provided and published in the Asbury Park Press and the Ocean Star on January 16, 2026. Copies of the agenda were provided to the newspaper, posted on public bulletin boards in the township website. >> Uh, roll call. >> Councilman Albanese >> here. >> Councilman Mikino >> here.
>> Councilwoman Reena >> here. >> Councilman Cohen >> here. >> Councilwoman Travers >> here. >> Vice President Amberino >> here. >> President Feman >> here. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. And now we can please uh rise for a pledge of allegiance and a moment
of silence. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Please be seated.
Can we accept the reports from the municipal officers and defile them? >> Yeah, of course. >> Yes. >> Oh, all right. Copy that. Could we get a motion in a second >> to approve the minutes? Yes, I'll make
that motion. >> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. >> Councilman Almanise, >> yes. >> Councilman Makino, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Reena, >> yes. >> Councilman Cohen, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Travers, >> yes. >> Vice President Ambersino,
>> yes. >> President Feman, >> yes. >> So, now we have uh some presentations. I'd like to invite Mayor Crate to the lectern. myself together here. Good evening everyone.
Very excited to be here this evening to celebrate a longtime employee who is sailing off to retirement and who will be missed very much. But we wanted to take a moment to honor her. So I have a proclamation here that I would like to
share for you. The strength and success of a municipal government depend upon the dedication, professionalism, and integrity of all its employees whose daily work ensures that essential services are delivered, public safety is protected, and quality
of life for all residents is preserved. One employee who has worked hard to provide exceptional and affordable services is Chief Financial Officer Moren Lafi Laffy or Mo as we like to say.
Moren joined the township of brick in March 2008, serving as the deputy department head in the finance office. In October 2016, Mo was appointed to serve as the chief financial officer of the township of brick, a position she
faithfully and capably held ever since. Through diligent execution of the statutory and professional duties of CFO over the past decade, Mo has safeguarded public funds, ensured strict compliance with state regulations, guided the
development of sound budgets and long range fiscal planning, and implemented strong internal controls, thereby helping to make Brick Township's municipal government one of the most fiscally responsible and financially
stable in the state of New Jersey. After nearly 20 years of dedicated and outstanding service to the residents of Brick Township, including nearly 10 years as CFO, Mo is retiring on February
27th, 2026, and is looking forward to enjoying more time with her husband, Ed, and her beloved dog, Loki. Therefore, I Lisa Crate, mayor of the Township of Brick in the County of Ocean in the state of New Jersey in recognition of her outstanding career as
the chief financial officer in the Township of Brick and in heartfelt appreciation of her years of exemplary work and dedication do hereby proclaim this Friday, February 27th, 2026 to be Moren Laffy Day here in the township of
Brick. And I invite all citizens to join me in wishing Mo a happy and healthy retirement. Come on up. >> Well, it's like No, but I will. >> We'd love you to Okay. Thank you, mayor and council, and
good evening to all. For those of you who know me, you know that this is my biggest fear of public speaking. So, it's going to be short and sweet, but meant from the heart. If you leave me alone with my numbers, like I've been able to do for the past 18 years, thanks to Mayor Ducey, now Judge Ducy, who was kind enough to grant
me my tenure, and all of the councils thereafter that kept me aboard, then I'm good. And I truly love my job, except for the early except for the yearly public budget meetings, which there was no getting out of, which you know very well because you were at every one of
them. It's been an exciting, nerve-wracking, strenuous, rewarding 18 years. And it takes a team. And that team that you depend on and you trust to assist you in carrying out your job becomes people that you've grown
extremely close with. I thank you all. my husband, my immediate family, and my day in and day out finance, payroll, and purchasing friends, my department head friends, and to all the friends in between that become like
family, and that made this brick workforce team such a pleasure to be a part of. I couldn't have made it this far without any of you. And lastly, my boss and so much more, Joanne. Like Darthothy said to the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, I guess
I'll miss you most of all. She was always there. Thank you, Joanne, for being my amazing, wonderful boss for the last last part of my municipal government journey, but especially for being the wonderful friend that I love, and I plan to have many more stories be
made with even after retirement. So, tonight, I pass the baton to Will Pandos, Brick Township's next CFO. It's now time for all of my friends to become yours and making this a seamless transition. It's been a
wonderful journey and I thank you all for taking the ride along with me. >> Yes. And along along with uh the proclamation which I present to you, >> you also receive a key to the city. So you can you can still get in and come back. Come on. Come on back.
>> Thank you so much. I can see everybody. I'm sorry. I was talking. You should find Maybe you're Oh, move. You're good. You're good.
>> Oh, okay. Sure. better. >> I'm quite sure my eyes were closed. >> I know they were >> I didn't think Yes, you do. You do. You do.
>> Go have some ice cream. >> Or something. >> Something. >> For me, it would be ice cream. Oh, no. That's That's a beof. We got time. We got time on that.
>> Yes. Now, I do have one more proclamation that I would like to present. A little surprise one. someone might not realize is happening, but the Township of Brick uh Police
Department has developed a reputation as one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the state of New Jersey, thanks in large part to the professionalism and dedication of its officers. One officer who has played a large part in the department's achievements over the past quarter
century is Officer Richard Nelson, Jr., >> Badge 192. Officer Nelson began his service with the Brick Township Police Department on December 28th, 2000, following in the footsteps of his father, Richard Nelson,
Senior, badge 86. For 25 years, Officer Nelson has exemplified the finest traditions of public service through his professionalism, integrity, and tireless commitment to the safety and well-being of the Brook Township community. Officer Nelson, who capably served as the PBA
local 230s president for several years, is one of the most respected members of the patrol division, where he has become known as the fa as the face of Route 35 for his nearly daily patrols of the barrier island. Officer Nelson has also become a
frequent face at Bricktownship Council meetings. We love having him here, serving the security and ensuring that meetings are held in a safe and secure manner. The February 24th, 2026 uh will be one of, if not the last
meeting that Officer Nelson will serve as he is retiring from Brick Township Police Department on April 1st, 2026. And that is you are no fool. That is that is for real. Uh after more than 25 years of exceptional service. Therefore,
I Lisa Crate, Mayor of the Township of Brick in the County of Ocean in the state of New Jersey in recognition of distinguished career with Brick Township Police Department and in heartfelt appreciation for his dedicated service to our community, do hereby proclaim tomorrow,
Wednesday, February 25th, 2026, to be Officer Richard Nelson Day here in Brick Township. And I call upon all Brick residents to help celebrate with us. So congratulations to us and come on down now. That is better, right?
Thank you very much. Sorry, you still have to work the rest of the night. >> Right. >> I'll do my best. >> He He can go for ice cream if he wants. >> He's gonna go for something. >> I know something other than ice cream.
Ready? >> I'm ready. Let's move on to the consent agenda. >> All matters listed under item consent agenda will be enacted by one motion in the form listed below. If discussion is desired on any item, this item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered separately.
>> Thank you. 41. >> Authorize confirmation of appointment of certified municipal financial officer. >> Councilman Mikino. >> Thank you. This resolution authorizes the confirmation of William Pandos as the township's new CFO or certified
financial officer as a result of Morin Lappy Berg retirement. Thank you. >> Thank you. 42, please. >> Recognize Patrolman Christa Marco officer of the year award recipient. >> Councilwoman Travers. >> Thank you, Council President. This resolution recognizes Scott Smith as the
recipient of the Christa Marco Officer of the Year Award recipient. Over his two decades of service with the department, Officer Smith has earned a reputation for an exemplary work ethic, consistently putting the needs of the department before his own and always willing to help a colleague in any way he can. Thank you.
>> Thank you. 43, please. >> Recognize Lieutenant Thomas McNell's award recipient, >> Council Vice President Amino. >> Thank you, Council President. This resolution recognizes Detective Dominic Pooio as the recipient of the Thomas McNellis Leadership and Achievement
Award. Detective Pooio has served in several divisions and capacities during his service within the department, including the patrol division, the SCT team, and the street crimes unit. Thank you. >> Thank you. 44, please. >> Authorize receipt of bids printing
services. >> Councilman Albanese. >> Thank you. This resolution authorizes the receipt of bids for printing services. This contract includes printing of various township forms used by all departments such as letterhead envelopes, business cards, UCCC forms,
and NCR forms. The current 2-year contract expires June 9th, 2026. >> Thank you. 45, please. >> Authorize award of contract snow removal services. >> Councilman Mino. >> Thank you. This resolution authorizes the award of contract for snow removal
services to the following vendors. Marlin Construction Freehold Mecca Inc. Clarksburg and Montana Construction Group Loi. These contractors will be added to the list of contractors we already have in place increasing the pieces of equipment
available to us each storm. Thank you. Thank you. 46, please. >> Authorize award of contract operation of Brick Beach One Food Concession Stand. >> Councilwoman Travers. >> Thank you, Council President. This resolution authorizes an award of
contract in the amount of $20,993 for the operation of the Brick Beach One Food Concession Stand to Castaway Kitchen Brick. This is a three-year contract whereby the township will receive $6,490 for year one, $7,0001,
$7,01 for year two, and $7,52 for year three. Bid notices were provided to 130 prospective biders from our biders list and five picked up bid packages. Three bids were received with Castaway Kitchen providing the highest bid. I apologize for the three-year contract.
Thank you. >> Thank you. 47. >> Authorize award of contract operation of Brick Beach 3 food concession stand. >> Council Vice President Emino. >> Thank you, Council President. This resolution authorizes an award of
contract in the amount of $62,55 for the operation of the Brick Beach One food concession stand. also to Castaway Kitchen of Brick. This is a three-year contract whereby the township will receive $20,33
for year one, $21,11 for year two, and $21,11 for year three. Again, bid notices were provided to 130 prospective biders from our biders list, and five picked up bid packages. Three bids were received and
Castaway Kitchen provided the highest bid for the three-year contract. Thank you. Thank you. 48. >> Authorize amended shared services agreement with the Burrow of Manalokin Municipal Court Services. >> Councilman Cohen. Thank you, Council President. This
resolution authorized a shared service agreement with the Bureau of Manaloken for municipal court services. This agreement, Mana Municipal Court will continue as its own entity, but will process and adjudicate using Brick Township employees and professionals.
Brick will be fully reimbursed for these services. >> Thank you. 49, please. >> Authorized designation of Dukane Boulevard between Route 70 and Brick Boulevard as a county road. >> Councilwoman Rea. >> Thank you, Council President. In effort
to reconvey jurisdiction of Dukane Boulevard back to Ocean County, the county is asking the township pass this resolution designating Dukane Boulevard between Route 70 and Brick Boulevard as county road. This resolution was recommended by the township's public
safety committee after consultation with the towing engineer and traffic safety. Thank you. >> Thank you. 410, please. Authorize shared services agreement regional SWAT team of Ocean County. >> Councilwoman Travers. >> Thank you, Council President. This
resolution authorizes a shared service agreement between the Bick Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office for Regionalized SWAT and Crisis Negotiation Team with related services and resources extended by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office when such assistance is ne is necessary.
In this agreement, Brick will provide manpower when needed as as will the county when brick needs assistance. Thank you. >> Thank you. 411, please. >> Authorize special event permit best day foundation event. >> Councilman Albanese. >> Thank you. This resolution authorizes a special event permit for Best Day
Founders event at Brick Beach 3 on Saturday, August 8th, and Sunday, August 9th from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The Best Day Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides opportunities for children and young adults with special needs to enjoy beach, surfing, and ocean related activities.
>> Thank you. 412 >> 412A is an inspection fund release for block 170 lot 14. B is an inspection fund release for block 382 lot 8. And C is a inspection fund release for block 12 1210.25 lot 5.
>> Thank you. For 13 >> 13A 100% DAV widow of veteran deduction at block 382.35 lot 32. 13B 100% DAV widow of veteran deduction block 1426.02 lot 2 and 13 C is a tax overpayment for
2026 of block 383.32 lot 28. >> Thank you. That's the end of the consent agenda. I have a motion and a second on the consent agenda. >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> Okay. Thank you. Open to councel.
Seeing none. Close councel. Open to the public for questions on the resolutions only. Tough to choose. Mr. Bacon, why don't you go first? >> That was a good choice.
>> So many hands up. >> Uh, good evening. My name is Charles Bacon. I have a question about resolution 4.9 on uh Dukane Boulevard. We're turning it back to the county for safety reasons. Just a a question
by turning it back to the county. What advantage does that have for the township? >> Uh it has the advantage that they are now responsible making repairs to that roadway as Thank you. as opposed to us doing that and also it's a cleaner route for them if they're paving if they're plowing Brick Boulevard to come around
that loop and to continue as opposed to just having it kind of be a standalone that we have to go off and do. Mhm. >> So, it was always intended to go back to them, but it kind of got lost in that shuffle of the Cherry Quay Connector Road. That didn't happen. >> Yeah. >> And it languished and we just closed the
loop. >> Well, now it's going back to the county. Maybe we can get some road improvement on the 70 side of Dukane. That's a tough one. >> It's a tough one. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much. >> You got it. Thank you. Seems like a nice little win for Brick.
Um All right. No other questions uh from the public. We're going to close public. Roll call. >> Councilman Albanese? >> Yes. >> Councilman Makino? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Reena? >> Yes. Councilman Cohen? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Travers? >> Yes. >> Vice President Ambersino?
>> Yes. >> President Feimman? >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to 4:14. Be it resolved by the township council of the township of brick that the following bills be paid and that the mayor and clerk be and are hereby authorized to draw orders on the treasurer for the amounts of the same
computer bill resolution in the amount of $15,455,58612. >> Thank you. Is there a motion and a second on the computer bill resolution? Motion. >> Second. >> Copy that. Thank you. Open to councel. Seeing none, close council. Open to the
public for questions on the computer bill resolution. Seeing none, close public. Roll call. >> Councilman Albanese? >> Yes. >> Councilman Makino? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Reno? >> Yes. >> Councilman Cohen? >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Travers? >> Yes. >> Vice President Amberino? >> Yes.
>> President Fineman? >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> 4:15, please. Be it resolved by the township council of the township of brick that the following bills be paid and that the mayor and clerk be and are hereby authorized to draw orders on the treasurer for the amounts of the same manual bill resolution in the amount of
2,253,28064. >> Uh is there a motion and a second on the manual bill resolution? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Copy that. Thank you. Open to councel. Seeing none close council. Open to the public for questions on the manual bill
resolution. Seeing none, close public. Roll call. >> Councilman Albanese. >> Yes. >> Councilman Makino, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Marina, >> yes. >> Councilman Cohen, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Travers, >> yes. >> Vice President Amberino, >> yes. >> President Feman, >> yes.
Moving on to item number five. An ordinance of the Township of Brick, County of Ocean, state of New Jersey, repealing and replacing chapter 245, part six, articles L through L3 of the code of the Township of Brick to address the affordable housing
requirements of the New Jersey Superior Court. >> Thank you, uh, Council Vice President Emerino. >> Thank you, Council President. I'm happy to read these explanations. The next three ordinances that we're reading are the result of quite a bit of work over
about the last 18 months of several people within the township and the administration. Uh not least of which were the land use committee over the past year and a half as well as our township engineer, our affordable housing council and many others. Uh this
first one specifically addresses some changes within our township code that are required in order for us to comply with the affordable housing requirements that have been set down by the New Jersey Superior Court and most importantly for us to achieve our immunity, which is a very important
thing for our town. This particular ordinance repeals and replaces chapter 245 part six of the township code to address affordable housing requirements from the New Jersey Superior Court. Brick Township has met its burden to
demonstrate compliance certification of the Bricktownship housing element and fair share plan. The programs and affordable housing projects proposed by Brick Township to address round four affordable housing obligations are fair, reasonable, and adequately protects the
interests of low and moderate income residents of the municipality. Therefore, the township's appointed special adjudicator recommended that Brick Township's proposed amended 2025 housing element is consistent with the revised round four plan should be
recommended for approval by the Mount Laurel court. Certification of BRIC's 2025 housing element is conditioned on Brick Township implementing all terms of the 2026 mediation agreement with Fairshare Housing Center and Brick Township's settlement agreement with 975
Burnt Tavern Road LLC, including the zoning amendments proposed by Brick Township. The adjudicator's recommendation supports the township's position at 100 Drum Point Road and that it not be included in the plan. Brick Township's 2025 housing element plan
identifies the following affordable housing obligations pursuant to the May 1st, 2025 order of the honorable Shaun D. Girtner, JSC. The present need rehabilitation obligation of 149 and round four prospective need obligation
of 322. The next step is actually the adoption of the master plan document by the planning board and this is scheduled for tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you. Can I get a motion and a second? >> Motion. >> Second.
>> Okay. Open to councel. >> Seeing none. Close. Council. Roll call. >> Councilman Albaneseise. >> No. >> Councilman Makino. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Reena. >> No. >> Councilman Cohen.
>> No. >> Councilwoman Travers. >> Yes. >> Vice President Amberino. >> I vote yes. President Feman. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Moving on to 52.
An ordinance of the township of Brick County of Ocean, state of New Jersey, amending and supplementing chapter 245, land use to repeal and replace article 7, which shall be entitled sight specific affordable housing zoning, and includes section 245-76,
which shall be entitled middle housing overlay zone. >> You did such a phenomenal job on the first one. I'd like to invite you to talk about the second one. >> Well, thank you very much, Council President. Uh the middle income housing overlay zone consisting of approximately
72 acres of land spread among 50 different parcels of land primarily consists of sites along major thorough affairs in Brick Township. This zoning was initially proposed in such a way that it was not clear that the desired affordable unit yield would be obtained.
As a result, Brick Township revised the requirements for the proposed zone to provide a density of 10 dwelling units per acre and to permit a variety of attached housing types and bulk requirements to provide realistic zoning for redevelopment. The gross acreage included in the zone theoretically
yields 720 total units and 144 affordable units. Therefore, the township will adopt a revised middle-income housing overlay zone, unmet need realistic zoning ordinance identifying permitted density of 10 dwelling units, and a variety of
attached housing unit types with appropriate bulk and setback standards to accommodate the permitted density on a parcel by parcel basis in both residential and mixeduse residential developments. Thank you. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion and a
second? Motion >> second. >> Thank you. Open to councel. >> Seeing none. Close council. Roll call. >> Councilman Albanese. >> No. >> Councilman Makino. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Marina. >> No.
>> Councilman Cohen. >> No. >> Councilwoman Travers. >> Yes. >> Vice President Amberino. >> Yes. >> President Feman. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Uh 53 please. >> An ordinance of the township of Brick County of Ocean State of New Jersey.
amending and supplementing chapter 245 land use so as to add section 245-77 which shall be entitled Burnt Tavern Multif Family Zone. >> Councilwoman Reena. >> Thank you, Council President. The owners of 975 Burnt Tavern and Brick Township
have agreed that Brick Township will adopt zoning to permit the construction of an inclusionary residential development with 264 total residential units with 53 units set aside 20% as affordable to very low and moderate
income individuals and families including a limited mixed use non-residential commercial component oriented to burnt Tavern Road 975 Burnt Tavern's objection was primarily centered on reaching an agreement with Brick Township to provide inclusionary
zoning for their site. The owners of 975 Bird Tavern challenged Brick Township's exclusion of part of its site in the township's round four vacant land adjustment. Brick remedied this claim by revising the round four vacant land
adjustment to include the 975 burnt tavern track in the township's revised round four RDP of 106. This ordinance adds the burnt tavern zone to our existing sightspecific affordable housing zone.
>> Thank you. And can I have a motion and a second? Motion. >> Second. >> Thank you. Open to councel. >> Seeing none, close council. Roll call. >> Councilman Albaneseise. >> No. >> Councilman Menino, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Marina,
>> no. >> Councilman Cohen, >> no. >> Councilwoman Travers, >> yes. >> Vice President Amberino, >> I vote yes. >> President Feman, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Moving on to number six.
bond ordinance providing for the acquisition and purchase of real property for open space preservation purposes by and in the township of brick in the county of Ocean State of New Jersey appropriating $431,000 therefore inclusion of a greenacres grant in the amount of $323,250
received or expected to be received from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and authorizing the issuance of $431,000 in bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof. Councilwoman Reena.
>> This bond ordinance provides for $431,000 in bonds for the open space acquisition of vacant land on Hooper Avenue. The township has submitted a green acres funding application to be reimbursed in the amount of $343,250
for this purchase. This property was recommended for pres preservation for presentation from the brick open space savers committee. Thank you. >> Thank you. Moving on to number 62.
>> Well, we're gonna >> Oh, right. >> That was a test. Very good. Uh, at this point, I'd like to ask for a motion and a second. I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> Thank you. Open to council.
Seeing none. Close council. Open to public. Seeing none, close public roll call. >> Councilman Albanese, >> yes. >> Councilman Mikino, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Reno, >> yes. >> Councilman Cohen, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Travers, >> yes.
>> Vice President Amarcino, >> yes. >> President Feman, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> At this point, I'd like to move on to 62, please. bond ordinance providing for the acquisition and purchase of real property for open space preservation purposes by and in the township of brick in the county of ocean state of New
Jersey appropriating $296,000. Therefore, inclusion of a greenacres grant in the amount of $222,000 received or expected to be received from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and authorizing the issuance of $296,000
in bonds or notes of the township to finance the cost thereof. Councilwoman Travers. >> Thank you, Council President. This bond ordinance provides for $296,000 in bonds for the open space acquisition of vacant land on Summit Avenue. The township has submitted a green acres
funding application to be reimbursed for this purchase. This property was recommended for presentation from the brick open space savers committee. Thank you. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion and a second? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Copy. Thank you. Open to councel.
Seeing none, close council. Open to public. Seeing none, close public. Roll call. >> Councilman Albanese. >> Yes. >> Councilman Makino, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Reena, >> yes. >> Councilman Cohen, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Travers, >> yes. >> Vice President Amberino,
>> yes. >> President Fineman, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to item number seven, public comments. Please note that each each person addressing the council during any section of the meeting during which public comment is permitted shall limit his or her remarks to five minutes pursuant to Brick Township
Administrative Code section 2-33B. >> Is there anyone from the public who would like to make a comment? All right, I'll go with Mr. Bacon. Good evening. My name is Charlie Bacon,
366 Rancokus Drive. Uh good evening, mayor, administration, and council. Uh tonight I'd like to make a couple comments and one just want to congratul congratulate Loren Laffyberg on her service with the town. I remember when
she first started 18 plus years ago. So I wish her well in retirement. Uh Miss Bergen, I want to thank you and the administration for your email. I believe you sent it to me on Sunday on some of the questions I had about the
Wawwa, the traffic lights, the violation of those lights. So, thank you. Very detailed. I started to look at it. Um, and I appreciate, mayor, I think you put another letter together about the improvements they got to make on the left hand, the no lefthand turn. So,
thank you for restating that in front of the DOT and everything else. the followup on the tractor trailer, which was a good point that was made by a resident here. I should have taken a picture of that when I was across the street, and some of the statistics on
the red light viol or the moving violations, I should say. So, the thing I wanted to talk about tonight, uh, and hopefully I'm not too late, was the application that was up in front of the the zoning, the board of
adjustment on the property, the triangle piece of property that intersects Pennsylvania and Illinois Avenue. Right. Uh, full disclosure, as I always do, I did not attend any of those hearings. So a lot of the comments I'm going to make
is just based on what I read in the social media etc. But I think it should be brought up here. Obviously that application had numerous variances against it. The first required requirement because of the intersection
of two streets is 9,000 square foot piece of property. I I believe that was approximately 4,800. All right. The other concern I had and everyone's aware of this and we see some of this as trees develop or whatever the
property grows a little bit too much is sight triangles. A sight triangle is important on intersection the streets. It's extremely important on triangle pieces of property because all these variances now are going to infringe on somebody might not see somebody coming across Pennsylvania
or Illinois. All right. So I kind of looked at some of the other variances and then I want to make a comment. I spoke many times in front of this body, board of adjustment, planning boards,
everything else. And obviously when I go in front of the boards or even bringing it back to you, I have concerns about applications. I try to be realistic. I look at it through the lens primarily of safety. Right. From what I could read about this board, they did everything
right. They should have been denied because somebody might make a comment in public as is not your main at all to a board. They're up here to make decisions based on the ordinances in front of them.
Right? And I believe they did the right thing. So here's my comment and in a recommendation and I believe this about any judge across the entire United States. They're here to decide things on balls
and strikes, not to legislate from the bench on what they think somebody might have said or meant. Right? So by allowing this to be denied or overturned, we basically said, what's
the point of having ordinances and having boards if on a a very profound denial that lit up all the variances was overturned? Why do we have ordinances safety? We
look at the environmental issues, setbacks, all these things are important and that's why we have countless pages of this stuff. So I think the decision is wrong and I strongly recommend if it's not too late,
the township fights this decision because if this is upheld, what's to stop the next application coming back here saying, "Well, wait a minute. you allowed it on X with all these variances and why aren't you doing mine? And that's what I wanted to say. So, thank
you very much. Enjoy the rest of your evening and obviously be safe going home. >> Thank you, Mr. Bacon. Is there anyone else from public? Thank you. Uh seeing none, close public. Uh before we move on to
number eight, we do have two updates and I'm glad that you brought up uh Wawa uh because we do have an update from previous public comments and Councilwoman Traverse uh would like to talk a little bit about that one. >> Yes, I'm actually going to just follow up on what Mr. Bacon was just talking
about. So, as a follow-up to the Wawa approvals about delivery times and the conditions of approval, the key takeaway is that deliveries are to occur during those off hours. A representative for the site owner was notified of the complaint regarding a daytime delivery
and it was we were assured that they would address the issue directly with Wawa. In regards to the illegal left turns, we learned that a more um hardcape feature will be included at the intersection once the new tenants are in place. And with that being said, Mayor Crate sent a letter to the NJ DOT
reminding them of this need. Um, and just to give some numbers, it's it looks like from January to December of 2025, 20 22 moving violations for illegal left turns were issued along with 51 warnings. And then another question that had been brought up was how many red
light violations were asked about and that um I apologize. The red light violations um totaled about 212 during that same time frame. I hope that information is helpful and please let us know if you have any more questions regarding this issue. Awesome.
Thank you so much, Councilwoman Travers, for sharing the update with uh everyone. Uh the second update is from Councilwoman Rea. >> Thank you, Council President. I want to acknowledge comments made at the last council meeting by Mr. Calgarice. In
ongoing efforts to improve snow plowing process and results, I want to share the following updates. To address opportunities identified following the January storm, there have been some staffing changes to permit an assessment and deep dive, if you will, of all
employees, outside contractors, and equipment inspection. In Sunday's most recent storm, a change was implemented deploying snow monitors to drive through neighborhoods and confirm all streets were uh were or are serviced. Once
again, the commitment to improvement is evident and will continue as we navigate not only an unprecedented winter but beyond into the future. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilwoman Rea. Madame Clerk,
>> I did want to congratulate her. >> Well done. Thank you, Madam Secretary. >> Councilman Albanese, >> I also want to congratulate Mo and Mr. 35 on your retirement. >> See you around, brother.
>> Thank you, Councilman Minino. >> Awesome. Congratulations on your retirement. Hopefully, I'm not far behind you. Uh, and congratulations to Moren, also. Thank you. >> Well done. Thank you, Councilwoman Rea. >> Yes. Congratulations to those retiring. I also want to address my votes this
evening and start by acknowledging that I was elected on issues including overdevelopment and density in Brick Township. I understand the argument being made that rejecting the plan that nearly doubles the density per acre from 6 to 10 units could lead to pressure for
even higher density. Following thorough and thoughtful consideration, I cannot vote yes for a plan that increases density in our township. Let me be clear. This statement is not directed at anyone here or the hard work that's been
done. Rather, it is directed at a system that increasingly asks local governments to govern under threat rather than on principle. New Jersey has long recognized the importance of self-governance and home rule. Zoning and land use
decisions exist because local communities are best equipped to determine what protects the health, safety, and general welfare of their residents. This authority should not be reduced by a choice between giving up something now or being forced to accept
something worse later. That is not planning. That is coercion. Brick Township is currently greater than 90% developed. Residents tell us every day about traffic, overcrowding, strained services, and the erosion of their
quality of life. The very quality of life that brought them to Brick Township. Our own professionals acknowledge how limited our remaining capacity truly is. It is an undeniable fact that voting yes tonight would
increase density. Despite what might happen in the future, I cannot support a decision that knowingly moves us in the wrong direction today. Brick Township is ours. Decisions about its future should be made considering what is appropriate
for this community and not dictated by fear of what might happen next. For all these reasons and in defense of brick residents and the responsibility entrusted to us, I had to vote no. Voting yes for any part while rejecting zoning would be contradicting and
therefore cannot support. Thank you. >> Thank you. Councilman Cohen like to congratulate Mo on her retirement, our two officers that proclamation was made for this evening. Um I also want to say ditto to what
Councilwoman Rea said. This the biggest complaint that we've got in this township is con is overcrowding, continuous traffic. If we do not push back against the state of New Jersey, they're going to be running this town, not this council. And I was not elected
to allow that to happen. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Travers. >> I also wanted to just congratulate Mo and Rick on their retirement. I wish them all the best. >> Thank you, Council Vice President Emerino. Thank you, Council President. First
thing I'd like to do is again congratulate Moren Laffy Berg on her 18 years of extraordinary service. Uh she has been a steward of the fiscal conservativism that we have been able to promote over the last decade plus. Uh she's essentially been the secret sauce
that has provided the uh constrained and efficient budgets that we've been able to pass for many of these years. I'd also like to personally congratulate Rick Nelson and thank him for his 25 years of service on the brick PD. Uh he
is an exemplary uh resident and uh uh service to our town. Absolutely exemplary service to our town. Uh I'd just like to address some of the comments that were made here by some of my fellow council people as well. Uh I agree very much in the spirit
what I think that they're advocating for. Uh but I very much fear that the logic that they have come to is merely counterproductive. Uh I agree folks have the perception that there is overdevelopment in town.
Everybody doesn't like traffic. I'd ask both of the council people that have spoken if they can state what the population growth has been over the past 20 years in the township of Brick. And you could go home and you could check. I don't expect you to answer right now, but at the next meeting, tell me what
the population growth has been in brick over the past two decades. Thank you very much. Nothing else. Thank you. Uh I also would like to congratulate both retirees. That's phenomenal. Thank you so much for your service and it's been a pleasure working
with Mo in the brief time I had the honor to work with her. I look forward to what um his last name, but I met him as Bill. what he's going to bring to the table. Um, seems like a wonderful addition to the team. Uh, and always
stay safe and have fun. That's all I have. Moving on to Mr. Starky. >> Thank you, Miss Bergen. >> Obviously, I care deeply for Mo and for Ricky, and I wish them both the best in their retirement. I also wanted to give a shout out to Tara who's here tonight.
This is like a Tara agenda. um because Tara is the liaison between the mayor's brick open space savers committee and green acres. So the two ordinances and the public hearings we had on acquiring those tar played a key role in that and the other three ordinances for affordable housing and Robin have worked
uh tirelessly on and uh so this is a TAR agenda. So thank you for all of your hard work. >> Thank you madame mayor. >> Thank you. Congratulations to Mo. She will absolutely be missed. We've spent many hours together. Congrats to Ricky.
We You will also be very much missed. Um, thank you to Tara and Robin for coming this evening. They were instrumental in all the ordinances essentially, especially the affordable housing ones that you spent I can't even say how many hours. Hundreds. Hundreds
of hours uh in working on. So, we appreciate your hard work and effort put into that as well as the uh tariff for helping us out with the brick open space savers as always. So, uh, having said that, I do have two announcements. The first being that our community thread
store officially opened on Friday. They had their grand opening in the rain. And then Saturday, it was beautiful and sunny, and it was the perfect day to actually be open to the community. We already had 11 shoppers come in during their uh, open hours, which happened to
take place and coincided with our brick birthday party, which was perfect. So, it gave people the opportunity to walk over and check the space out, but as I said, we already had our first 11 uh shoppers, which was great because that's what it's there for. Um, about a little
bit about Community Threads. It is open to the public. It is here to serve the community. Uh, there are no economic or financial constraints. Everyone is welcome and it is here to help ease the burden of some of the costs that people are now um facing as uh the cost of
everything goes up. So the goal is to help those in need and help those who are close to being in need and to help with the burdens that families and individuals are carrying right now. Uh so we welcome you to come by. The store
hours are Monday through Thursday 3 to 7. Fridays 3 to 9ine and on Saturday uh the store will be open from 10:00 to 5:00. It has clothing for people of all ages and sizes. It has uh shoes, winter coats, regular everyday clothes,
professional clothing. We have suits for men. Um there are toiletries and and adult and products for people. uh you know, we've had donations of um dish soap with uh dish towels uh that are um
crocheted by a lovely woman who does that uh so that people can have that for their whatever their needs are, right? Uh and I do want to talk a little bit about donations because this is ultimately a partnership. It's a partnership with the township. It's a
partnership with our local schools, uh, our local civic organizations, clergy, um, church organizations. We'll be teaming up with Meals on Wheels. The senior center, uh, will also be teaming up with us for to keep an eye out for people who are in need. And I know that
people are looking for not only help, but also the opportunity to volunteer and to donate items as well. So to be clear, donations can be brought during open hours only. Uh there are no drop
offs when the store is closed. So you must come when the store is open. And um all donations are only accepted at the rear entrance. So if you do plan on making any donations, we ask that you please come to the front entrance, have a conversation with the volunteers that
are there, and then donations can be made. Uh there's an entrance in the back of the building. No items are to be left. Uh so please do not do that. We want to make sure that we run this um community threads appropriately and within our civic plaza within the rules
that we're laying out. So if you do want to make a donation, we ask you to please reach out first. Uh and we are currently seeking we have lots of men's clothes, lots of women's clothes because women were changing our sizes all the time. So everybody's always donating, right? So
no problem in the women's. We are seeking children's clothing um size 2T. We have some infant things already, but some size 2T to 16, you know, like a teenager. So, if you have those items and you're looking to clean out um
really we didn't have a ton of children donations because a lot of those times those things get handed down. So, they're used uh more and more throughout families. But, if you do have some children's clothes that you're looking to donate, we would love to accept those. And also, if you're looking to volunteer time to actually work within
the store, there's a lot to be done. Um, both intakes in the front, but also the back because it is like a store. There's rotating stock and making sure that things are hung up and when people try things on, we want to make sure that we hang things back up appropriately. So, if you're interested in doing some
volunteer work, you can look on the CLCL Foundation website. Uh there is a page for community threads there and there's a link to sign up to volunteer as well. So um I encourage everyone to do that to come out and check the the store out when you have a chance. It's a great
partnership and it's um what I feel like it's the precisely the way that it's a way for our community to come together to not only volunteer and help but also help others in the community uh where we live. And that's really what brick is
all about. So, thank you for everyone that was involved with that grand opening. Uh, of course, because it's Tuesday and the weekend just happened, I am here to also talk about snow because that's what we've been doing for the last month and a half essentially. Every two weeks we get a nice snowstorm and we
had a doozy this weekend as you know. But just to follow up on the preparation and what takes place so that people understand um you know what is done to make everything happen in the background uh for what people see out on the
streets. We had a meeting prior to the storm with all of the pertinent officials as we did last time. We had um Miss Bergen, myself, we had the chief of police, we had um our OEM manager, we
had uh fire there, EMS and every and it involved in making sure that everything was set up and coordinated DPW obviously to uh be sure that we were ready for this storm. We had uh 76 pieces of equipment. We had
our contractors out. We had rotating staff beginning uh wait when did the storm start? I'm like losing my >> 5 p.m. >> 5:00 pm on Sunday. I'm I'm starting to lose days here. Um we had DPW staff on 12-hour rotations beginning 5:00 pm on
Sunday through 5:00 p.m. today. So continuous rotation Sunday into Monday, Monday afternoon, all night Monday into Tuesday and all day today through 5:00 pm. and those uh DPW staff members and
our um the uh contractors that were out there were assigned their locations. And as Councilwoman Reena pointed out, we also had our um snow monitors out so that each road could be checked by someone to make sure that it was plowed
uh and plowed appropriately. We made sure that we had um not only did we have the snow monitors out, but we had GPS on all of our trucks so that we were able to locate them at any given time and establish uh where they were at what time, how many times each street was plowed. We had all of that at our
fingertips and were able to check on that. Uh we also made sure that we had police, ambulance, and fire out on the island for the entirety of the storm. And uh we also had a plow crew that was assigned to the island for the storm as well. There were um as I said, workers
going out uh plowing the entire time. We had on our my streets not plowed uh link, we got our first message on Saturday. We had some messages on Sunday before the storm and then we rounded out with around 1,700 plus messages uh that
were monitored throughout the day and throughout the storm. Um just keep in mind we have only 1500 streets, so we had some doubles on there, but that's okay. It was monitored and each hour it was sent out to the crews so that people would know at any at some point during the storm because we're also in touch
with JCPNL. We had about 8,229 related um uh we had uh power outages that most of them were related to the Herbertsville and Laurelton substations. Um I believe we still had a few power
outages yesterday. Okay. Uh we got it down to about 108 and we had some issues out on the island with down power lines so as well. But we were in touch with JCPNL throughout the storm and they updated us frequently with what was being done and uh we kept that
monitored. And just to finish off to round up um our police and fire were also out there and EMS throughout the storm. So total calls for service for our police department during the storm only was 832.
We had um 140 area checks or premise checks just to make sure um that things were okay in certain in certain areas due to calls. We had 109 first aid calls. Uh there were some motor vehicle stops as people were out driving. Uh we had downed wires. There were 65
throughout town and uh the police had to respond to 53 separate alarms. There were 38 fire calls during the storm. Um 31 road hazards that had to be dealt with. There were 29 motor vehicle
crashes during the storm. We had um 28 arcing uh and trans uh transformer fires that had to be dealt with. Citizen assists were at 25. We had 22 traffic signals malfunctioning or out during the
storm and we did 18 welfare checks. So, our police, fire, and EMS were out in full force throughout the storm alongside our DPW crew and we made sure that there were plows available to assist uh during those calls. So, I need people
to remember too. So, not only is our DPW out out plowing STE streets as needed, but each of these calls, each of these services, we needed to make sure that someone was on hand clearing the way so that our police, fire, and EMS could get there as well. So, it's not just uh
people out plowing roads. There's a lot going on behind the scenes, the entirety of the storm, and we were here for it. We made sure everyone was in place for it and we made sure that the funding was available and all the equipment was available and needed and used as
necessary throughout the storm. So kudos to everyone from I I couldn't even name everyone, but you have an idea. from DPW to our police to fire to EMS to our IT department to parks, uh, recreation, everybody that was behind the scenes
getting everything ready and, uh, out there clearing streets, clearing debris, clearing everything that was in the way. Uh, I just want to send a great shout out to everyone and, uh, thank you and let that be the last, okay? And, uh,
have a great night. >> Thank you, Mayor Crate. Uh, next public meeting will be held here on Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 at 7 PM. Can I get a motion and a second to adjurnn? >> Motion. >> All in favor?