Please be advised this meeting is being audio record to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one nation indivisible and justice for all.
She's down here. She is >> Sorry, we have a little An hour ago. I heard the system was down today. That was our All right. Next up here, >> Jackson here.
>> Council Morsy >> here. >> Council Patton >> here. marriage >> here. >> I make motion that have been properly automated and signed be approved for me. >> Council Dixon.
>> Yes. Council Jackson. >> Yes. >> Council. >> Yes. >> Council Mory. >> Yes. All right for 4826. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Follow reports have been filed and are
available in the respective offices for review and will be included in the minutes. Police Department report construction report 26 engine for May 26 and report April 26. Next proclamation for the the National
Police Week to recognize National Police Week 2026 and honor the service and sacrifice of those law enforcement officers who killed in the line of duty while protecting our communities and
safeguarding our democracy. Whereas there are more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in community communities across the United States, including including the dedicated members of the Limbo Police Department. Whereas since
the first death of in 1786, more than 27,000 24,700 law enforcement officers in the United States have made the ultimate sacrifice and have been killed in the line of duty, including
Shannon, a number of police in the line of duty on December 24th, 1946. Excuse. The names of these dedicated public servants are a great deal of wall on the National Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial in Washington DC. Whereas 363 new names of the fallen heroes are being added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial this spring, including 109 killed in 2025 and 254 officers
killed in previous years. Whereas the service of and sacrifice of all the officers killed in the line of duty will be counted during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's 38th candle light visual on the evening
of May 13, 2026. Whereas the candle light visual is part of the National Police Week we which will be observed this year on May 10th through May 16th. Whereas May 15th is designated as peace
officers memorial day in honor of all the falling officers and their families of the United and the United States flag should be flown in half staff. Therefore, be resolved by the bureau when the law will observe May 10th
through May 16, 2026 as National Police Week and publicly salute service of law enforcement officers in our community and communities across the nation. Next second reading ordinance
2026 12 ordinance to budget approval to establish the capot 2026 12 be adopted on second reading and published according to Okay. Second. >> At this time, we're going to open the
meeting to the public for any questions or comments regarding ordinance 2026. Seeing none, close the meeting to the public. I already read ordinance 2026 ordinance amending the code of the
burough chapter 150 article 2 section 150-50 through 150-59 development fees At this time, I'm going to open the meeting to the public for any questions or commerce regarding 2026. We did.
>> I thought it was none of the public motion. >> I make a motion that 2026 1213 be adopted on second reading and published according to >> second. Yes. Council Jackson. >> Yes.
>> Yes. Council. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Second reading ordinance 202614 ordinance to amend chapter 52 regular regulating the salaries of public works 676.
At this time for any questions of commerce board ordinance 20264 meeting the public. >> I make a motion that Ordinance 2026 be adopted on second reading and published according to the law. >> I have a second.
>> Yes. >> Council Jackson. >> Yes. >> Yes. Council Morrison. >> Yes. >> First reading. Ordinance 20265 amending the code of the minimum chapter 105-8. Certificate of accuracy required.
Can I motion that ordinance 2026 1215 be adopted as random first reading published according to law and posted in hall with the second reading being held at our next regular meeting >> second?
>> Yes. Council Jackson. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Next ordinance. 202616. An ordinance amend 13.1 occupancy and rental for occupancy of
nonperforming dwellings units. Continue certificate of occupy for transfer or titles upon sale. Motion that ordinance 2026 beg. >> Yes. Yes. >> First reading ordinance 2617
wall chapter 105-3 certificate of what dwelling motion. I make a motion that ordinance 2016 2026 code 17 be adopted as written public
>> yes >> next reading ordinance 2026 The ordinance amending chapter 240-34. >> I make a motion that 18 according to law
at the next meeting. Council Jackson. >> Yes. Council, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> First reading ordinance 202619, an ordinance amending the code of the burl wall, chapter 240-27,
municipal leans. Motion, please. >> I make a motion that ordinance 202619 be adopted as read on first reading, published according to law and posted hall with the second reading being held at the next regular meeting. I have a second please. Second.
>> Council Dixon. >> Yes. >> Council Jackson. >> Yes. >> Council. >> Yes. Council Morsy. >> Yes. >> First reading. Ordinance 2026 2121. An ordinance amending the code of the bur chapter 240-33
nuisance abasement and correction by sorry. First reading ordinance amending code of the world chapter 240 23 service for complaints notice and order. >> I make a motion that ordinance 2026 20
be adopted on first reading published according to law and post >> second Jackson. Yes. Council. >> Yes. Council Morsy. >> Yes. >> Now first reading of 2026 21. An ordinance amending the code of the
borrow chapter 240-33 nuisance abandonment or correction by cluster as a motion please. I make a motion that ordinance 2026 code 21 be adopted as first reading published according to law
posted in the bar call with the second reading being held at the next regular meeting >> second >> yes Jackson >> yes >> yes >> yes
ordinance 202622 first reading nonprojectional salary ordinance by title I make a motion ordinance 202622 be adopted as read on first reading published according to law posted in the hall of the second meeting at the next regular meeting.
Counciloman Dixon. >> Yes. Council Jackson. >> Yes. Counciloman. >> Yes. Council Morsy. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> And finally, ordinance 2026 23 first street ordinance amending the code of
women chapter 345-8 term prohibition. Motion. I make a motion that ordinance 2026 23 be adopted as read from first reading published according to law environ
being held at the next regular. >> Yes. >> Council Jackson. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> All right. It is my great pleasure to introduce our CFO, Men Thompson, to do our budget
review. Good evening everyone and welcome to our 2026 budget public hearing. Uh for some of you you've seen this presentation before, but for others it will be new.
So I try to be real um I'm going to be real brief, but I'm going to go through the slides um as quickly as I can because I think there's about 29 slides. I don't want to be a bit too long, but I'm going to explain so that you have um
an idea of what our municipal budget, how it's put together, and what this all entailed. So, our agenda this evening, as you can see, um I'll give some of the 2025 financial highlights, our 2026 budget
priorities as well as challenges, our 2026 municipal budget at a glance for both the general fund, as well as the sewing utility fund and just an overview of our capital and the American Rescue Plan funding projects as well as future
budget strategies for our 2025 budget highlights. As you can see, our general fund for 2025, our total tax collections was 31.9 million and that includes our reserve for uncollected taxes. And what the reserve
for uncollected taxes is, that's a mandatory reserve in the event what we fill out, we don't collect in its entirety. So that is included in that tax collection amount. The great end of our 2025 tax collection includes the municipal bending, which is the piece
that the burrow um budgets is the local school piece, the special district, as well as the county. And as you can see by the pie chart, the bulk of that is our school tax at 43%. Our tax
collection rate was 98.37%. Which was slightly down from 2024 and our available cash surplus was down 43% in 2024. Continuing with our financial highlights for 2025, the allocation of county
taxes. Our county taxes was 5.5 million. And what that's comprised of is the general county, our county library, our county open space, and our added and taxes. And as you can see, the allocation of county taxes is the general counties. All the other pieces
just make up a small piece of that county amount that you pay for our sewer utility fund. For the 2025 financial highlights, our 2025 total sewer fee collections was a little over
two million, which was up 5.4% from last year. The sewer utility is self liquidating, which means it's funded by the user fees. So, we taken enough fees in order to cover all the expenses. Our available cash surplus for
sewer was up by 14.9% from 2024. our 2026 budget priorities. Despite ongoing financial challenges, reduce surplus reserves, and rising healthcare costs, this govern body remains committed to responsible fiscal
management and maintaining essential services for our community. The key budget priorities for 2026 are as follows. Keeping property taxes steady, improving public communication and accessibility, and continued enhancement of pedestrian
safety. I'm going to read this one. Pursue grant funding for the construction of sidewalks, especially in hightra areas and near schools to improve walkability and reduce safety risk for pedestrians. Increase traffic enforcement in areas with heavy
pedestrian activity to encourage safer driving and help protect residents crossing or walking along roadways. in addition to partner with the state on the installation and operation of a new traffic signal at the intersection of
Route 30 and US Avenue. This project is intended to improve visibility, traffic control, and overall safety at this busy intersection. This particular project with this traffic signal, traffic signal, I can't get out. Traffic signal
has been a long process. So, we finally got to a point where there is a resolution that's on for tonight that has passed for us to partner with the state to be able to get this uh installation and operation of this
traffic signal. We're hoping and I think our engineer can speak a little bit to it. Um we're hoping that this project will be completed by maybe next year, the early part of next year. But anyway, that's a good thing. Oh, is that excuse me, is that a DOT issue or is that an
engineering issue or >> Well, >> all the above. >> All the above couple years out. >> Continuing our budget priorities for 2026, return or close properties to productive use. Auction properties
acquired by the town. These efforts will support long-term economic stability while improving the appearance and condition of neighborhoods throughout the town. And lastly is the expansion of public safety camera infrastructure. God bless you. Installation and upgrade of
CCTV cameras with AI features in strategic locations throughout the town to assist law enforcement where monitoring can help deter criminal activity and improve overall community safety. Some of our challenges for 2026 increase
health insurance premiums. We transitioned from the state health benefits plan to the southern New Jersey employee regional benefits fund for cost savings. Another challenge was the reduction in surplus reserves. Reserves have been used over the years to help stabilize
taxes and support essential operations. We are actively focused on rebuilding surplus reserves by closely monitoring spending and financial trends as a government body remains committed to responsible fiscal management and
long-term financial stability. 2026 budget as a land. So for the general fund we have two statutory budget cap calculations. The first is our tax limit cap at 2%. And the way you can look at this is that it limits how much property taxes can increase. So as
you can see what our maximum permission to be raised and what we actually are going to raise. We have um excess of 716,000 which we can um bank for subsequent years. Our next cap is the appropriation
cap and that allows a 3 and a half% hold up which the ordinance was on tonight the second reading for us to be able to do that uh by statute. But that one you can look at is that it limits how much the town can spend overall. So the
maximum allowable you can see and what we appropriated was pretty close to what the maximum allowed is leaving us with just 12 cents. Now the total assessed value valuation which is what we call our ratables
increased to 1.3 billion up 107.97% from the prior year and that's a result of the revaluation. You all know that the town was revalued. So based on that we're up by 1.3 million. Our 2026 anticipated revenues and appropriations
are 21.3 million. We have to have a balanced budget. So, your revenues and appropriations have to agree. We utilize 2.7 million of our general fund surplus in addition to 2 million of our sewer fund surplus in order to support the
general operations. We utilize a tax collection rate of 97.86% to calculate the reserve for uncollected taxes which will leave us a small margin to help generate surplus. Our deferred charge is a special emergency
authorization for five years. We did that last year for the revaluation. So it's $400,000 that spread over five years. So each year you'll see $80,000 in our budget for that special.
Now based on a $21.3 million budget for 2026, the 2% le cap has been met as well as the appropriation cap. So we've met both of those caps. The local projected tax rate of 0.949 equates to a tax rate decrease of 0.805.
So you may see that, but don't think that your taxes are going to be uh reduced because when a re in a year of reval, there's a third that's going to go up, there's a third that's going to go down, and there's a third that's going to stay the same. So, I'm not sure where you are in this process, but I
just want you to understand that just by saying that you have a decrease in the tax rate does not necessarily mean that you're going to have a decrease in your tax bill. 2026 budget summary of information. As you can see, the total assessed
valuation, as I explained, we were up by 107%. So you can see where we were last year versus this year. What our levy was last year versus this year. Our municipal tax rate, you can see where it is now versus where it was last year. Where you can
see the decrease. What the average assessed home value is. Now in 2025, the average assessed home value, which we got from our tax assessor, was 113,368. Based on the rebal, we are now at 237,879.
So the average assessed home value has increased based on the ref. So when you look at that the average tax for a home um based on the average assessed home you would have a tax of $2,256.92 versus $1,98822
from last year which means that it would be an increase of $268.70. So again, that's why I said you cannot look at the fact that we had a decrease in the tax rate to um think that you may have a tax in a decrease in your in your
tax bill because when you look at the tax rate from last year and you look at the tax rate for this year, you're not comparing apples to apples because of the ref rebound. Next year it'll be pretty much in line because we'll have a whole year of the uh reval um assessed
value and then be able to compare it to you know next year. So again with looking at the average tax for home uh it would be $268. This gives you a five-year trend of our sources of revenues to support the
municipal budget. What makes up our revenues are surplus anticipated miscellaneous local revenues, state aid, uniform construction code fees, other special items, receipts from the liquid taxes, and the amount we raise, which is
the local fees that you all have. >> The allocation of our anticipated um general revenues, as you can see, the largest piece of that is our surplus anticipated. That's the amount of surplus that we put into the budget to help relieve the tax burden.
Our percentage of tax collection, as you can see, eight-year trends where our tax collection rate has been. Our general fund budget appropriations over a 5-year trend. What makes up our budget appropriations consists of the following: general operations, deferred
charges, capital improvements, municipal debt service, shared service agreements, other operations, grants offset by revenues, and the reserve for uncollected taxes. the allocation of our 2026 general
budget appropriations. As you can see, it's broken down and the bulk of that is the general operations. General operations is broken down into various categories. Those categories include salary and wages, other
expenses, statutory expenditures, insurance, and utilities. And as you can see based on this chart, the largest piece of our general operations would be the salary and wages. >> Is that broken down by department somewhere? >> It's not uh broken down by department,
but I can tell you the largest is our police department, >> followed by our public works. Those are two largest departments. >> And if you need that information, I would be able to provide you. >> Our pension costs over a fiveyear trend,
as you can see, has been going up. And that includes our public employees as well as our police and fire and our defined contribution time insurance expense 5-year trend. You can see that that too has been opened up.
Moving to sewer utility, our sewer utility revenues and appropriations again have to uh agree and that's at 1.95 million. We utilize 296,000 of Sim Plus to support the sewer utility. And
as I mentioned earlier, we use 2 million to support the general fund operations. For our sewer utilities, the anticipated revenues over 5-year trend. What makes up our sewer utility revenues is surplus anticipated, our rents, which are
basically the user fees, and we have what consider miscellaneous revenues. And based on that, rents, which are the user fees, is the biggest piece of our revenues for our utility.
Appropriations for sew util 5-year trend. It's broken down into salary and wages, other expenses, debt service, statutory expenditures. And again, in this particular case, uh other expenses
makes up about 42% of our appropriations. In 2026, we had a bond sale. We issued general obligation bonds in the amount of 3.9 billion. We had 8.2 in our general improvement bonds and 5.6 in our
sewer utility bonds. These bonds provide permanent long-term financing by converting short-term notes into long-term debt and funding new capital improvement projects. This approach supports needed infrastructure improvements while helping keep the annual budget more manageable for
taxpayers. Our 2026 proposed capital projects for road reconstruction and improvements, completion of Carver Avenue, completion of the London Wall Park bikeway connector, completion of the Carlton
sidewalk improvements, completion of reconstruction of London Avenue, Oak and Hawthorne, and then reconstruction of various roofs. Other improvements in equipment, various improvements to municipal buildings,
improvements to various rural parks and recreational facilities to include the back back stop fence repairs and parking lot enhancements. And I also believe um some lighting as well. Also the
acquisition and installation of the CCTV camera and security system for various locations, tasers for the police department, and various replacement equipment for the public works department for our sewer capital, restoration of various sewer
lines, various improvements to the sewer utility system, and the acquisition of a 2026 Ford F350 ARP funed projects. Now, this Americans uh rescue u monies has been around for a while. This was during um the co years
and so we have to have all the money spent by the end of 2026. But these are all the projects that we have completed so far. And the remaining projects which we're still working on which will be completed by the end of 2026 is our
upgrades to pump station number eight. And then of course the traffic light installation at USA Avenue and Route 30. We have a 25% car share with the New Jersey Department of Transportation. So it's about $90,000 that we will be given
to the NJ DOT which was funded through ARP which is why we pressed the state to really move forward on this because we didn't want to lose uh the funding. We've been dealing with this for a while with the state and I do um thank our engineers from Remington and Bernie with helping us to get this part of the
moving so that we can get the agreement in place. Future strategies and looking ahead to rebuild financial reserves continue strengthening surplus reserves through responsible budgeting and careful financial management to maintain long-term fiscal stability and reduce
reliance on one time revenues. pursue grants and shared services. Aggressively seek grant funding and expand shared service opportunities to help offset costs. Improve efficiency and reduce the burden on local taxpayers. Invest in infrastructure and public safety.
Continue improving roads, sidewalks, traffic, and public safety measures throughout the town. and to promote economic and property of redevelopment. Return foreclosed and underutilized properties to productive use to strengthen neighborhoods, encourage
investment, and increase future tax verticals for example. That completes the public hearing for our 2026 municipal budget. So, I noticed that um there in the proposal for aggressive grant
proposals. Are we hiring a grant writer or staff undertake that? >> No, a lot of times with the the grants that we get, we do have professionals like our engineers that help us with with grants. Um, and then we also receive notification from the state when
things come in and we, you know, do our best to apply for them as long as we qualify. Some grants we don't qualify for, but we do our best to try to apply for as many grants as possible. I will tell you the grants that are um the most
tedious um are the federal grants, but we do everything we can to um comply and and get as many grants as we can. So from private organizations or maybe >> equipment for like our sports teams and
things like that we as a community >> because I know we uh we applied for the um which um was an NFC grant which helped us to do the um took my time. The fitness um
part that we have. >> Okay. >> We you know we did funding we got a grant for that. So we do as much as we can as far as getting grants. >> So what was the um I see come back here but um what's the budget for like animal control and for whatever we paid at home
we're bound. Oh, homework bound we pay homework bound $13,33.33 a month. >> What is that? A month is what we pay. That's for that's for the shelter. >> I know, but what what is that exactly?
Animal control brings an animal there. >> Yes, because we don't have a control thing here. So, >> except we have we have when I tell you that we we put up a good fight right there. So when they pick up an animal for and like for like tea and all you don't pay for that stuff but the animal
gets it. >> Yes. >> That's all part >> that's all part of that every day. >> That's all part all that money by myself. >> That's all part of the fee. We all have we have no choice but to pay that. >> And what about animal control? What do we pay that?
>> Um animal control we pay about $1300. >> So we're paying like $26,000 a month between the tip. >> Yeah. We paid >> Did you just say 26,000 a month? >> No. No. 13. No, she said 26,000. No,
13,000 a month is what we pay for the um shelter. That's overb 13,000. >> That's just for them to drop the animals off. >> And that's county. >> That's right. >> We don't have We We have
>> We have We This is the homework bound through the county. We have no choice. This is what the town pay. >> But if the town had his own facility there, >> right? We don't have our own facility. >> Yes or no? >> If we had our own facility, we would have to pay them.
>> We tried. >> We tried with the two facilities that are in town. There's one that's in town and there's one that's right on the edge of town. >> Yeah. >> I've tried to get all three of them and they will not pay us. >> Okay. >> There's no room for the amount of panels that we get. We have a lot of people who
are bringing animals into our town and taking them there. >> So we get charged and I get a record and I get a record every single month how many animals that >> So when all these animals are running loose to our town and then they go I
guess animal control picks them up or the police pick them up, pulls animal control, then they go to home or town and we have to pay. Well, the people who owned it, do they get a fine? >> They come back to us. Homework charges them to go back and pick up their animal. They keep
>> But we don't do anything to because we're putting out money for these people now taking control of their own animals. >> We don't belong to a lot of cats. >> So my question was if we had our own intent, we wouldn't have to pay other
people to accept our animals. It's a yes or no question. >> You're right. >> Okay. You're right. >> So the money 150 grand a year we pay. >> No, I understand that animal donations.
>> We pay we I budgeted $177,600. >> Now is that cost split between all of the townships in Camden County? that we just pay a different amount. >> So each town should possibly pay a different >> Yes.
>> That's why I was asking about animal control all the time. They pay all that but the guy was never really helpful. >> Yeah. The history um they provide >> and they went up I can honestly say over the last what like two years they've
gone up significantly. I mean, we protested it >> triply the last four years, if not more, actually. >> We started off at $55,000 a year and we're now at what? >> 132,000.
>> That's over,000. >> So, when I trap an animal and I take it there and I want to get it fixed, hold on. And I want to get it fixed. I could say when the wolf pet I pay myself for animals that I track. That's what I'm
That's why I'm asking these questions. I PUT THEM out of my own pocket. You can I track them and I take them and I and and they get they get p You take them to homework bail. You tell you give your address, they fix them. They tell you when to come back and pick them up. I take I take cats all the time to get fixed.
>> That's what I'm saying. I usually pay out of my own p. You don't have to. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THAT we told you that before. No, we said we had TNR. We don't have like real question and it's a part of service. >> So don't say no more.
>> I told you >> I think we'll do something at my house. what it is. >> Question about promote economic and property redevelopment says returning foreclosed and underutilized properties. >> Right. So the town >> does that mean that the town has
resolved the law against it? >> The town has um properties that we foreclosed on. Um there's still some legal issues. I think our solicitor resolved yet. The mayor instructed myself and Miss Thompson that that's to
be our only priority after she got through the budget. So we're going to be working on that a lot. that still not possible till this red which could go on for years.
>> Uh the security cameras are they flock cameras? >> Are they what? >> Flock cameras. >> I'm not sure. >> It's an AI AI. >> Yes, it has AI features. >> So it it reads plates. >> Yes. >> Okay. From my understanding, it is the
police department that um >> did the investigation, did the research for us. >> So, it's really going to help them out a lot, but it does have AI features from what I understand. >> Do we understand the long-term cost on them? Like, we don't own them. They're
they're rented. >> Um >> has that been discussed or >> we're going to um we're going we're purchasing and we have um warranties for them as well. So, we're purchasing. >> All right. Yep. So, we did that through there should be um I think on this
meeting there should be a resolution um for them. Yes, we're purchasing >> and we're doing it through capital. >> Okay. >> And the foreclosed properties um is the plan to like pay the leans off or try to get them canled,
deferred. >> Deferred. As far as we can recall, we're still trying to find the documentation to support it. The lean was already there shouldn't be a lean on there, but for the fact that a document wasn't filed 17 years ago when prior administrations
here left this judgment on all these properties. So, we're trying to look for stuff from 2009. So, the mayor has instructed myself and Miss Thompson to go into the waiting room through all the documentation we have in the storage shed until we come up with something to
prove that it was in fact paid. Could we pay it again? Yes. I wouldn't suggest it. I don't think it's fair the taxpayers make them pay twice or it was already resolved personally. So, that's why it's been in the holding back. We're trying to find records from 17 years ago
because we're trying to reinvent what happened before Mr. Mr. mayor which was the mayor prior administration before I was here and not a lot of people have records around what
transpired back in 2008 2009 2007 that's the time period we're targeting so we'll see what we do hopefully we'll have some updates because the mayor has instructed us that we're to update council as soon as we got through the
budget which is a large tedious process as you can see and start giving council updates periodically, monthly from cash where we are with that. >> And part of the uh the issue too is that we changed banks a couple times. So some things were on the desk that you can't
read anymore because you don't have those readers on on the computers because you got new computers. So it's a combination of things. So we are working to uh be able to um support that we we pay to do that is checks. We we check
with the banks that they have when I look into it they they keep the records for I think it's a period of 10 years >> and we're way past that and you know the banks we were using that have since closed been merged and bought out >> so we got to find it on our own
>> question what's the total money amount >> we were able to find one and get it cleared the second one was 70,000 back in 2009 with interest 120 right now. >> 120. How long you been working on this?
>> About a year. A little bit more. >> All right. So, man, that was You should have just paid it and said, "Oh, well." Well, is it fair to the taxpayers $100,000? >> This is the way they wanted to go. >> That's why it's a mean don't buy the new
F350 that pay for that. That's 100% right. That's pretty close. Yes. >> Yes. So, um in the future items for the money that we got through co the one was the United States through 30. Um, and
the state is guaranteed to have that done by the end of the year or >> you said probably by next year. >> So 2027. >> All right. So the only thing I have to do is to encumber the funds and cut the check to them. >> Okay. So as long as they check, we don't lose that money. >> We won't lose the money.
>> Even though the project might not because all I had to do really was to um allocate all of the funds. There are some towns um I'm not sure if they did what they were supposed to do, but Lynon Wall did what they were supposed to do. We have it until the end of 2026 to
expend all the funds and it will be expended >> and once that's done. >> Yes. Yes. And we did quite >> I'm sorry. Does any other further question? >> Um no public hearing the budget will end.
So, are there any other questions as it pertains to the 2026 budget? >> All right. Well, I thank you for your time. And I just wanted to share too that at 4:30 is when the state um approved us to
adopt the budget tonight because the state is going through some changes and we did not get our budget reviewed because we are a town that gets reviewed. Our code gets reviewed every single year. And I will tell you, we didn't get our reviews until about 1:30 yesterday and was a long list of things
that needed to be completed and we just got the approval at 4:30. So, I'm grateful for that. So, we're good. >> Okay. A motion for resolution 2026 117 resolution 202617. Second
Jackson. >> Yes. >> Next to no formal discussion of these items. discussion and desire from the consent agenda.
Resolution 2026 motion that it resolution 2026 102 115 >> Jackson. >> Yes. skipped one. >> 26 20 26 116
>> said 115. >> You said 115. >> Was that what it said at the top? All right. >> Motion consent items resolution 2026 1116 be adopted as Yes. >> Okay.
>> Thank you, Mayor. First thing I'd like to mention is that there is a community cleanup scheduled this Saturday, May 16th uh in town development on South Holland Street at the back of the town homes from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
co-sponsored by Lima and our public works department. Uh if you have any available time to come out and help that would be much appreciated. >> Public works public works. Okay, I stand corrected. I
apologize, >> Treer. >> Okay. Fire commission report. There were 46 inspections completed, 27 reins inspections, 16 smoke and carbon monoxide compliance inspections, three permits, two over
requests. Um, fire department still had offers free smoke alarms to residents. They will come in and install them free of charge. They also have a stickers available for if you have logistic resident in your house or apartment you
only and you have only to call the fire department, set up an appointment to communicate a stop alarm or pick up the sticker. Uh the number is 856346935. There are 65 66 calls for service including 15 alarms, three apartments,
one building, one brush, seven dwelling, four EMS assists, five investigations, HCO alarms, one motor vehicle accident, one car fire, two public service, 12 gas leaks, three motor vehicle accidents with rescue,
uh, and one tree down. and see the tower and flag uh were present for the opening of the little league 24th. The tower assisted raising the flag for a falling corrections officer
on March 26th. The squad had some repairs done. Tower in the tower is okay. The engine had my repair fixed. Uh the sport is still waiting for parts to be delivered before
it remains out of service and several training sessions were have were held. And that's all I have for you. Thank you, Mayor. >> Thank you, mayor. Public April report. Tons of trash collected 796. Tons of
recycling 89. Total items collected 416. Scrap picked up 87. Concrete picked up eight. Stops picked up nine. Property maintenance zero. Number of accidents zero. Service calls 55. Stoppages 14.
Main stopages zero. Emergency calls 12. Markouts 35. Pump station repaired six. Troubled areas vetted jetted two. Pump station factory one. For Laurel Springs, we've had six service calls, five
stoppages, one main stoppage, three emergency calls, zero kills. for our police department. Total services total call service 1,757 traffic accidents 47 community poling 48
traffic enforcement stops 116 criminal complaints issued by officers 71 traffic summons issued by officers 135 criminal complaints issued by citizens 14 traffic summons issued by citizens zero
detective bureau investigations 35 and for our police department. They have the hooked on fishing event coming up on June 6th, excuse me, which will be at Lake Worth from 8 to 11.
Um, all your children, this is our 11th annual fishing tournament for a challenge for the children. So, please encourage all your kids to come out to that. Um, our communitywide yard sale is June 13th.
Um it's always the second Saturday in June and the second Saturday of October and then October one is is October 10th. 8 to 3. Um you can come address send your name and email to events liable.net to
get your name on the list and address for the yard sale. The last update to the listing will be the day before the event at 1 pm. If you don't have your name and address on the website by 1 p.m., no one will know about it. Um,
and our car show or Jermaine, I guess we have a car show. Um, August 7th, that's still far away. That's all that I have. Thank you, That's all right. Good evening everyone. Tomorrow, which is the 14th, there will
be kindergarten registration from 4 to 7:00 p.m. at the Early Childhood Center here in Law. For school number four, there will be health and wellness week starting May 18th. School number five, spring school
concert May 27th from 7 to 8:00 p.m. at our mall High School. Also on May 20th, Lynmore Middle School and Lynmore High School will be having a spring band concert starting at 5:00 p.m. at Lind
High School. Lastly, Parks and Recreation Lyn Park is adding an additional nature trail coming very soon. >> I'm sorry, I forgot. We have um Memorial Day, our tribute Memorial Day May 25th
at the park and the program begins at 900 a.m. Please everyone come out and attend our Memorial Day services. I'm sorry. Um foster care awareness month. Each May we recognize foster care awareness month
and the children growing up in foster care. After over 11 years of working to protect and support children ourselves, the stories um they truly never leave you. In New Jersey that uh we identified 13,748
people in 2025 experiencing homelessness, including nearly 2,000 people who are unsheltered. When we see homelessness, we may not always see what we really see. We may be seeing someone who was once a child and never had a
chance to feel safe, proved it, or protected. Yet, resources do exist, but but for some people, trust in the system is long gone. I'm not perfect, and I've had my own biases, too. But during foster care awareness
month, I'm asking for a pause from a quick judgement. A pause long enough to ask who am I really ignoring? What story might I not be? What child existed before this? And as far as the historic commission is
concerned, Wednesday, May 20 20th, we're going to be going to historic commission in camp in Cam at 12:30 to 2:30 and we'll be visiting again May 27th from 12 to 1 house tour and I post about five
different um sessions in case anyone wants to come. That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, mayor. Good evening, everyone. Uh first, thank you, Miss Thompson. It was a great presentation, but I was planning to thank you tonight
for bring your child to work day. It was a very nice event put together, organized by you. My kids had a great time. We appreciate it. So, thank you very much. Uh, also if anyone didn't check out the new website
this launch.com, uh, thanks to Brenda Roach and Mrs. Johnson. >> I'm sorry. >> Nobody said it, so I didn't. Okay. All right. I just
>> My bad. My bad. I take that back. I take >> uh, also just want to mention we did the uh, Councilwoman did complete the FBI. Thank seminars uh with the senior community uh here in the last month of April f prevention month. Uh we had a
great turnout. I think it was very informative. I learned something. We all learned something. So uh we'll we'll definitely do a followup soon. Maybe in the next six months or so a followup or something. Uh also wanted to remind everyone I
wanted to give everyone the uh schedule for concerts and movies this summer. Uh, first we'll have a concert on June 26, Suitcase Birking, uh, 7 p.m. Uh, next will be a movie. I'm
sorry. Yes. Next will be a movie July 10th. Uh, that's Zootopia. Movies start at dusk. Uh, next will be a concert on July 17th for Chicago 9.
7 p.m. start. After that, we have a oh car show, sorry, car show, >> August 7th, uh 6 p.m. >> and and
last we have the movie uh August 21st again started. That's all I have. Thanks. >> Good evening. again on behalf of council president Sharp who is the liazison of the media department or the media team
rather she wasn't able to be with us today but she is excited to announce the launch of our new website um it was launched on Monday May the 11th our new website includes an audio um audio accessibility features there's a new
icon located in the bottom right of the screen um to help ensure AA compliance And we will soon be adding the chatbot feature as well until AI is taken over. But um in order for us to put that on um
Civic Plus has to help us educate the chatbot before we can launch that right away. So again, we're excited about the new website. I'm not sure whether or not he was able to look at it. But if you go to the site and you see a few things
that need to be um tweaked, you can let us know because we do know that there's probably still a few adjustments and refinements that we need to um do. But um also, Council President Sharp wanted me to uh publicly recognize the tremendous work and effort that Brenda
Roach put into helping us to launch the website. So she says, "Hats off to Brenda for a job well done." That's it for President Shark. As far as the website, now I want to move into just a brief report. We did a $13.9 million
general bond obligation and we had a total of nine financial institutions that bid on our bonds. And the winning financial institution was Misro Financial, Inc. and um we got an
interest rate of 3.15%. So with that being the lowest interest rate, they were um awarded the uh the bond. So I just wanted to make you all aware of that information as it
>> Thank you. Thank you everyone. At this time I'm going to open the meeting to the public. Anyone for the public wishing to speak, please come to the microphone, state your name and address for the record, and please don't forget to sign. >> Hi, my name is Tom Rice. I live at 213 Cypress Avenue
and I've been here, this is the third time on the same issue. It's the deporable condition of the property next door at 211. Um, I've been trying to get the
attention of the burrow to remediate the property and at least clean it up. >> There have been today. I'm sorry.
There have been some limited things done to the property. We boarded up after my last visit here. All right. And they did way back in January cut
down some bamboo which now with the advent of spring has sprung up and now regrown. However, I must say that I'm happy to
report that as of today, someone I guess from public works showed up and started cutting some bamboo. >> It's a landscape. >> Now, that's a good thing. All right.
That's an effort towards cleaning up the property which is owned by the burrow. Okay? And basically my question for this meeting is this a commitment on the part
of the bureau to finally clean up and remediate your property that I understand you got it through foreclosure. But with foreclosure goes the
responsibility to take care of it. So, I want to know do I have do I have a commitment now that you're going to work towards cleaning this with us up? >> Okay. They will maintain the property until the property is sold. We've already had a lot of people asking about
that property. So, it's going to be one of the first ones that get gets cleared up and and sold. So, yes, we will maintain it until that time is sold. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> All right. Mr. >> Have a commitment on your part that you're going to maintain it?
>> Yes. >> Clean it up till it's sold. >> And that's okay. I mean, you're aware the property has no roof. No electric, no whatever. But whatever. >> There's a lot of people interested in
it. >> All right. Just so when I look out my window, I have to look at things. All right. All right. Mr. Guys, I just wanted to let you know it wasn't public works that came out. It was actually a landscaper. Abelis
landscaping was out today to work on removing the um the bamboo. >> Yes. >> I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. >> They're cutting down the bamboo. They already cut down and regroup when
actually if you get the roots, it's going to regrow. So you're kind of committing to chopping down. >> I've been working. >> I've been working to make sure that that property maintains. We couldn't get a hold of the
landscape for a couple weeks. We were trying >> and I was I got I got upset when you said nobody's doing anything because I knew that that I got the email today that they were supposed to be out there. That's why I was going to be upset. I was trying to make sure that they did
take care of your needs. >> Okay. So, that's I can't ask for more than that. >> I just need a commitment on on the part of the do something about cleaning it up. >> Okay.
>> If not, I'll see you next month. Anyone else wish >> about my favorite property? >> We are starting to have a dog problem again. Puppies
and we're not vicious at this point, but they're getting out on a regular basis running through everybody's yard. >> The same property, >> the same properties. >> And now one of my neighbors is experienced problem with a very large
tree at the back of that property. It's in very bad shape dropping large branches in the backyard. They have some young kids living there. They have like inflatable pool they put up in the summertime and they're now
afraid that they can't even branches just randomly dropping off that tree large enough to hurt someone. Council members are working on this. Do you want to >> I talked to you last week about every all the information I have I already
talked to you about when I saw you. I just wanted you to be aware. Anyone else wishing to speak? >> My name is 25 Georgetown. I wanted to say it's great. It's summertime. Yeah, I think snow's going.
But I got to talk about snow. uh we had a Jewish town meeting and they said they're not responsible for a sidewalk and shooting in the group. Uh and last month I was here and told you
about that and I just wanted to point out they said that they weren't fine either. When I was here last month, I was told that Georgetown was fined 100 bucks for not shoveling snow.
Now, last night they said that's a lie. Now, I want to find out that does anybody know whether or not they were fined or >> you asked me that today? Did you you in the construction office today, didn't you?
>> Yes. And so everybody trying to get back to me to and they did they did call me >> I'm sorry. Unfortunately our system has been down for two or three days. >> So as soon as they get into the system to verify it back
>> to verify what they whether they were fine or not. >> Okay. Yeah. System was down. Yeah. tomorrow where Heather said she was going to let me know that but last month you know I had
asked that and and I got it from you may that they were fine just keep this in the back of your mind you know the same thing that same issues they had with the garbage cans and all the garbage stuff that they kept on not that was
>> they yeah yeah in my opinion I still trust them and they you in my opinion their lives. you know, so tomorrow I'll find out. uh you know so I mean the city was so great to make sidewalk for children
>> and it was that we would shovel that stuff >> and now for some reason >> the president association who agreed the last time uh when it was first made now all of a sudden chases mine lying and
saying no you know it's not our responsibility go along with the management that action So probably appreciate it and I'll talk to them tomorrow. Thank you very much. >> Anyone else from the public wish to speak?
>> See none of the public. I just have a question regarding sorry ordinances and file and see if they follow from start to finish. You go to that office right over there
and you ask them for a complaint form and they'll give you form or you can go online and fill it out and >> I've done that and nothing's been done for weeks, months, years. We've got some trash
been there for years and there's been trash out trash all over the street. >> Send a complaint to a few talk to enforcement tie. So back to the emails again. So you're saying it's trash can
>> trash 135 85 52 there are several pass on Monday I sent pictures by your part I'm sure youard Craig well he knows I sent emails
>> 8152 >> yeah trash sidewalks people laying down just a mess with grass nothing >> I'll be here tomorrow morning I'll talk
to him tomorrow I s 14 days they have >> they got usually 10 days at least have 10 days to fix it and if they fix it within the 10 days then nothing happens starts all over again if they do it and see a lot of times the people take them
move them before the 10 days are up and then a week later they put them back out there again they don't >> so it's it's an ongoing process >> and unfortunately our court system does not do anything about it You got anything
as much as they can do until they get to court. Once they get to court, it's up to my neighbor directly. I don't have to neighbor for the email to all you guys tonight and talk to them tomorrow. Can you can
you make sure I get it as well? >> Yeah, I >> Thompson favor. Thank you very