##VIDEO ID:Bd3dwlw-xDg## na indivisible andice for all good evening and welcome to the January 30th special meeting of the Jackson Township Council this meeting will now come to order and we begin with the roll call councilman barelli here councilman Paul Mar present councilman Sergeant absent Council vice president Bern here council president here also present tonight is our business administrator Mr wal toship attorney Miss mcgucken Anthony and myself Sandra Martin counc cler there's a forum present pursuing to the provisions of the New Jersey o public meeting act adequate notice this meeting is properly provided by transmitting notice of the meeting on January 28th 2025 for publication the Asbury Park Press and the star Le notice of this meeting of the township council is with posted in the corridor of the municipal building and in the office of the municipal clerk the statement shall be entered into the minutes of the we will continue with comments from Council Council starting with council president C sir I heard you I could see you in the back can you not hear the clerk that's fine today's her first meeting so we're just getting used to the equipment but we'd be more than happy to can you just check your microphone thank you you good oh can you hear me thank you everything's good now all right there you go thank you okay as you can see we do have a new clerk um I would just like to read a letter that was a public notice on an explanation of what is going on and why we're having a special meeting uh please be advised that the township of Jackson has canceled this is the previous meeting of January 28th uh regularly scheduled council meeting this has been done in order to comply with the U notice provision of the New Jersey open public meeting act the annual notice of the meeting dates adopted by the township Council in their 2025 reorganization meeting was apparently not provided to the township uh official newspapers by the then Township Clerk at the time the new Township Clerk will provide notice of the Township's regular scheduled Council meetings for a calendar year of 2025 to the township official newspapers the next council meeting uh will be held on February 11th 2025 as you can see today is not February 11th 2025 this is a special meeting so therefore we notify the papers within 48 hours and we can have a special meeting because we need to get bills paid we need to get employees paid and we need to do the business of the town to properly move forward so with that being said I'm going to move to my opening comments we would like to extend a warm welcome to our municipal clerk Miss Martin she brings with us a wealth of knowledge and we are excited to work together to modernize and process the procedures in the clerk's office our goals is to enhance officially by expanding online services allowing residents to access services without needing to come into the office uh for small quick tasks that can be easily processed online this will benefit both the clerk's office and the residents of Jackson the new online services will include options like paying for Park and Ride retail food licenses mobile food vendors campgrounds junkyards kennels and much more welcome Miss Martin and we look forward to the positive changes ahead on to official Township business I met with our County engineer and his team Jackson Police traffic safety Bureau the Board of Education along with its Administration to discuss the possibilities of widening South Hope Chapel Road and light of the upcoming School redistricting the county is currently reviewing this matter and uh evalu ating information recently received from officer Lasco of the Jackson Police Department and the Board of Education Administration administrator after the board of Ved meeting I will follow up on the count with the county after the board of Ved Education meeting on February 5th I will follow up with the County engineer um as he decides on what to do with these counties roads but we are going to keep them in the loop as they were requested by the Board of Ed as well as Administration and Council additionally I recently had a meeting with our grant writers you can see them in the front row Colliers engineering along with DPW engineering Mr wall our business administrator and councilman Bernstein to explore potential funding opportunities for our Parks and Recreations initiatives Specialties and cleaning up at Johnson Park we are currently looking into Brownfield grants administrated by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority which provides funding for the clean up and Redevelopment of contaminated sites including landfills in New Jersey we are also investigating other available grants for various Department including our Police Department engineering roads and sidewalks and drainage problems to ensure do we continue to explore our funding options we have scheduled a reoccurring monthly meeting on the last Wednesday of me each month to review and pursue potential grants for our town just one last thing I want to read into the record I received it from our Traffic Safety Bureau regarding our Liberty and Memorial schools in reference to the Future developments the traffic safety unit has reviewed the following building plan in close proximity to each of these schools Liberty High School 35 different projects 20 of which will have the uh original plans for consisting of 1623 residential buildings 22 commercial buildings with 1959 parking spots keep in mind 15 projects are unaccounted for and the plans are no longer available to us so the numbers are going to be higher Memorial High School area four different projects 13 residential buildings with 192 units 18 commercial buildings with uh 1,162 parking spots this can all all this information and this data can be found with our Traffic Safety bureau if You' like to email officer Lasco I'm sure that he could forward you a copy um it's all available and I just received it today so I wanted to bring it to your attention as i' like to keep the residents of Jackson in the loop on any traffic concerns that we have thank you all and have a great night thank you Council vice president Bernstein thank you Miss Martin um also I just want to Echo a council president welcome Miss Martin we're looking forward to working together and um a special thank you for quickly noticing um the error so we're able to fix the mistake before we had more meetings that we would have to redo so thank you to that um also just happy to see the kers team here looking forward to hopefully getting this grant in on time we have about a week or so left to get it in and you guys have been working tirelessly um over the past couple weeks so thank you and a big thank you to to our business administrator and mayor for coordinating that meeting and keeping that ball rolling so we can hopefully get this grant thank you and have a good night thank you councilman barell yes uh congratulations to our new Township uh clerk Sandra Martin um you come highly recommended to us and all the best to you and guiding and serving uh the clerk's office and working uh with Township staff looking forward to working with you on the council and serving the residence of Jackson um also uh Jackson please join me in praying for all the families of all the uh American Airlines plane and US Army Blackhawk uh helicopter crash victims from last night's tragedy internations Capital pray for the First Responders and everyone involved in the recovery efforts it's very heartbreaking and um America Mourns um also I see that resolution moving along for the West Lake Community residents and for residents who live in that area of her town and enclosing the committee for uh the new Robo Park on cville road is still looking for residents to serve um on their advisory committee to help plan for the future of the park to benefit all Jackson residents your uh Township Council encourages you encourages you to apply to serve on the committee by completing a citizen leadership form and submitting it into Township staff the form is located by going the form licenses and permits on the main Jackson town website and then go to forums and uh it's located on there thank you and have a good evening thank you councilman pal Mar thank you well I'm excited to announce that innovate martial arts is the Jackson Township council's small business highlight for January last week I had the opportunity to visit their incredible team and it's clear that they're making positive impact in our community so congratulations to everyone at innovate martial arts next month they'll be invited to a council meeting to be formally recognized for their contributions to Jackson our town is is home to many amazing small businesses and I look forward to sharing February small business highlights soon so stay tuned and I would also like to just welcome our new municipal clerk Miss Martin to Jackson Township I look forward to working with you so thank you thank you the next item on the agenda is ordinances is there any discussion or comments yes Madam clerk ordinance 0 1-25 ordinance 02-2 ordinance 0325 ordinance 04-2018 25 indefinitely to a future meeting I'll make a motion turn your th motion to table second roll call Council vice president Bernstein yes councilman Paul Mary yes councilman brelli yes council president cun yes motion approved the next item on the agenda uh council president cun are there any comments before we go into the public hearing and presentation yes thank you madam clerk so we're going to go out of order we are going to have to table uh for a future meeting is the Community Development uh block grant uh the ab um Ada that we heard last meeting uh that has to the second read is going to have to be obviously it was not unfortunately uh my apologies it was not properly advertised so therefore we have to uh move it to another meeting but we are going to hear uh the uh New Jersey DP green uh Acres Grant presented by Ker's engineer if Sean and Chris could please come forward oh never mind two seconds uh we just need a motion to table the uh Community Development block grant motion second second thank you all in favor I any opposed motion approve thank you I'm sorry gentlemen if uh Sean and Chris if you'd like to come up from Colliers engineer these are our grant writers they're just going to give us a little Pres presentation pertaining to there is packets when you come in and if anybody wants the actual presentation we'll be more than happy to email to thank you good evening council president uh council members thank you for having us here tonight to speak about uh improvements at Jackson Justice Park uh specifically the creation of an all-inclusive playground uh at the park and uh the location of an existing playground and splash pad um so this is the last round of the Jake law um theep green acors Jake law um funding uh funding for Jackson uh is up to $750,000 with a uh 25 uh perc match required uh that leaves you with uh the the ability to create an all-inclusive park that is upwards of a million dollars and that 25% can come from open space funds correct thank you and I just want to just give uh credit work credits to councilman Bernstein uh reached out to one of our commissioners and and found this Grant and then we brought it to colors and it's kind of taken its way from there so I just really wanted to say thank you and obviously uh business administrator wall for putting it together but thank you um so the uh project will take place at Justice uh Park block 1671 lot one um the uh area is already 73 Acres of Park owned by the municipality current amenities are football and soccer fields uh five basketball and softball fields Skate Park Roller Rink volleyball court um three separate playgrounds and a splash pad the um njdca rules for a completely inclusive playground are that um the area or playground area is designated for public use for children two to five years of age or F uh 5 to 12 years of age with accessible playground surface a playground surface inspection and maintenance schedule with the standard detailed in the Ada Act of 1940s required uh playground means um an improved area designed equipped and set aside for play and in accordance with uh new jerse njac uh uh Services of all routes and spaces required to be accessible be stable firm and slip resistant um and for an inclusive playground a completely inclusive playground is required to have the following uh parking shall be provided in accordance with Municipal law street parking installation shall be in conformance with the w Municipal ordinance um there are lot and Deck Parking shall be accessible um unit unitary surfacing shall be provided in areas surrounding the playground equipment and on Pathways to the playground areas that are not connected um prior to selecting the site for construction of a playground uh completely inclusive playground we the applicant shall ensure that local County and state laws allow for the use of the surface which they do um where restroom facilities are provided at least one facility shall shall be family or assisted use uh shading shall be provided and shading may be provided by natural or man-made means in addition to those fencing shall be provided fencing material may include but it's uh not limited to traditional fencing materials and natural barriers play components that address the physical sensory cognitive social emotional imaginative and communication needs shall be provided as well and a quiet play area uh shall be provided thank you um I will it to I just have one question we this is amazing so obviously you know you I think we could say we're going to vote on it but I mean nobody's going to turn down $750,000 of grant money so that's why we're having this special meeting is so that this presentation can be done and we can move forward with this um this grant I just want to know what everybody out there wants to know when are we going to have it delivered that's pretty much I'll let Chris sure um so Sean has to talk about all the technical stuff on the get do yeah we just want to know that when when the fun stuff when are we gonna what what are we gonna have and when are we gonna get delivered so and yeah I'll talk about what we're going to have and I'll talk about deliverying the schedule and I'll make it quick yes so we have a need for this we have a aging playground and there's an opportunity to get this grant funding to really make an exceptional area there what you already have is a great opportunity and a great space but when I went out and met with the DPW team and Sean we realized that there was some potential not only to potentially refurbish the structures that were out there but to add and make a even larger Park and more amenities U for this space so as part of that with the concept and the project scope we'd be looking to refurbish the existing structures that are out there I reached out to game time this is actually in relatively good condition and there's still a decent lifespan on it but we'd be able to refurbish it and then expand upon this park and make it even more inclusive you have an existing ramp structure which already is compliant with Jake's law right now so taking that away and using this money to put another one back there ramp structure utilize all that money is just not necessary when we can actually work with game time and the original equipment manufacturer to replace all the elements that are out there for a portion of the cost and then get a whole another element that adds a whole another level of inclusivity to it so that is part of our goal is being sustainable in this in this practice as well and making sure that we provide more than the amenity that was there the existing surface is is somewhat failing so we'd be looking to completely redo that as part of this um application but the the project itself um if you slide down to the next one the concept we have a spray park we have a playground um and we have some open space around that we'd be looking to expand upon that concept and refurbish the playground add new safety surface to the spray park itself and upgrade and add additional amenities and other elements around that as part of the funding so it could really make this an exceptional area and as inclusivity we try to make it where we expand upon it so everybody can play in the same spot you don't want to isolate and make one group stand to the side whereas you can make everybody play in and this is a perfect opportunity for us to do that as part as the as part of the funding and the scheduling as you continue to slide through and I'm talking um to keep this moving these are some of the elements that we're looking at that are inclusive play that are something different that you don't currently have in the park right now there is another playground on the opposite side so we want to make sure we balance it with new elements that will provide and and increase um the play and what we have you have the wooden structure to the front we have the other large structure to the rear so these are elements that aren't currently there so we don't want to be duplic of in nature but open this up to to more play um as far as the scheduling the grant funding um comes out you know when they approve it after the approval yeah it has October 2025 it says that possibly we could get it in the summer of 2026 I just want to confirm that so that the residents when we get 500 emails I just want to say it's anticipated give or take in August of 2026 that we could be looking at this playground corre correct okay and so as part of that it's a part of the requirement that we have to deliver this within two years of the time that they provide the grant um so that's everything from the engineering to the full construction sign off and payment okay has to be completed within a two-year period so we'd be on an elevated schedule to make sure that we're properly using this you know this funding to make sure that this moves as quickly as possible awesome now within that two-year timeline that's the maximum that we can use we obviously aim to get it done a lot quicker than that as soon as the grant funding comes out we're in alignment with your team to make sure that what we proposed here is exactly what we want we still have an opportunity to go through a community engagement and modify some of these elements whether it's the color or the piece or if there's a specific want from some of the community Through the community engagement that we find that's beyond what we've already gone through with our um uh with our requests and what we put out to the to the town for their public responses you know we can we can modifi have you gotten any responses on that I saw it I mean I don't want it we're running on time we have a long meeting but I don't want to I just know that let the public know that you can go on there's the website you can go on the website and if you want to add to any of your ideas and any of your thoughts as to what you would like in there um you if you can send me that and I'll make sure I get it out but I did see it absolutely there is both an online public survey that we did and an online public um with public engagement and additional things so picnic tables and benches were one of the highest that were on there um climbing structure sensory elements spinning elements fencing quiet play areas oh so you got a lot of responses that's awesome we we have the canopies seem to be doing really well too of the responses we've received so far has a 100% respondents support the playground and the concept plan is designed Perfect all right thank you gentlemen um yeah and the last the last thing that we need to touch on for the requirements is just that we've done a preliminary site assessment an environmental impact assessment um and the findings of that are no significant impact this is a partk that is existing there's been a lot of construction there already but you still need to conduct that environmental assessment councilman anybody have any questions um I think that was dur in construction it won't affect the other areas of the park and in this case um you know I guess with traffic or anything with other the football during the season baseball football soccer season we'd be able to limit the footprint of the construction right to the play area and what we try to do is make sure that the timeline also makes sure that you're allowed to use your spray park during the season construction after you a lot of basb in the current amenities that you have we try to do these in stage them into the offseason so that is why we also have that two year I was just gonna say that's why you have two years come on now so that you can align properly they have Optimum use nothing thank you so much so if anyone from the public would like to come up and speak regarding the park regarding what the presentation we just had the grant no seeing no one come forward and make a motion to close public comment motion second all in favor I any opposed motion please thank you uh the next next item of bills of of business is the bills list which is to include a supplemental add-on for an invoice from Diamond Property Management for snow removal I'd also like to note extension extensions include councilman barelli D1 e ye1 st76 t26 tr34 and an exstension from Council president cun R cso2 is there any discussion or comments on the bills list no ma'am thank you I need a motion to approve or hold the bills list and any claims motion second all in favor I any opposed motion approved the next item of business is the consent agenda listed for tonight's consideration resolutions 74 through 9325 is there any discussion or comments on the consent agenda listed for tonight's consideration I have to uh table resolution 8025 it was not properly advertised so it has to been removed from the agenda I also have to remove um r88 d25 because that meeting was not advertised thank you I need do I have to have the motion to have them removed can I have a motion to have them removed and then we'll revisit the consent agenda I'll make a motion to remove those two items MO motion to table correct to table motion to table and definitely to a future meeting motion to table second all in favor I any opposed motion approved are there any other comments or discussion uh yes I do have uh some comments as I was reviewing some of these resolutions I did see that resolution 9125 is resolution awarding a non-fair and Open professional service contract to PM Consultants LLC and appointing PM Consultants LLC as a temporary Chief Financial Officer of the township that a cost not to exceed 175 per hour so I I and as I was reading the agenda I saw that our um CFO had resigned retired re retired and uh we're looking to I guess have a temporary uh consultant LLC so I did do some research into this particular consultant LLC and I did see that um I believe John Barrett is the owner and CFO of this uh of PM Consultants LLC he's here tonight if you want speak to fantastic and um thank you and when I just went into research more about his experience uh and his uh what he's worked before I did see quite a bit but a few things that were alarming to me I'd like to bring forward were that uh in one of the articles I read was from January 16 2019 from nj.com and I'll just read a portion of it this is something you can Google if you wish to I would also ask the attorney I'm gonna let our councilman speak it's the council meeting okay the attorney's okay with that fine I a councilman can speak at a council meeting please speak councilman attorney am I permitted to speak on Public Information online I on something that we're voting on the councilman has the right to make a comment on a resolution on the agenda councilman can continue thank you um so what I read and I'll just read some of it from NJ uh.com from again updated January 16 2019 was that uh John Barrett Hamilton's Hamilton Township's Chief Financial Officer for a decade was spending more time away from Hamilton in the past half a year working as a consultant for other towns and abused his sick time to accomplish his side career uh that's just one article a second article I I looked up and it was was from The Trentonian and I was reviewing the Trentonian and uh administrative law judge Jeff Mason so this is a judge said uh they wrote in a strongly worded 88 page it says slap down the judge found Barett to be insubordinate and untrustworthy by abusing the township sick Lea policy among other transgressions now I'm quoting from Judge Mason quote I find that John Barrett abused Hamilton's sick day policy I concluded that there can be no doubt whatsoever that Mr Barrett engaged in conduct Unbecoming of a public official end quote so this is just some of what I found so it made me feel slightly uncomfortable to Pro you know to appoint PM consultant that the owner of is Mr Barrett as our Chief Financial Officer so with that I I would have to vote no on resolution 9125 I also have done my due diligence um and as I always do on all these I've also concur that I've seen this uh the same information online regarding um Mr Barrett I do not feel comfortable with somebody with the stuff that was on the internet running our chief you know Financial officers department and our finance department with that being said Mr wall I would formally request that the administration conduct an internal review of several departments beginning with the Department of Public Works the police department code enforcement and the building department as well as the clerk's office the focus of this review should be to to Staffing levels and other related concerns it is of great concern that this company and this man was put on the agenda I don't know if the due diligence was done but the little of that I did I was extremely uh concerned and I will also not be voting on resolution 9125 I don't Madam cler yes pleas upon information I received and researched on I will Concur and also vote no on resolution 9125 madam cler are we in middle of a vote or not yet this a discussion oh discussion just making it aware will be that will be a no vote on uh resolution 9125 for me I have no do anybody else have any discussion on any other of the resolutions that are on this agenda I will also have to vote a no on uh resolution which just discussion sir 76- 25 as well do you want to talk about it foreclosure uh attorney which one oh I'm sorry r76 d25 as well thank you sir I also um I concur on that I don't know you know um I think that we need a change with that in that department due to the recent ordinances and stuff that we've been doing I think uh I agree with you on 7625 that would be for the appointment Township foreclosure attorney the law office of John Novak council president yes sir I just want to share with you you will be leaving the municipality of Township of Jackson with no CFO you're putting us in a grave Financial Risk probably at odd with the state of New Jersey I certainly appreciate any vote any roll call you wish to do but I want you to know that the council will be leaving Jackson Township naked from a financial standpoint we have no CFO I had no knowledge that I'm just sharing Mr wall you're not you're not saying Mr wall I talked to you 10 times a day you said that we have part-time staff you have people that are doing I've spoken to him the bills will be paid Jen don't worry the bills will be paid this man is not fit for our glad you do I think the due diligence should have been done it took a little click of a little Google to get some that is not fit for our town I'm sorry absolutely not all right I'll I'll be asking for a special meeting to appoint a CFO at some point surely thank you thank you yes sir absolutely thank you I being that Administration is the one that put this on the agenda this you got to make it you didn't bet thisk thank you very much thank you councilman Madam clerk thank you um so may I please have a motion to remove R 7625 and R 9125 I think we have to vote on the only ones we're tbling is r 8-25 and and that was already done R 8 I think Madam clerk is asking to have those two items removed from consent agenda which will permit separate votes on those two specific resolution okay thank you thank you um so motion to uh pull R uh R 7625 and R 9125 from the consent agenda and vote on um them individually I I just want to make sure that everybody that the council me it's a little different excuse me your process is a little different so what the Madame clerk is doing is the two ones that we've T we've had questions on which is the appointment of um John Novak and also the appointment of the CFO she's putting them so that we can vote on them separately and not as a consent agenda because we've had no problems with any other things on the consent agenda so therefore like for example I'm saying an example just because this is a different process and pro procedures for the councilman if we voted yes on the consent agenda then we would go and we would vote individually on our 76 and our uh 91 Madam clerk did I explain that correctly thank you very much thank you m did I good okay so I'll make I'll make a motion to remove those two items from the consent agenda second all in favor I any opposed motion approved to remove resolution r76 and r91 25 from the consent agenda to vote on them separately thank you um I need a motion to not authorize R7 625 and that is to appoint John Novak I think I think you're looking for a motion we have to vote on it so we're we're normally what we do is we vote Yes or no so if you're moving them don't we have to vote on the consent agenda right now right so I don't we haven't made that vote um I'm sorry um attorney mcen so so the question is um so they've removed them from the consent agenda so the next um Step generally would be for the to vote on the remaining consent agenda very much for clarification I appreciate that thank you all right so uh may I please have a motion to approve the consent agenda without resolution r80 r88 r91 and R 7625 motion second all in favor I I I any opposed motion approved thank you now moving forward um to vote separately on R 7625 resolution may have a motion to not authorize r26 uh 25 it it would be a a motion no no a motion to not approve resolution um whichever resolution it is I believe if that's what the council if Council presid just clarify if a yes vote would mean that Mr Novak is not appointed yes is that correct M and how would you like this worded okay so I apologize this is not the way we we we have a new clerk she does it differently y okay so generally the motion would be a motion to deny a contract pursuant to um you know voting no on resolution 91 yeah I thought it would be a no not a yes the motion is clarified Thank You by attorney mcgugan to deny contract for resolution 7625 yes so a yes vote would be a vote to deny yes correct the cont roll call I'm sorry U may I please have a first and a second motion second thank you Council president I'm I'm sorry madam clerk this is on which resolution 76 7625 thank you the first motion um was uh council president cun I go ask oh I was a motion yes yes yes yes thank you very much thank you uh councilman pul Mar yes councilman barelli this is just for resolution 76 yes yes sir yes just to clarify it's a motion to deny a contract with John Noak Esquire so he will not be appointed correct correct Council uh coun vice president Bernstein no council president C yes motion approved the next motion may I please have a motion to deny contract for resolution 9125 motion excuse me just to clarify for the record this is a resolution denying a contract with PM Consultants LLC yes and a denial of appointing them as temporary chief finan officer second roll call motion was made in second thank you councilman pom this isn't a yes would a yes would mean we would not appoint him councilman belli yes Council vice president Bernstein yes council president C yes motion approved at this time if any where the next uh item on the agenda is public comment if any member of the public has a comment to make please address the council at this time into the micr mhone and state your name and address clearly for the record you'll have five minutes and may only speak once may I please have a motion to open public comment motion to open public comment we can we didn't vote on the rest of this did we we did the consent the rest of this automatic yes okay second is it so it's hold on so it's we have a different Clerk and it's a different process so where the clerk came from they used you guys are used to us doing all of resolutions and we would say no to resolutions 76 and 91 yes to the rest right that's the way we've always done it clerk does a little differently so it's it's we're learning her new processes so the way that they do it is you consent resolution that nobody had comments on notice we had an open discussion so we went in there was two resolutions that were obviously um a cons you know we had to discussions about so we move them to a different kind of spot on the agenda so that we voted on separately but then we went back and did a consent agenda so you voted on them on all the other ones I did but I had comments about the state housing obligation um you can can I'm I couldn't let it pass because go ahead it's a it's a big issue absolutely municipalities every s if you wouldn't mind Mr thank you sir I'll be we won't start the clock for yet do what you got do regarding resolution R 78-2 just wanted to get public comments on the record about this uh it's an issue that affects all municipalities in our states the fourth front of the state mandated affordable housing obligations for our town and hundreds of other municipalities across New Jersey I understand we have to vote on it but I don't have to like it or totally agree with it it's another state mandate that is unfair and unreasonable as the S2 public school aid uh funding formula has been en hampers our ability to protect and preserve open space and reign in over development in Jackson message to the governor and state legislators make New Jersey affordable and people can then afford housing in our state thank you thank you sir and I know that was important too so I'm glad that you got to read to to make a comment on that Mr adaman are you ready I'm ready if you guys are did we formally open yeah we formally opened you ready yes start the clock all right Donnie ad 206 Willow Point um councilman belli I think you're wrong I think that we need more affordable housing we need more housing in general definitely affordable but that's just that I don't think the numbers that have been presented to our town are fair Mr adman we have the third highest numbers in the whole state you're you're right with they need to be tripled um either way well I want to keep the Garden in Garden State and I'm sure a lot of people will agree out there about it in the state we'll be fine but that you know that was not the point of coming here but you know thank you because like I said it did come up um I have a question for our attorney is there a residency requirement for the mayor or the council members I believe that there is yes okay so if we have a mayor that lives in New Egypt for you know since he's moved down here for the last however many years why is he our mayor can can I I you know I don't lie to you and I'm very transparent with you so what it is is he lives in Jackson that whole side of town they have mailing addresses that are New Egypt but they actually even there's other streets over there and he does live in Jackson it's just the tax record say new AGP so it is um you would think that but it's not municipality under his tax records is going to be Jackson okay so what you're telling me is essentially his mailing addresses New Egypt but not to say was gonna happen let say he called 911 Jackson Police would show up essentially yes okay and he pays his water and sewer if he had it to in taxes next regards to what these CHS were talking about as far as making the park I know it's a different Park but making the dog park accessible and putting in some lighting over there would be a great idea aide uh we do have a few residents that come there in wheelchairs they're not able to really enter the park um if they are it's a tremendous amount they can't fully use the park uh quick question as far as on the corner of Bennett Mills in cooksbridge Road does anybody know what's going in there that they cleared out okay council president absolutely um my understanding is an office building great just what we don't need we you know housing yes housing we don't need but we need Office Buildings um I'd like to maybe make a recommendation that all spending for open space and basically trivial spending be stopped until the school budget problems are resolved and couple of other things as far as I had some plumbing problems recently council president administrator wall you both helped me out thank you um still got some outstanding things but at least it's working and usable but in going through it came to find out that none of our subcode officials are licensed and certified essentially they have patronage jobs we have building officials that may know the absolute Basics to give a CO but they don't know the laws and when you ask them a question where it specifically says check with your locing local code official they become hyper aggressive and well less than useful as far as a tool for a resident if they're having a plugin problem where they're having sewer sewer water and drainage water coming back into their home um so with that I do think it's with your audit and everything that you proposed I think it's critical that we verify credentials because not even from Andrew Cheney who sent me a nice email saying that none of the subcode officials are licensed or certified to do their job so if that's the case why are we paying them and I think we should claw back what we have paid them because simply every all the work that they've done for as long as they've been there should be has to be rechecked I I hate saying it because it's going to be a tremendous drain on the on the resources of the community but you know a housing official when somebody gets a new house they're supposed to do more than just make sure the furnace works and that there's the uh carbon monoxide detectors and the smoke alarms so a little bit more to the job than that I would hate to shudder with the Fire subcode official is somebody who used to do fire alarms in this town I know for a fact that it is a cartoonish inspection when you get a new system turned on line and they're relying on the workers thankfully people doing the job are more concerned about doing it right making sure it's up to standards and that you know God forbid something happens it works but there should be more than that it shouldn't be self-certification on things like fire alarms and sprinkler systems and stuff like that and it's a huge issue now with that and with some of the other issues with the affordable housing I do live in an affordable housing community who is the coordinator for Jackson Township in the affordable housing just due to the problems that my property manager has caused above and beyond the plumbing problems that we spoke about I have a handicapped accessible unit they've converted it for budgetary reasons into a non-handicapped accessible unit so I'd like to speak to the affordable housing coordinator and let them know that they have to take my unit off the affordable housing list number one and number two sorry email me and I'll I'll I'll assist you thank you sir and we are looking into um you know the review of The Code Enforcement we did ask Administration for that thank you sir you don't have to swear you don't have to swear just your name and your address please David viscone Whitesville Road Jackson Township first of all can I ask my question is can I make comment on a tabled matter uh no sir it would have to come back when it's back the record right is it an ordinance or a resolution you you these comments are for for any anything right it's it's for the amendment 2501 uh in regards to Township ordinance 244 164 that's the ordinance um Property Maintenance yeah can I comment yes this is not a again you can comment on anything at this time it does exist but but right now I know yes but right now it's it's not the second reading of the ordinance or anything like that but you can talk about anything okay as I understand it right now this amendment to 244 164 is badly conceived and not a good ide it's just not a good idea it's not well planned these new fines and penalties are substantially less than what is currently being um used in in court to address the negligence of absentee landlords in this Township these new fines will only deter compliance it will not unclog the courts the people living next to these problematic properties are not going to be happy with this there's going to be blowback this appears to be this amendment appears to be catering to absentee landlords who don't care about what the property looks like and I am speaking first of all I should have stipulated I'm speaking as a private property Citizen and not an employee of the township do you work do you understand oh I didn't know that I didn't know that sure you do me yeah yes I I didn't know that okay I work for code enforcement I didn't know that okay I'm not speaking as a code enforcement person okay I am concerned about I took this job because I'm concerned about the quality of life and what my town looks like and this plan will not improve the situation at all and I I just wanted that to be known okay thank you the other thing I want to ask about um several perhaps a couple months ago the street light condition was brought up do you does anyone do you recall that yeah okay where where are we we got we got a 100 emails about it okay well where are we at with this with fixing them it's we put an announcement out it was actually up on the uh on the projector when you came in there's a website that you can go to no no no I know that I mean I when I work I did that dozens and dozens of times but that's in the past the new jcpnl doesn't want to fix their street lights we're we're well aware of it mayor is working on that so so we're aware of it but what are we doing about it you would have to ask the mayor the township pays x amount of dollars per street light now uh I don't know what that is do does anybody know Mr wal do you know what it is no okay we pay x amount of dollars per street light and we expect to have them maintained when they're reported out and jcpnl isn't doing it I know that because I've reported my own light in front of my house several times and I'm not getting any positive results now I am I I've been told by somebody who works for jcpnl that since they were bought by First Energy of Ohio I think it is that the maintenance of street lights has deteriorated over the years and this this is this is what I experienced uh I traveled from Freehold to my house via Jackson Mills Road South cooksbridge Etc I counted 25 bad street lights in that rack out some of them in some places there are three lights out in a row others there are there are in intersections what are we going to do about fixing something that we're paying for we are not getting our monies worth we report this constantly the engineer reports it there's um you know a website and our responses well six months to year but Council B I just want to add to what council president just said is that county commissioner sedi by I think it was two commissioner meetings ago did talk about it was in the news about a possible lawsuit against against JC Pinel representing the towns of of Ocean County I know he's been in talks with our mayor about maybe Jackson joining as a as a co-plaintiff um we've definitely have the mayor has definitely had meetings I know Jason recently had a new president they brought him down the mayor met with him I know something which is definitely I mean more than once a week the mayor is is is is working on it unfortunately there's not much more we can do with at this point Thank what what if we just don't pay the bill I thank you sirk Elanor hannam Jackson New Jersey um I just am here to express my disappointment as to how our government is handling business um there was inadequate uh notice given to the residents of Jackson Township for the quote unquote special meeting last Thursday um in order to you know you violated the open public meetings act the open public meetings act states that you must give and provide 48 hours notice imprint unless it is an urgent and important matter so last week was not an urgent and important matter there are three other clerks that were in that office with the same credentials or similar credentials so notice was given prior where we still had a clerk so therefore you did violate the law you also violated uh proper notice back in December 31st where you turned around and had another special meeting and then did not provide public notice until January 2nd so moving forward you realize that this could be a big violation it is very very Discerning to me not just that because it's very clear what is happening here because the electronic news sources that are also voted on I believe is the Shore News Network and the Lakewood Scoop are not credible online sources for news they do not maintain um a preserved intangible record that could be seen when we had a issue at a zoning board meeting when they were doing the reorg and someone from this Council I guess uh leaked uh Council counselor or attorney Ryan Murphy's memo which is very interesting that you would do that because it's extremely underhanded it's dishonest and quite frankly it's illegal but then in order to fix that problem The Shore News Network deleted the article I have it so that publication cannot be a legal publication for legal notice for Jackson Township the Lakewood Scoop also we have Mr Bernstein here has ties to you also legally cannot do that and it is a very biased one-sided online electronic news source that is actually not valid not credible they do not preserve the archives for people to maintain online the same way as the Asbury Park Press it is very clear so therefore you need to rethink that um I cannot end without finishing the fact that with these Publications it is very clear that this board or this government is seeking to censor any and all information going out to the residents of Jackson Township that happen happens in communist communism when the government censors and that's what you're doing so I guess I have some questions who leaked uh Mr Murphy's uh letter and at the end before I end I would like to know what this board is going to do or this council is going to do about commercial leases and rents because it seems that there is a lot of discrimination with some of our longtime uh commercial restaurants we say that they're doubling their rent if not more than doubling their rent so that they're out of business and they close I find it really really hard to believe that a tiny little shop with maybe four racks of clothes is paying the exact same rent major discrimination going on and I would also like to address what I call the boarding houses in Jackson Township you have boarding houses you have single family residences that have been brought in turned into boarding houses you have 30 cars lining the property all over the the lawn and I'm now seeing them parked on top of the leech field thank you ma'am have a good night it will be reported with the state thank you ma'am have a great night [Music] my name is John Barrett much spoken about here tonight um I just wanted to take my few minutes uh to also uh introduce myself um to also uh thank you for the opportunity uh to be considered um and also just kind of give you a little bit about me I'm John Barrett from Brick New Jersey uh you're Miss mcguin correct yes sir so so I uh I was looking forward to helping uh Jackson Township out the your father um he and I were friends uh and continue to be in fact I remember when you were running around with your sisters with your mom Beth so it it was nice to see that but for me um I just want to introduce myself because sometimes as as the resident spoke sometimes media is kind of biased at times um I spent my career as a governmental auditor I worked for a firm in Ocean County and also down in Atlantic County and at one point in time I was hired or offered to be hired by the state uh as a distressed City's auditor and when they told me the the luxury locations of Camden Newark and other places that I'd be assigned to at the same time Ying Township opened up as the CFO and I was referred there by the state to get the manest stress City status early uh I then was hired by Hamilton who was also under distressed City status do some financial mismanagement and when I got there there were about 50 audit comments about $79,000 fund balance and I worked proudly in Hamilton Township for many years to clear audits to get a fun balance close cl to $10 million and restore the financial Integrity of Hamilton Township now as a CFO you are told quite often that if you see something you should say something uh I was one of those what you would refer to as a whistleblower in Hamilton Township of course news articles wouldn't cover that but certainly my lawsuit against the township did um but I'm not here to defend myself I'm here to introduce myself uh in in Hamilton Township I work with the prosecutor m Mercer County prosecutor in the FBI with regard to what I felt to be uh some criminal activity of the administration the mayor later on that mayor was criminally charged and um she faced some sort of legal matters with regard to her actions I am a father of three daughters I am also the owner of PM Consultants where I have a team of people W about 12 different municipalities in the state when I get called into these situations where you have a sudden resignation in this case of a deputy CFO and a CFO I often joke that my firm is like the financial serve pro we're here to help you in your time of need that's exactly what I did with a handshake and in meeting uh Mr wall I came in here to help that was it it wasn't to get an extra client it wasn't in order to you know put another feather in my cap so I would have thought tonight that in hiring a firm or in this case not you would have taken the opportunity to uh maybe introduce yourselves to me or me being able to introduce myself to you because certainly um having um worked in a town where Miss Martin worked um I was looking even forward to working with her in this time but the reality is this that all charges with regard to the Hamilton matter were dropped the mayor lost her election and the new mayor who came in decided that it was political Revenge it was something that did not match the charges and if you look through the detail the charges of the 88 Pages the one thing that they did say was that I did abuse siik time ladies and gentlemen the council the person who was in charge of monitoring my sick time was a gentleman who was the brother-in-law of the mayor and also part of the retaliation but that doesn't matter but I just want to make sure that I I want to wish you the very best I I do not have a you know an evil uh thought about you guys in my private life I'm a deacon in the Roman Catholic faith been ordained five years I probably baptized over 300 kids and and for me at St Martha is in Point Pleasant it's something that I value in my private life but I just wanted to formally wish you godp speed I wish you the very best in your organization and I would ask you to do one thing with my one minute left that when you look at your administrator and he tells you there's a problem with your finances don't just brush it off don't just stand here or sit here and say you know what maybe this was political retribution maybe this was just something that maybe somebody whispered in your ear as to hey did you hear about that I stand here before you not in judgment but I'm trying to provide you with a solution a temporary solution at best to make sure that this financial operation continues doing the chess compressions on a finance office that otherwise right now is vacant you do not want to jeopardize the financial Integrity of this good town you don't want to jeopardize any kind of future payments for payroll that being said I hope that you Mr wall can find a replacement for the two people that you have lost in speaking with your a aitor they were some of the best people in the business and your financial financials were very secure and I wish those continue have a great night sir I would just like to add to that um as council president I was asked to sign our financial documents your signature was already on there as you're leaving but your signature was already on our bank accounts before you were even appointed that doesn't rate a red raise a red flag no sir that's fine you you that was enough for me that you had your signature all over our banking information all over it and you weren't even appointed we didn't even meet you nothing all we got was a piece of paper over here and then all as I go and they're like asking me to sign and I'm going to sign when your name's already on there and we didn't even appoint you on our banking our CFO I spoke to Mr wall Mr wall said that we have a part-time the second uh CFO I guess Deputy is working from home and everything is fine we were 11.3 Surplus last year you're saying now all a sudden because you are pointing their ourc o has uh moved to another town and one has resigned that now we're in financial distress where is this coming from I I don't I don't I don't need I'm just saying that did not sit very well with me that your signature was on our account before you were appointed and had the job this isn't you know we're not doing handshakes here sure council president Financial handshakes it doesn't work you brought me back up um for this purpose and I will answer this um Mr wall is going to give you a briefing on the things that happened this week relative to the need to banking doesn't happen overnight and the draft form that we had submitted and gathers if you could gathered signatures on was once again for the continu continuation of your financial banking relations that being said ma'am I can and maybe the folks here can hear the maybe the anger or fight resentment towards me no thank you sir I appreciate it I don't have that towards you or anybody thank I just wish you very well me too and you have a great night drive safe well council president can I just have a comment absolutely I just have a question and you brought it up and I guess I didn't even know and maybe this is for our attorney are you saying that well the gentleman left so he obviously doesn't want to answer question just for the attorney I guess are you saying that a CFO that was not approved on our agenda yet was working in our in our town and signed the banking information yes sir and I refused to sign it and I gave it in can I ask your attorney is that legal I I'd have to look at the specific sir there the mayor does have the authority to appoint an emergency situ situations um it not authorize a contract but to make appointments um in emergency situations I don't I I had no idea about she still she's still employed until Friday I'd have to look at this specif I didn't even know I mean I just wouldn't know if if someone could sign off on something not being officially hired but I guess if the mayor I don't know if the mayor did you're saying if the mayor made an emergency Declaration of some sort that that would be possible and I have no idea if he did I'm just thinking of the statutes in my head that would I have no idea any absolutely please okay any and all documents that are right here were in a draft that were pending the approval of the resolution if the resolution was not approved then the draft doesn't matter so if that's what you prefer that's fine I will tell you that there are statutes related to not having a CFO that include personal penalties we're going to share that with you tomorrow uh I fully appreciate and support your right as an elected official to vote as you see fit but it's very clear to the public these are drafts to move the operation along so in the event you you pass favor it was going to be Tuesday but the meeting was canceled of course um the CFO is retiring her La uh the assistant Treasurer has already gone the CFOs last day is today yesterday tomorrow basic com in call it Friday but f after 27e career typically take a half a day here or there towards the end um we wish her well she's fantastic Sharon pinov is a fantastic individual and she's a resident of Jackson she put her heart and so into the town but as of Monday we have no CFO and there is liability to the township but just to be clear these were drafts I just ripped them in half because you're not passing it tonight but they were to be in advance to have it prepared nothing was submitted to any banking institution so I just want to make it clear before there's any incorrect insinuation at all on the record particularly to the Jackson Public of anything that even has a hint of impropriety which I challenge directly so did Mr Barrett work pro bono since we didn't approve him if he was in the building he 100% 100% at risk just like Engineers from time to time and other professionals work at risk just like attorneys occasionally are working at risk pending a resolution of approval yes anything else Mr wall may ask sir how long do we know shair was going to retire our CFO it was quite sudden but again like I asked the attorney earlier if it's a Personnel matter do you wish to address it in public or do you think it's an executive item it's really I'll leave it up to the attorney I would agree I believe a Personnel matter should not be discussed um in public at this juncture she's still employed so may I ask who else apply besides Mr Barrett to be has it been is it was it on New Jersey League of municipalities the that was on the yes 100% on the league the um it's on there now are we still making applications oh yes this is interim this is so Jackson doesn't skin their knees and skin their face while we're trying to transfer to a full-time this is to have Financial stability which we've had for many years this is to avoid instability which starts Monday if we don't get this addressed so Jackson the finances to your point are bulletproof right now we're doing fantastic and all of these efforts are to make sure that the council that the public and the all the staff that counts on us and to get paid every two weeks that it is bulletproof and it to stay that way so I'm going I hope we have other applications we could look at them ASAP we have received a handful most of them not qualified I could tell you it's a very difficult environment it's a it's a fully engaged environment there's another group that has eight individuals that are engaged in CFO Services I asked them if that they had any staffing available uh they're all eight are fully booked up another carry there are various there there are four or five different companies that are um they are consultant Services his team is a team of registered Municipal accountants Auditors and CFOs uh a lot of folks that retire from the business get involved in consultancy Jersey Professional Management which our new clerk has participated with is also a fine company and they're also similarly a team so the answer to your question yes it's posted the assistant position is posted I will tell you it's a very difficult environment and there are many other positions that are open if you go to the leak site for CFOs is a very competitive enir I respect that but again we did our due diligence and and council's just not comfortable um with what we all found collectively um we're very uncomfortable with somebody like that okay great thank you you're welcome motion anybody seeing no one come forward make a motion to close public comment second roll call I any opposed motion to close motion second all in favor I have a good night