you. All right. Thank you all for coming tonight. Welcome to the special township committee meeting April 24th, 2025. Adequate notice uh of this meeting has been uh posted in accordance with the open public meetings act by posting the
written notice and agenda in the meeting of the meeting on the bulletin board in the municipal building 1000 route 10 township of Hannover and by hand delivering mailing or faxing such notice to the following newspapers. Morris County Daily Records, Star Ledger, Hannover Eagle,
and my final statement. Roll call. Committeeman Cahill here. Committeeman Farasa here. Committeeman Francioli here. Deputy Mayor Mahalo here. Mayor Gallagher is excused this evening. As many of you know, he has the honor of serving on the board of
trustees for the 200th club of Mars County. And this evening, the 200 Club is holding its annual val V valor award celebration and Mayor Gallagher is attending in support of that important event. We appreciate you understanding his absence this evening. So we have
four members in attendance. [Music] At this time, please stand for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for soy. One nation under God, indivisible, with justice for
ally God. Please, please watch over and guide this governing body with an abundance of wisdom and understanding to help make the best decisions for our residents. Please bless our first responders and township volunteers who help to keep us all safe. Also, bless our township employees and residents.
Lastly, please let us pray for the men and women of the US armed forces who stand vigil over us always. Amen. Amen. [Music] You good? I'm good. Okay. [Music] Good evening everyone. Uh first on the
agenda, we have two letters of communication. The first is a letter of retirement from Denise Brennan as superintendent of recreation and parks administration effective July 1st, 2025. Denise has been a dedicated employee of
handover township for over 13 years. The second is a letter of resignation from Dominic Mancini as Leo3 with the handover Police Department effective May 2nd, 2025. May I have a motion to approve Denise's retirement and officer
Sir Mancini's resignation? Make a quick just make a note. Um I got to work with Denise for the past 8 years and she was terrific to work with. She was uh really made my job as director of recreation uh pleasurable and uh she did so much for the town on a shoestring budget, raising
funds, um pulling off all of these events, tirelessly working hours and hours. Uh sad to see her go. Sad to see her go. Would you like to make a motion? Uh well, I'll make the motion. [Music] Second. All in favor? So approved.
[Music] Next order of business is the public hearing and adoption of ordinance numbers 9-2025 and 10-2025. Ordinance 9-2025, an ordinance of the township committee of the township of Hanover in
the county of Mar state of New Jersey amending and supplementing chapter 179 entitled Motel of the Code of the Township. Proof of publication that ordinance 9 and the notice of introduction appeared in full in the April 9th issue of the daily record.
Ordinance 10-2025, an ordinance of the township committee, township of handover, amending and supplementing ordinance number 82025 and chapter 61 of the code of the township entitled salaries and compensation personnel policies which chapter establishes
regulations and rates and compensation for the officers and full-time and part-time civilian non-UN employees of the township of handover. proof of publication that ordinance 10 and the notice of introduction impured in full in the April 30th issue of the daily
record. At this moment, may I have a motion to convene the public hearing on ordinance 9, 2025 and 10-2? So move. Is there anyone in chambers wishing to be heard concerning any of these ordinances? If so, please state your
name and address for the record. And if I may, Deputy Mayor and to the U municipal clerk, there are with respect to ordinance 209-2025, there's just some uh there's no change in the actual material
substance of the ordinance. They're just really grammatical changes. I just wanted to read into the record just so that it's that it's clear. And again, it's just really uh all for presentation. Chapter 179-4E, we're changing agencies
apostrophe s to agencies ie s. Chapter 179-4f changing suspended to from changing a suspended to the word suspended. Chapter 179-5 changing the second b paragraph to c. So it would
just just clarify the appropriate order. And then uh chapter 179- A, we're removing paragraph formatting A. The paragraph does not require a formatting or a letter. And then section 8 of the
ordinance, that's chapter 179-9A5, we're changing falls to fails for a typographical adjustment. and um chapter 179-9B 2B, we're changing it from T30 to
just the number 30. Again, just grammatical changes for presentation. If I may just have a motion to accept to introduce for final adoption for the ordinance as amended with those changes, please. Second. Second. All in favor with those changes.
I thank you. Is there anyone that would like to be heard? Please go to the microphone, state your name and address for the record. Hearing none. Oh, good evening. Tilt that microphone down,
please. And yeah, name and mad address. There you go. My name is Christine Gaddy. I'm a Hannib Township resident. I thank you all for serving our community. I'm here to support the adoption of ordinance 92025 is imperative that this ordinance
be adopted and enforced to the full extent of the law. The owners of the red carpet in Scottish in and extended stay America are negative negatively impacting our community and continue to be a drain on all of our resources. The owners have ignored our regulations and are not using their establishments as
intended. The crime and poor living conditions coming from these establishments is alarming. Red carpet ins and extended state Americas are known for this and we understand that they have countless violations from the DCA in town. Towns where these hotels have closed have seen
a 50% reduction in crime. The owners of these properties have shown to not care about our community or the people temporarily residing there. I won't go into these details because it's well documented and known. The owners must be held accountable and be monitored very closely to ensure immediate compliance.
Thank you for your service and seeing that our safety and financial stability of our communities is done properly. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Good evening. U my name is Britney and I am a handover resident. Uh my
family and I um moved here a couple years ago and we recently did an addition to our home because we made the conscious decision that this is where we want to raise our kids and continue growing with our community. We love our town. We love our neighbors. Um we love everything about, you know, our school
system. Um I'm disappointed that it has come to this. Um this type of ordinance that we're discussing is not something new. other towns have similar regulations that are already in effect and more importantly have been enforcing them. Um I'm definitely in
um in agreeance with the ordinance of um 9- um 2025 and I want to make sure that um you know it it gets enforced. Thank you. Can you just state your name for the record, please? Your first and last name. Britney Smith. Smith. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Anyone else? Please state please state your name and address for the record and tilt the microphone up. Excuse me, sir. Um, is this open for any discussion or only? This is just this for now. We're going to open for the
I'll come back. Okay. Thank you. Um, just a quick note, this particular ordinance is really giving the town uh one more bullet in the chamber to help improve the situation at that motel. Uh, right now our hands are very tied.
There's limited we can do. You guys have been telling us, we've been seeing it. Um, it it's the the motel itself in particular um is is in disrepair. it's in unhealthy and this is really just
giving us one more tool that we can use uh to get in there and help make improvements um to that hotel. Um yeah, and and deputy mayor that's that goes to all the hotels within the township. It's not just for one. It's just you you've
heard a lot of concerns by various residents or even occupants at the hotel about the conditions to your point. Yes. Yes. No, thank you. This one just seems to have a bullseye on it. We get complaints continually from it. Um but no, it is across the board and it's
really again giving us the opportunity uh to get our people in there and you know make some improvements in that hotel and and help help the you know the residents that are there help them out. So, and and if I if I may just add to
your comments, Deputy Mayor, this is to to your point, it's really the DCA has the jurisdiction. The the town construction office and things of that nature as far as in the interior does not have the ability to uh make those type of inspections inside. However,
with this ordinance and expanding the the mo the hotel licensing ordinance now that it would be important and and it's a requirement if you're going to have a license to operate a hotel, any hotel in the township, you have to complete the application. You have to comply with the
ordinance. It's your responsibility to do that and it's for the health and safety of everyone that's utilizing the facility. It's to make sure that the conditions that at least are being stated uh we hope that won't be the case but we we have an opportunity to make
sure that that the conditions are appropriate standards and for health and safety and welfare of anybody who uses uh the facility and if the hotel cannot comply then there's a process where the license would not be issued by this governing body just like there's
licenses whether it be on the local level for liquor licenses and other types of licenses that you issue. The same thing goes for a hotel license. And it, you know, the governing body had talked about this and we've worked with the administration. We've worked with,
of course, Joe Giorgio, our township administrator, U, Bla1 Blanchow, the township planner, Jerry Misera, our engineer, Christa Deorgio, our township clerk, as as well as Sean Donlin, our construction official to to get all of the information about what's important
so that um during the and of course our health officer uh as well and even the the chief of police was consulted just from a standpoint of health and safety so that going forward these concerns would be there'd be an opportunity for the governing body to make sure it's a
compliant up hotel facility. Yeah. So, this is a um you know, just a bit of a history lesson. The first hotel ordinance in this town was 1961. Last time it was amended was 1991. Um, so it it it was due and and and thank you for
the folks that came up and had some uh statements to make and your support because uh this definitely will add some tools to our toolbox and give us a little more authority to actually not only protect the people. You know, we mentioned the people here in town and our safety and and the resources of our
police department being uh expended over there, but also the people that do rightfully belong and stay in that hotel, their health, their safety. It's a it's a two-way street. So hopefully this will work out well for everybody involved. Thank you.
Yeah. This is licensed as a hotel, permitted as a hotel. It is not a long-term living facility. So fundamentally, this is in violation. Um it is sad to see that people have subjected by the state of New Jersey to
such living conditions. It's inhumane. and Hanover Township is making a step to try to improve the living conditions that would exist there and to make sure that if you operate a hotel in this community, it's going to be operated under these conditions. So, I think it's
a giant step forward and hopefully DCA will understand that they have a responsibility, they have an obligation and they have a funding to provide proper care for the people that they are to serve. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
Peruska. All right. Any more [Music] comments? Good. Uh I I echo John's, but our our concerns um go beyond the local level. Our concerns uh were brought to the
county. uh the administrator and I and uh mayor at the time met with uh members of the county commissioners uh who in essence uh had very little control over the use of the hotel and uh directed their uh directed
us to the DCA. The DCA has the oversight on that particular hotel motel as it does with other hotels and motel. Oh, Fred's going to correct me if I'm wrong here, but yeah, and and to your point,
Ron, it's all about the the health and safety for all of the hotels, how things have changed over the years. And, you know, from a standpoint of the the DCA can't be as maybe as involved or they're not to make sure those standards are complied with, but that's what we're
doing here for every hotel within the township. I think we're I think we're taking the first right step uh as handover and handover always has. Uh but beyond that uh I I do think that uh uh down in Trenton, some of our uh
political uh representatives there should really take a a further look at at what's going on in these in these areas and uh how the uh living conditions are and under what circumstances these people have to be have to tolerate, you know. But thank
you, Fred. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Freni. Anyone else? We're good. We're good. Close this. May I have a motion to close the public hearing? So moved. Second. Now on adoption, may I have a motion to
adopt ordinance 9-2025 and 10-2025? Motion. Second. Roll call. Committeeman Cahill. Yes. Committeeman Faroski. Hi. Committeeman Francioli. I. Deputy Mayor Mahel. Yes. Both ordinances are so
adopted. Next, I'd like to introduce ordinance number 11-20225, 12-2025, 13-2025, 14-2025, and 15-2025 this evening. Like to read each
title into the record. Ordinance 11, 2025, an ordinance of the township per company of the township of handover the county of Mars state of New Jersey amending and supplementing section 122-1 definitions and section 122-10 fees under chapter 122 of the code
entitled filming as set forth under part two general legislation ordinance number 1225 ordinance of the township committee of township of handover authorizing the execution of a lease agreement with the handover township boy scouts of American Incorporated Boy Scout Troop 155 in
operating the B Meadow Park Brickyard Concession Facility on July 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, 2025 during the township's live vocal concerts. Ordinance 132025, an ordinance of the township committee, township of handover, authorizing the
resurfacing of a portion of Elgangquin Parkway from Troy Road to the Emin Railroad crossing in the Whippony section of the township and appropriating the sum of $28,54 from the New Jersey Department of Transportation's fiscal year 2024
municipal aid program and $391,496 from the township's 2025 current fund budget ordinance 14 2025 an ordinance of the township committee of the township of handover in the county of Mar state
of New Jersey amending and supplementing chapter 218 of the code of the township entitled property maintenance by establishing article 8 entitled leadbased paint hazard inspection requirements for rental dwellings in order to establish a leadbased paint
hazard inspection program and finally ordinance 15-2025 5. An ordinance of the township committee, township of Hanover in the county of Mars, state of New Jersey, amending and supplementing section 267-47 time limit parking under article
10 entitled Did I miss that? entitled schedules of chapter 267 of the code of the township entitled vehicles and traffic of the code of the township of handover with the inclusion of time limit parking for a portion of Mount Pleasant Avenue in
Pipony. That was a lot like to state for the record that these ordinances and their respective notices of introduction will be published in full in the daily record in accordance with law. The public hearing is scheduled for May 8th, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. If any member of the public would like to be heard regarding
those ordinances, they will be given the opportunity to do so that evening. May I now please have a motion to introduce ordinance 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Motion. May I have a second? Second. Roll call. Committeeman Cahill. Hi.
Committeeman Phamosa. Hi. Committeeman Francioli. Hi. Deputy Mayor Mahalo. Yes. So introduced. Next order of business is the approval of resolutions as a consent agenda. Resolutions number 92-2025 through
982025. Does any member of the governing body have any questions regarding any of those resolutions? Motion to approve. Can can I just make one one comment, Deputy Mayor? Resolution 98205 follows the hotel ordinance. uh you know there were some comments and
the governing body has talked about proceeding with the ordinance enforcement etc. Well, instead of waiting to promulgate the registration form and the process of this resolution 982025 sets forth the actual license
application so that the administration can move forward immediately and get a packet out to each hotel operator within the township with the ordinance, the uh resolution as well as this form of application that has to be completed.
And the first date will be July 1st for the July 1st through December 31st uh last half of the year. So that's on here now because a lot of times people say what about enforcement? I mean someone asked tonight. It's always a good question. Well, this resolution gets gets the ball rolling immediately. Thank
you, Mr. Second that motion. Second. Oh, all in favor. Resolution is being done as a consent agenda. So approved. Deputy Mayor and the members of the committee. That clears the agenda and I thank you very much. Thank you. Uh may I have a motion to open the meeting to the public? Second.
Very good. Any member of the public who would like to address the township committee, please state your name and address for the record and you will have four minutes to address the governing body. Come on up. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for um listening to
me. Thank you all who have attended. My concern is of um oh I'm sorry Debbie Runner. I'm at 120 Malipartis Road. Uh and I'm call I'm calling I'm talking about uh an issue that had I know was brought up last year with regards to at
least the piece of Malipartis that I live on east of Richdale Avenue towards the 287 wall. Um it's only a few like maybe 10 12 houses on it. Um the road few issues. The first is after there was some work done to the road. I don't know if it was like a sewer line something
was put in. The road was repaved but it's horrendous. I mean you can't go more than 10 m an hour because you're just like bumping in your car. Um and I think that uh I mean the other side of this road is nice and clean and and easy to drive, but I was wondering if that was going to be ever repaired or
corrected the right way. Uh secondly u more importantly is the speed limit and the uh issue with turning on to Malipartis from Route 10 on Riddale Avenue making that left turn is a concern. Uh reason being I I know I
can't say uh when I try to make a left turn to get to my house is a little bit higher like in front of me like heading towards like Marstown. So right by Progressive Gardens right there there's like a little of a hill. I can't see a darn thing. If someone is in the lane to turn
to go towards um Mal Park to go towards Littleton Road, I don't see. I basically do my best in taking a chance at that no one's shooting down the other lane so I can make my left onto my street. I don't know why there's not a delayed light. I thought that was discussed or at least
brought up last year. Um so that I was wondering if that's ever going to be addressed. Uh and lastly, the um speed bumps were installed last year. I know that was brought up and there was a few things that we had sent a petition around for and one of them was the speed
bumps, the turn signal and um some type of uh like a a speed sign that like flashed. We did get that right in front of my house. I'm not complaining because we hoped that it would help the speed.
Well, first of all, there's a lot of traffic that comes down when I say that I live on that road. Sometimes to people that maybe I just meet, they'll say, "Oh, yeah, I know that road." Yeah, we take that with a cut through down Boulevard and we to get to Richell Avenue. So, we know that's what people do. The signs that don't make that turn
there during certain hours off of like Cedar Mills Road, it's not listened to. So, therefore, we're impacted by that traffic. Uh some cars do slow down. A few I see it. I'm in my driveway. They see that speed sign because I'm it's right by my
house. And then as soon as they pass that speed sign, they zoom to retail. I mean, it's just we just need it's unfortunate that people just don't listen to the rules, the laws, the signs, and whatever we need to do to make our road safe. I babysit my grandchildren once or twice a week. Um,
they say it, you know. One time I went up to my mailbox and this car was like speeding down and I just went, "Hey." with some unfortunate profanity. And my grandson heard me. He goes, "Wow, Grandma, that that car really went fast." I said, "I know. I
guess I don't listen to the speed sign." So, I just wanted to see that or or find out if anything is going to be done with what was brought up last year. Um I I was un understood that there was going to have these these corrections were going to be addressed. And um those are
my three concerns. Two were for safety and others were just for, you know, the beauty of our of our of our road and having the repavement done in that small area to have it properly done. It was just like patched and that's it. It was very uh uncomfortable driving on it.
Thank you for hearing that. Well, thank you very much. Um, let's see if we can get you some quick answers now. If not, we can get back to you with some better answers. Um, Mr. M, is uh Malpar slated at all? Um yeah, certainly the condition of of
the pavement. We're aware that it is in disrepair and I think what um and this year was a a difficult year in terms of budgeting towards uh road repairs. Um it is definitely on our radar. Can't say when it'll when um it will be done. Um
but certainly on our radar. I think what we also wanted to do is have the speed humps um installed at the time that it's going to get repaved. So, we just do the one paving um job at at one time. Um, one of the things also, you know, there
was a a strong initiative to install speed humps in a on some on Mountain Avenue. Um, and we wanted to also kind of live with that for a little bit of time to get the some feedbacks to make sure that the the reduction in speed did
occur with the installation of the speed humps before we move forward with another phase of speed humps. Um and again certainly acknowledge that Malipartis road was one road that was considered for speed humps. Um in terms of the timing change that takes a little
bit of analysis cuz I agree with your um assessment that um Boulevard in that section of Malardis is kind of like a cut through for Ridgel Avenue. And the one concern we have with um providing a protected left turn is
that encourages that maneuver because now people understand that they have that ability to make that left turn more easily and that might encourage that that cut through activity. Not to say that we made a decision yet to not include that, but it's something that
we're we're looking at at the time. So, we haven't made a final decision on on any signal timing changes. Thank you. I think that's some of the answer. I think part of it also is enforcement and maybe Mr. Cahill can relate to the police to give it a little
bit of attention and see if um you know, we can get, you know, you see a policeman there, you're going to slow down. So, maybe some some enforcement needs to be be done, too. And and we are working on adding new policemen and a traffic uh division to our police force. Uh hopefully that will help throughout
the town. Uh and also one more thing that Mr. Merced pointed out was the um our budget was a little bit lower than we would have liked for roads this year, but we're working on we're working our way through and price of asphalt's gone up. So the net effect is a little bit less done than normal, but uh we're
hoping to get a couple more done. Uh that's not scheduled, but we're working on it. Thank you. Hi on the same issue. I'm Victoria Benson from 125 Malvertis Road and I am the one who brought this issue to you in the past couple years. Um, many of you have been out to my home
uh not only for the flooding in our area that we have not had rectified um but we were promised in a meeting last year that we were on the budget for this year for these remediations to
Melipartisan Boulevard. We have sat for decades where our tax dollars are going everywhere else in town. Please stop pushing us off. The condition of our road is heinous. The people traveling on our
road are the angriest and most frustrated travelers and you've sent them down local roads because of the timing on Rigidel has not been corrected. The timing for all the lights on
Rdale are so antiquated that what we get is blaring horns, accidents, and we are literally taking our lives in our hands to try to make a left-hand turn to go down our road. And
to hear an excuse that we are waiting and monitoring, which I've been hearing for two years is extremely distasteful to hear at this point. the different remediations this town has
done, the construction on the mountain, Countrywood, decades after decades, has sent wood down that mountain across Ridgedale. Most of the the town where all the new developments were
put in have been remediated and the water flow has gone into some type of source system. Our neighborhood has been forgotten. Not only is our road getting flooded, every single time it rains, our backyards are flooded. We have all made remediations.
Every single time we contact the town and say we're getting flooded, the engineering department tells us to fix our own problem. We can't fix our own problem. Deputy mayor, you saw the dry creek that I put in. Oh, yeah. How did
that work out? It's not working. We are still flooded because the remediation need now needs to come from the town on the other side of Ridgedale where they take that water and source it into some part of
the source system as opposed to flooding into our neighborhood and overflowing that road and all of our backyards. Our property values have gone down. Not only because the traffic that's flying through, that's all commuter traffic, but also because we are flooded
out. The town has to stop pushing us off. My texts, my emails, my phone calls have been ignored all year. And each time that I finally get somebody is usually the secretary who says, "I'm so sorry. You're not even on the agenda
anymore. And now you're asking us to to wait again. Is it going to take another death on our road? I don't know. I'm frustrated. We need repairs. Our tax dollar should come to our our road also
soon. Not next year. This summer. I know you have other problems in town, but our tax dollars have to at some point take care of us also. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Jacqueline Weber and I'm
from Hanover Township and I just wanted to thank you for the ordinance 9 2025 and I agree with you and I thank you for taking the time to really put your time into the community and help with the hotel situations and the families that live there and the safety of the children who are there in very dangerous
conditions. And I thank you for taking the time to investigate and to help with this ordinance. And I hope a lot of things come out good. And I really hope that the not so good from that hotel can live elsewhere. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. Thank you for your comment. Anyone else? Please stand up. Four minutes. Name and address, please. Once again, Mark Morris [Music]
Wh. Thank you, sir. I'm the uh BOE board of ed liaison to the township committee and I am here to address a statement made by a committee member at your last meeting that the handover township board of education did not oppose the ARC ordinance. This is
misleading as it implies that the board of ed agrees with the ordinance. It was made clear by the township that the property in question is owned, maintained, and controlled by the township. So the question is, do you want the board of education to put this to vote?
You so you you've you've made a statement that we've done something that we have not. So are you looking for us to put it to vote so that you can know what our thought is on it? That's that's the question. I mean, you don't have to ask me now. You don't have to ask me now, but that's what I'm putting out
there. I understand your question. Yeah. Um, if you'd like to respond, I'd like to I'll comment. [Music] Um, the administrator and I and um members of the school administration,
including the president of the school board, uh, met and I don't have an exact date, goes back, uh, at least uh, February of 2024. Yes, I'm aware of those meetings. Thank you. Yeah. and uh I think there was uh your transportation
director was with us and some other members of your of the administrative board. That doesn't mean that the board sat in at that meeting. It was not a board meeting. Uh but at that time we had uh handover initiated the meeting cuz we wanted to present uh to those uh
to the uh to the school the concept for group home on that area and we wanted them to examine the trail and we wanted to examine the impact on the woods in the area. So we had that discussion. Uh there were various comments, good
comments at that discussion. Uh and uh we retired from that meeting with them uh with the uh understanding through the administrator, school administrator that was with us there too that uh they would get back to handover on the matter. Um
the followup on that to answer your question was a uh uh a phone call initiated once again by handover uh as to where we were and um at that time I think uh the answer was and I think Joe you had might have spoken to the
administrator there as well but the answer to me on that phone call was they uh wanted the opportunity to run it through your legal counsel. Correct. and I fully agree with that. Um, we did not
hear back again. Um, so what we did was made a further phone call and finally heard that you had no issues that the uh, school died. I can't I'm going to and and listen, I'm on the leaison. I'm on the board. I'm aware of the
situation. We did not we did not in any way, shape, or form I can't speak to that, right? and we're not in any shape way, shape or form have anything. So for you to make a statement regarding whether we have opposed or dissented something should not have happened. That's point. If you wanted to go to
vote, we can do that and then you can make the statement of of whatever the vote is. However, that is that is not the I don't think any statement was made that you approved it. I think you said we did not was made that there was no issues on the part of of the part of the school. Um there were questions and
there was back and forth. So, you know, that's not uh that's also misleading. I can't uh I can't respond. I'm on I'm part of your board. I'm not on your board. Okay. And and I'm on my board. I'm saying if you would like us to to if you'd like to speak for us, ask us to
put a vote and then you'll have something to speak to. That's all. Understood. Thank [Music] you. Lisa Bango, board of ed. I just wanted to say that what Mark said was
true and if there was something where we needed to vote, we would have voted. Um, we were told that it was all township property and it was going to happen with or without us. So, that I I definitely
disagree with you. Okay. Your name Lisa. Lisa. Yep. Uh, that did not come from yours truly. If you heard that, I don't know where you would have heard that. Well, I did hear a phone conversation. You and I had a phone conversation where you could a meeting with you. Trouble
that we did if we could ignore you. We were not about to ignore you. We wanted your comments. I understand. But then it was made clear that you didn't need our comments. So that's fine. And once we were told that you didn't need our approval and it didn't matter that it
was going to go through anyway, we didn't vote because it was already going to happen. No control. Okay. Thank you. You you what the school board does, an independent agency and vote for you is what they do. I I we
have no no control. I I called you back personally. Is that an called you back personally to ask your comments because months had gone by without any input at all. We had actually had our attorney talking to Fred. That's correct. So that was going through and that was even from
September. So we had still gone through up until a week and a half ago, two weeks ago before the ordinance. So this has been ongoing. We've had questions. It's been ongoing. And if I if if that
path is an easement, then as a single board president, I don't have the ability to speak for the board. It would have to go on the agenda. If it's not an easement, that walking path, and you don't need to
involve the board, then that's fine. But that's that's the comments. Let me let me comment this way. I I how you administer or interface with your board is your concern, not mine. Uh but having said that, both the mayor and I
and our engineering department and such, officials from public works met at the site. We are not going to disturb the path at all. Not only are we not going to disturb the path at all, we're not going to disturb the woods north of the path which are contiguous with the school. We're going to preserve them. And we're going to do some improvements
in the lighting. as we said to you even at our meetings to make the path more secure. Having said all of that, that came from our original meeting, right? From when the only comment that we got and if you want to say it's unofficial, official, etc.
was that you had no issues. Period. That's it. Okay. Well, there were issues that were from our semantics. Maybe you haven't seen I know the position you're in. I know. God bless you. I know the position you're in. I'm very sorry for
that. But the the township did its proper due diligence in oral manner. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Lisa, is there a The point here is don't speak in
affirmative or whatever for our board. If you'd like something to be done, we have our own just like you do. We're beholden to our our constituents as a board. So just to meet with us and say there are no issues, which we completely
disagree with, you should not be stay making a statement where people in the township believe that we did make a decision. If you want one, we'll vote on it. That's what we're asking you. So the semantics that you're throwing out, frankly, are
insulting. Please don't speak for our board. Thank you. That's all. We don't speak for your board. We did not speak for your board. We convened the meeting. to involve your board. It was not our responsibility to bring it forward to your board and we had the proper members
at our meeting who represented your board and that issue of the property should have been brought to you through them. And I had a quick question. Yeah, no. Go ahead, please. No. Well, I just want to add that with respect to the the walking
path that's become more sort of in focus and um I'm working with Jerry, you know, even as late as today just for some clarity on that and I think it's important that we we all get on the same page. I don't think we we should do it now, but I want to be clear give the
board a clear answer as to whether we have a request or there is going to be a change or not. And we just that's something that Jerry's been working on and I would hope that we'll have an answer for the governing body and for the board of education in short order
about that just so that everybody's up to date on that. Okay. And you had some conversations with their lawyer? Uh yes. Yes. Their lawyer has asked me about it, Matthew Kobe. And uh I think for the best way I could say it, Jerry's been looking at it, but perhaps with some of
the changes to the project, I think Jerry's trying to figure out what exactly now that it seems to be more in focus to to give a definitive answer to the board cuz they have been asking about that path and what it meant, you know, if there was going to be changes.
And I think that's something that also would say Jerry's here, but I think that's something in the near the next few days, Jerry's going to have more clarity. I don't think you have to get into it all now, but are is that fair to say, Jerry,
or well, there might be some more different concept drawings that might be developed, but again, I I want to reiterate the these are concepts. We don't have a of the footprint of of the home from the ark yet. So, the the the the shape of the home might be a little
different yet. So there again, this was all concept drawings and concept discussions um relating to, you know, how we're going to develop that that portion of that property. But I I would suggest, deputy mayor, that perhaps we just have a a short call with some of
the board of ed officials just so that we're all on the same page because this was apparently I I think the bigger issue is um they feel that we spoke on behalf of them when we they did not have a judgment on this. I think that's the
the the crux of the issue. Um I I don't know again won't speak on whether they have an issue with it or not, but I think that's the problem is uh they felt that we were putting words in their mouth. Well, you know, it it we certainly went no uh yeah, we certainly
didn't want to have any disrespect to our school board in the way we acted. And uh again uh if we even uh informed at the time that it would be our responsibility to go before this board
with the concept that's what would have happened. I think we've had a very long history of working shoulder-to-shoulder with the board of education. I hope that continues most sincerely and uh I believe that we will make it a point to
be very careful about how we speak and never speak about the board on behalf of the board um in situations such as this. I hope that satisfies you so that we can work closely board of education at Hanover Township as we have for years and years
and years. Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else hearing? None. Make a motion to close. I apologize. Mr.
Howie, Mr. Olson, how are you, sir? Um, it's good to see the township committee. It's funny to be on this side instead of up there, though. Um, you're welcome. I'm coming I'm coming before you.
Um, in fact, this young lady back here, we're talking about speed bumps. For the past almost 2 and 1/2 years, I've talked to some of our committee people. I live on Griffith
Drive and that is a number one cutthrough street where I can sit on my property which is absolutely wonderful because I'm
retired and we've I've talked about speed [Music] bumps. I only wish that the time that these cars come up and down the
street doing 50 55 cuz I can judge pretty good. I've been watching and uh checking these things out. and on Griffith Drive. Now, we have senior citizens
that are still living there and they have grandchildren. And we also have some new families in there that have just regular I'll say regular children, but children that uh ride their
bikes. And we definitely have a problem because one child I was sitting in um I was sitting on my property and if this child didn't get hit, I don't know what saved him. The good Lord
must have worked and held his hand because this car come flying up the hill. The speed bumpers. I've ridden around this town quite a bit and I've seen a number of speed
bumps and they are as far as I'm concerned they all look great and if there is a problem our wonderful road department is
right there fixing it and and making sure that it's it's well taken care care of. Also, I know that we have our engineering department and I know that if they were
to work or take a look at Griffith Drive just to survey it and see if it is or should be with speed bumps. I've spoken to a number of people on the
street and they would love to be able to see some of these cars slow down. I'm not asking for a mile high speed bump. Just a little a little bump where they
can possibly slow down. Speed speed humps. How we the speed bumps? Speed humps. Speed humps. They're the lesser ones. We don't you don't lose your transmission, but you sure can slow down. Okay. Whatever you want to call them, I'd love to see
it. And I know people I I know people are really really concerned on on Griffith Drive because like I say, and Mike, you're shaking your head. You know how they fly up that road. And I
seriously would love to have this evaluated. Um we way back when we had um a police officer sitting up at the dead end and he couldn't see a car coming up
that hill even if he stood on his roof. So I again I I would just love to see it and possibly worked on um let's put it this way. Let's save the
children. Thank you. So how really just uh and I and I wish Mrs. Benson was still here as well, but um Mike had alluded to it earlier. We are probably a few months away from having a a a traffic division, if you will, small
traffic division, but basically a dedicated officer officers. Their only responsibility will be traffic safety in this town. They'll be taking calls. They'll be handling traffic and traffic accidents. Of course, if there's an emergency, they'll be taking calls. But my point is on the in the short term, that does two things. allows us when
there are problem spots to patrol, set up uh speed traps or whatever it takes to enforce, but also that gives that group the time to also do this, for example, the study you talked about. So, if we need to do a study on Griffith Drive, we'll have the resources to do that cuz we can't just put speed bumps
in willy-nilly, if you will. I mean, there has to be some some after 2 and 1/2 years after traffic data. So, the traffic data doesn't do any any good, Brian. No, not at all. The object of a police
officer is to be in his car doing safety, checking speed limits and doing that. They're not supposed to be sitting there and watch the speeders fly up and down and go over the speed limit. That's how it works. But okay, you're okay.
That's fine. But that's the way it should work, right? Our police need to be on the roads for safety. And that's what we are striving for. what I just described was that folks that are going to be handling traffic and traffic traffic safety on a regular basis. Yeah.
But when you have a police officer sitting in a car on a street that cars are flying on, they're not doing their job as far as I'm concerned because they're supposed to be out on Route 10, Route 287, whatever route is out there
and and catch the speeders that are flying out there. Don't worry about Griff Griffith Drive. As far as I'm concerned, if we can get the speed bumps in, Brian, love to see it happen. Everything is possible. Howie, there's a process. That's all I'm saying. I'm on
your side. I'm on your side. Yeah, but 2 and 1/2 years though, Brian, and that's a little bit too long knowing knowing that we have the speeders. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Anyone else? state on Kenneth Brunner, 120 Malipartis Road. I'm Deborah's runner's better half. That's debatable. Um, ditto to what she said because, you know, I live there with her
and and I see someone over 30 m hour, I go, yo. You know, that's me. But um and I'm sure that will be looked out by the council, which I appreciate. I I greatly appreciate. Uh we've been in town for 15 years from the day we moved in to this
past winter. Every time we've had uh a situation with the town employee, it's been fantastic. They're courteous at city hall here, DPW. Um, and I even tell my friends, I say, you know, they it's it's great to live in a town where the
employees uh actually seem to care about the residents. Um, I've worked for the city of East Orange Water Commission for 48 years. I was a superintendent for 23 and I tried to enforce that in my in my workers attitude that we're here for the people the people of East Orange at the
the township. Um, and it's it's good to see that that has been, you know, that that that hand over township has that and that's I want to thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate you. Anyone [Music]
else? Once hearing none, seeing none, can I have a motion to close? Second. All those in favor? I All right. Um, what do we have? Anybody have any quick notes for tonight or this is it's
an off night for notes? Anything you like to throw out? Um, Saturday is uh opening day. So, don't forget, put on your calendar. It's 9:30. Opening day for uh Little League this weekend. All right. Make a make a motion to
close. Make a motion to journ. I apologize. All those in favor? I [Music] I know I was facing that way. I didn't know.