##VIDEO ID:NJkRINvS_m8## e e e e e e e e e good evening I'd like to call to order the uh Oldbridge Township Council December 17th 2024 meeting please rise for a pledge of allegiance and please remain standing for a moment of silence and for our prayer I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all as customary in this chamber we stand for a moment to remember those who are protecting our freedoms both here and abroad for our First Responders for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and tonight for all those are suffering in Wisconsin from that horrific shooting a moment of silence please now will prayer Mr pasky dear Lord bless thy servants in the ministry of public affairs who serve you in his chamber give us quiet minds and hearts that we may hear your voice help us to know when to speak when to be silent give us strength to oppose the wrong and uphold the right grant that we have a good conscience and a soul at peace with thee and with one another amen amen please be seated roll call council president yes please councilman auli present let the record reflect that councilwoman dearo is absent councilman dep here let the record reflect that councilman Desai is absent councilman Garcia present let the record reflect that councilman Murphy is absent councilman pasky here Council vice president presid Dr Greenberg belli present and council president soar here this meeting is being held in per in conformance with the open public meetings act notice has been given to the official newspapers of the township on January 6 2024 and has been posted in public places the next open public meeting of the township Council will be the reorganization meeting held on Tuesday January 7th 2025 at 7:30 p.m. thank you very much good evening everyone and welcome uh we'll begin with the Hometown Heroes Banner program good evening okay good evening mayor and Anna how are you this evening Casey Barbara welcome okay soon as I get my mic on uh good evening Council um have you all driven through towns where we've seen military banners for honor and Veterans on the polls so last year when I was at the municipal conference down in Atlantic City there was a vendor there and um he was showing these flags and I said oh this is something we really need in Oldbridge so I brought the brochure back with me and I I gave it to Kenny and I Kenny sorry Casey and I and I don't know and I tasked him with finding out about it and Barbara and uh Casey they took it and they ran with it and tonight we have a wonderful presentation I think you're going to all be happy and we have some samples that we're going to pass out to the council you want me to give these out as you're speaking okay Casey's going to do a presentation hello Council so um when the mayor approached the public works department with this uh we were instantly excited you know I brought Barbara in and said you know we have this great program that we want to implement in Oldbridge Township and uh to honor all our veterans um if you've ever been to the municipal building you could see all the pictures of the veterans uh through our hallways and this is just another uh Avenue to honor our veterans so like the mayor had said um a lot of different towns have these banners that they display from Memorial Day to Veterans Day and then uh they'll be removed and then uh reinstalled the next year so um the the banners uh have a lifespan of 3 to 5 years and you know we want to definitely display them for a minimum of three and as they start to get worn you know we'll uh give other residents an opportunity to display uh banners throughout the township and uh we're really excited about it so we're just going to give you some uh details right now so the eligibility requirements um that we've U gone through a lot because how do you choose you know who's eligible and who's not eligible it's very difficult but we feel that the veterans um that should be honored should reside in Oldbridge or have resided in Oldbridge at some point in their life so on the application we're actually going to have like uh an area where you would fill out and tell us the connection to Oldbridge you know um both of my grandfather served in World War II and during that time you know my one grandfather lived in norc the other lived in Staten Island but then they moved to Albridge after the war and that's where they raised their family and lived for the next 25 plus years so that would be my family's connection to Oldbridge so um you know first you have to have the connection to Oldbridge um this is open for all branches of the military uh including reserves National Guard uh everybody has done their part so so we want to give everybody an equal opportunity to um you know be honored um there's a couple different types of banners there's active duty there's veterans and then there's also the memorial banners um for uh soldiers that might have passed away in battle so uh you know those are the different types of uh banners you know that will be um displayed so uh we need to start this program out kind of small obviously we want to blow this thing up but the first year is going to be our our learning year so we decided that within the municipal complex is probably the easiest location to display these banners and we have availability for 50 banners uh to start out and um all the the light poles going down 516 all the new light poles in catrell Road you know their prime location for these banners and then also within the parking lot the parking lot light uh poles and depending on the location would depend on the height so um I believe the minimum requirement for like walking would be that the bottom of the banner is 9 ft tall and then in the parking lot area even though our poles are in the grass Islands they still want those at 15 ft just uh so a truck wouldn't accidentally hit them and damage them so the banner design there's there's a a bunch of different Banner designs um I personally like the one that uh we showed today the nice uh dark blue with the flag I think that's really nice there's a couple um you know different ones with different colors and stuff like that but you know I think uh the mayor will have the ultimate decision on which Banner design that we like and I'm sure it's going to be beautiful uh the banner size is going to be 2 foot wide by 4 foot tall so they're a nice size Banner that even at the the higher locations you'll be able to see them and uh it's it's really going to be something special uh like I mentioned 50 applicants the first year um potentially we could add more but that 5050 is where we're looking to start with the township would um purchase the hardware to hang these banners and that's going to be reusable and the resident would purchase the sign um we're still ironing out all the details so I think it would be nice to have an option where after it's displayed the first year you might want that Banner back so you could display it at your house so your family could see it so after we take it down the first season if if you request that you know we could then um turn the banner over to you since you purchased it and if not you know we would just um put it back up the next year um we're really hoping to have everything in order by January 15th you know that's our our start date that we're really trying for we just have to make sure with Mark and everybody else that we're able to get everything in order and do it properly we don't want anybody questioning where the funds go or anything like that so I think that pretty much covers up where we're at does did Council have any comments or questions about it we'll see if we get absolutely love it like resounding I think it's fantastic I think you honor them because they don't get enough credit because we wouldn't even be sitting on this day as if it wasn't for all of them active veterans this is this is beautiful man it's a great job buddy we're going to start out like this and we're going to see how it works out and we might have to expand it but we're going to eventually expand it to other parks and things like that but we're going to start small and see how it goes because I've been to other towns where you go down the Main Street and every light pole has a was absolutely beautiful and that's how I got the idea then I saw it in Atlantic City and I said we have to have this yeah I I absolutely love this idea um I see it in other towns and it's great that we're going to do this uh I have a question if we you know some there's some disabled vets that just can't afford it I mean it would be be able to do some sort of uh you know like where we could chip in and I mean I don't know how much somebody could do maybe a fundraiser or something like that for the there might be people willing to chip in for the uh the veteran that's what I'm saying how you know how much the banner is exactly other people could buy it we're we're buying the hardware and then this is the way it it's done in other towns the people buy the banner like but Casey said it we run it for about three years it flies and then it's their banner and how much does it cost do you know the banner um it the current pricing is between $9 and $100 okay you know it all depends on the quantity that you purchase as well so that's more towards the January 15th date where we'll have all the details IR okay great thank you so much appreciate it okay anyone else oh I don't have a question I just think it's a great idea it's it's phenomenal and I wholeheartedly support it I think it's wonderful thank you yeah I think it's going to be beautiful especially over when you come into our Municipal complex down 516 or even maybe the Lawrence Harbor area so yeah any of the parts will be beautiful wonderful mayor can I just say something sure of course I just wanted to say that this is in addition to the mayor's 5K that also honors our Hometown Heroes so this is kind of go hands in hand with it and when mayor had mentioned that she had seen this we happened to be at a public works awards ceremony and she kind of mentioned it in front of Casey and Barbara who dead took it and literally the next day like oh here look I found the vendor and I found this so just want to say thank you to Casey and Barbara for taking the time to to do the research and you know things like that we even got pictures from other town to get some ideas and uh we look forward to to launching this in early 25 okay that's so nice yep we definitely want to launch it this year we hope to have the banners up for Memorial Day this year very nice okay great everybody good yes uh oh yes sure absolutely wait he's gonna come to a on theity I think it's say I I I presume it's b or had been right because correct that infers they're living so so if you I discharged veteran who had died they're still we're going to run it before you before the application out correct there's going to be guidelines first a page of all the guidelines then a page of the application I just I saw the eligibility I I presume that if you're to start hly started feter and had passed you'd be eligible as well we're going to make sure it gets you're okay yes that's why we gave you the sample okay everybody good okay I think it's going to be wonderful thank you so much all of you for all the input it's so great it really seems to be a really great initiative thank you very much I want to thank Casey and Barbara for all their work like Anna said we were at this event and the next day they already had so much information for us and they did a wonderful job thank you thank you thank you I just wanted to make a statement for the record that councilwoman dearo came into the meeting at 7:30 five thank you okay next will be public hearing H1 resolution authorizing issuance of a new hotel mot Motel exception plener retail consumption liquor license to hook Mountain Associates limited liability company DBA tton Hotel good evening do you have come forward please and if you could give your name for the record turn your mic on Thane my name is Ken Kumar I'm the general manager at the Hampton in Oldbridge so um I just wanted to make a statement that um the Hampton Inn has met all the requirements set forth in order to be issued a hotel motel exception liquor license uh the township attorney um in Con in conjunction with the council had some uh concerns and uh placed some stipulations on the license and our Township attorney we go over them just to make sure that you understand what the stipulations are on the license sure thank you um so again this is first um Hotel exception license to Township's uh issued um there's it's an exception to the the uh regular course where if you have a uh at least a minimum of 100 rooms for hotel it's an exception that allows municipalities to issue a liquor license plary consumption license to the hotel motel owner in this instance it's hook Mountain Associates LLC uh we went through the bidding process uh that's uh required on the statute uh and the applicant again paid the uh the bid uh metal background checks and then one of the U and then now it's the time to issue the license and after reviewing the application um and speaking with the municipal clerk I thought that these conditions would be appropriate in this instance uh and those are a new planetary uh retail consumption hotel motel exception license is issued to hook Mountain Associates the Hampton in located at 300 Spring Valley Road uh for the term December 17th to June 30th 2024 that's the time when you renew them um the lensey will be issued the license will be issued as a hotel exception license for facility containing 100 more sleeping rooms may only be used in connection with the existing Hotel bartender service and sealed alcoholic beverages shall be permitted in the licensed Hotel unless otherwise specified in the conditions there shall be no possession and or consumption of alcohol beverages outside of the licensed Hotel alcoholic beverage which is may only be possessed on or consumed in the area depicted on the sketch of the premises on file in the office of the clerk as part of the application the uh applicant did submit a sketch plan to show where the u u service areas would be uh which is required under the statute unless otherwise specifically permitted the The Possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages in the parking area shall be strictly prohibited again because you don't want people going out beyond the hotel and drinking in the parking lot there shall be no uh permanent outside bar area portable bars are similar structures because again the application is for the uh for the bar and they can they can sell packed quotquot package goods and have room service so it's it's just within the hotel area any undo noise Amplified music or sounds emanating from the licensed premises which violates the current orridge Township noise ordinance she be grounds for revocation of license Township does have a noise noise ordinance and again um we had um not so much the hotel but we ran into situations with other establishments that served liquor where it got boisterous typically not for hotels but figured we should be safe rather than sorry any use of the license beyond the existing hotel that is currently located and operating on the premises as of the date the license is issued shall be subject to Prior review and approval by the obridge township Council including without limitation any expansion of the existing Hotel whether set set expansion is attached to the existing hotel or detached from the hotel and really that's to address cu the U the uh property owner had indicated that there may be a pad site or future expansion for a um a separate area where you he'd have events so obviously the site plans there's no site plan for that so you wouldn't know how that would how that would operate if there were there were an expansion so so so it's it's being issued at for an existing establishment so I thought it would be appropriate before uh if there were an expansion or there were there was a an a pad site something constructed on site that you all would have an opportunity to review that before uh allowing it to be used in that area uh no and no no renewal or transfer of the license shall be allowed except forward to a hotel containing at least 100 guest rooms because that's it's it's an exception so I think that is the totality of the additional conditions that would be associated with the is of the um of the license uh and then it includes obviously prior to opening for business the LIC e that's a file with the clerk uh the sketch plan which uh they did which shows the tables uh bars stairs stairwells stairways fire exits and again that's that's not supposed to be that will not be changed without uh further approval by Council and then there's also there's also a requirement in the statute that anyone who any personnel if they're going to serve license that they have to complete a techniques of alcohol management or course so again that's statutory requirement any question good we agree with that thank you very much okay okay very good does anyone uh from the council wish to be heard about this have any questions okay since I open it up to the public is there anyone in public who wishes to be heard about this on this topic okay it's closed I'll close the public portion and I'll ask for a motion move it second okay move by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr D roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes and council president s yes thank you thank you wishes to very good good holiday thank you thank you Council thank you president thank you vice president thank you mayor thank you for and uh hopefully we will uh hold all these restrictions in place and we make sure we create a conducive atmosphere in the hotel thank you so much holiday holiday thank you next is H2 njde Green Acres Program Urban Parks Grant application minino Park Improvement good evening good evening Nicole Matt Anna Maya [Music] thank you Council good okay thank you Council um so we're here tonight um for a public hearing for njd Green Acres Program Urban Park grants application and you might be familiar because we were sitting in the same exact spot in late January earlier this year on two applications one for Ty toown Road Park and then another one for GE Park inclusive playground and so when we were here that time I did explain to you that part of the Green Acres application process is that we have this public hearing they want to see if there's feedback from our Council from our mayor Administration and from the public and so here we are tonight on a different application what's unique about this application it's it's a park that qualifies for Urban Park Grant application which means that 100% of the project would be funded with the grants application should we succeed which is really nice so part of the public hearing checklist or requirements are up on the screen um the public uh hearing has to be head held uh in the evening after 6: pm has to be in front of our governing body has to give an opportunity for our public to speak on the application uh the packet for the application has to be posted on our website um instead of doing it 10 days prior we actually did it a month or even six weeks early uh where we had the application itself uh environmental report our cost estimate and our concept plan on there and then eventually when this presentation was completed we did post it on our on our online uh project website we are attended by a quorum of the governing body our concept plan is ready to be shown tonight and we have that um we did prepare an environment Al impact assessment report um that I do have some highlights on but uh there are no Alternatives because we are out of any environmentally sensitive areas um once we're completed with the presentation you'll see at tonight's consent agenda there's an enabling resolution that allows the mayor and the clerk to submit the application should you deem that fit and then minutes are going to be prepared for the application um and should be presented at the January 7 2025 meeting meeting for um a vote what we have on the screen is the project location and North is in the up direction or to the top of the page and everybody's familiar with minino Park it's located off of County Route 516 it is east of New Jersey State Highway Route 18 and then west of New Jersey State Highway Route 9 UM and it's right across the entrance is right across the street from Owens Road um and it's accessed by Nino Park Drive and then also within the park park boundary is the YMCA for the township uh located on block 8005 lot 6 um I have the tax map in front of you as part of the requirements the concept plan we had assistance from French and Prolo Associates you might be familiar with them they did help us with the design and construction inspection for the baseball fields um to complete sort of the pin wheel around around the original concept for the park the um the fields are dark in there but they are existing um I think we highlight them because we're so proud of them um and then if you see on the northern part of the sheet you'll see a cluster of dark green uh that's plantings that's tree planting what we're going to do there is we're going to demolish the existing playground there and then we're going to relocate it closer to the larger parking lot in the lower leftand corner Corner in that green space um the idea is to update the playground itself uh just to move it away from the environmentally sensitive areas on and I flipped I flipped the uh the pl so North is now to the left so on the Eastern side of the property there's some wetlands in that area so we want to just get the park away from there um we still want to keep it located within that pin wheel area it makes it easier for the parents to have their kids one not cross into a parking lot to get to the playground feature and then it also keep they can keep an eye on them while their siblings are playing at the baseball fields um also at that Northern side we're going to we're going to put a fullsize basketball court in addition lower lower right hand corner um just left of that FPA logo you'll see a brown square that square actually shows two botch ball courts that will be illuminated and so the basketball field will be illuminated the bot ball courts will be illuminated and then the I don't know if I mentioned it the playground field will be in the shape of a baseball field field Diamond okay as long as you don't say Court we're go yes I'm sorry my husband would be very disappointed um so sorry so these are just preliminary renderings this is from a plan area view of what the park would look like um there is on the next slide this is this is so you get that baseball field feel on this and then you could see kind of the side view of like the scoreboard this is this is nice too ignore that climber has a football guy just picture a baseball guy there um and just what happened yeah no I I plead the fifth on that councilman Garcia um so the the football guy is not going to be there it's going to be a baseball guy and then you could see that this is rectangular it's going to be in the shape of the diamond um and so then here you get you get you get a view of like the fake scoreboard that they're trying to do it's actually phases of the Moon instead of a score there um and and then you know Matt has looked at this preliminarily but he's going to really want to dive into what does the park feature have out there and we want to make sure the proposed is more or better right and it takes care of all age groups right the next this is isn't this nice I'll play Botch ball I might um we're so we're proposing two they're going to be illuminated so the lights are going to go in the center so that they take care of two courts um one has to be Ada my suggestion is just to make them both ada8 compliant it's an easy it's an easy uh ask and an easy do um but this this is really the the try and feel of what we're going for when we're talking about the Bachi courts we tried to segregate it just so that when they're parking for for the Botti ball courts there there's ample parking and and they're not conflicting with those coming to the baseball Games Etc the cost estimate for this is 9,185 and so if we're successful with the Grant application we're hoping to be fully funded with the njd grant the environmental impact assessment was pretty easy because the the park features are already in you know cleared areas so there's nothing that we're you know we're not taking down any trees um a couple of trees in the bot B Court area but they're less than 4 and2 inch diameter at breast height so they don't count in the eyes of um Green Acres so we don't have that listed on their forms um they're outside any fresh Wetland State open Waters um so we're good in that regard the short-term impacts are just a soil disturbance when we're doing the excavation but everything that's going to be disturbed we're going to um seed fertilize and and we're going to stabilize once complete we believe that once this project is complete it's going to attract a broader range of just like clientele from the park it's not even going to be Oldbridge Township it could even be Regional um because of all the park features um so the next steps after this is we're going to ask Council and I think it's C3 on tonight's consent agenda um to pass a resolution enabling the mayor and our clerk to sign the Green Acres Program application for the Urban Park um application for manino Park uh draft minutes from tonight's meetings will be prepared and presented to you at the January 7th 2025 meeting and then it will be ready for submission to Green Acres on February 5th 2025 so with that um I ask if Council has any questions and then if we could open it up to the public I do is it she said any questions so okay okay um I don't know I get excited because I think we're in the house all the time we talked about this right Matt at the park and wreck and kids are in the house and everybody's home and everybody's on their phones and this is an opportunity for everybody to get out you know keep America healthy this is part of it this is part of getting out playing basketball Community you know working out watching baseball you know it's it's exciting because there's so much going on with these kids especially and people really just staying home it's time for them to come outside and enjoy the fresh air and come in here I mean so many people are so excited I talk to every a lot of people in town they're like oh just just everybody wants to come here I mean that sincerely I do we real estate people are moving here because it's a hot place and whoever's thinking of these things great job because you're really thinking about the resonance and from my standpoint I really appreciate it I think it's going to be fantastic sincerely thank you all okay anybody on my left have a comment or a question okay I'll start with Eric and then I'll go to you oh okay no that's okay um no I just wanted to say I think it's a great idea and um I think it would be awesome if we can get the entire Grant um you know get the funding from the for the whole thing from the Grant and I I think it's great that um the state is offering this you know and is this something that we had we obviously we have to apply for I right obviously that's what you just were talking about but um no I just think it's wonderful and I'm glad that you're doing it and I'm glad you're taking advantage of of the Grant from the state I think it's wonderful good so two questions Nicole you said that this would be or it can be covered by the full Grant so let's just say well let's just say they only give you $500,000 in my past experience especially like for example GE Park that're fully in all inclusive what they do is if there's a 25% cost match they take our cost estimate subtract the 25% out and grant us that because this qualifies for an urban Grant then we're qualified for the full amount so I don't see why they would give us less than the amount unless there's a big pool of people or townships that are submitting a lot of different applications and they want to give everybody a bite at the Apple but you know hopefully we were s we were very successful when it came to GE Park so okay I'm I'm I think we're all very hopeful and second so Matt will this be presented to the rec board come January to discuss the plans and what's there obviously I think we should get their input to ensure that what we're putting is really there's certain things where they are and having a singular basketball court versus multiple basketball courts that just something that we'd want to um make sure that the rec boards are pining on anyone else on my right yes one question if we get the funding when does this start how does that work if we get the funding by February when can we start because I think it's great no we we going to submit we finish everything that we have to do and then submit to them by February 5th of 2025 and at that point we would be at their discretion of when those funds are going to be released Nicole do you recall what the time frame was on gck was it was it the summer it was it was around July when we find out no because then I would need a consultant to do the survey and then they would prepare plans specs estimate I'm not I'm not sure we would keep it in the house we we may depending on our workload in the engineering department um once that go so probably spring of 2026 and another question maybe maybe Matt knows better the slides you know the playground slides I know years ago they had the metal ones that we got burnt the plas ones are just as Hot Correct is there anything else comparable that the kids can use without getting burnt so you could you could always you could always do shade structures over it I know that that was something that we had discussed when Katrell had opened because obviously we opened it on the probably the hottest day of 2024 um but we reached out to all of our counterparts whether they they are in public Recreation private Recreation School anything like that that's why we have signs there that said you should touch it before you go on they are less hot than what some of us grew up going down on the metal ones but the ones that are in full sun are still hot so that's why you'll see signs saying exactly do they make such a product not at all not okay all right anyone else over here here on my right anyone Mr petti yeah just just want to thank you so much for the efforts to do something like this is really wonderful you know to add to oldge thank you okay anyone else have to I think it's um great especially having the playground near the baseball fields because I know when parents bring their kids their other their other kids need to run around and do stuff too but most of all um to hear that it's going to take I know government move moves slow and things take a while which we understand the process but I know the people for the bot ball so anxious you know another if I tell them over again po balls I say in a year they're like what you know but so hopefully that comes through when they they're happy with the plan thank you for all your work that's really good everybody good it's exciting I think it's going to be a big positive for the town do you know Nicole TimeWise as far as learning whether or not the grant was approved what kind of what kind of process how long about July that we found it was definitely warm out it was summertime when we found out just follow the same time frame as this about five months from when we submit we should hear back yeah okay so that's a that's not you know not an unreasonable amount of time hopefully the sooner the better but you know I think people if they know that it's been approved and we're going to start moving on it it'll be people will be very excited you know well thank you all again for doing all this hard work and finding these grants all of you um thank you very very much I'll open it to the public is anyone in public oh I'm sorry mayor go ahead no no go ahead I I just wanted to say if any of you have been to minino and seen the playground it's like in a by a wooded area it's kind of buggy and the pickle Courts are there and the pickle players tend to put all their chairs over there and sometimes there could be some cursing and it's just bad for the kids so the fact that we're moving it over by the ball fields is a much better location and then this way their siblings could be playing while they're playing and also as far as the bot courts I had a lot of people come up to me and had asked me about Bachi cour and I I mentioned it to Nicole and uh within that day they had sent me pictures of what it would look like and I I think a lot of people are going to be very happy because we're trying to make minino like a go-to park where we have everything we'll have the basketball we have pickleball baseball bot and we have the room there so you know that's what we're trying to make it a nice go-to park and I just want to thank uh Nicole and Fred for all their hard work anyone else Nicole add anything you guys are all good okay and I'm G to open it to the public is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard about this this topic okay seeing no hands I'll close the public and I'll ask for a motion Mo it move by Dr Greenberg Bell second the h one no we have don't we have to do we go to public everything okay okay so just that part okay perfect all right I just wanted to make sure I followed the protocol you don't want that to not get messed up okay will be approval of minutes resolution approving executive session minutes of January 16 2024 February 6 2024 February 27 2024 4 March 12th 2024 March 26th 2024 April 9th 2024 April 30th 2024 June 25th 2024 and July 9th 2024 do I have a motion move it okay moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr assetou roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman Caro yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes seven yeses Bill list Mr Garcia yes thank you Bill list as of December 17 2024 accounts payable December 17 2024 1,649 71524 payable December 6 2024 1,279 4437 payroll overtime December 6 2024 42,4 18765 that completes my report thank you okay thank you very much can we have a breakdown of the overtime please Anna sure um we did not have any major upticks in this last payroll for overtime the sworn police overtime for this pay period was $2,934 180 the duck grants $1,391 195 the duct etto $7,000 $7,881 for a total of $1 16,74 188 which resulted in 207 men and women hours thank you okay thank you very much do I have a motion move it second okay move by Dr Greenberg belly second by Mr pasky roll call councilman auli yes councilman councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soart yes seven yeses next you'll be ordinances uh for second reading H1 refunding Bond ordinance providing for the refunding of an emergency appropriation related to the settlement of litigation pertaining to ridan BAS slag Superfund Site appropriating $7 million therefore authorizing the issuance of $7 million bonds or notes for the township for financial the co financing the cost thereof does anyone on the council have a question or a comment Dr Greenberg yes my comment is this and I'm sure everyone else up here is very frustrated that we have no choice we had no choice but to deal with this and to pay $7 million for something that happened 40 years ago what which was under the permission of the federal government if the federal government didn't give permission for that led to be placed there we wouldn't even be discussing this so to me that we have to go out and bond for this the owness is on the federal government so I wish and and my hope I voted for I I've had many sleepless nights about this since I voted for it because we were like had no choice pretty much because we want to do right by the town and we want to clean up that area but to me the federal government Wast so much money on other things for $7 million which is the fault no fault of our own but the fault of the federal government it is ridiculous that we find oursel in this situation and I wish we could revisit visit it and go after the federal government that they would come through and help us anyone else have a comment s Carol yeah I was just going to ask uh Mr Elli to give a little summation because I don't know that everyone really understands what this is about you know um so if maybe we can just kind of give a little background story of what exactly this is $7 million is a lot and I think we should we've talked about it before but maybe just for yeah right um this goes back actually um when we when we the council voted to uh settle the uh approve the consent agree uh with the uh Department of Justice as it relates to enforcement actions relative to the uh uh Ron Bay slack super fund site so again uh that's the super fund site was designated um gosh and I guess in early 2000s if I recall but it goes back to a beach restoration program that started in the uh late 60s early 70s as Dr Greenberg Bell had uh uh spoken about um and it was under the jurisdiction interesting enough of uh the army career of Engineers and New Jersey Department environment protection actually uh and the plan was put together and as part of that plan um to uh help relative to making sure the be the beach head doesn't didn't wash away they came up with a plan that had a uh steel plate PL uh the steel plate um was uh comprised of metals that U allegedly came from National lead Industries and or uh other subsidiaries or entities associated with national lead um fast forward um early 2000s um the um the lead wall apparently started to leech in that area uh the New Jersey Environmental Protection Agency uh started studying the area determine the area was a super fund site and and initially uh there was a administrative consent decree entered by the Environmental Protection Agency relative to how the site would be cleaned up uh once that process starts the federal government then seeks to uh um gather all the potential responsible parties uh to um to clean up the site now how Oldbridge became involved in it um was that some of the lands were uh obtained by the township through either tax foreclosure and or by deeds and L forclosure uh the enforcement action was um basically there's a federal it's known as cira that's the acronym think you know that was something that came about in the 80s uh but it's a mechanism by which federal law uh um allows these super fund sites to be cleaned up and because the township was in the chain of title uh they were deemed a potential responsible party um over a number of years National Leed who was again was the prime of the Prime responsible parties for uh producing allegedly producing the metal uh then filed lawsuit against the township and other part governmental entities and parties back in 2013 uh where uh they sought these other potential responsible parties to contribute to the cleanup cost uh initially National Leed was putting together a cleanup plan that plan had to be approved by the federal government uh that litigation and those discussions relative to the cleanup went in for went on for a number of years the federal litigation that was started by national lead was stayed while the parties when I mediated the parties included various Federal governmental agencies various federal state agencies the T up of Oldbridge and then there were uh a number of other uh subsidiary entities associated with national Leed um then um again that started sometime I would say approximately 2014 2015 um negotiations discussion through mediation continued at one point uh we thought that a final plan was uh going to be approved in which the Township's liability would have been a lot less was on top of that the township had insurance coverage uh and the thought was that we'd be able to obtain from the insurance companies the money needed for the town's uh share of the cost um federal government decided that they didn't like the plan that National lead uh was proposing uh so then they rejected National lead's efforts to to lead the cleanup and the federal government decided that they were going to clean up the site um that escalated the costs they went from initially estimating cost to be about 75 76 million over 200 million um and then um as recently 2022 um the federal government then indicated to the parties that they uh unless the party settled um that they were going to uh commence an enforcement action separate and apart from the national lead litigation um and uh so at that point with uh again with part of the mediator they came and basically determined what every party's liability was so the town's expected exposure went from about went from between four and six million four to $6 million to $223,300 th000 um and so basically the federal government indicated that unless the town unless parties settled um whoever they didn't whoever didn't settle that they would uh go against that particular party for the balance right so if they estimated the clean up to be 200 million uh whatever whatever money that they didn't recover and it's a little complicated but under the federal law that they could seek to have for instance Oldbridge pay the balance of whatever they they didn't get in as part of the settlement um so initially the townships liability was 23, 300,000 uh as part of negotiations I was able to uh obtain um a little over $2 million credit from a carrier who had gone bankrupt uh with the assist of the federal government uh so that reduced ultimately reduced the town's liability to 2,100,000 um and in addition I think the state government uh also agreed to pick up an additional $1 million um so then the balance of 21 21,1 100,000 um we um we had outside Council so we we we commence a series of negotiations with uh some of the carriers that we had insurance with um what complicated the car the insurance carrier issue was that at the same time there was another environmental litigation that um some of these same carriers who were involved in this litigation were also involved in that litigation and this other litigation those those policies were exhausted uh so that reduced the the available bucket of insurance funds that we could obtain uh long story short we finally we settled with I believe a group of uh nine or 10 carriers where uh they're pay paying uh almost $15 million and the the difference between the 15 million uh and the 211 is the township share so that's how we got to the 7even million else have a question anybody you have a question not a question just say that it is very convoluted and that this is as you said by the timeline this has gone back if they cleaned it up X amounted years ago it would have cost much less the F we were told by the federal government all the time when they came down there the EPA what they were going to do so now you're tell like you know whe whe the federal government nor the state state wastes enough money as it is um it doesn't matter but we didn't give anyone permission to put things there so that's what's very frustrating to me that we're held liable before because someone else gave permission granted permission for something that we didn't do you know so it's very disconcerning to me that we have to come up with this money where I think the state the federal government EPA whatever should should give money we send enough money to the federal government they should kick money back so that's all I want to say and I'm very sorry that we have to do this yeah I I just in closing before we do that I open up public I just degree um this this can has been kicked down the highway for how many years and as a result of that of course everything escalated the cost of what's the cleanup is is escalated so here we sit none of us were here for any of this but we have to we have to come to resolution that's our responsibility to the residents so that's why this is where we're at now and as Dr Greenberg Bell I said we really federal government really state government County government kind of feel like we were abandoned in this one because we have appealed to everyone to please try and help us $7 million for this Township is a really an extraordinary lot of money and for us to be able to handle this and hopefully you know take care of the situation and put it to rest but people the residents should know none I mean it this has been going on how many years Mark well the the the litigation started in 2013 but I think the super fund the ACO was in the early 2000s I believe right right yeah so this is something yeah a long time and we do we can't we can't kick this can anym we have to finish this so again I'm I'm not happy with it either I don't think anybody is do you have something to say Mr I'm sorry council president just one thing for the residents that are listening and watching this whether it's live or in the future reach out to Mr palone Mrs Watson Coleman Senator Booker Senator Kim to voice your displeasure with the fact that they are not coming to assist right everyone's quick to take photo ops as I've said before with little things that happen this is something that will greatly benefit this Township and its taxpayers if they come in and they help so make sure you reach out to those Representatives there's only so much that the nine of us can do up here and addition with the mayor to get that done reach out to them you know the power of the the voter is is a very powerful tool so I implore everyone who's listening to this tell you you know to reach out to them tell your neighbors to reach out to them the more folks that do the better it is for us I know that I personally will be as well council president could I say something yeah yeah so uh I was going to the KAG meeting since I believe about 2008 and I've been following this and and um when we were told how much we were going to be liable for I reached out to Congressman palone on numerous occasions and I I could not get him to call me back finally at one point they told me he would give me five minutes of my time and um just five minutes that was it and when I I I tried to explain to him that this was a large amount of money for small town like over our taxpayers to Bear $7 million and we thought it could be up to 10 million and he just didn't care and like councilman dama said every single photo op down at the beach he is there but when we needed him he was not there for us and I want everyone to remember that because he's he represents this area and for the federal government $7 million is a drop in the bucket but for Oldbridge taxpayers it's a lot of money and I believe uh the judge said that it has to be at least $50 per resident the that's actually local Finance board um I was going to get this later but uh as part of the um before the town um when he borrow money part of the process was we the township had a hearing in front of local Finance board uh for them to approve a payback uh period uh and and ultimately it was um Don you correct me if I'm wrong it's it was six years plus one right right so they so they approved the six-year payback period and and that's how you spread it out right so not paying all at the same time uh and we worked with our Financial Consultant on and our bond Council uh local Finance board approv the uh payout schedule one of the the requirements is that there's a there's a floor that uh where the impact can't be less than and and that floor is $50 per household so we met that basically $50 on that six-year uh payback and then ultimately um you'll see I think the the idea is to make a payment next year issue a note and then and then ultimately combine this debt with other debt and you know for long term but um so yeah I you know there's there were so many factors in this um you know under cira and under EPA cleanup law just the way the law is as a property owner there's strict liability means you're liable didn't mean the town didn't have defenses what they had defenses so you know when you go through this process there's the cost benefit uh you know um obtaining um obtaining coverage now or continue to litigate potentially being responsible or liable for hundreds of millions of dollars versus you know ultimately which is while we borrowed seven I think ultimately it's going to be less than seven um I I think that that was one of the situations where um what could have been and where you were well it's you it's a hard pill to swallow certain is a lot better than where where where we could have been and then the cost of continuing litigation for a number of years and you know and any attorney will say you just never know litigation up just now know it's truly I I understand everything that you're saying and I wanted to thank you for the job that you've done but it's just mindboggling that we are in 2024 and this started when they when they deposit this Le here and if it's such a grave situation why did they wait all this time so it it's just it's just wrong and in fact it's like if you're in a car action your insurance takes care of and they figure out who owes what later they could have taken care of it would have been a lot less it would have been done and the T people who live in that area could enjoy the beach front for 30 years yeah no absolutely it's crazy thank you yeah anyone else I just want to thank Mark for all of his work that he did on us he really helped us save a lot of money I'm very disappointed in the state and the Federal government though for not helping Oldbridge no not at all well thank you all very much I'm going to open it up to the public if anyone wishes to be heard on this topic please come forward now okay seeing no hands I'll close the public portion do I have a motion move it I'll move it second move Dr councilman dep and second Mr pesti was it okay roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Pas gidy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg B reluctantly yes and council president soar yep seven okay H2 ordinance of the township of Oldbridge amend amending chapter 273 of the Township Code entitled lunch wagons mobile okay anyone on Council have a question Mr so in working with Vina and the attorney as well as our clerk hopefully this cleans up some of the language and doesn't more or less preclude food trucks from coming in I think our ordinance meant well in the past but the application of it was extremely difficult for one of those businesses to do so a 500 foot perimeter of a of a particular property so let's just use I I'll use uh the Home Depot lot it's Home Depot and Walmart is one contiguous lot so 500 feet completely around that you would have to send out letters and all that stuff these are very very small businesses some of them are uparts so I hope this this allows those businesses to begin to come here obviously we're we're eliminating it for the time being but hopefully this helps it uh and helps those businesses come along anyone else have a question okay seeing no no hands I'll open it to the public anyone in the public wishes to be heard on this seeing no hands I'll close the public portion I'll ask for a motion Mo it moov by Mr jaama second by Mr auli roll call Council auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman pasky yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes and council president soar yes seven yeses consent agenda I'd ask for a motion in a second and we'll bring it back for separation oh did I miss something oh yeah oh I'm sorry here it is yet H3 okay ordinance of the township of oldridge amending chapter 347 on the Township Code entitled article one solicitors pedalers auctioneers junk dealers and use car lots does anyone from the council have a question no this is just a continu it it's a companion ordinance to the um the food truck or food wagon ordinance because things had to change here because it's it's stated in that so it's just the companion yeah okay anyone in the public wish to be heard any we're good okay I'll have a motion move it second okay moved by Mr japa okay second by councilman auli yep roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman pasidi yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes council president soar yes seven yeses okay now consent agenda I'll ask for a motion a second and bring it back for separations move by Dr Greenberg Bell second second okay councilman as auli um so we're gonna vote we're going to for removal councilman asked auli any items for removal separation separation no thank you councilwoman de Caro yes c17 c17 councilman dep any items for separation no thank you councilman Garcia I have none thank you councilman pass giddy no separations thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell no thank you and council president soar no thank you okay so we'll vote on the 10 cent agenda separating Out c17 roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman garciaa yes councilman Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president yes seven yeses okay next will be c17 Mrs dearo yeah nothing really I just wanted to know um it's authorizing the submission of the updated njd green anchors program Recreation and open space inventory and I was just wondering when that does get submitted if we can get a copy of that the yeah that's it that's all I wanted okay yeah yeah all right so then yeah I'm just curious as to you know I would just like to see that yeah oh that's fine do you make a motion to yes I make a motion to move it okay second okay motion by Mrs dearo second by do greenber roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman Pas giddy yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes council president soar yes seven yeses okay next will be nonc consent agenda C1 um can you so uh if you recall we had the uh hearing back on November 14th uh relative to the remand um by the court relative to the appeal uh of the grant of the use variants um by the Zoning Board in connection with the uh Edward testino LLC for route for 121 Route 34 Oldbridge New Jersey block 4187 lot 311 um zoning board application 12-21 Z if you also recall that indicated that uh resolution would be uh drafted memorializing the action of the uh of the council basically where you uh again previously had um reversed the zoning board's decision indicating that the U the applicant hadn't provided sufficient proofs uh for the grant of a uh D1 variants uh this is a resolution that uh encompass is uh the legal con uh the factual findings and conclusions that were requested by the court uh so like anything else you will uh be voting on The Resolution those who who were able to vote uh would not include uh Mr auli he hadn't participated previously wasn't at the uh no uh November 14th hearing um so and I don't think you reviewed the rec you'd have to review the record from back there so you should just abstain on on the roll call and I believe Mr Carol at the time you had abstained on the vote uh at that hearing so um you would follow as well as far as the resolution that you can abstain since you while you participated you you abstained on the RO I did abstain yeah oh yeah I mean any council member Comm comment see you have motion yep okay is everyone on the council clear on what this see one non-agenda item meets okay so I need a motion move it okay move by Mr pascetti second by Mr auli I can should second no you I'll sec I'll second it okay Mr dep yeah because you're not voting R call councilman auli stain Council you want a comment no no I think Mr car said yes I did thank you um so yes you mentioned that I abstained the last at the last um when we discussed this at the special meeting um and the reason I abstained is because I you know and again I know we're you're going to tell me we're past this I know but um the reason I abstained is because I just didn't think that it should have been a thing at all to begin with and the reason I say that is what concerns me is is um that we are taking the decision of the zoning board and the fact original complaint was inaccurate the original complaint had said that the zoning board didn't follow the advice of the professionals when you know and I know we're not supposed to read the thing you know they weren't sworn in um but the professionals never advised not to to do this so the entire comp complaint was um frivolous and I don't think that it should have even gotten to the point I don't think that the orig the original um overturning of the decision should have happened and I it concerns me when we do that because you know the people on the zoning board um you know we respect them they're volunteers they do uh they do all a lot of training I know that they they spend a lot of time learning about the zoning laws they Grant variances very very often and I don't think that um that we should have that we should be in the business of you know just overturning a decision that really had no bearing to even be complained about and that's why I abstained from my vote the last time and um you know I am abstaining I guess this time as well if I wasn't abstaining I would be voting no um um I don't think it's right and um you know I I'd be curious as to how many other times we have uh overturned a zoning board decision that's it that's all I have to say anyone else have a question I would say not that just so because again some people might understand is that the the appeal process is is set forth in in the municipal anus law and and attention code where uh there's two avenues that allows an interested party to file an appeal when a use f use variance use variance is granted uh you can either go directly to the court or you can file an appeal uh to the governing body and that's how that uh after the use use fa was granted that's how it it it came in front of the council so it was a process that's permitted by law and then in accordance with the provisions of law uh that that was followed um and so that's how we got here so I just just wanted to just to respond to that okay are we all good anyone else Dr Greenberg we were in the middle of in that light I just want to say there are things that are reversed and in fact when the developer doesn't get the right response that he you know feels that is Justified he has the right to go to a judge so this came to us um basically because we realized um that the zone that it was in didn't go along with our master plan that's how that decision was yeah well it came to you because interested party filed the appeal right and then once it happens you sit like a court of law and you and you review it to noo so that was a process but it wasn't a developer that that filed the appeal it was an unrelated party yeah so the roll call let's have the roll call okay roll call councilman asiain councilwoman dearo obain councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman pascy the applicant was a resident of Oldbridge that makes him part of the town and he had a right to appeal yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg belli yes and council president soart yes five yeses two extensions okay reported the Township Clerk I have no report report of the township attorney uh I I gave it earlier on the local Finance Board hearing okay thank you administrative report Anna yes thank you number one Christmas tree collection Christmas trees will be picked up in all Wards beginning the week of January 6 202 2025 for the full schedule please visit Oldbridge docomond dayss are a perfect time to enjoy skating extra public sessions are available during the holiday holiday please come out to any of our public skating sessions the full public full public session list which includes dates times fees are available on our website at old.com Recreation number three rabies vaccination clinic in partnership with middlex County the township clerk's office held a rabies vaccination cleaning from for dogs and cats on December 7th 2024 in the public works garage from what I understand we had a very good turnout so I think our last minute push uh helped out uh the clerk's office is already working on next year's clinic for information on future clinics please visit or.com rs- Clinic pet licenses for 2025 are now available for orbridge residents and should be obtained no later than February 1st 2025 after this date a l late fee will be incurred for more information and to upate a p pet license application please visit o.com clerk finally orridge PBA local 127127 a hosts annual cop for kids holiday party we would like to take take a moment to recognize um our local PBA 127 and 127a for hosting their annual cops for kids holiday party in collaboration with the oldd food bank this year's event was once again organized by Sergeant Jim Ford and members of local PBA 127 and 127a as well as staff from the food bank and Parks and Recreation Department the planning of this event begins in September and is made possible by all the donations whether monetary food or toys from our local businesses and residents this event has taken place for over 30 years and exemplifies the strong Community bond that the that the officers of our Police Department have with the oage community this year's families were treated to a buffet dinner dessert a face painter a DJ and a surprise Vis surprise visit by Senna himself and a few of his elves children were given personal gifts by Senna and even managed to snap pictures with Santa before he headed back to the North Pole on behalf of the mayor and administ ation I would like to thank Sergeant Ford and the local PBA 127 and 127a and all of the volunteers for putting together another great event thank you for making the holidays brighter for the residents of O bridge and for those in need I also wanted to thank a lot of our lieutenants captains and our chief for stopping by and helping that evening as well thank you very much does anyone have a question or a comment for Anna okay seeing no hands I will ask to accept her report move it second okay moved by Dr Greenberg belli second by Mr pescetti roll call councilman ASI yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia yes councilman pasti yes Council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell yes and council president soar yes thank you Ed okay next will be our public comment on any subject matter for a maximum period of three minutes the public comment portion of our meeting is to allow the public to bring to the council's attention their concerns or comments this section is open for any topic or items in the consent in the consent agenda in accordance with njsa 10 colon 4-2a and the Oldbridge rules of council the council asked the public to limit their comments so three minutes or less only one member of the public shall approach to speak to council at a time the council will respect the Public's Time by refraining from any comment until the speaker has finished with their allotted time should be further noted that the public comment portion of our meeting is not structured as a question and answer session if a member of the public has questions they seek answers to an appointment can be made with the corresponding Department's office during regular business hours Township Clerk will regulate the time during the comment portion of our meeting as you approach the microphone please State whether you are a resident of Oldbridge no names and addresses okay good evening is there anyone in the public who wishes to be heard good even evening I'm I didn't really get the directions about no names but I'm Stuart alterman I'm an attorney and I represent Dominic Bales and also Lewis Spina from the police department they're two of your police officers I'm here tonight because we feel my clients feel and I feel that the town has abandoned them on March 3rd 2024 in the course of their duties they were very injured they were injured because they engaged in Lethal Force against the subject and then they perform continued to perform their duties after they shot the subject several times watching their rounds penetrate the subject and then they gave Aid to the subject and also gave Aid to the victim in which the subject attacked now the reason why I'm here is because these individuals were injured they sought medical treatment medical and psychological treatment and they were turned away from your workers compensation administrator workers compensation in this state is nothing but an employer Managed Care Program that's employer oriented and is for the benefit of the employer not the employee yes my office handles workers workers comp cases and the attorneys that are representing the two individuals also handle workers comp cases workers comp practice wouldn't exist if workers comp was fair it's not fair it's not Equitable it stinks but that's the reason why I'm here because the town for some reason feels as though their treatment has to be guided by workers comp but we decided to file a grievance so the grievance is pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement because there's certain language in there that provides sick time authorized use of sick time administrative pay and continuation of pay these officers haven't had a paycheck for months it's Christmas time I've written to the town attorney I've written to the chief of police I know that the chief of police has passed my correspondence along but I don't know if the town knows what's really going on here and what we need to do is we need to sit down and discuss this matter like true ladies and gentlemen for the benefit of Dominic Bolan who is a hero and Lewis spena who is a hero for the performance that they engaged in on March 3rd 2024 any questions can I answer any questions we're not allowed to ask questions you're not allowed to ask questions all right well I wouldn't mind coming at another time maybe an informal conference or having a zoom to discuss this matter in further detail but it's unconscionable to cut these individuals off from their pay it's absolutely unconscionable I practice up and down the state I'm a PBA a state PBA attorney I deal with many different towns and counties around the state this is the only case I have and by the way I have and I'm working on their pensions um this is the only case that I have where people have been cut off like this month time that's your three minutes three minutes three minutes I give myself another three minutes no no un how about me how about do I get three minutes yeah you you're a member of the public okay I don't think I can get through it I don't think I can get through it but I just want to say that this has been a very difficult time on my family a very difficult time and myself okay and I want to enjoy my life and I want to stay on this planet so please do the right thing the issue of mental health in police work is tan amount and treating these individuals the way they've been treated you're not really looking at the right perspective suicide among police officers is at an all-time high why because they treated it's the environment it's their employers it's the environment in which we're all living and working today hopefully when President Trump takes over it gets a little bit better but in the meantime I would like to engage in a dialogue through the grievance process on an expedited basis and take care of this matter thank you very much and have a very merry Christmas thank you thank you and I'd like to say something that's my son it's not my son anymore and I think all of you if he was shot would you make him hero he'd probably get a $2,500 check you'd have a parade you'd have something you'd have his picture up on a wall thank God he didn't get shot he saved someone do you know that he saved a woman getting stabbed do you know that he threw a blanket over to protect her because she was nude do you know that when he had to shoot that gentleman he went and saved him too he's got a one and a half year old baby and I'm looking at the attorney here you have to know better I'm sure you have children I'm positive you have children you're going to set a president for these police officers here that they're going to go out they're going to know Dominic they're going to know Lou and they're going to say look what happened to them they got screwed we're not doing anything we why would they protect the public for what reason nobody's backing them you know my son was a different person before this and I'm not I'm saying it as a mother he's just not right and you have to help both of them thank you is there anyone else in the public who wishes to be heard this evening you can come forward please hi thank you council members I'm a resident here liveing close by and okay my concern my grievance is with the continued lack malicious lack of compliance with the noise audience audience by the Grand Marquee they're on you know I'm sure you're all familiar with the Grand Marquee beautiful place we're across route nine not next door to them across route nine for years they they have late night events DJ playing fine no problem of course they continue to play music the Bas especially with such a high intensity that we literally feel it it's not just hearing loud music the vibrations like this coming all the way across the highway of rout n to enter our homes into our beds even on the second floor even just this past Saturday night it was past midnight and it was continually going on we have called them countless times we have called the police do not want to bother the police with this kind of stuff they forced to call the oldridge police to come and to go to them sometimes they comply sometimes after the police leave they put it back up again obviously not having any respect for the police but it's been going on for literally for years we call them they hang up on us they keep us waiting for half an hour then say Oh the manager can't speak to you or they just don't answer the phone at all we are literally at our Wit's End don't know what else to do they face no repercussions I would think there should there's supposed to be some fines or something for them to be non compliant with the noise audience ordinances you know I don't know where to go what to do about this it it's literally like torture I'm a medical professional I literally have people's lives in my hands if I can't get proper rest I can't guarantee I'm not my best to give Safe Care thank you hi good evening I'm a resident of Oldbridge I'm here regarding the noise disturbances from the Grand Marquee so uh we have contacted the the police multiple times they go over there and they tell them to lower the volume but it just happens again so I have multiple police reports uh showing the repeated complaints I have call logs where I've contacted them dozens of times I've tried to contact the manager who kind of just doesn't want to talk to me so even officers such as offers officer Miss Mich she came over one time and said that she heard the noise from the Grand Marquee from a mile away um I've spoken with the manager I've spoken with the security guard valet members the surfer manager I've expressed how the base resonates through the walls across the highway it's kind of bizarre it shouldn't really be resonating we shouldn't really hear it um the police officers have said that we should hear the highway instead and I agree um I've contacted the uh engineering department I've contacted everybody that I can think of in the um the township regarding the noise ordinance and whether it applies to the businesses and some people said that they didn't know some people said that that it didn't apply so I contacted the middle sex County uh Health uh Division and they said that it does apply to them um we also have an letter from our neighbor who say that they have uh been experiencing suffering from just been annoyed by the the noise disturbances from the Grand Marquee as well for several years um they've called and nothing has been done about it so I'm just asking the council to help me figure out a way to handle this properly because I've just been going in circles been bounced around um so I just want to get this resolved I've tried to address it with them directly but I've kind of just been getting nowhere um thank you so much for your time in hearing me with this could I ask that you would email me that with the complaints it's mayor at oldb bridge.com and then we'll look into it tomorrow uh yes of course this is the first we heard of it uh sure uh if if I can maybe uh if I can get just like an extra day to get together everything just a little bit more yes just email Meema May uh okay I can find the email online mayor oh got it thank you so much I appreciate you thank you thank you very much is there anyone else in the public who wishes to be heard this evening okay seeing no hand I'll close public portion we'll go to council comments councilman auli um I don't know I'm just um um I'm I had something to say um had a seeing that cop um Hit me hard I'm worried about that guy uh Mr coun the only thing I would say is there pending litigation I'm just Mark let me speak I know but I'm just I got it I'm just concerned about his well-being I I understand what you're saying let me speak for a minute I'll get back to you I'm really concerned about him and his family I'm not talking about what's going on I'm talking about just watching him my father-in-law was a cop for 40 years it's a tough gig they go through a lot they need to be heard and when they're not heard I'm not saying him in particular it's it's very difficult they put their life on the line every day I know my my father-in-law had four daughters and they were worried about him coming home every night I'm just concerned I just pray that he's okay is when he left him not being here for his one and halfy old child I don't know I just pray for him that's pretty much all I got to say councilwoman Deo um yes I was my what I was going to say was just happy holidays and that was it but um um first I am I'm thankful that that you guys are going to have some resolution you're going to email uh the mayor um but I am also truly heartbroken um at what we just witnessed uh with this officer I understand we're under litigation so not too much can be shared I can't really share anything because I don't know anything about it uh this is the first time hearing about it so I can't really speak to it but um it was truly heartbreaking and I truly hope that we are able to help this man and again I know we're under litigation so I'll refrain from saying more but what I am I'm going to ask is um Can the council um be briefed on what's going on I know we're under litigation are we able to be privy to that Mark so um again I won't get in detail uh we could probably because there's outside Council Council uh handling the workers comp claim the two compensation claims and again there's a there's a pending grievance so I can check with him to see his availability probably better hear from him I mean I know some information but I'm not we're not handling a compensation CLA claim because it goes through our carrier so I'll check with him and see what his availability I would truly I would truly like that I I really would love to see this resolved in a positive way thank you and happy holidays councilman dep thank you and I just hope the the officer gets the the help that he needs it seems that there might be um something there so I know we had officers in the in the audience and I know that that our PBA and our police department will do the right thing um on a little bit of a different note you know there have been a lot of great events that have been going on throughout time uh throughout uh throughout town you know especially with the holidays and I would like to thank each of those organizations for putting those on um for the volunteer work that everyone is doing especially this time of year trying to bring happiness and joy to everyone during the holiday season you know thank you just today I was at the mcdot winter show for the third graders watching my daughter sing as well as about probably 40 or 50 other fifth graders it was great to see those children out um and also I I attended the coper kids just as the the mayor did you know a special thank you to for the PBA on a very very successful cops of kids holiday event so many toys it look like I was walking into an old Toys R R Us when I walked into uh to a portion of that building so um great work thank you Sergeant Ford and thank you to all the officers that took their own time out to volunteer to be there and to help make a couple of fam's holidays uh a great one and then also just happy holidays to everybody I hope you all have a wonderful and joyous time with your loved ones and please cherish that time you have with each other so merry Christmas happy I happy K Quanza and have a happy and safe new year thank you councilman Garcia yeah yes thank you you know as a former cop I I feel for this cop I I I feel bad for him I pray for him of course you know I did my 25 I got out 10 years ago so I I I know how I know excuse me uh again off the subject I as well I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah so thank you and have a good night councilman pasky yeah I think we all can agree that was a heartbreaker um look I understand there's litigation and workman's comp and all that garbage but you know there's a guy that's hurting and he was an employee of our town so you know I don't know what they expect us to do we really can't do anything as far as I know except we're now all aware of what something's going on um yeah I also would you know just pray for guys you know it's it's tough situation um but I wish if we could do something we could you know whether it's financials help out or our hands are tied because of legalities so um Merry Christmas happy Hanukkah uh enjoy the holidays thank you Council vice president Dr Greenberg B yes this is a time of year where um it's a time of giving and it's a time of reflection also and you pray that everyone um does enjoy the holidays finds peace um so some of the things that have been going on around town um the mama organization which is a foundation that gives um a free trip to a family who a family member had breast cancer and there you know they're dealing with it and I'm happy to know that someone in our town um the Gallow family Mrs Gallow I wish her all the best and their family um we had an they presented an event um this past Saturday where um many residents walked from shra school to their home home to surprise them with this and then the fire trucks come in the first aid and I think it's amazing it's the first time really that I heard of this organization this Foundation but it was really really a beautiful ceremony to be there and also that our schools at our schools a lot of holiday events going on and the Grom school had a great event this past weekend and it was um for the kids where they could come and do different arts and crafts it was great to be there and see how much fun they were having and then also in the beginning of um just a few weeks ago we had um on 13th the we had um our appreciation for the members of our community or all the employees of the Town Employee Appreciation Day and it was always a great event to see them and everything that they accomplished and I want everyone who works in this town to know that you are appreciate it obviously everyone doesn't know everyone and actually what they do but all collectively together they make this town a great place to work and to make it great place to live for everyone that lives here and we are all touched and you know with the police department you know we all are feeling that and um I just we'll pray for that family and I just pray that things get moving along so there is res resolution but before we know that court cases do take a while I just hope that the individuals involved get the help that they need and know that you know there's a the sun comes up tomorrow you know it's a beautiful day so I wish everyone a very merry Christmas happy Hanukkah whatever you celebrate celebrate family and friends and uh wishing you a lot of blessings of good health joy and happiness thank you council president soar yes um I just want to wish everybody of course a happy and a healthy um holiday season what we what happened this evening is very difficult to to listen to and to you know to want to help and we do I don't think there's anyone here that doesn't want to do something to help so hopefully things will move along and resolution will come and we do pray for the families and you know all all that's invol all that are involved D in this incident um as Dr Greenberg said there was so many events that's been going on the last few weeks and there was um we had a business Alliance and a homeowners association meeting and it was Toys for Tots and I have to tell you Oldbridge once again just I'm amazed how many trucks did we have filled with toys yeah I mean it was amazing how how many yeah people were just so generous and that's the way this town is everybody it's like a warm hug and I really believe in that people here just are amazing in what they're willing to do and help and the Santa's on the on the trucks all the firemen you know coming out and bringing Santa everywhere you know and I I'm outside my development and the kids are just going bananas when they see Santa and you know what that is so nice of those firen to bring him around bring such cheer holiday cheer to all these children so there is just so many wonderful people that live in this town I I really mean that and I wish everybody really a blessing this holiday season have a great time Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah very happy New Year okay motion toj motion to adjourn second roll call councilman auli yes councilwoman dearo yes councilman dama yes councilman Garcia has left the de councilman Pas giddy left the deas council vice president Dr Greenberg Bell and council president soar meeting adjourned at 9:11 p.m. next meeting January 7th 2025 at 7:30 p.m. okay good night everyone e