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e e e e e e e e all right good afternoon everyone we have a uh special meeting of the city council of the City of Cape May we are
here in the Cape May City Hall Auditorium today today is Tuesday March 4th 2025 the time is now 2 4 p.m. please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance I I pledge 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 Cy County heral and the Press of
Atlantic City a copy of the agenda was delivered to each member of city council and posted on the city website and City Hall bulletin board notice is hereby provided that city council meeting are audio recorded and or video stream live live video streams are posted to the K May City website city of K May is not responsible of 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 mayor mullik here city solicitor Gillan Schwarz here city
manager detri here Deputy manager rigs here Deputy clerk Turner here we also have our director of civic affairs is Casey rigan here Council we have one resolution on the special meeting agenda 1053 2025 a resolution for a meeting not open to the public in accordance with
the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings act and JSA 10 4-12 this is to discuss the 702 Beach Avenue lease and bid number 24-30 lighting replacement at convention hall do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have
a second I'll second roll call council member Meer yes Deputy Mayor McDade yes council member Bodner yes council member Baldwin yes mayor mullik yes public portion mayor anyone here wishing to speak from the
public on this resolution seeing none we can close public comment and go into close session time is 403 the next one the chair isad it doesn't move it was it was looking at you pretty
weird Sak behind sor so Aon the price hasn't changed though the baby be okay yes that's what I was just I was just looking at no okay long as the price stays the
same I'll that e e e e e e e e
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e e e e e good evening everyone we are uh coming out of our closed session which we do uh plan on taking action on uh some of the discussion that we had in closed session
Mr solicitor could you give us an update on that so Council discussed two items in Clos session uh 702 Beach Avenue lease that's the me lease for mermaids the mermaids business and the bid for lighting replacement I think Council
anticipates addressing both of those during the regular session um I'll I'll go over the there'll be a resolution and amendment to lease for council's consideration tonight I'll go over the detail of that when we get to the regular meeting discussion and then I think council's going to address the bid
lighting which is a resolution on the agenda and Council will address that when we get to it the regular portion as well do I have a motion to close the uh close session I'll make a motion thank you with that we can open up our regular meeting of the city council of City of
Cape May we are here in the Cape May City Hall Auditorium today is Tuesday March 4th 2025 the time is now 2 5 p.m. please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic
for which it stands God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you under the open public meetings law notice of this meeting was sent to K May County Herald and the Press of Atlantic City and a copy 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 video stream live live video streams are posted to the K City website the city of K is not responsible of audio record Rec in 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 mayor mullik here city solicitor Gillan Schwarz here city manager Detrick here Deputy manager rigs
here and Deputy clerk Turner here Council I believe we have one addition and a couple uh deletions are tabling so the addition being 11803 25 a resolution authorizing an amendment to the lease for city-owned
property known as 702 Beach Avenue to amend the list of el items eligible for tenant improvement credit to be added to the regular meeting agenda do I have a motion to add I'll make that motion do I have a second roll call council member Meyer
yes Deputy Mayor McDade yes yes council member Bodner yes council member Baldwin yes mayor mik yes who got credit for that second it's a tie we'll have to relisten to the live stream all right and we have two
resolutions that are being tabled this evening we have if if I'm correct Council please correct me um 11103 2025 a resolution authorizing invitation for bid for tree trimming maintenance and stump grinding services in the city of Cap May and 1153 2025 resolution
awarding bid number 24-30 for lighting replacement at the K May Convention Hall bid to Pichardo Electric LLC is that correct would you like a motion please I'll make that motion do I have a second I'll second roll call council member Meyer yes Deputy Mayor McDade yes
council member Bodner yes uh council member Baldwin yes mayor mullik yes any other additions or deletions Council anything else Council no okay okay on to employee of the month okay
Employee of the Month Paul you want to take it away all right thank you um so this uh meeting we have uh our employee comes from the Department of civic affairs and Recreation so I'm going to ask uh if Jessica G could come on up here
and stand up here while we talk embarrassing things about her congratulations Jess and are you going you're going to take pictures so here you can hold this while we're talking so so Jess has really been you know when you look at employee
numbers Jess has been around with the city since 1994 um so she's been around with the city for quite a bit time uh she became full-time with us in 20201 and join the staff and I'm sure if you if you're up at any of the events uh at convention
hall or any events around the city you you always see her at the event helping out and making sure things are help Casey helping things make sure things are running smooth and out there with the staff um she does a lot of work with uh we
play Pelican place in the summer school so you know that they Camp so she's really involved with a lot of the kids programs and just helping our You Youth in the community and ironically her husband uh is in the office in in the audience
um he also works part-time for the city and Recreation and they actually met back in 1994 while she was on the roller uh roller skating Duty and they actually met why she was working here so um and
uh when they celebrated their 25th anniversary the staff uh had a vow renewal to reenact the uh their uh their meeting time so it was really good and and uh they do a great job for the city and I just want to say you know thank
you so much for all the hard work you do with us here at the city [Applause] [Laughter]
actually wait just in the middle all right Mark you get tell you stand thank you all right thank you Jess congratulations thank you yeah I'll just Echo those comments me Jess you always bring a smile to my face
when I see you and and our kids I mean so you're just so good with with all of our guests but especially our kids you do a wonderful job so thank you very much thank you okay thank you all have a nice
evening um city manager any updates or old business uh sure I just wanted to touch on a couple of the resolutions that we have uh here on the the agenda this evening uh so resolution 110 uh where we're looking to award um the purchase of 400 benches for the
prominade uh we're starting that prominade restoration project has been awarded we're getting ready to start and this is kind of part of that process and we need to kind of get a jump start on getting those ordered so uh we're getting them ordered now and then we'll work on the rest of that program as we
move forward uh later this year um resolution 113 uh regarding the um authorizing the sign the grant uh proposal for Eastland theater and am Church uh this is really just so that they can make an
application for the work that they're looking to do as we move forward uh making improvements on the inside possibly constructing an addition um and this is because it's our building we have to essentially co-sign that application this ises not appropriate
any City funds for the project and that they still have to go to HPC before they go to final uh process so those steps would still have to be be taken care of and then finally I just wanted to mention on resolution 118 uh the one we
added for mermaids at the at the end that we came out of close session just s the public aware we're adding the roof um we had a set list of items and we're just essentially adding the uh roof as one of the projects that's able to be constructed on there and I believe they've already received HPC approval
for that uh process and we're in the process of reviewing quotes uh with the RDC there perfect thank you all right thank you city manager city solicitor any updates or old business uh nothing this evening thank you city council any updates or
old business okay on the ordinances for introduction ask council tonight we have 54-22 an ordinance amending the city code to require covering of dumpsters in transit for introduction do I have a motion I'd like
to make that motion do I have a second I'll second okay and looks like we have a a public portion on this um not yet this is just on resolutions only sorry intruction Jump Ahead a bit Yeah okay 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 and now public portions on the resolutions public portion on resolutions this evening if anyone would like to speak especially they're waving
the hands already come to the microphone state your name and address for the record please thank you Susan tishler 504 Washington Street and board president of Eastland theater company so Mr Mayor deputy mayor council
I'm so excited I was waiting for it oh my gosh the renovations at the am church just take my breath away and how lucky to have a contractor and Kyle Carter I want to say publicly who saw an old receipt and realized it wasn't an old receipt but 134 year old Relic and
did eastn make hay out of that one thank you NBC News the resolution as Mr Diedrich said before you uh allows Eastland theater to apply for a New Jersey historic trust site management grant that would help us defay the cost
of architectural fees stage design fees and other expenses which we will incur in our steps to repurpose this historic church into a performance space I'd like to thank city manager Paul dri for his patience and accessibility and Guiness as the city wraps up Renovations of
phase one which is their part of it and then transitions us to phase two where eastn can reconfigure the space and make the am church are forever home this resolution is part of that process and we'd also like to thank our city solicitor Mr Gillan Schwarz for fast
tracking the resolution I have to tell you that the grant writer said don't worry if the municipality doesn't get the resolution in by the deadline they never do the deadline is April 24th this is March 4th so thank you so much but on and Kate May with that happen right the
support of city council has been invaluable and we would not be here without your support and offering is this wonderful opportunity we're anxious to get into the church and offer programming which honors the black community entertaining Productions which Delight films for the family all
designed to draw traffic to this revitalized neighborhood which was once the heart of the black community and for which we owe city council a debt of gratitude thank you so much thank you thank you Susan Okay anyone else on uh resolutions this evening
Jules still slow take your time Jules Rous 1010 New York G um uh Mr Mayor during the February 7 19th meeting uh Stacy Sheen ask what will happen to the dedicated beaches on
the prominade and your response is we'll have to talk about that our city manager also said we'll discuss how that program will be rolled out he also went on to say that all the benches will be removed and all and new benches will be installed by the
contractor so much for discussion as resolution 110 this evening 1103 2025 is a resolution to purchase 250 8T long benches at a cost to the city of $1,746 each or roughly
$436,000 in change however the resolution goes on to provide for approval from the for the state contract authorized to be 78,000 in change this does not qualify as being open and transparent over a year ago the bench
issue was raised by city council and the public reaction was like a a wasp nest being struck by a stick and knocked to the ground and Havoc erupted in the city and the subject disappeared publicly until tonight I think a little history needs to be presented this is not just
about Beach seats on the prominant it's part of our modern history it all started Pro prior to 2008 as a CommunityWide project with an overwhelming approval individuals families groups Etc were offer the opportunity to purchase a bench by
donating $1,400 to the city the were able to select a preferred area along the prominade and to select the wording for a personal message to be to appear on a metal plate that would be mounted on the bench the project was and is a
continuing success over 360 benches have been installed uh as a result and $520,000 has been donated by the citizens to do that I think the first completed bench was installed in 2008 the benches become
a symbol for all participants to leave a creative historic remembrance those 360 benches have become a Cornerstone where many residents vacation owners visitors families and friends numbering in the thousands gathered throughout the years
to pay tribute to those the who they have remembered and memorialized by a bench many are devoted to their bench to honor their affection for Kate May and some are decorated to celebrate national holidays weddings birthday war war
veterans Friends beach buddies comrades Etc over the years it has been a moving experience to witness the dedication ceremony of a new bench being installed and I'd like to comment that having read many many of the messages on on these benches there's even one where the
employees of the city honored a particular individual and they bought them a bench which is really I don't know whether you've had the opportunity to read the messages but they are they are unbelievable I would appreciate an answer to a few questions are the
benches city property or the do the donors have any proprietary right to have the benches returned and what would that details dat be to complete this transaction so that's the first question that I have the solicitor can answer that if he
wants to I mean they have to be public property um and there there's a a donation for that um and it's not and think about how they're utilized Mr Rous it's not uh
there's not like a little fence around the bench anybody you and I could walk up and sit on any one of those benches they're for the benefit of the public but also there's that a commemoration um and but that's that answer would not be unlike many other towns and federal
buildings and you know it it has to be for the public and those things have to be replaced at some point too but do they do they have any any other rights to to be able to say that if you're going to get rid of it I'd like to have it
back that was the that was the plan that was presented over a year ago there was a resolution to that effect exactly that that we I'm sorry that we would um notify them and that they could um come and get it it would is that still the
plan tonight the resolution on the agenda is the purchase 400 benches that's that's 400 400 benches there's a typo I i'vegot to mention that when I there's it's 400 benches same price same price the total price is the same the there was a just a
typo when they quote and translate it into resolution so it's 400 benches and we're doing this now because it takes how many weeks 16 16 weeks upwards to get a bench in will these benches be the same as what we have now yes made made up in
Pennsylvania they're made they're made I don't know they're because of the number that we're ordering and the timing they're going to be made at four different foundaries okay so I can't say that they're made in Pennsylvania but the company that we're buying them from
is from Pennsylvania yes uh is it possible to leave the current benches in place and repair those that are needed no I assume that's not the issue um what's the schedule to remove the benches has that work we we just awarded
the contract for that and we've had a pre-construction meeting and we have not had the contractor has not submitted his schedule for it we don't anticipate the benches being removed be this before the summer so they they'll be there for
before the summer we anti I I anticipate that I haven't seen the contractor schedule but it's anticipated that we won't be Tak any benches off for the summer season okay so it's the question is you know what is the best and fairest action uh if the benches are not available to
the donor can they receive the bench slat with their memorialized message absolutely I look this tonight all we're doing is buying the benches that we need to purchase the benches because there's a long lead time um we
got a $7 million Grant to refurbish the prominade and frankly I think it's going to look lovely and and important uh not just look nice but H you know sustainability wise as anybody who goes by there can see all the concrete is in
very poor shape all that's going to be fixed it'll be resurfaced and yes eventually there will be new benches as part of the project but that's all we're doing this evening where I mean what we spoke about over a year ago was a large presentation which I'm sure is exactly
what we'd be looking at if we look at a bench program but we haven't that hasn't been determined at this time to be perfectly honest because of the fact that we need we have a long lead time that's what we're acting on this evening okay the benches uh and the
important message on each are part of Kate May history and as such should in my judgment be recorded uh and this one of the ways that this could be done is a a project with the elementary school if the kids could go up and make a a
rubbing on that particular message I I I think it it's it it's very interesting to take a look at and read all the messages some of them are absolutely astounding I mean uh the effort that the families have put in to that particular
project I don't think should just be passed over um it will not be and in closing I believe just trashing the current benches is disingenuous to the National Historic land Mark status Kate May and joy that's not what we're
doing we're not trashing them that's not I mean what will the contractor be doing with them just removing again would I can't answer something I don't have an answer to I I but I can tell you that over a year ago
when this was presented to the public the opportunity for the person who purchased the bench was to take it home with them that would be great but you know at some point this has to be laid out so that the public can understand what is available when and whose
obligation it is to do what and to take it Forward uh the benches will not be removed to our understanding until at least September October so we we do have some time I mean I just want to make sure and this will not be done you know in the middle of the night or something
like that believe me we we fully understand the importance of the benches 100% well I just I think it's important as part of a National Historic Landmark City that that we that we not just pass over uh the commitment that so many people made to these benches and how
long they've been there and how many people use them I think it's I I think it's you know one of the unique things about the city if you look at other places they don't have the opportunity to pull up to to the bulkhead get out of their car and go up and sit on a bench I talked to one gentleman who was
recovering from surgery and he said it's the only place I can go I can get out of my car I can walk up and get on a bench and he said I can only walk five benches and he said I wake my five I sit down and I gather myself together and I walk
five more back five more down the prominade and he said I always have to remember I've got to return but he said this has been very very important to me it's just one little idiosyncrasy I just think the benches um be happy to see how you're going to turn it turn it around
can I can I respond real quick Mr Mayor please just and I understand your concern and it's our concern as well it is very important to us as well we're just purchasing the benches at this point um we're we're in discussion over
a lot of this at this point we fully I mean recognize um when we presented this before the emotional attachment the importance of this to people which is why we're just not prepared this evening to go into those details we are grappling with trying to come up with a
construct that is able to transition this and and keeping all of the feedback that we've received previously in mind so while I appreciate your the emotion that you're you know presenting this with please know that we feel the same
way so I I think it's important that from a Public's perspective we are not just you know to use the word trashing anyone's bench that it's not that we don't appreciate understand and know the messages and how important this is it is just not that this evening we're prepared to go into that okay we just
okay thank you very much thank you Jules any anyone else on resolutions this evening a Raj Johnson 826 lafette Street um when you are when the plan is decided will you let will
there be a presentation absolutely okay all right thank you anyone else on resolutions this evening seeing none close public comment and move to the consent agenda yes council is there anything you'd like to remove from the
consent agenda this evening anything councel to remove consent no okay so I do believe we should um based on that discussion um amend 1103 2025 uh the version that was
put online that is the bench resolution the version um said 250 the correct number is 400 unit same price that's correct if Council would like to make that Amendment I'll make a motion to amend do I have a second I'll second thank you roll call
on the amendment council member Meyer yes Deputy Mayor McDade yes council member Bodner yes council member Baldwin yes mayor mullik yes and that is just to amend right and I do believe we're just noting for the record that council
member Bodner will be abstaining from the minutes dated October 29th 2024 correct yes that is correct all right any other deviations from the consent all right we have a motion to adopt the consent agenda council do you
have a motion I'll make a motion a second thank you roll call council member Meyer yes Deputy Mayor McDade yes council member Bodner abstaining on the minutes yes on the balance council member Balwin yes mayor mullik yes and
for the regular agenda we have 11803 2023 a resolution authorizing Amendment to the lease for city-owned property known as 702 Beach Avenue to amend the list of items eligible for tenant improvement credit do I have a do I have a motion I'll make the motion do I have
a second I'll second any questions or comments on that Council roll call council member Meyer yes Deputy Mayor McDade yes council member Bodner yes council member Baldwin yes mayor mullik yes
all right any new business counsel I guess city solicitor first nothing tonight uh Council thank you city manager any any new business uh just a few uh I gave a um a handout to each one of you before the meeting that's a
um shows the depiction of a location um we've been out of the bike and pedestrian Safety Committee uh we've been topic has come up regarding uh the First Avenue pedestrian bicycle Bridge uh which could connect uh First Avenue
out of Cap May City into West Cape May and um one of the Commissioners over in West Cap May has kind of taken the lead on that um and really trying to Champion that project and uh they are have their
engineer working on permit plans and con conceptual plans and uh or have come to the city to ask would we be okay with Coast signing the DP application because obviously it touches both our borders so each of us would have to um to to to
sign off on it um so I just was just bringing it here and if you're okay I'll I'll work with the with West Kate May and uh the clerk and prepare a resolution for the next meeting authorizing uh this the sign off on that so it just kind of generally shows the
location it will probably be a a long span steel structure that would span the entire Wetland so we won't have to have a Wetlands impact touching the wetlands obviously we'll be going over the wetlands and then we'll have improvements on either side where we'll tie the roadway and sidewalks up to the
bridge and you know maybe have some benches leading up to it and you know it's different amenities but it would be really basic and simple um and we'll have that concept plan at some point moving forward for you to review that's great real quick the the improvements on
either side so we're looking at the Cape May side are we responsible for the improvements on our side so you know most likely it's going to be a cost share you know between both communities uh once we have a design we're probably going to approach KY County first um to
to try to get open space funding this would be considered you know a bike you know that one of their priority type projects are bike and pedestrian paths I think so this would be should fit into their model um to connect yeah the Two
Towns so you know that's where we try to look for funding first and then as we develop it we'll look at what the cost Shares are and what other grants will be available okay thank you I just want to say the goal is to get pedestrians and bikers off of broad Broadway yes Y and
they could do it all way up to Leeming you know up uh on Broadway itself so probably about a quarter mile that they don't have to R bike Broadway and that's dangerous and I just compliment to U our bicycle and pedestrian committee and
obviously Paul you working with them um it's uh this is kind of one of the first um proposals that we received from that you know as a concrete proposal um from that group of course they're working with um I apologize I forget the
engineers name Gan GPI Gman and Peterson yeah uh on mapping the entire Island Cape Island and um this came out of that group as like one of the main priorities that I mean one of the thoughts was yeah this could work with the county um and a
partnership with the city I I I think um as councilman Meyer just said getting people off of Broadway would be a a big Improvement for safety uh for pedestrians and bik lists um so I I think it's a great
idea thank thank you Paul anything else City man yes uh so MTR has been working for several years almost on short-term rentals and and their impact on the community and
and I'll say an accounting of them uh we Sarah Stevenson from MTR did a little more analysis over the the winter and you really showed some staggering statistics where upwards I'll say our Realtors 15 to 20% of the the current
listings don't have mertile licenses when you look at Airbnb verbo upwards of 40% don't have mer licenses uh we were fortunate to be able to find I think the company that that kind of does the back
end of um research and tracking of online short-term rentals uh they scour the the internet and search thousands of websites nationally uh for this data and they you know they have the data back
probably in the early you know probably 2020 or you know or even earlier so you know they have and they have granular data to the point where they know how many weeks that you have rented they can identify your occupancy rate your
vacancy rates all these different information so um we've issued a p purchase order for that service and we'll be utilizing that I I know the clerk's office is moments away from sending out
Mercantile renewals um probably within the next week if not this week um and uh but just to let you know Council know we'll be utilizing this service to as we start getting mertile license renewals
in we will have a verification method to verify um uh all short-term rentals much more accurately than we've done before so I just wanted to put that information out there one one thing having gone through the demo with um Mr Dietrich and
Mr rigs it's an amazing piece of technology very well built um they're scouring 10,000 websites on a nightly basis and they have a group of people doing QA on it it's Google Earth pictures it's um some of the challenges that we've had before about an 08204 zip
code location you know not being Kate May City all of that comes out of the equation um and so it's it's pretty um the the information that it provides is tremendous um so it's it's and it's being used currently over over 400 municipalities throughout the country
yeah city manager if I could just say one thing too to the public on this um this is an expensive system it it it but we believe that it's going to pay for itself and this is my warning to the public right now we will not hesitate in
finding you we're we're spending a lot of money for this technology if we find that you are operating a uh weekly rental property without a mertile license we will not feel bad about sending you a fine people are Savvy
enough to get it on vbo and Airbnb you should be Savvy enough to have a mertile license so uh this is important and just fair warning we are absolutely going to be sending out fines to the maximum
capability that we have and just I I think it's important though to stress we're not doing this just to make money through the mertile license process it's important from a fire safety inspector that we go there and inspect the properties to make sure that that the properties arefe not saying that they're
not but we need to do that inspection so I think that's the more important thing I don't want I don't want the public to think that we're doing this just so that we can collect the mertile license and collect that fee we don't want to make any money on it there not a it's not within the budget as a revenue source
and we don't want it to be but the fact is some of the numbers that we're getting in and and percentages are a bit stack agging and with that we look if you don't have your mercanti license get it please get it yeah thank you and then the last thing I just wanted to report
on um I know uh Kate May police and lower Township Police put out a I think a joint uh social media release uh this afternoon um both of our towns were victimized uh with some graffiti at some of our restroom and park facilities um I
think everybody probably saw it on social media um you know the great work for our detective um I think it was detective Atkinson that our detective on this side working with the detectives in lower Township um they have identified
the four uh individuals they're in the process of being charged and working with restitution and compliance um so that was a pretty Swift and accurate um you know response and I just want to thank the our police and lower Township
Police for you know being very proactive in that you know each of our communities spent a lot of money to provide facilities and it's a shame that you know people have to come in and just deface it just for a prank and um you know and I do want also want to thank Public Works our public works
department you know coming out and you know responding quickly and cleaning it up and and getting it back up and operational for uh the Public's use and that's all I had mayor thank you thank you uh City uh Clerk yeah just to touch
on what um manager Dietrich said about mertile licenses um for anybody potentially listening at home who might be a LC e don't worry we have not distributed the renewals yet um we are close we are working with stdl to get them distributed I'm hopeful by the end
of this week if not into next week I am also hopeful that I will have a better update for you at the next meeting so don't think that you didn't get it we didn't send it yet so bear with us working on it thank you Council thank you uh
councilwoman Baldwin any um updates nothing tonight thank you mayor councilman Bodner nothing tonight thank you Deputy Mayor I just have uh Community Center update um they are uh have been working in the past week and a
half on uh the flooring the painting is done the flooring is done it looks fabulous we did a walk through today um they're going to be finishing up some uh HVAC work uh so that the classes will resume back in there uh hopefully after March 12th uh it the attendance for
those classes keeps getting um higher and higher each and every time uh very well received I think when uh people are in come back in to see the space the way it's been um upgraded they're going to be really pleased and then the rest of the programs that will be um available in that space are uh currently in
process with regard to um ordering different um components so I I'm hopeful that we've got sort of an outfitted and soft opening that's going to be sometime maybe in the May time frame but more news to come but it's really an exciting opportunity for the community um and
really pleased to be involved um and everybody's been working really hard on it so take it class they're really good great that's great good news uh councilman Meyer uh yes mayor thank you um last year the shade tree commission
received a $20,000 Grant to help uh you know eradicate uh Lantern flies and also their their habitat which is the tree of Heaven um I with the shat Tre commission has designed a flyer that's going to go out to the next water bill um oh nice
the purpose of the flyer is to help you identify the tree of Heaven um and that's where we're going to try to spend a lot of at least the majority of this grant money um we want you as citizens of Kate May to identify if you have tree of Heaven in your your yard one uh
contacted the city the uh City Tre Tre office uh let us know how many you think you have um and where they're located uh we're trying to take this $20,000 and and help the residents uh with the expense of removing uh these trees these
trees have to be cut down and they have to be poisoned and then after a number of months then only we can take the stumps out it's a long expensive process and that's where we're we're focusing our money um so on this fer you'll see a website and or an email and a uh phone
number please contact that office tell us about your tree of Heaven situation and it's around the time where you're going to start to be able to identify because leaves will be you know starting to come out um and we hope to by summer or early fall have uh the list of trees and where they're located in Kate May
and they we going to be able to allocate that money uh you know kind of similar to the 50-50 program of the sidewalk uh we'll inspect it and then we'll uh we'll help you pay for these these uh invasive species so look out for that that's
that's great nice work councilman um I just have a two quick ones um the F first is on a resolution 117 tonight this this is a resolution that came to us from the county um but I I want to say thank you to council for passing
that this is a resolution opposing the bpu's recent increase to our electric bills of 177% um and also opposing a additional 8% % increase that's being considered in April um obviously we don't write state
law we are not the New Jersey BPU but obviously these laws do affect us and they certainly affect our citizens um especially those on fixed incomes U so I appreciate it and also would just like to say you know one of the biggest
increases within electric bills and I've gotten questions about it from from residents in the city of Kate May is actually the the delivery cost and um obviously I've looked into it a little bit myself but I I do think you know we don't want to just be saying
what not to do constantly I I do think we want to um I think most public buildings especially in Kate May and Kate May County should have solar that's my personal opinion that's not necessarily everyone else's but I think you know we have to look at how electric
is being delivered and one just minor uh detail that I'd share in researching this a little bit is a lot lot of the uh biggest electrical um users are newer buildings within our service area out there around Route 40 and things like
that a lot of um like Warehouse buildings distribution centers this is completely my opinion but a lot of electrical use is going to these new buildings and frankly I personally feel like those buildings should be uh forced to provide their own
energy um and they shouldn't be put first before the resident of little towns like the city of Kate May um you know that that cost that increase to these new users of electricity should bear that cost not the residents of of
small towns within the electrical service area personal opinion but I put it out there and if somebody's listening I hope they hear that but uh this resolution will be going to the governor's office in the New Jersey BPU of course Kate May County who asked us
to to sign it um as well as our first district legislators um and I thank them um Congressman van Drew for taking this issue on and and really trying to protect their constituents so thank you
um also March 15th uh 4:30 at the at the new library uh Franklin Street is um a nice presentation it's called from the depths the ocean in art and Industry and couple uh nice speakers will be there uh
at the Columbia University students will be there that are working on our water um plant and um and they they have a few guests within the fishing industry so I think it'll be a really interesting conversation again that's uh March 15th at 4:30 at the library if you have a
chance to take a look come on over it should be pretty interesting with that we'll open it up to the public anyone wishing to speak please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record Ros Johnson 826 Lavette Street um my
question is to um Mr Dietrich about the um the quality of life uh group that you have um I was wondering uh like how often do you meet and how uh what topics do you talk about things like that uh we
meet once a month internal work group and uh we discuss things such as um traffic traffic enforcement uh a lot of Code Enforcement issues looking at uh property maintenance issues and those kinds of things okay those are some of
the bigger topics we also been hitting on some of the fire Cod things so we we use that as a also as a round table to see what each individually office you know have what problems we're seeing and then you know what ordinances maybe we can address and and you know help
improve the quality of life of the residents okay um I was wondering if um after you have those meetings um if like once a month you could um report to the residents about the meeting and what you
talked about and um if when you do that if it could be put on the agenda so people like myself that read the agenda on a Friday would know that this is coming up and would make sure that I would the person would attend the
meeting in case they had a question about that had to do with the quality of life is that possible I can look at I don't know if it's going to be helpful for every month but I can I'll have some frequent updates to to make a report sure and
could you let us know on the agenda y oh that's wonderful thank you very much okay anyone else this evening seeing none motion to close I'll make that motion thank thank you everyone have a wonderful evening thank you thank
you time is 5:45 oh you did