Sparta New Jersey the time is 7:25 uh the Town Council executive session closed um and we are now in the regular meeting all Council meetings are now live streamed and can be viewed at the following link www.youtube.com at spart tww
pams adequate notice of this meeting was provided to the public and press on January 10th 2025 by delivering to the press and posting on the township website a copy of the notice Madame clerk may we have a roll call please councilman Scott here councilman
blumetti here councilman chello I'm here Deputy Mayor Murphy here Mayor Scott I I mean mayor Clark yet I apologize I'm
here okay uh slute the flag please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for
all okay we have a uh proclamation in light of Black History Month and folks may have noticed that we have the Pana Africa flag I don't know if it's still flying um in honor of Black History Month um unfortunately the recipient of the Proclamation was unable to make it
tonight um but we will get that to them and I will go ahead and read the proclamation whereas Black History Month is celebrated annually in February to recognize the contributions that African-Americans have made to American history and whereas Black History Month
provides an opportunity to reflect on the significant roles that African-Americans have played in shaping our nation's history and whereas Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of African-Americans and to recognize their Central role in American history and whereas the month of February was chosen
for Black History Month as it marks the birth of Frederick Douglas we deis Langston Hughes and Abraham Lincoln whose actions greatly impacted the lives of the American black population and grew out black out of black history week which was traditionally celebrated
during the second week of February and expanded in 1976 as part of the nation's bicentennial and whereas the township of Sparta invites all residents of the community to renew their commitment to ensuring Racial equality understanding and justice for all and their efforts to
advance the cause of equality for every person regardless of race Creed or religious preference creating a world that is more just peaceful and prosperous for all now therefore be it resolved that the township council with the township of Sparta does hereby proclaim the month of February as Black
History Month and encourages all residents to H honor the history and contributions of African-Americans in our nation state and Community thank you thank you okay we have no minutes to approve
tonight and so that leads us to the manager's report uh manager Zep could you please provide us with your managers report sure thing good evening mayor councel Sparta residents both present and on our YouTube stream at our last council meeting I
recognized several groups who help run our annual rabies clinic unfortunately I unintentionally left out the largest contributor to this event without their support the annual rabies clinic would not be possible I want to extend my gratitude to our
Municipal clerk's office including roxan Landy tyanne asido and beatric Pippa for their hard work in organizing this event and LIC pets year round to ensure their safety and and I apologize
again the sparta library is pleased to announce the volunteer income tax assistance program funded by the IRS this program offers free tax help to low to moderate income individuals and families senior citizens persons with disabilities and those with limited
English proficiency the library hosts this program on Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 2: p.m. and Tuesday evenings from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. time slots are limited and interested persons must schedule by calling calling nor westcap at 97378
44900 Option 4 Sparta's Recreation Winter Carnival was held on February 1st at the Sparta Middle School this was a there was a steady crowd of families throughout the event on behalf of the recreation department and myself we thank the
community groups who attended and assisted in making this another successful attempt as a reminder the circle of friends preschool registration for the 2025 and 26 school year opens on February 15th the preschool is located
on the lower floor of the splet sparta Library we are experiencing a peri a period of inclement weather with more forecasted tonight please take your time and stay safe out there Chief mccarrick will now read his portion of the mayor's report thank
you thank you Mr Zep thank you thank you manager Zep thank you mayor thank you councel um tonight I just want to give a little bit of a a year-end review for our use of force with the sparta Township Police Department the police department ended the 20124 calendar year with
approximately 36,9 186 calls for service during those 36,9 186 total incidents the sparta Township Police Department only used force on a total of 25 incidents this equates to our officers utilizing Force
options on 0675 per of the total in it's handled for each of each one of those use of force incidents our department conducts a thorough detailed meaningful review of every incident these reviews are completed initially by an officer's direct
supervisor then they are reviewed on a command level by a lieutenant and a captain the final review is completed by me as the chief of police and during the initial meaningful review the supervisors and Command Staff review all reports associated with the incident additionally every recording from all
radios all telephone recordings all body warant cam recordings all motor vehicle recordings and any other public or private video audio recordings associated with the incident are reviewed also all statements involved and all reports with the incident are reviewed once all the perent information
from the incident is reviewed the supervisor Command Staff will compare all aspects with our policies and and guidelines and the Attorney General guidelines to see if there's any need for additional training or retraining policy change any equipment that may be needed or disciplinary action within the
internal affairs process process our captain will create a detailed analysis and breakdown of the incident with their recommendations of the above mentioned and provided it to me for my review if I disagree with the recommendation I will provide my written Direction on how to proceed with the appropriate
supervisors at the end of the count the year I conduct a review of all of our use of force and all of our vehicular Pursuits incidents us utilizing the analytical data from the state's reporting portal Benchmark once my review and Analysis is completed this is reported to our County
prosecutor's office and our attorney general's office I'll make this report available once our year-end annual report is complete it is important that we as officers know when to use force and how to use Force properly in accordance with the attorney general guidelines and our
department policies and procedures each of our officers had just undergone four hours of defensive tactics training led by detective Matthew Pletcher who is a certified defensive tactics instructor from the state of New Jersey and and comes with a long history of mixed martial arts our goal is to continue to
have our officers train as much as possible in this area and also with our deescalation skills I would like to thank SP of school superintendent Dr Beck for allowing us to use the facilities for this training and continue training the future and that concludes my report thank you thank you
thank you okay anything else all right I move that we yeah go ahead approve the manager's report second all in favor say I I I the manager's report is approved we're now
at the first uh public comment uh period um this is for items that are not on the agenda again I repeat not so if you see if you look over the agenda and see hey I really want to talk about this now's not the time um you will have an opportunity um later on in uh tonight's
proceedings to do that so if anyone and again please state your name uh and address for the record Jerry Murphy 161 Alpine Trail when I was in public service I had some credentials that mean I get additional
time no I had credentials that [Music] included having a please keep going I know that's distracting I apologize no not at all
okay uh of being an rppo with an additional designation as a qpa and I just have uh some clarifications I need mayor you had made a motion during the reorg meeting to appoint Mr Dash to the
position of and that's what I don't know what he currently is what is his designation oh he's the municipal attorney for the township of Sparta okay so he's not a conflict attorney no okay
um how did you go about determining whether he has the qualifications for that job did you use an RFQ or an RFP well we followed the you know the the laws and procedures that are allowed so that you know and I think I spoke to this issue at the reorganization meeting
about his qualifications well that's what I'm questioning exactly did everybody on the council get to review view his qualifications yes okay um did you publicly advertise
for the position of Municipal attorney we were not required to do so and did not okay that's fair um then how did you determine who else might respond did you only send it out to one
person or multiple people no no what no we did not you you only sent a request for we we followed the rule and I I will repeat that we followed the rules and procedures that a municipal Township can follow uh in the appointment of a
municipal Council we follow those so that's probably going to be my answer to almost all your questions well can you give me a specific uh citation that you used this is not a Q&A this is a public commentary it's not a trial by jury this
is a question and I have every right as a citizen to ask about selection process so if that's your answer um i' like to apologize for the public or people streaming in I'm using a lot of
acronyms like uh rppo which stands for registered public purchasing official qpa is a qualified purchasing agent RFQ is request for qualifications and N RFP is a requ request for a
proposal it doesn't look like we've used any of the latter two um mayor are you familiar with another acronym SRD yes um Mr Scott you familiar with
SRD this is not a Q&A period it's please just answer the question SRD do you know what that stands for I have no anwers sir we're going to give you some latitude here but I think the op this is you you have a a right to to witness the proceedings it's
not participatory now we're granting you latitude uh because you're you're an esteemed member of this community you've held very esteem roles uh including mayor of this Township but by the open public meeting act this isn't you know councilman Scott is correct that it
isn't a Q&A but you could if you have question if you want to make a point make the point okay yeah I can do that well just to clarify the public is allowed to ask a question we're not under any obligation to answer the question answer this is not a a jury trial or anything like that I just would
like some straight answers so evidently I think you all know what that stands for I didn't for a long time it didn't matter to me but it seems to me there's a conflict and I think every single person on this diet knows what SRD stands for and I think
you all have interconnected at one point or another in time and I just think that the selection process for Mr Dash is Tainted just for myself I don't have any
connection I've never made any donation or have iated in any online well you rais an excellent point who has made a donation anybody on this Das here find it anything to do with
SRD and I think the public should know I think it stands for Sparta for responsible development am I correct you are correct that's what it stands for okay so I I don't mean to cut
you off if your point you're trying to make that somehow uh is the one which I think Diamond chip has made about a conflict that uh we've received um legal advice on that I'm not going to give you what that advice was obviously because I'm not going to wave the privilege but we're we're fully aware of
that issue um we are dealing with it we are not putting a blind eye to it so I can reassure you we're were aware of that argument um I'm not going to get into the merits of it or what our ruling is on that but just so you know for your purposes we are aware and you you can
make that argument all you want and that's the same argument I think Diamond ship is making um I don't know there are merits to it and I'm not making an argument I just think there's very definitely a conflict that one person responded to the uh submitting
qualifications for municipal attorney okay that's egregious I'm sorry I think the people are out to lunch thank you thank you for your comment um Scott null 9 South Hayward Road in
Sparta uh first I want to thank all of you for your commitment to the town and the community um it's it's a lot of work to be up there and I appreciate that and I say that because I'm going to ask you to do some more um um I'm here tonight to to ask about the potential Financial
impact to Sparta due to Doge and Elon Musk it's safe to assume that Sparta might have delays or even elimination of federal funds as a result of the processes that are going on um my question is what might that mean for our
community uh I see five significant areas that the removal of federal funding might impact uh direct loss of financial support from federal resources you gave an example tonight of uh the IRS funding and providing Aid that's
probably not going to continue right like those kinds of discretionary programs but even just walking around the building there was a bunch of stuff that potentially gets its funding um so understanding what the impacts to the to what we can do in the
community um loss of tax revenue due to impact on businesses that primarily support Federal activity loss of tax revenue due to federal employees losing work um for example pitini which is right nearby um loss of oversight
services for water safety hazardous way issues Land Management um I I don't pretend to know all the processes but if we have to get approvals for different kinds of actions and those agencies don't exist that's going to make it very cumbersome for people to do business in
in town right there'll be no way to do what we mandate them to do um and then the loss of agencies that provide emergency response or Disaster Recovery Services it just seems to me that um it would better to assess what
is sourced federally to understand what the impacts are so that we're ready um and that's that would be be my challenge um my my ask is that uh we get a report back about you know the main things I don't expect you know exhaustive like but where where there's
major funding or agency issues that are that are going to be an impediment um I mean obviously the impacts can be viewed as necessary or disastrous depending depending on your political views but I I don't think that we're doing our our duty as Citizens and
as and as a council if uh we don't prep in advance thank you very much thank you you uh Mr no I think you've made a very good point I think that um I don't know the answer to that uh how much of you know the extent that we rely on federal
funding um federal administrative support it's it's a very good question and I think you know you're right in the exercise of diligence and um we should probably do some type of assessment it may turn out that we don't use any of it I don't know so um just because yeah I
mean I I I don't know and like I said it it may be nominal um but I mean it just you mentioned it right like the IRS thing like that would be an exam now that's not going to cause the town to come to a screeching halt but I'm sure it's not the only thing so thank you thank you for for listening appreciate
it thank you thank you okay any other uh public comment on items not on the agenda okay see none uh we will move to expenditures Deputy Mayor would you please read the expenditures for February 11th
2025 yes the expenditures for February 11th 2025 it's 5,432 or $89524 or 94 okay I need my glasses uh so I just need a motion to approve the
expenditures may I have a motion to approve the expenditures of 5,432 9594 just need a second I'll second all those in favor say I I the uh Bill list
totals by fund dated February 11th 2025 and the grand total amount of 5,432 $895 is approved um next up um we I would like
to we have three ordinances uh for introduction tonight however an issue was raised uh requiring uh a possible Amendment to the ordinance and because that Amendment there's a question of whether it's material or not Material um
I think the the safer course is to um table these three ordinances until we can uh reach resolution on on that so I would make a motion uh that we uh table ordinance the introduction of ordinance
257 2508 and 2509 I will second that motion okay we have a second um now because it's an ordinance do we need to do a roll call on a table motion I believe so yeah so
let's do um a roll call again it's the motion we're not uh to table ordinance 2507 2508 and 259 we can debate the matter if anybody wanted to so a yes is to table it a no is to
continue on yes correct councilman Scott yes councilman blumetti yes councilman sheero yes Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes so ordinances 2507 2508 uh 2509 have been tabled uh just uh
translation for those in the viewing at home uh that means there will not be any discussion or anything about these ordinances and so if you're in the audience to talk about this even even public comment it's not going to be brought up today it doesn't stop you you can say whatever you want to say um but
anyway I just wanted folks to know that so now we are not introducing any ordinances we have no hearing of the ordinance um we are now at our second uh public comment period dealing with the resolutions and so this you're going to
want to take a look at page five of the agenda which lays out the resolutions and so if you have a public comment that you'd like to make regarding these resolutions please step forward um state your name for the record and please be mindful of the five minute uh very
annoying beeping sound um did you fix it Dan I think so yeah thank you Jenny Derek's happened to Sparta um I have a couple of questions uh
nine I don't have the number Front me um health benefit consultant um is that did I read it correctly that it that is something that is required it it is okay this is a three-year renewal every three years we
renew the health consultant and he's been the same consultant with us for at least six years I believe thank you um 95 the traffic engineer is this I thought we had a traffic I thought
neglia was approved at rorg I guess I missed that um is this uh one item for it says review all land use ordinances but it also references doing a study of Route 15 so is it wide in scope is it
narrowly focused what is the purpose of the land use uh of the uh traffic expert you like me answer it's um generally it's narrowly tailored to the PC Zone which was introduced two hearings ago um
that's the primary purpose but the neglia engineer was originally retained or appointed for purposes of the diamond ship hearing primarily so his scope was narrow so this um firm is to address the
pced review um and the ultimate hearing of a resolution that will be needed in support of that um ordinance thank you and then I'd like to make a clarification quickly though sure I I don't believe that's factual that neglia was retained by the planning board for
not for Diamond chip necessarily but for all matters where the planning board felt they needed to get an expert opinion okay so it was a plan had sent something in yeah but it's a planning board and it's they reactivated a few weeks ago reappointed it okay oh that's where I saw it thank
you um and then finally 97 the appointment or reappointment of Elise Hubbert as conflict Council and I would suggest that she herself is conflicted if we have the the major
matter of diamond ship go to have to go back to the zoning board she's already led the D um the zoning board through that hearing which you know and was made a statement um really Expos closing a
bias that you know we beat them once we can beat them again seemingly not unbiased and not unconflicted or non-conflicted or whatever the proper phrase would be so I'm just asking if you would reconsider that appointment as
conflict Council as the probably the most major conflict hearing that they may have or matter that the zoning board may hear would be Diamond chip and she seems to have already been conflicted out of that thank you but she's a conflict count Council right not the
primary Council correct I'm saying as conflict Council she would hear Diamond chip because the um kein is conflicted Mr ke is conflicted both conflicted you're suggesting and so I'm suggesting that because she's already heard and and
expressed publicly her you know her opinion about giving adequate support for the township regarding Diamond ship that she herself has conflicted in what would potentially be the major issue that would come to see the conflict
council at zoning board I understand it's a good observation thank you yeah I I think we we will address that at the resolutions I think independent of what you just said um there's some cost considerations that I think we need to be mindful of um and I think we'll get
to that that there are already I think planning board has two conflict Council and so um I think we're I would like for my purposes to see whether one of those conflict Council can do double duty um because it doesn't seem to make sense to
me to have three separate conflict councils there may be some cost savings involved so I'm not I'm not addressing the merits of you know what you raised it's more in my mind so I you know when we get to that I think I would like to look into that of whether it it would be possible for the conflict attorney that
we already have whether they can do double duty at the zoning board that way we don't have three separate attorneys doing you know so I think they're could be some cost savings involved the matter of the planning boards conf councils needs to be discussed between you and
and the planning board I don't believe that they both are remaining I believe that the Dual appointment was to make sure they were covered while they were waiting for the person that they wanted to stay in that position to be appropriately certified yeah and there's
there's an also an issue about I'm not quite sure why this is actually before the council because my understanding is these appointments are done at the planning board and at the zoning board and you know we're the funding source but we're not the appointment source and
so it's I I would like to get some clarification about that before we actually vote on it but we when we get to it you'll I'll just give you a preview you're probably going to hear a table motion from from me uh because I want to get some clarification anyway so thank you though um for your comments
anyone else about the res want to give a public comment about the resolutions okay see no one um I would like to make a motion to uh approve the following resolutions together uh they
are 91 92 and 93 so the motion may I have a motion to approve resolutions 91 92 and 93 I make a motion of approve 919 92 and
93 may I have a second please I'll second all those in favor say I I I resolutions 91 92 93 have been approved uh we will now do the next uh one one by one uh may I have a motion to approve
resolution 94 which is a resolution to appoint a health benefits consultant I move that we approve resolution 9-4 may I have a second please I'll second and uh I just have a clarifying question uh Mr Zep and there's a whereas
Clause the third one is that supposed to be how that this particular consultant is is paid or I'm trying to figure out how much are we paying this person how I can figure that out from the resolution well it looks like that third
Ware uh Warehouse Clause where it's it's talking about 4969 per employee that's how much per monthe right in the dental and that that would be the fee and and that's multiplied by the number of employees that are participating in the health plan that's
not what we pay him that's what we pay that's what we pay him to represent the employees yeah how I was Employee how was that where do that come from was my question is it what's the origin of that because it comes to about comes to $643 per employee per year that's
probably not a monthly charge it's probably yeah I believe it is a monthly charge but um I'll be honest with you uh Michelle and I worked on this and we hadn't done a renewal in in a while and so we're we were trying to catch up and get everything you know legitimized here
so but I can look into that and I'll get you accurate information okay thank you thank you all right so we have we've had a motion in a first and a second so now we can uh give it up for a vote all those in favor of approving resolution 94 say
I I I resolution 94 is approved um um may I have a motion to approve resolution 95 which is a resolution of the governing body of the township of Sparta authorizing the award of a contract for professional traffic Engineering Services with MCD and Ray
Associates for reviews of Sparta Township zoning ordinance so I just need a motion to approve uh resolution 95 as read I make a motion to approve resolution 9-5 may I have a second please table
it I will second it um this and and before we vote again I think uh this was in response to uh Miss Derek's question uh but I think it may bear uh repeating
what's the purpose of uh awarding a contract for MCD and Ray Associates could you just mind repeating actually before you respond I'd like to call a point of order um I'd like to ask uh if attorney Dash plans to recuse yourself uh from this uh any discussion from this
matter uh then involving the pced Zone what's your basis um uh well attorney dashon again this is this is purely administrative this is not personal in any way that uh attorney Des is a very public and pronounced history of activism on this
matter uh and um I think that would um be compromising uh or at least call into question objectivity uh and I can cite a couple of things uh there was an August 8th starts actually with a June 13th 2023 meeting where uh attorney Dash spoke for
25 minutes on the subject uh again on August 8th spoke for 23 minutes on the subject in front of the council uh uh uh offered phrases such as we're here to have our goals accomplished and we want our we want to restrict development completely and um I also have um a
letter to the editor uh of um a local online media which was dated August 3rd 23 uh submitted under the by line of Sparta responsible development so it's sort of a position statement um I know you were the president of the
organization at this time did you write this letter yourself Jina do you remember uh can you can you refresh my memory as to the letter um I I don't need to read the whole thing but it was a statement um about the PC PCD Zone and advocating for using section 62 of the
municipal land use law to um to uh basically close down development in this or in this matter and I'll read a section of it that uh we asked the council to see what we asked for is the council to see that or ordinance 23-15 is for what it is a mistake no matter
how well intentioned amended taable it consider it Alternatives but do not treat it as a promise is kept when last November we sent the council the exact opposite message we didn't vote for any half measures to be fixed later we didn't vote for the system is working like the old Council we didn't vote to hand over open space to developers instead we voted overwhelmingly for
decisive action to protect Sparta and to protect protect it with bold and courage as a council you have the legal tools at hand to tighten up this ordinance now emphasis on now and give this Sparta the breathing room it needs at this literal choke point in our Township and as residents of Sparta let's be there on
Tuesday to join the discussion suggest other uses for this land and witness a vote which we pray will honor the promise of the last Falls election um so again activism is good and um it's it's better on on sort of on that side of the Das but I think uh taken in some uh I
have caused for concern um so th those were the basis for my request and again this is just purely administrative in nature well thank you for those comments I don't believe those comments warrant a recusal under the current circumstances the facts and the law relating to
recusal but that's certainly the council's discretion um no I think uh I mean I'll speak for myself um I think that all attorneys uh Advocate all kinds of positions um and that it will be up to
this uh Council to determine whether we're receiving objective and uh impartial advice and I think that your first duty is as an attorney to render that objective and impartial advice and I have every faith that you will do so
um so um I personally don't uh have an issue with you giving advice about the uh the section 62 PCD um irrespective of your prior advocacy on the topic I think that we're all capable of assessing um
the the advice that you give and we can heed it or reject it uh at our own discretion so I do see in our uh in our own um list of ordinances chapter 2 6-9 where that describes how the council should uh um act under a conflict of
interest and um the uh applicable uh sentence here is that the council upon request shall be noted in it minutes shall authorize any part-time officer or employee to disqualify himself with respect to a specific matter or subject um I don't I don't know if that
means that the council votes on this um maybe it's as you said mayor Clark each one makes their own mind us to how we handle that information I don't know how to interpret it well if you I mean if you think you want to make a motion that the
council vote to that uh on and dash uh recuse himself you can make that motion I think that would be why so I think I will make a motion that attorney Dash accuses himself again for administrative purposes only on matters related to the pdrm zone I'm sorry the PCD
zone I'll second okay uh why don't we do a roll call councilman Scott councilman Scott
no wait wait can I understand we can have we can debate the motion so the motion is that um under councilman chello's uh view uh that on and dash must recuse himself from offering advice
about the pced uh any ordinances affecting the P pced based on his prior advocacy on the topic and so he's moved uh that on and dash that we vote that on and dash recuse himself from any discussion of
that so that that's the motion a yes vote is yes you agree he should recuse a no vote is no you don't think he should recuse thank you no no councilman blumetti I think there might be some credibility here yes councilman Sherell
yes Deputy Mayor Murphy no mayor Clark no the motion thank foring that okay so we have um did we get defer I can't after that um I do have additional questions if we're before
move on to a vote any 95 yes please okay is now okay yes um so I think it was alluded to before is there a reason why we're not using the planning board's newly appointed traffic engineer in this matter we had reached out to him and he
did not respond uh to to the request okay um second question how did we settle on McDon and Ray Associates to be awarded this um contract the council had mcdna and Ray
were the uh were the Traffic Engineers that were involved in the Roxbury Hearts Mountain decision they were also involved in and they're recognized as the leaders in the state right so I'm sure their CV is impressive but how did we end up I'm
sure there are other Traffic Engineers that have equally impressive resumes um how did we end up awarding this no big contract to McDon and Ray I don't think we've awarded it yet have how did the name come up for consideration this evening were there any other um get them
out of the phone book yeah well I well we did get a nonresponse from uh the traffic engineer selected by the planning board after that nonresponse um I assume we looked at who in the this
space does traffic engineering is that right correct Council yep and there were considerations of availability and quality is this person uh related to SRD
or any other legal um professionals from SRD not that I'm aware of he's based in Bergen County okay wasn't that man one they have an office in Burton County maybe are there any other questions with
respect to 95 I'm sorry Westfield okay I have some questions I do have a couple more um okay so um uh I'm looking at the there's specific language uh in this
specifically uh the first point dates um it seems to imp a predetermined outcome of these studies uh it says you know the vicinity of North Village in in furtherance of the governing body's duty to ensure and protect the safety Health
and Welfare of the public it seems to sort of as I say the language here implies a predetermined outcome uh not just a matter of studying it with an objective um view of you know what is what is the what's the level of traffic here um I I think that's
language is rather um inappropriate for this speak up I'm sorry said I think the language uh especially in this first where in the first um statement here is is implies a predetermined outcome because it's specifically references um the point of the study to ensure and
protect safety Health and Welfare of the public it seems to I said predetermine the outcome rather than have an objective study to see what we find um so anyway I think that language is um problematic well that was also brought about by Chief mccarrick that that is
the most the largest area of of accidents in the town right right you get the most accidents where there are the most cars that sure I think he said that I think he said the most accident I think you're reading it wrong I think that the operating principle that
enables us to hire a traffic engineer is the duty that we all have here to protect the the safety and Welfare of the public it's not a predum outcome it's the operating principle upon which this entire Council oper Ates and so
that's the operating principle that enables us to appoint a traffic engineer to make an assessment of the traffic in this area so that we can you know uh adhere to our duty to protect the safety Health and Welfare it doesn't say the
the the uh McDon and Ray have to find uh some you know have to have some finding whatsoever uh they're they're professionals they're not going to uh they'll come up with whatever assessment they come come up
with that's your reading thank you that's all I have at this point okay I I have some questions um I if I can so again I go back to there was some mention of neglia Engineering Services was also very
reputable and was renewed for the planning board it wasn't this is not the first appointment that there was a non-response can you someone describe that a little bit more yeah so I had a um after consultation with the mayor reached out to neglia to see whether he would be interested in performing this
work and uh this there is a Time sensitivity to this and he did not respond um to the request did they receive the request it was it was a it was a it was a phone call to to his office to to call back
and he did not respond to that okay I'm sorry let me let me just jump on here so is there a reason that you were coordinating this this search for a um a traffic engineer and not the the town manager or it it was done in consultation with the town manager okay thank
you so um why why not have the planning board conduct this traffic study or be involved with it well I mean that typically that's in their domain right they do land use right planning analysis and they have a
traffic engineer I'm on the planning board I'm the gentleman that sourced this it's gentleman that's great that you sourced it Mark I'm not asking that asking why wasn't the planning board why aren't they involved in this activity because this is an ordinance that originates from Town Council so because it's an
ordinance uh that originates from Town Council Town Council then has the authority to determine whether a professional is necessary for this ordinance that originates from them I think second of all um the fact that we did reach out to uh Mr neglia uh we gave
the the Defence necessary apparently he couldn't respond or you know just you know I can't speak for why he didn't respond so it's not like we didn't try um so councilman Clark you said you you Source this so you have a relationship how did no no yeah no one has a
relationship I said that this is an or councilman Scott I'm sorry I misspoke no okay no I don't have a relationship okay so um this might have been asked before but it's on my list so I want to ask again so what what vetting took place
who referred uh this this firm um and was it a recommendation of Mr Warner no I don't believe so I've been in the real estate business for 35 years I've been doing traffic studies for 35 years I called some of
the top people I knew that could give me names of people that were dependable and reliable and did a good job I came up with this gentleman's name I called him he responded he was able to do the job in the time necessary and he
was recommended by one of the biggest developers in the state multiple times so I I noticed that the resolution does not include a dollar of ount so
typically it would be reasonable and to expect there would be a dollar amount of what we're approving in here um so I mean I need to know are we approving a $5,000 job we approving $100,000 job think it's not to exceed 8,500 8500
correct 8500 okay MH okay and that's we'll find Budget dollars for that because this is extraordinary not expected yeah it gets absorbed any there's a contingency in the budget it can do so much
okay and um my my last point is that I I would uh I am concerned about that the scope of the work as it's defined in 95 particularly where it says uh provide professional traffic Engineering
Services in relation to reviews for Township zoning ordinances which seems much broader than $8,500 in just this one case including but not limited to the pced ordinance etc etc so I and down below it says the
same thing it's about reviewing zoning ordinances plural and not limited to pced zone so for $8500 and for this emergency need um I would like to make a motion that we slightly modify this resolution to remove the references to
reviews of Township zoning ordinances and but not limited to and just leave it in there for the pced Zone that's Weir what the purpose is here yeah if I could address that so I think respectfully the the intent of this is as he's conducting his review of the
pced zoning ordinance he may need to review other zoning ordinances as part of his his ultimate conclusions and study and so the that that is the the the primary purpose of this as indicated in the first whereas Clause is to
address the the resolution in relation the ordinance excuse me in relation to the pced and that review May necessitate him to review other zoning ordinances as part of his work to form an opinion with respect to the pced I'll second your motion by the way
can you can you elaborate more on that because a traffic engineer looks at roads and traffic conditions not necessarily digging into the details of zoning that was set up by planning board zoning board planning board or governing body in the past so I could see where
they he or she may need to look at other roads in the area or roads around other zones but not digging into zoning ordinances that's not the job of a traffic engineer and not for an emergency quick use for this we have processes and structures in place for that this is this is Way Beyond the
scope of what a traffic engineer would do Bluey do you know have you been a a traffic engineer do you know what they need to review in order to perform their duties have you you're you're in I think you got an explanation that to in order
to perform his work he needs to look at o zoning ordinances now you disagree with that but what I'm asking you is if you're going to try to cabin this you need to have a basis for why you think he should not be allowed to look at other zoning ordinances in order to
conduct his work with respect to pced well then let's write that in there let's write that any reviews of other ordinances and other scenarios are related to this job that's fine okay so what's your motion what what language do you want I
Mr Dash do you have a recommendation to help us craft that I well respectfully I I think the ordinance um or excuse me the resolution as as drafted on its face States he's going to perform a traffic study at the rout 15 Corridor in the vicinity of North
Village and the aspect that you're focusing on reviews of the sparta Township zoning ordinances is part parcel of his work because the intensity of a use or the nature of a use drives traffic so in order for an expert who is
qualified to do a complete study he's not looking at just the vacuum of the traffic and the traffic study count it's a it's a conglomeration of the review of the zoning ordinances and the traffic and the his observation and that in
totality will form his opinion on the on the roof roof 15 corter as it relates to the pced ordinance so what you're saying is that this still could use language that says this is focused on the review of
the pced zoning ordinance he certainly your prerogative if you want to if you believe there's language to find tun it I I I think it stands um and the plain language of it speaks for itself but certainly you feel free to make a motion I don't have
respectfully a suggestion on to further further alter it yeah my concern is that we would be you know no one up here has a traffic engineer who knows what he needs to review to conduct his work and so I
would you know any type of language that way may cabin the expert in a way that prevents that expert from actually being able to perform the duties upon which he is being appointed and so I think the language uh with the clarification that
uh accounts that attorney uh Dash has provided that the review of the zoning ordinances or for the purpose of uh doing a traffic study with respect to PC zoning ordinance so he's not doing a wholesale traffic study on a bunch of different zones and ordinances it's it's
he has to consult other ordinances I think the easy solution then wom would be that in the where second where as where has funds are available for this purpose we say funds of a maximum of $88,500 are available for this purpose okay that's in the contract
right it's in the agreement in the agreement M it is I would like that in the resolution i' like to make a motion that we I'll withdraw the other motion earlier so I'd like to make a motion that in the second where as we insert funds afterward funds we put of 85 a
maximum of $88,500 are available for this purpose so then that will meet our needs of what we're hiring this firm for okay so the motion is to amend resolution 95 to add uh under the second whereas Clause the following phrase after the
word funds of a maximum of $88,500 are available for this purpose so it's not to exceed 85 not to exceed so I'll start again so may I have
a motion to amend resolution 95 to insert the following phrase in the second whereas Clause at after the word funds of 80 not to exceed $8500 are available for this
purpose so that's the motion I'll second it okay or I'll second I think you made it oh I'll make the motion okay and you second it so all those in favor say I think we should have a vote you want a separate vote
okay councilman Scott no councilman blumetti yes councilman shello yes Deputy Mayor Murphy no mayor Clark uh yes so the 95 has been amended to add
the maximum of $88,500 next uh we now have to make a motion to approve resolution 95 as amended before we um go there but one more point I want to make um I want to state that um I
want to acknowledge that uh mayor Clark um called me out by name in a social media post suggesting I was encouraging automobile accidents and putting the safety of the people this town at risk was then accompanied by an image of a rather dramatic automobile accident in the post and I found that an extremely
poor taste I'm also reading from the LTE um not finished uh letter that I uh mentioned before uh there was a phrase here that says uh and so the friendly business environment is envisioned by the planning board will be as deadly to the hopes for a livable Sparta as a bullet through the
heart from Friendly Fire I made this uh remark uh about a year and a half ago when I first encountered that remark saying that I found that particularly insensitive and insulting um I'm left finished well you correct you to to uh you referring to a letter to the editor
that I did not write I did not say a letter to the editor I said a social media post I'm I'm going to continue now I said I found that particularly insulting that letter to the editor that I mentioned before because as I said I have a friend who was a military veteran in the US Army that was killed by being
shot through the heart from Friendly Fire and I'm sure every combat veteran would recoil at the insensitivity of that comment and the reason I bring this up is because both of these public statements use violent imagery to promote a what I view as a rather extremist position on this topic and it's a dangerous and Unbecoming of
people in leadership positions in our community and that's my uh end of my statement so I don't know first of all just to clarify I I didn't write I don't know who who wrote that letter to the editor I certainly did not I don't know if you were implying that either I or may CL did don't know whether or not you
did I know that you were the president of the organization under which that was submitted um I don't know if that um what your involvement specifically in the letter well I think it's speculation and inappropriate for you to raise that at a part of a public meeting I don't agree um well of course you don't agree
but I I you made your views pretty clear and I'm making my views pretty clear that it's inappropriate to raise Alle ations as part of a public meeting in a letter that I did not write so you can feel you can disagree all you want um I didn't I don't think I said specifically you wrote it you did you did you you you
attributed that letter to me as as I'm as I'm was because you were the president of the organization under which the that submitted that as a policy statement well that's a that's a that's a stretch to say that an organization that has several thousand followers uh somehow I attribute it to
that letter I don't think any follower would would submit a letter to the editor on behalf of the organization itself I think the organization would submit a letter respectfully you're wrong so you can proceed in the same fashion if you like yeah and so to to to the extent
that councilman Chell either implied or um stated affirmatively that I or uh councilman Dash were an author of that letter to the editor Let the record reflect what well the record will be what the record will be um that that is
untrue um we did not write it we had no participation in it so um to the extent the uh I just want to make sure the record reflects that okay with that uh can we finally get to uh a roll call on
95 councilman Scott actually I think we voted 9 are we voting as amended as amended on as amended I think we finished that no I think didn't we no we voted to amend the ordinance approve the ordinance now it's
you're voting as amended okay yeah as adding the words at a maximum 8500 85 corre correct yes uh councilman bledi no councilman shirell no Deputy Mayor Murphy yes mayor Clark yes resolution 95
that's passed may I have a motion to uh approve resolution 96 is authorizing the transfer of Grant monies awarded through the sustainable jersey small grants program funded by the PS Foundation I make a motion to approve
resolution 96 I second all right uh all those in favor say I I I I resolution 96 has [Applause] passed next is um this is I would like
to make a motion to table resolution 97 uh the reason being is that um one I I want to get clarity on why we are having to do a resolution regarding an appointment um you normally an
appointment is sole jurisdiction of the the zoning board and planning board uh second of all I think there's some cost considerations that we should consider about whether uh some of the council that we already have at planning board can do double duty uh at the zoning
board so in light of those two things uh I would like to make a motion to table 97 while we do an investigation of those two issues so I may have a motion to table 97 I make a motion to table 97 uh may I
have a second second right all those in favor say I one one quick comment yeah um I I agree I'm not sure we're going to necessarily find large cost savings because the conflict attorneys are only there's no retainer they're only paid when they're needed for certain
applications or or jobs but it's still worth looking into I think so okay okay okay so all those in favor of of tabling uh 97 say I I I so 97 is
tabled next is a motion to um a resolution sorry may I have a motion uh to approve resolution 98 resolutions authorizing the display of commender flag on Township own flag polls and those particular flags are
identified in attachment a uh to the resolution so I need a motion to approve uh resolution 98 I move that we approve resolution 9 -8 all right I will second it okay um just a procedural question um if now
that we've listed all these flags under attachment a are we going to have to do a separate resolution for each of those now or is this the purpose of this resolution is to vitiate that so we don't have to do it every single time is that right if you have someone that has a a special interest they'd have to come
before Council and and they have to be approved so I'd have I'd have that resolution on for that particular flag it wasn't included in this okay so but for example you know in August we plan to do the US Coast Guard in August we're not going to need to do another
resolution for the Coast Guard this this helps streamline this process right okay um all right with that clarification I think I understand what we're doing here and I appreciate the uh efficiency and uh that this enables us excellent idea y
so it was it was yeah very efficient okay so we have a first a second all those in favor of approving resolution 98 say I I I resolution 98 is approved um next up we have Council
liaison update mayor we have another resolution -9 9-9 okay where is 9 N okay sorry thank you um this is uh may I have a motion to approve resolution 99 it's a
resolution supporting participation in the sustainable Jersey municipal certification program and establishing a green green team advisory committee and um I I notice at in the resolution you'll see the members of
this green team so may I have a motion to approve resolution 99 I make a motion we approve resolution 99 to add a green team uh may I have a second please I have will second all right before we vote can someone tell what the green team is what what is
this it's just what it sounds like this is a a program from the Sustainable New Jersey program and spart has been pretty active in it for many years now and this resolution is actually renewing our um participation right it's renewing our
participation and in order to continue uh our bronze certification uh we they want to see the uh council's support of the program um we get a lot of uh um participation and activity from the environmental commission that's why a lot of these members listed here are
also on the environmental commission so uh by passing this resolution it enables them to qualify to renew their certification for the township and to the Green Team uh we they talk about a lot of green
initiatives uh and they look at all aspects of of Sparta uh Services activity programs uh and and they try and uh promote Advocate uh a more sust sustainable way of
living I'm getting uh speakers to come in some from Rutter's okay that I know of all right um but thank you for the explanation I it sounds like a fantastic committee um
and thank you uh councilwoman um Margie for Murphy for helping uh with this resolution all right so all those in favor of resolution 99 say I I I
resolution 99 it's approved am I missing any is that are we done with the resolutions all right good okay thank you so Council eais on updates and I will start to my f far right um councilman Sharell do you have
any updates Council AES on updates yes I have a couple um the sparta sister sister city committee um I have begun reaching out to many of the other municipalities named after Sparta in the United States and to that end I'd like to um recognize and uh give a shout out
to the following other Sparta that I have made contact with and had good conversations with mayor Alan Haywood of Sparta Georgia town manager Corey rineker of Sparta Illinois downtown development manager Elizabeth Morris of Sparta Michigan municipal chair Doug
Norman of Sparta Minnesota mayor Misty Holt of Sparta Missouri and mayor Kevin Riley of Sparta Wisconsin look forward to working with them and the about 16 17 other sparas that we still exchanging emails and phone calls with uh and
messages with um the only other uh committee uh issue I'd like to bring up is uh last at our last meeting on the 28th we we made appointments to the film ready committee and it occurred to me that those appointments were invalid because uh we passed the ordinance to
create that committee on that same meeting and ordinances don't take effect for 20 days and so I think those appointments uh need to be made again after the ordinance takes effect so I think that's just administrative task that we have to U do later
on and those are all my updates the uh quick update on Business Development Committee um so mark I sit on that so uh we're getting close uh probably a day or two away now to securing space for the year with roxan um probably the new conference room it
sounds like we're going to be targeting the as long as it's available but the fourth Thursday of the month at 7 pm and we're targeting also to have our first meeting in late February uh Mark and I reviewed the charter and we're going to
be uh just uh meeting to establish the objectives agenda structure um and then reaching out to the members to uh with a welcome communication and get the party rolling s a Point on that the fourth Thursday is an En environmental commission meeting date are you still meeting in the morning no
we're going to meet in the different conference rooms same yeah here but not in this room so we're planning it is that meeting open to the public and if it is I don't know how many public members can be that that room can accommodate well let's see how something
to consider yeah we'll have to think about that if that room is big enough I don't know how many seats are in there I haven't seen it finished where here at the front one it's almost done almost done okay okay yeah that's a good point we'll have to look into that okay that's all I
have okay and I I'll have to do double duty with uh the deputy mayor uh to about we had the Rev 250 meeting uh was it last week I think um and part of that was bringing in uh other what I call stakeholders in the community who would
be interested in participating in uh the events and we did get a very good turnout um a lot of uh energy and I think that there's um you know a lot of discussions going to happen about and actually hopefully execution on uh
having our stakeholders participate in some of the events so for example there's baseball team that may be interested in and doing a demonstration of a colonial game um there are I know the Boy Scouts were represented there
and they've already done um they've already helped with uh uh cleaning the graves of some of the Revolutionary War Graves um and I'll let you jump in because I had to leave the meeting earlier uh early for another meeting um they've they've planned they want to
plan something every month for the year um they're going to start with well I don't know if this going to start with but they're going to have a Tavern talk that used to be that used to happen and at crows has uh graciously accepted the proposal to have everybody there for a
tabern talk is in the old days and um they have the spart Education Foundation is going to help with grants for this um in March there's also going to be one in Newark but there's a website that you
can go to it's rev nj.org that will give information about the whole programs that uh that they that people are doing I guess it's it's a throughout the the
country um and also the Historical Society in March is going to be a speaker one of the actresses from sufff uh will be speaking there on the 20th and they're going to have a u try to do
a spark they were talking about doing a Sparta publication images of Sparta with a bicentennial theme and hopla which is a a a library website ho
o that has to do with some of the uh the uh revolutionary I don't know exactly what I haven't I didn't get any more on that you know anything about the hopa and Dan they said that uh Dan yes I'm
listening um there is a list that you had of different events or different you had a a bullet some kind of list that you had last year that you presented or you I put everything in a document and shared that with the entire committee I can send it another copy to you if you'd
like it's also on our SharePoint site oh okay under if you go in the um under committees okay and then you'll see the Revolution and J committee and you'll see the plan and the documents all there okay I can point you to it thank you sure and that's all I have I
haven't had we haven't had any other meetings okay yet yeah we we also had a Trails committee meeting um I was unable to attend due to a conflict a work conflict so um I will be able to report about that at the next uh meeting and we
have yet to schedule with Lake Mohawk but we will um the also working with the um School Board um picking a day that will be on a Monday we just have to figure out what that date is so that that meeting is is
forthcoming and other than that I have no other updates okay uh the planning board met last weekend we had a uh approved a new tenant in the Upper Lake it's a MMA uh uh teaching
school and they're going to be moving in there soon um also we uh approved a a bagel shop in the abandoned gas station down here at woodport Road and Sparta Avenue and so that'll be a good addition to the town um the uh business as Dean
said he's he's uh really helped me set up this uh he's really dri driven the ball on uh setting up the business committee meetings which will be on the fourth Thursday of the month the uh Sparta chamber meets on Thursday at 8:00
a.m. at the uh Sparta Diner and the municipal Alliance will meet next week on I'm sorry uh the municipal Alliance meets this Thursday at uh 3:30 p.m. I'm sorry the sparta chamber meets next
Tuesday at 8:00 am at the uh Sparta Diner that's the end of my report and then the just to add for the en environmental we got the 9-9 approved
okay yeah um yeah we I didn't mean to skip over you do you have any other updates not on the environmental okay all right any other updates uh now that Council has to any of the Committees of which they are liaison uh I would just
like to ask if uh councilman Scott would you mind tell uh sharing a little bit more about the planning board latest on the attorney the attorney changes um I didn't watch the full meeting last last Wednesday had a conflict but I'm concerned
about the situation all the changing attorneys and um the ability of the planning board to function and conduct business like within the statutory time frame for all the applications is can you just share an update on what's happening with all the attorneys and if
it's going to impact the last week last week uh the the planning board approved Mr Aller he's an attorney out of Mr Aller he's an attorney out of uh Rockaway and he is going to be the uh
conflict attorney and he will be serving he served last week and he will serve uh through the end of the month as the conflict attorney or as our primary attorney um he did a a wonderful job and we got rave reviews throughout the
planning board it seemed like uh everybody was very happy with him um we also have uh uh another uh wonderful candidate uh which will
be uh hopefully approved in the next uh let's see I guess it would be at the within in within the next uh at the next meeting to become the full-time
attorney and he uh he's a a top-notch gentleman and I and I uh believe he'll be approved was there a so there's a a new candidate in mind was there a search
done or how was how was the planning Bo going about finding a new regular attorney after Mr Warner left sure there was a search done uh about 20 different attorneys were contacted they were asked if they were available on these days if they were interested in the position and
we were able to uh narrow it down and we were able to uh uh find a find a wonderful attorney from a major real estate firm to step in and be interviewed at the next
meeting real you said Real Estate firm is that real estate legal firm yes this is land use right yeah planning board yes so that's why we want okay of a marital
firm we went with real estate firm yeah I thought you me real estate as in purchasing selling real estate um okay yeah okay um I I imagine that there's going to be vetting done to make sure that they have land use experience and they've sered as serve disip plan yes they have land use experience they they
currently serve on the uh currently they've served this this gentleman has served on I believe seven different planning boards and uh zoning boards over his career and I I I think he'll be very happy with okay thank you thank
you any other Lea on updates okay we're now at unfinished and new business and um I will start but before this um I need to ask uh if uh Mr Dash could step aside uh while I make
this motion step outside please yeah I would uh like a motion to authorize uh manager Zep to appeal the January 6th decision of the Department of Environmental Protection with respect
to uh the water quality management uh plan Amendment uh that was filed by Diamond chip uh I think realy LLC so the motion is to uh authorize managers up to
appeal that decision of uh January 6 regarding the water quality management plan Amendment um for a diamond ship just I second it okay was that was there a motion yes first
motion that was the motion right okay before we move on to a vote um why isn't this memorialized in a resolution uh it doesn't need to be um okay but personally my personal opinion on this is I find this to be a
provocative action and I personally already voted on this twice so I don't see any need to belabor this point the township is ex uh effectuating its appellant rights uh under the D regulations and statutory Authority um
so that is you know we're doing an executive function here so again as the motion is uh we have a first and a second so all those in favor say I I I all those oppose say no I will abstain
so we have four eyes uh and one abstention is there any I have no other new uh or unfinished business at this point and we can now ask Mr Dash to to come back in my D in next
time okay uh welcome back attorney Dash um I don't have any other unfinished or new business um I will go to my left uh Deputy Mayor Murphy do you have any
unfinished or new business I do not councilman Scott I'm good okay councilman Chell unfinished or new business nothing from me thank you uh councilman blue medy any unfinished or new business I just a question that was raised before by councilman charell is
the film committee reappointments they have to wait until the next meeting I presume because it's still not 20 days since from the naming from our last meeting yeah yeah if we're going to wait 20 days from January 28th we have to wait till
our next meeting to get those people reappointed to the film committee so well there's no action tonight then right oh the committee doesn't exist until the ordinance takes effect it it exists true it it it exists and it has existed um I think we were doing a belt
in suspenders and we're not going to get in debate I I appreciate uh my council members who are not Liaisons to that committee offering their input um but we will review whether there's a necessity
to reappoint people um I'm not you know looking at it right now I'd have to see whether that that is in fact necessary if it is necessary we'll do it if it's not necessary is simply an obstructor um suggestion then um we'll
deal with not obstruct it's just administrative I'm just trying to we were very careful about you're assuming you're right you may be wrong so uh I know uh I'm pretty sure that ordinances don't take effect for 20 21 days after would be February 17th that it would be
right so um them to if the point of the ordinance was to establish that committee so I think it just would behoove all of us it's not an attack on on the committee or anything else it's just um as a matter of being dotting our R and crossing our tees we should make those appointments again shouldn't impact the
functions of the committee if the committee wants to if these people want to keep meeting yeah I would agree I don't need to be a member of the committee oraison Neil to observe administrative order a point of order to anything else you want to add about the
movie you seem pretty interested in it anything else I am interested in it no I was asking if any action to be taken tonight the answer is no it's not on the fence it's just administrative well I couldn't take action anyway because under you and and Mr chell's argument we can't appoint people till after the
20-day period has expired I don't think that's I think that's just the law I don't think 20 days yes every ordinance is 20 days I didn't realize that night either I mean we all voted so yeah I missed it um any other unfinished or new business go
ahead no this thank you for this this came uh Mr Scott and I went to the New Jersey League of municipalities training and which was very interesting was very helpful and uh the gentleman that's in charge is the mayor of Alpine was on the
last he was on the cover the last one we went when we went they gave us one so that thank you yeah thank you that was very good very helpful that's all I have okay and my other uh un new business is also to and I know I
speak for all of Town Council to thank um roxan for you know the gifts that she gives unfailing any any type of holiday uh she gives us a nice little treat and we really appreciate it thank you it's
very thoughtful thank you okay we're now at the final uh public comment period so if you have a public comment please come forward uh state your name for the record and
um please adhere to the five minute limit all right seeing uh no one come up uh I will make a a motion to adjourn may I have a motion to adjourn make a motion to adjourn may I have a second please
I'll second all those in favor say I I hi