good evening and welcome to the January 9th 2024 meeting of the quic township Council Miss Marsh in accordance with the requirements of New Jersey's open public meetings act notice of this meeting was included in the annual meeting notice which was filed in the office of the Township Clerk posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building publishes a legal notice in the Suburban Trends and Daily Record newspapers and distributed to all persons requesting notice in accordance with Township policy please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a prayer and a moment of thanks for individuals serving our nation Al to the flag the United States of America to stands most gracious Providence we ask that you bless this governing body with an abundance of wisdom and understanding so that every deliberation will result in actions which will promote the common good and the general welfare for all of the people of panic Township amen amen amen will the clerk please call the rooll Mr Dy president Mrs Florence Lynch here Mr Cole here Mrs Russell here mayor herd here there are no presentations scheduled at this time are the reports or comments from any volunteers serving our community seeing none next item on our agenda is public comments the public comment period will be limited to a total of 30 minutes an additional period for public comment is reserved later in the meeting individuals are requested to limit their questions and comments to 3 minutes if anybody wishes to address the council please wait to be recognized and come to the microphone and provide your name for the record come on up how are you sir I'm doing good how are you doing today I am wonderful how can I help you I'm just concerned about the major flooding that's about to impact our area uh flooding is supposed to Crest around 19.5 ft uh according to Noah Noah right now uh so I just want to know what we're planning to do to help the community since we just got flooded three weeks ago yeah that's a great question we are all very concerned about that um we have been passing out flyers and we putting a bunch of information out on our website I don't know have you download have you um filled everything out on the website so this way you get it to your phone okay so that's number one on the website there's a place you can sign up or you'll see uh you'll see the QR code around you can just scan it with your phone fill out all the information um and you can click say flooding I think is the number two and then all of that any information that gets sent from the township will be in your phone you know you'll just click on it you'll be able to read it that's the best thing that you can do right now okay and for like general public who are in the low-lying areas is there anything they can do to move their cars or move them to like safer areas like like let's say like outside the the you know the the the Town Square I'm sorry town hall building you can move your uh car here um the funeral home also offered their uh place and then there was one other boys and girls club Boys and Girls Club they've all offered their parking lots along with scall on the other end of town and Adam do you have anything to add just that locally the emergency Operation Center has been activated we've been communicating regularly with the county the first aid fire departments are all on board Police Department's ready to go and um we'll have an emergency management conversation at the conclusion of this meeting and the next one will be about 4:00 in the morning okay to make a determination to get information on the website for the morning Community okay thank you just one can can I interrupt could you just let me know your name Matthew can you spell spell name uh b d e l l l b e d e l l thank you all right anybody else seeing none there being no additional comments we will continue with the agenda next on the agenda is a man managers report Mr Brewer thank you mayor uh first item on my report and this was really drafted last Thursday recent flood events we had a major flood event on 17th 18th and 19th of December followed by a moderate event on the 28th we seem to be in an unfortunate pattern of precipitation that's causing uh the localized flooding we are forecasting a major event for this evening um locally we're expecting 21 ft so we're actually anticipating greater than what is shown on the the graph doesn't take into account snow pack um the the gates ping Dam and some of the impacts Upstream of the greater snowfall than was originally in our region uh so we are ready to go we've done notifications to the specific neighborhoods both through the distribution of Flyers reverse 911 Tex text messages emails information up on the website uh we're hoping it is not the same as it was on the on on the 18th but we're projecting that it will likely be equal to or slightly more than what happened um we're currently in the 3 to 4 in band based upon the 5:00 National Weather Service notice of how much rain should accumulate that plus the 4 in of snow which is equal to about an inch of rain in our forecast puts us right at that at those numbers um credit to the Community Credit crit to the First Responders credit to the staff and everyone involved in the Emergency Management operations um everybody has done a fantastic job knock on wood so far of of weathering the storm and uh it takes a lot and it's been it's been handled very well yes that is Mr Cole battling his Dave are you still alive Dave I am okay maybe he wants to mute and quick question Mr bur um RSE 911 how do we get on that again uh you sign up on the website it's on our website yes okay there there's the website announcement and if you go to Flood information or Emergency Management there are buttons to sign up for okay for that um and we have seen of over the last 24 36 hours an increase of roughly 20% of those individuals who've signed up uh Dr Porter who participated in the emergency management meeting this afternoon put it out through the school district to alert people to where the information was and to sign up it's out on the school message boards he's been a valuable participant in the Emergency Management response so it's been good collaboration and cooperation across the board next item is we have for the council's consideration via resolution change order number one for the rout 23 sewer project change order down wow do that ever to see change orders down yeah right um is this is related to the decreased number of trees that needed to be removed as well as the removal of the connection for Virginia Plaza which was previously discussed uh total change orders amount of 40,500 reduction uh this evening the council also has for its consideration uh P Foster mediation project this is what we're hoping to go out to bid for shortly the giant brda filter is my technical description Mr M is in the audience and cringing the D as a result of going through ibank is requiring the township of panic install a formal sewer connection which they've determined requires a complete treatment works application which is typically something that's the subject of major development the benefit of going through ibank is an opportunity to have lower interest or no interest on half of our loan as well as to be eligible for a component of principal forgiveness principal forgiveness is a seven figure dollar so as much as it is what I'll call an inconvenience to have to do the additional work and have the additional Professional Services unfortunately on behalf of our rate payers I think the reward outweighs the risk and is worth the investment um but as a result of the greater work Mr mtiga and h2m has submitted an additional um Professional Service and expansion of the existing Professional Services agreement in the amount of $155,000 and there's a corresponding resolution that the council sees fit to approve that for the submission of the tww to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection lastly um and we have J.R from PNA we have Mr Mica from uh h2m overseeing the route 23 project so different than the large water project this is now the rout 23 sewer project to discuss uh later in the agenda a request from PNA regarding a winter shutdown till approximately March 18th I'll hold off any additional comments until we get to the discussion item unless the council has any specific questions on that or anything else in my report Council any questions nope forgot one sorry how much I have do I have a question how much was the uh reduction in the sewer did $440,500 the contract now have we decided if we're going to do anything for that property owner that uh ran it himself or we haven't talked about that yet the decision that Council rendered when this was last discussed was to wait till the project was completed and make a determination on what was recommended at that time okay sorry forgot I have two item e which messed me up so I apologize for the typo as well as forgetting the last item uh at the last council meeting in December we discussed PV Park Parks and Recreation fees and we reviewed the group rates for those camps both for-profit and not for profit uh this is a discussion item but in summary The Proposal is to increase the group user rate uh from $575 to $625 that's a onetime fee for the season and then increase the per child full day rate of $627 and the per child partial day rate from $4 to5 lastly for the not for-profit groups there's currently a $288 annual facility fee an increase of that to $300 but again that's for discussion so trated at that point unless the council wants to see something different any questions from Council no no all right thank you thank you uh public hearings there are no public hearings scheduled ordinances for introductions none of them at this time next agenda item is resolution Mrs Martin beginning with resolution R 202454 appr approving change order number one for the route 23 sewer project decreasing the contract with PNA contractors of Colonia New Jersey by $37,500 to a revised contract price of 5,658 74068 cents 20 2455 authorizing the amendment of a professional professional Services agreement and contract with h2m Architects Engineers Incorporated for the wells 1 and2 P treatment project 56 authorizing njde treatment works application and statement of consent for the wells 1 and2 P treatment project 202 2457 authorizing tax office refunds overpayments or cancellations and R 202 2458 approving the itemized approving payment of the itemized claims is set forth on the January 4th 2024 bill is and 20 2018 F elevation escr list excellent thank you Mrs Marsh are there any comments on the resolutions from Council are is there a motion to adopt these resolutions I'll make a motion to adopt resolution 202454 through 202 24-58 can I get a second a second roll call Mr try yes Mrs Florence Lynch yes Mr Cole yes Mrs Russell yes mayor herd yes next on the agenda items for discussion we're going to start with the route 23 sewer project Mr Mayor if I could just by way of introducing as as moded in my report we received the township received a request from the contractor P construction to engage in a winter shutdown if the council sees fit I've invited JR from I can never pronounce your last name so I apologize um from from PNA construction as well as as Alec I'll keep it informal from h2m as the project engineer um additionally I just want to make the counil aware that we do have listed on the agenda attorney client privilege under Clos session so if there are matters that are brought up that the council would like to see guidance from from the attorney um related to this request the council does have the right to go into close session should it so choose okay so if you'd like to hear from um horse's mouth I believe that's yours come on up let's hear what you got good evening so just to reiterate uh what was in my letter uh to the council in the township um installing Source at these depths um in the winter is not very practical uh we're installing dewatering systems to take the water out of the ground so we can work in in dry conditions in the hole and running the system installing the system removing the system in the dead of the winter is miserable and that's putting it lightly um Sunday we check on this we check on the the watering systems over the weekend to make sure it's working and there's no leaks and the pump didn't shut off and on Sunday the snow plows hit our pipes so we had guys on Sunday putting the pipes back together so that we can work on Monday to get that piece of sord done by the staging area done before the rain came so it was all critical to get everything working so we can get that sore installed so that we can shut the pumps off tonight so the area can flood and we can have that work done so it's just a lot of things that can go go wrong when you're installing dewatering in the winter time uh along Route 23 now once we get out of the backyards of those properties the dewatering uh system consists of a 10-in pipe that runs on the ground and then from that 10-inch pipe there's 2in pipes that we stick in the ground and then they vacuum the water out of the ground it goes to a pump and then from the pump Into the Storm s system that's that's the Lous terms that it works there any leaks stops working so we're constantly checking the pipe to make sure there's no leaks when it's under snow it's impossible like the Deep watering that we have in place right now behind 615 is under snow and we're just crossing our fingers that it's working we have unless we get guys with shovels to open everything up which is not cost effective we don't know now how deep are you right right now as far as depth that you're trying to De water we're 18 ft deep okay and is it I mean the other option is we could be going into a wet spring so if water is the issue and we have a wet spring it's kind of been wet so far it's been wet winter and not in a snow type of way you're going to have the same problems then too so what's the difference we don't have the freezing because you are dealing with water we have guys getting wet installing this uh dealing with freezing and you have longer days the days hours of sunlight um and you're not dealing with snow for example when we go to the Northbound side of Route 23 we're going to be crossing a lot of driveways so in the event of a of a forecasted snowstorm we would have to remove our dewatering because we'd have plates over it where the driveways are we we dip that pipe into the ground and we put steel plates over top so the cars and the driveways can still be used snow I can't take the liability of of a snow plow hitting a steel plate so we have to remove it and literally shut down the system wait for the snowfall turn it back on and then wait again for it to dewater so we could literally be ready to put pipe in we get a snowstorm we'd have to stop shut it off turn it back on and then wait another week and this project is very linear right so you have to start at the low point and work to the high point it's the only way to install sanitary short we had that on both sides of the highway so we Our intention was to bring two pipe Crees now onto the job site to work simultaneously one working on the shallow stuff and one working on the Deep stuff with the bigger equipment and the and the deeper Shoring you lose that ability to logistically keep two Crews working if you have to shut the system down so argument if I had one crew and I had sh the system down I can have it go do other stuff but with two crewes I just logistically it's almost impossible to make this happen especially in the winter months it's just you know mayor can I ask a question absolutely let's actually start it first let's well I was just going to ask some of the same things you did like you know like it seems like we always have the issue with dewater --------- good evening it's now 6 p.m. on Thursday January 9th 2024 this meeting will come to order welcome to the 284th annual reorganization meeting of the panic Township Council in accordance with the requirements of New Jersey's open meeting open public meetings act notice of this re reorganization meeting was filed with the office of the Township Clerk posted on the bulletin board in the municipal building and on the township website and transmitted to the Suburban Trends and Daily Record newspapers please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for a prayer and a moment of violence in honor of those who serve our nation pledge aliance to the flag to the flag States the United States of America liy and justice for all most gracious Providence we ask that you bless this governing body with an abundance of wisdom and understanding so that every deliberation will result in actions which will promote the common good and the general welfare for all of of the people of the clonic Township amen amen amen okay before we start I'd like to welcome some of our visiting dignitaries Senator panacho commissioner cabata Sheriff gon would the auditor like to be introduced would any of you like to say a few words sure politician not wanting to talk Ser microphone but very very briefly today we got sworn in the legislative session so we are officially now you representatives and I got to tell you and I'm so very grateful for it to happen and how very grateful I am you guys have been so gracious in the second that we found out that the Quan is going to do that District hopefully we won't let you down so happy New Year to all you got my number you know where I live thank you thank you thank you commissioner Cabana happy New Year happy New Year Doug great job Doug right first the Roll Call of the council Mr Dy here Mrs Florence Lynch here Mr herd here Mr Cole here Mrs Russell here the required quum being present to conduct formal business the first order of business this evening is the selection of a member of the township Council to serve as mayor for the year 2024 is there a motion from the council I'd like to nominate Ryan herd for mayor for 2024 is there a second I'll second are there any other nominations for mayor hearing none is there any discussion do I have to accept you don't have to there being no discussion on the motion to elect councilman herd as mayor for the year 2024 Mr Dy yes Mrs Florence Lynch yes Mr herd absolutely Mr Cole yes Mrs Russell yes congratulations the oath of office will now be administered by Sheriff James gamon Bible does she have the Bible here just right there okay she wasn't sure ask my family to come up boys I just want to say G it's honor to be here at cor and uh it's great to be here and I'm just wear heard as your mayor and i' love to give a shout out to Chief Tomy who's here he does a phenomenal job and we're an emergency operators Operation Center mode right now and qu throughout Morris County and he's a great representative and a great guy to work with so thanks chief he loves being on the spot he's a man uh if you please place your left hand on the Bible raise your right hand look at the camera there we go hug it in there this will be mom behind everybody the kids are grow up right I Ryan her I ran heard do solemnly swear do solemly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that'll bear true faith and allegiance to the Saints and I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the Saints and to the governments established in the United States and to the government established in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of the office of panic Township mayor the office of panic Township mayor according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help we got so congratulations amen good job I need a picture with you too now everybody everybody's looking at a phone all right that's good all right all right one more Ryan have about with your oh one with the parents with that we don't see okay I I actually do have something to say first I want to say is thank thank you Dave I really appreciate wish you were here but you sound sick so you want to thank you glad you're there glad you're there here this is something I wrote and you know I think it's even more impactful considering what we're going through as I prepare to embark on the Journey of serving you as mayor for 2024 I am filled with a sense of Pride and optimism for our Beloved Community our Township is not just a place on a map but a vibrant tapestry woven from the threads of faith family and freedom faith in our community reflects our trust in each other and the belief that together we can overcome any challenge right now it's the it's in the Helping Hands we extend during tough times and the shared celebrations of our triumphs like the Panic High School Marching Band winning Nationals or our girls socer team winning sex sectionals or boys baseball winning skates our faith finds US guiding our actions and nurturing a culture of mutual respect and understanding family is at the heart of Quantic Township it's in the laughter of the children playing in our Parks the supportive nods between neighbors and the comfort of familiar faces at community events like the ho down and tree our families in all their diverse forms are the pillars of our community offer offering strength love and a sense of belonging to each freedom is our community's foundation allowing us to express ourselves pursue our dreams and contribute to our Town's growth it's in the entrepreneurial Spirit of our local businesses and the tireless efforts of our volunteers this Freedom empowers us to build a community that reflects our shared values and aspirations lastly I encourage all of us to embrace random acts of of kindness a simple gesture of kindness can brighten someone's day Foster Goodwill and strengthen the bonds within our community remember doing good not only helps others but enriches wishes our own lives with your and fulfillment as your mayor I am committed to nurturing these values that make quet Township a wonderful place to live work and raise a family together let's continue to build a community where Faith Family freedom and kindness are not just words but the cornerstones of our daily lives thank you very much I us see like two like thank [Music] you before we move on I'd like to ask Sheriff Ganon if he would like to say anything he always has great speech I say Happy New Year you know it's great to be here it's great to be here and it's great to uh work alongside a lot of great people on the council and uh I look forward to 2024 I think uh I think the future to Bright I really do I really do a lot of good things going on in Mars County as a whole and it's just great and you certainly welcome uh the new Senate right the legislative side and everything I think we have a great thing going on and Doug's been around a little bit so just a little he's great got to partner with so thank you W let me know how we can help you absolutely all right we're all here for you as you'll see probably too much thank you Sheriff I appreciate that thankfully we have a great great Sheriff so thank you yes we do thank you for running a great Department thank you okay next order of business is the selection of the member of the township Council to serve as deputy mayor for the year 2024 is there a motion I'd like to nominate John Dy is there a second I'll second that is there any other nominations are there any discussions there being none the clerk will please call the role on the mercy to select councilman Dy as Deputy Mayor Mr Dy sure Florence Lynch yes Mr Cole sure yes Mrs Russell yes mayor herd yes please sorry nope that's for you please administer the ow the office to the deputy mayor all right Carol are you ready I am all right let's [Music] go random lady sitting in the in the aisle would you please hold this for me you want to stand come on boys hey raise the that's what I come on guys I John GRE do solemnly swear you solemnly swear that I support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that were bear true faith and allegiance to the AL to and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in the state under the authority of people under this authority of the people and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties of the office of pic Township deputy mayor of the office of pic Township Deputy Mayor according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so me God so helpy God but thank you I think R said it for both of us right there you [Music] [Music] [Music] go okay next former mayor Dave I had a wonderful present for you unfortunately you're not here so we're going to have to return it so next time than I hope you feel better you sound wonderful the next order of business is appointments by the township Council the appointments are listed on the agendas as items 78 through 7- is there any discussion on the appointments from Council Members we good is there a motion from Council to approve these appointments I'll make make a motion to approve um all the appointments from 7A through 70 70 I get a second roll call Mr Dy yes Mrs Florence Lynch yes Mr Cole yes Mrs Russell yes mayor herd yes that's a lot of app next order of business is the designation of Township Council liaison for 2024 the proposed liaison assignments are listed on the agenda as items 8 a through 8j is there any discussion on the designations from Council Members no is there a motion to approve these designations I'll make a motion to approve designations 8 a through 8j second roll call Mr Dy yes Mrs Florence Lynch yes Mr Cole yes Mrs Russell yes mayor herd yes next item on the agenda is additional resolutions the proposed resolutions are listed on the agenda as items 9 a through 9 y are there any questions or comments on the res resolutions from Council no right is there a motion I'll make a motion to approve number nine from a to by can I get a second I'll second roll call yes Mr grey yes Mrs Florence Lynch yes Mr Cole yes Mrs Russell yes mayor herd yes John was very excited about that the next item on the agenda is the announcement of mayor's appointments the following appointments are made Library Board of Trustees uh councilwoman Russell is a mayor's designation trustee is Jason Peller planning board mayor's designation is councilwoman Russell class two member is Eugene mcen sorry Eugene uh environmental Commission regular member is Laurel L lob sorry regular member Robert rasco regular member Thomas Newman alternative number two is Eugene macowan uh environmental commission chair is Thomas Newman Shay Tre commission regular member is Michael Tazo uh Morris County cdrs regular member is councilman Cole alternative is councilwoman Florence l next on the agenda is the manager appointments there is no vote for these appointments which are listed as agenda item number 11 and then lastly almost lastly next on our agenda is public comment individuals are requested to limit their comment to 3 minutes if anyone wishes to address the council please wait to be recognized and come to the microphone and provide your name and address for the record you really don't have to do your address anymore anybody you want to say anything all right seeing none there being no further business is there a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn I get a second all in favor I opposed meeting adjourned at 618