app and Tanya Bansomemer from the center of prevention will be here to accept I know Tanya is here Is Elise here as well we got a whole no Elise but a whole group of people come on up Students and deputy
director space will be reading the proclamation Thank you guys for coming You guys going to do a speech after you're done whereas tobacco is still the number one leading cause of preventable deaths in the US and across the globe And whereas the tobacco industry markets a wide
range of addictive and dangerous products that has resulted in the increase in youth ecigarette use Whereas youth tobacco rates are at a 20-year high in the US due to the worsening youth ecigarette epidemic reversing the progress that have been made towards
reducing tobacco use And whereas Take Down Tobacco is the campaign for tobaccof free kids signature platform for empowering people to stand up and speak out against the tobacco industry's tactics to deceive youth Whereas the take down Tobacco National Day of Action
is a day of activism where communities across the world world rally together against the tobacco industry reflecting on how far they have come and how far they still need to go to create the first tobaccof free generation Now therefore be it resolved that the Sussex
County Board of County Commissioners does hereby proclaim April 1st 2025 is take down Tobacco National Day of Action and together with the center for prevention and counseling Tobaccof free for a healthy New Jersey and
incorruptible US recognizes that tobacco products including ecigarettes contain nicotine and other harmful substances that can cause lasting health effects And be it further resolved that the board of county commissioners encourages all Sussex County residents to unite in
raising awareness about tobacco use in their community and encouraging all youth to stay tobaccof free by order of the county commissioners Chris Carney commissioner director Jill Space Deputy Director Jack group commissioner William Hayden commissioner and Alan Henderson
commissioner a few words Hi I'm Justice and we do a lot in our school to prevent teens from using substances that they shouldn't be and we've helped a lot of kids so far
Hi I'm Marissa and we would just like to say thank you for accepting our proclamation I'm Jillian and we just really appreciate the recognition because we really do a lot and it's
really we just want to say thank you from Incorruptible US We are really helping our school and our community Thank you for this proclamation Thank you for what you guys do I was looking for you
Congratulations guys Thank you Okay number seven's public hearing There is none Um before we hit number eight which is a public session from the floor on agenda topics this will go for this um public comment and the one next our
next public session that is not agenda topics but I feel like at our last meeting people didn't quite understand what the commissioners do So this is a statement on behalf of all the commissioners We collaboratively put this together uh as a whole So I want to read this to you so maybe some people
understand what we do here at the county Um the commissioners are the legislative body of Sussex County We are responsible for adopting a budget and approving the spending of funds accordingly We also set policies for the operations of the county's four main departments Department of Central and Shared
Services Department of Engineering and Planning Department of Finance and Library Services and a Department of Health and Human Services plus 12 divisions and a number of boards commissions authorities and committees Members of the board also serve on boards of school estimate for the Sussex County Technical School and
the Sussex County Community College County government also addresses such regional issues as strategic growth solid waste disposal water quality the maintenance of county roads and bridges farmland preservation in open space in the cal county library system As a board
we are always diligently monitoring all changes at the federal level that could impact Sussex County That being said I would like to get uh well let me read the public session first Uh this public session is for those wishing to make a comment of three minutes or less regarding agenda
topics only Please line up at the microphone state your name municipality and agenda topic for the record Make a motion to open the floor for public comment Commissioner Hayden second Second Commissioner Henderson Any discussion all in favor say I I Oppose Abstain The
floor is open Agenda topics only please Good evening Ken Collins from Andover Township Um here to talk about the budget Um I've been coming here year after year since before the turn of the century actually
um trying to impress upon the people that sit up there uh your predecessors and now you that what the county needs is to figure out how to reduce the property tax burden for the property
taxpayer for the homeowners Okay and I never see it happening And uh whatever budget you're going to present here tonight that's great That's wonderful I know you worked hard at it Thank you for working hard at it and trying to keep the numbers down but I'm sure there's another tax increase in there for the
property tax own for the homeowners Um and that's not what we need Year after year after year after year the taxes go up My property taxes since I bought my house before the turn of the century have more than doubled Okay and I'm sure if if you've been here that long yours
probably have too And it's absurd And what we need is for you guys to figure out how to bring that burden down You need to bring more business in get more ratables in that and so you can reduce the burden on the average homeowner on the the working man here in this county
and show that you care You know I've been trying to get you guys to show that you care for over 25 years and and year after year the taxes just go up and you just raise our taxes and you present a budget and you oh I kept it underneath a raise of x amount Well nobody really cares because you're raising our taxes
You They need to go down You need to figure out how to spend less money You got appropriations in here We're going to spend I don't know how many millions of dollars tonight on equipment and whatever You know you need to figure out how to bring those numbers down and spend less money this county like I said last time I was here maybe you should
consider figuring out how to uh create some sort of a council that's similar to Doge that can cut the fat out of the county government and figure out how to get raidables in here and figure out how to get businesses to come into this county and stay and pay some taxes so
that the people here don't have such a high burden because they're all moving out year after year the people who live here are moving out and selling their houses and it's all because of this tax burden and you guys are the ones who have to do something about it There's nobody else nobody else except the
people in Trenton and you know a bunch of them that can do something about it and it's up to you guys You're the bottom line and the budget tonight is the bottom line If you don't start bringing this budget down instead of increasing it year after year you're just going to keep on increasing our
taxes and all these people need lower property taxes Thanks Thank you director Can I comment please you sure can Thank you I usually don't like to comment during but I do agree our taxes need to come down and um most
of our taxes come from our school taxes which most of us know here So we don't have control over that And the county tax rate what is the county tax rate Ela ela Yes So we that's all we can control And honestly we could have cut your taxes We
I mean we could cut just the county portion but we would be cutting back services And I'm pretty sure that the majority of people in this room don't want to see us cut the services cut the services to the seniors We could have cut tech Sussex Tech and said "Sorry you guys are on your own." But we didn't We
increased them by 8 85% because we're not going to take it from our children that they don't deserve to suffer So that's what I want to say And as for economic development I 100% agree with you and I sit on the econ economic development partnership committee and we are trying to bring
positive ratables into Sussex County So thank you Um Mary Turk Wanage Township I was uh commented at the last meeting on the telecommuting policy and I just want to reiterate and make a comment again Employees choose to work at for
the county not for financial advancement but for the promise of work life balance and improved quality of life and meaningful career opportunities This balance is critical to retaining dedicated employees who are committed to public service As
teleworking has been eliminated or will be so this evening we request the board consider implementing alternative options for flexible hours for 10-hour days nine ninehour days summer hours etc Flexible schedules enhance productivity
and job morale and may even attract a broader talent pool for employment It can also reduce operating costs to the county In the end it is about the county maintaining a workforce that feels valued engaged and motivated to serve
the community effectively Thank you Thank you Hello Amanda Norman Wish Township I'm also here to speak about telecommute policy Uh I'm here to respectfully express my concern regarding the removal of the telecommute policy While I
understand the reasons behind this decision I strongly believe that telecommuting should continue as an option for employees due to the significant benefits it offers both to individuals and the organization as a whole First telecommuting fosters a flexible work environment allowing employees to balance their professional
and personal lives more effectively This flexibility can result in increased increased job satisfaction higher employee morale and a better retention rate Many employees find that working remotely reduces stress and eliminates time and costs associated with commuting
which contributes to a more focused and productive workday Furthermore it allows employees to work in an environment where they feel most comfortable which can enhance their overall performance and creativity Additionally if the goal is to optimize work schedules without offering telecommuting I suggest
considering alternatives such as adopting a 4day work week where employees would work four 10-hour days instead of five eight hour days The schedule not only provides an extended weekend for personal time or rest but it can also lead to greater efficiency and focus during work hours as employees
tend to maximize productivity knowing they have fewer days to accomplish tasks This type of arrangement could provide similar benefits to telecommuting while addressing the organi organization's goal of maintaining operational efficiency This type of arrangement could provide similar benefits to
telecommuting while addressing the county's goal of maintaining operational efficiency Telecommuting and flexible schedules can reduce burnout improve employee well-being and enhance long-term organization performance I urge you to reconsider removing the
telecomute policy and to explore these non-monetary benefits as viable alternatives that can benefit both employee and the county Thank you for considering my thoughts I just have a question for you just to clarify Teleworking or telecommuting telecommuting telecommuting Telework
Telecommuting Commuting So what is that compared to telework it's essentially the same I So I work in engineering and my department were allowed to telecommute So I'd essentially perform I just never heard it that way That's why I was I just wanted to make sure it was the same I just never heard of telecomute I thought it was tele work
Okay Essentially this understood Good enough Thank you Thank you Hi everybody My name is Andrea Englema from the township of Andover Uh I'm here also regarding resolution C establishing amendments to various policies set forth
in the Sussex County employee handbook regarding the elimination of the current telework policy Thank you for allowing me to address this issue You requested our support at the polls during election year Now we are requesting your support regarding the telework policy I have
personally spoken to so many employees who are fearful to voice their desire for teleawwork to the Sussex County Commissioners but they should not be afraid You are voted into these five seats by the residents of the county because we have found you to be fair
honest and passionate about this county and value its employees View you not as adversaries but rather as allies who will be open and willing to hear our request for a fair new telework policy across all Sussex County departments A
policy that will above all decrease the financial liabilities for the county and save the county money Also Lawward policy option would help attract and retain muchneeded staff to a department that is very understaffed Hearing an office is understaffed may
initially translate as money saved for the county However this has resulted in significant employee burnout due to a triple or even quadrupled workload resulting in decreased employee retention To put this into perspective in the last year we have lost at least
five employees and gained only one County of Sussex is one of the lowest paying counties in New Jersey A telework option is an incentive for current employees to remain employed here rather than looking elsewhere to more flexible options Although many other county
employees could not be present tonight they have written letters to express the benefits of the telework policy um from their personal experience and I would like to ask if you would consider you know allowing me to pass these letters to you as well as a proposal One minute
I have drafted um just regarding the benefits of the telework policy Sure You could just hand them to Christina and she could pass them down if that's easier Okay Thank you And I hope your time and consideration Thank you Anyone else
all right Seeing no one can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment commissioner Hayne Commissioner G seconds Any discussion all in favor say I I Oppos staying carries All right Number nine commissioner's comments We'll start with Commissioner Henderson
Okay Just a couple of things on my agenda for you is on March 14th I had the privilege of judging 4 presentations at Frankfurt School Being a guy that went from four from nine to 19 in 4 I mean nobody wanted to get up and public
speak in front of a group My parents drugged me there too so I'll give a kids a lot of credit for doing it It was a great experience Commissioner Drew also was there as well On March 18th a deputy director space and I did a tour of the Sussex County 911 operations center and
office emergency management I can tell you as former law enforcement I'm very impressed by the equipment the county has in case of any emergency We then followed that up with the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office where the prosecutor gave us a tour See's here tonight in the audience I'd like to thank you for our
tour of your facility Uh it was great to speak with the employees there and tour their offices as well I feel the county is very well equipped with equipment and staff to handle any emergency between the two departments On March 20th I attended Sussex County Votch Board
meeting where it was announced that three teachers will be retiring at the end of the school year This does not appear to be affecting any of their programs going on in the 2025 June school year On March 21st I attended a retirement party for a gentleman here that was in
charge of retentions and record Dan Frerieded At the opportunity to meet him during my orientation here when I first started as commissioner uh I think he's going to be greatly missed by the county And believe me if you sat in the audience that day the man is hysterical He should go on to be a stand-up
comedian On March 21st I met with Commissioner Carney County Administrator Ron Tapen Christina Marx and head of facilities Keith Nelson regarding the former jail uh deciding whether to sell it or do
renovations to it I look forward to continuing that conversation at future meetings Today I attended the my first Sussex County Board of Estimate meeting along with Commissioner Carney and Space followed by the Sussex County Vocational Board of Estimate meeting followed at
5:00 by the SEC board meeting back to here tonight where I sit here tonight and tomorrow night I will be attending my first open space meeting Uh I have sat on that board in the past in Lafayette for a number of years and that's all I have Perfect Thank you
Commissioner Commissioner Hayden all I have is I'm working with Christina on getting some links up in the farming the agriculture Some farmers came to me with some questions and there's some information out there that they could use I think we can put up on the website for links So I'm working on getting that done right now Good You done
Commissioner Degroup thank you Commissioner Yes Uh so starting off with Sussex County Seed Library Uh on March 12th uh the Division of Senior Services hosted its first educational session at Newton Liberty Towers with 19 seniors in attendance Led by Sussex County's
Ruckers Master Gardeners and our very own senior services staff uh the event was a tremendous success Uh participants not only received seeds from the county seed library but also engaged in hands-on planting demonstrations learning how to start seeds in containers and transplant them for a
thriving garden Uh special thank you to Rucker Master Gardeners for their valuable contribution for the educational initiative as well as our valued senior services workers Uh building upon this success uh we have more additional educational sessions planned including April 9th from 10:00
a.m to 11:30 a.m Vernon Senior Center Uh April 21st 2:30 to 4 p.m at Hopackon Senior Center Uh if interested in attending please register by calling 973-579055 extension1225 or email king at
sussex.nj us Uh in addition uh as now liaison to the libraries uh I wanted to waste no time in connecting with our beloved Sussex County libraries Uh a very special thank you to assistant library director Ellen who is here tonight uh for being so gracious and
great in taking me on tours uh to Franklin Library and Lewis uh child's library in Stanh Hope Uh it was really wonderful to meet staff and learn more about all the service and educational programs uh libraries offer outside of just traditional B books Uh for example
the printing services It's tax season I mean people I literally saw someone come in and ask for tax forms that they could print um the library of things which is a great program computer and internet access Uh these are just a few things that are you know tremendous that these libraries offer Uh I look forward to
continuing my tours uh visiting Dorothy Henry Wage and uh of course the Dennis Library in the coming weeks Uh furthermore as leaison I attended a board of taxation meeting uh last Wednesday uh where I participated in insightful discussion um with the board
and uh municipal tax uh planners who provided valuable perspectives on just the current economic climate here in Sussex County Uh the meeting also covered preliminary 2025 equalization tables for Sussex County municipalities and included discussion on advancing upgrades to the tax board's meeting room
in the Cochran building um specifically just the audio recording system to enhance accessibility and transparity Uh aside from this some recent events in community engagement As mentioned I had the pleasure of uh engaging with the community uh first uh with Commissioner
Henderson at the 4 uh public presentation judging at Frankfurt Township School uh we weren't in the same room so I know we you know experienced different things but I couldn't uh you know have learned more about pigeon racing uh culinary baking cookies um you know the kids are really
great and just as Commissioner Henderson said uh public presentation is uh you know so valuable uh I do it you know in this capacity and it really just came from doing public presentations uh since I was like eight or nine 10 years old So uh really great to give back there Uh
additionally Commissioner Space and I had the opportunity to tour Jenny's house right across the street this past Monday Uh very valuable uh you know learning about all the services they provide to the community and the impact that they have Uh thank you Commissioner Space for um bringing me along Uh
finally as mentioned right before this meeting tonight myself and Commissioner Henderson attended Sussex County Community College Board of Trustee meeting Uh just a major highlight that I thought was very important to share was that the community college uh com uh performed a mid-semester survey uh
amongst SEC students and what was found the greatest uh statistic was that 35% more of students feel they are supported and cared for than they did a year ago this last year So uh the community college you know that's a testament to the direction that they're headed and
the great work that really they are doing Uh finally just uh ending with the community college this Saturday there will be an agricultural mini conference from 9 to 12 This event will be um include uh educational sessions networking for uh farmers as well as uh
you know individuals passionate about gardening and sustainability So feel free to stop in Uh that's all Thank you and God bless Thank you Commissioner G I just want to thank you too for stepping up um and taking over the library I know in the past couple years we've had complaints that the haven't always been
there So thank you for doing that I know we had a change kind of late in the year not really late but March And one of those reasons being is because we needed somebody like yourself to step up So thank you so much for that Deputy Director Space Well it's been another busy two weeks and I'm a
little repetitious going after the other two On March 18th Commissioner Henderson and I met with Sussex County Sheriff Mike Strada We toured OEM and the 911 communication center We toured the pole barn and saw all the equipment they use for emergencies From there we met with
the newly appointed acting prosecutor Sahil Kabis Although he's newly appointed he has been with the prosecutor's office since 2017 He took us on a tour through their two buildings on High Street And I think Sahil is going to speak later on in the meeting possibly On March 19th as commissioner
liaison I attended my first board meeting at Jenny's house Jenny's House is located right here in the Newton Green was founded by Jenny and her late husband Senator state senator Bob Latell in 1997 Jenny's House provides hope and healing to victims of child abuse and childhood trauma They have an upcoming
fundraiser which will be a survey to fill out and they'll um earn money from doing that And then on March 24th Commissioner Degrroot and I have the full tour of Jenny's house It's such a cheerful place where children can receive all they need to heal from abuse They are funded by grants and insurance
is not built On March 19th County Administrator Ron Tapen and I had a Sussex County Economic Development Partnership Board of Trustees meeting at the Chamber Office The Sussex County Economic Development Partnership SCEDP is dedicated to the creation of
sustainable economic opportunity and prosperity to improve the quality of life in Sussex County The SCEDP will proactively facilitate the recruitment retention and expansion of businesses that will complement and be
consistent with the character and environment of Sussex County Anyone can be an investor for as little as a $100 commitment There's a link on the website to invest at www.sussexcountychamber.org Municipalities are highly encouraged to do so and Tammy Horsefield from the
chamber leads that board and helps cut through the red tape for businesses to come here to Sussex County Yesterday March 25th I met with the Bristol Glenn Advisory Committee a group of community leaders who are interested in a wide range of topics related to seniors We
discussed ways to increase workforce here in the county and strategic partnerships for population health initiatives Next one I'd like to invite Lorraine Hence to come represent all that our senior services has to offer Lorraine's here somewhere Oh hi
Lorraine And then today Director Carney Commissioner Henderson and I attended two meetings one being the Sussex County Community Colleges Board of School Estimate and the other being Sussex County Technical School Board of School Estimate And we unanimously uh approved both of their budgets um as
our boards And this was not just a one-time meeting There have been numerous meetings since November with the schools individually and then the schools to get together and then they've had their own meetings on the best way
to save the taxpayers money and increase um the education in our county and I think both schools are headed in a very good direction and I stand by that Uh Division of Senior Services um there's a Sussex County Veterans Appreciation
lunchon coming The Sussex County Division of Senior Services is hosting an appreciation lunchon in honor of Sussex County veterans The special event will be held on Wednesday April 23rd 2025 from 11:00 a.m to 2 p.m at the Farmstead Golf and Country Club located
at 88 Lawrence Road in Lafayette New Jersey The lunchon will include presentations from various veteran organizations information tables and giveaways Pre-registration pre-registration for this event is required by April 16th 2025 For
additional information and to RSVP for the lunchon please contact the Sussex County Division of Senior Services at 973-5790555 extension 1277 or email senior services at sussex.nj us Division of Health Office of Public Health
Nursing A Women's Health Screening Clinic will be held on Thursday April 10th 2025 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m at the Office of Public Health Nursing 2011 Weightssworth Road in Hamburg This clinic offers a variety of health screenings and education This service is
free to uninsured and underinsured county residents who qualify for the New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection NJC program To make an appointment call the Office of Public Health Nursing at 973-579-0570 extension 1275 Division of
Health Office of Public Health Nursing school immunization audits The Office of Public Health Nursing completes an annual audit of student immunization records at all preschool elementary middle school high school and child care centers across Sussex County to ensure
compliance with the recommended vaccine schedule as of March 17 2025 The office completed site visits to all 96 county schools to conduct these audits for the 2425 school year Final audit reports must be submitted to the New Jersey
Department of Health annually in June to ensure compliance with New Jersey law immunization requirements The purpose of immunization requirements for pupils attending schools in New Jersey is to ensure that highly infectious and dangerous diseases do not inflict
children of school age in our state Division of Community and Youth Services Sussex County Municipal Alliance The County of Sussex Municipal Alliance received a grant of $15,000 from the New Jersey Department of Mental Health and Addiction through
the Governor's Council on Substance Use Disorder Municipal Alliances are community-based volunteer committees and municipalities to address each community's unique substance abuse prevention needs and problems for all ages The grant was for community and staff education This funding was
utilized to implement several programs in the community and with the alliances The remaining funds were utilized to support the Backpack Snacks for Kids program at the Social Services Food Pantry and to raise awareness about invaluable programs and services available within the community The
Backpack Snacks for Kids program provides children in Sussex County with meals and snacks for the weekend A variety of resources and prevention materials were distributed with each snack bag That's it Thank you Deputy Director All right I'll start off with
Department of Engineering and Planning The Sussex County Division of Planning is hosting the New Jersey Office of Planning Advoc Advocacy This Friday March 28th at 2 o'clock here in a commissioner meeting room The Office of Planning Advocacy will be discussing the draft state development and redevelopment plan outlining the review
and comment pro comment process and taking questions from the public Everyone is strongly encouraged to participate in this public meeting to learn about and provide comments on the draft state plan This plan will impact the future of Sussex Uh the Division of Engineering continues to manage design and construction of $2.4 million in
projects to upgrade guide rail across 21 miles of county routes I will save you that earful of all the county routes but 21 miles Uh the Division of Public Construction Crew is working on storm water systems repairs along County Route 628 in Wanage and County Route 623 in
Lafayette During the project the roadways will remain open However users should expect short delays The DPW is continuing task requirements for compliance with Sussex County Highway Agency stormwater permit Recently DPW initiated the uh annual stormwater inlet
inspection program The program will inspect around 4,500 storm water inlets looking for inlets which require cleaning andor repair Uh issues identified as part of this inspection program will be programmed into future cleaning and repair queue The Office of Bridge and Traffic Safety continues work
on D18 That's Fenwick Road in Frankfurt Work is expected to be completed and the road return to full service in the next six weeks Uh the office is also coordinating the purchase of materials that'll be used for replacement of X20 which is Berry Road and Wage Like I talk
about that all the time Um the Office of Bridge and Traffic Safety has completed the annual 2025 sign and pavement marking inspection program The program inspects signs and pavement markings along county routes at the county intersections for operational functionability Uh signs or pavement markings deficiencies identified during
the inspection program will be programmed in a replacement or queue And we just ask that everybody be patient and alert when you're driving around these construction areas As for one who works on the roads we appreciate that You stay off your text a little bit Be
great Um little report from a former colleague uh Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia Uh she's got a bill funding over a dozen dam restoration and repair projects in the state I cleared the full assembly on Monday Senator to the governor's office for a signature The bill
A3951 and S2594 in the Senate taps into 28.7 million in unused funds from a 1992 clean water bond and a 2003 flood control bond to finance the cost of 17 dam restoration projects Custous County
is home to the most dams in New Jersey Uh we also have a large portion of dams that would cause significant destruction and economic losses if they were to fail Maintaining those dams by performing the proper repairs is the best way to protect protect our residents businesses and natural assets Fantasia's
legislation allows owners of private dams and lake associations to work with local governments to receive the loans to carry out the repairs So basically building dams I haven't probably built one in about five years Um what was going on if you didn't have the money to
fix your dam you'd have to drain it And I know actually I did one in Vernon that they had to drain it So this bill gives them the loans to make sure they can keep their their ponds their lakes their small lakes um theirs Otherwise you're going to have a bunch of empty swamps I know Lake
Napoleon did the same thing growing up in Wanage That's where I lived Um and you know they had to come up with that money and this way they can get a these grants and and uh small small uh interest loans So this is a very good thing for Sussex County Uh while the New
Jersey has not been included in any FEMA disaster declarations directly related to dam failures Six dams failed and 51 were damaged in 2011's tropical storm Irene That storm resulted in the largest coastal evacu evacuation in state
history and took 12 lives and cost over $760 million in in property damage That's a good bill Sign off on that Um on March 15th I met with because I I can't help myself Um when we were at
the German Christmas market I met a gentleman named Ted Ted Andrews a Vietnam vet uh and he he's running the construction part of the Sparta VA cemetery Um so they were looking for some help uh as a surveyor I stepped up I met with them I took a tour I'll be
volunteering my time to uh lay out some corners for them at the veteran cemetery going forward Uh they have a I think about 700 veterans in that uh cemetery right now Uh and they have a lot a lot of land to use Uh not that I want people to die didn't mean sound seem like that
way but uh it it's good It really is good And I think he told me the cost is approximately it's all donation Uh but they usually get about $900 a plot which is which is nice And it's it's a good deed And that that property was actually owned by the county that was donated 10
years ago something like that 20 10 Yeah something like that Um as I said before um we're working on the state plan We had a meeting I actually I wasn't able to make it but Ron and Christina stepped in for me uh with
ENJAC trying to get some help Uh New Jersey uh Association of Counties that's what NJAC stands for Basically we get together north and try to help push legislation um to benefit the counties and with the state plan we're going to have a voice uh and we're trying to get
the rest of the counties uh to help us out with that So that is all I have right now All right moving on Number 10 is approval of consent agenda There is no consent agenda
Uh number 11 approval minutes regular meeting from March 12th 2025 Motion to approve the minutes from the meeting March 12 2025 So moved Commissioner Droo have a second Second director space Any discussion all in favor say I I Oppos
abstain Carries 12 There is no ordinance Uh 13 appointments and/or resignations Uh resolution A reappoint of Joseph P Donovic Esquire as community member of Cesus County Senior Services Advisory Council for a term of three years said
term to begin immediately and expire December 31st 2027 Resolution B is a reappoint of Laura Dicker as a member of Cesus County Disability Services Advisory Council for a term of three years term to begin immediately and
expire December 31st 2027 Motion to adopt resolutions A and B Some moved Commissioner Henderson Commissioner seconds Any discussion okay roll call please Deputy Director Space yes Director Carney yes Commissioner Degroup yes Commissioner
Hayden yes Commissioner Henderson yes 14's resolutions Can I get a motion to adopt resolutions A through H so moved Director Space Got a second So moved
Commissioner Henderson Discussion Discussion Okay Roll call please Director uh Deputy Director Space Yes Director Carney Yes Commissioner Degrroot Yes Commissioner Hayden Yes Commissioner Henderson Yes Um at this time I am going to step away
from the deis Jill if you could take over I'm going to abstain from this next resolution that we separated Is there a motion to adopt resolution I okay So no motion Carry on So it doesn't go it
doesn't go through right Doug it just No motion All right Thank you for taking it over Uh 15 awards of contract chain orders bid Uh we have two resolutions The board of county commissioners of the county of Sussex has reviewed the award of contract chain orders bids consisting of
various proposed resolutions and determine that adoption of the said resolutions is and will further the public's interest I'm going to just read these real quick Um resolution A is award of contract for bit bum batum bituminous concrete aggregates broken
stone and sand for the division of public works county of Sussex to various vendors from April 28th 2025 through April 2726 Uh resolution B is award of contract through the competitive contracting process for website redesign or rebid to Civic Plus LLC in the amount
of 93,727 for March 26 through 25 or I'm sorry March 26 2025 through March 2526 Probably should have been better All right Motion to adopt resolutions A through B So moved Director Spade second
Uh Commissioner Groot Any discussion roll call please Deputy Director Space yes Director Carney yes Commissioner Degroup yes Commissioner Hayden yes Commissioner Henderson yes All right 16's financial two bills less We will resolution A This is the payments of
bills list for March 26 2025 Motion to pay the bills list So moved Second Commissioner Henderson Commissioner Hayden second Any discussion All right Roll call Deputy Director Space Yes Director Carney Yes Commissioner Degrroot Yes Commissioner Hayden Yes Commissioner Henderson Yes
Resolution B is a governor governing body certificate of compliance with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's EEOC enforcement guidance of the consideration of arrest and conviction records and employment decisions under title seven of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Motion to adopt
resolutions B So moved Director Space second Second Commissioner Henderson Any discussion all right Roll call Deputy Director Space Yes Director Carney Yes Commissioner Degroup Yes Commissioner Hayden Yes Commissioner Henderson Yes
All right Resolution C Authorizing emergency temporary appropriations of 2025 operating budget for the county of Sussex Motion to adopt resolution C So move Second Commissioner Degrroot and Commissioner Hayden Second Any fashion
Call Deputy Director Space Yes Director Carney Yes Commissioner Degrroot Yes Commissioner Hayden Yes Commissioner Henderson Yes All right Motion to adopt resolutions D through F So moved Deputy Director Space Second
Yeah Uh Commissioner Degroup seconds Any discussion call Deputy Director Space Yes Director Carney Yes Commissioner Degrroot Yes Commissioner Hayden Yes Commissioner Henderson Yes All right Uh G Presentation of the 25ount budget Elco
you are up You and Tony are we set up up here we're good I want to thank for their I want to thank them for all their help in being on the committees sitting down with the various departments listening to what everybody has to say
and help in cutting down and figuring out what we could do to get the Okay I know I don't talk loud I don't walk loud either I always sneak up on people in the office Um so thank you for all your help on
this whole process This is a long process It doesn't happen in a few weeks It happens over months It starts in August where our budget director Tony sends out information to the various departments tells them what the goals are for the county what our guidelines
are and then they have to submit budget requests for both operating and capital Um in September we sit down with all the departments to go over their operating requests In November we sit down with everybody to go over their capital requests Then we put all the numbers
together CR try to keep cutting down to keep the property taxes low to keep our goals in mind And um finally December once we get our year-end numbers we can start really finalizing the budget We meet with the subcommittees again to go over the final
numbers Then we have a work session which we had um a few weeks ago and now tonight I'm introducing the budget and the way statutory requirements are We have to have at least 18 days for the public to do their inspection of the budget and
um then we have our public hearing which will be on April 23rd and then that's the night where they can as long as we get approval from the state to adopt they can vote to adopt or not adopt the budget Um and just so you know this PowerPoint and the
state budget um document will be available on the website once it's introduced um officially So there's certain laws that affect the county budget That's something that we have to keep in mind We have three cap laws Two of them are
on the tax levy We have the 1977 cap which is what the county usually falls under and which is actually more restrictive when you come up with the numbers than the 2010 cap Um the 2010 cap is a 2% tax levy cap The 1977 is
more of like the appropriations cap for a municipality but it's actually two tax levy caps So we make sure that we don't just raise our budget exponentially the 2017 county entity cap That is for the outside offices such as the sheriff's
department the board of taxation the board of elections the prosecutor's office um and the surrogate Those entities um cannot increase their budget more than 2% without a vote of the
governing body Um and where in all caps we had three resolutions which were just approved for three of the departments to increase their budget but it keeps us as a whole within the budget Um so the goals for this year's budget
that the departments had to keep in mind were to be fiscally responsible while keeping Sussex County affordable to take strides towards having competitive wages and benefits to retain and recruit employees That's where you get into you know giving people a plan
of moving up and promoting people within um maintaining and improving levels of service for the benefits of the taxpayers where we can and utilizing grants to assist in funding for core um county
functions So our 2025 um total budget is 126,714,7742 82% of that is county purpose tax and that's just because the county doesn't have the ability to create revenues from other sources Um other than fees that are governed by the
state there's not a lot of other options for revenue So therefore it's 82% of our budget we have um 4% of it is in grant revenue State aid is 2% miscellaneous revenues Those are the fees we can charge like clerk's fees If you go to
get your passport renewed and you have to pay a fee or you have um a road opening permit you need to pay a fee Those are the types of things that go under miscellaneous revenues And we're use utilizing 8.774 um of fund balance
So fund balance comes it's basically in accounting it's your assets minus your liabilities equals your fund balance It's your retained earnings so to speak And the way you generate fund balance is from your lapsing of your appropriation reserves So money we did not spend last
year's budget gets lapsed into fund balance Um if we have revenue that's out above what we anticipate that also goes to fund balance and miscellaneous revenues that we we don't anticipate that we don't know are going to occur That also goes to um generate our fund
balance At the end of 2024 our fund balance was 22.8 million or 18.10% of last year's operating budget We currently have a c a fund balance policy that we um set into place in 2018 The
18% is within the fund balance policy Um and we anticipate we're anticipating 8.8 million this year Um which is about a million over from last year We do anticipate uh regenerating that Okay Just a quick question for the benefit of the audience So 18
18.1% uh or $22.8 million What's what's like a healthy what what's the statute on that you say our um fund balance policy says we want to be between 12 and 20% Okay If we're high if we're over getting closer to 20 we want to the fund
balance policy says we need to find ways to bring that down which is why we're anticipating 8 8.8 We're anticipating another million What we're doing with that funding is the one-time hit because you have to make sure you're regenerating it We're paying down some
of our deferred charges for um for our bond ordinances that we haven't borrowed the money for yet We're going to pay that down And so it's more of a pay as you go and that helps to offset future debt It will keep our liability down and interest cost down
Perfect Thank you So that just shows a picture of the fund balance history and used as revenue So as we've been gaining more in fund balance we've been using a higher amount but we've also been regenerating it So we're in a healthy place with our fund
balance Here's a snapshot of the last three last two years and this year for our budget This budget is a 3.1 increase Our total budget is a 3.19 increase of the adopted budget from last year But it's an
increase on the tax levy itself of less than 1% It's 0.997 So it's a less than 1% um increase on the tax levy The tax levy is is 103,900,000 That includes new
construction Um our ratable base is estimated to be 26.1 billion And our estimated rate is 397 per 100 That is a product of the um inflation and new construction that creates the rateable
base to go up Therefore the tax rate is going down Being a county we can't specify that each person is different I mean each town is different of what chunk they get out of the tax rate So there's no set average taxpayer in the county
because you know Vernon might get more than Andover might get more than Lafayette based on how the ratables are just happen to go each year So there's equalization and that's what creates your your tax rate for your specific town Okay one more question Sorry Uh so
the tax rate tax rate is going down for the fourth or fifth year in a row since it's the at least the fifth It's at least the fifth Okay Yeah Thanks So I just went over all the revenue Now we have the Hold on I have another
question Sure So following up on his question So over the last five years if the taxpayers were paying just on our budget their taxes would have gone down If the taxpayers in other words if we didn't have the school taxes we didn't have all the if they were just paying
this it would have gone down right it's the rate has gone down per hundred So it all depends on what your h tax what your value of your property is assessed at If it stayed the same then theoretically yes But different towns get different
things and then it goes back to equalization So to answer the question there I mean we have work to drop Yes we've definitely kept it low and new ratables coming in Thor Labs you know I mean I know they're part pilot but all
these businesses that are putting stuff into the county have helped So we'll go to appropriations Um there's a lot of expenses to run a county You know it's a sad fact We have to We have things that we're required to
do We're we have costs that are statutory um being government So our grant expenses which offset our grant revenue is 4.9 million Um and this kind of breaks out the diff what each
department is and we'll go through those in over the next few slides as to what exactly they are I also put a little diagram of the county dollar taking out grants This is how your dollar every dollar you spend in
taxes is um se you can separate it So the biggest chunk is 22 cents on every dollar is your capital debt and statutory expenses expenses This includes capital improvement fund That's the money that we put aside to pay as you go for capital projects Um debt
service payment is just our principal and interest on our our debt We have pension payments to um public employment retirement system That's PERS or PFRS is police and fire Um and DCRP is for our part-time employees We have to
contribute um our share for that Social security payments for our employees and deferred charges That would be any year prior year bills And in this year's budget we have um deferred charges for our debt which I was talking about with how we're using fund balance
19 cents on every dollar is used for public safety Um that includes the prosecutor's office the sheriff's department our inmate um contract with Morris County our office of emergency management 911 which is 911 not only for
um our shared service with our fire departments and stuff but also our sheriff's department We have to dispatch for our own sheriff's department um the county medical examiner We give aid to the volunteer fire departments um and EMS our fire marshall We put money
towards the um public safety training academy the fire academy and our juvenile and youth um services for our juvenile detention program Another 19 cents of your of your dollar is insurance That's our health
insurance our liability insurance our workers comp insurance um and unemployment 13 cents on our dollar helps fund um public works which our public's works department in both fleet
facilities and roads does a fantastic job If you go on your um streets in the winter I always know to take the county roads because I know they're going to be clean Can't always say that about the state roads No offense Senator Steiner
Thank you But I know they do a great job and you can always see the lines because at night when you're driving and it's raining and you can't see lines you should be thanking the D or when you can see the lines you should be thanking the DPW that they have a program or engineering department that they have a program in place and they've set that
all up Um and our vehicles wouldn't be able to go anywhere without our fleet department which is also a very good department that does a lot of work and has to keep all our vehicles running smoothly so our employees can do their work that they
need to Um and mosquito control is part of our public works You would be um if you ever want to know anything about mosquitoes or you know mosquito bites and what they cause and what can happen call up Paige Lockburner She's our superintendent She
knows everything you ever want to know about mosquitoes and she'll she'll let you know And she's even learning a lot more about ticks So things that we don't like to hear about but it costs money to take care of them and that helps protect us um protect the public And our
facilities crew is awesome too Um we have 60 buildings that we take care of It costs a lot of money there's been a lot of deferred maintenance So they do a wonderful job of trying to do what they can with the money that they have Um we can't fix everything in a day We
try to keep our um buildings good so that we're not paying a lot more later on And the board has been very supportive in in fixing um problems now than they have been over the past years uh 10 cents on your dollar goes towards
education that we help fund the tech school and the college Um that all comes out of county um your county tax rate and we also um support Rucker's cooperative extension a portion of the salaries for that as well as our
superintendent of schools um we we fund part of their support staff and then if residents in our county go to Morris County because they're doing a program that doesn't that Sussex County doesn't have we have to pay their tuition or
portion of their tuition So um that's where your 10 cents goes We're getting down to the smaller cents Um 10 cents is all of that Um I put the picture of the train there because it's kind of like under we keep everything
going and you know you don't always see it So that's your employee services our central services our office of purchasing um the finance department technology um there's a lot of stuff that's involved
and that 10 cents goes to cover all of those departments So that's a good bargain there And five cents is for your human and health and human services This is your office of public um nursing your environmental health senior
services um community and youth mental health This is a lot of this um these expenses are grant funded partially So that's why it's such a small amount for the services that they provide is because grants cover a lot of
what they do And last but not least on our expenditures is our um utilities and other common operating expenses We have a transit department If you've heard of Skylands Ride which they do a great job of getting um people places where they
need to be They're part of this as well as um we do some veteran grave registration and our indirect some of our audit stuff and financial stuff that we have to take care of falls under this category as well as our fuel which we
have a lot of vehicles so we're using a lot of fuel through the through the days So this budget that I just went over the dollar amounts it's are advancing our county's priorities We continue to provide resources for county services
during higher than average inflationary times while keeping the amount to be raised in taxes lower than the current inflation rate This budget identifies sustainable revenue sources to limit the increase to the tax levy Continues to support the technical school community
college and volunteer fire departments It utilizes fund balance to ensure long-term s sustainability and be in compliance with the fund balance policy It maintains a level of funding for debt service and capital improvement consistent with the debt policy and the
budget is a balancing act Strong credit assists in our borrowing costs and strong fund balance is a key measurement for the rating agencies Um our county's standard and pores rating right now is a double A+ Um and last is the capital budget Um
our capital budget this year is $13.7 million There's a little graph which you can look online if you want to go into more detail about it but it's primarily for the tech school and um the county
college bridge a lot of bridge improvements libraries a lot of facility improvements to the libraries as well as vehicles and technology and some public safety in there and of course more vehicles
Those are just some of the main projects that are in the our budget and I wanted to thank everybody I wanted to especially thank uh Tony Graafi and um administrator Tapen for all their work with getting everything ready to go to present to the
commissioners and the commissioners who were on the budget subcommittees So okay just for again for the benefit of the audience there's a few questions I think it breaks down for simple people like myself Um the debt reduction I I I don't know that you have those numbers on us What has it been for the last five years how many millions of dollars it
went down do you have that handy i don't have that handy Okay I can bring that to the Is that what it was it was over five or over half of a percent and now it's down to just over three half of a third of a percent
30 3 I feel like it was $36 million Um and then so and then the percentage of a dollar So of course everybody wants to lower their taxes We're not here We pay taxes We want to lower our taxes too That's silly to think otherwise But you know we also have unfunded mandates that come to us You got to do this No one
gives us money The state doesn't give us money Our insurance is through the roof Went up what 14% How much would it go up four 4% Good year 4.7 4.7 I guess that's a state that their insurance 14% So that came down to us Um and then just the
percentage So we get blamed a lot for school taxes going up and so on and so forth And correct me if I'm wrong and this is approximate but 22% of your dollar goes to the uh county 11 goes to municipality about 64 to 64% goes to schools 1.6 to 1.9 goes to libraries
roughly Correct Roughly Yes Right Yeah It depends what town but yes So a lot of times people look at your taxes I know my taxes are going to go up about $250 It's not from the county It's It's really not You You need to look at your board of eds and see what they're raising their taxes Obviously we get blamed for that you like to blame your
mayors and those council I've been down down that road too I've seen it happen So just you know just think about that a little bit 22% comes here It sounds like a lot when you're looking at $127 million At the end of the day it's it's it's really not that much compared to
what the school's charging Um and then the capital budget we're at 13 million Normally we're at 18 Yes At least we had a good year this year with requests Um we have a lot of improvements that were authorized in prior years that um the
departments are catching up with now that some of the departments have fuller staff um and we're able to do some of that stuff We had to put kind of a hold on some of our capital because of uh we got the ARPA funding So we had to use up our American Rescue Plan funding first because there's deadlines on that of
when we can spend that But we had a good year in capital and we did the majority of that and pay as you go Um the only things that we're bonding this year are for the college and the tech school and that's because we get funding from the state to pay for part of that So in
order for us to take advantage of that we need to um to bond for that But um other than that the rest of it is pay as you go for this year And the college the last two years has been half of the chapter 12 funding Yes
Yeah I just want to thank you guys again Uh Ela Tony Ron uh everybody up here uh looking over the budget whether you're on the committee or not We all we're all looking at the budget and questioning whether you're on the budget committee or not you still got to look at it and and whatnot and put your two cents in So
it it is a good budget it it it is under 1% when inflation as Ela said and and the things that we are able to accomplish um you know even being able to give money to offset the costs for the fire departments for their candidates you know that saves the municipality money which in turn saves
you money um I'm I'm proud of this budget I really am this is in five years this is I think the best budget be nice to be flat be nice to be a little lower but it's not this is what we live in again there is a lot of unfunded mandates and I won't swear But things
roll downhill right and we get stuck holding the bag sometimes So again thank you for what you do Can I make a one comment commissioner uh for the public's knowledge the double A+ rating what we said it's our credit rating that is the highest rating that we can obtain It's
based on the the revenues of the county by size So we just don't have enough ratables in to get that higher percentage But we have the highest credit rating that you can have with an operation this size That's a credit to all the department heads the commissioners the everybody watching the
budget But we we got a we got a good place here We're very fiscally responsible Anybody want to say anything before we close and introduce Commissioner Wise no Okay All right Thank you again Thank you Thank you Tony All right H Introduction
of the 2025 county budget for the first reading The 2025 CES County budget is being introduced for the first reading at this time and awaits approval by the board The 2025 Ces County budget revenues and appropriations summary will be advertised in the New Jersey Herald
issue of March 30th 2025 Um can I get a motion to introduce this resolution on the first reading so moved Deputy Director Commissioner Hayden seconds Any discussion okay Roll call Deputy Director Space Yes
Director Carney Yes Commissioner Degroup Yes Commissioner Hayden Yes Commissioner Henderson abstain All right Uh can I get a mo a motion to authorize the clerk to advertise the budget revenues and appropriations summary as introduced for the first reading and also post same in a bulletin board in lobby of county administrative
center together with notice of public hearing stating that a hearing on the budget and and tax resolution will be held at the county administrative center on Spring Street New Jersey on Wednesday April 23rd 2025 at 6 PM at which time in place objections to said budget and tax
resolution for the year 2025 may be presented by taxpayers or interested persons So move second Commissioner Droo uh deputy director seconds Any discussion
all in favor say I I I Oppose Abstain Uh resolution Okay I get a motion to adopt resolutions I through J So moved Commissioner Henderson I have a second Second Commissioner Henderson or I'm sorry Hayden Any discussion
roll call Deputy Director Space yes Director Carney yes Commissioner Degrroot yes Commissioner Hayden yes Commissioner Henderson yes All right Okay Is the introduction for the first reading this is ordinance 25-01 is a bond ordinance providing for the Sussex County Vocational School District Sewer
Treatment Plan Project located within the county of Sussex State New Jersey appropriating 3,731,600 Therefore in authorizing the issuance of $3,731,3,731,600 bonds or notes to finance the cost thereof Motion to adopt
this ordinance on first reading and authorize the clerk to advertise this ordinance as introduced for first reading and also post same on the bulletin board in the library of the county administrative center together with a notice of public hearing stating that a hearing will be held on April
23rd 2025 at 6 p.m prior to the final adoption of the ordinance So move second Henderson moves Commissioner seconds Any discussion deputy Director Space Yes Director Carney yes Commissioner Degroup yes
Commissioner Hayden yes Commissioner Henderson yes All right Number L's the introduction for first reading ordinance 25-02 is a bond ordinance providing for the undertaking of 25 2025 capital improvements at and for certain facilities of Sussex County Community College located with the county of
located within the county of Sussex State New Jersey appropriating 1,150,000 therefore in authorizing issuance of 1,150,000 bonds or notes of the county of Sussex State New Jersey for the financing such appropriation the principle of in interest of the
aggregate principal amount of which will be entitled to the state aid pursuant to chapter 12 of the laws of New Jersey of 1971 Motion to adopt this ordinance on first reading and authorize the clerk to advertise this ordinance as introduced for first reading and also post same on
the bulletin board in the lobby of the county administrative center together with a notice of public hearing stating that a hearing will be held on April 23rd 2025 at 6 pm prior to final adoption of the ordinance So moved Mr Henderson I have a second Second Deputy
Director Space Any discussion okay roll call Deputy Director Space Yes Director Carney yes Commissioner Degroup yes Commissioner Hayden yes Commissioner Henderson yes All right Uh M Introduction for first reading ordinance 25-03 capital
ordinance providing for general capital improvements and the acquisition of certain capital equipment in in and for the county of Sussex state New Jersey and appropriating the sum of 8,535,128 from the county's capital improvement fund to pay for the cost
thereof Can I get a motion to adopt this ordinance on first reading and authorize the clerk to advertise this ordinance as introduced for the first reading and also post same on a bulletin board in a library of the county administrative center together with a notice of public hearing stating that a hearing will be
held on April 23rd 2025 at 6 pm prior to final adoption of the ordinance So moved Commissioner Drew have second Second director space Any discussion all right Roll call Deputy Director
Space Yes Director Carney Uh yes Commissioner Degrut Yes Commissioner Hayden Yes Commissioner Henderson Yes All right Number 17's personnel There is none Number 18 the administrative report
Thank you Commissioner Director Um a couple things going on I I participated in the statewide executive meeting this past week where we go over the fund that we belong to that that covers our general liability our workers compensation and such I'm an executive on that Uh and we we go through all the
claims So we had our quarterly meeting on that Uh negotiations are still going on with the PBA sheriff corrections and prosecutors That's still progressing Um I participated in the INJAC personnel director's uh meeting this last week and
the topics was there was legislative reform on civil service and one hot topic there is the extension of the 90-day working test period from 3 months to four months that we're trying to get moving Um and we had a quarterly review
meeting with our in our insurance broker and we went through all our claims and we're running at what we call an 85% rate which means that when we pay a premium of a dollar right now we're running about $8.50 to that So the health care is looking good We're down
in health care However our prescription our prescription claims are up They're continually to grow up primarily for the cost of them and the utilization of them Um and then lastly uh we have uh starting tomorrow we have four interviews for the replacement of the
college trustee and on Monday we have four more interviews for the replacement of the one college trustee and to Mr Degrroot's report this is the most applications we've ever gotten at one time to go on that board So the interest
in that in that school is ever rising and it's seen by the volunteerism that people are looking to do to join the boards So with that that's all I have tonight All right Anybody have any unfinished business
i I just I just want to report uh Commissioner Hayden had to leave Um 21 new business Yes that is Jeff resolution authorized purchase order Commissioners thank you for your time and consideration of my requisition
request Not as much as I respect my wife's time and consideration of budgetary requests at home but that goes without saying Um the situation that arose that uh uh kind of uh fermented in this not being uh presented prior to for review was
that um we're using VMware for all of our compute and desktop computing here and they were purchased by Broadcom last year They devested part of their business to Omnisa So the renewal process for licensing for what we have
currently was now handled by two entities that were instead of taking weeks to generate proposals were taking months Uh so on February 28th I received proposal from our vendor under um the Cooperative Purchasing Alliance I
requested a one-year and a three-year option The one-year option came in at $70,400 The three-year option came in at $178,000 So it was a considerable savings And this was on top of the fact
that the whole licensing model for the way VMware charges uh for the licensing has changed from per processor core to or per processor to port per core Each processor has multiple cores So you're talking about exponential increase in
cost With that in mind I had to look for the most feasible and economical option which was the three-year uh commitment I went back to the vendor on the date I received the proposals on February 28th and said "Uh I'd like to do the
three-year option but this really puts a burden on my expenditures because I haven't budgeted for this type of expenditure Can I pay annually with the commitment which in the past they had done?" on March 13th I got the response after they went back to Broadcom and
Omnisa and I got a proposal that yeah we can do it but it's $211,000 And looking at that I said well that's the one-year option just you know multiplied by three I there's no savings in that So in further conversation and emails back and forth it became clear
that the most um you know economically viable alternative for the county to save that $32,000 was to go with the three-year prepaid option So I approached Ela and Matias in purchasing and I said you know I have capital for
other projects that I can either postpone or you know utilize portions of that funding And so I had the budget Terry but it was just that we were coming down now to the licensing that we're currently running under the opices of our upgrade is a 90-day evaluation
license which expires on April 2nd So if I don't have the renewal prior to that date I lose all visibility to the infrastructure that we're running And so that's where I said you know can we please you know respectfully get this on tonight's meeting
appreciate that I have a do have a question The resolution that we were originally presented with made reference to a contract and then we had some exchanges back and forth uh because I was never presented with a contract to look at I guess the contract that you were you or whomever was referring to in the initial email was actually the co-op
contract not a separate contract This is just being done with the PO Correct That's correct And uh council that was corrected by the purchasing agent They made they removed the reference to contract Okay Thank you Thank you very much
I was going to make a comment We talk about all the processes that we budget We got the one we got his group that keeps us on a 247 process of keeping bad guys and and processes out of our business And he does a very good job at
that It's kind of It's kind of odd that not only that Jeff is here tonight talking about how he protects us we have our county prosecutor in here that's gonna have the same type of issue because he puts him in jail after we catch him So that was good All right
Well can I get a motion uh for a resolution to authorize a purchase for IT software so moved Deputy Director Space Got a second Second Commissioner Henderson Any discussion any more discussion all right I guess we'll have a roll call because we're spending money
right y uh Deputy Director Space yes Director Carney yes Commissioner Degrroot yes Commissioner Hayden is now absent Commissioner Henderson yes All right Uh thank you Jeff for looking out for that I know some things sometimes happen at short notice but to
save the money and be protected I appreciate that All right Number two is a prosecutor's office grant application Sahil you are up First of all thank you for this also apologize for my entire lack
of the arms preventing the suit jack So apologies in advance Uh as all of you are aware you've previously approved grant dealing with the arrive program which is a program that's been mandated by the state Uh the second part of that program is considered the critical
model which requires additional expenditures resources to provide to law enforcement especially responding to what is defined as a critical incident the state has certain funding that is available Uh specifically to Sussex County it's
$85,000 uh 800 and the I apologize for the last minute but the reason for the timing is that as you're all aware in this county it is very difficult to identify medical service providers especially dealing with a very specialized need uh dealing
with law enforcement and responding to critical incidents We were able to identify one So the application And the resolution I ask that they consider is allowing one to apply for this grant so that we may get the funding from the state to offset any uh liabilities that
we may have But secondly to allow us to uh engage with a letter of intent with uh MHA which is the medical service provider we were able to identify uh which is willing to one provide services within the county on the very specific
needs that we have to good anybody any commissioners have anything everybody's good all right thank you for coming in and again we appreciate looking out saving some money I will say
this as a county resident myself I have a very newound appreciation for how all of you manage our budget and stretch our dollars So I appreciate Thanks Ail All right Can I get a motion to put forth a resolution for the grant
for the prosecutor's office so moved Second Director Space moves Commissioner group seconds discussion Good All right Roll call please Deputy Director Space Yes Director Carney Yes Commissioner Degroup Yes Commissioner Hayden is
absent Commissioner Henderson Yes Okay 22 is a public session from the floor This public session is for those wishing to make general comments of three minutes or less on non-aggenda topics Please line up at the microphone and state your name and Miss Valley for the record Motion to open the floor for
public comment Commissioner G Second Commissioner Henderson All in favor say I I Oppose Abstain Carries You are up still I spoke at our second It might still be picking up
should be this Hold on Hold on No it's Ruby I spoke at the last meeting about education and I heard back from two of you which I greatly appreciated A question I was asked by one of you was where wanted to respond to that valid
question Where have I been i've been in our community doing my part as a public school teacher for 33 years More to your point though my participation in politics has been through my vote An important part but less active than me
many of you I know in my circle of friends I'm known in my circle of friends as someone who is a conservative Democrat who dislikes public speaking enjoys talking about all issues and knows the political pendulums shifts and
that in itself is the very sign of an active and engaged democracy I am someone who has always had faith in that democracy until now The reason I'm here now is because I have lost that faith Our current administration is
dismantling many of the government agencies and their funding that serve this community well We just heard about many of them I believe it will hit our county hard We are actively watching our president and Congress not pushing for
reform or oversight in our federal agencies but using his executive power and silent complacency to push towards a privatized market economy which although efficient will abolish equitable services for all It is against the
values of America and it goes against what these departments and what our government's role is serving we the people all of the people By abolishing the departments like education Medicare Social Security even weather we make
equitable distribution to all impossible And so I think we should be having dialogue with the ser about the services that the county commissioners oversee I think we should begin to work backwards thinking about the services that the people who live here depend
on them and how will they be affected by a loss of funding How will this loss of funding be subsidized it is your job to have dialogue with your constituents and to push back because this is not speculation at this point It is exactly
what this executive branch and they are not being challenged by the legislative branch and they're intimidating the judicial branch I'm here because I've lost faith You're hearing our voices because we are afraid and angry about the political impact
this will have on our neighbors and our communities I'm not looking for you to be a vessel for my anger or my fear or my frustration I'm asking you to be a path Uh good evening Uh Ken Collins Andover Township Um first off um as long
as I can breathe I am never going to stop applying pressure to the county to reduce the property tax burden on homeowners Um so get used to it I'm going to keep on coming here putting the pressure on you and it's obvious it's worked because I've been doing it since the turn of the century and you guys
have finally decided to rein in the budget a little over the last five years So I really appreciate that Thank you very much Um I'm here this evening once more disappointed that Commissioner Hayden has failed to present his resignation
yet again Mr Mr Hayden has presented himself to his peers as a veteran of the United States military His claims included the myth that Mr Hayden was a Navy Seal when the closest he's been to a seal is the aquarium As an actual veteran of the
United States Army Mr Hayden's continued service on this board is a grave disservice to our community and an abject insult to me and every single veteran in Sussex County And by allowing him to sit there where he conveniently
is not right now you are all doing a disservice to every single veteran that resides in this county If Mr Hayden had the common sense to do the right thing he would get his pen out well he's not here right now and
begin writing his resignation effective immediately There's no time like the present He should resign tonight Lastly I want to congratulate Alina Haba on her appointment and I urge you to settle You have to speak almost on top of the
mic Dean Opriage Hampton Township Thank you for the excellent budget presentation and for all of your activities over the last week Um unfortunately I have to impress upon you how moot all of that will be if we no longer have a
constitution of the United States under which the principle of federalism allows us to have a local government that we control So I am here tonight to ask where each of you stands on the Trump administration's actions and what each
of you has done in the past two weeks to address concerns voiced at the last commissioner's meeting The Trump administration is in the process of destroying our republic Republicans across the country are enabling Trump and his dangerous administration to
dismantle the Constitution Republican representatives have repeatedly shown that they don't care or are willfully ignorant of the fact that our representative democracy is on the brink of collapse Trump and
his dangerous band of amoral secretaries and adviserss are doing irreparable harm to our citizens and institutions Every aspect of our lives is at risk Services for individuals from students with special needs to veterans
with serious medical issues Social safety nets from SNAP to children or children to social security for seniors Government agencies from aid to the Pentagon are all under attack The
judiciary is under attack Civil liberties are under attack National security is under attack Everyone in this room is negatively impacted by Trump's chaotic destruction of our government What are you doing as our elected officials to stop this from
happening what did each of you do in the past two weeks to address our concerns about Trump's attacks trump must be stopped The Republican party as a whole has proven its feely to an autocrat Republicans willful ignorance of our constitutional system
is terrifying I implore the board of commissioners to publicly take a stand against Trump If we have another opportunity to vote in free and fair elections I implore citizens of Sussex County to vote for candidates up and down the ticket who voice their
opposition to Trump In every office from town council to state senators we need to replace Trump supporters with intelligent compassionate and courageous citizens who want to save our constitutional republic I ask that each commiss commissioner take this
opportunity tonight to pledge allegiance not to a dictator but to the Constitution of the United States of America and publicly object to Trump's destruction of it Will you do that sandy Hall Leighton New Jersey Uh
in January of 2025 HR6492 the Explore Act was passed The description reads "To improve recreation opportunities on and facilitate greater access to federal public land and for other purposes As well-intentioned as
this act may be like many mandates coming down from higher levels of government what benefits one area may not benefit another I respectfully request the commissioners carefully consider the advantages and the disadvantages in the explore act pilot
programs until more information and details are available For example the phrase for other purposes is concerning and that we do not know what those other purposes are Warren County Commissioners submitted a request to Congressman Kaine to participate in the pilot program of
the Explore Act and in that letter also requested the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area communities to participate Congressman Kaine then sent a similar request to the Secretary of Interior Bergam Warren County passed a resolution urging other gateway
communities along the Delaware to participate in pilot programs Points of the Warren County resolution are attached to this statement I spoke with Warren County Commissioner Sarnovski yesterday regarding the resolution He clarified the request was for Warren
County and agreed that every community should review the Explore Act before commitment to participate Of particular concern section 131 of this 82page Explore Act document refers to gateway communities and that's us Sussex County
is unique in its relationship to the Delaware Water Gap We are not bordered by a heavily traveled interstate highway Our infrastructure and road system offer limited access to the recreation area I feel this section needs to be carefully reviewed before jumping into a pilot
program And I thank you for your time and consideration but I will say I printed out this 82page document and it is a task to read it So if you all can read it and make sense of it and say "Hey this is great for our county." So be it But from where I'm sitting it
doesn't look so hot Thank you again Perfect Thank you Kathy Brennan Hampton Township Um I would like to piggyback on some other people what they have said So I'll try to make it brief Um I'd like to express my concerns about the budget cuts and
agency firings There have been many programs that have had basically a chainsaw taken to them rather than having knowledgeable people reviewing agency workings and doing things that make sense Uh for now since so many
people have already said things I will focus on IDA funding Um cutting or transferring these responsibilities to another agency and possibly cutting what we what we would
be getting will put a great great severe disadvantage for our most vulnerable population Since our president has many times stated he dis his dislike for blue states and preference for red states I
worry since New Jersey is a blue state that we that we may see more massive cuts So basically I guess um what I'd like to know is um do you have any plans or what are you preparing to do to ensure that these services in our county
are still fully funded without any disruptions i've worked in uh the disability population field for many years and I know how devastating any changes to their routine can be and I do would not want this to happen to the to
any of the children Last but not least I have to say once again Commissioner Hayden should go Thank you Hi Uh Scott Null Sparta New Jersey Um I'm I'm kind of new to paying
attention to all of this so um it's more a request for clarification and I I don't need a response tonight Um my understanding is that the budget that um that was a beautiful presentation by the way
um uh 126.7 was the number and uh the prior year was 122.8 and were capped at a 2% increase That was a more than 3% increase So
um there's I I mean I know it's early right but like that doesn't line up Um and with inflation uh it it's still retrograde right like you can pick your inflation number uh
you know but it it's it's problematic right something's has to be cut That's the only way the math can work So my my request so I I I want to give you the answer We're going to give you the answer and only
because we're doing I think right here would like that Well no no and that's what and that was my point right it would be great for for the community to be able to see what I'm about to ask So yeah of course It's fine
Almost done anyway That which is the raising tax% on your taxing more fund balance Okay thank you But I mean I'm a pretty simple guy right like that math doesn't work right like you can't fund more You can't fund a 3%
bump with a 1% increase and with inflation right like I mean it doesn't work So and that's cool Like something's going to get get cut I think it would be useful for the community to see what what the cuts are
to know what got cut right like it's like okay well this department we got to lose two heads or this or that I just think that would be a useful thing to see because it would be useful for grants The other thing that would be nice is um some of the stuff on the grants which is great that we have
people out getting grants Um which of those items are grant funded because grants tend to be pretty specific So you could line that up So to be able to see like no this is grant and then what's actually funded and and that would be a pretty easy ad to to the assessment I think be useful for the community So I
really appreciate what you guys do budgets are a bear I mean it's that that's that's rough but um clarification on how the math works to me would be useful because that that didn't make sense to me Thank you
Hello Uh Pamshad Branchville Um I'm also pretty new to this and one of the few um good sides of this whole debacical in Washington is that it's bringing more people out to see what's going on and I really um appreciated the
budget presentation a lot I see how much uh work and effort is put into it and it's been going on since August In two months what has the federal government done to the budgets how much thought has gone into that how much transparency has gone into that answer Nothing It's
random Uh recent headline Trump administration abruptly cuts billions from state health services States have been told that they can no longer use grants that were funding infectious disease management and addiction services So as somebody else said earlier this all trickles down Who's
going to pick up the who's going to pick up these programs and I see we have a lot of these programs in the in the um county already and that's great but how many more can we support locally uh we're going to lose a lot I'm also here
because I heard and maybe it's just a rumor but I heard that ICE was out in Sparta uh questioning people Now maybe they weren't but just the fact that that is a plausible rumor and that some people actually like that
information really bothers me as the daughter of a refugee came to America at a time when refugees and immigrants were welcomed and it's was uh realize that they are assets and not people who are going to
take away our jobs or whatever President Trump said when Mexico sends its people they're not sending their best They're sending people that have lots of problems They're bringing those problems with us They're bringing drugs They're bringing crime They're rapists President Trump said
that many studies have indicated both legal and undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than nativeborn Americans A study published in the journal Criminology found that areas with higher immigrant populations experienced lower rates of violent crime
The research suggested that immigrants contribute to community safety rather than detract from it Uh you had a resolution saying uh smoking is bad How about a resolution saying that xenophobia is bad or that racism is bad and that we should embrace our new
citizens our new residents whatever their legal status because they're not here because they want to come here and be billionaires like Elon Musk They're here because they're fleeing issues in their home countries They don't want to disrupt their entire lives and make a
perilous journey They're they're here for the American dream Where did that go where did our compassion go where did our inclusiveness go i don't get it Thank you Hillary Stevenson Branchville Being that I am one of the
youngest people in this room today at 18 years old I feel a dire sense of responsibility to represent the people of my generation who don't feel like they have a voice here the future of our community and the future of our country Now I know a lot of the people
in this room today I've grown up with your families Commissioner Carney I went to school with your sons and I want to speak for all of us when I remind you that our lack of presence in local government is not to be mistaken for
ignorance We know what is going on in our country and we are terrified We've been raised in an environment saturated with hatred and violence and hopelessness We've watched our elected leaders gamble away our liberties and put a price tag on our happiness We've seen our corporations decide without
hesitation that reaching their annual income quotas is more important than ensuring that their consumers are provided a habitable environment We've gathered that we have no place in American politics because it's already been determined by our predecessors that we will have no sustainable future here
We have sat idly by while we watch those who claim to love us set us up for inevitable failure Now I know how difficult it is to stop and consider the future when our lives are constantly infiltrated by horror stories and fear-mongering And I know that a lot of
you here today have brought up a lot of great points about things that are frustrating you But we must not allow the intensity of our emotions to vindicate irrational hatred and leave us vulnerable to exploitation by those who are greedy and power- hungry This is not a matter of Democrat versus Republican
Political parties are a distraction And they're here to ensure that the wealth gap between us and those in power is never bridged Do not let them antagonize those whose voices are the key to a prosperous and unified society We must not allow political leaders to convince
us that general welfare is a privilege that and that our unalienable rights are in a state to be politicized Every American deserves to have a roof over their heads clothes on their backs and food on their table regardless of any other qualifying factors Our government should not
reserve the power to tell us that our humanity is not enough to qualify us for endurable living conditions Do not let them convince you that in a system that's controlled by those who profit off of your disadvantages that the extent of your success is a direct reflection of how hard you work Every
single person in this room is trying their best Every person in this room is working hard And we all deserve to have that same humanity Now for those of you who have taken the time to make it here today do not assume that your responsibilities have been fulfilled by
your mere presence here I implore you all do not stop here and do not forget about the future of your country and your community Converse with those you disagree with and humanize them Please do not approach your
conversations with the goal of winning a one-sided argument Approach it to understand Thank you It's going to be hard to follow up Sandy Pender Newton Um I want to start again by saying thank you for your service to
the county and for allowing us to speak Um I will say I'm disappointed that Commissioner Hayden is not here particularly because he was sporting his IHeart Elon shirt Um but maybe he'll watch the recording I would like to talk about the
Trump administration's cuts and effects it will have on our county and taxpayers As the county financials were being discussed tonight there are a few things I would like to put on the radar The first is the direct impact of education cuts to our local schools The Trump administration wants to eliminate the
Department of Education and has already laid off 50% of its workforce Using Kittatin High School as an example this DIS district alone stands to lose upwards of 660,000 in federal funding This is the amount that the district has budgeted
for in this current school year It is the amount of funding that they could lose next year This federal funding supports students with disabilities special education lowincome students support and retention of instructional
staff STEM and AP programs and dropout prevention My question to you is what is the plan to offset the loss of these federal funds for our schools another concern are cuts to Medicaid which so many people in Sussex County depend on One in three children
in the state of New Jersey depend on Medicaid for their health care Another population in our county that relies on Medicaid are those trying to recover from a substance use disorder In many cases Medicaid provides life-saving intervention and medications that help
people stabilize while they progress into recovery Other residents such as the elderly those with disabilities and lowincome residents would be hurt by cuts to Medicaid too Again what is the plan to offset cuts to Medicaid
the Trump administration has also slashed a large part of the workforce at Noah Sussex County has a huge agricultural economy Noah assists our farmers with forecasts long-term climate prediction and drought monitoring Noah personnel provide projections that guard
against lower crop yields and crop loss What assistance and funding will be available for county agriculture and farmers bottom line these cuts in funding and experienced personnel will be felt As our elected representatives I ask you to be ready with plans to offset
what we will lose Finally I believe that the chaos and dysfunction of this administration is causing everyday people to pull back and spend less I know that has happened in our household and I think it's important to consider this countywide As citizens pull back
small local businesses and restaurants will have to weather leaner times We all want vibrant communities in our county but the reality of the moment is that people are feeling uncertain and unfortunately local businesses will feel that Thank you
Uh good evening Uh David Dwit Hampton Township Um last time I was here I asked you folks what was in your budget that you couldn't count on from state and federal government passroughs I'd still like to know the answer to that question But this evening I'd like to comment on
the illegal freeze of grant monies that were already promised to non-governmental organizations throughout the country as well as here in Sussex County These funds were approved by Congress and agencies throughout our government The freeze by
itself is doing catastrophic damage throughout society These NOS have hired people signed contracts made purchases expended funds fully expecting the monies to come that
were already promised The promise of outright cancellation looms as a kiss of death for many of these charitable groups Our non-governmental organizations are indeed the thousand points of light that George HW Bush
offered as the historical Republican answer to supposedly wasteful government bureaucratic agencies And yes most of those groups are more efficient are more coste effective at doing their job than federal government Well the lights are
about to go out on thousands of those charitable groups I'm going to give you an example and it's a small one because I know something about it The USDA froze first and then outright cancelled grants for
programs such as the farm-to-school lunch programs programs supporting locally sourced food pantries and distribution hubs and assistant programs for local small farmers which are catastrophic to
our local farming community It will leave our less fortunate students and our inhabitants hungry According to Josh Godheimer's information the fifth congressional district has 11 farmers directly
impacted and a majority of our Sussex County schools hurt by the consequences of this mindless action alone And that's only $23 million This is only one sad tale being told by
uh hundreds of similar actions that are now taking place throughout our federal agencies Way to go MAGA Make America great again Hungry children and broke farmers I urge each of you to speak
up Object to this travesty Thank you I'm Ashen Voric from Sparta New Jersey Um I went to my school's B board meeting uh last Thursday
As I've been told by my superintendent recently my school Sussex County Technical School has undergone budget cuts because they didn't receive enough funding expecting multiple pro programs including my shop graphic
design which they are now going to merge with commercial arts next year if the budget doesn't improve I want to state that clearly graphic and commercial arts are not the same They are similar but commercial arts is the illustration created for a certain commercial purpose
while graphic design includes posters packaging and logos like the one behind all of you right now Of course this is important to me because it involves my school and my future I want my school to receive the funding that it needs and not have
budget cuts Some of my friends went to graphic design or were planning to go to graphic design before it was cut Graphic design has always been important to me It's what I've always wanted to do It's my dream job and I would like to have the opportunity to keep my dream program
alive Graphic design provides our school with all of its printed materials uh and other services But beyond that I fear that other programs might be cut because of budget as well Uh late buses
as well as the theater program have already been cut However this is not just about me or my education or even about graphic design It is about my friends my community their education and their future and the other programs that
may be cut if fund if funding does not increase So I come to you the commissioners to ask for more funding for our schools I know that it might not be a top priority and there might not be that much funding but I think funding will be
worthwhile for everyone at Sussex Tech now and in the future That's what my superintendent told me I've I've been told differently since I Hi my name is Nick Defaio Augusta New Jersey Uh as I mentioned the last time I
was here I I've been practicing law for 40 years and uh half in the private sector and half representing uh public finance So I know a little bit about your job and what you do and how difficult it is By the way I just want to say if if the young people that spoke here today are indicative of the peop
the kids in Sussex County we're doing a pretty good job uh teaching them because these kids are they're more eloquent They were more eloquent than most of the lawyers I know I mean that was really amazing I'm very very impressed by that And uh I don't think I could stand up here and be as eloquent even though I've
been practicing it for 40 years So um I there's been a lot said here and I don't really want to add much to it because I know how difficult your job is and I know you don't have answers for what's happening at the federal level Uh but it does seem to me to be apparent that the federal government is pushing down
obligations to the state and then the counties and local governments I mean that's clear that's the plan Whether we agree with that or not that is the what we're going to be living with for the next couple of years How much that happens depends on how the courts and Congress act in response but it's going
to be quite a bit And um I realize it's far too soon for you guys to have answers for that And I don't have any the the specific answers But what I do know is that in times like this there's a premium to be paid for working well with the state government and with our
congressional leaders in in Washington Um and I know that that's not always easy because they can be difficult and I they tend to want to push things down to you as well But I think that the next year in particular is going to be very important to have a good working relationship with our state government
as we're bringing in a new governor at the same time But we know that most of the people at the at the state will be the same And we I think it's really good to reach out to them and start to develop a good relationship so that we can work together to deal with who is going to do what and how we're going to
deal with reduced amounts of federal funding One minute And then I also think it's very important that our congressional leaders Josh Godheimer our two senators uh are involved as well And we should you we all of us and you should be willing to reach out to them
whenever you can and you know to to to uh pull their chain a bit uh because we need them to be our representatives because there's going to be a fight for dollars among states among counties within the state and it's unfortunate but I I we're going to have to fight it
and so that's my only advice here and and you know keep your heads up and get some sleep when you can I know it's going to be difficult Thank you Hi my name is Don Vorick I'm from Sparta New Jersey Um I had not intended to speak tonight but um I'm inspired by all
the people that came before me and I'm certainly don't anticipate off the cuff to do better than they have all done But I did want to stand behind them and add my vote I especially like this last gentleman who had some clear visions about what's going to be falling down on
your head because of the changes uh at the federal level And uh you know I I'm here to support you Uh and that was why I hadn't intended to speak because I really don't think any of this is your fault Um but I do since this has turned into a gripe session I'm gonna I'm gonna
add my uh my gripe as well uh and uh you know I am as everyone else has said here alarmed by what is happening at the federal level uh and uh especially alarmed by Musk and uh you know will
Trump in in particular and Musk kind of double with his uh with his chainsaw approach and you know the thing that strikes me on the federal level uh and in the country as a whole is
that dishonesty is not hidden anymore It is out It's you know they announce the fact that okay we're going to we're going to tamper with the Constitution a little bit here We're going to cut here We're we're going to uh violate people's
uh rights and cut them without the 90 days notice the laws required Um it it is very frightening to me uh especially here with the legal group that you that you are not going to have the tools of legality on your side So that is very
frightening to me Um and uh you know then to kind of put a point on it with with Musk uh you know if there's if there's a bird flu uh cut cut the uh the the the farm programs that that keep track of it If there's a uh if there's
tornadoes uh and climate cut cut the uh uh the the Noah and the all the weather agencies you know and if there's a um for every problem the answer seems to be to cut the agency responsible for it
uh and you know even the uh uh the pandemic uh you know we're we're cutting all the health organizations uh to kind of get ready to have a a worse pandemic next and and the outbreak of measles etc Anyway like I said I didn't have anything planned but I guess I'm a good
blabber because I I seem to have failed my three minutes Thank you very much John Snyder Sanderson Township One of our speakers tonight mentioned uh living in a democracy I don't live in one I don't want to live
in one I live in a republic A republic that gives me rights gives me the ability to come up here and speak my peace Those who believe in a democracy there's a movie made in the early 40s with Henry Fonda called the Oxbow Incident The Oxbow Incident
98% of the town is convinced that they just caught three rustlers who killed a local farm a rancher That's all I'll say about it But the democracy would have been spring them up Majority rules I don't want that I don't want the majority to rule on
everything Have a bill of rights I have my rights as a citizen I want to feel protected I'm 78 years old I don't want New Jersey to come up with some resolution and say "Oh you can't drive after age 75 or you can't drive a pickup truck." Mr Snider
why do you have a pickup truck you don't need that You could drive around on a little Fiat And if the majority votes for it in a democracy I'm out of luck As somebody mentioned tonight I think I wrote the words down Trump must
be stopped That's the kind of language that leads people to take shots at Donald Trump And I'm talking literally shots I wonder how many people in this room are relieved that it just grazed
the side of his head there Or were they wishing maybe it was a little closer target i understand that Mr Musk is going against waste and fraud at the federal level They've got people
collecting social security I forget what the number is You've heard it's over millions over a hundred years old Please let him speak Do not interrupt Nobody interrupted anybody else when they were talking Don't do it again
And I think just today he came out with the I'm not sure if it's an executive order or not requiring proof of citizenship to vote in a federal election I believe we should have photo ID for every election but at least is starting to do something at the
federal level Someone else the young lady spoke fairly eloquently about the future of our country not looking good All you have to do is look at the federal debt I believe the last number I heard
was 35 trillion Ronald Reagan warned us about 40 years ago when it was approaching two trillion and now that we're 35 stuff that we're looking at right right now the room that we're in the government
that you guys run it could be gone in two or three years A loaf of bread $400 I mean this happened to places like Venezuela where I understand a few years ago people are chewing shoe
leather at a country that was really really prosperous very modern and not a nice place to be now Thank you very much for public moved Second say I I post abstain carries Uh
number 23 reminders please check the county's website www.suussex.nj us for meeting schedules Uh number 24 is executive session Uh this is a closed session Christina would you read that please resolution providing for an executive close session not open to the public in
accordance with the provisions of NJSA 10 col4-12 at sect Whereas the subject matter about to be discussed may be excluded from the public portion of the meeting by resolution of the board of county commissioners as an exception to the open public meetings act pursuant to NJSA
104-12B and whereas it appears necessary for the board of county commissioners to discuss such matter in executive session Now therefore be it resolved that the board of county commissioners of the county of Sussex in accordance with the provisions of NJSA 104-12B and
NJSA104-13 that the board at this time enter into an executive session from which the public shall be excluded and be it further resolved that the general nature of the subject to be discussed relates to the following item authorized by NJSA 104-12B as designated below item number
seven matters relating to litigation negotiations and the attorney client privilege Collins litigation Be it further resolved that the that the deliberations conducted in close session may be disclosed to the public upon determination of the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners or provided by
law that the public interest will no longer be served by such confidentiality And be it further resolved that upon completion of the business for which the board has entered into the executive session the board shall reconvene and resume its meeting open to the public And be it further resolved that the board does not expect to take formal
action after You may okay that the export the that the board may take formal action after returning from executive session except to adjourn the regular meeting Um resolution and enter So move second
I thank you all for coming Mics are still live Mics are live