##VIDEO ID:x19aFJnDAOU## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Welcome to the meeting for the township of Springfield County of union state of New Jersey November 13th 2024 this meeting is being held in accordance with the public laws of 1975 chapter 231 and adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a notice sent to the SAR Ledger the local source and posted in the main lobby of the municipal building and on the township website we're now going to be led by Marty man of American Legion Post 228 in the Pledge of Allegiance All Rise please remain standing for a minute for a moment of silence for soldiers overseas and at home thank you roll call Mayor Weber here Deputy Mayor laer here committee man capes here committee man Kaiser uh committee manuver is absent all right we're going to move right into I'm sorry I keep messing with the mic it's not working right for some reason Proclamation and announcements Springfield residence 55 plus November 2024 calendar is out um every day has been filled up with the exception of Veterans Day which we had a service for but every day is uh there and Christmas U sorry Thanksgiving also you can get a copy of this at the Chism Center or online trying to see if there's any trips or anything planned okay 26 there's a lunch bus trip going to Miller's Ale House in watchong nice yep pick up a copy good stuff to look at the acceptance of the 2024 kids Recreation trust fund Grant in the amount of $40,000 and a $5,000 Greening Union County Grant to expand the number of trees added during planting Seasons want to give special thanks to Adam Lee who is our Recreation director and Keith Decker who's our head Forester for their hard work um to receive these grants and putting uh putting all the information in so we can benefit from that Township tree lighting Town Hall Tuesday December 3rd 2024 from 5:30 to 8:00 rain or snow date is Wednesday December 4th so we are planning on December 3rd 2024 5:30 to 8:00 if it does rain or snow December 4th and if anything happens there we'll let you know but we'll see how that one's going to go Township extends condolences to DPW director of Robert berer his wife Sue and family on the recent passing of Sue's father Dante doou sorry to hear that Township um anything is needed please let us know okay I think that's all we have for announcements elections can I talk about yeah let's talk about elections from last Tuesday the 5th okay it seems like it was a long time ago but it was only last Tuesday so I wanted to thank everyone who helped with the election process the week prior to the elections our Deputy clerk Moren Connell contacted all the pole workers in 15 different districts to make sure they were coming a lot backed out so she had a deal with the U the Board of Elections for Replacements our Administrative Assistant to Mara Vega answered so many calls as to registration mailin ballots polling locations we got more calls and stop in and we've had any year I can remember uh thanks to Dave Walker for the Board of Ed from the board of ed for setting up fmg in sanm and he took my calls on Election Day also Adam Lee and his staff for taking care of the pool and Chism and being in constant touch all day thanks to our new library director Bonnie for accepting the voting voting machines and DPW and Bob Sable for making sure all polling sites or ADA Compliant election morning I was greeted here at 5:45 a.m. by Bob Sable after he had opened the library and checked on the pool we put out he put out a few small fires by 5:30 before the polls opened and he was available all day until after the close polls Moren arrived about 7:30 to answer the calls that started coming in about 6:30 and all the drop-ins that we had during the day and we collected some taxes along the way from people uh Chief cook was in touch throughout the entire day to make sure everything was all right and Sergeant Estes came by in the morning to discuss the location of the polling sites um Moren and I visited the polling sites during the day and met with our master pole worker we had to add more signage at Chism because the polling location was not in the senior room but in the gym Tamara came back about 6:30 to get ready for the close of polls at 7:45 I met Jen law and Ali Miller represent representing both parties at the uh vote by mailbox at Chism we locked that box at 8 I returned to town hall Moren and I again met with the Master Po workers to find out if there were any issues during the day about 8:10 p.m. each district started to roll in Moren and Tamara were very good separating all the polling materials as instructed by the Board of Elections we gave all the necessary material to the sheriff's officer who was assigned to Springfield the county came back came about 9 p.m. to pick up all the supplies and we closed our office 9:20 so there was a lot of work behind the scenes and uh I had a lot of people to help so thank you all especially Bob Moren and Tamara so thank you thank you yeah thank thank you um from my end I I didn't receive any uh calls or complaints on anything we did pretty well most of our calls were between 5:30 and 7:30 8:00 and people where did they vote were they Reg registered to vote did they have a mail in it was that kind of calls but during the day not too many yeah really um yes thank you all for that happy that is out of the way we are going to go to public comment public comment on agenda items only if anybody out there has any public comment on agenda items only on up I don't think I received it no emails received right nope no emails received okay seeing nothing on public condom agenda's items only we're going to move on to reports administrators Report with Mr John bico thank you Mr Mayor hot off the press from New Jersey DOT we were awarded $312,900 for uh diamond and Road they will be done sometime next year that just actually just came in so and I sent you a copy die um we've got the bid opening for the pumps on the 21st for Maran and we'll be back to you guys to with a reso to award it on the 26th because that money has to be encumbered before the end of the year it's been a very busy couple of weeks I want to give you an update we've got the on the website now you can go on and it'll give you a map of how the town is broken down by zones if you look you'll find your street in the zone and you can see approximately when the week is that we will be in that zone to pick up leaves to date if you look I mean I don't have the map with me but we've completed zones one and seven we're currently in 2 four and six we're in we're expected to be in Zone 3 on the 15th on Saturday we have three crews coming in in to go up on the mountain so that'll be clean that that is zone 9 and five and that'll be done over the weekend um the leaves are extremely dry this year which believe it or not is not helping us because we're trying to pick up they're blowing away we're we're having to you know clean them back up again so it's kind of slowing us down we've done a lot of Paving I think as everybody probably is aware Paving projects from PSC and we've completed repaving on Garden noal Green Hill High Point and Vista Way and that was curb line to curb line they've done uh roadside assistance we did repaving Kane and Johanna uh right now we have Christy going we're doing some uh Curbing and cement work on Christie Pit Road we're also doing curbing they're expected to start Paving let me just see where we are on that carbon drainage is being done now Mill and Paving should be done there in the next two to three weeks um currently we're working in Milling is complete on miltown and Smithfield Paving schedule for Thursday and Friday mayor you had asked about bulk pickup for December it is now scheduled for the December 11th and 12th we'll make sure that that's on the website tomorrow tomorrow okay all bulk this should be out by Tuesday December 10th God bless a few other items I went up to the goms project today they now have all of the windows and the storefront on Center Street is completed uh they they've got the ramp finished going into the the parking and they're working on the deck above the parking the next thing is they got to complete the driveway going out actually to calwell and they have told us that they're about 80% complete on the project inside actually so they'll be buttoned up shortly before the weather gets too bad on the outside so that means they should be able to work indoors when the weather turns on them so so they're in very good shape we got a meeting with them actually our monthly meeting is on Friday if anybody has any questions or concerns we're meeting with them on Friday to go over the next 30-day look ahead and where we are Patriot Way Patriot Way which is at the end of church Mall uh they were in the other day to start obtaining their permits they're going to start the foundation shortly uh again I think we we've seen from working with them at Sachs project that they do not drag their feet they will be up and running very shortly I did want to make a comment the Turkey Trot is Thanksgiving it's the same route as last year if anybody wants to know did we post it on the website Linda no but they can call St James okay and it's a St James event all right if anybody you know if anybody needs the route we do have it yes so they can contact us uh let me see if there was anything else I wanted to touch on I think that was all for the moment unless there are any questions oh the D the DPW roof we've got pricing on that will be done this year also that's that has to be done we got a real situation there that has to be addressed I think that's all we had for the past couple of weeks unless anybody has any questions or comments I'd be happy to answer you say Gomes is he uh he's inside sheet rocking and working already yes how complete is he inside he claims he's about 80% I haven't walked through the entire project so I will check on that for you that's what he told us this morning and again we're meeting with him Friday I'll find out for you okay um my my other other comment because you know every year is the Hot Topic number one thank you for the uh the grid the grid answer saves a lot of questions from being answered number two there's 205 streets I think in Union in in Springfield even if we were out there every day at the this point it is the it is the 13th and they have been out there every day since the 1st to give you an idea my Street's not even done yet my street is not done until roughly next Monday Tuesday or Wednesday so and just just so I just want to make something clear and I think everybody can appreciate and they understand you know DPW has a schedule that they're trying to adhere to but we walk in in the morning if we've got a a sewer backup or something else inevitably happens and most of the operators that are operating our heavy equipment are also the guys we need when we have a sewer backup so now we got to stop them and pull them off to go clear a sewer back up so every day something comes up that we just don't plan on it's just the nature of the Beast so believe me we're out there trying to get the leaves picked up as quick as possible we'll continue as I said we're working Saturday Mr betra will make sure that the town is cleaned up and the leaves are are taken care of and to give an idea what do we have 18 full-time employees and we've got yeah we got some part-timers also we have 18 full-time and and a bunch of seasonal yes I think the other thing new one touching on is the leaves stay on the trees much longer than 10 years ago 20 years ago when people were anticipating all leave pickup would be done by November that's not the case anymore they hang on the trees until late November into December and unfortunately as we lose our Seasons seems to be more than that hey it goes right from Summer to almost winter overnight um but we will get them done so that complicates things if you're it does up against then a snowstorm in December you are correct thank you but we will get them done uh had a couple things um was contacted by a resident about putting uh mural um is there anybody I can put them in a street mural is there anybody I can put them in contact with where I don't know no it was yeah have them contact me perfect um and chief I received an email from a resident about the corner of Mountain View and Shunpike being problematic uh is there any way we could take a look at that yeah we all receive that email yeah yeah I think we had addressed that a couple years back they were requesting a mirror and I know the county is you know with the county and it was yeah well shike is yeah County Road um yeah and now and they and the county shot that down it's it puts a lot of liability on you know either us or of County I suppose because you know those things aren't the easiest to see either using the mirrors but no I'd just like to give the guy an answer yeah I mean and the traffic lights added a question too that was approached a couple years back but okay I am baffled why anything why they would turn down anything that would be some kind of help and claim it a liability that is just yeah let I mean we could approach him again and see maybe there's could we different people in place now could we yeah absolutely appreciate it everybody's so scared of getting sued for everything that is just stupid anyway all right um what else you got that's all I got okay um two questions uh do we have an Interfaith service are we doing one this year I not that it is yeah we haven't heard anything we heard anything that's just odd that we wouldn't and then lastly something to give consideration Star Ledger is not in circulation starting what in February of next year do we have an answer or are we starting to contemplate what we're going to do about notices we are we're starting to look into that that issue a Statewide issue for purposes of publishing things what is the option if there if there's no notification through them like what is the other option at that point there is no option there's no other option currently other than doing whatever's whatever you know whatever we think is the best next level of circulation um but we're going to's find out I I expect there'll also be some guidance that comes down from the uh division of local government servicesa um that because it's it affects every municipality every every public entity in the state right there are hundreds okay um all right let's move on to minutes any any what anything else or we're done all right let's move on to minutes please I'll make a motion to adopt the regular meeting minutes of October 88 2024 as emailed second all in favor I I new business ordinances okay for second reading ordinance 20241 17 this ordinance accepts the dedication of the newly relocated Academy green roadway in the township of Springfield pursuant to njsa 40 col 67-1 etac I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance 2024 d17 as read by Madam clerk with publication in the local Source on November 21st 2024 second all right any uh public comment on no public hearing right public on uh ordinance 202 24-17 anybody has anything this is the follow up what we talked about last month this is just continuance of the project that is going on there I think actually the next one two three the next whole four of them yep tied in also all right close public hearing go for a roll call please committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes Mapes yes mayor Weber yes ordinance 20248 this ordinance vacates Academy green a RightWay in the township of Springfield pursuant to njs say 40 colon 67-1 at sec I'll make a motion to adopt ordinance 202 24-18 as read by Madam clerk with publication in the local Source on November 21st 2024 second all right move on to public comment on ordinance 202 24-18 which is tied into 17 seeing none roll call vote committee man Kaiser yes deputy mayor laer yes committee Mapes yes mayor Weber yes ordinance 20249 this ordinance vacates a portion of black slain right away in the township of Springfield pursuing to njsa 40 colon 67-1 at sec I will make a a motion to adopt ordinance 20249 as read by Madam clerk with a publication in the local Source on November 21st 2024 second okay public comment on ordinance 2024-25 20 this ordinance amends the township storm water control regulations in accordance with updated regulations from the New Jersey Department of Environmental protection I will make a motion to adopt ordinance 202 24-20 as read by Madame clerk with publication in the local Source on November 21st 2024 second all right uh public comment on ordinance 20220 seeing none Ral committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes committe M capes yes mayor web yes ordinance 2024 21 this ordinance amends the land use provisions of the Township Code with respect to the waiver of development application fees for qualifying nonprofit organizations I will make a motion to adopt ordinance 2024-25 2024 second okay public hear ing a public uh comment on ordinance 202 24-21 seeing none call committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes committe Mapes yes mayor Weber yes ordinance 20 2422 this ordinance amends the township code to adopt updated regulations governing tree removal and replacement in accordance with guidance from the new Jersey Department of Environmental Protection I will make a motion to adopt ordinance 2024-25 as read by Madam clerk with a Lo with publication in the local Source on November 21st 2024 second he public comment on ordinance 202 24-22 just thank you again to everybody that worked on it I know I drove some people crazy but I think we have a stronger uh uh uh ordinance that's going to honestly in the long run protect our desperately needed tree canopy uh which will hopefully further help us in flooding and in our protection of our environment here locally I I think that was the right thing to do to have it Rewritten a few times I think that uh this protects the residents it protects us it protects the township um the landscape of of the town I think it uh was done well thank you uh roll call please committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer Yes committe Man capes yes mayor Weber yes and for first reading ordinance 20 2423 this ordinance amends the township code to add Provisions prohibiting parking on residential Lawns I will make a motion to adopt ordinance 2024-25 as read by Madam clerk with publication in the local Source on November 21st 2024 with a final hearing scheduled for December 18th 2024 second all right um discussion so we've had some issues with some people flat out parking on the lawn for extended periods of time and um it's just just not the right look I don't I don't know I don't know what else to add to it I uh I thought I think I thought we thought that it was already a thing I think everybody prior to this already thought it was prohibited um and that's at least my feeling on it so I think it's the right move forward it's not a look that we want uh it doesn't have a benefit to I I don't see a benefit of having people Park on on on lawns and honestly it's it's bad you don't know what's underneath that uh with piping and stuff like that uh the only question that I do have and I I we have some time to figure it out if it's the case uh individuals uh uh in regards to uh uh the golf tournament especially the men's rent out their lawns and I think that's something that we should continue to permit uh uh because that would be there's still too many people that are coming to town I think that's 27 is the next one I think it's 29 29 got a little bit of time I need to be reelected one more time to to preside over it but uh uh uh we got some time but that would be something that hey I I I would like to see it you know and I wouldn't hold hold this up today but definitely something to see a carve out uh in relation to that is there Craig is there an easy way to suspend it for a given period of time well like when the tournament is on we've done so there there there may be more than one type of Regulation wants to suspend for that dur those those time periods and I think we did that with respect to some elements of the Township Code one of the previous events so that can be done uh and if it's if it relates to multiple regulations we were going to do it through an ordinance you know an ordinance that temporarily suspends certain provisions of the township code during a certain period of time because these are adopted by ordinance any any type of suspension would also by it can be done if the township committee wants to do so uh yeah file this one with the uh ice cream truck ordinance that was supposedly in effect since 1970 you know people you have you have to understand something if anybody's watching there were certain things that uh I guess Common Sense would say Hey listen there has to be an ordinance against this or there has to be some kind of uh prohibition by the township that had been done previously this is not been done previously we now have a uh no parking on residential Lawns ordinance um same as we you know the ice cream truck thing was legend for 40 years until 5 years ago I think we started digging into it and we found out there was no ice cream truck ordinance so um and we wouldn't have done this if there hadn't been something to prompt us to do it so I for one Am pro ice cream truck for the record taking a hard stance there stay stay with the driveway situation um yeah so thank you for this one um let's go to if there's no other discussion by anybody nope all right let's go to roll call then committee M Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes committee Mapes yes mayor Weber yes and for first reading ordinance 202 2424 this ordinance amends chapter 4 General licensing of the township code to create a business insurance registry in accordance with PL 2022 c92 I'll make a motion to to adopt ordinance 202 24-24 as read by Madam clerk with publication in the local Source on November 21st 2024 with a final hearing on December 18th 2024 second um Craig before we discuss this can we get clarity on this thing and and tell us exactly what's Happening Here sure uh this is this is actually something that we that we kind of was brought around about two years ago um when the new statute U was enacted and this so this is this is a requirement of all municipalities in the state of New Jersey um this is not a anything that we have any choice but to do um this requires businesses which is defined in the ordinance as for-profit entities um to provide proof that they're insured at a certain level on an annual basis there's a there's a fee for it there's an annual renewal as well um the I believe it's I think it's January 15th I'm correct yeah January 15th is the timeline for um for registering so the law is already in effect um but this codifies it here within the township and provides a basis for um the annual registration fee which is to cover the clerk's office efforts and resources to to handle it that's that's it in a nutshell this is this is Statewide every single municipality yes is following this at this point that is correct mayor any discussions from anybody it was a great bill I helped write it it was excellent that that taking people's hardworking money away from them to protect consumers anti business got something for me no no no oh okay um all right if there's no other discussion let's go on to roll call please committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes committee man capes yes mayor Weber yes resolutions we are going to uh approve them by consent agenda I will read through them if anybody wants anything pulled just let me know and uh here we go resolution 2024 d251 2024 d252 2024 d253 2024 d254 2024 d255 2024 d256 2024 d257 202 24- 258 20 24- 259 that's it Mr Mayor I would like to move for approval through consent agenda resolutions 2024 251 through 20242 59 [Music] second roll call uh committee man capes yes committee man Kaiser yes Deputy Mayor laer yes mayor Weber yes okay we'll go on to discussion and action items um I will make a motion to uh open up for discussion the ability of Springfield Unity project known as Su which requests to hold a duali c celebration at the Chisum community center on Sunday November 17th 2024 the hold harmless agreement and insurance certificate was attached second I have a question before we go okay Captain mron are there fireworks going on with this thing or do you what is what's happening with this I'm happy you calling me for this I actually wanted to bring this up and speak about this thank you um as everyone can see traveling on the state highways right now there is signs broadcasted everywhere throughout New Jersey saying fire restrictions are in effect and to contact your local Fire official to give you a little bit of insight in the community right now we are in a stage three fire restriction and in the 20 years plus that I've been involved with the fire department I have never seen it this bad for wildfires in New Jersey uh stage three fire restriction it basically means um they're putting it in place because of a prolonged dry weather condition and a increasing Wildfire throughout New Jersey this prohibits everything that has to do with recreational fires or fireworks except for elevated stoves that have propane natural gas or electricity there's no charcoals allowed there's no natural wood stoves in the backyard allowed anymore these fires are really no joke right now um they take off quickly they travel at a rapid speed um we we've been dealing with several of them in town uh especially on the highways where they where they ignite from from 18 wheelers a lot with their breaks and um you know we'll pull up to hundreds of feet of brush on fire within seconds right now they're battling a major fire in West Milford that we were part of this week they called for a Statewide Mutual Aid response they came all the way down to exex county Union County we sent some of our members up there to assist them for 10 hours there's 3,000 Acres burning when we were up there they watched these fires burn out of control the New Jersey State Fire R service has a good containment on it however it is still burning um when I say good containment right now it's 25 to 30% contained that's good from what they had a couple days ago at 10% at this time it's it's running so rampid that they stopped any suppression activities with water it is strictly back burning creating fire lines and waiting for this to burn out this stage of um restrictions are going to be in place for some time because the state of New Jersey wants to have a long long term saturation process so a a drizzle or a rain for a couple minutes is not going to affect this in any way they want a they want a serious saturation of the ground before they pull this restriction up so you'll see a post at the firehouse we've got several calls on it cuz people driving these interstates see it they call us right now there's no fires no fireworks allowed unless it's an elevated stove or um fire pit that's burning with natural gas uh propane or electricity going going back to the event though yeah there's not planning to be fireworks at the event right yeah so I I I got a um an inquiry regarding fireworks for duali not this particular celebration uh this was before the Restriction was in place we explained to the person who called exactly what they were allowed to do that we reached back out to them once the Restriction was in place and told it's prohibited so I have not received any type of notific of any fireworks or ground displays at this event at the Chism Center if you have any information about the person who is requesting the application I can reach out to them tomorrow and get further details and give them inform call tomorrow Mike yeah I'll call Adam just to be sure because absolutely you and I call them tomorrow yeah um and while we're at this uh and I know I hate to just continue because I know we're on one thing right now but to add on to you parking your cars on top of leaf piles same thing right you know that ties into we know there's leaves all over the streets right now you know everybody used should just run them over and just park on top of them you can't do it right now can't park on The Lawns same thing you know anything that's dry like that I I'm seeing pictures of 280 and and all these other places looks like something that's not from Jersey you know we had one you were actually fighting one behind Wawa yeah a week ago yeah and that fire that fire behind Wawa that was on Route 24 it it probably quadrupled in size in 30 seconds and by the time we got up there you know we were getting reports of the WWA on fire because the Embers were blowing across onto their roof so you know it goes quickly and and with the vehicles parking on the leaves you know with the muffler uh being so hot the cataly converter and also with the brakes it ignites quickly so yeah parking our leaves we uh stay away from okay um all right so we can move on with that one then all right um all in favor I I I um all right we'll discuss next uh accept the donation by the Springfield New Jersey baseball league of an approximate $144,000 for a new score scoreboard at Rosner field in Irwin Park the photo was attached for everybody to see second okay that's a roll call uh committee M Kaiser good thing yes Deputy Mayor laer I just missed when it was called the sjb but yes committee M cities yes mayor Weber yes and thank you very much to the Springfield New Jersey baseball league what was it formerly it was the sjb that's I remember okay but thank you for that uh I'm looking at the picture of it looks so much better nice yeah it's nice I don't know who's running up a score of 38 to 17 in a baseball game uh our Township attorney uh who is uh I believe a Phillies fan and and myself Yankee I think we're all Yankees up here made a derogatory comment we are certainly not all Yankees fans up here that fan so let's just keep that going all right thank you to St Springfield New Jersey baseball league appreciate it very much um stuff like that you know means a ton to the kids to go out there and play and actually see a working scoreboard all right last discussion items um we are discussing nroy Hills of Springfield Condominium Association which is requesting to hold an association meeting at the Chisum community center on Monday December 2nd 2024 from 4: to 10 p.m. from 5 5 to 10: p.m. second that is one long meeting all in favor I I move on to finance and pay some bills uh I will make a mo I've done a lot of speaking I like this um I will make a motion to adopt the payrolling invoices from the period of October 23rd 2024 through November 13th 2024 in the amount of 2,546 ,7 $757 second minman Kaiser yesy mayor laer yes cap yes mayor Weber yes correspondence we have from the town of Westfield General ordinance 2024 d24 Redevelopment plan that's all the correspondence we're going to now move into public comment on any governmental issue anybody at all any comment on public uh any public comment on any governmental issue come on up and Mike is yours just when you walk up uh state your name and your address Jeffrey CH 47 Shelly Road 11 Green Hill Road as you know we were congr rations against the mayor and uh Kaiser uh so you know we just want to say a couple things we walked almost every street in town we wanted to bring to your attention what people have told us around town so maybe can help work on that because we're all really here for what the best of the town so we want to just make sure that you're aware of what we are aware of of ringing so many doorbells we went to Lally about 2,000 houses so we did uh we did campaign quite bit we want to make sure that the committee is aware of what some of the uh concerns are that maybe you're not familiar with um no I think you're pretty familiar with I mean they're still complaining about blooding obviously blooding is I don't know you know what I mean we had Milburn Avenue Laur so I don't know if any anything new I saw that the pumping station you got a grant for which was great that that's going to be upgraded on Joanna way Jo Jo great so I mean if any other updates of if you could give some correspondence and have some transparency with the public it it would help because everybody gets upset when it starts one of the ideas was could they dig that whole Mel Avenue the Basin deeper that's something I mean that's beyond the town but working with the county the other essics and Union County state federal government I think I think we looked at that we we tried that one some people been there 30 40 50 years some people just moved in and were like oh wow you know we we we even went and surveyed the the because here was my concern last year I was concerned the sediment had gone and actually let's just say 40 years ago that Basin was dug six feet the concern was that now it's 5 feet from the sediment Engineers went out and looked at it it is the proper um whatever designed to be but right it's a proper death but we we thought the same thing like can we get them in there and maybe dig it deeper so yeah cuz people that are living in that area you know some of them are only living there a few weeks few months like I just moved in already getting water issues y this is like out over the summer we had a wet very wet spring can I make a comment on that because we we did look at that what happens is when that Basin fills up it goes to the river once the river surges the water's got nowhere to go so you have to kind of unfortunately wait till the river goes down so the water then can feed back into it no matter you know if we if we had it deeper yes it could hold more but it's just not going to go anywhere I mean that's the problem we run into everywhere you know Duffy's corner is the same way the back of the lot floods because van Wiles Creek SE charges the water comes back in instead of going out so it's an issue all over that we have you're 100% right I just wish we had a magic wand to fix it it's from from from the the people who have been here forever it all seems to have started when 78 was was done that's what it all the general consensus is of of when we see speak to anybody who's been here 378 that's what it seems to have happened is that they you know and uh Mar the project people talk about I said to people look we have one main main road here it's Mar Avenue Mountain other towns have multiple downtown streets but people are just mad that it's been sitting there for it's it's slowly moving but it's been such a long cross milour Avenue saxs project they're doing down Church Mall seems like much more rapid than old Williams Nursery on the way to Westfield across from Lake Park is you drive by one week you drive by the next week you can't recognize it's the same place they're rapidly moving so people are just that in town they want to see that what can they do in the downtown I went to stores on the downtown over the summer and they said we want to do outdoor dining we get the power wash the sidewalks the sidewalk probably a landlord issue but maybe working with the landlord some proactive so that because the businesses are like nobody comes to our business the parking isn't you know unfortunately it's not adequate in town because the town is very old and by the stuff was put together before the rest of the town was developed but the but the the business owners are because they're not they're coming in and they're not lasting and they want they also complain about that we're not that much of a community anymore they feel like we're a silo of of people you know what I mean different cultures and religions and want to do more things that bring the community together more fairs maybe more you know promote the businesses and try to get more people to get fair in the car show that seemed like it was a popular thing and the out the the even night out of the towns even though it was rescheduled that seemed like it was you know was popular for people because they want to do something with their kids went to a lot of houses with a lot of we had a lot of seniors middle age we had a lot of people with kids and they want they want to fill that Community I mean they Springfield is like a perfect spot for everything but then when they move in they're like hey we don't we're missing out on certain things Mr may just a anybody who wants outdoor dining can come to us and get a permit for it as long as it's safe and somebody can't get hurt we don't have a problem so that that's in place we have an Oran in place for that right and then a lot of people with the spending because the tax went up a lot of new you know the police department driving around for explorers other people that driving around a tahos you know that are almost brand new and C they take them home and people are saying bringing this to our attention like I don't live on these streets but it seems like there's a b a misbalance of spending and there's a lot of new vehicles being purchased maybe not for the right department or for people that are taking cars home from what I was told and that um you know and they're driving big trucks that the cost of taxpayer wall yeah that's pretty much it and uh one other thing was um a couple people asked about jcpnl is there any any uh shortterm longterm about infrastructure because when we got a bad storm I've seen a lot of generators of people's homes that are you know the the mounted ones outside that the infrastructure here in town is is ancient so um the power's always going out it's been better I'll tell you what the people raised hell here because they gave these trees screw Cuts you know and and gave them really weird looking canopies three four years ago we haven't had a major outage that's lasted more than a few hours I mean we we we've been out for two weeks so previously yep the what's going to be a park on Mountain Avenue down the road so I'd like to propose this to the township committee and c and I spoke about this and we thought this was a I thought it was a fantastic idea was how they going to name it and maybe go to the schools and the township residents and let it become like a history learning where they can learn about the town and maybe name the park after something historical in the town so you go back to the Revolutionary War okay I actually think that's it is it is well you know what because I'm I'm it's I've got a quite a few things I'm trying to process what you guys are telling me but I'm also trying to process what I want to say to you at the same time first thing I got to say thank you you guys ran a compared to what we've seen the disasters we've seen you were I think we were all four of us were respectable to each other nobody got into each other's you you stayed focused on what you want to do we stay focused on what we want to do that was a relief because nobody in this Township wins and we saw each other on the the trail we all said hi can yeah we all want the best thing for the town I spoke to you in front of my house for for 35 40 minutes all right and and I even gave you my advice on on how to you know what you should do and and so on so so number one I want to thank you for that number two um I would really love to sit down with you guys and figure out where to plug you in if you're interested into something because at this point now town it's not about about getting the community and getting us to the next level right and you know from from my perspective it's hard to sit down and plug somebody in when somebody's been chipping away at you all year long and and and chipping and chipping and chipping by the time November came around I don't even want to hear from them no matter what their intentions were you guys us I think we showed everybody how it should be done and I would like to continue to work with you guys and we'd like to find a place to kind of put you into something good so thank you thank very thank you can I just comment on yes please something there um so in reference to the vehicles um the the public concern you keep going keep um just so it's known I me this has been talked about number of times in the past um take-home vehicles are for persons like myself respond 24/7 365 and we need certain equipment so we have vehicles um as part of our job I mean the phone rings at 3:00 in the morning I have to respond to work so that's anyone with a take-home vehicle is a 247 um personnel and that you know that's with police and fire uh vehicles that we purchase we get the cheapest price um through um the deals Co-op Co-op deals uh we're not allowed we have to follow certain procedures so we we're not just spending randomly um we're very efficient about how we spend the money and a lot of the money um I use for vehicles through forfeiture funds to avoid having to put that burden on on the town um and if you see the lot across the street there's a lot of vehicles um most them or out of service Vehicles which means we don't use them for patrol response anymore they're not reliable but we do use them for the numerous outside jobs that we have road construction Etc where I can sell a vehicle for $1,500 on gov deals but that same vehicle can make me $10,000 in a year so all those Vehicles over there are bringing in a lot of money for the township um just to have that explained I don't want to think where we're just running rampant with vehicles and and buying what we want um we are very cautious about it so thank you I just want to comment on the chief say had nothing to do with the police and the fire what it was was the um construction Department there's a lot of new little white SUVs out there in the last few years and people were like hey we see all these part-time a lot of these guys are parttime a lot of the workers are parttime and we see a lot of these vehicles out there like do we really need all those new vehicles so it was more of the other departments not the police fire and the first aid Squad those are that people get it was some of these other departments that are run on a lot of part-timers and there's a lot of these vehicles that are out there so and those those Vehicles they looks like they do more sitting than moving and do they need all that amount of vehicles new vehicles that's what we were walking around town that's what people are telling us they see their taxes being spent they have questions so that's why we voice it but it's not the police that's why I said the police department is driving Ford Explorers and then you got these other departments that are driving much larger Vehicles so that the police department to me you know they should get the bigger vehicle or the fire department should get the bigger vehicle because they're 24/7 that that's what we were trying to we we didn't um explain it good enough oh we I didn't take it personal I just wanted to explain no was the police of the fire and the and the first state Squad it was more about these other departments that don't run as much people and they don't need as as new vehicle like we get it that the uh the vehicles take a beating over over the course of their short Lifetime and so you need more vehicles but some of these other vehicles don't get as much use can I comment on the build please yep so so we bought those little Fords they were the cheapest vehicle I think we could get there are I think four of them but those are used by all of the inspectors during the day our tree inspector our plumbing inspector electrical inspector they have to go out for permitting they have to have a vehicle nobody takes any one of them home they're always in the parking lot yeah well I mean that's we're just kind of voicing what we walk around town so and you know I'm just going to throw one more comment and and I'm going to chalk that up to nobody thank thank you guys for being here for last year I'm serious I appreciate nobody else shows up anybody who wants to chirp online I'm going try to keep my mouth shut for right now but you know what they chirp online they have no idea what's going on or with certain stuff these guys are driving around in Ford Escapes yeah white ones together 20 $21,000 each or something also those four those three vehicles were purchased after Ida came through and destroyed our several cars so they were just replacement cars yeah that's why I spoke up yeah yeah yeah no it they all got they all had gotten they all got flooded flooded yeah replacement and it was during 2020 those were the cheapest and they were actually a good deal 21 2 it was during the when cars were limited yeah that's when had chip issues when we couldn't get cars yeah and I I think the one vehicle you're you're referring to probably is our DPW director which has got the black might have been a might be a Tahoe but again Mr beter is on call 247 we have a sewer backup he runs out and it's got to be there so it's got equipment in it and that type of stuff so we always tell the people why don't you come to the town hall meeting bring all these doorbells I felt like we were at the door and there L all the problem of voice out so everybody we should also discuss how old Mr B's car was when we replaced that one so we're expecting a good 20 years well you know in all fairness he he's head of DPW he should be driving around in a tank at this point because when the trees are down the storm is gone and everything had he's he's got to be around and I appreciate you guys being a Le liaison I really I do and would love to keep it coming that's why love to plug you guys into meeting but if you know if you come it's better then if we come and then it goes on YouTube or on a video you can watch from home but you got to come to the meetings it makes a difference but I've said this a dozen times I'm here every day my office is always open if somebody's got a question you're welcome to come in we'll explain show you anything that you need yeah don't hesitate voice it for them and they want to hear about it they can come so thanks thank you thank you Mr trade all right next public comment anybody else we got another one uh upo 220 shum bike Road um but actually on behalf of OEM just two quick things um we're hopeful for rain but we're also worried about flooding from the rain because the the ground is so dry and second hopefully everybody got the message that njd New Jersey American Water have call for water restrictions because of how dry it is so just want to add that into the previous no showers tomorrow I will do as little work as possible to stay as clean as possible there'll be no working out anymore um yes so in case anybody wasn't able to hear that there is water there are water rest restrictions um across the state right now uh I don't think anybody's exempt from that at this point any other public comment on any governmental issue seeing none I'm going to close public comment any comment up here from anybody on anything um right hold on oh go ahead go ahead Mr hold on I'm with you reserve my time um no I I you know it it's been a long time six years already and it was you know once again has always been an honor and a privilege uh to get reelected to a third term um with considerably Mr with mayor our best turn out so far yeah this was a busy election so uh uh I think that shows uh and proves uh uh to the incredible work of not us but the work of everybody that works in town hall uh uh who carries out a pretty important Mission every single day to not only keep us safe uh uh the other employees that are tasked with making sure things like the sore is working and garbage is picked up that we all take for granted sometimes but are expected of of a functioning government uh to the hardworking administrator and CFO and clerk who keep us informed but also do their best every single day to make sure that we aren't spending willy-nilly and trust us I think we all up here understand that sometimes uh some individuals want to spend money and Dian always puts the kabash on stuff so I think we uh sometimes that doesn't get recognized enough but all your guys work is recognized by keeping this administ ation going forward because the teamwork up here truly proves it and I think our victories uh this year caps it but it's an honor and a privilege every single day to represent the town that I've been born and raised in grew up here and and living here and hey it's another 3 years and I look forward to keeping to work hard so thank you perfect um that said executive session make motion I'll make a motion so moved whereas article six of the open public meeting act provides that a public body May hold a closed session and whereas Township committee will will during this meeting enter into discussion of the following matters attorney client privilege and contract negotiation Library attorney client privilege and Personnel whereas matters to be discussed in close session are to remain in the strictest of confidence by all Township committee members in furtherance of their fiduciary duties to the township now therefore be it resolved matters discussed at this meeting will be released to the public when reason motion so moved second than you all in favor I I no action afterwards right no action all right we're going to take a recess for executive e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e l for