for May 26, 2026. Can I get a roll call, please? >> May 29th, 2026. Oh, >> May 29th, 2026. Sorry. >> Commissioner Taylor >> here. >> Vice Mayor Cot >> here. >> Commissioner Kasaboon, >> here. >> Commissioner Reinella, >> present. >> Mayor Dixon >> here.
>> Please join me in salute to the flag. I 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.
>> This meeting is being conducted in accordance with the open public meetings act of 1975. Was advertised, posted, and made available to the public as required by statute. The municipal clerk is directed to include a statement in the minutes of this meeting. Madame clerk,
is there are there any changes to the agenda? >> There are none, mayor. >> If you would like to make any comments uh regarding the agenda, please approach the podium. State your name and address and your concerns. >> Good afternoon, Angeline Broomhall. Um,
I always hear you want ideas to come forward. Bear with me. This has to do with the agenda um of how to do things better. So, I wanted to imagine for a moment you had an opportunity to bring a 100 couples um
down to High Street, going in and out of shops, buying things, uh having a meal or buying some art. How would you be able to do that, right? How could you do that? You guys ask yourselves that probably every day. Um,
and I'm going to tell you an idea of how. So, on the uh agenda, this is something we've done over for a few years now, is sponsor a international film festival. And
um I've seen it happen for years. I do not see a hundred couples. I don't see 200 people walking up and down uh high street going in and buying art or uh anything like that. Um the international
is labeled that way because people are emailing in their short films. They're not coming here. They email in their films. They get reviewed. They get their awards. whatnot. I have another idea of how to spend that money, which um these
are gift cards. It's one of my favorite things we do in Milville is um on Small Business Saturday, you guys uh use UEZ funds to sell gift cards at half price. Uh, and when I tell you that I usually
get there at 5:00 a.m. and there's already people there behind me from the Renaissance Center all the way around the corner down to Buck Park, hand to God, lined up for these gift cards. Hundreds of people want them. But I say
take it a step further. I say advertise a giveaway of some sort, whatever, however you want to do it. and target your audience to Bucks County, Mammoth County, Bergen County. Of course, you're
uh raffle or whatnot, maybe eligible for local residents, but to bring people from out of the area and if you normally it's been around 5,000. And I don't know, it doesn't say on the agenda how much this is, but if you broke that down into $50 gift cards, that's 100 couples
who could come down and eat dinner at the or house or buy a piece of art and wander up and down High Street. To me, that's always been a a really good way of using these funds for guaranteed foot
traffic, for guaranteed money going directly into the hands of um our our businesses on High Street. And I think that's what we've always wanted. And I've seen the success of them. I've seen it uh with my own two eyes. And I
see how excited when I go into these shops, how excited they are that I got. How much did you get? Did you get it? D. They get very excited about it. It's a big deal. And um to give the local shop owners another opportunity to take that
money and spread it everywhere. Um and also bring the word in of what we have, you know, targeting areas outside. Um I just think that would be a better another idea. Let's not say better, another idea of how we could use this
movie. Thank you. >> Seeing no one else at the podium, I'll close public comments to agenda items only. Madame clerk, do we have any presentation? >> Yes, we have a presentation from the Atlanta County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund.
Uh, good afternoon, Mayor. Council, my name is Paul Fenz. I'm the executive director of the Atlantic County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund and I approve the opportunity this afternoon to speak with you regarding your membership in the Atlantic GIF. Uh I spoke with Roy and I met with Roy a couple weeks ago, your business administrator, and he really felt it
would be important for uh me to meet with you and have a discussion about how the JIF's doing, how you folks are doing in the JIP, some of the programs that we have that you can certainly take advantage of through your membership fund, and also how you can help control future cost, which obviously all
municipals, municipalities, and school districts are are obviously review on a day-to-day basis. So with that said, I've created a presentation. Uh there's a lot of information in here. Roy said I have like an hour. I have three minutes. [laughter] So I'm find somewhere in the middle there. Okay. But as I go through
this material, please feel free to to ask me any questions you may have. I'm not offended if you interrupt me in any way, shape, or form. I have a tendency sometimes to use acronyms which you may not necessarily grasp. So please again feel free to interrupt me. Okay. So what are we going to talk about today? We're going to talk about uh a general
overview of your membership in the fund. uh how Milville has been performing in the fund, some of the factors that impact your medical assessment, which is a premium that you pay to the GIF to provide you with coverage, and then how do you control future costs, things such as utilization of our existing safety
programs, uh some risk management programs again that you have access to for your membership, and when we have claims, how we manage them to a successful conclusion, obviously at the least cost possible. >> So, so the reason I wanted to do it in this
session is to have one all of you together and it's very rare that we can do that but if you go back into the agenda that bottom piece and and Helen is from Hardburg has joined us as well controlling the future cost is our greatest opportunity we're trying to
bring in ratables but we also need from a bottomup perspective to start saving money that we're using in the city I don't think I'm highlighting anything that we don't agree upon but right there is kind of the the point of which I brought Paul in. This is something that
we need to to learn together. There's a lot of information here and your inputs are paramount for the success. So wanted to set the table. Steal my thumb. Yeah. Um with me also this afternoon is as Roy indicated is Helen Goodwin. She's your
risk management consultant. She's with the Hardenburg agency and Ki Patel who's the deputy executive director of the H County Jail. Okay. So let's talk about the GIF. What is a GIF? recognize that many of you may not necessarily understand the GIF other than is your insurance policy. What it actually
stands for is a joint insurance fund. Uh we are statutoily authorized to exist. We are a quasi municipal entity. Back in the mid1 1980s, the state legislature amended title 48 to allow two or more public entities, municipal entities or local entities to join together to
self-insure their needs for workers compensation, property and casualty coverage. Okay. uh we are by far the greatest example of your local cooperation in state and history and I'll get into that in a few minutes. Uh and if you were looking for a Webster's uh definition of what Webster is the
dictionary uh joint insurance fund is basically a mechanism through which can join together and take advantage of lower costs associated with self insurance. Self insurance is a very basic concept. Instead of me going out and buying insurance policy from an insurance company, I'm willing to take
on the risk and pay those claims out of my own budget initially. If those claims hit a certain extent, whether it's paying an aggregate total amount or a specific amount, then the excess insurance kicks in. I'll talk a little bit about that. Okay. So
um as an a entity that was created by the legislature as you might imagine we are highly regulated by both the department of community affairs and department of banking insurance. The gist follow the same types of statutes that you do public health needs act records act local fiscal affairs law.
All of those laws apply to the GIF and we operate those as a public to avoid. Coverages that we provide to you include workers compensation which is coverage for injuries to your employees. Uh general liability such as a trip and
fall on a municipally owned sidewalk, auto liability, which is an act called accident utilizing a vehicle that's insured or owned by the city. Excuse me. [clears throat] property coverage um including crime theft to fund the property's first party property losses coverage for your equipment for
your buildings and those types of things. Uh employment practices and public officials liability case claims that come out from employment related actions such as harassment or something along those lines that they promote. uh also cyber liability okay because cost
of the potential exposures that you have use of technology such as this streaming process okay that isn't a new exposure for everybody and you provide coverage for those types of things cyber liability perspective and then finally environmental impairment liability where you have a claim resulting from a
environmental release of hazardous chemicals along those lines so that is the suite of coverages that are provided to you your membership in the Atlantic chip kind of take a step back before we move forward. The city of Milville joined the Atlantic GIF on February, excuse me,
April 1st of 1998. Prior to you joining the Atlantic GIF, uh you were self-insured. You had $75,000 deductible for every worker's compensation as well as every general liability claim. And then you were also paid purchasing policies on top of that.
What's interesting is when you go when I look at your assessment history, you were paying the same amount in 1997 for the coverages that you had which were limited in scope limit limited in limit um and had significant deductibles and insurance requirements. You're seeing
the same amount in 2009. So it took 11 years for you to actually catch up in regards to how much money you were spending when you bring becoming a member of the gym. So the savings are certainly there. 30 years later, Mobile quite honestly, your membership in the
GIF has saved our taxpayers millions of dollars. We have better coverage. We have virtually no deductibles except for very specific coverage and as a result of your act activities in our safety and snatching programs, you have fewer claims and able to control the cost of
this. So I think it really has been a good move for you to join GIF. So who's in the GIF with you? Well, you can see here we're about 40 members today. Um, it has grown over over the last several years. What's nice about it is that the individual towns you see listed here
have the same types of exposures. There's homogeneiality to the exposure that you have. So, what happens in Milville maybe on a larger grand scheme, it's the same types of exposures that you have in other municipalities that are in. You're probably asking yourself why we
remember the Denny J and not the cluster sale county jail was back in 1997 your uh administrator and clerk Thompson was very close and friendly with a number of the administrators and clerks that were parts of the Atlantic County JIF and we
said hey can I join the Atlantic JIF was my friendship and relationships he said sure that's why you're at Jeff okay um our financial strength I think stands on it zone. Again, we're in our 40th year of operation after we kicked
off our um our program in 1987. You'll see that currently uh as of the end of 2025, we have about 46.9 million of cash on hand. So, we're going to continue to have the cash flow necessary to pay the claims. Uh you'll see our dividends that have been returned back
to our members. And this is a result of money that was not spent on claims as well as investment income is now topping $57.5 million. tax money that would have been profits for insurance company, but because we are part of a self-insured entity that has no profit motive
whatsoever. That money has been returned back to our members across the board are getting back and currently have about $13.2 million in surplus. So again, we're in good financial shape. And if you look at the MEL program across the entire state of
New Jersey and insurance movement across the entire state of New Jersey, they have saved taxpayers in excess of $4 billion. This is 198. So the creation of joint insurance cost very lucrative for our taxpayers.
So how's the bill performing overall? These are some of the metrics that we use to and I apologize that's a small te. These are and there's a copy metric. Okay, these are some of the metrics that we utilize in determining a member's overall performance. Okay, we use what's
called the secure average loss ratio. Loss ratio for our purposes is basically when you look at your assessment on an annual basis. The largest portion of your annual assessment goes to pay for claims within the funds self-insure retention. Right now, the Atlanta self retention and how money you pay out on
claim before any type of excess program ks in. first half million dollar of a worker's compensation claim, half million of a general or auto liability claim, and the first $100,000 first party property loss. That's our self-insured retention. Once the claim goes beyond those limits, we have excess
coverage that takes to provide uh financial support that claim. So, we look at that loss ratio and a perfect 12-year loss ratio would be 100%. For every dollar that you contribute to pay that stuff into every pension, we add a dollar. It's perfect. It doesn't work
that way. Imagine we also recognized a number of years ago that's not fair to judge your performance on an annual basis based on one year. There are going to be years when you're doing really really well and there's going to be some years when you're going to be not so well. So we look at a six-year rolling average because we think that is a nice
indication of the exposure that the city provides um to the jail. So it kind of levels out and and takes the bumps and the dips out of it so we have a better idea as to how you are performing overall over time. So when you look at how you perform, for every dollar that
you contribute, you pay for plan to selfinsure retention that I just described to you, we pay out about 88 cents on every dollar for the last 6 years. This is 2025. The GIF overall is at about 85 cents. So you're right on par with the GIF's overall average. So you're doing well.
When you look at the MEL average, now the MEL is a layer above us. Remember I talked about the self-insured pension in the first 500,000. The MEL selfinsur is a layer above you. ML is the municipal excess liability joint insurance fund. It's made up of 18 joint insurance funds across the state of New Jersey
incorporating coverage for 600 health. Okay. So you're part of a very large reinsurance and excess insurance program and what you have a big one on the screen. So the MEL has that self-insured relation. So if you have a bad claim, a
bad work comp claim, it goes above that half a million dollar mark, the Mel kicks in and they pay and a portion of your annual assessment goes to pay for the MEL's piece. Okay? And so we look at the Mel piece. Are you having a lot of claims maybe within your lower layer or
you have claims going into your higher level than the Mel layer? So what we do is we look at that average loss ratio and you see you're about 62 and 12% of that same six year period of time. So you had claims go in there into that upper layer. Okay. But the amount of money you're paying to cover those
claims, we're only paying out about 62 cents for that light on your behalf. Atlantif obviously has significant exposures other than just the city. We're about 110%. So not so good. Okay. But that's why the coverage is there for shop
losses is really why it's there. Okay. You obviously want to make sure you have coverage if you have really bad bad. We also look at the six average for employment practices and public officials liability claims. Okay. Again, same idea. A portion of your annual assessment goes to pay for coverage for
employment practices and public officials liability coverage. Um, this coverage though, however, is with a private insurance company. Okay? Because it doesn't make self sense to selfinsure that because of the types of claims that we get. Okay? But you'll see there that your average is about 106%.
Um, okay. The break even point for a private insurer is much less than the break even point for a joint insurance company because private commercial insurers have profit overhead all those types of things. They pay s charges and rates um which are different from a GIF
which is public entity. So with that said you can see where you're at in the bill versus the GIF. Okay. But again it's a six average. You're going to have years where you don't have any losses and you're going to have years when you have losses. It's just the way the process works. Some of the other
metrics, work comp claim reporting, we look for a benchmark of 3 days. Okay, there are national studies um that have been undertaken for years that show that the delay in the reporting of a workers's compensation claim has a direct impact on the cost of that claim at the end of the day. So the sooner we
know about that claim, the faster we can manage that claim. So we look for that 3 days, you guys are at 2 and 1/2 days all just shy of four. LTAF loss time action frequency that is the severity of an employee injury. A loss time action
frequency is defined as as a injury where the individual is out of work 8 days or more. Okay. So what these statistics statistics show you is that for Millville it's about 1.44. How you would interpret that for every 100 employees that are injured in the city
of Milville 1.44 but one employee is out for eight days or more. That's how you would interpret that. When you look at the GIF overall, a little bit lower. Okay, so you guys are doing really well in that perspective. And then transitional duty, the opportunity to bring an employee
back to work in a limited capacity as they transition back to full duty. That's what transitional duty is. We try to utilize 75% of our transitional duty days where doctor says, "Bob, come back to work." Except Bob can't lift more than 20 pounds for the next two weeks.
Let's bring Bob back to work. no longer behaving waist placement. Okay. And we're getting Bob back to work and has a good impact not only in Bob's recovery but morale across the entire um employee base. You'll see you guys are utilizing 78% right on right on mark with that 75%
right on mark. So from a metrics perspective you guys are doing really well to be proud. So what drives your mills assessment? Well exposure risk as you might imagine. If you have a ve a vehicle and you add a
new vehicle to your insurance policy, what happens? Cost goes up because the city because the insur is taking on a greater exposure. Same thing applies here. When you look at your exposure growth over 29 per years that you guys have been members, you can see when we came into the fund, you got about $10
million worth of payroll, you have about 16 million now for our purposes. Property values gone up about three times over the course of that 29 years, which is not surprising. and then your auto values have increased as well. So exposure growth is going to have an
impact on the cost of your assessment on an annual basis. That's just a natural process. And this is important because the MEL the excess program as well as these private insurance companies above the MEL that provide catastrophic coverage utilize a rate times an
exposure. So every time your exposure units go up, it's multiplied by that rate. it ends up having an increase on your assessment. So obviously that's one of the major factors that drives your annual assessment. Uh we also have been experiencing expanding coverages because
municipalities have some new and more unique exposures things such as cyber liability coverage. 10 12 years ago we weren't talking about cyber liability but as municipalities and public entities as a whole have have expanded the use of technology and I know you see this okay there's a need
now for cyber liability coverage. So, we now have that coverage for you. We're part of what's called the Cyber Gift, which is a statewide organization, um, joint insurance funds that, um, all put money into the into a central GIF. And,
that GIF provides that coverage as well as risk management programs and all sorts of different things to help you manage your use of technology, which again is going to continue to expand, especially as AI starts to become more and more used. Okay. Environmental impairment liability. 20 years ago,
nobody knew thought about environmental coverage, right? But as um um c certain landfill cases started popping up, contamination in rivers started popping up, everybody started getting sued, towns were looking for coverage, insurance companies weren't providing
that coverage. As a result, we needed to have environmental impairment coverage. We now have it for Egypt. Okay, you got great coverage in Egypt. Again, yes, they provide coverage, but it's more about risk management and about managing how municipalities deal with
environmental potential environmental issues. Okay. And then finally, employment practices with public officials. Back in 2010, that coverage was re that um employment related opinions were really starting to percolate to the surface. [cough] And as a result, uh we moved what was a self-insured program into the private
market and we now provide that coverage for you and we have greater control over that coverage. So again, expanding coverage is required when you have new disclosure. What else can drive your assessment? Well, statuto regulatory factors, things such as
workers compensation. Okay, every year the Department of Labor determines what the temporary total disability rate is going to be for injured employees. Well, that's tied to inflationary. What's happened with inflation the last 5 years? Off the roof. As a result, TV
rates are increasing. Has an impact on your assessment. uh claim reopeners, the ability for an injured employee to reopen a worker's compensation claim within two years of the date of their last payment. It used to be very unusual for us to see one, maybe two reopeners where somebody was significantly
injured. Now we are seeing four and five and six reopeners. Claims workers compensation claims are open for 15 years or more is now becoming more unfortunate. As a result, it cost us more money to manage and support. [clears throat] Accidental disability pension claims was
a determination from the pension board a number of years ago which basically said that we have to settle out a claim petition which is a petition from an injured employee for pain and suffering because in New Jersey you cannot sue your insur if they're injured. You can't sue your employer to injury. So as a
result um pension board came down and said you must do these certain things before this person's eligible for the accidental disability pension that has increased our bottom line significantly over the last couple of years and cancer presumption legislature last year adopted a change to the workers
compensation section that says that a firefighter who develops cancer and meets certain requirements is now the the cost associated with their cancer is now compensible of concession. Again, these add cost to our bottom line. Liability. We everyone's
aware of the changes to the sexual abuse and molestation laws that took place two years ago. Okay. Now, all of a sudden, we have to be prepared to pay for claims which either happened many many years ago because they removed static patients or may occur many many years into the future. Again, it's our bottom line.
Social inflation, the idea that if I'm injured, must be somebody's fault. If I'm walking down high street metro or her, it must be somebody's fault. I'm going to sue the public. I would sue the city for those terms. That in those types of situations is called social
inflation. It's a general feeling that I must be compensated for pain and suffering even if I fell in love. And then nuclear breakdown, they're angry about about a situation and they wore $10 million $20 million to the planes. Okay, these are all factors
that play into your assessment on aable basis. And then finally, property points. Climate change, right? Whether you believe in climate change or you do not, reality is that we are seeing significantly larger and more intense storms. We are building things much
closer to the coast than we ever have before. And when you take those factors in with inflation and the increasing cost of labor and the building materials, all of these have an impact under property assessment as well. So these are all factors that are driving.
But what's really driving? >> Yes. Times Oh, I'm sorry. I think that's from claims experience. The JF uses sixear average loss ratio. Yeah, I talked about that. Okay. to
determine we have uh we take into account peaks and valleys and different types of things that impact your assessment. All members are repriced once every three years. Okay? We pull you out and repric year program overall. GIF does not cancel members with poor
performance. If you have a bad year or two bad years or three bad years, we do not cancel the coverage. It's not your business. We work with you to make your performance better. Okay? And we try to get the money back. We recognize that we can't make up the amount of money that
paid out in one or two years. That'll recap on your budget and isn't good practice and just works with forming members again to turn results around. This is kind of a an example from a claim perspective. If you're in a
situation where um you're taking out more money over a six-year period of time than you're contributing, you're going to pay more. Finance committee will make that determination. If you're um taking out less of your contrition, then you're going to pay less in future
years. So again, that's the importance of having good claims experience and working claims. So how do you continue benefit? Okay, how do you enjoy your future cost? Well, we believe that risk management starts at home. If you folks
care about managing risk safety programs that you have available to you, it percolates down for your entire organization. If the elected officials don't care about what's happening with Jim, what's happening with the employees and happy with your risk that you will
benefit because all the rest of the folks within the organization get back and we understand. Okay. Uh we ask that you support your risk management team, your safety coordinator, uh Paul Williams, you know, he is out there and he's working hard on your behalf. He's the leazison between
safety director's office and the city. Uh he chairs your local safety committee, coordinates all your training andates all your safety information. Your claims coordinator Stacy Banks, this individual is a key person in your town to help flow information between
the claims adjusters and the city so that we can defend your claims, okay, and monitor how your employees are doing with workers compensation. [clears throat] uh Arbor agency who is your risk management consultant and they are here.
They are free resource. They're a licensed insurance producer in the state of New Jersey. They're there to help update your exposure information and make sure you're utilizing all the services that are available to you from jail. [clears throat] And then your fund commissioner who are uh he is your city representative. He's the individual that
is asked to attend meetings to participate and represent the interests of the city in regards to the relationship with the joint insurance fund. some other ways that you can help get involved. You know, the GIF has an extensive section system of
subcommittees. We have that because when we have 40 members, can you imagine 40 members in the same room trying to argue out and determine a budget for the next year? You never get anywhere. We have subcommittees. Those subcommittees meet and they discuss what's going on and they they make recommendations to the executive committee to implement those
policies and programs. Um so we ask them way to get involved and stay involved in subcommittees. Same thing with the executive committees. Okay. Executive committee is the governing of the GIF. Same way city council meets to take certain actions. JIF does the same exact
thing. The executive committee meets on a monthly basis with the exception of August. We have seven meetings that are virtual. We take about 30 minutes. Uh and then the other four months out of the year we do meet in person. So again, get involved in the programs.
Some of the safety programs um that we have available to you um are outlined in our overall program that are available to you on the GHIF website. Uh member driven safety policies make a lot of sense over the last four years. We've developed programs that are specific to
the needs of the city's exposures. We recognize you're not making widgets. You have some very unique exposures. Fire departments, police operations, DEW. So, we've built programs to address those exposures. We do on-site loss control surveys where folks from our safety
director's office come out and they inspect your your facilities to make sure that things are being done properly. We have a whole suite of policies and procedures and guidelines that are available to you, okay, to help you manage your risk and uh be more safe in your activities. We issue safety
bulletins a couple times every month on new up and cominging types of things you need to be thinking about. uh and you are members of the Mel Safety Institute. The Mel Safety Institute is um an entity that because we are JRS coverage from the Mel. Okay. The ME
safety institute is a program you have access to and it gives you access to online training um 24/7 streaming training as well as inerson. There's a lot of training at the bell too and you folks have been utilizing it. You'll see here this is your training results over
the last 5 years. Again, you're trending in the right direction. Overall, the breakdown is MSI live, which is that 247 streaming versus MSI MSI now, which is that virtual training option that you have available to you as well. So again, you guys are heading in the right
direction with your overall training. You also because of at your request, we've scheduled a specific training for Millville that'll be held on June 11th, I guess, than this. Okay. and those mast training and those four items that we'll
be talking about during the back course of training that be available to all of your employees. >> Um it's also very important that you guys training administration the individual that goes into the MSI and helps manage the training for your individual employees and then it's
really important that you complete a training needs assessment for all your employees. make sure that the training that they're getting coincides with the responsibility that they take on basis. We also talk about risk management which is a step beyond safety. Okay. We talk
about risk avoidance. Best way to eliminate the possibility of having a claim out of a certain event. Don't have the event. Risk avoidance. You're going to have that event. We talk about risk transfer. Talk about getting certificates of insurance. We talk about harmless. We talk about contract review.
to make sure that if you're paying an entity to do something on your behalf to provide they're providing service to you. Make sure you're protected. So their actions lead to a claim, you can put responsibility or viability of that claim on the entity responsible for it. Then we talk about risk control. You
know, if you're going to do say a fireworks display or something like that, you're going to control the risk associated with it and we can help you do that. Again, all programs that are available to you for your own fund. We also have a suite of other risk management tools like insurance guidelines for harmless identification
language uh road sign walkway condition programs supervisors training police risk management programs a whole suite of programs are available to you to help you manage your risk um when we have claims it's really really important to manage them we have
road map which outline the process by which you report claims you look for that three-day reporting period is is important you want to make coordinate all your training all coordinate all of your claim reporting processes direct medical care get them into network New
Jersey is one of the few states in the country that allows the employer to direct medical care for your employees you want to make sure you have strong lines of communication so that the employees not sitting home on a Friday afternoon trying to figure out if they get paid or not you want to make sure that they are good solid communication
with all the people involved in the process and make sure that ultimately um we resolve that claim investments. We also have a whole suite of CL of claim management for liabilities. Title 59. Title 59 is a state statute that
outlines how public energy in New Jersey can be sued. There's very specific guidelines of title 59 in regards to notification. There's also a full suite of immunities built into that as well that they can use to defend your claim. And our attorneys specialize in defense.
So we don't just use an attorney practices specializ also have other specialized programs the safety incentive program your optional safety budget um your school program so there's a lot of pieces of the puzzle there all available on the jig website
or obviously has access to that program bottom line I'm just bottom line is overall claims perform okay and that represents a largest portion of the jiff budget not control
number and cost of claims additional assessments are always a possibility if we have to go back in to ask for more money that's that's part of being selfinsured and every dollar am not spent on claims gets returned to members inclusive of interest on investments in
the form of dividends and have to report to you that has received almost $2.3 million in dividends of the $57 million that we have to our members since you became that. So, in conclusion, keep it simple. Okay?
Utilize the GHIF safety and your smashing programs. Call upon our office, any of the GHIF professionals um that you want to utilize. Help for sure. Support your employees participation in training whenever possible. Actively participate in the management of your
claims and the bottom line will take care of itself. I appreciate your time. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may. >> It's a good question. Uh, you said all members are repriced once every three years. When was the last time we were we >> uh call?
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Questions. >> I hope I I hope I gave the information. >> Madam clerk, let's begin discussions of commissioners. >> Yes, we do have an ordinance for first reading. An ordinance amending the
municipal code. Chapter 56, sewer and water. Good afternoon. So, what we're looking to do here is is discuss and amend the municipal code for sewer and water. What we're looking to do is basically
increase the fees that we are currently charging to those that are tapping into the system. Milville as a whole is hasn't really updated the uh the fees at all in a long time, 10 to 12 years on average. We're actually giving away we're charging fees
that are less than the equipment cost in most cases of what we're bringing in. So what we're looking to do is maturate those fees so that a we're getting the money that we should for the equipment but also become more competitive with the other towns around us. >> To be clear, this is people who come and
buy water from us. >> This is Yeah, that does cover people that come and buy bulk water from us. We have uh tankers that are coming from a large distance because we're charging so little that they're actually coming from Trenton down to us in order to fill tanker trucks.
>> And we're not charging anywhere near what we should be. >> Nowhere near not even 10%. Right. >> Resolutions. Resolution authorizing tax and utility adjustments. And that's just a standing monthly uh uh every month we go through the tax and
utility assessment that were made previous >> resolution authorizing water and sewer termination. >> So this is a list of properties prepared by Tracy who have not uh paid water or sewer since December. This is an
authorization to terminate for services >> and and uh just to make clarification too uh this usually can occur after 60 days and we're now looking at almost 6 months. So it's not like uh we reached
the 60 days and decided to terminate the water and sewer. This is almost 6 months after. >> We are not being draconian in our measures. Correct. >> Yes. Resolution appointing alternate member three to the zoning board. >> This is appointment of Greg Hennis to
the zoning board. This is our last alternate member to fill. So when we came aboard, I think I think Commissioner Reella could tell us we were kind of low on our members there. I think we're pretty much filled up on all our positions. Uh we might need a few more positions over on the planning
board as far as alternates, but uh this fills up our last alternate position with Greg Hennis. He's been a a pillar of the community for many many many years uh in lots of different capacities and I think he will very intelligent person and uh a lot of us on this
commission do know him very well. I think he will uh make a great thoughtful um person to join the uh the zoning board. >> Resolution approving the city of Milville to sponsor Cut International
Short Film Festival. So, this is uh what Miss Brooml brought up, and I think she had a good idea. Um I I believe she said that the uh the the cards um are something that uh UE paid for and uh we
were discussing uh just today and yesterday. We have UE funds that we need to uh expand and we're we're going through and seeing what the best way to use those were. So, this might be something that we could pair with this uh film festival. Some sort of card to
drive more people to the film festival to get people to eat. I think there's a multiplying effect on down on High Street when somebody's coming for an activity. You know, if you're coming to do something at the Leaway, you might get, you know, drinks before and see a show and then dinner after or the
opposite. I think when you have a an entertainment activity on High Street, it's it it gives you that multiplier effect. You know, people coming just to eat, uh that's great. You get one. If people are coming for an entertainment activity, you can sometimes multiply that by three. So, I think in the next
couple days, we'll we'll take a look at that uh idea that we've apparently done in the past and see if that can be merged with this. Uh, you know, this is a something we've done for 5 years or four or five years and, uh, by all accounts, I have not been to this
before. I plan on going this year. Um, it's it's a good thing for the community, good thing for downtown, but if we can multiply that with a a good idea from someone from the community, I think that's a great idea. >> I love the gift card idea. And and correct me if I'm wrong, does do we
already do something like that? Was a Holly City Development Corporation done that before? had the national uh the NPP >> preservation program uh the neighborhood preservation program. They uh traditionally do the gift card program.
>> I believe it was done this year, but the Holly City Development Corporation is going to try to fund that to make that happen. But that that NP money is gone. So >> So they did it last year, but we're not sure if they're going to do it this year. >> Correct. I need confirmation on that. >> But we can see if funds could fund that.
Right. look into I mean we don't want to talk I mean if they're already doing this I just want to confirm that >> you remember how much the MPP was for was that the >> I can't recall the exact number off the top of my head but that was uh two years this the past two years that MPP money for two years
>> oh we could possibly take this the gift card idea and and merge it with uh activities that are going on down there I mean it could be a standalone thing but when big things are going on down on High Street merge that gift card where maybe there's a special added incentive
to attend these events, you know, whether it's the car show or the Holly City Fest or the Cut Film Festival. You merge that gift card program with those to drive even more business down to High Street than uh is already going on cuz some I went to the car show this year
and uh I don't think I ate or purchased anything. >> What's that? I definitely do. >> Yeah. [laughter] But, uh, you know, if if people have more motivation, hey, I have this gift card where I'm going to get half off of, you know, eating at this restaurant when I'm down. I'm down at the car show already.
>> That could be a nice multiplier. So, I think these things can uh, great idea. I think these things can work in tandem together and uh, we just got to find a way to do that. So, uh, let's put our heads together and [clears throat] >> the the gift cards are for high street businesses, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Only.
>> Yeah. I mean, if we if there's a turnout like and I've seen the line, if there's a turnout that's that big, I wouldn't be against increasing it or making it more than once a year type of thing. I mean, it's, you know, if if it's bringing that
much and that, you know, kind of activity once a year. >> I mean, >> right. It's not just it's not just restaurants. It's >> any of the business any of those businesses. >> Oh, we got to get them all signed up and uh we we do have to see if UE will cover
it. If it does, this is a great thing that can be done more than once a year and uh it it'll when people get a habit of going down to High Street, um they create those those shopping habits. If you don't ever go down there, you know, you don't have a reason to. So, um I
think when you get these multiplying effects of, you know, the gift card plus the car show with the gift card plus the cut the cut film festival, I think they can all work together and uh UE obviously is grant money. So, that's uh and we've been talking about how to spend that. Um there's some money that
needs to be spent in a certain amount of time and uh we've been strategizing on the very best ways to do that and that that may be a good way. resolution to designate Oivo as the sole source supplier of the G removal equipment at the Millville wastewater
treatment plant. >> Um so that equipment is going to be replaced in kind with the same supplier as the original failing equipment which is about 35 years old the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank or I bank uh requires a sole source resolution since
Ovivo is the only supplier of this type of equipment. That's why this resolution. >> The only addition is the the original contract from August of 2025 will be extended to the end of the year versus next month because this is a an addition
to the existing contract >> resolution of support for the advancement of the Third Street and Wheaten Avenue traffic calming and pedestrian safety improvements project. So for this I'm going to defer to the engineer. Uh if you want to explain real quick what this is
um this is um this is being federally funded through the highway safety improvement program. Um so the funds go through the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization
that's consist of four counties. Salem, Atlantic, uh, Cape May and Directly. Um, so we were selected um for two projects
out of four for the county. Uh, one was for Third Street, the Third Street and Weaten Avenue corridor from uh, Maine to uh, G Street and the second one was High Street from uh, Main 49 to just um,
south of uh, Sharp Street. So, um [snorts] it's the the uh high street corridor was ranked number one in for Millville as far as accidents um mainly pedestrian and um bicycle
and uh third street was second. So, um these funds shoot for zero accidents, you know, as the goal. Um part of it for Third Street will be eliminating the angled intersections
um of Wheaten Avenue between um [clears throat] between Third Street and D Street and the other on the other side between um [snorts] F and uh G Street. So um >> how are we going to do the um the
weekend and then third? What what was the plans for that? >> You'll have if you want to go down D uh Weaten Avenue, you'll have to go to uh D Street and come through. >> Okay. So, >> you won't be able to take that angle.
>> Third, make a right on D and then >> Correct. If you're going northbound, correct? >> Okay. >> Southbound. >> Wasn't some of the plans that they wanted to make it a one like one way >> on the one like that one little section >> for the uh extension of Fourth Street? Fourth Street. Yes.
>> Yeah, that's one way going north. >> So going north. >> So Fourth Street is going to be one way >> from Weon will be one way >> from F to G. >> Okay. >> So you're coming F westbound and you and
you get to Fourth Street. You have to go one more block and then make that right on the Weapon Avenue. Oh, no. I'm trying to think of what we're doing because we're talking conceptually here, right? So, one way is going northbound. >> Going northbound, >> not south. Okay, >> that's correct.
>> Yep. [snorts] [clears throat] >> So, it eliminates the triangle odd angled intersections where which are inherently dangerous because people don't see in their mind. >> I got you now. So, [clears throat] coming down south, you would make a left on F Street if you wanted to go to fourth, not at that triangle.
>> Yeah. Or take fourth all the way through to go north. So essentially going um northbound you're going to want to go fourth street. >> Mhm. >> You know take four
>> southbound to get to fourth you would go >> and and southbound to get you you well you you'd have to go around the block one way or the other. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. And then going um
northbound, you would most likely go over to third, unless you were going I'm sorry, southbound, you would likely go over uh over to third if you were going westbound on 149 or
Fifth Street if you're going eastbound. >> Only thing that confuses me and I'm very confusing. So, >> it's not hard at all to >> So, I'm picturing coming north on fourth and I'm still have to look backwards to Weaton Avenue.
>> No, Wheaten Avenue gets eliminated. >> Oh, okay. >> In that block. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> I think that's what I'm missing now. >> That's what Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yep. Sorry. >> So, both triangle intersections go away under this >> gotcha plan.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. >> So, um other than that, it's really for both streets, they're going to have shorter pedestrian crosswalks. They're going to have by creating curb bumps at bumpouts. Um which is does two things. Obviously,
the shorter pedestrian crosswalks make it safer for the pedestrians, but it also calms traffic, slows it down by making the road narrower. >> John, in one of your emails, you were explaining that it really doesn't affect uh parking as well because where the yellow >> Yeah, I did take a look at that on High
Street because that's, you know, obviously sensitive. Most of those areas are painted yellow. So, I didn't really see that, you know, a net loss of parking spaces. Some people do park in the yellow I guess but but there
shouldn't be a net loss of parking >> is for legal parking spaces >> the bumpouts I think from parking on the corner >> so no legal parking spots >> right >> taken away no >> yes because it'll be cur it it'll be curbed and be part of the sidewalk
>> a weird question that last parking spot before the bumpout parallel parking into that that's still doable Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> You know what I'm talking about. >> Yeah, I do know what you're talking about because you'll be going against the curving >> going against Right. Okay.
>> Won't be as easy cuz there But it it'll it still >> especially if a car is in that second spot. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> I just drive around the corner and wait for a spot. >> Leave that parking spot for nobody's talking. >> That's right. But the good news is they're going to be paving these roads
which yes >> need it and as part of the project. So >> Oh, so they're going to pave the end off this is happening. >> Yeah. >> No, no cost to us. >> No, >> no cost. >> No cost. >> It's federal money. >> And you say ranked number one. Is that be ranked number one on city street?
>> City. Yes. >> Cuz I'm like that is not number one in the city. >> Oh no. >> I'm thinking of a state highway that's number one. But >> yeah, >> these are number one for city street. >> Correct. >> Perfect. I pushed a couple accidents out of there. >> Yeah. >> And they they gave the reasoning because of trying to get out of those side
streets. It's very and trying to see. So that's why it would have had such people right in front of >> Right. >> Right. So those bumpouts are supposed to prevent that and open it up a little bit more. >> Well, I just saw number one and I know Bluebird is the number one, but that's a state highway.
>> State, right? >> Any further questions? >> Thank you. Mr. >> Resolution authorizing amendment number one to professional service contract with ACOM technical services inc.
>> So this resolution is for the wastewater treatment plant. This is handling the and the engineering and design of improvements at the plant. And the additional scope that's being added here is engineering work needed to replace the aging grit mechanism which we talked
about earlier. This is also part of the contract extension and the cost increase is $44,350 which is going to this company uh who is going to be able to be a one-stop shop at a reasonable price.
>> So the engineering extension is because of the grit removal equipment. >> That is correct. >> Okay. Are they also the the resident engineer for that during that time or do we still have a resident engineer for that?
>> There is not additional engineering. This is this is specific for this one in >> resolution authorizing the discharge of mortgage 422 Ireland Avenue. All right, let's move the new business, Madam Clerk.
>> Yes, we do have a motion to approve a special event um off time, off-road timekeeping motorcycle event, August 30th, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. >> Um, this is something that comes up on our agenda every year about this time.
Uh, drives a lot of people into town. >> And then we do have a motion to change the farmers market location to the Buck Parking lot. That'll still take place on June 4th uh on Buck Street right in the parking lot behind Captain Buck.
>> And nothing's changing really with that except just moving >> moving a couple hundred feet overund that is not green. Okay. >> And everything's going everybody's excited about it and uh a lot of positivity. Everybody's happy. Looking
forward to it. >> Perfect. So that is um we probably should uh remove the word farmers. That is a Milville market. So >> yeah, the Milville market >> um only because uh there's going to be everybody there. So anybody's welcome to
be a vendor. Um it's not necessarily a farmers even though farmers are invited, >> but everybody is. There's going to be soap, jewelry, all kinds of things. >> Excited for that. >> There's a lot of talk about that.
people very excited to hear that. Yes, >> that's definitely a positive thing for Noville. >> We've now reached the public comment portion of our meeting. Anyone who would like to address the commission, please go to the podium, state your name and address and your concerns, please limit your comments to approximately 5
minutes. Angeline Bruhal Milville. Um the gift card program for 2025 was uh $40,000 was from the SSA.
Um Milville gave an extra $3,000 and I cannot remember why. Um some small portion of that a few thousand dollars went to the Holly City Development Court to administer it and
uh just for your own just so you know how like it's $500 limit because people would were going in there spending thousands because you and I save up all year cuz I get $1,000 worth of gift cards for $500
and that's my nails, my Chinese food, my, you know, people always wonder where I get what I get, and that's really where I get it, honest to God. So, it I appreciate you even considering that. Um, and like they sell out within hours. So,
imagine like $35,000 turned into $70,000 directly into the pockets of, you know, not Target, it's literally local businesses on High Street. Um, it's an amazing thing and >> to be able to target it. So, okay,
that's the good stuff. I'll get back to Angel's regular agenda. [laughter] Um, [clears throat] the changes to the agenda. There was a minor change to the agenda, but it was never posted um as a change and it was just something really
really tiny and if you didn't notice it, you wouldn't have noticed it. But though it's still important, right? So there was the alternate two and it got changed to alternate three. It was a mistake, I guess. But when I first looked at the agenda, it said alternate two. So I know
I'm not cuckoo. It just changed. And the agenda changes are important. The agenda itself is really important. It's um just a record of of what we do here. And sometimes, you know, there's other people than me that
might be interested. We want other people. I don't want to hear myself full all the time either. Um, election day is Tuesday. Normally, um, traditionally we don't, uh, have meetings. It's always on
Wednesday. Uh, so it's just unusual for me. Um, I hope I didn't check. I hope it's not going to be that way in November. uh the new TV program that's on right now
uh budget talks you know we didn't the public didn't get any feedback from you guys in work session or at the regular meeting when you passed uh first reading of the budget the introduction to the budget but being on TV now when the public was
here now I wouldn't have had any questions then um and the the public consisted of three people. There wasn't very many people here, but questions were asked and the commission didn't answer them. And now going on TV and and
I understand the desire to um and I respect the desire to want to communicate with the public in a in a more uh easy way for the public to swallow it. However, you're going to face a lot of the things on TV that
you're facing with me, with Oprah's going on TV and stating certain things. Maybe you'll make a mistake. Maybe you'll say something wrong. Maybe you'll say something that somebody's going to want to do at Oprah to find more information.
It exposes you to more problems. If you're discussing especially things as big as the budget in a in a forum where you don't have an attorney to guide you, you don't have your CFO to guide you. It's a it's something that you might
want to reconsider. You know, talking about maybe, you know, the car show is one thing, but big issues like that is going to set us up for um problems. And I also think
that it's it was rude to not address the public both in the work session and in the introduction, but yet to do it on TV. So, that's all. Thank you. >> Yes, m Mr. Cot and I were uh privileged to be able to go on uh television and
and speak a little more in depth about the not in depth about the budget, but just a a uh public consumable. And on the one hand, we have people coming to the podium today saying you better be careful and you know, you might be too transparent and tell people too much
stuff and they might want to oper you. And then you have people on the other hand say, well, you're keeping secrets. you know, why aren't you more transparent? Why don't you explain to the public a little more, you know, what's going on? So, I I don't know what people want anymore, uh, Vice Mayor. Do they do they want us to be transparent?
Do they want us to be afraid of being oper, you know, I'm sure we're going to make a mistake and somebody's going to op us. Maybe even people sitting here might obe us for, you know, little things we say or misspeak or whatever. But, uh, you know, I I don't know which way to go,
Vice Mayor, at this point. Do we are we afraid to be transparent and talk to, uh, >> your five minutes up? >> My five minutes is up. >> You know, I don't know how you feel about that, Vice Mayor. You know, do we uh do we try to maintain some transparency with the public or do we uh
are we afraid of uh people opening us and cower in fear? You know, I'm not sure what we should do. Maybe we'll talk about this more, Ben. >> Um, in reference to um the agenda, I'd like to speak with you after um with the
update. I wasn't it wasn't clear to me if it wasn't italicized or what if there was confusion as to what the update was. So I' I'd like to speak with you for a moment just to clarify what that what that confusion
was. >> So there's nothing on and so if you go on the website >> I'm sorry Miss Griml. Could you speak to her afterwards? >> Oh, sorry. >> Still in public. >> We're still in public comment time. >> I thought she asked me now. >> I just not I have problem with you doing that. Just if we do it then it turns
into a public. You know you've been around long enough to know. Um anybody else? Are we finished talking about the uh >> Well, we're still in public comments. >> Yeah, I know. But are we finished talking about that one uh that one item that we were just talking about? All
right. Seeing is anybody else uh want to make any public comments? Seeing no one at the podium, I will close public uh comment portion of the meeting and we will move on to comments from commissioners. Let's start off with Commissioner Taylor. So, [clears throat]
I think the gift card idea is great, and that's one of the reasons why I like when uh members of the public come up and and give us ideas here and there. Um, I wouldn't mind doing it more than once a year,
honestly. I mean, if we could do it somehow do it at every big event that we have, I mean, that would be >> Mhm. That would be pretty good, you know, amazing actually. Um, especially for the businesses on High Street. Um, a
lot of places sell cards and stuff like that for the the big box stores and stuff like that, but I think uh the card program that helps out the the small businesses on High Street's just like fabulous. I really I really do. I I
would much rather see the money go to that. um or if we have extra money in the UE that needs to be spent or whatever, I'd like to see that, you know, see us try to do something um you know to extend that program. Um cuz like Miss Broomhall
said, it helps out a lot of people because they're paying uh it's half, right, Miss Broomhall? >> Yeah, it's it's half the price. So, you know, if you can get $2,000 worth of gift cards for $1,000, that's that's a pretty good pretty good return on your
money. get my haircut twice as much. >> Well, you know, you could [laughter] you could too. >> Yes. >> Um, >> sorry. >> But, uh, you know, I I I think we're going in the right direction. Um, and
you know, I kind of agree with you on a couple things about the, you know, we don't know really know which way we want to go. I mean, we try to do it one way and we get flack for it. We try to go the other way, we get flack for it. Um, it's a it's just a neverending
uh battle. You know, we we can't uh we can't please everybody all of the time, but we can at least try. That's that's the way I look at it. We can try. Um, the budget doesn't really, you know, allow for advancements in my departments
too much, but I'm going to, you know, rally with my chiefs and and try to figure out how we can overcome what we need to overcome and get what we need done. So, you know, but, uh, I'm looking, you know, I'm looking forward
to keep going. So, you know, and ideas like that, I think, are are pretty damn good. It's all >> Thank you, Commissioner Taylor. Commissioner Reella. >> Yeah. Um, two two different things. Uh, discussing that same item that
Commissioner Taylor brought up. I think when the the city decides to sponsor something, we we always say, uh, you know, because it's always been done, uh, that that's not something that we necessarily, uh, we want to pave our own paths. Um, and I think that things
should be weighed very carefully when we decide to sponsor something. I think when we sponsor something, we should look at the greater good. Um, and how it affects all businesses across the board, maybe not one particular area. And, um, I'm hoping, you know, that we could
explore what that looks like. Um, in other things going on, we have the banner program that we had discussed uh, at the last meeting. um that'll be on unveiled tonight. We finally got the
backup from the banner company. Uh and that'll be put out tonight with the application. Uh so for anybody that's interested in participating in our Hometown Heroes banner program, look out for that uh today. It'll be posted on
the city Facebook page as well as the recreation page. Um and there are 36 polls that are available. So, it's first come, first serve. So, if anybody's interested, jump on it right away.
>> Thank you, Commissioner Row. Uh, Commissioner Cman. >> Okay. First, yes, the programs, the car program. I like the idea. I love the idea. It is brings people down there. And I think the people, the more we get
down there, the more they can see some of these shops have some very unique little gifts. You know, I'm tired of going to Target and just picking something out, but some of those little shops that I have been into have been, "Hey, that's a really cool gift, you know, and it it isn't as that much
money." It truly isn't. So, it makes a much nicer gift than going to Target. Nothing against Target or Bradley's or wherever these stores are now. >> Bradley's I am really dating myself. Walmart. >> That's right next to two guys, right? >> Two guys. I remember that, too.
>> WT Grants. I can go way back. [laughter] >> Stop at Rickles afterwards. >> That's right. [clears throat] >> You got there, >> Angel. I always love when you have suggestions. We're new up here. And you know what? We're going to make mistakes and we learn. And you know what? Hey,
we'll try it that way. Maybe it's going to be a little different and maybe that's going to be better for us. We don't know. But I I enjoy the comments from the public. I know. Like I I I do tell the mayor sometimes, not going to please all the people all the time. Nope. Nope.
>> I think we're pleasing a lot of people. >> It's like when you used Did you ever come to my office? You were never sent to my office. >> Oh, few times. >> Few times. [laughter] And I would >> I had my own chair. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, it's not It might be bad today, but tomorrow will be better.
>> Yep. >> So, it it'll get there. We're new and we're learning. So, >> thank you, Commissioner. >> Vice Mayor C. >> All right. Uh, just a few things once again. Uh, I think we're all on board with the gift cards. I
>> I think we're all excited about that. Whatever that looks like. Um, I think it's a great idea whether we make it for specific events. I don't know how you can lose, right? The businesses are just going to win. Um, and when the businesses win, we all win. Um, moving on to the budget. Um, I know it's very
easy when you're not involved to over oversimplify the budget, right? It looks like unfortunately for the public, they only get to see us twice a month, right? So to them, they have no understanding, full understanding of what we went
through to get there. all the meetings that Roy and Trish had with each department head that we fought to find out what we're going to keep and what we're not going to keep while at the same time trying to figure out as a group that can't meet all the time, how to get that number down as low as
possible to still get yelled at by the residents but still not grow the budget, right? Um it's hard. A lot of us took that hard knowing we couldn't grow our bud uh our departments and we got down to a point
to where we didn't want to be at, but we still had to move the city forward. And it's easy to say, you know, you guys had a work session and you didn't come up with all these amazing ideas for your first time ever. And I get that. And um
but the mayor approached me with I thought a great idea that we've learned. We got some phone calls. We got some questions about it that we didn't have. Remember this is a year two or three or four. Um say hey I didn't understand that. I might not understand that. Um
CFO got a gave amazing presentation but sometimes it's above my level of understanding that we don't find out till a week or two later, right? A couple days our phones ring. So he's like, "Hey, how about we try to at least simplify it so people can understand
what does 12 cents mean? What does 8% mean? What what can we do for the public?" Um, and I thought it was the right idea. Are we going to have some people who's going to operate? I tell you what, the people who are going to
operate no matter what we do. Um, we look at the same names and I'm okay with that. I'm okay if we're trying to help out the other 27,000 people to understand a overly complex thing. If we misspeak, if we get a number wrong, we
did try to put a disclaimer. This is for, you know, simplifi, you know, but there's going to be people. But I can tell you what, we get a lot of phone calls or people appreciative of us trying to help explain an overly complicated thing. Um, some people are
really involved and uh I know uh Miss Broomhole is very involved. She's been involved for a long time. So, she picks up a lot of things that we take for granted that other residents might not. And we learn by the phone calls we get. So, yes. U Why do we do it? I love that
we did it. I love that we're still trying to be transparent. I love that we're trying to just get out to as many people. And if that means that we have to admit some of the things we do wrong along the way, I'm happy for it. I want the people to know that we're not perfect.
>> I want people to know that we're going to trip and fall. And if people want to operate, hey, it's okay. That's their right. That's their right. And I have yet to see Oprah stop coming in. Um, and I haven't seen them come or not come. Depending on what we're doing, there's going to be Opas. And I hope people keep
Oprah. Um, that doesn't bother me at all because when you know you're trying to help out, I'm okay with it. I'm okay with whatever happens. We're not I was excited um because of the phone calls we got and people were just asking for help that we didn't know at the work
session. So maybe next year we do something different at the work session, right? We take the ideas from somebody that said, "Hey, you could have done better next work session." I agree with you. Every work session we seem to be doing something better than we did the previous work session. So we only have
24 work sessions in a year. So we're probably going to be learning as we go. >> But it seems like we have a more opportunity. We talk about three or four months, but that's really only six or seven work sessions we have and we've already made a lot of changes from
beginning to end. So, I just want to state that on the record that um I'm proud that you asked me to be part of that >> and I I I enjoyed it and maybe next year we do it earlier. >> But then we also have a CFO that maybe
next year she don't spend 120 hours a week doing it because she's already figured it out. >> Maybe next time we do it before. >> Yeah. Have a chance to do it before. >> We're all learning it together and I love the people we have with us and uh I I applaud everybody. what they're doing.
So, >> thank you, Vice Mayor C. And, uh, I'll I'll tag right into what you have to say. Um, I thought what we did, you know, you go I talk to a lot of people throughout the course of the week. We go to a lot of events as mayor and vice mayor and and and public uh events that
Marissa Commissioner Ranella goes to and we talk to a lot of people and we look at social media and we look at things where people say I saw somebody say, "Oh, and everyone's getting a $1,000 tax increase. Everyone's getting this. Everyone's getting that." And there's so
much misinformation. And the one thing we said when we came on board is we're going to try to do our best to inform the public about what we're doing, about what is happening and the directions we're trying to go and the things we're doing. And um I thought what we did last
night was a uh a great thing for the public where we could boil down and explain to the public, you know, you're getting a 12-cent increase. This is really the the the kind of pairing it down was, you know, you're getting a tax increase. Why are you getting a tax
increase? Um, and it explained what the drivers of that taxing, what was driving the budget to where it is today, where was the uh the pressure coming from. And I think people when they see that will understand more. Every time I see people out in public, they tell me, "Oh, I saw a video you made. I really appreciate
you explaining the the water meters or whatever it is." We we go on and do. And it's just, you know, is could I misspeak it sometimes and say something like, uh, you know, we're under the Faulner Act instead of the Walsh Act? You know, I know we're under the Walsh Act. We talk
about it all the time. Um, are we going to misspeak? Um, absolutely. Um, are people going to go online and take little snippets of things we say and have fun with that? Um, yeah, sure. But let me say this. I I'll end with this. Um, I do want to thank all the
commissioners here cuz I do see the things that people post about each one of us and um, I know you each come to city hall or to where you go and you work hard and you come with the attitude of always trying to make this city a
better place day by day. And I know each one of you do that and I know I do that. Um, we don't do this for the the fun or the recognition of it because uh quite frankly, it's not always fun and the recognition we get isn't uh always the kind we want. But the mission of this
commission is to improve the city. And I know this is a commission that's probably more engaged. I say this all the time, more engaged than any other commission. And I'll say this, I said this on the budget thing last night. We work for the people. We were elected by the people to look out for the people's interests. And that's what I think about
when we make any decision we make. what is best for the citizens of this city? Is this a good decision for the city? Is this a good decision for taxpayers? Uh I'm a taxpayer here. We all are. Um so I'm not real happy with having a 12cent tax increase, but it was something that
uh if you watch the budget presentation um was unavoidable. So with that, I want to thank you commissioners and uh can I get a motion to adjourn? >> Like to make a motion. >> Second. Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor,
>> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot, >> yes. >> Commissioner Cos, >> yes. >> Commissioner Relo, >> yes. >> Mayor Dixon, >> yes. And with that, we're journed.