like to bring the Wednesday, January 21st, 2026 Township of Hamilton Committee meeting to order. Please rise for the flag. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
stands one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided pursuant to the New Jersey open public meetings law by posting a notice of this meeting on the bulletin board in the municipal building and by
transmitting notice of this meeting to the press of Atlantic City, the Star Ledger and the Atlantic County Record on January the 6th, 2026. Mr. Akim >> here, >> Mr. Cheek here. >> Miss Thompson here. >> Dr. Withersp here.
>> We have a moment of silence for private reflection. Thank you. Okay, we have a couple of proclamations. I'm going to start with uh retirement of Detective Leo Rudolph. Come on.
The gun off in the ass. Oh, okay. Whereas Leo Rudolph has been a resident of Mae Lanny for 38 years. He received a BA in liberal arts from Ryder University and was hired by the Township of Hamilton Police Department in August
of 2002. Whereas Leo Rudolph was assigned to various units over 23 plus years, including patrol officer, master police officer, and detective. Whereas Leo Rudolph received specialized training in areas including field training officer, criminal
investigations, Alcatest operator, methods of instruction, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation crisis negotiator training. Whereas Leo Rudolph was a recipient of multiple awards throughout
his career, including exceptional service awards, the NJPBA valor award, and the PBA local value valor award. In 2008, he was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, which is the highest
award an officer can receive. Now therefore be it proclaimed that we, the Township Committee of the Township of Hamilton, County of Atlantic, State of New Jersey, on this day, January 21st, 2026, do hereby recognize Leo Rudolph in
honor of his devotion to the residents Township of Hamilton. We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt appreciation for a job well done. And we hereby offer Detective Rudolph our congratulations on his retirement and
our best wishes for him for continued success, happiness, and good health in the years to come. Still for 23 years. >> That's why. >> Okay.
Um, we have some uh proclamations for HPC. Um, first one is 124 Lenipe Avenue. Come on down.
How are you? 124 Lipy Avenue, formerly known as 326 Mil Street, is a two-story, two-bay deep frame dwelling built around 1870 with Greek Revival and Queen Anne influences. Character defining elements of the house
include its massing, which means its general shape and form, gable end returns, wood sash windows with wood surrounds, and molded lentils. It has been kept very close to its original form due to the attention of
Ms. Venetsia and is a fine example of a historic home in the district. Thank you. And I'd like to present this plaque to you. And then we have 5045 Ma Maze Landing
Summers Point Road. >> No, I'm sorry. >> Come on down. 5045 Maze Ending Summers Point Road has been an iconic presence in Maze Landing and the historic survey is referred to
as the Trin Abbott House grallyun country store. This house appears to be a Gothic house and actually dates from the late 18th or early 19th century circa 1800. The facade is five bays wide
with six over six windows. An archtop window is in the center of the cross cable. A leaded glass transom tops the door. There is now a two-story porch with gingerbread trim across the south side of the house and a bay window
extending from north side. The house continues to be preserved with attention to detail and the HPC thanks Mr. Morris. I'd like to present this plaque in recognition for the for his commitment. ALL RIGHT, guest presentations. We have
uh an update by the HTMU, Dan Lovelin, the executive director. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, so for those of you who don't know me, I'm Dan Lovelin, the executive director of the Hamilton Township MUA. Joined the MUA in uh, June of 2024.
I grew up here in Maze Landing, moved out of the area because of work for a long time. Happy to be back in the area and part of the community again. Uh, want to cover three areas this afternoon. Go through them pretty quickly. The first the focus areas for
the MUA. uh our response to the boil water advisory that happened last August and then where we're where we're at from a rate perspective if I can get this thing to go. There we go. So, first why we have the focus areas
that we have. Um with any organization, you want to start out by taking stock of of what's working well for you um and where you have opportunities to improve. So, we we went through what's called a a SWAT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. And what you
see listed up here, really, our strengths are are in our our organization, right? We have a dedicated workforce. We have a supportive board. Uh the folks that were in my chair before me did a good job of keeping the debt low and managing it well. So, our debt expires between 2031 and 2034. Uh
and we have some of the lowest rates in the area. I think the third lowest in the in South Jersey. Um, one of our our strong goals is to keep those rates low while maintaining um, quality service and and being responsive to our customers. From an opportunity
perspective, uh, we have low interest financing in place today. We also have the ability to go for low interest financing as we as we navigate some of the challenges ahead of us. We have spent the last 18 months working on and improving and then implementing a
10-year capital plan. We do have an asset management software system that we're not utilizing to its fullest capability and we're we're working we actually just started a young man about three weeks ago uh for a one-year position, a recent graduate. He's a Maze Landing resident. He's he's uh he's
jumped right in on both feet with both feet on that. From a risk perspective, like any organization, particularly in utilities, there's a gap in hiring. So we have a we have an an aged workforce with a lot of skills and then we have a very young workforce and that transition
is is something we have to navigate. One of the biggest risks that we have is the the regulatory requirement for removal of lead and galvanized services and then dealing with POS or forever chemicals. The um the challenge for us
our typical capital spends about$ 1.5 million a year. It's about a $17.5 million ad to our capital plan and has to be done by 2031. So that from a rate perspective, managing what we want to do for rates for our customers, it is really what we've been focused on for
the last 18 months, getting through that hurdle without impacting rates greatly. Um, and then of course cyber security. Any critical infrastructure system that you have, cyber security has to be top of- mind all the time.
for improvements. The the one one of the standouts for us is the age of our mains, both water and sewer. We're fortunate to have technology to be able to line the sewer, but on the water main front, um the challenge is there's really no way to to
in place improve them, you have to replace them. We uh in addition to the lead and galvanized, we have about 17,000 lineal feet of mains that are pre-1950 on our system. And uh I brought with me a little showand tell piece. So
this is from the River Road main replacement. This is a pipe we just a section of a pipe we just replaced put in in 1906. So this thing 23 years of a career is impressive. This thing's been serving our customers for over 120 years and it's still it was still holding up
pretty well, but we had a lead and galvanized issue to deal with and there were some other concerns. So that brings us to what our action plan is. Again, talked about the 10-year capital plan, the the challenge of having a really a t-fold investment to
make in addition to maintaining our system over the next few years. Um what we've done is we've gone through the 10-year capital plan. We've come up with a a plan to effectively retire our existing debt by 2028. And so I'll talk
a little bit about a rate increase that we just put in place and and why we did that. And when I say effectively, as I mentioned earlier, we have a low interest now. So what we're doing is we're we're gathering cash now to cover those future payments, but not being
foolish enough to give up that low interest rate. So we're going to make money. Part of what our 10-year capital plan is is to leverage that interest. Organizational development. We we've brought in summer interns over the last uh last summer. And then we have the provisional employee one-year employee
for this year. We also engaged a licensed operator consultant. We're a small organization. The licensed operator is a critical position for us. Uh we found WRM resources as a a viable alternative and a backup for us. And actually we're we're engaging them now
as we uh navigate some some organizational issues. Um the uh and then succession planning and system documentation has to be in place to deal with the gap in our workforce. Um from an employee engagement standpoint, I just want to
point out one thing and then I won't hold up much more on this slide. The the alternative benefits plan, I know Hamilton Township went through the township of Hamilton went through the same thing. So we all went through a scramble last October uh to try to get a viable benefits plan. our our rate
increase was going to be about 36%. So the impact on the employees was probably bigger than the impact on the organization. We would have lost some folks. And so looking at this year, that's going to be another focus area for us. And one one of the things that we'll work closely with the township
with the county as well to see if there's alternatives that we can come up with to get ahead of what's going to happen in 2027. And the sprint for that I think Brett Brett and his team had to navigate as well. We didn't really find out the details until the beginning of October and we had to have everybody
signed up by the end of October. Moving on to uh projects. So on this slide, the recently completed projects, three of those seven projects are tied to that regulatory challenge and they're just the start of the 17.5 million we have to invest. as we move forward into
the upcoming projects, it it becomes even more pronounced. So, in 2026, two of the of the five large projects that we're going to undertake are tied to that regulatory challenge. We also have the SCADA system upgrade that's tied to the boil water advisory. And then in uh
2027, we had to shrink the number of projects. It's really two or three that are tied to that regulatory challenge. The PAS and the lead and galvanized pipe. Any questions at this point? boil water update. So, um we performed what's called a root
cause analysis. Boil water advisory was a tough tough situation for everybody involved and we really appreciate the township support u in in in every aspect of it. We know it was not easy for anybody that was involved in it. So, we took that seriously. The root cause
investigation, the goal of a root cause is to make sure that you don't repeat the event or anything similar. The root cause investigation, we went through the taproot approach takes about a month to go through of us sitting down and walking through all the details. Out of
it, we came we we came forward with 14 corrective actions. At this point, we're about 60% implemented on those. The largest of those corrective actions is updating our SCADA system uh to current technology. It's a good SCADA system, but it's dated and so it has its limitations.
Um, any questions on boil water advisory? Okay. Finally, I'll cover our recent rate increase. We did get a few phone calls about this. Not a ton. Uh, in January,
we we raised our rates um more than we typically do. We typically see about a 2 to 3% rate increase per year to cover our operating costs. This year we were in that 7 to 8% range. It works out to be about a $4 per house uh per month
rate increase. And as I said earlier, that was strategic to overcome that $17.5 million um challenge for us for lead lines and and PIFA's removal. And so what we what we've done by by
putting that rate increase in now and and being able to effectively retire our debt early, we've avoided what would have been between a 20 and 30% rate increase if we had had to put new debt on top of the existing debt and then we would have ended up in 2032 2033 time frame with a with an awkward situation
of having overcolcted but the the impact would have been pretty hard on our customers. Uh our rates do remain among the lowest in New Jersey. If you look, the average water utility bill in in New Jersey is about $82 a month and we're we're still sitting at starting at$,650 a month. So, we're doing pretty good by
our customers from a rate perspective and we are uh roughly a third of the cost of the regulated utilities in our area. So, uh that's all I had. Any questions? >> I have a question. >> Sure. >> Uh you probably went over maybe I didn't
understand it. What is the process for contacting the residents in the event? >> Yes. >> Of another boil water. >> Yeah, that's a great >> situation. Great question, Delma. And and so we did spend a lot of time
um walking through that and we've we've talked to the township as well. So we've put in place uh we we had we have the capability for ROOC calls out of our system. um we had gone to a different system and that that was really a textbased system but that required
updates from all of our customers and we didn't have them in place. So we're going to leverage the robocall as well as the the system that the township has in place moving forward. And so we've updated our emergency response plan to make sure that those are the deliberate steps that we take. We've also in order to make sure that there's an
understanding, a clear understanding, our emergency response plan now is going to be updated every year in November. And then we're going to drill a particular event, a potential event every March so that our folks are not just updating the plan, but we're actually enacting the plan. And so we'll
be engaging the township through those drills to make sure that the coordination pieces are are understood. We'll be very deliberate on making sure this we we say this is a drill every time we make a phone call so nobody gets confused. And that's for people who u pay for
water, right? What about the people who don't pay for water? >> Like, >> so help me understand >> like that the homeowners and people like that who already pay for it. You they're on a robocall. Is everybody in the township on a robocall or is it just
certain people? >> So the rooc call system gets to our customer base, >> right? Are you talking about folks outside the territory? >> Outside of outside >> the folks that are on well systems and such. >> Well, well, no, because wells don't that
that doesn't they don't need that because they got well water, >> right? >> But I mean people who may live in >> like in the woodlands, the apartment buildings and and so we've updated those that critical contact list is one of the things that needed to be updated in our
emergency response plan as well. And we've updated that critical contact list. that we have somebody we we call directly to make sure that they're reaching out to their folks. We'll use the Woodlands as an example. So, we know who to call at the Woodlands to make sure that their management company is aware and that they're reaching out to
their their folks. But, we would have no way of tracking all their individual renters because our our system wouldn't be able to track it. So, we have to rely on them to communicate forward for us. But, we did update and and Haley in our office has reached out and verified all those contacts for us in the emergency response plan.
>> Thank you. Other questions? >> Are we going to start with the training exercise this March or that'll be next year? Okay. >> Yes, we will be. We will be going through and and actually loss of SCADA is going to be our first drill because you think about what our system is and
how reliant we become on technology we all have. And so we started talking about what does it really mean if you lose the SCADA system. And believe it or not, well, so the Verizon outage the other day was kind of a uhoh. We our our skater system util utilizes cellular
technology. We were able to communicate with it, but I had to get through through to Andy using Facebook to call him because I couldn't get through on the cell phone. >> So, yeah, that's that's going to be the drill that we do in March to make sure that we're clear on it. >> Very good. >> All right. >> Um you said that you had some specific
jobs that still need to be um filled. Is that correct? >> Uh no, our so actually uh one of the things and cover it in detail. One of the things that we did from an employee engagement perspective, we we knew that our folks were on the low end of compensation
um and and we went through we used an association of environmental authorities uh salary survey to help us get to the right salaries for our folks and we also leveraged that to get to the right level for our union contracts. And so we think we negotiated a fair deal for the union and for us and for the first time in a
number of years we're fully staffed in our field forces as well as in the office. >> Okay. And then you said there, did you say 17 miles? >> 17 17,000 linear feet. >> 17,000 miles. >> 17,000 lineal feet, not miles. Yeah. Yeah. Three and a half miles. That's
that's a big difference. No, no, no. >> Linear linear. >> We're not that big of a utility. Maybe we'll grow if we pick up all of Laurelale. Maybe. And Misbah. But >> so linear. Am I saying it right? Linear >> linear feet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, straight straight line feet. But it's
the cost to replace those lines is very expensive. >> And that's just the pre-1950 stuff. The other challenge we have is some of the stuff that was built built between 1950 and 1985 has reliability concerns for us just because of the type of material that was used at that time. So we're
we're navigating. That's why the 10-year focus is so big for us. If we're if we're too short with our view, we'll get into trouble. as you can see just with what what we would would have been up against from a meeting the regulatory compliance date trying to get into 20 30% rate increases.
>> Okay. Thank you so much. >> I have a question with the the lead and the galvanized piping that has to be replaced. Is there grants and subsidies to do that as well? >> Yeah, there so grants not so much. Although Jenny is going to reach out on
our behalf uh to to Congressman Vandrew and see if there's anything. He just recently had a a uh a grant that he got for a municipality on the other side of the state. Um so we're going to we're going to leverage that. But what we have done is in 2026 we're beginning the
engineering for our the the lines that need to be replaced under that program because that's a high priority for 2027 what they call principal forgiveness. And the first step in that process is you have to have the engineering done and and be able to go to the state for that principal forgiveness loan. So if
that happens, that's effectively a grant, but there's a process to get through that. We have started that. We just we just authorized the engineering in I think it was either January or December. And so um Polycina Associates is getting started on that engineering for us. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Mhm.
>> Very good. Anything else? >> Very good. >> Thanks, D. I appreciate it. Sure. >> Okay. Addition, deletion of late agenda items. I have additions 8D. Resolution appointing Sue Hopkins as the class A
member of the Historic Preservation Commission for a 4-year term expiring 123129 and deletions 12B executive session police department staffing personnel. >> So move. >> I have a motion. >> Second.
>> I have a second. All those in favor? >> I have it. Early public comment. >> Mayor, if I may, I was by the administrator, we do have one additional deletion
>> uh on the executive session. It's 12A the team's contract. >> Okay. So, um we're going to delete executive session teams contract negotiate negotiations.
I have a motion. >> Motion >> second. >> I have a motion to second. All those in favor? I >> against eyes have it. >> All right. >> Thanks, Brett. Good job. >> Early public comment. Anybody signed up?
>> We have no one signed up. Uh discussions. We have no discussions. Public hearing adoption of ordinances ordinance 2126-2026 an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to
establish a cap bank in accordance with NJSA 4-4514. This is a public hearing. Anybody from the public wish to speak? Come on down. >> I I I disagree with with the budget being exceeded.
>> Excuse me. >> I I I disagree with the with the budget being exceeded >> cuz um you know how I >> I don't want it to exceed either, Jen, but it's probably going to happen. You know how I am.
>> I Yes, I Yes, I do. >> I blame lower taxes and a smaller government. >> Totally understand. >> So, how much will all this is doing is giving us the uh permission to exceed what the budget cap is. That's all this
does. It's not saying that we're definitely going to do that. It's giving us the ability to do that. That's all. >> What does it affect my property taxes? >> I have no idea. It's given us the ability to to exceed the budget cap.
>> So, I don't I we don't know. >> Okay. >> If we don't do this, then we're tied to 2 and a half%. >> Correct. >> Yeah. So, we could exceed the the cap if we have an emergency, >> right? >> Insurance.
>> Is it still 2%? Uh, yes. >> Cuz we got a new governor now. >> All right. >> Anybody else from public? >> Motion to close. >> Second. >> Have a motion to second. All those in
favor? >> I had it. What's our pleasure? >> Motion second. >> I have a motion in a second. Any questions, comments, read, can I get a roll call vote, please?
>> Mr. Aken, >> yes. >> Mr. Chef, >> yes. >> Miss Thompson, >> yes. >> Dr. Witherspoon, >> yes. >> Mayor Patel, >> yes. >> All yes and adopted. 4B, public hearing, ordinance 2127-2026, an ordinance authorizing a ground lease
between Hamilton Township and HIPP Renewal LLC for block 994, lot 57. This is a public hearing. Anybody from the public wish to speak? >> Motion to close. >> Second. >> I have a motion to second. All those in
favor? I >> against eyes have it. >> I'll make the motion. >> I have a motion. >> Second. >> I have a second. Any comments, questions? >> Just one quick question. How and I
probably seen it because I'm looking at the original lease. How long is this lease for? >> Three. Two years. Okay, that's it. Anybody else? >> Rita, can I get a roll call vote, please?
>> Mr. Aken, >> have you have to come up to the mic? >> Out of order. Since this property not become taxable based on this lease. Am I correct? Anybody know that would become taxable line item? Who's paying the taxes?
>> As the tax collector, that's my concern. We're going to have that added assessment. >> Yes. >> I need to know who's paying tax. >> It will become tax. Yes, it will become tax. >> I know. I know. But who's paying the taxes? >> Township is going to pay the township.
>> Redeveloper. It would be hill taxes. >> I I don't know. That's my question. Am I mailing the tax bill to >> because we're not taking it out of our name. So, how do I know who I'm mailing that bill to? I just want to make sure it gets paid.
>> I would say it would be HIPP renewal. >> I mean, does the lease say they are to pay the taxes whatever they are when they >> It does. The lease does >> it will be on it assessment for the portion that's leased. So there will be a tax bill. So I just have to because we're not taking it out of our name. So
I just need to know where I'm sending that bill to >> you. We will be the property will become tax. >> Yes. >> Talk about where the bills go. >> Yeah. Because we're not going to pay ourselves. So I just have to know where the mail is. My concern is
>> okay. Thank you. Roll call vote, please. >> Mr. Aken, >> yes. >> Mr. Chief, >> yes. >> Miss Thompson, >> yes. >> Dr. Witherspoon, >> yes. >> Mayor Patali, >> yes. >> All yes and adopted. >> Introduction of ordinances, we have
none. Award of bids, contracts, we have none. Consent agenda. Um, I want to rem I want to pull 7F. >> 7F. >> Correct.
>> Motion 7 A through E and 7G through I. >> Right. >> Okay. I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Did you second it? >> I did. >> Did you second it? I'm sorry. >> All those in favor? >> I against eyes have it. So 7F,
resolution establishing rules of order and conduct for town committee meetings. Uh we had our solicitor go over this. This was an ordinance that was already in place. Went over it. Um, and what it basically does, we adopt
Robert's rules of orders. And I'm just going to go over regulations of participation at township committee meeting. Upon recognation recognition of a speaker by the chair of the person wishing to speak during public comment portion of township
meetings must state their name and municipality of residents for the record. All persons recognized by the chair must engage in respectful and orderly discourse in the event of disrespectful, vulgar, or inflammatory
discourse. The chair may exercise discretion and terminate the person's right to speak. All statements to the township committee or the administration must be addressed through the chair. Members of the public shall be given up to five minutes to address an issue
during the public comment section of the meeting and shall not be entitled to borrow or give or otherwise allocate their time to others at the discretion of the chair and subject to the consent by the majority of committee at a given
m meeting. This time allocation may be relaxed and extended. which relaxation, extension, or suspension shall not constitute a binding precedent for other speakers on other issues. The limitations imposed herein relate solely to the public
comment portion of the meeting and are not intended to apply to the regular business meeting. Uh early public comment, all rules from section B above apply. So, basically what we're saying is we're going to
follow this um five minutes public comment. Uh we will have a timer. Correct? >> We do have them. >> And uh
I also suggest um when we have our agenda, have these rules attached to our agenda for whatever's up. I know we leave some up there. Correct. >> We we can post it also or we can we can post it up on the >> It's already back there from the last
time. These are the same rules. It's all the same rules. Attaching it to the agenda be difficult. >> Okay. As long as you can we can think of something else, you know, >> on our website.
question. >> Okay. So, go ahead. >> So, I know that the board of education did something like this. Like I mentioned the last time, they they actually have a little blurb in their agenda, not the full-blown Roberts, all this information, just a little blurb, you know, at the in the agenda that, you
know, speaks to this, you know. So I just wanted to put that out there. I don't know if there's something consolidated we could put on the agenda, you know, just >> if you would like I can draft something that's very short but concise kind of advis.
>> Okay, >> good. >> I have a question. Um, mayor um B, it says upon recognition of a speaker by the chair, the person wishing to speak during a public comment portion
of township meetings must state their name and municipality of residents for the record. Are we going to open it up for people outside? >> We already do, correct? >> I didn't realize that. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Anybody? Any other questions? >> A motion. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Motion to second. All those in favor? >> I >> against eyes have it. Thank you.
Next we have personnel >> resolution appointing Robert Watkins as floodplane administrator for the year 2026. >> So move >> second motion in a second. >> I need a roll call for this. >> Roll call, please.
>> Mr. Aken, >> yes. >> Mr. Chief, >> yes. >> Miss Thompson. >> Yes. >> Dr. Witherspoon. >> Yes. >> Mayor Patel. >> Yes. >> Resolution rescending resolution 2026- 0035. A resolution appointing Stevenson
Malloy as an alternate two member of Hamilton Township zoning board of adjustment. >> Motion second. >> Motion a second. >> All those in favor? I >> I against. >> No.
No, >> you said rescending it. >> Yes, we have to resend it because he can't be on two different on two. >> Oh, I didn't I didn't realize he was on two. >> Yes. >> Okay. Yes. Sorry about that. >> 8C mayor's appointment to the redevelopment review subcommittee for
the year 2026. So that is our township administrator, our community development director, chief of police or designate, zoning board chairman or designate, planning board chairman or designate,
planning board planner, redevelopment attorney, our tax assessor, and two members of committee. And I'm going to appoint myself and Richard. >> So move. >> Second. >> Mayor.
>> Yeah, it's just Yeah, just the mayor's appointment. >> Just your appointment. 8 resolution appointing Sue Hopkins as class A historic preservation commission member for a 4-year term to expire 123129. >> Motion >> second.
>> I have a motion in a second. Roll call. Roll call vote, please. >> Mr. Aken, >> yes. >> Mr. Cheek, >> yes. Miss Thompson, >> yes. >> Dr. Witherspoon, >> yes. >> Mayor Pati, >> no.
>> Four yes. One no. Motion carries. >> Approvals, minutes, reorganization, and regular minutes, meeting minutes of January 5th, 2026. >> Some move. >> Second. >> Motion in a second. All those in favor >> I
>> I against eyes have it. Bills bill is total 9,262,66163. >> So move >> second. Motion in a second. Roll call vote, please. >> Mr. Raen, >> yes. >> Mr. Chief, >> yes. >> Miss, >> yes. >> Dr. Witherspoon, >> yes.
>> Mayor Pat, >> yes. reports. Mr. Administrator, >> I have nothing to add. >> Mr. Solicitor, >> nothing to report this time. >> Mr. Engineer, >> nothing to report this tonight. >> I have a question for you, though.
>> Then I'll be reporting. Go ahead. >> Um, the work that's getting done on Lake Drive, >> correct? >> Were residents supposed to be notified? Um, they probably don't have to be if it's not going to interrupt their service, which I would
think that's the case. Um, obviously I just found out about it and we'll be out there tomorrow morning >> and the traffic control will be set up. >> I'm not sure if uh there's going to be one lane of traffic or they need to shut down that area. Uh, but we're going to
make sure the signage is up and that get people in and out and school buses as well. That's all I can tell you as of right now, but and then whatever restoration of the roadway, um, if there's multiple openings for that stretch, we'll have
them mill and pave that entire stretch. >> I like the sound of that. >> Okay, Township Committee members, >> Dr. Witherspoon. >> Yes, I have a report. Um I attended
along with um committeewoman Thompson the Atlantic County League of Municipalities meeting. Uh they were talking about the traffic plan um at the meeting and there's hasn't really been any movement on Waymouth and I saw that
there was another accident fatality which my condolences to the family. Uh but I think that needs to be looked at, you know, and um at some point um it's there's been some traffic for
other areas, but there's really haven't been any action on that. So, I would like to see that done, and I don't know who's responsible to make sure that that's looked at. Uh that was one of the things. Also, at that meeting, I was um nominated as second vice president of
the Laney County League of Municipalities. So, that'll be voted on on the next meeting. So, I was excited about that. Um because I feel like I'm representing the township. All right. Um also on that Saturday,
Bob's Furniture is no longer an outlet um furniture place. And of course, me and U. Committee Woman Thompson went to that event. It was very nice. It was very, very nice. They had all of their
uh VIPs and everybody down for the opening. It looks very nice on the inside and um I was glad to be a part of that opening and then went to the boxing event.
Uh I didn't know that we had such I knew we had a lot going on, but I didn't know about the boxing event. I knew that they I thought they just practiced. But to see those kids um doing bouts uh it was very very
exciting. It was a nice crowd and um they're doing an excellent job and it was people from all over um the state that came to participate in the bouts. You really have to see this. And the um township was presented with a belt.
Uh I don't know if committee woman um Thompson brought it today. Um well he's coming with it as we He's coming in. He should be coming in any in a minute. >> Okay. Originally he gave us the belt and it was it's a beautiful belt. Uh Committee Woman Thompson was able to get
inside the uh rink. Not that I couldn't. I had on a skirt so I was not going to lift my leg up and to be embarrassed, you know, because I would had to lift it up in order, you know, to get it in. I just couldn't do that. But anyway, it
was a very very nice event and um just to have something of that nature in Hamilton Township. Talks about the diversity of sports that we have. I know about the football, the hockey, the basketball, the soccer,
everything else. But to have the boxing was a a really good thing cuz those kids are they really work hard with them and with the discipline and boy, they was hitting them and I WAS GOING, "OH, OH MY GOODNESS. I wasn't expecting that. I really wasn't. But it was a very good
event. And last but not least, I did attend the uh inauguration of our 57th governor Mikey Shur on yesterday and um it was a very nice event. And again, somebody wrote on my Facebook page, thank you for
representing um the township. So, as far as I'm concerned, I was representing Hamilton Township by being there on that particular day. So, it was a wonderful event and um that's my report. >> Good. Thank you, Mr. >> Aken.
Okay. So, I got a couple shout outs. Um first, I want to shout out to Brett. Um I called him today with a couple questions and and concerns on the agenda and he got back to me with the information I needed. You know, he's very quick. I don't know because I'm if
I'm the newbie, he's you know trying to so but thank you very much. Um second uh is shout out again to the tax collecting office. >> Nice report 99 over 99. I look at that
and I'm like, you know, I don't know nothing about collecting taxes. I just know about paying them, you know. So that's that's awesome over there. That that that's good stuff. >> Don't pay them and you'll you'll >> Well, I know. I know. So, so, um, over the past two weeks, I
attended, uh, three meetings. I, I jumped in on the zoning board, um, which was a hot one. Um, I wanted to meet and introduce myself to all the members, so I stayed till the end and did that, you know, and, uh, I give the zoning board,
uh, credit. It's a hard job. You know, you make decisions just like up here in other boards. you know, not everybody's gonna like the decision you make. You gota agree to disagree, you move on, you know, and, you know, that's all you can do. So, I I do, you know, I do
>> give them credit. They had, you know, this room was filled and they had a, you know, they had to go through some stuff to make decision they had to. So, um, my second meeting was a little easier. It was an MUA meeting. Uh, I think it was maybe 20 minutes. I got there a little late, but it ran smooth. I got to meet,
you know, every the board and the director. Um, and introduce myself again. Um, and the last meeting was last night and it was a sustainability. Yeah. And that was a a great great uh
bunch of people. Um, great ideas. There's actually things, you know, that I I should have been, you know, doing long ago with the recycling. you know, the plastics. I do recycle, but the bags and stuff, they make the treks, you know, it was you opened my eyes and I I
actually I mean, we're all here today, too. I walked in with this and I was like, "Oh, maybe I should be just a little funny little joke." So, but no, they were a great bunch and you know I I'm I'm happy I went through that and I'll definitely attend that meeting
again because like I said, great great bunch of people and they open my eyes to certain things that I know about cycle and uh >> very good. >> Thank you, >> Deputy Mayor Chief.
>> Thank you. I attended the zoning board as well and it was a packed house with standing room only and you have to commend everybody that works on the various boards. The last couple weeks I did visit the landfill that's moving forward which is
very nice to see that they're every day are doing doing their job. Then I went to the commissioner swearing meeting for our ex mayor Shanker and saw him getting sworn in as Atlanta County Commissioner. That was very nice.
>> And then recently I've had surgery and I've been very idle watching football for the weekend. And that's all I have. >> Very good. Thank you, >> Miss Thompson. >> Committeewoman Thompson. >> Committeewoman Thompson. >> I like my title. I'm happy to be a
committee woman. Um, so there was a lot going on since we last seen each other. I want to first acknowledge um Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday for this month and remember what he stood
for. Um, we know that to what the things that he stood for is to bring justice, love, and friendship. We must build strong communities that foster these things. As he eloquently stated, the ultimate measure of a man is not where
he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Um, I also attended with Dr. Thema with a spoon, the ribbon cutting at Bob's
Furniture. And, um, I'm going to put their new location on the record. It's 2:30 Consumer Square because a lot of people don't know where they're at. So, it was 2:30 Consumer Square over by like a Target.
Um, we also attended um Aquafor Boxing and Fitness Night. It was a show and um their address as well because this is a local uh business is 54 uh 5401 Harding
Highway here in Ma's Landing and that was on January 17th. This event highlighted athletic discipline and community engagement through amateur combat sports and um Dr. the D Witherspoon
who definitely was not getting in the ring. Um she was very supportive of me getting in a ring which I was excited to get in the ring and they called us up to um give the awards because it was a real tournament and it was beautiful. We gave
it belts and they also the the children that did not win there about also got an award so we were able to hang a award and and present them with something. So none of the children um that fought that night didn't go without any kind of
award um or acknowledgement. I thought that was beautiful. Um so another shout out I want to give out to the chief of police because I called him on his day off and I was so sorry. And he was able
to tell me um I'm going to call you back. I'm going to look into an incident that was happening in my neighborhood and I really appreciated him doing that. So, I really wanted to give him that shout out. Um Brett always answers the
calls and he always gets back for me. He's good. He's very professional and um I've called him to last minute and and asked him a couple um questions, you know, not just concerning the agenda, but what's going on in the
community and he was very effective and and um he definitely was very professional about getting back to me and that's it. >> Very good. Thank you. >> Before you go on, the the owner of that boxing is here and he wants to present a belt.
>> Yeah. when they was going to I just told them when they said public conference. >> Well, I was just saying since you finished and talking about it, I was >> Can you come up now? >> Yeah, you come up now. >> Okay, you can come up now. >> Come on down and give present the belt.
>> Evening everybody. >> Good. >> I'm standing here. My name is David Guing. I'm from Ghana and I've been migrant here for past like almost 30 years and finally I find myself in Miss
Lending and I want to say God bless you all for the kind of how Miss Lending Township welcome me as a stranger and say God bless America. America is a land opportunity and I find myself
opportunity for hardworking people such like me came with empty-handed start from zero to get to talk and end of the day I find myself my first business which of four years here in Miss Lenny that is amazing through your love through your hard work make me to
be where I am. So last week Saturday I have a show in my facility that she mentioned it earlier on that is normally I do show like this my 14th show people from Michigan Florida and many more come
together for the show and on my four years over here that is I have a beautiful belt here to present it to the city without you I cannot be where I am for four years. The city of love, the
city of unity. So I'm here today to present this beautiful bed to every one of you. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Would you like us to come down? >> Mayor, she can go down. Go ahead. Go get it. >> No, you were there. I didn't make it.
>> I mean, I was there, too. But I thought the mayor must come down there and get the belt, too. Yes, please. All right. Nice. That's so nice. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank
you. Thank you. >> I got it. >> I remember when you opened. I'm so glad you're so successful. Very good. So Brett has Brett said he's going to
work on um >> Brett Brett has told me that there is I think we had Brett you can speak on this because you said there was a um some kind of uh built-in space. >> So we'll we'll put it out in our display case in
>> out here. Very good. >> So they're going to put it in the display case right here in the township. Okay. So when you come back and come back to more meetings, you and your family and friends can come back because the tournament was beautiful and it was it was not just a local tournament. He
had people come from New York. He had people from other states that came and it was very professional. You know, he had a you know the how can I say referees and people on each side. So, I really was I was really happy um to see
what he presented >> and I'm I'm sure that we'll love to see the video once you get to put that together. Anybody you wasn't there get a chance. >> Yes, we are definitely going to have a video put together >> and we'll definitely get that to you and we'll have that on our Facebook pages
and market it also for you. Okay. Thank you so much. and uh just like to say he started out over at the festival in a smaller building and built his business and was able to move over to the uh health park over there on Route 40. So great job
with that and uh congratulations. You guys are doing very very well. Um yeah, that's so busy couple of weeks with uh planning board and zoning board. A lot of things going on in town. Um, so big shout out
to everybody who's on those boards. Really appreciate it. Um, I really don't have a whole lot to say. I will say, uh, looks like we got another snowstorm that seemed to be coming on Sundays. Um, so puts a little bit of restrain on our public works guys, but they always do a
good job. You did I got no phone calls in the last little event, so good job there. And I just like to say this one looks like it might be uh a little bit bigger. So, please, if you can, park your vehicles off the road. Um, stay off
the road, let our guys get through, clean things up, uh, so they can do things safely and efficiently and, uh, and move on from there. And, uh, yeah, if you guys, if everybody could do that, that'd be great. And help help out our public works guys. And that's really all
I have to say. Uh, Reagan, see you soon. Maddie, I miss you and I love you and I hope to see you soon. And we will go ahead and open it up to the public. Come on down. Do >> you know how how many inches of snow we're going to get?
>> How many? No idea. >> They don't have an idea. >> I'd say zero to 50. >> No, I have I have no idea. They don't know. Yeah, >> but it definitely looks like we're going to get some snow and it's going to be cold. >> Yeah,
>> I heard um at least four inches. >> I hope it's that low. Yeah. >> Hope hope that's all we get. >> I hope so. >> I'm ready for spring. >> Ditto. >> Come on down. I was just waiting to see
if anybody else wanted to take a turn. >> Alen Dicks >> from what town? >> I'M NOT GOING TO SAY IT TOO. Where are you from? >> And I'm not anonymous 620 for what's getting posted on Facebook which is very very seriously concerning.
No heat in rooms in a Hes school. No more not saying anything else. Today's an anniversary. Anybody know what it is? 50 years of Open Public Meetings Act. 50 years of discussing the public's
business in the public with very limited things that are for executive session like negotiations, litigation. I'll stop at that.
This was one of the sessions I attended at the league. I I think I did four sessions. One on alternate alternate unit something some new idea the don't try to guess what it is because it's
complicated. Budget and audit. I saw Nick there. D on water and open public meetings act that I had to be there at nine o'clock in the morning. The biggest surprise at the public
meetings act lecture with these expert lawyers from around the state one was from Parker Mccay I think his name was Gford but I'm not sure on that. So when you go to executive session, if you take somebody in that's not you
and maybe not him and him, if you take somebody else in, it's no longer an executive session. Feel free to check it out. But that was a big surprise to me. That was the big surprise. Not not a big
surprise, but it's something we need to know so it doesn't happen and then you're forced to re publicize you. You get my point. Carl, what's going on Lake Drive? >> Gas line.
>> The renewal >> replacing. Yeah. >> Okay. because I see trucks going by and I see dump truck go by full of sand going down Park Road and it didn't have a cover on it. >> Yeah, that wasn't for that. They haven't
even started. >> All right, that's all I just wanted to comment on the because when I attended that schoolboard meeting 50 years ago, oh, they were squirming in their seats. They didn't want to talk about what they didn't want to talk about in public and
now they had to. It I'll never forget it. obviously, but it was crazy. So now you know, but Ken might want to find out. Um, okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Anybody else? >> Motion to close. >> Second. >> I have a motion in the second. All those in favor? I >> I against >> motion to to close the meeting. >> You made it. >> Sure, I'll make the motion.
>> There you go. Second. >> Motion to second. All those in favor? I >> against