##VIDEO ID:H_HEgnyNrXI## [Music] [Music] please yes this meeting is being held in accordance with public law 1975 chapter 231 open public meetings act adequate notice has been provided in the manner prescribed by law this agenda is complete to the extent known and formal action will be taken I'll begin with a roll call councilwoman Fischer here councilman gager here councilwoman odonnell here Deputy Mayor Nell here and mayor Burger is absent this evening is there a need for executive session this evening yes we have some issues involving uh p uh not Personnel contracts and um what you call it the offshore wind project potential litigation I have a motion for exe motion for exective session second councilwoman Fischer yes councilman gager yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor reell yes thank you going to exact time is 7:09 p PM August 20th 2024 now going to reconvene our meeting I'll begin with a roll call councilwoman fiser here councilman gager here councilwoman odonnell here Deputy Mayor Nell here and mayor burer is absent this evening now stand for the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a Moment of Silence I pledge aliance to the of the United States of America to the Republic for stands one nation under God indivisible with li for all than going to start with a proclamation for international overdose Awareness Day read into the record by Christa riddle Alliance coordinator good evening thank you for having me I'm I think I'm supposed to Face you guys right correct I mean not that there's that many people there so I'll face you um okay so for international overdose Awareness Day August 31st 2024 the proclamation is whereas addiction or substance use disorder is a disease that should not be surrounded by shame or stigma that can hinder access to treatment and Recovery resources whereas 107,5 43 fatal fatal drug overdoses occurred in the US in 2023 and whereas a total of 224 fatal and non-fatal Drug overdoses occurred in how Township from January 1st 2020 to June 30th 2024 and where seven out of 10 fake prescription pills seized by the DEA contain a deadly dose of Fentanyl and whereas fake pressed prescription pills that are laced with fentanyl unbeknownst to the user are available to Youth and adults online and through social media and whereas members of the public can save lives by recognizing the signs of an overdose obtaining free Naran through how pharmacies that participate in New Jersey's nxone 365 program and learning how to properly administer Narcan and whereas the how Alliance remains committed to educating community members about Substance Abuse Prevention unwanted medication disposal options and substance use recovery and treatment resources and whereas International overdose awareness day is recognized each year to remember individuals loss to drug overdoses to support their families and loved ones and to reduce the stigma surrounding addiction and overdoses now therefore be resolved that um Teresa Berger mayor of the township of Howell on behalf of the township Council proclaims August 31st 2024 as International overdose Awareness Day in how Township and commends its observ to all citizens um and you'll notice out front here we have a display of purple Flags we participate in that every year with 50 plus other municipalities in Mammoth County um it is 27 Flags to to represent the overdose death overdose deaths in Mammoth County for the first quarter of 2024 and then there are two white flags and those represent the 135 um fatal overdoses in 2023 in our County so that will be displayed through the end of the month so thank you for your support thank you thank you next we have a presentation by Christ riddle our alliance coordinator uh Captain Rizzo from howl PD and John aguar from code enforcement okay so you guys want to join me here thank you thank you yeah um okay so um I'm just going to we're going to be speaking tonight about um an ordinance in howl um that we've been collaborating on so I um again I'm Christ riddle I'm the alliance coordinator I'm up here tonight with Captain Tom Rizzo of how police and John Agar uh from code enforcement um and we're going to explain the ordinance and enforcement of the ordinance in how that has been quite successful so I'm going to go first I'm going to provide the overview to the ordinance to date um just a little timeline and then I'm going to turn it over to the gentleman to um discuss their enforcement efforts um okay so tonight's presentation serves to update our Township leaders and the community on how townships cross Department threeyear collaboration to stop underage tobacco and nicotine sales and illegal flavored Vape sales in Howell Howell's proactive dedication to protecting our youth in this area goes unmatched by other municipalities who are now using our ordinance and its enforcement as a model for their own communities to combat the pervasive youth vaping and oral nicotine epidemic and to take matters into their own hands first I will provide an overview of the issue and our efforts from conception through present day which started with discussions on amending our existing smoking ordinance that dated back to 1974 um our process started as a round table three years ago and slowly and carefully took life through an immense amount of cross Department expertise collaboration discussion cross checks and revisions to get to where we are today every detail included in the ordinance was given serious consideration across multiple professional perspectives after I finished the overview Captain Tom Rizzo of how police and John Agar of Code Enforcement will share their experiences regarding enforcement and issuing summonses for violations as youth head back to school in a few weeks we felt it was important to deliver this presentation tonight to increase parental awareness of the ease with which miners can acquire highly potent nicotine and hemp derived THC products thankfully it is getting harder for them to get these products in howl without the support of our Township leaders sitting at the dasas this effective initiative would not be possible and I'd like to thank um councilwoman odonnell and Deputy Mayor Nadal for being um dedicated alliance members as well as your capacity here um disposable Vape products with appealing flavors colorful colorful and Sleek packaging discreet designs trendy names youth targeted marketing tactics and high nicotine concentrates have fueled the Nationwide teen and young adult vaping epidemic and nicotine addiction despite 21 being the legal age to buy any tobacco or nicotine product these Vapes can also contain highly potent hemp derived THC and other mind altering substances that can spark addiction and mental health health issues in the developing brain such as anxiety depression paranoia psychosis and suicide ideation even with just one use to protect our youth the how Township Council unanimously adopted the smoking in public places electronic smoking device use and sales and tobacco sales ordinance in April 2023 the ordinance includes summonses for the following violations selling Distributing or providing any tobacco nicotine or synthetic nicotine product to a person under 21 selling any form of an electronic smoking device product that indicates a characterizing flavor regardless of the buyer's age and regardless if the product contains nicotine or other substances since April of 2020 in New Jersey all flavored rape products with or without nicotine have been illegal and failing to maintain an electronic smoking device retailer and or manufacturer license issued by the H by how Township the licenses are $11,000 and $2,500 a year respectively and only allow for the s or manufacturing of legal non-flavored products the fines for the ordinance are $11,000 for the first offense 1,500 for the second offense and 2,000 for third and subsequent offenses with the potential for additional action for repeatedly failing to comply with the law in July of last year so two months after the ordinance was adopted I conducted 37 initial tobacco nicotine retailer site assessments across town legal flavored Vapes were extensively for sale in many of how's convenience stores gas stations and smoke vape shops during these visits I educated electronic smoking device retailers about our new ordinance and the forthcoming enforcement informational Flyers with a website link and QR code to the ordinance were also distributed in Spring 20124 code enforcement and then code enforcement and the police joins me for additional rounds of educational site visits along with a clear warning to immediately stop selling illegal products per the retailers request a meeting was also held at Town Hall on March 25th with John Agar and Matt Howard of Code Enforcement Chief John staro of how police Township attorney Caitlyn Harney noria and Township manager Joe Clark to further discuss the new ordinance and address the retailers regulations and enforcement questions finally on June 24th and July 31st of this year the how police using an undercover officer conducted two sting operations at vape and tobacco retailers in Howell to issue summonses for underage nicotine and tobacco sales illegal flavored Vape sales and failure to hold a current electronic smoking device retailer or manufacturer license this after multiple educational site visits warning letters a town meeting and summonses issued prior by code enforcement I will now turn it over to code enforcement officer John Agar and then Captain Tom Rizzo to share about their enforcement efforts and outcomes so we'll have you first since you went out first good evening um John AAR without code enforcement as Christa had mentioned um before I go and give stats uh I'd just like to acknowledge uh the true collaboration that happened to get this off the ground and to continue uh to enforcement and the continued enforcement um a lot gets lost by wayside and not everybody's always acknowledged for their part um I'd like to acknowledge uh Caitlyn Harney our Township attorney uh who in addition to holding the meetings uh provides legal counsel for for myself and PD uh as we go out and start the enforcement uh constantly ask answering questions whenever we have doubt or are unsure on how to proceed uh Diane f know whose uh office uh relent relentlessly goes and keeps track of all the licenses that are issued and is quick to let me know once someone is in violation who hasn't come in who has promised to come in and never does so she does a phenomenal job of that uh Council for having the foresight uh in passing the ordinance that allows us to uh to go after these retail excuse me these retailers um Joe Clark uh who quietly sits on the sideline and offers his advice uh and gives us Direction uh whenever we need it and um last but not least um actually PD who uh in uh uh who's been a great help uh in going out and doing the undercover buys after my initial uh inspection and visit to the sites and last but not least Crystal riddle who was uh relentless in making sure that uh she was on top of every retailer uh all the changing laws uh it's not easy because on a federal level uh it's not always clear what uh what it is that is legal or is not legal the um uh The Vape products weed all that changes much faster than the laws do they seem to adapt at a much faster rate than the laws can ever uh keep up with so her extense of research and keeping us informed is a valuable asset uh in being able to do the enforcement to keep the kids safe so with that being said as she mentioned 37 original establishments were identified as uh selling these Vape products um after her first initial visit uh code enforcement and PD went out to read reeducate and to redistribute Flyers to let the retailers know that the flavored products were illegal and that there was a licensing uh uh procedure that the township had in place where they would need to apply for a license uh after that first initi uh second initial uh visit uh 43% or 16 retailers were still found to be in violation uh those retailers were in violation of either selling product uh that was not on the approved list or not having the proper license in place to sell the legal uh product that's allowed um a round of letters had gone out after that three retailers still remained in violation four summonses were issued in regards to that um one business uh has closed down in town uh because of the enforcement efforts and six retailers decided not to renew and took all product off the shelf uh so uh with that um Captain Rizzo uh and his team proceeded to go out uh undercover buys and I'll turn it over to him good evening everybody Captain Tom rzo obviously from Hal I I have to Echo the same sentiment that John said this is I've been spoiled for years that you know when we have collaborations when we have support you then see what happens uh I'm spoiled because I work with uh Kaylin often when it comes from a legal perspective but when we team together everybody understood the mission was the same uh the strategies were different different departments different you know strategies but the mission being the same and that I think we would all agree um there's nobody worth protecting more than our most vulnerable population will be our youth so I take it personally and I think everybody else did uh Christa specifically uh that this is being readily available uh not just to our youth but then people are profiting off of it so we want to obviously welcome everybody to this town to enjoy a certain way of life you know own a business run a business enjoy the way of life here but not the profit off of uh you know destroying the youth so that's why we took the approach that we did uh so we openly say that um and we will meet you know that type of obligation with a collaboration of all our departments to be strategic on how we go about that so what do I mean instead of going a criminal route which we discussed uh meaning a criminal charge uh we felt it to be more appropriate to uh put together an ordinance that would be comprehensive uh that would address the problem but would also o offer something I believe that we're you know lacking in our society meaning consequence uh you know if you're educated which we believe in doing first and then you knowingly go ahead and violate that there should be a consequence for that type of behavior so what you'll see in front of you would be the consequence and then what we did strategically by using our undercover operative was then anybody that would be in violation of it uh that they will be heard simultaneously so that you can't evade subsequent offenses that way so when you do have to go and then face you know your consequence and naturally have your day in court to explain yourself uh these would be subsequent offenses so the ordinance was created and drafted that way so that it would Elevate as you go ahead and repeat a fend if you should desire to do so so the goal here for us is to do the best we can you know we never we discuss this we don't ever pretend to be able to eradicate this problem Statewide but I think everybody in this room we have an obligation to safeguard you know the confines of Howell Township and that was the perspective that we had so I said this from B way back when from doing you know my narcotics days you can't eradicate the problem completely but you can make a very inconvenient to do it here so that was the goal um and that's really what we did so I have to Echo that again from everybody from you know my left all the way to the right thank you uh I again I say this from the police department I'm here presenting on behalf of uh Chief storo um if you don't have the support of the administrations obviously I need first the you know the support of my own Administration and administration of the town these things won't be possible we could try but we won't be half as effective unless we all work together so I appreciate that thank you thank you Captain John and Christa looking at your report it's nice to see in this report that uh there were a lot of places where the sales were denied where people had gone in and yes sir so well and what you see there as well so we did a a wide range we discussed that that was in one of our collaborative meetings where the idea was shared that it wasn't any type of individualized uh you know uh enforcement this was a totality so anybody that is offering these things that was the pur of the purpose of Education First both from a code perspective and a law enforcement perspective and an alliance perspective so we hit you with a trifold um but you're educated first so from corporate large corporate establishments down to Ma and P stores because we want everybody to be in compliance the same way great work thank you great work I just take one more second and then we'll leave but I just want to um share what Captain Rizzo actually accomplished um in those just two days how much did you did you guys um spend versus on one we spent uh a little over $70 and uh on the other one we spent over8 so for $150 to do the buys there were 21 total violations across the two days for um illegal underage tobacco um nicotine and flavored Vape sales as well as failure to have the light um $24,000 um in potential fines were written they still have to go to court um there were 15 first violations six second violations 12 of the violations were illegal underage nicotine product sales which I F I take personally you sold 12 times to people underage an addictive product four more four of those 12 were second offenses that person did it twice illegal flavored Vape sales six violations two were second offenses and that's not age restrictive they're illegal to everyone um electronic smoking device retail license non-compliance there were three one was a second offense and then most of the um problems with the underage cells violations were the flavored Vapes and the Zen oral nicotine pouches just to let the community know what what problem uh we face but thank you to both of you you've been amazing and to everybody over here as well as up here we are envied by many many towns for our collaboration and our accomplishments including this one so thank you may I thank you may I I just wanted to let the uh Community know that several years ago I remember Christa telling me that she by herself was going to stores and um keeping a list of Ni and nice and see who was uh breaking the law and L and I said to her I'm not sure that going by yourself to a store then she would actually tell them you know you're breaking the law you shouldn't be selling this and I'm looking at little Christa and I'm thinking I'm not sure that being by yourself is is a good idea but I will say this that she's always effective and I remember going back to school nights with her maybe five years ago and she was talking about vaping then to parents and how dangerous one encounter of vaping could be on a hallucinogenic um level for your children so once she bit into that Apple she just never let go until she actually had the PD going and and the summons and now court dates I don't think um I'll rephrase that I am envious over an employee that takes it to such a level that won't let go until it's finished you know she sees it through to the end and they're still not finished with you know regulating and watching but it's amazing to me how the community um really feeds off of her enthusiasm you know the PD and our code enforcement Council has always been supportive it's just amazing to me the difference that one group The Alliance can make in a community of this size so uh we're very fortunate to have her and more fortunate are the parents that you've for the children that you've protected so from the bottom of our hearts we're very thankful to the entire group for for the effort thank you thank you thank you very much for your time work she's in these stores by yourselves move on to acceptance am minutes July 6 2024 July 16th excuse me 2024 I have a motion to accept amends motion to accept second second I'm sorry councilwoman Fisher yes councilman AER yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor D yes thank you reports of Township officials Mr Clark so just very quickly I mean I think that's a great example of departments coming together in the town um what a bunch of teamwork I mean Captain Rizzo uh John Agar Christa they they all did an amazing job so and especially the parents of these kids are very fortunate to have these dedic ated people um so PD Town Hall everybody really worked to make it happen um briefly by way of update so our final concert it was postponed it's going to be on August 28th um hopefully the weather is going to be good and we'll have a final successful event um the movies in the park were a success we've got a few more events coming up for the fall so keep an eye on our Facebook page we got a Fall Fest our Turkey Trot I think it's like three years running now um so a few more things planned Paving programs underway if you've driven down Lan's Mill recently you can see that that's been done uh more to come uh we're working on our Parks uh we just had the rink at Deerwood finalized so that's been coded it's ready to go we're looking into uh purchasing some Nets uh trying to figure out how to um keep them there so they don't go wandering off on us so we're going to solve that problem and get them there right away Oak Glenn is going to be next on our agenda so hopefully this fall we're going to have the basketball courts resealed surfaced painted um and we are decommissioning as we speak an old softball field there that will then be turned into our next set of pickle ball courts it seems to have really kind of caught on down in ramtown so we've got more coming um the bike trail through Bear Swamp is underway we're working with the dot and the railroad to get a Crossing in the woods um it's a lot harder than I would have ever thought it could be um but we're getting there so hopefully we'll have positive news uh on that and that's about it Mr just to jump on that one a little bit um next meeting we're going to do a a short public um hearing and uh open space hearing for Soldier Memorial Park um we've been trying for for the longest time to have bathrooms there we know we did the lights those are done bathrooms were always a big staple to that project we ran into issues with the sewer connection mostly that the line in the roadway is not holding up well it's due to be replaced by merca in the future but it was one of those that we didn't want to tap into and create more problems we've come up with some Creative Solutions with some um trailer bathrooms that might give us the opportunity to do a couple different spots in the park um instead of having one centralized location should save quite quite a bit of money um also doing some shade structures um and some storage buildings for the league so um we do have to modify our grant with Mom County um to that effect so there's going to be a short presentation next meeting kind of going over some of those details but we hope to move that forward and to eventually for real get some bathrooms at Soldier Memorial soon um that's all I have though thanks any legal updates uh just one brief legal update uh we recently concluded a case uh litigation matter that was filed against our mobile home rent control board uh they were it was an applicant a mobile home uh owner was seeking to increase rents for one of the communities in town they were seeking a 5% increase uh the board decided on a 2.5% increase uh that decision was challenged by the applicant um ultimately uh our rent control board was found to be fine uh their decision was based in fact and uh that they did a good job legal uh litigation council did a great job uh putting forth our basis on the record uh there were attempts to settle and we just didn't think this was an area where we wished to settle so we kind of relied on the rent control board's uh meeting and it was not found to be arbitrary or capricious and the 2.5% increase was held valid not the 5% increase thank Dan any updates from the clerk no nothing move on to open the floor for hearing of citizens and public comments [Applause] you state your name and address for the record please sure civia AZ um and I live on 2409 Huckleberry Road in Manchester Township although you know could I just pause your uh comment for a second can you read the opening statement please Dan oh thank you each person shall first give their name and address to the clerk the council should be addressed as a collective body and not as individual members each person shall have one turn to address the council and comment not exceed a total of 5 minutes speaker shall be notified when their time has run and no time extension shall be permitted thank you thank you thank you go ahead um I do live in Manchester Township but after hearing that amazing presentation about what you're doing here for youth I happens to be I am absolutely Blown Away I've never been to a council meeting this is my first um but that is unbelievable work that everybody is doing and so I am very proud to be an American um not a Howell Township citizen but um part of this amazing country of what everybody is doing for our youth and for everything that you do um so I happen to be here today because recently um how Township acquired a property at 3071 um Lakewood Allenwood Road so if um not all of you are familiar liquid Allen Road meets Brooke Road um and there's a little there's a corner property where there's like a low building and then a little house and there's a little gate on the right side this used to be a preschool going back a couple of years and I am looking to open a daycare in the hell Township neighborhood um because there are so many parents that need child care specifically with the CHS program for those that are eligible for it and need to have a daycare that um accepts the CHS program which is very complicated so there aren't and U from my research enough and specifically in the hell Township so when I was doing a little tour of the area to find a nice plot I found this little beautiful low building and I said that is a amazing place for my preschool now I understand that how Township does not really enter into private leases and I also understand that um this isn't like maybe something you commonly do um but I did want to ask um you know if there was any possibility I don't know I know that Leasing um is complicated you have to post a bid and you have to make it public and all that um I did ask what the plans were for the Howell Township with this property um I think the answer I got is that it's very very newly Acquired and so I don't think anyone really knows yet um I from what I understood it's going to be a couple of years before anything is really done with the property um I came up with a wacky wild idea to ask if maybe I could I don't know borrow the building for a little bit um I to house my daycare um just until you do decide what you want to do with it I'll clean it up I'll paint it I'll make it good I'll make it Cod compliant I'll fix the gate I'll make it safe um and then whenever you're ready you can have it back um I don't know if this is something that you ever heard but I love the building and I think it's such an amazing place and there are so many children that need a place to go and I thought this was such a cute little place for my new V Newville idea um that I came up with and so I don't know if this is something you commonly do or something that's even possible but um I know you can't legally enter an agreement with me unless it's you know done like that but maybe I could you know be a custodian to the building temporarily until you have decided what to do with it there's acres and Acres of property um I don't know what your plans are but um that was just my question uh we'll have the Administration address your concerns after public comments closed okay thank you so much than you thank you all for your time I appreciate it thank you is there anyone else that wishes to come up and speak 39 years this is the first time I've been here been to many meetings just never been uh Patrick garfa 67 Apple Tree Road uh the reason I'm I I'd like to just take two minutes of your time is um this isn't really a Township matter it's more of a county matter but our attorney was involved in a decision that was made or I don't even want to call it a decision I think it might have been more of a suggestion um and what had happened was it happened during the election and I just wanted to bring it to your attention and possibly offer maybe you could offer me some guidance on this again my name is Pat garfa I ran for a county committee position in how's District 13 that this primary election in June was the deciding election for these County positions there were two open seats and four people ran for these seats the four that ran were myself Steve Kevin Gorman and Danielle denoi the three of us reside within District 13 and residency within the district is the primary qualification for this position Danielle actually lives in District 22 unfortunately the error was not caught and her name was placed on the ballot for District 13 ironically she was one of the people that won even though she didn't live in that District the county clerk notified how the eror after the election the how clerk notified the county Republicans of the problem and the how Township attorney was also consulted Danielle was removed from the district 13 position and appointed to the same position in the correct District 22 but only because that person had simultaneously resigned now the question is this how do we address the vacancy in District 13 it was suggested by the attorney and again I want to emphasize I believe it was a suggestion not a ruling or anything to that effect that the Republican committee appoint a person of their choosing to fill the vacated seat and they should address this just like any other vacancy my position is this is not like any other vacancy and this person had no business being on the ballot at all in fact I'm not even sure she was officially given the position because the error was caught early so how do you vacate a position that you never officially earned had she not been on the ballot the remaining three candidates would have received her votes and the outcome of the election could have been very different the bottom line is this the voters made their decision as to who should represent them I received the third highest number votes if the person who came in second was not supposed to be there then she should have been disqualified as soon as the error was found and since it wasn't found until after the election then the next person in line should be appointed based on the will of the voters and not the wishes of the Republican committee instead the Republican committee wants to choose their own person and ignore the vote I believe a precedent would be set by going this route anytime a candidate is mistakenly placed on a ballot then the committee now has the opportunity to overrule the voter and appoint some of their own basically negating the whole vote that is dangerous ground I don't want to sound like Donald Trump a sore loser anything to that effect okay but I think in this particular case the person that was in place was not supposed to be there period okay if if she stepped aside or was taken aside because she wasn't in a proper role then the next two highest people getting the votes would have been Kevin Gorman who was rightfully earn a position as well as myself but it was advised by by the board or by whoever consulted the the county that the way to do it would be to handle it like any other vacancy and again in this case this is not like any other vacancy we have no ruling on this there's nothing in the handbook or the or the to set a precedent and unfortunately by doing this I believe they are setting a precedent and now they can go back and look at this and say well this is how we did it last time so anytime a mistake is made we have an opportunity to just overrule the vote you know and and just essentially throw the Constitution to the win and make their own decision so I'm not too sure if this is something you could guide me on um I just want to let you know only because our own attorney was involved in the decision itself and again I'm not too sure where I'm even going with this I literally found this out yesterday and we just been swapping emails all week with Joe DeBell and a few other guys and they basically said oh well too bad don't be a sore loser we're going to pick our own people and that's just just not the way it's supposed to be done any suggestions I know I gave you a lot and asking for an answer right away and that's not necessary but uh we'll address it after public comments closed um but again not sure how much we could give on that and again this is at the county level it's not even here so the only reason I'm bringing it to your attention is because members of how were involved in the whole thing so and and my my fear again is a precedent is going to be set and if the decision is made incorrectly now it just could run adum down the road and they could do anything they want at that point steamroll right what what's the purpose of having a vote you know why have an election if you're not going to even buy by by the rules makes no sense thank you very much thank you yikes is there anyone else that wishes to come up seeing none may have a motion to close public comment motion to close second all in favor I I I does our Administration want to address those two concerns please so we'll take the uh the first one first with with regard to the property we are still um evaluating it obviously um you know it's it's kind of in a critical spot in town um you know there's certainly road projects that we could utilize that particular piece of property for um so we haven't made any firm decisions um in terms of what we want to do with it and I don't I think if we were to make it available to anybody in the public we would have to do it by way of lease or sale so I I don't know if if we can sort of retain a caretaker for it like that I I just don't see that being um permitted under the law here so we're going to move down the road in terms of what we want to do with it and there is a possibility we may put it out for lease but as council is aware it's it's a very sort of odd spot in the town right now and we're kind of waiting to see what else comes down um in that area as well so um that's sort of my long- winded way of saying I don't think that we're going to be able to do anything to uh to make that available to the public right now we've evaluated the structures they need some work um I know they're willing to maybe work with us and to to make some of those improvements but the last like Mr Clark said critical spot in town a lot of different directions that property could go in the next two three four five years less thing we want somebody to do is invest a large sum of money and then say we need to take it back that's not fair um in this case government moved slow but this is more so we just don't want to make the wrong decision in haste instead of just uh you know taking our time to make sure we know what we want to do with it all right thanks so um I'll add address your comment Mr graffa yes so uh it it was me that we were I cop you on yeah yeah I received your emails today I wasn't exp a respond no problem but kind of to go off what you were talking about before there's definitely a distinction between what the town handles and then what is considered partisan politics and what you were discussing squarely falls under the partisan politics umbrella and that's not something that the township will ever get involved in uh we will get involved to the extent of Elections and certifications any any sort of Duties that uh the municipality has to rely upon um so questions like vacancy those kind of things are qu typically questions that um you know I'll work with the clerk on to make sure spots are filled um so I don't want to get into any of the details of exactly what went on what we have to rely on is the certification of election results um and that's kind of what I analyzed uh while giving my recommendation what I can do is I'll direct you to the statute that I uh was looking at and that might kind of give you a further explanation of the rules that likely apply to your situation so you can run with it from there but the statute is njsa 19 colon 5-3 and it actually addresses IT [Music] addresses uh no but uh and that's the situ ation that we can't get involved in IT addresses when positions open up for County committee seats and when those positions are technically filled so I think that might be a good starting point for you I believe the suggestion that was made was absolutely 100% correct but it was based on the fact that someone had already been duly elected into a position correctly Liv in District then they resign then the suggestion was other V in this particular Cas the person had no business being on the they didn't qualify for didn't even live in the district so technically should not have been there there was a mistake that was made now the correct now the question is he correct mistake that person back their own District so I I understand what you're saying and we're going beyond what I can really even evaluate and give any sort of recommendations to for our Clerk and everything uh the extent of what I can do is direct you to the statute I did so I definitely encourage you to take a look at that specific statute and then from there you know you can see what your options are but beyond what we've already said it it just boils down to partisan politics and we can't get involved the only reason I brought it here I believe you were involved and ultimately what's going to happen is they're going to point fingers and say this is the advice this is the legal advice we and unfortunately it's going to come from you so whether or not it's TR or not I don't know and again the statute clearly states this is how a vac was handled but I'm confident that there's nothing in the rule book that says this is how we handle this situation when somebody ends up in a ballot and mistakes so yeah no I I understand what you're saying and we're going Beyond to uh what we're talking about here so I'm going to have to cut you off now understand what you're saying but understand where we're coming from and any sort of legal advice I gave is my legal advice to my clerk and the position of you know what we need to fulfill from the Township's perspective not necessarily what a county committee needs to follow I to ask question why don't you stick around to the end of the meeting and then we can talk on the side okay move on to comments by elected officials want to start Council hello everyone I a few things I want to say uh myself and uh councilwoman Fischer attended a zoom meeting yesterday about the offshore win project there were 450 people on the zoom call and a thousand had registered for it it was held I believe either in manisan or seagar uh we signed on to it because as you already know the uh proposed line is supposed to come to the larby substation what you already may not know is that we had no say in that line coming here that was determined year Years Ago by your uh state government um we have our concerns about that namely Public Safety uh environmental issues cost of it as it's going to be passed on to the public and disruption to your way of life uh the town does not support that we've already passed a resolution in the past saying that that we do not support this but understand something if that gets approved and it's going to come here then we have to make the best deal with them for the town it's the same thing as the transfer station we have no say in the approval of the trans foration what we have approved is a deal with them in case the county approves them so that's we're in the same situation here um as far as Mr gffa goes his I know that his situation is going to be discussed at the next County committee meeting and um I agree with him um I do not want to see a person appointed who uh didn't have their name on the ballot so that that's going to be discussion at our next meeting you know we have County committee people s sitting up here so you know one of us could even nominate you when that comes about so uh I I do agree with you what what does a reasonable person do no they're going to appoint somebody who wasn't interested in the position in the first place and I thank Mr Clark for bringing up about the concert one thing about this concert this band that's playing I understand is very good they're so good that they actually give concerts in Atlantic City that you have to pay to go for so I'm looking forward to that one and uh that's all I have Council yes I do have uh one thing and I apologize um Mr clar I haven't spoken to you on the side about this already but I would like to report that I went to the how library on the liaison and um they have a concern about their roof um I think it's the south side near the parking lot so I just wanted to bring it up maybe it can be I think the next couple of days are supposed to be decent weather so maybe somebody can just take a peek and maybe it's been resolved already I just wanted to bring it to your attention especially before winter because I'm not an expert in roofs but I do know that problems only get worse in the winter season so I just wanted to get it to you as quickly as possible we will get uh we'll get DPW out there I don't know a lot about them either but I know they're important so we we'll get it take a look it's got that crazy roof right the uh not slate what is that material I don't know 10 is it 10 it might be 10 it might be beautiful yeah but I know it's probably a just not a regular kind of a roof that's patchable easily I'm sure it's going to we'll take a look at it we'll see what we can see what it is so thank you very much uhuh Council Fisher yes real quick just on a positive note to thank all of you and in your departments for what you've done for how the summer especially got a lot of positive feedback on the pickleball courts glad they're coming to this side I'm looking forward to that the rank very very good project very well um received and a lot of positive feedback on the concerts the fireworks um and looking forward to keeping that going in the fall so thank you guys you know thank you yeah everyone's talking about the concerts and I just want to acknowledge everyone that help made our summer events the concerts movies in the park the fall events upcoming and help make these things happen our Administration but especially stepen fetcher director community relations put all this together um also want to thank our PD for providing security traffic control for these events DPW setup cleanup breakdown EMS workers First Aid on hand for emergencies and everyone else that had a hand in this so when everyone else is on vacation enjoying themselves in the summertime all of them are out there working hard so we could enjoy ourselves so just want to acknowledge that and thank everybody I will I will agree 100% with that I I think uh Steph sweats more during the summer than anybody I feel bad but he's done a great job really great and uh Mr GFA if you want to talk partisan politics I will speak to you after the meeting if you want to hang out now'll move on to the consent agenda items does anyone want to pull anything to vote separately may I have a motion to vote on the consent agenda resolutions r24 281 through and including r24 319 like to make a motion to accept resolutions r24 d281 through r24 d307 oh R 24- 319 we have one voting separately I'll I'll second that councilwoman fiser yes councilman gajer yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor nadell yes thank you the consent resolutions pass uh resolution r24 320 may I have a motion to approve this resolution I'll make a motion to approve resolution 24- 320 second councilwoman Fischer yes councilman gager yes Council odonnell yes Deputy Mayor Nell yes thank you the resolution passes so we have the ordinances up for adoption under unfinished business however Caitlyn do you want to provide an update on that please yes um some of the farm related ordinances that uh we were expecting to vote on passage tonight the township has received a challenge uh to them even though they're not even adopted yet uh through the state agriculture mediation program it's a completely voluntary mediation program uh we've decided you know it's probably in everybody's best interest if we participate um it it'll be an open Forum open discussion that has been scheduled for September 3rd so I suggest that we table all of the ordinances related to the farm events until after that mediation so we can have a clear Direction on if we will be moving forward with them or if there needs to be any sort of revisions do we need a motion to table yeah yeah we should have a motion in a second we can carry them until um we'll carry them until the September 17th meeting and if we need to table them again we will we can do that I'd like to make a motion to table uh ordinances 24-30 through 24-33 I'll second councilwoman fiser yes councilman gaser yes councilwoman odonnell yes depy mayor yes thank you introduction of ordinances ordinance 24-34 ordinance amending chapter 57 animals of the Township Code of the township of how to include fines for the running at large of livestock may I have a motion I'll make a motion to introduce such ordinance second councilwoman Fisher yes councilman gager yes councilwoman Odon yes depy mayor n yes thank you ordinance 24-35 an ordinance amending chapter 18864 and chapter 139-3 of the revised General ordinance of ordinances of the township of Howell to permit family home daycares in residential zones of the township may I have a motion um I move to introduce ordinance 24-35 second councilman fiser yes councilman gayer yes councilman odono yes Stephanie marel yes thank you the next regularly scheduled council meeting will take place on September 17th 2024 executive session begin at 600 p.m. and regular session will begin at 7: p.m. is there any other business before Council before we have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second all in favor I thank you