Good evening everybody. We have the reorganization meeting of the city council of the city of Cape May. Today is Tuesday, January 6th, 2026. The time is now 5 4 p.m. Please join me for the pledge of allegiance.
>> I pledge allegiance 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.
>> Under the open public meetings law, notice of this meeting was sent to the Kate May County Herald, Press of Atlantic City, and a copy of the agenda was delivered to each member of council, posted on the city's website and the Kate May city hall bulletin board. Notice is hereby provided that Kate May City Council meetings are audio recorded and or video streamed 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. >> Council member McDade >> here. Council member Meyer >> here. >> Mayor Mullik
>> here. >> City solicitor Gillan Schwarz >> here. >> City Manager Dietrich >> here. >> Deputy Manager Riggs >> here. >> Deputy Clerk Turner >> here. >> Um moving forward with the invocation. Mayor. >> Okay. Starting with our invocation.
if you wouldn't mind uh coming right up to the podium here. >> Happy New Year to all of you. >> Thank you, pastor. >> Thank God for for bringing us into this time. This is a wonderful day is Epiphany.
All of you are wise ladies and wise men still seeking God's shining light to guide us on our way. Please join me in a word of prayer.
Gracious God, as we gather at the beginning of this meeting, we pause to seek wisdom beyond ourselves. In this season of Epiphany, we remember that light shines in the
darkness, guiding communities towards truth, justice, and hope. Bless the leaders and servants of this town. with clarity of mind,
openness of heart, and a spirit of cooperation. May the decisions made here serve the common good of all persons who live in
this place. protect the vulnerable as well and strengthen the well-being of all who call Kate May home and all who visit this place.
Guide the words spoken here. Guide the actions that take place here that they may reflect integrity, respect,
and a shared commitment to the flourishing of Kate May. In God's name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you, Pastor Peggy. You're welcome. Um, for those who don't know Pastor
Peggy, she is our neighbor right here. We we share a driveway actually and uh right at the Methodist church and um I just thank you so very much for all your service to our community. And I just say too, especially for the children of Kate May. Um uh the the church does a really
nice job with the children and um Thursday nights at 5:00 >> by 5:00 we >> which is one of my favorite things is they have a um kids um you know get together at 5:00 on Thursdays which is very nice for parents who might be able
to sneak away and maybe get a little dinner as well. So it's perfect. So thank thank you very much pastor >> service is at 10:30 on Sunday. >> That's right. have a wonderful meeting. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you.
>> With that, uh, do we have any nominations? Uh, I have a I need a nomination for deputy mayor. >> I do, mayor. Uh, I'd like to nominate Moren McDade as uh for the office of deputy mayor. >> Do I have a second to that nomination?
>> I'll second. >> Any other nominations? Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Council member McDade. Yes. >> Council member Bodner. >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik.
>> I'm jumping the gun. Yes. >> All right. And so, yes, I would just like to thank my fellow councilman and uh Mayor Mullik for the nomination. Um look forward to another great year here in Kate May and working with everyone um to try and do what we can to service our
community. So, thank you. I appreciate your support. >> Should we do the swearing in? Would you like to do it this evening right now? Yeah. Okay. >> It's great. Great. >> I think you have to call Joe up. I'm sorry, Joe.
Yes, >> you are just going to repeat after me. Okay. >> Raise your hand. do solemnly swear >> or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> or affirm and affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States
>> and the State of New Jersey >> and the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear true faith >> I will bear true faith >> and allegiance to the same >> and allegiance to the same >> and to the governments established >> and to the governments established >> in the United States >> in the United States >> and in this state >> and in this state >> under the authority of the people and
under the authority of the people. and that I will faithfully >> And I will faithfully >> impartially >> impartially >> and justly >> and justly >> perform all the duties >> perform all of the duties >> of deputy mayor >> of deputy mayor >> according to the best of my ability >> according to the best of my ability >> and that I will not use my office >> and that I will not use my office
>> to grant preferential treatment >> to grant preferential treatment >> nor to seek personal gain >> nor to seek personal gain >> favor favor >> or advantage >> or advantage >> not available to the general public >> not advantaged not available to the general public >> so help me God >> so help me God
>> okay thank Thank you, Aaron. Congratulations, Deputy Mayor, and and thank you for your willingness to serve. With that, we are on to nominations for various board and commission liaison members.
>> Congrats, musical microphones. Council, are we comfortable with um adopting resolutions 3 through 10 as a consent? If if everybody's in agreement doing it in one motion, >> that's fine by me.
>> Anything to remove or >> order? >> Oh, I'm sorry. So, we missed our, you know, >> we sure did. >> So, >> we sure did. We missed resolution number two. Hold on. >> Could be an interesting year. >> Oh, no.
>> We're good. >> All right, let's back it up. We have resolution 02012026, a resolution appointing the solicitor and authorizing an execution of professional services contract for the same for Mr. Gilligwarts. I'll make a motion >> and 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. >> Yes. And Chris, thank you for your service to the city. We really appreciate all your hard work.
>> Thank you. And um I just want to say I'm proud of our record and accomplishments over the last 5 years. It's been great working with everybody. I live here. I'm now raising my family here. and I'm proud to be in service of this council and this team. So, um, thank you everybody.
>> Thank you. >> Okay, now I think we can legally move on to nominations for various board members and commission liaison members. >> Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion as a consent. >> Okay. >> Uh,
motion to approve resolutions 301 through >> through 101 2026. Perfect. Right. >> Do I have a second to that motion? >> I'll second. >> And just for the uh for the public's knowledge, this is uh liaison
appointments of city council members to different boards. We have a motion and a second. Roll call. >> Council member Meyer? >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade? >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner? >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin? >> Yes. >> Mayor Mul? >> Yes. >> And moving on to the consent agenda this
evening. Is there anything that council would like to remove from the consent agenda? >> Council, any any uh resolutions that you would like removed? >> Seeing none, do I have a motion? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> A second.
>> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade, >> yes. >> Council member Bodner, >> yes. >> Council member Baldwin, >> yes. >> Mayor Mullik, >> yes. I never had to flip three pages to get to the next uh portion here. Okay, on to
mayoral appointments. These are appointments made by the mayor to the historic preservation commission, the environmental commission, the shade tree commission, the library advisory committee, the office of emergency management, and a class 2 planning board
member. Um um first I just want to say thank you to all of the volunteers on all of these boards. Um you know I've said this before, but I'm sure many of you have seen something go up around town and thought I didn't necessarily
love that or one decision or another. But when you look at this town as a whole, you have to recognize how good of a job these volunteers have done on especially our um you know planning, zoning, HPC, environmental commission,
shade tree commission, all people just dedicated to this community and I I just thank every single one of you for your willingness to volunteer. There's not a lot of names here because most of them are renewals. One of them is front and center. So, I'm glad we renewed this
gentleman. That's Tom Carroll on the HPC. So, thank you, Tom. Um, not just this term, but for many terms on the HPC. I I really appreciate your effect on the community is huge. So, thank you, Tom. Um, I also want to thank uh William
Yogi Curtz, who is a second alternate on the HPC. We have Sarah Stevenson um moving up to a regular member on the environmental commission. Um and we also have two um vacancies on
the environmental commission. I know we got a couple people that expressed interest. It is a uh state um law that the person for the environmental for all of our boards has to be a resident of the city of Kate May. So, if you are
interested in Kate May's environment and our trees, uh please uh if you're a resident, we are looking for vacancy on the environmental commission and the shade tree commission. So, express your interest to the clerk. We'd be happy to
have you. Um the library library advisory committee, I'm happy to reappoint all of those folks on the committee and thank you them for their service. Uh that's uh Ellen Broaddsky, Lorraine Walsh, George Katniss, Ellen
Cassidy, and Anita Datnik. Thank you all very much for your service. Um the Shade Tree Commission, there are two members that are both moving up, and again, I thank them for their service. Jim Calin and Tracy Rona Goldstein. Thank you very
much for your service. Um, I am renewing our office of emergency management uh coordinator and deputy fire chief Michael EC. Um, a wonderful firefighter for sure, but
has just done an excellent job in OEM. Um, so behind the scenes doing all types of drills and planning for the worst, which obviously we all hope never happens, but um, with Michael E at the helm, I'm confident that we're uh, ready. So I I thank him very much. And
renewing to our class 2 planning board member is Justin Riggs, deputy city manager. And Justin, thank you very much for your willingness to serve as well. So uh I believe that covers all of the mayoral appointments and I keep talking here because it goes right to the state
of the city address. So Okay. >> Oh, perfect. Okay. Can I aim it at the computer? >> Yeah. >> Okay, cool. Okay. >> Guess I didn't need this. Let me just see if this works here.
Okay, good. Okay, I'm going to try this earlier next time. But, uh, Erin, thank you very much, um, for another year of service, but also helping us with all this technology all the time. So, and >> you just jinxed us, but my pleasure. >> Yeah, exactly. So, good evening friends,
neighbors, honored guest, and first lady, my my wife Justine is here. It's an honor to speak to you as mayor as we enter our 175th year as a city and our 250th year as a country. To begin, I
want to thank all of Cape May citizens and visitors who make this town truly the special place that it is. I want to thank my fellow council members, our administration, and all of our dedicated city staff. I know that you work so hard, and what you
do makes Kate May so special. So, thank you. The pro um and the progress that we continue to make is largely due to the staff here in city hall, the DPW, police, fire, um and all of the staff in
the city who do such an excellent job. Uh, I do want to say a special thank you to my wife, Justine. I'm so lucky to have you as a partner who is loving and caring and willing to fill in when my duties get in the way. So, thank you, Justine. Thank you.
I'm proud to say that the state of our city is strong. But before I speak on the many positive things that are happening throughout Kate May and while you're not asleep yet, I want to address something that I believe to be a very serious and urgent issue facing our
community today. Since Super Storm Sandy, the city of Cape May has worked closely with the state and federal partners to pursue vital seaw wall improvements to protect our community. Sandy, as many of you know, was not a
hurricane, and it fortunately did not make a direct hit on Cape May. Yet, even then, water breached our dunes on the northeast end of town. And today, even without a storm during nothing more than
a full moon and a high tide, we see water breaching those same dunes. And this is a photograph of uh before replenishment. I actually don't know the date on this one. I believe it's in the 60s. Someone online can probably see that car and tell me I'm wrong, but I
think it's in that time frame. We know with certainty that if a hurricane were to strike Kate May, the consequences could be catastrophic. Working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the US
Army Corps of Engineers, we developed a protection plan that would significantly reduce the risk of property loss and more importantly the risk of loss of life. This project has undergone years of scientific, environmental, historic, and
economic analysis. It has received approvals from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which took many years to attain, the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office, the Cape May Historic Preservation
Commission, the AR, the US Army Corps of Engineers, Kate May County, the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and the National Park Service. It has passed every federal, state, and local review required.
In fact, FEMA ranked this project among the highest in the nation, pardon me, uh for cost to benefit value, meaning it is far less expensive to protect Kate May now than it would be to have to rebuild later. And I just want to reiterate how
important that is. Um, forgetting about all of the science, just talking about it specifically from a financial standpoint, this project makes all the sense in the world because we know through scientific calculation that
there will be damage during the next storm. That damage is estimated to be far more than it would cost to protect at this time. Um, this is exactly the type of smart, life-saving, fiscally responsible
project that federal government funding was designed to support. Yet today, Kate May Seaw Wall project, a $24 million FEMA grant, remains the only FEMA 2022 grant in New Jersey that has not yet been released. Every day of delay
increases our community's vulnerability. Kate May is the nation's only national historic landmark city and home to the United States training center. Delaying this funding could have devastating consequences for our community. Tonight,
I respectfully call on Senator Booker, Senator Kim, and especially Congressman Jeff Van Drew to help facilitate the immediate release of this grant so that this critical work can begin. And I ask all the citizens of Kate May to please
reach out to all of those elected officials in support of protecting Kate May on that vital project. Okay, now we can get on to the city of Kate May financial strength. Econ economically, the city is very strong.
As you can see in this uh this is a a snapshot basically of three of the most important economic indicators to the city. that is beach tag sales, occupancy tax, and parking meters. Um, as many of
you know, 2024 was a banner year for the city of Cape May. So, uh, to be blunt, I didn't know if we were going to break even with last year. Um, and we're of course hopeful, but in fact, we are actually up. So, as you can see on the
very right column, uh beach tags were up 18,000, occupancy tax was up 50,000, and parking meters were up 120,000. Um, obviously those are very important economic indicators and we hope to see
the same thing next year in 2026. Um, 2025 interest on investments remains historically high. uh over a million dollars on our investments. Uh not that long ago, about six years ago, our interest on in investments were under
$10,000. So, this has been a significant increase that of course um goes right into our tax base. Um meanwhile, our debt ratio continues to decrease. 2024, and by the way, every year I give basically last year's debt ratio. It
takes us um some time to calculate the new ratio of of so 2025 will be available in the next couple months but uh 2024 uh was down to896 which is a 43% decrease since 2018.
Okay. Um important projects continue to be completed. This is our sixth consecutive year without a tax increase. And as is said on the slide, we are the only known town in New Jersey that has professional
police and fire that has not seen a tax increase in six years. And a lot of that um is uh due to this city council and our administration uh our our city man deputy city manager, city manager, our CFO. I thank you all very much for your
hard work to do this in a fiscally responsible way. Community and recreation and quality of life. Cape May continues to invest in what makes Cape May a great place to live. We now offer more youth and family
programs than ever before, including basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, as well as, of course, roller skating, line dancing, junior lifeguards, indoor swimming, our summer concert series, and the very now popular
pickle ball, which is indoors at this time, but we're working on the court outdoors in the in the near future. And as an aside, I just want to speak to uh families in the in the city. Cape May has always been a wonderful place to
raise a family, but it's important that people truly understand just how special this community is for our children and for future generations. While real estate values have increased, Cape May continues to stand out as one of the very best places in the country. Not
only to vacation with your family, but to live in, and grow up. Every year, we work intentionally on projects that make Kate May an even better place to live, learn, and raise a family. And that's something that I'm
incredibly proud of. This year, both our island elementary schools ranked in the top in the state of New Jersey, and New Jersey consistently ranks in the top three states in the nation, which means our schools on Cape May truly rank among
the top in the entire country. But it's not just a great place to raise children, it's also a great place for all ages. Our new community center has become a hub of year-round activity, offering Pelaton bikes, yoga and fitness classes,
and community gatherings. Combined with public swimming, library programs, and convention hall activities, there is truly something to do every day in the city of Cape May, even in the winter, which I don't say in the offseason because I don't think we
really have an off season very much anymore. next to our beautiful library. This year we made major street escape improvements to Franklin Street and opened the beautiful new Clemens Theater at the AM Church. It was only a few
years ago that the AM Church looked destined for the wrecking ball. This spring the church opened as the Clemens Theater through a partnership with the Eastan Theater Company. I'm I think I'm behind on my own speech
here. So, let me flip through. There's the inside of the AM church. Through this endeavor, we as a community protected its amazing African-American history and architectural history while at the same time supporting our arts and
culture, welcoming all who speak in who seek inspiration, expression, and connection through the arts. Another shot of inside the AM church. I mentioned the African-American history involved in the AM church and it bears
reminding the church itself was founded by Steven Smith, one of the major characters involved in the Underground Railroad. It was home to the first amme church female pastor Jarina Lee who went on to be the first African-American
female to publish an autobiography in the United States. Charles Albert Tinley was pastor there. This his time being pastor in Kate May was called one of the greatest experiences of his life. Pastor Tinley
went on to write one of the most famous and admired songs, We Shall Overcome and Stand by Me. He is considered by many as the grandfather of gospel music. I remind all of us about this because this is what the community saved by saving
the AM church. There are too many people to thank for that work and I simply want to thank the community of Kate May for their faith and support of this project. This year we celebrated the opening of the Cape May nature trails, giving
residents and visitors more access to Kate May's natural beauty, which I know was a big hit. And if you haven't been on the trails yet, go check it out. They're beautiful. And we added another half mile to our ADA accessible
beachwalk from Howard Street to Madison Avenue, improving beach access for residents and visitors of all abilities. Public safety remains a top priority. Construction has begun on the new police station. This is after years of work.
Back in 2019, the city estimated the previously planned public safety building to cost over $24 million. Construction costs have, as many of us know, gone up 25% since. That plan left very little public parking spaces, but
today we have a brand new firehouse, and we have begun a brand new police station for less than half of that cost. And with plenty of parking for both places. I think all of you found a parking spot today, so that was good. And both buildings are being uh built under
budgets that included zero tax increase. Additionally, to build the police station, it in its new location, the city traded land on the soul track. There's there's uh the foundation going in. By the way, that foundation is being
poured by a Cape May city local, which is pretty cool, as was the uh firehouse. Um the city traded land on the SU track to to be forever preserved which as many of you know is extremely important environmentally sensitive land which
added to that 100 acres. And one other thing I want to say about the police department before I go any further is just a big thank you to West Kate May. Um as many of you know we have this small space right here. I see Chief Fasaw behind us right now. His desk is
about 15 feet that way. Most people don't know that. you open that door and it's like opening a closet and but uh West Kate May has hosted our police department for many years and I just want to thank them very much um and also take a moment to congratulate um Mayor
Sabbo on her retirement from mayor and um and welcome uh and congratulate George Dick. We look forward to working with uh all of West Kate May and again thank them for being the wonderful neighbors that they are. a new fire truck that's not the new one
is is now in service. While it was expensive, yes, it's beautiful, but it has such an important tool in protecting our town. I'd like to take a moment to thank our firefighters for their service and wish them the very best for this new equipment. That's the new one.
Okay. Okay. There we go. Okay. Cool shot. It's a beautiful truck. Okay. Pardon me. Okay. I saved print uh paper by printing
on both sides, but then I lost track here. So construction has begun on our new lifeguard headquarters. The existing lifeguard headquarters was built in 1988 when we had one female guard. Uh and
frankly the interior of it it reflected the fact that there was one female guard. Uh by 1990 we had four female guards and today it is up to basically 5050. Um, but I want to thank those female
guards because the truth is for many years now they've had probably less uh superior um facilities. Uh, in fact uh I got one photo that had everybody crammed
in at once and it was like okay that's uh not exactly what we want. So this year um we have uh started a uh project which will greatly increase the size of the female facilities and give a nice refresh to the entire um interior of the
building. Uh I want to again thank all of city council for working on this. um especially Paul Dietrich who worked with the architect um to come up with a plan that we know of course the people who live across the street do not want to
have their views uh in impacted um so I know the plan really took that into consideration and this is adding um I I I think it's something like 500 square ft which of course is a a good amount of space especially for a locker room um
but it's doing so without going up and out without going uh wider so it really doesn't affect anybody's sightelines. Oh, you know, and I will note one thing just as kind of a fun fact. Uh back in this 1988,
um in 1988 and the uh chief back gave me this little fact uh and so thank you chief uh Kate May guarded just 16 beaches. Uh this was before beach replenishment. Today, when fully staffed, we guard up to 26 beaches. I
just thought that was an interesting fact. Um, this winter and spring, Cape May will complete more city road work than in decades. Uh, this is supported by a $7 million grant that we received. These projects are so much more important than just smooth streets. It's
removing lead pipe, new water lines, upgraded ADA accessibility, new water uh new sewer lines, fire hydrants, and vitally important storm drains. Here's a few of the uh uh this was
actually done this this spring. Uh and of course, more works being done over this winter. This is Perry Street. I thought it was close enough to the abbey to to add that. Speaking of lead pipes, during my first
state of the city address, we formulated the get the lead out task force. The folks at the water department have done a wonderful job and are now years ahead of their goals to remove lead pipes. I'm proud to announce that this year every
known lead pipe has been or is planned to be removed within the next two years. This is a major accomplishment and uh c major kudos to the water department. They're about 5 years ahead of schedule at this point and um to say that we have
a plan for every existing lead pipe in town. There's not a lot of towns with the age of the city of Kate May that can say that. So that's a wonderful thing. And now we have taken a step further, not only removing all known city- owned lead pipe, but are actively working with
property owners to help identify any lead on their properties. This is being paid for with a grant and has the potential to save homeowners with lead or galvanized pipe over $6,000 in cost to replace those pipes. It could be a
lot more than that. We we don't really know. But uh if you uh uh hear from someone that wants to check out your property, all they're attempting to do is to make sure that you don't have lead in your service line. Um we gave a presentation on this and I don't want to
take up too much time, but there is a QR code there that'll give you a lot more information, but it's a wonderful program that uh will help eliminate. Just to quickly say, the city's responsibility is up to the meter at your house or business. From that meter
to your home is on you, and some of the older homes may have been installed with lead or galvanized pipe. This program will make sure that you don't have that. We are also continuing major seaw wall renovations, concrete repairs, decking
updates, and the installation of multiple new ADA compliant ramps, ensuring our public spaces remain safe and accessible, while vitally reinforcing our seaw wall to protect our community for decades to come. All of
this work is being done through a $6.8 million state grant. And um you can see here where the uh timber was uh deteriorating has now been replaced. Okay, there's the new deck boards. I
threw my dog in there for a little fun. Uh those are those are mahogany deck boards that surround the uh convention hall. There's some of the new ADA ramps. Okay, now on to a few of the smaller projects
that I think have a big impact. Uh, Harborview Park improvements. Many people don't even know where Harborview Park is. I mean, most of the people that attend council meetings do know, but that project is a non-recreational beautifification of the park. The park
will continue to be a beautiful place to maybe have a coffee and have a conversation complative uh kind of place to just enjoy nature and take a look at the harbor as you're there which is a wonderful spot. Um and I think the
improvements will be very lovely. This is the new uh tennis club. Uh we will have a new public restroom ADA compliant of course and the sidewalk which ends right now at the end of Quantis Club Park and uh you know becomes stone when
you get to the tennis club will now be extended all the way through to Washington Street which will also be a very nice and safe way to get off of the busy Washington Street uh and frankly Madison Avenue that area as all of us
know especially around that corner of Madison and Washington can be uh very busy and dangerous. Okay. Uh we also have worked with the city of West Cape May on a pedestrian bridge to get u people off of Broadway
which obviously many of us know is a very dangerous area. Uh, and I'm happy to report that West Kate May got a full grant to pay for the entire project. We also this year installed more parking at
con at city hall here, which um really just took a little bit of reconfiguring what we had. But between this reconfiguration and the amme church parking lot, we created 24 new parking spaces this year.
We did these bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements and obviously included more uh bicycle parking which is as you know in the city of Kate May is just as important as vehicle parking.
We have our new dog park with botchi ball court that just recently opened. And I also just want to mention quickly uh because this was a an issue that went through council was the new recycling regulations that went through. Um I
think overall we're very much a success. They've helped keep the the city cleaner. Uh there it's more efficient for our DPW and I just want to thank the Department of Public Works for all their hard work on that. I I want to finish up by just talking
about our uh activities with trying to connect with the community as much as possible. From the quality of life committee to resident coffee hours, community meetings, walk-in talks, and the public forums, we are committed to
listening, engaging, and serving the city of Kate May. Of course, we meet every two weeks, and I'm proud to say that the Cape May County Herald did rank the city of Cape May at the top of the county for transparency, but I recognize not everyone wants to
speak at public meetings. Please know that my door is always open and I know all of our city council members doors, not that you have any doors, but they are open and the administration doors are always open. We are elected to
serve, not to rule. Kate May is strong. I'm proud to serve as your mayor and deeply grateful to everyone who helps make this community so special. And above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers
a multitude of sins. May God bless your families, may God bless America, and may God bless Kate May. Thank you. Okay, I think everyone's heard enough from me for a little bit. We are on to council comments.
Um, that's a new one for me. Do we have any council comments? Do we have any? No, I spoke enough. >> I think I think I covered enough. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Thank you very much. Um,
okay. >> On to >> if no council comments, we're on to the benediction. Mayor, >> Pastor Nicole, if you would take it away. Thank you very much for being here and the invocation's always a little easier because it's at the beginning but uh we we thank you.
>> We discussed that actually the clergy um she had bell practice to go to. So she's excused. Um I thank you for mentioning Jireina Lee because I was going to mention her in the prayer and I wasn't sure everybody would know who she was. So thank you. Uh will you just uh
pray with me for a moment? God of all people, creator of the dolphin and the seagull, the summer sun and winter wind, we give you thanks for the beauty of this place and for its history. for the spirits that have
passed through and left their mark on this community. From Jireina Lee to Ulissiz Srant, Frederick Douglas to Timothy Shalamé, we give you thanks for those who stayed to serve here. For our Coast Guard recruits and officers, our school
teachers, our first responders, and our city council members. be with us all as we go out to serve your people, Lord, and in all we do in the coming year that it may be done with wisdom and humility. Keep our doors open
and our ears open to the needs of the most vulnerable and give us strength of purpose, diligence, and courage to accomplish the big tasks even while they also maintain order in the dayto-day. Grant us grace and good humor that we
may serve the city of Cape May in generosity, compassion, and welcome. Amen. Friends, may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you, pastor. Okay, we are on to our regular agenda. >> Yes, mayor. A few items on the regular agenda this evening. The first being a public hearing scheduled for the Washington Street Mallagement Company uh
proposed 2026 budget. >> I'm sorry. >> It's okay. >> Um first thing is the a public hearing on the Washington Street Mall the bid budget for 2026 this evening. >> Okay. Is anyone here from the from the bid? I do not see Callie. Um,
>> okay. >> If we're comfortable, we can move forward with the public hearing. If there's questions, we can navigate. >> Uh, is anyone here that would like to speak on the uh proposed 2026 budget for the Washington Street Mall?
Seeing none, we can close public comment. Thank you to the uh board of the bid members um and our liaison. Thank you very much for your service to that. Um it's a nice budget. So with that, do we need a motion? >> Um
that being said, there are several resolutions listed under the regular agenda. I don't know if council is interested in acting um on all of them in one motion as like a consent agenda or if you'd like to take any out to act on separately. The um resolution adopting the bid budget is uh listed in
these res resolutions. Is council comfortable on doing one motion as in a consent agenda to adopt resolution 75 through 80 or would you like to go through? >> Well, so what can we um pull resolution um 77012026
for now? >> Sure. >> Anything other than that? Council >> council uh just a point of order. You may consider um opening up for any public comment on resolutions only like we normally do. Yep. Is anyone here
wishing to speak on resolutions this evening? >> Seeing none, we'll close public comment on resolutions. Uh with that, uh we have a motion to not motion, a request to take 78
77 off. I apologize. Anything else, council? >> Uh with that, do I have a motion on the other resolutions? >> I'll make a motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer? >> Yes.
>> Deputy Mayor McDeade? >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner? >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin? >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik? >> Yes. Do I have a motion on 7701? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Any questions or comments, council?
>> Um my only comment is I Mr. Um Golan Schwarz if you would like to just sort of give a framework for um the structure of the shared services agreement that's um that we've reached with Kate May Point. >> Sure I'd be happy to. >> Thank you. >> Um
what may be common knowledge at this point is that the city of Kate May has had for the last 10 years had shared services agree or interal agreements with both West Kate May and Kate May Point. Um, and
mid year last year, we began the process of evaluating and negotiating and coming to terms on a successor to that agreement. And the city did so with the intention that we value those
relationships. We value them as neighbors. and the negotiations reflected those intentions and understandings, but also had to recognize the reality that um we had a cost structure that was designed 10 years ago when the economic realities of
the situation have changed. So, we needed to come up with a um cost structure that we could rationalize, explain, and then also each one of these communities could really explain to their residents why this makes sense to
them, why it makes sense to us. And u what we landed on is a a structure that's based on an FTE, full-time equivalent. It's a um term of art in employment circles and really
just seeks to recognize the relative impact of our staff servicing that community. And so you will see in probably the the near future a similar arrangement with
West Kate May, which we are still um circling and and uh coming to final terms on that. But we we have similar architecture to what is on the agenda tonight. So this what it does is
we have a 2.0 FTE analysis and that's really just to recognize the relative impact of our department servicing a community of that size with it with the limited kind of activities that they have and uh also recognizing the county
dispatch. So the county dispatch is going to likely a cost per call basis and we're able to get that data um from each community and localize it to understanding what what calls we're getting out of Kate May point, what calls we're getting out of West Kate
May. So we're able to do a direct cost per call based on that call data and and really getting to a framework where everybody's paying their fair share for the services that are being provided. Um
so um the ult ultimately the the total fee at the end of the day is year from last year is a slight increase from where they were last year. um all things being considered, but it's really under this new framework that um we're
able to tie to our actual cost of having a department having to service this. And then every year we're going to be providing a uh sort of a reconciliation of where we are with those departmental costs and then the fee for the following
year is going to be tied to that. and uh you know if we have uh we're able to realize some savings by some miracle on healthcare or something like that that's going to be passed on through this analysis. So um everybody's kind of in the same boat. Everybody's incentivized
to conserve costs and and and continue to run a a great department as Chief Ashaw has been at the helm. So um that's the framework. There's a service fee based on an FTE factor that was negotiated and then a a fee separate fee
for county dispatch to really just make sure that we're passing that through um to to each town. So that's the framework. Um and if there's any questions about that, we'll have public comment. That's >> my only other comment to add to this is I think that at the end of the day um
for those of us who are involved in this process very confident that when we look at this shared services agreement we are ensuring that the costs that Kate May pays for police in our in our city is
covered appropriately. Um, and I think that what we found when we looked at the prior contract was that we were unable to really discern uh where those costs were came from and that things became out of line over year over the years from the expenses that we were bearing
for police services versus what we were being reimbursed. And I can say with confidence now that we we fully understand what those expenses are in all of the categories and can ensure that year year-over-year as those costs increase, whether it be health care,
whether it be salaries, um operating expenses, whatever they might be, we will be able to recognize those and be able to share that expense with the municipality that we have the agreement with. So, >> and that's really one of the advantages of this framework is we're we're going
to be evaluating that year-over-year. And the point of that is not to get out of sync with reality over a 10-year period. We're going to be looking at that year-over-year. But there's enough in here that the the expectations of those wildly fluctuating are there's
protections uh against that for both parties. But at least we're going to we're not going to get out of whack like we did on a 10-year agreement based on a fixed fee. And fortunately the you know Kate made point is those discussions were
difficult um at times but um I think both parties recognized that that framework wasn't going to be able to to go on and and and um credit to them for um you know coming to the table with this concept as well.
>> Thank you as Mr. Solicitor and thank you to everyone who was involved in in getting that accomplished. Um, and I want to thank Kate Maypoint. Uh, thank you Kate Maypoint for um um getting this uh done and and really I think what this
does is is a real buy in into the department and um chief uh and and your department. I want to thank you for your work that you put into it. But um again to Kate May point, thank you. And um I I
just say there's no safer uh way to protect the citizens of Cape May Point than by uh the Cape May Police Department. They do an excellent job and their response time is second to none. So um Chief, thank you for all your hard work on on this contract and in the
department. So thank you. Anything else? Council roll call. It's up where we're at. I'm sorry. We have a first and second. >> No. Yeah, we do. We do. We're ready for roll call. Roll call. >> Council member Meyer, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade, >> yes. >> Council member Bodner, >> yes.
>> Council member Baldwin, >> yes. >> Mayor Mullik, >> yes. >> Moving on to ordinances for introduction, we have 585-2026, an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank for calendar year 2026.
>> Do I have a motion? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> This is something that's passed uh every year basically. Yeah. >> Do I have any questions or comments? Council, >> roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade. >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner.
>> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik. >> Yes. >> 586-2026. Ordinance authorizing conveyance of dees of easement to the county of Kate May to accommodate the Delaware Avenue reventment project. >> Do I have a motion? >> I'd like to make that motion.
>> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Mr. Mr. Solicitor, could you give us a quick uh analysis of this ordinance for the public? >> Yeah, I'll I'll this statement is going to pertain to both 586 and 587, although we haven't gotten to that yet. But the this is these are housekeeping
ordinances. We authorize these by resolution prior to the end of the year due to timing constraints, but also due to timing constraints, we don't introduce new ordinances towards the end of the year to straddle the the the old year with the new year. So, this is to
formalize and confirm those easements, but effectively we've already approved them, but this is what the local lands and buildings law requires. >> I'd like to make a comment. >> Yeah, please. >> I just want to thank the county for doing this finally. This is a very important project on on Delaware Avenue.
I >> I don't know if everyone knows what we're talking about yet. Do you mind? So the uh Delaware revetment project is really to take the whole shoreline along Delaware Avenue where it intersects you know along Kimmy Harbor and it's a really eroded area at this point. So
this will like stabilize the uh the bank there, increase the elevation just slightly, but it's really just to stabilize the bank so that the it protects the public infrastructure and the roadway along that area. and it will maintain the uh public access to the waterways. The the small little dock and
and kayak launch there across from the nature center that will remain there's access to the public waterways. And these these easements are both for construction and permanent easement to allow for this construction because obviously there's city property that is part of Kate Harbor and they the county
needs access to uh construct their project on city property in the harbor. >> I just want to make another comment please. you know, as a kid playing in that area, there used to be patches of woods along that harbor and uh as you know, they've eroded since then and um I
just think this is really important and also we have a sewer system that goes underneath Delaware. So, it's super important and any support from the county is thanks and as you said, Mr. admire is the same almost to the beginning of our presentation as all of
us know uh Sandy obviously didn't just hit on the Atlantic you know it was a lot of back bays and and areas like this um so this is such an important project to stabilize that area so >> and this is actually also it's also US Army Corps of Engineer project they'll
be the main uh body that'll be constructing it and the county will be the kind of their local match from a cost share perspective and And there is obviously no cost to the city for this project. >> Okay. So, we have a uh we have a motion. >> We have a motion in second if we're
ready for roll call. Council, >> any other questions or comments? Council. Roll call. >> Council member. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade. >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner. >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mullik. >> Yes. We have 587-2026.
Ordinance authorizing utility easement agreement with the Atlantic City Electric Company to accommodate relocation of the electric poles, equipment, and overhead lines in the area of the new police station and Lafayette Street Park. >> Do I have a motion? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second.
>> Any questions or comments, council? >> Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDade. >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner. >> Yes. >> Council member Baldwin. >> Yes. >> Mayor Mul. >> Yes. and 588-2026, an ordinance amending chapter 7 of the code of city Kate May regarding on
street parking permits to confirm a residency requirement. >> Do I have a motion? >> I'll make the motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Any questions or comments, council? >> Sec. Uh, there will be public comment. Yeah.
Roll call. >> Council member Meyer. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor McDeade. >> Yes. >> Council member Bodner, >> yes. >> Council member Baldwin, >> yes. Mayor Mullik. >> Yes. And just anyone who is was wanting to speak on that for introduction, there's no public comment on an
introduction. There is public comment on second reading. And we're about to have public comment that you can speak on anything. So we'll be happy to talk about it. So with that, we'll open up the public portion. Anyone wishing to speak on any and all matters, please come to the microphone, state your name
and address for the record. Okay. Tom Carol from Hugh Street. I have to say uh I'm picking up on the mayor's invitation to use the microphone and since when I got here in 1969 and through all those years of activity,
I've heard an awful lot of angry things, nasty things, accusations coming towards the council. These are things I don't hear anymore. I'm still very very active with many organizations in the town and one thing that always comes up is we
have the best city council we've ever had and we really love the way they work with us. We also appreciate a visit to city hall. You're greeted with any office you go into. If you stop somebody from public works and say what's going
on here, they give you a wonderful answer. It's a very very friendly city. It's it's a a team now that's working uh just so nice and smoothly and it's you all that are really leading that. So I think I can speak for everybody here to
say thank you and keep up the great job. Thank >> thank you Tom. That means a lot coming from you Tom. Thank you. >> Anyone else want to uh compliment the council? You're good. >> Uh, good afternoon. My My name is Mike
Barker. Uh, my wife Christine and I own a home uh on New Jersey Avenue, uh, right behind the Periwinkle. And, um, uh, it's my first time in a meeting, so apologies for raising my hand out of turn, deputy mayor. Thank you for catching me there, though. Um, I I I was coming today to learn more and
understand a bit more about the uh, resident parking requirement. Um, so my wife and I purchased our home uh April of 20, so like two weeks after CO hit. Um, so it was a very interesting time. My family are longtime members of the Capemate community. We've had cousins on
the um um on the beach patrol. My children come to sporting events here. We spend 10 I I liked your comment about no offseason. Like we're here 10 months a year. So unfortunately, we are not full-time residents now, but I do have a countdown for when my wife and I moved down here after our four kids are grown.
But when we purchased our home, we're we're the only house on New Jersey Avenue that does not have um a driveway. Um we have gone through the process with various architects and engineers to understand if we have the ability to install a driveway into our home. And unfortunately, because of setbacks and
historic preservation, we can't. And to be very honest, if I was on the historic preservation, I would not grant us that either. Our only two options are raising the home and putting, you know, a garage underneath it, which does not fit the you know, character of my home. It's a hundred-y old home. Um and our setbacks
don't permit it. Um there are 15 homes on our block on New Jersey Avenue. Um you know, unfortunately none of them are full-time residents anymore. Our neighbors used to be Beverly um was full-time and um we have folks like us that are here 10 months a year, but
nobody is a full-time resident. Um we also have five hotels on our block and so we often are competing with um you know vendors and employees and and so you know I guess I would be helpful to understand sort of the thought behind if
there's a specific concern on the residency requirement if there's a specific area that's of concern rather than sort of a one-sizefits-all approach where I I I would be very hardressed as a taxpayer or as a homeowner to say that you know our parking permit uh would
negatively impact any full-time residents. So, I don't know if that's up for >> Mike. I I think um to be blunt first reading, we don't really get into it too much, but this will at the next meeting we would have a further conversation, but I I'm glad you're bringing it up. I
I've had a conversation with every council member up here and um let me just say this. First off, I'm I'm sympathetic to your issue. I I think um I do happen to know Mike a little bit. Not very well, but we we know each other
and um he does he has four kids in Cape May and and and is here very often and has an issue. And you mentioned HPC, which I didn't think of. You know, uh I know HPC doesn't want driveways in the front yard. Uh and and understandably uh
people have come in who want more off- streetet parking but now are putting in concrete in their front yard and are parking cars. It it looks somewhat ridiculous. >> I wouldn't I wouldn't want I mean if I were sitting there she I wouldn't say yes. >> So I let me just say I'm sympathetic to
that. um where this came from and just to be clear is our ordinance uh for many years did not allow for um uh short-term rentals to have um um to purchase parking on street parking.
>> Sure. >> Public parking. It's a public street. Um I I think it's an understandable um uh position. Um, this change is and I and let me give it a fair I hope and if anyone wants to chime in on on a on a
fair uh uh reason for it, please do the what we were getting complaints of and we' received several from at council meetings at at Look, my neighbor purchased this um $500. >> It's very inexpensive. Yes.
>> Yeah. $500 uh um spot. They barely ever come down. I'm in the middle of the summer. It's right next to my house and I can never park in this spot because and then I have to circle the all the things that you probably have to do anyway without this parking spot. Okay.
So, we received these complaints. I thought they were very valid complaints and understandable that, you know, hey, you have this spot just blocked for the entire summer and some people really weren't even using it. Some people do use it a lot. So, we we had this uh
dilemma. Um and I'll be blunt. We had received several folks that, you know, would say, um, we don't rent out our house. Um, and then you come to find out that they do. Uh, then you find out that, you know, they they h, you know,
put it even in the listing and all those kinds of things. So, those were all difficulties for the city clerk, for code enforcement, and it was like, okay, how do we tighten this up? Um, having said that, I'm open to have a conversation about this because um, I
think there's POS situations such as yourself, frankly, where you you can't have a driveway. Um, you are here most of the time. You're not renting out your house. Um, I to be blunt, I think it's a pretty small um, subsection of the city.
Um, and I think it's worthy of a conversation and that's just my personal opinion. I'm not trying to push anybody one way or the other, but um >> if I could just add add to it, I I think two issues that um as you pointed out, one is just look, a parking spot is just
such a any parking spot is a premium premium location in the city. So, we the city wants to maximize the the use of those parking spots and not have them open. The other aspect of this that I think that came through when we were
looking at just the the universe of spots that were that were being utilized is candidly you on New Jersey Avenue were probably an anomaly. Most of them were more towards the center of town. So, and I'm not saying that that's not a premium spot because New Jersey Avenue
is is is great, but it's not as much of the commercial location as some of the some of the other locations where you pro we where there was probably more circling going around people looking to be into commercial district, go to restaurants, go to the theaters, go and go and do some of those uh do that. So
it became even highlighted even more so as far as just like there's an open spot when you have say three or four spots even on the same same street that may just only be a couple couple of blocks long. So I guess I'm not answering that. I I also recognize just the circumstance
that you are you know that that you're addressing. Um and it's something that yeah I I I understand it. I think that does need to be part of the conversation. I guess what I wonder is there a way to kind of
and I know that this all comes back to where we started with this how do we maximize those the use of those spots for when people um well when they do become underutilized. >> That's really what it comes down to. And I guess the question is, is there a way
for us to be able to do that absent of just saying, you know, you have a um this is a dedicated parking spot that's always just going to be there just for that car for that particular property.
>> And I'm sorry. Um the other piece of this that kind of stands out and again difficult to um manage from a compliance code enforcement aspect of it is when you're throwing in the merkantile license so that these spots are
available for people who are renting but they're not available for the person who is next door who might be in a similar situation that you are. So I I don't have the answers. I mean I two of my fellow council members were more closely involved in looking at this and bringing
it to us. It made it made sense um for the reasons that are being outlined here at the table. So I'm not sure if there's a way to even you know scale it back and and you know make that a little bit more refined. The challenge every time we do something like this is that it then
falls to the clerk's office or code enforcement or the police to be able to monitor and um apply um that ordinance um to the situation. And that's where the challenges come in when you're trying to make this so
refined >> um and so specific to that one scenario. I mean honestly I don't have the answer but um it's not as if we haven't heard these comments and these respon you know these these questions back from people. So
and the only thing I want to add is we did we struggled and this came up as far as the revision for this ordinance because the previous one was already adopted for the mercantile licenses. Um, and we struggled a little bit because are we looking at year- round residence
or somebody may be in your situation, you're here full-time for 10 months out of the year and you're not going up the road coming back. Um, >> yeah. Uh, and it's not anything that's going to um, as council council member
uh, Bodner stated, vacant spots throughout the week and you only come down on weekends. Um, and I guess that kind of begs the question to our solicitor. How do we, you know, and maybe it's something we can look into, uh, at this point. Is there any way we
could, you know, look at, you know, whether it's Snowbird residency, something like that. Um, but maybe we should, you know, look at that and see if that's something that might change this. Not, you know, not somebody coming just for the weekend. um this is
somebody who's residing here for um a good portion of the of the season. >> So trying to understand the circumstances of the residency in in other words or >> so the way the way that this is currently written >> it means that you have to be a full-time resident here, right? Um which was a
suggestion of one council member, right? And then um >> we we did we struggled a little bit with it. Okay. Do we look at residence or you know um >> or is it residency without mercantile? >> Well, it's definitely residency without mercantile. >> That's right. Now, great.
>> This is this is I think what you're what you're discussing here. Nobody envys your position. By the way, you're this is an impossible way to make everybody happy. I I think your comments on >> whether it's geography based or >> you're going to upset somebody every
single way. To me, like the seasonal opportunity doesn't make sense. So like one of the quick ways to eliminate it would be there's no seasonal licenses anymore. If you're going to purchase a parking license, it's for the full year, right? And so like right now that seasonal option >> that would make sense to go away, >> right? >> That has gone that has gone away.
>> It's only a year yearround residential >> solve that problem and the fee has it's based on metered versus unmetered spaces. So again, similar >> whether there are cost opportunities, your geography opportunities, if we had another path for something and and I guess my my last comment would be is our
property sat on the market for five years at block from the beach in Kate May and they reduced the price $100,000 over five years. And I can't tell you how many times I've sat on my porch and people say, "Gosh, we love your house, but there's no parking." Right? And so I would I would say obviously we bought it
at a >> favorable time. It's relative to market and markets go up and down, but not having any ability to have any parking either by way of adding parking or having some off- streetet parking does have material impact on property values and ability to sell. Um, so
>> Mike, we appreciate your comment. I I think to be blunt, uh, probably won't figure out anything at the table tonight, but I do think as a council we we're definitely going to I know we're going to discuss this and see if we can come up with a better solution. >> Thank you. I've taken up way too much time, so thank you.
>> Thank you. Thanks. >> Thank you very much. >> Anyone else uh on the uh we're on that specific ordinance, right? Or I'm sorry, we're on public portion. Anyone else uh for any and all matters this evening?
Seeing none, we can close public comment and uh have >> I have a question. We're going to close session, right? >> Oh, that's correct. Yes. So we we plan on not making any uh >> there's we do not plan on making any uh taking any formal action at the conclusion of close session update.
>> That's to discuss the West Kate May police contract. Right. >> K point is we we adopted that already. Okay. Um but we're going to talk about an update on West Kate May. >> Okay. With that, do I have a motion to go into executive session? >> But it's it's in >> Do I have a sec? Do we need a roll call
on that? >> Okay, we're good. >> Meeting is adjourned. Everyone have a wonderful year and a wonderful evening. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Time is 5:19 going into close session. >> What do you think about uh we alternating the uh vote order
alphabetical? >> Would you like that? >> I mean that we always do every year. We go back and forth. >> Do we start E and it goes to the B? >> Let's let's go with tradition what it's been. >> Yeah. >> Will you bring that up, Aaron? >> Yeah. I've been perfectly okay with
>> Yeah. Yeah. >> Whatever Whatever it's been Good evening everyone. We are coming out of close session where we will be taking no further action. Do I have a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. The time is now 5 minutes
till 6 PM. Have a wonderful evening everyone. Thank you.