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 in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act it is hereby announced and
shall be entered into the minutes of this meeting that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the following posted on the bulletin board of the office of the township clerk posted on the bulletin boards within the municipal complex printed in the Home News Tribune and
Cranberry Press on December 27 2024 posted on the Monroe te township website and sent to those individuals who requested personal notice laura please call the role mr rothman here Missky here Mr manesh Patel here Miss
Damiani here mr slavichek here mr weiner yes here Dr kenzie Councilwoman Cohen present mayor's Representative Mr patel here chairman Gaffrey here okay laura circulated the minutes earlier in the week and I
believe also uh over a week ago um is there any uh is there a motion to accept the minutes i have a direction first person second in the uh minutes it indicates that I was present at the meeting and I was not there so um if we
can just get that uh I would I would move Well I can't move but I would ask that any motion be as amended okay is is there a motion to accept the minutes move second second is there any discussion all in favor i opposed
abstain winner abstain minutes are accepted okay hey the the first item on the agenda tonight is the uh memorialization it's PB1264-24 Menllo Route 33 Associates
uh I I LLC is there any discussion on memorialization hearing none is there a motion to to accept make a motion to approve second second all in favor opposed
a roll call we'll do a roll call mr rothman yes miss Barrosky yes nash Patel yes mr damiani yes mr slavichek yes councilwoman Cohen yes mayor's representative Mr patel yes chairman Gaffrey yes
okay uh I understand that there is an applicant who requests an extension or approval of Forever Iron Doors Inc tonight pb1261-23 good evening Mr chairman members of the board nice to see everyone walter Toto on behalf of the applicant Forever Iron
Doors Incorporated yes Mr chairman we're asking for uh a one-year extension uh I think the only uh outstanding item with regard to resolution compliance is uh having to navigate with the uh utility department with regard to a waterline
extension uh that's sort of in obeyance we're dealing with uh the utility department and our engineers and uh that's where we are essentially that's it is there any uh discussion to be had all in favor of the is is it a vote
voice vote or It'll be a motion in a second okay mo mo motion to accept the adjournment request uh extension request extension request opposed second that's all right um any discussion i have nothing further pretty garden
variety extension request okay all in favor yes i yes abstain great thank you oh Mr chairman for the record uh as as Mr toto did indicate this is pretty pro-form i did prepare a resolution memorializing the board's
action in anticipation of the extension i would ask if the board could move that resolution at this time i appreciate that Peter thank you so moved so move second yes
mr rothman yes yes mrosky yes mr manesh Patel yes mr damiani yes mr slavichek yes mr weiner yes councilman Cohen yes mayor's Representative yes chairman Gaffrey yes terrific thank you Mr thank you very much appreciate it take care
nice seeing everyone okay the next item tonight is a proposed um to the public generally want to do that you up to you how you want to do it but we got to do both so okay other than the uh um the recommendation for an
amendment to the uh um actually amendment to the ordinance is there anybody from the public that wishes to be heard tonight yes and is this this with with respect to the amendment or something totally
different this with respect to the ordinance okay we we haven't gotten there yet we're not there yet we're not there yet so essentially there's a general public comment section and then there's a comment section on the board's consideration of the ordinance this is just a general public comment section so
you This is just general if you have something other than the ordinance oh I'm sorry no that's okay and and we'll get to you first in just a moment anybody else wish to be heard on general public okay um just before we begin on the uh
um appro proposed amendment just understand this is a very uh narrow issue tonight and that is whether the proposed amendment to the ordinance and it's 108-6.2.3 PRC-2 whether it conforms with the master plan we're not here tonight
to discuss the merits of the uh of the amendment just does it conform with the master plan and the merits will be decided by the um township council and it's going to be held on I understand May 7th 2025 so here we're just does it
conform with the master plan but I am going to open it up in a moment to the public to be heard um but I just want everyone to understand it's a very narrow issue that we are here to decide tonight so I'm going to turn over Mr mcgowan first to introduce uh the amendment thank you Mr chairman um so
just to provide a brief summary for the benefit of the board members you each have a full copy of the ordinance for discussion tonight so on April 7th uh 2025 the Monroe Township Council introduced an ordinance 04-2025-10 to amend chapter 108 of the
township code section 6.23 specifically regarding the medical facility provision of that ordinance this ordinance amendment would remove the language from the PRC2 zone that mandates the staffing of a registered nurse 24 hours a day for any retirement
community consisting of 600 or more residents 600 or more residential units in that zone the amendment replaces that language with the same medical facility regulation from the PRC1 district and the PRC3 district which requires only
that a building space be provided within the retirement community um for medical uses the Stonebridge Homeowners Association requested that the council amend this ordinance as they are the only retirement community in the township that's required to provide a
247 registered nurse under the current PRC2 regulation as a land use matter the amended ordinance if adopted would not prohibit the staffing of a nurse or other medical provider as the community sees fit just as most other retirement
communities in Monroe do it's the planning board's role to review the proposed amendment for consistency with the Monroe Township master plan our planner Miss Apti uh could not be here this evening but she engaged in a thorough review of the township's
current master plan and provided a memorandum to all board members which you have containing her analysis the planner's conclusion is that the proposed amendment to this ordinance is consistent with the master plan and does not create any inconsistencies with the goals objectives or recommendations of
the master plan as as you said Mr chairman the council will take up this matter again at its May 7th 2025 meeting for second reading and public hearing thanks very much thank you Mr mcgowan mr foot is there anything you want to add
yes so the only the only things that I would add are the specific elements the specific uh portions of the master plan that uh we identified that I should say my colleague uh Miss Apt uh identified uh specifically um uh specifically she
identified develop and implement policies that comprehensively address the needs of an aging population uh as being uh one of the uh the goals that were uh sorry the goal that was most relevant uh to the uh uh to this particular ordinance amendment uh and
specifically maintaining affordability for senior residents on a fixed income and ensuring all residents and particularly seniors have access to quality medical facilities recreational facilities and commercial opportunities um those uh um
we the uh the proposed amendment is consistent with those uh with those goals thank you anybody from the board wish to be heard go ahead you go ahead Mr chairman for the record Jay Weiner um I just wanted
to add you know that um I just wanted to add that um you know in reviewing this I personally as a member of the board uh really found this change to be quite consistent with the
master plan um the uh I think it's laid out very well in our planners report um and I would just state that I think in our community one of the main things that's always a consistent
element of the master plan is keeping affordability for senior residents on fixed income and understanding a requirement which as an aside only affects one community in this
zone um becomes a financial burden on members of the public who are in our community who may be living in that area in that development where they're placed with a different burden than other members of the community in the same
zone including myself who lives in another community in that zone that's not burdened with that and I think it's not only is this change consistent but I think it's very equitable uh where we're not having a situation where we're treating anyone or any one community and
the members of that particular community different than any of the other adult communities in the town and in that zone so I think it really makes sense um and I think it's quite consistent with the master plan and I I I am totally uh
would support such a uh this resol this new uh ordinance should it be considered and adopted so in in summary you find it consistent with the master plan absolutely okay anybody else wish to be heard
so and mic's not on i'm sorry is it on no push the button okay there it is okay i'm not clear on it that so their uh home association will not add the cost the
cost for a nurse 24/7 and we have to provide a building for that nurse is that what I'm understanding and I don't really understand uh the change that is being requested um so sorry Mr
chairman sorry so so essentially the the medical space is there um it's an existing medical space so really the change eliminates the the uh the township code requirement
uh for a 247 registered nurse 365 days a year um that that's essentially what's being changed to be consistent with the other PRC zones that also required a medical
space but it's not a township code requirement for a registered nurse um this is the only community and the only zone that makes reference to the the registered nurse being there 247 now the
community itself um by by the township not uh by the township amending this ordinance it doesn't change what's existing out there um the HOA would still have to go through a process if they chose to uh look to eliminate the
registered nurse they would have to go through I believe it's a two-thirds vote process through their community so that so there's still a process they just can't eliminate it on their own so so it's really just the requirement of the nurse that's being uh lifted here so
it's not going to the cost is not going to be uh brought Sorry the cost is not going to be um forwarded on to the township in any way no it's just there's no cost is forwarded on to the township
our EMS services is at that community as it does the the entire township there's an EMS facility uh diagonally across the street on on the corner of Applegarth and uh and um Hollyy Reed um so no there's no cost forwarded on to the
township thank you for clarif ordinance if the ordinance is amended doesn't prohibit any HOA from putting in whatever services they desire to put in that that's that's correct they they have it 24/7 now if they look to amend that in any way even if they wanted to
cut it back to a half a day or or 16-hour days they still have to go the HOA would still have to go through um the process of amending their their HOA documents within their community and there there's a voting process that they
have thank you Mr chairman yeah um before we have any kind of David L can't hear you before we have any kind of vote or discussion I would love to hear from their representatives uh to share with us what they are thinking as to why this
has come to us sure and I'm going to get to that i'm just going to give the members of the board the opportunity to be heard mr chairman if if I may just uh make one additional comment as I was saying earlier that the reason I found this wholly consistent with the master
plan and maintaining affordability for our senior residents um one step further by removing this as a mandate it's allowing discretion and judgment for the senior residents who may be on fixed
incomes within that community to basically self-decide for their community how to expend the money in their own budget on how to keep things affordable for themselves while choosing to live in that community as opposed to
a mandate which only could potentially increase uh cost levels and make it more burdensome so I think the current ex uh way it is now has the potential of actually being detrimental to the uh master plan whereas this amendment would
be uh furthering the uh goals of the master plan thank you anybody chairman i I would just add that you know so the board is aware the other communities this would this would now be consistent with the language in the ordinance for the other communities but
some of the other communities do have nursing they do have nursing staff there for portions of the day and and they they all have a little different variation of it but they do still some of them still have nurses thank you anybody else on the board okay we're
going to open it up to the public thank you my name is Alan Stalber i live at Fort Cobblestone Boulevard in Stonebridge uh I'm a member of the board of directors of the HOA there um I leave the decision to the planning
board here of whether this is consistent with the master plan that would obviously be your decision not mine to push or to make a recommendation about but I did want to speak to and I had a question there were some residents in Stonebridge that had requested
alternative language to the proposed ordinance that you're considering right now and I guess the question is have has that some is that being is that under consideration at this time by the planning board mr chairman it is not the ordinance under consideration for the planning
board is the ordinance that was introduced on April 7th um but certainly it goes back to the council on May 7th for um a second reading and and another public hearing on the ordinance i was I was just here really to speak in opposition to the suggested alternative
language from this other group and I you know I I my remarks are really designed for that so I I won't uh bother you with those remarks at this point since it's not within your purview thank you but I thank you and it would be a good thing to for the Stonebridge residents if you
recommended this ordinance thank you just make sure the mic is on jerry Jerry Morelli um 15 uh um Lion Hart Road uh in Stonebridge i'm the vice president of the board there as well so I'd like to read um to the um
planning board an email that I sent recently on this matter after multiple meetings between the mayor various township officials and members of the Stonebridge Board in addition to multiple township council
meetings on this matter the council referred this ordinance to the town planning board tonight by now we should all be familiar with the reason for requesting this consideration namely that Stonebridge is the only Monroe HOA
required to provide RN nursing services on a 24 by7 basis on site the Stonebridge Board has uh has uh provided the township with good fate assurances in the form of a resolution
referenced in the township ordinance that our nursing services will not be changed in any way unless a twoth3 unless twothirds of the entire community wish to make such change please understand that we the board have no
intentions of changing our nursing services however we also do not want to force an unchangeable nursing service on all current and future members should they express a desire for such a change
via a twothirds vote surely the township would not seek to deny twothirds of the membership be it current or future from managing their own affairs in the future just as all other HOAs now manage their
nursing services i well and then I go on to talk about please consider passing but I understand now and I didn't before that that's not the purpose of this meeting thank you for your time thank you if if I may ask sir if I may
[Music] um being on the planning board we're hearing about it almost secondhand yeah about it um has there been a vote or even a tentative vote on this matter at all yeah actually there was we had a
vote of the entire community and you could appreciate the fact that this could be um a a confusing matter uh for the uh community um but we we and and people uh uh don't always keep uh in
touch with everything that goes on you know you send out emails they don't read them they read the emails they don't understand them and so forth and so on uh but we did send out a vote on this and 53% of the respondents a agreed they would like
this ordinance passed and they would like us to be treated uh the same as all the HOAs so and and for us that was a a good a good majority yes thank you hearing that uh that there needs to be a
twothirds vote is that something planned for the future yeah no it's it's twothirds of the entire community by the way not twothirds of those voted and that's a big lift gotcha right so and and it and that
twothirds means that it's not the board who will be arbitrarily making these decisions for the community it will be the residents themselves who will say in the future you know that that we want to control our destiny who knows what the
price of nursing services will be 10 years from now and they may say well maybe we don't need an RN maybe we could have some lesser level of of nurse um maybe we have hardly any activity overnight and maybe we don't need a
nurse overnight but the but regardless of what the question may come up in the future it'll be up to them to make these choices right and and not and not having the town mandate these choices on them
agreed and if there's ever an emergency 2:00 a.m in the morning 4:00 a.m in the morning you call 911 they Well that's a good point thank you they call 911 regardless of the time of day the nurse really doesn't help if
there's a serious emergency 911 is always called and 9 and and and the nurse helps when 91 the ambulance arrives they just are are there for support and and and so forth so you know
they they really provide um first aid services is what they do and which is very helpful i use the nurse myself all the time by the way i I have my blood pressure checked i may have a a glucose check taken it's very convenient and and
I wouldn't I wouldn't want the nurse services taken away the question is not what I want the question is what the majority of the residents want agreed agreed thank you thank you very much my name is Paul Al Schuler i live at 168
Diamond Spring Drive in Stonebridge uh I just want to I never commend anybody unless they're really on my side or I agree with it and everything I've heard here tonight I totally agree with uh the only thing and I thank you all because I think we're all on target together with
this it's a good decision the only thing I regret and it's not you guys fault uh we should have done this eight or 10 years ago thank you very much thank you anybody else wish to be heard hearing none is there a motion to close
the public portion of this so moved second okay okay um I think the motion here if I understand it correctly and Mr forg correct me if I'm wrong would be whether this amendment to the ordinance conforms
with the master plan and can be presented uh to the township council that's my understanding i'm going to defer to Peter for the Sure and that that is what the board's action tonight will be recommending that or or advising the council that this uh ordinance is
consistent with the master plan and recommending its adoption by the council okay is there a motion in that regard i would so move that the uh matter be uh adopted by this board for the purposes of endorsing that the proposed ordinance
furthers the master plan and it should be returned to the council with the board's recommendation and endorsement as such thank you is there a second i'll second okay is there any discussion hearing none or will you put it the vote mr rothman yes miss Brosky yes mr mr
manesh Patel yes miss Damiani yes mr slavichek yes mr weiner yes councilwoman Cohen yes mayor's Representative Mr patel yes chairman Gaffrey yes and Mr chairman um the municipal land use law provides your board with 35 days from
recommendation to report back to the council uh to the extent that the council is going to be acting on this or at least considering it um before your next meeting I prepared a resolution memorializing your decision today so the board uh can advise the council of its action i would ask that the board
consider that resolution for adoption okay is there a motion to do so make a motion to second second any any discussion is that a voice or a roll call please roll call mr rothman yes miss Bratzky yes yes mr manesh Patel yes miss Damiani
yes mr slavichek yes mr weiner yes councilwoman Cohen yes mayor's Representative Mr patel yes chairman Gaffrey yes thank you okay thank you all thank you thank you okay
uh next item is any correspondence hearing none we'll move is there move to adjurnn is there a second second all in favor i I post if we do this it'll be the first time I've sat in a meeting that ended
before 7:00 this could be a special moment it's my 46th year 46 years wow all right