good evening this is the March 3rd 2025 Workshop meeting of the township committee the notice requirements provided for in the open public meetings act have been satisfied notice of this meeting was properly given by transmission to the Asbury Park Press Two River times and by posting at the Middletown Township Municipal Building
and filing with the Township Clerk all on January 11th 2025 committee man Clark here committee woman Katz here committee men s brino here Deputy Mayor hiel I'm here mayor
Perry here please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance 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
at this time I'd like to ask for a moment of silence to honor the troops serving worldwide defending our constitutions freedoms and ways of life thank you first item on our agenda tonight we have a presentation recognizing March 2025 as coloral Cancer
Awareness Month in the township of Middletown at this time I would like to invite registered nurse Bonnie Woodward to join Maya Perry at the front of the room so so nurse Bonnie and I get to meet at the first of all good evening everybody how's everybody doing
today it uh nurse Bonnie and I met each other at a at a mom County SPCA event and and uh was she was talking to Tom arnone and then and then realized that I was the mayor and was like oh we have to do a colure rectal cancer uh a
proclamation and I said well that's that's one way to start a conversation off with with with another person um and but but what most people don't realize is how serious um and and how um
prevalent it is in our community so um Bonnie if you want to say a few words and uh and then we'll Proclaim this sure thank you so um colal cancer has been um uh on the rise for young people people
under the age of 50 so if you're 45 years old and you have no symptoms and you have no family history you are due for your colonoscopy if you're having any issues um you need to get a colonoscopy even if you're you know 20
15 25 35 um because colon cancer starts out with absolutely no symptoms and then if you're having some problems you know you can definitely uh catch it early or prevent it by um having a routine screening as we call it it's a little 20
minute nap you wake up you say was it done yet and cookies and Juice are happening so um you know everybody needs to get their screening if you're 45 don't be you know oh no um and if you're 55 or 60 and you never did it just give us a call you you you had the deputy May
cookies and Juice you didn't have to give them anymore I've been there a few times sometimes the mayor doesn't want to go tell me since refuses to go well the one the one thing that I do want to say is and that I didn't know is that
this is the second leading cause of death amongst men and women uh when it comes to cancer um and which which is something that I had no idea about um so uh as as Bonnie mentioned this is a a preventable disease um and everyone
should take it extremely seriously so um appreciate everything that you do um and uh so I have a proclamation here and uh I won't go through the whereas is um but I do want to say that um um there were
approximately 152,153 th000 ended in death because of a of a preventable disease so I think that is the take-home that this is while it's it's uh it's it's an easy one to make
light of um but it it claims 53,000 people's lives um and that is 53,000 people who could have had an easy screening and could still be with us today so um therefore I mayor Tony Perry and the Middletown Township committee do
hereby recognize March 2025 as col rectal cancer awareness month on the to of Middletown Bonnie thank you so much may some information um you know there's the DNA and the njc cancer
screen that offers assistance and free colonoscopies for the underinsured and the uninsured and uh we're having a Saturday in Asbury Park coloral Cancer Awareness trust youra so learn about it
ask me you know saw one campaign it said no there's no more butts when it comes to that's true all right let's do this sorry uh but we'll we'll take that and and certainly uh make it available all right all right hold
this one two three and one more one two three next item on our agenda we have a presentation recognizing Middletown High School North wrestling program for winning the 2025 short conference B division championship at this time I
would like to invite the wrestlers along with head coach Eric Morley assistant coaches Jody Smith Matt Winters Hugo Pinto Brady Smith and Matt Sergio to join my app Perry at the front of the room I apologize if I mispronounced
anyone's name uh why don't we give it up for our short c s so 24 and two pretty good got a lot to be proud of there right um you know before I turn it
over to the coaches talk about and um I want you all because I do this for everybody turn around look at your parents and your your loved ones uh you didn't get here on your own you got here from a lot of hard work work a lot and your parents dedicating themselves to
keeping you motivated keeping you going uh driving you sometimes to and from practice School matches whatever so why don't you to say thank you to your parents and guardians real quick [Laughter] than I was never offended by that until
I had three kids of my own and then how a school good what' you do nothing great what what what am I paying for again you try it again there you feel it in your soul
right um guys a lot to be proud of uh another excellent season one that is going to be in in those history books because at 24 and two nobody wanted to see Middletown High School North on that schedule nobody wanted to see it a lot
to be proud of a lot of you uh not only succeeding as as a team but as individuals as well but the more important thing that you have realized is that while you are defined oneon-one in these matches you are defined as a
team and you do not get the 24- two without that team together so I want to congratulate you as a team I want to congratulate you as as a fi Regional finalist um Nick wall fourth place in region five Dan Benbrook fourth place in
region five uh and um uh Tom where's Tom first place in region five with a record on the season of 42 and one so these three wrestlers have earned
a trip to the state individual state championships in Atlantic City which starts this Thursday so go get them uh remember that the the colors that you wear not only represent yourself they represent this town your high school um
so wear that when you're out on on uh on Atlantic City um this week coach turn it over to you if you have a couple words not a couple words we just wanted to take the time and say thank you for recognizing all right well let's give let's give these chance we got certificates for all of
you Ravid ready to go yep I'm going to take a group picture and then parents and Guardians if you want to come up after and take your own as well all right one two three congratulations all right let's give it up our chance one
time1 all right you want to do it all right hold up L on l than you we're going to take a brief two-minute recess so though people if they want to leave have time to go here we go Karen next item on our next
item on our agenda we have a public hearing of proposed ordinances first ordinance is 202- 3455 and ordinance amending amending chapter 24025 five of the code of the township of Middletown governing
various Recreation program fees any member of the public wishing to speak on public ordinance number to pass this ordinance on second and final reading next on our agenda we have 2025-the stop signs at designated
intersections within the Brash Farms development and designation of brash Boulevard as a through Street any member of the public wishing to make a public comment on ordinance number 225-3463 and approve second committee man Clark yes committee
woman Katz yes committee men srino yes Deputy Mayor hiel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass this ordinance on second and final reading next on the agenda is 2025-the financial agreement upon a
portion of block 1131 Lots 31 and 32 TBA clck 1131 lot 32.1 with Avalon Middletown urban renewal LLC and urban renewal entity pursuant to the long-term tax exemption
law njsa 40a col 20-1 Etc any member of the public wishing to make a public comment yes ma'am Joe okay he's gonna bring over the mic for you just give him one sec just state your name for the record
hello my name is Esther Nelson I'm a middle toown resident I had a question clarification on these ordinances there's four proposed for these development so yeah I don't know if I need to speak separately for each of them or together but um I'm trying to
understand why the abatement is for 30 years and not a shorter amount I I had talked to a few people and in other towns sometimes the abatement is only for 10 years and the amount of the tax abatement that the after that time period the property
is reassessed or the increased in value due to the development and here we're locking in the um why is it 30 years it's it's not locked in for 30 years it the there there is a graduation
throughout the the entire uh entirety of the 30 years it's set for 30 years and um you know appreciate your your your question the the and and I think I mentioned it I think I mentioned it in the last one part of the biggest issue
that we face as a Township is the tax appeal part of the um the tax appeal part of um complex sites like this right now we have five years of tax appeals on
this property um those tax Appeals are for the township to defend itself uh on every single one of them and the the unfortunately the flaw in the in the law
is that the township is then responsible for everyone else's tax deficiency so if the town is found to be in you know uh too high of an assessment the town is
responsible for carrying the cost for the schools and for the county so we don't get our money back so while we only receive 23% of the tax bill we are responsible for 100% of the refund um so
the 30 years is an effort to map out those 30 years without the town losing a single dollar to be able to map that out for 30 years understanding the cash infusion that these entities being that it's in an area in need of Redevelopment
and is qualified under that Redevelopment law it will then set forth those taxes for the next 30 Years with escalators at certain segments of that of that 30-year time period if I read it correctly it was 2% per year potentially
up to 2% per year no no uh on well go ahead Brian th this is on Avalon on the Avalon yeah on the Avalon one but on the on and and the others as well so 2% is just the administrative fee so it's 10%
of the revenue of the project so it's it starts at 10% and then it escalates over time later on stages up there's five stages that escalate over time so towards the later years you're just about at 100% but it's but it's um no
it's 2% is just the administrative fee which is merely for us to review the audits they have to submit audits annually they have profit limitations that they can't make more than 12% profit on the project if they make that we review the annual audits that they have to submit to us once the Project's
online and they have to be subject to those profit limitations and if there's any excess profits realized by the developer then we recapture those profits and go back into the Township's coffers thank you that information was not specified in in the ordinance it
perhaps isn't another agreement that is supplemental to the ordinance but I I didn't see that language in the document in the agenda um packet for this evening um I was also curious in in those ordinances it specifies about
increased jobs and that it will bring if you add the sum of the new jobs to for the four ordinance it totals over a thousand jobs and I I wanted to clarify if these are jobs in addition to people that are ready work in those Office Park or if it's includes the people already
there and would there be an additional thousand vehicles that would be driving in and out of the property not including the residents of the apartment building is it going to create a thousand it says and if you add up the numbers of the four different ordinances
about the job growth that's part of the reason that the town is supporting these ordinances it it's a th8 jobs so there's there's both temporary construction jobs that will be created during the construction then jobs for the sites but yeah old there'll be there's already so
the site's already constructed and designed for full occupancy so the only actual significant Improvement on the site is the apartment building which is 340 units um so so the existing sites already designed the existing buildings
are already designed for a lot of those jobs so there's probably some overlap between people that will be there and new jobs because there's substantial vacancies in those buildings which is why we have all the tax appeals that we have have um U so the site but for the apartment building which is been
incorporated into the design is already designed and equipped for that those number of people to be on that site understand it was just they had both construction jobs and permanent jobs and the so total of permanent jobs was over a thousand so I wanted to reflect that the idea is that a
significant number of those new jobs may actually be existing jobs that people who already work at the office Park but there will be also additional traffic as a result of this and and I think the purpose is the long-term viability of that building was dependent on the on on
this action being taken um that build th those buildings there's there's no guarantee as you know because that building has has gone through es and flows um the and and the discussion that we had at the at the introduction of
this ordinance was the realistic possibility and potential for this to transform from from a fully commercial site to a fully residential site which is what the proactive step
was here and in in in response to that can I clarify if the Office Buildings could then in the future be transitioned into a residential or or only the new construction would be residential but the existing buildings could not be
converted into the existing build buildings will at 100% remain commercial and the the only approvals um that the uh that will be requested will be for the uh residential
component that is is being discussed okay so so the the short answer the the humanistic answer to your question is no no all right that was important and and I just want to note this is a very big company Avalon Bay Community is is the parent company of
urban renewal LLC currently they have over 80,000 units in the country with probably about 6,000 units in New Jersey there's been issues at a number of their communities and I wanted this Township to be aware of some of the ongoing issues with regard to those properties
in other parts of our state thank you thank you appreciate thank you very much for your comments any other member of the public wishing to make a public comment seeing no other member of the public stepping forward move the close the public portion and approve second committee man Clark yes committee
woman cratz yes committee man s brino yes Deputy Mayor hiel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass this ordinance on second and final reading next we have ordinance 2025 3452 an ordinance authorizing Financial
agreement upon a portion of block 1131 lot 30 TBA block 1131 lot 30.01 with exit 109 urban renewal one LLC and urban renewal entity pursuant to the long-term tax exemption law njsa 48
col 20-1 Etc any member of the public wishing to make a public comment on public ordinance number 225-342-2366 board move to close the public portion and approve second committee man Clark yes committee woman cratz yes committee men s brino
yes Deputy Mayor hybel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass this ordinance on second and final reading next we have ordinance 2025-the Financial agreement upon a portion of block 1131 lot 32 TBA block
113 1 lot 32.2 with exit 109 urban renewal 2 LLC and urban renewal entity pursuant to the long-term tax exemption law njsa 40a col 20-1 Etc any member of the
public wishing to speak on public ordinance number 225-343-1111 yes committee woman Katz yes committee man s brino yes Deputy Mayor hiel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass this ordinance on second and final
reading next we have ordinance 2025-the Financial agreement upon a portion of block 1131 lot 31 TBA block 1131 lot 31.1 with exit 109 Urban Ral 3 LLC an
urban renewal entity pursuant to the long-term tax exemption law njsa 4A col 20-1 at SEC any member of the public wishing to speak on public ordinance number 2025 3454 seeing no member of the public stepping forward move to close the
public portion and approve second committee man Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee man s brino yes Deputy Mayor hiel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass this ordinance on second and final reading next item on
our agenda we have introduction of proposed ordinances ordinance 2025 3457 an ordinance of the township of Middletown in the county of Mammoth amending and supplementing chapter 465 section
introduce second committee mclark yes committee woman Katz yes committee Min set brino yes Deputy Mayor hiel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass this ordinance on first reading with the public hearing to be held March 17
2025 at this time I would like to ask the township committee to adopt a consent agenda which would include resolutions 25-14 through 25-12 for including firefighter firefighter appointments motion to approve consent
agenda second committeeman Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committeeman SED brino yes Deputy Mayor hiel yes mayor Perry yes motion carries to pass consent agenda all right next we
have Township committee comments all right Cino no comments this evening mayor thank committee woman Catz that was kind of uh had me on my toes you go see of changing it up there um I would just really
briefly just like to congratulate our athletes from North this evening it's always we we all say it when we have the opportunity to have our young people um here at Town Hall and and be able to celebrate them so it's always a wonderful time for all of us so congratulations to North and we wished
our three athletes the best on Thursday in the state so congratulations all right thank you uh comman Clark thank you mayor I'd like to Echo committee women Katz's comments about the wrestling team I was uh fortunate
enough to be at a few of their meets this year and they are they're a pretty remarkable group they're uh outstanding in their everything that they did um I'd also like to recognize the unified cheer team which is a group of students from Middletown South and Middletown North
that volunteer to work with uh special needs children and uh bring them together for cheer and they cheer for the uh boys and girls basketball teams throughout the season uh they had a great second season this year and uh their their coach B is uh working really
hard to scale that program so it was pretty cool to watch them develop this year and uh get better looking forward to next year and uh as it relates to the 109 project the has been something that uh
it's been worked on for a long time and uh a lot of effort going into clearing up the details that you were asking about uh and trying to make sure that we're doing the right thing not just for the municipality today but 20 and 30
years from now so uh mayor you you led on that you did a heck of a job so want we say thank you appreciate that thank you so I got all right DM uh I'm not sure if everyone else here in the room is upset uh I think everyone came came out to watch the team take you down tonight you know I forgot to make
that joke that that South took you down in the last they didn't they didn't but congratulations to the boys great job uh just last month we had a South team in here but uh great job to all our teams go have mayor all right um two things I
just wanted to uh quickly mention today um launched our uh summer camp program um for for uh at 10:00 a.m. with in 17 minutes it was sold out and being the
dad of a four-year-old I didn't realize the competition that it takes to get into your kids into summer camp what's that W completely rookie fortunately my wife
uh was sitting there like a hawk um uh but uh tonight we we did take action um number 17 I think it was on the agenda was a strategic partnership with the mammoth museum for about a year the town
has been working alongside the mammoth Museum which is an independent nonprofit it does not get anything from Brookdale it doesn't get anything from the county it is its own entity while it is on brookdale's campus and I know we have quite a large contingent of linkof out
here tonight so uh I I wanted to specifically mention this um and and for um Erica schaer and the team over there do a heck of a job and it really is a gem for Middletown um to to have it um
as I mentioned I have a four-year-old and a three-year-old and a one-year-old and if you need a place to let your kids exert all the energy that they possibly could need to exert go to the mammoth Museum especially when
it's raining outside um but today we formed a strategic partnership that we approved I want to thank the township committee for that um because this will only further enhance our ability to have summer camps in the southern part of the of the
Town um while we do have horsey um in the southern part of town um it's it's a great summer camp and the summer camp at Cen Hall is great and the Mac is great um but there was a missing demographic
and now to to be able to um allow you know even even maybe a dozen or or two dozen kids the opportunity to explore the mammoth Museum learn about science and technology the Arts um uh Aerospace
all these different things right at the mammoth Museum paleontology um is is really a gem and the fact that we were able to do it and and then in turn support the mammoth Museum and provide them with the resources that they need if if you're
looking for summer camp programs this is another great summer camp program that that um we're now able to offer second thing I I wanted to bring up thank you to the hundreds of people that voted on our new park over at
walloo um the winning I believe was number three the winning Park was number three more than 400 votes were cast for for wallo Park Park I was getting my haircut at Swagger the other day that and while they said it was great that we were updating they respectfully
requested that I rename the basketball courts quakies um uh which uh they had very strong feelings that that happened um but I want to thank all the uh all the people that took the time to vote and cast their vote for what that play
playground is going to look like um before I open up for public comment um uh I I just wanted to say this uh you know there's been a lot of conversation and and I'm I'm believe me I'm beyond grateful to see so many people in the audience because normally I'm talking to
the staff here um at these meetings um but you know I look out in the crowd and there's a lot of people that I've been able to work with especially when it comes to uh the link CW Village Green and Link coft and and I'm looking at a bitberg and I'm looking at margarite and
Lori and Mary Grant out there um you know and I'm and I'm very grateful for that um and we've been able to accomplish uh you know things off of that checklist off of that wish list right um and while I will not I don't have it in my constitutional Authority
and maybe Brian can take a look at it I cannot tell you what the results of the Tatum's table versus Luigi debate will be but and the fact that there was a Star Ledger article on that and an Asbury Park Press article on that I cannot
believe but yes if you can believe it we start a program with Uber to get people to their doctor's appointments last month and not one word in the in in the Press but somehow louigi's and Tatum's table gets a Star Ledger
article what's that yeah I'm not accepting any comments on Tatum's table versus Luigi's either um but you know there there's there's a a lot of con concern about 520 and and and Lin coft and I and I I do
want to thank you right because I I I saw your Facebook uh your your flyer which was beautifully done by the way so to kudos to whoever did that um and I I spoke to director commissioner director Arn uh earlier today um and I was was
talking to Abe about this and while while you are free to come up here and and speak speak um during your time about it as you know 520 is a county roadway and the five of us up here cannot unilaterally do anything about
520 we can we can help and we can take part and we want to be part of that solution so I I was able to get director Arnon we nailed down a date today on March 18th at six o'clock right upstairs in the training room um uh here at Town
Hall on the first floor uh we will hold a a public information session where we will have our Engineers our professionals from Ted tnm John taba who's the head of public works for the county Joe atour who's the County
engineer plus myself and plus director ourown um and one other member of the township committee because we can't have more more than that but um and and director arnone uh we will be there to
to engage in what I think could be a product more productive conversation about what you want to see what your concerns are again you're free to come up to the microphone I'm not gonna I can't stop you from doing that but I do think that the five of us sitting up
here being that it is a County Highway are unable to do anything unilaterally so my position and and I think that many of you would agree is let's put all the stakeholders in the room and let's talk about it because at the end end of the day they're the ones that are going to
have to pay for these improvements they're the ones that are going to have to do all this work and bid this work out to get it done so um with that I'll open up for public comment so again March 18th at six o'clock right here at Town Hall the county will be here we
will be here um and uh to to hear all of the comments concerns feedback all of all the things that you'd like to see uh and reinvigorating that 520 study that um you know as as so many other uh you know
folks can tell you has been a certainly a work in progress I've sat at breakfast with AB lenberg talking about the uh talking about the 520 study um so um with that I'll open up for public comment any member of the public wishing to make a public comment may do hold on one second let me get through my Spiel
first um May do so I ask that you state your name for the record um and that you keep your comments to five minutes at four minutes I'll let you know that you have one minute remaining with that being said any member of the public wishing to make a public comment I'm going to get you you're going to be next all right
sir good evening mayor good evening council members and members of the public my name is Susan midus and I live in the nebis sing section of Middletown on behalf of food and water watch I am here to ask for your support food and water watch has more than 2 million
supporters and fights for sustainable food clean water and livable climate for all of us the New Jersey legislature will be considering the Superfund act s 3545 a
4696 a bill that would force polluters to pay for the damage they cause to our environment the bill has already been passed by the New Jersey state senate committee it is similar to bills already passed by the states of New York and
Vermont as a Coastal Community we know better than most that little town is vulnerable to the effects of climate change if the super fund Act is passed any municipality in need of climate change adaptation and resilience
projects would be able to apply for the funds raised by the ACT this is a great opportunity for Middletown to support a bill that could provide funding at no cost to taxpayers will you please support this
bill by resolution at your next Township Council meeting I have provided the documents and a sample resolution along with a fact sheet for your consideration many thanks in advance for your anticipated support and please contact me with any
questions I hope you got that all in your packets tonight we we did thank you very much great thank you very much thank you for your comments any other member of the oh yes sir come on down how are you today I'm good how are you my name is Thomas anio I just wanted to throw the idea out there with the
roadway they make these speed bumps they're called smart speed bumps where they're filled with a liquid that you could set to a certain speed and if you're going over them at the right speed or lower they don't affect the drive or the flow of traffic and if you're going faster than that they turn into a hard substance immediately and
cause it to be a speed bump there's no installation they could be laid across the road and they're good from 32 Dees to 14 and you could coat them with white which would change the temperature I think this might be a quick fix in case you guys did not know about this because I
did not I had not heard about uh yeah water bed speed bumps but yeah newon fluid what say it again anti- Newton fluid the harder you impact it the harder it becomes and they can mix it to any degree you want for Speed and if
you're going less or that speed limit it doesn't form and come hard you go right through it so there'll be no flow of traffic is it one time use or no they lay them out they're in Europe um some on their roads and they don't have to be installed they can lay on to the road you can't have them built into the road too but they could also be just laid on
there okay thank you very much for your comments y uh hang on just one second sir sir did you want to make a public comment yes okay I just want to make sure well if he can State his name and
address for the record he can all right no I just wanted to make sure before you know you got it we recruited we got recruits here excellent job I was going to say if they say YMCA on
it um good evening my name is Corley Dixon and I'm a resident of linkof my family and I live on County Road 520 Newman Springs Road and I'm here tonight to express our concern regarding vehicle traffic and safety on the section of 520 that runs through lincraft and to request your support in finding a
solution first we know you're well aware of the issues on 520 and have done much to help our community your work in acquiring the property known as the Acme Road has been wonderful and we look forward with anticipation to construction beginning later this year and the improvements it will bring to our business district you've met with
many residents over the years and sympathize with our concerns and the mtpd has made new efforts to increase ticketing and signage along 520 in recent months and we thank you all sincerely for these efforts thank you and yeah she's getting
the crow I don't it's distracting linro residents have continued to notice an increase in accidents speeding and unsafe driving habits on our stretch of 520 over the past year culminating in the most recent accident this past Thursday February 27th that's this one which occurred when of vehicle
attempting a left turn from Roma court on to 520 struck a westbound vehicle coming from Red Bank this car then crashed into our property jumping the sidewalk and damaging our front fence and bushes I wish I could say this is a rare occurrence but every resident of linro knows it is not others can tell
similar stories of accidents dangerous speeding tailgating sideswiping and red lights being run besides the residents here tonight who will speak I have letters from 10 more residents who took time today on short notice to write you paragraphs of information detailing their experiences and concerns and we'll
ask that these be entered into the official record the situation has become dire and is affecting our entire Community residents do not feel safe using the sidewalks along 520 or making left-hand turns from residential streets children plead with parents after school to allow them to walk to friends houses
or bike into town for ice cream and we sadly must refuse out of concern for their safety in our home we were forced to drive our 10-year-old daughter the short 100 yards distance from our home to inspired mind's art school to the after school drawing class she loved as we could not allow her to walk though we
truly wish we could it is not safe the accidents I've mentioned often take out a large section of fencing at the nearby residences on Newman Springs Road which we noticed with a concern as we pass worried what harm could befall a pedestrian on our street walking at the wrong time when I told my husband Brian
about the accident last week his immediate reply was I want a metal fence or a retaining wall and who could blame him he wants to protect his family and yet my response to him is that we can't because if we build anything stronger than the split rail fence we currently have the next time this accident happens
and it will happen again if changes aren't made the driver could be killed and I can't live with that thankfully the driver from last week's accident walked away with just a shoulder injury these issues have been occurring for decades we know residents have come to the township and the county individually
and in small groups many times seeking changes to make our community safer all local officials law enforcement businesses County engineers and Commissioners always agree that this is a huge problem and major changes are needed and yet here we still are with
the opening of Lifetime in February 2024 the new Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in May 2024 and the upcoming housing development at River Center 109 the existing issues are being exacerbated and the problems will only continue to get worse so we are here tonight to ask for your support we as residents have
formed a new advocacy group The linro Safe Streets coalition we refuse to accept the status quo any longer and more importantly we are willing to do the work and we want to help we want to work with our local businesses law enforcement County and you our Township officials and elected leaders to finally
identify and implement the solutions that will work to improve driver and pedestrian safety in our village while also maintaining the flow of traffic but we need your help Newman Springs is a County Road and last June I presented these concerns at a commissioner meeting all the Commissioners sympathized with our concerns and agreed something should
should be done but they also asked what does Middletown Township want have you spoken with your Township committee because while the road is their jurisdiction or responsibility they need Township support and want to hear from you our local leaders to confirm and emphasize to them that these changes are
a priority and something our Township needs and wants the county to address first we need you to collaborate with the county on our behalf to make this issue a priority and second we need your support in creating a new working group as you mentioned mayor Perry to examine this traffic Corridor and make
recommendations for traffic calming measures that will allow the safe flow of vehicles pedestrians and cyclists in our community our goal is to reduce accidents and injuries allow residents to safely enjoy all that our neighborhoods have to offer and our community and local businesses to flourish all of us need to work together
residents businesses local schools law enforcement County and Township officials as residents we are ready and willing to help will you support a working group to research this information and come up with a plan to present to the county in Township thank you thank you very much thank
you out of all the people holding the boards Abe was the most distracted out of all them any other member of the public wish to make a public comment yes I'm sorry how are you today thank you good evening my name is Denise baly I am a lifelong
resident of linkof I'm here tonight to express my concerns on the traffic conditions on Newman Springs Road you are well aware that the road is primarily a four-lane road from Swimming River Bridge to fallinks Road from which point becomes two-lane road this road has been the site of numerous crashes some of which have been fatal the most
recent fatal occurred on December 30th 2024 I don't have the exact numbers but I am certain that there there have been several crashes on this road since then the one that is foremost in my mind is the one involving my mother as she was making a left turn out of my street on Roma court on to Newman Springs Road
this past Thursday fortunately she only sustained minor injuries Newman Springs Road was really was originally a two-lane road that expanded to a four-lane road in the 1980s there have been few traffic measures put in place since that expansion to add to this the
recent approval for additional residents resident units in the area Half Mile Road and one River Center the area between the Garden State Parkway and the Acme shopping center is primarily a straight road however there is a curve in the area near the Normandy Road
overpass and Hilltop Circle that pose view obstructions for cars pulling onto the road either out of driveways or room Court some suggested traffic lights circles increased police enforcement flashing pedestrian Crossing signals or lowering the speed limit to 35 something
must be done I am asking this Township committee to put its full force backing behind a comprehensive approach to slow the speed reduce the crashes and save life thank you I'd ask you where you got your Intel from but I have an assumption that you
got it from your husband okay uh well the the the one thing I do want to say is um and and chief Weber is here um I do want to thank him because this was a priority that was brought up
you know at the end of last year and I just want to point this out for febu for January and February of 2025 mtpd conducted 176 motor vehicle stops on Newman Springs Road that's just the first two months of this year 83 of
which has resulted in at least one summons which is a 47.1 15% rate comparing that to the rest of the Town motor vehicle stops 959 for January
and February um that's 280 uh I'm sorry excuse me 295 summons which is a 30.76% rate so the reason I bring that up obviously there's a much higher rate of tickets and summons being written on
520 comparatively to the rest of the town which is is not something you needed those statistics right because you all live in and around that area but I just wanted it to be clear that our police with that presence with the new speeding signs that that you you may
have noticed out there um they they are targeting this area for enforcement um to spread the word the love the punishment whatever you want to call it that they are out there in full force to ensure that the uh speed limits are are
being adhered to um that being said again to to address the working Group Issue um this this working group is not going to be an appointed group it's going to be a group made up of the town the county and the residents of of linkof so um I hope that I see every
single one of you at that and um come with your suggestions come with your comments I did not know I'm going to look into the speed bumps I've never heard of that before so thank you for that comment um but I do want to thank the chief in the department for prioritizing 520 and uh and doing a
targeted enforcement of that area um all right any other member of the public wish to make a public comment Abe I swear he wants to speak all right AB lenberg 41 degree
Lane Lin coft New Jersey uh I was hesitant to come up here because I know you're going to pick on me but uh but you've already demonstrated um I'm very aware of the the uh road signs that show the speed that you're
going and the enforcement I saw two cars pulled over today it's very clear that there's an effort and I know that uh my fellow linro residents have tried to make this uh a situation that you're aware of it's been going on a long time
over 20 years uh we've been looking to improve that Corridor and uh I just want to thank you for organizing this meeting with the county because that's the only way we're going to make any progress yeah so I want to thank you I want to
thank the police chief because you're listening it's it's obvious and uh you know let's let's move forward thank you very much thank you appreciate that all right any other member of the public see no other member of the public
oh I'm sorry Melanie I I I didn't see my name is Melanie eler Green Tree terce in Lincroft when I was at the February 18th meeting I was um telling you some of the statistics on
the accidents just at Exit 109 um just to kind of encourage um all our government entities to um bring this uh accident issue particularly at Exit 1 109 to um
escalate it uh to be proactive to whatever is going to be developed at um exit 109 to be ahead of it and um I gave you the 2024 statistics I think your eyes kind of popped out when I told you
some of the numbers of like rear end strikes at Half Mile Road were 13 Running Red Lights is rampant um leaving the scene of the accident has happened numerous times because the ways right there um I really think it's a
configuration problem with uh how the uh Turnpike Authority designed the ramp uh the lvga had been to all those meetings uh submitted public comments asking them not to allow the cross over to SCH drive
but they still allowed that um nevertheless um when I was here two weeks ago I said you know I'll give you the 2023 statistics as well because I think the feeling is like oh no this is a brand new problem um 2023 it was kind
of just growing um in 2018 that's when the oh no I'm sorry August 20 of 19 is when the all that configuration work and the ramps at Exit 109 was done then we had covid so even looking at
2022 um that there were only 44 accidents in that area uh in 2023 it raised to 94 in 2024 or it raised 120 and um it's just kind of growing so where are we going to be in 2025 you
know there have already been accidents there um so I think each day we have to work towards getting ahead of this um because the whatever is happening at 109 is spilling over into Lin craftt um I think the lights are are aggravating
people there's a lot of tailgating and rear end hitting because they're weaving and maneuvering the county has a serious design problem with that section of the road there's a lot of driver confusion and um and it's people that have to
cross the county they come up to 109 because they can't cross lower where they might want to be they might want to be in areas of tint and Falls going to Colts Neck but they have to come up to linro to get to those places so maybe there's a way to divert them especially
with Fort Mammoth coming so um I'm so pleased that you're um you're going to have an open information session to discuss this back in the day when um um committee men shenberger was on the board we had a 520 task force and um it
was something that was made by ordinance so I would like you to consider um if we do have an information session and if all those people are in the same room task force is the government's way of talking about bureaucracy but I I hear what you're saying well it just forces people to meet in a regular basis and
bring new new ideas and have dialogue even with the business owners in Loft as well and and you know just try to formalize it and it was a successful group I felt like opening it up to the public in its entirety because Absolut one of one of people out here might have
an issue that another person it doesn't impact the other person and when task force is talk about stuff like that you're talking about it from your perspective and you're going to talk about it from your perspective and she's going to talk about it from her perspective and that to me never
accomplishes anything because in the end you're going to upset the person who wasn't engaged in the conversation because you weren't willing to do it and that's why I call task forces government's uh synonym for bureaucracy because that's all they bring is more
bureaucracy because not everybody's voice is then heard um so uh to to me holding public information sessions that where every single person has the ability to take part in it is the only
way now 80% of the people may be happy in the end of what the decisions are and 20% is not but you have to do what's best for the 80% um in the end because 80% is still an 80% Improvement in a situation so holding public information sessions where there can be an open dialogue with
all parties is critical and and to me just having task forces and appointed people who's who am I going to pick from the audience to be as a part of the task force uh it's just it becomes it becomes another level of government that I think is unnecessary all I'm saying is that if
we have the information session and it's successful let's try to form a group that meets more regularly and not just let it happen once you know let's try to carry it on and to be honest I've asked about the
520 task force in front of this group multiple times in the last year even in the county and you've nodded your heads said I'm going to talk to Tom or know about that so like now that you're saying this like and slapping it down okay that's fine I'll take the information I never agreed to creating a
task force talk to I'm not getting in an argument with you about I think I think you're I'm just surprised at the different attitude towards it because all I'm asking for because I wasn't on that task force I
just know I all the notes I know what happened in those meetings they made a lot of with the county because you know different government officials were coming from different angles it was it was nice it was people getting together have you have to have a comprehensive review and that of course of course and
they did that they did studies the county did studies all I'm all I'm saying is that let's if it was comprehensive then things would have gotten done a lot faster and clearly they weren't ouch
okay well if if if if things had been fixed in the last 520 task force would all of you be sitting in this room right now the answer is no so you either have to accept not you personally but the governments have to accept
responsibility and accept either action and tough talk or let's get something done and let's just do it so that we can start improving well I love that small incremental small incremental benefits are better than big Grand ideas you've
you and I have sat together and talked and talked about and talked about different things and I didn't like some of the items I don't like the one crosswalk that that the lbga wants because you have a crosswalk within 50 feet of the same of of of the crosswalk
that you proposed it has to be an open dialogue that's what's critical and that's why inviting all the members of the public are are critical to the equation just because it's March 18th at 6:00 doesn't mean that that's going to be the first and only conversation has
to be an ongoing conversation because it it like everything else there's it's a we're a big County we're a county of 670,000 people and we have to work and Tom and the Commissioners are going to have to do work in Neptune and in cold snck and belmare and all across the rest
of the county but we if we continue the dialogue and the conversation then things can happen so so I just because I put out the first date in the first meeting it does not mean that that will be the only one so I just want to make it clear to everybody else okay all
right all right thank you thank you all right whose hand am I missing back there yes sir how are you sir good thanks John trost the member of lnra um is regards to the meeting on
March 18th uh is there a representative from the military that would be there in regards to the Normandy Bridge because if there is any conversation of
some sort of construction you mean from Earl yeah yeah might be good to have somebody there to start off conversation because no way they going to move that train track or anything but they might have to do something which could affect
that we can certainly invite Earl I mean a great suggestion that could slow things up if if it runs into an issue an issue with that even if it's putting a traffic light on their bridge that they don't want yep great great suggestion I
appreciate that tone we we'll reach out to Earl and also I'd like to completely unrelated to 520 um I'd like to reach out to miss Middletown uh to help with some sort of
Education in regards to getting letting letting the public know what our volunteer firefighters and EMS do because we need help uh we need members I'm also a
member of linkof fire company so we need members and there are other companies in the Middletown area that need members to help respond and a lot of the people that are moving into
Middletown have no idea what it even means to be volunteer so if something I just want to throw it out there I don't want an answer now but if something could be addressed in the near future to help
get an educ education out there to to maybe some people will understand that their neighbors are going to be coming and maybe they would like to start joining yeah I mean I've I've recommended I mean number one I've recommended to all the the uh to the
Chiefs and the fire companies that the part of all of you do solicitations for donations um right and and there's a lot of people in all areas of town that are moving in have no idea that uh you are all volunteers um so the the the simple
solicitation that you know I get from Old Village letting me know that they're all volunteers every single year um before you know sending a donation I think is an effective way for a lot of people that are either moving in um from from other parts of New Jersey other
parts of town whatever the case may be to let them know that they're volunteers um the the volunteer incentive program which this Township committee has already implemented phase one and is getting ready ready to implement phase two uh to provide a $500 property tax
payment to volunteers on top of the low sap on top of waving all uh construction and permitting parking fees at the train station these are all great mechanisms to help with the recruiting process for um for both Fire EMS and OEM uh we're
already seeing an increase in responses from all the Departments because the volunteers know that they have to hit a higher percentage of uh call uh volume to get the $500 property tax payment um which which I believe it's over 200
volunteers will get $500 off of their property taxes before the the May tax bill I'm aware of all that stuff and I am a uh big volunteer when it comes to going
out to the meet and greets the touch a truck and stuff like that and trying to get people people out there but I think there needs to be more um for the new people moving in because most of the ma is not not even
looked at well and and also I should point out that in not one single fire station you have uh five new firefighters that were just approved tonight oh I know where and we still I'm
not one is from one's your from your Fire Company yeah I'm not speaking solely about us but we definitely no no but but I think need more I I agree but but again I I think that they're they're H it's it's a give and
take a little bit and I think that the the Fire Chiefs and the fire department have done a pretty good job at uh making them aware but I think that there needs to be a department-wide effort to certainly make the the new residents of
Middletown aware that this is not n NYPD or nyfd uh or or uh emergency response that's that's coming in um they need to be aware that their fire department that their fire company locally to them that's going to respond to their home uh
in the event of an incident is is a volunteer right thank you thank you very much thank you thank you for your e your volunteerism as well appreciate that yes sir how are you good how are you good evening I'm gonna bring a bit of a
younger perspective your name oh I'm James Matthews I'm gonna bring a bit of a younger perspective to the 520 dilemma per se because I'm a I'm a newer driver I'm 18 years old um so I've been driving for a couple of years but um I went to high school in Wall Township I live in
linro but I went to communication in Wall Township I didn't an internship in Freehold so I've certainly spent a good deal of the last two years just driving all around Mammoth County um I would take Route 18 to high school I would take the parkway to high school I would take Route n and 195 over to
Freehold and I can confirm that the only Road I've ever really felt unsafe driving on is 520 um when I first started driving my parents even told me too that if I was ever I have a couple of friends who live off of five 20 in the residential area and they're like if
you're leaving late at night don't even try making the left turn just try making the right turn and once I started driving I realized that that people are always driving like crazy they're speeding over there I go to my friend's band practice um my
friend's house for band practice several times I've seen accidents one time I even had to take a detour because of pole was down from an accident and another time I was coming home one night and even saw somebody driving in the wrong Direction which was quite the adventure for a new driver to have uh I
think that one thing you want to keep in mind is that the reality is it's four lanes there's no shoulder it's right before the Parkway and it's in an extremely dense area of linkt obviously the rest of the county is going to always be using that to get over um get
East and get on the parkway but Middletown residents shouldn't have to like bear the brunt of the risk associated with such a densely populated um section of the roads so I I definitely think that one thing to keep in mind is that any sort of traffic calming measures is going to be key and
in just getting less people driving fast for most of the day um is is one thing that I think as a younger Middletown resident who conuts to Brookdale I would feel comfortable that that's something you can kind of set forth to try and
make it a safer town to drive in excellent um and you're a very good speaker for 18 years old give it up for this guy uh all right anyone else just making sure I'm not missing a hand
yeah I think the baby wanted he wanted the baby to speak um uh all right going once going twice okay um seeing no other member of the public stepping forward thank you all very much for your comments March 18th 6m thank you seeing
no other members of the public stepping forward move to close the public portion and adjourn second commit M Clark yes committee woman Katz yes committee men s bro yes Deputy Mayor hille mayor Perry yes motion carries to adjourn have a good night everybody thank you all very
much