All right. All right, guys. Welcome to the meeting tonight. It's the Tuesday, May 13th meeting under provisions of NJSA 10-4-6. Notice that the time and place of this meeting was given by way of an
annual meeting notice to the Star Ledger, Courier News, and the Home News and posted at Burough Hall. Please stand for a salute to the flag. I pledge allegiance 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. Okay. All right. Roll call, please. Mayor Michichek, here. Council President Conn, here. Councilman K. Councilman Denza.
Councilman Dino here. Councilman Dodie here. Councilman Griggs. Administrator Will Place here and attorneys here. Okay, welcome everybody. It's nice to see we got a full house here. I have to say this is my favorite meeting of the
year every year cuz I don't have to make a presentation. Everyone else gets to do a lot of the work, especially the chief and the and the and the command staff. And every year, one of these comes out and has a list of a list of names on
there. and I couldn't be more proud of each and every one of them that they represent Middle Sex in the best light. So without further ado, Chief, thank you mayor. Good evening everyone police department's award presentation. It's both an honor and a
privilege to stand before you this important occasion to um recognize a moment where we look at the outstanding courage, service, and dedication of the men and women of our police department. I'd like to thank our mayor, Mayor Mlichek, Council President
Conahan, our police leazison, Kevin Dodie, the entire governing body, and our business administrator, Michael, for their continued support of the police department uh and our officers throughout the year. I'd also like to thank our residents and business partners. We're
truly grateful for your support. Before we start the awards ceremony, I'd like to introduce my command staff, Captain Greg Thomas, Lieutenant Thomas Carol, Lieutenant Thomas Paul, and Lieutenant James. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here and for all your help throughout
the year. This year, National Police Week is recognized in the United States from May 11th to May 17th. It first became observed in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy declared May 15th National Police Peace Officers
Day in the calendar of the week in which May 15th falls National Police Week. Yesterday, the police department held a ceremony in front of police headquarters, placing a wreath in front of our monument to commemorate police week and to
honor law enforcement officers from around the country who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their communities. The National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum support ceremonies to honor, remember, respect, and pay tribute to those who gave their lives in the line
of duty. Right now, as we as we're at our meeting in Washington, DC, they're holding the 37th annual candlelight vigil on the National Mall to honor 325 fallen officers whose names will be added to the
24,67 already engraved memorial. This week, we honor those 345 officers who sacrificed their lives to keep us all safe. Every day, our officers put on their uniforms. They step into the unknown and uphold the oath that they
swore to protect and serve our community with integrity, fairness, and courage. Today, we shine light on those among us who have gone above and beyond the call. To those receiving awards today, you've shown bravery in the face of
danger, compassion in moments of crisis, and a steadfast commitment to the safety and well-being of our citizens. Your actions reflect the very best in what it means to serve law enforcement. Some of you responded to emergencies where lives were at stake.
Others displayed leadership and calm under intense pressure. Whether it was saving a life, preventing tragedy, or showing extraordinary dedication over time, your efforts have not gone unnoticed. Let me be clear. It's not
only the high-profile moments that define bravery. Sometimes it's the quiet consistency, the daily commitment to excellence, the mentorship of new police officers, the strength to do the right thing when it's hard. That too is heroism.
To the families and the loved ones here today, thank you. Your support is the backbone that allows our officers to serve with such unwavering ability. We know that this job is not done alone and your sacrifices are seen
and deeply appreciated. As chief of police, I could not be more proud. You represent the heart and soul of this department and you remind us all why we chose this path. Tonight we gather to recognize our office for their actions between 2024
and 2025. Each year we begin the award ceremony as we join together in a moment of silence to recognize the police officers, firefighters, emergency service members, and military personnel
who have dedicated their time or paid the ultimate sacrifice to protecting our safety and our freedom. I would also like to recognize retired members of the Middle Sex Police Department who have served our community and since passed away. So, please join me in one of
the Thank you. All right. Now, on to awards. To start our awards presentation, I invite the following officers to join me at the lecture. Sergeant George Pleski, Officer Markio, Officer Anthony Paw, Officer
April, and Officer David. Okay. On Thursday, February 6th, 2025, at 9:07 p.m., Somerset County Communications received a call from Johnson area. Sergeant Jordan, officer Margar, Officer Henry Bjug,
Officer David responded to that scene. Officers, and first arrived, located an unresponsive patient with the passenger seed vehicle. Officer Wjinsky attempted to wait to the patient, but the sternum rub, but was unsuccessful. He determined
that the patient had ainal breathing and no pulse. Officer Aransio Wjinsky removed the patient from the vehicle and placed him onto the ground to begin life saving CPR. Sergeant, Officer Pain Shaw, Officer
Mando arrived on scene to assist and utilized and CPR continued with the officers on the roadside. After several minutes, elapsed and several cycles of CPR were performed. The patient was reassessed at which time the pulse was detected. The patient was
still unresponsive and officers transitioned from CPR to rescue breathing. As officers continued rescue breathing for several minutes, the patient slowly began to regain consciousness and became slightly responsive, opening his eyes and started talking. The officers placed the patient
in a recovery position and covered again with emergency lang comfortable. Rucker's basic life support at John Kennedy Medical Center advanced life support units arrived while he came to patient care. The patient was transported to Robert Johnson University Hospital in Summerville by ALS and BLS
and his family was notified. The life-saving substitution safely is awarded for an act which would disregard personal safety or prompt the action of life-saving measures equipment resulting
in one person to save their life. This is a great prize. I present Sergeant George Plesi, Officer Mark Anfield, Officer Anthony, Officer April Mando, and Officer David Ojinsky with the life-saving resuscitation in their prompt response and efforts. We honor
them to celebrate saving their life. Congratulations Deep. Next, I'd like to ask the following officers to join me at the lectern. Sergeant Jolene Ario, Sergeant George Bleski, Officer Scott Chrisites is not available tonight. He's only get
here. Officer Jamie Marzac and Officer Robert. On Monday, October 14th, 2024, the officer were dispatched to the area of Cedar Avenue railroad crossing for a report of a male lying on the rail tracks. New Jersey Transit employee
observed the mail and reported the incident. Somerset County Communications Dispatchers contacted New Jersey Transit Conrail um and requested approaching trains to stop. Sergeant Bleski's person arrived to the rear of 513 Lincoln Boulevard and obtained a visual of the
male along the New Jersey Transit track east of Sierra Avenue. At that time, Sergeant Pleski also observed eastbound New Jersey Transit train approaching. Sergeant Pleski motioned with his arms for the train to stop, which appeared to already be slowing. He then observed the
male lie down on the tracks. The male saw Sergeant Pleski stood up and began to walk away from him towards Sergeant continued to pursue the nail on foot. Sergeant, Officer Chris, Officer Marzac, and Officer Banger responded and
coordinated their efforts, closing the distance from both sides to provide assistance to Sergeant who was still actively pursuing the mail. Sergeant Ario and Officer Marzac entered the railroad tracks by foot while Officer Chris Dangler along
the rightway the patrol vehicles. Officer Chris and Zang were able to stop the mail along the railroad right away escorted to the scene. The mail was brought to the parking lot in Lincoln Park where Bel EMS responded, evaluated him and transported him to Robert Johnson University for medical and
psychological evaluations. The swift action and collective efforts of the officers and dispatchers reserve life prevented further injury or incident to the patient and those on approaching training. UN citation is awarded to the
distinguished team effort by all participating staff members showing initiative and accomplishment in the protection of life and property. I'm proud to present Sergeant Jolia Regio, Sergeant George Bleski, Officer Scott Pipes, Officer Jamie
Marzac, and Officer Robert Danger with Unit Citation Award. It's important to recognize that our officers repeatedly think and act quickly to work cooperatively or cooperatively to achieve positive outcomes. putting their own safety at risk. Keep up the
excellent work. Congratulations. All right, last but certainly not least, I'd like to ask Captain Thomas to join me lecture. It has been great pride and admiration that I take a moment to recognize an extraordinary achievement by one of our
own. Excuse me. Today we honor Captain Thompson for reaching a truly remarkable smile of 30 years of dedicated service to this department without taking a single day. The certificate of accommodation is awarded for the intelligent performance
of act material department's mission under adverse or unusual circumstances performed with special faithfulness and perseverance. Think about that for a moment. 30 years over three decades of unwavering presence reliability commitment rain or
shine challenges with calm taping Thomas has always been constant that kind of dedication rare speaks volumes about his character his work ethic and his sentence he's not only led by example
but he's done so with a consistency that inspires around This isn't just about perfect intent. It's about resilience, excuse me, responsibility, devotion, and mission to be better service. On behalf of the department, thank you, Captain Thomas.
You set a gold standard for us all that will be remembered by generations to come. We're honored to work alongside you. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Consky, not only for his accomplishment, but for his retirement. He's announced he's retired from police
department in a few short weeks on June 1st. Congratulations. Thank you. To conclude, I want to thank the mayor and council for giving an opportunity to hold our ceremony during this council meeting. Special thanks to our awards committee that was led by potential for reviewing and providing
recommendations for the ceremony. Congratulations to everyone who received awards tonight. your community is safer and stronger and better because of all of you walk. Thanks for your time and attention. So guys, before you all file out, if everyone else could you just
stand up for a second, I'd like to applaud these guys. You guys, they got awards. They didn't get awards. You guys did a great job. Guys, thank you very much. I'll tell you what, I we'll give you a minute or so to clear out for those of you that don't
want to stay for the fun. And congratulations. And I got to say all you guys that brought your kids, they're they're all great, chief. Good job. I appreciate you. Chief Long. Oh, really?
Not at all. Yeah. Show up later. Open. Open. Open. I hope. We got to like 25 minutes away. Oh no, we got all these bad boys here.
Good. And look at you guys. There's a lot between. You're going to do the older Americans. Sure. It makes sense to have the youngest. I think so.
You are is the representative you string. All right, guys. Are we ready? All right, guys. We're going to kick this back into gear. So, uh, right now we have, uh, hey, guys, appointments. We
have accepting the resignation of Mike Cunningham from the recreation committee. Motion. Motion. Second. All in favor? I. Okay. Next. accepting the resignation of Mark CR on the Cultural and Arts Committee. Motion second.
Second. All in favor? I Okay, couple of proclamations. Kevin, I'm first. You're first. Okay, let's do it. Easy. Just stay here. Okay. Proclamation National Police Week.
Whereas proclaimed by President John F. hitting in 1962. Congress and the President of the United States have designated May 15, 2025 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week.
And whereas there are approximately 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the Middle Sex Police Department. And whereas the members of our law enforcement agency of Middle Sex Burrow
play an essential role in safeguarding the rights and freedoms of our citizens, merchants, and visitors. And whereas over its 85 years and counting, our police department has grown to be a modern and wellrespected law enforcement
agency which unceasingly provides a vital public service. And whereas it is important for all citizens to know and understand the duties, responsibilities, hazards, and sacrifices of their law enforcement agency, and that members of
our law enforcement agency recognize their duty to serve the people by safeguarding life and property by protecting against violence and disorder, and by protecting the innocent against deception and the weak against oppression and exploitation.
And whereas the service and sacrifice of all officers killed in the line of duty will be honored during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial 37th annual candlelight vigil
on the evening of May 13th, 2025. Whereas US flags should be flown at half staff on May 15th for Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of all fallen officers and their families. Now
therefore, I, Jack Mikolichek, Mayor of Deborough Middle Sex, call upon our citizens and all patriotic, civic, and educational organizations to observe the week of May 11th to 17th, 2025 as
National Police Week, recognizing all law enforcement officers, past and present, who by their faithful and loyal devotion to their responsibilities, have rendered a dedicated service to their communities. I further call upon all civ citizens to
observe May 15th as peace officers memorial day to honor our law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice and service to their community or have been disabled in the performance of their duties and let us
recognize and pay respect to the survivors of our fallen heroes. Thank you. All right. All right. It's only fitting that we have uh Jeremiah take the next one. Uh thank you, sir. Pro uh
proclamation of older Americans month 2025. Whereas May is older Americans month, a time for us to recognize and honor Middle Sex Burough's older adults and their immense influence on every facet of American society. And whereas their wealth of life and experience and
wisdom, older adults guide our younger generations and carry forward the abundant cultural and stored knowledge. And whereas older Americans improve our communities through intergenerational relationships and community service, civic engagement, and
many other activities. And whereas communities benefit when people of all ages, abilities, backgrounds have the opportunity to participate and live independently independently. And whereas Middle Sex Bureau must ensure that older
Americans have the resources and support needed to stay involved in their communities, reflecting our commitment to inclusivity and connectedness. And now therefore, I Jack Migle, mayor of Middle Burough, do hereby proclaim May 2025 as older Americans month. This
year's theme is flip the script on Beijing. Emphasizes the profound impact of meaningful interactions and social connection on the well-being and health of older adults in our community. I call upon our residents to join me and recognize the contributions in our older citizens from promoting programs and
activities that foster connection, inclusion, and support for older adults dated May 13, 2020. Thank you. Okay. Uh the next thing is the the budget hearing. We have to open it up for public comment. Correct. Uh
yes. Do you I don't know if Carol would like to speak on it first or Well, I was need a motion. Motion. Second. All in favor? I I Okay. Uh just as a little precursor here, uh the budget to the best of my knowledge had zero changes
since when we introduced it. So it's exactly the same. There were no changes. Um this is right now. If you have comments that you want to make regarding the budget, please step up to the mic. This is our public hearing. Nobody. Um, I do want to say that as uh
Mr. Polich who's out uh gallivanting and watching Graham Parker tonight cuz he told me that um we did skin the cat and there was a lot of work that was put into this by all the departments and um I'd like to thank everybody for their
their participation in this process. It was pretty open. It went back and forth a bunch of times and we got down to the number that we wanted to get to and it wasn't too easy and I don't know how long we were going to be able to sustain it but we made a promise and uh I have
to say one of the toughest guys on that was uh was Mike Conahan. He was hellbent on on getting there and we went a few few rounds and we did get there and um that's all I have to say. Last chance on the public
uh public comments. Anybody? Motion to close the public comments. Second. All in favor? I. Okay. Okay. We have resolution 127-2025 is the resolution to adopt a
2025 municipal budget. Motion. Second. Second. Okay. We got any comments? Uh if you want to make sure. Yeah. So, I'm um this is the second year in a row where the um administration like there's been issues with like communication with budget and issuing
budget and who speaks to to the council up here. So, I just want to ensure the following year Councilman Dodie and it was because of Councilman Conahan and Counciloman Dod's um positions and their explaining of things that I will move forward. Obviously, I'll throw my vote, but I think the communication really
needs to be cleaned up and therefore we can put our best foot forward in communication and that's on us up here, right, to make sure that this information happens. That's not on any way a reflection of the of um department heads or well certain staff heads, but
it's like um you know, we just need to get that forward. But I want to thank the council president for his diligence and you know I agree he did very well and councilman Dodie and councilman entertained me as well but that was very you know that was over other stuff but it was mainly these two that did their
dealerships and I trust what they're doing and I think that's important to note but we do need to work on department communication for this for next year. So, so nice. And you too, mayor. I apologize. Thank you for
Joe. I just want to thank Carolyn for all the work. She really uh went out of her way to make sure everything was signed. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay. Call the role. Council
President Carneahan. Yes. Councilman Korns. Yes. Councilman Denza? Yes. Councilman Dino? Yes. And Councilman Dodie? Yes. All right. So moved. Uh Carolyn, congratulations. Thank you. Okay.
Okay. For ordinances for introduction tonight, we have ordinance number 2162-25 and the ordinance vacating Aubry Place and a portion of Hail Place. Motion. Second. Second. All right. All in favor? I I need a roll call, right? Sorry. Roll call. Council President
Conan. Yes. Councilman K. Yes. Councilman Denza. Yes. Councilman Deino now. Yes. And Councilman Dodie. Yes. The hearing is May 27th. The hearing is May 27th. Have a Jimny Cricket with you. I love that. Okay. All right. Next. Okay.
For final adoption, we have ordinance number 2149-25, an ordinance amending chapter 332-41 and 332-52 of the municipal code regarding sewers. Okay. Uh at this point, we're going to open it up for public comment. U need a motion. Motion.
Sir. Second. All right. All in favor? I I Okay. Very good. Okay. The We are now open. I guess we have a uh a taker. A taker. Absolutely.
This is honor. Uh Sharon Schuler, 19 Charlotte Drive, also a member of the board of education. Although I do not speak for the board, I speak for myself. Is there a reason for the change to remove the public schools from the sore ordinance? At this time, we're trying to
be more consistent with all the towns that are around this. It's pretty much this is what everybody does. Uh we're we're looking at every single thing that we have, you know, to try and see what we could do to just keep the the pot right. And that that that's one that's
been sticking out there. and that maybe the timing isn't the best, but it's it's when you're looking at trying to get everything in line, this this is something that popped up. We weren't able to get it in line for the budget this year, but we figure we could start now so we can keep these things moving
along. So, when should the public school expect to be paying the two if it's not in this budget? Well, the budget's one thing and actually when it gets passed, uh, we still need to, um, we have the resolution. We
originally we talked about it. I think we were looking at the third quarter. It would start, you know, start uh, was it July 1st through the end of the year? So part of
our part of the school board's budget that we were unaware that we were paying until this ordinance came out. Okay. I mean I did make mention to it earlier that this is something that we were looking to do. I understand but it was
an exclusion that a prior council specifically wrote into it um for a lot of v variety of reasons. So, I just wanted to be sure that this whole council was sure that this is what they
wanted to do because the money although it makes you you skin the cat, but now it just moves it from the taxpayer paying it under your budget versus paying it under my budget. That's true. That's true. I mean, there's still the same money. Are we here as a the school
representative or because I can I can work with you. we can talk and do it as your leazison. whatever you need to do and I'll gladly well yeah whatever you need information wise I mean I have been going back and forth with Robera we're trying to coordinate a meeting to get everybody because the whole shared
service thing there's the shared service agreement is out of line so we're trying to get we're trying to tighten everything up because it's it was a little loosey goosey and you know when we started this year there was a lot of well that's the way we always done it and now well if it's not in writing we're not going to well we're going to
make sure we have it all in writing. Okay. All right. All right. Thank you. Anybody else? All right. Motion to close. Motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I. Okay.
Motion to approve. Motion. Second. Okay. Uh, any discussion? Joe, I have a concern and in reading the ordinance, it looks to me like all nonprofits are now um should be paying
sewer tax. It excludes the the way I read it, only municipal buildings are excluded from paying sewer tax, which means the
churches, the American Legion, the Elks would all be paying a short tax. I didn't interpret it that way, but we could take a a closer look at it just to make sure because I don't think that was the intent at this point. That's if you
read it says everything but municipal buildings. I don't have a problem with that. No. Make sure that we're all on the same right. Well, if like I said, if that's the way I interpreted that they were they were not. We can amend it, too. I
mean, if if we'll we'll check the language and if we have to amend it, we'll amend it. But that was the intent. The intent was was the schools were on all the nonprofits, which is basically what everybody else around us is doing. That's what we're trying to do.
All right. Okay. Anyone else? Call the RO. Council President Conahan. Yes. Councilman K. Yes. Council Denza. Yes. Councilman Dino. Yes. And Councilman Dodie? Yes. Okay. So moved. All right. Next one. We have ordinance number
2150-25 and the ordinance amending chapter 80. the police department section 80-9 qualifications of the municipal code of the bureau of Middle Sex to amend the age of eligibility to 18 years old. Okay. I'd like to make a motion to open the public hearing part.
Second. All in favor? I I Anyone wishing to step forward on this? Seeing no one wants to Seeing no one wants to step forward. Uh motion to close. Motion. Second. All right. All in favor? I. Okay. Motion to approve.
Motion. Second. Okay. Anyone comments? Just this puts us in line with the state. Yeah. With the state of New Jersey. We're just using their their number 21. Yep. Yep. Yep. All right. Anyone else?
All right. Call the role, please. Council President Conahan. Yes. Councilman Korn. Yes. Councilman Denza. Yes. Councilman Dino. Yes. Councilman Dodie. Yes. All right. Very good. Okay. Uh, next ordinance, please. Yeah. 21. Ordinance number 2151-25, an ordinance amending
chapter 375, taxation of the municipal code of the bureau of Middle Sex to create a new article 6 entitled exemption policy for disabled veterans and surviving spouses. Okay. Motion. Second. All in favor? I. All right. Anyone wishing to step forward and
comment on this? This is just pretty much a title change, right? Like this doesn't change anything else to the veterans benefits. No. No. The uh actually what it did was this is the one that uh waved the fees for like
construction and stuff like that. Okay. All right. Um the public meeting is now open. Does anyone have anything to say on this? No. Okay. Motion to close. Second. All in favor? I. All right. Motion to
approve. Motion. Second. Second. Any discussion, guys? All right. Call the RO, please. Council President Conham, yes. Councilman Kors, yes. Councilman Denza, yes. Councilman Dino, yes. Councilman Dodie, yes.
Okay. All right. Very good. Adoption of minutes, please. Have approval of the April 22nd, 2025 regular and executive meeting minutes. Motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I Okay. All right. Here we go. Let's move down to the
uh mayor's report. Okay. I got a few few quick things here. Um congratulations on the volunteer fair. I thought it was well organized. Uh the tent was out there. Looked good.
That was a great purchase. I think we're going to get a lot of use out of that. That's the one there. Second one, budget. Thank you. I said it a couple of times already. One more time. Can't hurt Caroline because the Thank you very much. And it was it was it's well done.
And it comes right at the same time right after the the annual audit, which which also had it had one point that was so minor that's there every year. And it's something that's 100% out of your control. Got to love it. I mean, it makes our life a lot easier and it puts
us way at the zero the zero risk for anything popping up in a forensic audit if someone decides that they think we need one, which is why we don't need one. All right, railroad tracks. Who's been over the railroad tracks later lately? Have
anyone seen the ballards that are there? Every day. Every day. Let's put it this way. You got to have a you need to retake your driver's test if you you're having a problem going through there right now. It's kind of like a shoot almost. You go straight through and you
and and you come out on the other side. All right, moving on. The second meeting of uh Victor Kra seemed to go well. You know, um there's there's more and more input coming along all the time. Um I know there's been a lot of background work. I know uh Lenny's been been
working with a lot of the people. you're going to see that he's been in touch with the D, EPA, all the rest of that stuff. The work that he is doing on the lake itself isn't changing the lake. It's maintenance and we're and we're allowed to do it and it's okay. And I
still want to get to D to let us open the gate to see if it even works. You know, that's one of those. All right, one last thing. There's been a lot of press about H IKEA. IKEA, however you
say that. 172 Bland. All right. Um, we've had quite a lot of action over there. We were We had the the fire marshall was there last Monday. They were issued 29 violations. We had a site visit with um
I think everybody in their cousin was there. We had the fire department there. We had the police department there. We had uh Somerset County Health. We had Middle Sex County Health. We have the DPW there. Um, we had the D there and I know I'm missing somebody. Oh, the board
of health for Somerset and Middle Sex. And we went through basically and took a look at everything. They were nice enough to let us do that. I want to let people know a couple of things. Uh, first of all, it was eye opening for me just to get a chance to go through there
and see exactly what it is that they are doing and everything else. I I was able to go online and some of the things that have been said is that we have been doing nothing with this location and there's nothing. Well, what they have, just so you know,
is that they have a thing called a LSRP. All right? And what an LSRP is is a licensed site remediation professional. What they do is that it's an experienced private sector environmental professional that is
licensed by the state of New Jersey and hired by the responsible parties which is Hika to direct and oversee environmental investigations and remedial actions in New Jersey in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. All right. The LSRP often
can expedite the remediation process which typically was not possible prior to the creation of the LSRP program. Basically, uh I found this on online. The reason I know about that they these exist all right is that I have to deal
with that in my own job under under SIR which is SR the responsible parties which is IKEA are required to hire an LSRP to oversee and direct the necessary site remediation activities including conducting the
required investigation and completing appropriate remedial actions in accordance with the applicable regulations. There's a whole rest of the commercial over here, but basically what it comes down to is that that property since
20 21 has had a case with it. All right? and the case that that's involved with it involves specifically it's there's there's there's a number of items that are with it, but for those of us especially those of us that are on the environmental commission that are
sitting back there, it really has to do with that gully in the back. And the term that they used for it is um that's on my other piece of paper, but they here we go. Sorry. It's it's a drainage swell is what they what what
they call it. All right. And just so you know, if you go online in the state of New Jersey, right? And you do a little poking around and unfortunately for those of us that don't come and just like to stand up and talk about things, if you know what you're looking for, you
can find this. All right? And this is directly off the state of New Jersey website. The initial evaluation was conducted on 3 of 22. The date the remediation was required to be initiated was 3:24 of
2021. The LSRP was identified in 8:31 of 2022. Um the remedial investigation is slated to be completed. This is the investigation on 323 of 2026. So they are well underway and
there's a process for this. So expect unless they have some type of spill or some other environmental issue happening, this is a process that that has to run now until completion. The
remedial action is due to be complete. The regulatory time frame is 3:23 of 2027. The mandatory time frame is 3:23 of 2029. What that basically means that they got till
2029, you know, they'll have to go for an extension, but before it becomes problematic to them, they have till that period of time to get this done. All right, that that is part of what happens
with this. So, at this point, you know, we've had a lot of agencies out there gone back and forth. I was contacted by their lawyer and their and their LSRP to go through this because frankly the more and more we if you can send people over
there all the time but if you're sending them there on a wild goose chase becomes inter it becomes contr to their ongoing oper operations. Basically it's costing them them money because we're being a pain in the rear end which is okay. We can do that. that we can be a pain, but
we have to have a valid cause for going. That's what this really comes down to. And what we have is we have a history of people making complaints but not filing charges. And all that starts adding up and they're saying, "Well, what do you have?" We have one summon on the noise
side. And that was issued by our police department a couple of weeks ago. So, I'm just And I'm not trying to throw this out there as a warning. I'm not trying to uh trying to get us there, but we have to be careful about what we do. We want these people not to go out of business. I you see it online. We want
these guys out. Listen, we don't want them out because if they're out, who do you think's getting stuck with the bill? We don't want them out. We want them to comply. So, we want them to do what they're supposed to do to get, you know, back into compliance. Now, a couple of
people put things out there that say D, call this number, call that number. You know what? That's actually not a bad thing. That's a good thing. You see something that's wrong, you call, they come. That's what winds up happening on the noise side. The noise side is
handled. Now, we just talked about the state. The noise side is handled by the county and it's between Somerset County and Middle Sex County and they've actually Somerset County gave me this community noise enforcement. Now, Bob
Bob Sher is actually working on trying to find a way that we can have something that has a little bit of teeth in it that we can we can go back at him. But the bottom line is as far as what's going on right now, if they make a loud noise, you can you can call the police
on it, which you can do, but if you come there, you have to be ready. Cuz if the cops are there and they don't hear nothing, they can't just put it through based on your word. you have to file the complaint. And that and I'm saying this for everyone out there in TV land over
there. That's what this is for. Because I think they're, you know, what they're telling us is that they're earnest into being into compliance. That's that that may be true, that may not be true. Our next steps that we have here is that we did talk to their LSRP. Michael and I met
with them or at a at a Zoom meeting with them last night and we basically and I threw it out there. I said, "Listen, noise huge." I said, "Every time you do something, someone's going to call. Guaranteed." So, you got to find a way, figure a way, take care of it. He says
he's going to send in an application to get the noise taken care of. I hope he does because it's not going to go away. It has to it has to get more more and more into compliance. Um, they say that they have air permits and they're in
compliance. One of the things that we are going to look looking to do, which I hate that term, is we have Nagarians, our environmental lawyer. We have a box full of stuff. We're going to let them take a quick cruise through it use, you know, with Lenny and stuff like that.
Just make sure that what they have is applicable to what they're doing and what what comes out of there. As far as the stack, they say they had a stack test. I asked about that, whether they did or whether they didn't or whether they're still in compliance. Maybe they
are, maybe they're not. That's why we have to go through the air permits. That's why we're going to work with our with Narian and those guys just to make sure everything is right. We got to take I mean, we're past the he said, she said, the documents got to got to lead
us. They're going to lead us to a conclusion one way, but at the end of the day, we want compliance. And that's what we're going to that's what we're working to achieve. And it's not fast, but I could tell you that they're about six steps into this and then like I said,
they have to continue their way through that. And if they start missing things, then we have then we have recourse. But right now, as long as they're they're doing what they are and are doing well testing and all the rest of this and the LSRP, see LSRP works for the
state and reports to the state and that's where their license comes from. So they're obligated by law to do the right thing. So, as long as the LSRP is signing off on this stuff and there and it's an independent firm, it's not, you
know, we know who they are. They they gave me a documentation on it. It's a company called Brocker Environmental Services from Fork River. Uh the LSRP is a Christine Salvatore who we spoke with.
As long as they're they're saying that we're in comp they're in compliance and they're moving towards achieving their goals, that's that's what we have. That's that's where we're at. And we have to allow them to operate their business. However, I'm going to say this
one more time. If they if you see a spill, if you see a sheen, if you see something that's not right, call. It becomes a case. It goes to the state and that's how it gets handled. I mean, we're doing what we can do here, but
we're limited by the fact that this is now a state function and it's under their guidance. So, that's that's kind of all I have to to say on that one. And uh that's my report. Oh, and one last
thing. Uh we do have an executive session tonight. We are talking one of the things that's happening here is that we are going to be you know moving forward on our quest to hire a full-time um code enforcer zoning officer. This
this is more or less a department reorganization. Um it's not a reflection on anybody that works there. It's just the fact that we realize that we need more time with somebody looking at things in the field as well as the paperwork end of it to get these things
pushed through because the paperwork end to me is where we're really behind and that's where we need the emphasis. All right. Um and it's and it's a full-time position. That's what we're looking to hire. Okay. That's all I have to say. Uh
Mike. Uh thanks, Mayor. So, a very special thank you goes to all the uh burough volunteers and our burough staff who helped make the second annual volunteer fair a huge success. It was back on May 3rd. Um, thank you to the
over we we actually had over 600 burrow residents who attended the event. None of this could have happened without the exceptional leadership and the coordination of Barbara Benson. She spearheaded the fair once again. Uh, additional thanks goes to Barbara's Fair
Committee, uh, which includes Lee Pandal, uh, library director Chrissy George, and also Sergeant Jolene Orio. Thanks to Lenny for your, uh, your team. Not only did they do the setup, they did the cleanup. Uh, the committee received a
donation of 18 gift cards from local restaurants and from Superfood totaling $845. Uh these were all used as door prizes. Refreshments were also donated. They were all donated. Uh that includes from
Superfood Elleries and Dunkin Donuts West, which is near Monger School. Uh thank you again to everybody. Congratulations to all the police department award recipients. I know they all left. Congratulations to Captain Craig um on his upcoming retirement.
Uh, I am very happy to announce that the Middle Sex Library local history room will be opening on Monday, June 16th at 6 PM. Uh, there will be a gathering in the library community room starting at 6 and it'll highlight the process and the
details about the room and it's open for everybody to attend. Our next Middle Sex Pillar will be longtime library board volunteer Beverly Weber. She'll be presented that award at our next meeting here on May 27th. All the presentations and
documents shared at last week's uh Victor Kra Park meeting were posted on the burough website on May the 8th. So, they're all up. Uh Councilman K and myself asked Telly's from TK1 Solutions uh for a quote to make live streaming
council meetings a reality. Uh the quote is for $4,418. Uh that includes all the equipment needed, um the live uh the setup, the laptop, everything. And uh we can live stream
council meetings in this room. Uh I asked Carolyn to add this amount to our capital budget for this summer's votes. Uh two last things. I have two things to get consensus on tonight. Uh first of which attorney Kini has
successfully prepared our our lease for the uh rescue squad. Um I'm sorry for the rec center which is owned by the rescue squad. We all discussed this probably a month ago in executive session. Councilman Dodie and I have we actually received it re reviewed it. It
mirrors everything we discussed collectively in that executive session. along those lines. Also, Lenny looked at it, made sure which they're responsible for, everything is good. Paragraph seven. Yep. So, Lenny chimed in as well um from stuff we've
done there for the building. Uh so, I' I I would now like for attorney Corsini to send it over to the rescue squad's attorney. Um if you guys all agree. So, do we have a consensus? Yep. All right. You got it. Good. Okay. Number two,
Middle Sex Elks reached out and would like our permission for them to host a car show in the back of Mountain View Park, preferably in the Flying Field. The dude is the proposed date is June the 29th from 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. The
last time they did this was 2018. Uh they want to make this their biggest fundraiser for the year and they they are desperate to raise money. If yes, they will apply for both the social affairs permit and I I may be leaving a permit out here, but Linda will keep me
honest, an assembly permit, they will work with the police department, recreation, DPW, uh the board of health, which includes the county, and I'm I'm assuming the clerk's office as well, for all the required inspections.
Uh they plan on getting some uh food trucks or even cooking their own food for sale depending on what what you know uh what they can pull together. They will also plan to sell both adult and non- adult beverages. They will comply with all of our rules and requirements
and they just need our permission to get the process started. Well, it's the process. There's two questions, right? One's the process and one is do we want to allow them to have alcoholic beverages there? Right. Um my two cents is I think we should
we've had uh the Elks they do the winter wonderland festival they've done we stopped doing the food truck festival for those couple of years our food truck festival had the elks as well selling beers and selzers uh the winter the bonfire just passed what when whatever
that was December January day and community day which again is not happening this year but so so they over the last two or three years they've they've sold beverages at all of our events. The only question I have, Mike, is probably way to answer is is that area going to be okay in June stating
area? Are we going to be staging there for I guess it could be in the other parking lot. Again, it's just one of one of the two. Yeah, I think the flying field's always always a good option. I guess Glenn, would that be uh when June
29th? They would. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, just one of the questions I have is is is, you know, are we allowed to do it because this event is not our event, it's their event. And mayor, in addition to that, I think
Lenny's trying to be flexible as always, but we do have a lot of construction happening through the starting of summer mountain. Not to say we couldn't handle this, but it might be a little complicated time. I think they'd be better off in the parking lot where the tennis courts are. I think because you're going to be
staging more in the flying field, aren't you? Yes. And the parking lot, right? Obviously, the back of the park is it's either or, right? Um I think it's uh they've done it before in 2018. I'm not sure. They
didn't have out. Yeah. So, I guess the question is Chris, are we allowed to do that? like are we is it different because it's not our event? You'd be surprised how often I get this question. Um depends on how your event ordinance is written. We can go to the videotape
here, so to speak. Um and uh yeah, I'm dealing with the same issue now simultaneously in a different town and it is not allowed in that town. But it really is at your discretion as you put it in the ordinance. And I'm got being caught a little cold here because I didn't have
the uh the uh ordinance up. I can get you want to move on to your next item. I will look and give you advice. All right. Well, we'll we'll come back to that service in the outside of the alcohol. Let's deal with everything else. Everything else I don't have a problem with. It's just whether are we
allowed to do the alcohol. My only concern is bathrooms. And Lenny said when as of now they'll be done. As of right now, there's a lot of restrooms in the contract right now.
um with running. So worst case they they can rent port they're going to have to rent if they if they they can't get them they're not done because we've done all of our events in the last two or three years our bathrooms have been Is it charitable? Are they a charitable organization? 501c3
and that's what C8 which is fraternal but they they help other causes. Yes. Then that's good with me. They're helping other causes which helps out residents which helps the burrow. Yeah, they actually they actually put us together
and actually on the bottom it says proceeds for community activities. They do obviously a lot of you issue under the um use of hang on guys. One one meeting at a time. So, so basically we don't know whether the ordinance says we could do
allow it. Okay. We have to have because there's permitting provision under the use of parks, but you're saying social affairs as well. It would be I would like time to research this, mayor. This is the first time hearing of it in fairness to me. So, let's just let it
go. Can we get this organized by the next meeting? Yeah. Thank you. All right. So, Linda Lind and I will confer. No one knows more than Linda. Um, as I say, get you an answer in a day by tomorrow, let's say. Um, but I want to get you the right answer and I there's a parks permit
here. There's a permit. All right. So, the the event So, the event itself, you guys don't have a problem with I just want to get out. Everything but the booze. Okay. Right now, everybody and possible conflict with construction
where we are, you know. Well, you might have to change the location a little bit. Just shuffle it around. Would it be? It's just bathroom. Unfortunately, now construction is only the bathroom. There's no playground construction. It may not even be the bathroom right now. Okay. That's why. Okay. But but the
playground obviously that's also I mean the old time they want to do they are they're not very Yeah. They don't they haven't just I'd rather you have them have the budget for John. Right. Okay. We could do that. But let me ask
you a question. Is say the construction goes bad. Is there another park we could use? Cook field. Cook field. You could use What about Shimch or Hstick? Oh, that's Parking is a problem. Cook I would just say Cook would be I would limit it to Cook right
want over to parking back parking lot here maybe. I don't know as far as alcohol. There's no booze. Yeah. Well, at listen, all we could do tell them at this point is this is what
we're up against. I mean, it's not that we don't want to do it, but you got to let them know is that hey, this could all go bad. You know, we look at the playground. We're expecting that to be done. Yeah. Okay. I mean, so as far as construction, when it's bathrooms only,
possibly. Possibly. Possibly. Okay. If it's if it's done here, people go walk over to the house. Yeah. I was going to say, too, Too bad they couldn't. So, they out. Yeah. They don't have big
enough parking lot parking. They don't have big enough parking lot to do it in their own place. So listen 120 cars. Yeah, but if you put 30 cars in there and then people are coming. I don't know. They could Well, you know what? At this point, we're okay with it, but they got to know they got
to know the alcohol and there's a question of construction. They could do it at home. If you get a couple more weeks of rain, um we're going to be supposed to rain all next week. Yeah. Either that or push it back. Yeah. Do it in the fall. Do it in the fall. All
right. So, all right. What else you got, Mike? That's it. That's it. Okay. Next, I think is Councilman KS. Um, speaking of the volunteers, um, speaking of the volunteer fair, which again, thank you for everyone who ran that, especially Miss Benson, amazing, and everyone who
helped um, clean up and take down. Uh, we got six applications for the film commission. I'm currently rewriting the ordinance to my ability before I pass it on to Mr. Forchini to to incorporate a threeperson
um commission with two alternates of five in total. Um then we'll move forward from there. Um for the seniors, the senior messenger came out uh from May for June. Appointments are necessary at the senior center. If you need help,
something that's beyond your normal, you can stop by, make an appointment. We have P AAD or senior gold pattern gold are state funed programs that are eligible for seniors and individuals with disabilities to save money on their prescription drugs costs. Um they have try out for ukulele trips to Point
Pleasant. Um in honor of older American month it's a disco groove celebration. So the get ready to flip the script on Asian with the groovy disco scene celebration for older Americans month. Break out all the bell bottoms and celebrate the Asian beans. Stand
vibrant, bold, and full of life. It's time to show the world that no matter how many years we dance through, we've still got the moves. You talking about and you are handsome and a smooth mover. Enjoy the music, the entertainment, and
giveaways. Register May 16th, $10 a person. Um, I'm guessing you're going to be attending a A R P driver. He's trying to find his bell bottom.
You wear B bottoms, I will get them. I promise you. Ground for sculpture. Senior farmers market neutral and nutrition program. The ST um senior farmers market nutrition program. The STEK, the SPTEC workshop where it's um
smart driver tech. It's a 90-minute workshop operating an interactive way to stay up to date with your latest safety technology and your current current and future car and how to use all the knick-knacks and patty wax and bells and whistles that go with your vehicle. Um, Hunter Hills presents Swing. Um, classic
games come to life and interactive musical, so you can go check out a musical in your bell bottoms. May 2025 calendar is in there, the June 2025's calendar. pick up a copy. Um, it looks like they had an amazing time out
at Duke's Farm Orchid Range and they went to a geology museum. That's amazing. Um, um, I would like to thank Mr. Kron for all his leadership for the culture and arts committees. Um, he was awesome where he can be awesome and he's greatly
appreciated for all the time he's given to the burrow. So, thank you, Mr. Kron. And Mr. Shaw will be taking over um, as chairman. Um he and this Sunday which due to a few issues going on but this Sunday there is a color and flower festival um where you'll bring your
families check it's um if I was a good councilman I would have the flyer open but I do not but um it's going to be on the it's going to be on the calendar we'll forward it to the you know you're from Middle Sex and other pages to get it out there but it's this Sunday 12 to 3 to throw colors plant flowers do all
bunch of cool stuff um film commission And I'm good. Done. Yeah, I'm good. All right, Councilman Desenza, we have a recreation report. Um, baseball, softball, uh, highly
successful, 129 registered with 11 teams. That's good. Um, May 30th, the Somerset Patriots game is sold out. Uh, 110 tickets, but they think they might be able to get more. If anybody still
wants to go, please contact the director. She will try to get more tickets, but uh sold out. Good things. Um Memorial Day parade coming up on the 26th. They're looking for marches, classic cars, and convertibles.
Um I have offered my wife's uh red buggy. I don't know if you would like to ride in it. You're more than welcome to uh to ride it or you can walk, whatever you'd like to do. That'll be a game day decision. How's that? Yeah, if it's raining. If it's raining,
I'm in the car. Yeah, exactly. Right. Uh, hometown hero banners, uh, closed. We have 30 and they will be up for the July 4th holiday. Thank you. All right.
Okay. um had a meeting today with uh the Middle Sex County uh SWAT SWL. Yeah. The not much going on. I guess there'll be paper shredding
tomorrow or I'm sorry, Friday at the scattering at their offices. So, we have paper we want to shred. Uh tonnage grants were received on time. I guess you did that to you. We were very happy with
that. Um the grants and the M MCUA grants will be uh awarded tomorrow and uh that's about it. Right. Thank you, Councilman Dino. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, wait. I do have one other at the
uh meeting at for recreation point came up and it's uh I know our administrator answered it has to do with the park and the green acres funding. One of our residents asked if
courts five and six could be set aside just for Middle Sex residents, and you can't do that because they're Green Acres funds. But they also complained and maybe we can get to the police because we have the dog park
there. People let their dogs out of the cars and they un unleashed walk over to the park and they're doing their business on the tennis courts and in the parking lot and they're not picking it up. So, and we have like four or five
stations there with bags, garbage pales, and everything else, but it's just they said the courts are getting to be there. You can't even play on them. So, uh, maybe we could ask and I'm I'm assuming probably like dinner time after dinner is probably when this is happening.
People take take their dogs out for a little walk at night, take them down the park. No idea. So, I have not gotten one complaint. Okay. Any of that? I have not. I know when I used to when I used to bring my dog to I
think the resident's concern was they are allowing the dog to also run around in there. I know my when I used to bring my dog to the dog park I would open the door and she knew where the dog park was. She would walk right. Yeah. No, they walk there but on their way they do
they make a deposit. Yeah. in and resent if nobody is in the tasks. I've seen residents and I'm not there's nobody in there. Why say something? Right. But I have they have never let their dog
in there and use a bath. I've never had to clean anything. My guys have never had to. Okay. You just tell me what reported it. Yeah. Just Yeah. Just wait for your attention. Michael, do you want to Thank you, Mayor. I just want to councilman, I'll mention that to the chief of police as well. Maybe we can do
some, you know, a little more keep an eyes on the thing. I think one thing that's confusing that's kind of related to this problem is that our parks are technically open dusk to dawn to dusk yet we have lighted courts and people are there at night. So, we're going to
have to I think about how to clarify what the park and yeah, what's going on. I think it's a little confusing. Good point. Okay. You good, Joe? Yep. Bobby? Yeah. I just want to mention we're talking about
the bathrooms and in the park. I don't know if everyone's aware, but I spoke to Lenny today. We're having an issue with the contractor that we hired to do the work in the park. He didn't put his bond up. He's the only guy who applied, right, who put a bid in L. Yes, sir. He hasn't put his his bond money up. So, we
have to release him. So, now we're back at square one. We don't have a contractor. So what what does that what does that entail? Do you have to go copy Chris on the email? They have received a legal letter from Remington and Bernie. Um Remington and Bernard's
recommendation is to if they don't comply within that date, Chris, I think you um we can now release them and we would have to go out to bid again. Yep. Um Remington and Bernie is confident that we would get somebody else. They have a couple contractors that are willing to
take on the job. So, um, but what about time frame? Yeah, it would cost us no extra money built into that whole bid plan from RV and time frame. They could still look to get it done in that time period. Our issue is is the bathroom, right, Carol? Because we have to have
that bathroom on so I've never was that you got to take delivery of it, right? We discussed this. So it actually has to be delivered. Well, the demolition and the delivery are two separate things. The company that is prefabricating the
bathroom is fine. We're not having any issues with them and they are on schedule to deliver it by the end of this month. So it's a fine line between this is all tied up in a grant and the grant project is you know both it is
delivered but it's not hooked up. Are we are we far enough through the project to be considered by the grant that you know we've done it. We've taken delivery of the bathroom. Let's just hope we can keep pushing along and that we get this
job opportunity, but we're keeping an eye on it. Yeah. Keep our good faith effort moving. Get another contractor. Okay. I've never struggled to get a bid like a a bond like this from I mean, how long have you been chasing the land? I've had some a lot of red flags. Six
weeks, two months. Yes. I personally called at least once a week. It is red flags when I have personal conversations with them. nickel and dime for what they're making on this project which is a substantial amount of money which I think it was over bid. They were the
only one I'm not sure anyone has struggled the way we struggled on this new project. Correct. Correct. It's years. Yeah. Correct. Yeah. I mean RV has really worked hard on this. Am I getting emails? I get emails from Priscilla every other day. You're on. So
you guys are on this bit for right now? We are. Okay. We'll work on that. All right. Okay. Um, a couple things. Milling and paving of Burough Hall in South Lincoln tomorrow possibly, weather permitting. So, we're
close tomorrow, Thursday, and paving Friday, weather peritting. I mean, the worst case next week. Supposed to rain all week. So, Army Cor, they call me, they visit today. It's supposed to be clear Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday maybe. So, maybe two days
for South. So if paving gets pushed, it'll be Monday, but milling will begin tomorrow on both. Okay. Some other things, the tree farm irrigation has been installed. Um not operational yet, but we're closing. Uh also, Lenny has a meeting tomorrow at
Middle Sex County in reference to the one-armed bandit recycling. So that's we're moving forward there. Also, we're milling a pavement first, Second, and Senica in the next couple weeks. They're finishing the concrete work now. The sidewalks and
I'm I'm sorry, the curbs and garden buddy. So, uh talking about the rain. The parks department is behind on grass cutting because of the rain. Also losing a few guys, some of the part- timerrs. Now we have full-timers doing it and we're
getting back to situation we were years ago. I think it moving forward, we have to raise the to pay for those part- timerrs. Then we know no one's staying for that little bit of money. Then we have something we can think about next year. Okay. Or you guys can think about it next year.
[Laughter] Wow. There's the handoff right there. As far as the road department, they rebuilt 10 basins. They're continuing log splitting. Um they used the boat at the lake for two weeks prior to the storm.
Um six tons of black top for potholes. Um 78 street sign have been repaired or replaced throughout town. Um for Jub the May 14th meeting was cancelled. Next meeting is the 28th. We have two applications. So we the last two meetings have been cancelceled
applications but we have two coming up in uh on the 28th. Um environmental thanks to Lenny for coordinating with coordinating with Claire pick up the rain barrels from our wershed ambassador. On May 10th, the environmental commission was involved in
the Greenbook Park cleanup. And now they also have a poster contest, the benefit of trees. This is encourage residents of Middle Sex to plant trees. Submissions for this are due May 31st. The information is on the website.
Um there's a green team meeting on May 19th at 7 p.m. and our next environmental meeting is the 20th at 7 p.m. That's all I have there. All right. Thank you, Councilman Dodie. Sure. Tonight for me, uh, just the fire
report. I think everybody's got it. It's in the packet. Um, for April 29 calls, there were 12 alarm system activations last month that are unintentional. Um, for the year, I was
just looking at some of the percentages. That's 25.4 of their calls where they just go for basically a false alarm. Uh they had four motor vehicle accidents with injur in injuries, one with none. They had one mulch fire, one cooking
fire. There was confined to the container and one building fire. Uh chief sent over a little synopsis of some stuff that went on the 20th. Um a resident of Mountain
Avenue reported to car motor vehicle collision in the front of 715 Mountain Avenue. one driver trapped. Um, Chief Showman showed up. He confirmed one driver was trapped and would need to be ex extricated. Engine
821 and rescue 82 arrived and they simultaneously they began to assess the scene. Firefighters and Bound Brook EMS began patient care and they were able to get him out and he was sent to the hospital from there. Uh, April 22nd,
there are multiple 911 callers reported a motor vehicle accident with an overturned motor vehicle at the intersection of Union Avenue and Orchard. The driver of the overturned vehicle, they were out uh by the time they got there. Uh, the fire department units arrived on the scene, secured the
hazard, and assisted the police with that one. Uh the 25th, he said they were dispatched to mutual aid into southbound Brook for two structures on fire on Lincoln Street. 80
821, which is Lincoln, responded and assisted with fire suppression and overhaul of both structures for just under two and a half hours before being released back to the burrow. That's all he gave for the highlights for the month. Couple of little things. Enough.
Yep. All right. And uh Councilman Griggs, as you all know, is under the weather. He was going to gut it out and come here, but I figured we didn't need the plague, so it was better that he would stay home. All right, administrator's report. Thank you,
Mayor. Good evening, everyone. Uh, regarding the 2025 budget, I would just like to thank our CFO, Carolyn Benson, for her hard work and dedication and the entire management team on a job well done. Uh it is a challenging budget year
and there will be more of them but we are moving in the right direction. Uh I attended the the uh wonderful uh national police week ceremony on Monday, Monday morning. So I want to thank the uh Middle Sex Police Department for the invitation and and for including me in
that. Uh also I want to note the volunteer fair was a big hit and I have to say the tent was genius. I think it was one of our best moves. We're going to get a lot of use out of it. It was great for that for that day. Uh let's see here. As the mayor noted, uh there
was an impressive turnout at the second public uh participation event for the Victor Cra Park master plan, and that was Tuesday, May 6th. I want to thank recreation and public works for making the uh annex building and the park such
a workable and attractive site for the meeting. I think everyone was very impressed. Uh the council president mentioned about the new local history room and that'll begin again June 16th at 6 o'clock in the community room. We're all looking forward to that. Uh keeping up with the
considerable rain this month. Public works sites been working really hard getting grass cut, mulching, and doing all kinds of maintenance and beautifification projects in our parks and around the burrow. The gazebo at Mountain De Park, for instance, now sports flags and bunting and is already
for Memorial Day. Uh we expect that the South Lincoln Avenue that South Lincoln Avenue will be open to traffic very soon following the successful testing of the floodgates, relocation of utilities and then the paving of the street. This project area
and the paving of Burough Hall's parking lot are both scheduled for this week as was mentioned and with weather forces that it'll be next week. Um, just wanted to mention uh for the record, zoning and code enforcement officer Tyler Grenell resigned from the
burrow effective last Wednesday, May 7th, and the process of selecting a replacement um for what is now a full-time position is underway. Uh, resolutions this evening include authorization for changing the status of certain properties under the senior citizen and disabled person tax
deductions provision. That's a mouthful. authorization for the submission of an application to the New Jersey Department of Transportation's 2025 Transportation Alternatives Program, which is known as TAP. And this would be for continuing our streetscape improvements along Route
28. Authorization for the mayor to accept the proposal from Njarian Associates to create an environmental resources inventory for the burrow. We are looking for authorization for the appointment of my my NCOs um as alternative deputy registar
effective immediately and to accept the resignation of police captain com effective June 1 of this year. The agenda workshop this evening will involve a discussion of invasive species and amendments to both towing and
massage ordinance. In executive session, executive session this evening, there will be a personnel discussion involving the reorganization and staffing of zoning and code enforcement. That's it. All
right, let's move on. Privilege of the floor. Let's open a I need a motion. Second. Second. All in favor? All right. Anyone wishing to uh step [Music] up 160 Faragate Avenue. I just want to
publicly thank Lenny and his uh DPW staff for taking care of half stick and thank you Lenny for giving back to me prop time. I'm here also tonight regarding the burrow tree in front of 150 Farragut Avenue. As I mentioned
approximately two months ago, I was here regarding tree branches that are falling down and they're falling on the art of property and on on the street and also cars. I I was um told that somebody will get back to me. I have not heard
anything from the barrel and even up to the other day branches are falling on my windshield, car vehicles and the lawn and public streets. So I picked up branches on my property as well as the public street. Is there any uh
resolvement for that matter? Well, off the top of my head, Bob, I don't know. I would have to check with the Shade Tree Commission because that's obviously where the where that would have would have wound up. What was that? I believe almost two months ago would come back. 150 Farragate. It was 150
Farragate. They were in front of 150 Farragut Avenue. The tree is actually a fruit, like I said, in the roadway. You can see three holes at the base of the tree. And I was advised by the uh the owner of 150 Barriot that at least three
to four times tree pruning was taking place. Well, I don't know what the cost is per for per for per for per for per for per for per for per for per for per for per for per for per time they they came out there but they're still constantly coming down branches are either half inch to 38 coming down they're not small branches so I don't it
looks like the live tree now there is dead branches that are up there and people always walk that far avenue going to state park and there's a lot of younger people with strollers younger younger kids that they play all kinds of
soccer games and baseball And I think it's not only it's a it's a it's a nuisance problem and as well it's a public safety problem about one of those branches they're going to hurt somebody and also damaging property and
also vehicles on my yard and also have one. Okay. Somebody can please back. Absolutely. We guess that someone on the shade tree commission will get back to him. Shade tree. Bob. Yeah.
I'm not sure. But I have to look. Okay. Do you have this information? Um, I can. Okay. Anyone else? Quite a break. All right. Motion to
close. Second. Second. All in favor? I. Okay. Linda, we have resolution 128205, acceptance of standing reports. Resolution 1292025, authorizing the release of a reverber provision in a deed to the middle to the Middle Sex
Presbyterian Church located at 1190 Mountain Avenue. Resolution 132025 approving a block party to the residents of 300 Green Avenue on June 7th, 2025. Resolution 131,2025, acknowledging the change in status for certain properties under the senior citizens disabled
person veterans tax deductions block 153, lot 28. Resolution 132, 2022, acknowledging the change in status for certain properties under the senior citizens disabled person's tax deductions for block 187, lot 44.01. Resolution 133 2025, accepting the
resignation of Tyler Grenell of Hampton, New Jersey, the part-time director of code enforcement and zoning effective May 7, 2025. Resolution 134,2025 authorizing the submission of an application to the New Jersey Department of Transportation's 2025 transportation alternatives set aside program TAP for
the route 28 streetscape and pedestrian safety improvement project. Resolution 135 2025 authorizing the mayor to accept the proposal from Narian and Associates for the creation of an environmental resource inventory. Resolution 136205
appointing Miami Casino's alternate deputy register of an annual sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal sal salary of $50,500 effective immediately resolution 137205 requesting permission for the dedication by rider for commodity resale system trust fund resolution 138205
authorizing the purchase of pole banner brackets decorative banners and holiday decor from holiday outdoor decor in the amount of $55,969.19 resolution 139 9, 2025, accepting the retirement of Captain Craig Kovsky from the police department effective June 1, 2025. Resolution 140,
2025, hiring Carlos Gonzalez Martinez of Hillsboro, New Jersey, and Benjamin Peron of Middle Sex, New Jersey as permanent part-time sanitation employees in the Department of Public Works, effective May 14, 2025. We need to Okay, the last one pulled. The last one
pulled. Okay. 140 138 you said for me. Okay. 138. And I was going to pull 138 also. So we're good. Okay. Got it. All right. So any discussion on the other ones? Yeah. 137. Is that typically that we don't pay the
taxes on the gas diesel? No, that's getting money. What? So that's um basically saying that the dedication by writer and the trust funds is saying that the money we collect from the town we build for using the gas pump is then
used to pay the bills according to it. So it's not it's not using taxpayer money. It's a revolver. Yeah. Okay. It's like a sweep account basically. Just want to make sure. Okay. Um I need motion second to approve
all the rest of them. No discussion. Please. Roll call. Council President Conian. Yes. Councilman Korn. Yes. Councilman Denza. Yes. Councilman Dino. Yes. Councilman Dodie. Yes. Okay. Okay. Very good. Resolution uh 138. Resolution
138 2025. Um we need a motion. Motion. Motion. Second. Second. Okay. I just want to uh this is money left over from the streetscape. Yep. So, we're using this for the polls, for the whole county, and and some Christmas
decoration. If you if you don't use it, you lose it. It's grant money. No, it's it's it's a smart use and it's going to really good. It's good. Listen, it's it's it's perfect. Why let it go? Why let it go
and get nothing for it when it's free? Middle sex will be a winter wonderland. Let's not get crazy. Yeah, I could live without the snow. All right. Um, anything else? That's it. Okay. Uh, roll call, please. Council President Conahan. Yes. Councilman KS.
Yes. Councilman Denza. Yes. Councilman Dina. And Councilman Dodie. Yes. Okay. Resolution 140. I need a motion. Second. Second. I know the reason why we all do. Someone has to recuse themselves. So,
roll call, please. Council President Cons. Councilman Korn. Councilman Denza, yes. Councilman Dino, yes. Councilman Dodie, recusing myself. Okay. All right. Let's move down. Non-consent agenda. I have resolution 141,2025, pay of claims.
Motion. Second. Second. Any discussion? Call the role, please. Council President Klean. Councilman K. Councilman Denza. Yes. Council Dino. Yes. And Councilman Dodie? Yes. All right. Good. Agenda workshop item
number one. an invasive species. Who's taking us through this? Well, it's just a matter I mean, I don't know if Clare wants to speak on it also, but we need to see we need these points. If we're going to create this ordinance, whether we're going to enforce it or not, this needs to be we get points for our for
the environmental for our green for our sustainable New Jersey, which in turn will help us get grant money down the road. So, I don't know how far we want to get or how we want to get with this, but we either need to create this ordinance or move on. I mean, we can't
just keep talking about this. Well, the the the issue is is that it's pretty widespread. And I mean, it's it's you're you'd have to enforce it for stuff that people can readily buy. No, you can just go to Home Depot and buy these things, you know, and how do you
how do you enforce I mean, and I don't know. That's where I always get hung up is why have a rule if you can't enforce it, you know? So, cuz I mean, we got we got a bunch of these things that we know of and it's like, you know, what are you going to do? Well, we looked into the bamboo since and Chris asked whether we
should do that or not. There's not been one summon issue since inception, right? And do we But how much do we have a lot of bamboo in town? Yeah. I see there is more than one publicly. I I know the administrator I asked to look
into this. Yeah. Actually, I came across in in um as acting zoning and code enforcement officer. I came across some correspondence where our our um recent code enforcement officer had
been working with a resident who had bamboo. They had to spend several thousand dollars to contain and and mediate the bamboo. and this neighbor was worried because his neighbor has some some bamboo. So, I saw some correspondence. So, I guess outside of doing a court summons, our our
enforcement officer was working with some in this case a resident on containing the bamboo in this person's yard. That was the only case I've heard of. But, well, you want to know that. I mean, but do we have a lot of it in town? Bamboo? I know we got that one
part in Victor Crowd. Yeah. on our one of our parks. That's I don't know the people that have been here long want to comment on that. You want to Can we ask I mean Claire and Mike, they're both here from the Environmental Commission. Yeah. If they want to if you guys want to come up and just make some
general comments or answer questions or both. I think they're the experts. We're We're and Claire, maybe it's new buildings, new approvals for commercial property we can take care of. I know that a new building or or even
new homes. New homes. But there's been other commercial places that have put in hundreds of invasive species. How much is Lenny going to have to spend to get that out that bamboo? And it's just going to other problems will arise if we
don't take care of something now. So like if we're going to keep allowing to be planned, it's going to cause problems and more money down the road. I Okay. And I'm not I understand that when someone's putting up a house, they have to have a site plan. and they have to, you know, they have drawings and they
got to plan according to the drawings and all the rest of that. But what happens with Bob Edwards goes out and he buys a hibiscus or something like that that that's on your endangered list or whatever and he doesn't know any better.
He just buys it, puts it in, looks lovely, and now all of a sudden, do you enforce that? Do you let it go? What do you do? Well, it would have been nice to have something to be able to work force for a commercial property when they put in like over 300 burning bushes because our woods are pretty clean of that right
now, but in 10 years they're going to be invasive everywhere. The burning bush. Yeah. Any invasive species is going to spread. It just doesn't. Isn't the church loaded with them things?
Yeah. But but I'm saying so I mean at this point Claire I mean are we better off just sitting there and saying look we want an ordinance that if it's there it's there but anything that's that's going to be built that has a site plan that they're not allowed to put them in
that. Yes we can do that I know for things that come well you do you don't ignore him you do in the jail you do it in the jail condition of approval. Yes. Well, yeah. It could be amend site plan guidelines, right? We're not looking for the plant police to go out to all our
neighborhoods and check to see what species you have. That's not the purpose of this. This is the purpose of the future. We have to take care of environmental issues for our kids and our grandchildren. We can't just keep on going on the way we are. I've said it
many times and I'll say it again. This community is environmentally brain fit. There's people who speak about the tree ordinance. Well, how can you even conceive that? We've been tearing down trees with the flood plane project,
which I don't oppose, but more trees are being torn down that are being planted. Trees have a benefit. The the major reason with this added spec invasive species u ordinance is for the future.
people who have invasive species in their residence right now I don't think we can do anything with but it's for future building future planning landscapers all over know now that a lot of commissions are taking up this new
ordinance um and they know not to plant certain species even the nurseries are bringing in evasive plants so we're trying to get this passed so we're up to date on environmental issues uh with our community. So Mike, this is for future.
So when there's a new home, we've had you do have to put new business saying this is the design that are there now not to bring any additional they do more harm than good. And since I hear some sign back here, I'll let this
gentleman talk. Thank It's it's also helpful for our state like Bob said that that we need to have some of these ordinances. That's what sustainable New Jersey is about is is making changes in our community for the better. It involves changes from ordinances or or
adopting new ones. So that's going to allow us to earn points. So without this particular one, we aren't going to be able to apply for this particular action. Chris, how many are there? A lot of towns have it. Uh a lot of towns have have bamboo. Um bamboo. It's hard to
enforce. Yeah. And as you may recall last time, yeah, we talked about I would enforce your bamboo ordinance first. I think the Jay, you could do it as I said to the mayor, do it as a condition of approval. You could also put it in your ordinance as like a design standard, I guess. Right. Our planner, our
administrator planner. Yes. Right. Right. To require invasive species as part of life plan. That's very common, Bobby. In fact, Flemington has that up right now. So, does that does that satisfy be an ordinance though, right? Oh, yeah. So, you could Yeah. Two ways. Yes. New project. So would that satisfy
what you're trying to accomplish? I think if we have any type of updated involvement spe that could be what you do. Yeah. So do get put you got you'd have to get Paul Ricky involved but you amend the um the land use ordinance to include a
certain list of prohibited species for new projects. So the J level Jub's already doing it. We know that cuz we got they are all right. They would have guidance and you could take that to sustainable. But but who spearheads it here? How does that get done? What makes it happen? I would communicate it to the
to the planner. Yeah. I that's ministry of the police who is a planner in his own right. So you're going to you're going to take it to the planner and tell them what we want. But then it comes back then it comes back to Chris planning board to look at it. But it is it's Bobby asked a specific question and
he there are other towns doing that. Yes. And also the governor is working on a policy to make evasive speeches not available for sale in New Jersey. See, you went too far when you started talking about the governor. I'm You went too far. You're doing good,
Claire. You got the fail. You got to walk away. I think this is overreach and it's not. It's not. Do we really need plants from Home Depot that might look great? You have other species that are natural that look pretty awesome, you know. Uh
it's not government overreach. We're trying to save this planet from No, you listen, you guys have a have a noble thing. We And I think we've come up with a good compromise. It's It's not to impose on people to to
to tear out their plants that are existing now. It's to prevent future future from being planted now and in the future. That makes a big difference over what I understood it to be the first time. Believe me, back in the past, we don't want the police to go around and hand out someone doesn't even if someone
was in violation. For instance, if they had a uh a particular invasive species that was rooting through someone else's uh fence, you know, somebody complains about that. Well, fine. They're not going to give us silence right away.
They're going to give a warning like we always do. How many people do we have going around or the police officers going around checking dog licenses? No. What happens is if somebody gets bit, they check the license. If the dog is quarantine, you're not going We don't have somebody
going around checking on dog licenses. If something happens, we have the ordinance to enforce it. Sure. That's all this is. Nope. I think we got a We have a plan. We will do it. We have a plan. Anybody else? You opened it up. I didn't know you opened it up. I might be
just uh Oh, wait. Yeah, that's true. No, that's true. That's true. Sorry. Sorry. That was my fault. You over there. Don't even move. Don't move. All right. That was invasive species. Um that was the discussion on that. Let's talk about the towing ordinance. So, extremely briefly,
mayor. Um just I I've addressed this once before uh before the governing body. uh you have a you license tow towing or you know the your tow providers your wreckers sometimes they're called you licensed spas massage parlors right um there is a uh
suspension process in that or both those ordinances um that requires a a a due process hearing a right of appeal in the event of those suspensions um I think that the trend is uh and certainly I think in middle sex it would be helpful
to update those ordinances to to make them more compliant with the state of the law as to the due process hearing. Uh I am letting the the governing body know that you will probably one before the other probably tow first unless I change my mind. In the coming months you'll be presented with those
ordinances for discussion and approval. And I do I'll do tow first because it's probably easier. That it uh that is it ma'am. Just be aware of it. All right. Thank you. All right. We're going to open the floor. Privilege of the floor on agenda workshop items. Motion second.
All in favor? I You're up. You're up. Take a breath. Bruce need to Bruce Sanders. 10 minutes ab. Okay. So, I don't have a problem at all with you guys setting up a invasious
species ordinance for the town being meaning. No problem at all. When you start to look at your own private property, I know you're saying this now, but when you start to look at your own
private property for this thing, butterfly bushes, burning bushes, really, this is not a case where you're you're going to run Mr. Corsini very busy with law cases. I have six here.
Acriman versus Ellis. These were property cases, mainly trees. uh DeAndrea versus Buglatta. There are six. One of them may give a wiggle room for a court to go after a private property. We
are not an HOA. And if we are an HOA, please know my lawn [Laughter] everywhere you Well, I already get it through my tax. That's my HOA. So, I don't have an issue
at all making it burrow property. Start that way. I have an issue with going as far as and I agree with what you said. You could all keep going. There's all kinds of plants. I mean, it's a it's a world of different plants. I have a degree in
meteorology. I can send you up slides on global warming. I can tell you that it is not it's a money grab. You got to watch. I worked I went to school at Ruckers. Environmental things get way out of hand. They try to go the gauntlet
and not look at the human condition. My point here is Clarity has done some great work. We have issues with the burough property that um was a super fund site, part of a super fun site. We should be looking into those things
environmentally and trying to get that property cleaned up for EPA, DP, get that kind of stuff working. But to spend time on invasive species is ludicrous in my opinion. But and it's also based on a
science opinion in meteorology and global warmth. Be very careful with this. It was slippery. That's where we come. Thank you. Okay. Anybody else? Oh, Mike Schneider 440 High
Street. I'm not representing the environmental commission. 98% of climatologists agree that global warming is killing the surf. That's a fact. I just wanted to
bring that up. Uh 27% of our population does not agree that it does, but the majority of them do. And we're trying to do our part with this face of species act because we
also have a problem with pollinators coming back. A lot of these invasive species uh do not are not beneficial to the pollinators that we need for our gardens, our lands, our crops. How many How many times have you gone into your
yards?