--------- like to call the meeting to order, please. Johanna, will you read the statement of compliance? The notice requirements of the open public meeting act for this meeting have been satisfied. A copy of the annual meeting notice was sent to the Atlantic City Press star ledger posted in the Bolton
board of the municipal building, the municipal website, and filed in the office of the municipal clerk. Please turn off all electronic devices. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Attention to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one
nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Johanna, please take the role. Mayor Collins here. Commissioner Blumbberg, I am here. Commissioner Horn, here. Is there a motion for the approval of the
April 17, 2024 regular and workshop meeting minutes? Motion. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. All right. We will now open up public comment for resolutions and ordinance adoption only
on tonight's agenda. If anyone has any comment on any of the items on the agenda, please step forward. Is there a motion to close public comment on resolutions and ordinance adoption? Motion. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner
Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. Johanna, will you proceed, please? May I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 10-2025, an ordinance amending chapter 257, vehicles and traffic of the code of
the city of Margate City, County of Atlantic State of New Jersey. Motion second. Mayor Collins, yes. Commissioner Blumbberg, yes. Commissioner Horn, yes. May I have a motion for the adoption of ordinance number
11-2025, an ordinance fixing the salaries and wages and compensation of certain officers and employees of the city of Margate City, county of Atlantic, New Jersey. Motion. Second.
Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg, yes. Commissioner Horn, yes. May I have a motion for the adoption of ordinance number [Music] 12-2025 bond ordinance providing for phase one of lead service line
replacement project of the city of Margate in the county of Atlantic New Jersey appropriating $3,600,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of up to
3,600,000 aggregate princip ible amount bonds or notes of the city of Margate County of Atlantic, New Jersey to finance the cost thereof. Motion second.
Mayor Collins, yes. Commissioner Blumbberg, yes. Commissioner Horn, yes. May I have a motion for the adoption of ordinance number 13-2025 bond ordinance appropriating 4,293,000 and authorizing the issuance
of 4,78,350 in bonds and notes of the city of Margate city for various capital improvements or purpose authorized to be undertaken by the city of Margate. city in the county of Atlantic, New Jersey.
Motion. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. May I have a motion for or for the adoption of ordinance number 142025 bond ordinance providing for various water and sewer utility capital
improvements in and by the city of Margate city in the county of Atlantic New Jersey appropriating $3 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of $3 million bonds or notes of the city for
Financing the cost thereof. Motion. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. May I have a motion for the adoption of resolution number 124 2025
authorizing bill payments and claims? Motion. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. I have a motion for the adoption of resolution 125
2025 authorizing addendum to Margate City Employees Association labor agreement January 1st 2025 through December 31st 2025 to add titles and salary schedule. Motion second.
Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. I have a motion for the adoption of resolution 126 2025, a resolution of the city of Margate County of Atlantic State
of New Jersey authorizing the filing of an application for a shortterm construction loan from the New Jersey I Bank under the construction finance program and authorizing the issuance of
a construction loan note in connection there with for the lead service line replacement project. Motion. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Commissioner Horn. Yes. May I
have a motion for the adoption of resolution number 127 2025. a resolution of the city of Margate and the county of Atlantic, New Jersey, determining the form and other
details of its note relating to the construction financing program of the New Jersey Water Bank to be issued in principal amount of up to 3,600,000 and providing for the issuance
and sale of such notes to New Jersey infra. infrastructure bank and authorizing the execution and delivery of such note by the city of Margate in favor of the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank. All pursuant to water bank cons
construction financing program of the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank. Motion second. Mayor Collins, yes. Commissioner Blumbberg, yes. Commissioner Horn, yes. May I have a motion for the consent
agenda? Motion to adopt resolutions number 128 2025 through resolution 132 2025. Motion second.
Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. All right. We will now open up to public comment. If anyone has any comment, please step forward. Stephen Alman, 9003 Amherst Avenue Market. Um, is there
any um program underway to get these handicap these doors handicapped accessible from the front of the building? They don't open. Thank you. Thank you very Thank you,
Steve. Is there a motion to close public comment? Motion. Second. Mayor Collins? Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg? Yes. Commissioner Horn? Yes. Uh Pat, I believe you still want
executive sessions. Is there Okay. At this time, may I have a motion to go into executive session? Motion. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. May I ask
everyone to step outside? You'll be invited back after. Johanna, can you let people know what we're discussing in the executive session? At this point, it is um contract negotiations. So, there was an update on my
Thank you. Ready? You're going to make a motion to come out of close session. We'll make that motion. Motion. Second it. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner
Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes. You've come out of close session. Purpose of the closed session was to negotiate possible new contract with our municipal administrator with new terms and conditions. I've been instructed to look into the matter and give advice to
the governing body and we will pick this up I presume at our next meeting. Thank you. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion. Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg. Yes. Commissioner Horn. Yes.
Thank you. Part: 2
like to call the meeting to order, please. Johanna, will you read the statement of compliance? The notice requirements of the open public meeting act for this meeting have been satisfied. A copy of the annual meeting notice was sent to the press of Atlantic City Star Ledger posted on the bulletin
board in the municipal building, the municipal website, and filed in the office of the municipal clerk. Please turn off all cell phones. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one
nation indivisible. Johanna, please take the role. Mayor Collins here. Commissioner Blumbber here. Commissioner Horn here. Welcome everybody. We will begin with our engineering report. Ed. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. Starting
out as always with our dredging program. No major update since our last meeting where we discussed uh dredge hole 86 and the state's um changing position on that. We are in the process of working um to identify potential alternate sites
and really the priority is to advance Shelter Island as our main site uh which has always been on a parallel track. So, we are in contact with the D there on Shelter Island to get um that project moving along. The Washington Avenue streetscape, we had our presentation at
the last meeting and I think um we had a really good um reaction to that in the sense that we're getting a lot of public feedback, not just from the meeting, but after the meeting. Um I had a meeting uh right before this meeting with a group of business owners down on Washington Avenue just to go over some of their
thoughts, concerns, things like that. um and to get some of their feedback on the plans. And I thought those types of things are helpful. You know, we do these public presentations not just to get the the on the spot feedback, but to kind of get the word out and and see what other kind of feedback comes back.
So, we're taking all that into account uh before we go out to bid and um you know, I'll keep everyone updated on any major, you know, improvements that we might make to the plan based on some of the public feedback that we're getting. So, I think that's a good thing. No update on the Amherst Avenue pump station project, which is through the
green acres diversion process. Uh the Winchester Avenue project for our 2024 state aid has been authorized for bidding by the DOT. So we will advertise that project for bids and I'll keep everybody posted on bid schedule. The 2024 road program
uh the design is in progress. It's kind of right behind the Winchester Avenue project. So that will be an upcoming authorization for bid. the lead service line replacement project phase one is working its way through the IBAN system and um we're just about on the finish
line to get their authorization to bid. We're working out some of the particulars on the funding package. So I'll be able to provide some additional information on that at the next meeting with some potent uh potential uh financial incentives that might come along with that funding. So stay tuned there. The public works building design
is substantially complete. We're going through a value engineering process now to identify any areas where we might be able to reduce construction costs and um once we're complete with that process, we can um take take a look at next steps to advance that project towards
construction. Turning the page over to item I is the Benton Avenue parking lot. That site plan uh is just just about complete. Um so once once we have that ready to go, we have to make a submission to the county and that is being um obviously will be in
conjunction with the demolition of the structures on that site which is later on down the report. The Atlantic Avenue bike lane painting project phase two has also been authorized by the DOT to go out to bid. So this will be a fall striping project. Item K is the next
phase of Atlantic Avenue which is in design the pickle ball court resurfacing project over at city hall. Um we're soliciting quotes. We're essentially in the process of soliciting quotes now. Um we believe that project come in under the bid threshold which will allow us to
implement that resurfacing faster. We need to go through the full bid process. That's good news and we should have quotes sometime next week. Item M is the storm water compliance uh work that we've been doing in coordination with D which is an ongoing process.
As I mentioned, the demolition of the building and canopy at the Ventner Avenue parking lot, the uh the quote solicitation is also in progress for that work, and once we have a contractor and a schedule, we can share that with
um the city. Uh we just submitted our 2025 CDBG grant application and we actually submitted that application to repair the deck at the Bloom Pavilion. So, I know there was a discussion at the last meeting about what we can do to
maybe expedite the repairs of that site and we took that into account and we applied for grant funding to help pay for that work. Um, so um hopefully we will hear back from the ACIA sometime in the near future and we can provide an update on that front. No update on our
pending grant for Mini Creek. Jumping down to our construction projects, you can see we've got a few projects left on our maintenance bond list that'll come up later in the summer. Um our project closeout list has been whittleled down to just two items. That's great news. That means we are closing out our
ongoing construction projects. The 23 um road program is in progress and there's a note here that I reported on last meeting which is um the work on Fremont Kenyon and Nassau will be completed by mid June and then there'll be a shutdown before they start work back up in the
fall to finish the road program. Uh Sigrim basketball court is going to start work next week. Uh so we're on schedule to complete that before our busy summer recreation season. The third low Avenue project,
which also includes some work on Fremont and Falton, um is on target to be completed sometime this month before Memorial Day. The 2024 curb gutter program is complete. We have just a punch list we're working through with the contractor. The municipal building
renovations are in progress. And also over at SIG Rim, we have two new projects which would be starting construction soon. That would be the walkway replacement project, which is on schedule to be completed um notes on the report here by June 23rd. And then the
restroom building project, which we just got a detailed schedule from the contractor and we're taking a look at that now just to make sure we're all on the same page logistically over at the cigarette complex. Great. Thank you. Mike, I have a couple of questions for sure. Um
the on Washington Avenue, we talked about you talked about the bike lane being two ways, although the street being one way. Um, number one, I guess we're legally allowed to do that. And number two, if
we can, can we consider that same um that same scenario for Amherst Avenue where we have the bike lane. So, we're able to do it because the bike lane, the two-way bike lane is going to be separated from the vehicular traffic by
the parking lane. So, there's a physical separation between the bike lane and the and the drive because I know we looked at this when we did the Amherst Avenue job whether or not we could do a two-way right um bike lane there and what what you can't do is have the bike lane going
in the opposite direction of the traffic. So that was the reason we can do it in this instance is because we have that parking lane separating the two-way bike. So you have the curve two-way bike lane parking drive lane park. Okay. Okay.
Ed and I spoke about that this week actually. There's actually almost a physical barrier between the two-way bike lane and traffic, right? We can't do that on Ammerst Avenue because there's no physical barrier for those cars that are parked along the bulkhead.
Okay. Okay. Um, second question, the uh item, pickle ball court resurfacing, tell me where that is. It's over at uh mun building. So, the municipal building. Well, People have been asking me what the plan is for the
area behind the tennis court building. Do you know that where we used to have the platform uh tennis and we took that down? What What are we doing there right now? That's I can Yeah. Yeah. So, that uh I believe as
part of the walkway it was going to be just repaved and then it's going to be storage for the rec department. Okay. Okay. And then um so are there going to be sheds or what are what are they I believe was it is there a shed in the
budget for that area Lisa recck department behind the tennis courts? I believe they had a shed. I have to check. I think they purchased a shed last year. So I could check tomorrow and let you know. Okay. Okay. Uh, and then
my my third question, Ed, is is there a preliminary budget for the repair of the decks at the Oh, there is. I don't have the number with me, but I can. Is it 100,000? Is it 500,000? Less than 100,000. It's less than 100, I believe.
So, but I don't I believe the quote I saw was I think it was one that Yeah, because we had we did a whole report on all that. Roger got some quotes. So I just I have a bunch of numbers in my head and it depends on how you parse it. But so is there any reason and maybe this is a
question for the business administrator and my fellow commissioners. Is there any reason why we have to wait for a grant and why we can't move forward with getting that work you know underway? Is the plan to do it with our own people with our own carpenters or to sub that
out? You can't discrete deck you got to replace the structural repair. Right. Right. Right. So that like there new canal lever beams that we need or everything. And and again the idea is then are do we have to wait for a grant or can we get
started with you know moving to get it done? You know we we spent a good deal of money not too long ago with Miami Summers for new patio doors there. I mean, so, you know, we should be able to I think we want to use it and I know the
people want to use it. I would just say we we applied for this grant. So, if we wanted if we want to use this grant, we don't first of all, we don't know if we're going to get the grant. We're applying for it. But if we wanted to, that would be on my end, the only waiting period would be to see if we get the grant. you start doing the work now
and pay for it. You're not cost but you know that's just from a grant. Okay, can you look into that? You want to try to get it on the
capital? I that would be I don't know if Mike and Kathy feel the same way, but I would think that we should try and do it. Yeah, I mean it's been on our capital list of on of potential projects um for the last two years.
I think we should try to That's all I have. Okay. Next item is discussion on municipal municipal property uh located it goes street to street cater to Benson um right off Amherst Avenue. Um, so just a little
background for the public. This is a lot that, um, there's a current lease with Scott Dock to use this lot for boat storage. Um, the lease, my understanding that I found out today, which was interesting, is that they've been using the lot for close to
70 years now. Um there was a lease prior um you know lease was formed prior to uh me being elected so I don't know the the history behind it but it is up for renewal at the end of May. So we've tasked our solicitor to try to come up
with terms of that and uh it was asked to to to be an item on on this agenda. So you know here we go discussing it. Um, you know, my belief is that we should, you know, keep keep releasing the lot to that the
tenant. I believe if they have a a good use, they are the only marina in town, bait and tackle shop, access to the bay, and I think they do serve the public and they give they are I mean, they are the only public access that we currently
have to our bay. I think uh it's serves us in best interest to continue that lease. We've been working with the owner to try to figure out some terms of that. Uh it's been a two-year lease. It's a two-year lease that just that is expiring at the end of May. Currently,
uh some of the things we've talked about with the owner are putting a fence surrounding the property. uh the owner has the adjacent property as well and has agreed, you know, in principle with certain terms of the lease that they would fence their property as well again
to to be better viewed by the public. And we're working on some other details and the solicitor is, you know, tasked with coming up with that lease agreement and trying to negotiate. So, that's where we stand. I don't know if you have anything you want to add, Scott. I certainly can add. Um, if I understood,
Mr. Blumber, you wanted us to look at this and I have um this we've had at least apparently the last one was prepared by the former city administrator uh and technically in my mind probably should have gone out to bid even though
it was a nominal amount uh even so I I think it should so Roger and I can probably prepare bid specs if you want to keep it on that basis however I do have a novel thought that in my mind. Perhaps an
agreement could be reached with Scotts. If you would be of a mind, and this is a workshop, so we can discuss these things. He's the last marina with a store there. When I was a kid, we had six of we had Scott Stocks, Rosellis,
Hannes, Spalding, Captain Andes, Anglers, Ruse. We also had the Margate Yach Club. There's only one place left now in Margate where you can take your grandson or granddaughter and rent a boat, take them out fishing, buy minnows, buy some books. And it's a very
tough business. I guess everybody realizes how much real estate values have gone up. You see it everywhere. Ocean City's lost most of their marinas. Uh Ventner had several ruby skulls. The guy right next to the Albany Avenue bridge are gone. We
keep losing. Uh, so we could create a bid. Of course, I guess somebody could compete with that bid and poss possibly out bid. I do understand there's might be some developers nearby that want that land gone. We can't sell that parcel
because we've got a well there and someday that well, I understand that is probably going to have to be replaced. Correct. And then you'll do it right there at that site. We build a new well adjacent to where the well is now. So the point is you can allow a third party
like a marina to use it for his storage for his boats which I think that's what they've been doing there for many years. Of course that whole block has changed. I remember it was all commercial and warehouses but now it's you know you get these expensive town town homes
residential development coming. So I would like to explore the possibility if if I get your agreement to perhaps enter into an agreement with him. So as long as that Scott Stocks Marina is there because it
to keep it there because it's an important recreational amenity. It's the last marina we've got. That's it. Then once this one goes they're gone forever. And it's it's it's I think it's very sad that we're losing these things. It's bad for the
community. And I think you under the public welfare can make that determination. I don't know, Raj, can you can you want to chime in on this or can I pick your brain a little bit? What are your thinking as purchasing agent or city administrator? How do you feel on
this or just bid it out? The right next door to this property is where he lives and he's using it as required in that zone a water related industry. He's storing boats on his
property and repairing and that was the overflow as a city lot for many many years. So again he's not selling goods and services out of that using it for storage. So he has zoning approval but that his I guess his workshop area is
immediately adjacent to this vacant lot. Vacant but for the well which is in a brick building. It was a house right from Sandy. I believe and I believe state law allows us not to go out to bid if it does serve a public
good. You know whether this property or because the might there might be something we can look into there because the access to the bay. We certainly look at it if you want me to. You have to tell me that that's you would like to explore that possibility. Either that or we create create bid specs, but it's
kind of odd. It's not quite a greenhouse situation. Remember the green acres said we'll create a bid. Yeah. I said, but it they have to have an adjacent restaurant with a liquor license. So, you know, so here what we do create bid specs, but you have to be an operating marina that
has rental boats. I mean, we could do that. Seems silly almost, but yes, we can do that. create that concept or go further a step further where it gives them a little bit stronger position and reassurance for
the future that that marine as long as it's a marina. We keep we keep this available vacant ground for that marina's use because I believe I'm pretty familiar with it. I I had a marina for years myself down there. I didn't have a
store. Um they have without this area I don't stays open very difficult. So, but I need some input from you guys. What do you think of that? Good for that, bad for
that. Anybody? Yeah, I mean I think if you can research both both ways, see what we legally can do and we will um at the same time I think we should continue the preparation and it well I yeah I believe
yes I am in favor of that measure yeah see what we can do we need to extend the lease uh good by me I I like the idea of us looking at terms of the lease cleaning up property and um
continuing to support our local business all right I got my direction that's good okay so All I have. All right. Appreciate it. Thank you. All right. We will now move to our department head reports. Mayor Armstrong.
Thank you, Mike. Uh we're eagerly uh getting ready for the summer season. Uh helping the beach patrol get ready for their uh season. We noticed uh there was quite a few swimmers out there. Please be careful. Spread the word. Uh swimming unattended before the lifeguard gets on.
Um I got to give a hats off to public works. The beach looks incredible, healthy, large, ready to go for the summer season. And last but not least, um we are excited uh that um Patty Gigerich won a statewide Valor Award for
her heroic efforts in the last year's um uh assistance uh for two individuals who were electrocuted. Um and she started the life savings uh efforts and they both survived. And she was awarded by
the state bower award and uh she's been awarded here also but it was just happened last week and I have printed copies I'll leave for over here if the public wants to see it it's a beautiful award that she was given and that's about it thank you Lisa
thank you good afternoon um not much to report this time I do have a question though I noticed at the uh sigfield uh the new sign was installed looks right on Amherst and Jerome. But I wasn't there used to be a sign that indicated
it was the Sig Rim facility and will that be replaced because I don't think there's anywhere at the facility that references you know former commissioner Seg Rim and you know it was a great honor bestowed upon him.
So I was just wondering if that's going to be replaced. It's a good question. I I can discuss with Andrew, see if we can get an answer on that. Okay. The only other thing I have is if the commissioners wanted to discuss um what Lucy is planning on
doing with the interpretive center and the cafe program. I did just to get you up to speed. Um I spent several hours over the last couple days as much as I could trying to research this program. For those of you who aren't aware, we
had a call the other day And you know, Lucy um intends on pursuing the construction of an interpretive center. And under the New Jersey EVA, there's a program called the CAFE program. It's
cultural arts foundation program um whereby they could apply if they have a project that serves cultural needs or the arts. Um and the minimum is $5 million. It's not a grant. I can tell you that. It's not a grant. I did start
to watch some of the um slideshow that was on their website. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a phone number to contact anyone. Uh and so far my understanding of it, how it would work is the reason they wanted to get the city involved and
mayor you could correct me if I'm wrong, is that they would not be able to realize any funding through this program until the construction phase is completed. So they're looking for a bridge loan in between, right? That during the
construction phase and then at the end of the construction phase, what happens is um they would have we we I think it would be the city or Lucy, that's one of the questions I have, would sell tax credits for like 85 cents on the dollar.
It's my understanding. So I have a lot of questions regarding that. I don't know if you want to discuss it further, but my first question is how much time do you want me to spend researching this? I did contact our financial advisor. He was not familiar with the
cafe program. He did have some experience in the past with another program dealing with tax credits. He said there's a lot involved with it. Um but he wasn't familiar with this. I reached out to our bond council. He was
not familiar with it and um I left sent an email to Leon and uh have not heard back from him yet. So, would you like me to continue researching this? Is it something the commission wants to pursue? Um because
there's a couple, you know, things for consideration because if we were to do this bridge loan, you know, we would still have to do a capital ordinance. We have to come up with a down payment. And if there's a loan or we're authorizing debt for $5 million,
um that's going to eat into the down payment that I had appropriated for other city capital items. So, I just want to make sure that you're aware of that. If you know, if we're doing something for $5 million, you need a $250,000 down payment out of our capital
improvement fund. And right now, I think there's um just over 500 or 600,000 available. And it me think because I don't know when you plan on moving forward with the DPW building and that's estimated at 10
million alone. So you would need the deposit for that. So I just need a little bit of direction um as to what you want me to do to move forward. Yeah, I mean I would say you know this should be discussion at our next capital
meeting to see you know where those numbers fall out, where the project falls. I know Lucy has always been on our capital list because of you know our commitment in principle to to contribute towards that project. Um and I believe this is basically just a
different way of doing it and us and Lucy the city and Lucy benefiting through this cafe program. So I think it's a great idea for us to pursue it. I think we just need to figure out the the numbers. Okay. Okay. And there is a deadline for them to submit the
application. So if you want to discuss it at capital, then I just suggest that um we hold a capital meeting soon for further discussion. In the meantime, you know, I'm trying to um obtain as much information as I can, but I've never dealt with a program with the tax
credits. Yeah. I mean, I I envision it being similar as if they just went and outright, you know, bid the project and constructed it where we would have to bond the Anyway, being that it's on city property and we own Lucy and we will own
the building. So, similar how we would had to bond the entire amount and then they would have had to reimburse us the funds they were contributing. I see this as basically just a different mechanism to get to the same right there. There might be an easier way to go about it. It's just
what I'm saying. I'm just a little apprehensive. If you sell these tax credits and I'm still not sell the tax credits for 85 cents on the dollar. Where is that difference coming from? Like is that Lucy's obligation? Is that part of the city contribution? You know,
there's a lot of little details, but um I'll keep researching it and provide the information for you. Um but I just need some direction. Thank you. Thank you. Sure. years ago in Ventner, we looked
into that having tax and there are companies there are professionals out there that do that for a living. That's really we need to do is find out the person that's familiar with dealing with that. I mean, you're our CFO. It's there's
people that that's how they make their living to do that. It's very very Yeah. Jim Ratella is is the one who brought the program to Lucy and to the city and he's very knowledgeable regarding it and um he said at our meeting that Apple is the largest purchaser in New Jersey of
tax credits. So it's usually these big corporations that purchase them um and there was no concern over being able to sell the tax credits. It's just a matter of again I think correct. Great. Thanks Scott chief. Thank you
mayor commissioners. I just have a few brief things. First of all, just a reminder to everybody on Sunday, May 4th is the Cherry Blossom Festival from 12 to 4. It will be a traffic detour on Betner Avenue starting at 8:00 a.m. It will break it down, you know, soon after
the the event's over. We will break it down, but it's a minor detour up to Atlantic Avenue down to Winchester or Mammoth. It's usually a great event. The NBA does a great job with it. The police department finished up our grant program last month of you text, you drive, you
pay. The end results for the month of April just for that program. Over 250 motor vehicle stops with 145 summones issued in that time frame, mostly for distracted driving. It's a good program that we have some grant money for. So again, it makes drivers aware that how
important it is to stay focused when you're driving and not be distracted. Last thing, police department traffic maintenance. We're starting our summer preparation. There's a lot of signage going up for our summer months. There's new signs that beach ends that include the new hours for for dogs on the beach
that we passed by ordinance, no smoking on the beach, our beach block signs, our painting of crosswalk. So, there'll be a lot of freshening up in the in the next month. So, it's a it's a busy time. That's all I have. Thank you, Chief. Mike, I I have one thing for the chief.
Chief, um, on the, uh, topic of signs, uh, is, do we have a good plan for signs for the Benson Avenue parking lot so that people that are driving this way and people that are driving that way
know that that they can park there? And my next question is, is that is that a free lot? Will that lot remain free or are we going to meter it or the new signs are on order? They will be up for Memorial Day weekend. We're waiting for them from the distributor. The parking
lot works the same way it's worked the last four years. It's a dollar per hour. Starting Memorial Day weekend by Memorial Day to the end of September. A dollar an hour up to 24 hours. I said it's been very successful over the years. So, we're going to continue that. Good. And and we have signs for both
corners. Yes, we'll have I I've ordered multiple signs. Good. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Roger. Thank you, mayor and commissioners. I guess you notice Morgate's second famous landmark is now demolished. It's the Burger House.
Um in this place is a mixed use with extensive commercial development. All residential offshoot parking requirements are being met and uh it was a nice looking project. Uh going to purchasing, we received bids
on the iced coffee on Tuesday. I'm going through the bids now. Looks like there's going to be just one responsive and that'll be on for the next approval to award contract at the next meeting. We're going to be receiving the bids for the ice cream on the beach next
Wednesday and hopefully at the same commission meeting will be able to award both contracts. That's pretty much it for now. Great. Thank you. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. Uh, the building department is seeing a surge in new permit applications and
people are eager to get their work done ahead of summer. I would like to urge our residents to please do your due diligence when hiring contractors. You can contact the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs to make sure they are licensed and insured.
And you could always contact our office to see if a permit is required for the work that you would like to do. Um, getting permits and getting your inspections is for your own protection. That's all I have. Thank you, mama Pat.
Good afternoon, Mayor Commissioner. Um, we finished up mulching all the city properties. We did about 140 yards of mulch the last few weeks. We got uh we add it and groomed the sand at the dog park. 25 tons of sand we put in there. a couple days ago. So, we got old American
flags up around town, opening up the fountains on the Parkway for the weekend. Uh flowers for the hanging baskets were delivered today. So, we'll have them up by next week. Uh started, you know, putting maps on the beach. So, we'll be doing that for the next month. We got six more bike racks that we can
put out around town. Also, uh this weekend, we got the city citywide yard sale with the cleanup on public works on Sunday. Sunday we also got the cherry blossom set up in the morning and take down in the afternoon and Saturday we got the paper shredding event from 9 to
12 city last Sunday we had over 200 vehicles it's getting busy um and also we have the date for the public works open house is going to be July 23rd 4 to 6 p.m. That's a Wednesday night or Wednesday afternoon and that's all I got. Thank you. Thanks Pat. I just
want to add we also uh public works hung the veteran banners this week along the parkway the program that was discussed over the last couple months. Um do you have exact number of banners? Was it 27? 27 banners. Um they look beautiful.
So I urge you all to to take a walk by and and see the accolades of all of all of our recognized veterans. So I will pass it on to you Scott. Yeah, I believe Jimmy Savia told me in World War II we lost eight residents of Margie died in
World War II for a little tiny town between 1941 and 45. Eight people killed in that war. Pretty basic. So those those banners are up. Um couple things. Argal Avenue, as you recall, we had a resolution accepting it. We have the
contract that's been going back and forth. the property owner apparently they felt felt the city would take over maintenance and repair of their bulkhead in the future that I don't think we would go for that we do want them to build the street and bulkhead the
contract is in their lawyer's hands we are awaiting finalization of that they have that also the Osborne Avenue beachfront and the planning board approved this subdivision we're moving forward I have the draft minor subdivision we are awaiting the county
planning board actually exemption of their subdivision so they can file their subdivision flat. We will then go to settlement transferring title to 1756 square ft. We will hold that deed in in escrow pending the bulkhead for both the
property and the street and at Osborne being replaced in total at the owner's uh expense. recall too that in addition to I believe it's 185 ft of bulkhead, we also get $226,000. So looking forward to that.
Last but not least, we were recently advised by our engineer Eddie uh regarding the state's change of heart regarding our use of the dredge hole uh off of Chelsea Avenue or not Chelsea off of Chelsea Heights. And
uh it's astounding to me that they've changed their mind because We've had meetings. We went to Trenton. They prepared an agreement for us. They quoted us in cubic yardage. And and it is far cheaper for us to hydraulically move dredge material uh by pipe water to
a hole than it would be say for instance barge it out or truck it out. So what I did is I went through my file and I made all you city officials, you know what, I didn't give it to you. I certainly want your input. So I will make sure I give it to you. But I gave everybody many of
the memos I had, the meetings we had with the both the DOT because they have jurisdiction over these duds as well as the D and the Army Corps and the newspaper articles and our memos uh because it was a real kick in the
stomach to be told that we couldn't use that one dredge hole. Now, of course, we have our fallback Shelder Island which we have an agreement with Banner. gave Roger that agreement that they had signed. We get to use half of that man-made dredge hole there which would accommodate our dredging needs uh and
also would help in restoration of wetland which I think is a pretty good goal to have. So I gave you a diagram of Shelder Island and I gave you a picture in the 20s of what it looked like before they dredged it out. I just want you guys to
to be familiar with what's going on. I also broke down the cubic yardage. Uh if we were to dredge all of our sites in Margate, we're looking about 260,000 cubic yards. If you go to six feet below low tide, if you go to only five feet below low tide, which I think is what
the D will only authorize, that drops it down to 186,000. So another step I I think at some point in time we should ask for a meeting. I'd like to know why after having All these meetings we spend a lot of money on
testing too for that put in. Why did they change their mind and can they change their mind again and perhaps let us use dual 90? But we have what 86 is is I get them confused. I get
them. So that's 86. We're 90. So 90 is shelter island which Margate owns half of even though it's in. So we have an agreement with vendor to put our material there if so it's disappointing that the state the D change their mind
and uh this has gone on five years now. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. They mandated that we do over two years of testing, different seasonal testing, which we've done. Yeah. I mean, that that was quite
a burden and we've done it. So, uh perhaps a meeting with D in the future, get our state officials involved or congressman or somebody to just arbitrarily say, "Oh, that 700,000 cubic yard hole off of Chelsea, you can you
can't use it." Although we said last year you could all have great thank you Scott Pat. Thank you. U not much more to say about everybody here as far as the reports go.
I've been involved in most of the items they mentioned. U one thing that was go was the public works building. Um I did take a tour of public works facilities and being a new guy around here to
the condition that some of those buildings properties are in possible liabilities that exist with those issues. I think it's probably definitely different than what they are
now, but I think it's for our public works folks and for our public works property. So more chances injuries issues like that
definitely lock in a try to improve that area. That's about just to add to that um as Pat said, you know, we had estimates for the public works building that probably started six, seven years ago. Um as we went through the design
process again, they came in uh in excess of $4 million more than what what those numbers were. We have applied for multiple grants recently to try to um either bridge that gap or um you know take the burden off that full amount so
that you know the the taxpayer doesn't have to have to handle the full amount. But it is a necessity and it's something if we don't address soon it's just going to become a a bigger problem. So we're looking into other options as well. So, Joanna, I went with Pat and Dan on
the tour and it was eye opening to say the least. Um, it's it's not in good shape by any means at all and it's just going to keep costing more. Yeah. And I would just add that we're so
the design team is in the process of going through the design now that we've arrived at, you know, a cost estimate and we're going through a value process with the architect to come up with different options on how we might be able to reduce cost. So once we have some options, we'll get to back together as a as a team and go over what those
options are and you know make sure we vet every possibility every alternative. That's that's the process we're going also if you reconfigure it, we might wind up with extra plan to do something else with.
Yeah. the the original plan for the public works building was once that was built, it would free up the location that currently has our carpenter and electrician shop um which is located directly across from the the lot we discussed earlier um that is leased to
Scottstock and we believe that would give the city an additional 30 to 40 uh public parking spaces in the Marina district which again would alleviate some of our problem and and that's a lot we already own. So the cost to improve that property would be minimal. So all part of a bigger plan, but um trying to
figure out the financial aspect right now. So Johanna, this Saturday is the rabies clinic at station one here at Washington and Benter Avenue. It's from 10 a.m. till
noon. You can also get your dog license if you're in need of a dog license. They're required and if you're using the dog park, you must have a Margate dog license. That's all. Thank you. All right. We will now open up to public
comment. So, if anyone has any comment for any items discussed in this meeting only, please step forward to the microphone. State your name and address. Janet McCarron, 8801 Amherst Avenue. In regards to the Scott, I got a little
confused by your ending. if you were going to bid it or just renew the lease. I'd like to say it's my understanding I own the property next to that city lot, 215 North Dec. Um, it's my understanding that I would be the only one able to bid
with because I'm within 200 feet. If I'm wrong, please correct me, but I don't think you should waste your time bidding it out. I think that you should renew the lease. The only thing I asked for was a fence if that could be somewhere in your thing. and otherwise I could
never have asked for a better neighbor for 27 years that I've been at 215 North Decator. Um I think he's instrumental in Margate and I think if you look out here over all these people are here to speak on his behalf. So I would definitely say
renew the lease under any terms that U3C thing and um just do it the right way. All right. Thank you. Thank you. So Jenna, just to just to clarify, if the city vacated the land, then the adjacent properties would have the right
to purchase in the the city can't vacate the land because we have a well there. So if it was an open bid, it would be open to to anyone that met the specifications. What Scott is was talking about is he's researching if there's a way legally within the state
guidelines because of the, you know, the public service and things like that that it it would not have to go out to bid. So that's what we tasked Scott with. Well, that's that's up to Scott to tell us. Yes. So, that's what Scott's gonna going to determine. He still has to check that
out. In the past, they did not bid it. They never did. I know that they didn't do that. Technically, but I was told they would. What? Technically, it looks like they probably should have unless you come up with a good ridd. That's what I'm Okay. But it for
this scenario, I don't think fitting is necessary. All right. I would just say renew the lease with whatever the city feels is correct and do it the right way. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Ray Scott. I'm the third
generation owner of Scott and super proud to say this is our 66 year in business and we are the oldest contin. Scott, you have to get that microphone up or it's not pick up. All right. I'll come down. Can you raise that? Uh,
I don't think so. No. But, um, yeah, just to reiterate what the kind words that, uh, Scott and Janet said, um, we provide a public service that I think is imperative to our town. And there were a lot of places doing this. I can attest
to Scott saying how hard of a business this is to be in. And I absolutely plan on continuing to provide the same service that family has been in a professional manner and being kind and courteous to our neighbors and I've been trying to clean the place up the best
that I can. I do most of the maintenance there myself and uh I don't know that the my family's ever asked anything of the city of Margate actually in our entire history of doing business here and that piece of property is imperative to my operation and I would really
appreciate a longer term lease because I plan on being here for the duration and my family's legacy. I'm very proud of it. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening everybody, Commissioner, Mayor. Uh I know most of you. Uh Pete
Brighter. I'm a longtime Margaret resident. Um just on behalf of Scott, um I got my first start in the marina business with his grandparents. Um I used to pester him so much after school going in uh to try to get some bait or
to go down and catch sea bass off of uh angller's roots and go back and get my picture taken with a string of p fish. Um but you know, it was never about the money. It was the kindness that they showed uh in in employing the local kids. Um Scott has done that now. He
employs not only our local children, but also helps out with some of the summer residents that come down with their their kids getting employment. Um it's a business that's more than just a marina. Uh it's an educational uh facility uh uh with wetland uh um knowledge and and
tours about birds and wildlife. Uh it's a turtle rehabilitation center. Um you know, it's one of the only ones I know that you can call at any time and and they'll hatch the uh the small turtles and uh to a point where they can put them back. Um I had the pleasure of
knowing his mother, Robin, who when she came and took over the business, she is like her son Scott was willing or unwilling to give the family business up. Um, you know, she took a risk of coming in and taking the business over after her her parents passed away. Uh,
and did everything in her power uh as a single woman to raise uh her her family and continue to keep that business as a as a big part of Margate um you know as far as employment and enjoyment and education. And now, uh, Scott has taken
that role, uh, pretty much, like he said, solely with his wife, um, at his side. Um, I think if it's an issue of maybe keeping the property a little bit cleaner, uh, and putting a fence, I promise you an army will show up, put a
fence up for you. Um, I know legality uh, issues. It would be defin to leave. I don't think that his property or I'm sorry, his business can survive without the use of that land.
And as you said already, Scott, I think uh 70 some six years that uh the city has helped this business maintain itself. Um you know, I I hope that there is not a legal reason it has to go up today because we all know uh you know,
there's a lot of money out there. Look at the houses going up. Look at the businesses. I'd hate to see some tycoon come in with idea what he could do on the lot and and take a business away. I think what you've all approved for or Amoris Avenue
uh to rejuvenate itself. We all know what it you know Barber Coast is alive and well and uh now it's not just a bar you know drinking town. It's it's new restaurants, it's businesses, it's fishing, recreational. Uh they teach
crabbing. They have canoes, kayaks, a boat, a new boat in his mother's name, uh to take multiple people out. So, without going on and on, uh again, I hope that you can all come to an understanding that that property is more than just a piece of paper. It's
it's a lifeline to that young man and the legacy that they built. Thanks, Pete. Michael, actually resport and also the Longport solicitor. I will not reiterate everything that was said. I agree with all of it. My son has worked there since
he was 15. Can you introduce yourself by name? Oh, Michael Aonado. Sorry. Thought I did. Um the only thing I would uh indicate to Scott um is in Longport we license to individuals um without obviously
a license agreement can have specifics in it regarding clean up of the property or required maintenance insurance and other that kind of thing. So something you might want to look at in terms of licensing the property rather than formally leasing it. I appreciate that and I I think that's you know if I get
the right direction here that's Yeah. So I I think that would be probably best served for everybody and u appreciate it. Thank you. Steve at Lancaster Avenue. Um I don't want to reiterate everything. Yeah, I do
want to reiterate everything, but um Scott Stock has has been such a valuable uh assistance to our environmental team. Uh I along from that I I do the osprey repairs. We have launched several osprey
nests off of his dock. Without his business, we wouldn't have anywhere that I know of that we can actually carry osprey nest out there to install back out there. We also I go out there to count the ospreys from the spledings in
the summertime and and his doc is absolutely essential for that. Uh Pete mentioned about the turtles that the rehabilitation that they have been doing for I don't know how long. Rob's been doing it I don't how long. Um it is a
good kayak launch. We've launched several environmental tool tour tours out there with kayaks and now that he has the captain Robin we hope to be able well we will be taking people out there to do environmental tours for education.
uh going going into the fall funfest, we have we host the wetlands wonderland over there. We've been doing that for about 10 years. Well, as long as Robin's been here. So, what Scott does is he takes all his equipment out of his
little yard that's right by the house and then he moves it across the street. And that's why it's essential. So, I think that these are legitimate reasons why he needs to hold on to that lot. Um Scott's been out there with the ducker. He puts his boat out there. We
we line out the course. It's very popular event. Um we have the flounder tournament going on there. We um about eight years ago I think we did the bait cleanup event. You may remember that is um this was an Absin Island event where
from Atlantic City all the way down to Longport we had staging areas and Scotch Dock was a major staging area where we pulled out about 15,000 pounds of trash from the bay which our towns all received um the governor's award for
that service that we did to the community. Um so that's with Scott. Now, um I do want to take a minute to talk about the cherry blossom festival. Environmental road is going to be out there and I'm happy to say that
um um the sustainable margate table stocks want to have a table out there for education for the marine sciences. Uh we have the watershed ambassador, clean ocean action, so soil conservation district, native plant society, butterfly funf facts,
earth plannings, uh busy bees, ACUA, master composter, surf rider and reform of part of the environment for this year. So um I definitely encourage I hope that we can just do a big
thing to thank you. Thank you, Steve. Steve Alman, 9003 Emper Avenue, Mark 8. Um, if memory serves me speak correctly, there is some uh planning for Washington
Avenue after the dredging occurs to put in a walk-in ramp where people want to put in kayaks or such boats. Am I correct in that? So my I'll say my vision is to once dredging occurs to
extend out the Washington Avenue pier have six to 10 transient boat slips and have a public kayak and paddle board launch there. But so that would be an access it would be additional access being next to each other would enhance that whole
area. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. Uh, good evening. Ed Burger, 9402 Ammerst Avenue. Wearing a couple of different hats tonight. I'm not going to guys really know how to screw up a preconceived speech. I mean, I had all these nice things I was going to say about Scots and everybody just beat me
to the punch tonight. But, uh, this business has been an integral part of everything the Margate Business Association has done for as long as I've been involved in it. And I can tell you that as a long-term volunteer for the city and for the businesses of the city,
it's very very gratifying to hear that uh everybody in Union is on the right track to try and help this business maintain what it needs to do in order to stay in business. I think Scott and Scott, his mom before him and his
grandfather before him earned the right for us to step a little bit a little bit higher to try and achieve what this business needs in order to continue being one of the last remaining threads of what
is very sitting in the back tonight very pleased with what I heard from everyone and also very pleased that so many people show up to speak on his behalf tonight to shift gears quickly cherry blossom is this weekend u remind
everybody of the very unusual but unusual but fabulous relationship ship that the business community has with the city of Margate. These events simply aren't possible without participation without participation of every single
department works department, police department, fire department, everybody who's involved in this and even city hall gets involved in this. We thank you very much. It is part of what builds the image of what is market and things like
cherry blossom, our funfestto all extraordinary events that are the unique selling proposition of the city are are only possible because of the relationship that that we have with you. So thank you very much for that.
Um uh one of the things that was mentioned earlier and I know that we talked about parking for one moment always a problem uh in our city. Uh very happy to see that the lot down by the bay has been opened up and that parking is going to be charged for that lot.
I've been a strong advocate for years that not only should parking be paid parking down on Amst Avenue. Pleased to see you're doing with the lot but would also like to remind everybody that the possibility generating more revenue by moving these parking meters also parking
systems into the business districts would serve the community very well. It would serve the businesses very well by forcing turnover of those spots. So, as we look forward to what we're going to do for a parking plan for I'd like to
advocate that as well. Uh thanks very much again for everybody's thoughts on what they're going to do for our oldest business in the city and many many years of taking my grandid over to see the turtles.
Thank you, Ed. I'm probably going to be the shortest of all, but I live at 9208 Amherst Avenue. We are permanent residents of the city of Margate, my wife and I. Would you please just state your name for the record? Scott Brown. Thank you. My wife
is Peggy Brown. We live directly across from Scott on the corner 9208. I go out my garage. I visually see the area under question. The man has done wonderful things. Even since his mother has
passed, the building has been repainted, fixed, and set up to be a masterpiece for the city. I witness it from January through
December. You have no idea what goes on over there. You just really just don't have any idea unless you visually see it. Every morning 6 7 o'lock in the morning jingle jingle jingle the front door rings. People are out there at the
break of dawn renting boats. I have never seen an argument. I have never seen any fisticuffs. I have never seen drunk people staggering out of there. And I just think it's a just
just a wonderful spot for the city. And I no issue living across from it. I have no issue walking out of my garage and looking at the area. And also Janet Janet's back there. She's been a wonderful neighbor to all
of us all these years. And I'm sure she's just trying to step forward now and do whatever she can to help Scott keep this piece of property. And I think that's what we're all here for. And I just want everybody to know as probably
the only visual resident here that can actually see what goes on every day, it's not a detriment to the city. I think it's a positive one and I think everybody has expressed that. So as a neighbor, I lay it to rest.
Thank you, Scott. Tony Tobaso Circle Margate city resident life former city employee. I certainly want to uh concur and agree with everybody for
all the wonderful things they said about I my family and their family go way back as very dear friends and um I just want to again agree with everybody and the
great things that have been said. Um but I want to just vouch for for Scott's character and determination to keep his family business going. He is
um filled with energy and so many good things to keep this thing going. And um if you go into the store, it is like from one year to the
next, it's just getting better and better and better. It serves all the people that fish and uh even retired firemen go hang out there in the summer. But um it's just a a wonderful wonderful business. I I want to vouch for his
character because he is I can't even say he's just doing such a great job and um and growing and maturing as a a business owner. Thank you for your time. Good to
see everybody. Thank you, Chief. I also love Scott Adams. Um my children love it. It's just the best. But what I want to talk about today, um I talked after the meeting last week about the Washington Avenue
here and I wondered if number one if you talked about public restrooms somewhere and number two having lived on the street We have trash every day to park at least
three trash all along here. Winter, summer, they stay there. They go to Wawa by their lunch and then they park there until the hour is up. And I wondered if something could be done, especially since we're going to
have bike lanes. And it's not only them, but there's a lot of landscapers on the back. And I'm concerned about the safety of it as well. And another reason 7509 Fremont. Not going to tell
you how great Scott is, but what I am going to say, the kids need this. My son was seventh grade when he started working for Scott. 5:00 in the morning. I'm waking up to make sure he's early for work. Jack's out the
door. Every day he's at work by six o'clock. Talking about a seventh and eighth grader. These kids are on the phones, on the computers. They want to go to work. Hands on stuff. This guy's essential to the
community. Please. I have to say it's Thank you. D year round market residence. Uh so after all the wonderful things about Scott uh and I've had very positive experiences I think maybe uh he should
be proclaimed a landmark or a a local gem or something because it seems that Scott is really essential to our community. Um and just personally I've had two wonderful experiences. I'm not a Fisher person uh but uh when I was
volunteering at the for sustainable margate. Uh I got to go out on the pontoon and release baby turtles which was really a beautiful experience. And another time I was biking I was on Lafayette Avenue and
there was a turtle uh on by the synagogue there on Lafayette on the concrete trying to get in the doors. Of course, the synagogue was locked, but um it was just stranded and I didn't know what to do. And I called Scott Stock because I had just met them Funfest and
he told me exactly what to do and I put the turtle in the basket of my bicycle and uh rode it down to the bay and released it. So, big res. So, yeah, I I hope that he gets his lease and I hope he gets to be a national landmark or a
gem of Thank you. can't be in this room and not say something. Janet Dugan Avenue and I'm a year round resident and my family has owned this property for 58 years. And I just want
to I just want to echo everybody. Come on. Like what more is there to say? This this this man, his family, his business is definitely, you know, what we need here to continue. And it's a lot that has a tank on it that you can't do a
darn thing with anyway. Come on. Let's just renew it. Scott, get it together. Get Let's sign those papers and let let this business keep going the way it needs to go. We all love and adore and appreciate him and his family's business. And it's been amazing. I too
am a patron there both for fishing, my kids, and for my boat storage and for everything that goes on. And there's never ever been an issue. ever heard a tainted word about the Bonner family ever. So, I just wanted to echo everybody and just say thank you for
your attention to this. Thank you. Right. Is there a motion to close public comment? Motion. I will second. Mayor Collins? Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg? Yes. Commissioner Horn? Yes. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion.
Second. Mayor Collins. Yes. Commissioner Blumbberg, yes. Commissioner Horn, yes. All right, we will take a two-minute break before we resume.