Delico Township Committee meeting of June 23rd, 2025, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Deleno Township Municipal Building, 770 Coopertown Road, Delco, New Jersey. We are recording, Mayor. Thank you.
YouTube's good. YouTube is valid. Good evening. Welcome to June 23rd's Township Committee meeting located here at the municipal building. Can I have roll call, please? Mr. Bartlett here. Mrs. Patrick here. Mr. McFaden here. Mr.
Ol here. M here also present. Mr. Schwab, our town administrator. Mr. Heinhold, our solicitor. Mrs. Lure, municipal clerk. Mrs. Russell, deputy municipal clerk. Mr. Warren, our police chief. Did I get everybody? Yeah. Please
rise for the flag salute. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[Music] And we also have our new administrator in the audience, Mrs. Debbie Simmons. Welcome, Debbie. And our planer, Scott Taylor. Welcome. We'll see you shortly. Can I have the sunshine and live stream
statements, please? Please be advised that proper notice of this meeting has been given in compliance with the actual public meetings act in the following manner. Written notice has been mailed to the Bronson County Times and Courier Post published in December 30th, 2024 editions and written notice has been posted on the official bullets and board of town please 48 hours prior to the
meeting. This meeting of the Delango Town Committee may be transmitted via live stream on YouTube video. The streaming of the meeting is not intended to be relied upon as formal public access under the open public meetings act. And if the technology is disrupted for any reason, the township meeting will be seen in person as an official
meeting in accord with the official notice. Thank you. Please take a moment to silence all cell phones or put them on vibrate. And I will read the rules governing public climate public comment period. In accord with and subject to the provisions of the open public
meetings act NJSA 104-12 at seek. During general public comment periods, the Deleno Township Committee is permitted to institute reasonable rules and regulations to allow for a smooth process and ensure a reasonable opportunity to be heard. Calling out from the audience outside of one's time at the microphone is disruptive to the
person speaking at the microphone or the committee member speaking from the deis and will not be permitted. Each speaker will have five minutes to speak and should limit their comments to the matter at hand. The speaker will be directed to conclude the remarks once the time has expired. No time may be yielded to another speaker from another
speaker. Groups are encouraged to select a spokesperson to speak on their behalf. Speakers will address the committee from the podium and are asked to begin the remarks with their name and address. Committee members are not obligated to answer impromptu questions or address remarks for members of the public during the public comment period. Speakers should expect the committee to refrain
from engaging in dialogue except to the extent necessary to clarify the speaker's comments. The allotted time for speaking from the podium is a method to address the township committee during the public comment period. The committee will not entertain questions or comments called out from the audience during the public comment or at any time. Uh speakers and members of the public
should at all times maintain proper decorum and shall make their comments in a civil manner. Personal attacks, obscinity, derogatory or slanderous remarks will not be tolerated. Ordinance 2025-8, an ordinance to amend an ordinance titled an ordinance of the township of Deleno providing for and
determining the rate of compensation of officers and employees. This is the second reading by title only in public hearing. Hearing is open to the public right now for only on ordinance 2025-8. [Music] If you'd like to make a comment, please come to the podium, state your name and
address. Seeing none, I will close this hearing to the public. Can I get a motion to adopt ordinance 2025-8, please? 10 minutes. Second. Motion by Kate, second by Fern. Roll call, please. Mr. Bartlett, yes. Mrs. Patrick, yes. Mr.
McFad, yes. Mr. Yes. Mus. Yes. Ordinance 2025-9, an ordinance to amend and supplement chapter 295, vehicles and traffic of the township of Delanco municipal code for the prohibition of engine breaking. This is the second reading by title only and public hearing. The hearing is now open to the
public for ordinance 2025-9. [Music] Seeing none, we'll close this hearing to the public. Can I get a motion to adopt 2025-9? So moved. Second. Motion by Matt, second by Kate. Roll call, please. Mr. Bartlett, yes. Mrs. Patrick, yes. Mr.
McFaden, yes. Mr. Yes. Yes. Thank you. both ordinances pass. Um, right now we'll move on to our park and playground design presentation, a resolution for the uh, Burlington County Park Development Program. Uh, the grant for $250,000. Uh, so Mr. Taylor from Taylor Design
Group, come on up. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Good to see you all. Do we need a microphone? Well, that's up to you. Yeah, for recording purposes.
Is that better? Good enough. Okay. Um, so thank you. Good to see you all. So, we are here uh and I should be less than an hour. Um, he's kidding. I love the sound of your voice, but not for an hour. Not more
than I do. Um, so we're here, as as the mayor indicated, Burlington County has uh revived their uh park improvement grant program. So, uh some internal discussions. One of the things that had
been determined had been lacking was a playground space that was accessible very near the center of the town. There had been previously some discussions about putting one out at FOD. We had submitted grant applications for that. Part of the feedback was it's a little disconnected from the major parts of the
community. So the idea here was to take that area that basically sits south of the field and convert that into a handicap accessible fully excl uh inclusionary playground area. I'm sorry for some of the members of the public
that I'll block here. Here are the existing basketball courts. The ball field is up in this location. We have Cooper down here. This is that large open grass area. So, the concept is, and also by way of reference, these are the
new bleachers that were just extra con constructed under a um I believe a local recreation improvement grant. Richard's nodding. Thank you. And also an accessible pathway that leads back to the parking. So, what we're looking to do is come in with sidewalks that come
off of that to this baseball diamondshaped playground surfacing that's proposed to have rubber surfacing in the shape of an actual diamond that also has a play structure and some other support structures on that. Uh, so it is a
relatively simple and straightforward. We already have existing fencing sort of hemming the areas in so there is no fencing proposed here. We will have some storm water management that will need to pick up some water and we're looking to do maybe some gentle burming to create a little bit of separation between the
basketball courts and the play area to the extent we can. Understanding that space is somewhat limited. Scott, can I stop you for one second? Can you move this over to the corner because we're blocking the camera. The live streams being blocked by your Thank you. Yeah, just like right there. Or even
maybe Scott, if you want to go to this side. We all have copies of the print in front of us. Maybe you could turn it toward the audience so everyone could see it. That that works too. There you go. There you go. That's great. Thank you. So, baseball diamond shaped playground, play structure in the middle. Uh we are
showing uh bike rack, some benches, again accessible pathways with wheelchair um companion uh areas to the sides of those. Um we're also showing, and it's not included as part of the grant, perhaps a small future shade
pavilion here. We thought that that could actually work very well to supplement both the playground and also the ball field, especially on days if there are tournaments or anything else. We know the tents get set up here, but by placing it sort of in this location, it could really serve both of those
functions. More of a placeholder that if other grants become available or at some point down the road, uh the municipality thinks that that would be uh make sense, that could always be implemented. So, we've put together the grant application, the narrative, all the
required forms necessary for submission to the county by this Friday. So, what we're looking for is a resolution or ordinance. I guess it's a resolution. All right. Thanks, Doug. And that's why he's the attorney um authorizing the submission, the
support of the project and the submission of the grant application. Yeah. I want to let you know, mayor, that um Scott did present this to recreation on June 11th and we approved the plan. Okay. And we did get a preliminary cost estimate from you and
um you know barring what we would get the grant for there may be some local contribution needed but we had talked about maybe scaling down the playground equipment um to not be such a large structure um if we do get the grant. So that's something kind of we'll cross that bridge. We do have some some
capital funds that we uh canceled out and received money back on our end. So we do have some additional capital funds available for right Richard? We hope so. So yes. Okay. Just wanted you to confirm I'm not but we definitely again even if we do need
to scale this backward or even if the grant award came in slightly less than the maximum there are alternatives that we can do to sort of phase this in and make this happen and we weren't talking I think we were talking like 60 70,000 as a local match. It wasn't a lot. So um yeah no I think it's a great project. I
love the the homage with the the baseball diamond to to the Babe Ruth Park and um obviously with all the history there. So, I think it's great. That was really creative. Rubber surfacing is the way to go now. Unfortunately, it's super expensive, but that's what you need for the fall risk.
And um obviously, we haven't put two and two together yet. This is where the skate park is right now. So, the skate park would actually be removed for this um if we do get the grant for it. And that in my mind is the only way we would move forward with this is if we got the grant at this point. So, anybody have
any questions, comments, feedback? It's a beautiful design, Scott. I echo the mayor's comments about uh the design for a b a baseballshaped or baseball field shaped uh park at the baseball field. I think that works great and it's a great idea to have something there because
this really is the center of town. the kids have a playground up at West Avenue and you know that's really it. So something everybody can walk to. Um I I like that it's a center town so it can be closely monitored by police going up and down the street local residents as
opposed to where West Avenue is. We do get some, you know, some vandalism down there because it's kind of out of sight, out of mind. So um great. No, I think you did a good job. Uh Kater Fern, any other feedback? No, it's great. We were very pleased with it request. I actually have a
question mayor. Yes, Janice. There was an email that I don't know it's got a view or Michelle sent it about um having to have a public hearing that is uh an eventuality. So if if the grant is
awarded and we're intending to proceed with the project, okay, we will have to have on a future agenda a public hearing. We'll coordinate on that issue with uh Taylor Design and with you, Janice. Okay. Um, it's just a a state
requirement because of uh green acres. Green acres. Correct. But that that would happen after we know if we're getting the grant, right? There's no point in it's not part of the application process, right? There's no point in making a decision or a public hearing on that until we know we're actually proceeding.
All right. Thank you. Sure. So, this would be resolution 2025-107, correct? 97. Oh, 97. 97. Oh, so we already have a resolution. Yep. Okay. it. Um, all right. So, thank you, Scott. And we'll
move on to resolution 2025-97 committing to the support the design and construction of accessible playground at Babe Ruth Field at the center of Deleno. Can I get a motion, please? I'll make a motion. Second. Motion by Phil, second by Kate to adopt
resolution 2025-97. Roll call, please. Mr. Bartlett, yes. Mrs. Fatrick, yes. Mr. McCra, yes. Mr. Ola. Yes, Miss Zeus. Yes. Thank you. Perhaps we can get that plan put on the website so the people watching at home
could uh see that as well. Anybody else? Yeah. If you have like a PDF of that. Yes. And you'll get that over to the county and we'll be good to go and we'll hear I believe it's mid August. And I'll send you a PDF of that you can upload on
your website. Great. Scott, your your office sent us the packet for the application, so Janice will have to work on getting that up to them. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Have a great night. Stay cool. Okay. Uh meeting will be open to the
public for comments and questions. This is on agenda items only. This is session one. If you'd like to come up to the podium and state your name and address, this is the time to talk about agenda items only. By agenda items only, you mean everything that's on the agenda, including Anything that's on the agenda.
Yes. Great. David Sudter, 725 Delaware Avenue. Could you speak up a little bit? We can't hear you. You can't hear me? Turn on my hearing aid. Maybe that'll help you. Um Terry and I moved here in 97 and I was fortunate to meet some um
individuals who grew up here as teenagers in the 60s and 70s and so they gave me um kind of they were um creek and river rats and they sort of gave me the lowdown on what it was like to grow up at that time. Uh, Delaware was a little bit of Avenue was a little bit of
wild west. You know, it was like smoke and drink and cool around and find the place where you have the best bevel so you can get beyond it so the police can't see you when they come by with their light cuz you're on the other side of the hill next to the river. this started and continued for a while and since there's no stop signs on
Delaware Avenue. Um, a little bit of drag racing started to take place and the poohs of town decided that maybe it needed to be changed. So, probably 40 45 years ago is when parking got restricted on Delaware Avenue for a specific
purpose. The idea was to find a way to soften the amount of effects of cars on the street. The idea was to quiet and calm it and it seems to have worked really well. We have tons of people in town that love to use this walk that
come from all over the town and access it there. They ride their bikes, they walk, they push strollers. Some of them actually get out and do other stuff with their dogs. I have people I see from West Avenue who come down to the river to walk their dog because they enjoy it so much.
The idea of putting um parking there even on a temporary basis I think is fraught with a few problems. Um I just give you a really quick story that happened. A marvelous neighbor of ours decided to have a party at one point and you can close the street and the police department and the public works helps
and then at the last minute my neighbor decided wow all my out of town friends could drive down the street and park right here. And so he moved two of the barracks and you had all these nose to butt nose to butt nose to butt cars, 50 of them lining each side of Delaware Avenue. And then it was a great party, I
have to say. People had great food, nice music, and a few adult beverages. But when they came out, they had no way to get the heck out of the street cuz they're all stuck nose to butt. Nose to butt. Nose to butt. And Delaware Avenue is not a very white street. So, the first guy that got out basically got his
car backed up, put it in reverse, looked around, and went out 35 miles an hour. It's like, "Wow, nobody lost a side view mirror. It was amazing." Um, the next few people that got stuck, of course, had to back up, go over the curb, roll on people's lawns, and then drive out.
The idea that somehow, um, we can cram a whole lot of cars on the street without something going wrong, especially for a two-way street, is a problem. the concerts that you hold at the marina right now, you have off- streetet parking, you have parking along some of
the grass areas of the marina, and a local businessman gets to take part in this as well. And I'm not saying you shouldn't hold the concert there, although it would have been nice to know it was going to happen. But the only real impact that you have in that area is Orchard gets crowned and
you have an easy way in and an easy way out of that particular location. Um, you have parking on both sides of Rancokas, but it's a one-way street. You have parking on both sides of Orchard, and that's the only street that you can go both directions right there. And then when you get around to Washington, it's
a one-way street out. So there's never a point at which somebody has to do a U-turn or turn around or traffic has to cross one another. Also, all of the streets in that area are 30 feet wide, curb face to curb face, which I think is the standard you
need for municipal planning in a residential area, especially if you're going to have traffic that goes two directions. And if you want to put in parallel parking, you would need 40 ft. If you wanted to put in pedestrian access, you'd have to add 5T to that.
In front of my house on Delaware Avenue, um there's a um your right of way is 40 ft, but that includes the sidewalk, a grass burm, the curbs, and the street. What you actually have on my property from curb face to curb face is 25 ft 6
in. Now, I know 5t doesn't sound like a lot to you, but if you're talking about getting an emergency vehicle down and there's parking on one side or another with traffic going two directions, you're going to have a large problem. If you limit it so that there's traffic only in one direction and parking, you
still have to deal with how are you going to get a major vehicle down there. You can't turn around in the middle of the street on Delaware Avenue even if there is no parking. The guy that finally made his way out on our street had to do a Donald Trump signature kind of thing. You know, it
wasn't quite a K turn. It was it was an all over the place turn just to get out. I kind of see the park parking on this street as uh an active danger to the people who come there. When people have parties there and ask to block the street, it's keeping the cars out so
that people won't get hit. You guys are going to introduce cars onto an area where people will walk up to this and you have people who will be walking in who have no business being at the concert. They just want to walk their dogs or push their stroller. They're going to be a part of that mix along with people going to a traffic on
Delaware and parking on one side or another. And if you're going to stop the parking from some stop the the traffic at some point, you're going to have people having to make U-turns or turns on side streets. My question for you is
you do a carriage ride every year. You've been doing it for 22 years now. 23 people park in the area and it's not on Delaware because you have to close it for the carriage rides obviously. Is there a specific reason why we have to open this street? My guess is you're
going to be endangering some people who are there just to enjoy the asset that they've always had to enjoy. I'd like to see you guys to really rethink this when you discuss this afternoon and find some other alternative. I would urge you to plan better. Usually
when you I I know that you really want to have a kickoff to this park because it's been a long time coming and thanks to the help of one of your former congress um councilmen who worked for like 12 years to wrangle the seaw wall out of the damn state whom you guys eight years. There you go. Thank you,
Mike. Appreciate it. Thank you for your comments. We'll discuss it more tonight when we have this. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else public comment on agenda items? My name is Alan Chrome. Live at 549
Delaware. We live, my wife and I uh moved here about uh five and a half years ago and we were lucky enough to to find a place uh in the uh Zurb development uh and uh we've loved it.
One of the things we've always loved about living where we live is the public access to the river and the sidewalks by the river. And um I would echo a lot of the things that
the fellow before me just said. Uh I am a a fortunately still surviving example of the dangers. five years ago this July 7th uh which to to refresh your memory was
the part of COVID summer where people had just decided well maybe we can get outside and and walk and enjoy things. And so in the afterlow, just after the sunset, my wife and I took off on our bicycles and rode down maybe 2 m an hour
along and there were a lot of people out, but it was fairly calm. A little bit more traffic than usual, but not a lot. And I the first thing I that gave me some idea something was wrong was I heard somebody behind me
revving their engine. And clearly they wanted to get around some of the traffic that was moving a little too too slowly for them. And the next thing I knew I was on the ground. Uh fortunately for all the people who were there got the license plate. The
police were there quickly. The EMTs got there quickly. Even so, I was in the hospital for eight days. I had three operations. Doctor said there was a good chance I would never walk again. Um, I broke my arm, my forearm in two
places. I mean, completely snapped it. Um, I got very very lucky. Uh, and but but the kind of the kind of uh traffic that was there that night because hey, we can get out now finally.
foot traffic, bicycle traffic, automobile traffic was just to me a a a hint of what you could have if you had people trying to park, get in and out, and so forth uh during a major event.
I'm I'm torn on this because I understand the the the intent is to have to be able to get more people in so that access to the river and its attractions is available to all. And I think that's a value that that my wife and I both
share. But um I would just say my own I I still have PTSD when I see somebody riding a bike too close to to uh where cars are. And so I I or
walking. So, I would just urge you to to consider uh the the possible dangers of having that many cars trying to pull in and out of a space of a of a relatively narrow street.
Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Good evening. Thank you very much for letting me uh give my my opinion. I'm Ed Deainy. I live at Union Avenue in Delaware, 100
Union Avenue. Um the previous speakers said a lot of what I wanted to cover. So I won't repeat what they said except to say that I think they made some important and useful points. Um, I'm looking I live at a corner from the new
park and I think it's um I look I look over there and I think about uh how far we've come from the time some years ago when we took a chance to uh to develop that
area. And I think um we're all we all we in in in hindsight um it turned out very well. And I think we can be very proud of what what we've done. All I want to say is that it's a beautiful beautiful little park. It's it's not very big and
it's it's in an area where it's a little bit crowded with with u I would just uh urge people to think about maybe um having having Delaware Avenue stay about the way it is so people can walk on it
as they are accustomed to do for the past decades and um and use it appropriately as a as a place that it is small and and I know Jim. So, thank you. Thank you. And anyone else?
Harry Mater also Delaware Avenue. Um I'm not going to repeat some of the things. My one of my concerns is uh emergency vehicle access. It's not a wide enough street, I don't think, to be able to get an ambulance or a fire truck down if the need should
arise. And the other thing I was thinking is if you do start to allow parking, then you're going to have a little more enforcement in your area because people are going to come down on a Saturday or Friday say, "Oh, we can park there. Nobody's enforcing with the no parking sign." So they come back on Monday and there they are parking again.
And um I've often had to ask people, I mean, I have people pull up and they're like unloading picnic baskets and barbecues and blankets and I'm like, "Uh, yeah, that's my yard." Just so we're clear, we're talking about closing one block for three events. We're not
talking about allowing parking all the time. But yes, I understand people. I just want to make sure we were clear of that. That I do understand that. Yes, I do get that. But when people say, "Oh, I mean, especially if they don't come to Delh Deleno very often, it's like, yeah, you can park here. I parked here last
week." You know, and it's it's a logical thing. I understand. is also I understand when people start unloading their car yes my yard looks like a park it isn't you know but it looks like it I don't blame them I just ask them you
know not to unload there and they get sometimes most times they're fine but sometimes get upset and that's happens and that's all thank you thank you anybody else come Yep. Laura Cone at 549 Delaware. Um, I
agree with everything that my husband said and our neighbors as well. Uh, I had a suggestion or well, it's not even a suggestion. It's just a thought about something that we might do that would
have a little bit of resolution. Um access is really a big issue and uh what we have now is a tremendous amount of access to this beautiful riverfront for everybody. I think uh in the case of a
concert possibly there could be some kind of temporary handicapped parking spaces that would offer access to people who really needed it who wouldn't for whom it would be hard to walk a block or two blocks or three blocks. And I don't I
you know we would not have any problem with that at all. We would welcome that. would be wonderful and that might resolve some of you know I don't know if you've done studies about how much parking there is on the streets that are approaching the river just anecdotally
it looks to me like there's a lot of parking there a lot of the time um but I I do think that the issue of access for people who are handicapped is a very real issue that should be considered thank you anyone else
I'll close this session one to the public. Thank you all for your comments. We will circle back to this under discussion items after we get through the rest of our agenda. Um we'll move on now to comments and reports from our professionals. Um
Mr. Heinhold, anything to report? Um, I'll just briefly say point out again that we have on the agenda tonight uh an item relative to our affordable housing process where we're endorsing the uh fourth round housing element and
affordable housing plan. Um, Delano sits in an excellent position relative to affordable housing thanks to uh some very good planning over the years. Um, and because of that, there will be
compliance with the fourth round mandate without the need to build additional new units in town. That plan is in keeping with that uh those prior statements. And so, um, this is sort of the last step of compliance for the municipality at this
point. And, uh, once we approve this, it'll be filed with the the court. And that's all I have. Thank you, Mr. Schwab. Okay. Um, want to report the uh last week the
finance officer uh was a went out to bids for the annual bond anticipation notes at 2.455 million. The low bid was 3.74%. So that uh the amount that you have to budget to pay off next year is $91,587.
It's to Pensville National Bank. There was another bid from Jan Montgomery Scott for a quarter. So, we did under 4%. We budgeted assuming 4%. It ended up being under that. So, that worked out pretty good. Um, the other thing is just to uh say goodbye to my last meeting, so
I just Oh, is it? Oh, yeah. Well, it is. We know it is. That's okay. That's it's it's great. I just want to let you know you have great employees. You have great professionals. You have great elected officials. and I thoroughly enjoyed my 15 years here that was supposed to only
be one. So, thank you very much. [Applause] Thank you. I I felt like we said our goodbyes at the last meeting, but of
course, we appreciate you for all you've done for the past 15 years and for sticking around through this process and uh agreeing to help Debbie get settled in and um we're going to miss you. But, uh yeah, enjoy your retirement and your travel and your grandkids, of course.
Thank you very much. And that round the world cruise. That's correct. Yes. You don't have to pay for it now. I'm leaving. the right guy. But we know that we can call you in case of emergency pull here, right? Yeah. Okay. And I agreed, you know, changing his number. Whatever she
needs me to do, I will do. I'll finish up things I'm working on. Thank you, Richard. Um Janice, anything to report on your end? Not at this time. Chief Warren, good evening everyone.
Um for our department to date uh we have 16 total cases for the month of June with a total for the year with 117. There were 53 motor vehicle violations issued this month with a total for the year of 373.
Total amount of stops for this month to date were 178 with a total for the year of 979. And to date, we have officers responding to 780 calls of service for service, excuse me. Uh with a total for the year of 5,671.
So with the summer starting, we're we're getting busy. So uh but uh other than that, that's all I have to report for now. Just want to confirm our noise ordinance is 10 p.m. every night, right? Seven days a week. Yes. Okay. Thanks.
Uh, anybody else have anything for the chief? Um, I just wanted to check on the email I had sent from Keith Latizio regarding um traffic on coming out of the mansion out of the Zerbrook mansion. Second in
Union. Yeah, second in Union. There's a lot of children there now. And I had forwarded to you um Yeah, that would be for Harry. I don't I fored you and Harry. That's all. But I don't make determinations for any signage. Yeah.
I did forward it to Harry as well. So I'll check with Yeah. Whatever you know again I told Mayor Seuss whatever you guys put in place we enforce it. So Okay. Good. All right. Okay. Thanks. And so one of the things too it was rectified. One of the issues that he had had uh was the uh service vehicle that
was parked and that sense has been moved. Yeah. Come down on second street. No. There was a vehicle parked on Union that was a um commercial construction vehicle. So that sensor has been moved and it no longer parks there. Okay, good. So yeah, thank you. I'll check double check with Harry because I
haven't heard from him. Yeah, busy. Yeah, he's been a little busy dealing with park. I'll double check with because I mean again I would imagine just Yeah, but again I don't determine if you put a sign to it. So if you pass it and put another sign there, make it a four-way stop. Public works would just need that resolution and we put the
signs and reinforce it. So that won't be no problem. Okay, great. Thank you. Thanks, Chief. Uh Township Committee, Mr. Charlotte, you want to start? Yep. Uh very short tonight. Uh Tuesday, June 17th, we had our GIF uh insurance
meeting and uh the focus seems to be cyber security. Uh and uh our IT people uh here at the municipal building are doing their homework and doing uh I guess double-checking on our firewalls
and whatever else there is for security for our system. Uh and then this past Saturday we uh history board we had our event here uh from 1 to 3. Um although we had a low turnout uh it was productive and uh couple of the folks
that were here uh the one gentleman uh I guess goes back to when Walnut Street first opened or thereabouts and I was sharing stories of growing up and uh working out on the uh rust farm picking
peaches and vegetables out there. So that's quite interesting and that's all I have. Mayor, thank you. Thank you, Phil. All right, let's start off with last month's May 25th. We did have the Memorial Day parade. I want to thank the
police department and especially public works for their work and helping us get this thing go through with no burps or anything like that. Uh June 3rd, I did attend the Joint Land Use Board. Uh the one hearing that was
going to happen was postponed and then Thursday the EAB cancelled this month. The meeting was conflict with some of the members. June 10th, uh of course I cast it my vote. June 11th we had the recreation
meeting here which Scott Tower did his presentation to the rec commission and we approved it and passed it on to township. Uh June 12th was the first summer concert at the Hawk Island Marina. It went off good. The band was
Coconuts. Well, they're known as Nuts now. The PTO had did their fundraising by selling the refreshments. Uh June 18th, I was in year. I attended the court session. Uh then at after that, I ran to the eighth grade
graduation. It was a nice event held at Walnut Street School. And then uh our next concert is the 26th of next Thursday. Rough cut. This Thursday.
This Thursday. Yeah, this Thursday. That's it. Thank you, Matt. All right. Uh since I last gave a report on May 19th, uh along with Kate, I attended about four or five days worth of interviews for our township administrator, which we discussed more
in depth last week during our special meeting appointing Debbie to that position and that took a good amount of my time over the last month. Um as usual, I attended the fire commission meeting on May 27th. normal business occurred and of course I attended the
parade with the fire company both here in Delanco and in Riverside. I was not able to attend the fire company meeting last month and tonight is our township committee meeting conflicted. On May 29th, I attended the pre-construction meeting with PSENG for
the gas main replacement project that's currently going on. They're making their way on the far side of town between Burlington Avenue and Hawk Island and will be continuing to work their way uh through town. They're going to be sending out emails uh to the affected residents and the township is going to
be putting out bulletins every week when we get the schedule from PSEG about what streets are going to be worked on that uh week. So, we'll be sending out the emails to anyone who's on the distribution list and it'll be posted on the township's Facebook page as well.
Uh June 12th, I attended the Office of Emergency Management meeting, which we did a recap of the New Jersey Transit light rail drill. We went over what went right, what could have been better, and thankfully nothing to go over on the what went wrong side of things because everything went well. And finally, I've
continued to watch the progress of the uh construction of the new historic waterfront park. Even though I work on huge construction projects for my day job, it's amazing watching physically something going on right here in our town on this important piece of
property. I personally want to give special thanks to Mr. Greybot, the chair of Wreck, and uh Carolyn uh for being out there. you know, those two own a construction company and have a great attention to detail and there was some issues over the last couple weeks that
if not quickly caught uh by them, it could have been disastrous to the entire timeline of the project. So, thank you Carolyn and pass that along to Al as well, please. And that's all I have. Thanks for being my springboard when I
get upset. Calms me down. Yeah, good good job catching those issues out there. I'm glad everything's back on track. Yep, it is back on track. It's been very interesting. Kate, what you got? Uh, thank you. Um, I have to laugh. Maybe everybody should
laugh. I had left my report home and so I ran home to get it and everybody on the committee laughed and said, "Oh, that's okay, Kate. You don't have to come and get it." Because my report sometimes is a little lengthy. But so, uh, so I went home and got it anyway.
But so let me start with DIY DelRev Sports. Uh their meeting on May 27th was cancelled uh so they could attend a fundraiser. Uh spring sports are definitely winding down and they're offering a cl a clinic this year for
girls flag football and registration is open for fall soccer. They held a safety clinic on June 6th. June 27th is the coaches versus the coaches softball game. And June 28th is parents night out
at the DFW. And July 1st, uh, the wait list will open for basketball. They're in need of, uh, fall soccer coaches and volunteers for the concession stand. So, if anybody's available or willing to help out, please do so. Memorial Day in
Delano, as usual, our Gateway Park looked great for the service. Uh, shout out to public works for keeping the grounds looking so nice. As usual, I planted the flowers in the window boxes and put up the bunnings that the women's club provides each year. The services
were very nice. No problems with lowering and raising the flag. Thank you to Lucas Russell for the Eagle Scout project installing the new flag pole and a gentleman in town did a video of the parade. So, this year I was actually able to view the parade which was really
nice. Uh, Shade Tree met on May 28th. residents requests were reviewed uh as follows. 210 Peach Tree Lane. The committee agreed not to take down their tree. Uh the chairman will talk to a sewer authority and also the residents
uh for uh proof of interference with the utilities. Seven Pennington Court resident was present. Uh she had photos and documentation regarding uh a willow oak that was continuing to raise sidewalks and uh it
has been put on for the pilot program for paper replacements. Several other properties were discussed. One tree was added to the removal located at 1602nd Street. Uh sidewalk reimbursement process was discussed and the sidewalk
repair was stopped at one location in Newton's Landing. Uh, and I presented a list of good uh, tree performers as noted in the March issue of the New Jersey Municipalities Magazine. Living Springs, the mayor and I met with the
seniors at Living Springs on Friday night, May 30th. The purchase of 401 Creek Road was presented. A question and answer period ensued. Uh, and the rep chairman was also in attendance and discuss some upcoming events. Uh, as
Matt had mentioned, we met actually we met for more than uh this last month, but we met a couple of months before that interviewing different people for our uh administrator position. And we're very happy to welcome Debbie. And also
uh I'm very sad to see Richard go. I'm so glad he stayed with us as long as he did. He did a phenomenal job for this town and it was certainly a pleasure for me to work with him for the last 15 years. Thank you, Kate. You're welcome. Affordable housing, uh, as, uh, Doug had
mentioned, um, we're we were continuing to meet regarding the trust fund monies and that has been, uh, taken care of and the joint land use board endorsed that plan and we will be passing that tonight. Um, we've been very fortunate
that we were proactive in our affordable housing obligations and we have met them and we probably are good through the fifth. So that's like 20 years. So that's a great thing. Um, as everyone knows, recreation did meet. Uh, summer
camp, uh, registration is underway. uh trips are scheduled and uh they're looking forward to another year offering our youth uh summer programs. Uh plans for the pro for the playground were discussed and approved. Uh summer
concerts are in full swing. Um and of course everyone knows that work is continuing on the waterfront park and uh hopefully the grand opening is July 19th. Um parking issue is going to be discussed tonight.
Uh the board is interested in seeing the changes to the Centennial Park plan since it was already approved. The tot was vandalized at West Avenue, so parts have been ordered to repair the structure at this time. It is blocked off since it's unsafe for use. I don't
think it's been repaired yet. No. No. Okay. And uh Ken Shedker was in attendance and reported on the projects that he has completed as well as work in progress. Uh the Delenica seniors had a lunchon at Fertellis on June 10th and was enjoyed by all in attendance. They
will not be meeting in July or August. Sewer authority, we met on June 10th via Zoom. Uh the trunk line project is complete. The bonds have been sold and our first payment is August 1st. Uh there are issues with mains at Larchmont
and Delue and on Popular and Ash and big specs will be prepared to correct and replace the line on Rancokus and Popppler and the route issues are being resolved at Larchmont and Delue. The operator's report is on file and
utilizing a QPA for some projects was discussed and that is on our agenda tonight. uh Newton's Landing HOA. Matt and I attended their meeting on June the 12th and went over the purchase of 401 Creek Road as well as answered their questions
and concerns regarding it and other issues in town. And as Matt had mentioned, the OEM uh office of emergency management met on uh June the 12th at the firehouse. Um the county representative was in attendance and
they're preparing for the farm fair. Um the fire chief um reported that they're currently training on the boats for the upcoming season and they're also in need of new members. So volunteers are welcomed.
Um the chairman discussed the upcoming hurricane season and the uh chief will be scheduling an emergency operation center exercise at the firehouse to make sure we're ready in the event that we have any e situations in town. uh and
all departments should be on hand at that time. So that's the conclusion of my report and thank you. Thank you. I'm so glad you went home and got that. It was important to know everything for sure. Okay. Um as everybody mentioned
what I did, I'll add a couple things. I was also at the pre-con meeting for the PS and project that's happening for the gas line replacements through town. Uh, as a reminder, if you do live on the streets affected and you have an indoor uh, gas meter, they will be moving that outside as per BPU regulations. So, keep
an eye out for a door hanger to get in contact to schedule that appointment. Um, one thing Kate didn't mention was we met with Richard last week to go over the um, union contracts for police and public works. We continue to work on
them to get them um resolved so everybody can have a great contract for the upcoming year. Um went over the park plans, had a couple meetings with Scott so we could get the park plan ready for today for recreation's meeting and today to move
forward with the grant project. We're excited about that and um you know, we're hopeful that we'll be able to get that funding and get that project underway. It would be a great addition to our downtown area if we do get that money. And that will be something we'll work on probably for fall next year if
we do get that money. We have a couple things in the works. So, um, and yeah, my life has been at Waterfront Park for the past 6 weeks. Uh, just kind of overseeing everything, talking with the engineers and planners and contractors, uh, every day, making sure everything's
going according to plan. We had some issues with the pavilion not being square and uh that was addressed this week. So, yay. It's square. That was something else. So, yeah. Uh my myself and then my husband, you know, you get a
Carolyn, you get an owl. So, he's gets to get drugged along with me and uh he's my right hand when it comes to construction. So, it's going well. We are on track for hopefully having it, fingers crossed, open by the 4th. We'll see. as long as mother nature
cooperates. And then obviously our grand opening is still the 19th uh the grand opening celebration, but we hope to have the park open before that. So that's really kind of my update. Okay, moving on to consent agenda items.
Consent agenda items are considered to be routine and will be act enacted with a single motion. Any item requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda. All consent agenda items will be reflected in full in the minutes. Anybody have anything they want to pull from the agenda?
No. Great. Okay. Moving on. Resolution 2025-98. Resolution of the township endorsing the fourth round housing element and fair share plan as adopted by the Deleno Township joint land use board adopting the spending plan and annexed thereto as appendix K as the township's fourth
round spending plan. Resolution 2025-99, approval to submit a grant application, execute a grant contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation for fiscal year 2026, Hickory Street Improvement Project. Resolution 2025-100 providing for the insertion of any
special item of revenue in the budget of any county or municipality pursuant to NJS4A 4-87 chapter 159 PL1 1985 resolution 2025-101 specifying the salaries of certain employees within Deleno Township
resolution 102 resolution authorizing amendment to employment contract with the Deleno municipal clerk resolution 103 authorizing extension of third quarter taxes pursuant NJSA54-66.3D resolution 2025-104 resolution authorizing employment
contract with Deleno Chief of Police Resolution 105 authorizing execution of first amendment to shared services agreement with the township of Hannesport for qualified purchasing agent QPA services resolution 106 contact person for the employment practices liability attorney
consultation service Burlington County Joint Insurance Fund payment of bills current fund 27 71,46041 payroll $195,33266 Escrow Trust $8,142.50 Housing Trust $13,58.96
Municipal Open Space $9,52845 and capital fund $182,48159. We also have the appointment of our administrative office manager, Beverly Russell, as part of our ongoing um what do we call that? Succession
plan. Succession plan. There we go. Um moving away some duties. So, this is just part of that. So, congratulations Beverly on moving up to that position. And can I get an approval of the consent agenda, please? So moved. Second. Motion
by Matt, second by Kate. Roll call. [Music] Mr. Bartlett, yes. Mrs. Patrick, yes. Mr. McFaden, yes. Mr. Yes. Miss Seuss. Yes. Thank you. Correspondence. I have one piece of correspondence.
Um came in today via email u from Joe Cohen. Um it's pertinent to your discussion parking on Delaware Avenue and uh it's regarding um they're unable to attend tonight's
town committee meeting and uh understand it's an ital agenda and wish to um add the u comments about that. Um while I support the idea of partnering with Delaware Avenue for these events only
for the ease of residence and ask consideration uh that driveways not be blocked and um will Delaware Avenue be closed in front of the park during the concerts. Okay. And everyone did re uh was
forwarded to everyone's email so you have that um correspondence. So I wanted to enter that for the record. Thank you. And that's it. Thank you. Okay, meeting is now open to the public. This is the general session uh two. Anything can be asked or addressed at this point. So,
open to the public. Name and address at the podium, please. If you have anything to say, speak now or whoever hold your piece. What's going on back there? Okay, that's scary. Okay, I'll close the session to the public and we'll move on
to discussion items. Um, we're going to scrap the uh not scrap it, but we're just going to postpone the animals to the next the cat ordinance to the next meeting. Right. We need some additional information from
the TNR program as well as um our animal control services company that we use just to um get some additional information and uh make some amendments to that ordinance before we discuss it fully. Okay. So, we'll move back to the
uh discussion to allow parking on Delaware Avenue for the three events this summer um at the historic waterfront park. So, uh I believe it was discussed that the uh block from Willow to Union will be closed altogether for
every event. And then I believe at recreation it was brought up that they're uh anticipating some parking issues. So, we wanted to discuss closing one block from Union to Walnut to allow for some additional parking. Right. Did I have that right? Okay. Yeah. And it
would be no different than just having two cars parked on each side like every other street in town, right? That's kind of the plan. Yeah. Just for those events, I guess because a lot of people are concerned a lot of people have asked talking I don't do Yeah. A lot of people
have concerns about uh parking and um the the concerts at the marina are handled a little bit differently because there is a parking lot at the marina and Phil sort of parks everybody and then they have parking on the grass. There is parking on one side of Rancokus Avenue
and they do fill up on Orchard and some of the side streets. Um I think that um so people have been asking me even at the bank where Kate where are we going to park for the concert. So um I thought
well let's just bring it up to see if we would just open up a section of Delaware for some parking and the rest would be done on the streets. Yeah. Yeah. And I think on the flyer I even put on there to I encourage people to walk and bike as well, which in the summer, you know, there's a ton of people down there
anyway, but if you have people coming from like, you know, the other side of town, West Avenue, you know, down here on Coop, they're not going to be able to walk there in the middle of summer. So, um, we wanted to make it convenient for our residents just to be able to park in that one block section just to have kind of an overflow if there's not any. And,
um, you know, it's really no different than parking on any other street in town. You park on each side, you leave room like you would in the city to let let people back in and out is kind of my thought process. Um I understand everybody's concerns that live on that block, but I don't I don't think it's as
big of an issue as as it may be um made out to be. But do you guys have any comments? You're you're talking parking on both sides of the street or one side of the street? Well, I mean, if you're going to park on one side of the street, you're talking maybe 10 12 cars. But
then you have the concern of people trying to get out. I Well, they park on the streets from on the side streets and on the streets. I mean, Washington Street, they park on I mean, Union's a little bit wider than what is, right?
I'm assuming. Um um I I mean, I think maybe the chief, what do you think? I mean, do you think it's really going to cause a problem? I can tell you that when people leave the concerts, I mean, I live right on Rancokus and they park all along the
street that I live on. Um, everybody seems to be respectful of leaving. I don't know. Um, Phil does the parking lot and, uh, he manages that. And so I just wonder if it's really an issue just for these
events. It's not. And um why don't you just if you're going to do this for three events, why don't you just block off Delft period and then allow the cars to park within that block off area. So say you block it off from Walnut to Willow. They can still come down
obviously the side streets which will be exc Walnut and Union. But if you just block it off from Will all the way down, that's your area. That's your parking area, right? Yeah. So people can still walk and access the sidewalks. They can still walk. Yep. Along the river, but you just just block it off all together
and that's your parking area. Yeah, that's what that's what I'm saying. Yeah. And call it a day. Just just for some additional because there are going to be people that are going to come to these events that don't normally go to the concerts at the Hawke Island Marina
because this is something very new for Dano. I mean, we've been working on this project for 18 years. And so, for some people who've lived here forever, to see this come to fruition, it's really quite a an event for I mean, I I'm thrilled to
see it. I would Yeah, I would I would block it off. And if Phil, you normally help with with directing traffic. There you go. He's Yeah, we'll have to wear a vest, Phil. Yeah, you still block it off at Union and will like you normally do when you have the carriage
rides, but from from but from the rest of the way down, just block it off for for parking, right? And when it's full and they'll leave enough space to get out like they would in any other parking situation, right? And and if we we do it for the 19th and we find it's doesn't work, then we just won't do it. But I think we should at least try it out for
the 19th and see how it goes. I I think that and I think for the carriage rides, we have them staggered different times. We, you know, we've learned through the years that you can't have everybody coming at one time. So, because they're staggered, there aren't as many people
coming in in cars at one time, so it works really well. Uh, unfortunately, we can't stagger this event. So, the events from 5:30 to 8, so it's not going to be super late at night. I mean, still kind of light out at 8:00, too. So, it's not like people are going to be walking back in the dark. So, yeah, I say try it out
for the 19th. See how it goes. kind of use it as like a pilot situation and go from there and we'll reevaluate it. That makes sense. Matt, yeah, you look perturbed. No, not perturbed. Um, my opinion would be keep parking as it is.
People could park on Second Street. There's plenty of room on Second Street. I like Mrs. Chrome's idea of handicap parking on Delaware Avenue for those who aren't able-bodied to walk from Second Street. I think that's a great idea, but I wouldn't change the parking situation
out there. It's not that far to walk a block, block and a half from Second Street down Union, down Willow to Delaware Avenue. I don't think it's a big of a lift for people who are going out to enjoy the concert. Thoughts? I just think you're going to get um
quite a few people and they're not going to be just on Second Street. Uh because Second Street has people that park there, too. So, um yeah, I say let's just try it out for the 19th and see how it goes. They can park on Union Third Walnut, you know, if if someone's going
to a concert at uh the link or wherever people go to concerts. I don't go to concerts. They're walking across a huge parking lot. They could handle a couple blocks. That's just my opinion. What do you think about just doing handicap parking? I think that's handicap is the major issue for people that cannot make it.
Okay. But then it would have to be restricted and I would have to be parking attended again or you're doing that either way. What do you What do you do now at Hulk Island for handicap park? With handicap, I keep the back section all the way down at the end. I don't
fill that area at all unless someone comes in with a handicap placer. Oh, okay. And then I start parking them. The rest of the people I start up at the top of the hill got and then work my way around. So, makes sense. And then if I have a some
handicapped people that come late, I can actually pull them into uh George's parking spot across on the corner there. Okay. So I can get them close is that's the main thing is and and roughly because I have it's been a while since
I've been down for a concert. How many cars? I mean like what we 45 roughly if if I'm guessing I probably squeeze maybe about a hundred maybe 150 cars in Hawk Island alone,
right? and then not on and then more on then more out on the street because I have at the usually about 7:15 7:30 I have to take the cones up to the front entrance and cone it off because I can't physically block it because I have to
let the marina do their business and it's another full-time job. That's why I would say block off Delft cuz then you're not having all those cars parked on second in front of all those people's homes cuz on it's different on Rancokas cuz once like where you're at once they
pass you and and Fern's house it's pretty much open space all the way to the corner of Gran Kokus and and Orchard. Um but you're talking about taking up all of Second all of Union. Their parking is already scarce there. Yeah. And then to park on, you know,
well, we're in an open time frame, so they obviously for like rumors debin lives at for example past 9 and you need the permit, but um it seems like it just make more sense if it's only that one event. Just block it off and allow in a park in there. Yeah. The concerts are
concerts aren't over till 9:00. So that would have to be the first one's done. 8. Is it 8:00? Okay. All right. Cuz the band's starting at Oh, they're starting earlier. Yeah. So yeah, so they're not going to go past that time frame. So we won't have to worry about that. So So um
the mayor and I thought that maybe what we should do instead of opening the parking just um as the the um young lady had offered, we should allow for handicap parking on Delaware Avenue only and see how it works out for the
opening. And if parking becomes an issue on all the other streets, then maybe we'll open it up to Delaware Avenue. Let's see. since Matt feels that there's plenty of parking and uh we've had enough enough people raise their concerns. So, let's just try to make
sure we have handicap parking available. So, Phil, if you would be so kind as to deal with that issue. We would love it because you're good at that. And uh and then let's see how it works out. If we have a lot of issues
with people finding parking or what have you, then we'll address it for the next one for the first concert after the opening. And and if there is ends up being parking, general parking on Delaware for those events. Um I know a lot of people uh in the audience or a few people brought up uh emergency
vehicles getting through. I'm less concerned about that. We get our fire engines and the ladder trucks through on all the tinier streets in town with parking on both sides. Um I'm honestly not concerned about that. Yeah. Okay. And I you know, so I think that's the
plan for now. Got you. Okay. Okay. Uh so the parking uh for handicap, would that be on both sides of Delaware? Both sides up to Walnut Street. Probably. That makes sense. Yeah. Walnuts are Union.
And would they be parking uh all going in one direction on both sides or Yeah. No. No. You No, you Okay. Park side. You park on the side you're traveling. So if you're Yeah. You're have your head on towards the right side. You better be park on the right side. Cross that street. Okay. Yeah.
Just needs a clarification. Yeah. Yeah. You need to park with traffic. Park slow traffic cuz think about that. People are literally crossing over the street to park on the opposite side. That's a no. No. Yeah. You can't take slow traffic. Yeah. Thank you. And I would just request that uh we make sure the corners
are kept clean. That's the only real issues we have with our emergency vehicles with making that radius. You we have a really long truck. We need a big turning radius there. I'll talk to your neighbor down there with this department now.
He never he didn't agree. You good with that, Phil? Are you good with that, S? I'll get you the yellow vest. I I don't I don't have a problem with it. I just I would prefer it just be the handicap parking on that. This way it's less of a
travel and for the people that are in need. Yep, that's what we're saying. Yeah. Yeah. Anything else? Any Anyone else? I do. Yep. Go ahead. Actually, it's a question for Mr. Heinhold. Uh we're uh getting ready for the
referendum uh that we're going to have on July 29th. Uh we now have signage going out and uh here at town hall and on uh our parks. Um so am I allowed to
put my sign out front uh on county right now? We have uh yes signs that are out there. Right. So um I appreciate you giving me a heads up before the meeting that you were going to ask about this. I did take a quick look at what I could
here, but I'd like to take a deeper look at it. My gut reaction is is that public property, if it's open to signs, it's contentneutral, meaning we if we're allowing signs, we're allowing signs. We're not. So, I but I want to take a closer look because
I've only had a little bit of time. I will get you an answer tomorrow. Okay? And I'll I'll make sure administration's copied in and everybody's on the same page. Before we close out the meeting, I missed the Richard Schwab farewell love
fest uh a week ago. And I just want to say I have the opportunity in my career to work with many many uh township administrators and and managers and Richard is one of the finest that I've ever worked with. Um
and and he is sort of the epitome of a public servant. Just showing up every day with that uh idea in mind that that's what we're here for. Always a team player and it's been a pleasure working with you on this work. Thank you very much.
[Applause] Great motion to adjurnn. I have one. Yep. Yes. So, since we don't meet again until July 14th, which will be the only meeting for July, not including the town hall
meeting. Yes. Pay the bills. Um, so can there be a motion to authorize the finance office to pay any bills that would become due and payable prior to our July 14th meeting? Yes. Somebody make a motion. So moved. Okay.
Second. Whatever. All right. All in favor? I. Thank you. Motion to adjurnn. Some moved. Second. All in favor? Good night. Thank you. Stay cool, people. Drink some water. Have a great holiday.