this planet uh what research was being performed by these drones or the various other reasons for these flights has not yet been disclosed whether any of that will be disclosed remains to be seen but I'm sure this will lead to more questions particularly about the purpose of all this while I have zero expectation that we'll receive any information before the general public does we will of course keep residents updated as we learn more about this issue and then uh finally one word about that uh pause that was done to uh Federal funding for various uh uh Grant loan programs across the federal government um that's something that I'm following for professional reasons um and indeed as the speaker said during public comment um there's a court order staying that at least for right now uh I'm expecting that that stay uh the the litigant in that matter will seek to make that stay more permanent uh but I will be closely following that for various reasons and I will report out to my uh fellow committee members on on things that I learned as part of that Journey so thank you thank you I'm going to give my board and committee updates uh the deer commission so the deer commission operates where um de uh deer are donated the venison is donated and we collect and then there's the time where we donate it to the uh to the VA so tomorrow the deer commission will be uh Dona donating venison to the VA um which um is which they really appreciate we usually it's it's a couple pounds and um they're able to um enjoy the venison so it's it's part of the program that is a large asset of the program uh Farmstead Leslie I want to say uh they're waiting for the governor to sign offer on their $577,000 Grant they received to rebuild the Welcome Center for arm said continues to preserve this historical property and we are so so very grateful thank you to Leslie uh the president for her leadership and the board members uh and the Board of Trustees for their tireless commitment um I have received um uh your annual report and I will review it and then I will uh mention it um at the next meeting update everyone what's in there but I do want to say uh you will be very busy I know for sure once the grant money comes in there'll be a lot of work done to this to the historical society and I would like uh to give Farmstead and with you here present a round of applause for all the grant money you got and all the improvements that you're going to do to the property it was your dedication your trustees dedication to uh receiving those grants money so that wonderful things could be done to the property so thank you so much I don't think most people understand it's over a million dollars it's a million two a million two which is a lot for the governor to sign it he's going to sign it trust me if I have to call him personally and then it's two to four years lots of work yes so thank you for that thank you uh the library board the library now offers feo code a new learn to code software through this web-based educational software kids and adults will learn computer programming skills through a series of tutorials and projects they will work towards building websites video games phone apps animation and more all while learning how to become better problem solvers and critical thinkers in 20124 was a banner year for the library as far Outreach so they had a whole outreach program last year and they really worked hard um on that project and they wanted everyone to know that they reached out to the VA Hospital the somerset Food Bank um Ridge Oak Senior Living Berns Township uh Pleasant Valley pool um Services team teams youth centers uh basket R senior Wellness Center so they really have been reaching out to get people more involved with the library because most people don't know they have a lot of online programs too so whether um you attend a library or you go online they just really were out there everywhere and they just wanted everybody to know is they're really working hard to educate people about the library and how important it is and I also wanted to mention um the environmental shet tree thank you so much for your report and thank you for your leadership but it's a lot of people in the audience that I see here serve on boards and commissions and they know how much work you put in and personal time volunteering and it's a lot of work to do those reports and everyone takes part in it so I just I want to thank everyone who serves on the environmental commission and the CHT commission and we have our other report that we received but thank you to all our volunteers and for that report and thank you Anna they happen to be both her um both of her boards and I also want to mention um the end of this month Dr shaki um will have served 24 years he won't be back on the um um the health department um but I had a wonderful wonderful conversation with him I thanked him for his service um and I've asked him to come in and have us present him with a resolution because I said to him the one thing that you did for us is you got us through Co one of the hardest times in our community and he was there through it all and really helped us and guided us and I want to thank him for service as president 24 years of service thank him for getting us through covid um and we really appreciate him so he's going to get back to us about a date and coming in and I said you have to be properly honored for your service and what you've done to keep us healthy and keep us safe in this community so with that vacancy I will be looking for a a a new um a new doctor for the position and uh reappointing somebody uh for the health department but he will be messed I just want everyone to know that and we had a wonderful conversation and he said it was his his honor and his part privilege to serve berners Township for 24 years I also want to mention um Anna has been working uh busy planning on the 26th anniversary and uh we all would like to thank the residents who uh stepped up to be part of the planning committee and it's pretty big it's pretty big right John Crane is one of the members of the planning committee advisers he's been here for 265 years so it's going to be a great uh 265th anniversary um celebration and I really just want to acknowledge it it feels so good for all of us when so many people step up and they want to volunteer I mean you have like nine members and that 12 and that's a lot here too so a couple of you were here and I I just want to thank you it's a really exciting um event I can't wait to hear about it and she's keeping me AB breast I told her I don't micromanage as mayor you know it's your thing just keep me AB breast of what's going on and you've got the committee and I just I can't wait to find out what's planned and we're all going to share in it and we're all going to um benefit from it I believe it's going to be hosted by Farmstead one of the programs one of the programs which is great you know uh highlight one of our uh historical properties and spotlighted and so everyone can enjoy it and also her committee is working on the uh 250 uh 250th anniversary of our country for the following year so for next year so thank you so much uh just want to let everyone know that and thank you to all you I just want to say that you all came in tonight uh we appreciate your comments good or bad we want to hear them this is your opportunity if you don't have the opportunity to come here we are accessible by phone email private meetings you know that so uh whatever we can do we're always here for you we're always here to serve so thank you to all you coming and moving on cuz we know Todd's timing me fire and rescue please Christie resolution 202-10 n membership in Township of Bernards volunteer Liberty Corner Fire Company Ian Shepard junor member can I have a motion so move second all in favor I I welcome Mayan next resolution 20250 one10 appointment to membership in Township of Bernard's volunteer Liberty Corner Fire Company Jean Marie Pierre Rosier junor member can I have a motion so moved second all in favor I welcome Jean Marie any unfinished business Christie none this evening mayor next we moves on to consent agenda the item listed within the percentage at portion of the meeting have been referred to the township committee for reading and study and are posted on the agenda on the website and are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion of the township committee with no separate discussion if a separate discussion is required the items may be removed from the agenda by the township Committee Action and place on the regular agenda under new business would anyone like anything removed from the consent agenda hearing none can I have a motion make a motion to approve the consent agenda I'll second roll call Christie Miss Acy yes mrte McCarthy yes Mr MCN yes Mr tany yes mayor Fields yes motion carried got Okay resolution 20251 07 resolution committing Bernard's Township to comply with affordable housing obligations can I have a motion second discussion roll call please chrisy miss Acy yes Miss DTE McCarthy yes Mr Al yes Mr tank creedy yes mayor Fields yes motion carried okay ordinance 2569 an ordinance of the township of Bernards to set calendar year 2025 appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank for njsa 4A 44514 and this is Introduction mayor if I may I always ask Pat every time we do this to give us a little explanation because it doesn't jump off the page and I actually was looking at an old meeting where you gave the explanation but if you could do that again for a uh this ordinance is an annual housekeeping item uh that Finance uses it will allow for 2025 inside the cap um this allows us to bank any unused cap for the next two successive years in case some unforeseen situations come up so does not mean we're going over the 2% Levy cap it just gives gives us a mechanism to uh to plan thank you Pat thank you m with that in mind I'll make the motion mayor if you like yeah uh I move that ordinance uh 2569 be introduced on first reading advertised as required by law scheduled for public hearing on 21125 second roll call Christie Miss Acy yes Mr DTE McCarthy yes Mr MCN yes Mr Tan Cy yes mayor Fields yes motion carried Township appointments Christie John Crane sewage Authority 5-year term expiring January 31st 2029 can I have a motion so moved second all those in favor I I next Janice Fields feeling the unexpired 5-year term of John CR sewage Authority expiring January 31st 2026 I'll make that motion second all those in favor I I approval of a minutes 1223 2024 Open Session minutes do you want me to read them all together or you want to yes all together okay 12 23 20 2 four closed session minutes and 110 to 2025 Open Session minutes can I have a motion so moved second all those in favor I I obain okay Christie okay um the agenda was amended at the beginning of the meeting to include um additional Township committee appointments Recreation um um parks and Pathways David tcy um non voting DC liaison oneyear term expiring December 31st 2025 may I have a motion so moved second all those in favor I I item 14f Christie Township committee appointment sewage Authority David T crey regular member filling the unexpired term of 5 years expiring January 31st 2027 may I have a motion so moved second all those in favor I hi Christie item number 14 G Township committee appointment planning board David tcy regular member class 3 member one-year term expiring December 31st 2025 may I have a motion I'll move it second all those in favor I I Christine executive session none this evening mayor may I have a motion to adjourn so