for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Good evening and welcome to the November 13, 2025 regular meeting of the Jackson Township Council. Pursuant to the provision of the New Jersey Open Public
Meeting Act, adequate notice of this meeting was properly provided by transmitting a notice of the meeting. >> Your mic? Yeah. Thank you. Pursuant to the provisions in the New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act, adequate notice of this meeting was
properly provided by transmitting the notice of the meeting on January 28, 2025 for publication. Notice of this meeting of the township councils, but post in the quarter of the municipal building and in the office of the municipal clerk. We'll begin with a roll call. >> Councilman Blli
>> uh present. >> Thank you. Just for >> Councilman Brassie >> here. Council Vice President Paul Mary >> present. >> Council President Bernstein >> present. >> Also attending this evening is Honorable Mayor Cune Township Attorney Mr.
McGucken, Verona Gdagner of the Clerk's Office, and myself, Sandra Martin. We now hear opening comments from the township council, starting with Council President Bergen. Just making sure all the mics are working. Thank you, clerk. Um, so first of all, I want to congratulate Mr.
Pollock on his big win uh about a week and a half ago. Um and just to give everyone an update, Mr. Pollock um it has to wait until the election gets certified which is November 24th and I think his tentative plan is to come and get sworn in at the meeting on the 25th the next day. So we look forward to
working with him and it's been a great it's been a pleasure communicating with you in the past week and we looking forward to working for all of our residents together. Um, a special thank you to Councilman Min Breie for opening up the Veterans Memorial this year, as he does every year. This year is a little bit different. Um, West Lake um,
ballroom was out of commission. So, Westlake moved their Veterans Day um, memorial over to um to the Veterans um to to to the Veterans Memorial. It was a cold day. It was still a pack day. Um, it was great to see so many people out there supporting our veterans. So, thank
you, Councilman. Thank you for all the great work that you do over there. I know that is your heart, your life, and that you put everything in. So, you and your wonderful family. Thank you. Um, a quick update to Rova Farms. I got an email um early this morning from Brian Quinn um who is our engineer in charge
for the Rova Farm project. The architect has revised elevation view of the building. Now, the engineers are starting the drainage plan. In addition, the landscape architect is working on a landscaping plan, and they hope to have revised plans for the architecturals, the landscape, and the drainage within
the next two weeks so we can present it to the committee and to the to the public. Um, there were a couple of of press releases this week. I just want to address a couple of them. So, the township has opened a new email with regard to if someone sees a burntout light bulb. Now, um, it's not a secret.
People can pick up the phone and call themselves. We've been getting a lot of complaints about residents who have called and some some of them I actually saw over the past couple days um are saying that there those complaints were quickly dealt with. The mayor had a meeting a couple weeks ago with um Mr. Bryce who was here by a council meeting
not so long ago about it and they recommended the township should compile a list and send it in. So I just want to explain there are three types of issues that we've noticed through the complaints and that are coming our way. One is burnt out bulbs, which um the township is paying for every burnt out
bulb um even if the light's not working. So that's issue number one that currently exists. Then you have um street lights. Yes, sorry. Um secondly, you have utility poles out there that do not have bulbs and some of them are meant to, some of them obviously are not meant to. And then you have some very
dark areas which don't have any light bulbs. Um the town is not looking to light up Jackson like the city of New York. No one has any plan of that whatsoever. And we are going to be working with our engineering and the mayor's office to ensure that a smart
light plan is built. We cons we continue to um request that residents notice a burned out bulb to take the poll number and to email it to lights outjackanttownship.net. Um so far this week, I think we've received since we put out the release on
Tuesday, close to 100 um residents have reached out already with burnedout bulbs in their areas. And hopefully I think it's going to be once a month engineers are going to take that list and send it into um JC Penel. We are hoping being that it's coming from the township and being that it's a not just one out one
over here, one out over there that it will be dealt with quickly, efficiently in a way that people can continue to feel safe in their neighborhoods and on the on the busy roads. Additionally, we put out a release that we are in the process of reviewing the Brewers Bridge, Cooks Bridge, and New Central Corridors
um for roadway improvements and um pedestrian safety upgrades. We did submit a a grant in the past week um in that area. Being that there is a a uh the school is over there, we're now eligible for possibly a little bit more funding help from the state. We will
update everyone as this process continues, but that area is desperately in in the need of certain safety upgrades. Um, additionally, I had a conversation last night with Mayor Cune, um, and she is going to be reaching out to the county to discuss, as everyone's aware, Brewers Bridge, the bridge on
Brewers Bridge, um, is finally moving forward for his construction. And if we all remember some neighboring towns and with bridges that were went for construction, they weren't just closed for 6 weeks or eight weeks, they were closed for a very, very long time. So we are re um and I say long time a very
very long time and obviously a corridor like that not having access is going to be a tremendous nightmare. So we are going to be working with our county and municipal engineers to see what solutions we could find to ensure that when the Brewers Bridge road work does occur it doesn't shut down the entire
town. Um we will keep everyone updated and it's something that um I'm sure the mayor will have an update hopefully in the next couple weeks. Last uh la two more points I just want to mention. This coming Sunday from 10:30 to 2:30. Um I had the opportunity of working with
Councilman Elect Pollock on a food bank food drive. Um when we originally scheduled it, there was a shutdown and people did not have their food stamps. Thankfully, that was resolved, but at the end of the day, there are many people suffering and um who are in the need of food. Um, we are encouraging all
residents who are able to to please drop off whatever um non-p perishable foods. The town put on their on the website a release uh pertaining to more specifics of what should be dropped off. Um, additionally, if anyone wants to come by and volunteer and help, feel free. DPW
will be here coordinating and um, we obviously um, are going to be working with Joy from the food pantry and ensuring that everything gets distributed to all the needy who need it. Lastly, I just want to take a moment and ask RIT if they can pull up. We have we've had for a while, but it's been out of service a township news site, which
in the past was full of local news, county news, state news, global news, um, and we are in the process of fixing it up. The town news site is Jacksonwpnj.news, um, which we will hopefully be utilizing more for, um, press releases and
township news. last release that I think went up was about the food uh the food bank on food drive on Sunday. Um we urge everyone to continue to follow it and we also urge all of our residents to please reach out to the mayor's office or to any of your council members if there's something positive going on whether it's
in the sports leagues or anything else in the town. Please let us know and we will try to highlight it for all of our residents to know. Thank you and have a good night. >> Council Vice President Paul Mary. >> Thank you. Uh, I just want to thank all of our veterans for the freedoms we
enjoy. We should not just thank our veterans on Veterans Day or the week of Veterans Week, but always you allow us these freedoms to live in the greatest country in the history of the world. So, thank you and God bless you. >> Council member Elli,
>> thank you, Clerk Martin. Um, I wanted to thank Council President Bernstein for uh that overview of what the town is working on and uh for the residents of our town. So, um, thank you for the updates. Much appreciated. Um, I see that we are um, providing a proclamation
to Gloria Yanis tonight for 44 years of service to Jackson Township residents. Wow. How did you do it? God bless you and I hope you very much enjoy your muchdeserved retirement. And uh talk about service. Uh Veterans Day
was on Tuesday as council vice president was uh Pomero was indicating. A big thank you to our veterans who sacrifice so much here and abroad to protect and defend the freedoms we enjoy in keeping our homeland uh safe and secure. And thank you to our fellow Councilman uh
Brassie for your brave and dedicated service, Ken, to our great country. Can't thank you enough. Um, good seeing you all. Take care and uh, have a good evening. >> Councilman Brassie, >> first I want to congrat congratulate Mr.
Pollock on a well ran campaign. You earned it. Did a good job. Look forward to working with you up here and some new thoughts, new blood. Know what's happened. Anything can happen. So, we look forward to working with you. And, uh, Glorianis, 44 years. Uh, that's more
than a milestone. Congratulations. Thank you for your service for the years and enjoy your retirement. As far as Veterans Day, it was different this year. She's not retired. >> That's what she's retiring. >> Wow. Excuse me.
>> We'll honor her again in 54 years. >> Yeah. Um, as far as Veterans Day at the memorial site, V memorial garden, it was really a pleasure to see a community like Westlake that had a problem. their ceiling in their clubhouse caved in and
they couldn't hold their annual veteran day service and they came to us right away and asked if they could use our facility or share our facility for that day and hold the service like they always do. They present flags people deceased in their uh complex and everything else and we gladly gladly
turned our memorial garden over to them for the day and they ran a heck of a service. It was a great turnout. I appreciate them coming out and everybody else that came after that service. But thank you very much and have a great night and get home safe. >> The next item on the agenda is comments by honorable mayor Keune.
>> Thank you, Madam Clerk. >> Good evening, everyone. I just wanted to if you could see around as you walked in, you'll see um that we've painted and we're doing some upgrades to the building in here and in the hallways and throughout all of the uh administration buildings. We will be uh putting
security on the outskirts of the doors where it will be only employees allowed in um and everybody will be coming through the front door, any guests. Uh we are going to be having a uh class 2 officer that will be sitting there during uh the times that the buildings
are open. Um just for security, we also put on all of the phones a panic button. So if anybody um any of the employees feel unsafe, they can hit a button and it will go directly to the dispatchers for the police department. We have all new camera systemings uh going
throughout the buildings. Um so we'll give a bird's eye view if anybody coming in and coming out. We'll have also audable um as well as visual so we can make sure that everybody feels safe when they're walking around. We do have a lot of employees that um are genuinely uh just a little bit in fear in 2025 with
everything that's been going on. So I just wanted to let everybody know that you will have three TVs. One will be a touchscreen. So, when you're coming into the building in the front, there'll be a touchcreen TV. So, if you're looking for the department and you want easy access, you can touch in the des uh TV. You could type where you need to go. You can
look for if there's an employee you're looking for, if you have an appointment, gives it a little bit, you'll have detailed information. And we'll also be having that as a um veterans uh showcase wall where we have all of the pictures that we're hanging on the wall and additional ones. Uh people will be able
to send them in so that we can showcase our veterans in a in a slideshow. So Christian's going to be working on that. And then the other two TVs will be all the pertinent information that you will need uh regarding what's going in with the township. We still will have the display by the clerk's office that could
be, you know, that gets changed all the time. The boards are just going to be updated. So you will see a lot of new doors. Uh these two doors are going to be replaced as that one is dangerously falling down. Um this is being funded one by opioid uh grants is the TVs. uh
the doors are being funded by the money that the council and myself had found um unfunded uh bond money that was not spent. So, we're trying to utilize that to the best ability. Also wanted to just make a small mention um pertaining to
some of the uh you know questions pertaining to the veterans parking out front in the back where uh council and administration parks. Um the veteran spot was never removed. Um it was put on a post. It was on the right and it was put on the left because uh I want you
guys to know as your mayor that I'm here. I'm here every day. I've been here all day this morning. Um I left for an hour to let my dog out and then I came right back. Um I'm here every day. Uh I want you to see my car in that parking spot because I want you to know that I'm here serving you, doing what needs to be done that hasn't been done in 20 years.
Um we are doing a lot of work. I'm proud of what I'm doing. And when you drive by and you see the council and myself in that spot, yes, I do want you to see me there. It's not because I'm the mayor. I'll take that off. I'll put my name on there. I just want you to know that I am here and that I am working on day-to-day
operations within. We are working on getting an administrator. Uh we're interviewing, but we don't want a a 3 months in a turnaround within the administration. We want longevity like Gloria here that's been here for 44 years and still is not retiring. Um we
are looking for that. I that's pretty much all I have for tonight. I just want to thank you all. Um and have a great night. Uh, and Christian, thank you for all the upgrades that you've been doing, working with the team. Uh, we do have a great team that we're working on. If you could see the TVs and everything. This
room is not done. There's the DEAS is going to be updated as well. So, we're not done. And I hope everybody is proud when they come into their town hall that you can see the upgrades that are doing. Thank you and have a great night. >> The next item for tonight's meeting is an update from the Department of Public Works, Mr. Shan Blinsky. Council
President Bernstein. >> Thank you. Our streets and road division have begun the annual fall leaf collection. Crews are working diligently to stay on schedule, including working on Saturday when necessary. We appreciate everyone's cooperation in keeping parked vehicles off the streets and away from leaf piles to help ensure
an efficient collection process. Please refer to our website for detailed leaf collection guidelines and schedules. And I just want to add, I spoke to our DPW department this afternoon. Um they they currently just finished zone two or almost finished zone two. they're moving on to zone four and every year they
switch where they start and where they end. And obviously whoever gets first usually isn't completely happy due to the fact that leaves are still up. If there is time and we don't get snow, they will come back for a second loop starting with where they started. Um, which is what they do every year and they rotate every year which zones go
first and which zones go second. Our buildings and grounds division is currently completing renovations at several municipal buildings and we thank residents for their patience during this work. We're also pleased to announce that we are now accepting used books at the transfer station as part of our partnership with Bookdrop, a local book
recycling program dedicated to keeping millions of books out of landfills. Bookdrop provides and maintains book recycling bins bins at no cost to the county or to the township. They manage bin placement, pickups, and maintenance and also offer monthly or quarterly weight reports. These reports can help
communities qualify for grants, rebates, or substantial or or other programs. We're excited to offer this environmentally friendly program and encourage residents to take part by recycling their unwanted books. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support. >> The next item for tonight's meeting is
the proclamation portion. Council President Bernstein. >> I'm going to ask the mayor to read the proclamation. >> Thank you, Council President. >> Honoring Gloria Yanis for 44 years distinguished service to the township of Jackson. Whereas the township of Jackson
proudly recognizes and honored individuals who dedicated professionalism and integrity have made a lasting and meaningful impact on our community. And whereas Gloria Giannis began her services to the township on February 9th, 1981 through the setup
program making the beginning of the remarkable 44year career defined as exceptional commitment, kindness, and excellence. And whereas over the course of her distinguished tenure, Gloria served in the administrative office, the tax colle uh collector's office, and the
municipal court before joining the tax assessor's office where she earned her certificate tax certified tax assessor certification and became an indispensable part of the township operations. And whereas Gloria's leadership extended well beyond her
professional responsibilities as she served as the president and vice president of the AFSCME union advocating for fairness, unity, and mutual respect among her colleagues. And whereas her extensive knowledge,
mentorship, and warm personality have earned her the admiration and trust of her co-workers, residents, and community leaders alike. And whereas in her heartfelt recognition of her 44 years of devoted service, the township of Jackson
has dedicated a street in her honor commemorating her in enduring contributions and legacy within the community. Now therefore, be it at the proclamation that we, Mayor Jennifer Elkune and the Jackson Township Council, do hereby extend our deepest gratitude
and sincerity appreciation to Gloria Giannis for her extraordinary services, professionalism, and lasting impact on the township of Jackson. If you could please come up. [Applause]
[Applause] [Music] [Applause] The next item of business is a second reading and public hearing of ordinance 202543 amending ordinance 02 20225 entitled an
ordinance establishing the salary range for all the various officials and employees of the township for the year 2025. five and thereafter. At this time, if any member of the public has any comments to make, please address the council at the microphone and state your name and address clear for the record. You will have five minutes and may only speak once. May I have an motion? Motion
to open public comment. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Councel. >> Seeing no one come forward. A motion to close forum. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Any opposed?
>> May I have a motion to adopt ordinance 202543? >> Motion. Second. >> Councilman Belli. >> Yes. >> Councilman Brassie. >> Yes. >> Council Vice President Paul Mary. >> I do have a question for our attorney. Mr. President, can I ask the question?
>> Absolutely. >> Thank you. Um, so Mr. McGucken, I this is not directly tied to this particular ordinance, but this ordinance is tied to the Bureau of Housing and Inspection. And uh I have a concern that came up this week. I had a resident that reached
out to me a few days ago and uh said that there was on Zillow a home that was renting a room and they thought that that was unlawful. So, they folded that information to me, which I forwarded to code enforcement. And then I had a response that said that the owner
actually resides at that home. And if the owner resides at that home, they can legally rent rooms, which I found to be a loophole because if someone has a five bedroomedroom home, the owner could live
in one of those bedrooms, but then rent out four bedrooms to random individuals. I thought that it would be more of a a boarding house than it would be a home, a private single family home. Um I I would like your opinion if this is something we could look into to tie up
that legally and maybe legislatively tie up that loophole uh because that would be defeating the purpose of single family occupancy. >> We'll be glad to look into it. Um there are some constitutional implications from that in a legion of cases about
unrelated people living together. But the renting of bedrooms uh may implicate the uh New Jersey statutes regarding boarding homes and we'll be glad to take a quick look at it. Absolutely. >> I appreciate that and I look forward to your response to the matter. So, thank you. But I do vote yes on the ordinance itself.
>> Thank you, Council President Bernstein. >> Yes. And then thank you, Councilman, um for for following up with that resident. Thank you. >> Motion carries. The next item of business is the first reading and introduction for ordinance 202544 amending and supplementing
chapter 103 entitled vehicles and traffic article 14 schedules. Council President Bernstein, are there comments on ordinance 202544? >> Yes, this ordinance amends chapter 103 vehicles and traffic article um schedules of attachment code. It adds a no parking, stopping or standing
restriction to both sides of Heisen Road, specifically between the westerly side of Scotland Drive and the easternly side of of Hanover Road, which is a paper street. My understanding is that a condition of approval by the planning board would be that the applicant over there would make a request from the
governing body to ban parking. And I am happy to see that my council that we're introducing this ordinance. Thank you. >> Are there any questions or comments by the township council? We have a motion to approve ordinance 202544 and the first reading and
introduction to authorize the notice of the public hearing. >> Motion second. >> Councilman Brellley, >> yes. >> Councilman Bresie, >> yes. >> Council Vice President Paul Mary, >> yes. >> Council President Bernstein, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Next item of business is the first
reading and introduction of ordinance 202545 repealing ordinance number 2121 and reinstating all prior provisions of chapter 2986. Council President Bernstein, are there any comments on ordinance 202545?
>> Yes. Ordinance 2025-45 repeals ordinance 2121 which had established a special event permit process. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, better known as the DCA, determined that or ordinance 2121 conflicted with provisions of the New
Jersey Administrative Code and was therefore uninforceable. As a result, this ordinance repeals 2121 in its entirety and reinstates the prior provisions of chapter 298-6 as they existed before its adoption. And I'll just add my understanding is that the DCA has been in communication with
the governing body since 2023 with with concerns and this really came from the DCA and hopefully this will provide some relief of to the residents in that neighborhood. >> Counc there is one typo in the first whereas it should be violative instead of valuative.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Sure. >> Are there any questions or comments by the township council? May I have a motion to approve or August 202545 on first reading and introduction and to authorize the notice of the public hearing. >> Motion second.
>> Councilman Browley, >> yes. >> Councilman Brassie, >> yes. >> Council Vice President Paul Mary, >> yes. >> Council President Bernstein, >> yes. >> Motion carries. The next item of business is the first reading introduction of ordinance 202546 amending chapter 244 land use and
development regulations of the code of the township of Jackson County of Ocean State of New Jersey to establish an inclusionary zone district overlay entitled AH1 providing affordable housing units uh to be developed subject to certain conditions and requirements. Council President Bernstein, are there
any comments on ordinance 202546? Yes. I'm going to read comments that pertain to ordinance uh 202546, 47, and 48. So, these ordinances amend chapter 244 of the township code titled land use and development regulations to establish a new affordable housing
inclusionary overlay zone known as AA1, AA 2, and sorry, AA1, AA3, and AA3A. These this these overlay zones allow for mixeduse development combining residential and commercial commercial uses with a 20% affordable housing set aside to help the township meet a
statemandated Mount Laurel affordable housing obligation for the 2025 through 2035 period. These zones apply to several designated blocks and lots within the township and include standards for open space, community amenities, parking and building designs.
These ordinances ensure that all developments within these zones contribute to Jackson Township affordable housing goals while maintaining appropriate site designs and infrastructure requirements. And I'll just add that it was a pleasure working with my council um with our council um soliciting feedback. This this is one of
those things that no one wants to do. Um but we had certain things and uh whether it was requiring more open space. I thank you council member for pushing me to to make that request. Um more parking requirements. Thank you, council vice president for some of that some of those and obviously Mr. Breie. So those those
are what these three ordinances are. >> Are there any questions or comments by the township council? >> I I have comments, but I mean I wish it was stated in the ordinances exactly what street or areas that we're talking about instead of just lot and block numbers so the residents know. Um and
that's not a reflection on you, council president. Don't take don't take it personally. I just wish, you know, we we're just seeing block numbers and lot numbers. We're not exactly seeing where this uh this is being proposed in um all three ordinances. >> Um Mr. Brell, if I could just respond
for a second. Hopefully by by when we go for adoption, I'm going to ask our professionals who will be by the next meeting um when these are adopted or voted on um our town affordable attorney will be here together with our planner. I'm going to ask them to put uh color diagrams showing exactly where they are.
Um because like you said, I think it's a fair a fair a fair request. People should know exactly where they are going on and hopefully we'll give a more detailed explanation of all the standards and regulations by the next meeting and have public comment on that. So yes, absolutely. >> If I could just do a call out. Um, some
of the things that that grabbed me and I knew that we were going back and forth and we wanted to add this into this ordinance was a a minimum of 16% of the project shall be open space which is which is huge because you know developers want to maximize as much as they can to build. So 16% of that open
space is is is huge. I think it's one of the most in in we tried more um but yes >> um and I do like that we have in here uh market rate units and affordable units shall be deed restricted to prohibit conversions of basement and garages into
rentals. Very important. And the one right down from it says basement shall not be accessible from outdoors via a direct stairway or entrance to prohibit the conversion of basements into rentals. side entrances shall be not be permitted which I think just uh helps
the fact that they cannot do this even illegally. It'll it'll make it harder because there'll be no separate entrance. And I also like that and I know that you mentioned the um visitor space. We added a 0.25 for every um for every uh four units. So for every
unit, so for every four units being built, there'll be an extra parking space which I think is important. And no on street parking shall be permitted within 100 feet of any roadway intersection. And we're going to have signage stating that which is very important for first responders and also just you know people turning in and out
of the roadway. And what was really important that I seen that didn't happen before and I lived uh before I you know before I moved to my home I lived in in Cooksbridge and you can see if you lived in the town's houses in Cooksbridge there was like the roads are so small
you can't fit two cars at the same time. So having uh development with 50 or more units shall provide a minimum of two separate approved fire apparatus ingress egress roads and if it's 150 or more units a minimum of three is there for
safety precautions and it's easier to get vehicles in and out especially fire trucks etc. So these are just some call outs that we added to make sure that when this is developed it's developed smarter than in the past. So I want I appreciate us all collaborating on this
council for that. >> If I could just add one more thing, I wasn't going to get into specifics at this meeting, but one of the other things that is in there if anyone wants to read through it is a phase pro uh process. Many time Oh, councilman, I'll let you elaborate, but many times you look at other developments in town that the developer just promises commercial,
doesn't end up building the commercial or some of the amenities that they promise and you just want to, you know, put rows and rows of houses. The developer will not be able to go to the next phase over here. there um if they don't build a certain amount of the recreation a certain percentage of the commercial and the community center. So
that was something that I I think was >> phase the phase and parts very important on many applications over the years you get them to commit to the clubhouse and then the other entities and they wind up building the residential building residential and then they don't build that and then they sell the property and it's not done and this protects us from
that and there's a whole phase in schedule of everything. So when it's 100% complete everything is there. Uh that that's very a very key element >> and I just want to elaborate on one more point. There's three ordinances. They're all the same. Um the reason why there are three ordinances, there's three
different zones, three parts of town. One is the non-pinelands, one is an area within Pinelands. Pinelands, so everyone knows still Pinelands would have to review it and and give approval. We do not have jurisdiction over Pineelands. And one is the non one is the regional growth within the Pineland. So there are three different zones, three, sorry,
three different sections of town. And I look forward to the next meeting. our affordable housing attorney, Miss Labou, will be here together with Mala Apti, who will hopefully elaborate a little bit more specifics on how we got here and what the process is. Thank you. >> May I have a motion to approve oranges
202546 on first rating and introduction uh uh uh and to authorize the notice of the public hearing. Excuse me. >> So move. >> Second. >> Council Brley. >> Um I I still want to do my due diligence um on these ordinances. Um, I'm still concerned about the density impact it
will have on our town services. I know I've mentioned that before. Um, you know, I'm good with the commercial component, of course, community centers of and the open space dedication and all the other amenities, but uh, for I'm going to vote no um on ordinance 46-2025
um, upon further review. Thank you. >> Council Breie, >> yes. >> Council Vice President Paul Mary. >> Yes. Council President Bernstein. >> Yes. I just want to add one more point just to address some of the density concerns. Obviously look forward to discussing it further and coming to the next meeting with a little bit more
information from our professionals. But part of our goal with with these ordinances was we didn't want 40 different spots throughout town. We had a um we wanted to ensure that they were in hopefully in smart places. And um sometimes if you push for more, which is where we got to in the number 16% open
space. If we would have pushed for more, our professionals came back and said it would have required the yield wouldn't have been given through these sites. We would have had to open up more sites for development. So we that was part of the part of the calculation. But yes, >> thank you. The next item business is the first reading and introduction of ordinance
202547 amending chapter 244 land use and development regulation of the code of the township of Jackson County of Ocean State of New Jersey to establish an inclusionary zone district overlay entitled AH3 providing affordable housing housing units to be developed subject to certain conditions and requirements. Council President
Burstein, are there any additional comments? >> I think I said enough by the last one. >> Thank you. Are there any questions or comments by the township council? May I have a motion to approve ordinance 202547 and first reading and introduction to authorize the notice of the public hearing.
>> So moved. >> Second. >> Council member Belli. >> Uh no. >> Councilman Brassie? >> Yes. >> Council Vice President Paul Mary? >> Yes. >> Council President Bernstein. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. The next item of business is the first reading and introduction of ordinance 202548
amending chapter 244 land use and development regulations of the code of the tax of the township of Jackson County of Ocean State of New Jersey to establish an inclusionary zone district overlay entitled AH3A providing affordable housing units to be developed subject to certain conditions and
requirements. Council President Bernstein, are there any additional comments? >> No, Clerk Martin. >> Are there any questions or comments by the township council? Thank you. May I have a motion to approve ordinance 202547 of first reading and introduction to authorize the notice of the public hearing?
>> So moved. >> Second. >> Council member Belli. >> No. >> Councilman Brassie? >> Yes. >> Council Vice President Palm Mary? >> Yes. >> Council President Bernstein. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> The next item of business is the payment authorization of bills and claims. I would like to note the following
abstensions from Councilman Blli. A E T O1 R U T O4 S T A76 T R E34. Are there any questions or comments by the township council? >> May I have a motion to approve the bills
and claims with the extensions noted? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Barlli. >> Yes. With those extensions in mind. Thank you. >> Councilman Breie. >> Yes. >> Council Vice President Paul Mary. >> Yes. >> Council President Bernstein. >> Yes. Yes. And I just want to take a moment and just thank the clerk who
spent spent a lot of time with me before each meeting going over all these bills and claims. It's obviously I I went through it quickly as vice president, but now I go through a little bit more details. It's fascinating to see some of the things that are going on in the town that you don't always get a chance to see in the senior center in particular.
So, I vote yes. >> Thank you. Motion carries. The next item on the agenda is the consent agenda listed for tonight's consideration or resolutions 335 through 3472025 listed by title. Council President Bernstein, are the comments on the consent agenda?
>> So, first of all, does anyone from the public by the raise of of hand, does anyone want us to pull anything from here to have open discussion? >> Okay. So, no. So, I just I just want to mention a couple of them and try to highlight a few. Um there are two of our
resolutions are um I'm just going to pull up the number here for a second is R39 R339 I apologize and R um um 347 are both pertaining to the federal grant that we got from the DOJ for $875,000.
One is um including it in our budget. The second one is accepting the grant. Again, a special thank you to the mayor and to many other township employees, including uh Lieutenant uh um Candida who was part of those phone calls pushing for those that every single month. Um so, we're looking forward to
hopefully getting those funds now and um using those funds to help hire and offset some of the expenses in our department. Um secondly, I just want to take a moment and mention R 343, which is authorizing a comp a a cooperative
pricing purchase purchases, which is going to add us give us the ability to be part of more co-ops and more opportunities so that we can get more more bids from more vendors before we build parks or anything of that form. So, I just wanted to highlight those two. And um I guess if anyone else has any questions, we can talk. We open
public comment. >> Thank you. Are there any questions or comments by the township council? May I have a motion to authorize the consent agenda resolutions 335 through 347 2025? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Councilman Barelli? >> Yes. >> Councilman Brassie?
>> Yes. >> Council Vice President Paul Mary? >> Yes. >> Council President Bernstein. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Motion carries. >> At this time, if any member of the public has any comments to make, please address the council at the microphone and state your name and address. Please for the record. You'll have five minutes to speak and may only speak once. May I
have a motion to open public comment? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Coming up. Jim Saki at Jackson come to you be I come before you tonight
not just as a resident but as somebody who's watched this township make decisions that affect our families, our roads, and our daily lives. Often without the foresight or public engagement we we deserve. Recently, you
issued a press release expressing concern about traffic congestion near the high school. And while I appreciate the sudden attention to the safety and infrastructure, I have to ask, where was this concern when the decision to
combine the schools was being made? The consolidation was wasn't just a logistical shift. It was a seismic change. It altered traffic patterns, increased student volume, and put new pressure on roads that were already
strained. Parents raised these issues. Teachers raised these issues. Residents raised these issues. Even Jackson Township police officers raised these issues. And yet, the response back then was silence,
or worse, dismissal. Now, months later, we're told the township is looking into it. That's not leadership. That's damage control. We need more than reactive press releases. We need proactive planning. We
need transparency in how these decisions are made and accountability when they fall short. Because when you ignore count community input during major changes and only respond when problems become the headlines, it sends a clear
message that the voices of the residents are secondary to optics. So tonight, I ask you to do better. Share the traffic study publicly and explain how it will inform real solutions, not just
temporary fixes. Acknowledge the missteps in the school consolidation project process and commit to involving the public earlier in these decisions. Work with the experts to create a longterm
traffic and safety plan not just for the high school but for all Jackson roadways. The township is full of engaged thoughtful thoughtful people. We we are not asking for perfection. We are asking to be heard before the damage is
done. The second thing I want to talk about is the three ordinances that were introduced and I had a little bit of a speech but some of my comments kind of were addressed. So, I I I kind of want to just focus on uh one specific
ordinance, and that's uh -48, which is one specific lot, and it's block 2281-3. And most people don't know where that is, but if you look it up, it's the Pine Barons Golf Course, which was purchased
in 2022 for $20 million. Obviously, there's a developer involved there. that lot. I hope everyone understands on that lot it is partially within a FEMA designated flood plane which means there is a
portion of that lot that is subject to flooding and it is all open space now as it is a golf course base. If you put housing in that development, what does that do to the flooding possibilities? Are we looking into that before we make this
decision? It's also in the Pinelands rural development area and I looked into I know the Pinelands has five different things they listed under and I looked at the Pinelands rural development area and they have zoning constraints on it and
it says the rural development area designation typically allows for limited residential and commercial development with an emphasis on preserving open space and ecological integrity.
Have you guys looked at all of those aspects as it pertains to these ordinances? If you don't, before you vote in two weeks, I think we need to make sure you guys are doing that. One other question I now have based on the fact that you said um
people will be here to to discuss it more. They should have been here tonight. So that would have given the residents of this township two weeks of understanding what they said so we could be prepared at a public meeting. So what I would ask
you is have them come in two weeks but push this to two weeks further out so that the people can actually hear what's supposedly being done and then be able to present our questions and concerns. >> Sure. So thank you. Um I'm just going to
I'm going to respond in order of your questions. I hope I cover everything. So first of all um the press release with that that was released um pertaining to the traffic study in Brewers Bridge. Um so and again I'm not looking to shift the blame at all and I if it comes out
that way I apologize in advance. Um the the former mayor actually mayor Raina and I think some of my colleagues on council had multiple conversations with with members of the BOE pertaining to that decision and whether it was members of our police department under director Kandido at that point, some of our
sergeants um and they very much did not feel that was the best spot for the consolidation. That being said, I respect 100% the district's decision. they have a lot of other factors that they took into place to took into account. Um, and they had to make what they felt was the best decision for the
school district. Um, and the town did not have veto power over that. That being said, I just want to be very clear also the traffic and the release, we actually revised it because the traffic is not just because of the schools being there. The traffic obviously the con the schools contribute to it. It's some of
the development in the area. Um, some of the traffic patterns have changed in the area. Um, so while even if the school wasn't wouldn't have been there and we would still have an issue that needs to be resolved over there, but I we definitely hear you and um we will hopefully do a better job going forward um being more forceful on the town's
position with regard to um the Pine Barons. Um, with regard to the Peland's concerns, um, the township is going to be the process generally is, as we saw with, I think the DOJ lawsuit from a couple years ago, it was a two-year process after the township
introduced and adopted the ordinances for the Pineelands to go back and forth with some of their feedback. The township has been in touch through the planning board and our affordable attorneys and planners with the Pinelands. Um, and they have are allowing us to introduce the ordinances as is. And then our the job is going to
be once if these ordinances get adopted is to go back to the pelands and to further those conversations. Um and if there are flooding and other issues that that do exist pertaining to that property, um then the affordable housing attorneys, sorry, courts would not
accept it because they have to be buildable lots. Um if it's not buildable, then we don't we don't meet our our uh requirement for thousand homes. With regard to the last point, I think it's a great idea. Um, and I we're definitely going forward, I think we're going to try to bring professionals for
the first reading so the public could be more educated. And I am definitely going to reach out to the professionals after tonight, the affordable attorney and to the planner and ask them if we could do that by the next meeting and then have the second reading and the vote by this the second meeting, the meeting in December. So definitely duly noted and
we're going to try to do better. Thank you, >> Carlos Martins Jackson. Um, I'm actually going to start with my last bullet point and oh, and actually the theme today is I'm going to whine and complain. Okay, so letting you guys know that's what I'm
doing. Um, so my last bullet point was exactly on the first reading. It's called first reading and introduction, right? So the idea I think is you introduce it to us to everybody you guys have we all have a discussion then the second reading is when I think in theory
you vote on it but you guys votes do something you say yes no no no no I don't have enough information on the first reading what does that vote do >> to introduce it to >> so you're just voting to say yeah we'll listen to it >> we're not we're not voting on the
ordinance as if and Mr. McGee, if you could correct me if I'm wrong. We're voting literally just to introduce it to the public. >> That's great. We're introducing it so there can be such a discussion. Public will be notified that the township is considering it. The board can have the governing body can have a discussion about it as well at a public hearing
because they can't do that in private. So, the purpose of the introduction is to allow the public to understand that this is going to be considered and for the governing body to schedule a hearing which will be advertised and so forth. So, anybody who has any questions or comments upon it can make those comments at the public hearing. uh second read.
>> Okay. Right. Right. So really kind of way think about it. You're voting to say yes, it's worth going to a second meeting. >> You're voting to have a discussion. >> Yeah. Although so you vote after the discussion though, >> but okay, it doesn't matter. I got it. I
got it. I got it. Um yeah, that was just confusing what you were voting on. Okay. Um shoot, this thing's working pretty good today. The microphone. So my so my first complaint was why do we have to French kiss the
microphone to be heard? You got to be right there on top of it, right? Why can't I speak over here? We're getting all new um stuff. Are we doing anything about the microphone? >> So and my understanding is that it was put in for an order and we're waiting
for it to be delivered and installed. Yes. >> So we're going to have >> and if you come here during the day almost every single day there's wires and there's and there's machines in this room. They are rewiring and redoing the microphone system here. >> I the microphone >> I don't know. I don't have a time frame >> times. Poor Mr. Melli. He's over there. You can't hear him
>> because he's not like kissing the microphone. So anyway, all right. So that was one. Um two, when are we going to have our first quarterly review of the budget and the results? >> I was promised that it was going to
happen. we're going to have quarterly reviews of our financial results, right, by the CFO or anybody that we get a chance to see what's going on on a quarterly basis. >> So, I'm going to after the meeting discuss that with with the mayor um and follow up. I know she started the bud
budget process with the various departments. They all submitted their proposed budgets for 2026 in the past two weeks or almost they almost all um submitted it and now I think the CFO and and the administration is working on it, but I will get back to you on that one. >> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And just to be clear,
it's more about the actuals, right? What what happened in the quarter? How much money did you receive? What did we spend on? Yeah. >> Okay. Um give me one second. Number two. So, open space uh trust fund.
So, we established that there was in 2020 a referendum that amended it. When are we going to upload that referendum, that change to the website? It was in 2020. >> Sorry. >> What? So >> the actual change right now you go to
the to the code enforcement website, right? So that hasn't been codified. So it's not on as part of the code >> code enforcement or or >> the public referendum changed the current or the ordinance that was on the books, right? >> And the amended ordinance has not been
put in the code. That's what you're saying, >> right? So, it hasn't been codified or even uploaded to a PDF, upload it to the section where you can say, "Okay, this hasn't been codified, but it has been approved. You can read it, right?" Um, because I asked for it long time ago
>> and at the end of the day, what I got was I need to fill out an open request. >> So, Mr. Martin, that makes no sense. >> If you email me what your that specific example, I will forward it to it. And it has been doing a great job. I' we have found things in the past, you know, a couple weeks since we've been working on the website and they've immediately they
had on there a 2021, I think, road plan. Um, and when I clicked on road road improvements for for the year. So, right away they took it down and we're waiting for Charles Conliff to give us our 2025 2026 plan. So, >> right, >> just send us an email and we'll >> just upload it so that
>> they're here all day. They're great. >> I'm sure Kristen could do it in 15 minutes with one hand tied behind his back. It would take no time. So, um, okay. So, that was that one. I I I warned you that was whining and complaining, so that's what I'm doing. Um,
oh, okay. So, I just want to set this record straight. >> You guys, as council members, >> Oh, >> I'll give you another 20 seconds. Go for it. >> All right. Just really quick. You guys get any benefits? I know you get a salary. You get any benefit? Any health benefits, 401ks, pensions, anything?
>> Not that I'm aware of. >> Okay. I just want to put that on the record because >> not everybody's aware of that and I think in some in some townships you actually do get >> there used to be health benefits. I think the former mayor got healthc care from the township but no one on the deis or administration currently gets gets >> Okay. Yeah.
>> Okay. I just want to put on the record because there's some confusion out there. I hear comments. >> Yeah, sure. >> All right. I'll leave the other one alone. Thank you. >> Thank Mr. Adelman. Evening everyone. Donnie Helman, 206 Willow Point. Hold on one second. My
notes went nuts. Um, I'd like to report one good thing. The be the lights at the basketball court were fixed. The kids are a lot happier being able to play later into I guess the evening. Um, street light at the corner of Kurich and
uh I guess it's South Cooks Bridge and Manhattan on the park side. That's I'm not sure if people have gone out there to fix it. still not working right. Like quite literally, you could be coming out of the park and I'll just miss you a couple seconds. >> Could you email lights out at Jacksontown.net? >> Absolutely.
>> Thank you. >> Um, next couple people after these meetings around town as I go through ShopRight, whatever have been asking me about my mouse problem and they've heard some things I guess on various Facebook groups. They see the meetings. I like to
clarify some things. Um, and maybe we can just solve my problems because not because of anything Mr. Pollock has done, but I think it's going to be very excited the next few uh meetings with him taking over. And I think that there's going to be a lot more people
certainly next next meeting they're going to come out and see you get sworn in. So, I just like try and get ahead of this, you know, not say we all shouldn't be happy for him or anything like that. It's just that I'd like to get my problems try and resolved. you know, if not, well, maybe he'll help me when he
gets sworn in two weeks. Um, but really everything's coming through uh code enforcement and the business administrator. Mr. Wall was going to help me. He was let go the very next day because we because it was on the record that I was that we had a Thursday
meeting like today, had a Friday meeting with him and he was gone by f that Friday. Um, it wasn't fair for the deputy business administrator to get involved. That might have been a mistake, but it really wasn't fair. Mr. Phillips came in. We all know how that worked out. But I do want to make Mr.
McGucken aware because he's going to have to defend this in court somehow. Is why is it that when I told both Andrew Cheney, this council, Mr. Phillips, and the deputy business administrator was president at the time
not to have Andrew Cheney come to my property on a Thursday because of problems I've had with him. that as far as he can come to rest of Willow point but he's not to have anything to do with me that I spoke to him on Thursday Monday morning he shows up at my house
he makes up a lie with his buddy uh Leavon Phillips I am now facing criminal charges and still nothing's being done I know that you said that you don't want to speak about it but let's I give you permission to speak about because I'm not suing you yet so let's just get the truth out there all right because the
truth never hurt anybody all right I have video of what was said, and I know what was said. All right, believe me. Should I have whooped him there? Probably. Did I have every legal right to do so? Absolutely. But for handling it properly, I got a criminal charge.
So, thank you very much. It has caused real harm. I have mice. Holidays are coming up. My girlfriend hasn't come to my inside my house in six months because of the mice. All right. Um, Mr. Cheney. Look, the way he's being treated, I've
heard nothing but for the last year, year and a half about code enforcement not doing anything. I've expressed my problems to the administration and to you guys what has happened with code enforcement failing to do their job. And I mean, does he I would like I
normally ask, does he know where the bodies are? But in your case and with the prior business administrator, I would question is he the one that actually buried those bodies? Is that the only reason why he is not being fired? I'd like to make whatever proposal tonight that come Monday, Mr.
Cheney is relieved of his duties. He is a cancer upon this community and there should be no difference in services between me, that that lady, that guy, or anyone else in this, even Mr. Candido. If he has a code enforcement problem, he should be able to get the help a as a
resident, not as Lieutenant Candido. All right? But that's not the way Jackson has worked. Code enforcement has essentially broken down to helping who he wants to help and stalking Jewish people. I've seen it. I have plenty of video of it. I don't know why that's
still going on, but no one's willing to stop him. All right? So, please get rid of the man. There is no good reason to have him. He's not doing his job. He is causing problems. He's allowing other employees not to do their jobs. He's allowing other employees to sit there
and call residents disabled losers. All right, which still hasn't been addressed. All right, Mr. Wall was going to do it. He he got let go. Mr. Phillips told me that it's no big deal. All right, and that's part of the reason why I lost my temper is because well, when I'm told being called the disabled loser
is no big deal and that I should be happy that I wasn't found guilty of a charge that should have never been brought in the first place because people aren't looking at the rules. >> It kind of get upset. >> 20 more seconds. >> All right. Um, and then I guess the last thing, you know, just personal opinion.
I think it's, you know, I've heard you guys make the comment about Veterans Day. All right. I got my I got my uh DD form. I would like to say that it's kind of denigrating to veterans by restricting their civil rights to access the government buildings and the public buildings. Like I heard uh in the
commentary, I think it was uh you may about talking about having to sign in, having to have an appointment to go into this building. I'm sorry. I come in here every week with a camera. I go to that bulletin board over there and I'm just going to respond to the last comment for a second. The mayor did not say that people are going to be
restricted. There's going to be one point of entrance that that door will be open every morning and every afternoon. There will be security there, but they will not be stopping you and making you sign when you enter the building. >> And I apologize because I was driving here when I heard that. So I it's not the same. >> The back door is only going to be for employees who have a key fob to to
>> Okay. Well, that certainly makes sense. >> Yeah, >> that certainly makes sense. Um, all right. I mean, that's it. I got my time. I wish I had more, but everyone have a nice day. I guess we'll see you right before Thanksgiving. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Uh Chris Pollock, Jackson, New Jersey. Uh just have a little statement I want
to read to start. Uh I got to thank the people of Jackson for their support. Uh I'm extremely grateful for the trust this community has placed in me coming into this position. And now I intend to do everything I can for this town and for the people who live here. And I think this election made something very
clear to everyone that the people want change. And they really made their voices heard very clearly. I hope to be part of that change. And now the politics of the past, the old way of doing things, I think now is dead. I think we need to change the way we act,
change the way we treat people because the people aren't buying that kind of politics anymore. You saw that play out in this election. It's not okay. It worked against you guys because you didn't want me in here. Now, listen. Uh I I've had some good talks with our
council president. I'm looking forward to working with you guys. I'm looking forward to serving the people. We're hopefully going to get along on a lot of things and work on a lot of things together to serve the people and this community. We're going to fight at times and that's okay. I expect it. I'm sure
you expect it. And that's going to be okay. hopefully we can get along at the end of the day, but for me, this is just about serving the people and doing what's right. Um, and as far as the ordinances when it comes to our affordable housing, uh, I do like some
of the things you did put in it. I understand this is a really difficult thing to deal with because I think you know I hope everybody does not want this kind of development in this town and I would like to fight it with everything I have and I understand there's a lot of
legality and to be honest New Jersey is screwing us. They're screwing towns like Jackson because they're pushing development on us that we don't want and honestly a lot of us can't handle. They're screwing our school system as well. All right. With the with the
change in our funding, we're shutting down schools. It's destroying our communities. I'm hoping that we can work together and fight together to fix these things. And there's a lot of questions on the ordinances like this, and I hope to keep bringing them up. Whether it be now that in this ordinance we're going
to have what, eight homes on an acre, we're going to have apartments up above it. These are things nobody wants. I don't know if these are the best solutions. Are there better ways we can figure this out? But I hope I can bring up ideas. I hope we can work together and fight this. I don't know what developers are going to benefit out of
this. And I'm going to bring up these questions and I'm going to be talking about it very publicly. I hope we can work together to find positive solutions that benefit the community. And I appreciate uh council uh president for speaking with me and working with me. I hope we can all have a good working
relationship. Like I said, we're going to fight. There's going to be some battles. Uh but but hopefully at the end of the day, we could do what's right for the people of Jackson. Thank you very much, guys. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> If I could just I just want to respond for a second, Mr. Pollock, I look forward to sitting down with and going over these ordinances because you will
be an elected official by the time they're whether it's the next meeting or two meetings and getting some of your feedback and see if there's any ways we can make them even better. So, thank you. >> And Mr. Pollock, sir, one other thing about it, you mentioned up how we have to try to take on and and do the best we can with it. When it comes to affordable
housing, I've been around since round one, maybe too long, but this township joined with other towns a while back and tried to fight affordable housing and it got no place. Am I correct, Mr. McGucken? >> Unfortunately, that is true.
>> Yeah, it was a couple of towns got together, thought maybe we can present something to the state that made sense. It went no place. I look forward to more thoughts on that, too. Thank you. Look forward to working with you. >> And I'm just going to add one more thing just for the public to to know. Um we are being challenged these our our affordable housing and our master plan
are being challenged by a couple developers who wanted more. Um and what I could tell you is that Jackson Township is does um our professional opinion and we've heard this from not just locally but even from some of the some of the mediators and judges is that
we are in a very good position as a town considering um that we are not embracing development but we are trying to ensure that we have smart development in our town. I look forward to working with you and sitting down and seeing what we can do to fight together. Thank you. >> Good evening. Elliot Shmub Jackson.
So due to the delay in approving the municipal budget, budgets must be approved by April 30th. The state find council $550 for each member. Two questions. Has this has this been paid and how is it paid? >> Sure. So, I'll answer that question. So,
we did file the council and the mayor the former mayor did file a challenge to that because we we felt that we did our due diligence and we were in the right. There is a hearing that is going to be scheduled. Um I don't remember the date, but I can get back to when there will be a hearing which is actually open to the
public. Technically, anyone can watch. Um, if the judge finds that council and the mayor, former mayor acted in the wrong, that those penalties are paid for by us ourselves out of our own pockets. >> Fair enough. Also, the uh the agenda for today, when was that posted?
>> Uh, Madame Clerk, I think it was Sunday, uh, Monday morning. >> Monday morning. >> Okay. >> On Veterans Day. >> Excellent. And just a quick statement on my behalf for the uh for the Chris Pollock campaign. >> It was a long campaign. was a tough
campaign, but a mandate was made. The people spoke. They spoke loudly. We had nearly 13,000 votes that came in for Mr. Pollock to elect him to this council. I just want to make a statement as well to build on what Councilman elect Pollock
just said. The town is watching and a lot more than this town. A lot of surrounding towns are watching as well. So, I insist that moving forward, you work fairly, swiftly with Mr. Pollock,
make sure he's heard properly, and also make sure you understand that the town will be watching moving through the year. That's it. >> Thank you, Elliot. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Anyone else?
>> Seeing no one come forward, I move motion to close public forum. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? >> Can I have a motion to um to close? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Have a good night, everyone. Thank you for coming out.