##VIDEO ID:rAmxmoX4Bzs## e e e e e e e e e [Music] all right let's see like to call to order the what say's date January 22nd lill Township committee meeting of all rise the Pledge of Allegiance please to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Madam clerk in compliance with the open public meetings Act of New Jersey adequate notice of this meeting specific Ally the time date and public call and information were included in the meeting that was electronically sent to the acal Mo's Daily Record and posted on the township website the agenda and public handouts can be viewed online at www. lill nj.gov a public comment period will be held in the order it is listed on the meeting agenda committee men dors oh sorry um committeeman lavender yes committee woman Riker Ali yes committee man bza yes Deputy Mayor lavender sorry new meeting you're off today yeah Deputy Mayor Foria yes mayor dorsy here thank you so we have a bunch of proclamation a lot of people which is great to see nice to see the entire department here to celebrate their uh new employees so at this time I like to uh turn the meeting over to director peoples um for the we have two things going on with the police department we have a proclamation which they'll address first and then the second we'll deal with two new officers so Director people come on [Music] up thank you mayor good evening members of the attach committee and also to the public and the members of the lill township uh police department um first up tonight I'd like to introduce uh Mr Harry Delgado he's the executive director of the New Jersey State Chiefs Association of police accreditation commission as the uh Township uh committee is is aware uh back in June uh our the police department received their uh accreditation status uh we had lost the status for a period of time when I came uh on board in March uh then mayor uh pacero and Perera and deputy mayor uh lavender at the time uh that was one of our uh initial aggressive uh goals uh so we put our team together uh this was a team effort uh officer in charge uh uh chambrell Lieutenant chambrell at Sergeant Sagi all the officers here um had to uh do their part uh So within 70 days of starting our project uh we had our on-site assessment and then subsequently our uh hearing so I'd like to introduce uh Mr Delgado and he'll say a few words to the uh the community uh police department and the public thank may I just put this in here well it is indeed my honor here tonight representing the State Association Chiefs of police to recognize the police department again for becoming accredited uh uh director peoples is absolutely correct once he decided to do this we moved pretty fast to make sure that uh it would happen um I come to recognize the fact that you decided again to be accredited but I'll be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that your department had in fact uh been accredited before and um and uh director people's actually um completed that task so if you indulge me for a couple of minutes I'd like to share with you the significance of the achievement so the lill Township Police Department has once again made a commitment to adhering to best practices at the state and National level in a highly regarded Statewide law enforcement accreditation program this evening they are recognized for achieving literally technically their re accreditation if you will the program administer to the New Jersey State Association of chiefs of police and the New Jersey Law Enforcement accreditation commission has helped to transparently demonstrate the professionalism and transparency and and the preparedness of state's law enforcement agencies in the state's public safety system during this uniquely challenging times and the threat to our health and safety encouraging law enforcement agencies such as L Hill uh T Police Department to follow standardized practices uh and policies to potentially life saving and coste effective investment of time and resources and accreditation gives an agency a preparedness plan and verification of Excellence now accredit status represent a significant professional achievement in an agency's continued expectations for Quality professional and ethical policing now the lill police department having achieved this re accreditation actually um become part of a very elite group of longw enforcement agencies I like to say that when we go when we consider that this is the first the third time they've actually achieved their accreditation um the percentage of agencies that show this commitment and longevity in in our program is less than 12% and I'm not saying that many people don't try it it's the fact that it's a very rigorous process and it's just not a one time U uh in not onetime shot as we say so for that I'd like to uh remind you that ACC creditation is a process uh it is the found the foundation lizing the adoption of Standards containing a clear statement of professional object objectives in the state of New Jersey over 112 standards it is a Progressive and Time proven way of helping law enforcement agencies calculate and improve their overall performance it is a certification by an independent Authority in this case the New Jersey State Association or chiefs of police that the accredited agency was carefully measured against an established state of state and National standards and I'd be remissed if I didn't say again that in the case of the long lill Township Police Department in many in many instances exceeded those State and National standards when we come here at the end of the process and we do an on-site as we call it and face Toof face um onsite assessment typically we find issues that we are able to resolve during that time in the case long his T Poli Department we didn't find any though we tried a creation provides objective evidence of an agency's commitment to excellenc and Leadership resource management and Service delivery government officials can be more confident in the agency's ability to operate efficiently and meet Community needs and officers as I see many here tonight and accredited agencies can take pride that they have been objectiv objectively recognized for the professionalism and adherent to the high standards I feel compelled to remind the public that and I understand you belong to a gift that want a when an agency achieves accreditation they stand to receive substantial uh uh discounts in terms of their overall uh policy coverage so that's for the public on and the what's in it for me now in closing I'd like to to uh paraphrase some of what I read in the report that comes to me after the onside assessment and then I send with a recommendation to the commission uh as it happen with the long lill T Police Department under the leadership of director peoples a high level of competence leadership and professionalism is evident within the agency it is the opinion of the assessment team that the hill that the lill tan Police Department is a highly professional and committed agency which exemplifies all of the tenants of law enforcement accreditation at the state and National level therefore again I say it is indeed my honor here tonight on behalf of the New Jersey State Association Chiefs of police and the New Jersey Law Enforcement commission to congratulate public safety director Michael peoples officer in charge Alexis camell the ACC great as manager Sergeant Melissa sugalski the members of the Longhill Township Police Department the mayor the council and those citizens that they so proudly serve for having achieved um uh their third really accreditation joining a very very exclusive group of law enforcement agencies that have made this important commitment to Excellence in policing so to all indeed congratulations this is where you get the cloud for your Police Department [Applause] congratulations to all cold are you guys want everybody sure come on up everybody that be cute oh for the Board of Health you should get it like Megan do you want me to take one like help if you want to take Rich's camera me what no no you doing the of Health after they new a little I got to find my thing where's my put the script on you where's G hold on hold on that here Steph is probably your [Music] [Applause] form m Mr Delgato thank you for coming you were instrumental and we were unaccredited in helping us get everything back on track we appreciate the time you took with the committee and the township before we got rear credit so thank you for coming down thank you director peoples I know you have some other announcements you'd like to make that are more that are also equally exciting go ahead thank you mayor um tonight we have the uh pleasure of swearing in uh two uh replacement offic officers for the uh Long Hill Township Police Department uh I'd like to introduce the uh uh the new officers to you the committee our Police Department as well as the the the public I'm going to first uh start with Mr so uh Jack currently serves uh for another couple weeks as a Wharton Burl a police officer he's been with Wharton Burl for about three years uh prior to that he served in the New Jersey parole uh board as a parole officer he's a proud United States Army uh veteran he's a graduate of West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Arts uh degree in uh criminology uh we are very fortunate to have uh recruited uh such a highly qualified candidate as uh as Jack we our selection process was uh very in uh in depth uh uh intense we reviewed uh a lot we we are fortunate to receive a lot of uh applications so I'm pleased to introduce officer jackan to the family of Long Hill [Applause] Township okay all right so I make the make a motion to approve res resolution 25-42 appointing police officer Jack Rand so move second Madam clerk committee man lavender yes committee woman Riker Eline yes committee woman committeeman verza yes Deputy Mayor Bia yes mayor Dy yes so now we'll administer clerk Phillips will Minister the olda Jack and bring your family up please you're gonna have somebody hold the Bible and you can have somebody too you can put everyone to work someone hold that you got to get a little closer so we can hear okay and then raise your ra your hand okay I state your name I jack ran to solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance I will bear truth faith and Allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in United States and in this state Township County and Township under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and partially and justly and that I will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of a police officer of the office of a police officer according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations yeah [Applause] yeah you don't that any going to come up and give a little handshake we got to Rite him upite him up oh while Jack is signing his oath I was uh remissed to say we we we got a Bonus with Jack too uh he's a long serving member of the Denville fire department he's a certified firefighter and he's also a certified emergency medical technician so uh as you know our Police Department's First Responders to all EMS calls so uh his experience is going to really benefit the township congratulations than you welcome all right no it's a very brief yeah what okay our next uh new police officer I'd like to uh introduce uh Ryan I pronounced spelling your last name or pronounce pronunciation of your last name akuni right no Rich where are you okay he he he knows it better than I do come on up Ryan I'll get that done I'll get that down sooner or later okay so um uh Ryan currently uh serves as a uh Class 2 uh special officer in Fair Haven uh police department uh he's a fully certified uh Class 2 uh uh police officer so he went through the academy um with the the regular recruits he started his career as a class one special officer in Fair Haven then he was a Rumson Police dispatcher for a while um he he graduated William uh Patterson uh University um he was a William Patterson was a D3 is a D3 school right he's a competitive uh swimmer in uh uh you know at college that may come in uh handy we had a paic river we had a Sterling lake if we have to uh initiate any rescues um so again um very fortunate to be able to recruit uh a candidate like uh Ryan we think he's going to be an exellent addition to our L Hill Community and our lill Police Department uh uh family so if we may proceed with the the resolution and the swearing in thank you director I move resolution 2543 accting probation or Ranon so move so move there's GNA be a second Madam cler committe bza yes committe woman rer Al yes lavend yes mayor yes yesam CL hi Ryan atun do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States the constition of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey will true faith and aliance and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same the government established and to the governments established the United States in the United States and in the state county and Township under the authority of the people under the authority of the people that I will Faithfully partially andly and that I will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the office of police officer of the office of police officering to according to the best of my ability so help me God [Applause] congratulations meeting but I congratulations just one more thing about Ryan that uh I was remissed for I believe we have a couple members of the tach committee that involved with Boy Scouts um Ryan is also an eagle scout so I think that goes to uh demonstrate his you know uh commitment to uh focus on a particular goal welcome board [Applause] Ryan and thank you director peoples you may Ryan and Jack good luck and take a look behind you at all these great men and women we have it is very rare I think every member of the Department's here tonight plus the civilian employees so you guys brought out a good crowd get to know these people they're a great group to work with we look forward to seeing you on the road soon congratulations and PBA members thank you for showing up in force it means a lot to us to the township and your new employees so good job showing up for them thank you yes yes and now with would take a brief recess from our regular scheduled programming to uh ad to uh direct to the Board of Health for 2025 where Madame clerk will take over the meeting so who made the motion nobody Randy did but he doesn't count second all in favor I okay I will now call to order the township of L Hill Board of Health 2025 reorganization meet okay so that I was calling into order at 7:58 give it gives you more time [Laughter] to there's a w on oh Mary th oh oh oh yeah okay I see it's only one alternative to getting old that's right 30 years in 30 years they will be retire in their career it's 25 what the police that's nice okay so now that we've called the meeting to order uh this year we'll be reappointing tax assessor Glenn Sherman Deputy Mayor Pia and committee woman Riker Eline to the LA Township Bo of Ed so I'm of keep it she was checking if you were paying attention clearly you were keep it moving Megan you're doing great do great you're doing great watch a committee woman fora okay so I'm going to pose the oath of office as a question so the people that I named for the Board of Health can say I do at the end thank you um do you solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey that you will TR bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people and that you will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties of the office of the lill Township Board of Health according to the best of your abilities and that you will not use your office to Grant preferential treatment nor seek personal gain favor or Advantage not available to the general public so help you God I do I do I do perfect so now that we've taken care of the Oaths I'll call the role assessor Sherman present Dr redling yes committeeman committeeman lavender yes committee woman rer Eline pres yes committeeman valza yes Deputy Mayor Pia pres and mayor dorsy here next will to do the nominations for the president of the township of Long Hill Board of Health for 2025 I nominate committ committee woman riket Eline second assessor Sherman yes Dr redling yes committeeman lavender yes committee woman rer line yes committee men verza yes Deputy Mayor pan yes mayor dorsy yes I have a motion to close nominations so moved second Professor Sherman yes Dr redling yes committeeman lavender yes committee woman rer Eline yes committeeman verza yes deputy mayor yes mayor dorsy yes and I have a motion to elect Aubrey rer line to the president of so moves second speed round Dr redling yes committeeman lavender yes committee woman rer Eline yes committee man valza yes Deputy mayoria yes mayor dorsy yes you left somebody out Sherman out of yes okay so now we'll do the o of office for Aubrey no uh for president of the Board of Health do you Aubrey rker elign so solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people and that you will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties of the Long Hill Township president of the Board of Health according to the best of your abilities and that you will not use your office to Grant preferential treatment nor seek personal favor gain or Advantage not a general not available to the general public so help you God I do thank you you did great M congratulations thank you the bars that really love it's it's hard for Megan having to deal with some of the people on this day all right so now it's my turn right right so this is my first time doing this so it's okay I said the bar I need one of those student driver stickers that are on the back okay so now it's the appointment of the Board of Health attorney for 2025 correct yeah I move that we appoint John R pigeon of pigeon and pigeon to be appointed to the township of Long Hill Board of Health uh as the attorney for 2025 so second assessor Sherman yes Dr redling yes comman lavender yes Moman rer Eline yes mza yes Deputy Mayor Pia yes mayor D yes thank you thank you thank you welcome than thanks you're welcome um so next is the approval of minutes from January well for January 24th 2024 the approval and release of the minutes can I have a motion to approve so I'll move can I second second second okay Megan can you take roll call please profor Sherman yes Dr redling yes midman lavender yes committee woman rer Eline Yes committe Men verza yes Deputy Mayor Pia yes mayor dorsy yes thank you now resolutions Megan just let me know if I'm messing up here uh resolutions for the Board of Health 25-1 authorizing entering into an a Professional Services agreement with Community visiting nurses I move that we uh approve that resolution as written second Professor Sherman yes Dr redling yes committeeman laender yes committee woman rer Eline yes committeeman valza yes Deputy Mayor Pia yes mayor dorsy yes then our discussion items um first is the feast schedule Jo so then uh Margaret and Trisha from Bernard's Health Department put together the proposed fee recommendations for food and environmental Food Services correct any discussion from the committee are you guys comfortable with the recommendations yeah I have a questions just going through it here it look it looks like some current charges are don't show up in the proposed column I think the ones that are not in the proposed columns they're saying stay the same they stay the same okay that's helpful and these were aligned um looking at current market and looking at comparable towns so you need a motion um so with this our fee schedule is in our code so we would Tech do an ordinance to change these now might I make a suggestion that we an ordinance to say that the fee schedule will be set by resolution like we do the other like we do c fees yes do we need a motion for that well I think we need to introduce an ordinance can we by title only this first because we'll have to have two meetings yes so this is Board of Health oh so we could introduce it by title tonight the title will be amending hang on okay in a minute two if we introduce it tonight it's it's an ordinance amending uh chapter bh12 of the board of health code entitled schedule of Board of Health fees and in particular bh12 Hy One schedule of fees for Board of Health functions uh to uh change it so that the fees will be set by resolution of the Board of Health and we'll have adoption at the next meeting after 12th committee meeting will take a brief recess to have Board of Health meeting to have second reading public hearing and hopefully adoption to do this by resolution so so I I can make a motion to propose introduction of the ordinance 251 as as um said by attorne okay so set the fees resolution to set the fee schedule as proposed by uh Jack pent first reading and I'll second that assessor Sherman yes Dr redling yes committeeman lavender yes committee woman rer Eline yes committeeman verza yes Deputy Mayor P mayor dorsy yes okay so like I said second reading and adoption with the public hearing is set for February 12th okay do we open up yep so now we're going to open it up for public comment anyone all right anybody on Zoom anybody on Zoom would like to make a public comment please raise your hand now I don't see anyone okay can I was just going to make the call out I actually met with um Don Marling the health officer of Bernard's Township who is our keaon um I believe uh as we go forth in this um I met with her actually yesterday to better understand what is offered um from the Bernard's health department and how it can impact our community um so that was a very good meeting um to better to figure out better ways to collaborate with the resources that they have and how do we better communicate that to the community here um at Long Hill and better understanding also the makeup of our community here to be able to better serve from a health perspective so that was some of the topics that we discussed um you know the best way to get that out to everyone and I will continue to work hard um to help get the communication out to the team and the community here as well as um helping to keep long haill and its residents um healthy so we're going to work on that and open to suggestions as we go but I think there's a lot of resources that can be brought to the that are being brought to the community and we can even expand that based on um the plans that Don has from the health department Madam president I always wanted to say that wow is that me yeah I I had the opportunity to meet with Shane Daly at the first aid dinner oh great and um she and I had a long conversation as you know as ry's aware um Shane's our social services uh department head and she would like to enter into dialogue with us as well to kind of be able to provide a conduit from the Board of Health Services as as they come from our Partnerships and how do we get that information to our residents particularly on on on the elderly side Dr redling you and I had a short conversation as well I think that's something that this year we need to do uh you know we want to strive a little bit higher um to to get that information out absolutely and we were talking about different um things that can impact the community um Donn has been in the role about 6 months and there are some things planned in terms of better communication um and you know better way ways to sign up for you know newsletters or text messages and maybe you want them just for lill or maybe you want them for the whole County or whatever that is that will hopefully be um something that's rolled out soon that can hopefully help um get a lot of those resources out to the community but um we'll continue to work hard to do that and Randy is you know we've now that we have this um new website you know maybe we could figure out a way to get that channel of information there as well so that we've got absolutely we do a better job of um connecting the dots in town to the board health absolutely and and actually we talked about the website opportunities there too so yep that's it okay so um motion to adjourn the Board of Health second yeah and we'll return to the township committee meeting then all in favor I thank you thank you pres all right so we're back on the uh CRA committee thank thanks Dred thank you Dr okay so next uh we have Lisa scanland from the rec department to uh make a presentation on behalf of the Town rec department and the entire Township So Lisa the mic is yours but please use the mic so people on TV can thank you I appreciate you giving uh me some time at during your meeting tonight um tonight we get the opportunity to celebrate two really extraordinary residents whose dedication commitment and passion for recreation and made a lasting impact uh on Municipal Recreation programs here in Long Hill uh the Mary Toms award is given to um a recipient or recipients uh by the recreation advisory committee uh to someone who has gone above Beyond by volunteering their time for Township Recreation programs the award was created to honor Mary Toms who was one of the hardest working members to ever serve on the town's Recreation committee at 90 years old she was still volunteering her time helping with Sterling lake dances egg hunts and Halloween parades all with the goal of always trying to provide and improve Recreation programs for residents of all ages in our Township we are proud PR this year to announce our recipients of the Mary Toms award are Tracy arano and Beth smosi we are very sorry to see both of these ladies retiring from the recreation advisory committee this past year having served 17 and 16 years each respectively on the committee during their time on the recreation advisory committee these very talented and energetic neighbors brought so much creativity and fun to our rec Recreation events each year they help to improve on the events and make them run more smoothly and as anyone in Recreation knows events usually involve entire families coming to help we need lots of hands to make our events run both Tracy and Beth pulled their families to help in several times along the way their efforts have shaped count excuse me countless programs bringing the community together while always providing the constant reminder that Township Recreation programs need to provide for the health and joy of all residents of all ages with Recreation program I love being able to attract teachers to positions I always find that they bring such a bag of tricks with them they know how to get things done their creativeness Knows No Boundaries they know how to speak to both children and parents on different levels it's no surprise that both Tracy and Beth are teachers in their professional lives I often reference the cpcom Parks and Recreation the program featured the local government offices of py Indiana Recreation events and the obstacles they faced often seem so far-fetched that's only until you start working in Recreation though when you start working in Recreation you can draw a lot of parallel to the program and that's why I keep my hair blonde so I can still be Leslie nope up here uh all of it makes for a lot of fun and laughs and it is my hope that Tracy and Beth both remember the fun and the laughs more than the hard work we all know in Parks um in Parks and Recreation we need to be light on our feet and ready to make adjustments when an event is running I don't know if you both remember but one year we were doing the egg hunt out here which is one of our largest events and each year we would always go and get the biggest chocolate bunnies to present one year we lost sight of the fact that for about 10 minutes those giant very thin shell chocolate bunnies had a ray of sunshine coming down through the uh through the cellophane which took our bunnies in a matter of two minutes I think and kind of disfigured them so we had to Bob and weave there um somehow bunnies no didn't look like the bunnies anymore we had all those late nights of stuffing eggs into the wee hours of the morning and who ever would have imagined that now pre-stuffed eggs would become a thing and who knew a wibbit wasn't a noise that a frog made but rather an inflatable obstacle course providing some of the most fun a kid or for that matter an adult acting like a kid could ever have amidst all of this fun we tackled some tough issues and we did a lot of work to create policies and procedures for the parks and the facilities instituted policies and requirements for volunteer youth coaches inclusive of background checks we worked with other committees to establish our own needs assessment for recreation in the town and to be incorporated into the master plan we updated all three playgrounds and added an additional playground at the Long Hill baseball softball fields we installed a turf field at caner Park added several field lighting projects and much much more adding to the infrastructure in the town prior to my arrival as director of Parks and Recreation both Tracy and Beth were invaluable to this community in keeping Recreation events running while the department went through a lot of trans transition when starting in my new role here 14 years ago I leaned heavily on both Tracy and Beth to guide me in the establishment of objectives and goals for the Department the history and insight they provided was invaluable their passion and dedication to Recreation for this community was and continues to be inspiring and infectious providing guidance and listening to the members of the community they helped our department offer programming to meet meet the needs of our community now I think they both know that I still have their cell phone number saved and I will not hesitate to contact them in the future with questions or to run something past them as I've noted these two recipients of this award are very talented talented Beyond Compare I know how much they both revered the work of Mary Toms as well in the community and how much receiving this award named in her honor means to both Tracy and Beth we have several members from our Recreation advisory committee here in the audience tonight both past and present we also have their families here joining them including Tracy's own son whose birthday it is tonight so I appreciate him sharing the spotlight a little bit with Mom and I'd like to invite them all up to accept their award the Mary Toms award [Applause] yeah oh he the big crowd as could we get a picture with come on all rack members up here let's go come AE Mara how are you [Laughter] I know thank you guys appreciate it thank [Applause] you thank you again for letting me do that I know thank you like the world's a better place cuz there's Volunteers in it so thank you guys for volunteering it doesn't go unnoticed and it's an asset to the community they you know we always need more people like you and so just to Echo what Lisa said thank you very much for your service it doesn't go unnoticed so thank you guys [Applause] than all right next order of business we have a much awaited update from from Kyle massel from New Jersey American Water Kyle was your what November last time yes thank you Kyle the floor is yours thank you for coming in thank you mayor and committee members um so I'll try and hit the highlights here uh We've made a lot of progress over the last few months uh since I was your last so we'll start with the treatment plan itself uh so in the last few months since we last met we have completed the rehabilitation of the influent pump station which uh included replacing all of the pumps some interial work within the facility some of the platforms uh some davit crane concrete work things like that so fortunate that is now complete uh we are just doing some some additional closeout items but but we've since wrapped that up also very happy to share that we have completed the filter uh replacement project that was one of our largest projects that we initiated at the start of uh a really rehabilitating the plant um we replaced four existing sand filters uh with three new disc filters the old filters had a capacity of about 500,000 gallons each ballpark about 2 million gallons total the new filters each uh can filter between 1.5 and 2 million gallons uh it's now there's three of those so that's helped out quite a bit given some more resiliency ability to treat more water as it flows through the Wastewater Plant um additionally replaced a lot of additional pumps piping Val valves are return return activated sludge waste activated sludge Associated controls valving piping that is all in place functional and online uh we will be moving into some more automation of that equipment in the future but for now it is uh functional and working quite well also within the filter building itself uh we re we rehabilitated that building we did some work on the roof we cleaned the inside removed some extra old extraneous Parts materials things like that uh recoded the inside of the building and uh it really looks quite quite different it's much more sanitary clean um really really made a big big difference there with the final touches uh the only thing we are waiting on is the platforms within that building they are in the final design and Fabrication stages uh and then some lighting will be installed on top of that that would close out the filter building jumping uh outside of the plant to some of our uh pump stations the Marist toown Pump Station that work is substantially complete pumps are online generators online we do have some closeout items there some external uh restoration items spruing the place up uh hopefully we see that come to fruition in the spring with some you know top soil seed things of that nature uh but overall that was a pretty major overhaul of that entire facility uh so we are working through closing that project out with our contractor uh very similar situation at the Clover Hill Pump Station almost identical things are wrapped up there generators online new pumps new controls new electric building upgrades uh and again just some closeout closeout items on that but everything is functional and online um late last year we finished up the design of our sludge um Odor Control System so that design was completed parts were ordered uh fortunately in December before we got the cold weather we were able to get some concrete work done so uh that project is underway we are waiting on some of the parts and materials to arrive once that comes they'll be installed and we expect that project to wrap up in the next few months the clarifier uh Rehabilitation so we're doing two things there we're installing a walkway kind of like a catwalk around the outside of both of the clarifiers that design was completed completed late last year um 90 plus% of the material came in last year and we had it installed the only remaining item is the railing that goes around that platform form so that is on order we're just waiting for that to arrive and that will be installed to close that portion out we're also replacing a lot of the mechanical parts for those clarifiers they were failing in poor conditions um poor condition we actually drained those tanks down and found parts were missing bolts had fallen off things were dragging on the bottom so we were able to purchase and Order um really a wholesale replacement of a lot of the components uh so we did did receive a lot of the incili parts late last year again in December we are waiting on the drives to come in and this spring will we'll be putting that project out to bid uh and then performing that work in summer and that will will really improve the efficiency the the functionality and the lifetime for that asset um we are also in the process of doing a complete Rehabilitation of the oxidation ditches for the irration of the plant uh so there's two ditches we are in the process now of doing the design for both ditch ditch one and ditch two um we will be doing the construction we're starting the construction for ditch one late this year we're looking to do some early procurement on materials early this year with construction in the fall to late late in the year time frame um as soon as that wraps up we already have it planned to move on to the next ditch ditch two and that would be taking place in 2026 and then uh at that point both those whiches will be completely renovated and and upgraded um we are also adding a water reuse system to the headworks of the plant so that will give us the ability to reuse plant water that we have partially treated to actually backwash and clean some of the equipment um preventing us from using potable water and really wasting that that treated water when it's not needed so a few benefits there it's going to help us with some pressure help us with some cleaning also you know great environmental project that limits the use of potable water um again stepping outside of the plant to the cleaning and lining projects that are ongoing at this time um we had three initial phases or or priorities for cleaning and lining they are in very wet areas that are really likely the prime sources of or some of the prime sources for inii um those phases one two and three are all ongoing as we speak uh there's about 15,000 ft of pipe that we are clean cleaning televising inspecting and then lining um the first three phases are mostly cleared mostly televised and a majority of the lining material has already been ordered uh we expect to actually be out there early February starting the lining process that should take one to two months and we will have all three of those priorities uh lined which we we anticipate to make a big difference with the inflow into the system um we are also looking to continue that program not only later this year but in the future but later this year we're looking to looking to do an additional 10,000 ft of lining so we are moving on to priorities 4 567 and we continue to to progress as we can from there in the future um all with the goal of of driving down that inii that that we saw during the wet weather events uh the last update um want to provide is for the expansion of the system and and the sewer band that's currently in place so the design for the system expansion is ongoing it's it's starting to really progress well we're making some very good Headway there um designs are are well underway and we expect to have the first designs being completed in the next few months as soon as those designs are complete we will then be uh working with the the town working group um to evaluate those designs make sure we are all in agreement and alignment on how to proceed and then we will be moving forward with construction so we have project managers lined up we have have a budget set aside and we will be hitting the ground running uh with that expansion work all throughout the town uh and we'll be able to provide a little more information on the sequencing the locations and the timing as those designs wrap up in the coming months and we begin to file for those permits and go out to bid um the other component to that is the update to the water quality management plan chapter uh that is in development that is something that's created by the county we are working with the county and the DP to get that done part of that and one of the most crucial parts of that is expanding our sewer service area the SSA or our territory that we can serve that has to be approved by the D so the DP has um is working with our engineer and and ourselves to modify that mapping to really fine-tune that and understand what that new Ser service area will look like uh the county is working concurrently to develop that chapter and once once that chapter is complete then we will close that out and move forward and then we can expand outside of our current sewer service area and and begin to expand that way um and the last piece of that is the uh seditary sewer expansion ban that's currently in place so we are on track we are targeting for the October uh date to lift that sewer band within the system so we're really looking forward to that a lot of the projects that I've kind of hit on at the plant they were all crucial to get to that point to make sure that we could treat that added flow um and then you know hand inand with that is the cleaning and lining that is why we're so aggressively cleaning and lining um this year moving into the future to make sure that we maintain that capacity so uh those are all playing a major part in that with the cleaning and lining wrapping up the first few phases in the next few months that'll give us the ability to really monitor judge the system and and ensure that we did address the sources of inii um again all leading to uh lifting of that sewer band so you know Happy on the progress that we've made we we are on a great track uh you know proud proud to report what we've done so far still some still some uh some more ground to cover but we are we on a good path and a good track for that October date can I ask you a question thank you yes absolutely if you don't go ahead no no go ahead um so that Expansion Project that you talked about and you said work in several parts of town is that in the CR critical path for lifting the ban or is that I'm sorry for the what ban so you said in October time frame for lifting the sewer band correct and in a little bit earlier you talked about the Expansion Project how that's being put out to bid there'll be construction is is that in the critical path for lifting the band no the ban can be lifted independently uh we may still be putting infrastructure in the ground but the band will be lifted and then as we get okay areas of of uh yeah and and and then that project itself you said Construction in various parts of town give a flavor for what that looks like we're starting to get a pretty good picture of that um is that like pump stations and stuff like that yes uh we're looking at potentially two pump stations um those are really the the bigger assets most of the rest will be either uh gravity sewer main or low pressure Force Mains is that ex extension into neighborhoods that currently have like septic and stuff like that or yes okay some of it is absolutely yep all right so this is that whole thing about expansion is getting people off the septic and onto the system absolutely yes and and when would that what would the time frame for that going live be undetermined it's going to depend on the specific areas um and and kind of the progress that we make with some of the areas that we need to uh install the pump stations but several of those uh will be ongoing this year and will be likely installed by the end of this year okay so that's like within a generous two-year time frame yeah we'll we'll be working with with not only the working group but have more information more timeline that we can share um it's a little difficult to say until we finalize the areas the plan the layouts and the sequencing because there is other things that we want to work around Paving schedules you know community events other utilities working in areas we we need to coordinate that but yes those projects will be ongoing starting middle of this year and and then continuing until they're complete okay and then as far as meeting that October um timeline for lifting the ban there's all kinds of mop-up work that you're doing right now in terms of mechanical stuff little construction projects relining some administrative approvals I would assume yeah we're working through all those things yeah the biggest thing is really just wrapping up a lot of the projects we that I just walked through um as well as the cleaning and lining making sure that's complete how would you quantify any level of risk to that timeline in terms of you know unknown events or uncertainties and stuff like that highly confident or working I mean we're we're confident everything that we've done at the plant as well as the cleaning and lining has has really helped us and improved our ability to to treat and handle that additional flow uh the flows have been very favorable recently and we we expect that to continue uh barring anything that we can't control but things are all heading in the right direction and we are tracking that October date okay all right thank you very good yeah if you don't mind Mr Mayor Kyle thank you that was a very very thorough update and it also sounded very expensive is there is there a way to I know you're familiar with it the numbers that have already uh been um uh expended sure for and the say for the completion of that October date do you have a rough idea of the cost uh I'd have to go back I I can't say definitively I do know that the lining alone this year is in the millions the money that we've set aside for the expansion is I believe it's 5 to six million for that component Alone um the filter project was Millions I know we just did the walkway I believe again that was 300 400,000 the Odor Control will be in the magnitude of 800,000 uh pump stations um I'd have to check but I think they were upward of seven figures so you know again the investment is substantial I think that I just going to say it substantial is probably the word we're looking for and yeah you beat me to it yeah and that's and that's you know we understand that that's what's needed you know once we came in we identified these deficiencies a lot of the projects that were in place prior to us coming in and on board and starting they had maybe some scope um as we progressed I'll say that we identified a lot of additional scope that we had to handle um so some of it was unanticipated nonetheless we are here to do what we need to do uh that's that's what we're doing yeah and I I don't know if this is the proper for for that to to speak to one thing when the town went out to referendum all those years ago this conversation started I think back in 2013 one thing that we had been advised and it has come through exactly on schedule is that D regulations were going to get stricter and and and towns that uh continue to own their uh Wastewater system or finding out that what they thought might be their cost uh structure going forward is substantially higher um yeah and the regulations do continuously become more challenging so we we are aware of that um we have a good relationship with the DP we just met with them recently as we moved through our permit update um so we're we're very glad for that and appreciate their support with everything but again they do they do become more strict and very rarely or never become less strict they're from from an elected body more strict to me means more expensive and so I'm glad I'm glad you're the owner yeah lucky us no that's it mayor no you answer that question I'm good so just just to confirm first of all thank you I didn't understand half what you said but it sounded important um but just to clarify there the sore expansion you said the sword band will be lifted you're pretty confident it'll be lifted by the deadline it's supposed to be yes that's that's our that's our Target that's what we are on track for um what we're doing and you know I I'd love to say that we'd be able to do it early and we could do it next week I can't guarantee that um but we are tracking that October date and if there is an opportunity to improve on that we would not hesitate to improve on that um but I just you know with the unknowns I just can't make that well to be fair I mean you would like to improve on that because the sooner you can the sooner you have paying customers so I'm I'm sure you're not uh going to sloww walk this well for us yeah it's more about meeting the meeting the commitment you know the expansion um you know that's that's really what it means means to me but we are working towards it yep thank you you obviously will have you back in the early spring to come back give us a update in about 3 months that's all right with you absolutely yeah and I think we'll have have some more detail that we can provide as well with sequencing timing uh locations mapping things like that yeah all right thank you Kyle I appreciate your time we'll see you in a few months you got it thank you Kyle all right thank you everybody have a good night all right we have one more presentation uh we invited a local resident one of the uh from one of the younger families in town and the growing Muslim Community Omar B to come on up I believe Omar wants want to talk to us briefly about uh Islamic heritage month and also Omar is a volunteer on the rescue squad so thank you for your service over thank you thank you so much good evening uh esteemed council members residents and honored guests I would like to start saying assalam alaykum which means peace mercy and blessings of God upon you uh today we gathered to celebrate a significant Milestone uh in our state history the official designation of January as Muslim heritage month in New Jersey this recognition honors the rich cultural tiry and invaluable contributions of the Muslim Community to our state and Nation on April 29th 2023 uh Governor Phil Murphy signed a proclamation designated January as Muslim Heritage Month this initiative aims to promote appreciation and awareness of Muslim traditions and contributions communities across the state have embraced this designation and with M municipalities such as Bon cranberry Montclair and mown uh roughly about 40 towns and four Counties have signed the proclamation and neighboring towns as well um to celebrate Muslim Heritage Month um contributions on Muslim across various Fields so we have Science and Technology education Healthcare Business and Entrepreneurship Public Services a little bit of a background on um New Jersey demographics uh Community impact so New Jersey is home to a vibrant Muslim population according to us religious or religion census uh there are approximately 321,250townhouse roughly 3.5% of population this makes New Jersey one of the uh states with the highest concentration of Muslims in the nation um in healthcare a significant number of Muslim doctors and healthc Care Professionals serves in Hospital and Clinics providing essential services and diverse uh to to diverse communities while exact statistics on the number of Muslim doctors we can't have that in New jerse are not readily available uh the impact of their contribution is widely uh recognized um Muslim owned businesses are integral to our economy uh offering a variety of goods and services that cater to the needs of all residents uh these Enterprises are not only stimulate econ they not only stimulate economic growth but also promote cultural exchange and understanding um me working as an EMT as well well I serve as a liazon between the community um in public service notable figures we have uh sarf Jaffer who became the first female Muslim New Jersey mayor in the United States uh when she was elected in Montgomery New Jersey exemplifying an active participation of Muslim Muslims in governance and Community leadership um the significance uh recognizing January as Muslim Heritage Month provides an opportunity to celebrate diversity promote Unity uh educate and Inspire and Interfaith Harmony in the spirit of unity let us reflect on the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi who said our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the Beauty and the test of our civilization this reminds us that embracing our differences makes us stronger as a community as we observe Muslim Heritage Month let us commit to celebrating the diversity that defines us and to recognizing the invaluable contributions of the Muslim Community together we can build a more inclusive understanding and harmonious Society thank you so much for your time thank you allar foring to come in and speak to us we really appreciate it thank you for volunteering with the rescue squad as well apprciate that thank you apprciate your time can I [Applause] add Omar thank you I just want to Echo the that you're you're volunteering on the first aid Squad and again thank you for taking the time I have a question um and you may have said this January is there significance to January versus another month um it was um decided I think by uh Muslim Heritage Month okay and it was uh uh produced in front of uh different townships uh States and they approved it I think uh when Governor Murphy he signed it he signified that as and I think it goes to maybe MLK so that's why it's important coming too right yeah so Ramadan is coming up um in March and I would like to also thank you for allowing us to have a religious display absolutely position so that really means a lot please consult with uh consult however you need I think there's a a no feet permit where you just uh have to identify the specifications yes which is what just happened with the manora and the nativity set so please Megan yes is wonderful thank you despite uh uh a couple of fumbles yes appreciate that so just please let us know anyway we can help I app and if you would like us to attend sorry we would we would be honored to yes so we are having a Muslim Heritage Month in isbr in Basking Ridge on 25th that's Dr Char uh Dr chry yes so more than welcome to join please uh there's going to be food festivities and crosscultural exchange so we you know doors are open for everyone thanks Omar thank you you see opportunities um for you know ways we can collaborate more like please let us know absolutely we again we appreciate you coming tonight and and giving us this information so thank you thank you so much and at this point I also want to thank uh New Jersey office of Homeland Security and preparedness their interfa advisory Council has helped me and other uh you know like me to collaborate so their rabbis their fathers their pastors their uh you know the Hindu Community Muslim Community they all together over there discussing issues and how to resolve them good to hear thank you thank you om okay let the microphone back off now we're back into the less exciting business all right so move on to ordinance 558-2567 to be more complicated and more require more training U we already have an ordinance that establish the position but in the ordinance establishing the position of the Planning and Zoning coordinator we listed one of her duties as being the uh the municipal housing Le on uh so it's the intention of the township committee to name the township administrator to that position uh so we just need to take it out of the list of duties of the of the uh zoning house Planning and Zoning coordinator anybody have any questions for Jack on that so it's more of an administrative thing cor okay so can I have a motion introduce and pass ordinance 55-25 on the first reading Madame clerk lavender yes woman rer Eline yes committe verza yes Deputy Mayor pan yes mayor dorsy yes all right moving along orance 55557 d25 second reading we have read this the first time at the at the reor meeting it's an ordinance adding an additional Lieutenant position to the Poli to the chief to police organizational chart and amending chapter 2 of the tant of cold under Administration again this is just creating a position if we ever want to do it it does not we're not promoting anybody today that's a whole separate issue so all this is doing is creating the position if and when we want to fill it um I now open the uh meeting up to the public for any questions or comments yes Mr renoit good evening Mr Mayor Charles Ritz Millington regarding this proposed ordinance 55725 adding an additional Lieutenant I would have liked to read an ordinance hiring a chief of police or moving the police headquarters out of a flood plane tonight we have been without a police chief for over two years in two months with free opportunities of metering Police Chief candidates by Chief Russo of the New Jersey State Police Association and having had a mentoring director of Public Safety for over 10 months where has this mentoring process gone you don't need to answer that 11 years ago the lill Township Police Department eliminated the position of Captain we do not need the recreation of a potential Captain position we certainly do not need a potential third Lieutenant position please defer a vote on the ordinance focus on the real needs of the police department I repeat real needs of the police department one let's get a police chief after 2 years and two months and offering a free mentoring two not only for the police department for the residents of this town a new police headquarters what two things could be more important to this town I'll tell you it stands clearly ahead of allocating a potential position for a for a third Lieutenant please defer a vote on this this evening thank thank you thank you anybody else in the public have any questions or comments seeing none Madam clerk anybody online if anybody on Zoom would like to make a public comment regarding ordinance 55725 please raise your hand now I don't see anyone mayor thank you um I'm going to close the public hearing have a motion to approve 557 mayor I'd like to uh motion to approve ordinance 55725 on second reading so moved Madam cler committee man lavender yes committee woman rer Eline yes committee men verza yes Deputy Mayor Pia yes mayor dorsy yes all right moving on to consent agenda I believe uh Scott was there something you want to discuss on this uh yeah 25- 046 okay that's about the fourth round affordable housing do you want you want Jack to discuss or you want to talk well I'll make a comment I'll have I'll hand it over to jack it was at the uh planning board meeting last week and um Jessica Caldwell came in and um kind of explain to the public and to the planning board um you know how this process is working how we got to the number we got to um if you haven't already I'd recommend that you go out and the public go out and watch the video if they're interested in a very detailed discussion on that I thought she was very good um Jack I'll over to you do you want to kind of loss through sure last year the state legislature adopted amendments to the fair housing act that did a number of things one it abolished COA and created a new program they call it uh to deal with everything and they mandated that the Department of Community Affairs established numbers for every municipality in the state with respect to their affordable housing obligations uh that's not a binding number you can challenge it however after discussing it uh the township committee uh felt that the number of assigned to Long Hill Township of 102 affordable units was in fact reasonable and it wasn't worth trying to to litigate that number uh I do point out that that number will be reduced by a number of things including uh some units from Lounsbury we're not sure the exact number uh we've already got three uh group homes in town which will provide us with with I believe 12 units uh and there'll also be rental bonuses and other things like that that will reduce the number significantly uh but in any event the legislature established a really tight schedule uh for complying with this new law uh the first was that the DCA had to uh come up with the numbers for every town in the State uh the next deadline is this uh Friday or I'm sorry next January 31st but in any event we had to adopt this resolution accepting the DCA numbers by January 31st and then I've got 48 hours in which to file a declaratory judgment action with the court uh which will set us into the process once that's filed and I'll file no later than Friday uh any interested party has until February 28th to challenge the town's number uh then if if there's not nothing for that then we've got to by June 30th adopt a new housing element fair share plan uh the township committee has already appointed an affordable housing committee which is working on sites and other ways to uh deal with this obligation um if in fact uh then interested parties will also by August 31st have the right to challenge the Township's housing element fair share plan uh and then by March 15th of 2026 uh that's that's the deadline for adopting uh implementing ordinances zoning ordinances carrying out the housing element and fair share plan I did make one minor change to the resolution which I've sent to um Megan uh and that is in the last paragraph uh I just expanded it to include the township planner and other Township officials to take all steps necessary uh to to carry out uh this process uh so that will be the revised resolution that you're considering this evening uh I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have Jack did you mention the number one 102 is the number 102 not one 103 you were right there you go no I wasn't doing that to put you on the spot but it is 102 and I I just want to call attention to that one of the reasons why if you for the for the public if you look at the obligations of surrounding towns one of the reason reasons why long Hill's number uh is significantly lower than those towns is Long Hill Township going back right from the beginning Jack that's right has always worked in collaboration with uh what was then uh Kaa then became fair share and now is under the aices of the DCA uh that one of the reasons not the only reason there's other you know uh geographical uh things that come into play but our numbers are lower to Jack's Point uh we're pretty confident that that 102 number would will be perhaps haved I don't know if that's that's optimistic but um uh so we're in a good position uh certainly relative to uh surrounding towns and towns from throughout the state and Jack's been working on this going back all those years so special thanks to Jack and I would also say I would also say and go back if you're interested go back and watch that video listen to Jessica Caldwell um she'll explain to you what the formula was this time around and it was the same formula for every municipality uh she'll also mention uh documents and resources on the web where you can see how we fared compared to other towns recommend that everybody go out and look at that as well um and become fully educated if this is an issue that um you're passionate about thank you SC yeah and along those lines I remember there was a new lawsuit that was filed a few months ago that some residents want us to join in on and as we predicted it went nowhere and it was dismissed by the court and by not joining we saved the town thousands of dollars so 20,000 $20,000 they wanted from us for a lawsuit that probably was going nowhere unfortunately it did not and uh so the people that did join well sorry to do that but that's what happens but we saved $220,000 not joining that lawsuit so uh do anybody have any questions for Jack back on the Das all right anything else we need to uh discuss or pull out from the consent agenda thank you Scott I'll make a motion uh Mr Mayor if I could to approve resolutions numbers 25-44 through 25-48 so moved and seconded Madam Clark committee lavender yes committee woman rer Eline yes comman valza yes Deputy Mayor Pia yes mayor dorsy yes one one more point if I made just with respect to that ordinance it has to be posted on the township website by Friday as well and as I say I've got to file the the declaratory judgment action with the courts by Friday Megan's going to be sharper tomorrow so she's gonna get that up there it's not your job okay fa thanks all right um leison reports what do you have queued up first that's how whatever's easier for you cuz I know there's some slides tonight um we do who's that for oh me I can't read that winter weather recycling tips it's too far away you tell them what the winter weather recycling tips I can't for uh winter weather recycling tips put a lid on it wet and snow covered recyclables are not acceptable in the MC mua's recycling program moisture contaminates the contaminates the recyclables so that they cannot be properly processed the MC mua crew will leave wet recyclables behind the MC mua ask residents to use a 32 gallon container with a lid to avoid moisture contaminations snow removal ice and snow can pose dangers for sanitation workers please be sure your recyclables are placed properly at the curb remove snow and ice from on and around your containers do not Place cans on snow Banks timing is everything recycling should be placed at the curb the night before collection or by 6: a.m. the day of collection L setouts will not be collected if you believe your recycling was missed you must report this to your municipality or the mcmua by 10:00 a.m. the following collection stay up to date check the mcm's website your municipalities recycle coach app and social media pages to stay updated on res or canell recycle collections due to in weather thank you all right next slide that determines who's next that's how we're doing how about uh Recreation there you go Vic go ready still need classes all right we are still busy in Recreation with our basketball programming but like fashion we're already planning for next season we are also very excited to have completed the new playground at caner Park despite the temperatures some brave souls have still have bundled up and have gone out to test out the new playground it's a lot of fun is that Lisa in that picture yes and Bill and bill on the swing nice Rebel Rebel oh yeah cute on Wednesday March 26th from 4: to 6 p.m. we are teaming up with the Gnomes and we have and we are we're going to have some fun in the park to celebrate the new playground we will have our official ribbing cutting ceremony we'll play some gnome games and have a family scavenger hunt a face painter will be joining us and the library is joining forces with us to bring lot of gnome SL Woodland fairy themed books and materials story times and a sto um and a story walk in the park leading to the back of the playground mark your calendars it is free for all lill residents and you won't believe what these gnomes are cooking up take advantage of all the snow send us your photos of the snow sculptures and enter our contest which will run until 3177 free entry for all lill residents see the website for more details and enter on community pass it's not too late to register for adult open play basketball Thursday nights at Central School from 7:30 till 9:00 p.m. pre-registration on community pass is necessary and the program continues until May 1st right moving on to slide number six get your Red Cross training in January CPR and AED on 1225 and we still have a couple of spots open see the website for more details and register on community pass play Virtual bingo with us on Wednesday February 12th we will be playing Valentine's Bingo virtually at 5:30 p.m. free for all Long Hill residents register as a family and we will send you a bingo card and login instructions the fund continues when we play St Patrick's Day Bingo on March 12th virtually at 5:30 p.m. get those new calendars out and mark down our annual egg hunt which is scheduled for Saturday April 12th at 10:00 a.m. sharp at caner Park such a fun morning get your picture with Peter Cottontail visit the petting zoo and fill your egg basket adult egg hunt will be sponsored by The Long Hill Chamber of Commerce don't forget to listen to that inner Oscar the Grouch inside all of us and keep our Parks clean and Litter free and last but not least we are always looking for new members on the recreation advisory committee want to join in on the fund please contact the Parks and Recreation Department for more information and that concludes my vibrant great work wreck update thank you well done all right sit next all right Library update thank you Megan so the library is open 7 days per week and also open 247 via the Digital Collection books and audio books and movies are available via the following apps Libby hoopla and canopy it's very exciting here up on the screen is the library's weekly schedules of programs and events one for kids and there's one for adults lots of activities for all ages including story time for the littlest readers every day of the week library has lots of good stuff going on so don't miss out join us for a presentation on the fundamentals of backyard bird watching by a naturalist from the Somerset County Park commission Environmental Education Center learn basic identification skills what to feed these birds as well as when and where to place your feeders all in time for the great backyard bird count coming up in February very exciting the LGH Hill Township Library hosts a number of free classes line dancing Italian and French class chess art classes maang and more come try something new and all are welcome and then last but not least come celebrate the Lunar New Year with a traditional lion dance performed by the New Jersey Garden State lion dancers other New Year activities will take place in the library including crafts and story times in English and Chinese very exciting great job for the library um yes I was going to just add one me are you making fun of me I didn't know if you have the bo I don't know if you have any health report I do no I don't have um health because I reported on that when we did the Board of Health piece that I met with um Don but nope I have something else for you I went to earlier today um I was able to attend the um Morris County Economic Development Corporation Municipal Roundtable just to be um transparent for everyone um I thought it was very interesting there again there's a lot of resources that we can um share and partake in that will help facilitate businesses here um the goal of that meeting was to share best practices also identify strengths and weaknesses and different you know challenges and opportunities that each town has and learn from each other which I thought was very beneficial um I took many notes um and we'll pass it along to um Chamber of Commerce here as well as um continue to um I need my tea I'm sorry S I continue to encourage the collaboration because there are a lot of resources that I learned about um from the Morris County um Economic Development organization and the Chamber of Commerce so th those things being able to bring those to the community I think is really important so there's a lot of ideas um that I gathered in terms of ways to collaborate and bring those resources to fortify encourage and help support the businesses that we have here in L Hill so we'll continue to keep that transpar transparency going thank you for going to that meeting no problem appreciate it all right I'll just go next some here I have the community service update um put up one I'll talk about [Applause] it let's see well I can still I'm oh there we go so the food pantry 12 baskets food pantry is open the first and third Thursday of every month from 5: to 6 and they have special hours for seniors toing the day from 11:30 to 12:30 that's located All Saints Church in Millington that's the Stone Church up by the blinking light on LA Long Hill Road it's free and confidential um they provide food for Long Hill and surrounding individuals families seniors and Veterans um they offer non-perishable foods produce at times toilet paper paper towels cleaning supplies things of that nature uh you have to bring a valid license uh or state ID card showing your address is the only documentation you needed there's really there's no questions asked it's not a trick so just bring some kind of ID with you uh along the lines with the food pantry is uh I think the can can sale ended Sunday I think but I know this came out before then um the needs that they need right now know people give around the holidays but people need more than just around Thanksgiving Christmas and Easter um hearty soups with low salt um family-friendly cereals pretzels chips crackers vegan and gluten-free items and anything can make a difference the nice thing is you can drop it off at the food barrels at All Saints Church there's a drop off right at the library behind us and at shop right so as you shop you just buy what you want I did that the other day you drop it off in the basket right by the back door the front doors are going out so you don't have to take it up there yourself they can't make it easier for people so please donate it does make a difference you buy whatever Progresso was 10 for 12 bucks or and that made a difference that probably was that was 10 meals for people and it didn't really cost much so thank you to everybody that donates and continue to donate and Spotlight on Services meet the Veterans Services office and the county clerk at the county clerk's office Fe February 7th 2025 at 1: to 3 p.m. at the county what's the administrative building Oris County Veteran servic servic office which is on West hand over AV in marown so that's the 25th uh excuse me February 7th at 1: to 3M so go out if you want to meet or have any questions about the veteran services office and the county clerk's office just like Aubrey went to the uh meeting T probably a lot of resources available that we don't know about that if you call there email or go to the thing you're going to find out there services available to Veterans and other people in the community and just the one last thing thank you Sterling fire department they had a great pancake breakfast uh two weeks ago I believe how would you have over 170 people served they had 170 people served which is pretty good for the first time out and as always anytime they do cook something it's usually pretty good so we're looking forward to the next one one more another slide free blood pressure screening should be under the Aubrey report sorry yes February is heart month too there you go so heart month's coming up there's a free blood pressure screening in PAC and Gladstone the Monday this Monday at 12:30 to 1:30 at the uh municipal building in PAC Gladstone correct it's free for everybody so if you want your blood pressure checked go on out thank you gu thank you Mr Mayor so just the first a squad had their annual uh officer induction uh ceremony I think most most of the township committee uh attended uh quick update 2024 there were roughly just shy of 700 calls which tracks what they typically do in in any year sometimes it's a little above 700 sometimes a little bit below um special shout out to Elsie turkman uh for 50 years 5-0 years volunteering with the uh first aid Squad and there were a number of other awards Bob English uh I won't embarrass him I'll say his 10th anniversary which is probably times four um so really a special thanks to the first aid Squad they are 100% volunteer we talk about it all the time even though they're not in the middle of their fund Drive they accept uh donations at any point throughout the year uh so again the biggest shout out goes to Elsie turkman and thank you to all the new officers and thank you to the officers from uh 2024 Scott uh nothing additional T excellent thank you and Randy with the administrator's report thank you may I have a couple things uh November's uh police report they had calls of service for November 2024 2,432 calls for a total year to date of 23, 48 calls there were 17 motor vehicle accidents two with uh injuries um some good news uh they we've the place did some traffic Improvement uh on Northfield uh by put putting out we all they installed uh LED stop stop signs on each side they also put some pedestrian signs out to help uh people acknowledge that there's a crosswalk there to that there's also a stop sign uh as we know there's this uh intersection has had um some issues with acents and so forth and we are continuing to work on improving that intersection uh the police have done some improvements over at the police headquarters they have a new front door with the decal on it and they have a new updated um police refurbished uh patch on the building one of the things I I definitely wanted to mention the Masons of Somerset Hills honored Sergeant Sutton for officer of the year at their annual dinner last year congratulations to officer Sutton uh that's all with the police um I want to take a a quick minute to read an email that we got um and I think it sums up uh this past uh weekend that the public works department um were out many many hours overnight while we W sleeping getting the roads cleaned and so forth and this is a email to Al Gallow uh thank you to the public Department of Public Works providing the prompt and annual service and picking up Christmas trees after the holiday season is over uh thank you for keeping our roads clear during winter storms it is always clear to me that roads in our town are in better shape than our neighboring towns and that was from a a resident in Gillette but um I just want to pass on you know not only the roads but the the huge amount of sidewalks uh buildings uh municipal buildings and so forth um Public Works uh work tirelessly from uh Sunday afternoon into into the we hours of Monday morning and then came back uh Monday afternoon on a holiday to make sure all the roads were clean and and and uh everything was in a safe condition so Al hand hands out to the guys and the crew thank you very much for your work to uh to all the uh not not only our buildings but also the Emergency Services buildings that you guys clear so uh job well done um Al also gave me uh I should let the mayor read this but I'm going to read it one of my favorite reports all year okay so I'm going to let the mayor read goad goad um but we we got we got some interesting numbers that I I think I I really need to mention um this is all the recycling items that Public Works does they collect aluminum cans for the burn center they collected one ton of aluminum cans that went to donation for the burn center fluorescent bulbs they collected one ton car batteries 1.3 tons non-covered Electronics 2 tons styrofoam Believe It or Not 6.2 tons I don't believe it once that's melted down it gets heavy so um single stream recycling 26.7 .07 tons Electronics 24.5 tons tires 30 cubic yards wow K cup recycling 88.6 lb got a lot of coffee drinkers U grass clippings 104 cubic yards leaves 711 cubic yards light iron cast iron and aluminum 119.5 tons motor oil 122 gallons Christmas trees 219 Christmas trees uh and that this is for 2024 so that didn't include January so uh last year we in 2020 3 we did 600 trees so we're probably close to that not over that I believe we're over six right Al 645 so far for this season and they're you can do picking up till the 31st right till the 31st cooking oil 1,677 lbs food compost people ask who dumps their their food waste at Public Works 2400 gallons worth wow uh brush trees 4500 CB cuic yards so you know again um you know the the mayor appraises are recycling and this just goes to show you how much how much different things and how many people go down to Public Works and recycle so uh again we uh Public Works job well done uh residence of long hill job well done let's try and improve these numbers thank you Randy that's all I have excellent thank you love that report that's your your report that's my report all right so where are we next okay uh discussion items first is uh proposed changes to section 2.35 of the code about historic preservation advisory committee Mr Hunt's here I have anybody have any questions they all seem like reasonable changes what are they in general Jack we can yeah I was I was at the um meeting when this is first discussed not all of them Fred but summary um some some of the changes here are due to the fact that uh the historical preservation advisory committee is a committee and not a commission therefore some of the wording has to change that would only be applicable to a commission things like you know shall hold no other municipal office it not applicable to an advisory committee but a lot of the changes in here um you know relate to that you know also to um there was a removal of this uh reference to a historic district historic district districts since there are no um official historic different districts in the township and then uh you know other things about design standards which would be relevant to a commission uh four more of the general standards were retained as guidelines however and so um Fred is there anything else that you would want to add to that covered it all there you go so thank you for coming go ahead come to the come to the mic so I can hear you thank you for coming by the way thank you I I just added one one function you know we've done that a little bit over the years uh the fact that we collaborate with the historian and the uh archist yeah they they come to all our meetings and we work closely with them so thank you that's it you you covered everything else sitting here yes I I will have an ordinance for introduction at the next Mee good thank you all right next is the proposed changes the rec advisory about the regulations all right here we go anybody want any questions or comments on that yeah they're all highlighted reason well these were discussed that probably at the rec Mr Ren what about there Chuck these are all discussed at the rec committee correct yes thank you that was discussed in the committee weos them to us and again um we'll bring them what Jack we have a new ordinance or something for next meeting yes does anybody have any suggestions or questions up here all right seeing none I think one thing to to note um especially uh with just recent events no Open Flame is permitted in any park or Recreation Area without a fire permit you think that would be common sense but you have to spell these things out good call out all all right so we'll have that on upcoming meeting and the last one is proposed commercial property maintenance code I know Vic asked Jack about this so Jack I will turn it over to you yes as you said this is at the request of Vic uh this ordinance that I found seemed to cover most of the items that that uh Vic wanted covered and I do note that it's a lot easier to write a commercial property maintenance code in a town like Long Hill because we have so many diverse types of neighborhoods you know with different size lots and everything it's more difficult to to write a uh a residential property maintenance code so with this does basically it requires that the exterior of the premises be maintained uh Lawns Hedges and bushes be maintained uh all signs be maintained uh that glass be maintained uh storefronts any earnings uh that extend over the street be maintained uh everything just a general catch all at the end that the exterior of every structure has to be maintained uh also that exterior boards that cover the windows and doorways of a vacant property must be painted to coordinate with the color of the building and uh then the occupant has to keep the uh premises in a clean and sanitary condition uh garbage is not allowed to accumulate uh every occupant is responsible for uh for pest controlling Pest and for the elimination of trash and garbage on the premises uh that's basically it it's enforced by the uh code enforcement officer the penalty is the standard General penalty set forth in section one hyen five of the code um and I think that covers everything great and and you I believe you've uh had some coordination with Mark Andress our zoning officer with that that's right he had he had one minor suggestion that I to it other than that he was uh satisfied with the the draft ordinance great and then in the future I believe that we're looking we're going to try to expand upon it and start to open up discussions um with the appropriate board so that we can maybe develop a uniform uh awning uh code here in town so we don't just have pink blue and yellow and all different styles that they're not tattered and and in disrepair um you know we need to start to have to think about that that love it it's good and so I would like to you know I this is like a request to move forward in that regard Vic also asked that we consider uh Banning carports uh parking pads on front Lawns um and what was the other one uh temporary tents parked you know uh put up so you could park under the yeah now I did some research on that we can discuss this at a future meeting uh but the already require that every residential property have a garage and I think the best way to deal with Vic's suggestion is that I think it was uh Montville uh the definition of garage specifically excludes carports it's surprising how many towns don't have anything to do with carports or parking pads in fact some of them allow it uh and I think we could do the same with tents because really they are a structure uh so I think we could add that into the definition of garage as well but as I said we can discuss that in the future wonderful but this commercial property maintenance C is really just step one Perfect all right so we'll have this on for a future go ahead so Jack I know and you already referenced it it's it's difficult on in a residential type situation when we were talking about uh grass Heights and all all those kind of things on a commercial property in by what definition I I appreciate Vic thank you for for bringing this to to the town's attention but what determines what is not appropriate well I I think it's easier in the commercial context because the problem with when we tried to do the residential property maintenance code to amend it was you've got properties in in the swamp you know in properties in in Sterling uh and it's hard to have a uniform standard for a quarter of an acre lot and a 5 acre lot uh all right say we have so for the mythical commercial property uh it hasn't been painted in 40 years but it's have I'm trying to figure out H how how do you issue a summons I you know the code enforcement officer has to make that determination he takes pictures uh he issues a warning sometimes it's judge call it's a case by case basis uh and then if the property owner doesn't cooperate or the occupant doesn't cooperate then he can issue a summons and then he brought brings it before George bride who will consider it and it's like pornography you know you can tell when a property is not being maintained uh fair enough it's hard to well said describe an in ordinance you know when you're looking at a property that's in dis repair we're not looking to be unfair on anybody right and it's more an impetus to have people maintain their properties you know the idea is not to bring them to court it's to say to them you've got to do this by the way I fully support it I'm just trying to think ahead as I mean that sexy thermoplastics here in town for the past 30 years it'd be nice to you know be able to enforce that not happening this is one example yeah and as I say Mark Anders has looked at it and is okay with it he's the one who has to enforce so Vic thank you for bringing it and Jack thanks for the so we'll have it introduced at the uh the next meeting any other issues questions on this more to come all right more to come announcements I think we covered them all except two new ones Park Mobile our new parking app for the train stations will be live February 3rd so if you need you can download the app um these are for daily parking passes you can download the app and just follow the instructions starting February 3D and we launched a new website what about two week and a half ago yeah the new town has a new website um and as issues come up just like any website that comes out there's issues or questions or stuff please email Randy if there's a problem with it and we'll get it corrected just like anything else it might be a spelling error simple as that or maybe you just can't access a link or maybe there's a link you want on there or missing please let us know a couple residents have already reached out and those problems are corrected pretty much in a day or two correct correct so we're only as good as the information we have we don't we try to police everything on there but if there's stuff that we might not click on or somebody might not click on we're only going to know it's not working if you tell us so you're not being a pest we want to get it right we want to improve it and make it as easy as possible for everybody to act access information different forms permits payments so please tell us if you're having a problem we'll get it fixed as soon as possible and this is a good conduit with we can get push out more information and make more information available to the public so you don't have to come to town hall to pay things you can do it right online any other announcements thank you for mentioning that because I had some challenges with the website last night that we're working on so open to other feedback too exactly so it doesn't even appli still op it does I I was on there and heartily voicing my opinion last night of areas of opportunity any other announcements up here seeing none all right open mic night 3 minutes anybody in the public have anything you want to say good evening Mr Mayor Charles arenz Millington unfortunately I do not have the confidence in New Jersey American water that you do I would request that you get a timeline from them of lifting the sewer band and sewering 95% of the township by October 25 I'd like that for the residents to get us more comfortable that these dates are going to be met tonight's presentation when talked about initial draft we're going to get one in a few months and we're going to lay it out even 9 months to October they've got to get approval with the [Music] D we talked about Mr paser said the regulations have increased takes more time believe me I don't have your confidence so one recommendation to you is to get a detailed timeline from them so we have something to look at and say he was back the presenter was here in November I think it was November um now it's mid January late January I mean come on I don't have the faith that you have so help me get your faith by requesting a timeline for the work it's October and I don't want to have more fees to our attorneys than Mr pigeon he's done a great check but we don't need to spend money going after a contract on the sale of this great sewer system we sold them so please take that under advisement and get that done and requested thank you thank you thank you Chuck if I could say it was a great year for the Fighting Irish they I was rooting for them you had to go there yeah you had to go there we we couldn't match up but come November 10th is a 250th anniversary see the United States Marine Corp just so you know that thank you I embrace that thank you for your service exactly simp five um but also just because I'm new to it and learning things um with the water Chuck just so I understand the the um what was articulated tonight as the you know as the October timeline you're saying get that like specifically in writing and because I don't know do we not have that or do we not that can speak to obligation we have it in writing okay that's I assume he was speaking to it but I'm saying the work plan the high level work plan of what checkpoints when they're going to get it done they come back in in May or we have nothing to say hey you said you're going to get here in March it's now April where are we we don't know thank you I just want to understand the question any other members all right seeing none anybody online Maran n would like to speak bring her on maryan can you hear us okay there you go hello Maryanne hello congratulations mayor thank you Maryann okay I have a couple comments one is one number one it's very general residential maintenance just came up as a topic from Vic I have seen numerous PL planning board meetings um where I'm just going to make a blatant statement where you cannot discount the amount of acreage one person has versus some of the smallest streets I live on laana and essentially it's very eclectic okay I live on a half an acre my house is Midway you now you you you just can't make these justifications of whether or not someone has a garage or not and could put up a car port to Pro protect their car I get it I don't want our town to look like a ghetto but if you have three acres of land versus someone whose driveway you could see into your neighbor's side yard take a drive down Mountain where we have a house that's basically right on the street it's Stone so there's been so many instances with reference to residential maintenance and no one has ever really focused whether it's on fences or you know storage units you really have to take a good look at the aage and I could point out a lot of things um you know if I live in Myersville you know we've spoken about crime are they going to go up into Myersville if I have four acres no there's a big distinction in our Township and this is why I bought here 25 years ago it was so beautiful and neglected okay so I really hope people keep in mind on the planning board and Township committee when it comes to anything in terms of residential units you really have to look at the size of the property and the size of the home that's my comments on that um am I making reason with that yes I think I I tried to make the same point yeah that and we're we're only discussing the commercial right now yes okay but if you want to go into residential residential has already been impacted yeah I agree with you Maran I'm sorry I thought you yeah I agree with you that that's why I said it's much more difficult to draft a residential property maintenance code in a town like L Hill with such a A diversity of of property types exactly I mean you take a road you know um ory you live on Mountain you know the house I'm talking about that Stone House yes could we ever put a sidewalk there no and I trust me Matt heard me years ago about sidewalks I'm Mountain as I would always run to the train and entertain my neighbor my life sidewalks I encourage but yes I know that's it would be an issue for that house yeah but you're always welcome to park in my house okay my second issue um with reference to the fourth round um Matt I have to correct you with regards to the Coalition it's not over okay with Mayor Mike jali um Tomorrow there's another round in court um and it's another stay so you know I'm sorry I need to correct you on that January 23rd there is another stay on that okay um unfortunately I did not have uh the time to listen to the planning board um but I do want to make mention you have stated that we're utilizing the numbers that they provided which is 0 versus 102 I think initially I put out to the whole group that it was 106 before anyone knew anything about it um but if you want to talk about this 0 versus 102 um there's a couple issues regarding that okay if you look at those um gmaps okay they did not include the third rounds of flood zones and as you're aware Morris County just came out with that information okay so that needs to be discounted you have another it could be a double negative I'm not quite sure on this but it's not only the flood zones those Maps do not include any of the properties that are currently within the C agreements whether constructed or not okay I took a look and I try to figure it out for myself um and those gift Maps you know with with with the flood zones when is that coming out the deadline does anyone know here on the committee Randy it just came out came out yeah I don't remember the uh the end date I have the um I believe it the maps are on our website with the information yes it is thank you okay but with reference to that that will need to be incorporated so you know when we're talking about Z Zero versus 102 I get it you take a multiple and and you know if you said that you're going to split it it's going to be 50 units of affordable housing times the you know five factor which equates to 250 and we have not built anything else as well okay so you know 250 may not be a high number but the fact of the matter is where is that going Hill Crest already has been surrounded by oh God what 400 units going up uh I hope one is going to be uh just squashed uh Hill Crest is is is a source road going into Overlook hospital um the back the the the back jam and the back log is going to be ridiculous um and that's really it I I I just don't know what to say anymore um thank you Maran you now that's it thank you thanks Maran have a great weekend yes you anybody else online seeing none I'll entertain any motion to adjourn from anywhere so moved second all in favor I I we're going to return to Executive session no further action no I think we're done oh we're done I wasn't there okay we're done perfect good thank you everybody have a great night thank thank you anywhere all right oh sorry [Music]