##VIDEO ID:tgt5XidS4OE## [Music] I hear by call this meeting of how Township Council to order 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 Nel here councilwoman odonnell here Deputy Mayor gager here mayor legio here thank you executive session yes we have a couple matters to cover an executive session this evening uh involving potential litigation and uh contracts I'd like to make a motion to go to Executive second councilwoman fiser yes councilman Nale yes Council oon yes Deputy Mayor gager yes mayor legio yes thank you we will now reconvene our meeting roll call please councilman fiser here councilman Nell here councilwoman odonnell here Deputy Mayor gajer here mayor leio here thank you uh everyone please stand for pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank moving on to the proclamation is she here yeah she's here can you please step up to the podium you want to go we are honoring this uh young lady Aria Burell tonight and uh I will read the proclamation and explain to you why we're Hing her and she's a fine young lady from our community and this is very well deserving for what she she has been doing and it's uh I'm very proud to have her as a Howell resident whereas 8-year-old Arya Burell is a Township H Township resident and animal lover with two rescue dogs or isn't one now one now all right whereas after attending numerous Community Service events with her mom our decides she wanted to hold an event of her own to help puppies and kittens whereas Arya hoped to make $200 the first year by selling hot chocolate from a stand in front of her home however her stand was so successful that she raised and donated over $1,140 to the mammoth County SPCA the following year she donated approximately $2,000 to the same organization whereas in 2024 arya's third year of fundraising and she has wished to donate to a smaller shelter the human the Humane Society in Toton Falls after working hard all night at the register at the stand despite the 30 degree temperatures she donated an impressive $4,160 to the [Applause] shelter whereas arya's fundraising efforts amounted to a total of $7,300 raised for the M County animal shelters over the last three years in addition to supporting this animal causes ARA is also involved with collecting holiday cards for veterans in nursing homes through the da the daav and the Santa letters to Make A Wish Foundation now therefore the governing body of the township of Howell wishes to make this opportunity to recognize Arya berell and commend her for her generosity determination compassion and wish her continued success in all her fundraising [Applause] Endeavors goad come on say thank you everybody for supporting us and thank you for coming out for Arya and we'll be doing the event again on December 6th this year and uh we want to thank everybody here for recognizing Arya andour encouraging her and supporting [Applause] her you good you're good go ahead blank the lime L thank you so much oh can I get a picture real fast May flag come on your parents you want parents get in yeah come ony chissy need a doubody on [Applause] see thatone takes a lot said about a year prob here hey it'll he said uh accept accepted of minutes of previous meeting December 12th 2024 December 17th I mean 17 I'll make a motion to accept December 17th minutes Council L Fisher yes councilman Nell yes councilwoman odonnell yes dep Deputy Mayor gajer yes mayor leio abstained thank you acceptance of minutes from January 1st 2025 I'll make a motion second councilman Fischer yes councilman Nel yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor gajer yes mayor leio yes thank you presentation affordable housing fourth round so my feel like deja vu I mean just few years ago about five six years ago we were in this room passing uh new plans and new ordinances for affordable housing that was the third round um the state has come up um at the end of the third round is 2025 so we're entering the next 10-year obligation window um and we want to give everybody an update on where how will Township is uh it's a bit of a lengthy presentation so Council have no problem um we're going to go through some sites we're going to go through some numbers if you have any questions if you need me to slow down um or just need a little bit of a pause just let me know and feel free to interrupt uh so we have uh Andrew Bayer here he's our affordable housing attorney also our zoning board attorney um he's going to help me out a little bit with the presentation he's going to start with just a little bit of history on affordable housing and how we are where we are sure so uh thanks Matt um in New Jersey I agree I feel like this is deja vu since we've been doing it feels like we just got through the last round but in any event um in New Jersey every municipality has a constitutional obligation to provide for its fair share of affordable housing that's uh New Jersey Supreme Court decision in uh basic uh basically saying it's a con New Jersey state constitutional obligation um in 198 as the presentation indicates in 1985 the Fair Housing Act was adopted the Council on affordable housing was created um here in Howell Township we are part of a region that encompasses under what was Kaa Council on affordable housings regulations uh Monmouth Mercer and Ocean County um there were uh three rounds of regulations there was a first round the second round a third round we're now going into the fourth um in the first two rounds their uh the the township at least in the second round the township participated before COA the state agency and actually obtained an approval for a third on its at its at the time its second round affordable housing plan um the obligation was quite large it was in the 900s at the time uh there was litigation as it seems to be here in Howell over Lan use but there was litigation at the time going way back long before I represented the township but there was a litigation and the second round approval got put on hold because there was a dispute about one of the projects uh and how the crediting for that project took place um in the meantime it came to the third round and the third round at the time was going to be first it was 2004 then it was 2008 and then the state um COA sto functioning because there was uh there were no board members appointed um so there was really a pause in all of this from 2008 till 2015 in 2015 the New Jersey Supreme Court issued what's known as the Mount Laurel 4 decision and basically said before because COA was not functioning as a state agency towns had to go before the court and uh to obtain approval of an affordable housing plan and that's what uh that's what the township did and the reason as the presentation notes that the township did this was because if the municipality like Howell does not affirmatively participate in the process you could lose control of your zoning power through what's known as a builder remedy litigation and through those kinds of cases uh the land owner or developer sue the municipality and be and say I can help you meet your affordable housing obligation since you have not affirmatively planned for that and given uh vast amounts of land in the township and the Township's willingness to participate in the process over the years um that has not happened here in Howell um in 2015 we filed a third round affordable housing action before the court that uh settled in 2019 um but again the key is is for the Council one of your um significant functions as a governing body here is to zone property through the town and you've done that through uh many ordinances through your master through your planning board and ultimately through you through the master plan process and um in order to uh maintain that immunity from Builder's remedy we're recommending you to go forward with the fourth round process now I don't know matter if you want to talk about the third round yep so just going back to the third round a little bit and again more Deja Vu um we work to be in compliant at the uh in compliance with the rules at the time um You probably recognize a lot of the projects that we um have been working on since 2019 um we met at the time there was about 20 sites about 22 plans were presented choices were made um and then it was put into the affordable housing plan going forward ordinances were passed to change zoning and eventually planning board applications were filed the big components of the last round were the how Family Apartments project on West Farms Road near the intersection of Fort Plains Road and near the intersection of Route 9 72 affordable units with 72 bonus credits construction's been completed for several years and the site is fully open um Cory and herac group which was at West Farms Road and Casino Road it's 404 units um PL of board approval has been granted to that project FP howl is currently under construction of Fort Plains Road and Sunnyside Road um obviously approval granted construction is ongoing Project's probably more than halfway complete uh and then the Zack project Route 9 UM 360 units um also planning board approval is granted uh we expect construction to start on the two projects that haven't started you know relatively soon so Township has done everything in their power um we've provided the zoning we've provided the opportunity we've granted the approvals um and now you obviously we're waiting on construction for a few but uh the Township's in compliance with the third round and and as a just to further emphasize what Matt's saying as a result of of of going through those processes um we obtained on behalf of the township a final Judgment of compliance and Repose protecting the Township from Builders Remy litigation through July 1 2025 and this was as a result of a court process that started in 2015 and went through 2019 19 so it was about a 4-year process and ultimately the court entered that order as I said protecting us so that's that was as a result of your third round activities that's sort of has set the table for where we are right now and and just to wrap on the third round um like I said all Sites have approval or under construction this table shows just the uh all the different projects the the ones I mentioned were the major projects but throughout the third round we had couple units here a couple units there as developments were coming coming in you know a duplex would be approved or a single unit would be approved those were all counted in the plan we finished uh third round with nine units Surplus out of that entire round only one of those units has yet to be built or uh approved so we actually have a surplus of eight units that we could carry over into the fourth round which we'll get into uh more in a little bit so the timeline for round four um it's it's very tight uh the township received an obligation of 338 un units of prospective need and 74 units of Rehabilitation that was in October 2024 um for a while we've been planning and we actually thought the number might be a little bit higher um so we've been meeting with P prospective developers getting an idea for what sites may be looking for inclusion into our plan um and we have a list of sites and a list of possibilities that we'll go through in a minute um by the end of this month January 2025 we have to have a binding resolution that either accepts or challenges um the number that that was given to us that means that's this meeting we don't have another meeting uh until after January 31st so uh we need to take action tonight um people can file disputes uh like developers can file disputes to the number um up until the end of February uh tonight we are actually going to be challenging our number looking for a lower number uh we'll get into that in a few minutes uh that will be a dispute that we're filing with the state and the courts um we will not hear on the result of that uh by the latest April 1st 2025 um by June 30th we have to have our plan in place and approved so that we have our site selected and then we have an an additional few months until March 2026 to adopt all of our ordinances changing the zoning um if you've ever tried to work with the municipality or had to go to the planning board um these timelines are extremely strict they're extremely tight we're moving at light speed here to to try and stay in compliance and as a this all came about as a result of a law the legislature passed last year in March of last year it was a some there was a bill known as A4 and all of these deadlines are in the law and if any municipality or if Howell does not meet these deadlines then we lose our immunity from Builder remedy so the that's the hammer which is why we want to you know our recommend mendation is to stay to in compliance so that you control the zoning the size and scope of projects Etc so going more into the fourth round like I said our prospective need is 338 units our and 74 units of Rehabilitation um through ordinance uh resolution number 2569 we're challenging the obligation um we have an independent analysis done by our planner gen beam um that based on the formula given to us by the state um there are different factors that go in and waiting factors um mostly on developable land area what sites the state includes maybe what sites that we know for some reason may not be developable like if they accidentally put something that's on our rosi rec recreational open space inventory or if it's a median of a highway that just can't be developed and it's included those are things that we can adjust adjust the number on um so miss beam had done that analysis and believes our number should be 276 instead of 338 uh and that is the resolution that's in front of the governing body tonight uh like I said we hope to have an answer um and a decision by the DCA no later than April 1 um but we make it very important to stay in compliance we've we've said that several times Mr Bayer just said that so we want to continue working we want to show that we're not putting unnecessary roadblocks up um we have intentions of complying we do think our number is lower um but we're not going to stop the formation of a plan so that we can hit Our obligation um so that's what we're going to continue to do round four looks a little different than round three um there are a set of regulations that come out and how you can fulfill your number um we always hear the term bonus credits if you are eligible for a bonus credit you may get a two to one credit for a unit you build one unit but you get two credits um you may get a one and a half credit so build one unit get a half extra um those always change round to round um there were some included last year or last round that aren't anymore and some new ones so there's no rental bonus um the overall bonus amount is 25% of your total obligation so 25% of your 276 is 69 units that's the most bonus credits we can get and we've been looking at every proposal that comes in Through The Eyes of maximizing bonus credits because those are not units you have to build and those are not units you have to build at a 20% ratio either with a 20% aside um age restricted is limited to 30% of your overall obligation for this case that would be 83 units so you can just make every development uh senior uh age housing um that they put a cap on that there is a 50% bonus uh if your site is close to mass transit uh which includes New Jersey Transit bus stops which we have a lot of on Route 9 and Route 33 and we have an additional bonus uh for 50% uh bonus for sites in areas of need of Redevelopment just as another example Le so just getting into the math and try and stick with me if I go too fast just let me know um so Our obligation is 276 units the standard for an affordable housing development is they give you a 20% set aside so that means that 20% of the units built are going to be affordable 80% are going to be market rate um so if we have a 20% set aside across the board your 276 units actually looks like 1380 total units quite a bit of development even for a of howl even for a town our size um so in the third round we were able to achieve 30% set aside as we all know in the last five seven years a lot of things have changed especially in the financial Market it's almost unanimously been told To Us by developers that a 30% set aside is not feasible uh financially there's no ability to provide that much affordable housing and for the developers to go forward with the project um we've actually had several developers come in and ask for less than 20 which we obviously have said is pretty much DOA don't even bring it um So 20% maybe a few units above that is about what we saw and that's what was consistent throughout the the uh the talks with the developers and then if we look at our bonuses so again 25% of the total obligation is 69 units um so if we just subtract 276 from the 69 bonus we're looking at 207 affordable units that need to be built we're still talking 1,035 units um um after your bonuses so we're still talking about quite a bit of development again for a town our size that's still quite a bit of development so we we got together as a team and we started saying you know you got to find your credits you got to you got to get creative and you got to make sure that you're counting every last one because every credit you have saves development um previous round I had mentioned previously we're carrying eight units over we've built everything except one in the last round um so we could take those eight units into round four we also have group homes that have been approved uh since the last round those go by the number of beds and we have 23 that number is always increasing so we may be able to take more um there was an assisted living facility approved by the planning board 130 beds on West Farms Road 10% um will be eligible for affordable housing credit so that's 13 and then we have an affordable controls extension so all your affordable projects have a deed restriction that's what makes sure that they stay in the affordable range um we had a project uh friendship Gardens across the street here that extended their controls and we are we worked with friendship Gardens we've been working with them for several years before these numbers or these formulas came out and we um were able to also work with fishare to ensure that that extension control should be eligible for credits it's not just about building new units if you can keep something in the affordable circulation we felt that that should always be credits um and then we've worked with friendship Gardens of fair share and we've made sure that we've gotten credits for that so th that is an age restricted project of 99 units because we can only take 30% of our total obligation for age restricted um we're getting 83 credits there is also a bonus for extension controls um and that is a 50% bonus so for those 83 credits we can get an additional 41.5 credits so total everything in the bank is about 168.5 if you multiply that by five just putting it into terms as to what that would look like if we had to go 20% set aside that saves 842 units from being built so just to go one last time through the math a little bit total obligations 276 our bank credits was 168.5 we used some of our bonus allotment of 69 we used 41.5 uh in there so we still have 27.5 bonus credits to use which we are looking to obviously with the projects in front of us make sure we can maximize that leaves us 80 units to build bu if we are doing that at 20% set aside we're just about at 40 uh 400 units to build total um so reminder that our first number was 1380 just that was our total obligation and again the team that we have here our planer or attorneys um our Administration we've worked hard to to try and lower that number as much as possible uh and we think we have a plan to do that um so that's 1380 again down to to about 400 um any questions before I go into the map and the individual projects could you just tell us exactly where in Route 9 the Zack project is so that is across the street from the U-Haul Self Storage it is at that uh turnaround the The Jug Handle that has no left turn follow all right so we're north of West Farms Road South of casino and right by twin PS right correct and right right by twin ponds it's across the street from Twin Pond across from Twin Ponds yes next to skill lenders southbound side trying not to use to many business names but yeah so southbound side um and again that site's moving towards construction all right so probably why everyone's really here I guess right Matt mentioned this but so if the if the council adopts the resolution tonight rejecting the state's number and proposing uh setting forth our number of 276 we have until June 30th under the new law to adopt a new affordable housing plan which is really quick so and you have to adopt that through your housing element in fair share plan which is a component of your master plan so that with would have to be you know put together approved by the planning board then come to council for also consideration and approval all by June 30th So the plan really needs to be in place by April April like now which is in essence or like soon to now so that's why we're right on time and we're late at the same time right so yeah so time and and again once we uh you know if we comply and keep meeting these deadlines we continue to be immune from Builders remedy litigation which is really the key policy that we've always you know the township has always uh tried to avoid so on the screen is um affordable housing map that looks very similar to a few years ago uh colors have changed a little bit all the previous projects that were included in the last round are now back then what was already approved um I'm going to go into more detail on this but this is just giving an overview we have a pretty good spread of projects um as you can see from the map we have two on the Eastern side uh one on Birdsall Road one at the corner Mill and Asbury two in the Northwestern piece uh by oakerson and 33 Fairfield Road in 33 um we have a few clustered around Casino Road Route 9 West Farms Road in Route 9 UM and then also further south um we have one proposed in ramtown and one uh at the intersection of Estelle Lane and route n again not all of these projects are going to be approved if we don't need all of them we'll go into the numbers um but this is just what has come to us unsolicited as potential so we'll start with site number one so this site is at the intersection of Asbury Road uh which is County Road 547 uh Mill Road and cranberry Road uh the site is known as 925 Asbury Road Block 228 Lots 1 through three and five the site is 28 acres in size has Frontage on both Asbury and Migel Road uh site is currently A3 agricultural rural estate 3 which normally is 3 Acre minimum lot size so don't forget uh as part of affordable housing doesn't meet zoning doesn't meet densities we know that we are if the site is chosen it needs to be rezoned um to be consistent with this project uh for the construction so that that's ultimately what the the goal of the affordable housing is so the current use is an agricultural farm field with single fil dwelling it has several accessory buildings uh and farm buildings the site contains um some wetlands and a small water feature pond in the southern portion those are the areas that are shown in blue um and then there's a pink area denoting uh different buffers for the D regulations so the proposal is um presented to us by kavanian uh who put together the plan that is on the screen uh they are proposing 44 single family residential lots those are these uh rectangles and shapes North uh uh the northern portion of the site there are also 48 two-story town homes and 24 affordable Town Homes proposed so the 24 affordable units constitutes a 21% set aside um this project does not appear to be eligible for any bonus credits so we're not within half mile half mile of mass transit there's no deed extension uh deed control extension here um so it does not appear that there's any bonus credits available the overall site design as you can see it's uh has two Boulevard entrances uh one on Asbury Road one on Miguel Road uh most of the development is in the northern portion to uh avoid the regulated areas uh to the South um which is your wetlands and your buffers uh there's internal circulation each lot has Frontage on the roadway um and uh there's parking provided for the multif family units and as well as the single family model would have driveways and and um garages any questions on this before I move to the next one so site number two is on Casino Drive uh Casino Drive in the map is just on the top of the the page here this site is approximately 1300 ft east of Route 9 UM the location is known as 649 Casino Drive block 144 Lots 131 and 132 site is just under 8 acres in size has 600 ft of Frontage on Casino Drive site is currently in the A2 Zone agricultural Ral estate 2 with a 2 acre minimum lot size uh it's currently an agricultural field with some accessory farm buildings uh the site contains mapped freshwater wetlands um this has been investigated by the applicant they don't believe that there's any um Wetlands or buffers that are going to impact the development and they've designed their development around any of those impacts So the plan you're seeing today they believe is in compliance with the the state Wetlands laws um The Proposal uh was presented to us by Nephilim LLC they're proposing 100 total units in five buildings um it's a little hard to tell show on the plan um but the buildings are the Shaded gray areas and they're providing parking underneath which is why you see parking space is shown uh the set aside is 30 units so that would be a 30% set aside Building height would be 38 ft tall um and the site is eligible for 15 bonus credits which is 50% of its set aside because it is uh within a half mile of bus NJ trans and bus stops on rudine overall the site design uh has two driveways along Casino Drive they're proposing sidewalks as well five units with 20 units in each total of 200 parking spaces are proposed um as surface parking and underneath the buildings uh storm water management facilities proposed throughout the site uh in compliance with state law local ordinances County uh and then an open space playground is proposed um and then most of the development is in the Northern and central portion uh to avoid any environmental incumbrances and the site design does take into account the ordinance requirement for a 50 foot perimeter buffer any questions on that one so site number three is located on Route 9 South of the West Farms Road intersection the site is approximately 3,300 ft south of the intersection of West Farms in Route 9 and 500 ft north of the intersection of White Street and Route 9 uh White Street and Route 9 has the Wawa so just as a landmark location is known as 2445 Route 9 block 130 Lots 30 31.0 1 and 38 39 and 40 site is just over 8 acres in size has 450 ft of Frontage on Route 9 the site is zoned Highway development one uh along the frontage and the Lots in the rear are zoned A2 agricultural rural estate too minimum lot size of 2 Acres it is split zoned um because some of those lots do reach out to White Street White Street it reaches out to the street behind it it's not White Street I apolog um site is commercially developed is currently commercially developed with a retail bike shop and there's also a BMX track built in the rear that has been there for decades um the site is still in use um it's been up for sale uh but uh it is still in use the site appears to be free of any environmental Inc conferences so there's no mapped Wetlands buffers riparian buffers waterways floodways based on DP mapping the the onuses on the applicant to confirm that and any changes that would impact development obviously could impact the plan Redevelopment Capital Holdings LLC has prepared the plan and presented it uh to us what you're seeing proposal is for 208 units in one building the building is shown in the brown uh kind of looks like a backwards nine and they they are proposing that as a four story 50ft tall building the set aside would would be 20% so 42 units the site would have 376 parking spaces and it does adhere to the 50-ft perimeter buffer uh for all areas surround uh buffering Residential Properties where it's not necessary uh for the commercial to commercial portions uh there is no buffer provided um the site is proposing several amenities for residents including an outdoor pool gym Conference Center enclosed Courtyard and the site would be eligible for 21 bonus credits which is 50 % of the overall set aside because it is within a half mile of Route 9 bus stops uh overall the site design is one access driveway along Route 9 there is an access shown onto white uh White Street in the rear and that is for emergency vehicle access only so that is not for um any pedestrian that is not to add any traffic that would be only for emergency access uh open space dog walk areas proposed on site and the site design as I mentioned does take into account 50ft perimeter buffer and sidewalks would be proposed along Route 9 any questions keep it rolling site number four is located along Howell Road it also has Frontage on oakerson road and James curtain way site is located 600 ft south of the intersection of Howell Road in Route 33 site is known as 29 Howell Road Block 164 lot 5.01 site is 29 acres in size with 300t of Frontage on oerson and 700 feet of Frontage on how Road the site is currently zoned Special Economic Development one zone um however the site does have grandfathered zoning um which just means that it's um there is a pro project proposed under former zoning when the site was special economic development s uh and there was an active approval on the site for 30257 37q Ft Warehouse as well as a second building of 89,4 128 ft so there's a warehouse proposal approved on site that is pending litigation the case for that warehouse is sp-18 also known as applicant a a fhw the site currently has uh is an agricultural field uh with two structures uh supporting the farm use the site does not appear to have any environmental encumbrances so it doesn't appear to have any mapped Wetlands buffers repairing buffers or waterways uh Act of Acquisitions has presented this project to us uh that is shown on the screen approximately 286 units are proposed spread around 38 buildings 176 units are proposed tow houses with a split of twostory three-bedroom units and twostory one over one units 110 proposed Town Homes of two story 3bedroom town homes are also proposed they are proposing 58 affordable units which constitutes a 20% set aside and the site has uh proposing 860 parking spaces does meet the requirement of the 50-ft buffer and the site is eligible for 50% uh bonus credits because of its proximity to bus stops on Route 33 so that would be 29 additional bonus credits overall site design includes an access driveway along how Road um and one along oerson Road site design takes into account the buffer requirements and storm water management uh is provided throughout the site um in compliance with state and local laws any questions site five is located at Fairfield Road and Route 33 it's adjacent to a offramp from Route 33 leading to Fairfield Road site is known as 413 Fairfield Road Block 168 lot 17 18 19.02 19.04 and 19.08 on the map on your screen the free the Route 33 freeway uh is on the right portion uh to the north um and Fairfield Road is at the bottom of your page site is approximately 11.84 Acres so just under 12 acres with 550 ft of Frontage on Fairfield Road the site is zoned Special Economic Development one however there is grandfathered approval on this site uh back the application was approved and submitted under Special Economic Development zoning and that is including a uh for a warehouse 22,4 ft in size uh that site I just lost picture hang on uh that site was approved as plan board case sp-102 and case uh applicant a aw and that site is pending litigation at the moment site is currently occupied by a single family residential structure remains uh and then the remaining parts are vacant wooded and open areas mapped Wetlands exist along Fairfield Road in the southern portion of the track um however site investigations from the previous Warehouse approval as well as uh claims by the developer at this point um have taken into account uh that the wetlands do not exist as shown um and any that are are found are taken into account with the proposal active Acquisitions has presented the concept plan in front of us they are proposing 176 units in 12 buildings uh this is a mix of stacked town homes and apartments up to 53 ft in height they are proposing 36 affordable units which is a 20% set aside 409 parking spaces are provided um and the plan does take into account the 50ft uh perimeter buffer site is eligible for 18 bonus credits so a 50% du due to the bus stops on Route 33 overall site design is for two access driveways along Fairfield Road uh takes into account the buffer requirements and the storm order management infrastructure is spread out around the site in compliance uh with and will be in compliance with the state and local laws site six is located at the intersection of Route 9 and Estelle Lane uh the site is on the southbound side of Route 9 UM that is the side that has just The Jug Handle for a Stell Lane and it is um so it's on the western side of Route 9 location is 5998 Route 9 block 71 Lots 20 and 21 site is just just over 20 acres in size um the site's Frontage again is mostly on Route 9 and these uh the the ramp for Stell Lane site is currently zoned Highway development 1s South site is currently undeveloped does not have any previous approvals however there is a pending zoning board case use variance case number ba 21-10 uh for two warehouses uh two Warehouse buildings totaling about 200,000 s ft in size the site does not contain any mapped Wetlands however there's an open water feature uh as shown in the bottom right corner of the map on the screen um as well as and any other site incumbrances will be evaluated by the developer but they've taken into consideration that for the development of this plan route n how LLC has presented the concept plan shown to you uh they're proposing 146 units in 16 buildings plus three commercials SL mixed use buildings so 110 market rate 3 to four bedroom tow houses 36 Apartments 29 of which would be affordable and 22,000 Square ft of retail and office space so this is one of the few projects we've seen that is proposed a commercial component um we've seen this work in other towns this is something that the Township's looking into more especially as we get into more Redevelopment areas um and this seems to be taking uh you know maybe being a concept uh proof of concept or an idea that the township can look into by having mixed use residential and commercial on Route 9 set aside uh is 29 units uh which is a 20% overall set aside 462 parking spaces are provided uh and the 50-ft perimeter buffer is also being met site would be eligible for 14.5 bonus credits due to its proximity to mass transit opportunities on Route 9 uh overall the site design includes an access driveway that connects in and around the existing Jug Handle um a Community Center building is proposed with amenities as well as a two-story commercial building that could be occupied by a variety of retail and office users uh three-story mixed use building um is also proposed which would have first floor office and Retail second and third floor residential units storm water management infrastructure is throughout the site in compliance with state and local laws uh parking and lots and drive ISS are also compliant with Township ordinances any questions we have two proposals on the next um site so the developer has given us two different options this site is on Newton Corner Road South of Lakewood Allenwood Road north of ramtown Greenville Road um this is most known because uh the property is currently a florist uh retail store um and uh gives you just a little bit of a landmark 162 Newton Corner Road um is the address block 1.1 two lots 14.01 and 15.01 site is 10 acres in size 300 ft of Frontage on Newton Corner Road and the property is zoned R3 R3 is a residential Zone much of your Candlewood Glenn Harden ramtown is zoned R3 15,000 foot minimum lot size single family residential zoning uh site is currently occupied by single family residential structure working farm retail store agriculture accessory buildings and green houses and The Business known as ramtown florist site does not appear to contain any environmentally sensitive areas or environmental encumbrances including Wetlands riparians or streams so we have two proposals the first one is for a single family mostly product uh as shown on the screen they're proposing 28 units total uh 22 would be single family residential lots and one uh which I'm circling on the map up front fronting Newton's Corner Road will be a multif family lot containing six affordable units the six units would constitute a 21% set aside single family lots are designed at a 75 7500t minimum lot size which is undersized for the R3 Zone as that's a 15,000 foot minimum lot size but it the developer put Special Care into matching the residential areas surrounding it so back in the ' 80s and70s um when ramtown was mostly being constructed there was a cluster option in the R3 zoning and that let you go down to 7500 foot 8,000 foot Lots much of what you see even surrounding the area on the map was constructed with that cluster zoning that cluster zoning was removed from the ordinance I'm not even sure when um but so most of ramtown has these 8,000 ft Lots whereas 15,000 is the current zoning um so they've tried to match the residential area so it wouldn't stand out um the site does not appear to be eligible for any bonus credits uh as there's no mass transit opportunities nearby um overall the site design as you can see it uh includes a new roadway from Newton's Corner Road um the affordable units would be built in a multif family building uh the first one that you reach from Newton's Corner Road and then all the single family lots would be um with in the interior lot and the rear the site uh has a curve the roadway has a curve and then it ends in a culdesac 67 parking spaces will be provided um and the 50ft ordinance buffer um is being complied with any questions on that proposal the second option for this same site so all those site characteristics are the same is a multif family option um same developer which is Redevelopment Capital Holdings has presented the concept plan the proposal is for 66 units spread in 11 town home buildings um The Proposal is for two-story buildings the set aside would be 16 units or 24% site would have 241 parking spaces and just like the single family product we didn't get any closer to a bus stop so there's no bonus credits um the overall site design is a driveway from Newton's Corner Road creates an interior loop around the site s the site design takes into account um buffer requirements 50ft perimeter buffer um and the storm water management would be in compliance with the uh local and state ordinances site8 is at the corner of Route N9 in West Farms Road but not quite so there is a property directly at the corner um this track surrounds that property so it does have Frontage on West Farms Road and Route 9 uh the location contains several properties known as block uh 144 lot 61 62.0 68 68.0 75 through 86 and 89 through 91 the site is just over 53 acres in size and the site is currently zoned Highway development one the site currently developed with a mix of conforming and non-conforming uses uh there's a residential unit within the interior of the site there's some light industrial space along Route 9 as well as com uh conforming commercial use such as uh retail site does not have any pending approvals um and is currently operating uh with several certificates of non-conformity for the non-conforming uses as well as uh valid ccos for the rest of the commercial uses the site does not contain any mapped Wetlands streams riparium buffers or flood planes uh the applicant would need to verify this and ensure that the plan is in compliance with all state laws NVR Inc uh and Ryan Holmes has presented the concept plan shown here they are proposing 421 units in total spread around 74 buildings um plus a 10 acre commercial area along Route 9 uh 331 of the 421 units would be market rate Town Homes 90 units of stacked town homes for affordables the 90 90 units set aside is 21.3% the building height is 3 and a half stories at a maximum uh the site has 1,52 proposed parking spaces uh and is comp seeking to be compliant uh with its mix of residential and Commercial uses the site would be eligible for 45 bonus credits 50% due to its proximity to the route 9 bus stops overall the site design includes access driveways from Route 9 to West Farms Road um providing Ingress and egress from both roadways green areas are proposed near entrances as well as pocket Parks throughout the the site commercial Redevelopment would be considered as part of the project depending on the opportunities uh but there is existing commercial on site as well Storm Water Management would comply with state and local laws um and um buffering would be maximized to the greatest extent possible last one so this is the governing body's first time seeing this plan this was presented this was dropped off of my office 9:30 this morning so I edit it to the map I really didn't even have time to update the presentation uh to include the units but we can come back to it and I can refer to the numbers you know multiple times if we need to um so this property is located on Birdsall Road um it's roughly across the street from Cruz family golf course and it is also east of the golf course uh but across the road location is block 224 Lots 10 17 1701 1702 and 28 through 32 the site um for development is 36 Acres site is considerably larger than that however um The Proposal is not to include the 100 plus acres it's just for the developed 36 Acres site is zoned agricultural real estate three 3 Acre minimum lot size as I mentioned the site overall is 160 Acres the current uses are mostly wooded open Meadows waterways water bodies Wetlands um two solar fields totaling nine acres exist in the rear of the site um as shown on the map closer to Birdsall Road I'm sorry belmare Boulevard uh the proposed development that for the affordable housing opportunities is mostly along Birdsall Road um there is Frontage of this site on belmare Boulevard however no driveways or any development is proposed in that portion a jcpnl overhead power line easement also traverses the tract um which is this light color shading uh running through the the site in the rear the site contains significant environmental encumbrances um as you can see from the plan most of the development is rather pushed towards birds all Road and that's because there are wetlands and buffers um much of the area that uh isn't being developed is being proposed to be a conservation area conser and restricted with the conservation easement um because those are envir environmentally sensitive Brickyard LLC has presented the plan that's in front of you 192 total units proposed in 42 buildings access would be um to birds all road with five driveways there's 146 market rate two-story Town Homes proposed 46 affordable units uh for a total of 192 the building height is maximum two stories set aside is 24% or 46 units um as you can see the site design is split up into two sections based on those environmental encumbrances um there's some developable area to the West uh Western portion of the tract um where 48 units were proposed in five different buildings um also in that area six town home buildings with 29 units driveways throughout connecting um and then there's also shown a pool and gabana as a community amenity further east along Birdsall Road there's an additional 31 townhouse buildings making up the rest of the units um Pro parking is provided two access driveway um and two access driveways are uh proposed in that Eastern portion much of the property that can't be developed is proposed to be restricted with the conservation easement which would further restrict development in the future so if there's any concerns about not getting all the the land included in this the conservation eement does that but I also think the wetlands condition um that at least as it's mapped and as it looks in the field uh probably does that in a of itself so this is a summary of just all of the different projects and I don't want anybody really to look too much at this slide because there's not much to get out of it other than um at the bottom showing that we have over, 1500 units proposed this does not include the last project show so we have really over 1,600 units proposed um an obligation um an affordable number of 458 proposed that well covers Our obligation um and more bonuses than we're allowed to use um so we do have choices and options so what goes into site selection um and what you know the professionals have been looking at as and considering as we hear these uh developments come in and see what's being proposed um is the site eligible for bonus credits what's the overall set aside feasibility of development can it be built uh or is it really a pipe dream um existing conditions are there flood Wetlands flood Plaines wooded agricultural areas that either need to be taken into consideration or that may change on the development potential prior approvals um has there been a planning board or zoning board action that um has granted rights to a site that may be relevant uh future approvals what does the zoning permit are we in a residential zone or are we in a commercial Zone uh and and what could come if the site doesn't go there utilities is sewer and water available obviously traffic considerations is very high in the list um this is not a list in any you know weighted uh list this is just everything uh so are there major roadways nearby access to mass transit bus stops um and obviously what is the surrounding development um are we putting any of these developments next to other developments that may cause issues for existing neighbors um so there's no simp there's no right answer there's no simple answer all these things have to be put into consideration um and that's what we've done uh in looking at these plans so this is sort of the bottom excuse me this is the bottom line right now when we looked at all of the various proposals by the developers we factored in the criteria that Matt just went through uh we took a look at the bonus credits we took a look at what is possible on the site that exist uh there we took a look at the last round where there was a lot of development clustered so there's probably fatigue from that development at this point we were left with two sites that certainly um fit the bill for a lot of our criteria and those were site four which is in North Howell at Howell and oakerson Road and site 6 which is South on Route 99 and Estelle Lane so if you look the total units for site four Howell oerson Road and site 6 Route 9 EST Stella Lane totals 433 uh it gives us 87 affordable units uh you see the set aside is 20% our bonuses are in line with where we need and want them to be so those two based on our challenge to our number we're saying it's 276 and not 338 those two projects alone will satisfy Our obligation uh and we would recommend given the tight deadlines and the need to move forward with some of the project even if we're going to challenge the numbers we would recommend that the plan be formulated around sites four and site six if for some reason the courts or the special Masters or the special adjudicators were to come back and say well your number should be higher at that point we could revisit it but we would also recommend including the bike shop which is uh I think it's site three so that's on route nine because that also um allows for bonus credits it's located on a major highway it's not centralized to where a lot of the projects were from last round so that would be one we don't need to make that decision now but going forward in addition to the resolution challenging our numbers we may want to consider exploring um including four and six in the plan and moving forward with discussions with those developers and just to give put it up on the screen again so site 4 um oakerson Road how Road 286 total units 58 affordables with 50% bonus credits um this is the site uh one of the warehouse applications pending litigation um so that was just so you could see this approval again or this uh proposal again and then site six uh Route 9 Estelle Lane 147 total units 29 affordables with a 50% cap this also included the mixed use so the building with commercial on the first floor uh residential on the second and third as well as retail and office space in two other buildings Ware uh yes and uh there is a warehouse currently pending um a decision by the zoning board uh for 200 square 200,000 ft so um there is a warehouse proposal not an approval but a proposal on this site as well that wrap up the affordable unless you'd like me to keep going presentation any reports from our Township officials just very quickly um our Township engineer asked me to go through a few things so let me find that that very quickly mayor would you like to open it up for public comment we we have a few items so just quickly uh NJ American Waters continuing to replace their water M on Aldrich Road East to n new main is installed contractors connecting everyone they anticipate another four to five weeks to complete the work NJ American is installing a new water main on Sammy Drive dissipate to be completed with this work by the end of February NJ American is scheduled to start next Monday installing a new sanitary sewer M on Yellow Brick Road it'll take approximately four weeks to complete yellow BR Road will be closed from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday between cranberry and Adelphia Farmingdale for this work traffic will be detoured to Colts Neck Road NJ natural gas is continuing to install new gas Mains in ramtown they're scheduled to start soon on the next phase that will include portions of sunset Roberta alen Terrace lackwood AV Vivian Court Wilson Drive Burton Drive and Arin that's my report very quick one um earlier last week we had put some information on our website about a Green Acres hearing for tonight for Pride Park Pride Park is a a park on seatan Hall Drive and vanderville Road in Northern Howell um we had we were under some deadlines with Green Acres you have some pretty far deadlines out for advertising and things um so we put things up on our website we decided not to pursue that Grant um that was for a jake law inclusionary playground um the playground at uh Pride Park is nearing its end of life we thought it was a good opportunity to to get some real money to to really improve it it wound up that to do all the requirements of the grant was probably going to cost more than just replacing it um so we also reached out to the residents in the area um with a mailer uh we got some feedback and we felt that pursuing that Grant was not the best option so that's why it's um not being done tonight you me talking off anyway and uh what we do have on uh one of the resolutions is for a separate Grant it's through uh DCA local Recreation Improvement up to $100,000 that we're applying for to work on that playground um so that takes place at the Green Acres that's it no one else i' like to open up to the floor to you know hearing the citizens public comments 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 shall not exceed a total of 5 minutes speaker shall be notified when their time has run and no time extension shall be permitted nobody on it uh good evening everybody I know if you can hear me push a button button thank you very much uh can you hear me now yes all right uh good evening everybody my name is Angelique vulpi um I live in coln um but I have owned a total of four properties in Howell uh starting in 1996 I actually bought my first home here as a a single young lady so howl holds a very special place in my heart and um you know I do uh you know take a lot of things that go on in this town seriously um and uh with that being said I currently just own two properties uh that I pay a large amount of taxes for over the past 20 years I actually bought my tax cards because um apparently at the last meeting people had comments to say that I wasn't entitled to my opinion um and I can understand if I didn't live here even though it's our First Amendment right to come to any meeting whether it be in New Jersey California we have a right to speak our mind and the fact that I do pay taxes here I have even more a right to speak my mind I wanted to go over some things that happened at the swearing in of um mayor legio I actually took the liberty of congratulating him and I made a statement which I'd like to play in the sake of transparency my name is Angeli VY I'm a res resid of colck but I do own properties in how which I pay taxes for um I just wanted to congratulate you John on your win uh for mayor uh you know the fact that you stood up against the Rhino establishment in this County and I'm completely confident that you are going to do the right thing for Howell and Lead Howell in all the right directions thank you so much for your service thank you the reason why I am playing that video is is shortly after that comment was made that day uh several residents of this town notified me of comments that were made by the har Township Deputy um mayor Fred gazer on a social media site as far as I'm concerned that is a violation of social media ethics policies and it shouldn't be tolerated I want to read his comments that were directed towards me and I want the public to be very very well aware of who you votee for in this town I quote today's reor was very well-intended meeting nice to see the room packed I'm going to make one comment regarding people from other towns who think they're going to medal in Howell's business stay out worry about your own town this is particularly directed at the one lady who came up and made a disparaging remark about one of our councilwomen for the record you clearly heard the video I did did not make any disparaging marks about anybody on this Council he goes on to say I know who she is and I know what she's all about and what they are trying to do stay in Colts Neck and clean up your own garbage for the record we are cleaning up our own garbage he continues to say um and this is a conversation with another uh Township member which I I feel no need to name that person um the lady's name you're absolutely you absolutely know that I will not let anyone from another town come in here and dictate to us if they try to do that again it's going to be a very rough road for them professionally privately and personally I just want to give you a little background I'm speaking today as a citizen a wife of a 27-year police veteran and a mother of a young daughter I'll be damned if anybody from this council is going to threaten my family my personal life my my my worth my my wor work ethic and I'm very upset about it a police report was filed today and I'm not going to tolerate it I'm going to move forward with an Ethics charge against the councilman that addressed me on social media and I won't stand for this lastly I just want to make another comment the mammoth County Rhino Republican Party pushed this person off the line and you're GNA Pander to them to smear my name well it's never gonna happen you can threaten me but nobody threatens my family my daughter and my husband I want to thank the public for hearing this and I want it made made known for the record thank you very much [Applause] anyone else before starting I would like to request the opportunity to have 10 minutes to speak no I'm sorry everyone has 5 minutes I'd like to provide three documents to the council to the township manager and to Matt Howard ready yes can you provide them to them M thank you there aren't enough copies for those are for the council these are all for the council those are for the council yeah as for the council the township manager and Matt Howard well as a Township attorney okay well I didn't provide enough copies for the township attorney if there's an extra he can have them I'm asking for them to be distributed to the council thank you okay ready my name is Sher revas I reside at three hear Court in how I don't believe five minutes is enough time to be able to uh speak on what I'd like to speak on I will highlight um everything quickly and provide an email with other documentation to council uh Township man manager and Matt Howard for two years I've been listening to Farmers advocating for themselves and complaining I'm not a farmer I don't know anything about farming but this weekend really yesterday I was motivated to learn something new my concern is that how Township is not following the law the high cost of how Township's actions and that the actions are not consistent with uh the Council saying that how is a farm friendly town I reach all the information that I have today and what I'll be providing to you is from the websites that the department of um agriculture for New Jersey and County the Right to Farm Act NS njsa 4 colon 1C was signed into law in 1983 and updated May 3rd 2023 it was enacted to address conflicts among farers neighbors municipalities and counties regarding the Farm's practices under the Right to Farm Act a commercial Farm can receive significant protection from nuisance lawsuits and overly restrictive local regulations this is the law a farm must have meet eligibility criteria to be a commercial Farm which is listed on this right to form fact sheet and on the back what happens if there's a complaint whether by a neighbor or a municipality the Right to Farm Act requires that anyone grieved by the operation of a commercial Farm must file a complaint with the county Agricultural Development board rather than filing an action in court this applies to municipal or County officials who believe a farm is violating an ordinance after receiving a written complaint the cadb reviews whether the farm meets the act's eligibility criteria if the initial criteria are met the cadb hold a public hearing and issues a decision there is also the ability to access the mediation program which is free all of these processes are free and they're require ired by law there is a wonderful uh slideshow on the website that shows you complaints against commercial Farms they have to go to court I mean they have to go to the to the board the County board if they don't there's a letter written to the County judge that the case should not be heard and the information is provided by uh provides the lawsuits I'm excuse me the court cases Abram deari Homestead opinion and the den Hollander opinion that reaffirms this this is the current law in the state of New Jersey the next document that I provided to you is from the cadb that explains what is the process it's written real small I wish I could have blown it up maybe the township can blow it up and put it in an office so that it can be followed on the left you start with the commercial Farm is it a farm yes or no this is the decision guess where Court action is all the way to the very right the very last box is Court action this is the law we are not following the law I'm giving you an example April 24th 2024 Matt Howard wrote a cease and desist letter to samrock staes in it it says we are we are not aining if your property is or is not eligible for the right to farm protection through Mammoth County devel um Agricultural Development board the township approval without Township approval or outside approval from the county Right to Farm these activities are not permitted the ceas and assist letter says we don't know if you're a commercial Farm or not yeah that's what you go to the County Board to find out but what do we do we file in we hire outside attorneys we file in court on September 5th 109 page document that only reflects two and a half pages of actual investigation we go to a court hearing um the not September 18th everything that they requested for restraints was denied there was a court order um denying everything's been denied and what did the judge say the judge said go to the board the judge said it verbally I listened I was at the zoom hearing the judge wrote it out go to the board but what did we do we filed an appeal the court denied the appeal and then what did we do filed another appeal another letter all of this outside litigation against a farm that we're supposed to be using the board for thank you m Ras your time has ended the last document I'm provided thank you yes the last document I'm asking that somebody from the council read the questions that that I am asking regarding this if they're not to be read out loud this is a procedural thing I'm asking for if it's not to be everybody has five minutes thank you if it's not going to be read out loud I'm asking the township manager to answer the questions during the the um answering the question phase thank you anyone anyone else I'm seeing no one so I'm going to make a motion to close uh public comment motion to close second all in favor I thank you response to public comments so this is a two-page document it's looking for a lot of information will treat it as an Oprah request and will respond within the time provided by Oprah the first page asked for you to to address some of the questions that were brought up um because we're not yelling from the audience we work closely with the county um there's nothing there's no action taken uh on a farm against a farm without talking to the county um we're going to see County get involved in this probably soon anyway um the issue at hand here is a homeschooling use that is taking place on a farm we're not attacking Farms we're not attacking farming um we are trying to preserve our zoning our zoning has specific uses that are permitted we have a right to farm ordinance that permits very specific items the issue here is that uses are not are are being started on properties not just Farms it's what code enforcement does every day code enforcement looks for commercial uses and residential zones residential uses in commercial zones residential uses not consistent with residential zoning we do it every day if it's not permitted by the zoning the zoning officer has a responsibility to take action and that's what we did here we did consult with the county we did make sure that we're following the procedures that the county has put in place and the county has put restrictions in place and types in how these actions go and we made sure to follow what the county told us to do um we can't go into too much detail because this is a matter of litigation and I'll let Mr Clark talk talk more yeah so it's still active litigation we we're planning our appeal we're going to appeal uh the judge got the ruling incorrect uh we expect that you know we'll have support on the appeal from other sources um and we'll take it from there we'll see where we end up but again uh to reiterate what Mr Howard's saying everybody's treating this as if it's an attack on a farm well first of all it's it's not an attack on a farm it's an attack on a particular use that we have to regulate um because if it's acceptable there then it can be acceptable anywhere and I don't know how many people in town will want an educational facility right next door so we have to be careful with our zoning and that's sort of the beginning middle and end of it for Mr Howard and I support everything he did in this case and I continue to support it so um you know I know he's being demonized I know that we're being told that we're attacking Farms that's far from the case we're we're looking at the uses that that are being sort of placed on these places and figuring out whether or not it's appropriate or not so that's where we're coming coming from um and that's what we're going to continue to look at any other professionals council members anyone want to say anything for public comment yeah I have a couple things uh first regarding to COA uh a lot of prep work has gone into COA that started a long time ago with uh presentations to us uh because of all the uh presentations that we had it's given us leeway for a lot of options uh particularly to replace some not so popular projects in this town uh it's been going on for a long time uh and I'm glad to see the direction that we're going in uh lastly uh a few uh some of the council members attended a presentation by the county uh for the 250th anniversary it's going to be a big deal in Mammoth County because of the historical significance uh Howell will participate in this by having an event or two or combining it with an event uh there's going to be some uh big events going on in the county there's going to be a parade operation sale is is coming back they presented all of the towns with this poster the hang up somewhere there's also a website and a Facebook page dedicated if you want to take a look and see what the county is planning you're doing it well in advance so I imagine it's going to be a very big event that's all so have one no any you want to respond so just very quickly mayor to and I'll extend Miss Reas every time I talk to her I do the same thing so I'll do it again if she wants to call up and set up an appointment to come in and speak with us about these issues we're more than happy to do that like I told you last week Joe I'll refrain from any comments on this because of the legal actions that are in place I think that's yeah fair enough that that's I don't want to you know get in the middle of it and I know we have pending uh farming they're going to be coming in to speak to us so we we'll cross cross those other roads we have things in process you're correct yes all right um consent agenda items do the reports of the elected officials oh did we do that already that's what we're doing now yes I thought we were I just said I didn't want to make a commentary to the public uh I thought I thought you were requesting commentary from us to the public uh discussion which which I have no but I do have an elected official report okay okay firstly I wanted to say that I saw Mr Greenfield um our DPW director on channel 12 was either 6: a.m. 620 a.m. the other day he was being interviewed in preparation of the storm and he uh is a man of few words but he's right to the point and I have to say that they did a remarkable job it was a sort of a two-part storm um the roads look much better than my steps I'll say that so thank you to DPW once again they did a remarkable job I'll Echo that I I should have I should have said something earlier but yeah I agree DPW always does an an amazing job during ice and snow events so kudos to them I agree and he does a very nice interview as well for channel 12 um um secondly uh when it's opportune um Mr Clark I'd just like to get a synopsis on the anticipated I know we do a tree [Music] um we reorganize how we're going to go about dangerous trees and removal and trimming you're going to put money aside we talked about this you know a year ago two years ago so maybe at the next meeting if you could just give us a general idea of where we stand for the preparation I would assume like early spring makes sense so we did an entire tree inventory throughout the entire town right we've identified all of the Hazardous trees and to date all of them have been removed so we'll talk to our tree expert about maybe having her do another pass but there aren't any current plans to do that I think that there weren't any that were sort of on the cusp between in good shape and dangerous but we can ever take a look at more because we got rid of uh quite a few Dangerous Ones last round my my concern is I did see a couple of trees that were marked I thought they were marked by us so and they didn't I'll find if you have specifics I I will double check on those and if if they were somehow overlooked we okay that sounds good thank you um and the uh in reference to what uh councilman gager was talking about with the uh 250th anniversary that's in relationship to the revolution Ary war and our parti the participation of Mammoth County um in that war time and the location so that's why there's such a huge um anticipated um events would be planned the county has been talking they were here about a year ago the county clerk one of the Commissioners talking to us then about you know start thinking about what you might want to do what can how Township add add to the programming they invite us to as uh Mr gazer said to become involved with other facets of our own Community or join in something they're doing they're happy to promote the ideas that we have we do have a historical uh component on our town and I'm sure that um once they get together with the committee they'll be happy to offer whatever they can offer so hopefully this town is able to promote something very big the Revolutionary War in Mammoth County our definitely a huge huge part of the history of Mammoth county in the state of New Jersey so certainly is deserving of some uh some wonderful programming that I anticipate will be seeing uh also I would ask that the council consider uh possibly by straw pole if nothing else instead of saying a moment of silence when we for our pledge if we could have a moment of prayer um I don't think that's offensive to anyone um so I'm interested in knowing if the count would reformulate the wording on the agenda instead of Silence um a moment of silence my preference is a moment of prayer um other than that um in an effort to facilitate um Harmony I would just like to say that I congratulate uh uh John leio on the mayor seat it is important that we all realize um that within this Council we have two solid years of experience with three of our members I have eight solid years of experience and I'm happy as I'm sure they are too to offer any assistance that could be needed to facilitate smooth meetings to facilitate information to keep things moving in a positive direct direction for the entire town so um again you know I offer myself and anything that I can do to assist in any way as I'm sure most of the council would agree because our main focus is to keep out moving forward running smoothly running wisely for the best intentions of the entire town for the best amount of money that we have and um so again I just publicly would like to say that that is my intention and I hope that's in the intention of everyone that sits alongside of me thank you anyone El uh next we will move to um consent agenda items uh there's anyone wish to vote on any consent agenda items separately or remove any yeah I'm I'm going to make a motion uh to table resolution 25- 56 second councilman Fischer yes councilman Nell yes councilman Odon yes Deputy Mayor gaser yes mayor L you yes thank you so just go I'll uh make a motion to approve the consent agenda items resolution 2550 through and including R 2568 with the exception of resolution 25- 56 I'll second councilwoman fiser yes councilman Nell yes councilwoman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor gazer yes mayor leio yes thank you the consent resolutions pass next I may I have a motion to approve consent agenda consisting of resolution R 2550 I'm sorry we just did that yes we did R 2569 R 2569 motion to accept resolution 25- 69 second councilwoman fiser yes councilman Nell yes councilwoman odono yes Deputy Mayor gager yes mayor legio yes thank you the resolution passes and now we just have a introduction of ordinances yes there is no unfinished business at this time no unfinished so ordinance 0-2-1 um ordinance authorizing title 39 traffic enforcement upon certain real estate located on in the in the township of uh in accordance with the request of property owners can I get a motion motion introduce ordinance 25-1 second councilman Fischer yes councilman Nel yes councilman odonnell yes Deputy Mayor gisher yes mayor legio yes thank you the ordinance is properly introduced Mr Mayor before we close the meeting I I do have one uh request of council so in connection with the resolution challenging our affordable housing number we we did recommend um proceeding with two of the sites as being particularly satisfactory this round is count in agreement that we should reach out to those developers and start moving forward with them okay I mean I see head shaking yes so I mean I'll take that as a sign that we should continue discussions with those particular projects I would say yes as long as no significant changes to the number right right so we'll know that by April um so yeah while while we have 276 as the number that we're committed to um those two projects satisfy that particular obligation and that would be our recommendation that those are the the two that we look at most closely I'm in agreement I think we're pretty fortunate this round so um let's move it along while everything looks smooth uh seeing no further business um I have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn J second all in favor I thank you