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Sorry. All right. All right. Good afternoon, everyone. We have a special meeting of the city council of the city of Kate May. We are here in the Kate May city hall auditorium. Today is Tuesday, April 21st, 2026. The time is now 4:35. Please

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join me for the pledge of allegiance. 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

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justice for all. >> Under the open public meetings law, notice of this meeting was sent to the K County Herald and the press of Atlantic City. A copy of the agenda was delivered to each member of city council, posted on the city website and city hall bulletin board. Notice is hereby provided that city council meetings are audio recorded and or video streamed

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live. Live video streams are posted to the Kate May city website. City of Kate May is not responsible if audio recording or live video streaming of a meeting is unavailable. Roll call. Council member Baldwin >> here. >> Council member Bodner >> here. >> Deputy Mayor McDade >> here. >> Council member Meyer

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>> here. >> Mayor Mullik >> here. >> City solister Gillan Schwarz >> here. >> City Manager Dietrich >> here. >> Deputy Manager Riggs >> here. Deputy Clerk Turner. >> Here >> we have resolution 1604 2026, a resolution providing for a meeting not

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open to the public in accordance with the provisions of New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act and JSA 104-12. This is to discuss the license of space on the ground and tower located at 8:30 Kenning House Lane in Kate May, New Jersey. We have a motion. I'll make the motion.

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>> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade. >> Yes. Council member Bodner, >> yes. >> Council member Baldwin, >> yes. >> Mayor Malik, >> yes. Is anyone here wishing to speak on this uh resolution?

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>> Seeing none, we'll close public comment and go into close session. >> Mayor, >> oh, I'm sorry. I >> I think um there may be some urgency in discussing uh the prominade project um

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and just some final touches on that project. and city manager Dietrich indicates that that's a time-sensitive matter. Um probably would have liked to have that on the agenda, but I think he would like to provide council a brief on that issue and that might be some

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additional item we want to add as a late addition to the close session agenda. And if there's any outcome of that, we can address it after the meeting if it's beyond a report. >> Okay. >> Can we ask a question? >> Sure. >> What category would that be under to be allowed to be in closed session? It's a >> Yeah, it's a contract and a deliberative

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process, too. >> I thought it'd be important to bring up. >> Mhm. >> Yes. >> It's about a contract. >> Contracting. >> Okay. >> Do we need to have an amendment or anything? Mr. Gill, >> I would just if council It's council's close session. So, if you're inclined to um entertain the discussion, it would

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just be a motion to amend to add that item as a discussion item to the close session. >> Yeah, I'll make the motion to amend to add that item to the closed session. >> Okay. So, is that a motion to amend? >> Yes. >> A motion to Do I have a a second to the motion?

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>> I'll second. Okay. >> Uh, any questions or comments? Roll call. >> Council member Meyer? >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDeade? >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner? >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin? >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik? >> Yes. Do we need to vote on amended >> the amended? >> We need a motion to make a to approve

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the amended motion that is added. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Good. Great. Thank you. >> Time is 4:39 into close session. All right. Good evening everyone. We are coming out of a closed session and we will be adding resolution 187 to the

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regular agenda and we'll cover that resolution when we get to it. >> Motion to close. >> So, do I have a motion to close? Do I need a motion? We're >> We're journing. >> We are adjourning the special meeting and going into our regular meeting of

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the city council of the city of Cape May. We are here in the Cape May city hall auditorium. Today is Tuesday, April 21st, 2026. The time is now 5:00 p.m. Please join me for the pledge of allegiance.

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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.

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Under the open public meetings law, notice of this meeting was sent to the Kay County Herald and the press of Atlantic City and a copy of the agenda was delivered to each member of city council posted on the city website and city hall bulletin board. Notice is hereby provided that the city of Kate May council meetings are audio recorded and or video streamed live. Live video

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streams are posted to the Kate May city website. The city of Kate May is not responsible if audio recording or live video streaming of a meeting is unavailable. Roll call. Council member Baldwin >> here. Council member Bodner >> here. >> Deputy Mayor McDade >> here. >> Council member Meyer >> here.

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>> Mayor Mullik >> here. >> City solicitor Gillan Schwarz >> here. >> City Manager Dietrich >> here. >> Deputy Manager Riggs >> here. >> Deputy Clerk Turner >> here. >> CFO Reid >> here. >> And city auditor Costello >> here. >> All right. And do we have some additions

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and deletions tonight? Council. >> I am aware of two. If you'd like me to highlight those first, possibly three. Okay. So, we do have the addition of 187042026, a resolution reauthorizing an auction bid for lease of city-owned property known as a portion of Canning House

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Lane, Water Tower, located at 8:30 Canning House Lane in Kate May, New Jersey. If there's a motion to add. >> Do I have a motion? >> I'll make that motion. >> Do I have a second? >> A second. >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade. >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner. >> Yes.

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>> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Malik. >> Yes. And there is a recommendation um to remove resolution 164042026. It's a resolution authorizing a contract to CME. Um that is actually duplicative

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of another resolution that's already listed on the consent agenda. So it's just award of contract is on there twice. So if council's comfortable, we can um you guys can remove 164 from the agenda. >> Is that uh 184 that you're >> No, 164. >> No, I know. But

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>> the 184 is the duplicate. Yes. Yes. I'm sorry. >> Yes. The 184 is like the correct one. 164. >> I'll make the motion to remove that. Mayor, >> we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> I'll second. >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDeade. >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner.

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>> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik. >> Yes. And if I could request uh to remove 163 that's authorizing the uh required disclosure award to DKC contractors for landscaping services. We're going to

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break that contract up and and bring this one back to you later in the summertime after we've looked at our seasonal hires for the year. But um the we won't proceed with it until it gets to a higher dollar value under the statute. So that

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one could be removed. Please. Great. >> Do I have a motion? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Any questions or comments? >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade. >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner. >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik.

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>> Yes. >> Any other additions or deletions? Council, >> I think that's it. >> Moving on to the 2026 municipal budget. Um, >> okay. What? >> So, it's a public hearing. I do the

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public public hearing first. >> You want to do the public hearing first before the by title? >> Yes. Okay. No, by title first. >> By title first. Yes. Okay. So, we're going to start with 16104 2026 resolution authorizing the reading of the 2026 annual municipal budget by title only. >> Do I have a motion?

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>> I'll make the motion. I'll second. >> Okay. Questions or comments? Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade. Yes. >> Council member Bodner. >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik. >> Yes. >> And moving on to the public hearing on the budget. Mayor,

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>> is anyone here wishing to speak on the uh 2026 municipal budget? Seeing none, we'll close public comment. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions or comments? >> Roll call. Just to be clear, that's

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going to be a motion to uh adopt 1620426 resolution adopting the 2026 municipal budget. Okay. Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade. >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner. >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik. >> Yes.

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>> Okay. Thank you. >> And >> so that was the same budget you introduced. Nothing changed. Um, Lauren has done an unbelievable job since she's been here getting everything cleaned up and you know, you're on a good course. The state had a bunch of really nonsense

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comments that she answered all of them and were approved for everything. So, >> you're officially done. >> Uh, Leon, thank you very much. For those who don't know who Leon is, he is our auditor and has done a great job every year for us for I don't know how many years, Leon, but

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>> long time. >> 30 some. >> He was right out of high school when he started. >> Yeah. Yeah. And Lauren, thank you. You've done a great job. And I do want to thank all of our department heads. I know everybody didn't probably get exactly what they want, but thank you

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for working with Lauren, with our city manager and our deputy city manager, our CFO. Um, I know you all worked very hard on this, so thank you. Thank you very much. >> Okay. >> Well, I just want to say also it's a testament to um just how wonderful a

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team you are that you all showed up here tonight. So, >> yeah, >> we certainly appreciate it. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> On to uh updates or old business. City

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manager. >> Uh thank you. Um, first I'll just give a quick update. We have a lot of projects going on and we're trying to kind of fastly move them uh here to get some of them buttoned up for uh summertime. Uh

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the sanitary sewer projects uh they've been paving uh they'll be finished paving uh base paving Illinois Avenue this week. They're still doing uh some uh lateral installations on Idaho and Stockton Place, but they're fast moving that. Uh if you were out on Beach

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Avenue, they were paving from Cove. They got paved probably up I don't know how close they got to Lifeguard headquarters this this afternoon, but I know that they were shooting to get just past lifeguard headquarters uh today and then tomorrow they'll finish it. So after

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obviously tomorrow all of the prominade will have a new asphalt surface coat on it. Um, and now we're just going to have to wait till they do the uh paint coating on top of the prominade, the outalt service, and then we're going to

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put the benches back up on the uh the prominade. I know a lot of people have been asking for when they're coming back, but we're shooting, you know, based on the time frame of when we have to let that cure. It's looking like maybe the first or second week in June most likely, that all the benches should

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be back up on the proomenade uh for everybody to enjoy. Uh, and I know we're going to make the announcement. Um, lifeguard headquarters. Uh, I really appreciate council putting that on the fast track to kind of get that done. The contractors done a yman's job of working

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through the cold weather and getting this done. And we're anticipating a ribbon cutting uh May 1st. So, a week from this Friday, everybody hope to come out there and and see that ribbon cutting there and uh just moving these projects along as fast as we can. Um we

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have several projects that we're kind of kicking off. So we have two projects for for next year. The the first phase of the desalinization water treatment plant and another water sewer I mean a water pro sewer project uh for next year. So u lot of projects that are going to

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continue to move forward. Thank and that's all I have for this evening. Oh one other thing so we are going to start posting some social media. Uh the school board has been working on the I guess their consolidation study. Uh I know they had a presentation last night over

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at West K West Kate May Elementary. Uh on the 22nd uh they're going to be having a a presentation at Kate May Elementary. Uh that's looking for public input. So encourage all residents to uh attend that meeting if you can to give your input on that consolidation study.

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They're not going to present any of their findings. So, don't go there thinking they're going to be telling you what's going on. They're going to tell you about what the study is looking to do and then they're looking for public comment about the study. Um they're they're anticipating having to give a

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report to both communities on June 11th at the Lower Township Regional High School. Uh that's where they will present their findings uh to both communities at a joint meeting there. Again, that's on June 11th at the Lower Township Regional High School. So just be I just wanted to make make sure all

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the residents aware of that were aware of that. Thank you. >> Thank you. And I uh thank you to the residents on Illinois Avenue and uh couple couple streets over in Village Green that have been uh

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was held up by the uh the snow uh which it's hard to it's easy to forget now, but that snow stayed on the ground for like three weeks there. Uh but uh they're getting it they're getting it done and well before Memorial Day.

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>> So thank you. All right. Uh on to our city solicitor. Any uh updates for old business? >> Nothing tonight. Thank you. >> City council. Any updates for old business? >> Okay. Um >> thank you. >> If I could, I just want to say thank you for all the department heads employees

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coming out. I know that they have families and dinner they want to get to. So I I know uh we're having a presentation from MTRA uh right now. So if you want to take this opportunity time to ski daddle this would be a good transition time why why they transition

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up for this presentation if if you're looking to the I do appreciate you guys coming. Thank you. >> Y thank you. >> Thanks everybody. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. Thanks. >> Thanks, Eric. >> Not that I wanted to take all the

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audience for for Martin and his presentation away, but I just thought that that was >> still >> All right. >> You've cleared the room, Martin. >> Martin, now now we got to figure out how we're going to pay for that budget. So, why don't you come on up and help us help tell us how we're Yeah,

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>> the table went that way. >> Oh, where did it go? >> All right. >> I assumed law enforcement was here because I talking about parking. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Um, so before I start, I I want >> Before you start, I could I just say

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thank you. Thank you to all of MTRA. Uh, Dennis, thank you for all the hard work that you all do and and uh we we very much appreciate all the hard work. Yeah, that's actually where I wanted to kick off was this is my first presentation to council since I took over as chair about

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a year ago. So, I wanted to thank Dennis Crowley for um laying the groundwork for what MTRA does. Uh we we wouldn't be able to do what we do today or in the future. If Dennis hadn't been very brave in the way that he and his committee

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went forward with their recommendations, some of which were adopted, some of which were thrown into the trash bin. Um but, uh all were valued. recycling. It may it may come back. >> Um, one of Dennis's favorite quotes is that it's not MRA's job to be liked. Um,

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I'm probably going to follow that example tonight when talking about um, parking fees. So, um, without getting too much ahead of myself. Let me get into that. I am on the clock, but um, questions from council don't count towards the five minutes. So, feel free

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to ask as many questions as you'd like. Um so on slide two we um we we took our information using AI and then also I visited the um the different city municipal websites. Um two things one was Chad GPT did not pick up on the fact

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that Stone Harbor announced an increase in parking rates in January. I don't know why AI would not have picked that up but I missed it in the first goound picked it up in the second. So that's a part of what we're talking about today. And also I was really surprised that most of the municipalities in Cape May

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County do not have any part information on their websites about parking. They're they have tons of information about how to use park mobile, but they don't disclose what their rates are or what their practices are. It's a little bit odd, but one of the things that we noticed as we were doing the work.

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Uh, next slide, please. Why is parking such an issue? We I think we think the that Cape May is unique in some ways about in in terms of seeing parking as such a serious issue. There are books written on parking. Um I

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I actually did listen to one. It was pretty entertaining actually. But then that's indicative of probably my personal life. But um one of the quotes that I took from it that that stuck with me even before we started to do this was this is a comment about the American

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public in general. We expect parking to be immediately available directly in front of our destination and most importantly free. And that's that's a it's not Cape May. That's universal. People have been killed over arguments about parking spots. It's an incredibly

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volatile topic. And any changes that we that that municipal municipalities make to their parking rates generally meets with very strong opposition. We're seeing that right now in Stone Harbor. We're seeing that right now in Diamond Beach. Um I'd hope that our um

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suggestions are not quite as controversial, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. Um next slide, please. Our own Jules Roush's father worked for the company that invented the parking meter back in Oklahoma City. and their

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um their their mission in in installing parking meters for the first time. It was actually a result of an engineering study that um wanted to figure out how to get people to how to get the spots to turn over. That's why we have parking meters. That's why we do what we do. Um

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we want we want the most popular spots to not be occupied by people for very long periods of time. We want them to be in, take care of whatever business they have in the in the business district and then leave so that that spot can be turned over to someone else. Yes, revenue has become a very important

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component, especially in um there are private companies that make an awful lot of money off of parking. Um if you've gone to the airport with your cars recently, you know how in how expensive parking is at the airports, at sporting events, at theater events, it can be very expensive. So there is definitely a

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revenue component to it. But I think that um we we can't go into this thinking that revenue is the reason that we're suggesting making parking changes. There are other benefits that come from changes in the parking fees. We also know that um the the population

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of cars in the United States has exploded. Uh I'm old enough to remember we only had one car. Um many many families I'm sure you only had one car. Um, last count I think we had five for the three of us. Of course, you know,

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one was a race car, but that's besides the point. Um, it's it's something that um it it affects the parking situation because families come down here or families live here, they don't have one, two, in many cases even three cars. U many of the rental properties, uh,

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there'll be four or five cars and the the parking the driveway is not made to contain four or five cars. All those extra cars have to find someplace to park. I think this was important for the uh next slide please. I think the historical perspective was important for

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uh the public to understand what's happened in the past. In 2019 through 2021, we made a series of changes and nothing has changed in terms of the fee structure since. So the fees haven't moved in 5 to seven years. And like any feed that doesn't move, it will no

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longer continue to be as reflective of the cost to provide as it was five years ago. Um so the the the issue of whether it's time to raise fees or not is definitely conditioned by the length of time that it's that it's taken. Um I

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want to point out in the interest of time, one of the changes that started this was in 2019. We put in what's called in the industry performance pricing. Meaning that uh we established a parking rate near the mall that was twice the rate that it was in the rest

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of the city. At the time the rest of the city was all all the metered parking was a dollar and we raised it to $2. The that the reason for that was to get those spots as I said earlier to turn over. Um now the next year during the COVID um era where where parking revenue

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was down significantly the city did increase the the the rate the rate at the rest of the meters to $150. That shrunk the differential between the price the performance pricing and the and the regular meeting rate which we think had an impact on the way that uh

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parking is utilized today. Next slide. Uh what we did was we took and this is an eye chart. I apologize. U I wanted to make sure that the information was in there on all of the different towns in Cape May County. Um as we look at this

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if to those have had that have had the opportunity to review it, there's little commonality city to city our hours that parking meters are in effect um where they're in effect um the pricing. It's all very different. And that's reflective of the fact that every

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municipality has its own needs for parking. What Stone Harbor needs is different from what Avalon needs. What Cape May needs is different from what Wildwood needs. It's still relevant because people do tend do make the decision to visit Cape May not just on

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how much parking cost. There are many other factors, but it is one of the factors. So there there will be comparison in visitors minds. How much does it cost to find to park in Cape May and how available is parking versus in uh in neighboring towns? >> Can I can I just make one point on that?

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Um just to um not to highlight a specific town personally, but um you know, a couple of them have a pretty big width in regards to percentage. If you were to look at the cost of the city of Kate May, $3 to $5 is a pretty big um

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width. And what I recognize in that is um most of the prime locations that you would typically be parking in are the $5 parking spots. I mean I just I don't even know where some of the other

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smaller amounts are is is and I just bring that >> it's distance from the beach, >> right? >> So it's the opposite of what we do, right? We have our most expensive parking near the business district. So does Stone Harbor. >> Okay. in in in the Wildwoods, it's the beachfront, >> right?

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>> That's that's the attraction in the Wildwoods. Um, what does Wildwood not charge for? >> Beach tags, >> right? >> So, if you're going to the to the beach for the day, okay, sure, your beach tag is free, but you're paying $5 an hour for parking.

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>> Um, the the the takeaway point at the bottom, I think, is the critical one. Um, the average of the six towns that charge for parking is $2.75. The median is $2. And again, we are at $2 in near the mall and a$150 elsewhere.

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What I'm uh summarizing, what's summarized on this slide um is many pages actually of information on our website about parking. Uh we make the information readily available. It's there's a there's a link right on the homepage uh so that you can find out everything you want to know about parking. Um what we did note in

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reviewing it is that um the the seasons are different um in different parts of town. the hours are different in different parts of town and um what we have seen from social media is a significant amount of consternation I

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guess is the right word among visitors because they don't know whether after October 31st they don't know whether they have to pay for parking or not and I have to pay here I don't have to pay there I got a ticket over here I didn't realize it was still on um so our visitors are frustrated in my opinion in

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in MR's opinion are frustrated ated by the fact that we do have some of these differentials and that will factor into one of our recommendations coming up. Next slide. Okay. So, uh as MTRA looked at the issues, uh one of the things that we saw

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in doing our research were that uh back in 2019 when performance pricing was put in the large the loudest objections were from the business owners that said that we would be discouraging people from visiting the Cape May business district. Um, we now have the benefit of 2020

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hindsight and the opposite is actually true. Our business district is more popular than it's ever been, meaning that the demand for parking is higher than it's ever been. Um, interestingly, the exact same thing is happening in Stone Harbor. They're increasing the rate to $2 and it's the business owners

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that are saying that it's going to kill Stone Harbor's business. Now whether that's true or not, Stone Harbor is a different business than Cape May, but um it it generally speaking, higher parking in a business district encourages the turnover of spots, which is good for

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their customers. It's good for their business. Their their customers come in, they're less frustrated. They were able to find parking easier, so they aren't in a bad mood when they walk in the door and try to decide whether to buy something or not. Um the 2020 increase to a $150 from a

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dollar eroded a lot of the intent of the performance pricing. Um we are waiting to get information from Park Mobile on length of average length of stay in different zones and the and the maximum length of stay. Our hypothesis is for 50

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cents an hour more I I'm going to park on Carpenter Lane if I'm going to the beach if that's the first spot that I can find. And we don't want people parking on Carpenter Lane that are going to the beach for six hours. We want that spot to turn over two or three times.

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Um, the way that I'm thinking about the the the takeaway point is a dollar is not always a dollar. It may be a dollar of revenue, but a dollar that gets a dollar more that gets a parking spot to turn

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over more often is worth more than a dollar to the businesses in the city of Cape May. We we want that spot to turn over. And if we can get even one more time, one more turnover in just 10% of the spots in town through the

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recommendations that I'm going to be presenting in a moment, that's the equivalent of having 5% more parking spots in the city of Cape May. That's the way the math works. So it it is an important objective to try to understand what it is that we're trying to do with our parking fees. And it's not just

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about the revenue. So what is MTRA recommending? Um, we believe it's time for the city to increase the uh the metered rate, and when I say meter, I mean park mobile and the kiosks, um, to $2 per hour. That's a

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33% increase, but it hasn't increased in six years. So, it's actually 5% a year on a compounded rate, which is about what labor costs have gone up over the course of the five years. So, there's a relationship there. 33% that is 50 cents an hour. That sound 33% sounds like a

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lot, but the reality is it hasn't changed in six years. So, um that we have to take that into consideration. The other thing is that MTRA originally considered a $1.75, but we realized that's impractical with coin meters. You can't have each 25 cents be worth eight

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hours and 34 seconds. It's just not something that is going to be able to be understood by the public. So, we almost because we continue to use a lot of coin meters, uh, we're almost locked into going just as we did from a dollar to a$150, going from a$150 to $2 because of

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the way that the meters are programmed, the way the mechanism works. It's still very consistent with local practice. Uh, the $2 would put us right smack in the middle of the of the seven beach towns that charge for parking. Um, we are suggesting that we restore the

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performance pricing premium. Now, the slide says 2x because that was what we did originally. And MTRA believes that 2x is probably the right multiple to change behavior. And that's what we're trying to do here. We're not trying to

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collect $4 an hour. We're trying to differentiate the parking at the mall from the parking at in the rest of the town. Um the rest of the town will would still be at, as we mentioned, $2. So there's still plenty of places for people to park if they are willing to walk two blocks. Uh but if they want to

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park close to the to their destination, we want to make sure that those spots are there for them. And in order to ensure that that happens, it's necessary to charge more. Um once we have the data, I think that we could see a different answer. Again, our hypothesis is we're going to see people that are

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parking at the mall for six, seven hours at a time, eight hours at a time, which is not what we want in in terms of our parking availability. Um, if we see that that that's not true in the data and that people truly are already deciding to vacate those spots, maybe it's a

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different recommendation. But for the time being, the placeholder is the $2. And I would I'll be working with the city manager to on the data so that we can come to a conclusion when we actually do have that information. Um and then we we did suggest that the the surface lots be uh increased. Uh

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they they haven't been increased in five years. Um and there's a waiting list meaning that demand exceeds supply. So anytime that that happens, it generally supports increasing the cost. we um didn't really have

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we didn't have hard data to be able to do the mathematics, but I've done some back of the envelope calculation and I think it's pretty conservatively we can predict that this is about two cents on the uh property tax um that would that would offset two cents of increase in

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the property tax uh relatively conservatively. Again, it depends on what the city decides to do. Um but uh we'll work together again when we have more information to be able to calculate that with greater precision. We suggested that uh the overall structure be simplified where we can do

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so without significant push back. Um the two that we are suggesting is to have all the meters go to December 31st. That eliminates that confusion for the two months. Um the it would have it would have minimal impact in on homeowners and

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on employees of businesses. they would simply have to continue to do what they do from April 1st through through October 31st for two more months. But the the the the way that visitors will perceive the city with less confusion in

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our opinion is positive. Um there is there's are sections of the city that are 10 to six and sections that are 10 to 5. Let's just make it all 10 to six. We thought about 10 to 10, but there's areas of the city where that wouldn't benefit from making it 10 o'clock at night. Um and then once coin

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meters are eliminated and we encourage that that happen sooner versus later um then we can u make annual or bianual adjustments to the parking rates so we don't wind up with this 33% increase scenario which I'm sure when we get feedback on the recommendations will be

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that's a huge increase again it's 50 cents it's not a big increase it's a big percentage because we can only change them in multiple years and then finally Um, this will help in our opinion if these recommendations are

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are enacted. Um, but it's not the answer. We haven't solved the parking problem. Uh, we have to continue to look at it and MTRA is anxious to be able to play a part in that in terms of being able to come up with funding for whatever solutions we do uh, come up

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with for longer term. Any questions? Once you get those estimates back about the uh the times the different zones are going to be used, when do you plan on uh when do you want council to act on some of these recommendations? >> Not before summer, clearly, right?

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>> Can I please >> Let me just jump in. So, I think I think based on some of the analysis and and talking with MTRA and and and Deputy Mayor McDade, I I think that I would ask council make a recommendation on the basic premise that that that Martin

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discussed is let's look at making $2 an hour the standard rate throughout the city. Let's implement that now because that's that's an easier conversation point to have. I think some of the other issues and and are worthy discussion about whether we expand the zones,

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changing some of the timing of the zones, the performance pricing of the zones. I think that's going to take I think a deeper discussion with council and and a broader uh network to see where we would want to land on that. But

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I think from a a budgetary standpoint and an operational standpoint, we're still at the beginning of the season. So, I think to to make things operational while we figure some of those other issues out to to look at implementing a 50 cent increase to $2 an hour for

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parking throughout the city. Um >> I I think it's uh important too because that data we have is the comparison to the other municipalities. So, that is solid information to form um and make our decision upon. The other I agree with Mr. Dietrich, you know, talking

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about performance parking, needing that data a little bit more. Um, variables for parking in the mall, business district from a price point, etc. Um, having consistency on the the times, >> five and six. >> Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I mean, I think

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everyone I mean those are other other things that we can work through over the next couple of months, but the comparison to the municipalities is clearly here in the chart. uh and demonstrates uh the information and the fact that we haven't increased these in the past six years.

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>> I was just going to add that that's the second factor is how long it's been. The third factor is it's a compound rate of 5%. That is not unreasonable. Our labor costs have gone up at least 5% all in fully loaded right um so I don't I don't I only see I see the $2 as simply

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keeping pace. I will say though that I would be careful about not raising the mall rate and having them be the same because we will build behaviors very quickly where now people that don't park at the mall will start to park at the mall and that's a behavior that we don't

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want to reinforce. >> That's what I was going to try to say. I think it's important if we're going to raise everything to $2, we should just do it at $4 because like the you know Mr. Van Wson uh Walsson said that um we don't want people parking with their coolers to go to the beach around the >> mall.

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>> I mean, and we're not doing we're not doing our job >> to the business owners if if we allowed that. >> What we can softpal is that the ordinance does actually require um have a maximum of three hours in the business district and my understanding is that that's not really enforced. I would soft pedal that.

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>> Yeah. And I I agree. I would like to see that more information from Park M before we made that decision. Right. But I I'm in support of if we're going to do this for the summer, keep it simple. >> Thank you, Shane. >> Councilman Meyer. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Thank you for all your work, Martin. Any other questions?

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Please, please thank all the rest of the committee as well. >> Thank I'll uh hang around for public comment if any if the public has any questions. >> Thank you. So I guess I guess just to follow up, does does council want to make a recommendation that so I can work with Chris on coming back at the next meeting

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with a ordinance recommendation? Um I I think you know we tried it. So last year we we expanded I'll say if you look at the parking zone the yellow zone which was traditionally first just around uh the mall but last year we expanded it

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down to the beachfront and then down you know to include Congress to Ocean Street along Beach Avenue. So we kind of expanded that zone um which then does include I'll say some of the beachfront

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areas. So if we I think if we go to performance pricing, we might want to I guess potentially look at remodifying those zones or do you want to look at remodifying those zones so that that yellow zone is pulled back into I'll say

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that the the old nucleus of the mall and then we would just expand the beachfront zone. I just put that up there just because, you know, when we talked about performance pricing around the mall, it was looking at and in and the synergy

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was the nucleus of the mall, but really it's, you know, Beach Avenue from Congress really all the way up to Gurnie on Beach Avenue. So, it's it does have a a big stretch on Beach Avenue. City manager, can I suggest and and uh would

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ask for two volunteers uh to work with you on that ordinance with the solicitor for the next meeting >> I'd be happy to do it. >> Yes. >> So if Mr. Meyer and uh >> just to work out those kind of >> Yeah. And then work on that ordinance

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with this solicitor to bring back to council and of course with the >> with MTRA. >> Okay. >> Good. >> Yeah. >> Perfect. Okay. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you again, MRA and and Martin, of course. Thank you,

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Dennis. Go. Uh, where are we at? >> Why don't you, as part of the presentation, you want to >> Yeah. >> Before I start, >> Dennis Crowley, 806 left street. I'm speaking here as a member of the uh

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community of Kate May, a private citizen and I carry no brief for any body or any council or any uh committee except myself. Uh but I do want to tell you that the uh the planning board has recently issued a the report of a study

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that they they the planning board did to look at the very issue of parking not from the MTRA perspective which is which is fiscal and operational on a year-to-year basis but it was really based I think on the uh the contents and

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the recommendations of the master plan and not to belabor it too much but I will tell you this the the the the single most difficult hurdle to deal with parking in the city is we have to know clearly what the parking situation

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is. We have to know what the city's capacity to meet that parking demand and we have to figure out ways to to actually accommodate parking as as the city grows and grows every year. the the recommendation to from the planning

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board which was unanimously adopted was that the city commission a study to once and for all get a clear comprehensive set of data on what the parking situation is in Cape May. The last study that was done on this issue was 2001.

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That's 25 years ago. Uh I I think I think that this is the missing piece of the problem because unless we know clearly what our parking load is and what our capacity is and what we can do

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to make it easier to park in Cape May, that's a planning responsibility. That's not operational. That's not fiscal. That's planning. So I would urge the council to get a hold of that report and and try and act on it as soon as possible. it it would require hiring a

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professional study to come in and do that data collection. U but I personally believe there's probably a couple of dollars left somewhere in a in a fund. >> And so that that was discussed when we formulated the budget the budget that

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was presented to council. Unfortunately that that study didn't make I'll say the cut for what we're going to include in this year's budget. And so maybe we'll look at it for next year's budget, but it was was considered but Unfortunately, as it, you know, as it bounced between

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my office and and the council's review, that was not included in this year's budget. And I would suggest that the sooner we get a hold of a comprehensive analysis of our quote unquote parking problem, we'll be scrambling every year with rates and and zones and times

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without ever addressing the real problem, which is people every year love Cape May more and more and more. And they're all coming down here to enjoy this town. If we can't accommodate them, they may not come. They probably will

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anyway, but they'll complain. But the the idea is we have a responsibility as a city to make sure that the people that we invite into our town have a place to park and have an experience that's going to be enjoyable for them and and not something they'll take home and complain

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to their neighbors about. I want to commend Justin who was help helped out on that study as well. So, thanks again and please give that study some serious consideration. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Dennis. Yeah, >> maybe the manager or even a chief of police would help answer this. Is there

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a way we can find out how many cars come in in and out of the town through the license plate readers? >> We're we're we were having that discussion. So, we're we're looking at that. I mean, the discussion though is we have to com combine it with the West

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Cape May Bridge. So, you have to look at both and then you truly don't we can look at it maybe what's coming in and out Cape Island wide. It's not going to give us what's hitting Kate May City. So, because the the travel you go between both bridges, we would never

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know exactly how many are in Cape May city, but we can probably come up with, hey, how many are coming and going on Cape Island? >> Have another one on Elmyra and and Broadway to have a really better idea. >> You'd have to have a have a dozen of them. >> Yeah.

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>> To do that. >> Can I ask a quick follow-up question as well? >> There's a good general start, though. >> Yeah. Yeah, we'll have >> Yeah. And um there was mention about this 2001 study. I'm assuming that you have that. Is there any way you could >> No, that that 2001 study has would have

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no bearing. I know I know it wouldn't, but if we could you circulate that to the council just so we have >> I I I wouldn't even want to circulate to you because it it has would have no value to you whatsoever except maybe to kind of look at how you're going to

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model a new study, but any data in there is so outdated. It's not >> it's not worth reviewing. >> Okay? >> It truly isn't. >> Okay? >> I mean, I I'd be happy to give it to you and if you want to read it, that's fine. But I I just would caution you as a professional engineer and as a prof

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professional planner. It will have of no value to what is happening today. >> At least it could give us possibly, you know, where we were then and we have an idea of where we kind of need to go. Um but >> yeah. >> Okay. >> But I'll get I can look for it, but I I

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don't think it'll have any true >> value. Maybe see things that were implemented and weren't or whatever, but >> Okay. Uh with that on to ordinances for introduction. >> We have 601-2026 an ordinance amending the city of Kate

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May code and establishing procedures and regulations for memorial program. >> Mayor if I could. >> Yes, please. So we worked on this um obviously when we were working on the replacement of the memorial benches on

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the on the proomenade uh we we obviously quickly realized that we to move forward with any new memorial program. We needed to have clear established procedures and guidelines and to set true expectations for the people that were wanting to

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create a memorial for a loved one. Um so this this ordinance sets up both a memorial program for benches and for trees. um and and establishes how we would establish costs mechanisms for where we would place them for

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location and and time frames and and procedures that it it really documents everything. I mean, a lot of it is modeled on how we kind of implemented and and gave forms out for the for the replacements of the memorial bench

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program on the prominade. But, you know, I think we've gone through this. I think we vetted this with the subcommittee when we kind of worked on that program. We kind of waited to to implement this program and bring this back to ordinance. One was we wanted to get all

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the responses back from the memorial bench people that on like the we wanted to find out how many people wanted to renew on the prominade and how many people were not. We think there's about a hundred out of the 440 benches that

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were on the prominade that that aren't going to renew. Um we've already had a waiting list for before we started this project and process. Uh but we felt that at at this time moving into the season and we're getting close to the you know

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the bench is going back up on the prominade that this was the appropriate time to to bring this program presented to council so that we can kind of continue that program and uh move it forward >> and having been involved in this program

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from the beginning um I think it's a good way and Mr. Dr. Gillan Schwarz was very helpful in um constructing sort of the parameters. So we had something in writing very clear um that when people were signing up they understood sort of what the rules were um so that we didn't

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find ourselves in a situation of trying to go back years later and explaining really what was intended. Um so along with this there's an operational guide at least on the program on on the prominade benches and the other benches

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um that Casey Ratigan and her team uh are utilizing. So I think it's wonderful that we've got this um being presented going forward. I'll just add too just in the drafting of it, this this framework is pretty consistent with what you would

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see in some of our national parks, some of our state parks, some of our neighboring towns. So, this is a framework that is pretty familiar. And if you just did a quick Google search of different types of programs, you're going to see some common themes that are

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in this draft. And that was on purpose so that it's in line with what's already out there. Great. Uh, do I have a motion to introduce ordinance 601? >> I'll make that motion. >> Do I have a second? >> A second.

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>> Any other questions or comments? Council. >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer? >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDeade? >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner? >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin? >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik? >> Yes. >> Moving on to public portion on the resolutions only. Mayor,

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>> is anyone here wishing to speak on resolutions on the agenda this evening? Anyone on resolutions on the agenda? >> Mayor, if I could just before >> as Mr. Rash was coming up, um, and I forgot to bring this up in my report.

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The manager's monthly department report, I apologize. It did not go out with the agenda packet. I got tied up at the end of last week. Um, I emailed it out to council this afternoon. Um, I will be put I will talk to uh Casey and get it

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up on post it on online later this week, but I do apologize. I know it's listed on on there, but just due to some timing constraints and issues that came up at the end of the week, I wasn't able to get it in the packet on there, but I will have it up on the uh website this

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week. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, Mr. Roush. >> Thank you. Good evening, Jules Rous 1010 New York Avenue. Uh, just as a comment, I I grew up with parking meters. They were all over our home. My father used to go out to so many meetings making

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presentations. >> The shower. >> It was unbelievable with one sad experience. The parking meters were developed by Ted McGee and Jerry Hail. And uh, Jerry Hail was killed in a

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airplane accident that hit the bridge in Washington DC many, many years ago. But that's just an aside. I'd like to comment on uh resolution 17042026. I'm I'm concerned about

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the the consumption of alcohol on closing the streets, but really I'm concerned about the reverse of it. The closing of the streets in our community with the traffic that we are now generating is a potential serious issue.

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And I think we we need to really decide, you know, are we going to just open up a number of these or is this going to be a limited event? Is it going to be done uh during certain times of the year? I

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think before you just jump ahead and and just grant things without having an idea of of a of a plan, I think it's a bit dangerous because once you start to approve them, there's going to be another one and another one and another

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one and where do you stop and what streets do you decide are are advantageous to close and which ones are actually a danger? So, I make that comment because I think it's a serious it's a serious serious issue. Um, not

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the least of which is the the cost. We we don't get we don't really cover our costs when we we have some of these special events. We have an ordinance that says that we're supposed to get back and become whole on the events, but

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we continually uh defer and and make exceptions. So, it's um >> I think it's it's something that you you should not just grant permits without having a plan and a serious look at what

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you want to do, how many you're going to do them, when you're going to do them. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Uh if if I could just speak to that because I I I want I want the public to know that that >> on each of these special event applications that that end up at in

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front of council um have especially like one like this one had two or three meetings with a lot of different staff. My staff, convention hall staff, the police department, fire department, public works, the clerk's office. You know, it it's been vetted. We've talked

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about it. We've looked at a lot of the operational things and to make sure you know a lot of times what you see is scaled down significantly from what is asked because of the input of all the various offices and and departments and

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we are looking at safety and those things on an application like this. We are recovering 100% of our costs. >> $2500 two $2550. >> An estimated 25 >> estimated. That's the estimated cost. And and that's looking at, hey, what our

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public works needs to do to drop off recycling containers and then pick up the trash after the event, the number of police officers that we scheduled on there. So, so we we've looked at that. We've analyzed it and, you know, that's our normal procedure. You know, I'll say

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90% of the the special events that that occur in the city never have to come here because they fall under the guidelines and and they follow all the rules. This one is really here because of the alcohol in the street. >> And and this is Decar Street, just to be clear. >> This is Decator. So, it's not on not on

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beach. It's a small portion. It's we looked at it. It's early in the season, you know, so it's not >> the high level of season. So, we've looked at all those things. I mean, if if this application was coming in for Fourth of July weekend,

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>> no, we're not looking at doing that. You know, we had we had an event earlier in in March uh that that we did close down Beach Avenue was it was earlier in March. >> I think we had fairly good success with that. You know, between our police department, fire department, all of our

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emergency services, public works, and that event, we managed it well and worked out well. So, >> can I ask Chief about that in a moment? How how that event went? If you I'll give you some time, Chief. But um >> because I I do history obviously should

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tell us, you know, what we want to do in the future. >> That's the point. >> Yes. >> We're we're creating a new animal every time there's an application. We don't have what I think of as a a concise plan as to how you approach these and have

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the answers before the application comes before you. >> I think we do because I think we look at each application as they come in and we have a very good review of these applications. I think we have very good staff that take these things very

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seriously. I mean, we've had applications where the applicant came in and wanted to close down the full streets and have alcohol all the way out in the streets and we said, "That's too much." We pushed them back and said, "We'll let you have the sidewalk." And, you know, so we've worked with applicants and and I think we do have a

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procedure to do that. I, you know, I think we do. >> Well, from the public's perspective, we don't see that. Um, and I understand what you're saying. >> And that's why I think I I I wanted to add a little more explanation to let to assure the public that those things are

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reviewed and are considered and we do take it very seriously that we want the public to be safe. We want good events and you know obviously safety is the most paramount thing. you know, Chief I mean, I'm sure Chief will go up and and speak here in a second on, you know,

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safety and that's, you know, between Chief Ashaw and Chief Coulter. That's, you know, they're not going to get their sign off unless they know that we can protect both our residents, the people are going to be there and have a safe event for everyone. That's that's the

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paramount question. >> And m Mr. Rous, we did we did go to a pretty uh substantial effort in my mind to codify both the use of public facilities and

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these special events to identify what the city's priorities are when these things come in. liability, cost recovery, um the planning and execution and the public safety aspects all being incorporated and making sure that all

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those department heads and officials have a say before it's just here you go, here's your event. There's a lot of background that goes on and the public may not see that on the dayto-day, but you can look very much into into the

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language of the ordinance to see what the city's priorities are when these applications come in. So, there is a lot of, you know, going through the meat grinder before the event permit is issued and that's that's reflected in the ordinance. >> Just one question. Do Paul in your

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calculations do you use the the number of square footage that the the applicant is going to use? In other words, how much of the public space are they going to use and do they actually pay for the

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rental of that that space? >> I could help speak to that if you >> Yeah, I don't. >> So, it's not No, it's not necessarily the amount of space that they utilize. It's the cost incurred to the city in response to this event. Do you need

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police officers there to monitor? If so, you're paying for the police officers. Do you need extra trash and recycling? If so, you're paying for those employees to go and do an extra pickup of trash and recycling. Are there parking meters being bagged? In this case, I do believe they are. They are paying for the

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parking meter for the uh for the full of that day. So all of that is taken into consideration and we give an estimate of what we think they are going to pay and then obviously at the end of the event we have a final number that they reimburse the city for the cost incurred. So it's not necessarily like

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oh you're closing down 20 ft of space. We're not they're not renting the street. We're just any cost incurred by the city is covered by the applicant in this. >> Well that's just making us whole for our expenses. However, the this the real estate is another factor that there

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should be a rental for the for the amount of square footage that they are using to make a profit. We we in fact own that area that they're going to be renting. So, I just throw that as a as a sideline. Having been in that business a little bit, I understand the value of of

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of occupying someone else's property and whether there is a value attached to that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Roush. Chief Chief, just just a quick review on um the uh St. Patrick's Day uh celebration if you would.

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>> Yeah, we're a few years deep with St. Patrick's Day plunge race. Um right >> and that event there. We have ran it multiple ways, shutting the street down. This was the first time we shut the entire street down and locked it down. Um and it was at the at the request of

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uh the Carney Foundation, Carney's Cares. Um, hey, we found that if we didn't shut the street down in that certain area at this time of year where there's not a lot of traffic, right? >> People are crossing the street there haphazardly. They're walking here and then we had some complaints that people were blocking the boardwalk that prominate. So,

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>> you know, it was kind of a give and take. Um, the area was fenced off properly by the No Limits Academy. Um, we had proper st, you know, connections on each end of the block where alcohol was not exiting that property. We had guards on each end of it. They were supplied by Carney's cares. Um some of

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it was monitored by the police department. Um we had physical barricades both rent that we borrowed from the county not rented. There was no cost incurred there borrowed from the county for vehicle ramming devices. Uh we had command staff there. We had the fire department there >> properly vetted. Um the event went well

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other than the wind. Okay. It was a cold day but uh outside of that the event went well and I think it's probably the way that event should continue if it's going to be asked and answered. Um those costs are definitely reimbursed by that foundation and back to the city as far as any you know costs that are incurred

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there. The same thing with this one that's being presented by Taco Cabalo. >> Um you know they did ask for the f they did ask for the the for beach drive and I told them at that time we kind of let's let's start small and move move forward. >> Um you know and I think I don't disagree with Jules maybe a timing I'm not

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shutting beach drive down past July 4th. Not happening. Um, impossible. May, you know, that May number is probably the the the optimal number of as far as months are concerned. >> Only national night out. >> Only national night out. You're right. So, um, and that's when that that one too has been questioned a couple

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different times. So, um, >> no, I mean, it's amazing. >> It it definitely has, but there's a plan at some point to move it back to Lafayette Street Park when this council has completed that project. That was always the offering back. We love it on the beachfront, but we want to bring it back to where it originally started at

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Lafayette Street Park. Um, and that will happen at some point or maybe we'll flip-flop on the days. Um, this current event, >> maybe I'll be at the police at the noon police station. >> Yeah, I'll just watch it from the roof. Um, or we'll have it in the parking lot. We'll have a parking lot day. DJ from the roof city. Um, this the manager was

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correct. This is went through a series of meetings. Um, we we have an overseer, her name is Aaron Burke, who watches this thing like a hawk. Nothing gets past her. Nothing gets offered, you know, and she's like, "You got to remember this, this, and this." and she does a very good job at that and makes sure that we hit all the markers. The

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only issue we normally have I'll throw Shardi under the bus is the timing of it. He kind of rushes it in at the last minute. We need to set a time limit to when these applications are received by the city because it takes time for all of our staff to do so and to vet it. I need to get the sheriff's department, you know, different people involved with

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the K9 and make sure they're available and to do that. Um, if council wants to do anything, I would say maybe set a time limit of the year of time it's it's done. May May in this city this time of year it might be a busier weekend but I think it it bring you know in speaking with Mr. Dash earlier it was you know

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who does it benefit only the business. >> I I I disagree somewhat it benefits the city by bringing people in city like every race and run that we do it brings vitality and people to the city. Um listen maybe people aren't going to come to the city because it's Cinco de Maya and there's a party in the middle street because the taco is putting the party on

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but maybe it does maybe they spend a little bit more time here you know on the mall. So or in on the in the area there. So any questions? >> No, thank thank you very much, Chief. Appreciate it. And and really good job with the St. Patrick's Day uh celebration. >> And you guys know all well I worry about

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these events. Every race run every time I have that many people that capacity of people in the town. So I don't sleep well until it's over. So any event, even this one, I'm going to have my worries and fears, but we're going to make make sure we do everything possible to protect the city and the residents and people that come to that event.

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>> Thank you. Thanks, Chief. Okay. Okay. Anyone else on resolutions this evening? >> Anyone else on resolutions? Seeing none, we'll close public comment on resolutions. Um, >> all right. On to the consent agenda.

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Council, is there anything you'd like to remove from the consent agenda this evening? >> Anything you'd like to remove, council, from the consent agenda? >> None. >> I actually have a recommendation if you don't mind. There is a copy and paste typo error that needs to be fixed on um resolution number 167 that I can explain

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if we'd like to remove that from the consent agenda. >> Do you want to explain it or should we remove it? >> Oh, if we remove it and then we'll vote. You guys can vote on it separately if you're comfortable. I'll explain it. It's a minor. It's just a typo. >> Let's remove uh 167 from the consent agenda.

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>> That's the rules. That'll be quick. >> Good. >> Yes. Sure. All right, with that, anything else? Council, >> do I have a motion? >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDeade. >> Yes.

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>> Council member Bodner? >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin? >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik? >> Yes. >> All right. So, for 167042026, it's a resolution authorizing change order to contract for convention hall theater lighting upgrade. There the the figures are correct, the title is

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correct. there is a reference to a Harborview park improvement um in the body of the email or of the resolution. So, if we can just change if council's inclined to um change any reference to Harborview Park improvement to reference the actual project which is convention hall theater lighting upgrade. Do

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>> do I have a motion to amend resolution 167? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Roll call. All we have a motion to amend. Roll call. Thank you, >> Council Member Meyer. >> Yes. Deputy Mayor McDeade. >> Yes. Council member

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>> Council Member Bodner. >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik. >> Yes. >> And do I have a motion on the amended resolution? >> Make a motion. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer? >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade? >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner?

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>> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin? >> Yes. >> Mayor Mock? >> Yes. >> Thank you. And then we do have the resolution that was added. It's 18704 2026. A resolution reauthorizing an auction bid for lease of city-owned property known as known as a portion of Caning House Lane, Water Tower, LO

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located at 8:30 Caning House Lane in Cape May, New Jersey. >> Do I have a motion? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Uh just for the public's benefit, we are simply reputting out the bid. This is for the cell phones that are on the water tower at Department of Public

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Works. >> I have a motion in a second. Any questions or comments? Roll call. Council member Meyer, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDeed, >> yes. >> Council member Bodner, >> yes. >> Council member Baldwin, >> yes. >> Mayor Mullik, >> yes. >> Okay, on to new business. Council,

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>> new business. Uh, city solicitor, >> nothing tonight. Thank you. >> City manager, any new business? >> Uh, I just wanted to just follow up on two of the resolutions. one just to to just to highlight um we did a resolution on uh autism awareness month in in April

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just to kind of highlight you know sometimes we do the resolutions by consent agenda and and I think one like that just needs a little highlight call out and just say that hey this month of April is autism awareness month obviously if anybody has a family member with autism they know that they're going

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through a family of struggle so just be aware of that month and just be cognizant of that and then the other one is uh Lieutenant Maza is uh we're recognizing him. His uh walk out is on May 1st at 3:30. So if you it's a

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fun-filled packed afternoon. You can start here at 3:30 uh to help walk out Lieutenant Maza and then take a quick little bike ride up to the lifeguard building at 4:00 for a ribbon cutting. So you can kind of make it a late afternoon, early evening uh double

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header for that. >> Thank you. and and I look forward to that celebration for uh Lieutenant Maza. He's done such an excellent job uh on behalf of the community he loves. >> He's going to be missed and uh big shoes to fill for Lieutenant Maza, of course.

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>> Okay. Uh city clerk, >> many many announcements tonight courtesy of Casey Ratigan. So, um, firstly, we want to make sure everybody knows that the city is hiring Department of Public Works. Um, the

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city's offering on the spot interviews on April 29th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the, uh, DPW at Canning House Lane, 8:30 Canning House. Uh, please bring a resume and a photo ID. Um, I have more information if anybody is

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interested. I know this is on social media. It's on our website. Brian had a much more emphatic message for you all tonight, but you're stuck with me. So, my voice came back. Uh, next up, we have the run through history. I hope I'm not stealing this

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from Council Member Bodner. Um, coming up on Saturday, May 9th. Uh, registration is $45 and you can contact um 8849591 David Sheffller if you are interested in signing up for that. I already mentioned, but the ribbon

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cutting for the beach patrol headquarters on May 1st at 400 pm. We've got the open house uh meeting at convention hall for all the boards, commissions, and advisory committee on Wednesday, May 20th from 5:00 to 7:00

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p.m. at Convention Hall. Free and open to the public. So, we really encourage everybody to attend that. And finally, this Friday, um, at 11:00 a.m., the city's dedicating a liberty tree at Lafayette Street Park. And, uh, simultaneously, we will actually be

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dedicating a tree, a second tree, a separate tree. So, we've got the Liberty Tree at Lafayette Street Park and then a separate tree, um, in honor of J. Shhatz and his service to the Shade Tree Commission over the years. >> And that's obviously an honor on for

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Arbor Day. We're doing those plantings. Very cool. >> The facility that Jay Shatz is at, we'll bring him to the to the event. >> He'll be attending. Yes. >> Very nice. >> And that's it. Council. >> Okay. Council members, uh, Council Member Baldwin.

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>> Sure. Just a couple of quick things. Um, again, congratulation to congratulations to Lieutenant Maza. Um, jazz festival and blues May 15th through May 17th in the city. Um, and it'll be in quite a few different places

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throughout the city. So, if anybody's interested, look at the Exit Zero Jazz Festival. A good time. Um, the last thing is the HPC awards celebration. It's going to be on May 13th. I know I've mentioned it quite a bit here, but

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it's open to the public. It is going to be held at the Sha um from 7 till 9 on May the 13th. Um there are going to be awards presented to uh anybody who's come in front of the HPC for different

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categories on their applications and how they executed their projects as well as leadership and stewardship awards. So um we're really looking forward to that. >> Very cool. >> Okay, that's all. Mayor, thank you. >> Thank you. Uh Councilman Bonder,

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>> uh tomorrow is going to be the first beach cleanup um for um on our Kate May beaches. They're held uh once a month, but tomorrow's will be at 3 p.m. at Poverty Beach. Um all you need to do is show up. All the supplies will be

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provided to uh to you. Um and it really does help keep our beaches clean and uh it's these are always good events. Um additionally, on May 2nd, we got a lot going on in Kate May. You know that. Um on May 2nd, the native plant sale is going to be taking place at the nature

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sale um nature center in Cape May. Uh they're going to be offering a lot of different trees and native plants there. Uh the people there really know what they're talking about as well, so you can get great advice as far as on the um on the the plants that they are selling as well as getting a great deal on

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plants there. Um and I want to add my uh congratulations and thanks to Lieutenant Maza also. I mean, 25 years of service in the same community. Um, you make an impact and he has made an impact here. He's part of the chief's leadership team. Um, I know he's done a lot as far

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as with the policy and some procedures in Cape May and uh he's made his mark in showing the professionalism and the in our our police department as well as the the quality of the staff. So, congratulations to him. best uh best

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wishes for uh for his future and uh hopefully he buys his own drone now because I know Chief, you're losing you're losing a a drone operator and I know Chris really likes operating that drone so hopefully he has his own toy.

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>> Um that's deputy mayor. >> Um just a couple of things. One have been down to the lifeguard station. Everyone please come out. Uh, it really looks fabulous and I think that the the guards and and the staff there are going to be um really excited to get in there

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and see. It should be pretty well buttoned up by the end of this week with the contractor who's done a really great job um and worked uh all through the winter months to get it to uh done in time. Also, shout out to uh public works

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uh internally in inside. They made five um guard stands uh over the winter months. Uh they've got two of them out on the beach in front of the lifeguard station and these things look fabulous. They're really very well done craftsmanship and painting. So you'll

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get to see those also. Um and then um Paul and I did a visit to Harborview and it's coming along. Um I kept teasing him telling him I all I see is a big pile of dirt, but they're actually down there working really hard. Um and we're hoping that we're going to have that ribbon

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cutting sometime in June. So stay tuned. Yeah, the pile of dirt is just so high you can't see them behind the pile of dirt working. >> Councilman Meyer. >> Thank you, Mayor. I'd just like to also congratulate and thank Chris Maza for all his service to the city of Cape May.

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>> My oversight. Thank you for reminding me, Councilman. Yes. Thank you, Lieutenant Maza, for your service. >> Yeah, thank you, Lieutenant Maza. And uh you you know, he uh certainly cared so much for this community. So we we uh we will he will definitely be missed. Um

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just two two quick updates. Uh when first I want to thank the uh Department of Public Works. It's always this time of year where um the city is really starting to look beautiful and they're doing a really nice job getting everything ready. So please uh pass our thanks on to Eric and and all the staff.

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And uh and also just uh recognize uh we had the lieutenant governor over the weekend uh at the uh Whitesboro um gala. I actually didn't even know he was coming, so that was nice to have him. And he sends his regards to all of city council and and administration. So thank

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you. Um with that, we'll open it up for public comment. Anyone wishing to speak on any and all matters, please come to the microphone, state your name and address. Jules Rous 1010 New York Avenue. Quick question. What's the color of our seaw

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wall on Beach Avenue going to be? I see we have a a few colors down north near the cove and then another uh couple of colors at uh at Madison. >> You want to put your vote in? >> Yeah. The one in Madison that has the uh

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signpost for parking regulations. It would be looking at the one on the right hand side. >> Okay. >> It makes no difference to me, okay, what the color is as long as it's somewhat similar to what the concrete color would

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be, but consistent through the town. The patchwork is not frankly acceptable when you look at the amount of money and effort that's been put forth for that prominade. The color needs to be done. Please don't wait until we get further in the season.

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>> Thank you. There are some of us up here that'll be very happy to hear that, others that are uh still deciding. So, thank you. Thank you. >> What is the color going to be? >> That's a great question. >> To be determined. >> TBD.

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>> We'll work on that. >> And and and also in all seriousness, including, you know, HPC advice and and uh others. So, >> hi. Hi, >> Ros. Johnson, uh, 826 Lafayette Street. Um, I'm sure you all attended the Zoom,

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um, meeting for the Jacob Jones, um, this last week. Um, I was really pleasantly surprised. Um, I really thought they went back to the drawing board. Um, was really great that they listened to

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the residents. Uh I feel as though my issues were always uh location, size, and material. >> All of those had been revamped. >> Um so it was it was a very it was a pleasure and a surprise to hear it all.

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>> Although my first choice would be the um World War II monument at the point. I believe um in the spirit of compromise always and um I feel as though this is a good compromise. Um but I would like um

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if the council meets with the committee before the May meeting that they suggested um I would like uh for you to ask them if they've thought about the sides of the uh memorial are going to be um they

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proposed honeysuckle and babyberry. Uh both honeysuckle and bayberry are pollinators >> and especially honeysuckle they attract bees like crazy. So I don't know whether

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you know they're thinking that you know a lot of people have u bee allergies >> and anytime uh like usually honey suckle like I have honey suckle but it's it's on the side of a driveway >> so there's not a lot of uh traffic

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>> uh people traffic >> uh but since there will be a lot of you know traffic there as far as people going in and out of the memorial Mhm. >> Um I'm not sure how the honey suckle may

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um if that's the best choice there with the bees. Um certainly a beautiful one. >> Mhm. >> Um and then the other thing is when you meet with them um I think you need to give them a firm commitment on maintenance. Mhm.

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>> Uh since this is not this is now proposing to be a live uh memorial with the honeysuckle, baby, etc. instead of a brick and mortar. I think it's going to need a lot more maintenance.

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And so I encourage you to get a firm commitment that the foundation would be responsible for the maintenance. A honeysuckle grows very fast. Mhm. >> So it's going to uh for it to maintain

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the beauty that they are proposing, I do think it's going to leave uh need a lot of maintenance that they would have to um uh occur. So those two points about the bees and about the maintenance, >> if you meet with them ahead of time, um

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I'd appreciate that maybe you think about those two things. >> Is there a native vine? Is the idea of they want a vine? Is that the idea? Like a cover? >> Want some kind of a shelter? Something that provides >> Would you suggest a native vine that that would replace honeysuckle? >> No.

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>> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't. >> No. No. Understood. >> But um I love the concept. Oh, I just love the concept of it being living, right? You know, >> right. Okay. >> Um >> Well, we'll we'll look into it. >> Maybe the environmental commission can maybe the environmental commission can

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>> give some input on perfect recommendation. >> Thank you. Um just to follow up on Raz's statement, um I had had a discussion with um with the committee on that issue of maintenance, just kind of saying, "Hey, when you come back to council to make your presentation, knowing that

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that is a been a consistent theme, one of the consistent themes that the residents have been asking about. Um, my understanding is as part of their fundraising, not only is it a capital fund to, you know, to build the construction, but it's also they're going to raise enough

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money to create like I'll say an endowment to have a maintenance fund uh to cover annual or seasonal maintenance of the facility. So, I think hopefully their final presentation of council will include that, but that's my

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understanding is that's part of what their fundraising is. um for that purpose. >> Was there also a discussion about um a letter of understanding between the city and the foundation? Well, maybe premature, but I would just put >> I think I think that would obviously have to happen for for for something

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like that to take place, >> okay, >> within the city right away. I I can only assume that we would have to do some sort of >> memorandum of understanding and and have some sort of agreement to to do that. I that would go without saying.

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>> Anyone else for public comment? Seeing none, we'll close public com comment. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Some moved.