Call this meeting to order for March 3rd, 2026. Can I get a roll call, please? >> Commissioner Taylor >> here. >> Vice Mayor Cot >> here. >> Commissioner Minnella is absent. Commissioner Kasabun >> here. >> Mayor Dixon >> here. Would you please ride with uh rise
with me for a salute to the flag 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. >> Please stay standing as Sal Roio comes
to the podium to deliver our invocation. Let's pray together. Tonight, as we gather here, Lord, to conduct the business of our city. We pause to seek your presence at our meeting. We want to ask your favor upon our mayor and all
who serve as commissioners. May each have a heart to be a blessing to th to those whom they serve. May they have wisdom like you gave to Solomon when faced with a difficult decision. Grant each one courage when they face hardships that they would have the
boldness of David as he faced Goliath. May they serve as the prophet Samuel who at the end of his service the people testified that he had served them with integrity and honesty. Might their love for Milville and the people of our city be evident in all
they do and may our city prosper as a result of their leadership. Then, dear Lord, at the end of their service, may each say as the Apostle Paul, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. We ask
this in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen. >> 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. Are there any changes to the agenda, madam clerk? >> Yes, mayor. We do have a presentation by the municipal administrator on organizational transformation.
>> Excellent. Thank you. Um, Mr. Solicitor, before I make my statement, I'd like you to uh address the issue that we spoke about earlier. Sure. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, for many of you, I'm starting to recognize as regulars that are here in Milville for
the public meeting. Um, the mayor is going to have a slightly different uh announcement prior to the public comment section. And want to make sure that everyone understands that the public
comment section is here by statute. It's welcomed in this town. Uh, and it's really designed to get feedback from you, the public at large, whether you're a resident of Millville or otherwise.
Uh, but we want to make sure that the we're going to do our best to make sure that the comments that we're soliciting from the public are done in a constructive way to help the betterment of not just the commissioners, but the other members of the public. And uh I
want to remind everybody that we're just not going to tolerate abusive language, foul language, uh personal attacks. And I want to remind you that while this is a place that is created by and for the First Amendment, there are limits to that. And
if if there are instances of uh public defamation that the the speakers of that can be held accountable for that in the future. So, I just ask you to keep that in mind as you come to address forward and uh but we certainly welcome any and all comments from the
public at large. >> Thank you, Mr. Solicitor. Welcome to the public comment portion of this meeting for agenda items only. To ensure that every resident has a fair opportunity to be heard and that the business of the city can proceed efficiently, we ask all speakers to limit their comments to five
minutes and to agenda items only. While we encourage passionate advocacy, comments must remain focused on the issues at hand and not devolve into verbal abuse. The use of foul language or personal attacks will not be tolerated. You should also be aware that slanders or defamatory
uh statements carries serious legal risk. Under New Jersey law, a speaker may be held personally liable for slander and personally liable for damages in a civil lawsuit. Please state your name and address for the record
before beginning your comments. I was just wondering it was especially the section about should be aware of slanderous statements serious legal risk under law slander and personally liable for
damages in a civil lawsuit. Wonder if this was discussed among commissioners and voted on before it was added on to be to be held liable for slander against elected official or a city employee responsible for major decisions in the city. There has to be proof that that
speaker knew in advance the statements were false. It is extremely in order to promote free speech and open debate. The wording that has been >> is the green light on >> now it is on. Uh to be held liable for slander against an elected official or a
city employee responsible for major decisions in the city, there has to be proof that the speaker knew in advance the statements were false. It is extremely hard to prove in order to promote free speech and open debate. The wording that has been added is threatening at best and misleading at
least. This commission promised to be transparent and to welcome public comments. By deciding to add that statement without a public meeting and a vote by all the commissioners, you're not being transparent and the threat of a lawsuit does not encourage free speech. It's a deterrent.
Thank you, Miss Kari. Mrs. Kari, seeing no one at the podium, I will close public comment portion on agenda items only. Madame clerk, do we have any presentations? >> Yes, we do. Mayor, this is uh by the
municipal administrator Roy Berman on organizational transformation. It should be God. The suspense is killing me too. Just give us a second. Ladies and gentlemen, I'll try to make this available to the public at a later
time. I just wanted My name is Rory Betterman. I'm the municipal administrator. Uh, I'm about five weeks in now. Um, I wanted to take an opportunity to just kind of tell you guys what I've done so far, what I'm doing, what I'm trying to do for the
employees within the city. So in my history, what I normally do when I take on a new assignment is I take 30 days and I meet the people. I listen, I learn, I try to figure out what's going on because obviously when you're coming into a new environment, you have subject
matter experts all over. You need to listen to them so that they teach you what's going on. What I did learn from my my uh tour, I'm really impressed with the employees. You have dedicated employees across every department. They
have been here uh for most for a very long time. They're dedicated. They have a lot of pride in their work, but there are a lot of issues that we need to correct for them in order to stabilize how they work, where they work, and make sure that there's a growth path. So, one
of the the couple of issues I wanted to talk about were staffing shortages. So, what I've noticed is that the staffing shortages are calling causing a lot of morale related issues. Um, the the decreased morale is also causing some issues with making folks feel
unappreciated and they don't see a growth path in the current roles that they have. Communications is another issue that we have. There's not a straight line of communication. So in the past the ways that the employees were getting information if it wasn't given them directly it was roundabout a
lot of times it didn't work out to what the city's vision was and the biggest one that I've come across so far is a need to rebuild the human resource standards and process opportunities so that all employees understand where they stand where to get information and make
sure that they have clean transparent communications. So couple of the things that I'm working on right now as part of the culture change is establishing a chain of command or reestablishing I could say
there's been a lot of information let's say given to me about how the chain of command has been over the last couple of years. The department heads do not or did not have control of their own departments. There was a lot
of issues around hiring. There's a lot of questions around discipline, around growth, around training opportunities. I'm empowering the supervisors and the department heads to do just that. We're letting them take the power back because they are responsible for these departments and it is their
responsibility to make sure these roles operate properly. We're enhancing the operational efficiencies. Um the defined leadership path when there's more direct communications, we learn about their needs, they learn about our needs. So that communication path being restored
is opening up our eyes to a lot of opportunity within the within the city. I mean you could pick any department and I could probably name three needed improvements as well as three opportunities that are just sitting on the table. And then of course building the trust through the structure. So if
everybody is working from the same sheet of music, they all have the same rules, everybody knows how to handle things, there's no chance that somebody's going to be mistreated or have an experience that isn't the same as another department. So
I'm having some technical difficulties here. So we are how we're res we're responding to this. I restored the department head meetings. Right now it's weekly. Uh we meet once a week. All department heads have a very clear line of communication with us. We openly talk
about challenges, opportunities, needs. If we can pull one resource from one area to fill another, we will do that. But we're learning from each other how to best communicate and make sure that the work is getting done. The other is afteraction reviews. We're
taking a a blank look at everything, good, bad, indifferent, things that have been in existence forever. We're taking a look at them with each department head to figure out what can we do better, what is working, what is not working, what is costing the city money
unnecessarily. And we're even looking at legal challenges, taking a look at lawsuits from the past six years, whether it's internally driven or externally driven. What could we have done better to maybe not have had this happen? And then the enhanced organizational
outcomes. So practicing project execution, making sure that when we're doing something, we have the ability to measure and monitor success and then have that act after action report to see what could we have done better. So it's little things like this that are starting to make a a pretty big
difference. Job one right now is revamping the human resources department for employee support. So, we're addressing a lot of the employee concerns. We're establishing service standards. So, if an individual has a question, getting the answer should be
direct and it should be uniform for whatever position that they have. We're enhancing, like I said, the communication so that everybody is getting the same message. They'll have to be tailored depending on the type of employee that you are, but we're going to be able to get to that information
quickly, easily, cleanly, and not have to wait a long period of time in order to get an answer. And training and risk mitigation. So, having been here for a couple of weeks meeting with the GIF teams, we have a tremendous training opportunity. We need to make sure that
all employees can operate safely within the city. We need to prevent provide them with ways of getting the training that they need as well as making sure that the onboarding processes and all employee type processes are unified so that when a person starts with the city
or has been with the city for a long time they know what to do, how to do it and we can mitigate the risk even further. So I just wanted to take a couple of minutes explain what we've done over the last couple of weeks. This is just one item, but establishing the communications, estab reestablishing the
chain of command and redoing the HR department is paramount to the success moving forward and helping to realize the vision here. So, thank you for your time. I know there's no Q&A here, but if you guys want to talk to me afterward, I'll be here. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Bman.
>> Thank you, >> Madam Clerk. Let's move on to bills. >> Yes, we need a motion to approve the bill list. Make a motion. >> I'll second the motion. >> Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Kasaboon?
>> Yes. >> Mayor Dixon? >> Yes. >> Madame Clerk, are there any petitions or letters? >> There are none, Mayor. >> All right. Reports of commissioners. Let's uh start with Commissioner Taylor. >> I'm going to reserve my comments for later.
>> I don't have any reports at this time. Commissioner Cosman, >> I have just one for right now. Um, due to the storm, we've have a lot of down trees, brushes, twigs, everything. So, starting on Monday, March the 9th, so
over the weekend, between now and Monday, get that out to the curb. We will make one sweep through and clean that all up. If you don't get it in there by then, by the end of April, make sure it's out there, April for the May, regular May
collection. This is a special collection because of there's a lot of brushes and branches and all over. So, that's all I have for that right now. >> Thank you, Commissioner Kasaboon. Vice Mayor K. >> Uh, not much at this time. I'll I'll
reserve my comments >> and I will do the same. All right, let's move to regular business. Madam clerk, >> there is no ordinances for second or first reading. Um, we do have resolutions. Resolution item number one,
resolution authorizing tax and utility adjustments. >> I'd like to make a motion. Second. Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot, >> yes. >> Commissioner Kasabun, >> yes. >> Mayor Dixon, >> yes. >> Resolution item number two, resolution.
Resolution awarding a contract for landscape maintenance services, Martin Landscaping, DNR Landscaping. >> I make a motion. >> Second that. >> Roll call, please. >> So, um, just give you Yeah, Commissioner uh, Reella is not here, so I just figure
I'll make a couple comments. It's, um, so the landscapers do a lot of the areas that, um, involve pesticides and things like that that our guys aren't always equipped to handle because it takes certain licenses to do. So, I do know that some of the things that they do cover that area, which is a large
majority. So, that's what that contract's for is to do some of the areas that um our crew can't do for different reasons. >> Thank you, Vice Mayor Cot. Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot, >> yes. >> Commissioner Kasaboon, >> yes. >> Mayor Dixon,
>> yes. Resolution item number three, resolution of the city of Milville and the county of Cumberland, New Jersey, authorizing the execution of a second amendment to the redevelopment agreement with PD Milville Redeveloper 2 LLC for property identified as block 136 proposed lot 1.04 at 1400 Dividing Creek
Road. >> I'll jump in on this. Um, this is an amendment to um move the planning uh the planning board presentation date. This company sits adjacent to another property that is being developed out there and they just need an extension to
do they want to do some shared services so to speak with the company the other company that is building out there. So they need a little more time to finish their engineering. Um that's all that is. Um and that also applies to the next one as well.
>> Make a motion. Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot, >> yes. >> Commissioner Kasaboon, >> yes. Mayor Dixon. >> Yes. >> Resolution item number four, resolution of the city of Milville and the county of Cumberland, New Jersey, authorizing the execution of a second amendment to
the redevelopment agreement with PD Milville Redeveloper LLC for property identified as block 124 proposed lot 16.06 on Buckshoot Road. >> Make a motion. >> Second the motion. >> And this is the same as uh same company as the other. They're just uh pushing off to do a little bit of engineering
work uh in order to save some money, which we encourage. Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot, >> yes. >> Commissioner Kabun? >> Yes. >> Mayor Dixon? >> Yes. >> Resolution item number five, resolution rescending resolution 77-2026
and authorizing appointment of alternate member of the zoning board. >> Like to make a motion. >> Second. >> And this is for DeAndre de Heath. >> Yes. The year. >> Yes. was wrong there. >> Excellent fellow.
>> Commissioner Taylor, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot, >> yes. >> Commissioner Kasabun, >> yes. >> Mayor Dixon, >> yes. >> Resolution item number six, resolution of the board of commissioners of the city of Milville authorizing the city to advertise for bids for the purchase of Polymer.
>> I make a motion, but I will let you know. >> Second. >> Polyar is it's like a gelatin for the sewer department. keeps everything together according to s and we weren't quite sure what that was.
That's what it is. And it's a it's a requirement for the sewer department to move on the the sludge and the slush >> and I believe they buy it once a year or twice. >> Once a year, right? And it Yes. Like in bulk. Yes. >> All right. Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor,
>> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Kasaboon. >> Yes. >> Mayor Dixon. >> Yes. Resolution item number seven, resolution of the board of commissioners of the city of Milville authorizing budget appropriations transfers for the 2025 budget. >> Make a motion. >> Second.
>> Yeah, this is an accounting um thing. I I know it confuses a lot of people because you know our our lives don't run like this, but um there's accounts that have have to be zeroed out at the end. So we transfers from one light onto them
to another. It's a standard practice done in every municipality. So, roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Kasaboon? >> Yes. >> Mayor Dixon? >> Yes. >> Madame Clerk, is there any new business? >> There is none, mayor.
>> All right. Now, we move to the public comment portion of the meeting. We've now reached the public uh comment portion of the meeting. To ensure that every resident has a fair opportunity to be heard and that the business of city can proceed efficiently, we ask that all speakers limit their comments to 5 minutes. While we encourage passionate
advocacy, comments must remain focused on the issue at hand and not devolve into verbal abuse. The use of foul language or personal attacks will not be tolerated. You should also be aware slanders or defamatory statements carries uh serious legal risks. Under
New Jersey law, a speaker may be held personally liable for slander and personally liable for damages in a civil lawsuit. Please state your name and address for the record before beginning your comments. >> Good evening, Commissioners. Tim Cardi. I live in the city of Milville. I'm a taxpayer. I'm a resident. I've been coming to commission meetings for about
20 years now. And this is the first time I've ever heard one of these statements for public agenda items and public comment mentioned. Uh I'm speaking in my own personal capacity only. And my remarks do not represent represent my family members, my employer, my business, any boards I'm on, or any
other affiliations that I may not know about or I may not speak about. Um, so since I heard the attorney's little bit of his definition of it, did you actually, Mr. Solicitor, dig into this to see what was constitutional and what
was unconstitutional with that statement? >> You're certainly given First Amendment protections, but the First Amendment does not is not a blanket to be able to say anything. All this is is just to make sure that
when you're up here, we're encouraging comments, public public expression as long as it's in the it's in line with what's permissible. It's just a it's a statement. Some towns adopt ordinances
to limit this along these lines. The mayor didn't think that that was appropriate at this time, but he felt as though it was important to to give that warning, but it's also an to to address to be colleial. >> Okay? because
>> constructive >> because um I reached out to a couple people I know in the law late this afternoon and uh they actually went through it and one the def the the
um the warning true statements, opinions and criticism of officials are protected speech. Two, an official cannot silence criticism simply by calling it slander. Three, defamation requires a false statement of fact made with knowledge of
falsely or re reckless disregard causing reputable harm. If the warning is used to chill criticism, it can violate the first amendment. Personal attacks courts allow bans and insults on and threats, but
criticism of elected officials conduct, decisions or competence is protected. saying, "I disagree with the mayor's decision. Protect it. The council commission mishandled public funds. Protect it. You are corrupt."
That's iffy. You're criminal. False statement. In fact, that's potentially deferment. Can a speaker really be personally liable? Yes, but only in narrow circumstances. Very narrow. A speaker can be served
personally if they make a false factional claim. about a specific identifiable person that harms the reputation and is not protected opinion or truth. Opinions,
rhetoric, and criticism are not def however you say it. Truth is the absolute defense. The warning itself is legal, but it does not remove your our you guys from
lawsuits. I'm just saying I've been coming to these meetings almost 20 years and it's never been done. And for me as a taxpayer, if I want to come up and criticize the five of you, I have every right given. And to me, you're trying to silence the
public. And I've been on this podium where I've had people sit at them desks that have personally attacked me. And you know what? I'm not even elected official. But I'm sorry, but if you can't take somebody attacking you and questioning what you're doing, maybe you
should rethink why you're sitting why you're sitting in them chairs. And maybe you should step down if you can't handle the public comment or if the public speaking truth. And on a side note, I got a question. As our city public works are riding around every day looking for loose for
bagged leaves, why is it possible for them to put a load of patch in the back of their dump truck and patch the holes as they're driving looking for loose leaves? That way the public don't have to depend to call it in. Instead of them just riding
around looking for leaves, they could also be in a doing a second job filling in potholes. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Cardi. Uh, good evening to Mara Davis Milville. Um, I'm here as a concerned taxpayer, one that observes, watches, listens, and
learns. I've had the occasion to watch two interviews on Quinn TV that uh, Quinn had conducted. And I have several questions about that that came up pertaining to the city. The first one was an uh, a discussion with Bruce Land.
And so it looks like I'm giving the actual truth. If you go to 45 minutes to between 46 minute within that interview and I'm reading the transcript as much as I can. It says Dan Dixon went over to to over to talk to Jerry,
referring to Jerry Velasquez of the CCIA. How can we work together? Jerry said, I will work with you. So, two days later, Jerry calls Dan with a $20 million deal that's going to work out in Millville. He asks Dan, "Do you have this, this,
and this?" Dan goes, "Yep." He, referring to Jerry, says, "I got this company. It's going to come in and do all warehousing or whatever, and it will be in the range of 20 million." So, that's where it pays to have a good relationship. Then further, I watched the interview with Commissioner Kasaboo.
And again, if you go to about 11 minutes to about 12 minutes, and again, I'm reading the transcript. Jerry calls Dan and says, "Dan, do you have this, this, and this, and this what we're looking for a developer?" Dan goes, "Yep, we do."
It works out the improvement authority is sending to the city, and it looks like it's going to be fabulous. So my question to you is, and in the sake of the fact of rhetoric that has involved backroom deals, what's going on with Violin, where the public feels like they
have never informed, I'm going to ask you some of these questions. Can you provide details about the reported $20 million project that was discussed during these interviews, including its scope, scale, and status, and the process by which is being reviewed? Can you explain how the public
will be informed and involved before any commitments are made? Please note that I did already ask the same questions to uh Jerry Bolasitz during a CCIA meeting and he said to ask the mayor. Now another part of the um in a same interview with uh Commissioner
Cosboon was another uh aspect that came up and this is about minute 39. They've got some great things I think planned coming at the airport and I think he's referring to the city. I brought one of my friends who's a developer and he wanted to bring into the area something that no one wants. I
won't say what it I believe this is this is Jim Quinn speaking to the commissioner Kasaboon. So the I is Mr. Quinn. I won't say what it is but no one wants it. So anyway, he's lobbying with Dan about bringing this facility in in that nobody really wants. Dan says to
him, "What did the company pay for the facility?" Let's say $7 million or something was the reply from Mr. Quinn. And Dan said, "You know the what? Why don't you have him come see me?" He said, "We got this grant. We got this. We could give him, you know, more than
that money and let him go away." So, what this sounded like to me was a reference to a potential grant given to a developer for a facility that may not be welcome in the city. So can you explain this particular grant and how much was given and the approval
process for it? Also can you clarify under what circumstances this grant was offered as there does not seem to be any formal agreement or discussion presented at meetings or to the public. Now I know what um council is probably going to say because I've experienced
this before. You're not at liberty to discuss any ongoing negotiations. Well if Mr. Quinn knows about it can the rest of us. Okay. Now, one last thing. I want to uh have some concerns about the public comment statement as well.
Although I appreciate the soliciter comments. Thank you very much. Okay. But most people that speak up here understand a quorum. The previous speaker was here longer than me, but I have watched. I have never except for one time heard
inappropriate. I heard a lot of crazy things, but not inappropriate. Okay. So, my concern is that making such a statement with a legal warning may have unintended consequences. It seems that you are expecting inappropriate comments rather than
inviting participation. From an optics standpoint, especially when combined with other recent changes such as having a work session when the working public cannot attend and not having an agenda available until after the work session, can give the impression that public input is being
discouraged. Most residents come here simply to ask questions or raise concerns. And if they feel cautioned before they are even heard, it may have negative effect on public trust. In addition, I'm concerned on how this looks to investors or businesses. They
do watch and observe most likely and they especially watch how a city conducts itself. If the public process looks defensive or restrictive, it may raise questions about stability and transparency. Now mind you this is an opinion but you never know.
So I really think that you should reconsider. We all understand decorum. We all understand behavior. Most of us are adults in here. Okay. And I know this is pertaining to the last meeting where someone made a comment and I understand how it could be
misconstrued. Okay. Whether it's true or not and that's not a question up here. What I don't like is that you're assuming, all right, and coming at that we're going to come from a a place of of
being vicious or slanderous. So, I'm going to leave you with two quotes, okay? I know the quotes came up a lot, okay? And these are two people that I believe in and value greatly. First one is from Abraham Lincoln. Public sentiment is everything. With
public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed. And the second one is another person I held in high regard is Steven Cvy. Trust is the glue of life. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationship.
I think you're really eroding public trust if you proceed with this the way you're handling public comment. Thank you. >> Hi Tanner Dusky. Um 26 North Law Avenue, Milville. Uh on a little bit of a lighter note, I brought um a pro uh
essentially a promotion for the Milville Historical Society. I'm on the board of trustees and I just wanted to share with the public that uh about one of our events coming up in March. Uh good afternoon everyone. March is Women's History Month, a time to honor the
contributions of women whose stories are too often left out of history books. Today I want to tell you about one of those stories. Not from far away, not from a textbook, but right here in Milville. Next Saturday, March 14th, from 1 to 4 in the afternoon, the Milville Historical Society is hosting a free public event called Milville called
Milville Women on the Homeront during World War II. It will be held at the Wood Mansion House at 821 Columbia Avenue, and everyone is welcome. During World War II, while the men were overseas, the women of Milville went to work. They tended victory gardens to feed the families. They worked in
factories producing blood plasma bottles, uh, fabrics and uniforms for the troops. They drove scrap drives, bought war bonds, and volunteered with the USO and American Red Cross. Some of them knitted socks and sweaters for servicemen. Others went further, enlisting in the Army Nurse Corps, the
WAC's, and the Waves. Uh, these were our neighbors, our grandmothers, our community unsung heroes. This isn't just state history, it's mobile history. The afternoon will bring that history to life in four ways. First, Dr. Patricia Shapin, an an adjunct professor at
Stockton University and author of New Jersey Women During World War II, will give a talk and book discussion exploring the unique challenges these women faced at home and abroad. Second, there will be a historical exhibit featuring vintage photographs, newspaper clippings, propaganda pro posters, and artifacts telling the story of
Milville's wartime women. Artifacts provided by the Milville Historical Society, the Milville Army Airfield, and Weaten Arts. Um, third, David Anderson on keyboard and John Gatefer on vocals will perform World War II era music, setting the
scene for the whole afternoon. And fourth, refreshments, including donuts prepared from an original Red Cross recipe served in the tradition of wartime doughnut dollies who brought comfort and cheer to troops uh far from home along with other treats that are
also World War II um era. These uh this event is completely free and open to the public. Donations are welcome but not required. Parking is available behind the mansion off of Church Street. Bring your family, bring a neighbor, bring anyone who cares about the history of this city. Next Saturday, March 14th, 1
to 4 p.m., Wood Mansion House, 821 Columbia Avenue. Come and hear their stories because history isn't just what happened far away. It's what happened right here in the city by the people who built it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Jesus. >> You had me at donuts. >> Evening. Tim Spiran, Milville, New
Jersey. First Commissioner Taylor. Thank you. So, thank you to Milville Police Department for their great coordination on capturing this active shooter last month with the state police officer. I think it was great. Um, I have an ask. Although he was apprehended that night,
the next day at as late as 2:00, I saw people saying, "Did they catch the shooter yet? Is there any way that we can notify the public that the guy was caught?" only because you know if you go back to even the schools if there's an active shooter
what do they do they shelter in place and you have people elderly people you know people by themselves who are driving through town and you did have a guy who didn't have a problem firing his gun in public outside his vehicle even running and he got pretty far from what
I understand over by Cland Green or off Weaten Avenue from from from where it happened it's great I mean believe me it was great coordination that that he was called that night. So that that would be a big help if they and and I I administer it minister a Facebook page
South Jersey women when women and men wrote red and I would even pin it on that maybe get some of the other admins to pin it just to let them know that the guy was caught so people know it's safe to drive across town. They don't have to worry about getting shot at or
being unsafe. So that that incident was a little bit of a strange bird. Um sure it was it was a state police incident. We only assisted with backup. Um so we were kind of at the mercy of what they wanted to
do. Um from what I understand they handled all of the investigation for that. Um >> and and I understand I'm not trying to get details of investigation or anything like that. I'm just trying to make the sure the public knows it's safe or
unsafe. >> So, we would have to go by what they wanted to do if they wanted to notify the public or not. >> Okay. Thanks. Um, sorry, Commissioner Renell is not here. Uh, I had the opportunity to go down to 15th Street,
talk to Sam uh Cruz about u information that I didn't know. Great information. She was helpful as usual. Uh, one thing I didn't know was that even if you have a business in a UAZ zone, you're not eligible until you get certified,
which I didn't know. Um, question on that is why do why would somebody have to somebody who wants to open a business or do business in Milville go to Vinland to a woman named Elsa? I forget her last name. I forget she and you say, "Don't
we have anybody in Milville that can do that? be able to certify a business for the UE >> that we share the UEZ zone with Vineland and they administer a lot of those tasks. >> Okay.
>> And last thing is first amendment has already been covered. I think that you need to you guys need to be careful about your open mics because you may find yourself in violation of sunshine laws because when I tuned in to the work session on Friday
before the meeting was even gabbled commissioner C yourself mayor commissioner C were talking about this statement and I heard commissioner Cman says yeah I just read the one that how they do it in Avalon and I think commissioner C said yeah we should copy
it verbatim and you were discussing it openly before the gavvel there was no meeting going on. So I know it's a gray area but you might have been violating the sunshine law when you did that because this wasn't a public meeting at the time wasn't the meeting hadn't been gabbled
yet. So I just you know help you out guys maybe watch the hot mics and we know what happened in vinyl with their hot mic you know so appreciate it. Thanks a lot. >> Thank you Mr. Pagna. Now we move on to the Oh, I'm sorry, Mary. I didn't see
you. >> Yeah, I'm not sure. Mary Messik here of Milville. Two things. One, after getting a little better understanding on why you guys split the
U work session from the city commission meeting. I get it. But also too, you need to understand with that some of your employees would love to come to that, but it interferes possibly
with their lunchtime because not everybody has a lunch hour at the exact same time. I spoke with one employee because I needed to speak with that employee
for a separate issue and found out their lunch is during the work session. Just keep that in mind. Some of your employees wouldn't like to attend. The
other thing on that work session agenda, it's great. You got an agenda out. You ask the public both work session and city commission meeting.
We've reached the point where we can speak on agenda items only. How do you speak on an agenda item when there's nothing there? That's an impossibility. I cannot speak about something that's
invisible. I understand this is your time at a work session to discuss this that and the other because of the sunshine law, but it makes it a little hard if a resident
would like to speak on something. This would kind of give them a little bit of a idea so they can go look up some information before they stand here and pardon the expression, stand here and look like an idiot.
Nobody wants to feel degraded. Nobody wants to look like they're a fool. But if you're going to speak on something, you need to be able to address what that is. And the other issue, I brought this up
once before for some residents and some friends that I have that live on Horththornne, which is down off of Buckshadam Road in Laurel Lake, but it's still considered the Millville side because
it's before the bridge. This time I'm doing it for a personal reason. That road has a dip in it because it is dirt. When that dirt goes to where the road
actually goes past it. Cars like mine, which is a Dodge Caliber, is considered a low rider. I'm sorry. I don't care how you manage to maneuver it, and I don't care how slow you drive.
It can cause a problem such as mine. It did. It gave me an exhaust leak which I still have to fix. I've spoken to other municipalities. I even went and talked with somebody in
what they call my stomping grounds where I grew up. They end up doing something. I'm not sure the exact title that they used. But it kind of evens out the road where
that dirt ends and the road comes right even to it. So you don't have that dip that can sit there and wreck your exhaust or mess up your oil pan. And I thank you for your time and listening.
>> Thank you, Mary. Good evening, Angeline Broomh Hall, Milville. Um, can someone tell me when the presentation was added to the agenda, it's not showing that online. >> We just added it during this meeting.
>> Okay. Generally, the public wants notice on the agendas. And as much as I can appreciate the presentation itself, the agendas are here for a reason. We, the public needs to know. If you didn't come to this meeting or you're not watching, you have no idea even now
because it's not showing online that there was a presentation tonight. Um, and somebody may have missed that. Um, the uh resolutions three and four, I believe, for the um
redevelopment at Divide and Creek. How much time are we planning on giving them? I believe this is two three years that we've been um going back with the developers. So is there an answer for when uh
we've extended you know theou enough >> just till the end of March. >> So then at the end of March will they be getting another extension or will they have to >> Oh it was May 31st. Yes. May 60 days. I'm sorry. So, they're they're not going
to get an extension past the 60 days. Thank you. Appreciate that. Um, we didn't have any reports other than Thank you, Commissioner Kasim. It was the only report from Commissioner we got tonight. And, and that's a problem when
we're being threatened with lawsuits and everything and public comment, which I think is absurd. You know, nobody had to remind me to put my pants on today so that I didn't get a violation for, you know, indecent exposure. Um,
but it's very hard to to come up here and we comment when you guys aren't even giving us your thoughts until the end and then we can't come back and we can't it's we need your thoughts during the meeting. Um, not after.
Uh, the solicitor had mentioned, you know, the regulars. Yeah, we're the regulars. We're not the ones you want to hear from. We know it. So, we don't need to be scolded. We don't need to be told, you know, be nice or we're going to sue you. Sue me.
Sue me. Good luck. But who you're deterring are the people that aren't here because we don't care. We're coming and we're going to say the regulars. The people you're deterring are the ones we all
want to hear from. The regulars. And as you guys say, you too. You threatening lawsuits that you're not even able to do. The city, you can't have your city solicitor give you a personal liable lawsuit. Am I correct, solicitor?
I >> I'll save my comments for after the public. >> Okay. So, if if I've made a comment that may be that you may consider to be uh slander, personally, the city solicitor cannot represent you.
And if I'm wrong, I would appreciate to be corrected. So, your personal issue with a a a person who you may think is saying something inappropriate or hurting your feelings or whatever. That's a personal issue
for you to deal with with the person here. And I've been here many, many years and no one's ever threatened me like that. Ever. Ever. Um, I did also hear the comment uh at the work session on Hot Mic about
Avalon. There's nothing on Avalon's agenda saying anything like this. I checked. There's nothing there. Um, and I'd like to know how you're going to police these new rules.
You know, the the threats of of all all the years I've been here, this has never been an issue. And it sounds like you're you really don't want the public input. I didn't want to even talk tonight.
But you forced me to to to defend my first amendment right as well as somebody else's who may be too afraid. And that's the big thing because I can tell you any one of us regulars have 10 or 15 people right now in our messages
or our text messages or phone calls that are afraid to come up here. any one of us, I promise you that, that are not standing at this podium that we beg, please come, please come, please come, and they won't because they're afraid of
things just like this. It's wrong, it's inappropriate, and it's out of line. >> Thank you, Mr. Rubble. >> Hello, my name is Kaylee Henry. I'm from Hamilton, New Jersey. Um
this is my first meeting here. I came based on the um number three and number four on your list tonight and that is based on the redevelopment and overdevelopment. Um I'm 20 years old. I just preserved over a thousand acres in South Jersey and yet I'm seeing more and
more towns like these trying to overdevelop and build warehouses and AI data centers. Now, this may not be officially said in this meeting and saying that you are building a AI data center, but it seems like we are circling around this issue and just dancing around it and pretending that it
doesn't exist. Um, this is a real problem and something that you should be clear and open about with your constituents and with your members of your community. Um, and also immediately starting the meeting trying to say that we're not allowed to use our first amendment right was a little bit offputting for me to come in here when
no other meetings I have been to, any other town council meetings I have been to have ever stated something like that. Um, but yeah, I would really enforce just being clear and open to your public and to everybody else because this has been going around a lot seeing that Vineland wasn't clear about what their
plans were with AI data centers and with warehouses. So, it would be very beneficial for you guys and your community to be open and clear about what you're planning on doing with your development and redevelopment. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> All right. Comments. Seeing nobody at the podium, I will close public comment portion of the meeting. Let's move along to comments by commissioners. Start with Commissioner Taylor. So, I just want to thank all of the uh crews that worked during the snowstorm, public safety, as
well as streets and roads, parks, and the others. Um, it was a different kind of snow this time. Um, we made out a lot better this time than we did before. Um, we had uh extra crews on, extra staffing
on on the public safety end. Um, we did decide to close city hall this time for a safety issue because they were calling for uh quite a bit of snow. Uh, we did that. Um,
other than that, um, so I can I am not a fan of the data center thing. I can I can tell you that. I'm not not at all. um have not been will not be. I uh it's
a staunch no for me. Um I'm an environmental guy. I hunt. I fish. I do a lot of outdoor stuff. I garden. Uh I just data centers are not in my vocabulary right now. I just don't don't
like it. Other than that, Mr. Mayor, that's it. >> Thank you, Commissioner Taylor. Commissioner Kasaboo, >> just a brief update on the storm that happened on the 22nd of February. Streets and Roads has six zones and four
emergency routes. We had four trucks salt and plow the emergency routes and put in 16 hours during the storm. Three, eight trucks plowed six zones and put in 18 hours for the storm. Sewer department plows all of South Milville
and there were four plow trucks and put in 16 to 18 hours. Water department has two zones in the west side including four seasons and two developments and nine plow trucks put in 18 hours for the storm. The snow was accumulating 1 to
two hour one to two inches per hour. There were white out conditions. Streets and Roads had 17 streets that had trees down that had come down, blocked the roadways during this storm. I want to say thank you to Assistant
Supervisor Randy Quay and OEM Sergeant Bill Stadnik who went out during the storm and started to cut and remove the trees out of the roadways until we were able to get contractors out to remove them permanently. During the storms, our teams had to deal
with residents threatening and blocking a couple of streets, making it difficult for them to perform their jobs. Residents and contractors were also using snowblowers and putting the snow back into the street, making it even difficult for our teams to keep those
streets clear. Aside from all the difficulties, I must say and want to say that everyone did an excellent job with this snow event. And if you have any other questions, give the road department a 8257000. I will say that we had a lot of positive
comments from the public and I thank you because these guys worked hard. That's about it. >> Thank you, Commissioner. >> And I will say um I will piggy back on the data center. You'll never hear the word yes out of my mouth. I am a hardcore no on that.
So not to worry about that either. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Kasaboon. Vice Mayor Ca. >> Uh, yeah, just a few things. Um, sorry I didn't have a report out. My three my departments just didn't give me official report out for this this session. Um, so
I had nothing official to report out on. Uh, we're going to pick piggy back off the data center. I'm a no also at this point, but I do understand everybody's concern and and we are working behind the scenes to try to do different things and make you guys feel more comfortable. We're not there yet. Um, but I agree
with you that that's a hot topic right now. So, we don't know how else right now to tell you no except to tell you no. I mean, so, um, we haven't figured out how to tell you that so you feel better. Um, ue. Uh, somebody was talking about the UEZ. I I do know that some of
the businesses don't even certify and I don't know why they don't. Um, I haven't looked that far into it, but a lot of businesses just don't hop into it. um to be certified >> and and we need to look deeper into that, right? Um and I because I don't know why I don't know why everybody
wouldn't be part of it. Um but I do apologize. I just had >> I think we are trying to educate people uh very how to do that. >> Okay. Um work session work session's going to we're going to completely we're going to
continue to improve that. So um we are not against your ideas. is a work session to prepare for tonight and previous it was an hour before and when things happen you can't do anything about it so we just didn't like that way um so we wanted to come up something to
give people a little bit more time to do research whether daytime is bad at nighttime I get it um I have a feeling when it's at night time we'll have staff complaining when it's at daytime we'll have other people I get it I I know it uh but we are going to try to make the
work sessions more informable and bring more department heads in and bring more clarification to a lot of things going on. So, it is a work in progress. Um, and I get that we I don't want the work session just to become a five minute
thing in and out if especially if we have things going on. So, we want to do more presentations during work sessions about the items coming up. So, when you guys see the items on Tuesday, not only where you see it Friday at the work session, but you might have a little bit more impact of it. Um, but we're
constantly trying to make that better. So, I appreciate your, you know, you send me comments all the time and, uh, I don't mind it. Uh, because we are trying to improve that and we do know it's a little vanilla right now, but we are trying to build that up and I do apologize that. I'll take full responsibility for that. Uh, besides
that, that's all I have at this time. >> Vice Mayor Cot, thank you so much. >> Can I have one more thing? >> Sure. Sorry. >> Um, forgot one more thing. Uh, Commissioner Cot and I attended uh, Kumari Gardens Market. Uh, fiveyear anniversary this weekend. Uh, great
little family business. Um, a lot bigger than you would think. Um, they have 20 green houses. >> That was a lot. >> 20 green houses. It's a family business. >> And they're organic. >> Organic. Yes.
>> Organic. All organic. and they do a really nice job out there. I was I was impressed that such a small family handled so many green houses at one time. Uh but it was a nice experience. They're very friendly and uh it's on West Main Street. I can't remember what
the number is, but uh it's a it's a nice little place if get a chance to get out there. >> I feel like 2016, but >> something like that. Yes, it's out there a little bit. It's almost to Hogman Road, but not as quite not quite. >> Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Taylor. Um, as far as data data centers
go, uh, you probably weren't here for our very first meeting, and I I believe I addressed that the very first that none of us on this podium on the day here has a appetite for data centers. is actually something that is a hot topic uh
amongst the office right now as far as not in a positive way as a negative way and how we can move ahead in stopping that from happening. That that's really what we've been working on. Um there are no data centers conceived of uh by this
commission. Um and honestly, we're looking at uh ways that we can uh move in the other direction. All right. you have to do things the right way. As I found out, things are not as easy as you think they are in municipal government.
So, um I do want to touch on some things uh from that were said at the last meeting. Um somebody had mentioned that they were concerned that our engineer could connect our water line to Vinelands when Vineland starts running
out of water. And I just want to reassure you that I have gotten a timeline on what that would take from our engineer. Um, and it's a list of things that would have to happen. Currently, there is no, it was almost made as if, uh, somebody could walk up and flip a switch and all of a sudden
Millville water is flowing into Vinland. And that's not the case at all. Uh I don't want to bore everybody here with the this this full uh blueprint of what would have to happen, but uh needless to say, it would take about seven steps and
probably two years to get something like that to happen between D approvals and public comments and engineering reviews and feasibility studies. And if you're you've been around here a while, everybody sitting out there has been here long enough to know those things take time and that's not something that
could happen. Bond ordinances, agreements, DP, I mean, it just the list goes on and on. And just looking at this, I said that's at least a year, maybe more. And seems like yeah, that's that's a lot longer. So, nobody is flipping a switch and pumping all of
Milville's water to Vinland. Um, what do I want to go to next? Jim Quinn, good friend of mine. I like Jim Quint. Um, he just got out of the hospital. I wish him well. He's feeling better. I listen to I for uh Miss M.
Davis. Um, I listen to what you say and it almost, you know, feels like he is mushing together maybe eight or nine or 10 different comments together. I love Mr. Quinn. Um, I don't honestly know what you're talking about. Um, if next
time you see Mr. Quinn, maybe you can get some more details from him. >> Yeah, I know. I know. But Mr. Quinn talks about a lot of things. So, um, I am not Mr. Quinn's keeper. Uh, he has two or three shows that he says a lot of things on and honestly, I don't listen
to him. Um, I just have a lot of things going on. I would like to listen, but I just don't have time. So, um, next time I see Mr. Quinn, I will ask him, you know, what he's talking about. It does sound like there's about four or five different things that are kind of
meshing together into one big story. >> If it were that I had a $20 20 mill I would love to have a $20 million uh project with uh the authority right now. If we did, we would I'd be really happy right now and you guys would already know about it. So, um let me move on.
Uh, okay. Let me see here. All right. Um, how did this new public comment um, how did that evolve? Um that evolved because at our last session we were hiring a new employee
and somebody approached the podium and they started talking about what they heard on social media. I heard this person did X and it was defamatory. My
good friend Tim Cardi out there made a great point. He said that you are not allowed to say things that harms people's reputations. You said that at the podium and that's exactly what that person did. I don't think there's anybody on this podium that is terrified
or going to have their feelings hurt. I tell you, I can speak for myself. There's nothing any of you sitting out there can do at that podium to hurt my feelings. I've lived a long life and I have a much thicker skin than anything you guys can dish out. So,
have at it. And I don't think anybody at this at these podiums meant that comment toward us. If anybody's going to get sued, it would be the person who's being defamed. And
we as public officials, there's a lot of latitude on what you can say about us. I know that uh ever since July 19th, if I were thin skinned, I wouldn't be sitting here today.
All right. So, yes, Mr. Solicitor, >> I just I didn't want you to journ the meeting without getting >> Okay, no problem. So, all I want to say about that is that what happened there was after I had hit the gavvel on that gentleman who came up and he was going to say defamatory things about a person
that we were hiring. I hit the gavvel and I said, you know, abusive comments or defamatory comments are not going to be allowed. After the meeting was over, I did a little research. I said what, you know, what can I actually stop? What can I stop? I was confused. I didn't know um exactly where to draw the line.
You know, what can a person come up to that podium and say, what are they allowed to say? You know, where do I as the person who's uh you know, administering this meeting? Where do I draw the line um on on these types of comments? So, I went to Mr. D. Michelle
for some guidance. I said, could you give me guidance on this? And that's the the that is the comment uh portion that came back to us. Um again I will say there's nobody up on this day as who is afraid of you know any comments by
anyone out there and I don't plan on suing anybody. Um you guys can come up there and say whatever you want. You nobody hesitates to say anything on social media and there's nothing you can say that's gonna gonna upset me. So keep those comments coming. Um, but what that
all what came from was the gentleman who was being abusive toward a person we were hiring. All right. So, um, that's why it was put on. Uh, you know, who knows if that person is going to show up again and say things likewise. I don't
think that comment was uh that was not meant toward anybody sitting in this room. I it just wasn't. Um, I've never been up, you know, very upset by anything that's been said at that podium. Um, you all have the right to
say what you need to say, what you want to say, and I'm all for it. Everybody has an opinion. You know, doesn't necessarily mean it's right, but you all get to have a chance to have an opinion. And Mr. Solicer, you have any comments? >> Yeah, nothing in the comments defines what is permitted to be said or what is
not. It's just a cautionary and it was really done out of and I I will say this from the comments I heard I was somewhat not somewhat I was very impressed with the recitation of the law. I mean I really didn't hear much of anything that
I would disagree with is what the law permits or doesn't permit under the first amendment. Uh the concern here was not the elected officials. They have a much different standard. But when comments get made about people who are not elected officials, that's where the
cautionary comes in. Uh I explained that to the mayor and he was not concerned not about the other elected officials but about others, third parties where comments are being made. So there's there's nothing in
there. There are no rules in that statement that that opening statement. It's just a cautionary to make sure that those that get up there to speak don't step out of line potentially with some other third party, not the elected
officials. >> Thank you, Mr. Solicitor. And and that bears repeating. I I didn't think anything that anyone said other than that gentleman um was out of line. Um, I I I I enjoy listening to your comments and uh like I said, keep them coming,
but uh when you go to attack somebody, you know, the the comment that was it was to the lines of I saw or read on social media and people saying this about this person and you know, when you talk about hearsay and and uh you know,
things that are damaging somebody's reputation, um that's where I'm going to you know, that's where I'm going. You can come up and say things about my reputation. That's fine. Uh there's a different threshold for um elected officials, but when you're going to talk about, as the solicitor says, third
parties, um we're going to protect those people. And uh I hope if you ever get the chance to sit where I'm sitting, you do the same. And that's all I have to say about that. I'd like a motion to adjurnn. >> Make a motion. >> Second.
>> Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Taylor. Yes. >> Vice Mayor Cot. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Kasabun. >> Yes. >> Mayor Dixon. >> Yes.