e e okay Mr chair we're on the air welcome everyone to the meeting of the township of long hill planning board uh for February 11th 2025 uh just to note we are starting
this meeting try to figure out onv okay thank you Deb would you read the announcements when you're ready yes I'm trying to can you hear the feedback yeah I hear
it TV was manual button on the the TV lower the volume I don't know if it's doing anything or not all right we continue all right call to order and statement of compliance adequate notice of this meeting or hearing has been provided by posting a copy of the public meeting hearing dates on the municipal bulletin
board and website and by sending a copy to the echos Sentinel newspaper and by filing a copy with the municipal clerk standard board procedures any meeting or hearing conducted by the board is a quasi judicial proceeding any questions or comments must be limited to issues that are relevant to what the board May
legally consider in reaching a decision and decorum appropriate to a Judicial meeting or hearing must be maintained at all times electronic devices all in attendance are asked to mute cell phones or any electronic devices as to not interrupt the proceedings Pledge of
Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all is it the volume on your computer
that might be up yeah it sounds like it's coming from speakers or something I hear it from the TV yeah sounds like TV there a mute button there no no I don't see a mute button either really sure that's the uh
uh okay Miss Dill is excused this evening Mr H here committee M lavender here Mr lavario here Mr Mitchell is excuse this evening Miss oens here Mr opala here Vice chairman Jones present chairman Richardson here chairman we
have a quum excellent sounds like we're in Yankee Stadium maybe it's the other TV as well no but the other TV remote's not working so let me just turn the other just turn it off there there you go that's that's is there like a volume button on the TV i r of most buttons yeah
right is the worst TVs when I set up we need to make noise it's gotten worse testing one two three yeah tting did you get it no you didn't now
batting Echo no we're good okay good the echo is gone you have a choice static or Echo one that's going to mess up it's not static it's the seashore okay I don't hear the echo no
definely that's all right d David wait wait I didn't do anything I turned off something what did you turn off my mic now I can anybody hear testing Che Chris's if yours is off I
don't have yeah where's your wait a minute I missed a mic what he's got mine yeah there's Ane there I see so close whenever you turn off turn off we need the wireless spikes like they have on the TV sets
no operator okay are we good we're in business well done all right you got a job easy maintenance guy another feather in the cab there you go okay our first item uh this evening is
to uh uh vote on a resolution well actually the resolution was conditionally voted on on the December 10th meeting this is a resolution for uh Mr oror Kazi application number
24-12 P uh I'll first entertain uh any discussion on the resolution um there was a couple of adjustments to it in regards to the eligibility for voting and I believe we've cleared that up I did I I needed
to add Mr H I need I added Mr H at the top of page 10 under not eligible and then Chris and I added Chris added the on page six and page
nine in that's letter Z on page six and letter e on page nine we added the code section 153 point2 okay that's the the lighting requirements we we double checked the ordinance just to ensure that was
correct so that's that's good um and then the addition that I am not eligible to vote either yes in in the that basically in the um I knew you weren't okay I forgot to put an X by your name uh in the vote uh box but I I will add that yes thank you okay then also I'll
just mention Mr Hans put it out to me on page eight um now therefore be it resolved um third paragraph in it should be the 11th day of February not the 28th day of January right that's one wait on page eight yes yeah and I think you said Mr H
mentioned there was another issue too but I said You' be able to explain that that unless that's where ref no it wasn't the Valley Road the what the Long Valley Road oh yes my favorite on the very front yes Long Valley it is Valley
Road not Long Valley Road yes okay so whatever okay on the tax Max it's praic Valley Road the tax amount uh are there any other yeah edits that people saw that uh they'd like to
add before we turn this over to a vote a motion and a vote just a a clarification section one of what of the ordinance on page nine oh so section um let just go back to it page eight I'm sorry page six of item uh V
numeral V I guess five um above decision section that was the app that we were just memorializing there that the applicant agreed to comply with the the ordinance's lighting requirements as pertaining to shut off times of lighting fixtures and those are at 13.2 of the ordinance um so that's
why on the the initial drafting of I I wasn't sure exactly what section of the ordinance it was in so um I left it blank hoping that Liz or Endor de would would have filled it in when they reviewed it after the fact and I guess everybody missed it but we just confirmed it and looked looked it up so we we can confirm it's
153.7 there eligible members are lavender Vice chairman Jones and Mr opala so would one of you three like to make a motion so move a motion yet with with the
mentioned changes tonight as amended y as amended who's the second second okay Mr opala yes Vice chairman Jones yes and committee lavender yes motion
carries a thank you okay uh the next is uh an application that is to be uh carried to it's a minor site plan
application to be carried to uh April 8th 2025 uh the application is for Block 14602 Lot 10 on 682 Myersville Road application 63 I'm sorry 632 thank you
Myersville Road application number 24-16 P uh this is for the proposed uh Paving of an existing gravel parking lot and a statue as part of signage for the new
restaurant uh in Myersville um I guess there's really uh only just the need for a u motion and a vote M to carry to carry we don't know really what the conditions
are can you elaborate any further as to why the need for such a big extension I can because the the the applicants engineer together with our board engineer has been working out details uh with the parking lot expansion so um the applicant needed I
mean the engineer just the applicant's engineer excuse me needed extra time to put the plans together and and felt that you know the month of March was going to be too tight okay okay so that's why they asked to push it out to April 8th okay yeah and I believe uh we de their notice to be
sufficient all the way back in October we've been carrying it by voice announcement since then right so I mean it's kind of up to the board at this point I you know it's it's been the first hearing was supposed to be on October 22nd we're going all the way to April you know of the following year it's been about six months um up to the
board whether or not they want to require additional notice on this I mean again we've been carrying it by voice announcement um nobody's here so I don't think anybody was really interested in it to begin with but you know it's kind of a judgment call the board's part just a question it says to pave existing gravel
parking area but you're saying it might be an expansion as well so is that slightly different than what they first came in with I mean I at this point I'd had to see the plans to really make it you know a judgment call on whether or not there Bas that that particular piece of the graveled area
they have been utilizing as far as that establishment's been a restaurant going back but um when you pave it and stripe it you have to come in for a site plan because they have to actually construct the parking lot obviously I'm not an engineer so excuse I think there's I think there's some lighting uh that
needs to be addressed I think there's going to be Planters and some other bumpers There's a garbage uh you D the garbage a stream in the back there is a stream that's between that parking and the uh the sports complex on Myersville Road on I'm sorry on new ver Road
marsville field um so I think that all comes into consideration so there might be a little reshaping but I don't think it's really changing a lot that whole back unpaved area this is in in conversation with our Township engineer Joe Vu correct so Joe is probably coming
up with some things that they need to round off the edges on sure I I think rather than getting into too many speculative details we'll wait for the the professionals report and see what's necess and I assume that'll all be ready
ahead of oh absolutely the April 8th so we're just doing a needful of continu continu I'm just saying that is it just really Paving existing gravel lot right so if we're putting on the the agenda in the future is it a little bit more than
just that so it's it sounds like it's constructing a parking lot it's basic well I think we can just say right now and other improvements okay to the property and then we'll obviously hear more details in regards to what they're the operative word is
proposes so there's latitude there the real questions if you want to require them to Ren notice again publish in the newspaper Senter Property Owners do they legally need to do that or can we it's it's kind of a judgment call on the board's behalf I know we've been carrying them by voice announcement as a policy decision it's up to you whether
or not you think the public deserves more notice like I was saying we've been carrying this by voice announcement I think even to tonight nobody's here nobody showed up for the other hearing so there might not be that much public interest but again judgement calling the boards having said all that I think I hear what you know what you're saying Tony I think there's a material
difference between existing and if they do something that alters the size basically and location of the car par then I I personally attempt to say they should be noticed with that additional information or clarification because it could be or just reti yeah the notice
wouldn't change with those details what what's in what goes into notice how much information will go into notice it this legal standard is that has to put a reasonable person on notice so that they would go look at the plans to get more information right so just a essentially General description of the proposed
scope of which is fine so this is the general description here but exist in an expansion of two different things I would think if you're going to say expansion if then they should read notice personal opinion I mean airing on the side of caution might be a good idea
just to have them Reen notice I mean they haven't finalized the plan so we don't really know exactly what it is they proposed at this point in time have them Reen notice yeah okay okay that would be my recommendation all right I think we should have a motion if if that's the way the board feels then right right there should be okay then we're actually not carrying them we're
just going to well it's it's carried with further notice required right so that would be the motion yeah so the motion that I'm hearing if somebody would like to make it would be the motion to carry with notice also Mr chairman real quick before the board votes on that I'd also mention you could require just notice to surrounding
Property Owners as opposed to notice both to surrounding property owners and the newspaper you know I mean it's up to you if you want to save them that additional expense yeah but it's it's a material thing and it's a commercial property and it's in the middle of my bill I would be more cautious and say
more the better is my personal op you like to make that motion yes if that's okay our motion would that they we carry and they submit a a public notice with a little bit more clarity as opposed to what they're saying
here so so all in favor I okay okay motion carries thank you okay so we're uh right into old and new business uh so the first would be noted we have a couple of uh things that
are off the agenda but the first is a discussion regarding the board bylaws uh with the sincere hope that we might even be able to move uh to uh making uh a motion to adopt these bylaws but that'll be dependent on discussion
this evening uh just uh to give a little bit of background we did have a subcommittee uh that reviewed this in detail uh also had uh uh a zoom meeting with the board attorney uh to review comments what you see here there was an
original draft and then what you see here is a revise draft uh Redline that we provided that showed some of the changes that we made if did review the original draft uh so here we sit tonight with uh what we felt like was a bit more
uh of a a finished product uh this in our minds would also suffice to meet what we had talked about you can see with the level of detail really almost standard operating procedures and protocol so um Chris you might want to
just weigh in uh it it is important to note how the statute works with the ordinance which works with these bylaws so you might want to just review that because that was helpful to illuminate us in our subcommittee on that particular issue absolutely and I know
um I'll just mention I know Miss Ain sent me some comments that also need to get Incorporated before we go through I was just trying to pull those up well wasn't ignoring you Mr chairman but we'll get we'll come back to that um so all right so I'll just give you guys kind of the one1 on how this entire
process started right so um maybe six seven months ago back the zoning board might even been longer um we kind of re rediscovered that they hadn't updated their bylaw since 2015 2016 almost a decade one way or another uh so they tasked me with you know
providing them with an updated set of bylaws so what what I did to do that was I synthesized um kind of like a standard template set of bylaws that my firm uses for most of our boards and the zoning board's former bylaws which Incorporated a lot of what's in your ordinance already and other as as well as other
procedures that they had kind of come up with at that at least at that point in time so what you're seeing before you is a kind of result of those two of those two items being synthesized but it also incorporates um language from the ml the the state statute as well as the open public meetings act the open public
records act language from our ordinance just to make sure everything kind of s syncs together so um yeah that's about it I mean at the end of the day the bylaws are what govern kind of how this word operates itself right the ordinance Will trump the bylaws the state statute
Will trump the ordinance and then federal statute and you you know you work your way up the line so um this is kind of you know again the rules for the board and how we conduct business but in being that it's a publicly available document not just for members of the public but for board members as well
what we try to do here is explain you know how the Ordinance Works in operation so for example um I'm just going to try to pull something up pretty generally so section one call and 1-4 ch chair person right like it's a you know part of the ml is a requirement that the
board has to pick a chairperson right so that's why it's in here so it explains to the public and board members coming in or long-standing board members you know you know that requirement that you have to pick somebody like that it also explains like you know for example you know who's qualified to be what class of
of board member you know the class one has to be the mayor or his or her designate of the class three's Township Committee Member like committee L they're over there class four is you know most of the people on the board other citizens of the township um so not not Mr chairman I need to go yeah it's
really the the uh the rules and and what we need to live by so the one thing I'm going to emphasize that uh and we should make sure we're comfortable I know the the subcommittee got comfortable with the fact that to put these in place
means we need to follow them is you know the worst you thing you can do is put something in writing and then not follow it so we all need to commit to really understanding these refer to these and this become a living document in fact it was suggested and I think it's a great
idea that each year we look in January to appoint a small subcommittee to just review these to see if any uh modifications need to be made so this becomes a living document so this is really good for a year and then we'll
review and make sure all the the policies and procedures and rules are still current or else this thing gets uh dry and uh we forget about it and then we may run into problems if we're not following it can I can I make a comment
sure the uh part one Administration uh one section one one and two it's pretty much a uh verbatim copy of the code book right for the most part yeah do you think maybe we should just refer to the code book because if
for some reason something changes in the future not saying anything will but it just it just seems to me to be unwieldy to have the writing in two places I don't see or or at least a statement in there it says that if anything changes in well
and and and thank you uh Scott because we did talk about that and we did put in language that if any of the three things I if if this conflicts with whatever we wrote with statute or ordinance those
take precedent right where is that rule three col 7 all the way at the end conflict of laws because that's standard language in a contract if you have other contracts that you would always you know have something that would be right take
precedent right exactly and not only that but when you think about the bylaws again or the rules governing the board they're synthesized from other sources of law so you know it let's say tomorrow the state legislature and the governor decide to amend the ML and there's no longer three different for four different classes of planning board
members there only like they added an additional class um you know that doesn't mean the board is like doing anything wrong I mean we you know required to comply with the state statute regardless of of whatever the bylaws say you know at which point you know if that something that substantial were to happen then yeah obviously we go
back and change it but I mean again the whole purpose of this is to provide kind of a you know something set in stone for the board itself and not just the the board itself but also members of the public to see because you know if you're looking through the orance it's a little confusing right like you know at least
for your lay person who's looking at it doesn't know anything but at least everything's that's relative to the planning board is in one s single document here and so with regard to that conflict of law statement is there yes is there some um activity in the bylaws
which specifies that on an annual basis we're going to review this for its compliance uh yes yes we added that rule 3 call 5 annual review rules at the annual reorganization meeting the board chairperson May appoint up to four board members to a subcommittee established
for the purpose of reviewing the board's rules the subcommittee if so established shall re-review the board's rules and if found it be prudent offer recommendations to modify the rules to the whole of the board by no later than the first board meeting in April of that calendar year okay so you have may do this or will do this or shall do this
rather well it's I put to the up to the chair person right there might be year you don't want to do it but I can't imagine why we wouldn't but it does give a little wiggle wiggle room if for whatever reason I think it's good practice to do it annually it's a good way to refresh and catch anything that's
new it also sets the tone for the board so that way the board knows how we operate it also sets the tone for the a uh for the the residents the audience who come in that we have something we can point to it says this is how we're operating so you may not have read it when you came in the door but it is I
think it offers a level of transparency that people have been interested to have is Arcy and how we operate so we're not passing this tonight cuz I haven't read it no well if there if I mean I guess what I was
trying to submit is that we had a subgroup that comb through this I would like to acknowledge that we uh worked off the back of the zoning board uh that went through this and uh shout out to Tom goov who went line by line through
this with the zoning board very thorough uh and was very thorough uh so but if you do have additional comments and ited this would be the time to bring those up I'd prefer to read it first and let me just a quick point just a stupid point
attire I would not be approved right now because I'm wearing jeans so there's going be that's need to be thought I just have a clarification go so on page
10 section c number two the paragraph that that talks about the hearing that has to happen in case somebody wait I'm I'm sorry jeez are you looking at the redline version yeah I think the page numbers are different let me just make sure we're all looking at the same thing page 10 that's not on this one it's on
this one okay cop yeah let's just make sure we're all looking at the same I only okay so we're all looking at okay we're looking at the red L I have the real so if you could just refer to the
number yeah so it's one uh 111 section c number Roman numeral two yeah so the way that it reads is shall be heard by up to eight members right so what if there's only five members we
still have a quorum and all five have to vote against is that how you would interpret it or is it a 50% oh oh at least five of the city board members that's a good question right so it's just I think that there just needs to be in that opening sentence just
something that says the hearing shall be heard by a Corum of up to eight board members well up to nine board members on this well the problem is questions whether or not they can sit so there's nine members of the board one of them
would be ineligible to vote because they're the person that you're talking about oh okay right in this section right yeah so I think the the the purpose of this is saying that it's a 50% plus one vote right M majority
you're right a majority right vote V but the way that it's written is if you have five members and right I see what you're saying only four vote against one votes for right yeah so I think we need to go through this yeah so spend time on it if
it said do you have not read it no okay if and only if that's why we're trying to get this right right something along those lines because being just the way that it's worded could just yeah no that makes sense no I hear you because it says
discussion regarding bylaws yeah that's fine I mean listen if if everyone wants to take time to read we don't need to sit here tonight and read through it if there are significant issues that you've seen already or insignificant issues you
want to point Sil stuff like jeans I mean really can we have some discussion about um items we saw in it just ask some questions yeah absolutely yeah sure okay and that same section 1 col
1-10 um the first sentence a said board board members shall not discuss the substance of any current or pending application except within the specific context of a properly noticed public board meeting
yes does that mean oneone conversations on an issue cannot be held in other words if if if I'm sitting down with another board member on an issue maybe we're on a committee talking about a subject but we end up one of us
ends up raising something about a current or pending application is that in conflict with this or not I mean if if you're sitting in like a like a like let's say we were to convene like a TCC meeting or something like a technical Review Committee something that meets ahead of the time in that context you'd be okay
and it technically wouldn't be a public publicly noticed hearing the the idea is you're not really supposed to discuss a case outside of a hearing right with anybody I mean with a board member it's one thing I guess if you have a question or with with board counsel or with one of the board you know professionals but
but I can I I see your point there we could definitely kind of yeah but I think the analogy from my loose interpretation we brought this up in the subcommittee is it's liken to a jury if you've served jury duty M you're not supposed to discuss the testimony that
has transpired until you actually in deliberations with regards to the case rests and then they give it to the jury so this is kind of Quasi like that you're not supposed to potentially influence other members of the board
until the hearing is complete and then we start to discuss the application that's actually the guidance that's given during the training yep mhm so so then that same issue would happen in terms of going to visit a site that has an application and yeah two of
us can't go you certainly go you just shouldn't really discuss so I I I I think that's somewhat there disingenuous how can you expect to go someplace and not be expected to speak or have someone observe you at
that place and say you didn't speak you understand what I'm saying well typic that's a tough line to draw understand typically like my firm we just had one of these last week we had to go to conduct a site visit for one of our other boards and board attorney shows up we make sure that you know balls and
Strikes are being called nobody's going to accuse you of anything wrong there's you know a witness there um yeah but but even still at a side visit you're not supposed to discuss the the substance of an application typically what'll happen is you know the property owner will show you around but they you can't get into like oh well you know I'd really like to do this like how
would you feel if I you know put this here instead of this or you know something like that like they're they're not supposed to get into that and you shouldn't engage with any conversations with them it's inappropriate right again Public public hearing like you got to remember can I can I make a suggestion on that because what's missing in this section is really that background that
perspective before you get into ABC or D if you just lead that off with an introduct introductory sentence right under ethical responsibilities of board members board members shall understand uh that they will be engaged in a quas Judicial uh process where
um impartiality and blah blah blah blah blah Etc and then get into the ab and c and that would sort of set the tone for what Bob is saying because if you have to figure that out yourself reading this because you're a newbie well there if you go down to to section D there we do
have a a section on that about site visits yeah yeah courage to visit the sub subject property prior to the hearing in doing so however the board memb should shall not engage in any conversation with the owners or residents of the property concerning the merits of the pending application yeah but what I'm saying has nothing to do with site visits it has to do with the
spirit in which you enter into these four points okay I see what you're saying it also St that it's a quad judicial proceeding and you're supposed to respect as if it's a court of law in a certain sense I see what you're getting at and to that point when you go for training to be a on a planning board
that is exactly what they tell you not supposed to talk to the resident other then I'm here here's my ID I'm going to take a look at this boom yeah observe the responsibilities of a not to call like I'm not calling Mr Hand to say hey I'm going to that site you want to come over there with me no I just go and I
take a look I do my own personal observations and then I leave keep it keep in mind as you read through this a lot of these are you know literally prescribed rules and regulations you know so you as much as
we may not like something that's the reality that's what ml the statute and our ordinance are stated and we're really just trying to combine and pull this all together so let's do this guys um and GS you know read through this and
uh provide any uh additional commentary I guess uh you could send it over to Deb or to Chris just email to me in regards to commentary please refrain we can't have a whole email discussion about certain things I would like to move this
uh along how many people in the committee are there three there's three of us could we email the committee or does it have to go to you you could email the committee yes I'd rather email the committee because then you could yeah y or yeah there's four of us on the sub committee oh that's right somebody
couldn't attend right you can't email that because I'll be the fifth no but you can email me and I can that's fine do it that way then that's that's fine that's why I was suggesting go to always best to email me go through the correspond yeah I'm not going
to so just one promise quick question sure 113 powers and duties of the board yes uh section that's kind of your catchall right so like when the Mars County planning board all that sort of stuff comes in that's kind of like our catch
all that I'm sorry what section uh 113 the powers and duties of the board perform such other advisory duties as are assigned to it by ordinance or resolution of the town oh ex okay okay 1 d133
I got you okay I'm sorry go ahead Tony but that's your catchall right so essentially okay that that's if if the township committee wants to point you the board to do some kind of other special project or uh so other agencies are office I I just
that's like Maris County planning board that's kind of what it means right like like the state plan cross acceptance like how of that kind what I was thinking exactly where it would go okay these are this is kind of setting the universe of what we could do it
doesn't mean we we will do all this but this gives us the power to potentially do any of these things right I just want to make sure that that I was reading that when that came to us that's where it falls in or you know the when we were talking about the Mount Laurel stuff that goes to the township like for afford hous making sure that that was
caught inside the powers of the the board if it was read being interpreted strictly and this is all actually captured straight from the ordinance which was captured from the ml so it's all you know it's all coer how about number you may have mentioned this one the P of
attorney again number six anley prepare a program of Municipal Capital Improvement projects Pro over who who does that obviously this board this board can if it wants to it doesn't mean doesn't mean that we'll do I know but it says anly prepare that to me it
says you got it it's only if we're if we're required to usually by the township committee right if you go to one at the top of one colon 1-13 less the board shall have the power to to means you have the power to do it exercise thank you yeah not the board
shall shall the power thank you important sh listen I think this is an excellent exercise I didn't want to suggest that the subcommittee was to you know do this whole thing we got to a point I think it's important that each board member review through this because
there is a lot of really good helpful yeah uh rules and regul and our framework so so I'm going to table this you're going to send your comments to Deb over the next couple of weeks uh then Deb you can send them over
to me we'll distribute them out to the subcommittee and we'll get this into another draft and before the next meeting Mr chair I was going to ask do we want to set a deadline for comments and then have yeah I was going to say uh well what's our our next meeting plan meeting date uh the 25th so that's in
two weeks from tonight so can we give everybody a week with this is that enough time yeah that's fine well that so if everybody gets comments to To Us by the 18th that would be from today right perfect that gives Chris yep yeah
the 19th 20th and 20th will take two days Chris is that good yeah I could probably turn it around a couple days okay yeah and then then the board would want to have it let's just say by Friday right yes I think by Friday just to revise we'll do I think what would make sense is to um you guys tell me you guys
and gals if if the red line is helpful to see where changes are made so we're not having to review through the whole thing we'll build on the redline version I guess do we want to have a subcommittee meeting again on on like the 20th to just confirm everybody's okay with everything I think that would
make sense so that would be a Thursday is that a th yeah it's a tight day for me though I I know have a meeting at night um Zoom please yeah could we just do a zoom yeah could you guys do in the afternoon though ear in the day do later in the day said 4 or so I could I could
do four o00 we do four yeah yeah why don't we do how about three three okay yeah three's even better Perfect all right so Zoom meeting for a 3M on the 20 yep correct great bring that down all right thank you for your work on this I I I
presume that this won't be a big lift each year after this but this is the first version We want to make sure we get it as right as we can it's good okay great all right so uh moving into other items in Old business uh Mr Jones I'll
ask if you have some updates on a number of things I think thank you very much Mr chair I've got uh two comment areas and then two updates so first thing I want to address is the flood map uh draft which if everyone's gone on to the uh
the new Long Hill uh website which I have to say is just amazing m really a great job really so so to those who did the work on that what an uplift and what a what a freshing look at uh at the website um there is an article up there
it's called njde and FEMA release updated flood risk data for Morris County um I think it would be a good idea to have the planning board engineer come in and just have a just give us an overview of what
that uh uh those changes are because they're quite significant and and if if anyone's taken a look at the map um the biggest changes that I noted are along the uh the BD Zone The Valley Road uh where from shoppr all the way to caner
park has been included plus the central part of Sterling Village has also been included um I do question some of the mappings because if you take a look at the uh area behind Walgreens that's very high and I don't know how that got into
the flood unless they're generalizing right there could be an island there um so um it would be good to get an overview of those changes what's the impact give us some awareness the board awareness uh educate us Ed educate the the residents who want to listen to it
and then it's also memorialized uh via video yeah I think that the uh Town engineer our board engineer would be uh perfect person to do that and I think they could also discuss the limitations of these Maps because that's just as important for people to understand on a
sight per sight basis there are limitations of the way that they construct these yep these Maps so great we we we had a discussion with Joe also a few meetings back and um you know there's different um I W say terminology
but different crosing hatching that didn't exist at the other time and um you know he'll tell us how much different if at all is from the previous but what I would recommend is if we could have him like
with the map up pointing at the screen because we're going to have questions by neighborhood like what does this new shading mean here and and that's really important for him to do good right and do you feel like uh it is important to do this at the planning board level or would you make it or do it at the
township committee level because we could I think I think it would be good here I think you we'll get a lot of intelligent questions coming from this Das perfect okay so is that something we could squeeze into the agenda for next meeting I don't see why not okay but I
would leave it up to Joe to decide so I would suggest Mr chairman if you wouldn't mind just sure shooting at or or the chair whoever I'm happy to do that send me an em and include Joe on it and and detail what you want him to present yeah how you wanted to present
it and then we can go from there I've had a preliminary conversation uh with via email and I exchanged some of the uh um some of the maps I uh back and forth and he has come back to me very detailed which uh which I was uh was good to see
but for me to articulate what he wrote to me is not the right thing to do so I'm happy to follow up with him to find out what would work best in the in the coming uh uh planning board schedule to see where it is that would be best best to fit him because I don't I don't know two weeks would be I know he's got a
full plate of things he's got a lot of things on his agenda so I want to make sure that I yeah but sooner than later let's get I also to to see where she has on some of the master plan things so yes and we'll talk a little bit about that right with yeah well you know one of the ways that
he could do this I think would be productive both for the public and for us let's bring our laptops with us let's have him screen share and zoom yes right and and have him annotate as he's going on Zoom that'll make a great video for the folks at home and it'll be right
here in front of us and we can ask questions it'll be you know better than a pointer stick maybe something that you want me to notice for too me yeah why not I think that's a great idea that's why I'm thinking two weeks may not be sufficient time to well why don't why
don't you work 20 years lastt years he's challenging now I got to remember how to do the whole zo process thanks we we'll get it sorted we're going to climb into the 21st century kicking and screaming maybe does it all the time if in doubt just
take the plug out take the plug don't forget to put it back yet just to say you got I know all right conscious of time uh so thank you for that uh Mr chair the other uh thing I just want to bring attention to is the nja aw uh sewer expansion right we know
that uh a couple of TC meetings ago they did come in was it the last one uh Mr lavender that they provided an update as to uh the plan going forward it wasn't a very tight schedule that they provided but they are were trying to say that they were committing to the uh October
2025 deadline that they're uh proposed to meet uh so um this is going to have a significant impact on our fair share housing third round uh that's already been settled so you know the Tifa the Gillette and the consignment shop areas are going to start um getting some
interest uh I did notice that um Mr foradis was sitting in the front row uh at that meeting so he is very keen to um see what American water is doing I did reach out to him today to set up a meeting I I put Mr lavender on that as
well um he's Keen to meet uh the week of the 17th or the 24th so I'll work on uh synchronizing a time to have that conversation with him right um but it's really to you know again talk about the the site uh talk about the proposals talk about his plans just get an
understanding what's going on there great perfect um anything else to share on uh ordinance revie my nextend item beautiful so um the orc so uh unfortunately we didn't meet last week because I was I caught the flu that's
been was going around uh so I spent all my time in the bed um but um Miss D Mr Hand and Mr Mitchell will be part of the orc we do have two carryover uh ordinances from uh last year that's
54.1 fence height the other one 55 1554 which is uh signs in residential zones so uh Miss coun uh do we know when those are going to go before the TC uh they were they were they're going to be on the agenda for the 26th the 26th of
February 26 February 26 great so that'll go uh before the TC uh the other uh items that we're going to to start to review um some carryover discussion items is the residential sheds which is
1377 we also were talking about ground floor apartment ordinance so we're going to revisit that we're also going to revisit the maximum setbacks so this is a review the maximum setback along the commercial properties on Valley Road so that's in the BD Zone we're also going
to talk about the house of wor worships to so we're going to re re review religious uh houses uh addressed in our ordinances we're also looking at a couple of bulk items so one of the bulk items is the Sterling uh uh Village we
have about 11 items that came out of the uh master plan that we uh completed so we want to look at each of those 11 to see which ones um we can start addressing um but it the idea again is to do the bulk also zoning M which I know that's something that you're
working on uh with Mr V we have 16 items there uh that's from the master plan so we want to start looking at that uh and start addressing those through the course of the year so I don't know if you have any updates on the zoning map just in that that it has become highest
priority for Joe so uh Joe is now engaged in working on that and drag netting all of the uh older overlays and information I think the last time it was really officially updated was 2016 but
there's there's information for applicants with regards to piecing it together this is now just kind of collecting all that from 2016 on and developing a map that shows it in one place so um I expect I don't have a
timeline yet but I know it's high priority it also kind of dovetails with some of the sewer work as well so um so there's a lot of overlapping agenda items there and then we have some contingencies so you know my sincere hope is within you know the next couple
of months that we'll have that updated zoning map so hopefully by the end of Q2 yeah I think that would be a good reasonable okay that's a nice Target to work towards and then just other uh the other thing that we should be getting input and and Deb you could maybe update
us on the zoning report from the zoning board with regards to their review of 2024 uh when we're into February when can we expect that if you as that been discussed in regards to pulling that
information together not yet I have it almost done on my end so but I'm not going to introduce it to this board until we're done with the uh master plan stuff probably so I'll probably get it through the zoning board
by hopefully by mid April at the latest so because I think that's important information I think we know where they're going but it's important for the committee the orc to understand where some of the pressure points are I think we know where most of those are from last year I don't think things have
changed that much but it'd be still good toar it's eye opening for sure right and it's actually years I think worth three years has it been that it's been a while it's been a while that long either but with all the changes in professionals and shuffling and okay is it in there by
laws what's that supposed to be done be there by to go back and start holding people accountable yes exactly that's what I mean about putting it in writing when we put it in writing we better get it plan work in the last couple years yeah you're going to have I think it's like a threee the good news is there's
no legal penalty for not doing it that's good exactly that's it will it it's very it's going to be very beneficial to this board moving forward with the ordinance review for sure yeah so I I want to get it through the zoning board by April the latest so that then we can move on to
that sounds good great and then just real quickly to interject because I think you had one more thing just the last thing on the on the on the orc is our cadences to meet every other week uh for 30 to 45 minutes to talk about things so this way we can get a a Cadence of work going and stay focused
great the other thing and which I think uh Miss coun was alluding to is the state plan cross acceptance uh committee which uh Mr Han myself and I'm gonna I'm gonna make a first attempt here uh Mr laviero Good Mr
L um U two weeks ago Mr Hand and I we had a meeting to just put together a timeline a plan uh to and an approach to how to deal with the questionnaire there's a series of about uh seven uh 10 questions I think it was and there was a
a breakdown of others plus a small questionnaire um so we we're putting that in a spreadsheet to start formulating uh how we're going to address each one of those I think we should uh highlight the fact that in the state plan there are 10 areas that they
want us to uh focus on or tie back to and and those goals uh just so everyone here knows it's about Economic Development housing infrastructure revitalization and reentering climate
change natural and Water Resources pollution and environmental cleanup historic and Scenic resources equity and I think the L last one is sound and integrated planning so I think the
document is about 168 Pages if if I remember correctly I started reading a lot of that um and it's very very high level so the approach is to kind of look at um what is written and what do we how do we stand against each of those items
and to see if there are any discrepancies or where do we fall short or are we in alignment with that um and what's the timeline now to so we need to complete that by the end of q1 on February 28th there is a public
Outreach meeting uh that will be held down in Morris uh in Morris uh County here or Morris toown that's from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. those in attendance will be able to ask questions those not in attendance will be able to submit
questions there will be a virtual uh attendance available but you will not be able to ask questions so it's very important that you know where you sit in all of that I think Mr Hand is going to try to make I let's go Bob you going to go I was going to try to go we talked
but yeah be great to have representation so it would be good to have I will absolutely be on the virtual part I will not be able to attend in person but if we can get Mr L and Mr H to go that would be great um there is a rain date March 7th so just be aware of that same time um
but we are going to plan a uh an attack and we're going to meet we have a a Cadence of when we're going to meet and we'll also be providing this body an update as to our progress great then I I will pardon me for the interruption I will clarify and I apologize not being when I'm when I'm talking about master
plan I'm actually speaking of the updates we need to do the to the um fair share housing um thank you okay yes behind the scenes our board planner is currently working with our Township planner uh to get those ready and was
because this board has to have public hearings yes so that's one of the reasons I'm saying with the annual report and some of the things not looking towards a schedule until we can actually schedule our public hearings and get through that because between the
Morris County and the fair share for round four this board's got a lot of work to well yeah and it's it's really uh we're updating our housing element of our master plan it's housing element and fair share which folds in the fair share plan right I
think see I can't I can there there two different elements and Liz is going to be writing one and Jessica's going to be writing Liz you know I've conferred with them for which Liz is going to be tackling the housing element and then feeding that to Jessica who's pulling together the fair share plan she did the
one the prior fair share plan in I believe 2018 the open you know agenda so that we can get that done hopefully the beginning of2 and we'll have to separate what comes before and is it hearing at the township committee level versus the
planning board level I'm not exactly clear on where the hearings are going to take place but well the township committee won have any hearings on it it's just us okay yeah we present it and then Chris correct me if I'm wrong they just accept
it yes okay they don't they the township committee does we have the public hearings they just do the acceptance gotta essentially yes so we need to be thinking about that really um you know in March right and and listen if history is to tell us everything it could go we
could have no you know very few members of the public we get up one night we could have five meetings right it's round four it's affordable housing it's a Hot Topic so y we don't know which way it's going to go so so um well first of all that that's great I
did anybody else have any other old uh or new business well I just want to make a few points and Bob I don't know did you want to make a few points on the state plan that Tom was talking about quick comments that you may have first or I got a few comments I got that go first just to give some sense of so as
you said Tom there's those 10 goals and then we can go back and say how we're doing against some of those goals and maybe challenge some of those goals so I'm not going to go into big detail just a few things one I think we did a pretty good job with the master plan because they talk about things like um
sustainability we have that elements right open space we have that element conservation plan um green buildings uh sustainability we have that so I think we did a pretty good job at trying to broaden our view that
Falls naturally aligned with the with the state which I thought was good some other things you know the reentering I think we try to put focus on the villages the Sterlings the millons the Mars and even Gillette which was not present in the prior plant is now
present in the current PL so overall I think we we were sort of going down that right path some of the words that they use are that they use reuse repurpose and I use the word rebuild MH so that's a big focus them it's not necessarily
build out it's more about reusing what we have and build internal to reenter so we talk about things about what can we do to sort of not necess encroach into natural surroundings but more about how it be better use of property that we
have and connections between properties and stuff I think because we always talk about that walking across Shrubbery where there should be a little path between the commercial units why why is is there such a focus on landscapeing this is the words that they use in the plan to detracts from the connection of
a to B so those are very simple things we've even discussed here that's a very simple minor point and my last Qui point is some of the stuff are bigger than just our town and I think the state the county and the state and the counties that surround us not just the towns
surround us the county surround us and the state can do help us do a better job at trying to do some things and the flooding the Pate river is one that strongly Springs the mine you got part of the Highlands count counts Highlands uh count um plan and you got the pic
River Township all have an impact on the pic River so how are we coordinated across these organizations at a and maybe at a state level my last point is bringing together those entities at the state level that can help us I use New
Jersey Transit as example the trail by rail we talk about mhm it's all good and just independently doing stuff let's how can they help us they can help us bring the right people the right organizations to the table where we could not normally do that easily right so those are just my
quick if you have some addition yeah I agree um the the other thing that we have to recognize is the housing plan element plays into the question error so having a good understanding of what's going in the housing plan element will
help in our ability to answer the questions right right um when you when you look at the maps or the map and digest the layers that are in the map um
the township faes pretty well in what the state overlay says about our Township MH which we we need to be careful about how much we do and how much we say
because right now it doesn't this plan doesn't bring a significant amount of impact via the map to us um it's it's like David said it's very high level um some of it is very
Noble um it would take a lot of State funding to see some of the things that they're talking about happen um and it doesn't talk about that plan MH right so certainly the township doesn't have
money to fund all of the things that are in that plan that could be done in our town so um it's up to the state to really Define where they're going to get the money to start helping communities and where that money is going to go and
the way the the map portrays the town by that plan it wouldn't be coming in our Direction because they're not looking at the town as one of these towns that needs major change which I believe is good right it's a blessing and a curse if you're
targeted for exactly for change so great thank you uh is there any other uh old business new business I had a quick comment on the cross acceptance Mr chairman actually Mr Jones at the last meeting I think asked me to look in whether or not any public hearings are
needed in this process so in my research the only time I could find that a hearing would be legally required I mean I guess if you want it open up to the public you're more than entitled to um if at the end of the day when the county goes to submit its filing or its findings and submission to the state if
the municipality disagrees then you have to hold the hearing before you submit something to the state on your own explaining why you disagree with their findings so that's the only at least my with they finding that means they've come back to us with something and we're disagreeing with what they're now saying you're disagreeing with what the county
ends up sending to the state right so then if to do the county hearing first that's in the instructions on the questionnaire they talk about if you want to go into this alone because you disagree with what the Count's going to so so if moris county says they're going
to build an extension of 78 right through L Hill yeah we may want to disagree with that exactly but our our goal is to by end of q1 submit our responses to the county and then the county is going to do their thing right and then we'll get a timeline as to what they need to do right right right if I
recall you got an an opportunity to comment on what their draft is going to be to the state right and then again if you disagree with that that that point that's when you need to need to hold the hearing okay I mean I I guess you're like I said if you want to have a hearing and and bring the public in I think you're entitled to but you know
policy decision at the end of the day yeah exactly okay thank you I just wanted to conclude by thanking all of you for a lot of work behind the scenes um it's we've got a big lift this year uh especially moving into the ordinance
area area uh but on top of that it's going to be shoehorning applications that we expect to probably pick up uh and around four uh with the affordable housing so thank you thank you now and in advance of all the work that you're
going to be doing sounds good so uh is there I'm sorry I was saying thank you Mr chair and appreciate all your leadership on this great thank you I ra right with yeah with that's not in the
bylaws is there a motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor