to order the March 25th, 2026 Township >> in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act of New Jersey. adequate notice of this meeting. Specifically, the time, date, and public call and information were included in the meeting that was electronically sent to the Echo Sentinel Morris daily record and posted
on the township website. The agenda and public handouts for this meeting can be viewed online at www.longhillnj.gov. A public comment period will be held in the order it is listed on the meeting agenda. Failure of the governing body to provide a live broadcast of this meeting or technological problems encountered
during the meeting that affect remote viewing andor participation will not invalidate this meeting or any action taken but not limited to the adoption of an ordinance resolution or motion. >> Thank you. Please for the
pledgece to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all. >> Committeeman Liberado >> yes.
>> Committeeman Verza >> present. >> Deputy Mayor Dorsy >> here. >> And Mayor Burgersia unfortunately is unable to join us tonight. He's on a work trip. >> All right. So, first order of business, anybody is in the audience that wants to make any remarks or statements to agenda
items only on tonight's agenda. You have three minutes if anybody wants to do so. We'll give you time. Don't worry. >> Anybody online? >> See, I would like to speak. >> All right. That bey
CA, you're on the air. See, it looks like he's trying to talk. Just doesn't work next. for some reason. >> All right. >> All right. Good evening, Mayor. I've got a comment
on consent resolution 26097. Uh the public safety building makes memories of our public safety director hired at 217,000 and having a pending civil suit against us. I'd recommend you
change the name of this building to public safety and OEM building, please. It causes bad memories for the town. Second thing, if we've looking at sites for this new building or have picked one
or several as the mayor committed in the January meeting to keep the public more informed, please when you discuss this, tell us what sites or site you've selected or what you're looking at. The public needs
to be aware of this as you committed to at the initial meeting in January. Thank you very much, Mayor. >> Thank you, sir. >> All right. Now, we go to the consent agenda. Anybody else?
>> If anybody else on Zoom would like to make a public comment, please raise your hand now. >> I don't see anyone, mayor. >> All right, moving along. Agenda resolutions. I'm pulling out 26093. We'll discuss that one after. But is
there anybody or any issues with 269 26 101 discuss? Seeing none, entertain a motion to approve all of them aside from uh 93. >> So moved.
>> Second. >> Committeeman Liber. >> Yes. Committeeman Verza. >> Yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dorsy. >> Yes. So I pulled 93 because Lieutenant Marches is here and this is regarding his retirement and I believe he wants
you then we'll vote on it. So, I just wanted to take a moment to come to the committee meeting tonight to thank everybody in the township, everybody that works at town hall, police department, DPW, our volunteer
services, uh, and just thank them for the years of service that I worked with them. Um, everybody was wonderful, uh, very kind, and, um, Long Hill was a really great place to work. Um, I
figured I would uh just tell a a few stories uh that are pretty funny that happened to me over the years. >> Uh, just to mix things up a little. >> Um, when I first started, I came here as a dispatcher back in 2003 and my intention
was to go to law school at Ruckers. I had just got my bachelor's degree and uh had taken the LSAT and was on my way to law school and I sent an email to the chief when I was sitting at desk and asked him if I could work steady nights
and do my homework at night and go to law school during the day. Shortly after that, uh I got a phone call at home. uh I was uh painting my condo with my girlfriend who's now my wife Christine sitting behind me and I uh that chief
called me in and said I need to see you immediately and I looked at her and I said it was a good run while it lasted. I thought I was getting fired. Um but uh he called me in and the chief was sitting behind his desk, deputy chief was sitting on one chair, a captain was
sitting in another and there was an empty chair in the middle and uh I thought I was in a bit of trouble but uh turns out that uh they liked my performance. Uh they liked my background and they wanted to offer me a position as a police officer in Long Hill Township. The academy started about 12
days from then and they needed to know right away and uh I told them that I needed 24 hours to think about it. So I I came home and I spoke with my girlfriend who's now my wife and I said uh what do you think I should do? We were looking out about another $100,000
in debt in law school and uh she thought it would be a good idea if we started uh bringing in some income instead of uh spending money at school. So here I am today. Uh my first few years in patrol, I was very lucky. We were uh very proactive
and we were uh a little busier with different uh elements than what we're currently dealing with. Uh my first two years uh I was involved in two pursuits. Uh, one was on 78 where um a uh a male
had shot uh his girlfriend's father and then took her hostage and was forcing her to drive at gunpoint. Um, little funny uh lesson there is I was sitting at a cutout on Route 78 when they drove
past me going westbound and I immediately put the car in drive and pulled out behind them. Uh what I didn't see was the Berkeley Heights officer doing about 125. Uh I pulled out in front of him and uh I couldn't hear what he was saying, but uh his lips were
moving and he was looking at me when he was driving past me. Uh so that was a a memorable moment. Uh the other one was uh we had an incident uh in town and um we uh myself and uh Sergeant um Sergeant
Allen and uh Gary Bower uh pursued the car and um uh he crashed at Valley Mountain and um uh we took him into custody. Uh the the funny thing there is that's where I got my first nickname as
uh casual Jim. Uh because Gary was on my left flank, Sergeant Allen was on my right flank and I was coming up the middle and he had crashed his car. He was trying to get out of his car and so I simply holstered, you know, relying on my two fellow officers and uh I calmly
walked up. I assisted him to the ground out through his window of his car and uh placed him in handcuffs and just called it in on the radio. So, uh there was some clip art and uh some video on that, but that's where I earned my first nickname. That's the only nickname I'll
share with you tonight uh as casual Jim. Um within the first couple years, uh I also became a farms instructor and joined the ESU team. Uh we also uh uh with Chief Alexis uh Chin Burl here uh we would go down to uh the autotheft
task force down in Newark and Irvington and participate in that. Um a really funny ESU story. Uh there was uh we were investigating uh an individual on some drug charges and he lived in Piscataway
and the ESU team uh through some uh participation within the jurisdictions longill uh ESU team was allowed to make the entry into the residence and take the individual into custody. So uh Matt Nwander who's been retired
for some years now, very big guy. He was our uh number three guy with the Ram and I would cover him. So uh at 3:00 in the morning, we were all dressed in black. We snuck up to the house and I used to carry bungee cord in my cargo pocket. I
opened up the screen door, bungeeed it to the railing so that that wouldn't interfere with our entry. And you always try before you pry. So Matt turns the door handle and looks at me and says, "It's open." He takes the ram. He throws
it on the ground and we're just about to make entry and we hear click. The bad guy was on the other side of that door. He was just happened to be awake at 3:00 in the morning and just happened to see us coming. So, uh Gary Bower was always our point guy. He was
supposed to be the first through the door, but Matt had to run down, get the ram, hit the door, door flies open, bad guys running down the hallway. I became the number one guy. I went in, he turned left. Uh he was bigger than me. We got into a tussle, took him down to the
ground. The rest of my members stepped on top of me to move past me, rightfully so, to clear the rest of the residence and then come to my aid and help me uh take him into custody. The other funny part of that is not everybody sleeps
with pajamas on. So, it made for an interesting uh set of interviews as soon as we had everybody in custody. um with the ESU team, we also had opportunities to do a lot of training. We trained with the FBI team. Um we
trained out of state. Uh we trained at Pikatini. Uh we trained with um uh their um exploratory uh where where they tested different types of weapons. And so back in 2005,
2006 maybe, uh they had this new technology where on top of a Humvey, they would put uh an M240 saw, which is a fully automatic U 5.56 machine gun and it looked like four speakers on the top of a Humvey and they were actually
microphones. So uh the government, the Department of Defense was creating a training video for this. So we got to be the bad guys to ambush this Humvey with this new technology on
it. So, we hid in the brush and they were videotaping this and um the Humvey would come through and we would pop up and we would shoot blanks at the Humvey. And the Humvey, the M240 saw had um like
paint uh ball uh rounds in it. And as soon as you fired as soon as we fired at this Humvey, the the gun would turn and it would just put five rounds right up the middle of our chest in paint. So, uh, but that technology is old now. They
have much better things, but that was a vid, excuse me, that was a video that, uh, Long Hill Township Police Department participated in for the United States Congress. So, I thought that was pretty neat. Um, shortly after, uh, a couple years in
patrol, I went into the detective bureau and, um, began investigating some crimes. We had uh burglaries, armed robberies, um stolen cars, home invasions. Um myself and Gary Bower uh found ourselves
in Brooklyn doing surveillance and it was on a weekend. It was on a Sunday. Uh this uh person we were looking at had stolen a few cars from Long Hill Township and we were able to track them down to Brooklyn and we were parked on a corner unbeknownst to us
near a church. So Sunday evening Gary and I are sitting in this car and lines of people start walking past us and looking at us asking what we're doing. What we didn't realize is that it was a small community and everybody was going to church.
So the entire neighborhood knew who we were, knew what we were doing. So we enlisted the help of uh NYPD narcotics and they were able to assist us and uh do the surveillance for us and we eventually got that guy. So uh throughout my career in a detective
bureau, um we had a a very good success rate and we caught everybody except for one person and I'm going to come back to that. Uh there was a um a sexual assault that occurred and uh involved um three
males. We got two males the night that it occurred and one eluded us and eluded us for a long time. So um just a word of caution uh to the officers that are in the detective
bureau now. Um myself and Gary Bower. Uh don't drink the water that's up there. We had uh twins uh two weeks apart. So uh just if the detectives are listening, just be mindful of that. >> Um
uh just to follow up, 18 years later, those kids uh Jack and Mia Bower, Jack is at uh attending University of Alabama and Mia is at um University of Tampa and uh my two twins are at uh Penn State. And uh my son seems to be following in
some type of law enforcement role. Um we just learned that he got an internship his freshman year um with a private contractor that does uh cyber security work for the Department of Defense. So I'm very excited about that. I hope uh I
hope he tells me he can't tell me what he's doing. That would make it a lot very interesting. Um, but I just wanted to uh uh talk proudly for a moment about the kids. >> You know, I hear they have a great law school. If you want to go full-time,
wouldn't that be amazing? I >> actually uh funny, I am thinking of uh attending uh for uh uh certified public manager. They have they have an exam there and take the state uh test here. So, that's what I'm moving I'm doing now. I'm moving into finance and uh
continuing uh the the tax work that I do. Um while I was uh in a detective bureau uh and then um as a sergeant, I earned my master's degree. Uh became a certified public manager. Uh earned a
certification through New Jersey State Police. Uh uh Chief Chie is the only other officer that's uh attained that in Long Hill Township. Uh that's quite an accomplishment. There's a lot of classes uh and a lot of work that goes into that.
Um the last uh seven, eight years I spent my uh time in upper management. Uh was not on the road anymore. Different line of work. Uh appreciated it. Um it was it was a learning experience for me
and uh managing uh that staff uh was a unique experience. Uh but it's everything that I've experienced in law enforcement has helped me uh in my personal life and in my new uh venture in finance. Uh the ability to speak with
people and have difficult conversations with them when you know they're not happy about paying the IRS thousands of dollars. Uh it makes for a softer uh conversation uh with the techniques and skills that I've learned here in law enforcement.
Um, let's see. So, um, the one that got away, right, 13 years ago, we had, uh, an assault here in Long Hill and we got two males uh, that night and one eluded
us. And that individual has eluded us for 13 years. So, when I submitted for my retirement, I got together with uh Sergeant Roberts and the Detective Bureau. And uh the reason I chose Sergeant Roberts is because he has this
knack for this technology um that we didn't have back in 2013. I don't even know what he does. I can't do it. I don't have the login. Um but with facial recognition and all the advancements in homeland security um um
all the the data collecting that they have uh Sergeant Roberts took that ball and ran with it and uh contacted the US Marshalss and um Sergeant Roberts was get able to get a general location up in upstate New York. We passed that
information to the US Marshalss and within 24 hours, they had our suspect in custody. So now, everybody that uh committed a crime while I was a detective, we got him. We got everybody. So on Thursday, I
received a text message uh saying uh from the US Marshalss, tell your lieutenant happy retirement. We got his guy. So, the individual is currently in uh in county jail in upstate New York. Uh we're attempting extradition to get
him down here uh to Morris County. Uh so, that could happen on Friday uh which is my last day. It would be nice to uh see him uh transported to the to the county jail on Friday. But, um, I just want to end and say, uh, you know, thank
you very much to all the committee members, uh, to the residents, to the to the volunteers, all the employees here, um, in Longill Township. I've had a lot of good conversations uh, with Mr. Pigeon. Um, a lot of great conversations
with Mr. Bar. Um, and, uh, Megan, the one thing that I'm not going to miss, >> I know what you're gonna say >> is Oprah. Yes. Yes. Yes. those opas just keep coming in and uh they get more and more you would think after all these years that it would get easier but uh I
find myself calling Mr. Pigeon more on a regular basis. Uh they just they just seem to be getting more and more difficult to uh decipher there. So that's the one thing that I won't miss and I'll be glad to turn over to somebody else. But to the committee, I just want to thank you for all uh you
know the faith you had in me, the trust that you put in me and uh allowing me to uh work in this capacity. So thank you very much. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. So now Jimmy, now we can vote on
Thank you. All right. So on Well, we have another correction. I was told on 26101 authorizing transfer of funds. We have to move that to the next meeting because we need four votes. >> Thank you, Jack. >> So that one we got to put on for the next meeting, but we can go back to
Lieutenant Mares now at 26093. A motion to approve the retirement of Lieutenant Mareski. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Oh, no.
>> Can I just do a roll call, but >> yes, please. Committeeman Liberado, >> yes. >> Committeeman Verza, >> yes. >> Deputy Mayor Dorsy, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Jimmy. Enjoy your retirement. >> Good luck. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you again. All right. Now, we
have >> first library >> busy weekend. >> Yes, it is. Hello everyone. Spring has sprung. Lots more activity in the parks. Have you entered the photography contest
yet? In Longill, we have the perfect backdrop for a photography contest. Enter up to three photos for free in our contest. Birding in Longill. Winners will be announced on March 31st. So get those cameras ready. Registration is on
community pass. If you're at town hall, stop by and check out our entries in the lobby near the recreation office. Consider signing up for a Red Cross first aid or CPR/ AED class. These classes are offered as a cooperative
effort between the recreation department and the Longill first aid squad. Upon successful completion of the classes, participants will receive the certificate from Red Cross valid for two years. Registration is open on Community
Pass now for our CPR/ AED class on April 23rd. Registration is open now for Springfield hockey program for grades five through eight. Games are beginning on April 12th. Check out our website for more
information. Mark your calendars for our annual egg hunt, ages eight and under this Saturday, March 28th, 10:00 a.m. sharp at Cander Park. Visit with Peter Cottontail, the petting zoo, and pony
rides. Free for all longill children. The Long Hill Chamber of Commerce Commerce businesses will also be on hand to greet all of our egg hunters. Who says that the kids shall have all the fun? Our adult egg hunt is currently
running for all Longill residents from March 20th through March 28th. More details on our website. Get your cell phones ready. This will be a goose chase app scavenger hunt and the last clues
will be given at the egg hunt where our winner will be announced. Silly but competitive. But don't you want in on this? The more people that jump in, the more fun it is. Dates for our spring yoga program have
been announced and registration is open on community pass now. Excuse me. Moving right along. There is important information our on our website from Bernard's health department about the
aven bird flu and how it is affecting birds in our area. Now it is transmittable to humans and pets although not easily. You will want to read more about this to understand what you should do should you encounter a
sick or dead bird. We are accepting applications now for summer seasonal employment. Please see our website for more information and apply by April 1st at the latest. Summer camp registration now open on
community pass. Check out the website for more details. Rock on long hill with the dog days of summer concert series. We just announced our summer lineup. Want to get more involved in our
community? Consider joining the recreation advisory committee and have some fun. Please contact Lisa or Bill in the parks and recreation department for more information. And last but not least, don't forget Oscar the Grouch who always reminds us
to keep our parks clean. As soon as the temperatures climb this weekend, there was a lot more activity in the parks and a lot more garbage. This past weekend's warmer temperatures brought a lot more people to Caner Park. With that, there
was a lot more trash and subsequent complaints about the trash. It's a shame that a few bad apples can spoil it for everyone. And please everyone, there's really no excuse for
this one. Please pick up after your dogs. One of our residents sent us photos of three mounds of dog poop right on the walkway this weekend. Totally uncool.
We are focused on attacking this. Please keep letting us know your experiences and we will stay vigilant in making sure that our parks are there for everyone's enjoyment and they stay clean.
And that concludes my recreation update. Thank you. >> Thank you, Frank. You got anything? >> We do have some stuff in the works. There will be details to come in the very near future. >> Thank you. We look forward to All right. So, we have next library update. While I'm waiting, don't forget new recycling
of batteries at the We're doing spring cleaning. Um, we have sneakers. You've got disposable old sneakers over here by the library inside or at DPW. And if we can recycle it, we will. So, if anybody has any ideas, please let myself or Al Gallo know and
we'll try to get the programs going. We have stuff in the library. Here we go. All right. Library is open every day. Okay. Lots going on for all ages. The Saturday hours are now open till 5. 5 o'clock on Saturdays and 5 o'clock on
Sundays. Being a history nerd, I will endorse this pro project. Saturday the 28th at 11 a.m. Mrs. Bennett follows the army. Um, learn about life as a woman who followed Washington's Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Part of
the library's ongoing 250 year American Revolution programming series. Slide four AP presentation. People in the audience might want to pay attention. Al um the AP New Jersey speakers bureau. Learn tips for
determining if you're on track for retirement and learn practical strategies to help you achieve retirement and peace of mind. Jimmy, you might attend that too. April 8th. That's Jimmy at the Marine thing right there.
Oh, April 8th, six o'clock online. National Museum of the Marine Corps. Learn about how the war began, what role the Marine Corps played in, and the fighting methods used during this war. Doesn't say which war, but it's at Wednesday, six o'clock on the 8th. I know my father will be watching. Slide
six, April 8th, 7 p.m. busy night. Uh there's an online presentation by Mary Vah celebrating Marie Casant, a pioneering American impressionist on the 100th anniversary of her death. So if you're an artificado, this is a cannot
miss program. Thank you, Mr. Administrator. >> Yeah, I have just have a couple things. Um, speaking of recycling, uh, Al and I, um, we're talking this week, uh, we're talking about a box spring and mattress
uh, recycling program. Um, unfortunately, there will have to be a fee charged with this as there's a fee to get rid of it. Uh, but once we have more information. Uh Al and I will be presenting it to the committee to see if they uh would like to uh expand our very
expansive recycling program. Um two awards tonight for uh Long Hill Phase 2, Long Hill Road Phase 2 and Chestnut Street uh repaving. Uh we'll be having uh precon meetings uh over the next
couple weeks and hopefully by the end of April we'll see some uh work being done on on Long Hill Road. Uh long awaited and overdue. Uh that's about all I have there right now. >> Thank you, Mr. Bar. Moving along to any
old or new business. new business. Um Jack, I'm wondering if we need to do an ordinance that authorize the town administrator go to bid for cell phone towers on township property >> and that'll authorize Randy to put out
bids for towers. All right. All right. I'll move it forward then. >> Second. >> Thank you. >> All in favor? >> I >> All right, Randy. Start the bid process
on that. All right, Frank, you said you have announcements, but not tonight. >> Yes. >> Vic, you got any announcements? >> I did. >> You did them all. Um, mark your calendars. a few weeks. The PBA fishing derby is on the 18th of April from 8 to
1 at Sterling Lake. Actually, people were asking me about it a month ago. The older kids I want to go fish. But the fishing derby is April 18th. Come out and meet the officers and it's a fun time and they have prizes too and good food donated. I think that's it. Okay. The meeting is now open to the public.
Three minutes. Anybody have any remarks? Seeing none. Anybody online? See, I would like to speak. >> Uh, mayor, can you hear me? >> Yes, sir. >> I want to congratulate Lieutenant Marches on his retirement. Wish him good
luck and thank him for his excellent service to our town and the United States Marine Corps. Thank you. >> He's smiling and nodding his head. And don't miss out on log on April 8th. The Marine Corps Museum's
making a presentation at the library you might be interested in. >> Any other anybody else online? >> Anybody else on Zoom would like to make a public comment, please raise your hand now. >> I don't see anyone. Mayor,
>> thank you. I will entertain any and all motions to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Everybody have a great