adequate notice of the March 133 2025 meeting of the township committee has been provided in accordance with the open public meetings act by posting written notice and agenda of the meeting on a bulletin board in the Municipal Building 1000 Route 10 Township of Hanover and by hand delivering mailing
or faxing such notice to the following newspapers Mars County daily record The Star Ledger the Han eagle and by filing the same with the Township Clerk on roll call Comm commit kahill here commit farasa commit fr ioli here committee Melco is excused this evening mayor
Gallagher here four members in attendance okay please join us in the pledge allegiance and please remain standing for a moment for John farasa to lead us into prayer I pledge ALG to the flag of the United States of America to
the for it stands nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all almighty God please watch over and guide this governing body with an abundance of wisdom and understanding to help make the best decision for our
residents please bless our First Responders and the township volunteers who help to keep us all safe also bless our Township employees and residents and please bless the family of
detective Joseph Asana of n who lost his life defending the people in NK lastly please let us pray for the men and women of the United States armed forces who stand vigil over us always
amen amen thank [Music] you okay good evening ladies and gentlemen first on the agenda we have a letter of resignation from Brandon law as a patrolman with a Handover Police
Department effective March 21st 2025 may I please have a a motion to accept his letter of resignation motion may have a second second all in favor I resignation is so accepted next on the agenda is the
approval of the township committee meeting minutes of February 4th February 13th and February 27th may I have a motion to approve so move may I have a second second all all in favor I so approved next order of business is the
public hearing and Adoption of ordinance number 4-22 52025 and 62025 proof of publication that ordinance four and five and their notices of introduction appeared in full in the February 19th issue in the Daily
Record and ordinance six was published on March 5th in accordance with law at this time may I have a motion to convene the public hearing on ordinance 4 5 and six sove second is there anyone in Chambers
wishing to be heard concerning these ordinances if so please state your name and address for the record and which ordinance you would like to speak regarding motion to close second now on adoption may I have a motion to adopt ordinance
4-22 52025 and 6-22 so moved second second on roll call committ kahill hi commitment farasa hi committment Fran Yoli hi mayor Gallagher hi so
[Music] adopted we have one change sorry everybody I lied about him not being here tonight excuse do you want us start over sorry about that no that's okay
okay welcome uh we have one change to the introduction of ordinances tonight we are not going to introduce ordinance number eight so ordinance 9 will take its place so that will be ordinance number eight and we are taking off the
original number eight so I will read the titles into the record ordinance 7-22 is an ordinance of the township Committee of the township of Handover authorizing 1% increase in the appropriation limit of the Township's
calendar year 2025 current fund budget and further establishing a cap Bank all in accordance with njsa 4A 44- 4514 ordinance new number 8-22 is an ordinance of the township of
Hanover Mars County New Jersey amending chapter 166 of the Township Code entitled land use and development in order to amend the Zone classification for Block 9005 lot 16- I'm sorry
16.01 lot 16 on the current tax map also known as 99 Mountain Avenue and block 9008 lot 10.01 lot 16 on the current tax map also known as 100 Mountain Avenue
from the public re pu public youth zone District to the r10 resident Zone District i' like to State for the record that all of the these two ordinances and their notices of introduction will be published in full in the Daily Record in
accordance with law and the public hearing will be scheduled for April 10th 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 please have a motion to introduce
ordinance number 7-22 and 8-22 so moved second on roll call commitment kahill yes commitment FASA I commitment francioli
hi I'm counting you now right so you weren't here in the beginning counts counts that's so confusing commit Mahalo yes mayor Gallagher so introduced our next order of busit is the approval of resolutions as a consent
agenda resolution number 63202 through 74 2025 does any member of the governing body have any questions regarding any of those resolutions move they be approved
second all in favor I I resolutions are approved as a consent agenda next on the agenda we have the introduction of the 2025 current fund budget in the amount of 32
m893 N20 886 the budget will be further considered for final passage at the April 10th 2025 meeting at 8:00 p.m. at which time any member of the public will be heard concerning the budget a synopsis of the budget will also be
published in the Daily Record in accordance with law copies of the budget will also be available in the finance office for review and also will be posted on the Township's website at this time I'd like to read into the record the title of resolution
tion 75 2025 which will establish the date and consideration of adoption resolution 75- 2025 is a resolution introducing the 2025 Municipal budget and setting forth the date and time for the public hearing and
consideration of adopting of the 2025 Municipal budget also into the i' like to read into the record title resolution 76 2025 which will allow the township to conduct a self-examine ation of the 2025
current fund budget resolution 76225 resolution of the township Committee of the township of Handover permitting the township to assume the responsibility of conducting a self-examination of the calendar year 2025 current fund
budget at this moment I'd like to take a motion to introduce the budget establish the public hearing and the consideration of the adoption of the current fund Budget on April 10th and also to approve resolution 76- 2025 so moved have a
second second thank you on roll call commit kill yes commit farasa hi commit francoli hi commit Mahalo yes and mayor Galer hi so introduced and we established a date of public hearing and the resolution of the self exam and of
um of conducting the self-exam I'm sorry next we have to pay our bills in the amount of 8,75 th000 $845 may I have a motion to pay the bills John I'll make a motion to pay the bills Mr CFO please we have a second
second all in favor I I paying the bills and lastly we have three raffle applications RL 3474 employment Horizon Tricky Tray RL 3475 employment Horizons
5050 and RL 3476 C drive raffle may I please have a motion to accept the raffle applications motion second all in favor I mayor and the members of the committee that clears the agenda and I thank you very much thank you very much Christ
you're welcome okay this portion of the meeting features Fred samural and Fred I'm going to ask you to take the floor and update us and the public on where we are with our fourth round uh regarding the uh affordable
housing obligations uh thank you mayor mayor right now all municipalities that are participating and complying with the law are being called into the affordable housing program for mediation and if the parties and fair
share housing cannot resolve the difference in what they believe the obligation is under the law that the legislature imposed on the township then it'll go to a hearing before a adjudicator and that'll happen before
the end of the month so and then we'll have our final obligation and the township will then have until June 30th to present a plan as to what that uh affordable housing final you know plan looks like for the fourth round I can
still say in working with blae and Robin Welsh and the township committee that we feel very strongly that the plan is going to be much more limited than what it was in the third round when we had a number of projects imposed basically on
the township so that's where we are now mayor and that plan has to be complete Again by June 30th and that's it thank you very much FR okay can I have a motion open to the public so move second all in favor
anyone from the public wishing to be heard please step up to the podium state your name address and you have four minutes Gary ker 16 ly hary question for Fred what is our amount now is it 400 something we have per obligated in the
fourth round the right now please I don't have the actual number with me but I think it was I don't want to guess 414 State sign the state estimated of
5 4 something 560 I forget somewhere around 540 state says municipalities have the option stateus I don't okay yeah we we reduced
it by really like 30% based on the state number and now I'm sure we're going to get some push back but we feel that we have very credible documentation to comply with the law saying it should not
be the number BL indicated earlier 560 it should be closer to the 442 so the uh are you looking to reduce that 442 or that's what you're going well it'll be reduced in a in the ultimate plan uh under an analysis that
the town puts together but this is sort of the gross number there'll be a net number later on but that's something that the governing body is still working with yeah that that's just just to give you an example our third round we had a number of 975 uh in our plan we only addressed
475 because we didn't have enough vacant land same thing's going to happen this time we're not going to have the vacant land to address the number whatever the number is we're not going to have the land to address that full number okay so in that sense yeah we are going to
reduce it sure you know thank you Che you guardi anyone [Music] else seeing none hearing none motion to close so move second all in favor all gentlemen if anyone would like to
take the floor for a minute or two and address the public please feel free starting with John yeah there's a serious issue that is going to take place potentially next week in um the Senate house in New Jersey and this
issue is going to be something that could really overturn what we refer to as home rule um we work very hard this Township committee with the planning board to try to do the very best we can in terms of planning in this
Township the state senate under Bill 1408 if that were to pass that will essentially authorize the conversion of retail centers and Office Buildings into mixed use facilities without the
approval of local zoning that is slaps in the face of everything of home rule Trenton legislating how you will plan in your municipality we faced numerous
challenges for the past 30 years complying with the needs of of density we've done it we've done a good job but this would virtually rip the carpet out from under us so Township committee is
totally supportive of this and we will be putting something up on our website that will provide the information so members of our public can get to it and hopefully react to it by contacting your state legislators and letting know how
you feel about this that's all I need to communicate tonight that's the most important thing thank you joh r that is the most important thing John really uh we have to really uh be proactive and reach out to our legislators on that one uh that will
severely impact further uh the infrastructures of all our towns in in Mars County uh but having said that uh just a report uh from our Board of Health and uh uh on uh a matter uh as well as our
seniors and that is we have an event coming up uh through um laser Visions here in Hanover Township uh and that event is going to take place in May uh the date will be established very
shortly at the next seniors meeting the speaker at the next seniors meeting will be Dr Zach melon optician who will talk about Eye Care uh further uh we are coordinating with our recreation department and the seniors and our uh
Public Health Department uh to undertake an Eye Care Clinic uh on a day in May it may be a Saturday um at which time seniors will
uh get information as to how they can register for this there is no cost involved it's going to be a service of the township through this petition's office uh and uh it'll be examined for uh various uh potential problems that
you might have in in uh in uh in eye care so uh I'll have more information on that shortly uh as I said after I meet with uh representatives from the senior's club and I'll be able to give you more complete dates again this will
be open to seniors uh in the township regardless of club membership or non-club membership all seniors um they'll be given an opportunity to register uh how is that going to happen uh we have various ways we have those who' have already registered with us in
emails and uh uh taken advantage of registering us for various programs so we'll reach out to you first uh we'll publish the dates Etc um next question is going to be how many people can possibly be uh going through this Clinic uh we're going to work that out with a
first come first Ser type of a matter uh but the uh Medical Practice that's going to undertake this is willing to give it a day or two or three whatever it might take to uh uh really uh visit all the seniors that want to want this examination so more to come thank you
mayor thank you thank you um first I just like to start by uh you know John you mentioned in the prayer I just wanted to offer I'm sure I do the whole committee uh condolences for the family and the friends of of detective Joseph osona of the nor Police Department uh really
really a tragic uh tragic tragic event uh and just to remind everybody you know that's just something that can occur it's not just dark it can occur anywhere including this town so you know whenever we see our guys out on the street keep that in mind that that these are the things that they face um I just wanted
to I just got a report today so I thought I'd share it as well just so everybody kind of understands what even our guys here in town are up to on a regular basis uh very quickly this is just for the month of February just for the month of February 2475 total calls for service they were including that
included 95 burglar and Firearms 68 motor vehicle crashes uh 61 uh citizens assists um 573 phot motor vehicle stops which included three DWIs as well as 40 arrests so very busy it's not just
traffic stops there there's a lot this isn't a sleepy town so I just wanted to you know first of all thank canover h PD and uh and let's all keep them in mind in in our prayers uh also I'd like to thank officer uh Brandon law I only had the opportunity to meet him five or six
times but uh true gentlemen uh I think most of the department thought that he was a a good police officer and uh you know definitely wish him uh best in his future endeavors and then last with PD and we're we're all missing it and I need to
talk to you guys about this the the PBA 128 is having their Bourbon and cigar night tonight always seem to have it when we're having a meeting I'm beginning to take it personally but uh but it's you know for a good cause and again it kind of gets back to where's the PBA all about s Community uh but also taking care of their own in in
times of tragedy and um that's it that's all I have thank you Brian Mike uh first I want to apologize again for being late do I had a concert tonight that comes first um Recreation we're we're starting to wake up for the
springtime uh camp registration was open and most of the Camp have sold out already within an hour or two that's how popular they are what a terrific program it is hundreds of kids uh got signed up and taken care of um there still might be a few spots open if you want to check
out the website uh we also just had a nice trip to the U the Philadelphia Flower Show it was one of our monthly trips that we had on uh also keep an eye out the meadow pool will be opening up uh registration soon so keep an eye out for that and as you all know the uh
Splash Pad is moving right along long uh they're they're continuing their progress I saw some retaining walls up and some construction we open it with the opening think we'll have it ready it'll definitely be open by the summer when we open fulltime in the summer whether it opens for that Memorial Day weekend probably just odds and ends
probably just odds and ends but it it should be there so that's moving right along also um just to keep it quick we have um this Sunday 3:00 Recreation Center we have a soda bread and step dancing put on by cultural art so if you guys are stop in it's a free event just
poke your head in and uh come on out um there'll be a lot more stuff coming up as you know it's uh Springtime I was looking we got the senior walking Club is coming out we got an easter event Touch a Truck all kinds of things coming up in the future so keep your eyes open
thank you little Le first ball when little league first ball oh that's April 20 I apologize um I want to say it's the 26th but let me get you definite 26 26 yeah that's opening day
the Little League opening day is April 26th spring is here yep yes sir yes sir thank you Mike I just want to make two comments number one I were a lot of 200 Club of Mars County merchandise I'm a trustee in the Mars County 200 club and
I'm proud and it's an honor for me to be a member of the 200 Club Sheriff James Ganon is my sponsor a tragedy like that took place in nor is what the 200 Club is all about the 200 club raises money to
offset the costs when a first responder gets killed in the line of duty a lot of times there young men and women that have children they have mortgages they have College tuition so how many times do we go out and somebody will say what what is the 200 Club I think it's really
important to understand like Brian said the risk that all of our First Responders are under in every day so I would just say God bless all you guys and thank you we're with you and we support you not just when it's an
opportunity for us to look like politicians I mean we're with you we really are and the 200 Club is really important and an event like last week shows that this is real and it can happen and it can happen anywhere two more what John said was correct what
we're going to start doing in addition to having the updates from spr on the obligation of the not so fair share housing obligation is some of the bills coming down from New Jersey are getting a little
more challenging to us and challenging to our residents so we're going to start sharing them in a different way than we have in the past because everything affects our home rule and we will fight and you know we we used to pick and choose our battles now we're battling
every day but we're going to start to share what we're specifically battling and we'll keep you in the loop on this one and we do have a strategy or two which we're going to keep tight until we till we take our first step in that but the last thing I want to say is Sylvio uh we know budget season is your big
time and I just want to say you did a phenomenal job I feel very good about where we wound up with our numbers compared to where they could have been so syvia on behalf of the governing body and Hanover Township thank you very much great great work thank you that being said
uh motion toour move second all in favor that's it we done in I think you