##VIDEO ID:1dgfWoquNew## this meeting is being conducted in compliance with the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by advertisement in the Cape May star and wave on the township website and post it on the bulletin boards of of township hall we request anyone wishing to address Council please wait for the deputy mayor to recognize you please state your name and address for the record and please remember all comments must be kept to three minutes or less okay please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all all right roll call council member Conrad here council member Wham here Council member Roy here Deputy Mayor  here mayor Sipple here okay we will now move uh now open the public hearing for the Green Acres application uh Colleen krippin our lower Township grants coordinator and assistant Treasurer will run the meeting or public hearing okay thank you um the township is applying for a Jake's law accessible playground to be completed at Rotary Park as part of our phase two of Rotary Park and what Jake La uh playgrounds are is all accessible um for developmentally disabled motor coordination auditory anything that they it's all accessible to anyone so in light of that one of the things that they require is community engagement and to get feedback from the public on what they would like to see at the playground with that I put a survey up on our Township website I also met with the rib last night I met with the lower Township healthy youth Coalition and we also met when we did our safety um luncheon so we can get coordinate all that so we have over probably close to 200 surveys completed which is for municipality it's good and one of the major things is when they complete the survey is we ask them what they would like to see at the playground so we can incorporate that into the design and one of things was walking trails which is Incorporated in the design um seating that accommodates older people as well as younger uh shaded areas the ramp style playgrounds um sound stations or auditory things where they we have some panels in the existing playground but also a little bit more in a sensor themed area and handicap restrooms which we plan to do um and a fence which is all important it's a requirement of the Jake well playground that it all be fenced in and one of them said that um the daughter's disabled disabled in wheelchair bound and she cannot play in a typical playground and she would love a Jake's playground that is nearby so that's one of the things of the community engagement also in record I have to um do about some of the environmental concerns and findings okay the impact analysis is that it has no negative long-term impact on the environment um the mitigation [Music] measures no medication measures are necessary except The Prudent construction measures noted and that's just basically clean up after you construct and every day be site clean um and in alternatives to the proposed act there aren't any so and the environmental impact um there is no environmental impact so um with that I'll hand it over to will Hansen as I squeak and then he will um go over the concept design [Music] thank you Colleen uh for those that don't know me my name is Will Hansen I'm the project manager on this project I work for Mark DeBlasio he is a Township engineer um so you guys might be wondering what is an inclusive playground what is a jake law playground there's certain characteristics that you must meet to be consider Jakes law playground just to talk you through them quickly you need have accessible parking accessible routes to access the playground and related facilities you need to have unitary safety surfacing so safe um safety surfacing around the playground equipment accessible bathroom facilities you need to have shade artificial and natural shade um is allowed you have fencing inclusive play equipment quiet play areas and ramps and transfer points and just to talk you through a little bit how the phasing came about between phase one and phase two so you can see this is Con you can see phase one is a very odd shape and the reason why we did that is because wets back behind the park and there's this imaginary Wetland buffer line follows this concrete here so we had Grand money that we had to use DCA grant money so we decided to go for phase one and in the process we had to get um four different permits to be able to build pH two so we've obained all those permits and in the meantime this Grand opportunity popped up and what's great about this project is that phase one was already an inclusive uh playground and that speaks just to the values of this governing body that you guys were already moving in that direction so what we're proposing in phase two is just to tick all those boxes of all the requirements that I just set out so in terms of the site um you know we've heard a lot of feedback um we're going to be putting a fence around the entirety of the site I've heard that feedback from people out there I've got young kids myself it's going to be a great thing you can kind of leave your kids in there and have that peace of mind they're not going to be running out into the parking lot uh we're going to be putting in new seating uh these are adaa accessible tables they're similar to ones down at Diamond Beach they're very uh been very suful down there you can wheel a wheelchair right up uh to the end points here these are going to be shade structures we're putting in there'll be a new seating area here and in terms of the play areas we're going to have uh three dedicated zones that we SE segregated through walking cway we're going to have a sensory play area so there's going to be sensory Dome and other sensory play equipment and as part of the Jake law you have to have a designated quiet area so people with disabilities where um play is facilitated a lot better areas we'll designate that through signage in this area here we're going to have a swing area we're going to have inclusive swings along on the swing set and then we're going to have a theme play play area to Target that two to fivey Old demographic we are also going to be putting in an ADA accessible bathroom here I know that's um been requested a lot we've got a lot of feedback about that and as well we're going to be adding additional parking so that is going to be on the ltmua entrance so we're going to be renovating the ltmua entrance as part of phase two as well they've actually given us I think $150,000 for this work um this isn't going to cost that amount and the excess is going to go towards but as part of the ltmua entrance refurbishment we're going to be Paving up to their Gateway we're going to be putting in Ada accessible concrete ramps they're currently not compliant so that's going to help with access to the site and we're going to be putting in six additional parking spots and an additional handicap parking space that will serve as kind of overflow parking when the Park's busy or if users are walking their dogs and it's going to be integrated into the existing trail system that uh about sums up the presentation I think this is a great opportunity for the township uh everything that we're proposing here is going to be in conformance with Jake's law and this is again this is a concept so as Colleen said we're still receiving feedback from the public and this is open to change so we I'm happy to hear any comments from you guys or the public and thank you guys for your time Council have any comments thank you I'll start it's a wonderful idea it's long over two in this Township I've had people asking about the swing for six seven years we need this in this Township it's people are going to enjoy this and it's not just little kids it's going to be older kids that enjoy this and I'm glad to see it's finally coming about have no comments I don't really have any comments other than um this is be the only one of its kind in lower Township is that correct yeah yep okay verify that thank you I just want to say as a retired special teacher I love everything about it so great plan great thought everything that went into it it's great job um any public comments boarded Place rubber so I I don't know if you've seen phase one yet it' be similar to what's surrounding the playground service so it's the highest quality material you can have for playground yeah yep and impact resistant it's and really durable yeah else see nothing else thanks Conley thanks will uh we will now move down to the consent agenda any uh Council comments on the consent agenda I'm none no public comment on the consent agenda only I see none approval of the minutes from January 2nd 2025 resolutions number 20 2564 through 20 2579 and ordinance 20253 an ordinance amending chapter three administration of government Article 2 Township Council subsection 8 powers and duties of the township Council of the of the code of the township beler this is the first reading of this ordinance the second reading in public hearing will be scheduled for February 19th 2025 is there a motion I'll make a motion second a motion council member Conrad yes council member Wham yes council member Roy yes Deputy Mayor C yes mayor Sipple yes resolution number 20 2580 a resolution authorizing the sale of real property located in the town of by way of an open public auction any Council comments I do have a comment uh this resolution is associated with the sale of a property owned by the township of lower located at 9600 C viw Avenue block 703 Lot 1 in the damond beach section of the town ship the sale of the property will be conducted by open public auction the public auction is scheduled for Friday February 7th 2025 at 9:00 a.m. here at township hall located at 2600 pure Road villis New Jersey the minimum bid will be set at $1 million the township will be advertising notice of this public auction in the Cap May star and wave on January 29th 2025 and on February 5th 2025 all members of the public are invited to attend this auction if you are interested in purchasing this property are there any public comment I see none wait Bill Greenfield bill yeah what are the dimensions of that property just curious Manager located on it's it's on the resolution and you can get the information from our assessor's office oh okay yeah you call me tomorrow all okay just curious you can give me a call tomorrow Bill we it for any other public comment see on motion to approve motion second motion council member Conrad yes council member warham yes council member Roy yes Deputy Mayor yes mayor sippo yes number 20 2501 an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits into to establish a cap Bank per njsa 44-54 this is the second reading of this uh this is the second reading and public hearing for this ordinance this ordinance has been published posted and made available to the public any Council comments no public comment [Music] motion move forward second council member Conrad yes council member warham yes council member Roy yes Deputy Mayor yes mayor Sipple yes ordinance number 20 2502 an ordinance amending chapter 400 Land Development article 12 affordable housing regulations of the code of the township of lower to establish a mandatory affordable housing set aside this is the second reading in public hearing for this ordinance this ordinance has been published posted and made available to the public any any Council comments on this ordinance I believe a lot of people in the public that aren't here are going to appreciate that we're doing something for this you're correct public comment see none make a motion make a motion second a motion council member Conrad yes yes council member wam yes council member Roy yes Deputy Mayor yes mayor seppo okay so we move on down to the engineers report will you're back on thank you Council uh this evening I'll be presenting the engineers report on behalf of deblas Associates outlining all the capital projects currently underway in the township so the first capital project is the rotary Community Park Renovations as you guys just heard we're endeavoring to get another grant for phase two uh just to update you on the design side of thing phase two is um well along in the design so once we get that hopefully we get that Grant we should be able to get that out to public bid uh shortly thereafter the second capital project is the Bayside bayall Bayside outfall extensions so this proposed work includes design and prems to extend 15 Bayside outfalls and improved drainage council's endeavoring to uh for the in the near future to get five out to public bid um we received njde approval for that we are still awaiting approval from the Army corpse of Engineers however talking to them that should be landing uh early next month um in conjunction with waiting for that approval we've been getting the final designs ready so we should be able to go out to public bid um next month that approval lands the third Capital project is the 2024 njdot Municipal aid program reconstruction of Ridgewood Avenue the proposed work for this project includes a milling and Paving of Ridgewood Avenue from bayaw road to the Western end of Ridgewood Avenue the township has already received a $200,000 NJ doot Municipal aid grant uh funding opportunity came available last year uh for local Aid which is a separate grant program the township applied for a grant to fund this project as well however we still have not heard from the NJ do so that's held up that project and that project as well has largely been designed and we should be able to go out to public bid uh once hopefully we get some good news from the NJ do on that second Grant the fourth Capital project is a 2023 stormwater GIS mapping service so the proposed work includes updating the existing lower Township Master drainage plan to include all storm water infrastructure improvements to date this is a njd requirement for your ms4 um ms4 permit so you have to digitally map all your storm water infrastructure we're working with Gary Douglas um from public works on this and that project has been coming along smoothly that is due at the start of next year so that's going to be an ongoing project we're chipping away at the David Douglas senior Memorial Park Renovations The Proposal work for this projects includes the Reconstruction and expansion of the existing parking lot the relocation and redesign of the existing Memorial new site amenities new bathroom building new decorative footpath along the Kem may can canal and an observation deck so we've been pursuing a Kem May County open space board grant for this project we had the opportunity to present the final concept plan yesterday which went really well well we got the recommendation for I believe it's somewhere along the lines of a $2.1 million grant for that we haven't received anything in writing but that's uh good news that the C County open space board endorsed that project just to update you guys on that we are also seeking an njdca um Ada Improvement grant for this project so we prepared an ADA compliance report which showed you know the areas that aren't in compliance with Ada regulations uh we've been working with Colleen on that and that Grant application's been submitted so hopefully we hear some good news back on that uh once we get through this grant phase we're going to be moving into permitting and then design the lower Township Public Work building design the proposed work for this project includes a new Public Works Administration Building Associated utilities and a new site layout uh and that's going to eliminate the southern entrance to the site which will improve safety um this Project's well underway the our most recent uh work our office has performed as test bits for both foundation design and septic design we're now underway designing those and we are working to prepare V final designs and get this uh out to bid the next project is the homes Avenue gorm Avenue Scott Avenue storm sewer and roadway Improvement project so the proposed work for this project concludes replacing the storm sewer from homes Avenue to the Hughes Avenue and Scott Avenue intersection to alleviate some flooding uh resurfacing the road way and the installation of concrete curbs and sidewalk in various areas uh the project area has been surveyed and base map we've been holding off on design as the ltmua has been investigating if they want to do some work just to update you on that they plan to replace the water main so they've uh started they've engaged us to do that design work so now we're g we're working with Gary Douglas to get the roadway design underway and get that project moving in conjunction with the waterm replacement so we're going to be doing all that work together which is uh good news for the town Township the lower Township municipal pool building evaluation the proposed work includes um replacing the municiple pool building down the pool facility we applied for an njdca small cities Grant which uh was awarded to us for $400,000 the next Capital project is the NJ do Municipal aid program reconstruction of be Beach Avenue the proposed work for this project includes the Milling of Paving of Beach Avenue from Spruce Avenue to Maryland Avenue uh the township applied for a municipal aid grant for this project they were awarded uh Grant in the amount of 8,190 the project area has been surveyed is currently being base mapped and once that's complete we'll be moving into design and getting that out to bid uh as quick as we can the next Capital project is the Town Bank Ada Improvement project so the proposed work for this project includes adding 10 Ada ramps to town bank section of North Cape May to improve pedestrian access to the Delaware Bay along Beach Drive so this project has been completed it was completed by Charles Marino and everything went well with the project and the ada8 ramps are installed the next Capital project is a lower Township ms4 compliance their proposed work includes assisting the Township in complying with their current ms4 storm water permit um we're overhauling the storm water master plan the storm water pollution prevention plan so we've been working with Gary Douglas on that and that's been coming along and we're nearing completion of that project the final Capital project is a resurfacing of Cardinal Avenue the proposed work includes milling and Paving Cardinal Avenue from Beach Avenue to Main Street surveyed is scheduled to be completed early next month and design will commence shortly thereafter thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions on any of those projects if you had any any questions no questions no i' have to say nice job yesterday the presentation to the open space board that that went really well I appreciate your effort on that yeah no problem excited nice chunk of change for us to to secure if that works out for us for to make that Park what it should be down at David Douglas Park along the canal yep very exciting project thanks Mike thanks will manager lafy you have anything else to add no sir all right thank you public comment anyone uh wishing to address Council please come to the podium and state your name and address I see none Council comment councilman Conrad I want to keep it short tonight just uh want to thank every so often we have to thank our Volunteers in this Township from our various boards to the coaches they're the ones that keep this Township moving other than that have a good night councilman Wen no comment at all councilman Roy to councilman Conrad's comments that thank public works for the job they did over the past few days with storm cleanup it was challenging because uh the cold weather which is still persistent and uh for the most part the township been cleared and is in safe condition so thank you very much on that thank you okay I will uh mayor Sipple will be presenting the annual state of the township address at our next meeting Monday February 3rd at 5:00 p.m. and just a reminder that the land auction for the property located at 9600 c viw will be held February 7th at 9:00 a.m. here at Town Hall and other than that go birds and is there a motion to adjourn I'll make a motion I'll second it all in favor all right