[Music] Mayor, would you like to proceed? Yes, please. Good evening. This is the meeting of the Burough Highlands Mayor and Council regular meeting on Wednesday, May 21st, 2025. The notice requirements provided for in the open public meetings act have been satisfied. Notice of this meeting was properly
given by transmission to the Aspberry Park Press in the Two River Times and by posting at the Burough of Highlands Municipal Building and filing with Borough Clerk all on January 1st, 2025. Items listed on the agenda are subject to change. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I will now do roll call. Council member
Spantes here. Celely, Council President here. Mayor Bulan here. First, we have approval of minutes May 7, 2025 meeting minutes. I'll offer I'll second. Council member
Svantez, yes. Council member Schlack, yes. Council President Ofki, yes. Mayor Bulan, yes. Motion carries to approve May 7, 2025 meeting minutes. Next, we have May 7, 2025 executive session minutes. I'll offer. I'll second. Council member
Svantes. Yes. Council Chalac. Yes. Council President, yes. Mayor Bulan, yes. Motion carries to approve May 7, 2025 executive session minutes. Next we have public hearing on proposed ordinances 02508 designating restricted parking in front of residence occupied by person
with disabilities. We're going to open the public portion. Does anyone have any questions or comments regarding this ordinance? It is uh restricting a parking spot in front of 34 Valley Street for a disabled
person. It's restricting. It's open for the parking for the person or for the person so that they have a parking spot because they are disabled. You're saying you're restricting the person from No, no, no, no. Just the
opposite. Any other question? Okay, then I'll close the public hearing. Do we have an offer? I'll offer. I'll second. Council Schlack. Yes. Council Mack. Yes.
Councelor Keski. Yes. Mayor Bulan. Yes. Motion carries. 025208 pass on second and final reading. Next we have 02509 amending chapter 3 general police regulations of the burough code of the Burough of Highlands to establish section
3-27 sale unregulated sub um substances regulating the sale of cranium products. And we'll open a public hearing. Does anyone have any questions on this ordinance? Seeing none, I will close the
public hearing. Do we have an offer for this ordinance? I'll offer. I'll second. Council member Svantes, yes. Council, yes. Council Poses, yes. Mayor Bulan, yes. Motion carries. 02509 passed on second final reading. Next, we have
introduction of proposed ordinance 02511 amending chapter 6-3.4. four of the burl code concerning license fee concerning license fees for the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages in the burrow. I'll offer I would just like to explain
this a little bit. AR we have not changed our fees since 2016. So this has been a long overdue 10 year you know 10 years of it not being um lifted at raised at all and uh it's it's really not a lot. I would say it's
uh Nancy, is it 20% or 500? Whatever is less lesser? Yes. Okay. So, that's why uh we're doing the fee increase, but um do we have a second? I'll second. Okay. Council member Santes, yes. Council
member Chilak, yes. Council President, yes. Mayor Bulan, yes. Motion carries to pass 024 I'm sorry 02511 on first reading with a public hearing to be held on June 4th 2025. Next we have consent agenda.
Mayor, would you like me to read the resolutions by title and before you answer I'd like to note that um council members Melnik arrived at 705 705. Okay. Yes, please.
R2117 cancel tax balances. R2118 authorizing disposal of personal properties no longer needed for public use. R25119 NJ climate super fund act municipal resolution. R2120 designate the week of May 18 to 245 is emergency
medical services week. R25121 authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract for professional services in connection with a 2025 open space grant application for recreational infrastructure improvements. R25122 authorizing the award of a non-fair and open contract
for professional services in connection with the CDBG grant application. R25123 authorizing payment of bills. R25124 appointing hire and associates as the burl's administrative agent for the year 2025.
R25125 appointing the burough administrator as the designated municipal housing leaison for the year 2025. R25126 approving an updated emergency operations plan. Okay. And we have an offer, please. Hall
offer. Um can I sure? I agree with everything except R25-119 New Jersey Climate Super Fund Act Municipal Resolution. So why don't we take that out of the consent agenda? I will make an offer for this to be removed from the consent agenda so it
can be voted on separately. Second. Second by Mr. Melnik. Council member Santes. Yes. Council me. Yes. Council me. Yes. Council Paseski. Yes. Mayor Bulan. Yes. All right. R
2519 is removed from consent agenda. And then I will offer that R25119 to be uh approved. May I have a second, please? Second. Council member Svantes, yes. Council
Chalac, no. Council, yes. Council Presky, yes. Mayor Bulan, yes. Motion carries to approve adopt resolution R25-119. So, we have consent agenda
117 through 126, not counting 119 for vote. Offer. I'll second. Council member Solantes, yes. Council Chil, yes. Council me, yes.
Council President, yes. Mayor Berlin. Yes. Motion carries to adopt resolutions R1 R25117 through R 25126, not county 19. Next, we have public portion.
Can you please read the statement? Sure. Individuals wishing to address the council shall be recognized by the presiding officer and shall give their name, address, and the group of that they represent. Although the council encourages public participation, it reserves the right through its presiding officer to terminate remarks to and or
by any individual not in keeping with the conduct of a proper and efficient meeting. If any individual refuses to conduct themselves in a proper manner, they will be removed from the meeting. The council will not during the public portion of this meeting discuss matters involving appointments, appointments, terminations of appointments,
negotiations, terms and conditions of appointment, evaluation of the performance of, promotion, or discipline of any specific or prospective or current employee. There's a threem minute time limit for your comments and I will open the public portion. Good evening everyone. My name
is Susan Mckitus and I'm from Atlantic Highlands but I represent Food and Water Watch and I just want to thank you. I'm for um supporting the New Jersey Super Fund Act. Thank you very much. You'll be going to Trenton on June 2nd. Super.
Thank you. Thank you for bringing it. [Music] Melissa Peterson, 17 Bay Street. I actually have four points. One being uh um on the stuff that was dumped down in
Snug Harbor on why it was on a consent agenda. It wasn't discussed beforehand and so there be transparency within the public. so they would actually know what was going on. Um, and then it happened again. It actually happened on uh, Good
Friday. Nobody was able to answer the phone calls for people inquiring on why there were people on the beach and why stuff was being poured on the beach. Secondly, on the cat situation, I think there needs to be better coordination if this ever should happen again. There
seem to be a lot of lack of coordination, a lot of miscommunication. Um, for example, you said that they set the traps on Saturday, Saturday morning at 8. I happen to be at the Mammoth County SPCA around noon time. They were answering the phones and having an
internal discussion stating they weren't coming back out to Highland. So, I was very surprised at 2:00 when they were actually out setting the trap at 2:00. And the fact that the TNR manager had no idea that they were coming back out or what time shows the lack of communication all the way around, which
I think can be improved upon moving forward because it just wasn't there. Thirdly, I heard something and I'm I want clarification that Stacy Vicky was gifted or um there was land that was
owned by the town paper road or whatever that was given to her. I want to clarify. I can tell you right now that did not nothing happened. No one was gifted anything. It would have had to have happened by resolution or actually by an ordinance cuz the street would need it would need to be vacated. That
did not happen. Was it vacated? So whoever told you that is lying to you. I'm asking y for clarification and I've just given it to you. Okay. Well, we only have three nights. So I got to appreciate I can get through all four points. And the fourth point is Mr. Felic. Do you still live in town?
Because I do. Would you like to visit me? I live up by the high school. Not really, but just kind of curious because I know that there's been issues in the past with people issues in what way? In people not necessarily living in town, but still sitting on the council.
Do you have evidence to sustain that claim? Absolutely. I don't live in town. No, not that you that it's happened. That's why that's why I'm asking the question. Cool. To clarify. Great. Okay. See you around town. And my first two points, can we kind of
go over those or are we assuming do you want to Sure. The uh the Snug Harbor issue, it was a mistake made by an employee. That's all it was. We did everything we could to fix it. We got it retested. Um our
engineer went over the new results at the last council meeting. Everything came back clean. Um, the second issue was with the the cats, correct? Um, I can tell you that our employees were out there daily. I we were notified of this.
I want to say about a it'll be two weeks on Thursday that we were first notified of it. We were out there every day. The first couple days, our public works employees had put basically like almost ladders so this cat could get out.
Um the uh SPCA was there several times putting traps in looking for this cat. We sent our cameras through there two different times. We never found it. We kept looking for it every day until I believe it was Sunday that the uh the
video was posted that the cat was found. Um first of all necessarily true. I up there. I walked around the classroom there, but they weren't there. I employees there a couple of days. They were there every
single day. So that's uh No, I don't think it is. I really, you know, cuz we were up there. I was up there and our employees were up there. So, look, you know, I know a lot of people got upset about the whole thing, but the town did everything that we
could. SPCA is our animal control. Uh they did everything they could. They were up there constantly. We did everything we could for that cat. Oh, you can laugh, you know, that's fine. You can laugh about it. But, you know, I honestly for my own from my own
point, for my own point, I think the way some of the people acted and some of the things that that were said about the mayor was absolutely disgusting. And I think a lot of people owe her earn apology.
Oh, we absolutely can. [Music] back and forth. Well, that's the deal. But we have and some of them are very upset with what went on. Some of them were very upset about what
went on. Okay. See, you can, you know, you can believe what you believe. I can tell you what we did. Can you believe what you can believe, but I know what I saw. Okay. like to act like it didn't happen. I couldn't care less. And how do we get
out? I have no idea. Okay. Okay. We are really just They illegally opened Mike. We don't even know if that actually happened. So, we're just going to cut this off right here. Okay. And if
anybody wants to relive uh the last uh week, uh they can go on Facebook and go check out because everyone's got their own version of events. Um, and uh when I, you know, finish uh reading and
screenshotting all of the death threats made to me, my wife, my cats, and uh people that work for this burrow, um I will fulfill that anonymous Oprah
request and then you'll see from the email trails exactly when everything happened. So, that is enough about the cats and we're not going to talk about it. At least I'm not going to talk about it anymore. And with that, unless you young
lady, have something to say. No, you're all good. Okay. So, I'm going to close public portion. Executive session. Exe executive session will be held following the regular council meeting. Prior to each executive session, the burough
council will convene an open session at which time a resolution will be adopted in accordance with NJSA 10 col4-13. No formal action will be taken during executive session. Resolution to enter executive session. Be it resolved that the following portion of this meeting shall not be open to the public.
Be it further resolved that private consideration is deemed required and is permitted because of the following note exceptions set forth in the act. Attorney client privilege meting board litigation. Be it further resolved that it is anticipated that the matters to be considered in private may be disclosed to the public at a later date when the
need for privacy no longer exists. I will make that offer. I'll second. All in favor? I. Thank you. Executive session entered in at 77. I will make an offer to um adjourn the public meeting.
Second. All in favor? I meeting adjourned at 7:15. Thank you everyone. [Music]