okay we are recording good evening everyone good evening everyone this meeting is being held with the benefit of public notice as required by the open public meetings act Madam clerk would you call the role Mr Carelli here M pH
here Mr here Mr here Mr Ty here uh would everyone please rise for the flag salute and invocation pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic
for it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all dear God let us pray for those who have no voice who struggle to make ends meet and who are fa with Despair and depression may you be their Guiding
Light and give them hope and may we show compassion generosity and a Healing Hand let us always work towards a spirit of unity and collaboration in our meeting this evening as we Advocate on behalf of our community we ask all these things and those in the Silence of our heart
amen [Music] amen Madam clerk for your consideration we have the minutes of the February 4th regular council meeting so
second roll call yes um Mr Carell yes pH Mr wh yes Mr yes Mr yes we have two Communications tonight first being the uh World Down syndrome day communication which uh councilman councilwoman
Phillips is going to read thank you president Ty um the proclamation here is whereas World Down syndrome day is observed annually on March 21st to raise public awareness promote inclusivity and celebrate the contributions of
individual with Down Syndrome to our communities and whereas Down syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal condition affecting people of all Races ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds and individuals with Down Syndrome possess unique talents
abilities and potential that enrich our society and whereas individuals with Down Syndrome deserve access to Quality education meaningful employment inclusive o opportunities and the support necessary to lead fulfilling and independent lives promoting awareness
and acceptance of down syndrome helps to create a more inclusive community that values diversity equity and respect for all individuals regardless of ability and whereas families Educators Advocates medical professionals and organizations play a crucial role in empowering
individuals with Down Syndrome by fostering environments of love understanding and opportunity and whereas Hamilton Township stands in solidarity with individuals with Down syndrome and their families recognizing their achievements and reaffirming our commitment to ensuring their full
participation in all aspects of community life Hamilton Township encourages all residents to celebrate the abilities contributions and inherent worth of individuals with Down Syndrome now therefore be it resolved that Mayor Jeffrey s Martin and the Hamilton Township council do hereby Proclaim
March 21 21st 2025 as World Down syndrome day thank you councilwoman Phillips do I have a motion on communication C1 I'll make that motion I'll second Madam clerk Mr Carell yes Phillips yes Mr wher yes yes Mr to yes
C2 was receed a documentation for 9M marching unit request to permit tag day solicitation at Caesar's bals located at 110 block road Sunday March 30th and permission has already been granted by the business owner do I have a motion motion
second Mr Carabelli yes M Phillips yes Mr whan yes Mr PaPeRo yes Mr Ty yes is z resolution 125-1 152 is a resolution authorizing the renewal of the Hamilton Township Cannabis Testing laboratory
permit 1103 tl- 001001 to Green analytics East LLC for the for the year term June 18th 2025 through June 17th 2026 any members of council wishing to
comment on resolution one no any members of the public wishing to comment comment on resolution one yes um Noah bares uh have a question um where is the testing facility what's their address it is loc
I'm sorry yes go ahead 3535 merille ferridge Road Unit 101 been there for several years okay thank you very much no more questions okay thank you any other questions from members of the public
seeing none I'll make a motion to move on uh communication uh resolution 25-1 152 I'll second that mam clerk Mr Carelli yes M Phillips yes Mr wh yes Mr
Papo yes Mr Todd yes pass is 5 Z consent agenda item for your consideration we have ca1 through ca26 okay on tonight's consent agenda we have uh the emergency temporary budget resolutions CA 1 and two uh there is a
grant for a youth basketball program uh let's see we're going to be donating a vehicle to the Mercer County fire academy uh on tonight's agenda uh there is a
resolution concerning the infrastructure fund project and extending the deadline for that uh and then shared services contracts so with that I'll open it up
to council for comments questions I really don't have any I'll just I'll just mention um you already highlighted it um but I like the fact that uh obviously the donation on ca5 um as we send some of our our folks through
the uh fire training facility that's um helps us um and it also forms you know better better Bond and partnership with the Merc County Fire Training Center um I also just wanted to mention ca1 17
obviously significantly less Jersey specialized hauling um oh 17 is actually a good good one mentioned that's the Brown Fields cleanup at the neapa and that's going to be covered by a grant so that's you know another important project another item
we're we're buying another K9 uh for well we're applying for a grant to fund the purchase of a second Kine and and it'll be drug uh drug detecting I understand our first k9's
been earning its earning its pay so person yeah this one will have additional training to uh help find missing persons any members of the public with questions or
comments on which issues uh consent agenda items 1 through ca26 yeah sorry I don't want to be like you know author on your side um Noah Barnes um CA number two there's a
resolution for municipal temporary budget $89 million $831 $537 um sorry what is that for so we will be passing the uh permanent budget in we
expect to pass in April or May uh we have to get the budget from the mayor uh then we will hold budget workshops but in the meantime we have to temporarily fund the budget uh this is an authorization to fund up to
60% uh of last year's budget at last year's rates so it's kind of a way of like you know preventing a government shutdown sure on your level in a way yeah we stopped to do business right yeah okay got it and then I'm assuming uh the same
for ca1 for the sewer bill correct all right thank you you're welcome any other Rich uh rich Gallen 55 Church Street Hamilton New Jersey the Church Street near the uh crosswicks border you
don't live at the pumping station I don't live at the pumping station although many people think I do so anyway this is probably more educational for my part than anything even though I worked here for over six years so back to the temporary budget don't we have a permanent budget in place that get goes
to our fiscal year ends June 30th so we authorize the 2024 budget we haven't authorized a 2025 budget yet okay and when's our fiscal year it's it's January to December January to December you just answered my question thank you so much
then I do have one other question and you know I like having good relations with others I mean when I was a director of Public Works we did a lot of stuff for our schools things like that and under both Glenn Gilmore mayor Gilmore and mayor Benso but the what are we donating to Mercer County it's a used uh
fire vehicle uh the last couple that we had that were um at the end of their useful life we auctioned off we got about, 1500 per vehicle so at that rate if it benefits the fire academy to donate it
we're just going to go ahead and so you're thinking that this vehicle's probably worth about that same amount that's our expectation okay 200 one okay and it's and they help us as as councilman carabell said they they take some of our people and put it through
their fire academy some of our right yeah okay thank you so much education any other members of the public wishing to comment or question on the consent agenda item sorry I I have one more question about the consent agenda um the vehicle that we're doning
to the Mercer County Community College uh two weeks ago the Town Council unanimously voted to uh purchase a a used $500,000 uh new apparatus for the fire department is that that going to replace the one that we are uh donating to the
Mercer County Community College I don't think it's the same equipment it's different different it's different equipment um do we know like the Town Council which uh Firehouse the new apparatus is going to that's up to the chief it's up to the fire chief the
chief can tell you he's here tonight if he gets up later he can tell you what Firehouse he's going to put the new fire truck in thank you very much Mr uh council president thank you all right anybody else all right seeing no other members
of the public wishing to comment I'll entertain a motion on the consent agenda items I'll make that motion I'll second that Madam clerk Mr Carabelli yes M phips yes Mr whing yes Mr yes Mr yes S 5
that's it for the formal agenda now we are going to com comments from the public did anybody sign up yes first up it's Rich B Gall see you here so um just a couple of things so the first
thing before I talk about the pumping station and my my home address um I came before you guys probably well over a year ago and um I was having are you all familiar how how long do I have
three okay that'll be fine so you're all familiar with the WWA that's across from the um post office of 130 by the Hamilton Market Marketplace so as you're coming down clockner Road you're cross 130 and now you're on Cross week's Hamilton Square Road the first driveway
going in the wa into the Wawa is considered to be in the functional area this is engineering stuff the functional area of the intersection no left turns are allowed so there was a no left turn sign at the Wawa and had that little island there little concrete Island and
pushes car to the right and had carbs pushing in that got knocked down and it was not getting reput back up and um you could just sit there and see cars making illegal left-and turns out of there including police cars state troopers on
our own guys and uh because there's no sign so um I excuse the language I bitched and moaned over and over again to the town you got to get this fixed this is a catastrophe waiting to happen people are crossing
five Lanes to get into the Sixth Lane in order to go right to go 130 South somebody's going to get broadsided and if there's kids in the car the town could could absolutely be held liable forget about governmental immunity okay and again this is my field um uh so um
nothing happen it's also my field and I would that's that's not exactly true but please continue okay well I represent attorneys and I go to court and I testify a trial I do investigations and if there's something there and it's not there and you've been put on notice that
that sign is down and needs to be go put back then but we can agree to disagree so anyway I came before you guys and I presented my case to you guys and lo and behold the next thing you know the signs back up and it's still there the issue I have and why I'm bringing up now is
there're still bars making illegal left ter out of there and it's probably one in every three goes left when they can't they're Crossing that painted yellow island in the in the middle we need to get some police enforcement out there and we could make a fortune in the tickets that are getting Ritt there
absolutely that's all I want to say how much time do you spend at the WWA Rich I'm in that WWA I probably stop there once a day so die all St I sit there and I go there and I sit there and watch you know this is something oh absolutely I'm anal about this
if you see that happening what's best if you see uh traffic infractions is in the moment to call the police uh well it's too late they're gone I sat there one time I watched the person make an illegal turn and then I watched a Township I hope there's nobody here Township police car make a left turn
shirt and I say there we go he's going to get him nope they just dispersed but anyway I've taken videos I've taken all this kind of stuff so they just need to have a you know just we take note of it yeah just have a just stop in there every now and then and just look for that cut stuff you're not going to miss
it not you talk about the police anyway let's forget about that real quick my address I live in 55 Church Street 08620 uh the N digigit Zip's different but I live on the crosswick and Hamilton Border in
Hamilton the Hamilton Township sewage pumping station is at 55 Church Street 08620 different n digigit zip I've had so many things delivered to the pumping station I've actually had some things delivered for the pumping station to my house and we've got a bit of a
relationship there um but I've had things just vanish where they they the I have like the farmers's dog which is dog food expensive dog food left outside the gate at the pumping station only to have somebody pick a picture taken only to have somebody pick it up and take it
away and I never see it again um the most recent one is I had a certified letter from one of the attorneys I work for sent to me it was sent back to the attorney as non-deliverable because they tried to deliver to the pumping station
the engineering department and this was a good thing I thought send a petition out to all the people on my short stretch of Church Street goes from Broad Street to uh to the crosswicks creek um and uh asking what name would
we like to see our street changed to and I the vote was North Cross North Church Street and that was the end of it nothing ever happened so we're still that position put out the uh petition who the uh our engineering your engineering department how long ago was
that few years ago okay it's been that long so I'm just hoping that maybe it's just more incon you there's a public safety issue there too as as councilman peraro pointed out we have made an effort in the P we've had we're 40 square mile Town yeah different little
uh neighborhoods uh there have been some there has been some duplication we've made an effort to correct as many of those as possible possible uh so we'll take another look at Church Street and see what we can figure out can I have another like 30 seconds back we'll give you another two
after other people chance to talk now come back up uh let's see our next person on the list is Steve Dixon I prepared something so I can stay on track uh good evening my name is Steve Dixon 81 napue Avenue I've lived
here for 15 years but more importantly I spent the last 12 years of my life serving our Town's residents visitors and businesses some background about me I'm the captain of engine 3 B platoon a past vice president of fmba 84 and currently the vice president of fmba 284
the Fire officer local I'm a disabled United States Marine Corps veteran with service in Iraq last year I spent 8 months living in absolute hell after suffering a pulmonary injury at a commercial fire here in town my children watched as I struggled to carry laundry basket up a flight of stairs I couldn't
play with them I slept sitting up in a chair I was unable to go on Hikes during our family vacation something we had been looking forward to for over a year my children saw me cry they saw me in pain and they saw me in fear I now have permanent lung damage and must take
prescribed steroids daily to reduce the risk of my lungs fing with fluid despite explaining that I didn't feel ready to return to work that I couldn't climb a St a set of stairs and t-shirt and shorts without getting I was sent back and instructed to use four puffs of Albuterol before responding to calls while carrying over
80 lbs of equipment on my first day back I responded to a house fire and collapse in the front yard I thought I was going to die I'd never been in a situation where I couldn't get air into my lungs where I felt my heart trying to beat out of my chest I don't share this for sympathy I share it because I want
you all to understand that I'm one of the most qualified people to speak about Captain pushman situation our injuries are nearly identical Joe and I became very close last year and lean on each other for support during our recovery we spoke weekly experiencing the same symptoms I was terrified that my career
in the fire service was over that I wouldn't be able to provide for my family fortunately I was able to return to work despite my lung damage Joe wasn't so fortunate his doctor told him he was too sick and too injured to continue his career as a fire captain he was forced to retire March 1st was his
retirement date 2 weeks before his retirement Joe was informed that he could not use his accumulated sick time for his last two weeks of employment because of the clause in an employee handbook the union grieved this and the grievance was denied we're firefighters we take our oath we sign a blank check
to the public one that includes sacrificing our health our mental and physical well-being and if necessary our very lives to save others this is the social contract the social contract in return the will of the people administered by elected officials and those they appoint is supposed to ensure
that we and our families are taken care of when that day comes if if that day comes Hamilton's Administration has come close but ultimately failed to uphold their end of this social contract as a union representative I'm asking this Council to help correct this misstep and allow Captain pushman to use his earned sick leave during his last two weeks of
employment as a resident I'm demanding that no expense be spared taking care of our public safety personnel if anyone has seen our Union social media accounts you know I'm not alone with that sentiment I urge this Council to form a committee to review the Township's employee handbook bring it up to date
and Grant the administ rtion the discretion needed to ensure that no employee especially one injured in the line of duty is deny the use of their earned sick time simply because they are retiring to borrow word from the administration's response to our grievance I'm not unsympathetic to their role as stewards as taxpayer dollars
ensuring both F fiscal responsibility and the well-being of town employees re we rely on them to balance the budget so we have functioning equipment and can staff our department properly but as someone who prides himself on being rational and logical I can find no justification a for this decision other
than the fact that vacation time is paid hour for hour while sick time is paid at half rate upon retirement the financial savings to the town are negligible in the grand scheme of the budget not nearly enough to justify turning our backs on someone suffering from a lifelong disability as a result of
protecting this community last Friday I stood in front of the US capital peacefully demonstrating because I feel my VA benefits are at risk of being cut as I did I took comfort in knowing that I live in New Jersey more specifically in Hamilton we're workers and those who put themselves between the public and Harm's
Way are treated with respect and elected by elected and appointed officials it's heartbreaking to realize that no matter where we turn I'm that's your cut all right that's your bell counil we are in we are in arbitration
now so I caution you about what you state because the the the administration will be responding in appropriate legal documents so I one more line he's got one more let one more go ahead let him all right please it's heartbreaking to realize that no matter where we turn
after sacrificing our health and dedicating Our Lives to serving we always seem to end up here standing before elected officials causing a scene and demanding fair treatment it's frustrating to see how little priori is given to those to dedicate their lives serving a community if we don't start valuing the people who put others first
we'll struggle to recruit and retain good firefighters hilon has always been a town that takes care of its own that is something to be proud of I sincerely hope this Administration recognizes a mistake and corrects it before we lose what makes us special thank you Steve thank you uh thank you for being here
thank you to all the fire fighters for being here tonight we appreciate uh you joining us uh our Township attorney has advised us not to comment on any specifics uh but we are taking your comments under advisor perfect thank
you next up is shamal Shane Mo 7 Desiree drive I'm also the president of local 284 I just want to hand you guys this is a copy of title 40 here is there one for every
okay and also wanted to comment obviously Joe pushman issue is what it is I disagree with it wholeheartedly Kathy and I have gone back and forth about this but this is the township handbook and it hasn't been updated touched we were we became members of the
Township in 2001 there's not a single line in here that references the fire department so we're held to the to a standard of a handbook that has never even been adapted to our situation and the way we work we've had people suspended over this handbook we've in
2022 we requested that the handbook be changed it still hasn't been done in fact the handbook is so poorly written that it's on photocopy after photoc copy of outdated policy the policy that Joe pushman the uh vacation
policy was from previous administrations this administration had time to correct it they didn't so that's where we're at now I'll give you an example one more example on this handbook and then I'll leave it I'll leave you to it uh we've had issues with light duty over the past five
years I we had members placed on light duty I requested a copy of the light duty policy and was told it's in the handbook it is not in the handbook so I opened it what I got was a sheet of paper that was done on a Word document without
signatures dates or times sent back to me so we're just creating policy where we lack them so it's time to update this policy this handbook and get it into today's standards thank you Shane thank you
Shane next is dawn sorry Don I can't read your last name I'm the wife of Captain Joe pushman oh Don been here tonight but he's recovering he had surgery about 7 weeks ago and he had an infection we just got
him out of the hospital this morning I just want to thank all the firefighters for all the support they've shown Joe myself and my family to this Township committee I think it's a disgrace how you have treated my husband who has dedicated 20 years as a full-time firefighter and does not
include the 10 years of volunteering at wrestling H to most of you this is a job for him this was a career that he loved and was dedicated to it for his life as of today he still does not have a date to meet with the pension board or a date to settle the Injustice you created of
making him use his vacation time for the last two weeks of service my husband had tried three times to come back to work since December of 2023 the last time he left fighting a fire he was taken away in an
ambulance he wasn't the only one injured that day and I'm so thankful for chief Kramer he kept me calm and stayed with him until I arrived after that incident he was told for the doctor that he was no longer able to fight fires this broke him and he asked and he was willing to
stay on and work for his rest of the next 5 years the lovely ba told him no his job was labeled as a firefighter and you are to fight fire fires and we have nothing for you he wanted and tried so hard to
finish his career but this didn't happen and the way you have treated him is so wrong I hope you learn from this mistake and I am hoping that you can move forward and treat other families with more respect than what you did for
my husband thank you thank you [Music] any other members of the public wishing to comment or ask questions that rich how much time I you have another
two minutes can I get two more minutes after that if I sit down minutes okay so anyway um on the push on the pushman issue and again I don't have all the details but I did follow it on on Facebook and uh and I was
flabbergasted and here's a guy and uh councilman carelly counc P you work for government the count the county right so I'm sure you know there are a lot of people out there that just blow through all their time they'll blow through
their vacation and six times every single year unless somebody questions it they'll bring doctor's notes and all that other stuff so here's a God that accumulated time and um and then the other thing what will happen I think this is why this rule was in there is that a lot of times people will get
close to retirement then they start blow in their sick time to get rid of it to use it so they'll start eating up their sick time and um and and they're not sick but they just do it and they might get a doctor's note and get away with it that's not the case here this is legitimate somebody that's
legitimately um disabled and is and and and needs to use his sick time he shouldn't be have to use his fake vac he should be able if he has vacation left over at the end of the year he should be able to cash it in and get paid for it this is I just don't understand it and then the other thing with if somebody is
gets to the point where they're taking time off and they they they're really not fit to do their job come back to do the same job well under the Family Medical Leave Act is we are obligated to attempt to find something that he can do instead of that if he's unable to do his
job and this is right under smla or FMLA whatever it is and again I was trained and all this stuff might have changed I don't know but we need to make an effort to find him something else close to his salary doesn't have to be exact where he is capable of doing that without having
to put himself in a very vulnerable position where he could get even further hurt that type of thing so thanks for listening to me I appreciate it any other members of the public wishing to oh Janice I didn't see you
there Janice uh JN is GL 432 Trinity Avenue Cornell Heights um I hate to change the subject but it sounds like this man has dedicated his life to this Township and he should be rewarded for all the effort he put in from what I have heard I don't
know about it but what I understand I mean this man should be rewarded for doing an outstanding job okay I'm going to some little chy things sweet Brier uh where the solar panel place was supposed to be there are so many trees knocked down
laying along the road it looks God awful are they supposed to clean that up or does the township clean that up knocked down or fell down fell down it looks like they fell down depends if it's in the right away or if it's it's on the side but on private it's near the road property County County Road County
Ro that's uh that's a County Road isn't it well I talked about cleaning up the entrance to 295 today and I went from from the county to the state and then I mentioned about this and they said it was you guys the state did we'll check
about clean up we we'll we'll check make sure make sure it's us we'll look we'll look into it okay uh so I mean that looks God awful and of course then the side alongside what we call it the Crick we who lived in Cornell height since we were born but whad Pond that there's all
kinds of garbage down there that need should be cleaned up to that other side looks God awful all the way up to the over paath and then conium I thought it was all just going to be the building in the front but it looks like we're clearing the whole thing is anybody watching what they're
doing that they don't go back to where that stream was because people had concerns about them wrecking the stream way in the back yeah and is they're being watched are they being watched yeah they they would uh con they would be forced to Haw construction if they
violate uh the terms under which the project was approved so they're being watched because somebody called me up and asked me about that I say well I will check and uh because you know it was supposed to be just the one building in front but they're going way God knows all the way and the dust is phenomenal
50,000 fet but it's a big building okay then the last thing somebody asked me to ask about was D Lorenzo's the biggest issue in Hamilton this week I mean how can to some people it be approved by the planning board for a
cannabis dispensary and then it goes bankrupt the next month I mean that doesn't make sense it was approved in February but then in March they declared we're closing it down this has been ongoing for this has been ongoing for a while uh
there's a lot of articles I don't know how much we can discuss or not but if you read the articles on the post uh they were already on a payment for their taxes so this has been going on their problems have been going on for a while as far as I think it's right to put their personal business yeah I was just
going to say too uh councilman that as far as the Cannabis you know the landlord has a right to recruit tenants whether his property is currently occupied or not so that's really private sector business we're not you know we
didn't suggest to the landlord that he go find a new tenant while the pizza shop was still in operation right so that was a decision by the T by the landlord to find a new potential new tenant and uh the reason it came before
council is because there are special procedures for cannabis uh facilities they need special approvals and in return uh the township gets special Revenue uh from those types of businesses we have approved as a
Township a very limited number of cannabis facilities so we have multiple uh businesses that are competing uh to get the approval and get their doors open first so that they're
Among The Limited number of uh cannabis facilities that we're going to allow to open in the township because like two meetings ago you approved one for bauno once loan wasn't it yeah so these two are going to be close together then you
can't we also passed uh an ordinance subsequent to that uh mandating uh that there be a certain distance between cannabis facilities so it's kind of a race to see who actually gets their
doors open first uh they have they still have to go to planning they still have to get permits uh so you know it's a matter of who who gets there first just a letter of support yeah the only thing we do is is a letter of support so that
they can go to the state and get further approvals that they need uh in order to go into operation but if the township um issues permits uh well maybe not the permits but a CO certainly for a
cannabis facility no other cannabis facility is going to be approved or allowed uh to move forward within a certain distance of that so those two would be too close together but we don't know
um we don't know which one or either is going to be viable right so we are supportive uh we have been supportive it's been unanimous uh and I've had to abstain on these but uh you know generally we've been supportive of these
new businesses that are trying to uh bring jobs uh to the community and and bring additional tax revenue to the township but in a limited way okay all right I just because people go how can it you know just Clos and then
it was approved before it was closed you know and so I have no idea up to the landlord okay thank you sure who else anybody else wishing to uh apologies I hate to be a your name and address again sorry uh Noah bares
Noah 1988 Arena Drive Hamilton New Jersey uh now we just said that you know it was up to the landlord but also with like the planning board as well um well if they need a variance if they need a variance only if they need a variance would it go to the planning they have to
go and and get a permit to do any uh construction then before they could open their doors to the public they would need to get a certificate of AC do does anybody on the council know how many variances they need for a uh cannabis dispensary well now until they put bring
the application in front of the planning board they don't necessarily need any variances they're moving established structure now uh when when it comes to the planning board um are the members of the planning board is that is that public knowledge oh yeah you can attend those meetings too oh oh
incredible um anybody I said May uh sound a little dumb but you know is any be on the Town Council currently a member of the planning board yes Mr Council wh okay okay all right um thank you for your
time appreciate it meetings are posted on the website on the website I appreciate it thank you find everything you need on thank you Town Council come on up yeah Brendan chuchuk 61 Walt Whitman Way Hamilton Township New Jersey um I
just had a very simple quick question uh a lot of people in Hamilton Township don't know that we have a Township flag the one that is standing right behind you and when I learned that we have a Hamilton Township flag I wanted to acquire one of my own and the way I originally went about doing that was I came to the Township Municipal Building
here and I was told that I could contact the company directly that produces the flags I don't know what that issue was and when I did get in contact your the office was very you know willing to give me the information contact information to get in touch with them and the price
was a little out of my price range for a flag that I would want to pay for so I was wondering if it's possible to obtain a p image of the flag or something I couldn't find one online I could find pictures of the flag at various events throughout Hamilton's history but I
couldn't find the exact flag itself like how you can find them on Wikipedia or any other sort of you know website that displays these kind of things so I was just wondering what the process would be to try and get that or if I should talk to someone else about it and I was just looking for council's advisement on
that yeah if you leave us your contact information we'll see what we can figure out we have a pretty good sign shop who's pretty good with graphic types of and and we uh we make a pretty good calendar every year so uh we do have some folks who have some expertise we
might be able to help you thank yeah anybody else wishing to yes sir oh yeah we'll get you next yeah that's okay come on up hi everybody Sean Lucas for
Christopher Drive Yardville you mentioned uh councilman Tha you mentioned about um um a limited amount of these dispensaries right three is that what there is three so I believe there's one now that's at the old or one
going into the old um Friday's location is that correct proposed yeah and again uh we've had several proposals uh but it's a matter of uh these businesses need to um actually show that they have the
wherewithal to open their doors to the public so it's a matter of who are those first three retail um contenders if you will operations going to be who's the who's approving the three I mean who is that
you limited so what we do is we write a letter of support for uh cannabis businesses that have a proposal to open uh we'll look at the location uh we want to make sure that
it's it's an appropriate place for that type of business um and then what do you mean by I mean what do you appropriate is it is there certain guidelines you're like correct zoning follows the ordinances
so uh then we'll write letter of support for it and that that goes to the state and the state uh approves right the state approves it Canabis then at that point they come back to the township just like any
business would uh to renovate a space to open their business uh they would need to get permits I mean me myself I think three is three too many for the township sure I'm sure a lot of other people probably think the same you there's ones
in neighbor towns bordon Town's got one Lawrenceville I mean I'm sure Trenton bord has two so I think three is too many that's why I'm asking if you guys are all approving that up here it's really think about that but thank you
okay he's got five he's got five hi my name is Scott Sullivan I live at five vintage Court in Hamilton um so before getting into what I wanted to talk about today just want to say um from hearing all these other
people speak today that as a resident um I think it's only fair that somebody serving their community and um so horribly impacted in the line of duty to be taken care of just seems like the right thing to do um moving on what I came tonight to
talk about was the um upcoming update to the state development and Redevelopment plan so last month I went to the Outreach that the state was putting out in Mercer County and I kind of wanted to understand what the township Council
thought about that and to what extent they were looking to make changes to um I guess the township as a whole in line with that um so this is the fifth town I've lived in in New Jersey and to
me it seems like the best town that has the most potential um based on the things that they're talking about in the updated plan and I also remember from last year's state of the township address from the mayor how many of his priorities that he highlighted in that
um could be going hand inand with things in the updated plan um so I just kind of wanted to see what you all wor think of in regards to that yeah so I wasn't able to attend the meeting uh that you are
speaking of and um you know it's it's something that we're certainly G to be wanting to take a look at as the state continues to do their work on that um and you know I think certainly we're
going to want to cooperate with that I can tell you that a focus uh has been Redevelopment uh and we've made a lot of Headway on that you may have noticed uh that we were funding work today uh to clean up a
Brownfield uh in Hamilton uh that has been sitting vacant for decades right so that's been an area of focus for this uh Council for this Administration uh you'll notice that we are in the process
of constructing a new municipal building on the site of what had been a vacant shopping center that sat empty for again for decades before we came in did our work there to uh build a new uh Municipal
Building there and we're going to have a a new energy efficient uh municipal building on that property uh we're going to share that property with the Board of Ed uh which is going to save the taxpayers money um we're going to make sure that there are Energy Efficiency
measures put in place uh again to save the uh taxpayers money uh you think about Bramley uh we're working on bringing jobs to to Bramley uh bringing new industry to bronley uh we're working
on like the old bronley fire property again that sat vacant for too many years uh before this Administration did the work to piece together the uh small lots that comprised the totality of the
Bramley fire property and now we're making progress toward building modern affordable housing uh in place of what have been uninhabitable buildings really a safety hazard there U so those are the types of things that
we're doing uh the type of long range uh thinking and planning and um projects that we're engaging in uh in order to best serve the future needs of of the township okay and would the township
consider um getting an Endor plan through the state a what um an endorsed plan I'm open to um you know discussing
it yeah I mean best practices right so so we want to um you know just adhere to uh the highest standards of planning um you know as I feel we have and if there's an
opportunity to work in collaboration with the state to hold ourselves to the highest possible standard for our residents I I think I I think we'd you know be open to that great thank you thank you yes sir you can take a
second oh we got a first timer there yeah thanks for those my body one one of our old Gallery friends oh yeah Joe still World 23 Grayson Avenue it's great to be back I'm going to miss this Council chamber in the history stre it's presented for the township but I
actually want to '90s Vintage wallpaper I love it I love it okay 9s better be turned to a history museum but I'd like to yield my time to Mr Rich B gallan I may be back at the podium I listen we don't do that we don't do that can't do
that there's no yielding time we'll be here all night talk again or I'm done you're done you came up twice right is this about your address during huh is this about the address no oh I would like to talk to about that also probely different I can talk to you guys separately yeah sorry sorry rich you get
two bites at the Apple during public comment I'll just finish my remark that I was planning to say that was a nice nice effort at getting rich the next time you know try to get him another two minutes they want to cut you off they're going to take you with the cane Rich uh
what are we going to turn the municipal building into I've heard of school possibilities like that hopefully the Historical Society can maybe take it over or something because we shouldn't be tearing down this historical building with Jack rafy you know as the first reelected mayor Hamilton when the uh
falona took full effect in the 70s it'd be a shame I don't want to see this building go away yeah I I understand the sentiment uh there aren't finalized plans yet for what's going to happen to this building uh one of the things I will say is uh a large part of the
reason that we're moving is because this building is not ADA Compliant uh We've well okay our Township attorney wants me to say it is appreciate that but uh not when our uh uh elevator
breaks down we've had to cancel Council meetings when our elevator breaks uh so there have been various problematic issues walking in the front door and immediately being confronted with two flights of stairs isn't ideal for ease
of access for our uh residents so these are some of the reasons that we're leaving the building and that might make it problematic for certain uses uh for other entities you know I don't know how you would I mean you would really have to do like a total gut Ren
of this building to really bring it into it is going to The Bard ofed and just don't know I mean because it' be kind of tough to make a school out of this building is what I would imagine yeah we're not the ofed yeah that's up to them well fair fair enough but
hopefully some form of is preserved maybe a piece of wood or that thing above your head the the plot gets moved over just something to remember the old place about cuz I remember here five years ago when to get very Lively around here and got of miss those days well you know uh the first time I was council
president My slogan was make Council meetings boring again thank you all right have a wonderful all right once again Brendon chuk 1 Walt Whitman way I just wanted to make a brief thank you I'm a Ukrainian American and I'm glad that Hamilton Township
stands with our ukrainian-american community in November of last year uh councilman whan joined us at my parish's 75th Anniversary at St Joseph at Ukrainian Catholic church and uh a little bit before that I actually gave the mayor a tour along with my father of
Bill Mansion which is owned by the Ukrainian National Home it's been owned by the national home since about the 60s but it's a very beautiful historical building um one thing we do there every year is a Ukrainian Independence Day Festival at the end of August so I just wanted to make a formal invitation to
everyone on Council that we would like you for you to join us at that event it's a very powerful event in my opinion it's a good chance to meet the Ukrainian Americans not just in Hamilton Township but also in Mercer County and outside of Mercer County we have plenty of people who come uh from you know middle sex
County Burlington County all the way up from whipy where there's another Ukrainian national community and uh um overall I just wanted to say like once again thank you so much and the importance of coming to one of these events is Monumental to me last year at
our uh event we had Trenton councilwoman Jennifer Williams and Trenton mayor Reed gusciora so considering that it's in Hamilton Township I would just like to extend the invitation to you guys and hopefully I'll see you there so thank you for that invitation uh now that more
than ever I would love to attend uh Council two questions um Johan can you please just make sure we get the information absolutely I will forward it to your Council so what was the cost to the flag that you Char it was well over $25 okay that's that's kind of what put
me in a weird spot if it's less than $25 let me know $24.99 we got you thank you all right thank you any other members of the public wishing to come up seeing none we're going to move to
council comments who'd like to start I can leave things off um thank you all for coming out this evening um I just wanted to uh you know I I think the St Patrick's state parade was and I know
chy probably allude to this in some of my colleagues here on the dayas was just a good Community event it brought a lot of people together um great weather um which has been atypical over the last few years we struggled with the weather but it was just a good Community event
and uh it was good seeing a lot of people out there supporting uh um you know their either Irish heritage or their their uh you know just just a time to have fun and uh come together as a community so I thought that was a beautiful event um I also wanted to
mention we have coming up this Friday uh March 21st through our office of econ iic development partnering uh with the County Office of Economic Development um a job uh Mercy County job uh Hamilton Township job fair I should say at
Colonial firehouse that's from 11: to 3 um led by uh director Fred Dumont and uh deputy director Kate Kane they've done a wonderful job I think they have over 70 uh or so even more um employers who are attending the event so if you know of
someone who's looking for seeking employment it's a good event for job Seekers it really is uh at the colonial Firehouse from 11:00 to 3 on the 21st um that's all I have to say tonight thank you all for coming out this evening thank you um I guess I move follow the
around the circle here or horseshoe um again thank you uh everyone for coming out tonight I appreciate the questions we got from the public um obviously we have a large um uh contingency of uh of our Township uh fire firefighters and
fire fire women don't want to exclude anybody um I know you single I know you mentioned that Anthony and and Pat both work for the county so they work for public sector unions I myself spent 48 years in a private sector Union a building trait so I understand what
you're going through but naturally we're not allowed to comment on it okay I just want to say um solidarity right so you guys are here together uh trying to support um a brother that's struggling and hopefully at the end of the day um
it gets resolved so um I just want to say I appreciate you come um other than that Anthony I'd like to say about the parade I wasn't there but uh I'm sure it was a good day I was sick and uh my friend here up front about the Ukrainian uh event that I had the pleasure of
attending um I just got to say I was truly amazed at uh at the event that they put on every year um it's really it's something how it brings the Ukrainian Community together um to celebrate and uh hopefully this year
some of us uh rest of us at council could come to the next event um at the end of the summer so look forward to it that's all I have council president thank you okay um I just want to concur with both of my colleagues uh again the St Patrick's Day pray is a great time we
have people who come from all over to join us for that parade um just a little funny comment I saw that that a parent was looking to see if it was true that we didn't have school in Hamilton yesterday because their son or daughter was trying to fool them into thinking that that's how important St Patrick St
is in Hamilton thought that was smart kid um but also to everyone who who's here tonight in solidarity I'm a teacher I'm public school teacher um so we I'm with you as well and I hope we can resolve
this appropriately and again you know we can't comment but um we do hear you and thank to everyone else for coming out and commenting and asking good questions and we'll look forward to seeing you at the next meeting I don't think I need to say anything I think you already know where
I stand it'll be fixed that's enough I want to thank everyone um thank my Council colleagues I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight um and I just want to know we have always had a good partnership with our firefighters
we've worked together from the days of the fire districts uh to do the right thing for our community um the work that you do is appreciated I understand that there's you know a set of circumstances
that I can't talk about um but I I am confident uh that you guys are going out and working hard to keep the public safe every day um and you know your work is appreciated and I'm confident that we
can continue to have a good working partnership for years to come um so thank you uh for all your service um and with that I'm going to wish everyone a good
night meeting's adjourned