##VIDEO ID:PV75KzpXgeY## welcome to a third meeting of the year today is February 3rd 2025 Alysa can you please do the uh publication in compliance with chapter 231 of public law of 1975 notice of this meeting to be held at the criminal justice building 61 Main Street South River has been published in the home New Tribune on January 5th 2025 posted on the municipal building Bolton board the B website the front door of the criminal justice bill building at 61 Main Street South R call Mayor gy here Council B here counc santis here counc here Council Jan yes here couny here council president here the United States of America and to the stand Nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all please stay standing for a moment of silence you may be seated we have one presentation for today volunteer Memorial Park exclusive playground in Fitness Court New Jersey D green AC program Grant application any s so here's your agenda for the presentation I'll just go to the next slide I don't read the agendas at work either so uh what is Jake's law for all of you who don't know Jake's law incentivizes counties municipalities to build inclusive playgrounds for children and adults with disabilities the term Jake's law refers to Jake's Place a playground in Cherry Hill which was created in honor of Jacob Cummings nasto who passed away unfortunately due to complications of heart surgery at at the age of two and a half this is a rendering of Jake's Place the actual facility in Cherry Hill that they built and that was the inspiration for this fund through the government our concept plan is for volunteers Park which is also known as Bell Park it's at the bottom of Johnson Place along Brian Street and you can get entry from cam through Oak and also Herbert Street which is a short street that comes off on the other side over there this park already exists as you can see it and the Square in the middle would be where this playground is concepted to go and this is an actual rendering of what the park is intended to look like we're going to work through the particulars of the different views of how things will be but the key here is that this is inclusive for anyone with any disability it includes all children that can use it so you don't have to be part of that ADA to use the facility but it does accommodate anyone with those special needs and allows them to play just like others and we're also looking to put in a fitness area in the uh more towards the hockey part of the park and this is for adult Fitness and a little bit of outdoor activity that people can utilize to you know improve their health and better their body and mind so as part of this we have to do an environmental impact assessment the effective resources proposed improvements on site include the construction of an inclusive playground within the developed area of an existing Park the project aims to increase recreational use and access to the playground for the surrounding Community due to the location of the proposed improvements in a previously developed portion of the park there are no anticipated impacts to the surrounding area or resources tree removal will consist of eight trees surrounding the playground and walking path four of which are dead two of which will be removed for walkways and two of which have exposed roots and already present a tripping Hazard remov of these trees will help ensure the safety of the residents using the park and playground short term and long-term impacts will include those associated with the temporary construction efforts that will occur as a result of the project improvements this includes limited restricted access to the playground and temporary increase in noise and traffic levels to the playground during construction no long long-term impacts are anticipated Recreation site use it is anticipated that the proposed recreational improvements will encourage further use and enjoyment of the park and increase the site use affected environmental features there are no anticipated impacts to the adjacent environmental features no regulated areas are located within the project site there are no proposed impacts to threatened or endangered species due to the location and scale of the project as far as permits no njde permits will be required for this project for the natural heritage database request the proposed project will not impact any undeserved portion of the Project's height a natur natural heritage database search for this project was requested on December 31st 2024 and we just received that last week uh as publicated sea level rise impacts this project will not be impacted by sea level rise as there are no bodies of water within the immediate vicinity of the project site mitigation measures all necessary best management measures will be taken to mitigate any potential adverse impacts to the project site and surrounding area a total this is a redundant but it's part of the process of go through a total of eight trees will be removed from the project site including four dead trees two trees which will remove for walkways and two trees with exposed roots to ensure the safety of Park visitors the project side is located outside of any regulated areas I just want to say that when you look at these type of projects uh as a burrow we we spend money and we get or we get something back for that money with grants like this that match your funds two three four times that money we're getting better money spent we're spending money on one thing and we're getting something four times as good that's something that is a burrow that we have to try to do more and more of this money is out there uh we're a small burrow but number one when we spend the money we want it to be spent correctly number two and more importantly this park will be accessible for those that cannot just walk into another Park go up a curb climb a ladder go down a slide these children and adults have some special needs and this park will accommodate that so it's an important Philosophy for us as a burough Council and as a Parks and Recreation Department that we can get those people something that they can access and utilize because they can't just show up like most of us can so it's very important at the core of it that we look into these grants we do our best we're working with Jason Terry and Jessica at the recreation department to apply for these grants and to get as much money as we can to further utilize our bu and get the best offering for all of our residents including every single person from those who do or do not need this park they will all benefit so that is our part of what I'm explaining if anyone has any public comment they're welcome to speak thank you Mr say your name em 13 Dar street so part of my comments are from the environmental commission and part of it is me personally so I'm going to start with the environmental commission so I'm going to start with um two questions and it is a worthy um way to spend money I agree with you but the surface that the playground is going to be on is it in yes is it penetr by rain I wasn't involved with that so per else D Floor it's in the all the other playgrounds that have been renovated so is it like a plastic rubber a rubber so it's it's impervious excuse me there can I make a comment about that it is perious water goes right through it um I was involved with a project like that very recently um I'm assuming the same company WHL if I'm not mistaken is the company doing it um they use it's a rubber surface but it's very porous and they put a layer of uh blue stone underneath to let water Dr drain as a matter of fact the playground that I was involved with had uh flooding issues for that eight years now we put this in no flooding it's gone away good to know because it disperses the water okay so another one of my questions um on the site before I think on page one one of the things listed is general landscape improvements can we uh what what exactly were the Landscaping imprs um the walking path um Fitness Court the playground and then there will be like once the construction is done we'll we'll bring it back to like planting grass we put on our um plan that we are willing to replant trees to replace those will down yeah but we have to see what everything looks like once the the improvements go in first okay thank you okay so a couple concerns I have um so it's not impious so that that that concern went away um so the four to five trees that have to be taken out because of the walkways um just so you're aware that's a very large trees so I did a little research and you know I don't know the real deep science but these are the facts I found on the internet that a 20in diameter tree which is what all these are removes 44 pounds of carbon dioxide a year um it absorbs 200 gallons of water a year and produces 100,000 gallons you can measure oxygen gallons of of oxygen a year so you know I feel um it is a big impact but um age assured me that if if we don't get the grant that the Tre those trees will stay and the ones that have to be removed will be removed so those those are um pretty much the concerns I do have um just suggestion like I would like the four trees to be replaced if this project can be modified if that's possible I mean Big Trees it takes a long time for them to become that way um the other suggestion I had um you've all seen little libraries like that might be a nice addition like maybe on the walkway and I actually have a picture of like a little Library it's like a prefab one that um little tights makes it's like $150 and it's easy to install not me but somebody so that's a suggestion and also I noticed when I was there on the part where you're going to put the handicap parking there's like two totems if you don't know what a totem is it's like a tree that the canopy has been cut off so you just have like 20t of what arms sticking out of so there's two totems that it would improve the appearance if those like that I don't know if they're on private are they on private property okay um so and um my own this is all right that's the environmental commission comments my own personal comment um so we have cowsky park that is getting an inclusive playground and it's being put in in the spren is that correct that is correct time is oh sorry um just real quick so you know we have this and we got a grant for that right so what is the cost of that going to be to the taxpayers 74,000 go total plus and the grants G to 6 12 so $100,000 money we if when we go out and do the final project it might be less than 700 something so 100 is at the top level and that's is that a more int is that a longer a bigger project than the one at um probably the same type same okay all right I'm just pointing out it is a worthy Pursuit but we already have one going inowy plub so just something to think anyone else on the call motion seconded by Council all in favor to get around with this agenda only because I am at a uh legal constraint with one of our applicants uh I'm going to go into close session first resolution 2025 85 for as Section 8 of chapter 231 1975 perit the exclusion of the general public from a meeting of the governing body under certain circumstances and whereas the mayor and counsel of the burough sou River are of the opinion such circumstances presently exist and therefore be it is hereby resolved by the mayor and Council the Bur in the county of middlex the state of New Jersey that the public be excluded upon the here and after specific subject matter and that such subject matter to be so discussed is as follows property acquisition and litigation the a further result of such record of the above discussion will made public when confidentiality is no longer required FAL Council South member may or may not take formal action at the conclusion of the executive session motion by councilwoman ball second second by councilman kiny Council B yesensky yesc pres yes we go to close like they look in their face all right we're gonna go into agenda session first we're going first first uh Sheriff we're GNA we're starting with the first reading Jo do you want to take that c yeah the first one is I believe the cat Bank ordinance this is an ordinance we do every year annually um that gives the B flexibility during the budget process uh the state allows 2.5% increase on what they call inside the cap which is most of your salaries and insurance everything like that if you do this ordinance you can increase it to 3.5 and if not utilized you can fact two years forward if we needed down road so this is something we do annually every year it's requested by the state to do something like this also the other one is a first reading of an HD ordinance this was from last year's HD meeting we finally got approval to earmark those funds so you have first reading which was for uh traffic safety signs and improvements of Cy Park uh Mr Mayor uh 20257 is an amendment to the Redevelopment plan that's 25 industry LLC one it was actually on uh a couple agendas last year we finally came to an agreement with three developers so we are putting that one on for first reading Mr Mar do you want me to go through real quick the ordinances on the second reading also yes you can uh 2025 D1 that is the street closure of Colin Drive you're closing off the intersection of Colin Drive in mon seil away uh 2025 -2 is cannabis that is the retail license for cannabis uh 20253 that's the fees that are associated with the retail license for cannabis and 20254 that is a revision to your zoning zoning code uh that relates to cannabis and just a note for Council um that needs to be considered by the land use board so we're going to open it up for public comment and then we're going to adjourn the public comment so the land board still has time to consider and then it we'll put it on for the next uh meeting for continued public hearing thank you Alissa can we please go into s reading 2025 D1 ordinance 2025 D1 ordinance of the burrow South River County of MC state of New Jersey the B code of the bur South River so as to amend chapter 193 entitled vehicles and traffic we have a motion second motion by Council woman D second by council president we're going to go into a public hearing five minutes state your name and your address for Callin drive that would be me good evening everyone my name is Stella Fitzpatrick I've been here in South River my husband and I and I just want to quickly just name some stuff that's a concern of mine I'd like a dog park okay there will there will be a section you can speak okay so as far as col and drive it needs to be blocked off okay there's no ends ifs butts about it we've got cars going both ways we have children playing out there especially in the summertime okay it needs to be closed off okay so I can't make that any pler you know we have cars coming out of the driveway mine my house is the last house okay so coming out of that driveway you got cars coming up I've got car is coming down I've got a car making the left I mean you know you know it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out we need to we need to close this off okay because someone really really gets hurt honorable mayor and council members my name is Naia no lu and I live at 42 col Drive in South River which is next door our to my neighbor Stella fitgerald and Chuck Bard lives across the street from me he's been I know addressing this problem for about 20 years old we originally tried to find this road when the development was being put in and planning board meetings Council meetings the developer told us he never wanted to put that that rod in and because of our persistence they made it it one way in to the new development I myself have seen people I know who live in the River Road area taking the shortcut to go down Terry Colin drive and down to River Road and that's the whole thing we tried to fight it I asked the mayor at that time it was mayor Toto mayor Toto resigned shortly after the whole deal was approved his uncle owned that land it was a case of I'm out of here and I said why do you want to ruin our neighborhood you want to do what people who live there would like you to do why not listen to us we're the ones that are affected by it but no and I left it where you could not fight City Hall the last interaction I had where I had to call the police where I back out of my driveway a car is coming up and I wouldn't let the man out and I said you're going up a oneway you shouldn't be doing this he told me to f off so I didn't let him out pulled my car back in went in the house dialed 911 and reported that I was just told to f wolf for telling somebody you're going out the wrong way and it is a hazard I have to look One Direction look the other direction fine if it was two-way street you do it anyway but when you think oh it's a one way you think no one's going to be carried out of here you're dead wrong you're dead wrong I stop and look twice not just once because when they zoom out of that street they're not doing 20 or 25 they're doing 40 thank you for listening to me and I hope this isn't going to be a case of you can't fight City B been there about five years and since we've been there we have traffic coming up one way stre we got when we pull out our driveway we got to look for cross the street we got to look for we cross with our children our pets we got to look look for because people will come up that street and they don't care and they will shoot by I've almost been hit twice the deer that Tred to cross have almost been hit a couple of times I'm starting to think that because I've seen police officers park there but they're not stupid they see the car right there okay but I'm starting to think that it's going to take a depth of someone before that street goes and that be thank you anyone else mayor council my name I live on 33 Avenue I'm on a corner of col and Terry at the epicenter of this whole mess I don't know if any of you know about Miss pal does she was back there when we were PL years ago yes back in 98 I moved my house in 1990 the reason I bought that house is because it was on a dead end Street and the woods were behind it in 1997 I get a letter that the property behind me got sold and they're putting 40 houses behind me my neighbors and I all tried to stop it and they found out that the builders have the right to do anything they want the citizens have no right at all we couldn't stop it but we got the Builder to leave five houses out there's a heav section of woods was behind my house and the four neighbors so he left five houses out everything was said and done a couple weeks later I get a letter from the town that they're going to put the road through like yeah no that ain't happening so we went to all the council meetings we went to the planning board every mostly everyone was on our side about putting that road through he said Mr racken was the head of the planning board at the time and I don't have the letter I wish I could have found it but we found a letter from the East Brunswick Democrat Society thanking Mr racken back into putting that road through that got developed that that property pever got developed so he's probably people in another town against the wishes of his own town so we sued the town we record for over a year he got expenses the H of course it was $5,000 on lawyers and what ended up happening was we were going to have to go to court again and spend another $5,000 so the Builder because there was a lawsuit against the road he wasn't allowed to build anything so all the property bu development was stopped there wasn't one house was buil he was getting mad he was trying to sue us because we stopped the development he said I talk to the town if you'll agree on a one-way street I'll give you all your attorney fees back and we'll get this done with we did it grudgingly because we couldn't afford to go to court I have another $5,000 I was out of work that hurt back at the time we agreed to it he built the road very last he did all the houses first did the road last the day the road was finished they put barricades up because it had to be expected by the state before they can officially open it the very first day people were stopping moving the barricades and driving through there I finally had to call the department public work to come up and put something more sturdy up until it got but the one the one way thing it never happened there was people coming out there constantly I sent a bunch of videos you guys probably saw them so I put camera in my house a couple months back and I didn't realize how we had problem was until I saw these videos there must be 30 40 cars a day may zetti actually when he was in he actually helped me he sent the police out there they spent 40 hours up there five hours a day for Five for 10 days I said to the officer what happened he goes oh we only got 25 cars going at I said you don't find 25 cars want the wrong way up a window Street 40 hour period a lot and I've been calling the police I think all the police know me by I've been calling forever about this but the speeding that goes on through there the noise got the kids with the with the custom exhaust on the car they come down the street and the end of col Drive goes down the Steep Hill they downshift the cars all I get is backfiring all night long I I to call the police two weeks ago because there was a fight people come going the wrong way they got their cars and actually start a fight in the middle of the street and I got half a dozen of those on people fighting at the street the whole thing just dister said I bought that house was on a dead end Street know I appreciate you looking into this but it's been they told us the traffic s their traffic expert at the said oh you'll have 20 to 30 cars a day going through there we have hundreds of cars going through there going the right way because Gladstone up on Old Bridge turn plank there's a traffic it backs up at night and everyone takes a shortcut I believe this will help um parage Landing down there too because I believe more than half the car is coming through their Rush Hour people that live in East Front on River r just taking a shortcut but the speeding was horrendous and the noise like the school bus is coming out the wrong way I I call whever I see a commercial vehicle I call the company and give them give the license PL number this 1998 thank you apprciate anyone else first call second call motion to close public second motion by council president second counc all in favor Council discussion do I have a motion motion second motion by councilwoman ballot second by councilman Council ball yes counc santis yes counc zian yes Council Janis yesensky yes council president C yes thank you it only took 20 years 26 thank you 20252 ordinance 2025 D2 in ordinances of B South rber County midc Cate of New Jersey amending chapter 120 of the burrow code of the burrow sub River entitled cannabis motion motion by Council let's open it it's a public hearing I have a question I have a question is is what's on the floor now allowing people to open up a a shop to sell canis cannabis so we're going to have teenagers young adults grown folks driving up to down 18 whatever other Highway they want to drive hi is is that what I'm hearing yes not I mean so how does that work please I will explain it to you a few minutes okay my husband not allowed to get back up good evening mayor and Council I'm Father David Garson I reside at 153 cam Avenue I'm coming here as a as a citizen not as the Director of STS Peter and Paul whad Avenue I'm a 27e resident of this town I raised my children in this town and I come with respect and history and with my neighbor to speak violently against this it is one of the most egregious misuses of our rights and our possibilities and our opportunities as citizens of South uh I and I just found out about this uh uh actually this morning and I congratulate the mayor for having a public conversation about this Friday afternoon no but only three people showed up so didn't even know there you are uh so I'm going to use the the the handout that was used at that public forum on Friday as an outline um this outline is obviously been drafted not by any of our leadership our political leadership uh but by the industry itself it is filled with half truths it is filled with misrepresentation and blatant falsehoods so uh we have three different uh issues three different uh resolutions so I will expand my time over the those other five so very quickly using the outline economic growth I referred the bur and Council and my fellow citizens to the work of Dr Nora volov Who is the the director of the National Institute of drug abuse under the NIH she was a sta Republican and is still in that position was appointed by President Bush in 2003 her professional opinion about the legalization and normalization of cannabis dispensary and the industry is the commercial interest contribute to use to drug and addiction um lessons learned from alcohol I would uh basically the argument for this is money and we all need money we all want to subsidize the different issues in our town but you are using a weakness and an addiction issue so you are basically keeping your taxes low on the backs of your he that's shameful and reprehensible it may be legal it may be according to statute Jersey statute and burough statute but is morally reprehensible I also remind everyone that this whole understanding and this work is based on S it is still a federal offense so the C it's a cash business and I'm not a public safety nor a police nor criminal expert but when you have large amounts of cash it attracts the wrong element many of these dispensaries and many of these institutions are used as laundry for people in organized crime if you go to new jersey.gov Canabis you will see the week of the CRC the in this document it claims that if you have legal weed you have inspected we that's at best a FAL if you go to the state government website about this that licensed these issues it's third party people and there's no enforcement there's no I don't know of any expert that has said that the way this is written presupposes and makes people believe that it's like a USA USDA approved week that's not what's here but that's what's being pro in this okay thank you I got 10 more minut player um it has no medical benefits it has no um if you look at this if you look at the CRC uh document all of these facilities and you're talking about 25 manufacturing warehousing facilities only one dispenser are in towns in economic uh paril you don't have this in col you don't have this in East you don't have it in app counties alent communities it's in communities like ours that are working class that have incredibly High drug abuse issues in our colle in our schools and in our Township what you were doing is taking the short money for a shameful disgusting way to abuse your citizens thank you very much I'd like to say a few words for father I 100% agree with everything he has said and if you went and did a survey of regular citizens like myself working they all would say no thank you 104 Canabis I have used I have a major back issue I deal from chronic pain every day of my life I have used my honor on and off on my bad days I am not addicted to it what it does it takes the pain away from me instead taken a peret or something that is a I was addicted to pain killers back in 2014 after I had major surgery I got addicted to it I had to get help when I have bad pain I will buy marijuana you go to this place it's more tired for KN you walk in you get yourself you walk out you cannot stay there you cannot smoking on premises if you try to stay there you will be arrested marijuana is the only thing thing has gotten me through all this pain I'd Rather somebody be able to get legal marijuana to help them with different ideas the pce it can help you with depression anxiety everything it's not do I smoke it every day no black I smoked it was two years ago so it's not addictive it's not like a cigarette it's not like alcohol there's been less people killed in car accidence by marijuana than it had been by Dr driver so anybody I wants to say it's addictive and it causes things it's not true that's hear say it's basically a myth that's been going around for years it would bring money to this town that we best we need to help projects that's all I have to say may I my name is Patrick I live at 44 and I am a substance abuse counselor and I'm here to tell you that and you probably already know addiction okay A lot of times it starts with a cigarette then it starts with the marijuana then it can go up now we have we're talking about marijuana but we're also talking about F which is mixed in with the marijuana how many kids do we have to lose here because you can come out a dispensary like my grandson in Vegas works at a dispens actually he needs to be here um but the that to long story short you can get addicted to anything marijuana is no exception okay yeah it may make you feel good in your head cuz it's all up here it's all appear okay so let's let's not let's not get it mixed up okay children if you have so many teenagers now that are smoking marijuana and mixing it with fanol some of them God gives them Grace to make it okay and some of them don't so yeah you know open up a shop everybody wants to grow it you know everybody wants to make that money but sometimes you just have to say no sometimes you have to look at the the longer picture down there sometimes you have to go home and look at your children because even if they're little they're going to get big and peer pressure is a hell of a thing so just keep that in mind as you as you vote on this there's so many other um businesses that could be opened that will bring South River some money okay the marijuana shop cannabis for the the politically correct word please okay marijuana all right if you got a choice and we have a choice in everything we do so if you have a choice let let that choice be a no okay let that choice be a no thank you didn't have a chance to look at the handout Friday night but once I did look at it I just want to address some things in here that I think from this leave um it's promising if we open this dispensary there' be an influx of jobs I I don't see that there's probably going to be two security guards and two people working in retail that's to me not an influx okay um as somebody uh said to me when have you ever seen more than two people running these things okay um support for local businesses if the town is not attractive why would people linger after they buy their C Parts they're they're going and and a place where you're checked by a security guard on the way in then you have to exit out the back door is that the Ambiance that is that enhancing the Ambiance of South is that something that's going to make people want to come here and visit um there was talk about the safety well it's safe um mostly I I was told at the meeting it's mostly people between 55 and 75 maybe getting pay or whatever um they can afford it the younger ones and as far as proding time the younger ones I was told cannot afford it so they're going to still be buying it off the black market um as far as reduction in crime uh yeah as my husband brought up uh there's all this cash in store um my understanding the banks won't take the cash so the cash is sitting there credit card companies are not allowed to be used for that for that kind of thing um supposedly Community engagement they're going to do educational workshops about what about the safety of cannabis um attracting visitors why aren't we working on you know as as far as a unique attraction for tourists drawing for exploring theal canas Market why are we working on legiate healthy attractions like outlined in this report that I dug out of my file there's some wonderful ideas in here and not all of them are expensive um plus there are grants available to to implement things like that let's make it into a town people would want to come to apart from the canabus uh all right the thing that was really it said uh can help reduce the stigma associated with canvis us to promote a more Progressive attitude for the plant is that what we want for our young parents and their children um Paving the way for a brighter future for all I I just really think that's hyperbole uh check the National Institutes of Health Website about the lack of good science on the safety of canas and then tell me how normalizing that was another term the normalization and acceptance of candidacies within the community that's Cher is that what we want to do do we want to normalize it for our children is that what how we want our children to grow up um how does that future for all go on Harvard Health find out what they say about campus it's not help anyone else Emily gro3 stre um yeah I've been' been here 36 years and I agree with what Sher says about the chilling fact of normalization of um marijana consumption um the message that we're sending about our town like our Town kind of has an image problem in a lot of people's minds and I I just don't think this would make us make our image thank you good evening my name is Father Dam green I happen to be the pastor of Pur Christie church I've been in this town for 12 years so I like to add my voice and support to our concerned citizens about this very uh important topic uh I did have a chance to look at the handout I'm not sure if the handout that was present on Friday had any footnotes or references I'm not really sure because I just had a chance to look at it but I'm concerned just as a concerned citizen um what could be possibly the negative unintended consequences of embracing something like this for our community and of course for our people who live here and um for our town our reputation um the handout of course speaks very positively but I think obviously there is a place for cl The Devil's Advocate so to speak just in terms of balancing out the idea and trying to weigh the pros and cons of it and I guess I hope that you uh will deliberate that um obviously for the best interest of our town and for our future thank you anyone else good evening Joe Donado 30 daily Street here in South River good evening everyone um I personally don't have an opinion about it one way or the other but I can say this without hesitation it was on the ballot the people of this town said no so arguing all these valid points is useless if you do what the people have asked you to if you wanted to sell it people said yes you wanted to sell the idea have CID and but the fact is they voted no so here are reflecting that vote and I would encourage the council to take that very very much in mind there things you may want to do there may be things that this town needs but sometimes you just have to say no and find another way so I hope you take that into consideration before you vote for this tonight thank you very much hello hi my name is ctis I live at 64 Whitehead Avenue I'm actually right next to the church there're still going to be continue to be neighbors um we have a slight opin difference in opinions but I did hear a couple things what I heard tonight was not in our community but do you know that they can deliver here and people are buying it and bringing it back home so it is in your community you're just not benefiting or the town's not benefiting from the taxes another thing I heard was Banks don't allow it that's false credit unions and local banks are allowing it you are correct federally Bank back Banks do not allow it they are also trying to get into business because they are trying to snap up all the small companies that have become multi-billion dollar companies they're trying to buy those companies because theyve kind of CED Mark um what I also occurred was we don't want an Community but yet 67% of people in New Jersey voted for it also it depends the demographics right if you look at who buys it yes there are older people that buy it but the most important thing which I do not hear today is just because you're not people are still continuing to buy it but you're not off a safe way to get it so because you may not like it it's still going to exist now would you rather have someone in your family get something that is tested and regulated by New Jersey state or something that could be laced with fenol which I heard a drug counselor said which was also interesting marijuana is not a gateway drug so you like that was said you can get addicted to anything you can get addicted to food so if we kind of go with that theory we would outow mdonalds we would outlaw we would outlaw supermarkets right because they all you can abuse all these things so again I would say from my perspective if it's done in a controlled manner um it would be a good thing for the town thank you anyone else first call second call motion to close motion by council president second Council all right Council discussion I would like to speak on this um I understand both sides here as people come up and they're passionate about how they feel um I also understand some of the hesitation about it being in our b or our town I do know that while we were sitting here I just typed the word dispensary in my phone on maps and there's several within 10 miles probably 20 or 30 of them I think we have to understand that this is something that's here to stay um I'm myself Council nmia and Council M are on the budget committee we work closely with Joe zanga every year the burough is faced with more challenges and more obstacles and for lack of a better word more problems financially we have to become creative on Solutions new problems need new Solutions to give you some context to numbers I'll use $100,000 of Revenue as a basis point the average tax bill for property tax in our town is $7,500 from a municipal portion of that we get 29.5% which is 20 $2,200 for round numbers that means you'd have to build 45 Homes at that evaluation in town to generate $100,000 of Revenue to our budget if you were to build a Heritage Hills type style house one of those homes You' need 26 of those to make the same budget with what their property taxes are there's no place in this town to expand in that direction I can tell you personally I don't partake in this I have friends who do most of them are responsible they have families they pay their bills I don't want to say it's not my business what they do in their spare time but these are good people the misnomer that anyone who does this is is not is just not true do people get off the wrong path they absolutely do but I do think that as a bur we need to address the fact that this is something that can generate a a big amount of Revenue that can impact our budget and it's not just about money that was brought up by one of the one of the community members about being about money that is part of it this is in your town one way or another these are not little shops where people can go in you have to be 21 to you can't even go in the door it isn't like a WWA or a convenience store you have to be 21 to when you go in it's regulated how much you can buy for obviously you know for reasons of distribution so this is here to say if we do not get in at some point and put this into our town as an opportunity to generate this Revenue eventually town like English town has four dispensaries English town English town is literally two traffic lights you go right or left English town you're in manal Monroe before you even blink this is this is in these small towns it's not just in cities it's not just in urban areas so I can tell you I voted against this in 2023 when it was on the referendum but in the last we'll call it 14 15 months being on Council and understanding some of the challenges I have a different view of this a lot again of my friends and people that I know and how they utilize the product so I'm not going to try to change anyone's opinion here because I know there are some some strong feelings but I will say that this is something that we is here so we have two choices tonight we can say yes or no but as a burough this is important for us to move forward and I just think that we need to all understand thank any else no um I respect you know honor what everybody has to say but but it was mentioned that this is not medicinal personally I know people that suffered horribly from cancer this got them through a lot longer than they should have I know neighbors that again horribly suffered from Parkins got him so much farther along than he was supposed to that his family my family got to spend more time with him so I don't want to hear that it's not medicinal it does help it helps with anxiety it helps with stress I personally do not partake in that but have any of you ever been to one of these dispensaries that you can say that people are going to hang around you get this is more secure than most jewelry diamond districts and just because if we approve this it's doesn't it stops not doesn't stop here the state has to come in and approve it also we just tell them if we want to go along the the stringency of the rules of these are I never knew amazing totally amazing but again it's something I think the town it's not going to be advertised with bells and whistles and it's not the drug of the 70s when I was in high school that you went down the hill by the high school not me but it's safer it's more contained and I just personally um I know we're never agree on it but I just wanted to say my point that's it griny V make a motion to approve false we adopt ordinance number 20252 second motion by council president second by Council counc M rinsky Iain Council balis yes CC presidenta yes councilman deian yes councilman DeSantis yes councilman Jan comes no list 20253 20253 ordinance of the B sou River County of middle state of New Jersey the B code the B South refer to amend chapter 155 entitled fees motion reading motion by council president second by Council all in favor I um I just a question I wanted to know a little bit more about the suitability application Fe what is that so do you want individually so the suitab the suitability application fee is you have to come and there is an application already already formed for a h come you fill it out and then the way the process works is we have to review what whatever location that you are U proposing to put it if it falls Within locations in which the license is permitted and this is for any of the licenses not just the retail license um if it falls within that then you pursu to the application you ask the uh Pro Council for resolution of loal support and that's what gets forwarded to the state so you can get a license of the state okay but but there is a uh if you're interested there is a application and there is a full uh instructions that come with it like a hand out that the B has that that can give to you so you can follow down what what the steps you have to take person uh I don't know if you have to pick it up in person um we could Pro we could probably email it um I I don't see why but I I do know it's at the burrow so Alyssa has it um so I'm sure she could email it to you if that's something that you want to okay than you very much anyone else so specifically to uh d03 uh I want to correct some adaman arguments that were given towards me uh the fact that marijuana is addictive is not an opinion an opinion or feeling it is a finding of the National Institution of Health and as a parish priest and a certified addiction counselor I can say that I know many people in thatw many people through 12-step programs that are addicted to cus first second I've also dealt with many parishioners that have cancer including my father blessed memory and my mother where medical marijuana was used that's not what we're talking about and again since we are talking specifically on -03 I will uh uh simply restate it is scandalous and shameful to fund our Township through addictions and issues that will bring shame and pain to our families thank you can I reclaim one minute please I didn't do my I want to be very clear that my brother and my neighbor Edwin is an honorable man and a person of Integrity this is not about personality but it's still shameful you're so anyone else motion to close motion by council president favor discussion counc s yes yes Jan yesy council president yes 20254 Council you are not to vote on this this will be moved to the land use after public hearing ordinance 20254 ordinance of the bur of southberg County of middle SEC state of New Jersey amending chapter 350 of the bur code of the bur of South River entitled zoning a motion raise motion by Council presidenta second by councilwoman all in favor I open it up to the public um I just want to confir license that's been um there's no of support out by uh s now for annualized licensees I believe it's currently in our Uh current regulations that wasn't changed from uh so technically you have 3 uh 35-8 subsection T licensed candidates facilities and I think was just carried forward there that wasn't a change but and and what is I'm sorry what is your question yeah so um njcc there's only two classes of license there's a conditional so I wanted to confirm that that which was around the conditional hasn't been an support letter issu for annual license one second yes I if I'm understanding your your question correctly yes um if you want to talk more offline about this too we can do that too okay and then other question was section dation appliation I just want to conf that is use develop there that's only if there is plan and they're designing to put something from the ground up no no I I I don't believe that that's that's what that is intended admedes I believe I believe it means uh development of the facility is only question I had was I think something about zoning if you have a building that's already built you really can't change it's you know so Inside Yes plan you know Inside Yes Yes um yes so so these are definitely issues that we can if you want we can go through more off but yes I believe that that developer doesn't mean you're just building a building from scratch that's that's not what that intend do okay thank you okay Father David garron 153 cam want to address another adomant I've been in many cannabis uh dispensaries throughout the country you remember I used to be the road man for the labor for guns and roses for Beyonce been around this stuff and the fact that here in dash4 you're addressing and isolating these facilities that you've just approved into tertiary areas of our buau is is an admission of the issue that we've all been talking about that these are not desirable companies these are not desirable if you would think of them as desirable you would let them build anywhere but at your own statute your own ordinance acknowledges the saf and the image problems that you just brought on the B you've admitted your own culpability bringing Dison on the B um it's kind of hard for me to understand exactly what happened here but was this cannabis SL marijuana thing approved yes did every one of you approve it or was there one that said no who who were the NOS one no and did you vote Yes mayor he doesn't get a vote so we have only one no and the rest of you all voted when I'm asked how the vote went another thing how much money are we talking about here is this going to slash my a real estate tax $500 a year how much money is South River going to make are you going to make 50,000 a year 100,000 how much are you making I didn't hear anything about how much money is involved it's an algorithm based on the retail sales so the burrow gets a percentage of the sales so impossible to exactly quantify but there's estimates are well North of1 or $200,000 annually annually and what is the percentage for South River that is the percentage so they would have to make what a million dollars for you to get the 100,000 basically if it's at 2% every million they sell would be 20,000 into the pocket of was there any kind of a study done as to you mentioned English town what with the two marijuana joints that they have how much money are they making you've done a study obviously $2.5 million pardon me 2.5 million that they get in one year that's what they how much of that goes to the ripf artist in TR there got to be a the 2.5 million is the is the that's what the town got from their sales I'm sure there's other percentages but that's what the town would get in that instance Scott free no strings attached no Tren pulling in there that goes to the town that's what the town is going to get and where is this establishment going to be located we don't know yet right next to the police station that would be a good spot how about how about next to the one of the churches can't do it can't do it there either wow so where is this going to go on Colin Drive lightning I think you made a mistake that's um by the time it's all over you're not going to be get an injury except for the drug addicts coming thank you so much for sharing that thank right between your house and mine right between our house I come in other side of this as far as um the can shops and open up from the Russian Church oh yeah yeah certain okay beautiful I just wanted to point out that English town has five dispensaries that's cor oh yeah that's not coming from one dispensary that's from five so okay and they're all within a two are Imagine and he was very pleased that it had attracted the business of a cigar Lou and yes it's me4 has anybody here actually visited one of these places I have m son works in a dispensary in Las Vegas in Las Vegas different story I knew exactly what happened there yeah nothing happened no they were tainted stuff there at one point not to my knowledge okay here's the whole thing I want make it real simple it's not just a wed it's oil that use for pain which is what I use I have why can't you get it from a doctor my neighbor told me that's why I got got he's got Ms he gets it from his doctor address the chair may I address I had my medical license I had to get it because how bad my pain was it's not it's not when you think of in movie oh you know smoking in a joint it's not even that it's oils that help your back it's you can smoke it there's you can take and it will basically people say it doesn't work for pain it does work for pain because I would like anybody in here I wouldn't want anybody in here tonight to walk a day in my life how bad my back is and I'm possibly going for another surgery because how bad my is so it's the only thing that help and I'm not just that's my piece thank anyone else first call discussion all right next meting I'm sorry I missed that can can I get a motion to the February 24th meeting for public hearing Mo by council president second by Council STIs yes counc yes coun yes counc grensky yes pres yes first reading 20255 ordinance 20255 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a c bank for calendar year 2025 mayor I move to council pass ordinance Justice building 61 Main Street South New Jersey second motion by council president second by Council Council B yes counc Sanz yes Council deian yes councilman Jan yes councilman grensky yes council president Yesa 20256 ordinance 20256 ordinance authorizing various Federal Housing and Community Development Grant improvements and Equipment located located in the burrow South River and the county middle next New Jersey mayor I move that the council pass ordinance 20256 on its first reading by title only the clerk the authorized to publish the same as required by law with the second reading and public hearing to be held at 7M on February the 24th 2025 by video conference via Zoom BR council chambers of a criminal justice building 61 Main Street South River New Jersey second motion by council president s second by Council counc B counc santz yes counc desian yes counc jouncy yesc president yes list 20257 ordinance 20257 ordinance of the B souer County of middle SE state of New Jersey adopting the amendment to sub area 152 of the lower Main Street Redevelopment plan may I move to council pass coordin 20257 on its first reading by title only and declar to be authorized a publish as required by law the second reading and public hearing to be held at 7 p.m. on February the 24th 2025 by video conference via Zoom R in council chambers of the Criminal Justice building 61 Main Street South River New Jersey by counc President second byoun counc yes counc STIs yes counc yes counc Jan yes chinsky yes presid yes we now going to go to reports Bruce thank you everybody good evening uh the 2023 and 2024 Road programs are on hold because of the weather Wes St War up to continue at the present time wi and 2023 Local transportation projects grant that is underd design the 2025 local ID program we submitted a proposal for that the substation testing and maintenance is completed we processed a second progress payment for them and once they get us all the reports and we review them to see if everything's in order then that can be closed out and the DP strumer assistance grant we issued a letter we had previously issued a very comprehensive letter we've issued another one outlining what's doe this year and the estimated cost to provide those services thank you Bruce anything Bruce couple resolutions on the agenda we have a resolution to purchase a police vehicle under a co-op resolution rejecting the bids for utility building and collection Services due to a discrepancy in the bid and the final one is a resolution to purchase and install a turf field the infield partic cowsky field also done under a co-op thank you anything for Dr yes the B calendars have come in they can be picked up at 48 Washington Street 55 re the library and the DPW office and also Monday February 17th will be closed please Chief I don't have anything fire chief good evening mayor and Council fire department has responded to 40 alarms for January must go on record and personally thank all of our mutual A Partners the county that assisted with our multiple structure Fires for last month the department recertified firefighters and members of our L's auxiliary and CP and first aid is administered by the M County Fire Academy we will schedule another CPR first aid recertification class with this quarter for members who could not be present Department also held our annual Hazmat bloodborne pathogen right to and SBA education proficiency BR engine two was placed out of service today it's currently a Campbell Supply monthly fire prevention tip never run portable generators inside your home or your garage and please consider adopting a fire harden when it snows requesting that if a fire Harden is on your property please consider cleaning all snow around the fire Harden so it can make quick and easy access for our department and once again we are 100% volunteer organization so if any member of our community would like to come out and volunteer consider joining our association please feel free thank you for your service yes anything for ELA nothing tonight and you I have nothing tonight all right may just a couple of things I can tell everyone that our water Bank project now has a number at the I bank and we're moving forward that the engineering firm is doing their environmental inspections so that they can forward to the DP and just a couple resolution number 73 that's authorizing a shared service agreement with East Brunswick for various services at time we both work reciprocal with our water sewer and Road departments and just G giv us the uh agreement to do that and 74 is our 2025 Public Health Services we have an agreement with the county to provide a health officer for a borrow that's all I have anything for oun counc thank you mayor uh first off I'd like to comment on The Office on Aging um they will be closed on 17th for they'll be closed on the 17th most of the bur offices are closed February is also National heart month and wearing red is significant to say that you're trying to take care of yourself uh there is a publication that the Office on Aging has online that gives you specifics from the American part Association um personally I know last week and uh there's a few other things remember database they have to upgrade it uh so if you have been member of The Office of Aging prior to January 2025 please stop by and update your information so they can uh keep the register open um our DPW mentioned that our calendars are available and the tax preparation program uh they do not offer in down here you have to call for an appointment uh with AARP they're available at the East Bruns Public Library their phone number is 732 390 6767 the North Brunswick Senior Center their phone number is 732 418 2222 and the Oldbridge public library and their phone number is 73275 11186 or you can email them also and there is it sponsor office uh which area code 71 yeah 732 215 3432 and that's all go ahead Mary thank you thank you Council woman H yeah in uh the um Tax Service ARP the one of these SW only does on Mondays and Wednesdays I made my appointment they only go so the I think the last week in March on maybe the first Monday in April but that's the only two days they do it they're very good I've been going there for years after SE after we had Co and we couldn't do it anymore but only Monday and Wednesdays the other libraries I don't know um the Board of Health will be sponsoring their rabies clinic on Saturday March 29th down at the DPW and I'll give you the time when it gets closer they have to see when the uh the vet will be there and in addition to that any late fees for your pets for licenses are waved until April 1st so you don't have to rush out if you haven't got your pets uh with their abs and just to continue look at the library site for their upcoming events I know I post on Facebook myself um little kids middleaged you know teenagers adults yoga they have so much stuff to do there look into it just go to the South River Library website and just to say whoever posted on tonight's Facebook we are not building any new apartments on Willet Avenue by the substation I guess you're doing work there yeah so somebody wants to know if we're building more apartments and no so please just stop this is how you start trouble this is how you start rumors so there's no Apartments going on will it avue that's it um our electric company is currently trimming tree which is away from Power Lin to keep ahead of them differing with transmission of power and helping prevent poweres that's thank you Council Recreation Advisory Board update uh registration for Sports in the spring season is now open t-ball's fundamental instructional program mixed for boys and girls ages 4 through six and will start in mid April softball for girls ages 6 through 13 teams competing 8 U 10U and 13u baseball for boys ages 7 through 10 with teams competing at 8 you and 10U levels flag football is mixed for boys and girls ages 5 through 18 the in will be determined once the roll numbers are finalized softball baseball and flag football will all begin mid March Zumba classes begin tomorrow night Tuesday February 4th classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 to 7: pm and you can still register even though it starts tomorrow to register for all you go to www.south nj.org click departments then Parks and Recreation and you will see a link to enroll and if any issues online you call the office at 732 254 4412 speaking with Parks and Recreation director Terry Chandler we are still looking for a tennis instructor for the spring season if anyone is interested they can email Terry at T Chandler sub nj.org or call the same office the next Recreation Advisory board meeting will be coming Monday February 10th at 7 pm at 55 re Street and residents are welcome and encouraged to attend and the rep office will be closed this Friday February 7th uh they will be at a cheer event the reach to beach Nationals in Ocean City Maryland uh it has North the northeast regional team so they will be down there with the girls so thank you may um the only thing I have is the Environmental uh commission is planning a barber Day event that's going to be April 26 um we're still working on the details to have the community come out and all get together and try to beautify town and keep it clean and that's all I have thank you my comments I like to open it to the public five minutes state your name and address I just wanted to check in something am I wrong or wasn't there a refer about synthetic or maybe about right I mean a break has negative impacts on the environment because of microplastic pollution it creates heat items it's hotter for the people there's chemicals released and as far as health there's exposure to chemicals endocrine disruption and cancer this all right I think it's very telling that the NFL players Association is calling on the NFL to ban artificial in because it's Unser place um it can also to more ankle all right it's not necessarily cheaper um you look up online it I've seen things between $7,500 and 23 well 39,000 for a field of upkeep for years okay you have to clean it you have to use weed killer because sometimes weeds come up through the turf and there's pet cleaning there's you know animals wander onto it and do their business you clean that up too um it might last eight years the companies say all 50 to 20 years but the critics say eight years is Not Unusual um just depends who you talk to uh the study a study by the national in Institutes of Health said it uh articulture contains semi volatile organic compounds and heavy metals that POS the potential RIS to the ecosystem and human health and again the higher temperature um residents fighting against it in New Jersey are in Scotch Plains Maplewood Princeton Westfield and Ridgewood so I would not like to see this kind of swept in and just voted you know performa I think we really need to think about this it's a big investment it's going to be a big investment of Maintenance and it's not good for kids okay one more item please I'm sure you will want to hear from me I would like to ask you why do you have fireworks in August when it's for July 4th one it's cheaper two you're not competing with everybody that's actually having which I agree with you July I agree with you I'm from the old school July 4 dependence day do I have to go to East Brunswick to see July 4th fireworks and the good news is with our marijana money flow you'll have the money to doly July July thank you can I answer that just this is why it started at the end of the summer when I when I was when I was on the rec commission we purchased fireworks aren't cheap they what I don't know how much they are now we got rain the rain day got rain the next week got rain so the fire the fireworks company wouldn't do it so we figured we had to pay the money anyway so we made it for an end of summer it actually Drew more people because other towns are coming to our town for that the vendors did much better and I don't know if they still do it they used to test new stuff for us that we never had to pay for oh so if they thought it was something good the next year they could go charge another town but they would test out some of the fireworks for us that was included in the one price that's it started we just couldn't get rid of the rain in July that year when it was on July 4th and I would go to den field I could barely find a seat Well now no there's less seats so yeah but I just wanted to know why it started that way I remember when it was when is oh why wasn't firework July it was on July always two days before okay Stella Fitzpatrick 44 drive I'm going to make it short and sweet and if you hear a foreign noise it's because my stomach is growling because I hav eat okay so please and we can talk about anything anything on yes okay for me the first thing is having a do par put in um right off of L Ard lard there's a a huge park space over there um they have a couple of things for the kids but for the most part there's nothing over there for us so there's enough space to put a little doggy area and we have quite a few people that walk through dogs so that's the first thing second thing is I'm from New York why is it so dark out here it is dark now for those that have been here all your life and 20 30 years it may not appear that way to you because your eyes have adjusted y y y but it is dark out here I was looking to take a job from 3 to 11 p.m. I did a drive run today in perk Amboy and daytime is fine night time I'm going to be in trouble I'm going to be in trouble because it is just Absolut new very bright but the ones that the ones that I'm looking at they're not that's bright they're not bright they're they're like a soft living room color and the only thing that's bright on the road the bridge lights you talking about Old Bridge Old Bridge Road oldge that's county has nothing to do with us but you can tell us anyway okay yeah cuz the the lighting is like a soft living room lighting and um the only bright lights are the ones coming off the car and those are they can be blinding yeah you know they can be blinding um Okay small business loans are there funds for that the EDC they meet once a month um they're going to be having another uh business get together early spring and there was they had it something for the holiday in December where all the businesses came there was a lady from the state there with small low interest business loans and grants oh Grant from it that our grant Rider Dawn found at the um Le leag municipalities and she came up and she explained different things to the small businesses and they were very happy so there's going to be another one coming up it'll be advertised on the website and it's up where I'm not sure where going to happen this time that's South River South River Economic Development uh commitment and the website is sou sou River yeah South River New Jersey okay and um last but not least and this may not be I was told by my neighbor that this is not your area either um stoplight on Arthur Avenue Arthur Street Arthur Street Street all right thank you so much I have enjoyed this it's I am just so delighted to them that's it but I am having Deja all over again I remember voting no on that building that was put up on the corner by the schol I I voted no my neighbor voted no we all thought we voted no and we see this building how did that happen has to answer me well I'll have to go and see them ready I mean I nose why did that thing get so I do have question so I don't have expertise to draw from but um so if we're going to have Pond right what safety measures do we need to have in place for that day like do we need you know if the public is Gonna Come Oh right so rich rich is probably gonna put in a request with us so we can speak to them let them know that a large amount of people hopefully probably have coup out okay so I don't know how long when he's been uh April 26th you send me an email we try to get this thing arranged for you as soon as anyone else first call got be quicker go be Qui first off the main street project the county is doing is just like your project it's not going to happen until maybe spring we're still doing revisions that the state wants so that's the for the railroad track that just let you know so I'm not going to mention it until I know something is actually G to happen um the uh and I don't know if it's appropriate time to speak about it I know for uh new ordinance that I guess we're going to talk about next meeting which is the the lower Main Street Redevelopment just want to make mention there's a typo error in the what I know it's not doesn't include lot um doesn't include lot 15 okay we'll double check that in a I don't know means anything later um other than that I just want to point out that um I seen and I don't know why this is getting double Bild for electricity can you believe that yeah um I don't know how many other people I've been picking up making out one check for oneing them both together and sing to the town which I'm going to do again I got it got we got it is it the same company that we were having problems with or do we get finally get somebody new same company different printer okay I'll keep an eye on it because it's it's happened before I my have two homes but so I'm I'm going to continue doing the same thing sending them with my correct payment and then it is it is I just want to make sure that yeah that's what I plan on doing yeah I forgot to pay my taxes until today I inv you guys to come take my house yeah yeah that's really believe it or not that's it guys good you anyone else first call second call motion clot by council president second by counc all in favor uh we have one maral appointment which is uh Bri Al being put onto landuse board as alterate number two Alissa we're going to go through consent resolutions whereas resolution 20251 authorizes the B Council to utilize a consent agenda to adopt various resolutions of your routine and non-controversial nature at one time so therefore hereby res blow list of resolutions hereby adopted by the burrow Council and po because of the same were individually acted upon consent resolutions 20269 to 20258 4 69 authorizing transfer within the 2024 budget 70 authorizing purchase of a police vehicle 71 authorizing the purchase and installation of a synthetic field for Koski Park 72 resolution authorizing Sergeant John Kenny to serve as acting Lieutenant 73 authorizing a shared services agreement with East Bron for various Services 74 authorized 2025 Public Health Services and local agreement 75 authorizing personto person transfer application of plary retail consumption license 76 authorizing the execution of a Redevelopment agreement with 25 Main Street LLC 77 authorizing title 39 Motor Vehicle Enforcement 78 approving submission of a Grant application to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection 79 appointment of Brian hea to Sergeant in the of the police department 80 rejecting bids for Utility Billing Services 81 except December 9 2024 regular minute 82 except January 1st 2025 reorganization minutes 83 except January 13 2025 regular and executive session minutes the authorize a building CLE motion by Council B second second by Council Kinski Council B yes Council santis yes with the exception for bills and claims stain from 25- 00158 and 25 00263 counc yes copis yesy yes pres yes we have nothing for new business we're going open it up to the governing comments I just I'd like to say thank you to our First Responders and especially to our fire department for you know all the work they do and I heard 40 some calls in January great job guys that's counc I would just like to Echo with Council John about the structure fire seeing the pictures and videos it was serious and uh no one was harmed which is most important so thank you guys for for all that apprciate yeah goinging to same thing um shout out to the fire department and all the surrounding fire departments I responded in EMS there was quite a few how I understand so and that fire also because I get the messages the next morning and then even today they responded P so good job to them that's it Council Bas um well the firemen of course you do a wonderful job I I wish you safety every time you go out I'm going to get on my little soof fox again about parking by the schools because your drive my driveway is not your parking lot my neighbor's driveway is not your parking lot the other day if God forbid there had been any kind of Emergency on Johnson place none of them were come in again I don't know why you can't tell that the yellow is not the place to park my 18 comes by my house of my neighbors is ridiculous lesson number whatever you got your driver's license back in the day yellow no parking driveways no parking ins some's driveway no parking yeah fire hydrant no parking it's not happening just by me Thomas Street again you could not get a fire truck up that street the other day same it you have to pay please one of these kids someday is going to Dart out in front of wherever something's going to happen and guess who's they're going to blame they're not going to blame each other for parking where they don't belong you're going to blame the firemen and the policemen and the town and whoever else on the same note curve your dogs please especially by the school I guess the same people that Park in the yellow just walk their dogs on the hill because they can't read the signs of St Cirby dogs and on a better note Happy Valentine's Day have a good night council thank you mayor uh first off I'd like to thank all of our public responders our Police Department our fire department especially for the incidents that we just had throughout the month our DPW for keeping our roads clean and safe and salted so we could move around and our sidewalks and a lot of the other issues that we've had throughout town with water main breaks and everything um our seniors uh take care look out for them I usually make the announcement on the reor meeting and everything too but folks when you go home check your smoke alarm make sure the battery is good make sure your CO2 alarm is good and it works okay with that Happy Valentine's Day and everyone thank you brother thank you um EDC will be meeting on February to 19th uh we're working with the company right now be real which is going to be registering businesses in town on different things that they are going to either sell discounts promotions specials for the day and the residents can join this and as if they want to go to one of the restaurants downtown they can take their little card that they'll get they'll scan it and they'll tell them you have 20% off today or you have a free appetizer or whatever the case may be so that's going to be coming in um the EDC is going to be walking around with the company to try and get some of the businesses registered I believe there is a bunch already and then we can get it out to the residents to so that's one thing that's happening with dedc uh the other thing is as everyone is saying fire department um we've had as the chief stated 40 alarms this month um the Chiefs have been very busy with mutual Aid calls coming in um we just had major structure we lost Chief what is it four structures five structures it was um we were back there again this morning for a rekindle in a basement and uh people don't realize that it's all volunteers we volunteer our time 24 hours a day 365 days a year so with that um we are welcoming anybody who would like to join the fire department as a volunteer we need people we need people to come down and join us we have to have Manpower at all times so if you want to join come down to fire headquarters on Jackson Street check and get an application fill it out depending on where you're living um you can go up to station one which is Jackson Street or station two which is up on applebe Avenue next to the library so we need to get some more volunteers so please come on out and with that Happy Valentine's Day everybody have a great time thank first of all I want to congratulate Sergeant Brian's High slop I know he has been a great police officer now he's also going to be a bigger and better I guess you say leader moving up in the ranks as we all have spoken about the fire a lot of people don't realize that with volunteer firefighters there was a lot of back a lot of backd door tourists uh for example uh we lost the whole house where the family lives now without a house Kim helped with Office of Aging helping them that same day OEM did a remarkable job of getting Red Cross out there Beth Lucas helped out with the food bank uh Linda Rano at the God's Closet thrift store helped with the clothing for the family and we are still looking for Aid to the family but you don't realize that although it's just one house that we lost we actually lost two houses and four other houses were actually affected it was not a joke when I tell you 70 police 7 70 70 firefighters came out several towns helped with taking down this fire um we we we used well over a half a million gallons of water just to put something out I tell you what it could have been worse if it was at night and there was a whole lot windar so want to thank the fire department for what they have done continue to do like I said and like he said we're all volunteers and continue to be volunteers we don't ask for anything more than just come out and join the the group Colin drive it's been a long awaited um stressful road that has been uh for years years I had the opportunity to speak to Bob zetti our mayor from uh God knows back in the 90s to uh Mr uh krenzel to speak into to the residents of Colin drive as well as the connecting roads I had the opportunity to do my my investigation on this whole entire project when I tell you the amount of cars that went up that road the long way at any given time of the day any given time of the season seon and each given time of the hour they did it the police department did a um SP traffic study spodic uh from morning rush hour to lunchtime afternoon rush hour and even the evening from the month days of January 3rd to January 23rd well over 155 minutes of so many police officers contributing to the actual detail out of that there was two violations now you heard this earlier when you see a police car you're going to deter you're going to go the opposite way but surprisingly these two police I sorry these two violations all came from mon toell away and it's sad because they're locals I like to meet the person that lives in that area they willing to actually have the nerve to knock out a door either on Colin drive or any of those connecting roads after a loved one has been either hit by a car or killed and say I'm sorry I challenge that to anybody that cuts through that road thinks it was okay all this time I gave you fair warning way back in November that we were going to sit there and watch you do it and we did hundreds and hundreds of videos I have literally so for the residents of Colin and all the connecting roads we heard you we answer Redevelopment here we are we're working on another Redevelopment starting this year which is going to be at the bottom of Main Street once again which is going to be the old Bank of America South rra is moving forward are trying to bring in as much as we can it's not an easy process it's small steps but it's going to get to a bigger uh prize Breakin I love when people hide behind the phone this is your weakness weakness when you go to social media and you start to talk about how your house or you heard about a house that got broken into but yet what you don't know is it's happening all around the whole entire town it wasn't just in this one area I could tell you last year happened in so many parts of the town that we didn't publicize it because nobody hid behind the phone they basically did the right thing by calling the police now what you don't know about the police is we have about 32 or so police officers that work work hard every single day at any given one time you have three police officers out on the road patrolling the roads even if I had a 100 police officers in this town for one Squad somebody's still gonna speed somebody's still goingon to break into a house somebody's still gonna do Mission it's a fact the best kind of crime best kind of deterrent is you it's called a crime La you see something that's out of the ordinary you call the police don't sit there and say you're bothering them this is what they do they get paid to do this this is this is your tax money working hard call the police it's as simple as that any time of the day at night the call came in at 2:30 in the morning who would have known I had a call come in last year at 1:00 who would have known sure enough that suspicion happened to be somebody trying to break into a house suspicion call the police that's all I have to say other than that I want to wish everybody a Happy Valentine's Day try to enjoy it do I have ad motion by council president second byoun I found