good all right good evening I'd like to call to order our annual reorganization meeting for January 2nd 2024 on December 6th 2023 notice of this meeting was mailed to the Daily Journal and the press and duly posted in the main lobby of the municipal complex all requirements of the open public meetings act have been met in compliance with the Sunshine Law at this time I would request Alena County Sheriff to please please step forward and lead us in the flag salute for this evening and please remain standing after attention salute I pledge alce to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic stand one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all at this time I would like to invite Reverend D David mallerie from the first Baptist Church of Richland to please step forward for our invocation good evening all it's so good to be here tonight after uh I saw a snippet of the news before coming I can say I'm so glad to be here let us have a word of prayer almighty God our Father we gratefully uh come to you this evening and we are grateful for this opportunity which focuses us on the vital work to which we are summoned great is the demand that our work be guided by the highest ideals that we hold great also is the demand that we render the fullest commitment to the work of responsiveness to the needs of our fellow citizens we now summon your help to overcome any barriers to our integrity any detours from our commitment to to the work governance demands guide us when we do not know exactly what to do wrap your restorative energies around us when our labor all but drains us surely you have charted this course for us you have also given us this special opportunity of service to apply the talents that you molded within us as you discern our need help us to use our skills our talents our knowledge our compassion to make our communities a place where fellow citizens can Thrive and abide in peace we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of our labor but we ask that you help us give the best of ourselves to it may we also live up to the hope of our fellow citizens who have given over to us governance of their precious domains and now may the spirit of justice of order and of Peace find completion in our service amen amen and amen thank you very much Reverend mallerie you may be seated at this time we will have the swearing in of our newly elected Township committeeman William reri for a three-year term by Atlanta County Sheriff Joe Adon Hill and his family can [Music] join I want to say I'm truly honored to have the opportunity to come to the Western end of the county which you all know that I have a lot of love and respect for and has long been forgotten by law enforcement in this County in my opinion this will occur no more and I will be here and my promise has been to you always if I don't have an officer to send if I can't send Mario Suarez I'll come we will be here to protect our citizens and their property in the western end of this County that's our commitment to you and I'm honored tonight to be the first time that I give the oath of office to somebody who we have admiration and respect for and by the way his family did the Pledge of Allegiance in the best I've heard wow anybody just like practi hold the Bible this is the O oath of office for commit University of Township I put your name you solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will 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 and I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to government established in the United States and to government established in the United States and in the state and in the state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people so help me God so help me God I further solemnly swear I further solemnly swear that I will impartially that I will impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties of the office of perform all the duties of the office committee committee according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me congratulations sir I want you to know I look deep into his eyes and he is truly committed to this community yes he is and to God yes he is and let us not forget that folks thank you thank you God bless you congratulations thank [Music] you okay all right we will do our first formal roll call of the Year Mr krenzer here Mr Renard here Mr Riri here Mrs Testa here Mr Williams here at this time I will take a motion to nominate a mayor chairperson I make a motion to nominate William reri as mayor chairperson I second it there is a motion and a second for reiri are there any other nominations at this time I'll take a motion and a second to close nominations motion motion to close second all in favor I I will take a motion or I'll do a roll call for appointment krenzer yes Renard yes Testa yes Williams yes reri most graciously yes congratulations thank you at this time I'll take a motion to nominate Deputy Mayor Vice chairperson I'll make that motion the motion deputy mayor uh Vice chairperson Ellen Testa I'll second okay there is a motion and a second any other nominees hearing none I'll take a motion and a second to close motion to close second all in favor I I and a motion to nominate krenzer yes Renard yes Riri yes Williams yes Testa yes and at this time uh we would request Atlanta County Sheriff Joe Adon here to please come up and swear in uh mayor chairperson William rer congratulations we be close again for the second time I'm honored I also want to say how important the Western end of the county is and we have James CIO who came here for this who are wonderful just he's one of the best it tells you how important the Western end is to us and thanks to you and this committee that'll constantly remind us I'm sure this is the oath of office of Mayor it's a very important office you lead us into this next year and I want to say I pray that God gives you Direction in this office and I know your family well I repeat your name I williami you solemnly swear you 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 and allegiance to the same to the same and to the government established in the United States and to the government established in the United States and in the state of New Jersey and in the state of New Jersey under the authority of the people under the authority of the people so help me God so help me God I do father further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will impartially that I will impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of Mayor of the office of Mayor according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God this has been sworn and describe today you should be proud of your father always remember this day this community should be proud of this family and this entire committee and of this committee for being a beautiful town and a beautiful Township we appreciate you having us up here we we be here often and God bless you this community absolutely thank you folks I look forward to yes sir thank you so much God bless you be in it am I in it no you won't should be good out and at this time we will have the oath of office for Deputy Mayor Vice chairperson Ellen Testa administered by her husband Michael Tesa senior attorney at law congratulations thank you [Music] John should have this memorized but I I am honored to be here but actually I want you to know that I'm the 17 my son Michael Testa actually would be swearing in his mother tonight but he is in Cumberland County swearing in three new newly elected Commissioners serate and the sheriff here in his place raise your right hand o of Allegiance I say your name i alen p do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support 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 and that their true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments established L and the government's established in the United States and in this state and the United States and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people so help me God so help me God I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will impartially that I will impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of the deputy mayor of the office of Deputy Mayor according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me so help I couldn't picture block block okay and with that I'm going to hand the gavel over I couldn't get your picture your hle okay we'll do a little speed reading uh we have uh resolutions 1 to9 starting with resolution 01- 24 it's appointment of Matthew Lions Esquire of Gart kefir as Township solicitor 0224 is appointment of Christoper Dusty Esquire as conflict Township solicitor 0324 is the appointment of Michael Garcia of Ford scotson Associates as Township auditor 04- 24 is appointment of Tiffany kuell LLC as Township planner 0524 is the appointment of Joel flayman Esquire as Township Bond counsil 0624 is the appointment of Dominic deani Esquire of Eric Bernstein and Associates as labor Council records management Council foreclosure and tax appeal 0724 is the appointment of hardenberg insurance group as Risk Management Consultant and 0824 is the appointment of Calmar Associates as environmental engineer lsrp and 0 9-24 is the appointment of Shore Animal Control as the township Animal control officer we need a motion and a second to adopt resolutions 0124 through 924 motion to adopt 0124 through 9-24 second roll call krenzer yes Renard yes Testa yes Williams yes reri yes thank you consent agenda consent agenda includ includes businesses of items of business which are not controversial and do not require individual discussion a motion approving the consent agenda is moved seconded and voted upon as one item by the township committee if any discussion is requested on a consent agenda it is removed from the consent agenda to the regular agenda 10-24 is authorizing the annual schedule for workshop and regular Township meetings 11-24 is to authorize the T the tax assessor to file file petitions of appeal and roll back tax appeals 12-24 is the designation of official newspapers 13-24 is adopting a cash management plan 14-24 is adopting a temporary Municipal operating budget for 2024 15-24 is establishing interest rates and penalties for non-payment of taxes 16-24 is designating of bank depositories 17-24 is authorizing the tax collector to conduct a tax sale 18-24 is the cancellation of tax overpayments or delinquent amounts less than $5 19-24 is authorizing signature of Township Clerk on checks issued by current and payroll fund 20-24 is appointment of M Municipal officials and Municipal designes those to include Deputy Township Clerk Chelsea Wharton Emergency Management coordinator Deborah Bell Deputy OEM coordinator Bill Collins and wild and Scenic Rivers counselors Jen Jennings where I have to go through everything appointment of public agency compliance officer that is Township Clerk Lisa Tilton appointments to the Joint Planning and Zoning Board class one mayor William reri class two Quinton McLendon class three Aaron krenzer class four um unexpired term Morgan crocus class four alternate one Teresa Kelly alternate three Lisa capriotti class four unexpired terms alternate 2 Cayman pots alternate 4 Matthew Smith 23-24 is appointments to environmental commission and cleans Community sustainable Jersey township ship committee John williamss Mayor William Riri alternate Deputy Mayor alen Tesa regular me Members Sebastian Simone and Valerie Barons alternate member two Michael Moore advisors sustainable Jersey Lisa Tilton advisor sustainable Jersey Quinton McLendon and adviser for clean communities uh Public Works supervisor Anthony poy appointments to special events and Recreation committee Township committee committeeman Aaron krenzer Deputy Mayor Ellen Testa members Sue Williams Pam Aly Quint McLendon and Gordon Lee Payne members to the Dr Martin Luther King Advisory Board committeemen John Williams committee men Kurt Renard and members Reverend David mallerie Quinton McLendon David Turner renice white Charlotte Jones Sandy Hickman and Teresa Kelly appointments to the municipal drug Alliance Township committee John Williams mayor William reiri advisor coordinator Gia Halls advisor John armado and regular members Reverend David mallerie Sue Williams Quint McLendon chief of EMS Randy Desi and Carlo favetto Public Safety Committee Township committee uh mayor William reiri committeeman Aaron krenzer members to your turn ter of fire Commissioners fire commissioner for fire district David Richie fire commissioner for District 3 Quint McLendon fire commissioner for district four Morgan crocus fire commissioner for District 5 Bill Collins members for two-year terms 911 coordinator Michael Burston Chief Anthony monfredo Jr Chief Mark chilia Chief Jean Sykes Chief Jake ruga Chief Bill Donnelly chief VMS Randy Desi OEM coordinator Deborah Bell New Jersey State Police commander troe and the director of Public Works Brian Johnson and our veterans Advisory Board committeeman mayor William Riri members John armado Robert sacko John McFarland Franklin Garcia Dan Deandrea Aaron white David Turner and Gordon Payne do you need a minute good we need a motion in a second to adopt 1024 through 2824 motion adopt 1024 through 2824 I have a motion by Tesa second by Williams roll call krenzer yes Renard yes Tesa yes Williams yes rer yes all righty uh item 11 we're going to do a quick uh quick rundown on liaison committees for the township for 2024 starting with our administrative Administration committee Aaron krenzer John Williams the finance committee William reri John Williams Insurance committee William reri elen Testa Personnel committee it's a kind of an ad hoc group Endeavor construction oversight William reri Aaron krenzer Public Works Emergency Management Public Safety dispatching William reiri Aaron krenzer school education John Williams Kurt Renard senior and youth programs John Williams ENT Testa Union negotiations Aaron krenzer Kurt Bernard State Police liaison William reri Aaron krenzer Economic Development William reri Ellen Testa we're going to jump over to item 12 I'd like to give the flooor to any dignitaries that are here with us this evening if they have any words to share with us for us thank you thank you guys thank you for being here all right we're going to jump over to item 13 the mayor's state of the town all right this document is a lot bigger than when I typed it up a day and a half ago so bear with me all righty uh I want to start this address as always by saying thank you on behalf of myself this entire committee I want to thank our Township staff our Public Works Department fire companies EMS the volunteers who help us with the countless events we we conduct each year for the community as a whole our appointed professionals and our partnership with the New Jersey State Police hopefully our new alliance with the Atlanta County Sheriff's Department in the months ahead the commitment and resolve we continue to Showcase in BBT remains unparalleled The increased level of community engagement was visible at every Township event that took place this year we look forward to carrying this momentum into 2024 I'd like to touch on some the progress we've made in 23 starting with our ongoing efforts to further enhance our community center utilizing ACI grant money we were able to completely renovate the bathrooms at our D Dr Martin Luther King Jr community center this project was long overdue and was a major step forward in adding greater functionality to this building we were also able to replace the kitchen floor and the rear entry doors in the community center to correct ongoing issues with both our goal was to continue to identify areas to upgrade our community center in the years ahead with the intent of maximizing our potential to support our residents yearr round via this amazing facility all Parks and Recreation areas across BBT received upgrades this year including new swings playground mulch resurfaced basketball courts and various other improvements we continue to enhance our nature trails at quickley Park and Michael Debbie for those residents who prefer to venture off the beaten path and explore our picturesque wooded walkways we were able to use outdo our outdoor venues to their full potential in 2023 our Parks played host to numerous great events this year including our summer concert series our first ever food truck festival an amazing car show National Night Out our family movie night and our fall festival BBT is extremely fortunate to have a wide array of outdoor recreation areas and we look forward to providing residents with a Full Slate of events in these great spaces in 2024 the township continued its effort to modernize the equipment we utilize to serve our residents throughout the year 2023 saw the addition of a new dump truck addor public works department to assist with their ongoing efforts to maintain our parks and Roads we purchased a new tractor to Aid with roadside mowing our second in as many years a new pickup truck was purchased to support our community center and to expand our ability to transport items to and from the food bank the year ahead we'll see further progress to address ongoing issues with drainage along Jackson Road added improvements to areas along the intersection of Five Points and the Hamilton Township border several projects were completed at Town Hall this year including upgrades to our tax assessor's office and improvements to our administrative offices these projects will continue into 2024 with goals to upgrade both the restrooms and the courtroom to make this building as accommodating and functional as possible for both residents and Township staff we we have yet another ambitious year ahead of us our Township committee is eager to serve the community in 2024 and looks forward to partaking in the many events we have planned in the coming months I encourage residents to familiarize themselves with the township calendars they receive there are answers within the calendar to many commonly asked questions and an overview of all community events we have planned for 2024 a great deal of time and energy goes into the many activities we have planned for the coming year so we encourage each of you to join us and have some fun please do not hesitate to reach out during the course of 2024 For assistance with any matter related to the Township Public Works our clerk's office our tax office zoning code enforcement our fire companies EMS Etc we are all here to serve BBT to the fullest to the fullest extent of our abilities I'd like to personally thank each member of this community for making our town an amazing place to live and I'd like to wish each of you a happy and healthy New Year thank you we're going to jump over to item 14 committee remarks Deputy Mayor Tesa do you have anything for us tonight um not really too much except that it was an amazing holiday season so far and I want to wish everybody a very happy healthy and prosperous New Year um as you said this is an amazing Township that we all live in and I think everybody tries to make an effort to see that we all live in a great place where everybody gets along and tries to better everybody else's lives here and we'll continue to do so thank you we're going to jump over to committeeman Aaron krenzer thank you mayor everybody knows how I like to ramble on so I typed up something here tonight just so uh I'd stick to the the point and wouldn't wouldn't Ramble On too much so bear with me guys all right so just good evening everybody thank you guys for coming out tonight um sheriff odonahue and Mario thank you guys so much congratulations you know it's been an honor getting to know you guys over the past several years I think it's been like seven or eight years now so thank you we look forward to working with you guys so I hope everybody had a great Christmas and happy New Year and again we appreciate you being here so this this past year has definitely been busy and uh from the added events that we continue to add each year to uh to the different concerns of community our Township has grown together um we've had everyone come together for something they truly believe in and I think it brought our community closer it was not an easy year for us up here in Township committee as you guys can imagine um working through the challenges has taught me many new lessons including one that stands out to me and as I reflected on this past year you know it's it's listening to the community more listening to you know what our community needs and wants and really trying to to engage into you know each everybody's different lifestyles and that from um all the different five areas we have here so that's that's definitely at the Forefront of my uh my next year so we've met a lot of wonderful people in the community and surrounding communities that attended our monthly meetings I think this year mayor we've had more people at our meetings than we have in the past three or four years so um you know it's it's truly unbelievable and then just a couple other things our public works department has never been so strong I'm so proud of this public works department and that's kind of where I focus a lot on um as you guys know week to or month to month and I'd like to thank our entire team and their hard work every day we've set forth a lot of new challenges to these guys and every challenge we set forth they're right there and they they meet it each time so thank you guys and the director and assistant director and everybody thank you guys our Comm Community has a very um passionate team working behind the scenes in all of our public buildings and making M buav Vista Township the best it can be I'd personally like to thank Leisa and the entire staff I mean without without them we're nothing up here so thank you guys appreciate it everything that's true and uh just a couple other notes here as you know I like to watch the weather too so this weekend a little snow we're prepared so please be careful when you go out we're going to have salt in the trucks and and ready maybe you know with this snow coming in we've saving our rock salt for the last two or three years yeah we uh we we've been budgeting rock salt from three years ago so we're good so and uh and that and also I look forward to working with the community uh committee up here and growing this town um in the next few years and and as we move forward in the future so congratulations mayy jury and Deputy Mayor Tesa thank you guys appreciate everything you do thanks thanks committee man Renard you have anything for us tonight well just uh I'd like to just uh congratulate you as being mayor and Ellen as being Deputy Mayor thank you uh you did a great job last year the whole ccil did a great job last year and uh I'm thinking this year might even be better we're looking forward to keeping our our foot in the gas pedal yeah yeah U and i' just like to wish everybody a safe and happy New Year and I hope it's a better one than this year thank you C committee man Williams yes I would like to uh congratulate you both and Allen your positions within the committee and I just want to say that the the committee is uh I'm proud to work on this uh committee because we have uh accomplished a lot in in 2023 and I look forward to uh accomplishing even more in 2024 um I want want to wish everybody a happy and blessed New Year and it's been a pleasure to serve this uh Township on this on this particular committee and I'm proud of everybody thank you John thank you for all of you thank you and I I just want to quickly kind of reiterate on everyone's comments here um I kind of feel like I go into a France when I I speak you know when I have something uh typed up I I am not a a suit guy I'm not a speech guy I am I am a goal guy I am a team guy I'm a Family Guy uh I I you know once once a year for about 10 minutes we take our blinders off we kind of decompress we do the the real quick Victory lap and I I want to kind of put put the blinders back on and really kind of pull together uh starting tomorrow we've got an ambitious year ahead of us uh and I want to like I said keep our foot in the gas pedal for this community um this town means everything to me uh I I'm you know actively raising my children in this building right now and this is kind of the coolest thing I could possibly ask for as a father uh as the mayor of this town as a member of this committee so I thank everybody for their ongoing efforts uh I think that's evident in the events that we do each year I I think we'd probably do more in the course of a calendar year than I would say probably our neighboring four or five municipalities combined uh between the concerts between Easter Halloween fall movie nights that you know and we continue to add the the food truck is a new addition the car show is a new addition uh National Night Out is newer to us you know we this was only our third as of this year um I thank everybody for making these events possible uh really at the end of the day it's about coming together as a community and uh sometimes we've got to beg sometimes we've got to you know really pull teeth to get people to these events but once they're there it's like you know magically everything clicks once you hear DJ Nikki G doing his thing in the background or you you smell the food trucks in the distance so uh so please please partake in these events this year guys a tremendous amount of time and energy Goes Forth into that entire slate we put into that calendar and I look forward to seeing each and everybody this year um I look forward to continuing to collaborate as a community anything anybody needs of myself and anybody up here who stands here before you please never hesitate to ask I I thank you guys again for being part of this evening uh I I know you have a very busy slate thank you guys for pulling yourself away uh the camera can't see I'm I'm referring to sheriff sheriff o Dy who in the background but um thank you guys again from the bottom of my heart and we're going to close out this meeting and I look forward to seeing each and everybody uh at every turn during the course of our tumultuous year together all right highs and lows hopefully many more highs than lows thank you thank you thank you thank you mayor and Township committee um at this time we'll quickly open for public comment so I'll just quickly go through and request just a motion in a second for public comment uh motion and a second to open to the public motion second all in favor I can I can I stay here or do I have to come up there come up Linda yeah hi I don't get a chance to come here all the time my name is just turn that microphone around yeah perfect my name is Linda Gentile but when I'm here in buav Vista it's Linda G till I go back to the Italian Roots I'm your Animal control officer I own Shore Animal Control we have several officers that have worked here for many years and we really enjoy serving the residents but I have to tell you that Lisa your clerk is really especially special because a few years ago I think it was about eight she drafted an ordinance to help protect um the the pets of buav Vista that is actually stronger than the state regulations the state law so it allows us to be able to um go in and protect and enforce the local ordinance and give warnings to help the pets especially in the cold weather or the hot weather so it's wonderful working with you again and Lisa and Chelsea and Lori doing excellent job so we're looking forward to serving you again and if you have any questions just feel free to reach out to us and follow us on Facebook we have 21,000 followers and that helps us return pets to the owners without taking them to the shelter because most of you probably know the shelters are overflowing right now so our goal is to return pets to owners enforce licensing and prevent rabies so looking forward to working with you all again thank you thank you mayor this has been kind of our our animal year hasn't it I mean I think we learned more about beavers this past year with beaver dams and beaver this and beaver that than we ever they're a keystone species it's unbelievable so anyone else I'll ask for a motion to close motion second all in favor number 16 number 16 uh motion and a second to adjourn motion to adjourn second all in favor thank you everyone you guys thank you thank you thank you